Jörg Rhiemeier's Conlang Page

Contents

0. Meta-History
1. Introduction
2. Phonology
2.1. Consonants
2.2. Vowels
2.3. Accent
2.4. Orthography
2.5. Sound changes
3. Morphology
3.1. Nouns
3.2. Adjectives
3.3. Pronouns
3.4. Verbs
4. Syntax
4.1. The Noun Phrase
4.2. The Clause
5. Sample texts
5.1. The Tower of Babel
5.2. The Lord's Prayer
6. Lexicon

0. Meta-History

I started this conlang, under the name Germanech, in the year 2000. It was originally designed for an alternative timeline in which the Romans conquered Germany; that timeline has since then been discarded (or rather, it was merged with the Ill Bethisad shared-world project from which I later withdrew due to disagreements with some major contributors; the idea of a Roman conquest of Germany has since been dropped by the remaining members), and the language became a minority language spoken in the vicinity of Trier, in the world of the League of Lost Languages.

Indeed, it is known that a Romance language was spoken in the lower Mosel valley (from the vicinity of Trier down to the mouth of the river at Koblenz) until the 12th century, and I fancied that Germanech could be this Mosel Romance language. However, there were two problems with that. One is that the phonology did not really fit the location, which is too far north of the Speyer line (the northern limit of the /p/ > /pf/ sound change in German) to make sense of the /p/ > /pf/ shift that occured in Germanech. The greater problem was that the sound changes of Mosel Romance are at least partly known (but weren't known to me when I drafted the language) and, as shown in the book Zur Geschichte des Moselromanischen by W. Jungandreas (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1979), are utterly different from those I had assumed for Germanech.

Hence, I had to either redo the language completely (which I did not want to do), or move it to another location where it would make sense. This location had to be one with the "right" sound changes in the local dialect of German, within the area once occupied by the Romans, and suitable for the survival of a minority language. After some study of historical and dialectological maps, I decided that the Odenwald forested highland would be a fairly plausible location, and Roman Germanech ended up there.

I briefly considered changing the name of the language to Romanech or something like that, but the name Germanech is well-established in the conlang community by now, and I have decided just to amend it to Roman Germanech. The reason for that name change was that a Romance minority language is unlikely to be called "the language of Germany"; rather, it is now named "the Roman language of Germany", which is what Roman Germanech roughly means.

Roman Germanech has been ripening over time. The first CONLANG post pertaining to it dates from January 14, 2001; a list of sound changes was posted on October 18 in the same year, and a grammar sketch on December 5. These posts formed the foundation of the language; however, several details have been revised later.

However, I gradually lost interest in this language for reasons that I have stated here, and I decided to "finish it up" and leave it at that. The result is this document.

1. Introduction

Roman Germanech is a Romance language that is spoken by a few hundred people in the Odenwald, a forested highland in Germany, about 15 kilometers northeast of Heidelberg. To the local German-speaking majority, it is known as Odenwälder Welsch or simply Welsch. It is the last remnant of the Vulgar Latin spoken in that area when it was part of the Roman Empire. The language, like all Romance languages, has changed considerably since then; it has undergone similar sound changes as the German language spoken in its vicinity.

2. Phonology

2.1. Consonants

Word-final stops, affricates and fricatives are always devoiced; this devoicing is not indicated in the script, e.g. clav /klav/ [klaf] ‘key’.

2.2. Vowels

There is no distinction between short and long vowels. Of the vowel phonemes given above, /ə/ occurs only in syllables following the stressed syllable, and is also the only vowel occuring in such syllables. All other vowels are considered full vowels and occur in both stressed and unstressed syllables.

A productive vowel alternation is umlaut, which means that a non-front full vowel is sometimes fronted: /a/ → /ε/, /ɔ/ → /œ/, /u/ → /y/. This change was originally triggered by an /i/ in the following syllable, which may have been lost due to later sound change.

2.3. Accent

The Roman Germanech word accent is a stress accent that falls on the last full vowel of the word. For example, Germanech /ʒεʀmanəç/ is stressed on the second syllable because the last vowel, /ə/, is not a full vowel and thus remains unstressed.

2.4. Orthography

2.4.1. Consonants

Most consonant letters are pronounced as in English, with the following exceptions:

c is pronounced [ʃ] before e,é,i; [k] otherwise.
ch is pronounced [x] after a,o,u, otherwise [ç].
cj is always pronounced [ʃ].
dj is pronounced [dʒ].
g is pronounced [ʒ] before e,é,i; [g] otherwise.
gj is always pronounced [ʒ].
gu is pronounced [g] before e,é,i.
h is silent.
j is pronounced [j] (but see cj,dj,gj,tj).
ng is pronounced [ŋ].
ph is pronounced [f].
qu is pronounced [k] before e,é,i.
r is pronounced uvular [ʀ].
s is pronounced [z] between vowels, otherwise [s].
th is pronounced [t].
tj is pronounced [tʃ].
tz is pronounced [ts].
x is pronounced [s], or [z] between vowels.
z is pronounced [s], or [z] between vowels.

The choice of the letters s,x,z for /s/ is based on etymology. Basically, s represents an /s/ that dates back to a Latin /s/ (e.g. sal ‘salt’ < Lat. SAL); z is used for an /s/ that dates back to a Latin /t/ (e.g. pfazer ‘father’ < Lat. PATRE), also in words of Greek origin where it reflects Greek ζ (e.g. zoologi); x is used in some words of Greek origin where /s/ reflects Greek ξ (e.g. xylophon). In all other foreign words, s is used. The affricate /ts/ is spelled tz.

The combinations ph and th occur chiefly in words of Greek origin (e.g. photosynthése 'photosynthesis').

2.4.2. Vowels

a is pronounced [a].
ä is pronounced [ε].
e is pronounced [ə] in post-accent syllables, otherwise [ε].
é is pronounced [ε].
i is pronounced [i].
o is pronounced [ɔ].
ö is pronounced [œ].
u is pronounced [u].
ü is pronounced [y].
y is pronounced [y].

The letter ä is used for an /ε/ that results from umlaut of /a/ (see above). The letter é is used for an /ε/ that is the last full vowel of the word. The letter y is used in words of Greek origin.

2.5. Sound changes from Latin to Roman Germanech

1. [velar] > [palatal] /_[front vowel]
2. qu > k
3. Short vowels:
   e > ie
   i > e
   ae > e
   oe > e
   o > uo
   u > o
   au > o
4. Loss of vowel length
5. a > ä /_C+{i,j}
   o > ö /_C+{i,j}
   uo > üö /_C+{i,j}
   u > ü /_C+{i,j}
   
6. b > v /V_V
   g > Ø /V_V
7. p > f /{V,l,r}_!{r,l}
   t > z /V_!{r,l}
   k > ch /V_!{r,l}
8. p > pf /{#,m}_
   t > tz /{#,n,l,r}_
   
9. x > ch
10. Vowels after the stressed syllable:
    i > j /_V
    u > v /_V
    V > ə
    CRə > CəR /_#
    ce > cj /_#
    ge > gj /_#
    ə > Ø /_#
    ə > Ø /VR_C{V,#}
    j > Ø /C_#
    
11. i > ei
    ü > äu
    u > au
12. ie > i
    üö > ü
    uo > u

3. Morphology

3.1. Nouns

Nouns in Roman Germanech are inflected only for number (singular and plural). The catgeories of gender (masculine and feminine) and definiteness (indefinite and definite) are expressed by the article preceding the noun. There is no case system; the job of cases is done by word order and prepositions instead.

3.1.1. Number

The plural suffix is -s; after sibilants (cj, dj, gj, s, tj, tz, z) the suffix is -es. Examples:

Some nouns have irregular plurals. The largest class of irregularly pluralizing nouns are ones in -zer, which form the plural in -tres, e.g. pfazer 'father', pl. pfatres. All irregular plurals are listed in the dictionary.

3.1.2. Article

The definite article has the following forms:

The masculine singular definite article le is shortened to l' before a vowel, e.g. l'elephant ‘the elephant’.

The indefinite article is un in the singular of both genders, and zero in the plural.

3.2. Adjectives

Adjectives agree with the nouns in number, inflecting the same way as nouns. The comparative is expressed by plus ... que, e.g. plus grand qu'un elephant ‘bigger than an elephant’; the superlative by le ... plus/la ... plus, e.g. l'elephant plus grand ‘the biggest elephant’. The adjective usually follows the noun; a preceding adjective attains an idiomatic meaning: un hom grand means ‘a tall man’, un grand hom means ‘a great man’ (e.g., in terms of achievement).

3.3. Pronouns

3.3.1. Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns distinguish three persons, the usual two numbers, in the third person also gender; also, they have distinct nominative, oblique and possessive forms.

The 2nd person plural pronouns also function as polite 2nd person singular pronouns. The singular forms given above are used only among family and friends.

Roman Germanech is not a pro-drop language; subject pronouns are obligatory (unless the subject is a full noun phrase, of course).

3.3.2. Demonstratives and other pronouns

The demonstratives, which precede the noun, are és ‘this’ and él ‘that’. The interrogatives are qui ‘who’ and qué ‘what’; both also function as relative pronouns. Further interrogatives are ü ‘where’, cand ‘when’, commentz ‘when’ and pforqué ‘why’.

3.4. Verbs

Verbs in Roman Germanech inflect for the person and number of the subject and for tense and mood. There are three simple tenses: present, past and future. Three further tenses - perfect, pluperfect and future perfect - are formed periphrastically with the present, past and future tense of har ‘to have’ and the past participle of the lexical verb. All tenses can be passivized by means of the auxiliary verb sér ‘to be’ and the past participle of the lexical verb.

There are three regular conjugation classes, the a-, e- and i-conjugation. Besides these, there are some irregular verbs. Of these, the most important are sér ‘to be’ and a group of rhyming verbs inflecting alike: dar ‘to give’, far ‘to make’, har ‘to have’, var ‘to go’. The following paradigms contain the forms for the three regular conjugations (example verbs cantzar ‘to sing’, monér ‘to call', ödir ‘to hear') and for sér and dar.

3.4.1. Present tense

3.4.2. Past tense

3.4.3. Future tense

The future tense also functions as subjunctive mood.

3.4.4. Perfect tenses

3.4.5. Passives

3.4.6. The imperative

3.4.7. Infinite forms

4. Syntax

4.1. The Noun Phrase

In the noun phrase, most modifiers follow the noun. The only exception are adjectives with idiomatic meaning, e.g. un grand hom ‘a great man’, as opposed to more literal adjectives which follow: un hom grand ‘a tall man’. Example of a full noun phrase:

4.2. The Clause

Main clauses and subordinate clauses differ in their word order. In a main clause, the verb is always the second constituent. If there is an auxiliary and an infinite verb form, the auxiliary is in the second person, and the infinite form at the end of the clause. If the direct object is animate, it is marked with the preposition a.

In a subordinate clause such as a relative clause, the finite verb goes last. A relative clause is introduced with the relative pronoun qui (for persons) or qué (for other entities).

A complement clause is similar. It is connected to the main clause by the particle que.

5. Sample texts

5.1. The Tower of Babel

(1) Nonc tzoz le mond havez un léng ez un pfarol commun.
(2) Ez com lés a l'ést vaventz, lés trovaventz un campf en lé pfäs de Sinear ez casaventz la-bas.
(3) Ez lés pfarlaventz com lés mésens: Bon, lassez a nos tzégels modelar ez fornar!, ez lés prendéventz tzégels ez pféch de tzir ez pfarlaventz:
(4) Bon, lassez a nos bästir un ceizaz ez un tzor, la spir de qué tzochaz le cil, com nos fachentz un nom pfor nos mésems; pfor altzerméntz, nos erames despersantzes en tzozes les pfäses.
(5) Nonc le DÖM decéndez de'l cil, com el veidévaz la ceizaz ez la tzor que les enfanzes humans a bästir érentz.
(6) Ez le DÖM deichévez: Veidez, él est un pfofel ez un léng commun de tzoz de los, ez és est solméntz l'enicj de lor fachérs; nonc, nerem érez prövezaz a los de tzoz qué los entzéndentz a fachér.
(7) Bon, lassez a nos decendér ez la-bas lor léng, com nem compréndez l'altzers léng.
(8) Sech despfersavez le DÖM lés de la-bas a tzozes les pfäzes, que les hantz la ceizaz a cedér a bätir.
(9) Pforqué est lar nom Babel, pforch le DÖM haz la-bas las léngs de tzozes les pfäzes confondaz ez en tzozes les pfäzes los despfersaz.

5.2. The Lord's Prayer

Pfazer nuster en le cil, säntzifichaz éres tzau nom. Tzau régen venires, tzau volontz fachérez, com en le cil, com en la tzir. Nuster pfan djornal da nos hödj. Ez pfardon nos nuster débs, com nos pfardonentz nustres debezores. Ez no dauch nos en tzentzäcjon, mas leiber nos a'l mal. Pforch tzau és la régen ez la forcj ez la mägnefecéntz en ezernezaz. Amen.

6. Lexicon

a prep. to.
altzer det. other.
altzerméntz adv. otherwise.
bästir vt. to build.
caftar vt. to capture.
campf m. field, plain.
cantzar vi/vt. to sing.
cas f. house.
casar vi. to dwell.
ceizaz f. city.
cerrur f. lock.
cil m. sky, heaven.
clav m. key.
com conj. as.
commun adj. common.
comprendér vt. to understand.
confondar vt. to confuse.
dar vt. to give.
dauchér vt. to lead.
de prep. from, of.
déb f. debt.
debezor m. debitor.
decendér vi. to descend.
despfersar vt. to scatter.
djorn m. day.
djornal adj. daily; m. newspaper.
döm m. lord.
dragon m. dragon.
enfantz m. child.
enicj m. beginning.
entzendér vm. to intend.
ést m. east.
ezernezaz f. eternity.
fachér vt. to make.
forcj f. force.
fornar vt. to fire.
havér vt. to have.
hödj adv. today.
human m./adj. human.
la-bas adv. there.
lassar vt. to let.
léng f. tongue, language.
leiberar vt. to deliver, to liberate.
mägnefecéntz f. glory.
mal adj./m. bad, evil.
mazer f. mother.
mésen det. self.
modelar vt. to mould.
mond m. world.
monér vt. to call.
nom m. name.
nonc adv. now.
ödir vt. to hear.
pfan m. bread.
pfardonar vt. to forgive.
pfarlar vi. to speak.
pfarol f. speech.
pfäs m. country.
pfazer m. father.
pféch m. pitch; pféch de tzir bitumen.
pfofel m. people.
pfor prep. for.
pforch conj. because.
pforqué interr. why.
photosynthése f. photosynthesis.
prendér vt. to take.
rauf adj. red.
régen m. kingdom.
régj m. king.
sal m. salt.
säntzifichar vt. to hallow.
solmentz adv. only.
spir f. spire.
trovar vt. to find.
tzégel f. brick.
tzentzäcjon f. temptation.
tzir f. earth.
tzochar vt. to touch; to play (a musical instrument).
tzor f. tower.
tzoz det. the whole; tzozes all.
var vi. to go.
veidér vt. to see.
venir vi. to come.
vergén f. virgin.
vést m. west.
volontz f. will.
xylophon m. xylophone.
zoologi f. zoology.

© 2013 Jörg Rhiemeier
Last update: 2011-12-21