Rarut asTaniq

Proto-Taneg is intended to be an exercise in what one could call the "Tolkien" method of conlanging; that is to say, to begin with a proto-language and apply a series of regular sound changes in order to produce a developed language with a specific sound. Proto-Taneg, then, is to be the precursor of several daughter languages. A more apt name for the language might be "ti-Taniq" or some other derivative of the root TANIQ (whence "Taneg") as I have still not settled on exactly what sound changes may apply.

Consonants
The language's consonants included some typologically uncommon ones, such as the voiced uvular plosive /ɢ/ and nasalised approximants. Most of these would later develop into more common sounds, often with differing outcomes depending on the position. It should be noted that the "flap" series is an inaccurate term; in truth, the only flap present is the alveolar /ɾ/, the other consonants of the series being pronounced as weak approximants, with a flapped realisation only occurring intervocalically (and only ever for the bilabial series). It is hypothesised that the alveolar flap developed itself from an approximant, most likely */ð/.

Vowels
Only the vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/ existed as phonemes in this language. However, [e] and [o] existed as allophones of /i/ and /u/, respectively, when adjacent to uvular consonants. There were no length distinctions in vowel sounds; a sequence of two identical vowels was always pronounced as two separate syllables. However, stressed vowels might be pronounced with some (non-contrasting) length; hence a word such as "taniq", meaning "speaks", would have pronounced as [ˈtaˑneq].ˈ

Phonotactics
The vast majority of roots appeared solely in the form CVCVC, with no restraints as to which consonants and vowels could appear. Consonant clusters were not permitted within roots, but could arise from affixation of grammatical or derivational markers, as well as in compound words. This meant that a maximum of two consonants could occur adjacent to one another. Pronominal and particle roots tended to be shorter, taking the form (C)V(C).

Stress is dynamic and predictable, with the first syllable of the first disyllabic root taking primary stress, and any following roots taking secondary stress on their first syllable. Thus the word "rarut", meaning "tongue" would be pronounced /ˈɾaɾut/, while the compound "rarutpuqim", meaning literally "tongue-skill" (i.e. poetry) would be pronounced /ˈɾaɾutˌpuqim/, and it's inflected form "añrarutpuqim" ("for poetry") would be pronounced /aŋˈɾaɾutˌpuqim/ (with no stress on the initial syllable as the prefixed root is not disyllabic).

Example text
Kiŋamad (as) taniq.

Translation: I-being (who) sentient = I am a sentient being, I am Taniq, I am human