Learran

[qwed117]

Leamba Learrana
Learran is spoken in the small Elearran Republic in the Balkans, an area covering barely 17 thousand square kilometers. It has also been known as Seuan, Uckian and neo-Illyrian (especially within academia). Several other names are used today and many more in archaic works. Lirrian is the recommended English translation by the government of the Elearran Republic, but the endonym is strictly Learran. The history and the origin of the language are disputed. Whether this language is new to the location on the west coast of the Balkans, emigrating from the east coast, it has a unique place in the region.

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As you might've guessed, with the first paragraph, essentially, ripped from Dormouse559's Silvish thread, this language and the thread itself were designed to be a homage to Silvish. Silvish is probably my favorite a posteriori language at the moment.
As they wrote: "Comments, questions and suggestions are welcome."

Directory
I. Phonology

To start, let's introduce the language first with a translation of Catullus 85: Odi et Amo

This is in the pre-1945 orthography.

Oreasco eu amo. Fiorse entïrroghe pïrce fazzo
Non seio, cgliau és sienzo eu me tortura

It was then replaced by a Cyrillic orthography up until 1996

Ореаско еу амо. фёрсэ энтыррогэ пыркэ фацо
нон сэю клау эс сенцо эу мэ тортура

Which was then changed back into a Latin orthography less influenced by Italian

Oreasco ew amo. Fjorse entërroghe përce fatso
Non sejo, cłau és sjentso ew me tortura

Translated into English it is roughly

I hate and I love. Maybe you ask why I do
I do not know, but I feel it, and it tortures me.

In Latin it is

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requiris?
Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

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Change Log (only edits of prior sections)
3/5/17 1.0.0.0 Introduced
3/7/17 1.0.0.0b Name changed to Learran after change in rules

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Milestones (GMT-4)
3/5/17 - Introduced to public
3/6/17 - Janko'ed, first comment

[Dormouse559]

As you might've guessed, with the first paragraph, essentially, ripped from Dormouse559's Silvish thread, this language and the thread itself were designed to be a homage to Silvish. Silvish is probably my favorite a posteriori language at the moment.

Aw, thanks. I thought the format looked familiar. Learan seems very Eastern Romance; I haven't studied that branch much, so I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

[KaiTheHomoSapien]

It definitely so far reminds me of Romanian, which is cool since Romanian has long been my favorite Romance language :)

[qwed117]

I. Phonology
The phonology of Learran is extremely similar to Romanian, but some major parts developed in a greatly contrasting manner.
The consonant inventory is nearly identical to Romanian. Phonemes not found in Romanian are listed in bold. Those found in Romanian but missing in Learran are marked in italics
/p b t d k g m n/ <p b t d k g m n>
/f v s t͡s z(~ʒ~d͡ʒ~d͡z*) ʃ t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/ <f v s ts ģ ś?
/j w r l(~ʎ)** h/ <j w r l(ł)>

*regional dialectal variation
**complementary distribution
Similarly, the vowel system is identifiably similar to Romanian, but has one key difference
/a e i o u ɨ~ə ə/<a e i o u ë>
/e̯a o̯a/ <ea oa>
Here is it graphically depicted


The main vowel alterations are between ea and e, oa and o, and e and ɨ

One relatively insignificant feature of the language is stress. When it is not penultimate, it will from here on be marked with an acute accent. It is always written on a in the diphthongs. In addition, ë can virtually never be stressed. In situations where it is, the word is usually written with ï.

[Creyeditor]

I don't see any bold phonemes? Is there something wrong with my browser?

[qwed117]

I don't see any bold phonemes? Is there something wrong with my browser?

The phoneme inventory is much simpler than Romanian, and mainly lacks Romanian phonemes, often retaining older pronunciations where allophonic distinctions became phonetic in Romanian. That being said, the inventory is missing one bold phoneme. I'll fix it right now

[qwed117]

II. Nominal Morphology
Nouns in Learran generally can be placed into 5 groups; Masculines, Feminines, Neuters and U-neuters and A-neuters. The actual term might be a tiny bit misleading: U-Neuters are merely a subset of masculine nouns, and A-Neuters are a particular (ly interesting) subset of feminine nouns. They all derive in a particularly easily noticed pattern from Latin. Masculines generally come from Latin's masculine nouns from the second and fourth declension. Feminine nouns come from feminine nouns. Neuters come from Latin's 3rd declension. U-Neuters and A-Neuters both come from neuters in Latin's 2nd declension. For this reason, they are often termed declensions in of themselves.

There are three cases that are found in Learran: the nominative, genitive, and the dative. Oddly enough, the genitive case is not retained from Latin, but is a new development in the language, while the dative has spread unusually due to analogy. Learran has retained its Eastern European roots in this case, and has a vowel-change scheme for declensions.

1st Declension
The first declension originates mostly in the masculines of the second and fourth declension. An example from the second declension is shown. The 4th declension nouns follow the same rules as the second declension nouns.
fiłu m. (from 2nd declension filius) "son"

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     SG        PL
NOM  fiłu      fiłi
GEN  fiłetse   fiłitse
DAT  fiłe      fiłebu

2nd Declension
The second declension originates in both the feminines and masculines of the first declension. All nouns, regardless of their original gender, are treated as feminine (for the purposes of adjectives and such). They all decline the same
apa f. (from 1st declension aqua) "water". A few Latin fifth declension nouns are found in this declension

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     SG        PL
NOM  apa       ape
GEN  apetsa    apëtse
DAT  apea      apebu

3rd Declension
The third declension originates in Latin's third declension as well. All nouns are treated as neuter, regardless of their prior gender. They are all conjugated the same regardless of prior gender
djotse n. (from 3rd declension dux) "ruler"

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     SG        PL
NOM  djotse    djotsi
GEN  djotsëtse djotsitse
DAT  djotsi    djotsebu

4th Declension
The fourth declension comes almost entirely from the neuters in Latin's second declension. Oddly, a Latin lemma can have descendants in both declensions. The example given in fact, does do this. The rare Latin fourth declension neuter can have reflexes in this declension, however, more often than not, the word is simply lost in the eons.
fułu U. (from 2nd declension folium) "sheet"

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     SG        PL
NOM  fułu      fuła
GEN  fułetse   fułetsa
DAT  fułe      fułeabu

5th Declension
As mentioned earlier, this comes from the same nouns as the fourth declension, but in contrast, it comes from a plural form that was reinterpreted as a feminine singular form. This hasn't stopped neuter irregularities from seeping in however: the -u in the genitive form is a good sign of that. This declension also does contain the rare fourth declension feminines of Latin. An easily noticed example is mana from manus.
foła A. (from 2nd declension folium) "leaf"

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     SG        PL
NOM  foła      fołe
GEN  fołetsu   fołëtsa
DAT  fołea     fołebu

A significant diachronic explanation of the casing system is lacking; no explanation has been given for the innovation in the genitive case nor the significant differences between the various declensions.

[qwed117]

IIb. Pronominal suffixation

Much like many of the nearby languages, Romanian, famously, Learran cliticizes the definite pronoun to the noun when needed. This produces situations in which the same marking is applied to the noun twice, unusually. Less usual for the area is the cliticization of the indefinite pronoun as well, creating a unique feature not found in any language. It has come to my attention that Romanian doesn't retain casing except outside of the clitics, excluding the feminine gender. Hah, beat that Romanian.
Another unusual feature is the presence of a dual number in the indefinite conjugations, and the salting of the articles. Yep, you heard that. The definite pronoun used in cliticization is derived from ipse, not ille. Another notable feature is that the genitive is marked along with the noun for the definiteness.
1st Declension

fiłu m. (from 2nd declension filius) "son"

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Definite
     SG           PL
NOM  fiłeasu      fiłeasi
GEN  fiłeaśi      fiłisuru
DAT  fiłośi       fiłesuru

Indefinite
     SG           DU         PL
NOM  fiłunu       fiłibi     fiłini
GEN  fiłetsenu    fiłitsebi  fiłitseru
DAT  fiłone       fiłebou   fiłeburu

2nd Declension

apa f. (from 1st declension aqua) "water".

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Definite
     SG           PL
NOM  apeasa       apease
GEN  apeaśa       apësaru
DAT  apeśa        apesaru

Indefinite
     SG           DU          PL
NOM  apana        apebe       apene
GEN  apetsana     apëtsebe    apëtsera
DAT  apena        apebau      apebura

3rd Declension

djotse n. (from 3rd declension dux) "ruler"

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Definite
     SG           PL
NOM  djotseasu    djotseasa
GEN  djotsëśu     djotsisuru
DAT  djotsiśu     djotsesuru

Indefinite
     SG           DU          PL
NOM  djotsenu     djotsibi    djotsina
GEN  djotsëtsenu  djotsitsebi djotsitsera
DAT  djotsine     djotsebou   djotsebura

4th Declension

fułu U. (from 2nd declension folium) "sheet"

Code: Select all

Definite
     SG           PL
NOM  fułeasu      fułeasa
GEN  fułeśu       fułesuru
DAT  fułośu       fułeasuru

Indefinite
     SG           DU          PL
NOM  fułunu       fułabe      fułana
GEN  fułetsenu    fułetsa     fułetsaru
DAT  fułone       fułeabou     fułeaburu

5th Declension

foła A. (from 2nd declension folium) "leaf"

Code: Select all

Definite
     SG           PL
NOM  fołeasa      fołease
GEN  fołeśu       fołëśa
DAT  fołeśa       fołesaru

Indefinite
     SG           DU         PL
NOM  fołana       fołebe     fołene
GEN  fołetsuna    fołëtsabe  fołëtsara
DAT  fołena       fołebau    fołebura

[qwed117]

Hmm, all of a sudden, I'm debating whether or not to revamp the language, and add a significant amount of change

Here are my ideas

• Redeveloping some degree of Latin's length distinctions
• Adding new phonemes (x, ɾ at the top of the list, followed by ə œ y ʉ and ɲ )
• Re-extending the system of vowel change (in conjunction with the prior)
• Adding more huc derivations
• Adding cases distinguished by the prefixed article

[Egerius]

1 No.
2 Yes (/ɾ ɲ/).
3 Dunno.
4 Depends on what derivations you're going to create.
5 YES.

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I think Learran is nicely done.
What I'd like to see is an explanation of the allophones' conditioning factors.

[qwed117]

1 No.
2 Yes (/ɾ ɲ/).
3 Dunno.
4 Depends on what derivations you're going to create.
5 YES.

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I think Learran is nicely done.
What I'd like to see is an explanation of the allophones' conditioning factors.

If you want a more in detailed explanation, then you should go to the Yay-or-Nay thread. It's all up there. I might cross post it here later tho.

(also, the list broke because I accidentally clicked "disable BBCode" lol

[Omzinesý]

Hmm, all of a sudden, I'm debating whether or not to revamp the language, and add a significant amount of change

Here are my ideas

• Redeveloping some degree of Latin's length distinctions
• Adding new phonemes (x, ɾ at the top of the list, followed by ə œ y ʉ and ɲ )
• Re-extending the system of vowel change (in conjunction with the prior)
• Adding more huc derivations
• Adding cases distinguished by the prefixed article

1. Sounds interesting. This has happened in some Romance languages/dialects?
It's basically based on open syllables lengthening and then getting closed after loss of the final vowel.
You could also look at the development of Estonian vowels.
2. If you can make it nicely.
3. Small changes (conditioned in rare contexts) always happen and if you can model them as well the language is much more natural.
4. Dunno. Not sure what this huc really is.
5. You mean like in German?

My Kagenian seems to have some similarity to Learran, Wonderful.
Do you have verbs yet?

[qwed117]

I'm trying to get the phonetic changes completed now, but I'll try and get verbs out soon. Maybe a deadline of tomorrow

[qwed117]

Numerals 1-20
The numbers 1, 2, and 3 are very different from other numbers in declining. Generally speaking numbers do not decline for gender, or case, but 1, 2, and 3 retain older declensions. The system is most similar to the Albano-Romanian system, where a preposition links the ones and tens digits together. Pronunciation maybe be shown for dictionary forms later.

Unu - One /unu/

Spoiler:

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     M     F     N
NOM  unu   ună   unu
DAT  uno   ună   uno

Do - Two /do/

Spoiler:

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     M     F     N
NOM  do    de    da
DAT  bou   bau   bou

Tri - Three /tri/

Spoiler:

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     M     F     N
NOM  tri   tri   tri
DAT  tru   tru   tru

Pator u Viz̧eanţi /pator u vize̯ant͡si/

Spoiler:

Pator [pator] - Four
Ţieme [t͡siː.em]- Five
Şes [ʃeːs] - Six
Şefs [ʃeːfs]- Seven
Uefte [uːeft] - Eight
Nueve [nuːev] - Nine
Deţ [deːt͡s] - Ten
Usprïd [usprɨd] - Eleven
Dosprïd [dosprɨd] - Twelve
Trisprïd [trisprɨd] - Thirteen
Patorsprïd [patorsprɨd] - Fourteen
Ţeasprïd [t͡se̯asprɨd] - Fifteen
Şesprïd [ʃesprɨd] - Sixteen
Şefprïd [ʃefsprɨd] - Seventeen
Oafsprïd [o̯afsprɨd] - Eighteen
Noafsprïd [no̯afsprɨd] - Nineteen
Viz̧eanţi [vize̯ant͡si] - Twenty

[qwed117]

Does anyone have something they want me to translate? I want to work on extending the lexicon before focusing on verbal grammar.

[Zythros Jubi]

There are three cases that are found in Learran: the nominative, genitive, and the dative. Oddly enough, the genitive case is not retained from Latin, but is a new development in the language, while the dative has spread unusually due to analogy. Learran has retained its Eastern European roots in this case, and has a vowel-change scheme for declensions.

So where did the genitive come from, and what's the location of Elearran? Personally, I prefer western FYROM & Greek's West Macedonia, plus Korçë-Golloborda-Mala Prespa, Albania. (cf. OTL's Great Wallachia/Aromanians & Megleno-Romanians)

[qwed117]

So where did the genitive come from, and what's the location of Elearran? Personally, I prefer western FYROM & Greek's West Macedonia, plus Korçë-Golloborda-Mala Prespa, Albania. (cf. OTL's Great Wallachia/Aromanians & Megleno-Romanians)

The genitive's origin is unclear, but appears to be derived from Vulgar Latin *metipse. Elearran is located right around where Montenegro is, except it includes parts of Albania as well, and contains parts of Bosnia and Croatia.

[qwed117]

This is gonna be a short post

Articles & Other Determiners (under construction)
Definite Articles

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F  NOM     DAT
SG ielă    ielă
PL iele    lïr
M
SG ealu    iele
PL eali    lur
N
SG ealu    iele
PL ielă    lur

Indefinite Articles

Code: Select all

F  NOM     DAT
SG ună     ună
PL neţé    neşur
M
SG unu     uni
PL neţé    neşur
N
SG unu     ună
PL neţé    neşur

Other Determiners
Demonstratives
(Under construction)
Miscellaneous Determiners
(Under construction)

[elemtilas]

Does anyone have something they want me to translate? I want to work on extending the lexicon before focusing on verbal grammar.

Uynie gerca del rrey su miiger, la rreyna,
En pregiosa carreta, su pregiosa cortina,
Vn fiio e dos fijas, mucha Rica vezina,
Mas cabera la madre con muy grant cozina.
Auie y doze carros, todos bien adobados,
De mugeres de rreyes todos vinien cargados,
For guardar estas donas auie y dos mill castrados,
Quando eran chiquillos fueron todos cortados.
Los Reyes de oriente auien todos tal manna
De yr en apellido con toda su conpanna,
Bien de antiguedat tenien aquesta manna,
Mas fue para Dario mas negra que la graja.

[qwed117]

Does anyone have something they want me to translate? I want to work on extending the lexicon before focusing on verbal grammar.

Uynie gerca del rrey su miiger, la rreyna,
En pregiosa carreta, su pregiosa cortina,
Vn fiio e dos fijas, mucha Rica vezina,
Mas cabera la madre con muy grant cozina.
Auie y doze carros, todos bien adobados,
De mugeres de rreyes todos vinien cargados,
For guardar estas donas auie y dos mill castrados,
Quando eran chiquillos fueron todos cortados.
Los Reyes de oriente auien todos tal manna
De yr en apellido con toda su conpanna,
Bien de antiguedat tenien aquesta manna,
Mas fue para Dario mas negra que la graja.

Is that old Spanish? I can't really read it unfortunatelh.