[WIP]
Utramarin is a Romance language spoken in the Middle East in an alternate history timeline where Crusaders settled the Levant in greater numbers. It is one of the official languages of the Kingdom of Utramar, which encompasses much of the coastal Levant, as well as the interior lands of Balqah, the Beqaa Valley, and northern Syria. The name Utramar is derived from the Old French phrase oltre mer “other sea”, originally used as a catch-all term for the many Crusader states of the region.
Phonology
/m n/ – <m n>
/p b t d k g q ʔ/ – <p b t d k g q ‘>
/f s z ʃ ʒ ħ h/ – <f s~ç z ch j ħ h>
/l r j w/ – <l r y w>
/i u a/ – <e o a>
/iː uː eː oː aː/ – <i u ê ô â>
/ui ai iu au/ – <oi ai iu au>
Grammar
Pronouns
| Number | Person | Class | Indep. | Suffix (aft C) | Suffix (aft V) |
| Singular | First | — | ja | me | m |
| Second | Masc. | ti | te | t | |
| Fem. | tâ | ta | ta | ||
| Third | Masc. | el | le | l | |
| Fem. | ela | la | la | ||
| Plural | First | — | nos | nu | nu |
| Second | — | bos | bu | bu | |
| Third | — | yus | yus | yus |
Nouns
| fama | pêre | ruzo | taner | non | suri | sdiya | |
| Sing. | fama | pêre | ruzo | taner | non | suri | sdiya |
| Plu. | famas | pêrin | ruzun | tanur | nonin | suriyin | sdiyas |
- fama f “woman”
- pêre m “father”
- ruzo m “reed, quill, pen”
- taner m “tanner” (akin to chanter m “singer”)
- non f “nun”
- suri m “Syrian”
- sdiya f ” southerner” (feminine of sodi m “southerner”)
Verbs
| Ind. | Subj. | Imp. | |||||
| Pres. | Pst. | Fut. | Pres. | Pst. | Fut. | — | |
| 1S | dir | bdir | dirai | dirsa | bdirsa | dirsai | — |
| 2MS | diras | bsadir | dirais | dirsas | bsadirsa | dirsais | dira |
| 2FS | diris | bsidir | dirais | dirsis | bsidirsa | dirsais | diri |
| 3MS | dira | btadir | dirai | dirsa | btadirsa | dirsai | — |
| 3FS | diri | btidir | dirai | dirsi | btidirsa | dirsai | — |
| 1P | diron | mnadir | dirain | dirson | mnadirsa | dirsain | diron |
| 2P | dirâs | bsâdir | diruis | dirsâs | bsâdirsa | dirsuis | dirâs |
| 3P | dirât | btâdir | diruit | dirsât | btâdirsa | dirsuit | — |
Participle Pst/Pres/Fut: -ant/ê/arui (-ent/i/erui for -er verbs)
Inf: dirar (verbs can also end in -er rather than -ar)
The subjunctive mood adds the infix -s(a)- between verb stem and suffix. The past tense of these verbs was derived from a synthetic construction of the French verb avoir “to have” + past participle of verb.
Historical Phonology
Old French to Utramarin (900 CE to 1600 CE)
/m n ɲ/ – <
/p b t d k g/ – <
/ts dz tʃ dʒ/ – <
/f v (θ ð) s z (h)/ – <
/l ʎ r/ – <
/i y u e ə ɛ ɔ a/ – <
/ĩ ỹ ẽ õ ã/ – <
/yi~ɥi ei ɔi iu eu ɔu au ie ue/ – <
/ẽj õj iẽ yĩ wẽ/ – <
/ieu ueu eau/ – <
Sound Changes
/Ṽ/ > /Vn/ | _#
/Ṽ/ > /Vm/ | before labial consonants
/Ṽ/ > /Vn/
/ɛ ɔ/ > /e o/
/ieu ueu eau/ > /jau wau au/
/y yi/ > /i ij/
/ie ue/ > /iə uə/
/θ ð/ > /h/
/t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/ > /s z ʃ ʒ/
/ei eu/ > /ai iu/
/V/ > /Vː/ | stressed, open syllables
/iu/ > /uː/ | unstressed
/Vi Vu/ > /iː uː/ | unstressed
/oːi aːi iːu oːu aːu iːə uːə/ > /ojja ajja iwwa uwwa awwa ijja uwwa/
/oi ai iu ou au iə uə/ > /ui ai iu uː au iː uː/
/e ə o/ > /i a u/
/ɲ ʎ/ > /jn jl/ | V_
/ɲ ʎ/ > /n j/
/Vij Vuj/ > /Vjji Vwwi/
/ij uj aj/ > /iː ui ai/ | _[C#]
/iːj uːj eːj oːj aːj/ > /iː ui ai ui ai/ | _[C#]
The phonemes /q ʔ ħ/ enter through loanwords.
/v/ > /b/
Raymond Puentes 