Łéngua Vèneta (Venetian Grammar)

ISSUED IN 2007 in the web
General Grammar Book of the Venetan Language and its Varieties

english version of the fourth edition of Manual Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s Varianti
MICHELE BRUNELLI
BASAN / BASSANO DEL GRAPPA
01 de Marzso del 2007
01012007 More Vneto
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti
al m ppoo
Lautogoverno del popolo veneto si attua in forme rispondenti alle caratteristiche e tradizioni della sua storia. La Regione concorre alla valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale e linguistico delle singole comunit (Law n.340 passed by the Italian Parliament on 22/05/1971 Fund. Law of Vneto, art.2)
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti INDEX

A short introduction Some notes about orthography Articles (definite, indefinite, personal) and Prepositions Possessives Demonstratives The relative particle Nouns and Adjectives Derived Names (fruits, flowers, trees) Proper names The Vocative Verbs: Simple Tenses Phrasal Verbs Verbs: Compound Tenses Progressive Tenses The Passive The Impersonal Passive The Imperative The Negative Imperative Interrogatives Void esclamative Interrogative Adverbs, Conjunctions, The Complementizer CHE, Subordinate Clauses Compound Prepositions and Pronominal Prepositions Verbs and nouns without the preposition a Reflexive verbs and the auxiliary aver Numbers and Numerals Other constructions: aver da, cogne, gh da, The venetan dialect of Italian page page page page page page page 2 3 5 5 7 8 9
page 11 page 12 page 12 page 16 page 20 page 21 page 25 page 28 page 29 page 30 page 31 page 32 page 33 page 33 page 34 page 35 page 36
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti A SHORT INTRODUCTION
Vneto dialects are parts of one and the same linguistic system, the Veneto language or Venetan, because they share the same linguistic structures, namely those of Vneto: therefore all of them are varieties of Venetan, the Vneto-language. For the sake of linguistic clarity and following M.Parry and M.Maiden, in this book the word Vneto/Venetan (i.e. general venetian) will refer to the whole Vneto language spoken under different varieties, whereas the word Venetian (i.e. venetian proper, venician) will be reserved only to one variety of this language, namely that which is spoken in the city of Venice. This distinction is also reflected in the words that Vneti themselves employ: parlar vneto speaking Venetan in general, derived from the geographical name Vneto, and parlar venesian speaking venician, from the local city name Venesia i.e. Venice. Using the same word for both meanings, would be like confusing the German language with its Berlinian variety or confusing the English language with its Cockney variety or saying that Catalan language is just Barcelonian. The aim of this grammar book is not to describe one variety (only veronese Venetan, only venetian Venetan, only feltrino-belunese Venetan, only trevisan Venetan, only central Venetan i.e. vicentin-paduan-polesan) but to describe the whole Vneto language. In addition to this, there are also some special notes about the tipical features of each of the main varieties. Of course, this work is not perfect even in the most particular details and other corrections can be made, but what is most important is that the MGX de a ngua Vneta aims to provide a look at the whole language describing its main rules, existing under the different pronunciation varieties: those rules that make us claiming that venetian is Venetan much the same as belunese, even if these varieties are very different from one another; those rules that make us Veneti understand each other even if we come from different places and speak in different ways, while foresti (i.e. people who come from outside, without any contempt) hardly understand what we say. In the last part of the book, a short chapter is reserved for a brief description of the Venetan dialect of Italian (language) which is spoken in cities and among young people, in order to make clear the main differences that it has from the Venetan language.
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti SOME NOTES ABOUT ORTHOGRAPHY
we had to dopt an orthography that allows people to read the same word with different pronunciations (according to the readers custom) although maintaining a unique orthography. The main rules are: , (L-taj) = two alternate pronunciations baea + bala = baa 'e cicoe + le cicole = e cicoe el baln + el baen = el baon J = two alternate pronunc. voia + vogia = voja iutar + giutar = jutar NP , NB = according to the real pronunciation and according to most Venetan writers: el tenpo, el canpo, na nbra... S = voiceless-s: the same for everybody X = voiced-s: the same for everybody se, pasar, l' masa baso, casa de vin , muso, tre mse xe, baxar, te do un baxo , caxa de mati, muxo, el mxe ZS = two alternate pronunc. piazha + piassa = piazsa stazhion (stazion) + stassion = stazsion forzha + forsa = forzsa sinque + zhinque (zinque) = zsinque savata + zhavata (zavata) = zsavata People form Vicenza, Padua, Venice will read only 's' as they are used to. People rom Belluno, northern-Treviso and others whose pronunciation has interdental sounds will read only 'z' , as they are used to. ZX = two alternate pronunc. zente + xente = zxente verxo + verzo = verzxo mexo + mezo = mezxo el pianze + el pianxe = el pianzxe The same as above, everybody reads according to the custom of their town: people whose varieties have interdental sounds pronunce z as they are used; others pronunce the letter x as in xe (see above) Only words in zx- have also a variety in d- (written: verzxo / verdo ; mezxo/medo) but not the reverse (perdo does not allows *perzxo nor modo allows *mozxo)! Words in x on the other hand, are the same for everybody (thus caxa, faxse but never *cada, *fadse)
VOIA - VOGIA , MEXO-MEDHO-MEZO , TOCO-TOC, MONTE -MONT, CHEO L -CUEO L -CHELO L -CUELO L ,
As Vneto varieties have different ways to pronunce the same word
BALA -BAEA, FORSA-FORZHA,

Q = two alternate pronunc.: to be used only in very few words queo l (quelo l) + cheo l (chelo l) = qeo l quea caxa l (quela caxa l) + chea caxa l (chela caxa l) = qea caxa l The letter can be read or be mute, according to the readers custom. On the contrary,when the letter U is always pronunced we write it normally without diacritics (ex.: quel che go dito , i vegnesti par queo , l par questo che) Even: qi co u muta (=here; ex.: vien qi! sto qi?) is different from chi (=who? ; ex.: stu chi? lo chi?) -E , -O finai = can be pronunced or mute (differently from italian) saco , toco = sac[o] , toc[o] mnte , el sente = mnt[e] , el sent[e] Never double consonants!
Orthography is very important because on the paper there are neither voice tones, nor facial expressions, nor hand movements to help explicate the meaning of the words. So, for example: bota (=it. botta) is not bta (=it. botte) sora (=sbollisce/-ono) is not sra (=sopra) Even the words below are very different, even many people say them with the same open-E sound: sera (=it. serra) is not sra (=it. sera) vero (= it. vero) is not vro (=viro= it. vetro) Thus, Vdar na roba dal vero (=dal bon =truly =it. davvero) does not mean Vdar na roba dal vro (=dal viro =through the glass =it. dal vetro, da dietro un vetro, attraverso il vetro) ! Nor Lodor de a sra (=it. lodore/profumo della sera) is tha same as Lodor de a sera (=it. lodore che si sente in una serra) ! so Vneto e europo (=sono) so Vneto e spagnoo (=so/parlo) s fradeo (=il suo/loro fratello) Defati: so (=sono) s (=suo) fradeo de Marco e so (=so) che l parto ieri me pare che (=mi sembra che) m pare (=mio padre) to el pan! (=eccoti) to el pan dal saco (=prendi...) t sorea (=tua sorella) For the same reasons: a rasa (=it.[lei] gratta: verbo) is not a razsa (=it. la razza: sostantivo) na sesion del Parlamnto (=it. sessione) is not na sezsion (=it. sezione) even if most Vneti have no interdental sounds and say everything with S (the difference between interdentals and S are retained only in northern and some central zones of Vneto) Enjoy reading...
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti ARTICLES

The articles of Venetan or Vneto language are definite, indefinite and personal: masculine articles (el, i, un) can merge with prepositions (de, a, da, co, su, in, par) into one word. The personal article, used in Venetan and Catalan (but not in Italian), is the article that marks proper names. Venetan only has feminine personal articles: la Maria, la Lura, la Giovana... as will be clear later. ARTICLES OF VNETO Merged with base forms de a da co m. sg. el (l') del al dal col f. sg. la (l') de la a la da la co la definite m. pl. i dei ai dai coi f. pl. m. sg. indefin. f. sg. personal f. sg. le un (n') na (n') de le a le da le co le
prepositions su in par sul 'ntel par el / pa'l su la 'nte la par la sui 'ntei par i / pa'i su le 'nte le par le par un par na par la
de un a un de na a na a la
da un co un su 'n int'un da na co na su na 'nte na da la co la su la 'nte la
la (l') de la
Note-1: Apostophized articles l', n' can be used before nouns in consonant both masculine and feminine ones: l'amigo, n'amigo, l'amiga, n'amiga but they are not compulsory. Note-2: The bellunese variety of Vneto employs the masculine forms al, an instead of el, un. Note-3: The preposition 'nte has also a longer form inte and a shorter form te
POSSESIVES
Venetan possessives, differently from Italian ones, have short invariable forms when they precede a noun and they have long inflected forms (m./f./sing./plur.) when they stand alone, without any noun. Also rememer that the 3rd sg. person is always the same as the 3rd plural: keep this in mind because it is a feature typic of Vneto language which also holds for verbs, as will be seen later. SHORT POSSESSIVES: invariable before nouns 1st sg. 2 nd sg. 3rd sg. definite m.sg. and indef. f.sg. m.pl. f.pl. El , un La , na m definite i le t s nostri nostre vostri vostre 1st pl. nostro nostra 2nd pl. vostro vostra 3rd pl.
As already said, these possesives are used before nouns. Except for nostro/vostro all the others have always one invariable form for masculine, feminine, singular, plural.

For example: el m gato, el m amigo ; un m gato, un m amigo la m gata, la m amiga ; na m gata, na m amiga i m gati, i m amighi (amisi) le m gate, le m amighe On the contrary, when they stand alone things change: these possessives have different forms according to masculine, feminine, singular or plural. LONG POSSESSIVES which stand alone 1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. definite m. sg. f. sg. m. pl. f. pl. el la i le mio mia mii mie tuo tua tui tue suo sua sui sue 1st pl. nostro nostra nostri nostre 2nd pl. vostro vostra vostri vostre 3rd pl. suo sua sui sue
definite
Examples: caxa ma, caxa tua, caxa sua no xe ma riv el t gato, l' riva el mio i t gati i xe pi grandi dei mii i m gati i pi grandi dei sui le m amighe, le tue e le sue le se ga cat al bar insieme Voaltre done gav i vostri problemi, lore le ga i sui Spso i pronomi suo/sua/s i vien rinforzsi co na ripetizsion: el suo de u, el suo de ea, el suo de uri, el suo de ore... a sua de u, s moroxa de Marco, s fie de Giovani e a Laura, s fradeo de a Mara
SHORT POSSESSIVES WITHOUT ARTICLES

As in Italian and Catalan, short possessives have no article when they precede some nouns: for example you must say m pare/pap , m mare/mama , m fradeo , m sorea , t pare/pap , t mare/mama , t fradeo, s pare/pap , s sorea etc In Vneto, however, the possessive without article is compulsory nouns are specified by other words. For example: s fradeo de a Lura (=it. IL fratello di Laura) s mama de Mario e Joani (=it. LA mamma di Mario e Giovanni) Differently from italian, venetian possessives without article also appear with other nouns (m morxa, m nono, m sia, m nevdo) and even with plural nouns. Indeed, you say: So n da m fradei (I) m amisi i ga dito che Go cat t nevde. ; Go visto t soree ; Ieri xe vegn(i) m nevudi ; S noni i sti in Sardgna lan pas even when these
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti DEMONSTRATIVES

Venetian demonstratives are quite different from italian ones. Indeed in Vneto, demonstratives and possessives, can vary slightly depending on whether they precede a noun or stand alone: if there is a noun, in fact, it is "inserted" between the two parts of the demonstrative. Moreover, the masculine singular qelo l has a short form when it comes before a noun and it can have a long form ending in a vowel when it stands alone. Lastly, note that besides masculine and feminine form, there are also special forms acting as abstract neuters, which translate the idea of this thing/this fact or that thing/that reason. Indeed masculine and feminine demonstratives contain the particles l/qua/qi whereas the neuter forms consist of one word questo/quelo/quela. Moreover masculine and feminine can be read in two ways, pronuncing the "u" or letting it mute: in the neuter, on the contrary, the "u" must be always pronunced. Nowadays, for example, some people pronunce the "u" in the masculine singular saying par queo (=par quel txo ) while others drop it and say par cheo (=par chel txo ). They are basically two varieties of the same word which for convenience are represented in the scheme with circumflex- which can be pronunced or be mute, according to the Venetan variety spoken and the speakers habits. Likewise, the plural (quii or even chii ) and the feminine (quee or even chee ) always have the optionl "u", and consequently are written with the circumflex (). On the contrary, in the neuter, when implying phrases as par quel motivo (it. perci/per questo) , a roba che i me ga dito (it. ci che mi hanno detto) , te parlo de 'sto fato qua (ti parlo di ci/di questo fatto) then everybody pronunces "u" and drops "l" thus saying par queo (so parto), quel che i me ga dito, te parlo de queo. Indeed it is written without cirumflex, with a normal-u. Also neuters par quea, l' quea are different from feminines. The same happens with the mascuile parla de 'sto qua (=de 'sto txo/libro/posto qua) which is different from the neuter parla de questo (=de 'sto motivo/de 'sto fato qua): here too the "u" is always pronunced and "qua" is dropped. WITH A NOUN AUTONOMOUS: they stand alone qelo l qel l qela l qii l qele l quela, -o (=quel motivo / fato)
m.sg. f. sg. m. pl. f. pl. neuter
'sto ... qua 'sta ... qua 'sti ... qua 'ste ... qua
qel ... l qela ... l qii ... l qele ... l
'sto qua 'sta qua 'sti qua 'ste qua questo
(= quel toxo l)
Note that the autonomous masculine forms are always compound with "l/qua" where neuter ones are not. Moreover in the neuter the "u" is always pronunced whereas in the masculine it is optional (and therefore written as circumfles-). Also forms with "qi": 'sto qua = 'sto qi. Note: the demonstrative can be compound with the relative (here below) creating forms as quel che / quela che / quii che / quele che. For example: Vdito i do tuxi? Quel (queo) che xe a destra l' m fradelo.
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti THE RELATIVE PARTICLE

Differently from I talian, the real relative particle in Vneto is just one (the complementizer che) always invariable, though sometimes italian forms are used. It is always invariable, but in some cases it can be compound with pronouns (ghe, s) or adverbs (insieme, indove/indo') to make the discourse clearer.
VENETAN RELATIVE PRONOUN base form: alone el txo che go visto/vedest el txo che me ga parl el txo che i me ga parl l'ra che so' torn che el motivo che so' torn el posto che vo el posto che vegno la cxa che te vidi 'sto quadro qua el libro che te vol copiar 'sta fraxe qua with pronouns or (it.transl.) combinedadverbs che el txo che i ghe d na caxa che el txo che go parl insieme
(it.transl) a cui con cui la cui
di cui in cui per cui in cui da cui in cui nella quale da cui dal quale
el txo che s mama la me ga parl
in cui el posto da indove che vegno da cui in cui la cxa indo' che te vidi 'sto quadro qua nella quale da cui el libro da indo' che te vol copiar 'sta fraxe qua dal quale
el posto indove che vo
Note: in Venetan the complementizer (che) can be used also in another way as a conjunction combined with adverbs and interrogative words (come che, quando che, co chi che) but in this case it acts as a marker of subordinate clauses: temporal, interrogative, causal clauses and it must not be confused with the relative use (see last chapters).
Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

Vneto language like other romance languages groups nouns into masculine, feminine, singular and plural. The neuter gender survives only in some pronouns (see the paragraph about "demonstratives"). It must be born in mind that there are also common gender nouns, i.e. nouns which have one form both for masculine and feminine, e.g. el cantante , a cantante Nouns and adjective can end in a vowel (-o -e -a) , stressed vowel (- -) or in a consonant (-n -r -l, -ion): usually those ending in -O, -N, -R are masculine whereas those ending in A -ION or accented vowel are feminine and those ending in -E -L can be masculine, feminine or common gender nouns. NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES IN THE SINGULAR gato , sgno , nvo , lngo masculine canton , parol , motor, mar , pien pare , monte gata , caxa , nva , lnga feminine version , opinion , man mare , ciave , nave, trib , ativit common gender cantante, insegnante in L (m./f.) el giornal , la vocal , la nazsional
Note-1: In northern Venetan, nouns can end also in other consonants (gat, mont, toc) Note-2: In central Venetan, nouns end in -re/-e/-o mantaining the final vowel NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES IN THE PLURAL singular Feminine in -a other fem. (-e, -n) common gend. and in -L -e -plural
la gata vecia -> le gate vecie la caxa nva -> le caxe nve man lnga-> man lnghe la ciave nva -> le ciave nve
nave grosa -> nave grose el/la cantante -> i/le cantanti
-i
la vocal finale -> le vocali finali

el giornal nazsionale -> i giornali ...ali canton -> cantu(n)i , mnte -> munti pie lngo e groso-> pie lunghi e grosi sgno nvo -> signi nuvi
-i (and vowel change when possible)
all masculine last / penult. /closed-o > -u- morxo -> muruxi , motor -> muturi penultimate closed- > -i- momnto -> muminti sequence -o- > -u-uel can -> i cani , el mar -> i mari sequence -o- > -u-ipare -> pari , cavalier -> cavalieri

And so on, all the plurals are regularly built even those which in italian are irregular: ovo->uvi, brazso-> brazsi, do-> dii/di, rcia->rcie, lavro-> lavri, zxenocio-> zxenoci (denocio-> denoci) and recently also uro-> uri Note-1: remember that the last -o of "paron/parol/motor" is alwasy closed like the penultimate - in "mnte/nvo", although in the former case the stress is not written. Note-2: in northern Vneto masculine plural nouns do not end in -i and therefore they do not undergo vowel change but are invariable instead: el mnt-> i mnt , el sgn -> i sgn, el fior -> i fior, el sac-> i sac. Nota-3: in the east (VE) , and west (VR) and in the italianized Vneto, masculine nouns end in -i but without vowel change. Nota-4: in some areas of southern Venetan (rovigoto), masculine plurals has lost the -i but have maintained the vowel change: el fior -> i fiur Except for this, it must be remembered the few irregular nouns that have special forms for the plural or the feminine (omo-> meni, can-> cagna, el pai-> a pai-> i pai-> e pai) and foregin nouns that follow the northern Venetan (belumat) pattern since they have and invariable plural identical to the singular: el film-> i film, el mdem-> i mdem...
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives, as seen above, follow the same pattern as noun. Still, it must be remembered that there are adjectives with four-forms (masc./fem./sg./pl.) , adjectives with two-forms (sg./pl.) and some irregular adjectives which change their form and their menaning according to whether the follow or precede their noun. ADJECTIVES nvo , nva , nuvi ,nve four forms nto , nta , niti ,nte groso , grosa , grosi , grose pien , piena , pieni , piene... two forms interesante , interesanti ... bel can -> can belo irregular gran gran poro pora toco -> toco grando caxa -> caxa granda omo -> omo pvaro (c. meaning) txa -> txa pvara (c. meaning)
Remember that these adjetives, change their meaning, by changing their place and their form even though in italian they are translated with one and the same word: for example poro can (lit. poor dog) is not an insult but it expresses compassion, instead, for someone who is suffering or finds himself in trouble; un can pvaro on the contrary is "a dog without money" and is totally different!!
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COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES The comparative degree is built with: pi ... de (majority) , manco ... de (minority) , come/cof (equality) Example: Toni el xe pi bravo de mi (maj.); Toni el xe manco bon de a Mara (min.); Caxa mia a xe granda cof a tua come a tua (c.eq.)
Absolute superlatives are built in different ways. 1) with -simo (rearely used) 2) with tanto/vero/veramente/as + adjective 3) with adjective + forte or even adjective + ben 4) with metaphore/similitude (which in Venetan have grammatical function) 5) with reduplication of the adjetive Examples of (3) are: te s bravo forte , a xe inteixente forte , l alto ben!... Examples of (4) are: l' come el fgo (=caldsimo/de bojo) , el xe un teremoto (=txo tanto agit) Examples of (5) are: na caxa alta alta (=altsima) , un boto forte forte (=fortsimo) Relative superlatives are built with: el/a/i/e pi ... de (el pi bravo de tuti, a txa pi bea del mndo...) , el/a/i/e manco ... de (i manco furbi de tuti...)
DERIVED NOUNS (NAMES OF FRUITS, FLOWERS, TREES AND JOBS)

In Vneto these names are derived from other nouns by adding special endings and are employed very often. For example in Venetan the names of flowers and fruits are the base to derive the names of trees, through the desinence aro o r. For example: pmo (=it. apple) pomaro/pomr , pro (=it. pear) peraro/perr roxa (=it. rose) roxaro/roxr , oiva (=it. olive) oivaro/oivr s(i)arxa (=it. cherry) s(i)arexara , nxa (=it. nut) nogara/noghera caco (=it. kaki) cacaro , figo (=it. fig) figaro/fighr This pattern is quite regular (note however that some names of fruits are masculine in Vneto differently from italian) and only sometimes there are irregular consonant changes as x->g. Also some names of job are derived: lataro ( late) ; benxinaro/benxinr ( benxina) vacaro/vachr ( vaca) ; moinaro/moinr ( molin) Note that the ending -aro/-r refers to both the person who works, and the place where the work is done:thus benxinaro/benxinr is the sevice-station attendant, and the servicestation itself. Likewise, the caxara/caxera is the place in the mountains where people produce(d) cheese, from latin caseus=cheese. And the caxaro is he who produces cheese.
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti PROPER NAMES

Some words must be spended about proper names: indeed there are some differences in compare to italian language. As can be seen in the first chapter, in Vneto there is also a personal article which compulsorily introduces feminine proper names: you say go visto Mario but in the feminine go visto a Mara; you say Gigi el vien but in the feminine a Sandra a vien. Likewise a Lura, lAlesandra, lAna and even foreign names a Roby, a Susy... Feminine proper names, indeed, always have the personal article so that by exclusion the names withouth the personal article are always masculine. This is specially visible in shortened names (a Federica, Federico ; L Alesandra, Alesandro): Go visto a Fede = I have seen Federica (f.) =it. Ho visto Federica Go visto Fede = I have seen Federico/Frederick (m.) =it. Ho visto Federico I ga parl co l Ale = They have spoken to Alexandra (f.) =it. Hanno parlato con Alessandra I ga parl co Ale = They have spoken to Alexander (m.) =it. Hanno parlato con Alessandro The same holds for feminine surnames. Surnames with personal article are always feminine: for example i ga nomin a Tatcher primo ministro makes clear that a woman is spoken about. By exclusion, surnames withouth article are compulsorily masculine: i ga nomin Blair primo ministro means that a man is being spoken about.
THE VOCATIVE
The use of the personal article has a little strange effect: in Vneto the vocative case is still visible. It is a special form of the name, employed to call someone (Mara!, Alesandra!, Gigi!). Indeed feminine proper names always have the personal article, except in the vocative.
subj./compl. vocative
(vien/riva...) (go visto...) (parlo de/co)
la Mara Mara
l Alesandra Alesandra
l Ana Ana
la Lura Lura
la Roby Roby
For example, subject: a Mara vienla? = does Mary come? but in the vocative: Mara viento? = Mary (voc.), do you come? Or a complement: speta lAlesandra = Wait for Alessandra! (you wait for her!) in comp. to the vocative: speta, Alesandra! = Wait for (me), Alessandra! Actually, also common nouns have a vocative without article as in italian (maestra! ; dotor! ; tuxi!), but the article of these nouns can be dropped also in other cases, e.g. so maestra de sca media; el xe dotor da dixe ani; go visto tuxi de tute e et; stu maestra o prside? With feminine proper names, on the contrary, the article is nearly always employed and therefore it is easier to distiguish the vocative case, which lacks it. Other cases with art.: so mi a Lura! = Its me (her whose name is) Laura ; I am Laura! vocative without art.: so mi, Lura! = Its me, Laura (voc.), dont you know me? Other cases with art.: (phoning) Ciao, stu lAna? = Hi, are you Anna? Is your name Anna? vocative without art.: (phoning) Ciao stu ti, Ana? = Hi is it you, Anna? Anna, you are speaking arent you?
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti PRONOUNS

Vneto too, like other romance languages, has two categories of pronouns: there are tonic pronouns (e.g.: ti, lu/elo, luri) which act as subjects and as complements preceded by prepositions and there are short clitic pronouns acting only as complements (p.ex.: te digo, ghe digo, lo vdo, li vardo). Still, Vneto language has compulsory subject clitic pronouns to inflect verbs (e.g.: te vien, el va, i varda) and interrogative clitics added to the verb to ask questions (e.g.: viento?/tu?, valo?, vrdeli?) There are also reflexive pronouns of 3rd pers. like in other languages, but pay attention to the fact that Vneto also has a special reflexive for the 1st pl.pers. (noaltri se vardmo, noaltre se dixmo, se parln). Last bu not least, in Venetan (as in Spanish) there are reduplicated reinforced forms. As you can understand, Venetan pronominal system is very rich and also a bit complicated, it is better to look at it step-by-step: later, a recapitulatory table will be shown.
TONIC PRONOUNS AS SUBJECTS AND WITH PREPOSITIONS

Let us start with tonic pronouns: Venetan tonic pronouns have one and the same form for the subject (vegno mi! ... parl voaltri! ... noaltre partimo par prime! ...) and with prepositions (i vien da mi... o faso par voaltri... magnmo co voaltre...) Subject tonic pronouns are not compulsory: vegno > vegno mi! ; te parli > ti te parli! ; a vien> ela a vien! However veneto language has regularized the masculine and feminine forms even in the plural: except for the first two singular persons (mi, ti) all Venetan tonic pronouns distinguish masculine from feminine, as do their Spanish, portoguese and catalan counterparts: noaltri/noaltre , voaltri/voaltre , co uri/co ore and so on... Hebrew too is quite similar to it, from this point of view. PRONOUNS OF VNETO tonic subj. or w.prep. 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. masc. fem. masc. 1pl. fem. masc. 2pl. fem. 3pl. masc. fem. elo (or lu) ela noaltri (or nu) noaltre (or nu) voaltri (or vu) voaltre (or vu) luri (or eli) mi ti si tonic reflexive
lore (or ele)
si
13

As previously said, there are also tonic reflexive pronouns: mi parlo par mi , l' fora de si , a xe torn in si and so on... THERE ARE ALSO REDUPLICATED PRONOUNS: mi mi soo, ti ti soo: o go fato da mi mi soo
CLITIC PRONOUNS AS COMPLEMENTS AND REFLEXIVES

Clitic pronouns are never preceded by prepositions and have two functions: direct complement (o digo, e vardo) or indirect complement (ghe digo, ghe parlo). PRONOUNS OF VNETO clitic clitic direct indirect complem. conplem. me te masc. fem. masc. fem. mash. fem. masc. fem.
clitic reflexive
1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl.
lo la
ne
ghe
se se
ve
li le
ghe
se se
impers.
Clitics too have a reflexive form: often it is the same as the complement (me vardo=me vard , ve parlo=ve parl) but the 3rd singular/plural persona has a special form: el se varda , e se parla... This form also serves for the impersonal reflexive: se se varda tuti ; se se parla... Note that in Vneto even the 1st plur. person (noaltri/noaltre) employs the reflexive form se differently from the other romance languages: voaltri ne vard but noaltri se vardmo ; voaltre ne parl but noaltre se parlmo. Note: italian-like veneto, spreading among young poeple, follows the rule of Italian (ve da ital. vi ; ce da ital. ci: i ce ga mostr) instead of employing Venetan clitics (ve da "voaltri" ; ne da "noaltri") i.e. it is not an autonomous language but a variety derived from Italian: not Venetan language anymore, but it is a Venetan dialect of Italian language instead.
CLITIC PRONOUNS AS SUBJECTS AND INTERROGATIVES

It had been seen that that in Vneto there are subject clitic pronouns, too, obligatory to inflect verbs and interrogative clitic pronouns employed to ask a direct question. Differently from other languages (e.g. French) they are compulsory even when the subject is already expressed: Marco el vien ; I veci i canta ; la Lura a ga dito ; Ti te canti ; I veci cntei? ; 'Sa gaa dito la Lura? ; Ti come cntito/cntitu/cntistu? ; Parch canto pian?...
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PRONOUNS OF VNETO clitic clitic subject interrogative 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. masc. fem. masc. fem. masc. fem. masc. fem. te el -nti (-e) -to (-stu) -(e)lo -(e)la -nti (-e) -o (-u) i -(e)li -(e)le
la
le
se
impers.
Note-1: Between angle brackets "" there are the optional forms which can be added to the base ending (soi? but also sonti? ; fmoi? but also fnti?), while the alternating forms which replace the base form in some varieties (soe? ; fne?) are written in italic. Note-2: On the contrary, between round brackets the "-e" of the 3rd sg./pl. pers. is put since it usually replaces the last vowel of the verb (el canta> cnteo?) but it is not employed when this vowel is stressed (el cantar> cantaro? ; el va> vao?) Note-3: In venetian Vneto the subject clitic "te" becomes "ti" the same as the tonic pronoun (ti ti vien , ti ti canti) and in northern Vneto it can turn into "tu" (ti tu vien, ti tu canta).
GENERAL RECAPITULATORY TABLE

Having explained all the Venetan personal pronouns step-by-step, here is a recapitulatory table where all the forms are shown together. VENETAN PRONOUNS clitic clitic tonic subj. tonic clitic direct indirect or w.prep. reflexive reflexive conplem. conplem. mi me ti masc. fem. masc. fem. masc. fem. masc. fem. elo (or lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre si te
clitic subj.
clitic interrog. -nti (-e)
1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl.
te se se el
-to (-stu) -(e)lo -(e)la -nti (-e) -o (-u)
lo la
ne
ghe
la
ve si si
luri (or eli) lore (or ele)
li le
ghe
se se
-(e)li -(e)le
le
se
impers.
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti VERBS

In less tecnical but easier words, one can say that the verbal system of Vneto or Venetan is a mix of the Italian/Spanish system (using verbal endings: parlo, parl, parlmo) and the French/English system (employing pronouns: el parla, i parla, te parli/te parla). A more suitable term for the Venetan verbal system might be semi-analitic. Clitici subject pronouns are used only in specific cases, and in these cases they are compulsory (see paragraph "pronouns"). The reason for this is that, due to the drop of the latin endings, some verbal forms had become identical and it was impossible to understand "who did what": there was a confusion. Indeed the 3rd plural person always ends like the 3rd singular (i parla=el parla) whereas the 2nd singular person ends either like the 2nd plural (te parlavi=parlavi) or like the 3rd sg./plural (te parla=el/i parla) depending on the Venetan variety beeing spoken. However, without clitics they would be indistinguishable. On the contrary, when the endings are unambigous no clitics are used. Subject clitics must be employed only in the 2nd sg. person , the 3rd sg. person and the 3rd plural person. When the subject follows the verb, subject clitics are not used (Marco el vien becomes Vien Marco; e carte le riva becomes Riva le carte) because the verb is not really singular/plural nor masculine/feminine and also the past participle may be invariable, i.e. a semi-impersonal form appears (e carte le xe rive becomes Xe/Gh' riv le carte ; Tanta zxente la xe morta becomes Xe/Gh' morto(-a) tanta zxente). The japanese counterparts of these sentences would involve the particle ga instead of wa In direct questions, interrogative forms must be used built with final interrogative clitics (whenever possible): prlito? prli(s)tu? , prleo? , parlo? (-u?). Some tenses and moods do not show such interrogative clitics: parlarsimo? / parlarisi? /parlvimo? / parlavi? With true impersonal verbs, like pive/nvega/fa frdo/fa sol which do not have a real subject, clitics are optional depending on the variety spoken: (el) pive ; pive(o)? Veneto language too has simple tenses (present, imperfect, future) and compound tenses (past, double past nearly disappeared, compound future). Compound tenses are built bymeans of the auxiliary aver, except for verbs of movement and intransitive verbs that employ the auxiliary ser: go/ parl , i ga/ dito , gava credo/credesto , gavmo/avon sento... but also so' torn , i xe/ parti , smo/sn torni... Verbs are grouped into 1ST class (-ar: netar, parlar, vardar) , 2ND class (-er: saver, tegner ; '-ar[e] but stressed on the root: bvar[e], mvar[e]) and 3RD class (-ir: finir, sentir, capir). Vneto language too has a continuous or progressive inflection, like English or italian (see paragraph "progressive inflection") Remember that except for ser, aver only very few verbs are really irregular. It is a handful of 10 verbs: dar, far, star , ndar/nar , tor/cior , tegner, vegner, voler, poder, saver. On the contrary, most verbs are irregular only in their past participles and of course in derived tenses (bevo/credo-> go bevo/go credo but visto/mso-> go visto/go mso). Still, Venetan has a regularizing ending -esto employed to make regular even irregular past participles: visto -> vedesto , mso -> metesto , strto -> strenzxesto... derived from vdar/mtar/strnzxar and so on.
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti CONJUGATION OF SIMPLE TENSES

Verbs, like nouns and adjectives, undergo vowel change when they end in -i: penultimate closed- > -u penultimate closed- > -i sequence o-- > -u-u sequence o-- > -u-i Nearly all the verbs of the 3RD class have a present tense augmented in -is- (e.g. fin-is-o, te fin-is-i) except for few verbs like sentir, morir, dormir che i va drio a la 2a (dormo, te dormi...) Note-1: in the east (VE) and the west (VR) verbs end in -i but do not undergo vowel change (te nti, ti bevi, te bevvi). The same holds for Vneto of the cities, which parallelizes italian. Note-2: In venetian Venetan some verbs have the 2ND sg.person identical to the 3RD sg/pl. (ti va, ti ga, ti sa, ti far) ; the 2ND plural person ends in (bev, tem) Note-3: in trevixan and feltrin-belumat Venetan the 2ND p.sg. always ends like the 3RD p. (te nta, te netava, te netar, tu far). The 1ST p.sg. ends in e (mi beve) and the 2ND p.pl. ends in (bev, tem). Note-4: also, in feltrin-belumat final "e, i" are dropped so the 2ND p.sg. present indicative does not show vowel change ending like the 3RD sg/pl. (te finis, el finis , te sent, el sent , tu mt, el mt...). The 1ST p.pl. ending is (i)n, used also in old Paduan, while in some areas of trevixan have developed a mixed ending -n. In the interrogative, vowels reappear: finsitu? , snteo? Note-5: the final voiced consonant of belumat Venetan can change (te vd / te perd of Baso Cismon Belun. > te vt / tu vt / tu perth going northward ). PRESENT INDICATIVE net-ar 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre te el nto niti nta bv-ar(e) ; mv-ar(e) tem-er bvo , mvo... te el bivi , muvi ... bve ... bevmo ... bev ... (-) i bve ... bve ... i te el fin-ir finiso finisi finise finimo fin finise finise
la
la
la
netmo (-n) net i nta nta
luri (o eli) lore (o ele)
le
se
le
se
le
se
INTERROGATIVE PRESENT INDICATIVE: interrogative clitics are added to the verb (see paragraph "pronouns"). The impersonal form never has a clitic! ntoi? , ntito? (-tu?) , nteo? / ntea? , netmoi? , neto? (-u?) , ntei? / ntee? bvoi? , bvito? (-tu?) , bveo? ... finsoi? , finsito? (-tu?) , finseo? ... Note: interr.clitics are widely used in all Vneto, except in the modern variety of Venice which is losing them. Old venetian, on the contrary, used them: they ended in stu and are still commonly employed in Cioxa (Chioggia). For example: mgnistu? , cntistu? , gastu capo?
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IMPERFECT INDICATIVE bv-ar(e) mv-ar(e) net-ar tem-er netava beva te el netavi netava netvimo netavi i se netava netava i te el bevivi beva bevvimo bevivi beva beva i te el
fin-ir fina finivi fina finvimo finivi fina fina
1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f.
mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre luri (o eli)
la
la
la
lore (o ele) le
le
i
le
INTERROGATIVE IMPERFECT: interrog. clitics (not all) are added to the imperf. indicative: -- , netvito? (-tu?) , netveo? /netvea? , -- , -- , netvei? /netvee? -- , bevvito? (-tu?) , bevveo? ... -- , finvito? (-tu?) , finveo? ... Note: some people also use italian-like forms (mi netavo, mi credevo...) FUTURE INDICATIVE bv-ar(e) ; mv-ar(e) net-ar tem-er netar bevar te el netar netar te el bevar bevar bevarmo bevar i i bevar bevar te el
fin-ir finir finir finir finvimo finir finir finir
1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs.
mi ti m. elo (o lu)
f. ela la m. noaltri netarmo f. noaltre m. voaltri netar f. voaltre m. luri (o eli) i netar lore (o f. le ele) se netar
la
la
le
se
le
se
INTERROGATIVE FUTURE: interrogative clitics are added to the future indicative: netari? (-e?) , netarto? (-tu?) , -aro? /-a? , -armoi? , -aro? (-u?) , -ari? /-e? bevari? (-e?) , bevarto? (-tu?)... finiri? (-e?) , finirto? (-tu?)... Note: belunxe variety of Vneto retains the future in -er- in the 2ND class (bever, te bever / tu bever). In some areas of central Vneto, future plurals are: voaltri netar / finir... Remember that the impersonal se has no interrogative clitics! POLITE FORM: the 3RD masc./fem./sg./plural person is used: el vegna sior! ; e vegna sire!. In past times, the 2ND p. plural form (vu) was employed.
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CONDITIONAL bv-ar(e) ; mv-ar(e) net-ar tem-er netara bevara te el netarisi netara te el bevarisi bevara bevarsimo bevarisi i bevara bevara i te el
fin-ir finira finirisi finira
1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f.
mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre luri (o eli)
la
la
la
netarsimo netarisi i se netara netara
finirsimo finirisi finira finira
lore (o ele) le
le
se
le
se
INTERROGATIVE CONDITIONAL: interrog. clitics (not all) are suffixed to the conditional: -- , netarsito? (-tu?) , netarseo? /-sea? , -- , -- , netarsei? /-see? -- , bevarsito? (-tu?) , bevarseo?... -- , finirsito? (-tu?) , finirseo?... Note: The 3RD p. sg/pl. interrogative takes the affix -sePRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE bv-ar(e) ; mv-ar(e) net-ar tem-er nte (-a) bva , mva... te el niti nte (-a) te el bivi , muvi ... bva bevmo bev (-) i bva bva i te el
fin-ir finisa finisi finisa finimo fin finisa finisa
1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs. f. m. f. m. f. m. f.
che mi che ti che ela che che che che che che noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre luri (o eli)
m. che elo (o lu)
la
la
la
netmo (-ne) net i nte (-a) nte (-a)
che lore (o ele)
le
se
le
se
le
se
Note 1: the present subjunctive is the same as the indicative, except for the 1ST singular and the 3RD sg/pl. persons which share the same ending: -e/-a for the 1ST class ; -a for the 2ND and the 3RD class. Note 2: the present subjunctive and indicative of venetian,trevixan and belumat Venetan have the 2ND person plural ending in (bev, tem, gav)
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IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE bv-ar(e) ; mv-ar(e) net-ar tem-er netase bevse te el netasi netase netsimo netasi i netase netase i te el bevisi bevse bevsimo bevisi bevse bevse i te el
fin-ir finise finisi finise finsimo finisi finise finise
1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. f. m. f. m. f. f.
che mi che ti m. che elo (o lu) che ela che che che che noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre
la
la
la
m. che luri (o eli) che lore (o ele) Che
le
se
le
se
le
se
imprs.
The impersonal se has no interrogative clitics (nor in the conditional mood). Henceforth, it will not be written anymore, although it is used also in the compound tenses which will be described later. Keep in mind that tonic pronouns, written in italic, are never obligatory whereas short (clitic) ones, in bold, are always obligatory (see the introduction to verbs).
PHRASAL VERBS
Like in English or German, Venetan phrasal verbs are made of a base verb and an adverb or preposition (verbi prepoxizsionali) and often have a very different meaning from that of the original verb. For example (only some of them): vegner rento = to come in (=it. entrare verso chi parla) ndar/nar rento = to go in (=it. entrare allontanandosi da chi parla) vegner fora = to come out (=it. uscire verso chi parla) ndar/nar fora = to go ount(=it. uscire allontanandosi da chi parla) vegner s1 , vegner zxo, ndar s, ndar zxo = to go up-/downstairs (=it. salire, scendere) vegner s2 = to grow up (=it. crescere) ndar/nar torno = to turn around (=it. girare,ruotare,gironzolare) ndar/nar in volta = to walk around, to wander (=it. girovagare, andare qua e l) dar fora un giornal, un prodto = to publish, to send out (=it. pubblicare, mettere in vendita distribuire) dar via = to undersell, to sell off (=it. dare gratis, per poco denaro, svendere) magnar fora = to waste (=it. sperperare) opposite of sparagnar= to save (germ. sparen) parar vanti/indrio/s/zxo/torno = to push forward/back/up/down... to make turn (=it. spingere avanti/indietro/su/gifar girare) tirar zxo = to download (=it. scaricare) ; mtar s = to upload, to put on (=it. caricare)
Mind the accent s/su that changes the meaning: mtar s X is not mtar X su Y ! Mteme s na casta = put on (play) a videocassette for me, upload a computer cartridge... Mteme su na casta = put me on a (small) case Last but no least, vegner + different adjective: vegner mato, vegner grando, vegner bravo (similarly to engl. to get off/on/crazy/ready)
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti VERBS CONJUGATION OF COMPOUND TENSES
Venetan too, has compound tenses built by combining the auxiliaries (ser or aver) with the past participle. In such cases, it s the auxiliary which changes according to the person, the tense and the mood of the verb and which merges with the interrogative clitics in direct questions: el ga parl , i ga parl , gav parl , gao parl? , gai parl? ... smo/son torni ... Note that with the auxiliary aver the past participle is invariable, whereas after the auxiliary ser the past participle too changes in the masculine, feminine, singular or plural: el ga parl, i ga parl, i parl but el xe torn, i xe torni, i torni... When the subject follows the verb subject clitics do not appear (Marco el vien deventa Vien Marco) and past participles remain unchanged even with the auxiliary ser (Xe/Gh' riv e carte or Xe morto(-a) tanta zxente) i.e. a semi-impersonal form is employed. Most verbs are irregular only in their past participle and therefore in derived tenses (bevo/credo-> go bevo/go credo but visto/mso-> go visto/go mso). Still, Vneto language has a regularizing ending -esto used to force into regularity even irregular participles: visto -> vedesto , mso -> metesto , strto -> strenzxesto... derived from vdar/mtar/strnzxar and so on. APPARENT DIFFERENCES It must be born in mind that auxiliaries ser and aver are the verbs with most variations, so it may seem that a unique verbal system is not shared by all the Venetan varieties: indeed there are many combinations derived from few base rules. For example, moving from east westwards, passing for northern Vneto, the same interrogative form of 2ND p.sg. has six varieties: gastu parl? -> gatu parl? / tu parl?-> ->ghtu parl? -> ghto parl? -> to parl? Actually, it must be remembered that all Venetan verbs follow a general rule: THE 2ND SINGULAR PERSON ALWAYS ENDS LIKE THE 3RD SG/PL. OR LIKE THE 2ND PLURAL (and taking special forms in i in the present tense). In addition to this, there two more rules: 1) AUXILIARIES CAN HAVE TWO FORMS (LONG AND SHORT) for example go () , te gh (t') , gavmo (ghmo) , avon (n) , el xe (l') , xeo? (lo?) and so on...; 2) INTEROGATIVE CLITICS CAN HAVE TWO FORMS (more often it is ajust a difference between open and closed vowels) for example: -i (-e) ; -to (-stu) ;-o (-u). The combinaitons seems to be many but result from mixing these two rules with the general tule. For example: +to? = short+ -to gh+to? = long+ -to gh+tu? = long + -tu +tu? = 3a sg. short + -tu ga+(s)tu? = 3a sg. long + -(s)tu
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti CONJUGATION OF COMPOUND TENSES

PAST (compound past) net-ar ; bv-ar(e) , mv-ar(e) ; fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre go () te gh (,ga) el ga (l')
torn-ar , part-ir so' (son) te s (xe) el xe (l') parto /-a torn /-
la ga (l')
gavmo (avn) Gav (gav) i ga (i )
net , bev(o) moso (movesto) fin(o)
la xe (l')
smo (sn) s (s) i xe (i ) parti /-e torni /-e
m. luri (o eli)
lore (o ele) le ga (le )
le xe (le )
INTERROGATIVE PAST: interrogative clitics added to the auxiliary (see paragr. "pronouns"): goi (e) net? , ghto (gatu...) net? , gao/gaa net? , --, gavo (gavu) net? , gai/gae net? soi (se) parto/-a? , sto (stu) parto/-a? , xeo parto/ xea parta? and so on... PAST PERFECT (compound imperfect) net-ar , bv-ar(e) , fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. mi ti m. elo (o lu) 3sg. f. 1pl. 2pl. m. f. m. f. ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre gava (ava) te gavivi el gava (l' ava) torn-ar , part-ir xera (jera) te xeri (te eri) el xera (l'era)
parto /-a torn /-
la gava
(l' ava) gavvimo gavivi i gava (i ava) net , bev(o), fin(o)
la xera
(l'era) xrimo (rimo) xeri (eri) i xera (i era) parti /-e torni /-e
m. luri (o eli) 3pl. f.
lore (o ele)
le gava
(le ava)
le xera
(le era)
INTERROGATIVE PAST PERFECT: interrogative (not all) attached to the auxiliary: -- , gavvito net? , gavveo/gavvea net? , -- , -- , gavvei/gavvee net? -- , xrito parto/-a? , xreo parto? / xrea parta? , -- , -- , xrei parti? / xree parte? Note: some people use italian-like forms (mi gavevo net)
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FUTURE PERFECT (compound future) net-ar , bv-ar(e) , fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. mi ti m. elo (o lu) 3sg. f. 1pl. 2pl. m. f. m. f. ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre gavar te gavar (te gavar) el gavar (l'avar) torn-ar , part-ir sar te sar (te sar) el sar parto /-a torn /-
la gavar
(l'avar) gavarmo (avarn) gavar (gavar) i gavar (i avar) net , bev(o), fin(o)
la sar
sarmo (sarn) sar (sar) i sar parti /-e torni /-e
m. luri (o eli) 3pl. f. lore (o ele)
le gavar
(le avar)
le sar
INTERROGATIVE FUTURE PERFECT: interrogative clitics are attached to the auxiliary: gavari (-e) net? , gavarto net? and so on... saroi (-e) parto/-a? , sarto parto/-a? and so on.... PAST CONDITIONAL (compound conditional) net-ar , bv-ar(e) , fin-ir torn-ar , part-ir 1sg. 2sg. m. 3sg. f. m. f. m. f. ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre mi ti elo (o lu) gavara (averave) te gavarisi (te gavara) el gavara (l'avara l'averave) sara (sarave) te sarisi (te sara) el sara (el sarave) parto /-a torn /-
la gavara
(l'avara l'averave) gavarsimo net , bev(o), fin(o)
la sara (la sarave)

sarsimo (sarsimo) sarisi (sar) i sara (i sarave)
1pl.
2pl.
gavarisi i gavara (i avara i averave) (le avara le averave)
m. luri (o eli) 3pl. f.
parti /-e torni /-e
lore (o ele)
le gavara
(le sarave)
le sara
INTERROGATIVE PAST CONDITIONAL: interrogative clitics (not all) follow the auxiliary: -- , gavarsito? (-tu?) net , gavarseo/gavarsea net? , -- , -- , gavarsei/-ee net? -- , sarsito? (-tu?) parto/-a? , sarseo parto / sarsea parta? and so on
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Note-1: forms in -ave were peculiar of old venetian Venetan; in modern venetian they are not used anymore, however they are still usually employed in cioxoto (Chioggia Venetan variety) Note-2: The 3RD sg/pl. interrogative person takes se- instead of aPAST SUBJUNCTIVE (compound subj.) net-ar , bv-ar(e) , fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. mi ti m. elo (o lu) 3sg. f. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. f. ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre gabia te gabi (te gai, gabia) el gabia (l'abia) si(pi)a te s (te sipi) el si(pi)a net , bev(o), fin(o)
parto /-a torn /-
la gabia
(l'abia) gavmo gav i gabia
la si(pi)a
smo (sne) s i si(pi)a parti /-e torni /-e
m. luri (o eli)
lore (o ele)
le gabia
le si(pi)a
PAST PERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE (comp. imperfect subj.) Net-ar , bv-ar(e) , fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. f. m. f. m. f. f. mi ti m. elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre gavse te gavisi el gavse fuse te fusi el fuse parto /-a torn /-
la gavse
gavsimo gavisi i gavse net , bev(o), fin(o)
la fuse
fsimo fusi i fuse parti /-e torni /-e
m. luri (o eli)
lore (o ele)
le gavse
le fuse
DOUBLE PAST (overcompound past) It is seldom used, noawadays (it was employed more widely in past times), but it is still found in some Venetan varieties. Like the french pass surcompos it is built with a double past participle: first, the compound past is built with the participle of the auxiliary ( + bo = go avo), then this compound past of the auxiliary is merged in turn with the past participle of the full verb: + bo + net/cat = lit. I have had cleaned/found... Nowadays it is usually replaced by the normal (compound) past: go net , go cat...
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti PROGRESSIVE FORMS OF VERBS

Venetan too has a progressive conjugation with continuous verbal tenses parallele to the base forms, as there are in English (I am working , I am cleaning), in italian (sto tornando, sto pulendo) and in many other languages of the world. Progressive forms are built with the auxiliary ser drio: it is this which changes according to the verbal mood, tense and person and which takes the interrogative clitics in direct questions. This construction, is thus ser drio + infinte verb. For example: so' drio netar , el xe drio finir, el sar drio tornar... Of course, not all progressive forms exist as in English, still there are more forms than in italian. Indeed, in Vneto there are progressive futures and conditionals employed with rhetorical or dubitative meaning which must be translated ino italian with special constructions ( probabile che... probabilmente... , sarebbe stato sul punto di...)
PROGRESSIVE CONJUGATION
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE Net-ar , bv-ar(e) , mv-ar(e) , fin-ir ; torn-ar , part-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2.pl. 3.pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre so' (son) te s (xe) el xe (l')
la xe (l')
smo (sn) s (s) i xe (i ) drio netar / bvar(e) / mvar(e) drio tornar / partir
le xe (le )
INTERROGATIVE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE: clitics join the auxiliary (paragr. "pronouns"): soi (soe) drio netar? , sto (-tu) drio netar? , xeo (lo) drio netar? e vanti cus... IMPERFECT PROGRESSIVE net-ar , bv-ar(e) , mv-ar(e) , fin-ir ; torn-ar , part-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre xera (jera) te xeri (te eri) el xera (l'era)
la xera (l'era)
xrimo (rimo) xeri (eri) drio netar / bvar(e) / mvar(e) drio tornar / partir
luri (o eli) i xera (i era) lore (o ele) le xera (le era) 25

INTERROGATIVE IMPERFECT PROGRESSIVE: interrogative clitics merge with the auxiliary (see paragraph "pronouns"): xrito (xritu,rito) drio netar? , xreo (relo) drio netar? and so on... FUTURE PROGRESSIVE net-ar , bv-ar(e) , mv-ar(e) , fin-ir ; torn-ar , part-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre sar te sar (te sar) el sar
la sar
sarmo (sarn) sar (sar) i sar drio netar / bvar(e) / mvar(e) drio tornar / partir
le sar
FUTURO PROGRESIVO: rarely used, it is especially employed with present dubitative value, attaching interrogative clitics to the auxiliary as always (see paragr. "pronouns"). For example: Sarlo drio lavorar, secondo ti? FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE The future perfect progressive, too, is used in Vneto/Venetan with past dubitative or inferential meaning, whereas it does not exist in italian. For example in Vneto you say: Marco ieri sera no'l xe ma vegno: el sar st drio dormir (=probably he must have been sleeping yesterday night). On the contrary, in italian no se pol ma dir Marco ieri sera non venuto, *sar stato dormendo: it is a mistake, in italian, since every language has its own grammatical rules. FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE net-ar , bv-ar(e) , mv-ar(e) , fin-ir ; torn-ar , part-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre so' st te s st el xe st
la xe st
smo st(i/e) s st(i/e) i xe st(i) drio netar / bvar(e) / mvar(e) drio tornar / partir
le xe st(e)
INTERROG. FUT. PERFECT PROGR.: interrogative clitics affixed to the auxiliary. For example in dubitative past questions: Mah...Sarlo st drio dormir a qel' ora?? (=mah...pnsito che 'l fuse drio dormir...??) corresponds to English May he have been sleeping at that time?? Do you think he was sleeping?
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CONDITIONAL PROGRESSIVE net-ar , bv-ar(e) , mv-ar(e) , fin-ir ; torn-ar , part-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre sara te sarisi el sara
la sara
sarsimo sarisi i sara drio netar / bvar(e) / mvar(e) drio tornar / partir
le sara
INTERROGATIVE CONDIT. PROGRES.: employed for ask rethorical quesitons. For example: Sarselo drio lavorar?!? (=Is he working in your opinion? Does it seems to you that he...) PAST CONDITIONAL PROGRESSIVE Like the italian future perfect progressive, also the past conditional progressive though not exsiting in italian can be used in Venetan under certain conditions, with rethorical meaning. For exemplein sentences such as: Xe ciaro che 'l gava xa respir aqua, quando che i o ga tir fora dal lago! Se no 'l gavse respir aqua no 'l sara (ma) st drio negarse in qel momnto ! (=...he wouldn't possibly have been drowning!). Keep in mind that in italian one cannot say Se non avesse respirato acqua *non si sarebbe stato annegando and diferent constructions must be used (...non sarebbe stato sul punto di annegarsi). Different languages, different rules... PAST CONDITIONAL PROGRESSIVE net-ar , bv-ar(e) , mv-ar(e) , fin-ir ; torn-ar , part-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre sara st te sarisi st el sara st
la sara st
sarsimo st(i/e) sarisi st(i/e) i sara st(i) drio netar / bvar(e) / mvar(e) drio tornar / partir
le sara st(e)
INTERROGATIVE PAST COND. PROGRESSIVE: employed sometimes for rhetorical quesitons. For example: Sarselo st drio negarse, secondo ti, se no 'l gavse respir aqua?!? (=Would he have run the risk to drown in your opinion?). In italian it is translated with "Sarebbe stato sul punto di annegarsi, secondo te...?"
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti THE PASSIVE OF VERBS

Passive verbs, in Vneto/Venetan, are built with two auxiliaries and the past participle. The auxiliary vegner builds simple tenses (el vien net) and ser builds compound tenses (el xe st net). In such cases, it is the auxiliary which changes according to the verbal person, tense and mood and which takes the interrogative clitics in direct questions: vienlo net? , xeo st net? Participles can inflect for masculine, feminine, singular or plural: el vien net, i vien neti , i xe sti neti... Yet very often "st" remains unchanged (i xe st neti , e xe st nete). Most verbs are irregular only in their past participle and therefore in derived tenses (bevo/credo-> el vien bevo/credo par visto/mso-> el vien visto/mso). Still, Vneto language has a regularizing ending -esto used to force into regularity even irregular participles: visto -> vedesto , mso -> metesto , strto -> strenzxesto... derivi da vdar/mtar/strnzxar e vanti cus. When the subject follows the verb subject clitics do not appear (Xe st ciap un ladro) and past participles often remain unchanged (Xe st ciap i ladri, Xe st mso(-e) via e carte) i.e. a semi-impersonal form is employed.
PASSIVE CONJUGATION
PRESENT PASSIVE net-ar , bv-ar(e) , fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. f. mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre vegno te vien el vien net / - bev(o) / -(a) fin(o) / -a PAST PASSIVE net-ar, fin-ir so' st te s st el xe st fino /-a net /-
la vien
vegnmo vegn i vien neti / -e bevi / -e fini / -e
la xe st
smo st(i/e) s st(i/e) i xe st(i) fini /-e neti /-e
m. luri (o eli)
lore (o ele)
le vien
le xe st(e)
INTERROGATIVE PASSIVE: interrog. clitics attached to the auxiliary (see paragr. "pronouns"): -- , viento (-tu) net? , vienlo net? and so on... -- , sto (stu) st net? , xeo st net? ...
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PAST PERFECT PASSIVE (comp.impf.passive) net-ar, fin-ir xera st net / - bev(o) / -(a) fin(o) / -a te xeri st el xera st (l'era st) la xera st (l'era st) xrimo st(i/e) neti / -e bevi / -e fini / -e xeri st(i/e) i xera st(i) fini /-e neti /-e fino /-a net /-
IMPERFECT PASSIVE net-ar , bv-ar(e) , fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. f. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. f. ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre mi ti m. elo (o lu) vegna te vegnivi el vegna
la vegna
vegnvimo vegnivi i vegna
m. luri (o eli)
lore (o ele)
le vegna
le xera st(e)
INTERROGATIVE IMPERFECT PASSIVE: interrog. clitics (not all) merge auxiliaries: ...vegnveo/vegnvea net? ... ...xreo st net / xrea st net ? ... ...xrito st visto/vista ?... FUTURE, SUBJUNCTIVE AND CONDITIONAL PASSIVE Likewiase, following these two patterns, all the passive tenses can be built. For example the future (simple el vegnar net and compound el sar st net) , the subjunctive (present che 'l vegna net and past, compound che 'l sipia st net) , the imperfect subjunctive (simple se 'l vegnse net and compound se 'l fuse st net) , the conditional (present simple el vegnara net and past compound el sara st net). As always, interrogative clitics are attached to auxiliaries (vegnaro net? , saro st net? , vegnarseo neta? , sarseo st net?) while the full verb remamins in the participle.
THE IMPERSONAL PASSIVE

Intransitive verbs, too, can appear in the passive voice: since intransitive verbs have no direct object to turn into subject, they have an impersonal passive form without subject (cfr. German es wurde getanzt = lit. there was danced / it was danced). The impersonal passive is built in the past tense with Xe/Gh st + past participle (literally there has been...). The indirect objects retain the same preposition they have in the active voice. For examples verbs parlar co (to speak with/to) , teefonar a (lit. to telephone to) have the following impersonal passive forms: Xe st parl co tuti = Everybody was spoken to. lit.(there) has been spoken with everybody Gh st teefon al dotor? = Did someone (of you) phone the doctor? lit. Has (there) been phoned to the doctor?
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Likewise, the impersonal passive of parlar de (to speak about) and discter de (to discuss about) is the following: Gh st parl de un saco de robe = A lot of issues have been spoken about. lit.There has been spoken about a lot of things Ieri xe st discuso del trfico = Yesterday there was a discussion about the traffic. lit. Yesterday (there) has been discussed about the traffic Note: The passive is less often used in Venetan, since usually a 3RD pl. active form is employed (i ga discuso/parl de = they have discussed/spoken about...) when it the subject is unknown by the speaker and the hearer. On the contrary, the passive is preferred when the subject might be the speaker or the hearer.
THE IMPERATIVE
In Vneto language, the imperative mood has simple forms whereas the negative imperative is built with a speciali auxiliary (the verb star). It is never used in the passive voice. The imperative mood as its own forms only for the 2ND p. singular of the firs class (magna! parla!): otherwise it follows the present (vien! vidi! curi! e anca magn! parlmo) or the subjunctive (che 'l magna! che i parla!). Differently from italian, Venetan has special forms for the polite imperative: they are the same as the normal 3RD person (masc/fem/sg/pl) but without the particle che. However, for the sake of clarity the whole table is reported below: IMPERATIVE bv-ar(e) ; tem-er -bivi ! el el
net-ar 1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. che che m. f. m. f. i che che el --
fin-ir -finisi !
nta !
la
nta! (-e)
la
bva! bevmo! bev!
la
finisa! finimo! fin!
netmo! (-ne) net! nta! (-e) i
le
el la i
le
bva!
le
el la i
finisa!
risp. sg. risp. pl.
POLITE IMPERATIVE nta! (-e) el bva! la nta! (-e) i bva!
finisa! finisa!
le
le
le
Note-1: Note the vowel change triggered by final -i (bivi!, curi!) since these forms are the same as the present ones. In the est (VR) and the west (VE) verbs do not show it: bvi! cori!. Forms without vowel change are also used in italian-like Venetan. Note-2: In the past, the polite form was built with the vu of 2ND p. plural.
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti THE NEGATIVE IMPERATIVE

The negativ imperative, as already said, is made of the auxiliary star and the infinte mood of the verb which is always invariable. NEGATIVE IMPERATIVE net-ar ; bv-ar(e) ; tem-er ; fin-ir 1sg. 2sg. 3sing. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f. che che no i no le che che no 'l no la -no st staga (-ae) netar! ; bvar(e)! ; temer! ; finir!
no stmo (-ne) no st staga (-ae)
Note: Also in this case, the polite forms consist of the normal 3RD p. (masc/fem/sg/pl) without the particle che: nol staga netar/temer/finir ; no la staga netar/temer... no i staga netar/temer/finir ; no le staga netar/temer... Both the imperative and the negative imperative are usually employed only in the active voice, although some passive subjunctives might be rarely used: che te sipi maedto = Be you damned!
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti INTERROGATIVES

Venetan interrogatives can vary very much and can have very different forms, according to whether they are sentence-initial or sentence-final they are preceded by prepositions or stand alone. In some varieties, there are special combined or reduplicated reinforced forms. VENETAN INTERROGATIVES examples reinf. or redupl. chi/ci sto? chi stu? stu chi? lo ci? de chi/ci parlo? 'sa fto? cos' ti fa? 'sa flo? flo ch? de csa parlo? quando vienla? vienla quando? come vienle? vienle come? ...onde? indo' valo? indo' so? valo onde? parch vtu via? quanti xeli? quante xele? qualo xelo? quala xela? quando?!? ci ... ci?
initial chi? ci? 'sa... ? cos'...? co e prepoxizs. csa? quando?
final
examples ci lo ci? fto csa?!? 'sa fto csa?!? parlo de csa?!? viento quando? te vien quando?!? sto vegno come?!? te si vegn come?!? vto indove?!? 'sa vto indove, ti?!? ma parcsa lo ghto fato!?!
...ch?
('sa) ... csa?!?
come? indo'...? indove...?
come?!?
('sa) ... indove?!? parcsa...?!
parch? quanto/a/i/e ? qualo/a/i/e ?
Note-1: to build reinforced forms the initial interrogative (if any), must be moved at the end of the sentence. Note-2: in some varieties, the reinforced forms can be reduplicated by adding the invariable particle 'sa at the beginning of the sentence or reduplicating the interrogative ci. Note-3: in the varieties with final interrogatives (northern vnetan, i.e. belumat) these interrogatives can show one and the same form both in base questions, so that reinforced questions are distinguished only by voice intonation: stu chi? vs. stu chi?!?
VOID ESCLAMATIVE INTERROGATIVES

Vneto language also has a void or mute rhetorical interrogative (used to ask questions with esclamative intonation), i.e. it is not pronunced: Vto ndar co qee braghe l!? Cnpreghene un paro pi beo! (=Indove vto ndar= Where would you go...) or Stu nd ieri sera! Te go ciam un saco de volte e no te go cat! (=Indove stu nd =Where did you go...) and even Vto farghe! Purtropo a xe cus (=Sa/Csa vto =What can/would you...). Voice intonation, too, confirms that there is hidden interrogative: indeed such sentences do not have raising intonation (as do yes/no questions) but rather have a falling intonational pattern like where normal visible interrogative are employed. In italian, on the contrary, such rhetorical questions are not possible: *Vuoi farci?! , *Sei andato ieri?! , *Vuoi andare con quelle scarpe?!...
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti ADVERBS, CONJUNCTIONS , THE COMPLEMENTIZER "CHE" AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
Before speaking about Venetan subordinate clauses some words must be said about the complementizer, a special particle well-known in linguistiics which is necessary to build the subordinate clauses in many languages. Vneto language, indeed, like old English, some German varieties and many languages in the world, has an obligatory sentence particle (the complementizer che) which marks all subordinate clauses, besides relative ones. Every subordinate clause begins with this basic complementizer: then, adverbs, interogatives or conjunctions (chi, csa, quando, come, parch...) are added to specify the type of the subordinate clause. Thus, a lot of subordinates are built. Objective clause: savmo che te st l ; go visto che i vien Interrogat. cl.: savmo co chi che te st ; i sa csa che magnn noaltri Temporal cl.: magnmo c/quando che te rivi Modal clause: mi fo/faso/fae come che i fa luri And many others: go visto da indo' che i vien ; vien solo che ela In some varieties, even: dme parch (che) el se conporta mal
COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS
At the beginning of this book, articles (definite, indefinite and personal) have been shown to merge with some base preposition: del, al, col, dal, ntel, intun, pal, sul Still, these are not the only prepositions; there are also complex prepositions (da)drio=behind, vizsin=near, (da)vanti=before/in front, insieme=together, senzsa=without which combine with base preposition, usually de. Of course articles, too, can appear. Thus one forms: (da)drio del tren, (da)drio de Marco, vizsin de mi, vizsin de a Mara, vanti de mi, insieme co mi, senzsa de voaltre These prepositions are not always compound, but can also stand alone e.g.: drio caxa, drio na carega, vizsin caxa, vizsin a Cxa, senzsa a toa, senzsa un scheo, sto el prtego.
PRONOMINAL PREPOSITIONS
There are varieties of the Venetan language, in which some prepositions besides merging with articles, also combine with personal pronouns as usually happens in gaelic languages (irlish, scottish) or in hebrew. For example one may hear and sometimes read such forms: drio de mi drio de ti drio de elo (o lu) drio de si And so on drome drote droghe drose behind me behind you (sg.) behind him/her/them behind himself/hers...
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti NO PREPOSITION A BEFORE INFINITE VERBS, CITY NAMES AND THE NOUNS CAXA, MSA, TOA, SCA
In Vneto prepoxizsion A is never employed before city names, infinite verbs and the nouns caxa=house / Msa=Mass / tola=table / scla=school when there is a verb of movement towards such places (ndar/nar, vegner, tornar, rivar) or indicating state (ser, star). Some examples can be: vo caxa = I go home (=it. vado A casa) , vali Belun? = do they go to Belluno (=it. vanno A Belluno?) , vo studiar = I go to/and study (= vado A studiare) , vto scla = I go to school (=it. vai A scuola?) , nmo/ndn zxugar balon = we go to play football l caxa = he is at home , stu Pdova? = are you in P.? , smo Vicensa = we are in V... sto NewYork? =do you live in NewYork?) , i sti Verna = they have been in Verona viento(-tu) Msa? = do you come to the Mass? , se i vegnse Venesia =if they come to Venice , vien magnar! = come to eat , vegn tola! = come (pl.) to/and sit down to table se te rivi Rovigo = if you arrive in R. , rive caxa le ga magn = after arriving home, they torn catarme Trevixo =come back to visit us in Treviso , trnelo scla? = does he come back to school?) , taco studiar =I start studying , tacho cantar? = do you start singing? The other prepositions works normally: vegno caxa (I come back home) is different from vegno da caxa (I come back from home) rivar Madrid is different from rivar da Madrid no i vol tornar scla (...return to school) is different from no i vol tornar da scla (...from) paso caxa tua is slightly different paso par caxa tua This rule does not hold for other nouns and normal forms are used: vo al mar (I go to the sea) , i riva al pnto che... (they arrive at the point that...) , i trna a e vecie abitdini...
REFLEXIVE VERBS AND THE AUXILIARY aver

As already seen in Venetan there are reflexive pronouns employed with reflexive verbs. They behave as in Italian, French or Spanish: (mi) me vardo , (ti) te te vardi , (elo/lu) el se varda , (noaltri/noaltre) se vardmo... They merge with reflexives forms: (ti) te vrditu? , (elo/lu) se vrdelo?... , se vardne? Moreover, in Vneto language the auxiliary aver must be used for compound tenses as in Spanish, English, Portuguese, German or Catalan. Obligatory clitics must be kept in mind: me go vard (or even m vard) = I have looked at / watched myself (ti) te te gh vard (or even te t/te /te ga vard... ) = you have looked at / yourself (lu) el se g vard (or even el s vard) = He heas looked at / watched himself (noaltri) se gavmo vard (or even se avn/n vard) = We have looked at ourselves (lore) le se g vard (or even le s vard) = They (f.) have looked at themselves ... se i se gavse vard (or se i savse vard) = If they (m.) had looked at themselves i se gavara vard (or i savara/saverave vard) = They d have looked at themselves Thus, with interrogative forms one obtains: (ti) te ghto/te gat vard? , (lu) se galo/salo vard? , (noaltri) se gavmoi vard? , (lore) se gale/sale vard?...
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti NUMBERS

Numbers, in Venetan, are: masculine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000 un(o) d(i) (du) tre (tri) feminine una d(i) tre quatro ordinal primo , prima secndo , secnda terzso , terzsa quarto , quarta
quinto , quinta zsinque sesto , sesta sie (pron. se / si) stimo , stima sete otavo , otava oto nono , nona nve dixe ndexe In other cases, italian ordinal numerals are ddexe used or the invariable forms shown on the trdexe left act as ordinal numerals. quatrdexe For example one says : l riv qundexe qundexe (=he arrived fifth) , a xe riv vinti-oto sdexe (=she arrived twentyeigth), ... di(xi)sete disdoto disnve vinti vinti-un trenta quaranta zsinquanta sesanta setanta otanta novanta zsento doxento trexento quatroxento zsinquezsento siezsento setezsento otozsento novezsento mile dixe mila zsento mila un milion dixe miliuni
collective numerals Vneto too, has collective numerals to refer to groups of people, objects, or animals by means of number-nouns, instead of normal numerals... Such number-nouns are masculine feminine and there is not any sure rule. or
For example one says: na diexina (from dixe), na zsinquantina (from zsinquanta) un zsentenaro/zsentenr (from zsento) or un milaro/milr (from mile)... They are also used with approximative value, i.e. to say zsirca dixe, zsirca mie... (about ten, about one thousand) Collective numerals also have a plural form, since they are nouns. Still they have regular plural, differently from Italian. Indeed one says mileri/milari de persne =thousands (=it. migliaia) or zsenteneri/zsentenari de mchine... =hundreds... (=it. centinaia)
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Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti OTHER CONSTRUCTIONS: aver da , dover , ghe xe/gh da , cogne , bexon/bexogna
In Vneto language there is a lot of verbal constructions, sometimes identical to their italian counterparts sometimes with a slightly different meaning, which cannot be easily translated but whose meaning is clear to people who know this language. As German or English, for example, Vneto language distinguishes different nuances of obligation. In Italian the verb dovere is always used while in Vneto the periphrasis aver da + infinite is employed which corresponds to must/have to: go da partir (=I have to go =it. devo partire) , te ga/gh da conprar el pan (= you must/have to buy some bread =it. devi comprare il pane) , i ga/ da vnzsar(e) (=they have to win =they must win). It corresponds to Spanish tenir que , Catalan haver de or German mssen... The impersonal form (used to indicate an obligation without saying whose duty is this) is: ghe xe/gh da + infinite: gh da tor el pan (=one/someone must buy some bread = lit. there is to buy some bread) , ghe xe da far un saco de robe (=many things must be done, there is a lot of things to do)... This corresponds to Spanish hay que or to Catalan cal + infinite. Other verbs or impersonal forms employed are: cogne dir che (=one must say that =it need be said that) , cogna senpre portar via tuto (=one had to take away everything...) or also bexon (<-bexogna) tornar caxa (=one has to/must go back home) , bexon far pulito (= behave politely is required= lit. one must behave politely). They often correspond to the English passive imperative. To give advice, on the contrary, the verb dover (ted.sollen, ingl.should) is employed, especially in the conditional mood: te/ti dovarsi parlarghe (=you should speak to him/her/them) , i dovara provar da nvo (=they should try again), te dovara ciorla ti (=you should take it, by yourself...)
THE VNETiAN DIALECT OF ITALIAN spoken by the young and in cities

Differently from the varieties of the Venetan language, it has grammatical and synthactical rules borrowed from italian and it is Venetan only "externally". It is especially spoken in medium or big cities and by the young, or by people who know quite well the Italian language. It is less easily heard by old people and in little towns, where Italian is less spoken. This relations suggests why this pseudo-Venetan does not share many structures with the varieties of the Venetan language: because it is born by the influence of an official language (Italian) on a language which on the contrary has no official support (Venetan/Vneto). It is a dialect born in the mouth of people who do know Italian well and know Vneto language less well. Where Italian is less-known (or less used), this Venetian or Venetan dialect of Italian is less employed and people tend to speak one of the varieties of the Venetan or venetian language. In the following table, it will appear clear that the venetian dialect of Italian shows many structure of the italian language, differently from the varieties of the venetian language (Venetan dialects of the Venetan language) which, on the contrary, share another linguistic structure.
36

varieties of the venet(i)an language i / i xe drio rivar te xeri / te eri drio vardar ("ser drio" + infinite) i ne ga dito, i vol parlarne, el n' cont che... (base of long Venetan pronoun + "e": mi-> me, voaltri/voaltre-> ve, noaltri/noaltre-> ne...) i s' parl , i se g visto se ghmo diverto , se (av)n cat (aver + invariable p.p. as engl., germ., sp.) par mi xe istso (from lat. neuter ist(ud) ipsum) go vedesto/visto el stso libro de prima vedest(o) el sts(o) libro de prima (from masc. art. el + pronome sts[o]) se sente un scioco, i fa un studio su... (in veneto the article "uno" does not exist, only the number "uno" is found) mi sava, el sava mi sperava, mi vardava venet(i)an dialect of the italian language i sta rivando te stavi vardando (from ital. "stare...-ndo") i ce ga dito, i vol parlarce, el ce ga cont che... (short italian pronoun + "e": dirvi->dirve, dimmi-> dme, parlarci-> parlarce , ci hanno detto -> i ce ga dito) i se xe parli , i se xe visti se smo diverti , se smo cati (from it. essersi + plural p.p. in "-ati/-iti...") par mi xe o stso
go visto o stso libro de prima (from it. "lo stesso" unique form) se sente 'no scioco, i fa 'no studio su... (from ital. "uno davanti a s-impura") mi savevo , el saveva mi speravo , mi vardavo (ital. "sapevo, sapeva, speravo, guardavo...")
so' vegn(o)/vegnest(o) (from the Venetan infin. "vegner, -ir") l casc (from the Venetan infinite "cascar", 1ST class)
so' veno (from italian "venire/venuto") l cado (from italian "cadere/caduto", 2ND class)
It appears clear, that the Venetan dialect of Italian borrows many structures from Italian only adjusting some vowel or dropping some consonants (even though those who speak this italian dialect do not realize it and are persuaded to speak Venetan/Veneto language). Moreover, a lot of italian words are used instead of the Venetan ones: preme la porta , chideme la finestra , go visto cinque gati , xe le d e mezzo... as if someone claimed to speak English, just saying apr me the door , chiud the window or claimed to speak Spanish just saying he visto cinque gatos !
37
Autr: Michele Brunelli
Manual Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti
MICHELE BRUNELLI (Bassano del Grappa, 1976): laureato in Lingue e Scienze del Linguaggio all Universit Ca Foscari di Venezia. Collaboratore del sito internazionale www.orbilat.com per la parte veneta e catalana, da anni cura anche www.sitoveneto.com un sito di lingua e cultura veneta, diventato www.sitoveneto.org. La prima pubblicazione Parl Vneto risale allanno 1996; dopo molti anni di attivit su internet tornato a scrivere su carta con il libro a dialogo Ciacolada su la ngua Vneta nel 2004. Questo Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti la sua ultima produzione in ordine di tempo: non solo una grammatica del Vneto ma una grammatica in Vneto scritta per i Vneti pensando ad un eventuale uso come supporto per le scuole. Le descrizioni grammaticali generali della lingua veneta sono accompagnate da note sulle caratteristiche pi peculiari delle diverse varianti con cui la gente parla questa lingua. Un capitolo finale riservato anche ad un breve excursus sul veneto italianizzato che viene parlato fra i giovani e nelle citt. Lampio uso di tabelle accosta la tecnicit dellargomento trattato alla rapidit di consultazione, permettendo ad ognuno di confrontare la propria variet veneta con quelle circostanti e promuovendo cos una vera conoscenza generale di tutta la nostra lingua.
MICHELE BRUNELLI (Basn, 1976): el se ga aure in Lingue e Scienze del Linguaggio a lUniversit Ca Fscari de Venesia. Coaborador del sito internazsionae www.orbilat.com par a parte vneta e cataana, da ani el tien in pie anca www.sitoveneto.com un sito de ngua e cultura vneta, da pco trasform in www.sitoveneto.org . a prima publicazsion Parl Vneto a xe del 1996; dopo un saco de avuri su internet l torn scrvar da nvo su carta ntel 2004 col ibro a diogo Ciacolada su la ngua Vneta. El Manul Gramaticale Xenerale de la ngua Vneta e le s varianti el xe a s ltima fadiga: no l ma soo na gramtica de Vneto ma anca na gramtica in Vneto scrita aposta par i Vneti e, in caxo, par vegner dopar sca come material didtico de suporto. Rente e descrizsion gramaticai xenerai de a ngua vneta xe st zxont de e note aposta sui detaji pi speciai de e diverse varianti che a zxente a parla sta ngua qua. In ltima l st riserv anca na ociadina al Vneto itaianix che i parla fra toxati, putei e nte e zsit. El gran uxo de tabee el parmte de ndar ben rento laspeto tcnico de a question e pasarghe anca rente intun clpo docio, dndoghe a tuti a posibiit de confrontar a s variante vneta co e altre che gh intorno e promovendo cus na vera conosenzsa xenerae de tuta a nostra ngua.
D fora par a prima volta: 2005 (su internet) Original first issued in 2005 (on the web)

Łéngua Vèneta (Venetian Grammar)

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ISSUED IN 2007 in the web

General Grammar Book of the Venetan Language and its Varieties

BASAN / BASSANO DEL GRAPPA

01 de Marzso del 2007

01012007 More Vneto

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti INDEX

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti A SHORT INTRODUCTION

As Vneto varieties have different ways to pronunce the same word

BALA -BAEA, FORSA-FORZHA,

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti ARTICLES

da un co un su 'n int'un da na co na su na 'nte na da la co la su la 'nte la

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

SHORT POSSESSIVES WITHOUT ARTICLES

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti DEMONSTRATIVES

m.sg. f. sg. m. pl. f. pl. neuter

qel ... l qela ... l qii ... l qele ... l

'sto qua 'sta qua 'sti qua 'ste qua questo

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti THE RELATIVE PARTICLE

(it.transl) a cui con cui la cui

el txo che s mama la me ga parl

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

la vocal finale -> le vocali finali

-i (and vowel change when possible)

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

DERIVED NOUNS (NAMES OF FRUITS, FLOWERS, TREES AND JOBS)

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti PROPER NAMES

(vien/riva...) (go visto...) (parlo de/co)

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti PRONOUNS

TONIC PRONOUNS AS SUBJECTS AND WITH PREPOSITIONS

lore (or ele)

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

CLITIC PRONOUNS AS COMPLEMENTS AND REFLEXIVES

1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl.

CLITIC PRONOUNS AS SUBJECTS AND INTERROGATIVES

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

GENERAL RECAPITULATORY TABLE

clitic interrog. -nti (-e)

1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl.

-to (-stu) -(e)lo -(e)la -nti (-e) -o (-u)

luri (or eli) lore (or ele)

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti VERBS

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti CONJUGATION OF SIMPLE TENSES

netmo (-n) net i nta nta

luri (o eli) lore (o ele)

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

fin-ir fina finivi fina finvimo finivi fina fina

1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f.

mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre luri (o eli)

fin-ir finir finir finir finvimo finir finir finir

1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs.

Manul Gramaticae Xenerae de a ngua Vneta e e s varianti

fin-ir finira finirisi finira

1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs. m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f.

mi ti elo (o lu) ela noaltri noaltre voaltri voaltre luri (o eli)

netarsimo netarisi i se netara netara

finirsimo finirisi finira finira

fin-ir finisa finisi finisa finimo fin finisa finisa

1sg. 2sg. 3sg. 1pl. 2pl. 3pl. imprs. f. m. f. m. f. m. f.

m. che elo (o lu)

netmo (-ne) net i nte (-a) nte (-a)

che lore (o ele)