Arcaicam Esperantom ("Archaic Esperanto") is a constructed language created to act as a fictional 'Old Esperanto', in the vein of languages such as Old English or the use of Latin citations in modern texts. It was created by Manuel Halvelik as part of a range of stylistic variants including Gavaro (a slang), Popido (a patois) and a scientific vocabulary closer to Greco-Latin roots.
The idea of an "old Esperanto" was proposed by the Hungarian poet Kalman Kalocsay who in 1931 included a translation of the Funeral Sermon and Prayer, the first Hungarian text (12th century), with hypothetic forms as if Esperanto were a Romance language deriving from Vulgar Latin.
c becomes tz
ĉ becomes ch
f becomes ph
ĝ becomes gh
ĥ becomes qh
j becomes y
ĵ becomes j
k becomes qu (before e, i) or c (before other letters)
ŝ becomes sh
ŭ becomes ù (but see below regarding -aŭ adverbs)
v becomes w
diphthongs:
aŭ becomes
aù (but see below regarding
-aŭ adverbs)
eŭ becomes
eù
consonant clusters:
dz becomes
zz
ks becomes
x
kv becomes
cù
mi becomes mihi
vi becomes tu (singular) or wos (plural)
li becomes lùi
ŝi becomes eshi
ĝi becomes eghi
si becomes sihi
ni becomes nos
ili becomes ilùi
There is a new pronoun egui which is a personal, sex-neutral pronoun. Its intended use is for referring to deities, angels, etc.
The infinitive ends in -ir, rather than in the -i of modern Esperanto. Ex.: fari becomes pharir.
The verb endings change according to the subject. So it is not necessary to write the subject pronoun, where there is no ambiguity.
Ex: The modern Esperanto verb esti (to be), present tense:
mi/vi/li/ŝi/ĝi/ni/ili estas
The Arcaicam Esperantom verb estir (to be), present tense:
(mihi) estams
(tu) estas
(lùi/eshi/eghi/egui/sihi) estat
(nos) estaims
(wos) estais
(ilùi) estait
The other verb tenses behave the same way, as does the conditional mood:
The future-tense conjugation estos becomes estoms, etc.
The past-tense conjugation estis becomes estims, etc.
The conditional-mood conjugation estus becomes estums, etc.
The imperative mood behaves differently from that pattern:
The imperative form estu stays estu for singular subjects, but becomes estuy for plural subjects.
-o becomes om (sg. noun, nominative)
-oj becomes oy (pl. noun, nominative)
-on stays -on (sg. noun, accusative)
-ojn becomes -oyn (pl. noun, accusative)
al x-o, kun x-o becomes x-od (sg. noun, dative – ex.: al domo becomes domod)
al x-oj, kun x-oj becomes x-oyd (pl. noun, dative – ex.: al domoj becomes domoyd)
de x-o becomes x-es (sg. noun, genitive – ex.: de domo becomes domes)
de x-oj becomes x-eys (pl. noun, genitive – ex.: de domoj becomes domeys)
-e becomes -œ (adverb) (This is a new phoneme, not present in modern Esperanto. It is pronounced like the German ö.)
-aŭ becomes -ez (-aŭ-adverb such as baldaŭ, etc.)
-a becomes -am (sg. adjective, nominative)
-aj becomes -ay (pl. adjective, nominative)
A noun is always written with a capital letter. Ex: Glawom = (la) glavo.
The verb infinitive can function as a noun, having the meaning that is carried in modern Esperanto by the root with the suffix -ado. The infinitive functioning as a noun takes, as does any other noun, both a capital letter and a case ending. Ex: Legirom = (la) legado.
ki- becomes cuy-
ti- becomes ity-
i- becomes hey-
neni- becomes nemy-
ĉi- becomes chey-
ali- becomes altri-
(Note: Ali-, which in modern Esperanto is not actually a correlative despite its use in that fashion by some, becomes in Arkaika Esperanto as altri- a full-fledged correlative.)
-o becomes -om
-a becomes -am
-am becomes -ahem
-e becomes -œ
-om becomes -ohem
(-u stays -u)
(-el stays -el)
the particle ĉi becomes is- (ĉi tiu = isityu)
Articles
The definite article la does not exist in Arcaicam Esperantom. If necessary, a specific person or object can be indicated by means of ityu (in modern Esperanto tiu).
The indefinite article, which modern Esperanto does not have, does exist in Arcaicam Esperantom. The indefinite article is unu (which is the same word for the number 1).
Sed haltu: cuyam Lumom ityun Phenestron
Traradiat? Yemen orientom,
Ed Yulieta memes Sunom estat!
Lewizzu, belam Sunom, ed mortigu
Enwian Lunon, cuyu tristœ palat,
Char tu, Serwantom eshiam, yamen
Plid belam ol eshi memes estas. Ned estu plud
Eshiam Serwantom, se eshi tuin enwiat:
Eshiam westalam Robom werdam
Ed malsanetzam estat, ed solœ Pholuloy
Wolontœ eghin portait. Eghin phorjetu.
Yemen Damom miham; ho, yemen Amom miham!
Se solœ ityon eshi stziut!
Salutoyn cheyuyd! Cuyel phartais wos? – Hello everyone, how are you?
Lùi ex Biawistocom wenat. – He comes from Białystok.
Cuyel nomizzas? – What is your name?
Nomizzams Petrus – My name is Peter.
Ityon comprenams bonœ. – I understand that well.
Tempom phughat. – Ovid
Amom cheyon wencat. – Virgil
Ityel pasat mondes Glorom. – Thomas à Kempis
Ritmom estat in Tempom cuyom estat Simetrom in Spatzom. – Cicero
Wenims, widims, wenquims. – Julius Caesar
