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Romula - the news

From:Artem Kouzminykh <ural_liz@...>
Date:Monday, January 10, 2000, 4:26
Salvete omnes,

thank you everyone who participated in discussing a proposed tense system
for my new (first seriously featured, actually;-)) romance conlang (la
lingua) Romula. Here's some news.

I thought about all your notes and found them all mostly right. Therefore
here's some changes and new questions I have about Romula:

-- a friend of mine said it was a planet/culture called Romulus/Romulan in
Star Trek film. Could it produce some confusion with my (la lingua) Romula,
what in fact has nothing to do with any extraterrestrial stuff?
-- to change –mus ending for 1 person plural into –mos. Actually, I borrowed
this –mus from D. Stark's Latino Moderne, which was considered to be a
pattern lang for Romula, without even thinking is it correct or not;
-- to change illo, illa and illo into elle, ella and ello respectively. But
from here new questions appear: What to do with a masculine sg article 'il'
(I decided that it's better than French-looking 'le') and 'in' – atre they
subject to change into 'el' and 'en', as in Spanish. I would prefer them to
stay as they are... Another question – what form to use for he/it – elle or
ello? Is it possible to use the word 'el' (or 'il') s an introductory
particle "there", as in Interlingua and Latino Moderne, el era un homine.
there was a man?  Think I also must change isto/iste into esto/este, must I?
-- to change Participio Passato (Past Part.) into –o pattern (previously I
used ending –e, as in Latino Moderne and Interlingua, but now think it's not
correct for a romance artlang);
-- 'il' for a masculine sg article, and 'los' for a masculine pl article;
-- indeed, I checked out and now see that conjugaton of 'dare/donare' (to
give) is to be changed. I surely must use only 'dare'. So here's the new
conjugaton for 'dare':
Infinitivo:             dar (to give)
Participio Presente:    dante
Gerundio:               dando, -a
Participio Passato:     dato

1. Modo Indicativo/Indicative Mood
Presente/Present: io doi, tu dos, ello da, nos domos, vos dois, ellos dan
Imperfecto: io davo, tu davas, ello dava, nos davamos, vos davais, ellos
davan
Futuro: io daro', tu dara's, ello dara', nos daramos, vos dareis, ellos
daran
Preterito (aka Passato Simple): io de, tu deste, ello deo, nos demos, vos
desteis, ellos deron

2. Modo Subjunctivo/ Subjunctive Mood
Presente: io de, tu des, ello de, nos demos, vos deis, ellos den
Imperfecto: io desse, tu desses, ello desse, nos dessemos, vos desseis,
ellos dessassen

3. Modo Imperativo/ Imperative Mood
tu da, ello de, nos demos, vos date, ellos den

4. Modo Conditional/ Conditional Mood
Presente: io dareo, tu dareas, ello darea, nos dareamos, vos dareais, ellos
darean

I also separated verbs 'ir' (irregular) and 'vader' (regular) and change the
names of some tenses (made them more systematic, e.g. Passato Imperfecto
(instead of Imperfecto), Passato Simple (Indefinito) (instead of Preterito),
  Passato Perfecto Composito (instead of Perfecto). There are also minor
changes in flexions.

If anyone is courious, two Babel texts are now availabe in Romula (new
version;-)) below.
You'll see that there's still a lot of Latinate stuff in it, as e.g. ibi,
ubi, trans, ecce, nihil, etc, all borrowed from I-a, actually. I think I've
got an explanation of that fact.
In fact, there're 3 dialects in Romula. Romula is spoken in country called
the Panian Federation, or Pania (from Latin Panis – bread, IMHO) – 2
dialects (main, called Panian (dialecto paniano) or just lingua Romanica,
and rare, called Clairemont dialect, which is highly influenced by French
lang) and in a country called Ellenia (dialecto elleniero or la lingua
elleniera). OK, OK I lnow these countrie are stil unknown for many (even
majority) of the geographers, but it doesn't mean they not exist, does it?
There are still so many white parts in the World's map...;-) Anyway, Pania
is a group of several big and some small islands in the Biscayan Gulf, and
Ellenia is one big island in the Mideterranean sea, somewhere between
Bolearina islands and Corsica/Sardinia.
The brief history of la lingua Romula is as follows. The Pania was
established in an alternative history in 1 (perhaps a bit later) century AD
by a big group (~ a half of one legio and a half from the another one) of
ancient Roman soldiers from two Roman Germanic Legioes. They raised a
mutiny-rebellion (the reason for it is not yet known) and decided to found
their own free state somewhere in the south-west of Gallia/Gaul. But for
some reasons they were forced to swim the Biscayan Gulf and found there an
island – the bigges of nowdays Panian Islands. They called it and theirs
state Nova Roma, and settled there. It is a modernized version of popular
Latin that is still spoken in a part of present Nova Roma province of the
Panian Federation (also a Spanish lang is used in Pania, in island of
Clarion which was under Spanish rule for some centuries in Middle and New
Ages). But the rest of Pania uses a neolatin lang Romula (after Romulus, the
God of the Nova Roma), which still preserves many purely latin forms (SIC!).
Therefore (from your permission;-)) even –mus endings instead of –mos can
probably be preserved, and forms like illo/illa, vobis/nobis, e.g. in
old/biblical/noble speach/writings.

The question is why Romula is also spoken in Ellenia, i.e. in Mideterranean?
The answer is simple. Ellenia was for some centuries a part (or colony) of
the Panian kingdom. If Spain had colonies in present Holland and Italy
(Sicilia), why couldn't Pania did the same thing and not to had colonies
somewhere in the Mideterranean? I think the features of the dialecto
elleniero must be: illo/illa forms instead of ello/ella, ... and what else?
A bit a la Italian, don't you think? Using in+il(los)=nel(os),
in+la(s)=nella(s), e.g.

The history of Clairemont dialect of Romula is below. The second big island
of Pania, called Clairemont (or perehaps even Cruce/Crucia (=cross), because
of its form), was for a very long time under the direct government of the
French king, i.e. was the French colony/territory. For that reasons
Clairemont dialect has many French borrowings and features. The exact
features of the dialect are still the subject to determine.

The Babel texts in Romula/Los Textos de Babel nella lingua Romula
Text translated: Genesis 11:1-9, from Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
Translator: Artemio de Cosma
Based in Latino Moderne translation by Rev. David Th. Stark
LM Website: < http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3150 >

1. E tota la terra era d'una lingua, e del mesmas parolas.
2. Et il era que quando ellos eran exiliate del oriente, que venivan a un
plateau nella terra Sinaar, e habitavan ibi.
3. E un homine diceva a su proximo, Vamos! Que facamos briccas pro un
edificio, e que los incendiemus per foco. E havan pro lor uso las briccas
como petras, e pro lor uso era pice como mortero.
4. E dicevan, Vamos! Que construemos pro nobis una citate e una turre, e la
capite sua sera nel celo; e que facemos pro nobis un nomine de parvor que
siamus dispersate trans la facie de tota la terra.
5. E Jehovah descendeva a vider la citate e la turre que los filios del
homine eran construendos.
6. E Jehovah diceva, Ecce, il populo es uno, e lor lingua es una pro ellis
totes; e esto, que han comenciate facer...e nunc, nihil de tote que intrigen
facer sera impedite.
7. Vamos! Que descendemos e confundemos lor lingua ibi, al fin que un homine
non poten comprehender la lingua del proximo suo.
8. E Jehovah los dispersava d'ibi trans la facie de tota la terra, e
cessavan construer la citate.
9. Pro este causa il loco es vocate Babel, proque Jehovah confundeva ibi la
lingua de tota la terra, e anque Jehovah los dispersava d'ibi trans la facie
de tota la terra.
_________
Fin del texto in Romula
_________
Translation of Romula text back into English
(also by D. Th. Stark)
1. And all the earth was of one language, and of the same words.
2. And it was that when they were exiled from the East, that they came to a
plateau in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
3. And a man said to his neighbor, Let's Go! Let us make bricks for a
building, and let us burn them with fire. And they had for their use the
bricks as stones, and pitch was for their use as mortar.
4. And they said, Let's go! Let us construct for us a city and a tower, and
its head will be in the heaven; and let us make for us a name from fear that
we may be dispersed across the face of all the earth.
5. And Jehovah descended to see the city and the tower which the sons of the
man were constructing.
6. And Jehovah said, Behold, the people are one, and their language is one
for them all; and this, which they have commenced to do...and now, nothing
of all which they may scheme to do will be impeded.
7. Let's go! Let us descend and confound their language there, to the end
that a man may not be able to comprehend the language of his neighbor.
8. And Jehovah dispersed them from there across the face of all the earth,
and they ceased to construct the city.
9. For this cause the place is called Babel, because Jehovah confused there
the language of all the earth, and also Jehovah dispersed them from there
across the face of all the earth.

From the Modern English text (see below)
Translator: Artemio de Cosma
Based in Interlingua translation by Dan Dawes

1A. Nunc la tote mundo hava una lingua e una parola communa.
2A. Como homines movevan se al est, elles trovavan una plana in Shinar e
establivan se illac.
3A. Decivan al un, "Vamos, facamos briccas e los cocamos minutosemente."
Usavan bricca in vice de petra, e catran pro mortero.
4A. Tun decivan, "Vamos, construamos nes una citate, con una turre que
arriva allos celoes, a fin que potemos facer un nomine pro nobis e non ser
dispersate trans la facie del tote mundo."
5A. Ma il Senior veniva a basso vidar la citate e la turre que los homines
eran construendos.
6A. Il Senior deciva, "Si como un gente que parla la mesma lingua han
comenciate facer esto, tun nil que planan facer sera impossibile pro ellis.
7A. Vamos, descendamos e confundamos lor lingua dunque non comprenderan al
un."
8A. Assi il Senior los dispersava d'illac trans tote il mundo, e cessavan
construendo la citate.
9A. Que es proque el era appellate Babel -- proque illac il Senior
confundeva la lingua del tote mundo. D'illac il Senior los dispersava trans
la facie del tote mundo.

Modern English
1A.     Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
2A.     As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3A.     They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them
thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4A.     Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that
reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be
scattered over the face of the whole earth."
5A.     But the Lord camedown to see the city and the tower that the men were
building.
6A.     The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have
begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7A.     Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not
understand each other."
8A.     So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they
stopped building the city.
9A.     That is why it was called Babel -- because there the Lord confused the
language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the
face of the whole earth.
:A.     Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.
Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984

Thanks for your attention, hoping to read your opinions,

Expectante vostras responsas invio vos mi salutationes,

Artyom Kouzminykh (Artemio de Cosma), aka

AVLVS ARTORIVS ARIVS SARMATICVS, CIVIS ET BARBARVS NOVAE ROMAE ETIAM
PROPRAETOR SARMATIAM PROVINCIAM

LIBERTAS INAESTIMABILIS RES EST

VALETE IN PACE.
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