[YG Conlang Archives] > [romconlang group] > messages [Date Index] [Thread Index] >
--- In romconlang@yahoogroups.com, "thomasruhm" <thomas@...> wrote: > > > I hope you can post an example of Rhaetic Vulgar Latin; such languages > > were almost never written. I wonder if the written Latin was merely the written mode of the various Romance vernaculars up to the 9th and possibly even 10 centuries (in places like Italy). > > > > > Hello Pituxalina, > > this is a Rhaetic Latin text from the year 745, a donation document printed in the book 'Urkundenlandschaft Rätien'. The text is a good exempel, where you can see many phonetical and ortographical differences from normal latin. I am not so far to have developped or reconstructed an own language of it, still it is very interesting. > > In Christi nominie. Nos vero Gauzoinus, costa me dare adque donare Audemaro appati de parvola terrola mia pro mircete anime me vil pro sirvitium sum vil pro nodrigamintum, que intir vivo servia Audemaro et ille me notrice et avead podistade, quantum ad me adpertenit, casa, sola, orta, agra, prada, in pomifferis, in silvis fructefferis, in pascuis, cum aquis et accesso suis, omnia ex onibus ex entegru, quantum ad ipsum adpertenit. Et si quis, cot non credimus, aliquis alequando de heretis meus contra hunc factu, quod eo pro mercęde mea vil pro nodrimintum, que me Audemaros notricat, ire temtare a inronpere voluerit, sead escomunicados da sancta aeclesia et sulva iudici ari liveras II. Et cartola donationis sua obtenia firmitatem, Aquilianis Arcatianis leges estibulationis, quia omnium cartarum adcomoda firmitatem. Facta cartola donationis anno XXX pos regnu domni nostri Dagopirti reies, die tertium calandas settenbris, sup presentia tistium, qui ab eo roiedi sunt suscripturi vil segna facturi. Nodavi die et regnum et testis, qui suscrivere conrocaverunt. Signum Gauzoini, qui hunc cartola fieri rocavit, signu Baldoaldi testis, signum Ascari testis, signum Quolpoaldi testis, signum Lantcotti testis, signum Landonis testis, signu Trudolfi testis, signum Frittonis testis. Ego Audo clericus roietus ad Cauzoinu hunc cartola escripsi et in testemonio suscripsi. Ego Quolfuinus fui intir, ubi hanc cartola facta est in testemonio suscripsi. Cartola donacionis Audemari apatis fruniscat con gracia Dei et sancti Petri. > > The changes I mention now were did not take place for every word, exspecially not in the spelling, which was very irregular. And you don't find all of them in this short text. > > Long 'e' were pronunced in as far as I know any position of a word as 'i'. A long 'o' became 'u'. Both were often writen so. Formerly long 'u' became 'ü' as in French. Still 'nodrigamintum' is spelled with 'o'. The book 'An Introduction to Vulgar Latin' says, there had been '*nodrire' as a dialect form of nutrire with long 'u'. > > 'Al' in names often became 'au'. Germanic 'w' was often spellt as 'qu'. T and c got softened between vovels got softened to 'd' and 'g'. 'P' became 'v'. Intervocalic 'b' became 'v'. In this text and some others you find 'i' written instead of 'g' before 'e'. It might be pronounced 'y' or 'j' as it is in Romansh dialects. > > 'E' before 'r', 'nt' and 'nd' changed to 'i'. 'Ist' is used for 'est' in various words. The 'Introduction to Vulgar Latin' mentions that 'e' can change to 'i' followed by 's' plus consonant. Why 'vel' is spelled 'vil' I don't know. > > 'D' between vovels got lost once in a while. > > I think, I got the most importent features. ;) > > There is another text which shows you quite a bit about Raetic Vulgar Latin. I will not explane it so detailed. The language is old Rumansh, from the eleventh century. > > Some of the 'u' are to be read as 'ü' and so I am going to write it although it was not done like that in the original text. It is called 'Einsiedler Interlinearversion'. > > Afunda nos des time tres causas kare frares, per aquilla tut i lo seulo perdüdo. Quil is: gurdus et qu'i hom o mo pote sille et arcullus, ki fai diabolus per aquillas tres causas ille primaris homo cannao, si plaida ille diavolus: "in quali die quo vo manducado de quil lin aves, si vene sü avirtu fos ouli" Nus timimo semper aquillas tres periüras causas sicu veni Adam perdüdi. Prendamus ieiünia contra quilla curda, prendamus umilantia contra contenia, aquill a savir e, ki nos a christiani venimo nominai. Angeli dei aquilla veni nos wardadüra, siqu'il sipse salvator dis: "venidade dico vos aquil: illi angeli... (The text ends here.) > > As in modern Romansh it got many 'u' where you would expect 'o' as in Italian. I don't know yet, what the reason for is. Many intervocalic consonants are lost. You will sure find more information about the text if you type some word of it into your web search engine. > > I hope you got loads of fun reading this. > > Cheers > Thomas > Thank you so much! I did have loads of fun reading this. I knew about the Old Romansch bit below...and it was stunningly conservative in that final -o had not yet disappeared from Romansch like it would, four centuries later when it began to be written again. As for the Rumansh document, above, it most likely represented the vulgar tongue, rather than 'Latin' I had read in a book long ago that up to the 9th century via the Carolingian reform, the written Latin was simply the written mode of the Romance languages. The Rhaetic document from the 700s sure jibes with this. Somewhere, I have the Strassbourg Oaths in which they were reconstructed in several Romance dialects from Old Francien to Old Sardinian to Old Romanian as of 842/843. I need to find them and post them for all to see. The Rhaetic document also preserved some examples of the Langobardic language via names and possibly a few objects as well. That is a different story, but I'm glad to see both Langobardic and Rhaetic Romance seen in that document. BTW, where did you find such a document as the one from the 700s? Thanks!