The Jovian Language

Classical Jovian a romlang (romance conlang (yeah, as if we didn't have enough of those already)) that explores a new direction of phonemic evolution, and keeps some grammatical structures from Classical Latin (e.g. cases and absence of required articles). Modern Jovian has gone through a number of simplifications (notably the restriction of case inflection to pronouns).

This document will primarily discuss Classical Jovian, and after each paragraph explain the differences in Modern Jovian.

Being an amateur, I don't have an actual masterplan either, only very general guidelines. My notations are "English", Latin, Jovian, /phonemic/, [phonetic]. The latter two are written in X-SAMPA.

Phonology

Vowels
Consonants
Mutation
Sandhi
Modern Jovian

Vocabulary
Declination

Nouns
Pronouns
Modern Jovian

Conjugation

Inflections
Auxiliaries
Irregulars
Modern Jovian

Phonology

Vowels

A vowel is pronounced long when it's stressed and in an open syllable. Some vowels (e and u) have special pronunciations in final syllables.

Note that a consonant cluster containing a single stop is split before the stop, so padri is syllabized as pa-dri and thus places the a in an open syllable (/"pa:dri/).

Stress lies on the last syllable if it is closed with a consonant, and on the penultimate syllable otherwise. A final -e counts as a syllable kernel despite being mute. Example: muodiduende is syllabized as muo-di-duen-de, so the stress falls onto the duen, although it is the last pronounced syllable (/,mu@di"dynd/).

Irregular stress is marked with an acute accent. This happens only in declination IV words and foreign borrowings.

Vowel Stressed open Stressed closed Elsewhere Final closed Final open

a /a:/ /a/ /@/

e /e:/ /e/ /e/ /@/ (mute)

i /i:/ /i/ /i/

o /o:/ /A/ /A/

u /u:/ /u/ /u/ /@/ /@/

Vowel	Stressed open	Stressed closed	Elsewhere	Final closed	Final open
a	/a:/	/a/	/@/
e	/e:/	/e/	/e/	/@/	(mute)
i	/i:/	/i/	/i/
o	/o:/	/A/	/A/
u	/u:/	/u/	/u/	/@/	/@/

Final e is mute, but influences syllabification. The ending -u (coming from Latin -us) is pronounced as /@/, but causes Resistance (a type of mutation).

Short e is lowered to [E] before an r. Example: herva /"hErv@/.

Diphthong Stressed open Elsewhere Final

ae /aj/ /E/ /e/

oe /Aj/ /a/

ue /y@/ /y/

ei /ej/ /e/

au /aw/ /o/

ou /ow/ /u/

iu (rendered y in endings) /y:/ /y/

io /i@/ /i/

eo /e@/ /E/

uo /u@/ /u/

Diphthong	Stressed open	Elsewhere	Final
ae	/aj/	/E/	/e/
oe	/Aj/	/a/
ue	/y@/	/y/
ei	/ej/	/e/
au	/aw/	/o/
ou	/ow/	/u/
iu (rendered y in endings)	/y:/	/y/
io	/i@/	/i/
eo	/e@/	/E/
uo	/u@/	/u/

Consonants:

The following letters are used for consonants:

c: /C/ syllable-finally after front vowel; /x/ syllable-finally after back vowel, /k/ otherwise.
g: /g/.
ng: /Ng/.
x: /S/. Counts as two letters in terms of syllabification.
j: /j/.
h: /h/ syllable-initially; /x/ before a mute ending.
s, z: /z/ intervocally or next to voiced consonant; /s/ otherwise. These are two notations for the same phoneme. The letter z is used where a Latin d lenited into /z/.
st: /St/.
sp: /Sp/.
sc: /Sk/. Some dialects render this as /S/.
r: /4/ alveolar tap; will be written as /r/ in phonemic transcriptions.
w: /v/. Some dialects nasalize this to /F/, or nasalize the previous vowel, thereby distinguishing w from v /v/. The letter w comes from the lenition of Latin m. This document will render w as /v/ and thus not distinguish the phonemes.

All other consonant letters sound like their IPA equivalents.

The final letters -d, -b and the s in the endings -is and -ys are usually silent, but can become audible through mutation (Consolidation and Resistance): ed /e/ "and", sub /su/ "under", padris /"padri/ "father's", padrys /"padry/ "to the fathers".

Mutation:

Mutations occur between prepositions and the following nouns, between all components of a noun phrase, and between auxiliary verbs and main verbs. They affect the initial sounds of words. Mutations are not written, but pronounced.

There are two types of mutation:

(1) Lenition

Lenition occurs on words starting with a consonant when they're preceded by a word ending in a vowel other than mute final -e and final -u. Lenition softens the initial consonant (cluster) of the following word.

Regular initial sounds:    Softened sounds:
/p t k/                    /b d g/
/g d b/                    /h z v/
/br gr bl gl/ /br gr bl gl/
/f s/                      /v z/
/fr fl/ /br bl/
/ts/                       /dz/
/m/                        /v/

Examples:

fija /"fi:j@/ "daughter" mia fija /mi"vi:j@/ "my daughter"

friza /"fri:z@/ "cold"
auga friza /"awg@"bri:z@/ "cold water (NOM)"

tsadu /"tsa:d@/ "state"
louger de tsado /"lowg@rd@"dza:dA/ "to talk about the state"

doemu /"dAjm@/ "master"
o doemu /A"zAjm@/ "o master!"

(2) Condensation

Condensation occurs after nasal consonants. It causes initial fricatives and liquids to condense into voiced stops, and voices unvoiced stops. The nasal's point of articulation is thereby assimilated to that stop.

Regular initial sounds: Condensed sounds:

/p t k/                    /mb nd Ng/
/b d g/                    /mb nd Ng/
/f v/                      /mp m/
/s S ts/                   /ndz ntS ndz/
/h/                        /n/
/r l/                      /ndr mbl/

Examples:

coelun /"kAjl@n/ "sky",
in coelo /iN"gAjlA/ "in the sky"

herva /"hErv@/ "herb"
colleher an raran hervan /kAl"le:@r @n"dra:r@n"Erv@n/ "to collect a rare herb"

simbel /"simb@l/ "simple"
diger fraesen simblen /"di:g@r"frajz@n"dzimbl@n/ "to speak a simple phrase"

friza /"fri:z@/ "cold"
biver augan frizan /"bi:v@r"awg@m"pri:z@n/ "to drink cold water"

ricta /"riCt@/ "right"
dsiuvare causan rictan /dzy"va:r"kawz@n"driCt@n/ "to help the right cause"

lauzaevel /lo"zajv@l/ "laudable"
faeger rén lauzaeblen /"fajg@r"remblo"zajbl@n/ "to do a laudable thing"

Sandhi:

Sandhi is effective between all words of a sentence, it is not limited to functionally grouped words as the mutations are. They affect the final sounds of words. Like mutation, sandhi is not written, but pronounced.

There are four types of sandhi:

(1) Elision

Elision occurs on words ending in -a when they're followed by a word starting with a vowel. The /@/ of the a is then eliminated.

Regular final sound: Elided sound:
/@/ (mute)

Examples:

auga /"awg@/ "water"
auga umbura /"awgUm"bu:r@/ "impure water"

(2) Resistance

Resistance occurs after the endings -is and -ys, in which the -s is mute, as well as after the ending -u, which is usually just pronounced /@/. Although vowel endings usually cause lenition or elision, the -u "resists" those processes since it stems from a Latin -us ending. That is also the reason why a /z/ appears before another vowel (where Elision would occur for words ending in -a). Resistance can distinguish male (-u) and female (-a) words which sounds exactly the same (-/@/) on their own.

Furthermore, the non-mute ending s /s/ undergoes some sandhi too: It becomes /z/ before vowels, and /S/ before voiceless stops.

Regular initial sounds: Sounds after -u, -is, -ys: Sounds after other -s:

(vowel) /z/ + (vowel) /z/ + (vowel)
/t p k/ /t p k/ /St Sp Sk/

Examples:

fija /"fi:j@/ "daughter"
fija beola /"fi:j@"ve@l@/ "beautiful daughter"
tua fija aumbrosa /tu"vi:jom"bro:z@/ "your love-smitten daughter"

fiju /"fi:j@/ "son"
fiju beolu /"fi:j@"be@l@/ "beautiful son"
tuu fiju aumbrosu /tu"fi:j@zom"bro:z@/ "your love-smitten son"

padri /"padri/ "to the father"
padris /"padri/ "father's"

dare padri augan /da:r "pa:dri "awg@n/ "to give water to the father"
biver padris augan /"bi:v@r "padriz"awg@n/ "to drink the father's water"

huodes /"hU@d@s/ "hats"
huodes padris /"hU@d@S"pa:dri/ "father's hats"

(3) Consolidation

Consolidation occurs after words that end in -d or -b. Those consonants are usually mute, but become audible before vowels and certain single fricatives and liquids. If the following word begins with a single stop, that stop is pronounced as a geminate (doubled).

Regular initial sounds: Sounds after mute -d: Sounds after mute -b:

/s/                        /dz/                     /dz/
/r l/                      /dr bl/                  /br bl/
/j/                        /gj/                     /gj/
(vowel)                    /d/ + (vowel)            /b/ + (vowel)

Examples:

ed /e/ "and"
paene ed auga /"pajne"dawg@/ "bread and water"
ueda ed morde /"y@de"mArd/ "life and death"
lac ed bueder /"laxeb"by@d@r/ "milk and butter"
bueder ed lac /"by@d@re"blax/ "butter and milk"
luc ed sonu /"luxe"dzo:n@/ "light and sound"
noeme ed jenner /"nAjme"gjenn@r/ "name and gender"

sub /sU/ "under"
sub augae /sU"bawge/ "under water"
sub soli /sU"dzo:li/ "under the sun"
sub juho /sU"gju:hA/ "under the yoke"

(4) Assimilation

Assimilation on words ending in -n if the following word begins with a nasal or a stop. (Note that this does not include words ending in -ne, despite the fact that the e is silent.) The -n is simply assimilated to the point of articulation of the following nasal/stop.

Regular following sounds:      Assimilated -n:
/m/                            /m/
/p k/                          /m N/
/b g/                          /m N/

Examples:

Voun esser /vun "ess@r/ "they want to eat"
Voun mitter /vum "mitt@r/ "they want to send"
Voun candare /vuN g@n"da:r/ "they want to sing"

Modern Jovian:

The main phonological change from Classical to Modern Jovian is the reduction of unstressed final syllables, namely:

Final schwas are deleted: [@] > []. This pertains to the endings -u and -a. Note that mutation and sandhi remain unchanged: santa mazer [sant "va:z@r] "holy mother", cavillu ader [k@"villz "a:d@r] "(a) black hair". An epenthetic schwa will sometimes have to be inserted to break up a consonant cluster: montra ["mAnt@r] "shows". If the disappearance of the final schwa places an /h/ at the word-end, it's pronounced [x] or [C]: lehe [le:C] "reads", ahe [a:x] "does".
The ending [@s] is reduced to [s] or [z] wherever possible: aedades [E"da:dz] "ages", nueves ["ny@vz] "clouds", dsueppes ["dzyps] "skirts". The combinations /z@s/ and /h@s/ become [s]: peze [pe:z] "foot", pezes [pe:s] "feet"; lec [leC] "law", lehes [le:s] "laws".
The ending [@n] is reduced to [@], except when a vowel follows afterwards: coelun ["kAjl@] "sky", coelun ader ["kAjl@n "a:d@r] "black sky". If the ending is involved in nasal mutation, the nasal disappears too, but the epenthetic consonants and consonant softenings it causes will persist: coelun cruelun ["kAjl@ "gry@l@], coelun ruore ["kAjl@ "dru@r].

Note that the articles u, a, un are not subject to these reduction rules. The forms u and a would vanish wholly if they were!

Vocabulary:

Intervocal consonant clusters tend to become voiced: canto -> cando /"kandA/, monstrare -> montrare /mAn"tra:r/, status -> tsadu /"tsa:d@/; but sanctus -> santu /"sant@/ remains unvoiced because of the vanished c. Voiced stops soften into fricatives intervocally: iugum -> juhun /"ju:h@n/, modus -> mozu /"mo:z@/, labium -> laevun /"lajv@n/.

The vowel e becomes i before nasal codas: semper -> simber /"simb@r/.

Initial ci, ce, gi, ge turns into hi, he, hi, je respectively.

A syllable-final l becomes a back-vowel diphthong, unless it is followed by an i-flavored ending, in which case it turns into a front-vowel diphthong: nullus -> nuolu /"nu@l@/, alter -> auder /"awd@r/, mollis -> moele /mAjl/.

The simple initial clusters st, sp and sc become ts, pf and x respectively: stare -> tsare /tsa:r/, spica -> pfiga /"pfi:g@/, scala -> xala/"Sa:l@/. Medially, st, sp and sc usually stay intact: istic -> iste /iSt/, vespa -> vispa /"viSp@/, musca -> musca /"mUSk@/. More complex clusters can evolve differently: strata -> trada /"tra:d@/, monstrare -> montrare /mAn"tra:r/, inscriptus -> incriftu /iN"krift@/.

Two unstressed syllables tend to collapse into one. The vowel of the dropped syllable can enter the previous one to form a diphthong: generis -> jendris /"jendri/, dominus -> doemu /dAjm@/, carmina -> caerma /"kErm@/. The following table indicates which diphthong is created when two vowels are merged. These rules have their exceptions, of course.

First\Second a e i o u

a a ae ae au au

e eo e or ei ei eo eo

i io io i io y

o uo oe oe o or ou ou

u uo ue ue uo u

First\Second	a	e	i	o	u
a	a	ae	ae	au	au
e	eo	e or ei	ei	eo	eo
i	io	io	i	io	y
o	uo	oe	oe	o or ou	ou
u	uo	ue	ue	uo	u

The reason why seemingly unintuitive mergings like i + e -> io happen is quite simple. In early Jovian, the vowels were simply juxtaposed: i + e -> *ie. This practise created many diphthongs (ia, ie, io) with the exact same phonemic behavior (/i@/ when open and stressed, /i/ otherwise). Likewise, the groups (oa, ua, uo) and (ea, eo, eu) shared the same phonemic behavior. Therefore, a spelling reform reduced these diphthong groups to their least common denominators io, uo and eo.

The collapse of an unstressed syllable can create awkward consonant clusters, which are subsequently adapted to Jovian phonology. For example, stop + nasal combinations change into nasal + stop combinations: machina -> *maicna -> maenca /"mEnk@/. The cluster /dl/ is considered awkward and turned into /bl/. Epenthetic stops appear between /m n r l/ and following /r l s/: generis -> jendris /"jendri/; torsio -> toerdsone /tar"dso:n/, celsus -> heodsu /"he@ds@/.

Nouns whose stems end in -r or -l often form irregular nominative singulars where this consonant is syllabified: taurus -> tauer /"taw@r/ rather than **tauru /"tawr@/, granulum -> grannul /"grann@l/ rather than **gramblun /"grambl@n/. This irregular form is mirrored in the -es/-as/-us plurals (tauers) but not in the other forms (e.g. oblique singular tauro, gramblo).

Declination:

Nouns

Noun declinations are reduced to three types. Nominative forms can be irregular, but all other cases are built regularly. The one exception is cases where an irregular nominative form syllabizes a stem consonant (e.g. auer for the stem aur-), the accusative plural (and the nominative plural in case of type III declination) is formed by appending -s to the nominative form rather than -es/-as/-us to the stem: auers rather than aurus.

As in Latin, the nominative and accusative forms are identical for all neutral nouns. The ablative and dative cases of Latin have merged into a single case, the oblique, whose forms are taken from the classical dative. Some further leveling has occurred in the second declination, where the genitive singular is now -i to match the first declination form, thereby reducing the ambivalence of the -ae ending.

The declination IV has evolved from the Latin e-declination, but has come to include some words formerly ending in -eus, -eum and -ea as well.

Ia. doemu "master": tauer "bull":

            Singular             Plural Singular Plural
     NOM    doemu /"dAjm@/       doemi /"dAjmi/ tauer /"taw@r/ tauri /"tawri/
     ACC    doemun /"dAjm@n/     doemus /"dAjm@s/ taurun /"tawr@n/ tauers /"taw@rs/
     OBL    doemo /"dAjmA/       doemis /"dAjmi/ tauro /"tawrA/ tauris /"tawri/
     GEN    doemi /"dAjmi/       doemon /"dAjmAn/ tauri /"tawri/ tauron /"tawrAn/

Ib. coelun "sky": auer "gold":

            Singular             Plural                 Singular             Plural
     NOM    coelun /"kAjl@n/     coela /"kAjl@/         auer /"aw@r/         aura /"awr@/
     ACC    coelun /"kAjl@n/     coela /"kAjl@/         auer /"aw@r/         aura /"awr@/
     OBL    coelo /"kAjlA/       coelis /"kAjli/        auro /"awrA/         auris /"awri/
     GEN    coeli /"kAjli/       coelon /"kAjlAn/       auri /"awri/         auron /"awrAn/

II. hena "dinner":

            Singular             Plural
     NOM    hena /"he:n@/        henae /"he:ne/
     ACC    henan /"he:n@n/      henas /"he:n@s/
     OBL    henae /"he:ne/       henis /"he:ni/
     GEN    heni /"he:ni/        henon /"he:nAn/

III. jenner "gender": maere "sea":

            Singular             Plural                 Singular             Plural
     NOM    jenner /"jenn@r/     jendra /"jendr@/       maere /majr/         maera /"majr@/
     ACC    jenner /"jenn@r/     jendra /"jendr@/       maere /majr/         maera /"majr@/
     OBL    jendri /"jendri/     jendrys /"jendry/      maeri /"majri/       maerys /"majry/
     GEN    jendris /"jendri/    jendron /"jendrAn/     maeris /"majris/     maeron /"majrAn/

pazer "father": lac "milk":

            Singular             Plural                 Singular             Plural
     NOM    pazer /"pa:D@r/      pazers /"pa:D@rs/      lac /lax/            lacta /"laxt@/
     ACC    padren /"padr@n/     pazers /"pa:D@rs/      lac /lax/            lacta /"laxt@/
     OBL    padri /"padri/       padrys /"padry/        lacti /"laxti/       lactys /"laxty/
     GEN    padris /"padri/      padron /"padrAn/       lactis /"laxti /     lacton /"laxtAn/

IV. ré "thing":

            Singular             Plural
     NOM    ré /re:/       rés /res/
     ACC    rén /ren/      rés /res/
     OBL    réi /rej/      réis /rej/
     GEN    réis /rej/         réon /"re:An/

Pronouns

There is an optional indefinite article derived from unus, -a, -um. It's somewhat irregular. Note how the masculine singular nominative form u /@/ is still distinguishable from the feminine a /@/ by the fact that a softens the following word while u resists.

u/a/un "(indefinite article)":

       Singular                               Plural
       m.          f.          n.             m.          f.          n.
NOM    u /@/    a /@/   un /@n/        ni /ni/     nae /ne/    na /n@/
ACC    un /@n/     an /@n/     un /@n/        nus /n@s/   nas /n@s/   na /n@/
OBL    ni /ni/     ni /ni/    ni /ni/        nis /ni/    nis /ni/    nis /ni/
GEN    nys /ny/    nys /ny/    nys /ny/       on /An/    on /An/ on /An/

Obviously, the feminine article a would vanish entirely if Elision were to act on it. Therefore, a is pronounced /@n/ before vowels: a aegel [@n "ajg@l] "an eagle". This is a remnant of the original Latin word una.

A definite article is usually not used, the noun alone is assumed to be definite if it has already occurred earlier in the text. However, one can use the third person personal pronoun in order to emphasize definiteness, e.g. is doemu "he, the man".

Here follow the personal pronouns:

eo/nos "(first person personal pronoun)":

Singular Plural

NOM eo /e@/ nos /nAs/ACC me /me/ or /m@/ nos /nAs/OBL mic /miC/ noe /nAj/GEN mei /mej/ notter /"nAtt@r/

tu/vos "(second person personal pronoun)":

Singular Plural

NOM tu /tU/ vos /vAs/ACC te /te/ or /t@/ vos /vAs/OBL tic /tiC/ voe /vAj/GEN tue /ty/ votter /"vAtt@r/

is/ia/id "(third person personal pronoun and definite article)":

Singular Plural m. f. n. m. f. n.NOM is /i/ ja /ja/ id /i/ i /i/ jae /je/ ja /ja/ACC en /en/ en /en/ id /i/ eos /Es/ eas /Es/ ja /ja/OBL ei /ej/ ei /ej/ ei /ej/ is /i/ is /i/ is /i/GEN ys /y/ ys /y/ ys /y/ jon /jAn/ jon /jAn/ jon /jAn/ se "(reflexive personal pronoun)" ACC se /te/ or /t@/ OBL sic /tiC/ GEN sue /ty/

The final consonants in is, id and ys are silent, but subject to the mutations Resistance and Consolidation. The forms ei, ja, eos and eas are usually pronounced [e], [j@] and [@s] when used as a definite article.

Examples:

doemu /"dAjm@/ "master"
ammur /"amm@r/ "love"
is doemu /i"dAjm@/ "the/this master"
is ammur /i"zamm@r/ "the/this love"

fruendun /"frynd@n/ "wheat"
uenun /"y@n@n/ "wine"
id fruendun /i"frynd@n/ "the/this wheat"
id uenun /i"dy@n@n/ "the/this wine"

Another irregularly declined pronoun is the relative/interrogative pronoun:

       ci/cae/cod "who, what, which":
       Singular                               Plural
       m.          f.          n.             m.          f.          n.
NOM    ci /ki/     cae /ke/    cod /kA/       ci /ki/     cae /ke/    cae /ke/
ACC    cen /ken/   can /kan/   cod /kA/       cos /kAs/   cas /kas/   cae /ke/
OBL    ci /ki/ ci /ki/    ci /ki/      cys /ky/    cys /ky/    cys /ky/
GEN    cys /ky/    cys /ky/    cys /ky/       con /kAn/   con /kAn/   con /kAn/

The first three possessive pronouns miu, tuu, suu also have some unconventional pronunciations. Since they are virtually always followed by a noun (phrase) carrying the same inflections for case, gender and number, its pronunciation can be greatly reduced without losing too much information.

While they are spelt as perfectly regular -u/-a/-un adjectives (miu "my", tuu "your", suu "his/her/its/their"), most forms are pronounced like the naked radical (/mi/, /tU/, /sU/), except for the forms with a final -n (namely ACC singular and GEN plural), which are pronounced as (/min/, /tUn/, /sUn/).

However, the mutations exerted upon the following noun phrase are the ones suggested by the unreduced spelt ending, not the pronunciation.

Examples:

Miu frazer /mi"fra:z@r/ "my brother (NOM sg)" (Resistance)
Mio fradri /mi"bra:dri/ "to my brother (DAT sg)" (Lenition)
Mii frazers /mi"bra:z@rs/ "my brothers (NOM pl)" (Lenition)
Mis fradris /mi"fra:dri/ "to my brothers (DAT pl)" (Resistance)
Miun fradren /mim"pra:dr@n/ "my brother (ACC pl)" (Condensation)
Mion fradron /mim"pra:drAn/ "my brothers' (GEN pl)" (Condensation)

Modern Jovian:

Nouns and adjectives no longer inflect for case, only for number. Personal pronouns, relative pronouns (ci, cae, cod) and articles (u, a, un; is, ja, id) retain all their forms though. Articles are used more consistently, since they now bear the case information: Da en pixe friscu ei mare pauver. [da em biS friSks e va:r "pawv@r] "Give the fresh fish to the poor man."

Declination IV nouns form their plurals with -éi rather than -és. Otherwise, the nominative forms are used in all situations.

Noun phrases without articles (e.g. place names, verb infinitives, uncountable quantities) often use the prepositions ad and de to mark oblique and genitive cases instead: id gaudsun de eictare [ig "gawdz@ d eC"ta:r] "the fun of riding", un pougul de uenun [@m "bowg@l d "y@n@] "a cup of wine".

One of the most interesting phenomena in Modern Jovian is the intrusive article. Some pronouns, like oene "every, all" or nuolu "no, none" can't well be preceded by articles. In those cases, the article is placed after the pronoun (which appears in a sandhi-less form, written with the ending -e) and before the following noun: oene u mare [Ajn @ ma:r] "every man, lit.: every a man"; nuole ni obe [nu@l ni o:b] "by no means, lit.: none by_a mean".

This construction is extended to personal pronouns and in fact every adjective placed before the noun for special emphasis. Adjectives take the neutral -e ending as mentioned before, while the possessive pronouns are reduced to mi, tu, su, nor, vor, su. There is often some phonetic fusing between possessive pronoun and article, e.g. suwe mi eos mani [su:v miz "ma:ni] rather than the explicit [su:v mi @z "ma:ni].

Example:

Nau jo nuver mi an fija tan tsuode ni puore.[no jA "nu:v@r mi @m pi: tan dzu@d ni bu@r] "I am not going to wed one of my daughters to such daft a boy."

Conjugations

Inflections

Jovian greatly reduces the number of inflected verb forms by dropping many of the Latin tenses and expressing the future tense and the moods with the help of auxiliaries and particles. Be warned though: The choice of auxiliaries is rather different from the Vulgar Latin ones.

The ê and î conjugations of Latin collapsed into the I-Conjugation of Jovian, while the consonantic and short-i conjugation of Latin became the Consonantic Conjugation of Jovian. The short i flavors the verb stem: facio > faego.

The present indicative forms don't hide many surprises. Only the first person singular in the i-conjugation shows an i-flavored umlauting in the stem as a result of the vanished -e- of Latin, under the condition that the stem vowel be a single vowel (no diphthong) and not i. Example: tagire, taego from Latin tacêre, taceo.

Present

A-Conj. candare /k@n"da:r/ "to sing":

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    cando    /"kandA/       candame   /k@n"da:m/
     2.P    candas   /"kand@s/      candaese /k@n"dajs/
     3.P    canda    /"kand@/       candan    /"kand@n/

Participle: candande /k@n"dand/

I-Conj. ozire /A"zi:r/ "to hate"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    oezo     /"AjzA/        ozime     /A"zi:m/
     2.P    oezes    /"Ajz@s/       ozise     /A"zi:s/
     3.P    oeze     /"Ajz/         oezen     /"Ajz@n/

Participle: ozinde /A"zind/

Cons.-Conj. faeger /"fajg@r/ "to make"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    faego     /"fajgA/      faegim    /"fajgim/
     2.P    faeges    /"fajg@s/     faegis    /"fajgis/
     3.P    faege     /fajg/        faegun    /"fajg@n/

Participle: faeginde /fE"gind/

The only other inflected tense is the past, derived from the Latin imperfect tense and generalized into an all-purpose past tense. Note how a past infinitive is introduced in analogy to the other forms, essentially making the past form a regular A-Conjugation verb of its own. The past participle, however, is often irregular, especially for consonantic verbs (where it is unpredictable as a rule).

Past

A-Conj. candavare /,kand@"va:r/ "to have sung"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    candavo   /k@n"da:vA/   candavame   /,kand@"va:m/
     2.P    candavas /k@n"da:v@s/ candavaese /,kand@"vajs/
     3.P    candava   /k@n"da:v@/   candavan    /k@n"da:v@n/

Participle: candadu /k@n"da:d@/ "sung"

I-Conj. ozivare /,Azi"va:r/ "to have hated"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    ozivo    /A"zi:vA/      ozivame    /,Azi"va:m/
     2.P    ozivas   /A"zi:v@s/     ozivaese   /,Azi"vajs/
     3.P    oziva    /A"zi:v@/      ozivan     /A"zi:v@n/

Participle: ozidu /o"zi:d@/ "hated"

Cons.-Conj. faegivare /,fEgi"va:r/ "to have made"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    faegivo   /fE"gi:vA/    faegivame   /,fEgi"va:m/
     2.P    faegivas /fE"gi:v@s/   faegivaese /,fEgi"vajs/
     3.P    faegiva   /fE"gi:v@/    faegivan    /fE"gi:v@n/

Participle: factu /faxt@/ "made"

Auxiliaries

The future tense is built from the auxiliary verb ire immediately followed by the infinitive of the verb. Ire is derived from the Latin ire "to go", but is now exclusively used as an auxiliary, while vare from Latin vadere now performs that role.

Ire has an irregular present tense, but forms its past tense completely regularly.

The future tense auxiliary ire

Present ire /i:r/ "to be going to..."

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    jau /jo/              ime /i:m/
     2.P    is /is/                ise /i:z/
     3.P    i   /i/                 ion /in/

Participle: inde /ind/

Past ivare /i"va:r/ "to have been going to..." (regular conjugation)

Participle: idu /"i:d@/

Examples:   ime candare /i:m k@n"da:r/ "we will sing"
          is ozire /iz A"zi:r/ "you will hate"
            ion faeger /im "pajg@r/ "they will make"

The passive voice is built from the auxiliary verb fire "to be made" followed by the past participle of the verb. Fire is derived from the Latin fieri, which is the passive form of facere "to make".

The passive voice auxiliary fire

Present fire /fi:r/ "to be made..."

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    fou /fo/               fime /fi:m/
     2.P    fis /fis/              fise /fi:z/
     3.P    fi   /fi/               fion /fin/

Participle: finde /find/

Past fivare /fi"va:r/ "to have been made..." (regular conjugation)

Participle: fidu /"fi:d@/

Examples:   na caerma fion candada /n@"gErm@ fiN g@n"da:d@/ "some songs are sung"
          fime ozidi /fi:m A"zi:di/ "we are hated"
          i fire factun /i vi:r "vaxt@n/ "it will be made"

Likewise, the conditional mood is built from the auxiliary gare "to would" followed by the infinitive of the verb. Gare is derived from the Latin subjunctive forms of the verb agere (agam, agas, etc.), whose Jovian version aher acts as the all-purpose verb "to do". The seemingly unrelated past form aerare comes from the imperfect subjunctive forms of agere (agerem, ageres etc.).

The conditional mood auxiliary gare

Present gare /ga:r/ "to would"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    gau   /go/            game /ga:m/
     2.P    gas   /gas/           gaese /gajz/
     3.P    ga    /ga/              gan   /gan/

Participle: gande /gand/

Past aerare /E"ra:r/ "to would have" (regular conjugation)

Participle: gadu /"ga:d@/

Examples: gau candare /go g@n"da:r/ "I would sing"
game ozire /ga:m A"zi:r/ "we would hear"

The optative mood is marked by the particle o, which is technically not an auxiliary, since it's not declined. The main verb retains its finiteness. Nevertheless, it counts as a mood, so one might as well mention it here.

The optative mood particle o

Examples: o veine fine /A vejn fi:n/ "oh, that the end come!" o diwitte is doemu miun uedsun /A zi"vitt i "dAjm@ min "y@dz@n/ "oh, that the master forgive me my mistake!" o nau i pluver /A no i "blu:v@r/ "oh, that it might not rain!"

Irregulars

The following verbs are irregular but very common and useful.

Ere "to be"

Present ere /e:r/ "to be"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    sou /sow/              sume /su:m/
     2.P    es /es/                eise /ejz/
     3.P    ix /iS/                son   /sAn/

Participle: sinde /sind/

Past erare /e"ra:r/ "to have been" (regular conjugation)

Participle: sidu /"si:d@/

Aher "to do; to act as ...; to behave"

Present aher /a:r/ "to do"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    au    /aw/              aeme /ajm/
     2.P    ahes /a:s/             aese /ajz/
     3.P    ahe /a:x/             aun   /on/

Participle: aende /End/

Past aevare /E"va:r/ "to have done" (regular conjugation)

Participle: actu /"axt@/

Vare "to go"

Present vare /"va:r/ "to go"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    vau    /vaw/            vaeme /vajm/
     2.P    vas /vas/          vaese /vajz/
     3.P    va    /va/           vaun   /von/

Participle: vaende /vEnd/

Past ivare /i"va:r/ "to have gone" (regular conjugation)

Participle: vasu /"va:z@/

Haere "to have"

Present haere /"hajr/ "to have"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    hau    /haw/            haeme   /hajm/
     2.P    haes   /hEs/        haese   /hajz/
     3.P    hae    /haj/            haen    /hEn/

Participle: haende /hEnd/

Past haevare /hE"va:r/ "to have had" (regular conjugation)

Participle: haedu /"hajd@/

Vouler "to want"

Present vouler /"vowl@r/ "to want"

            Singular                Plural
     1.P    vou    /vow/            voume   /vowm/
     2.P    vous   /vus/            vuede /vy@d/
     3.P    vul /vul/        voun    /vun/

Participle: voulinde /vu"lind/

Past volivare /vAli"va:r/ "to have wanted" (regular conjugation)

Participle: voudu /"vowd@/

Modern Jovian:

Through interaction with French and German, Modern Jovian has reacquired an aspect distinction. Three new tenses are formed with finite forms of haere and the past participle spelled with final -e rather than -u or -a, since the participle has no adjectival function here. These tenses are used to convey a sense of completed or punctual action as opposed to the ongoing nature of the regular tenses.

The forms hau [haw] and hae [haj] are simplified to [ho] and [he] when used as auxiliaries.

Examples: Hau ueste te. [ho ySt t@] "I've seen you."
Haevo ueste te. ['hajvA ySt t@] "I had seen you."
Jo haere ueste te. [jA hajr ySt t@] "I will have seen you."These tenses are called perfect, plusquamperfect and future perfect.

The Jovian Language

Contents

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants:

Mutation:

(1) Lenition

(2) Condensation

Sandhi:

(1) Elision

(2) Resistance

(3) Consolidation

(4) Assimilation

Modern Jovian:

Vocabulary:

Declination:

Nouns

Pronouns

Modern Jovian:

Conjugations

Inflections

Auxiliaries

Irregulars

Modern Jovian: