Proto-Andem

General Information
Proto-Andem (Andemucmeţvaa’ /andɨmutsmɨʈʋaaʔ/, literally: “from-the-northerners-speech”)

Consonants
m, p, b, f, v, þ, ð, n, t, d, c, dz, s, z, r, ņ, ţ, ḑ, ş, l, ŋ, k, g, kh, gj, h, j, ’

Vowels
i, e, u, a

Phonotactics
(C)V(C)
 * no word intial or final consonant clusters
 * diphthongs of any two vowels (even two same vowels) permited, but no triphthongs
 * Syllable-final consonants may not be /z/, /dz/, /kx/, or /gɣ/.
 * adjacent consonants need not be voiced the same, ex. kepgje
 * Words must begin with a consonant.
 * words have a minimum of two mora; that is, the minimal word is VC or VCV, both of which are bimoraic.

Declension classes
There are three declension classes in Proto-Andem. Class I nouns end in a full vowel, that is, a, i, and u, in the nominative. Class II nouns take the ending -is in the nominative and genitive. Class III nouns end in a consonant or e, which could be epenthetic or not, in the nominative and vocative.

Examples
 * Class I þukma, ’isfuŋa, zara
 * Class II zajdis, khetfis, suŋis
 * Class III tende, beje, kepgje, lauk, decu, ’edam

Case usage

 * Nominative: subject, dictionary form
 * Accusative: object
 * Dative: indirect object, destination
 * Genitive: possessor
 * Ablative: origin
 * Vocative: directly addressed

Oblique cases
Oblique cases are all regular. Decl. I and II use their nominative forms, and decl. III nouns drop final es if possible.
 * Instrumental (ta): instrument; laukta "using the log"
 * Adessive (na): near location; laukna "near the log"
 * Superessive (l): top location; laukel "on the log"
 * Subessive (kuf): under location; laukekuf "under the log"
 * Inessive (ḑu): internal location; laukḑu "in the log"

Summary
Verbs conjugate for person and number of the subject, definiteness of the object, aspect, mood/polarity, and voice. This complex conjugation is perhaps best summarized in a table.
 * 1) The order of the voice, aspect, and mood suffixes is not precisely known. The order presented here is the order found in the most daughter languages.
 * 2) It is unknown how Proto-Andem treated intransitives with regards to definiteness.

Voice
active: -(e)-

passive I: -ib-

passive II: -gji-

Aspect
episodic: -0-

gnomic: -(e)ņ-

Mood
indicative: -0-

subjunctive: -ir

negative: -pu-

optative: -a- or 2s/2p prefixes na/şa-

Definiteness
definite: -0

indefinite: -t(e)