The Allosphere

[Hallow XIII]

Even Karch has a seven kill stele signature in Swamp Orthography now, gotta succumb to the peer pressure

So: how do you translate it to Kangshi? Kangshi syntax is known to be annoying, so this is probably like the fifth iteration of a Kangshi Qishabei I do, but maybe I'll get it to stick at some point.

So, first things first: purposives. Kangshi has a benefactive applicative suffix-slash-clitic that derives from SVCs with the Old Kangshi verb bvh "to give", which reduces in modern Kangshi to a simple final b with a floating falling tone. It seems reasonable to derive a purposive construction from this somehow. Due to the phonological reduction, it's probably reasonable to assume that the entire construction is patterned on non-initial verbs with an implicit subject. This means that the applicative can only attach to a verb, and the indirect argument must follow the verb immediately. That means that if you have a construction like "Heaven brings forth innumerable things to nurture man", there needs to be a dummy verb in the contingent mood that can take the applicative. The semantically subordinate verb is then nominalized with the ñ- prefix and acts as the indirect object of the dummy benefactive verb. For the chaining to work out, we also need the dummy verb to agree with the main verb of the sentence in transitivity. Thus, the first stanza:

Mbtrtcgf qxah bdej bkska kidabh n ñstbwdj spa.
[məɸtʰəʂtæ̌ˤ qʰχɑ̂ βdè ɸkʰəskɑ́ kilɑ̂w nəŋstəβɯ̀j spɑ́]

m-

REAL-

b-

class_V:O-

t-

CAUS-

rtcf

be_born

=g

-PROG

q-

class_IV

xah

heaven

b-

class_V

dej

thing

b-

class_V

kska

ten_thousand

k-

CONT-

i-

class_IX:O

daj

do

=bh

-BEN

n

PREP

∅-

class_IX-

ñ-

NMLZ-

s-

class_I:O-

t-

CAUS-

bwdj

eat

s-

class_I

pa

man

Heaven brings forth innumerable things to nurture man.

The dummy verb here is daj, "do something". Both "create" and "feed" are explicit causatives in Kangshi, from "be born" and "eat". The number "ten thousand", used metaphorically for "a large number" as in Chinese, is historically a reduplication skvska of ska "hundred"; it has eroded somewhat in modern Kangshi.

For the second stanza, the main clause expresses predicative possession. In Kangshi, this is expressed as a "exist at" type construction, so the subject of the main verb is actually "things". The dummy verb therefore is ñah "become":

Ogñwdf n spa bdej bruoh kiñabh ñbtzmieb n qxah.
[ɵˤŋw̌j nəspɑ́ βdè βɻûə kiŋɑ̂w ŋəɸtʰəzmíəw nəqʰχɑ̂]

og-

NEG-

ñwdf

be

n

PREP

s-

class_I-

pa

man

b-

class_V

dej

thing

b-

class_V

ruoh

good

k-

CONT-

i-

class_IX:O-

ñah

become

=bh

-BEN

∅-

class_IX-

ñ-

NMLZ-

b-

class_IV:O-

t-

CAUS-

zmief

return

=bh

-BEN

n

PREP

q-

class_IV

xah

heaven

Man has nothing good with which to recompense heaven.

The subclause in the second stanza demonstrates the function of the nominalizer as an implicit passive. The entire stanza, when translated very literally, would be something like "Good things are not with man that are for being returned to heaven".

The final stanza is now almost trivial. The only interesting feature is that because we are using a transitive imperative with no explicit object, Kangshi strongly prefers using the continuous/progressive aspect marker -g as a sort of antipassive:

Qiegf. Qiegf. Qiegf. Qiegf. Qiegf. Qiegf. Qiegf.
[ʡǐɛ̯ˤ ʡǐɛ̯ˤ ʡǐɛ̯ˤ ʡǐɛ̯ˤ ʡǐɛ̯ˤ ʡǐɛ̯ˤ ʡǐɛ̯ˤ]

∅-

IMP-

∅-

zero_object-

qief

kill

=g (x7)

-PROG

[Nortaneous]

okay, once more on Rau historical phonology since it's changed a lot and H13 has unjustly accused me of making Arve again >:(

So! In the earliest written records of Rau (ca. -500 YP), the consonant inventory is superficially similar to that of Old Kangshi, the source of the Rau script. All Old Kangshi consonants except /z r/ are also attested in Rau, and two consonant series were innovated by alteration of the series of /s d ts dz/, giving the appearance of a phoneme inventory of: (writing ŋ ʁ instead of the ñ h of Kangshi romanization)

m n ŋ
p t ts ts₂ k q
b d d₂ dz dz₂
s s₂ x
g ʁ

d2 = l
s s2 = sh lh

The Old Rau attestations n.baxdzun and n.ts₂twxwb for the place-names Bâghzon and Ltoúhoub demonstrate that x was used for both the velar and the uvular fricatives, but this is the only defect in the script. These two sounds are in near-complementary distribution, with /χ/ occurring in back-vocalic environments and /x/ occurring otherwise, but diphthong loss and syncope predating Old Rau created some unpredictable occurrences - cf. the Ngabtou name for Baghzon, /baixəɟun/.

This near-complementary distribution of velars and uvulars was further disturbed by the merger of ts₂ dz₂, identifiable as lateral obstruents by vacillations such as the aforementioned n.ts₂twxwp for Ltouhoub and by comparison with other Hathic languages, into k g. However, a robust contrast between /g/ and /ʁ/ must be reconstructed for the common ancestor of Rau and Ngabtou, both of which reflect Continental Hathic *r as a dorsal, although Ngabtou shows secondary fronting - the Ngabtou culture hero /paɾaɣǐn-tuɣàn/ is known in Rau as Houlrỉn. (The shift of *p to Rau /χ/ is irregular but not uncommon.)

As for the other consonants, /g/ was a plosive (rather than a fricative, as it is in Kangshi) and s s₂ d₂ correspond to /s ɬ l/. Precise phonetic values for the affricates ts dz cannot be established; they correspond to Proto-Continental Hathic *c *ɟ, were presumably affricates when Rau began to be written, and are reflected in the spoken Rau of the current year as /θ ɹ/.

The consonants of spoken Rau in the current year are, in an abstract analysis that largely follows the romanization:

/m n ŋ/ <m n ng>
/p t (ʈ) k q/ <p t ṭ k q>
/b d ɹ g~j ʁ/ <b d z g r> (note: /g/ is [j] in codas)
(/θ͈ s͈ ɬ͈ x͈ χ͈/) <st sht lt hk hq>
/θ s ɬ x χ/ <s sh l kh h>
+ unwritten /ɣ/ excreted after word-final /ɯ/ which may be unstressed

These consonants can be divided into fortis-lenis pairs. Nasals are lenis and unpaired, although one could just as well posit unit prenasalized stops /mb nd ŋg ɴɢ/ as the fortis variants of nasals. /ʈ/, the fortis analogue of /ɹ/, has no regular diachronic origin and was introduced by loans from western Vengic languages like Narng and Qoa; many speakers merge it into /t/. Fortis consonants are always unvoiced, articulated more forcefully, often aspirated, and prohibited in codas; lenis consonants are often voiced, tend to coalesce with unstressed schwa to produce syllabic consonants, and are allowed in codas. In fact, the series /b d ɹ g ʁ/ is preferentially syllabified into the coda (unless an onset slot of a stressed syllable is available) and exerts great effect on preceding vowels: shtíbor 'skin' is pronounced [ɕʰjúwɐʁ]. (Fortis fricatives developed from a sequence of fricative and homorganic fortis stop, although this is blocked below a certain level of juncture.)

It is late here and I don't know how vowels work yet so here is an example nonsense sentence that ignores tones.
in bzogs te mnar blqudou na harib hshtir boa toug ash beshtad.
[m.brojθ.tʰə mnɐβ.ɬqʰə.dɯɣ.nə χɐ.juwχ.ɕʰjɐw.ɐʁ tʰɨɣ.ʒ.β.ʃʰæð]

There are various juncture levels, one tone-bearing stressed vowel per Copticesque phrasal group, all the normal Rau things. I think the unstressed vowels are dominant ɐ and recessive schwa which is raised to barred i by velars incl. /j/ or something.

[Nortaneous]

What is the phonological history of Rau anyway? There are probably various alternations.

Things that are known:
- The velar/uvular contrast is really front velar/back velar, with "velars" acting like palatals.
- There was at one point *tʲ, but it had already become s̺t. Newer t in palatalizing contexts becomes *c > s.
-- This implies at least three separate waves of palatalization. The first produced *tʲ, the second produced *c, and the third is a recent development in Rau that follows coda lenition.
- There used to be a glottal stop.
- Rau has merged *ai > a in closed syllables. The standard varieties of Rau have merged *ɑ > a.
- Ngabtou /a/ can correspond to Rau /ɯ/.
- It's Hathic.

The vowels of Old Rau are difficult to interpret. Variation in the writing of noun class syllables (e.g. n.ts₂twxwb vs. nvs₂twxwb) shows that there was no difference between sesquisyllable and schwa. A number of other tendencies obtain:

- In the earliest stratum, w corresponding to Ngabtou a (but not w corresponding to Ngabtou o) may vary with wv.
- Certain words are attested with practically any nonlow vowel. For example, the well-attested place name Bakhzòn is spelled n.baxdzun, n.baxzwn, nvbcixdzenj, and even the decidedly un-Kangshuic n.bcixdzognj. Other words show vacillation only between o and u, with o predominant in the earliest stratum, such as d₂vmdz₂osj ~ d₂omdz₂usj "ceremonial horn", modern gi-mròsh. Other words show vacillation between o, uo, and a, as in quobvqws₂vj ~ qa b.qws₂j "...paid tribute" (modern qobroủl). These three classes generally correspond to Standard Rau u, o, and oa or a, but there are exceptions - for example, the first class typically becomes u before d n.
- Similar variation exists between e, c, and ic.

This suggests the following vowel system for Old Rau:
/i ɯ u/
/e o/
/iæ ɯə uɒ/
/a ɑ/

Which developed into Bakhzon Rau as follows:
- ɯə > ʌ before uvulars, otherwise ɯ
- ɑ > a
- u > ɵ > ə > ʌ, merging with stressed schwa produced by tonal shifts
- iæ uɒ > e o except when appearing in a final open syllable of a stress group (but [eæ oɒ] are still preserved as allophones of /e o/ before uvulars)

But central vowels are secondary, so Proto-Rau-Ngabtou presumably had a vowel inventory of /a ɑ iɛ uɔ e o i u/, with... some sort of contrast. This is not even close to providing a historically sensible chart of ablaut paradigms! Oh well.

Incidentally, I think the structure of Hathic is as follows:
- Eastern Hathic (incl. Hathe) - didn't undergo macroareal monosyllabization
- Outer Hathic (Arve?? or something else in Haruan?) - a grab-bag of extremely early and far-flung expansions that are now mostly extinct
- Central Hathic - restructured in the Swamp Coast-Tsalaysian linguistic area to various extents; generally monosyllabizing
-- Insular Hathic (Gehui)
-- Continental Hathic (Rau) - generally does not have clicks; unclear whether or not it ever had them

Which moves Gehui pretty far in, but Hathic is known to be an old family and Gehui doesn't look old. It's unclear whether clicks originated in Hathic and spread to Oʔon or vice versa - they both are known to have languages with clicks (Gehui, Tsi) and languages without (Hathe, Cuhbi). But the structure is difficult.

[Nortaneous]

Pnwq maercae dỳg ʼeemfrks tʼenggihʼ zahlks.
[pʰnɯχ mæɹɣæ dʕəɣ ʔeɛmɸ˞ə̆ɺə̆ks tʼeɪŋgiʔ zaɬks]
pʰnɯχ m-aer-ɣE=dʕəɣ ʔeɛ<m>ɸ-r-k-s tʼeɪ-ŋ-giʔ zaɬk-s
heaven PRES-CONT-VEN=<3O>bear good<INDEF>-CAUS-COLL.INAN-ACC man-COLL.ANIM-BEN many-ACC

Tʼeng twmzwcdw qʼvlfi nà pnwgqihʼ.
[tʼeɪŋ tɯmzɯɣdɯ qʼl̩ʷɸi nʕa pʰnɯʁiʔ]
tʼeɪ-ŋ tɯ-m-z-ɣI-rɯ=qʼl-ɸi=n<ʕ>a pʰnɯχ-giʔ
man-COLL.ANIM EGO-PRES-GNOM-AND=reciprocate-do=<3O>NEG heaven-BEN

[Nortaneous]

Conserved words in Vengic:

	Ziwan	GHlu	BHlu	Thing	Zot	Narng	Qoa	What
mother	mòmò	mɤ	mɤr	mɚ˥	mblu˩	mār	mɔːrə	mia:
father	rùtɔ̀	ɔl	al	að˥	ðɛ˥	āθə	atːə	ʔet
brother	rùndà	yəmɔn	ɲwan	myan˩˥	ʉ̃˩	žōməna	ðumanaː	lmliː
sister		ɗin	ɗin	ten˥	nɛ˥˩	tēna	teːna	tliː
man		yɤ	yɤr	yir˥	lɛ˩	žōrə	ðurːə	lua:
fire	mbí	mɔl	mal	muð˥	mblu˩˥	mnoθ	mø̃tːə	mɨ̃nh
egg	tɕátʂə́	yɤh	rɤh	ra˧	ɲɟu˩	rɔh	ɳɔ	ɲãh
sun		kwin	krwin	kɹun˥	lo˥˩ne˩	karən	kɔrʉnːə	kanah
nose	ɕɒ̄ʂūɴ	ɬɔm	ɬɔm	θum˥	fĩ˥˩	šumə	sumːə	wuːbm
beard	ɕɒ̄tè	ɗɤ	ɗɤr	tɚ˥	ɲɟi˥˩	tsār	ʈæːɳə	tiː
eye	ɕɒ̄mɒ̂ɴ	təmɔk	təmak	təmak˩	ʉ̃˥˩	tāmək	tɔmɔːkə	tmɓaw
land	koɴ˧	kʰɔ	kʰa	ga˥	ʔũ˩	kō	gõ	gũː
one	kē	ɠe	ɠi	ke˥	ʁi˥	kē	ke	kiː
two	sǎ	ɠɤɬ	ɠɤɬ	kɤθ˥	xɛ˥	kosa	kʂa	pɲiː
three	kǎ	ɠɔl	ɠal	kal˥	lɛ˥˩	kala	kaːla	kɗiː
four	fɒ́	pʰɔc	pʰac	bac˧	plɛ̃˩˥	pātsə	batsːə	bes
five	gú	ŋgwil	ŋgwil	ŋgɤð˥	ɲɟʁo˩˥	nuəθ	nʉgʉtːə	nƥɨt
ten	yù	ywip	ywip	yup˧	u˩	žup	yuːpə	yṳp

Orthographic version:

More: show

	Ziwan	GHlu	BHlu	Thing	Zot	Narng	Qoa	What
mother	mopmop	moe	moer	mɚ˥	mblup	mār	måår	mîa
father	ruptqp	al	al	að˥	dxt	āθə	at	xet
brother	rupddap	yman	nywan	myan˩˥	vnp	žōməna	dhumanaa	lymlî
sister		ddin	din	ten˥	nxj	tēna	teena	tylî
man		yoe	yoer	yir˥	lxp	žōrə	dhur	lûa
fire	bbit	mal	mal	muð˥	mblus	mnoθ	mǫ̈t	mwnh
egg	chatrhzt	yoeh	roeh	ra˧	ndyup	rɔh	ṇå	nian
sun		kwin	krwin	kɹun˥	lonej	karən	kårünn	kana
nose	xqlshunl	hlam	hlaom	θum˥	finj	šumə	sum	ûbm
beard	xqltep	ddoe	ddoer	tɚ˥	ndyij	tsār	ṭääṇ	tî
eye	xqlmqnx	toemak	toemak	təmak˩	vnj	tāmək	tåmååk	tymbhau
land	konl	kha	kha	ga˥	'unp	kō	gǫ	gûn
one	kel	gge	ggi	ke˥	git	kē	ke	kî
two	sax	ggoehl	ggoehl	kɤθ˥	hxt	kosa	kṣa	pyñî
three	kax	ggal	gal	kal˥	lxj	kala	kaala	kydhî
four	fqx	phac	phac	bac˧	plxs	pātsə	bacc	bes
five	gut	gwil	gwil	ŋgɤð˥	ndygos	nuəθ	nügütt	nyphwt
ten	yut	ywip	ywip	yup˧	up	žup	yuup	yub

[Nortaneous]

Among the gShang-ni tQidash - those who acclaim Qila as Metkor - religious practice is generally divided into three tendencies, although all of the three recognize all others as part of the gShang. First, the bLire, often associated with the western reaches of Rau territory, who emphasize the cyclical renewal of the ways of Kha and the eventual coming of the next Metkor, historical learning, textual literalism, imitation of the ways of Qila, and study of the lives and teachings of a multitude of sages (gZil) as secondary insights into the ways of Kha. Second, the bKhedme, often associated with the highland city of Bakhzon, who emphasize individual contemplation of the ways of Kha and the multitudinous emanations thereof. Third, the mNgalhe, once associated with the coastal city of Biruged, emphasize the faculty of reason, rigorous logical derivation, and the importance of ritual in the cultivation of sound judgment and comprehension of the ways of Kha. In the chaos of the wars, a joke became popular: when a bandit of Lir robs you, he says his family has been bandits since time immemorial; when a bandit of Ngalh robs you, he says reason demands banditry to prevent accumulation of wealth; and when a bandit of Khedum robs you, he says he just feels like it.

A preeminent religious scholar of prewar Biruged was Telzỉn (notably, a Ngabtou[1] name), who taught that humans were divided into four parts: the dkou, the rnemsh, the gltur, and the shtqab. Most animals have merely a dkou; some have a rnemsh; and certain beasts of legend said to live in the far west have a gltur, but only humans have a shtqab. When a man dies, his dkou decays, his gltur is conserved in the ancestral shrine and perhaps reincarnated, and his shtqab is judged and perhaps rewarded by Kha - as with the heroes of the pre-Khaic age, carried on the eternal springs of legend. Contrary to the typical bLire view of sages as men of great rnemsh, Telzin claimed that the sages and heroes (one and the same, of course - while the heroes were not Metkor, their virtues were the virtues of Kha) were those who best approximated the Metkor's ideal shtqab, and that this was the source of their power. A perfect shtqab is unattainable to mortals, but refinement of the shtqab could bring a clear mind, great powers, apparently superhuman energy, etc.

Shquqou left no preserved written record; all that we know of his beliefs comes from secondhand sources, which fall into three main categories.

First, the Vtsznxmqp Pvpchqpye Zzxzzyx ("Saga of the Founding of Zenzi"), well-attested in largely agreeing Ziwan, Hlu, and [fragmentary] Narng translations, and various other items in the general matter of Zenzi, preserved in more or less complete states.

Second, In Khzou na Dredeg ("The Logicians' Vomit"), a polemic by the Khedme partisan Milbor of Lqod, written in the aftermath of the Rau War against the doctrines of the school of Ngalh.

Third, everything else.

[1] One of a number of "near barbarian" groups recognized by the Rau, applying generally to eastern lowland groups outside the gShang, most of whom are Hathic-speaking; the exonym /ŋábtɯ/ and the Rau endonym /nɢǎb/ show obvious similarities.

[Nortaneous]

questionable phonology sketch which may or may not be placed anywhere

Phones:

p (initial, final, after a stop)
ɸ (intervocalic, before r)
m (intervocalic before a)
mb (intervocalic before vowels other than a)

t (initial before vowels other than i, final after i)
s (intervocalic after i)
ts (intervocalic after i)
r (intervocalic)
n (intervocalic before a, word-final [here varying with ŋ])
nd (intervocalic before vowels other than a)

tɕ (initial before i, between a stop and i)
ɕ (intervocalic before i)
ʎ (intervocalic before i)
ndʑ (intervocalic before i)

k (initial, final, after a stop)
x (intervocalic between vowels other than i, before r)
ŋ (intervocalic between a vowel other than i and a)
ŋg (intervocalic between a vowel other than /i/ and a vowel other than /a i/)

ʔ (initial)

+ a e o i u

Phonemes:
/p k r/
/a e o i u/

k > ts / i_ (lenited to s / V_V)
k > tɕ / _i (lenited to ɕ / V_V)
r > n / _C (and some other rules around /a/)

/ru kuppuaia rorpaiikauikak arkipuiar pueiraapraikor raraiiaua ariaopkiaa ikke rurarrik/
[tu kupːwaja tomːaiːxawisak ʔandʑiɸujan pweinaːɸraison taɾaiːawa ʔaʎaoptɕaː ʔitsːe turandit]