Modern Jovian is the official language of the High Kingdom of
Jervaine in the collaborative fictional alternate reality project known
as Ill Bethisad. Its is the result of two years (and counting) of language creation
based on Classical Latin exposed to a Germanic substratum. Jovian sets
itself apart from regular Romance languages through its many features
from Classical Latin that were lost in Vulgar Latin, and through its
exploration of a new and unconventional direction of phonemic
evolution. It has taken on a life of its own by now; its
character and flavor are established and its grammar and derivation
processes play-tested. My work on Jovian no longer feels like
creation, but rather like discovery. It never fails to surprise
me.
I don't have an explicitly formulated
masterplan for vocabulary derivation, only some guidelines and a Sprachgefühl acquired over a decade of exploration. Even so, I do assume a certain level of
linguistic background knowledge in the reader, since the matter is
rather non-trivial, and would simply take ages to present in a
foolproof way.
A list of Jovian vocabulary is available here. You might have to switch to Mac character coding to get the accented
vowels right, and you'll need to space the tab stops rather widely in
order to get some decent formatting. I'm afraid the AppleWorks
database I'm using doesn't offer any prettier export formats. The
first column is the Jovian word, the second one the Latin (or German,
or French) word from which it is derived, the third one the English
translation, the fourth one the word type (e.g. N = noun), the fifth
one additional information (noun gender or verb irregularity) and the
sixth one a comment line.
My notations are "English", Latin, Jovian,
/phonemic/, [phonetic]. The latter two are written in X-SAMPA,
with the following deviations from the standard: Primary and
secondary stress are represented as /'/ and /,/ as opposed to the
standard /"/ and /%/ for the sake of legibility.
The phonetic rendering of a vowel
depends strongly on whether its
syllable is stressed and/or closed off with a consonant. The following
table lists the pronunciation in the different environments. The
columns "Final closed" and "Final open" are only given where these
special cases deviate from "Elsewhere".
| Vowel | Stressed open | Stressed closed | Elsewhere | Final closed | Final open |
| a | [a:] | [a] | [@] | [@] | (mute) |
| e | [e:] | [e] | [e] | [@] |
(mute) |
| i | [i:] | [i] | [i] | ||
| o | [o:] | [A] | [A] | ||
| u | [u:] | [u] | [u] | [@] | (mute) |
| y |
[y:] |
[y] |
[y] |
| Diphthong | Stressed open | Elsewhere | Final |
| ae | [aj] | [E] | [e] |
| oe | [Aj] | [a] | |
| ue | [y@] | [y] | |
| ei | [ej] | [e] | |
| au | [aw] | [o] | |
| ou | [ow] | [u] | |
| io | [i@] | [i] | |
| eo | [e@] | [E] | |
| uo | [u@] | [u] |
The final letters -d, -b, and -h, and the -n in the endings -en, -an, -un are usually mute, but can resurface through the Condensation mutation. In the words en, an, un, however, the n is never mute: [en @n @n].
Standard Jovian as taught in textbooks holds that h and v/w should always be pronounced within a word. In practice, however, there are a number of common circumstances in which they are omitted from speech. While conservative philologists might still decry this practice as a corruption of the language's venerable ladindade, it has most likely been in use for centuries, and is so well-engrained across all social strata that standard pronunciation comes across as stuffy and artificial. The phonetic transcriptions in this document adhere to the spoken rather than the textbook convention.
Similarly, the Jovian phoneme /v/ (spelled v or w) is dropped from speech at the end of the word, before the ending /-s/, and in the endings /-ajv@l/ and /-i:v@l/. The schwa in the latter endings is dropped along with the /v/.
Examples:
glovu [glo:] "globe" rather than [glo:v]
ueves [y@z] "you like" rather than [y@vz]
possivel [pAs'si:l] "possible" rather than [pAs'si:v@l]
awaevel [@'vajl] "lovable" rather than [@'vajv@l]
If the /v/ was part of a final consonant cluster, the syllabification of the word does not change:
herva [hEr] "herb" rather than [he:r] or [hErv]
doerwa [dar] "sleeps" rather than [dAjj@r] or [darv]
Finally, the textbook pronunciation of [z]+es is [z@s], with an epenthetic schwa. In practice, it is contracted to [s]:
peze [pe:z] "foot"
pezes [pe:s] "feet" rather than [pe:z@s]
Mutations are sound changes that happen at the boundary between two consecutive words in a sentence. Typically, it is the ending of the first word that causes the beginning of the second word to change. These changes are never reflected in the spelling of written Jovian, but they are essential to the correct pronunciation of spoken Jovian. As a result, Jovian is more difficult to speak than to write.
The mutations of the Jovian language can be divided into two classes: General mutations, which happen whenever a given combination of sounds is created by the collision of two words, and grammatical mutations,
which only occur when the first word is exerting grammatical power over
the second word, i.e., between prepositions and the following nouns,
between the adjectives and nouns that make up an appositive noun
phrase, and between auxiliary verbs
and their argument. Getting a grammatical mutation wrong in spoken
Jovian can change the meaning or the
gender of a noun.
There are two types of grammatical mutation:
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] (these remain unchanged)
[f
s]
[v z]
[fr fl] [br bl]
[ts]
[dz]
[m]
[v]
Examples:
fija [fi:] "daughter"
fiju [fi:] "son"
a fija [@ vi:] "a daughter"
u fiju [@ fi:] "a son"
friza [fri:z] "cold"
auga friza [awg bri:z] "cold water"
tsadu [tsa:d] "state"
louher de tsadu ['loww@r d@ dza:d] "to talk politics"
doemu [dAjm] "Mister"
o doemu [A zAjm] "oh Mister!"
Note that since Lenition is a grammatical mutation, it does not occur outside the scope of prepositional phrases, appositive noun phrases, and auxiliary verb phrases:
ja fija canda [j@ vi: kand] rather than *[j@ vi: gand]
"the daughter sings"
Regular initial sounds: Condensed sounds:
[f
fr fl] [pf pfr pfl]
[v]
[m]
[s S] [dz tS]
[h]
[n]
[r
l]
[dr bl]
Examples:
vindu [vind] "wind"
auzire en vindu [o'zi:r em mind] "to hear the wind"
hervae ['hErve] "herbs"
ih sappur on hervae [i 'sapp@r An 'Erve] "the taste of herbs"
simbel ['simb@l] "simple"
un dictun simbel [@n 'diCt@ 'dzimb@l] "a simple phrase"
frizun ['fri:z@] "cold"
un baenun frizun [@m 'bajn@ 'pfri:z@] "a cold bath"
rictun [riCt@] "right"
id braegun rictun [i 'brajg@ 'driCt@] "the right arm"
lauzaevel [lo'zajv@l] "laudable"
un degredun lauzaevel [@n de'gre:d@ blo'zajv@l] "a laudable decision"
Note that since Condensation is a grammatical mutation, it does not occur outside the scope of prepositional phrases, appositive noun phrases, and auxiliary verb phrases:
id braegun vouve [i 'brajg@ vowv] rather than *[i 'brajg@ mowv]
"the arm spins"
There are four types of general mutation:
Examples:
duo [du@] "two"
duo ores [du: o:rz] "two ears"
eo [e@] "I"
eo ipfe [e: ipf] "I myself"
te [t@] (or [te:] when stressed) "thee"
te awo ['ta:vA] "I love you"
Regular initial sounds: Sounds after -u, -ih, -yh:
(vowel)
[h] + (vowel)
Examples:
fija [fi:] "daughter"
fija beola [fi: ve@l] "beautiful daughter"
ja fija aumbrosa [j@ vi: om'bro:z] "the love-smitten
daughter"
fiju [fi:] "son"
fiju beolu [fi: be@l] "beautiful son"
ih fiju aumbrosu [i fi: hom'bro:z] "the love-smitten
son"
pares [pa:rz] "fathers"
i pares [i ba:rz] "the fathers"
ih pares [i pa:rz] "to the fathers"
Regular initial sounds: After mute -d: After mute -b:
Regular initial sounds: Sounds after mute -n:
(vowel)
[n] + (vowel)
Examples:
ed [e] "and"
ueda ed morde [y@d e mArd] "life and death"
paene ed auga [pajn e dawg] "bread and water"
auga ed paene [awg ep pajn] "water and bread"
bueder ed lac ['by@d@r e blaX] "butter and milk"
luc ed sonu [luX e dzo:n] "light and sound"
noeme ed jeoner [nAjm e 'gje@n@r] "name and gender"
caedu ed frizu [kajd e pfri:z] "hot and cold"
manes ed vuodu [ma:nz e bu@d] "hands and face"
sub [su] "under"
sub coelun [suk 'kAjl@] "under the sky"
sub auga [su bawg] "under water"
sub sole [su dzo:l] "under the sun"
sub juhun [su 'gju:@] "under the yoke"
sub foela [su 'pfAjl] "under the leaves"
sub wagun [su 'ba:g@] "under the car"
ouvun ['owv@] "egg"
ouvun aubun ['owv@ 'nawb@] "white egg"
Regular following sounds: Assimilated non-mute -n:
[m]
[m]
[p
k]
[m N]
[b
g]
[m N]
Regular following sounds: Assimilated -s:
(vowel)
[z] + (vowel)
[t p
k]
[St Sp Sk]
Examples:
voun esser [vun 'ess@r] "they want to eat"
voun mitter [vum 'mitt@r] "they want to send"
voun candare [vuN k@n'da:r] "they want to sing"
eictes [eCts] "knights"
eictes eibri [eCt 'zejbri] "drunken knights"
eictes tondsi [eCtS 'tAndzi] "athletic knights"
The evolution of Classical Latin words into Jovian ones is usually
traceable and to some degree predictable. The following rules
should by no means be taken as hard and fast, or comprehensive.
Intervocal consonant clusters tend to become voiced: canto ->
cando ['kandA],
status -> tsadu [tsa:d]; but sanctus -> santu [sant] remains unvoiced because of the vanished c. Voiced stops soften into fricatives intervocally: iugum -> juhun ['ju:@], modus -> mozu ['mo:z], labium -> laevun ['lajv@].
| First\Second | a | e | i | o | u |
| a | a | a or ae | ae | a or au | a or au |
| e | eo | e or eo | ei | eo | eo |
| i | io | io | i | io | io |
| 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 orthographically: 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]: camera -> cambra ['kamb@r]; torsio, -onis -> toerdsone [tar'dzo:n], celsus -> heodsu [he@dz]. The stops /p k/ turn into /f X/ before other stops: caput, capitis -> caefte [kEft], eques, equitis -> eicte [eCt].
Nouns whose stems end in -ulus, -ula, -ulum typically become -ul in Jovian. They "forget" their original noun declension and adopt a simple plural in -uls: granulum -> grannul ['grann@l] "grain" rather than *gramblun, plural grannuls ['grann@ls] "grains" rather than *grambla. The same simplified plurals are often applied to other words ending in [@l] or [@r], such as for the adjective simbel ['simb@l] "simple", plural simbels ['simb@ls] (even when applied to neuter nouns), or the noun jeonner ['jEnn@r] "gender", plural jeonners ['jEnn@rs] "genders".
The vowel e often becomes i before nasal codas: semper -> simber ['simb@r], ventus -> vindu [vind]. This development is hindered if the e is subject to diphthongization (see below) into ei or eo: mensis -> meindse [mendz].
Initial ci, ce, gi, ge turns into hi, he, ji, je respectively.
A front-vowel nominative ending like -is or -ês or a gliding -i- usually cause an i-umlaut in the previous syllable: felis -> feile [fejl], historia -> tsoera [tsAjr], borealis -> boeraele [ba'rajl].
A syllable-final l becomes a back-vowel diphthong, unless it
is followed by a front-vowel ending, in which case it turns into a
front-vowel diphthong: nullus -> nuolu [nu@l], alter -> auder ['awd@r], mollis -> moele [mAjl].
In two subsequent syllables ending in r, the first one dissimilates into r: arbor -> albur ['alb@r].
Modern Jovian inflects its nouns for number, but not for case. Thus each noun retains only two forms. One distinguishes five
pluralization paradigms, which don't always correspond to those of
Latin. Furthermore, the plural form isn't always trivially
derived from the singular.
There are three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and
neuter. Only in the first three paradigms can one determine the
gender of a given noun from its form; in the others, they have to be
learned together with the word. Genders are important for the
choice of articles, pronouns and adjective endings.
Here follow the five noun paradigms:
Unlike Latin, Modern Jovian makes
extensive use of articles. Since nouns and adjectives no longer inflect
for case, this role now
rests on the shoulders of the articles.
The indefinite article is somewhat irregularly derived from unus, -a,
-um. 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)" (< unus)
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. In the same situation, the masculine article u causes Resistance as usual: u angel [@ 'haNg@l] "an angel".
The personal pronoun of the third person is used as the definite article: ih doemu "the man", literally "he man".
ih/ja/id "(third
personal pronoun and definite article)"
(< is/ea/id)
Examples:
doemu [dAjm] "master"
ammur ['amm@r] "love"
ih doemu [i dAjm] "the master"
ih ammur [i 'hamm@r] "the love"
Here follow the other personal pronouns:
eo/nos "(first
personal pronoun)" (< ego/nos)
Singular Plural
NOM eo [e@]
nos [nAs]
ACC me [me] or [m@]
nos [nAs]
OBL mic [miC]
noe [nAj]
POS mi [mi] nor [nAr]
tu/vos "(second personal pronoun)" (< tu/vos)
Singular Plural
NOM tu [tu]
vos [vAs]
ACC te [te] or [t@]
vos [vAs]
OBL tic [tiC]
voe [vAj]
POS tu [tu] vor [vAr]
se "(reflexive
personal pronoun)" (< se)
ACC se [se] or [s@]
OBL sic [siC]
POS su [su]
The only other declined pronoun is the relative/interrogative pronoun:
ci/cae/cod "who, what,
which" (< qui/quae/quod)
Singular
Plural
m.
f.
n.
m.
f.
n.
NOM ci [ki] cae [ke] cod /kA/ ci [ki] cae [ke] cae
[ke]
¿Ci louge? [ki lowg] "Who speaks?"
Ih omme, ci louge... [i hAm ki lowg] "The man who speaks..."
¿Cod uezes? [kA dy@s] "What do you see?"
¿Id cod uezes? [ik kA dy@s] "Which one do you see?"
Id worde, cod dihes... [i bArd kA di:s] "The word that you say..."
Jovian greatly reduces the number of inflected verb forms by dropping many of the Latin tenses and moods, and expressing the remaining ones with the help of auxiliaries and particles. Be warned though: The choice of auxiliaries is often 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 survives as an umlaut on the verb stem: facio > faeho.
The present indicative forms don't hide many
surprises. The only non-trivial feature shows up in the
I-Conjugation, where the stem-stressed forms suffer an i-flavored
umlauting in the stem as a result of the vanished -e-/-i- of Latin,
under the condition that the stem vowel be a single vowel (no diphthong)
and not i. Example: tahire, taeho from Latin
tacêre, taceo, but auzire, auzo from audîre, audio.
Present Tense
A-Conj. candare [k@n"da:r] "to sing":
Singular
Plural
1.P cando ['kandA] candame [k@n'da:m]
2.P candas [kandz] candaese [k@n'dajz]
3.P canda [kand] candan ['kand@]
IMP ¡canda! [kand] ¡candade! [k@n'da:d]
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 [Ajs] ozise [A'zi:z]
3.P oeze [Ajz] oezen ['Ajz@]
IMP ¡oeze! [Ajz] ¡ozide! [A'zi:d]
Participle: ozinde [A'zind]
Cons.-Conj. faeher ['fajj@r] "to make"
Singular
Plural
1.P faeho ['fajjA] faehime [fE'hi:m]
2.P faehes [fajs] faehise [fE'hi:s]
3.P faehe [fajC] faehun ['fajj@]
IMP ¡faehe! [fajC] ¡faehide! [fE'hi:d]
Participle: faehinde [fE'hind]
The only other inflected tense is the past, derived
from the
Latin imperfect tense, fulfilling pretty much the same role as the
latter: to describe ongoing, non-punctual actions and states in the
past. Example: Heire, pluviva toze ei dsé. [hejj@r plu'vi:v to:z e dze:] "Yesterday, it was raining all day long." Ero caege, sed uezo nun. ['e:rA kajg se 'dy@zA nun] "I was blind, but now I see." The past tense is used much less frequently than the perfect (see below).
Note how a past infinitive is introduced in analogy to the finite 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 Tense
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:vz] candavaese [,kand@'vajz]
3.P candava [k@n'da:v] candavan [k@n'da:v@]
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:vz] ozivaese [,Azi'vajz]
3.P oziva [A'zi:v] ozivan [A'zi:v@]
Participle: ozidu [A'zi:d] "hated"
Cons.-Conj. faehivare [,fEhi'va:r] "to have made"
Singular
Plural
1.P faehivo [fE'hi:vA] faehivame [,fEhi'va:m]
2.P faehivas [fE'hi:vz] faehivaese [,fEhi'vajz]
3.P faehiva [fE'hi:v] faehivan [fE'hi:v@]
Participle: factu [faXt] "made"
The perfect tense auxiliary haere ("to have")
Present haere [hajj@r] "to have"
Singular
Plural
1.P hau [ho]*
haeme [hajm]
2.P haes [hEs] haese [hajz]
3.P hae [he]*
haen [hEn]
IMP ¡hae! [haj] ¡haede! [hajd]
Participle: haende [hEnd]
Past haevare [hE'va:r] "to have had" (regular conjugation)
Participle: haedu [hajd]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..." (r. c.)
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 faeher [im 'pfajj@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 in its raw form. 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 fau [fo]
fime [fi:m]
2.P fis [fis]
fise [fi:z]
3.P fi [fi]
fion [fin]
IMP ¡fi! [fi] ¡fide! [fi:d]
Participle: finde [find]
Past fivare [fi'va:r] "to have been made..." (r.c.)
Participle: fidu [fi:d]
Examples: na caerma fion candade [n@ gErm fiN k@n'da:d]
"some songs are sung"
fime
ozide [fi:m A'zi:d] "we are hated"
i
fire facte [i vi:r 'faXt] "it will be made"
Likewise, the formal 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 conditional mood is not used much in speech. 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" (r.c.)
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 oud [o], which is technically
not an auxiliary, since it's not declined. The main verb retains its
finiteness. Nevertheless, the optative is a composed verb form, so one might as well
mention it here. Oud is derived from the earlier optative construction o ut <conditional>.
The optative mood particle oud
Examples: oud veine ih fine [o bejn i fi:n]
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]
IMP ¡sih! [si] ¡side! [si:d]
Participle: sinde [sind]
Past erare [e'ra:r] "to have been" (r.c.)
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]
ahun [a:n]
IMP ¡ahe! [a:X] ¡ade! [a:d]
Participle: aende [End]
Past aevare [E'va:r] "to have done" (r.c.)
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] van [van]
IMP ¡va! [va] ¡vade! [va:d]
Participle: vaende [vEnd]
Past ivare [i'va:r] "to have gone" (r.c.)
Participle: vasu [va:z]
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]
IMP ¡vul! [vul] ¡voude! [vowd]
Participle: voulinde [vu'lind]
Past volivare [vAli'va:r] "to have wanted" (r.c.)
Participle: voudu [vowd]
Bire "to have to, must; to owe"
Present bire [bi:r] "to have to"
Singular
Plural
1.P deivo ['dejvA] bime [bi:m]
2.P deives [dejz] bise [bi:z]
3.P deive [dejv] deiven ['dejv@]
IMP ¡deive! [dejv] ¡bide! [bi:d]
Participle: binde [bind]
Past bivare [bi'va:r]
"to have had to" (r.c.)
Participle: deiftu [deft]
