The Eastern Lombard Grammar reflects the main features of Romance languages: the word order of Eastern Lombard is usually SVO, nouns are inflected in number, adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns, verbs are conjugated in tenses, aspects and moods and agree with the subject in number and person. The case system is present only for the weak form of the pronoun.
Eastern Lombard has always been a spoken language and, in spite of sporadic attempts to fix the main features in a written grammar, a unique canonical variety has never prevailed over the others. The present day situation sees a large number of varieties, roughly identifiable by the area where a particular variety is spoken (so, you may encounter a Bergamasque, Brescian, a Camunic variety, etc.). Varieties differ mainly in phonology, syntax and word choice.
This grammar is based on the Brescian variety and, although local differences (even remarkable) can be found, the basic principles are generally valid for the other varieties.
Read more about Eastern Lombard Grammar: Nouns, Article, Pronouns, Phrasal Verbs, Auxiliary Verbs, Negation, Bibliography
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“Grammar is a tricky, inconsistent thing. Being the backbone of speech and writing, it should, we think, be eminently logical, make perfect sense, like the human skeleton. But, of course, the skeleton is arbitrary, too. Why twelve pairs of ribs rather than eleven or thirteen? Why thirty-two teeth? It has something to do with evolution and functionalism—but only sometimes, not always. So there are aspects of grammar that make good, logical sense, and others that do not.”
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