Istro-Romanian grammar explained

Istro-Romanian grammar expresses the structure of the Istro-Romanian language. It is similar to those of other Eastern Romance languages.

Morphology

Istro-Romanian is thought to have evolved from Daco-Romanian (which instead may have evolved independently). The evolution shows two distinct features. Noun declension shows a rationalisation of forms: normal noun declension almost totally disappeared in Istro-Romanian, whereas verbal inflexion is more conservative and its evolution is not as pronounced.

Grammar

Articles

Articles have two forms: definite and indefinite. The definite article may be nominal or adjectival, the nominal being added to nouns, and the adjectival placed before adjectives.

The nominal forms are: for masculine nouns: -l and -le, for feminine -a in the singular, and for masculine -i and feminine -le in the plural. As in spoken Daco-Romanian, the -l of the masculine singular definite article is dropped, leaving the linking -u- vowel, e.g. DR lupul > IR lupu (the wolf), DR ursul > IR ursu (the bear), DR mielul > IR mľelu (the lamb).

The -le ending is used for all masculine singular nouns ending in -e, e.g. fråtele (the brother), sorele (the sun), cărele (the dog). Some examples of masculine nouns showing case endings, nominative=accusative, genitive=dative. The vocative case is not shown as this normally corresponds with the nominative.

CaseIstro-RomanianAromanianMegleno-RomanianRomanianEnglish
Nom/Acc sg.fiľuhiljluiľiufiulthe son
Gen/Dat sg.lu fiľua hiljluilu iľiual fiuluiof/to the son
Nom/Acc pl.fiľihiljliiľiifiiithe sons
Gen/Dat pl.lu fiľia hiljlorlu iľiial fiilorof/to the sons
CaseIstro-RomanianAromanianMegleno-RomanianRomanianEnglish
Nom/Acc sg.socrusocrulusocrusocrulthe father-in-law
Gen/Dat sg.lu socrua socruluilu socrual socruluiof/to the father-in-law
Nom/Acc pl.socrisocrisocrisocriithe fathers-in-law
Gen/Dat pl.lu socria socrilorlu socrial socrilorof/to the fathers-in-law
CaseIstro-RomanianAromanianMegleno-RomanianRomanianEnglish
Nom/Acc sg.fråtelefratefratelifratelethe brother
Gen/Dat sg.lu fråtelea frateluilu fratelial frateluiof/to the brother
Nom/Acc pl.fråţfratsljifraţilifraţiithe brothers
Gen/Dat pl.lu fråţa fratslorlu fraţiloral fraţilorof/to the brothers

The -a replaces -ĕ and -e, e.g. cåsĕ > cåsa (the house), nopte > nopta (the night); however a few feminine nouns ending in a stressed -e behave differently, e.g. ste > stevu (the star), ne > nevu (the snow).

CaseIstro-RomanianAromanianMegleno-RomanianRomanianEnglish
Nom/Acc sg.fetafeatafetafatathe girl
Gen/Dat sg.lu fetaa featiljeilu fetaal feteiof/to the girl
CaseIstro-RomanianAromanianMegleno-RomanianRomanianEnglish
Nom/Acc sg.muľeramuljareamuľiareamuiereathe woman
Gen/Dat sg.lu muľeraa muljariljeilu muľiareaal muiereiof/to the woman
CaseIstro-RomanianAromanianMegleno-RomanianRomanianEnglish
Nom/Acc sg.stevusteaosteuasteauathe star
Gen/Dat sg.lu stevua steaoljeilu steuaal steleiof/to the star
Nom/Acc pl.stelelestealestelilistelelethe stars
Gen/Dat pl.lu stelelea stealilorlu steliloral stelelorof/to the stars

Neuter nouns behave as masculine nouns in the singular and feminine in the plural.

The forms of the adjectival article are ćela for the masculine and ćå for the feminine singular, and in the plural masculine ćeľ and feminine ćåle, e.g. ćela bur (the good one). The masculine indefinite article is un and feminine is o. The declension of the indefinite article has disappeared. Examples: un om (a man), un cå (a horse), o misĕ (a table), o båbĕ (an old woman).

Adjectives

Adjectives also have three genders, the masculine and feminine forms from the Latin, while the neuter form is of Slavic origin. E.g. bur, burĕ, buro (good). The comparative adjective is måi bur (better) and the superlative is ćel måi bur (the best).

The adjective may precede the noun: bura zi ((the) good day), which in itself can be made definite by the change of -ĕ to -a; or follows the noun: feta muşåtĕ (the beautiful girl).

Pronouns

Definite pronouns can be personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative and interrogative.

References

External links