latininy

Latininy is a constructed language designed to ease the study of Latin by offering a regular grammar, a simplified verbal system, and a vocabulary based on Latin roots with limited influence from related Romance languages. It is intended as an educational aid, not a replacement for classical Latin study.

Origin and scope: Latininy emerged in online language-learning circles in the early 2010s as an experimental project. It has no central authority and is maintained by volunteer contributors who publish grammar notes, dictionaries, and reading passages for learners.

Orthography and phonology: The writing system uses the standard Latin alphabet with minimal diacritics. Spelling is largely phonemic; c and g are always hard; qu represents /kw/. Vowel length is not indicated in writing. Stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable. Punctuation aligns with conventional Latin and modern practice.

Grammar: Nouns have no case endings; plural is marked with -s. Adjectives agree with noun in number. The basic sentence order is subject–verb–object, but word order is flexible. Verbs follow a simple present paradigm: amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant. Past and future are formed with prefixed particles ha- and va- respectively (ha-amo = I loved; va-amat = he will love).

Lexicon and derivation: The core vocabulary comes from Latin roots, with common loanwords from Romance languages and a productive system for creating new terms through compounding and affixation. Neologisms strive for transparency and ease of learning.

Usage and reception: Latininy is used in some classrooms and online courses as an introductory pathway to classical Latin, as well as a reading aid for simplified Latin texts. It remains a niche project and receives occasional critique for diverging from authentic Latin morphology.