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Good morning all. I'm not a newbie to conlanging -- been doing it on and off since I was about 10 -- but I'm new to trying a Latin-based language. My first languages were all "original" (that is, not consciously patterned after any particular language, although they were all IE in grammar). After attempting to make a pseudo-Germanic lang, I realized the fun there was in developing a priori languages and decided to give it a try with Latin. The reason I'm trying a Latinate language is because I'm already basically familiar with Latin grammar and vocab, and have a decent command of (written) French. Also, should I ever find the magical combination of sound/grammar aesthetics which is just perfect for me, I'd like to try to develop a speaker base. And everyone loves Latin ;) So, here's a short sample of my initial sketch, tenatively named Zeból (from Latin diabolus). It's not an "alternate history" development - i.e. not a "Slavic-Latin" or "Arabic-Latin", just straight Latin with whatever sound changes struck my fancy. But nevertheless, if it reminds you of any particular language, I'd be interested in thoughts. Orthographic notes: - Acute accent marks stress (stress is phonemic and very necessary) - ss is ? (s-hacek) = SAMPA S, but I'm not sure if that displays on all screens. zz is ? (z-hacek) = SAMPA Z, ditto above - tss = SAMPA tS, dzz = SAMPA dZ - All letters are pronounced, including h. I can post a more details later if anyone's interested. And, keeping in mind the name of the language, here's a sample passage stolen from a book: Latin: Gloria Deo, Domino Inferi, et in terra vita hominibus fortibus. Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te, gratias agimus tibi propter magnam potentiam tuam: Domine Satanas, Rex Inferus, qui regit terram. Zeból (v0.1): Glórda a zéjem déminem íver, e an séram hézam a omím férte. Sem na lodám, sem na benezed?ém, sem na derém, sem na glorefám, gra?ám a sem prez pezé?em méne to na ed?ém: démin Sézen, rek íver, ke séram réd?a. Grammar notes: Zebol retains the genitive case and has converted the accusative into an (almost) all-purpose oblique. It has lost noun genders but retains number. Adjectives have lost agreement entirely. Word order is probably going to be SOV; subject pronouns are optional for plurals but generally included. I really want to make it an active-stative (or nominative-absolutive) language, but I haven't solidified my ideas on how to do that and maintain a concept of realism.