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Phonology Vowels: * /a/ (a): Similar to the 'a' in "father." * /e/ (e): Similar to the 'e' in "bed." * /i/ (i): Similar to the 'i' in "machine." * /o/ (o): Similar to the 'o' in "go." * /u/ (u): Similar to the 'u' in "flute." Consonants: * /b/ (b): As in "boy." * /d/ (d): As in "dog." * /f/ (f): As in "fan." * /ɡ/ (g): As in "go." Always hard. * /k/ (c): As in "cat," before a, o, u. Represented by 'ch' before e and i (as Italian) * /l/ (l): As in "lip." * /m/ (m): As in "man." * /n/ (n): As in "no." * /p/ (p): As in "pen." * /r/ (r): Alveolar trill, as in Spanish or Italian. * /s/ (s): As in "sun." * /t/ (t): As in "top." * /v/ (v): As in "van." * /ts/ (z): similar to "tsunami" * /dz/ (j): voiced sound of /ts/ * /ʃ/ (sc): Like "sh" in "ship," before e, i. * /ʎ/ (gli): Palatal lateral approximant, similar to the 'gli' in Italian "figlio" (son). * /ɲ/ (gn): Palatal nasal, similar to the 'gn' in Italian "gnocchi." Diphthongs: Common vowel combinations include /ai/, /au/, /ei/, /oi/, /iu/, /ua/, /ie/, /uo/ Accents: Accent marks (´) are used to indicate stress, predominantly on the final vowel of the word. Grammar Basic Sentence Structure: Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) Morphology Type: Fusional. Nouns: * Nouns have grammatical gender: masculine and feminine. * Gender is often (but not always) predictable by the noun's ending. Feminine nouns often end in -a, and masculine nouns often end in -o. * Pluralization: * Feminine nouns ending in -a typically change to -i in the plural. * Masculine nouns ending in -o typically change to -i in the plural. * Nouns ending in -e can change to -i for both genders. * Articles: Definite articles exist and agree in gender and number with the noun. * Masculine singular: *lu* * Feminine singular: *la* * Masculine plural: *li* * Feminine plural: *li* * No cases. Verbs: * Verbs are conjugated to indicate tense and subject. * Basic tenses include present, past, and future. * Verb endings change based on the subject pronoun and tense. * Example (Present Tense of "parlàri" - to speak): * I: parlú * You: pàrli * He/She/It: pàrla * We: parlamu * You (plural): parlati * They: pàrlanu Adjectives: * Adjectives generally follow the noun they modify. * They agree in gender and number with the noun. * Example: *lu libbru russu* (the red book), *la casa russa* (the red house) * Adjective endings typically mirror noun endings in gender and number. Adverbs: * Adverbs usually follow the verb they modify. * Many adverbs are formed by adding *–menti* to the feminine singular form of the adjective. For example, *lentu* (slow) becomes *lentamenti* (slowly). Prepositions: Common prepositions include: * *di* (of, from) * *a* (to, at) * *cu* (with) * *pi* (for) * *su* (on) * Prepositions typically precede the noun or pronoun they govern. Possessives: Possessive adjectives precede the noun. They agree in gender and number with the noun. * my: *méu* (masc. sing.), *méa* (fem. sing.), *méi* (masc. pl.), *mèi* (fem. pl.) * your: *tó* (masc. sing.), *tá* (fem. sing.), *tói* (masc. pl.), *tái* (fem. pl.) * his/her/its: *sò* (masc. sing.), *sà* (fem. sing.), *sói* (masc. pl.), *sái* (fem. pl.) Spelling/Writing System Uses a Latin-based alphabet. Generally, spelling follows pronunciation closely. Double consonants (e.g., *cc*, *dd*, *ff*) can indicate a longer or stronger pronunciation of the consonant. 'ch' is used before e and i to represent /k/ Accents (´) are used on vowels to indicate stress, mostly on the final vowel of the word. Example Words *casá* (house) *libbrú* (book) *parlárí* (to speak) *beddú* (beautiful/handsome) *mangiàrí* (to eat) *lu caní* (the dog) *jornú* (day)
