Jump to content

Istro-Romanian grammar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Morphology

[edit]

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

[edit]

Articles

[edit]

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.

  • fiľ (son), fiľi (pl.)
Case Istro-Romanian Aromanian Megleno-Romanian Romanian English
Nom/Acc sg. fiľu hiljlu iľiu fiul the son
Gen/Dat sg. lu fiľu a hiljlui lu iľiu al fiului of/to the son
Nom/Acc pl. fiľi hiljli iľii fiii the sons
Gen/Dat pl. lu fiľi a hiljlor lu iľii al fiilor of/to the sons
  • socru (father-in-law), socri (pl.)
Case Istro-Romanian Aromanian Megleno-Romanian Romanian English
Nom/Acc sg. socru socrulu socru socrul the father-in-law
Gen/Dat sg. lu socru a socrului lu socru al socrului of/to the father-in-law
Nom/Acc pl. socri socri socri socrii the fathers-in-law
Gen/Dat pl. lu socri a socrilor lu socri al socrilor of/to the fathers-in-law
  • fråte (brother), fråţ (pl.)
Case Istro-Romanian Aromanian Megleno-Romanian Romanian English
Nom/Acc sg. fråtele frate frateli fratele the brother
Gen/Dat sg. lu fråtele a fratelui lu frateli al fratelui of/to the brother
Nom/Acc pl. fråţ fratslji fraţili fraţii the brothers
Gen/Dat pl. lu fråţ a fratslor lu fraţilor al fraţilor of/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).

  • fetĕ (girl), fete (pl.)
Case Istro-Romanian Aromanian Megleno-Romanian Romanian English
Nom/Acc sg. feta feata feta fata the girl
Gen/Dat sg. lu feta a featiljei lu feta al fetei of/to the girl
  • muľerĕ (woman), muľere (pl.)
Case Istro-Romanian Aromanian Megleno-Romanian Romanian English
Nom/Acc sg. muľera muljarea muľiarea muierea the woman
Gen/Dat sg. lu muľera a muljariljei lu muľiarea al muierei of/to the woman
  • ste (star), stele (pl.)
Case Istro-Romanian Aromanian Megleno-Romanian Romanian English
Nom/Acc sg. stevu steao steua steaua the star
Gen/Dat sg. lu stevu a steaoljei lu steua al stelei of/to the star
Nom/Acc pl. stelele steale stelili stelele the stars
Gen/Dat pl. lu stelele a stealilor lu stelilor al stelelor of/to the stars

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

  • bråţ (arm), bråţe (pl.) – bråţu (the arm), bråţele (pl.)
  • os (bone), ose (pl.) – osu (the bone), osele (pl.)
  • zid (wall), zidur (pl.) – zidu (the wall), zidurle (pl.)
  • plug (plough), plugur (pl.) – plugu (the plough), plugurle (pl.)

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

References

[edit]
  • A. Kovačec: Notes sur les formes de cas en istroroumain. Studia Romanica 13–14: 75–84, Zagreb 1962
  • A. Kovačec: Certaines modifications grammaticales des 'quantitatifs' et 'qualitatifs' istroroumains dues a l' influence croate. Studia Romanica 23: 195–210, Zagreb 1967
  • A. Kovačec: Le calque lexical d' apres le croate comme cause de certains changements grammaticaux istroroumains. Actele de XII Congres International de Lingvistica si Filologie Romanica, vol. 2: 1127–1131, Bucuresti 1971
  • A. Kovačec: Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik s gramatikom i tekstovima (Glosar Istroroman-Croat cu gramatica si texte). Verba moritura vol. I. Mediteran, Pula 1998
[edit]