Istro-Romanian grammar
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. 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, DR ursul > IR ursu, DR mielul > IR mľelu.
The -le ending is used for all masculine singular nouns ending in -e, e.g. fråtele, sorele, cărele. 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, fiľi
| 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, socri
| 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, fråţ
| 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, nopte > nopta ; however a few feminine nouns ending in a stressed -e behave differently, e.g. ste > stevu, ne > nevu.
- fetĕ, fete
| 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, muľere
| 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, stele
| 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, bråţe – bråţu, bråţele
- os, ose – osu, osele
- zid, zidur – zidu, zidurle
- plug, plugur – plugu, plugurle
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. The comparative adjective is måi bur and the superlative is ćel måi bur.The adjective may precede the noun: bura zi, which in itself can be made definite by the change of -ĕ to -a; or follows the noun: feta muşåtĕ.