Lingua Imperialis

Lingua Imperialis enjoys a reach unmatched by any other tongue on Exilum Novum. Its spread is not merely the result of conquest but the deliberate, methodical extension of imperial administration, commerce, and diplomacy. Though it began as the speech of a Rifted Roman province, eight centuries of structured governance have transformed it into the linguistic backbone of an inter‑civilisational empire.

The Imperial Heartlands

In Novaium and the surrounding provinces, High Imperial is taught universally in academies, legion schools, and civic institutions. Most citizens can understand it, even if many speak Low Imperial at home. Public proclamations, religious rites, and legal proceedings all use High Imperial without exception. is taught universally in academies, legion schools, and civic institutions. Most citizens can understand it, even if many speak Low Imperial at home. Public proclamations, religious rites, and legal proceedings all use High Imperial without exception.

Provincial Regions

Beyond the heartlands, proficiency varies:

• Elven Realms: Scholars and diplomats are fluent, but common use is limited; Elven language remains dominant in daily life.
• Dwarrow Holds: Engineering guilds use a hybrid technical register known as Imperialis Fabrilis. Everyday speech remains Dwarrow, but High Imperial is considered the language of treaties and contracts.
• Centaurs of the Steppes: Traders and emissaries speak a stripped-down Low Imperial; their own tongue dominates cultural life.
• Halfling Enclaves: Due to maritime trade, Halflings adopt Low Imperial widely, especially in ports and merchant courts.
• Brass Cities: High Imperial is spoken only by officials dealing with the Imperium; Brass glyphic languages dominate locally.

Frontier & Military Zones

Along the Warborn frontier, Jotun coasts, and other conflict-heavy regions, High Imperial functions as the command language of the legions. Soldiers from diverse cultures communicate through a simplified military register known as Imperialis Castrensis, ensuring orders remain unambiguous regardless of native tongue.

Diplomatic & Mercantile Influence

Beyond Imperial borders, High Imperial has become:

• the default diplomatic language for treaties and negotiations,
• the preferred mercantile language for long-distance trade,
• the legal lingua franca for inter‑faction contracts and arbitration.

Even nations openly hostile to the Imperium maintain scribes capable of reading and writing High Imperial to avoid disadvantage in treaty-making.

Cultural Resistance & Local Variants

Not all regions embrace the language uniformly:

• Most Orcish and Goblin clans know only enough Imperial to hurl abuse, though senior warband leaders often learn Low Imperial for parley and negotiation.
• Rural communities in remote provinces use hybrid dialects where Imperial structure blends with local grammar.
• Jotun raider bands know only enough Imperial to curse, threaten, or negotiate ransom.

Despite resistance, Imperial linguistic influence continues to expand through trade routes, missionary activity, legionary presence, and the sheer administrative weight of the empire.

Lingua Imperialis preserves the foundational phonemic skeleton of Nova Provincia Latin while displaying several centuries of natural drift, contact influence, and deliberate standardisation imposed by imperial scribes. Its soundscape is immediately recognisable as Latin-derived, yet spoken with a smoother cadence and a distinctly Exilum Novum texture.

Most scholars describe its auditory character as measured, clipped, and intentionally unambiguous, reflecting its bureaucratic function. Court orators cultivate a deep, resonant delivery, while legion officers favour a sharper, more commanding tone.

Notable developments include:

• Vowel elongation in stressed syllables to enhance clarity during public recitations or legal readings (e.g., imperium → impaêrium).
• Softened consonant clusters—a result of Elven tutelage in early Imperial academies—producing smoother transitions in rapid speech (e.g., ct → tš, gn → ny).
• Hardening of technical lexicon, particularly in Dwarrow-engineered terminology, which favours abrupt plosive clusters such as dr, gr, and kk.
• Absence of pitch accent, replaced by a consistent, stress-timed prosody that allows long legal sentences to be delivered without ambiguity.
• A subtle melodic rise at the end of interrogative forms, unique to the Imperial tongue.

IPA sample mapping (approx.): (approx.):

• /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ remain stable
• /tʃ/ for former ti before vowels
• /ny/ for gn
• /x/ appears in Jotun loanwords

The morphology of Lingua Imperialis represents the empire’s determination to retain the dignity of its ancestral Latin while shaping it into a more efficient and accessible tool for governance. The result is a streamlined system that balances clarity with ceremonial gravitas.

Nominal System

Centuries of multilingual administration led to the gradual erosion of Latin’s extensive case system. Lingua Imperialis now maintains three highly stable cases:

• Nominative – subject of the clause, used in headings and formal identifications.
• Genitive – possession, origin, and jurisdiction (critical for legal texts and territorial claims).
• Oblique – a unified form encompassing indirect objects, direct objects, and most prepositional functions.

This reduction was not born of linguistic decay but intentional reform. The early Senate, overwhelmed by divergent provincial dialects, mandated a simplified case structure in Decretum Linguae Imperialis (112 NE) to ensure uniform civil records.

Gender System

Lingua Imperialis retains the classical masculine, feminine, and neuter genders, but with far fewer irregularities. Many neuter nouns adopted masculine endings over time, especially in military and legal terminology where uniform declension accelerated comprehension.

Verb Morphology

Verb morphology experienced a similar rationalisation:

• Three primary conjugations, each with predictable endings.
• Strong preference for analytic constructions in official contexts (e.g., using va- future particle instead of inherited synthetic forms).
• Participles narrowed to ceremonial, literary, and military registers—rarely used in everyday communication.

Irregular verbs persist only in the most ancient and culturally significant lexemes—esse (to be), ire (to go), and dicere (to speak)—preserved deliberately to maintain the language’s historical prestige.

Derivational Morphology

Imperial officials frequently coin new terms by:

• Adding -arius / -aria for professions or departments (e.g., tributarius, “tax assessor”).
• Applying -orium / -orium for institutions (e.g., magistorium, “academy office”).
• Using -atus to denote ranks or offices (e.g., praefectatus).

This consistency allows new bureaucratic institutions to be integrated seamlessly into legal and administrative documents.

Loanword Adaptation

Loanwords undergo regularisation before being accepted into official High Imperial:

• Dwarrow terms receive Latinised declensions: drakkum → drakki, drakonis.
• Elven terms often shift to the feminine form, reflecting their melodic phonology: varé → varia.
• Brass Cities terms typically remain neuter but take Imperial endings.

Every century, the Collegium Scribarum publishes a Lexicon Novum, integrating newly sanctioned terminology.

Example

• Classical Latin: aurum draconis
• Lingua Imperialis: aurum drakonis (genitive preserved but adapted to Imperial phonology and declension norms)

Imperial syntax reflects the administrative heart of the Imperium Novum: it is deliberate, disciplined, and engineered for clarity across a multilingual empire. While its Latin ancestry is evident, the language has shifted decisively toward a stable, predictable structure to facilitate legal, military, and interprovincial communication.

Core Sentence Order

The default word order is Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), mirroring the spoken habits of centuries of soldiers, scribes, and merchants. While poetic or ritualistic speech may vary, official documentation and education heavily reinforce SVO.

Example:

• Praetor legem recitat. — “The praetor recites the law.”

Clause Structure

High Imperial favours clear logical flow:

• Causal clauses use quia (because) or quoniam (since).
• Purpose clauses use ut (so that) or, in higher registers, quo fiant.
• Contrast clauses prefer sed (but), with tamen (however) as a formal marker.

Dependent clauses usually follow the main clause, avoiding ambiguity.

Interrogatives

Imperial questions rely on:

• rising intonation
• interrogative particles such as ne (general inquiry) and quid, cur, ubi (what, why, where)
• SVO order largely preserved to avoid confusion in cross-cultural settings

Example:

• Tu mandatum accepisti, ne? — “You received the order, yes?”

Imperative & Command Syntax

Due to the empire’s militaristic backbone, the imperative form is concise and forceful:

• Single-word imperatives are common: Sta!, Audi!, Move!
• Legion officers frequently employ double imperatives for emphasis: Sta—firmum tene! (“Stand—hold steady!”)
• Ritual commands use expanded, ceremonial phrasing: Per mandatum Imperii, procedite!

Formal Bureaucratic Syntax

Legal and administrative documents rely on formulaic constructions:

• Secundum legem… — “According to the law…”
• Sub iuris dictione… — “Under the jurisdiction of…”
• His rebus inspectis… — “Having examined these matters…”

Verb-final subordinate clauses appear in older senatorial writings, preserved for gravitas.

Oratorical Syntax (Senate & Forum)

Public speaking retains a more classical rhythm:

• balanced parallel clauses
• strategic repetition for emphasis
• vocatives used extensively (e.g., Patres Conscripti, “Conscript Fathers”)
• rhetorical triads remain popular

Example of a triad: "Senatus audit, iudicat, et imperat."
“The Senate hears, judges, and commands.”

Arcane Treatise Syntax

The Collegium Arcanum, while not tying spellcasting to the language, developed its own academic flavour:

• heavy use of passive constructions to imply objectivity
• subordinate chains describing rift phenomena
• occasional embedding of Arcanum Glyphic placeholders within text

Example: “Fluxus riftalis observatur, ut sigillum stabilis maneret.”
“The rift-flux is observed so that the sigil may remain stable.”

Low Imperial Influence

Everyday speech shows:

• reduced subordinate clauses
• preference for parataxis (“simple sentence chaining”)
• loss of formal particles

High Imperial remains the prestige form, but many senatorial orators adopt occasional Low Imperial phrasing for populist effect.

The vocabulary of Lingua Imperialis reflects eight centuries of imperial expansion, cultural integration, and administrative need. While its Latin core remains unmistakable, the lexicon has grown into a multifaceted tapestry shaped by diplomacy, warfare, magic, engineering, and trade. The empire’s scholars take great pride in the fact that no concept within the Imperium lacks a sanctioned Imperial term—a testament to the language’s adaptability and bureaucratic zeal.

Administrative & Legal Vocabulary

These are the backbone of Imperial governance, known collectively as Verba Magistralia:

• lex – law
• statutum – statute, decree
• praefectus – prefect, administrator
• magistorium – state office/department (derivative)
• civitas – citizenry, municipality
• tributarius – tax assessor
• actum publicum – official record
• sigillum imperiale – imperial seal
• iurisdictio – jurisdiction
• mandatum – mandate, order

This register aims for extreme precision; ambiguity is considered a civic failing.

Military & Legionary Vocabulary

Grouped under Verba Militaris, many of these terms preserve older, more conservative forms:

• legio – legion
• centuria – century (unit)
• contubernium – squad/tent group
• gladius – sword
• scutum – shield
• signifer – standard bearer
• drakkum – heavy dwarven-made siege hammer (loan)
• vallum – fortification line
• ordinis vocatio – call to formation
• clamor ultimae – final charge

Military vocabulary tends to resist linguistic drift, preserved intentionally by tradition-bound legates.

Arcane & Scholarly Vocabulary

Known as Verba Arcanii, this register expanded dramatically after contact with Elves, Brass Cities, and the Collegium Arcanum’s founding:

• aetherium – raw rift energy
• riftalis – pertaining to the Rift
• sigillum arcanum – glyph-binding, arcane seal
• lunara – moon-magic, Elven loan
• qarim – eastern mystic flow, Brass Cities loan
• varé – elven spiritual essence
• tractatus arcanii – arcane treatise
• vis flammae riftalis – riftflame power
• ordo glypharum – order of glyphs

Though magic does not require High Imperial, High Imperial remains the scholarly language for its study.

Engineering, Craft, & Dwarrow-Influenced Vocabulary

Collected as Verba Fabrilis:

• forgel – dwarven forge-loom (loan)
• runesteel – metal inscribed with runic stabilisers
• machina – machine, device
• structum – structural support
• canalis – conduit, channel
• drakkul-forgel – deep-forge engine (compound)

This semantic field grows faster than any other, driven by dwarven collaboration.

Nautical & Halfling Trade Vocabulary

Part of Verba Mercatoria:

• skudder – small halfling skiff (loan)
• marrin – ocean trader, merchant ship (loan)
• portus maior – major harbour
• linea ventorum – wind-line/current
• tessera mercatoria – trade token, merchant credential

Halfling nautical terms are so widespread that most Imperials assume they are native.

Religious & Ritual Vocabulary

Verba Sacrae retain strong Latin ancestry:

• templum – temple
• sacrarium – holy chamber
• numina riftalia – Rift-born spirits
• ordo sacerdotalis – priestly order
• votum aeternum – eternal vow
• ritus solarii – rites of the Solarian dynasty

Everyday Vocabulary & Colloquialisms

Low Imperial contributes numerous colloquialisms adopted informally by High Imperial users:

• frons dura – “hard face,” a stubborn person
• oculus vagus – “wandering eye,” suspicious fellow
• ventus tergi – literally “wind of the backside,” rough equivalent of “nonsense”
• bonum diem habe – have a good day
• quid novi? – what’s new?

Notable Compound Constructions

Lingua Imperialis favours precise compounding:

• legis-custodia – law-keeping authority
• tempus-riftalis – rift-cycle chronology
• aqua-canalium – waterworks
• scriptor-civicus – civic scribe

Terms With Evolved Meanings

Some Classical Latin terms shifted significantly:

• imperium now refers specifically to the state and its authority, not general command.
• senatus carries connotations of arcane oversight due to its long partnership with the Collegium.
• hostis originally “enemy,” now legally defined as any party outside Imperial jurisdiction who refuses diplomatic recognitio.

Words of Political Sensitivity

These terms carry weight in law or diplomacy:

• deditio – surrender with conditions
• status externus – unincorporated foreign power
• foedus ruptum – shattered treaty
• provincia dubia – contested province

Together, these vocabularies illustrate how Lingua Imperialis acts as a living chronicle of the empire’s ambitions, anxieties, and achievements.

The phonetic character of Lingua Imperialis is the product of centuries of controlled evolution, scholarly intervention, and cultural influence. While its Latin roots remain clearly visible, the modern Imperial soundscape is more fluid, more melodic, and engineered to maximise clarity across a diverse multilingual empire.

High Imperial orators describe its phonetics as "lucidus et gravis"—clear and weighty—reflecting both linguistic precision and the rhetorical dignity expected of imperial speech.

Consonants

Imperial consonants preserve most Classical Latin stops and fricatives, but exhibit several shifts shaped by Elven, Dwarrow, and Jotun contact.

Full Consonant Inventory: /p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, s, z, h, tʃ, m, n, ɲ (ny), l, r, x/

Notable features:

• /tʃ/ arose from the ti + vowel shift (e.g., nationem → natchionem).
• /ɲ/ (ny) replaces gn, a change encouraged by Elven academicians during the early linguistic reforms.
• /x/ enters the language exclusively through Jotun naval and martial loanwords.
• /h/ is lightly aspirated in High Imperial but often silent in Low Imperial.
• /r/ retains a moderately trilled form in formal oration, softened in common speech.

Vowels

The vowel system is broad and stable, with explicit distinctions maintained to prevent ambiguity in legal or ceremonial readings.

Vowel Inventory: /a, e, i, o, u, æ/

Key developments:

• Æ is a merged vowel representing historic diphthongs and certain Elven-influenced loans.
• Long vowels are marked in formal manuscripts: á, é, í, ó, ú, ǽ.
• Vowel reduction is minimal; High Imperial resists slurring.

Diphthongs

Imperial diphthongs reflect a mixture of Latin inheritance and later contact:

• /ae/ – classical Latin diphthong, still pronounced distinctly.
• /au/ – stable, used frequently in military and trade terms.
• /ei/ – developed as an Elven-influenced form.

Diphthongs are pronounced cleanly, with both elements articulated—especially in ritual or legal contexts.

Stress & Prosody

Stress placement follows a predictable, standardised pattern:

• Penultimate stress in most multisyllabic words.
• Antepenultimate stress in older Classical terms retained for ceremonial effect.

Prosody is stress-timed, producing measured cadence ideal for public proclamation.

Imperial interrogatives feature a gentle rising contour unique to the language, signalling inquiry regardless of word order.

Assimilation Patterns

To maintain clarity, Lingua Imperialis limits heavy assimilation except in rapid Low Imperial speech.

Standard patterns include:

• n + k/g → /ŋ/ before velars (e.g., incognitus → /iŋkɔɲitus/)
• t + r → softened /tɾ/ rather than /ʧɾ/ (a deliberate divergence from Elven influence)
• s + voicing remains voiceless in High Imperial to preserve enunciation.

Formal vs. Low Phonetics

• High Imperial: crisp consonants, full vowels, deliberate stress.
• Low Imperial: softened consonants, occasional vowel reduction, cluster simplification.

Example comparison:

• High: praetorium → /pɾaeˈtɔːɾi.um/
• Low: pretorum → /ˈpɾe.tɔɾ.um/

Together, the phonetics of Lingua Imperialis articulate its identity: disciplined, authoritative, but enriched by the tongues of every civilisation the Imperium has encountered.

The tense system of Lingua Imperialis reflects its transformation from Classical Latin into a more analytic and administratively precise language. While the empire preserved the fundamental tripartite tense structure, centuries of bureaucratic refinement and cross-cultural influence have reshaped the way time is expressed. High Imperial tenses are deliberately unambiguous, designed for clarity in legal and military contexts, while Low Imperial retains more fluid, conversational habits.

Present Tense (Praesens)

Used for actions occurring now, habitual behaviour, general truths, and formal declarations.

• Ego dico. — "I speak / I am speaking."
• Lex manet. — "The law remains."
• Senatus convenit. — "The Senate is in session."

The present tense is the most stable descendant of Classical Latin, undergoing minimal drift.

Past Tense (Perfectum)

The Imperium maintains a simplified perfect past tense that marks completed actions without the classical complexity of perfect vs. imperfect.

• Ego dixi. — "I spoke."
• Praefectus legem tulit. — "The prefect carried the law." (i.e., enforced it)
• Legio movit. — "The legion advanced."

In historical and ceremonial texts, a narrative perfect is sometimes employed, using archaic endings preserved for gravitas.

Future Tense (Futurum)

The future tense underwent the most significant reform in Lingua Imperialis.

Instead of inherited synthetic endings, the empire adopted an analytic future particle: va-. This innovation—introduced by the Decretum Praescii Temporis (279 NE)—was intended to:

• ease communication between multilingual populations
• standardise future constructions across dialects
• reduce ambiguity in military orders and legal drafts

Examples:

• va-dico — "I shall speak."
• va-movere legiones — "The legions shall move."
• Ritus va-inceptus est. — "The rite shall be begun."

The particle attaches directly to the verb stem in High Imperial, while Low Imperial often inserts a vowel (vae-, va-ə-).

Aspect (High Imperial Secondary Distinctions)

Although Lingua Imperialis abandoned many classical aspectual nuances, High Imperial retains subtle aspectual markers used primarily in:

• legal drafting,
• arcane treatises,
• and formal rhetoric.

4a. Inceptive Aspect — indicating the beginning of an action

• Formed with coepi + infinitive
• coepi dicere — "I began to speak."

4b. Durative Aspect — ongoing or continuous action

• Formed with in + gerundive construction
• in dicendo — "in the act of speaking / while speaking."

4c. Completive Aspect — emphasising full completion

• Often expressed with plene
• plene factum est — "it has been fully done."

Mood (Modality)

Lingua Imperialis preserves three functional moods:

Indicative — factual statements, reports, decrees
Subjunctive — conditions, doubts, hopes, ritual utterances
Imperative — commands (see Syntax)

Examples:

• Indicative: Senatus decernit. — "The Senate decrees."
• Subjunctive: Ut civitas floreat… — "So that the state may flourish…"
• Imperative: Audi! — "Hear!"

Passive Constructions

Passive voice remains crucial in administrative and scholarly registers:

• Lex scribitur. — "The law is written."
• Sigillum frangitur. — "The seal is broken."
• Nomina recitantur. — "The names are recited."

Some arcane treatises favour double-passive chains to emphasise objectivity.

Future-Perfect & Conditional Forms (High Imperial Only)

Rare but preserved for formal clarity:

• va-factum erit — "It shall have been done."
• si va-venias — "if you should come / if you are to come"

These forms primarily appear in:

• legal codices
• military strategies
• long-term senatorial projections

Low Imperial Variants

Low Imperial simplifies the system almost universally:

• Perfect becomes a general past
• Subjunctive collapses into indicative except in ritual phrases
• Future often expressed with va- + optional pronoun for emphasis
• va tu venis — "you’ll come" (conversational)

Low variants rarely appear in official writing but colour everyday Imperial speech.

Imperial sentence structure reflects the state’s deep obsession with precision, hierarchy, and clarity. Over the centuries, High Imperial evolved into a highly regulated syntactic system where ambiguity is treated as an administrative sin and rhetorical flow is engineered to guide the listener’s understanding.

Core Structural Principles

Lingua Imperialis favours:

• One main verb per clause to avoid interpretative drift.
• Explicit connectors rather than contextual implication.
• Left-anchored subjects, ensuring immediate identification of the agent.
• Right-heavy clauses where secondary information follows the core statement.

This produces a formal cadence resembling measured legal argument or military briefing.

Official Declarative Structure

Imperial documents follow a strict declarative rhythm:

1. Authority (Per mandatum Imperii…)
2. Action (senatus decernit…)
3. Scope or object (legem novam civitati datum…)
4. Conditions (secundum legem praecedentem…)
5. Purpose or intent (ut pax conservetur…)

This five-part structure appears in nearly all legal proclamations and is taught to scribes across the empire.

Use of Infinitives

Infinitives are employed extensively for clarity:

• to define duties (mandatum exsequi — to carry out the mandate)
• to avoid personal attribution in sensitive matters (iudicari — to be judged)
• to articulate long sequences of action without shifting finite verbs

The empire’s preference for the infinite form reflects its bureaucratic instinct toward impersonal authority.

Coordination & Lists

Imperial lists are always explicit, never implied:

• et joins items
• vel marks alternatives
• nec marks negative conjunctions

In formal contexts, each item in a list is treated as its own syntactic unit:

• Lex valebit in urbe, in agro, et in portu.

For maximum clarity, no list may contain more than three items unless separated into a secondary clause.

Subordination & Hierarchy of Clauses

High Imperial maintains a rigid hierarchy of clauses:

1. Primary clause — the authoritative action
2. Purpose clause — ut, quo fiant
3. Causal clause — quia, quoniam
4. Temporal clause — cum, postquam

Purpose must always precede cause, and temporal markers follow last, reinforcing the logic: intent → reason → timing.

Legal & Arcane Chain Clauses

Both legal codices and arcane treatises use chain clauses when precision outweighs elegance:

• Decretum valebit ut ordo servetur quia leges veteres renovatae sunt cum potestate senatus confirmata sit.

While this structure can appear labyrinthine, it is designed to prevent misinterpretation by clearly locking each clause into its logical function.

Rhetorical Sentence Structure

In public speaking, sentence structure becomes more fluid, though still disciplined:

• Anaphora (repeated openings): Senatus audit, senatus iudicat, senatus imperat.
• Climactic sequencing: placing the strongest element last.
• Balanced bicolon or tricolon:
• "Ut audiamus, ut intellegamus, ut agamus." — “So that we may hear, understand, and act.”

Senatorial orators are trained to balance clarity with gravitas.

Low Imperial Sentence Structure

Low Imperial often discards formal structure in favour of speed:

• parataxis replaces subordination ("I went, I saw, I left")
• particles like quia or ut may be dropped entirely
• verbs are shortened or elided

Example:

• High Imperial: Ego va-veniam ut te videam postquam labor finitus est.
• Low Imperial: Va venio te videre post finem laboris.

Common Structural Errors (From a High Imperial Perspective)

Scribes-in-training frequently commit:

• misordered clause hierarchy (placing cause before purpose)
• implied rather than explicit subjects
• double finite verbs in a single clause
• omission of required connectors

Such errors are corrected harshly in the academies of Nova Roma.

Ideal Imperial Sentence

A model sentence, used in scribe examinations, demonstrates order, clarity, and authority:

Per mandatum Imperii, praetor legem novam civitati dat ut ordo restituatur quia tumultus recens causas multas patefecit.

"By command of the Empire, the praetor grants the new law to the citizenry so that order may be restored, because the recent unrest exposed many causes."

This sentence illustrates the entire hierarchy of clauses and the disciplined rhythm prized in High Imperial.

In High Imperial, adjective placement is a carefully regulated feature of the language, especially in legal, administrative, and ceremonial contexts. The Imperium’s scribal academies teach a strict hierarchical order to ensure clarity, prevent ambiguity, and maintain a uniform bureaucratic style. While poetry and Low Imperial speech may deviate for emphasis or rhythm, official documents never do.

Standard Adjective Sequence

The formal order in High Imperial writing follows four tiers:

1. Quantity – numerical or general amount descriptors.
2. Quality – inherent or descriptive attributes.
3. Purpose / Domain – functional or categorical classification, often arcane or bureaucratic.
4. Noun – the object itself.

Example:

• tres magni arcani sigilli — “three great arcane seals.”

Rationale Behind the Order

This structure arises from the High Imperial principle that nouns should be approached from widest scope to narrowest:

• How many? → What is it like? → What is it for? → What is it?

This progression mirrors the empire’s legal and administrative philosophy, where broad classifications narrow logically into specific mandates.

Adjective Order in Arcane Contexts

Arcane scholars sometimes insert a fifth conceptual tier:

• Essence – mystical or metaphysical properties, e.g., riftalis, aetherium, lunaris.

Example:

• duo tenues aetherii circuli — “two delicate rings of aether.”

These remain optional in everyday High Imperial but are standard within the Collegium Arcanum.

Adjective Order in Military Registers

Legionary manuals prioritise tactical relevance:

1. Quantity
2. Operational quality (e.g., celer, fortis)
3. Unit type or battlefield function
4. Noun

Example:

• quinque graves auxiliares cohortes — “five heavy auxiliary cohorts.”

Exceptions & Inversions

While rigid in bureaucratic writing, two main exceptions exist:

1. Ceremonial Inversion
Used in imperial oaths, priestly rites, or funerary inscriptions.

• Quality → Essence → Quantity → Noun

Example:

• magnae solariae tres coronae — “the three great Solarian crowns.”

The inversion emphasises sacred qualities over numerical clarity.

2. Poetic Inversion
Public orators and poets may shift quality and purpose for dramatic effect.

Example:

• arcani magni sigilli — placing the arcane nature before the descriptive quality.

Low Imperial Variation

Low Imperial largely collapses the system:

• Quantity usually leads.
• Quality and purpose merge freely.
• Purpose terms may precede quality if more familiar.

Examples:

• High Imperial: tres magni arcani sigilli
• Low Imperial: tres sigilli magni arcani or even tres arcani magni sigilli

These variants are common in daily speech but are considered stylistic errors in formal documentation.

Mnemonic Taught to Scribes

“Primum numerus, deinde natura, tum officium, postremo nomen.”
“First the number, then the nature, then the duty, and finally the name.”

This phrase is recited at the Scribarum Collegium as part of early scribe training.

Lingua Imperialis relies on a sophisticated system of structural markers, ritualised phrases, and formal openings that anchor the meaning and authority of official communication. These markers act as signposts, guiding the reader or listener through the hierarchy of a statement, clarifying legal conditions, and reinforcing the speaker’s legitimacy. Because High Imperial is used across an empire of many cultures, these structures serve as universal cues of intent, tone, and context.

Markers of Authority

Structural markers that establish the speaker’s or institution’s power:

• Per mandatum Imperii… — “By command of the Empire…”
• Sub auctoritate Imperatoris… — “Under the authority of the Emperor…”
• Ex decreto Senatus… — “By decree of the Senate…”
• Mandato Praetoris… — “By order of the Praetor…”

Used at the beginning of proclamations, military orders, and high-level administrative correspondence.

Legal Markers

These phrases clarify the legal standing, scope, or reasoning of a statement:

• Secundum legem… — “According to the law…”
• In iuris dictione… — “Within the jurisdiction…”
• His rebus inspectis… — “Having examined these matters…”
• Contrarie legis… — “In opposition to the law…”
• Lege praevia… — “By precedent law…”

Essential for court rulings, codex passages, land-rights documents, and diplomatic treaties.

Administrative & Bureaucratic Markers

Used by scribes, city officials, tax assessors, and civic functionaries:

• Actum est in tabula civica… — “It is recorded in the civic ledger…”
• Ex officio… — “By virtue of office…”
• Ad notitiam publicam… — “For public notice…”
• Pro ratione administrandi… — “For the purpose of administration…”
• Exemplum infra scriptum… — “As written in the following example…”

These ensure clarity in documentation and establish the scope of responsibility.

Diplomatic & Intercultural Markers

Used to reduce ambiguity in negotiations with non-Imperial polities:

• In fide Imperii… — “In the trust of the Empire…”
• Foedere sancito… — “With treaty established…”
• Hoste agnito… — “With the enemy acknowledged…”
• Status externus confirmatus… — “External status affirmed…”

These markers often appear in multilingual treaty tablets and trade agreements.

Military & Strategic Markers

Clear structural markers are essential for legion coherence on the battlefield:

• Ordinis causa… — “For the purpose of formation/order…”
• Sub signo dato… — “Upon the given signal…”
• Impensis legionis… — “At the charge of the legion…”
• In castris constitutis… — “With the camp established…”

Often paired with imperative structures in dispatches and command scrolls.

Arcane & Scholarly Markers

The Collegium Arcanum employs formulaic markers to frame analysis and ritual context:

• Licentia Arcanii concessa… — “With the permission of the Arcanii…”
• Pro causa riftali… — “For the purpose of rift-study…”
• In fluxu observato… — “Upon observing the flux…”
• Arcanum sigillo notatum… — “Marked by arcane seal…”

These appear in research codices, spell-stability records, and glyph-binding protocols.

Religious & Ceremonial Markers

Used in priestly rites, proclamations tied to divine sanction, and festivals of the Solarian dynasty:

• In nomine Deorum Riftalium… — “In the name of the Rift-Born Gods…”
• Ritu solario servato… — “With the Solarian rite observed…”
• Sub auspiciis Imperatoris Solarii… — “Under the auspices of the Solarian Emperor…”
• Sacrario testante… — “With the sanctuary as witness…”

These markers carry heavy spiritual and political weight.

Markers of Conditionality & Limitation

Used to specify restrictions, contingencies, or requirements:

• Si ita placet… — “If it so pleases…” (formal courtesy)
• Conditione imposita… — “With condition imposed…”
• Modo observando… — “Provided the manner is observed…”
• Nisi aliter statutum est… — “Unless otherwise decreed…”

Common in law, trade agreements, and property contracts.

Markers of Finality & Enforcement

Used to close declarations, enforce authority, or affirm the irrevocable nature of a decision:

• Hoc decretum valebit… — “This decree shall stand…”
• Ita scriptum est… — “Thus it is written…”
• Legibus custoditis… — “With the laws upheld…”
• Imperium loquitur. — “The Empire has spoken.”

Pedagogical Markers (Used in Scribe Training)

Academies teach students to structure their work with clarity:

• Initium ponamus… — “Let us establish the beginning…”
• Ad sententiam perveniamus… — “Let us reach the conclusion…”
• Ratio sequitur… — “Reason follows…”
• Per partes exponamus… — “Let us set out (the matter) in parts…”

These markers appear in instructional texts, rhetorical manuals, and examinations.