Castelan language

Castelan language
Lingua castelana
Native to	Castelana
Ethnicity	Castelan people
Native speakers	8 million L1 (2017) 4 million L2
Language family	Auressian Underline Sabarine Angulic
Writing system	Sabarine alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Castelana
Regulated by	Castelan Linguistic Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

Castelan (/'kæstəlæn/; Castelan: castelana [kastɛ'lana] or lingua castelana ['liŋwa kastɛ'lana]) is a Sabarine language spoken in by slightly over 8 million people in Castelana, where it is one of two official languages along with the Rianic language. While historically considered to be an !Ibero-Romance language, due to shared innovations with many !Ibero-Romance languages, in recent years this status has been disputed due to Castelan's retention of many phonological and grammatical features abandoned by all other !Ibero-Romance languages and as a result has been classified within its own Angulic branch of Sabarine languages.

Like all other Romance languages, Castelana evolved from the Sabarian language spoken in the First Sabarian Empire, yet as previously mentioned is significantly more phonologically and grammatically conservative than the other Sabarine languages in many ways, for example retaining a reduced form of Sabarian's case system, yet it has also taken on a significant degree of influence in terms of phonology, grammar and vocabulary from its bordering !Brythonic languages. Its modern form is a fusional language with significant inflection on both nouns and verbs and, as a result, a relatively free word order. It has a rather small phonemic inventory, consisting of 19 consonants, seven pure vowels and four diphthongs, which notably contains the relatively rare phoneme /θ/, and is written using 23 of the 26 letters of the Sabarian alphabet, albeit with the use of the modified letters ç ã õ.

Phonology

Castelan has a phonology which, while somewhat resembling the !Ibero-Romance subgroup of the Sabarine languages, possesses both some notable conserved features from Sabarian and some unique innovations, being the only Sabarine language to retain both the glottal fricative /h/ and the labiovelar approximant /w/.

The language is widely considered to have nineteen consonant phonemes and eight vowel phonemes, of which five are pure vowels and three are nasal vowels. However, some analyses of Castelan phonology consider the nasal vowels, /ã ɛ̃ ɔ̃/, to be allophones of their non-nasalised counterparts before nasal consonants and thus treat the language as having merely five vowel phonemes.

Castelan consonant phonemes

	Labial	Coronal		Palatal	Dorsal
Nasal	m	n		ɲ
Stop	p b	t d			k g
Fricative	f	θ	s z		h
Approximant	w			j
Lateral		l		ʎ
Rhotic		ɾ

Castelan vowel phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	ɛ ɛ̃		ɔ ɔ̃
Open	a ã

Grammar

Castelan possesses a fusional typology in which nouns, determiners, verbs and adjectives take on inflections to indicate their grammatical functions and to change their meanings, using inflections on nouns to show case, number and gender and on verbs to show tense, aspect, mood, person and number, while adjectives take on inflections to show agreement with the nouns they modify.

The language distinguishes between nine word classes, with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, prepositions, interjections, interrogatives and conjunctions all having distinct purposes and rules governing them. Derivational suffixes to render words in different word classes exist and are widely used: many adverbs, for example, derive from adjectives with derivational suffixes such as -mende or -ider applied to them.

Nouns and adjectives

Like in other Sabarine languages, Castelan nouns uniformly decline for either singular or plural number and for masculine or feminine gender, with which any following determiners have to agree with; while the definite article takes the form il for a masculine singular noun, it takes on the form la for a feminine singular noun and les for a plural noun of either gender.

However, unlike in most other Sabarine languages, nouns are also declined for three cases: the nominative (nominativo), the accusative (acuzativo) and the genitive (genitivo), yet in plural form the nominative and accusative forms are not distinguished. The nominative form of a noun is used when the noun takes on the role of the subject of a transitive verb or an intransitive verb and serves as the standard dictionary form of a noun, while the accusative is used for the direct object of a transitive verb and the genitive is used to show the possessor of another noun or that the noun in question modifies another noun in any way.

Castelan is largely said to have two declensions, of which almost all nouns fit into: one each for the masculine and feminine genders. What follows are examples of conjugations for homo (man) and fema (woman) as examples of regular conjugation for the masculine and feminine declensions, as well as the declension for nue (cloud) as an example of an irregularly conjugating masculine noun.

	fema woman (f.)		homo man (m.)		nue cloud (m. i.)
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fema	femas	homo	homos	nue	nues
Accusative	femã		homõ		nuem
Genitive	feme	femarõ	home	homorõ	nuei	nuerõ

Adjectives are declined to agree with nouns in two ways depending on whether they are considered strong adjectives or weak adjectives. Both classes of adjectives change form to agree with nouns based on their case and number, yet only weak adjectives change their form to agree with their noun's gender. This is demonstrated below using the adjectives flavo (yellow) and verde (green), which take the role of weak and strong adjectives respectively.

	flavo yellow (w.)				verde green (s.)
	Masculine		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	flavo	flavos	flava	flavas	verde	verdes
Accusative	flavõ		flavã		verdem
Genitive	flave	flavorõ	flave	flavarõ	verdi	verderõ

Verbs

Castelan verbs are highly inflected, as in many other Sabarine languages: each verb has around 46 distinctive inflected forms. Most of these forms consist of combinations of the three grammatical persons (first, second and third) with the two grammatical numbers (singular and plural) and seven combinations of tense, aspect and mood, yet there is also the presence of the infinitive form and a general imperative form, as well as vestigial past participle and present participle forms.

Within Castelan's seven tense-aspect-mood combinations there are four indicative tenses: the present (prezento), the preterite (prederito), the imperfect (imberfeto) and the future (fuduro). These are the most commonly used tenses and are used to convey an event or statement that the speaker considers to be a fact or a known state of affairs. More specifically, the present is used to convey a currently occuring state or action, while the imperfect and preterite are used to convey events that have already occured and the future is used to convey events that will occur.

The specific distinction between the imperfect and the preterite is to convey completeness; the preterite is used to convey an action that has been completed or a previous state of being, while the imperfect is used to signify either an uncompleted action or an action that the speaker used to perform on a regular basis in the past.

Three other, non-indicative tenses exist in modern Castelan: two subjunctive tenses (present and imperfect) and a conditional tense. The subjunctive tenses are used to express actions or state of beings about which the speaker is uncertain or to express opinions and judgements and as such is used largely in subordinate clauses, and the distinction between a subjunctive present and an imperfect subjunctive is to show a difference between uncertainties in the current timeframe or those in other timeframes. Meanwhile, the conditional is used to indicate states of being and actions which are dependent on another action taking place, or in order to make a request more polite.

Of the forms not conjugated for person, the imperative form is used for commands, while the infinitive is used as a verb's standard dictionary form and as the form that secondary verbs in a sentence take: when a verb is used with an auxiliary the auxiliary is conjugated while the other verb is rendered in the infinitive. The two participles, however, are often used as adjectives, yet the past participle is used to form the passive form of a verb. Unlike in other Sabarine languages, participles are not used to form compound tenses in standard Castelan.

Most Castelan verbs fit regularly into three conjugation patterns which can be determined by the ending of the verb's infinitive: the first conjugation is categorised by an -are ending, while the second conjugation is categorised by an ending of -ere and the third conjugation by the ending of -ire. What follows is a demonstration of the three main conjugation patterns using the verbs fablare (to talk), comere (to eat) and odire (to hear), representing the first, second and third conjugations respectively.

fablare to talk (1st.)		Singular			Plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Indicative	Present	fablo	fablas	fabla	fablamas	fablais	fablã
	Preterite	fable	fablaste	fablase	fablamase	fablasteis	fablarã
	Imperfect	fablaba	fablabas	fablaba	fablabamas	fablabais	fablabã
	Future	fablare	fablaras	fablara	fablaremas	fablareis	fablaren
Subjunctive	Present	fable	fables	fable	fablemas	fableis	fablen
	Imperfect	fablase	fablases	fablase	fablasemas	fablaseis	fablasen
Conditional		fablaria	fablarias	fablaria	fablarimas	fablariais	fablariã
Imperative			fables

comere to eat (2nd.)		Singular			Plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Indicative	Present	como	comes	come	comemas	comeis	comen
	Preterite	comi	comiste	comise	comimas	comisteis	comirõ
	Imperfect	comeraba	comerabas	comeraba	comerabamas	comerabais	comerabã
	Future	comere	comeras	comera	comeremas	comereis	comeren
Subjunctive	Present	coma	comas	coma	comamas	comais	comã
	Imperfect	comiese	comieses	comiese	comiesemas	comieseis	comiesen
Conditional		comeria	comerias	comeria	comerimas	comeriais	comeriã
Imperative			comias

odire to hear (3rd.)		Singular			Plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Indicative	Present	odo	odes	ode	odemas	odis	oden
	Preterite	odi	odiste	odise	odimas	odisteis	odirõ
	Imperfect	odiraba	odirabas	odiraba	odirabamas	odirabais	odirabã
	Future	odire	odiras	odira	odiremas	odireis	odiren
Subjunctive	Present	oda	odas	oda	odamas	odais	odã
	Imperfect	odiese	odieses	odiese	odiesemas	odieseis	odiesen
Conditional		odiria	odirias	odiria	odiriamas	odiriais	odiriã
Imperative			odias

There are, however, multiple verbs which do not fit the regular paradigms. One set of second declension verbs, consisting of tenere (to have) and its derivative forms, is noted for following a somewhat irregular conjugation pattern; while in many tenses they follow the same pattern as other second declension verbs, they have irregular preterite and imperfect subjunctive forms, as displayed below.

tenere to have (2nd. i.)		Singular			Plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Indicative	Present	teno	tenes	tene	tenemas	teneis	tenen
	Preterite	tue	tuiste	tue	tuimas	tuisteis	tuirõ
	Imperfect	teneraba	tenerabas	teneraba	tenerabamas	tenerabais	tenerabã
	Future	tenere	teneras	tenera	teneremas	tenereis	teneren
Subjunctive	Present	tena	tenas	tena	tenamas	tenais	tenã
	Imperfect	tenese	teneses	tenese	tenesemas	teneseis	tenesen
Conditional		teneria	tenerias	teneria	tenerimas	teneriais	teneriã
Imperative			tenhas

There also two verbs which are considered to be completely irregular and outside of the three declensions, essere (to be) and ire (to go). These verbs have many forms unpredictable from their infinitive form due to processes of suppletion, and as a result of historical Latin suppletion the preterite and imperfect subjunctive forms for both verbs are identical. Their full declensions, displaying their irregular patterns, are below.

ire to go (i.)		Singular			Plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Indicative	Present	eyo	eyas	eya	eyamas	eyais	eyã
	Preterite	fue	fuestes	fue	fuemas	fuestais	fuestã
	Imperfect	iraba	irabas	iraba	irabamas	irabais	irabã
	Future	ire	ires	ira	iremas	ireis	iren
Subjunctive	Present	eye	eyes	eye	eyemas	eyeis	eyen
	Imperfect	fuera	fueras	fuera	fueramas	fuerais	fuerã
Conditional		iria	irias	iria	irimas	iriais	iriã
Imperative			eya

essere to be (i.)		Singular			Plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Indicative	Present	esso	eras	es	essemas	essais	essã
	Preterite	fue	fuestes	fue	fuemas	fuestais	fuestã
	Imperfect	ero	eres	ere	eremas	erais	erã
	Future	essere	esseras	essera	esseramas	esserais	esseren
Subjunctive	Present	esse	esses	esse	essemas	esseis	essen
	Imperfect	fuera	fueras	fuera	fueramas	fuerais	fuerã
Conditional		esseria	esserias	esseria	esserimas	esseriais	esseriã
Imperative			essa

Prepositions

Uniquely amongst Sabarine languages, Castelan has developed a system of inflections for a significant proportion of its prepositions. This is thought to have developed under influence from !Celtic languages, but unlike in the !Celtic languages, not all of its prepositions can be inflected, inflections do not exist for plural numbers and there exist forms which inflect if the following word would have a definite article preceding it.

In literary Castelan, the prepositions circõ (around), in (in, on, at, by), por (for), pos (after), sin (without) and trãs (through, across) do not take inflections, yet in many colloquial dialects of Castelan, forms of in, por and sin inflected for person are present.

The following table shows the various inflections that prepositions can take in literary Castelan.

Preposition	Definite			Person
	Masculine	Feminine	Plural	1st person	2nd person	3rd person masc.	3rd person fem.
a (to)	al	alla	alles	amme	ate	alhõ	alhã
cõ (with)	cõl	cõlla	cõlles	comme	cõte	cõlhe
cõdra (against)	cõdral	cõdralla	cõdralles	cõdramme	cõdrate	cõdralhõ	cõdralhã
de (of)	del	della	delles	demme	dete	delhõ	delhã
estra (out of)	estral	estralla	estralles	estramme	estrate	estralhõ	estralhã
indre (between)	indrel	indrella	indrelles	N/A
para (towards)	paral	paralla	paralles	paramme	parate	paralhõ	paralhã
pro (for)	prol	prolla	prolles	promme	prote	prolhõ	prolhã
su (under)	sul	sulla	sulles	summe	sute	sulhõ	sulhã
subre (above)	subrel	subrella	subrelles	subremme	subrete	subrelhõ	subrelhã

The most used inflections on in, por and sin in colloquial Castelan are:

Preposition	Definite			Person
	Masculine	Feminine	Plural	1st person	2nd person	3rd person masc.	3rd person fem.
in (in, on, at, by)	innil	illa	illes	imme	inte	inhõ	inhã
por (for)	pol	porla	porles	porme	porte	polhõ	polhã
sin (without)	sil	silla	silles	simme	sinte	sinhe

When an inflected preposition is not used, the following noun is rendered in the accusative case for most pronouns, yet for the prepositions sin, cõ and por the following nouns are rendered in the genitive case, leading to the three of them being dubbed "genitive prepositions".

Pronouns

Castelan pronouns reflect nouns in the forms they can take, with separate nominative, accusative and genitive forms in the singular and a simple distinction between direct and genitive forms in the plural. Third person pronouns distinguish between masculine and feminine forms, yet the genitive form of both in the singular is identical.

Person		Singular			Plural
		Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Direct	Genitive
1st		yo	me	mei	nos	nostrõ
2nd		tu	te	tui	vos	vostrõ
3rd	masc.	ilho	ilhõ	ilhe	ilhos	ilhorõ
	fem.	ilha	ilhã		ilhas	ilharõ

Castelan is a pro-drop language - due to the inflection of the subject on verbs, including the nominative pronoun is redundant and is thus often removed in both literary and colloquial forms of the language, hence Como maçanas. as opposed to Yo como maçanas..

Syntax

Castelan largely has a subject-verb-object word order as seen in the following sentence:

Il treno debarte il istaçõ pos novõ.

The train leaves the station at nine.

In this sentence, the subject, il treno, occurs first, before the verb, debarte, which is inflected to show the present indicative tense and a third-person subject, followed by the direct object, il istaçõ, and then a preposition and the indirect object, pos novõ.

However, there is one notable exception to the subject-verb-object rule - when the subject pronoun is dropped, the direct object pronoun is moved to the front of the sentence, as in the sentence:

Te incõdre sul arbrõ maçanarõ.

I found you under the apple tree.

Here, the pronoun te is moved before the verb, incõdre, as it has been inflected to indicate the indicative preterite tense and a first-person object and thus the pronoun yo can be dropped and te moved in its place. This sentence also shows an example of a preposition, sul, inflected to show a definite masculine object, and a genitive construction of arbrõ maçanarõ, showing arbrõ (tree) in the accusative and maçanarõ (apple) in the genitive plural.

Questions are either indicated through interrogatives, such as in Inui es la bibliotecã? (Where is the library?), or through a simple change in tone from a single statement, with no difference in words between Venhirias comme. (You would come.) and Venhirias comme? (Would you come?).

Castelan does not use relative pronouns to form relative clauses - in stead the following construction is commonly used where the relative clause is simply linked by comma to the main clause:

Amo homõ, es estranho.

I love a man who is a homosexual.

An auxiliary verb may be used in Castelan - in this case, the auxiliary verb is inflected for tense, person and number and the verb it is modifying is placed immediately afterwards as in the construction:

Pudo fablare la linguã castelanã.

I can speak the Castelan language.

Here, pudo (I can) is inflected while fablare is placed in the infinitive immediately afterwards and before the direct object.