Classical Wisconsin

Classical Wisconsin (natively: Mascodudûstiquamovem MASCAVA("solid")+DUDUS("milk")+TIQUAM("head")+MOVEM("speech")3sg, of obscure meaning was the classical speech of the Wisconsin Empire, which at its greatest extent in the first century CE extended through most of the northern shores of the Great Lakes through Quebec and into New England.

Classification and Dialects
Classical Wisconsin is an Algonquian trade language. The bulk of the lexicon is Ojibwe, but the language draws on Cree, Natick, and other Algonquian languages of the northeastern Americas.

Vowels
There are two diphthongs, /ai/, written ae, and /aʊ/. written au.

Historical phonology
The phonology of Classical Wisconsin is fairly simple and sonorous. It generally continues to map well into the source Algonquian languages. But there have been a number of significant changes.

Consonants'
A chain shift has altered the realization of a number of fricative sounds inherited by the language. Originally, voiced sounds were distinguished from voiceless sounds by strong aspiration and pre-aspiration in addition to voicing. Some of the voiceless aspirated sounds become consonant clusters in Classical Wisconsin.


 * 1) ʃ > s
 * 2) ʰs > st*
 * 3) ʧ > ts*
 * 4) ʒ > r
 * 5) ʤ > tr*

* The outcome of these changes can be altered by rules that require distance between consonant clusters.

Other sound changes include:


 * 1) Between vowels, b > f
 * 2) Word-final -n > -m; -in > -em; -on > -um

Classical Wisconsin often preserves proto-Central Algonquian *l where Ojibwe has n. Classical Wisconsin also frequently shows voiceless stops where Ojibwe has voiced stops.

Consonant clusters
The following combinations are the permitted consonant clusters in Classical Wisconsin. When the cluster appears different in writing, this is noted in parentheses:
 * bl, br, cl, cn, cr, cs (x), ct, cv (qu), dr, dv, fv, gl, gn, gr, gs, gv (gu), lc, ld, lf, lm, ls, lt, lv. mb, mp, mv, nc, nd, ns, nt, nv, pl, pr, ps, pt, pv, rb, rc, rd, rg, rm, rn, rp, rs, rt, rv, sb, sc, scl, scr, scv (squ) sl, sm, sn, sp, st, str, sv, tc, tl, tr, ts.

Clusters that are otherwise not allowed are simplified; the non-plosive element is often dropped, or the entire cluster is devoiced. Generally, only one consonant cluster can appear in a syllable; a syllable is not permitted to both start and end with an otherwise permitted cluster. Groups with the semivowel v are an exception to this rule.

Word finals
Consonants appearing word finally are routinely devoiced unless protected by a nasal. The following consonants and clusters can appear word-finally:


 * c, f, h, l, m, p, r, s, t, nd, ns, nt, st. Only invariant words may end in -n,

The groups -im and -om change to -em and -um. -Om may appear in the group -vom.

Prosodic features
The stressed syllables of Classical Wisconsin are quite regular and follow metrical principles. Generally speaking, stressed and unstressed syllables alternate, giving each word either an iambic (common) or trochaic (rare) rhythm. For example, the native name of the language follows this pattern:

Basic grammatical categories
Classical Wisconsin words inflect in a number of grammatical categories. Both nouns and verbs inflect for gender, number, and person.

Gender
Classical Wisconsin has two genders: animate and inanimate. Genders are semantic and largely natural rather than grammatical. Some nouns may switch genders or be ambiguous as to gender. Often, there is a change in meaning. For example, mitiqua can be either animate or inanimate. The animate version means "tree" and has the plural mitiquac; the inanimate version means "wood, timber, lumber" and has the plural mitiqual.
 * People, animals, large trees, rivers, astronomical features like the sun and moon, vehicles, and just about anything that moves on its own initiative or power are animate.
 * All other words are inanimate.

Number
All Classical Wisconsin nouns are obligately marked for singular or plural.

Person
Person is a more expansive category in Classical Wisconsin than it is in Indo-European languages.

The first person plural contains exclusive and inclusive forms. The inclusive forms typically combine first and second person forms.

The third person, both singular and plural, contains two forms, an "proximate" form for the narrator or point of view character, and an "obviate" form for other third person characters, or unspecified persons. The proximate and obviate forms are obligatory, and answer the same purpose as do nominative and accusative forms in other language; they are used to specify who acts and who is acted on.

Verbs
The basic structure of a Classical Wisconson verb contains the following parts:


 * 1) PERSONAL PREFIX.  Not present in all tenses or constructions.  Usually 0 in the third person.
 * 2) TENSE MARKER. 0 in the present tense.
 * 3) MODAL PREFIXES. Optional.  May be more than one.
 * 4) ROOT.  May be compound, in which case it may incorporate an object.
 * 5) Certain MODAL SUFFIXES go here.
 * 6) ARGUMENT. Specifies the person acting, and the person acted upon.

Verbs fall into four conjugations, defined not by the phonetic shape of the root, but by the arguments they can take:


 * 1) Intransitive verbs with animate subjects (VIA)
 * 2) Intransitive verbs with inanimate subjects (VII)
 * 3) Transitive verbs with animate objects (VTA)
 * 4) Transitive verbs with inanimate objects (VTI)

The lemma, or citation form, of a Classical Wisconsin verb is the third person proximate singular present. This form typically has no personal prefix and the simplest arguments. Generally speaking the animate verbs have more complex forms than the inanimate verbs, and the transitive verbs have more complex forms than the intransitive ones.