Changes: Proto-Sato-Lhedh

Revision as of 14:19, 15 July 2012

Progress 57%

Stats
Nouns	75%
Verbs	83%
Adjectives	33%
Syntax	50%
Words	150 of 1500

Proto-Sato-Lhedh PSL
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Head-Final
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case	Number
Definiteness	Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice	Mood
Person	Number
Tense	Aspect

General information

Proto-Sato-Lhedh is a proto-language of the Sato-Lhedh language family. It evolved into Proto-Sattic and Proto-Eltic. It uses a syntactical order of SVO though as it is inflected this can vary.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m			n		nj (ɲ)	nk (ŋk) 1
Plosive	p			t ṭ (tʲ) d ḍ (dʲ)			k ḳ (kʲ) qu (kʷ) 2		' (ʔ)
Fricative		v		s	š (ʃ)	ș (ç) 3			h
Affricate				c (ts) (z (dz))	č (tʃ) (ž (dʒ))
Approximant	(w)		l	ḷ (lʲ)		j
Flap or tap				r (ɾ)
Trill								(ŕ (ʀ))

1 - Only following i, e or ë.

2 - The syllables qua, quä, que, que, quë, qui, quo and quö all realise qu as /kʷw/. However, the cluster quu (sometimes just qu) realises it as /kʷu/.

3 - This can appear as an allophone of many occurences of h.

Note that sounds in brackets (i.e. not solely the IPA character) only appear in dialects. When letters are doubled, they are lengthened e.g. /ss/ = [s:]. The letters that can be doubled are m, n, p, t, d, k, s, š and l. Stress is always placed on the first syllable of a word without exception.

Vowels

	Front	Near-front	Central	Back
Close	i			u
Near-close
Close-mid	e			o
Mid			ë (ə)
Open-mid				ö (ɔ)
Near-open		ä (æ)
Open	ä (a)			a (ɑ)

Alphabet

As an extinct proto-language no written PSL exists. However, the standard way of transliterating it (when differing from the IPA) is as follows (note that /a/ and /æ/ are represented by the same character):

Latin Script (transliteration)	IPA
a	ɑ
ä	a/æ
ë	ə
ö	ɔ
nj	ɲ
i/e/ë-nk	ŋk
ṭ	tʲ
ḍ	dʲ
ḳ	kʲ
qu-vowel	kʷw
quu	kʷu
'	ʔ
š	ʃ
ș	ç
c	ts
č	tʃ
z	dz
ž	dʒ
ḷ	lʲ
r	ɾ
ŕ	ʀ

Phonotactics

(s)(C)(r, l, ʲ)V(V)(r, l)(C)(C) e.g. sḳäirc (blood)

When two vowels occur together in this way, there is a slight glide that barely realises the second consonant. This is often thus considered either a single vowel or a diphthong. When vowels are in separate syllables they are separated by a glottal stop.

Dialects

Pronunciation of certain sounds changes depending on the main locations in which PSL is spoken, the North, West and South.

North	West	South
ḳ	ḳ	kj
qu	kv	kw
ṭ/ḍ	ṭ/ḍ	z
ș	š	ž
ḷ	ḷ	hl
v	w	v
r	ŕ	r
Vh	Vh	V

Sandhi

Proto-Sato-Lhedh has strict sandhi which causes assimilation towards the second consonant in a pair, both in terms of articulation and voicing. This is rarely reflected in writing. An example is ranpuore, pronounced ['rampu:oɾe]. There are some exceptions to this rule: the letters s, š, p, k and v will never change their voicing, but can cause voice change in the following sound (e.g. sd > st). The letters c and č also do not except in Southern dialects. The letter v never causes a change in place of articulation except with k (vk > sk), and excluding Western dialects. The main complication is that the sandhi occurs across word boundaries.

Grammar

	Gender	Cases	Numbers	Tenses	Persons	Moods	Voices	Aspects
Verb	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Nouns	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adjectives	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Numbers	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Participles	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adverb	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pronouns	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Adpositions	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Article	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Particle	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Declensions - Cases

Nominative: Subject or following the verb nahkeṭ (to be).
Accusative: Object, and used with most adpositions.
Genitive: Showing possession (of...).
Dative: Indirect object (to... or for...).
Proessive: Showing motion towards or into.
Ablative: Showing motion away from or out of, or an instrumental.

Declensions - Noun Forms

First Declension

Consonant-final. Model noun = sat, water.

1	Singular	Plural
NOM	sat	satal
ACC	sata	sati
GEN	satu	satan
DAT	satah	satalah
PRO	saṭo (1)	sataḷ
ABL	satu	satul

Second Declension

ä-final. Model noun = valä, head.

2	S	P
N	valä	valäc
Ac	valläk (2)	valli (2)
G	valluk (2)	valläm (2)
D	valäš	valäšä
P	vaḷo (1)	valeppe
Ab	valep	valäṭ

Third Declension

e-final. Model noun = puore, grass.

3	S	P
N	puore	puoreș
Ac	puorek	puorä
G	puoriṭ	puorelä
D	puorent	puorelä
P	puoro'	puorenje
Ab	puoruḷ	puoruḷan

Fourth Declension

o-final. Model noun = tahno, grass.

4	S	P
N	tahno	tahnon
Ac	tahnok	tahnä
G	tahnin	tahno'i
D	tahnoḍ	tahnoi
P	tahnek	tahnekke
Ab	tahno'	tahnošo

1) If the final consonant in the root here is any of t, d, l or k, it is palatalised in the proessive singular.

2) In the accusative and genitive, the final consonant of the root is doubled if possible.

Articles

There are no indefinite articles in Proto-Sato-Lhedh. There are four definite articles which change based on declension and number of the noun.

	1st/2nd	3rd/4th
Singular	hu	so
Plural	he	se

Adjectives

Adjectives function exactly like nouns. They are placed before the noun that they agree with in number and case. There is no gender; each adjective has a given declension.

e.g. so kalëram tane. The wise man.

the.34.s wise-nom.s man-nom.s

se kalëramal taleș. The tall men.

the.34.pl wise-nom.pl man-nom.pl

Adverbs

to convert an adjective into an adverb one must simply suffix to the adjective. Which suffix is used depends on the declension.

1st	kalëram (wise)	kalëramu (wisely)
2nd	je'tä (careful)	je'tänt (carefully)
3rd	ḳase (fast)	ḳasella (quickly)
4th	sto (tall)	st 'ö'ri (toweringly)

Pronouns

Personal

	Singular	Plural
1st	sän	risnän
2nd	kur	rikrun
3rd	valt	vralit

Interrogative

Who?	quör?
What?	iș?
Where?	talët?
When?	polët?
Why?	pemiș?
Which?	quahiș?
How?	skarmä?

Demonstrative

Further Proximate	aste
Proximate	kante
Obviative	dente
Further Obviative	valte

Reflexive	raḍe

Pro-particles

aḳelu is a pro-verb. It stands in place of a verb used before it; which verb it refers to is determined by context. harkkan is a pro-adjective. This stands in place of an adjective.

e.g. čöiter nallu ki sän aḳelu. He left and so did I.

leave-inf be.3ps.past and I.nom prover

kalëram nah ki harkkan nuḷ. He is wise and I am also.

wise-nom.s be.3ps.pres and proadj be.1ps.pres

Verbs

Formation of verbs is simple as only two conjugate: to be - nahkeṭ, and the negative verb - säreṭ. Other verbs occur as an infinitive which is placed before the appropriate form of a conjugating verb. Note that all other verbs end in -er.

e.g. teler nuḷ (säräḷ). I (don't) go.

go-inf be.1ps.pres (not.1ps)

kalëram neda (säräd). You are (not) wise.

wise-nom.s be.2ps.pres (not.2ps)

To Be

nahkeṭ	Present	Past	Remote Past	Future
1ps	nuḷ	nulla	nähḷu	norol
2ps	neda	nella	nähta	norod
3ps	nah	nallu	nuhrä	noroh
1pp	namuḷ	numal	nuhḷä	naromul
2pp	nameda	namel	nämaht	naromud
3pp	namah	namul	nahräm	naromuh

To Not...

säreṭ	All Tenses
1ps	säräḷ
2ps	säräd
3ps	särhä
1pp	särmäḷ
2pp	särmäd
3pp	särmähä

Other verb forms do exist and are simple to form. The participle is formed by suffixing -e to the infinitive (telere, nahkeṭe) and the imperative by suffixing -av (telerav! nahkeṭav!).

Note that people in the South would be more likely to use the suffix -(u)tve or something with a similar effect than the negative verb, e.g. althisutve neda = You are without knowledge = You are not wise.

Derivational Morphology

PSL does not have an extensive derivational morphology. What it does is listed below.

Affixed to...	Meaning	Form	Example
Noun	Made of x	ju-x 1	jusat = made of water
Adjective	Un...x	pi-x 1	pistan = not wet
Noun	x...ful	ran-x 1	ranpuore = grassy
Noun	Not made of x	ḳu-x 1	ḳusat = not made of water
Adjective	(Very x)-est	x-nja 2	stannja = wettest
Adjective	Least/not very x	x-lto 2	stanalto = least wet
Noun	Excelling in x	x-cu 3	althisucu = excelling in knowledge
Noun	Lacking in x	x-tve 3	althisutve = lacking knowledge

1 - If the following word begins with a vowel the prefix ends with a glottal stop '.

2 - if the previous word starts with a vowel the suffix starts with a.

3 - If the previous word ends with a vowel the suffix starts with u.

Questions

The focus of a question suffixes -(o)šu. The final word in the question clause is val.

e.g. nah sto. He is tall.

be.3ps.pres tall-nom.s

nah stošu val? Is he tall?

be.3ps.pres tall-nom.s-? quer

Responses are either repetition of the main verb or otherwise use of the negative verb.

e.g. nah stošu val? -nah. Is he tall? -Yes. (lit. He is)

Sentential Arguments

Sentential arguments are formed roughly as 'for O Ving... ʔ S V.'

e.g. valṭo nahkeṭe kalëram '(sän) quecer nuḷ. I think that she is wise. (lit. for her being wise ʔ I think)

she-pro be-part wise-nom.s '(I-nom) think-inf be.1ps.pres

Relative clauses work like English but use reflexive pronouns.

e.g. so tane raḍe salakser nallu kamaträk. The man who hated elks.

the.34.s man-nom.s refl-nom.s hate-inf be.3ps.past elk-acc.p

Vocabulary

No.	English	PSL
1	I	sän
2	you (singular)	kur
3	he	valt
4	we	risnän
5	you (plural)	rikrun
6	they	vralit
7	this	pačä
8	that	mašä
9	here	pač
10	there	maš
11	who	quör
12	what	iș
13	where	talët
14	when	polët
15	how	skarmä
16	not	säreṭ
17	all	jöda'
18	many	—
19	some	—
20	few	—
21	other	—
22	one	as
23	two	kan
24	three	den
25	four	vaḷ
26	five	kah
27	big	roč
28	long	'vo
29	wide	pihejo
30	thick	pihejo
31	heavy	pjud
32	small	tiër
33	short	pi'vo
34	narrow	hejo
35	thin	hejo
36	woman	pane
37	man (adult male)	tane
38	man (human being)	—
39	child	sinte
40	wife	ero
41	husband	ero
42	mother	panje
43	father	tanje
44	animal	—
45	fish	—
46	bird	—
47	dog	—
48	louse	—
49	snake	—
50	worm	—
51	tree	öretä
52	forest	öretäl
53	stick	—
54	fruit	—
55	seed	—
56	leaf	—
57	root	—
58	bark	—
59	flower	—
60	grass	puore
61	rope	—
62	skin	—
63	meat	'niskiso
64	blood	sḳäirc
65	bone	dromiṭan
66	fat	—
67	egg	—
68	horn	—
69	tail	—
70	feather	—
71	hair	sune
72	head	smuko
73	ear	lanne
74	eye	ḍeruk
75	nose	törhalal
76	mouth	ișjo
77	tooth	dromiṭan
78	tongue	doḍan
79	fingernail	—
80	foot	tiquëti'
81	leg	tikanjä
82	knee	—
83	hand	rapëti'
84	wing	—
85	belly	—
86	guts	—
87	neck	vippoä
88	back	valče
89	breast	—
90	heart	—
91	liver	—
92	drink	—
93	eat	—
94	bite	—
95	suck	—
96	spit	—
97	vomit	—
98	blow	—
99	breathe	—
100	laugh	—
101	see	—
102	hear	—
103	know	—
104	think	—
105	smell	—
106	fear	—
107	sleep	—
108	live	—
109	die	—
110	kill	—
111	fight	—
112	hunt	—
113	hit	—
114	cut	—
115	split	—
116	stab	—
117	scratch	—
118	dig	—
119	swim	—
120	fly	—
121	walk	—
122	come	—
123	lie	—
124	sit	—
125	stand	—
126	turn	—
127	fall	—
128	give	—
129	hold	—
130	squeeze	—
131	rub	—
132	wash	—
133	wipe	—
134	pull	—
135	push	—
136	throw	—
137	tie	—
138	sew	—
139	count	—
140	say	—
141	sing	—
142	play	—
143	float	—
144	flow	—
145	freeze	—
146	swell	—
147	sun	duksut
148	moon	piduksut
149	star	duksulto
150	water	sat
151	rain	valḳusat
152	river	hejasat / sat hejo
153	lake	ročat / sat roč
154	sea	ročat / sat roč
155	salt	—
156	stone	—
157	sand	—
158	dust	kahko
159	earth	ö'
160	cloud	mita'ä
161	fog	—
162	sky	ä
163	wind	rör
164	snow	'naššä
165	ice	inikṭe
166	smoke	valḳu'ö'iḷe
167	fire	ö'iḷe
168	ash	nacu'ö'iḷe
169	burn	iler
170	road	—
171	mountain	cu'o
172	red	ḍä
173	green	rä
174	yellow	ḳä
175	white	mitane
176	black	tulice
177	night	mjä
178	day	mjo
179	year	—
180	warm	tö'iko
181	cold	nac
182	full	—
183	new	oši'ä
184	old	poši'ä
185	good	potä
186	bad	pitä
187	rotten	—
188	dirty	pišallo
189	straight	lappir
190	round	—
191	sharp	kitran
192	dull	pikitran
193	smooth	pikasno
194	wet	stan
195	dry	pistan
196	correct	tenkä
197	near	pačä
198	far	mašä
199	right	vinje
200	left	tatar
201	at	lak
202	in	ja
203	with	me
204	and	ki
205	if	luni
206	because	pët
207	name	jenkur

Common Conjunctions and Connectors

and = ki if... then = peș

either... or = du... 'e until = čin

both... and = pa... 'e since = čina

neither... nor = stu... 'se while = ruṭ

because = vjo before = krä

in order to = lassë after = rutä

Kinship System

This works in a similar way to, say, Swedish.

father = tanje / ta- son = tuli'e / tu-

mother = panje / pa- daughter = puli'e / pu-

brother = quoḷe / quo- male cousin = stanne / sta-

sister = moḷe / mo- female cousin = vanne / va-

e.g. Grandmother (father's mother) = tapanje

Grandmother (mother's mother) = papanje

Numbers

PSL uses a Base12 numeral system, thus there are separate numbers up to twelve and anything beyond is a compound of it and numbers below. Separate words exist for 120, 1200, 12000 etc.

1	as	13	kanas	30	denjuc	1320	paskënehriskëdeh
2	kan	14	kankan	36	denskaṭ	1453	paskënehkanriskëdehkanas
3	den	15	kanden	40	vaḷvaḷ	12000	durvaneh
4	vaḷ	16	kanvaḷ	48	vaḷskaṭ	120000	mutrineh
5	kah	17	kankah	50	kahkan	1200000	pjelkiv
6	juc	18	kanjuc	60	kahskaṭ	12000000	quelkiv
7	rec	19	kanrec	120	riskëdeh	120000000	trenkiv
8	im	20	kanim	121	riskëdehas	1200000000	harnakiv
9	söm	21	kansöm	133	riskëdehkanas	12000000000	tinjakiv
10	peš	22	kanpeš	240	kanriskëdeh	120000000000	ṭelkasiv
11	äl	23	kanäl	253	kanriskëdehkanas	1200000000000	šakahkrak
12	skaṭ	24	kanskaṭ	1200	paskëneh	12000000000000	mišancak