Atlantic

Caveat lector

I don't like to insert prefaces to my conlangs, but as the first conlang that I'm including in this section of my website and due to it being substantially different from the others, I think that such a section makes sense here.

Atlantic is a Romance conlang which I've long moved on from. It was a project which was started back in January 2019 and which I developed for a little less than two years; files in my archives were last edited around November 2020, with a few traces into 2021 of a never-finished revision of the language, which was never shared anywhere. I effectively moved on from the entire conlang sometime around February or March 2021.

So why am I detailing an unrelated conlang that predates Dundulanyä and the Eventoa conworld by an entire year? Well, Atlantic is the lone non-Calémerian and non-Eventoan conlang which I've detailed and worked on the most and, once you get around its inherent ahistoricality, I think there were some nice ideas. So it was kinda the main candidate to bring back not to life, but at least to memory, and keep it saved.

As for the language itself, Atlantic was originally a setting-less a posteriori romlang for which I cherry-picked features from all over the Romance-speaking world, with the main goal of having an extremely conservative Romlang. At some point I kinda invented a setting for it, making it the language of a country which continued Roman presence in Northwestern Africa. While I took some features by doing so, it is not and was never meant to be a historically plausible African Romance language.

The grammar and examples of Atlantic detailed here were written back in 2019-2020, and have been left unchanged – even the presentation order itself: it doesn't make sense to me anymore to treat morphology before syntax – except for minor stylistic corrections. Gaps in the descriptions haven't been filled — and won't be in the future. Enjoy!

— Lilaë, February 2025

Introduction

Atlantic (natively otrantih or nimba otrantiha [ˈnimba ɔˈtrantiχa]) also referred to as Rumonian (natively rumon [ruˈmɔn] or nimba rumona [ˈnimba ruˈmɔna], literally "Roman" and "Roman language"^[I.1]) is a Romance language spoken in an alternate history version of Earth in the Atlantic Provinces (los Pruvinxos Otrantihos [lɔs pruˈvinçɵs ɔˈtrantiχɔs]), a country located in the northwestern corner of Africa. The country's name is a remnant of Roman history, when the area – including the Atlas Mountains as its main geographical feature – was divided in the provinces of Numidia, Mauretania Caesariensis, and Mauretania Tingitana.

It has various dialects, usually grouped in main varieties corresponding to the main geographical and cultural areas of the country. In the broadest sense, there are two main varieties: Mauritanian (moiriṭonyinsi [mwariθɔˈɲinsi]), the one the standard is based on, and Numidian (numiginsi [numiˈdʑinsi]); sometimes distinguished are also two more variants which have more influences from the other national languages of the country: Teneréan (tenerinsi [tɛnɛˈrinsi]) and Senegal Riparian (Niu-flumininsi [ˈniu̯ flumiˈninsi]).

History

The Atlantic vocalic system shows a distinct evolution that, while with many common elements with other Romance languages, was unique in having kept long and short /a/ distinct, the former shifting to /ɑ/ and later merging with surviving instances of /ɔ/. Otherwise, the development of vowels was much like Sicilian, as the table below hints at:

Changes not mentioned in the above table are triggered by neighboring sounds, most particularly l and r:

• As in many Gallo-Italic varieties, Latin short a was backed and rounded before a coda l, see ALTUM → olt (cf. Lombard olt, French haut, Italian alto).
• The same result happened for ul sequences, which were lowered, see FULMEN → folmin (cf. Lom. fulmen, It. fulmine).
• Breaking of Latin short e and o happened in a more limited way than in other Romance languages where this sound change is found; in the standard dialect, it only occurred before original r and l; however, it happened indistinctly in open and closed syllables.
  In the standard, this sound change wasn't triggered after velar consonants, though it did happen after h; note that vowel breaking intervened after the palatalization of velars before front vowels, so that short e is broken almost without exceptions. In some dialects, those two vowels were also broken after n and/or after velars.
  The results, in all environments and in all dialects, are always ia (for broken e) and ua (for broken o), but the semivocalic i in the former merged with a preceding l, n, s, or h to ly, ny, x, and j respectively. See examples:
  • Lat. CAELUM, *morit → char, muaril (cf. Fr. ciel, meurt; Lom. ciel, mœur; It. cielo, muore; Spanish cielo, muere, Portuguese céu, (morre))
  • Lat. TERRAM, PORTAM → tiara, puarta (cf. Fr. terre, porte; Lom. terra, porta; It. terra, porta; Sp. tierra, puerta; Pt. terra, porta).

Dialectally, vowel breaking was more widespread. In Numidia, it remained productive late enough to affect original ul (see above), but not original al or even long a (which remained *ɑ(l) for longer) — as in fualmin for standard folmin. This usage extended to later loanwords, as in arbialg "hotel" for standard arbelg (Medieval Latin HARIBERGUM), or in the given name doublet Albert and Albiart (← ALBERTUM).
In Western Mauritania and Numidia, it affected vowels after velars too (see Western Mauritanian cuardi, Numidian cuari for Standard/general Mauritanian cordi "heart", or both W.Mauritanian and Numidian cuarnu for Std. cornu (← CORNŪ)), as well as vowels before n as in buan for Std. bon "good" (← BONUM). The fact these dialects break vowels before n, but still only when stressed, creates even more stem alternations in the conjugation of some verbs compared to standard Atlantic, such as spuandi, spondimu for Std. spondi, spondimu "I declare, we declare" (← SPONDEŌ, SPONDĒMUS).

Reborrowings or learned words, especially Biblical proper nouns, often created doublets, as in the given name "Peter" being usually Piatr, but Petrus when referring to Saint Peter^[H.1].

Vowel breaking was analogically extended in derivational morphology (but not inflectional) to the same root in unstressed positions, unless the two words had since diverged in meaning; for example, TERRAM and TERRŌSUM regularly gave tiara and tirus, but the latter fell from usage sometime around the 16-17th century in favour of tiarus. The same did not happen with e.g. virbus from VERBŌSUM "wordy", as the root word viarb from VERBUM shifted to the more limited usage, as in English and most European languages, of "verb".

Note that original Latin long a only merged with o later, and never underwent vowel breaking.

Note, furthermore, that certain prefixes, most notably original CON- and TRĀNS-, show apparently unexpected reflexes due to analogy with other forms with different vowels. In the case of TRĀNS-, the preposition shortened the vowel and all verbal forms have the reflex of the short vowel. In the case of CON-, the different vowel in the preposition CUM (whence Atl. cu) triggered an analogical change throughout the lexicon, but this did not reach all words so that there are forms with cun/cum- and forms with con-/com-, e.g. cuntornori (to turn around, move around, encircle), cundunori (to forgive), but comeiri (to eat), condimmori (to condemn), compuṭori (to count).

Similarly, PRŌ was shortened as a preposition and the same shortening is reflected in all verbal forms and most nouns using it, like propuniri (to propose), proḍuxiri (to produce) or proviniri (to come from), but some nouns maintained the long vowel an have therefore a different reflex, e.g. prutixuni (protection), pruvisuri (sentinel).

Phonology and orthography

The following table lists the consonant phonemes of Standard Atlantic, together with their orthographical representation in bold italic.

The phonemes /ɕ ʎ/ are only found in some dialects; Standard Atlantic merges them with /ç j/ respectively — cf. oichaly "bird" /ˈwaˈtɕaj ~ waˈtɕaʎ/ or seix "six" /ˈsɛç ~ ˈsɛɕ/. In the dialects where /ɕ/ is a distinct phoneme, [ç x] are in complementary distribution, with the former occurring before front vowels and the latter elsewhere. The Canarian dialect of Cinet (Tenerife) developed a new /ɕ/ – and /ʑ/ – by deaffricating the palatal affricates, e.g. chastr "city" [ˈɕastər], jarba "grass, herb" [ˈʑarba].

/l/ is realized as a voiceless lateral fricative [ɬ] word-finally and before voiceless consonants, and as its voiced equivalent [ɮ] before voiced consonants.

In standard Atlantic, voiced stops are allophonically geminated after a stressed vowel, e.g. in pubric "public" /ˈpubrik/ [ˈpubːrik], abidihu "I decline" /ˈabidiχu/ [ˈabːidiχu], or Vurubiri "Volubilis" /vuˈrubiri/ [vuˈrubːiri].

/ŋ/ is a marginal phoneme, limited to the /ŋn/ sequence, written as mm^[P.1] as in amma /ˈaŋna/ "person", ommisantor /oŋnizanˈtɔr/ "November", or limmi /ˈliŋni/ "brown"; due to spelling pronunciation, nativized loanwords with written mm are typically pronounced with this sequence, such as the name Emma /ˈɛŋna/, with the exception of mm in Greek-derived words in gramm- (from γράμμ-), where the sequence represents /m/ as if it were a single letter.

The sequence /ŋɡ/ is, in Numidia, often realized as [ŋn], which leads to it being written as mm by less educated speakers. Examples include sungu [ˈsuŋɡu ~ ˈsuŋnu] "I am" or Hungariha [χuŋˈɡariχa ~ χuŋˈnariχa] "Hungary".

/θ ð/ are extremely common in native words – continuing intervocalic Latin /t d/ respectively – however, due to their origin, they never appear word-initially in inherited words. Instances of word-initial /θ ð/ are thus limited to loanwords, such as ṭalj [ˈθaladʑ] "frost" (← Ar. ثلج) or ḍil [ðiɬ] "ghost" (← Ar. ظل).

Word-initial consonants are, for many speakers, allophonically geminated due to assimilation of a preceding consonant from a clitic. This most notably happens with aḍ:

• Fui aḍ Napuli — "I was in Naples" [ˈfui̯ anˈnapuli];
• Ilu vivil aḍ Briṭonya — "he lives in Great Britain" [ilu ˈviviɬ abːriˈθɔɲa].

Further phonemes are found in certain dialects only; for example, far eastern Numidian (Cirta, Hippo Regius, and neighboring areas) shares with Sicilian and Sardinian the LL → /ɖ(ɖ)/ sound change, where the other Atlantic dialects have /ʎ/ (or /j/) instead, as in /ɔjˈtɕaɖ/ for standard /waˈtɕaj ~ waˈtɕaʎ ~ ɔɪ̯ˈtɕaʎ/ oichaly "bird". Far eastern Numidian shares retroflexing sound changes with Sicilian, like [ʈɽ] for standard /tr/ – e.g. otrantih as [ɔˈʈɽɑntiχ] – and [ʂɽ] for standard /str/ – e.g. istrony "strange" as [iˈʂɽɔɲ].

In southern Mauritania (Santa Lucia, Tarudant, Varsasat and neighboring areas), /ɕ ç~x/ have remained distinct, but the former's realization has shifted to a peculiar phone transcribed as [θ̠] (alveolar non-sibilant voiceless fricative). Like areas where it is realized as [ɕ], but unlike standard Atlantic and general Mauritanian /ç/, it does not front and/or raise following vowels, e.g. xarv "slave" [ˈθ̠arav], Std. [ˈçærav].

Atlantic has a simple five vowel system, with little allophony.

The following table lists the Atlantic writing system in alphabetical order. Atlantic uses the standard Latin alphabet with a few additional characters.

The letters c, g and h

The letters c, g and h have different pronunciations depending on the following vowel:

• Before a, o, u they represent /k ɡ χ/;
• Before i, e they represent /tɕ dʑ ç/.

Note that the /ç/ phoneme may also be written as x in all positions due to a general sound shift, representing earlier /ɕ/ when written as such. Most Numidian dialects still pronounce x as /ɕ/.

In order to write the same sounds before the opposite pair of letters, the following letters or digraphs are used:

• Palatal sound + a, o, u → ch, j, x;
• Velar sound + i, e → qu, gu; the sequences /χi χe/ do not exist in Atlantic.

The letters s and x

The letter s may represent two or three different phonemes depending on dialect: /s z/ are common to all Atlantic dialects, with /z/ never occurring word-initially or word-finally and being the only one to happen before voiced consonants, and being written as s intervocalically; in this position, the only one where it contrasts with /s/, the latter is written ss.

Word-finally, /s z/ do not contrast as only the former is possible, however the /z/ may appear in inflected forms. Despite this, and the option of a /z/ phoneme being realized as [s] word-finally being possible, the orthography does not distinguish between them and always writes s. The only word regularly written with word-final ss is the adverb press "near".

The third phoneme represented by s is /ɕ/, limited to a few Numidian dialects and only occurring before a soft c as in nosciri "to be born" /ˈnɔɕtɕiri/. These dialects' /ɕtɕ/ sequence corresponds to /stɕ/ elsewhere (cf. standard /ˈnɔstɕiri/).

The letter x represents historical /ɕ/, which has shifted to /ç/ in all dialects except for those of mountain areas and far eastern Numidia; a peculiar characteristic of the dialect of Hippo Regius in the far east of the country is the "hardening" of this sound to /ʂ/, known as xi hipuriginsi. Word-finally, this phoneme is written as ix after vowels, and it may contrast with x in some learned Greek or Latin words which represents /ks/, with the most common minimal pair being seix "six" /sɛç ~ sɛɕ/ [sɛç ~ sɛɕ] vs. sex "sex" /sɛks/ [ˈsɛkɛs].
The only exception is for acronyms where a word-final x was word-medial in the source word; in such words, the i-less spelling is kept but with the /ç/ sound, as in soxnox "Nazi" /sɔçˈnɔç ~ sɔɕˈnɔɕ/ (acronym of soxorista noxunori).

Originally Greek given names with x may be pronounced with either /ç/ or /ks/; the latter pronunciation is more formal, but the former is more common — cf. Anaxagora /anaçaˈgɔra ~ anaksaˈgɔra/ or Xerxi /ˈçɛrçi ~ ˈksɛrksi/. However, for Arixandr and Arixandra only the pronunciation with /ç/ is used.

The letter z, not native to the Atlantic alphabet, is usually pronounced [z] in unassimilated loanwords it occurs in. However, it is found root-initially in certain Greek words, where it is pronounced [s], e.g. in Zeus [ˈsɛu̯s], Zoi [swa] or cenozoic~cenozoïc [tɕɛnɔˈswak]~[tɕɛnɔˈsɔjk].

Epenthesis

Epenthesis of unstressed vowels is a prominent feature of Atlantic. Epenthetic unwritten vowels are found in most dialects in virtually every word-final written cluster, except for nasal+stop ones, where only the nasal is pronounced^[P.2], with the exception of nunc and demonstratives ending in -nc, which also have epenthesis. The epenthetic vowel is always unstressed and of the same quality of the preceding vowel. They are not analyzed as phonemic.

• olt "high, tall" (m./n. sg.) /ɔlt/ [ˈɔlɔt] (cf. olta "high, tall" (f. sg./n. pl.) /ˈɔlta/ [ˈɔɬta]);
• vestr "your(s)" (m./n. sg.) /vɛstr/ [ˈvɛstɛr] (cf. vestra "your(s)" (f. sg./n. pl.) /ˈvɛstra/ [ˈvɛstra]);
• agr "field" /aɡr/ [ˈaɡːar] (cf. agrus "fields" /ˈaɡrus/ [ˈaɡːrus]);
• spuns "declared" (m./n. sg.) /spuns/ [ˈspunus] (cf. spunsa "declared" (f. sg./n. pl.) /ˈspunsa/ [ˈspunsa]);
• punyt "point" /puɲt/ [puɲ] (cf. punytus "points" /ˈpuɲtus/ [ˈpunʲtʲʉs]);
• voḍunt "they go" /ˈvɔðun/ [ˈvɔðun];
• nunc "now" /ˈnunk/ [ˈnunuk].

Note, as for /nC/ finals, that adrint "close to" does have a pronounced [t] when before the indefinite articles un and una.

Stop+stop or stop+fricative clusters at morpheme boundaries or Greek loanwords also get an epenthetic vowel, but it is usually considered to be phonemic, and it is almost always /i/. Examples include adviniri "to come" /adiviˈniri/, abcumandori "to outsource" /abikumanˈdɔri/, pterodactil "pterodactyl" /pitɛrɔˈda(ki)til/, psicologia "psychology" /pisikɔlɔˈdʑi.a/. Word-initially, written stop+nasal clusters also have this phonemic epenthesis, e.g. pneumatih "tyre" /pinɛu̯ˈmatiχ/.

Morphology

Nouns (numinya, sg. numi) do not inflect for case, just for number, and have different pluralization patterns inherited by the Latin declensions and their various subtypes, including those for Greek nouns. Gender is not marked on the nouns themselves, but on accompanying adjectives and articles.

The vocative

Masculine given names (and a small number of common nouns) in Atlantic have a distinct vocative form. This ending, -u, is not a continuation of the original Latin vocative; instead, it can be explained as a lengthening of the final vowel of original -UM nouns, therefore reconstructing the Pre-Atlantic form as *-ū, which prevented the vowel from being dropped.

The vocative form is used, in popular speech, for every masculine given names which ends in a consonant; prescriptive grammar, however, does not accept it for the common Greek names which had a different ending (and typically end in stressed -os, -on or -es).
Some examples:

• Cir → Ciru!
• Albert → Albertu!
• Ginnar → Ginnaru!
• Piatr → Piatru!
• Xenofon → Xenofon! (standard), Xenofonu! (colloquial)
• Diocles → Diocles! (standard), Dioclesu! (colloquial)
• Arquimedi → Arquimedi! (does not end in a consonant)

Other masculine words that take vocative -u are consonant-ending common addressing styles or names of charges such as said (Mr.), partun (Lord), chamiroṭ (Comrade), vasir (Minister), as well as adjectives often used vocatively such as cor (dial. cuar) "dear".

Adjectives (ageitiva, sg. ageitiu; less commonly epiṭeta, sg. epiṭetu) follow two different declensions, one with four distinct forms and another with three. Neuter nouns take masculine singular agreement when singular, and feminine singular when plural.

First declension examples:

• Singular: charus furmus, charusa furmusa, cordi furmus — "handsome boy", "beautiful girl", "kind heart"
• Plural: charusus furmusus, charusos furmusos, corda furmusa — "handsome boys", "beautiful girls", "kind hearts"

Second declension examples:

• Singular: amix viroci, amixa viroci, joixi viroci — "real friend (male)", "real friend (female)", "real pleasure"
• Plural: amicus virocis, amixos virocis, joixa virocha — "real friends (male)", "real friends (female)", "real pleasures"

Comparatives and superlatives

Atlantic, unlike other Romance languages, maintained the synthetic forms for comparatives and superlatives, though it still uses the common Romance analytic forms in less formal styles:

Formal:

• Lucia i Tecra sunt oltos. "Lucy and Thecla are tall."
• Tecra ê olxura pu Lucia. "Thecla is taller than Lucy."
• Tecra ê olxissima. "Thecla is the tallest one."

Informal:

• Tecra ê prus olta pu Lucia. "Thecla is taller than Lucy."
• Tecra ê la prus olta. "Thecla is the tallest one."

In some mostly set phrases, the synthetic comparatives are always used, like in Il Monti Chandiḍ ê il monti olxissim di Jolya i Iṭolya. "Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in France and Italy" (never, while grammatically correct, "ê il monti prus olt").

Analytic comparatives use prus "more" (or miny "less"), the adjective, and pu introducing the comparison term (the latter also in synthetic comparatives). Analytic superlatives use the article before prus or miny, while synthetic comparatives never use the article.

Synthetic comparatives are, for all adjectives, second declension adjectives formed with -iuri (with i assimilating to the previous consonant):

• Singular: arun olxuri, turi olxura, nimal olxuri — "taller student", "taller tower", "taller animal"
• Plural: arunis olxuris, turis olxuris, nimalya olxura — "taller students", "taller towers", "taller animals"

Adjectives in -rCi or -lCi (← Lat. -ER) typically have -Criuri, e.g. charilbi "famous" → ciribriuri "more famous".

For most adjectives, synthetic superlatives are first declension adjectives in -issim:

• Singular: arun olxissim, turi olxissima, nimal olxissim — "tallest student", "tallest tower", "tallest animal"
• Plural: arunis olxissimus, turis olxissimos, nimalya olxissima — "tallest students", "tallest towers", "tallest animals"

Adjectives in -rCi or -lCi form the superlative in -iarim, e.g. charilbi → ciribiarim "most famous", while adjectives in -iri (← Lat. -ILIS) form the superlative in -ilyim, e.g. faxiri "easy" → faxilyim "easiest".

Irregular forms

Some adjectives exclusively have synthetic forms which are irregular or suppletive. Often, Atlantic replaced the positive grade with a different adjective, similar to other Romance languages (as in PRESSUM, VETULUM, MINŪTUM instead of PROPINQUUM, SENEM, PARVUM), but kept the irregular forms, adding more suppletion.

The indefinite article and the possessives are inflected like first declension adjectives; the definite article and the distal demonstrative, however, have a distinct form for the neuter singular.

The remaining possessives (eiu, ilur, ilor, ipsur, ipsor), which derive from genitive forms, are not inflected.

In informal writing and speech, the articles are typically reduced, with definite articles losing the initial l (il remains the same) and indefinite una becoming na; indefinite plural articles are not used in informal speech, with arpol ("some", from Latin ALIQUOD) being used instead.

In eastern Mauritania and bordering parts of Numidia, il becomes r, with an unwritten prosthetic [i] or [e] before consonants, e.g. r om "the man" [ˈrɔm], r chat "the cat" [er‿ˈtɕat] for standard il om, il chat [(i)ɬ‿ˈɔm], [iɬ‿ˈtɕat].

Demonstratives are more complex as they vary dialectally. Standard Atlantic, Mauritania, western Numidia (as far east as Cartennae), almost all of the Sahara, and the Senegal river region use forms unique in the Romance-speaking world, derived from ILLE and HUNC, HANC, HŌS, HĀS for the non-distal and ILLIC for the distal; the remaining areas use forms in common with other Romance languages, from Vulgar Latin *eccu + ISTE for the non-distal and ILLE for the distal one. The forms of those pronouns vary according to the region; the areas around Fallaba, in southern Numidia, maintain the animacy distinction of the pronouns even in the demonstratives.

Atlantic, unlike other Romance languages with a two-way demonstrative distinction, uses the "proximal" form for medial demonstratives, which is hence termed "non-distal":

Lûnc vixilc pu eu tenyu ê ciruly. "This car that I have is blue." (cf. Italian "Questa macchina che io ho è blu")

Lûnc vixilc pu tu tenis ê ciruly. "That (lit. this) car that you have is blue." (cf. It. "Quella/codesta macchina che tu hai è blu")

Ludic vixilc pu Lucia tenil ê ciruly. "That car that Lucy has is blue." (cf. It. "Quella macchina che ha Lucia è blu")

Indefinite relatives follow the noun or whatever they refer to:

Do-m duna cupalca sit-pori-fuaril. "Give me any [kind of] glass/any glass you want."

Iṭurus sumu sit-uvi-fuaril tu viaris. "We will go anywhere you want."

Cardinals

A peculiar innovation of Atlantic is the cardinal sispiun(a) (← SĒSQUI UNUM/UNAM), meaning "one and a half".

Ordinals

Standalone ordinal numerals exist for the units 1-10, for the tens, one hundred, and one thousand:

Intermediate numbers combine the ordinals of units with the ones of the tens or the immediately preceding non-zero digit, with the remaining part being the same as the cardinal:

In informal spoken language, however, for numbers from 21 onwards except those with standalone forms, it is common for all digits but the last to be cardinal, e.g. vinti prim for 21st or duxenta pimpointo sest for "256th".

The Atlantic pronoun (prunuminya, sg. prunumi) system has less forms than Latin does, but is still (clitic system aside) more complex than other Romance languages. A peculiarity of Atlantic is that there is an animacy distinction in the third person pronouns, with animate forms derived from the Latin demonstratives (ILLUM, cf. It. egli, ella), and the inanimate ones derived from the emphatics (IPSUM, cf. It. esso, essa).

Table notes:

1. When preceding any clitic, third person singular -l becomes -t (e.g. ilu viḍil "he sees", ilu viḍit-un "he sees us").
2. The forms with -l- are used after consonants, except for t, d, or n; those with -r- after vowels and the previously mentioned consonants.

For courtesy forms, traditionally the locution la sinyuria is used (e.g. la sinyuria dixil "you [formal] say"), with third person singular agreement no matter if the referent is plural or singular. Among younger generations, French influence has made vus (e.g. vus dixiṭi as the formal equivalent of tu dixis) also common as a courtesy form.

The accusative and indirect forms most commonly used are the clitic ones. The full forms are used for emphasis and after prepositions.

• Jari viḍi-ru "I saw him yesterday"
• Jari viḍi-ra "I saw her yesterday"
• Jari viḍis-lu "You saw him yesterday"
• Cros daṭur-um iaris dil cuḍixi? "Will you give me the book tomorrow?" (note that Atlantic is secundative!)
• Cros daṭur-li iaris? "Will you give that tomorrow?"
• Du-ru dil cuḍixi "I give him the book"
• Custiṭil-umi pardointo dinoris. "It cost me 40 denarii"

Furthermore, there are the two weak adverbial pronouns an and iv. The former is used to replace indefinite, quantitative, and ablative expressions, as well as arguments introduced by di; the latter replaces locative and lative ones:

• Parlantis iromu dâ nova taviarna di vistimenta "we were talking about the new clothing shop" → Parlantis an iromu "we were talking about it"
• Amiṭa ma tenil pimpi virocha vosa sininsa "my aunt has five real Chinese vases" → Amiṭa ma an tenil pimpi "my aunt has five of them"
• – Tenis una tauleta? "do you have a tablet" – Oc, an tenyu (una) "yes, I have (one)"
• Amix meu fuara voil e insura "my friend goes out of the apartment" → Amix meu fuara an voil "my friend goes out of it"
• Iṭur sungu nôs Aṭinos "I will go to Athens" → Iv iṭur sungu "I will go there"
• Iaris nôs Sirohusos? "Are you in Syracuse?" → Oc, iv sungu "Yes, I am there"

di (← DĒ) — of; also introduces themes of ditransitive verbs and the arguments of certain verbs. It also translates "about, concerning".

• Ê la suari di Mateu. — "it's Matthew's sister."
• Frolti meu dat-um dû vos. — "my brother gives me the vase"
• Oc, quior ê pu memini di Lucia! — "yes, of course I remember Lucy!"
• Ê nu cuḍixi dâ Bialya Puniha. — "It is a book about the Punic Wars."
• Los ninyos nila cholyi cînt di trasmirgimenta prûs ambrantis. — "The stripes in the road are called by the name of 'crossing for pedestrians'."
• Nila taviarna apiri-m di oly, pon insifiḍ, arpol uva, tir, i orivos. — "In the shop I buy oil, salt-less bread, some grapes, cheese and olives."
• Filyuar meu dimandovit-um dôs noviṭoṭis. — "My son asked me about the news/what's new."
• Turi-t dil pon. — "I brought you the bread."

aḍ (← AD) — expresses motion to or state in certain places. Typically, some nouns require aḍ, usually public services, islands^[M.2], or open spaces, plus singular names of cities and plural countries, while others require in. It also introduces gerunds.

• Sungu â staxuni. — "I am at the station."
• Voḍu aḍ Midran. — "I'm going to Milan."
• Suari ma vivil aḍ Britonya. — "My sister lives in Great Britain."
• Nil anu proxim iṭur sungu âlos Sinos. — "Next year I'll go to China."
• Ê sis mexa hura aḍ atendiri âlus missus. — "He said he waited half an hour at the post office."

in (← IN) — expresses motion to or state in certain places, including most closed buildings, singular countries, and plural names of cities (the reverse of aḍ). It also introduces many expressions of time.

• Sungu nila taviarna. — "I am in the shop."
• Voḍu in Grecia. — "I am going to Greece."
• Suari ma vivil nôs Sirohusos. — "My sister lives in Syracuse."
• Nil anu proxim iṭur sungu âlos Sinos. — "Next year I'll go to China."

e (← EX) — expresses motion from (ablative), as well as "from" when referring to a time back in the past. It is also used for derivation or specifying a material, as well as translating "of" when it implies the result of something:

• Fuara voḍu êxa staxuni. — "I go out of the station."
• Cros riviartu e Londiny. — "I'm coming back from London tomorrow."
• Lûnc scupit ê êxu Sihund Bialy Glubori. — "This rifle is from World War II."
• Lânc charṭeda ê e foj. — "This chair is made of beech wood."
• Los nimbos rumonxos provenint êxu laṭin. — "Romance languages are derived from Latin."
• Frigiranta, congiranta, iscarfomenta. La mirolca êxu elaso. — "Fridges, freezers, heating. Wonders of progress."

cu (← CUM) — expresses an instrument or a comitative argument.

• July secal arbolis câ sihuri. — "Julius cuts trees with the axe."
• Prefiaru scriviri cuna pena. — "I prefer to write with a pen."
• Trubu cu Tecra. — "I sing with Thecla."

tras (← TRANS) — through; among (in this case usually without article); expresses the agent in passive sentences.

• Duhu trâu chastr. — "I drive through the city."
• Tecra ê la arumma prus chandinta tras crassi. — "Thecla is the best/most clever student in the class."
• Lânc faita spunsa fiarunt trâl guviarn. — "These deeds were promised by the government."
• Lus cuḍixis haju aḍeut doṭ tras Mateu. — "The books have been given to me by Matthew."
• Ila difusit-us surxoitoṭa trâ proṭista. — "She was left surprised by the protest."

• When the focus is on walking through something, or the means of transport is stated, the construction of a motion verb + tras + indirect object is typically replaced by the transitive verb trasmergiri "to cross":

• Voḍu trâ cholyi (in peḍis/cu aḍ ambrori) — "I cross the road (on foot)" → Trasmergu la cholyi.
• Duhimu trâ Hilvixa — "We drive across [the whole of] Switzerland" → Trasmirgimu la Hilvixa (in vixilc).

incop (likely ← *in caput) — on, over:

• Iv ê nivi incopa teita dûs eḍifixus. — "There is snow on the roofs of buildings."
• Nuiros vuarant incopu chastr. — "Clouds fly/float over the city."
• Il chat durmil incopil leit. — "The cat is sleeping on the bed."

sut (← SUBTUM) — below, under; with names of regnants/governors used for "during the reign/government of":

• Il chat cucoṭ ê sutta taula. — "The cat is lying under the table."
• Lûnc chastr custruch fuch sut Troion. — "This city was founded during the reign of Trajan."
• Inviniva nîl il curtialy, siḍ iaral suttu tistulc. — "I couldn't find the knife, but it was under the napkin."

pro (← PRŌ, with pre-Atlantic shortening of the final vowel) — for, for the benefit of; for measures. Also used as a conjunction with a supine meaning (but ut is preferred in formal usage):

• Lânc flura sunt pro tivi. — "These flowers are for you."
• Los ninyos nila cholyi cînt di trasmirgimenta prûs ambrantis. — "The stripes in the road are called by the name of 'crossing for pedestrians'."
• Bilyomu prâ gluria di Ruma! — "We fight for the glory of Rome!"
• Lânc ê una hilnyura pro nu litr di cirivixa. — "This is a glass [that can contain] one litre of beer."
• Faitur-u sungu nunc, pro cros haviri prus temp feiror. — "I'll do it now, in order to have more free time tomorrow."
• Filyuara ma dimandovit-um pro eu dixissi la aliteia. — "My daughter asked me to tell [her] the objective truth."
• La leva dâ agora proposiṭ hal una lixi prûs direitus varihoṭus. — "It seems that the left in Parliament has proposed a law for LGBT rights."

groxa (← GRĀTIĀ, with pre-Atlantic shortening of the final vowel) — thanks to, because of + positive experience:

• Dinoji iv sunt miny muartis nilu cunolb groxa lus heurimenis nila iatria. — "Today there are less [cases of] death during infancy, thanks to the discoveries in medical science."
• Groxa lu bon etiri jari vosimu âlu mari. — "Because of the nice weather we went to the sea yesterday."
• Inteligi-su groxa stuxa ma. — "I understand it because of my studies/what I studied."

estra (← EXTRĀ, with pre-Atlantic shortening of the final vowel — "outside" (stative), also figuratively:

• Aṭendu estra la ircexa. — "I wait outside the church."
• Nila seumona proxima sissur sungu estra la tiara. — "Next week I'll be abroad (lit. "outside the land")."
• Lûnc ê estra ofixa ta. — "This isn't part of your duties (lit. "this is outside your duties")."

adrint (← ADHÆRENTEM) — near (in space or time):

• Lus missus sunt adrint monxuni ma. — "The post office is near my house."
• Sumu adrintâ Risureuxuni. — "We are close to Easter. / Easter is near."
• Midran siṭ ê adrintil nimiṭi hilviṭih. — "Milan is close to the border with Switzerland."

controri (← CONTRĀRIUM) — "against", or "opposite to" when used with places:

• Lus partinxonus otrantihus bilyoirunt controri la higuemonia fascista. — "Atlantic partisans fought against the Fascist dictatorship."
• Ilu ê tutijurn controri mi. — "He's always against me."
• Monxuni ma ê controri la supirtaviarna. — "My house is opposite the supermarket."

difaxi (← DĒ FACIĒ (AD)) — next to:

• Lus missus sunt difaxâ supirtaviarna. — "The post office is next to the supermarket."
• Ilu tutijurn seḍil difaxi mi. — "He always sits next to me."

circ (← CIRCUM) — around:

• Lu helicopteru vuaral circû chastr. — "The helicopter flies around the city."
• Ambromu circâ pratia. — "We walk around the square."
• Circ los curios dil guviarn fuch una massa di pirsunos cu aḍ proṭistori. — "Around the governmental offices there was a crowd of people protesting."

siny (← SINE) — without. The siḍiri + siny structure (to be without) is frequently used where English prefers "to have no":

• Lânc caramela sunt siny sucar. — "These sweets are sugar-free (lit. "without sugar").
• Possun nîl viviri siny tivi! — "I can't live without you!"
• Sungu siny pihunya. — "I have no money (lit. "I am without money")."
• Barban meu ê siny infantis. — "My uncle has no children."

cis (← CIS) — before, also introducing subordinate clauses with subjunctive.

• Lus missus sunt cîsa taviarna. — "The post office is before the shop."
• Fuṭur ê cîsa dominiha. — "It will be/happen before Sunday."
• Faxi-su cis nus rivirtomu! — "Do it before we come back!"

uls (← ULS) — after (in time or introducing subordinates) or "beyond".

• La taviarna ê ursus missus. — "The shop is after/beyond the post office."
• Fuṭur ê ursa dominiha. — "It will be/happen after Sunday."
• Nito tutijurn lus dentis uls tu manxos! — "Always brush your teeth after eating."
• Faitur-u sungu uls eu finya. — "I'll do it after I finish [this]."

Table of contractions

Some locational adverbs have two distinct forms: one of them lative and the other stative:

Verbs (viarba, sg. viarb) generally have six moods: three finite (indicative, subjunctive, imperative) and three non-finite ones (infinitive, participle, gerundive). Unlike other Romance languages, Atlantic did not develop a conditional mood.

The indicative and subjunctive are composed of various simple tenses plus other compound ones, while the other moods only have a few forms (the imperative) in a single tense, or have a simple tense and a compound one. The indicative simple tenses are present, imperfect, past (from the Latin perfect), and past perfect. The subjunctive only has three: present, imperfect (from the Latin past perfect subj.), and future (from Latin future perfect ind.) - the origin of the various tenses is therefore the same as in other languages like Portuguese.

Verbs in Atlantic are typically cited with three or four principal parts: the infinitive, the 1sg present indicative, the 1sg past indicative, and the past participle; unlike Latin, but like other Romance languages, the infinitive and not the 1sg present indicative is used as citation form. The 1sg present indicative is mostly needed in cases where the root had a short E in Latin which is stressed (and kept or broken) in the 1sg present indicative form, but unstressed in the infinitive (where it therefore became /i/). An example is the verb irori "to make a mistake" ← ERRĀRE, whose 1sg present indicative form is iaru ← ERRŌ (cf. cinsiri "to think" (← CĒNSĒRE) and cinsi "I think" (← CĒNSEŌ), where this does not happen due to the different original vowel).

Only the first conjugation is still productive, and it is also the one with the fewest irregular verbs (most verbs in it have the same root in all principal parts).

The conjugations (conyugoxunis, sg. conyugoxuni) are often shared between the various dialects, though their semantic and syntactical usage may vary somewhat (especially for compound tenses). Note that Eastern Numidian, having not undergone the word-final t → l shift, has -t endings for the third-person forms (e.g. amat instead of amal for "he/she/it loves").

First conjugation

The first conjugation includes verbs whose infinitive ends in -ori (← -ĀRE).

Second conjugation

The second conjugation includes verbs whose infinitive ends in stressed -iri: it merges the Latin second and fourth conjugations (← -ĒRE and -ĪRE) as well as, due to influence of the first person singular of the present indicative, the reflexes of many third conjugation -IŌ verbs (like chafiu, chafiri from CAPIŌ, CAPERE) which have been reanalyzed into this conjugation, undergoing a stress change...

Third conjugation

The Atlantic third conjugation corresponds to the majority of third conjugation verbs in Latin, and their infinitive ends in unstressed -iri (← -ERE). They are the least regular, with nearly every verb in the conjugation having an irregular perfect stem and an irregular past participle. Also, the only verbs with -ei perfects. Unlike other conjugations, the stress in first and second person plural forms is consistently on the stem in the tenses where the other persons are also stressed on the stem (present and past (first person only) indicative, present subjunctive, and the imperative); the distinctive first person form -umu likely arose due to the first vowel of the ending being a schwa which came to have the same quality of the following one.

The verb fairi (← FACERE), faxu, fixi, fait "to do, make" is a regular third conjugation verb, except for it having contracted forms in the infinitive and in the 2SG and 3SG indicative present; all other forms are regular. The same principle extends to the same forms of the verb voiri (← VĀDERE) "to go", however, it is irregular due to suppletion in other moods and tenses.

Inchoative verbs are all third conjugation ones, and their infinitive ends in unstressed -esciri [-ˈɛstɕiri]. Their past always has [-sk-] (e.g. amesqui "I started to love", amesquisti "you started to love"), and their past participles are regular -esciṭ, -esciṭur. Most of them are derived by other verbs, but some have unique meanings (e.g. cunyussesciri "to meet someone for the first time", or locutions with impersonal verbs such as (tempora) hiviarnescunt "winter is starting" (lit. "times start to winter")).