1. Nouns
    Singular  Masculine  Feminine  Plural  Masculine  Feminine 

2. Article
    Definite Article  Indefinite Article  References 

3. Modifiers
     Adjectives   Superlative   Demonstrative adjectives  

4. Pronouns
     Personal Pronouns    Demonstrative Pronouns  

5. Verbs
    Non finite Mood  Infinitive  Past Participle  Indicative Mood  Present Tenses  Simple Present  Interrogative form of the verb  Negative form of the verb  Present Progressive  Past Tenses  Imperfect  Past Progressive  Present Perfect  Past Perfect  Future Tenses  Simple Future  Future Progressive  Future Perfect   Subjunctive and Conditional moods    Imperative mood  

6. Phrasal verbs

7. Auxiliary verbs
     The verb Véser (to be)    The verb Ìga (to have)    Convergence of the imperfect  

8. Negation

9. Bibliography

10. See also

11. External links

12. References

The 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

• gat, cat

• òm, man

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

• cà, dog^[1]

• pà, bread^[2]

• carbù, coal^[3]

Feminine

• 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

If the singular ends with a stressed vowel, the word does not change in the plural:

• el cà → i cà

If the singular ends with -c, -j, -m, -p, -r or -s, the plural remains identical to the singular:

• el sac → i sac

• el ventàj → i ventàj

• el póm → i póm

• el cóp → i cóp

• el pér → i pér

• el ciós → i ciós

If the singular ends with -t, the plural will end with -cc (pronounced [tʃ]):^[4]

• el gat → i gacc

If the singular ends with -n, the plural will end with -gn (pronounced [ɲ]):

• el àzen → i àzegn

If the singular ends with -l, the plural will end with -j:

• el caàl → i caàj

Feminine

• la gàta → le gàte

• la fónna → le fónne

When the singular ends with a consonant, the plural follows the rules applied to masculine nouns.

Article

All the articles in Eastern Lombard agree in number and gender with the corresponding noun.

Articles can be definite (like the in English) and indefinite (like a/an). Indefinite articles are used only with singular nouns, however to indicate an indefinite number of objects, Lombard exploits something similar to the partitive in French), but because the partitive system is much less developed in Lombard, this class of articles is included in the indefinite system.

Definite Article

• El is the form used for the singular definite article in the Brescian variety but in other dialects the forms ol (Bergamasque) or al (Cremasque) are preferred.
• The most widespread form for the feminine plural article in Eastern Lombard is le but in the area of Bergamo le is replaced by the form i that is the plural masculine form.

Brescian: 'le fónne'

Bergamasque 'i fómne' (eng. the women)

Note that speakers that use one form may not find correct the other.

• When el is followed by a vowel, it becomes l, like in:

El ga majàt l'armì del póm ("He ate the seed of the apple").

• When el is preceded by a vowel, it becomes 'l, like in:

A la fì vé 'l bel ("The good part comes at the end").

Indefinite Article

Bresciano:

Bergamasque:

References

¹ - In some varieties of Eastern Lombard, en can be realized as {{IPA|/øn/}} and written as ön or even {{IPA|/ø/}} written as ö.

² - The masculine article en becomes 'n when it follows a vowel, as in:

• L'éra 'n gran rebelòt, "It was a big mess."

³ - The feminine article ena becomes 'na when it follows a vowel, and en' when it precedes one.

⁴ - From a historical point of view, dèi and dèle should not be considered the plural forms of en and 'na. However, practically, they behave as they are plural form of the indefinitive articles:

• Gó ést en cà, "I saw a dog."

• Gó ést dèi cà, "I saw some dogs."

Modifiers

Adjectives

In Eastern Lombard, adjectives with qualificative function usually go after the noun they modify, and agree with it in number (singular/plural) and gender (masculine/feminine).

Plural of adjectives is formed observing the same rules of nouns. So we have:

'na fómna pesèna / dò fómne pesène (a short woman / two short women)

Although, in general, if compared with the Italian tongue, Eastern Lombard is less permissive under this aspect, some common adjectives like bèl (beautiful), bröt (ugly), gran (big), bù (good, good-natured), brào (good, clever) can also be placed before the noun. In this case the meaning can take on a different nuance, e.g.:

en òm bröt (an ugly man)

Superlative

Eastern Lombard expresses an extreme degree or absolute state of something by means of the absolute superlative, that corresponds to the English form very + adjective.

Differently from Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages, Eastern Lombard lacks a counterpart of the form adjective+issimo and also lacks a cognate for the Italian molto. In the Brescian variety, the most widespread form is adjective + fés,^[6] e.g.:

'na maöla dólsa fés (a very sweet strawberry)

Although, the adverb fés cannot be used if the adjective is placed before the noun. In that case the superlative form is obtained by the adverb gran placed before the adjective, e.g.:

l'è 'n gran brào barbér (he is a very good barber)

Another way to express a high degree of something is to reinforce it by means of a second adjective+ét/ènt^[7] (formerly a present participle), for example:

the second element is very frequently a repetition of the first adjective, i.e.:

'na máchina nöa nöènta (a very new car)

del dutùr ghéra zó pjé pjenènt (it was very full of people down there to the doctor room)

Demonstrative adjectives

Eastern Lombard makes a two-way distinction of demonstrative: the proximal form for the singular masculine is chèsto, while the distal form is chèl. This is the declension for the two forms:

1. An alternative form is chès·cc, pronounced {{IPA|[ˈkɛstʃə]}}, but the schwa is very reduced and hardly pronounced.

Both the proximal and the distal form are frequently emphasized with chè and là after the noun. So for example:

chèsto pà or chèsto pà chè or chèl pà chè(this bread);

chèl pà or chèl pà là (that bread).

Pronouns

Pronouns are classified in personal pronouns (referring to entities), demonstrative pronouns (deictic function), interrogative pronouns (to formulate questions) and relative pronouns (linking sentence together).

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns decline in number (singular and plural) and person (first, second and third). For the third person, gender (masculine and feminine) represents a further distinction.

1. Unlike the other possessive pronouns, nòst and vòst decline as adjective in number and gender:

2. Not used in urban Brescian but quite common in other varieties:

en va a Bèrghem (we go to Bergamo)

dài che mal ciàpa (hurry up, we can catch it)

3. The tonic form of the 3rd persons (either singular or plural) have two additional forms to add a proximal or distal value to the pronoun, when this refers to an animate subject:

lüche 'l màja compàgn de 'n luf (This man eats like a wolf)

i è stàde lùrela (It was those (girls/women) )

The following table shows the eight possible forms:

4. The situation for the object proclitic pronoun for the third persons (both singular and plural) is further complicated by the fact that there is a different behavior whether the following verb is a simple or a compound form. For example:

mé le càte sö (I pick them up)

mé ió catàde sö (I have picked them up)

lur i la càta sö (they pick it up)

lur i l'à catàt sö (they have picked it up)

• Tonic form can be used as subject at the beginning of the sentence or as indirect object after a preposition.

mé nó a Milà (I go to Milan)

ègne con té (I come with you)

• A peculiar feature of Eastern Lombard is the proclitic form for the subject. This form precedes the main verb and is obligatory for the second singular person and the third person (singular and plural).

Té ta sét dré a majà 'l ris (you are eating rice)

• The proclitic form for the direct object precedes the verb, as in:

mé ta ède (I see you)

mé.tonic.subject ta.clitic.object ède.1st.sing

• The dative proclitic form precedes the verb, as in:

chèsta tùrta, la ma pjas pròpe (this cake, I really like it). Literally:

chèsta.fem.sing tùrta, la.subject.clitic ma.dative.clitic pjas.present.3rd.sing pròpe

• The object enclitic is used mainly for pronominal forms of infinitive and imperative:

i völ copàm (they want to kill me.)

scrìel zó! (write it down!)

• When both an enclitic dative and an enclitic object are present, the enclitic dative comes before and an -e- is introduced between the two enclitic pronouns:

el pöl dàfel adès (he can give it to you now)

scrìemej zó! (write them down [to me, for me]!)

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are identical in form with the demonstrative adjectives (see corresponding table). Of course, they occur without a noun and they agree in number and gender with the referent.

Demonstrative pronouns are almost always used with the deictic particle ché or là. However, while with demonstrative adjectives chèl can be used in combination with ché, demonstrative pronouns do not accept the expression *chèl ché. So:

chèl s·cèt ché (this boy) -> no corresponding expression (*chèl ché is not an acceptable form).

In pronoun resolution (finding the referent of a pronoun), strong preference is given to animate entities rather to inanimate entities.

Verbs

One of the first description of the verb declension of Eastern Lombard verbs is included in the small dictionary edited in 1951 by Stefano Pinelli^[8]

Non finite Mood

Infinitive

According to the infinitive form, verbs are classified in two classes:

The first class includes the verbs ending in -à:

The second class includes the verbs with the infinitive ending in -ì or -er. Note that almost all the verbs of this second class can present two infinitive forms, one ending in -ì and the other ending in -er. For example:

The form in -ì is mandatory when an enclitic pronoun is added:

while the form in -er is generally preferred when the infinitive has no enclitic pronouns attached:

Bergamasque instead alternates the form in -í with a form identical to the 3rd singular of present indicative mood.

therefore the two forms of the infinitive are:

Past Participle

Past participle is used in the compound tenses present perfect and past perfect.

The regular past participle is made adding an -t (or -da for feminine in adjective construction and tenses that require gender agreement) after the infinitive form. Verbs of the second class use the form ending in -ì. For example:

Indicative Mood

Present Tenses

There are two present tenses in Eastern Lombard:

A simple present and a present progressive:

Simple Present

The Simple Present, is conjugated as follows:

First class (infinitive in -à: cantà (to sing) )

I sing.: cànte

II sing.: càntet

III sing.: cànta

I plur.: cantóm

II plur.: cantìf

III plur.: cànta

Second class (infinitive in -ì/-er: córer (to run) )

I sing.: córe

II sing.: córet

III sing.: cór

I plur.: coróm

II plur.: curìf

III plur.: cór

The paradigms above are presented without the corresponding pronouns. II person singular and III personal singular and plural cannot be separated by their clitic pronoun.

The following paradigm is presented with either the personal pronoun and the clitic pronoun:

The first person plural can also be conjugated with the clitic pronoun en + III sing.

This form can be prevalent or even exclusive in certain varieties (for example in Bergamasque).

Another local way to conjugate the I person plural is

where the clitic pronoun seems to have shifted and merged with the declension.

Interrogative form of the verb

A feature which Lombard tongue shares (among Romance languages) with French is the interrogative conjugation of the verb. This form is much better preserved in Eastern Lombard than in Western Lombard, where superstratum effects by Italian are stronger. The analogy with French tongue holds at a syntactical level, i.e. interrogative form means a verb–subject order. A difference consists in the fact that subject particles are enclitic (no accent) and agglutinate with the verb. Internal Sandhi phenomena may take place as well canta-la? turns into càntela?.

So, eastern Lombard verbs have a distinct conjugation paradigm for the interrogative function, where clitic pronouns shift after the verb and solder with it:

First class

I sing.: càntej? that corresponds to (do I) sing?

II sing.: càntet? that corresponds to (do you) sing?

III sing.masc.: càntel? that corresponds to (does he) sing?

III sing.fem.: càntela? that corresponds to (does she) sing?

I plur.: cantómej that corresponds to (do we) sing?

II plur.: cantìf that corresponds to (do you) sing?

III plur.masc.: càntej? that corresponds to (do they) sing?

III plur.fem.: càntele? that corresponds to (do they) sing?

It is worthwhile noting that some Camunic dialects show a periphrastic interrogative form,^[11] with syntax similar to English tongue:

• Che fal dí?= What does he/she say?
• Che fal fá?= What does he/she do?
• Che fal pensá che?= What does he/she think?

Note that usual interrogative form is applied to the auxiliary verb fá in this context.^[12]

Negative form of the verb

The negative form is obtained by adding the negation particle mìa after the verb:

I sing.: cànte mìa that corresponds to (I) don't sing

II sing.: càntet mìa

III sing.: cànta mìa

I plur.: cantóm mìa

II plur.: cantìf mìa

III plur.: cànta mìa

Present Progressive

The Present progressive, that is formed with the simple present of the verb véser + dré a + infinitive (literally "to be behind to", meaning "to keep up with"):

First class (infinitive in -à: cantà (to sing) )

I sing.: só dré a cantà

II sing.: sét dré a cantà

III sing.: (l')è dré a cantà

I plur.: sóm dré a cantà

II plur.: sìf dré a cantà

III plur.: (i)è dré a cantà

Second class (infinitive in -ì/-er: córer (to run) )

I sing.: só dré a córer

II sing.: sét dré a córer

III sing.: (l')è dré a córer

I plur.: sóm dré a córer

II plur.: sìf dré a córer

III plur.: (i)è dré a córer

Past Tenses

There are four past tenses. A simple past (imperfect) and three compound pasts (past progressive, present perfect and past perfect):

Imperfect

The Imperfect tense, which refers to any repeated, continuous, or habitual past action, is conjugated as follows:

First class (infinitive in -à: cantà (to sing) )

I sing.: cantàe

II sing.: cantàet

III sing.: cantàa

I plur.: cantàem

II plur.: cantàef

III plur.: cantàa

Second class (infinitive in -ì/-er: córer (to run) )

I sing.: curìe

II sing.: curìet

III sing.: curìa

I plur.: curìem

II plur.: curìef

III plur.: curìa

Past Progressive

The Past Progressive stresses the fact that the action was continuous in the past. This tense is formed with the imperfect of the verb véser (to be) + dré a + the infinitive:

I sing.: sére dré a cantà

II sing.: séret dré a cantà

III sing.: (l')éra dré a cantà

I plur.: sérem dré a cantà

II plur.: séref dré a cantà

III plur.: (i)éra dré a cantà

Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is used for every past action without strong connotation on the aspect of the verb, otherwise speakers prefer Imperfect or Past Progressive tenses. Notably, Lombard does not have a Preterite.

The Present Perfect is formed with the present of the verb ìga (to have) + the past participle or with the present of the verb véser + the past participle:

Example from cantà(to sing), with auxiliary verb ìga:

I sing.: gó cantàt

II sing.: ghét cantàt

III sing.: ga cantàt

I plur.: góm cantàt

II plur.: ghif cantàt

III plur.: ga cantàt

Example from sta (to stay), with auxiliary verb véser:

I sing.: só stat

II sing.: sét stat

III sing.: (l')è stat

I plur.: sóm stacc

II plur.: sìf stacc

III plur.: (i)è stacc

Past Perfect

The Past Perfect expresses that the action was completed in the past before some other event.
This tense is formed with the Imperfect of the verb ìga (to have) + the past participle or with the Imperfect of the verb véser + the past participle (similarly to the Present Perfect):

I sing.: ghìe cantàt

II sing.: ghìet cantàt

III sing.: ghìa cantàt

I plur.: ghìem cantàt

II plur.: ghìef cantàt

III plur.: ghìa cantàt

I sing.: sére stat

II sing.: séret stat

III sing.: (l')éra stat

I plur.: sérem stacc

II plur.: séref stacc

III plur.: (i)éra stacc

Future Tenses

There are three future tenses. A simple future and two compound futures (future progressive and future perfect):

Simple Future

The Simple Future, is conjugated as follows:

First class (infinitive in -à: cantà (to sing) )

I sing.: cantaró

II sing.: cantarét

III sing.: cantarà

I plur.: cantaróm

II plur.: cantarìf

III plur.: cantarà

Second class (infinitive in -ì/-er: córer (to run) )

I sing.: coraró

II sing.: corarét

III sing.: corarà

I plur.: coraróm

II plur.: corarìf

III plur.: corarà

Future Progressive

The Future Progressive is formed with the simple future of the verb véser (to be) + dré a + the infinitive:

I sing.: saró dré a cantà

II sing.: sarét dré a cantà

III sing.: sarà dré a cantà

I plur.: saróm dré a cantà

II plur.: sarìf dré a cantà

III plur.: sarà dré a cantà

Future Perfect

The Future Perfect is formed with the simple future of the auxiliary verb ìga (to have) + the past participle or with the simple future of vèser + the past participle (similarly to the Present Perfect):

I sing.: garó cantàt

II sing.: garét cantàt

III sing.: garà cantàt

I plur.: garóm cantàt

II plur.: garif cantàt

III plur.: garà cantàt

I sing.: saró stat

II sing.: sarét stat

III sing.: sarà stat

I plur.: saróm stacc

II plur.: sarìf stacc

III plur.: sarà stacc

Subjunctive and Conditional moods

The paradigms for a regular verb (cantà = to sing) are the following:

person

subjunctive present

subjunctive past

conditional

I sing.
II sing.
III sing.
I plur.
II plur.
III plur.

Imperative mood

Imperative mood has only one tense (present) and three persons (II singular, I and II plural).

The paradigm is the following:

person

I class verbs

(ending in -à)

II class verbs

(ending in -ì / -er)

II sing.
I plur.
II plur.

Imperative can also bring an enclitic pronoun to specify the object of the action or toward who it is directed. In this case the conjugation for the II singular person can be slightly different. So we have:

cànta! (you sing!)

but

where -la is the enclitic pronoun indicating the object (in this example: III person singular feminine).

where -ga indicates toward who is directed the action (in this example: III person plural).

and for the II class verbs:

scrìf! (you write!)

but

scrìem! (write to me!)

Phrasal verbs

Eastern Lombard makes a large use of phrasal verbs, i.e. a combination of a verb and an adverb of place. The meaning of the resulting form often significantly differs from the basic verb meaning. Here are some examples:

Note that the adverbial particle always comes immediately after the group verb + enclitic pronouns, e.g.:

càtemej sö, per pjazér (pick them up [for me], please)

Auxiliary verbs

Eastern Lombard has two auxiliary verbs: véser (to be) and ìga (to have) and are used in the same way as in Italian.

The verb Véser (to be)

Besides being used as copula or to express existence (like to be), Véser is also an auxiliary verb, contrary to the use of the English Present Perfect.

The forms in the present tense are irregular:

I sing.: só

II sing.: sét

III sing.: (l')è

I plur.: sóm

II plur.: sìf

III plur.: (i)è

The verb Ìga (to have)

The peculiarity of the verb ìga in Eastern Lombard is that it is always bound to a pronominal particle. The infinitive form, for example, is ìga, where the particle -ga is a 1st person plural pronoun (comparable with the pronoun ci of the Italian).

When a different pronoun is needed, the particle -ga is replaced with the proper pronoun, for example:

but

The same occurs in the conjugated forms, with the exception that the pronominal particle comes before the verb instead of after. For example:

but

The complete conjugation for the indicative present is:

I sing.: gó

II sing.: ghét

III sing.: ga

I plur.: góm

II plur.: ghìf

III plur.: ga

Certain varieties (mostly Bergamasque) drop the pronominal particle when conjugated as auxiliary verb, thus, in that case, the correct expressions are:

but

Ó biìt tròp (I have drunk too much)

Convergence of the imperfect

Curiously enough, the imperfect conjugation of the auxiliary verbs seems to confuse and interchange the inflections.

Etymologically the two auxiliary verbs should be conjugated as follows:

I sing.: sére

II sing.: séret

III sing.: (l')éra

I plur.: sérem

II plur.: séref

III plur.: (i) éra

I sing.: ghìe

II sing.: ghìet

III sing.: ghìa

I plur.: ghìem

II plur.: ghìef

III plur.: ghìa

But, beside these forms, the followings can often be found:

I sing.: sìe

II sing.: sìet

III sing.: (l')ìa

I plur.: sìem

II plur.: sìef

III plur.: (i) ìa

I sing.: ghére

II sing.: ghéret

III sing.: ghéra

I plur.: ghérem

II plur.: ghéref

III plur.: (i) ghéra

Therefore, the following sentences can be found with no apparent preference:

Both meaning He had built a house.

Negation

In Eastern Lombard, negation is generally expressed with the form mìa (or locally mìga) after the verb.

el tò s·cèt el stüdia mìa l'Inglés (Your son is not studying English).

In the case of a compound tense, the negation occurs after the auxiliary.

só mìa nàt a scöla (I did not go to school).

Differently from Italian where the negative sentence pattern contemplates and requires the use of redundant negative particles, Eastern Lombard doesn't. Thus, when an indefinite pronoun with negative value is already present in the sentence, the particle mìa is usually dropped (even though in certain conditions it is tolerated).

Compare with the Italian:

In Italian would be rendered with:

Italian:

The forms:

are tolerated while the form el ga mìa mài lauràt is not.

A less common way to express negation is the use of the particle nó before the verb or before the proclitic subject pronoun. This form has almost everywhere been replaced by the use of mìa. It seems to have crystallized uniquely in few expressions like:

mé nó crède! (I don't think so!)

gne nó 'l va, gne nó 'l vé. (neither it goes, nor comes it).

Bibliography

• Glauco Sanga: 'Dialetto e folklore. Ricerca a Cigole' Studi e contributi di: Giorgio Ferrari, Glauco Sanga. MPL 5 Collana Mondo Popolare in Lombardia 5, Milano, Silvana, 1979
• Mora, Vittorio, Note di grammatica del dialetto bergamasco - Bergamo, Edizioni orobiche, 1966.
• B, G. Bernini, Profilo tipologico del dialetto bergamasco (pdf)
• Umberto Zanetti, La grammatica bergamasca - Bergamo, Sestante, 2004. {{ISBN|88-87445-59-1}}.
• "Dizionario italiano-bergamasco", compilato da Carmelo Francia e Emanuele Gambarini, Bergamo: Grafital, 2001.
• "Dizionario bergamasco-italiano", compilato da Carmelo Francia e Emanuele Gambarini, Bergamo: Grafital, 2004.

See also

• Eastern Lombard
• Diachronics of plural inflection in the Gallo-Italian languages

External links

• Poetry in Eastern Lombard from 1902 (in Italian)
• Copy of the original dictionary Bresciano - Italiano (work in progress, in Italian)
• a Casiratese-Italian vocabulary, a dictionary for the Bergamasque (Casirate d'Adda) dialect, in Italian.
• A Dictionary for the Camunic variant of Eastern Lombard.

References

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