Lombard/Orthography and pronunciation rules
Orthographies overview
editSince Lombard language consists of different varieties with a separate literary tradition, it has no spoken standard. In times past, different local spellings were used, especially for the main dialects. A first attempt to give a written standard to the Lombard language was that of the singer-songwriter Lissander Brasca in 2014 with his orthography “Scriver Lombard” (literally “Lombard Writing”). This was followed in 2020, with the establishment of the Academia Bonvesin de la Riva, by a new pan-Lombard writing system, the New Lombard Orthography.
They range from local orthographies, specifically designed for dialects but often inconsistent with each other, to the Scriver Lombard (Write Lombard) which claims to write the same word in the same way in all dialectal variants, and it will then be the reader to read it differently based on his dialect , the New Lombard Orthography is a bit of a middle ground, which at the same time guarantees spelling comprehension and consistency between the different variants of the language. In this book the New Lombard Orthography will be used.
For the classical Milanese orthography refer instead to the book on Insubric language (also known as Western Lombard), which precisely it is the western branch of the Lombard language, with the Milanese dialect in the historical centre.
| Name of the orthography | Year when the orthography was born | Importance of the orthography in the past (before 1950)[1] |
Importance of the orthography today [1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| " New Lombard Orthography" | 2020 | - |  FO
|
| " Scriver Lombard" | 2014 | - | FO
|
| " Modern Orthography " | 1979 | • RAR | - |
| Name of the orthography | dialects written with this orthography | Year when the orthography was born | Importance of the orthography in the past (before 1950)[1] |
Importance of the orthography today [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 "classical Milanese orthography " |
Western Lombard | 1630 | FO |
FO
|
.svg){kind=small} "Ticinese orthography" |
CO TI CO | 1907 | FO |
FO
|
 "unified Insubric orthography " |
Western Lombard | 2003 | - | • RAR |
 "Oriental insubric orthography" |
Eastern Lombard | ??? | - | • RAR |
 "Duchy orthoghraphy" |
BG | ??? |  MED |
MED
|
 " orthography of Brescia " |
BS | ??? | - | • RAR |
 "Classical Cremish orthography" |
Cr | ??? | MED |
• RAR |
 "Lodesan orthography" |
LO | ??? | ???? | • RAR |
 "Classical Cremonese orthographyby Angelo Peri" |
CR | ??? | MED |
• RAR |
Note
FO = fundamental importance
MED = medium importance- • RAR = rarely used
New Lombard Orthography
editThe New Lombard Orthography (NOL) is an orthography derived from the graphic tradition of various Lombard variants and designed for the entirety of Lombard language
Features
editNOL was born as a polynomial orthography, i.e. with the possibility of writing in the same way for everyone, with the specific aim of involving all local variants and at the same time maintaining and showing local differences. This is achieved thanks to the flexibility of the handwriting: in fact, it is possible to write in a more standard or local way depending on the need of the person using it.
The spelling choices were made on the basis of past spelling proposals and the local spellings of Lombard, to try to make them more consistent with each other and not stray too far from traditional orthographies.
Spelling choices
edit| Grapheme | Phonology (pronounce IPA) |
Examples | Translation into English |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | /a/, /ɐ/ | articioch | artichoke |
| b | /b/ [2] | basell | step |
| c | /t͡ʃ/ before e, i or at the end of the word after consonant
/k/ before a, o, oeu, u or any consonant |
ciciarada
can |
chat
dog |
| ch | /k/ before e, i and at the end of the word | chichera | coffee cup |
| cc | /t͡ʃ/ at the end of the word
(also after consonant for the eastern Lombard plurals of words that end in "t" or "d" in the singular)
|
tucc lombarcc laccera (derived from lacc) |
all Lombards milkwoman |
| d | /d/, /ð/ [2] ∅ intervocalic in some word in some variant |
dent
radis |
tooth
root |
| e | /e/, /ɛ/[3] | temp | time, weather |
| f | /f/, /θ/ | fioeul | son |
| g | /d͡ʒ/ before e, i
/g/ before a, o, oeu, u or any consonant |
gesa
magon |
church
dejection |
| gh | /g/ before e, i and a t the end of the word [2] | ghell | cent |
| gg | /d͡ʒ/ alla fine della parola[2] rarely in the middle of the word for reasons of derivation |
oeugg veggia (derived from vegg) |
eye old (feminine) |
| gn | /ɲ/ | tegnì | to keep, to hold |
| h | ∅ | gh'hoo | have |
| i | /i/ after consonant before vowel ∅ tra sc, sg, s'c, s'g, g, c e vocale ∅ in some dialects in plurals ending in <l> after "oeu" |
intregh aria ciamà fioeui |
entire, whole air to call, to ask sons |
| j | /j/, /ʎ/ always intravocalic
(∅ tra "e" e "a" in the last syllable, in some eastern variant) |
tajà
fameja |
to cut
family |
| l | /l/, /r/ [4] - long preceding vowel | lassà | to leave, to let |
| ll | /l/ - short preceding vowel | balla | ball |
| m | /m/ | mur | wall |
| n | /n/ [5] [6]
(∅ in some variant before consonant) |
nigola
mont |
cloud
mountain |
| nn | /n/ (always) – at the end of the word rarely in the middle of the word for reasons of derivation |
dann anniversari (derived from "ann") |
damage |
| o | /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ | tosa | girl |
| oeu | /ø/, /œ/ | poeu | then, later |
| p | /p/ | pas | peace |
| q | /k/ before u + vowel | quatà | to cover |
| r | /r/ [4][7] - long preceding vowel | fera | fiera |
| rr | /r/ - short preceding vowel | carr (vs. car) | wagon |
| s | /s/ at the beginning of the word [8]
/z/ intravocalic or at the end of the word [8] (before consonant /ʃ/ o /ʒ/ depending on the consonant, in some variant) |
setàss
nas stria (/ʃ/) | basla (/ʒ/) |
sit
nose witch|bowl |
| sh [9] | /ʃ/ | marshalles | Marshallese |
| ss | /s/ | fuss | was[10] |
| sc | /ʃ/, /s/, /t͡ʃ/ - before e, i [8] | scernì | choose |
| s'c | /ʃt͡ʃ/ | mes'cià | to mix |
| sg | /d͡ʒ/, /z/, /ʒ/ - before e, i | sgiornada | daytime |
| s'g | /ʃd͡ʒ/ | s'giafon | slap |
| t | /t/ | tolin | crown cork |
| u | /y/
/w/ after <q> e between vowel and consonant |
cuna
aqua | Europa |
crib
water | Europe |
| v | /v/ [2]
(∅intravocalic, in some variant) |
vun
tavol |
one
table |
| z | /t͡s/, /s/ at the beginning of the word and after a consonant [8]
/d͡z/, /z/ intravocalic or at the end of the word [8] |
zuca
mez |
pumpkin
means, half, middle |
| zz | /t͡s/, /s/ [8] | mazzà | to kill |
Compound words
editFor compound words, a dash is used between the two words that make up the compound: (per exemple: mazza-pioeugg, ...).
Verbs
editInfinitive
edit| conjugation | 1° | 2° | 3° | 4° |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| desinence | -à | -é | -er | -ì |
| pronounce | [a(r)] | [ɛ(r)], [e(:)(r)], [i(r)] | [Ø], [er] | [i(r)] |
There are some verbs that have an irregular ending in the infinitive and that do not follow the rules just explained (for example: prodù, toeu, …).
The infinitive verbs of the 1st, 2nd and 4th conjugation used with an enclitic maintain the graphic accent, instead they lose the -r in the 3rd. Even verbs with an irregular ending in the infinitive have the same ending (and sometimes also the graphic accent).
| conjugation | 1° | 2° | 3° | 4° | irregular |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| examples | compràll | vedéll | scrivell | sentìll | prodùll, toeull, ... |
Participle
editThe participle suffix is orthographically fixed:
| conjugation | 1° | 2° | 3° | 4° |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| desinence | -ad | -ud | -ud/-id | -ud/-id |
| pronounce | [a:], [at], [ai] | [y:], [yt] | [y:], [yt] / [i:], [it] | [y:], [yt] / [i:], [it] |
| example | parlad | vedud | scrivud/id | sentud/id |
For monosyllabic verbs of the first conjugation and the verb vesser there is the possibility of two endings:
| forms | 1° form | 2° form |
|---|---|---|
| desinence | -ad | -ait |
| pronounce | [a:], [at] | [ai(t)] |
| examples | stad | stait |
Imperative
editThe monosyllabic forms of the imperative of the second person singular are always written with the graphic accent (for example: fà, dà, stà, scrìv, bév, ...).
Note
edit- ↑ a b c d the importance of the orthography depends on the usage
- ↑ a b c d e Desonorization at the end of the word
- ↑ Ø only for western feminine plurals excluding Lodesan dialect
- ↑ a b May not be pronounced at the end of the word (senter [sen'te:], mal [ma:]).
- ↑ at the end of the word, in some variant nasalization of the vowel (can [kã]) or not-pronounce of the final "n". (can [ka]) o /ŋ/.
- ↑ /ŋ/ before a velar consonant /k/ e /g/.
- ↑ ∅ intravocalic in the suffixes of the verb “vesser” (to be) in the Legnano dialect; for example "sara"
- ↑ a b c d e f Aspiration /h/ in some variant
- ↑ ( possible only in words derived from English for reasons of etymology)
- ↑ past perfect subjunctive of the verb “vesser” third person singular in Milanese dialect
Local pronunciations and Wiktionary
editAs can be seen, the pronunciation of the New Lombard orthography is not unique for all the letters; the reader should know the correct pronunciation a priori, it may be useful to consult the Wiktionary. However, some more information can be obtained if one knows in which dialect the text was written, see for example:
- Phonology of the New Lombard Orthography in Milanese dialect
- Phonology of the New Lombard Orthography in Bergamasque dialect
- Phonology of the New Lombard Orthography in Laghee dialect
In the year 2021 a Lombard-language wikictionary was born, available on the site https://lmo.wiktionary.org/ which contains:
- definitions in Lombard;
- ways of writing the same word in different dialects and orthographies;
- etymology of the word;
- pronunciation, as far as pronunciation is concerned, it has also been specially designed to provide the pronunciation IPA of the same word in different dialects.
This will be discussed in more detail in the module about dictionaries