Proto-Ayja-Né

Classification and Dialects

 * Proto-Ayja-Né
 * Ko-Ayja
 * Uylebisan
 * Tthit’e-Xwăłe
 * Tthit’e
 * Xwăłe
 * Northern
 * Nanjey'a
 * Njhuy'é
 * Kwxwąątsătwth
 * Central
 * Southern
 * Né
 * Northern
 * Southern

Vowels
Vowels have a long and short form as well as low, high, rising, and falling tones.

Phonotactics

 * 1) Syllables are CV(C)
 * 2) No /h/ or /ʔ/ in the coda of a syllable
 * 3) No consecutive syllables each with an aspirated consonant
 * 4) No affricates in complex onsets
 * 5) No palatal consonants in a complex coda
 * 6) All nasals must be homorganic with the next section

Sound Changes Leading to Nanjey'a
From Proto-Ayja-Né, it is thought that the language split into two distinct geographical groups separating the language. The first group is considered the Kot'a-Ayja, because it is though that these people lived on the Kot'a and Ayja peninsulas located in the now Xwúúp'a'a sea. By this point the unvoived plain plosives in Proto-Ayja-Né had become ejective and the voiced plain plosives lost their voicing:

/p, t̪, k/ > /p', t̪', k'/

/b, d̪, g/ > /p, t̪, k/

Root Construction
Proto-Ayja-Né was likely based on a bi-lateral root system with the use of apophony common to change meanings of roots slightly.

Bi-lateral roots are based on two consonants with a general meaning. The general meaning of the root becomes more specific as the root is declined into other 'secondary roots'. Although all modern languages derived from Proto-Ayja-Né have no well defined root systems, traces of the primary bi-lateral roots system can still be seen.

* 'C' is used to represent a consonant in the 'General' column