Eastern Lombard grammar

Eastern Lombard grammar reflects the main features of Romance languages: the word order of Eastern Lombard is usually SVO, nouns are inflected in number, adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns, verbs are conjugated in tenses, aspects and moods and agree with the subject in number and person. The case system is present only for the weak form of the pronoun.

Eastern Lombard has always been a spoken language and, in spite of sporadic attempts to fix the main features in a written grammar, a unique canonical variety has never prevailed over the others. The present day situation sees a large number of varieties, roughly identifiable by the area where a particular variety is spoken (so, you may encounter a Bergamasque, Brescian, a Camunic variety, etc.). Varieties differ mainly in phonology, syntax and word choice.

This grammar is based on the Brescian variety and, although local differences (even remarkable) can be found, the basic principles are generally valid for the other varieties.

Nouns

Nouns in Eastern Lombard have two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine.

Singular

Masculine

Masculine singular nouns generally end with a consonant:

• gat, cat

• òm, man

but can often end with a stressed vowel: this usually happens where a historical -n has been dropped.

• cà, dog

• pà, bread

• carbù, coal

Feminine

Feminine singular nouns generally end with -a:

• gàta, female cat

• fónna, woman

but can occasionally end with a consonant:

• néf, snow

Note that, in some varieties, the final -a represents an /ɔ/ sound, that can make feminine words sound like they end in *-o.

Plural

Masculine

Masculine plural nouns follow particular rules depending on the ending of the singular form of the noun.