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Boin día! Hi, everyone. I'm Eric Christopherson, AKA Rakko, and most of you probably know me from Conlang. Anyway, I writing to introduce myself and my Romance conlang, Lainesco. Conhistory I haven't yet figured out exactly where this language is spoken or how it came about, but it seems like it must have originated in Iberia or southern Gaul, because of its similarities to Spanish and other Hispano-Romance languages. The name derives from an earlier form <Ladinesco>, which may have come from Latin *<Latiniscu-> or perhaps from a Germanic name such as *<Latiniskaz>, both meaning "Latinish." However, I'm not sure if the "-ish" would mean "not quite Latin, but similar," or if it would just mean "characteristic of," as it does in words such as Spanish, English, etc.; I'm inclined to think it just meant "characteristic of Latins," as the modern German word is the cognate <lateinisch>. Anyway, because the language was known by its relation to Latin instead of by the name of the people who spoke it, it seems likely it originated in an area with a lot of non-Latin speech. Since the <-esco> definitely comes from Germanic either directly or indirectly, it seems fitting to assume Germanic languages were spoken in the same area, and this one was called "Latinish" to distinguish it from them. Now which kind of Germanic, I don't know; probably some form of Gothic, since in the real world Goths were in control of Spain for a while. I'd like to have some Germanic borrowings (besides the standard Romance ones like guerra, guard-, etc.), and maybe also some Celtic ones. And of course borrowings from French and Spanish (or the con-equivalents thereof) would be welcome. Phonology & alphabet I've been planning out several stages of the language, each with its own phonology, but I'll try to give the modern phonology here, as I conceive of it today at least. It may change drastically! (IPA is in X-SAMPA) Vowels & diphthongs Orth. Phonemic Phonetic a /a/ [A] syllable-final, otherwise [a] â /a:/ [A:] syllable-final, otherwise [a:] e /e/ [e] syllable-final, otherwise [E] ê /e:/ [e:] syllable-final, otherwise [E:] i /i/ [i] î /i:/ [i:] (possibly [I:]?) o /o/ [o] syllable-final, otherwise [O] ô /o:/ [o:] syllable-final, otherwise [O:] u /u/ [u] û /u:/ [u:] (possibly [U:]?) ae* /ae/ [Ae], but often just [aj] ao* /ao/ [Ao], but often just [aw] ai /ai/ [aj] au /au/ [aw] ei /ei/ [Ej] eo* /eo/ [eo], but often just [Ew] eu /eu/ [Ew] oe* /oe/ [oe], but often just [Oj] oi /oi/ [Oj] ou** /ou/ [Ow] ia /ia/ [jA] syllable-final, otherwise [ja] ie /ie/ [je] syllable-final, otherwise [jE] io /io/ [jo] syllable-final, otherwise [jO] iu** /iu/ [iw] or maybe [ju], haven't decided which ua /ua/ [wA] syllable-final, otherwise [wa] ue /ue/ [we] syllable-final, otherwise [wE] ui** /ui/ [uj] or maybe [wi], haven't decided which uo** /uo/ [wo] syllable-final, otherwise [wO] * These diphthongs come about from the loss of an intervocalic consonant. In "careful" speech they are pronounced as two separate vowels, but in more informal and faster speech they're pronounced as falling diphthongs. ** I not sure these will even exist. If so, they probably won't be common. Consonants Orth. Phonemic Phonetic b /b/ [B] betw. vowels, otherwise [b]** c before a,o,u /k/ [k] c before e,i* /t_s/ [t_s] ç before a,o,u /t_s/ [t_s] d /d/ [D] betw. vowels, otherwise [d] f /f/ [f] g before a,o,u /g/ [G] betw. vowels, otherwise [g] g before e,i /Z/ [Z] gu bef. a,o,u /gw/ [Gw] (or [w]) betw. vowels, otherwise [gw] gu before e,i /g/ [j\] betw. vowels, otherwise [J\] gü before e,i /gw/ [Gw] (or [w]) betw. vowels, otherwise [gw] h silent j /Z/ [Z] k /k/, but not usually used l /l/ [l] ll /j\/ [C] adjacent to voiceless, otherwise [j\] m /m/ [m] n /n/ [N] before velars, otherwise [n] ñ /J/ [J] p /p/ [p] qu bef. a,o,u /kw/ [kw] qu before e,i /k/ [c] qü before e,i /kw/ [kw] r /r/ [4] or [r] (trilled), but I'm not sure where to use each s /s/ [z] betw. vowels, otherwise [s] t /t/ [t] v /B/ [B] w /w/, but not usually used x /S/ [S] y /j/ [j] z /d_z/ [d_z] * Here I'm using "a,o,u" as shorthand for all back vowels, including â, ô, and û, and "e,i" for front vowels, including ê and î. It just more compact :) ** Ok, "betw. vowels" is shorthand for "between vowels and in some other yet-to-be-determined positions." That's right, (phonemic) velars before front vowels are realized phonetically as palatals. Perhaps in borrowed words it there will be phonetic velars before front vowels, but time will tell. Generic information Lainesco words closely resemble those of Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese, but a lot of intervocalic vowels are lost, making it somewhat like French. In any case it is to be considered a Western Romance language; however, like Italian and unlike the other modern Western Romance languages, it retains the affricates [t_s] and [d_z]. wow, I hadn't intended to write that much! To give you a better idea, I prepared a tentative version of the quote from Les Mis: "And remember the truth that once was spoken, To love another person is to see the face of God." "E recûrda-te lla verdá que ha sío deito, Amar outra pessona es veer ei visaz de Dío." [e 4e"kurdA te j\A Ber"dA ce A "si.o "DEjto] [A"mAr OwtrA pEs"sonA Ez Be"e4 Ej Bi"zAd_z de "Di.o] I'm not sure if "another" should be <outra> or <oitra>, and <visaz> I borrowed from French, but there might be a more suitable native word. You might also notice I'm included both allophones of /r/, but I'm still not sure exactly how to distribute them. -- Eric Christopherson / *Aiworegs Ghristobhorosyo