Twin Aster

[Glenn]

2. I think zompist wrote in one of his books about how…I want to say it was some faction of the Iroquois?…had this conceit where a man's sister's children inherit, basically because of the principle of "mama's baby, papa's maybe" and how it keeps things in the bloodline. I am trying to figure out how this works in practice with the Tim Ar.

From what I have read, this form of inheritance (matrilineal (although not usually matriarchal) kinship, with inheritance passing from uncle to nephew) occurs in a number of cultures around the world. I have heard about it most often with regard to North American cultures, but the Wikipedia article on matrilineality gives a number of examples from Africa, as well as Asia and South America.

Someone linked at one point to an article discussing the distinction between matrilineal cultures where the emphasis was on the tie between uncle and nephew (i.e., to siblings' children, as you describe), and others where the biological father still played a role in inheritance as well. Unfortunately, I do not recall the author or title of the article; I thought I might have downloaded a copy, but I was unable to locate it.

[Travis B.]

2. I think zompist wrote in one of his books about how…I want to say it was some faction of the Iroquois?…had this conceit where a man's sister's children inherit, basically because of the principle of "mama's baby, papa's maybe" and how it keeps things in the bloodline. I am trying to figure out how this works in practice with the Tim Ar.

From what I have read, this form of inheritance (matrilineal (although not usually matriarchal) kinship, with inheritance passing from uncle to nephew) occurs in a number of cultures around the world. I have heard about it most often with regard to North American cultures, but the Wikipedia article on matrilineality gives a number of examples from Africa, as well as Asia and South America.

Someone linked at one point to an article discussing the distinction between matrilineal cultures where the emphasis was on the tie between uncle and nephew (i.e., to siblings' children, as you describe), and others where the biological father still played a role in inheritance as well. Unfortunately, I do not recall the author or title of the article; I thought I might have downloaded a copy, but I was unable to locate it.

One thing that surprises me is that this sort of inheritance system is not more common crossculturally, because from an evolutionary psychology sense it makes more sense than patrilineal inheritance -- remember the Roman law doctrine of mater semper certa est "the mother is always certain".

[Man in Space]

I’ve just discovered the existence of hemerythrin. Lots of iron in it, makes for violet/magenta-ish blood, apparently. Íröd is lousy with iron, especially in the water. I think the adasar will use that as the bloodborne oxygen carrier.

[Man in Space]

Sudden bolt of idea while I was on the can earlier:

I've previously mentioned that XTC has a sort of construct state function that forces a second-register tone on the second (modifier) noun. It occurs to me that, while I knew that I wanted the city to be called "Mjuy Baong" (ignoring tones), which was supposed to mean "Golden City" or "City of Gold", I wasn't sure how I was going to swing it. Now I can:

Mjǔy Bâong

mjǔy

city

bǎong

gold

²

s.c.

'City of Gold/Golden City'

XTC /mɲoi̯^D2 bɔ̃^B1/
MB [mjyi̯ˀ˨˩ bãˀ˨˩˨]
Gu [mɲac˨˩˨ bã˨˩˨]
Gn [mneː˥˧ bɑ̃ˀ˥˧]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hemerythrin actually makes a ton of sense for the adasar (v.s. about the iron surplus), and it also would lead to a lot of imagery being changed.

- Blood = purple. Pervades everything.
- The Confederation of the Violet Sun can now be the Confederation of the Blood Sun. More metal, while still retaining the tip of the hat to my mentor, Jack King-Spooner.
- The Red Death is now the Violet Death. As the calendrical system was previously referred to as RD, this would mean it would now be VD. This is sub-optimal, so I've decided to go the Latin route and use MP (mors purpura), which has the bonus attribute of providing another, albeit somewhat inadvertent, shout-out to Mr. King-Spooner (whose flagship video game series is Sluggish Morss).

Interestingly, CT only has three color terms: sígna 'light; warm', hûn 'dark; cool', and kiĝ 'red; brown; ruddy, earthy'. This easily lends itself to a color-separated three-humours system:

Isë ekhím Héon ü

isë

three

ekhín

MW.bodily

héon

vapor

ü

DEF

'the Three Humours'

Note the archaic connotation of héon (more literally 'mist, vapor') here (and its coöccurrence with the measure-word ekhín 'bodily function/action').

The éhon were held to be quasi-fluidic, quasi-vaporous humours that had effects on your personality and health in some way. They were associated each with a pair of ela (sg. líḫ, literally 'lacquer' but from an ultimate etymon in PB *ðehiɢ 'sap, resin'), one ir hoĝ ('remaining within') and one ir súł ('going without') based on whether they were supposed to remain inside the body; one Î Gi (< ki 'hand; leaf'), basically which of the three kingdoms of plants is associated with you; one hö (lit. 'brother' but because of the names of the two moons it's kind of here like a catchall for certain astronomical bodies), either one of the two moons or Xi Boötis B; and one kélen 'water', referring to what kind of literal water was yours. Some of the associations may be a bit opaque, so I'll try to explain some of them after the table.

Heón Humour	Líḫ ir Hoĝ Vital fluid within	Líḫ ir Súł Vital fluid without	Î Gi Leafy thing	Hö Astronomical Body	Kélen Water
sígna warm; light	kélen sígna venous blood	íántád semen	díĝkü yellow plant	Hö Kahál Big Brother	ḫîn fresh/potable
hún cool; dark	gîĝ arterial blood	łodká sweat	köglu black plant	Hö Nihír Little Brother	aĝmükní rainwater
kiĝ red; brown	mhûi digestive juices	gáúmaga urine	kóḫreł red plant	Hadál Iénhu n Taád King-of-the-Sky	kélen î réthu seawater

- Venous blood is considered sígna because deoxygenated hemerythrin is, I'm told, clear. When it's oxygenated, it gains its violet color (clearly hún).
- Urine is considered kiĝ because dahsar urine is iron-rich; some google fu says that this is sometimes called 'vin rose' and can occur in chelation patients due to high iron excretion via urine, which the adasar have due to the higher iron content on the surface of Íröd.
- Hö Nihír is closer to Íröd but noticeably darker than its larger but more distant sibling Hö Kahál. Hadál Iénhu n Taád, which is Xi Boötis B, is a K-type star and appears a little orangey.
- The connection of sweat to hún is thanks to the adasar correctly identifying that sweat is water-based. The Beheic Urheimat was in a region of fresh water, which was blue-tinted (blue and violet are both covered by hún).
- Assigning rainwater specifically to hún is not totally understood; prevailing theories suggest that it's due to the association of dark skies with stormy weather. Sensu stricto, it's unusual that potable water is considered sígna when water itself is hún (v.s.). It seems that the association with sígna is due to the clarity of pure water. While heavy water is clear, standard water having a slight blue tint, kélen suú would not be discovered until dahsar science got to the point where it was relevant, many thousands of years after the floruit of CT.

[Man in Space]

I was recently messaged about a few of Twin Aster's languages by our esteemed friend Janko. In answer to his query, I have done some further work on certain aspects of the world of Twin Aster. A few things include:

- PMJ acquires two new stop series: Dental stops /t̪ d̪/ ṯ ḏ (more properly "bright stops") and prevelars /k̟ g̟/ ḱ ǵ.
- Kgáweq' diphthongs are now written by doubling the vowel: /eə̯/ ee, /ḭə̯/ įį, /'a̰ə̯/ ą́ą́.
- Kgáweq' schwa is now â (unstressed) / ấ (stressed), again with ogoneks for creaky voice.
- Thanks to Janko's prompting, I figured out a counting strategy for the "teens" in Common Caber:

1. bŭćŏ
2. bŏci
3. geśac
4. raćboć
5. ŏ
6. śeŭ
7. śipćŏ
8. śipci
9. śeŭ bŭf geśac
10. śeŭ bŭf raćboć
11. śeŭ bŭf ŏ
12. ceŭgben

(Plus mŭgŭi 'zero')

- Also thanks to Janko, an alternate counting method (the original one) for Xı̋xǒcq Tlar Canà was a body-part-based one:

1. he̋nc, little finger
2. quő, ring finger
3. yahé, middle finger
4. gnıng, index finger
5. que̋, thumb
6. bjǎyyù, palm of the hand
7. vógó, wrist
8. xȧongbî, forearm
9. daeng, elbow
10. yuöc, shoulder
11. düygǎcq, neck
12. quúy, jaw
13. tiùylaong, spine
14. quâepsúyháor, collarbone
15. tecpsióc, ribcage
16. giě, waist
17. hûypse̋c, hip
18. tabjȧe, thigh
19. xa̋ojuà, knee
20. psôcbjë, shin
21. sȯmjin, big toe
22. quáelë, second toe
23. hàng, third toe
24. henka, fourth toe
25. quiu̇, little toe

- Again, thanks to Janko, Proto-Macro-Jädewan:

1. *¢órl ('(single) thing')
2. *¢óst (lit. 'two *¢órls')
3. *erka̋ða̋
4. *êyor
5. *ław
6. *ḱälḱa̋
7. *¢órli¢óst
8. *¢ósti¢óst
9. *erka̋ða̋y¢óst
10. *êyori¢óst

[Travis B.]

- Again, thanks to Janko, Proto-Macro-Jädewan:

1. *¢órl ('(single) thing')
2. *¢óst (lit. 'two *¢órls')
3. *erka̋ða̋
4. *êyor
5. *ław
6. *ḱälḱa̋
7. *¢órli¢óst
8. *¢ósti¢óst
9. *erka̋ða̋y¢óst
10. *êyori¢óst

Holy cent-signs batman!

[bradrn]

- Again, thanks to Janko, Proto-Macro-Jädewan:

1. *¢órl ('(single) thing')
2. *¢óst (lit. 'two *¢órls')
3. *erka̋ða̋
4. *êyor
5. *ław
6. *ḱälḱa̋
7. *¢órli¢óst
8. *¢ósti¢óst
9. *erka̋ða̋y¢óst
10. *êyori¢óst

Holy cent-signs batman!

Strictly speaking, the correct Unicode character for the letter is ⟨ȼ⟩, with ⟨¢⟩ being reserved for currency. (On my machine they render quite differently.)

[Ares Land]

I’ve just discovered the existence of hemerythrin. Lots of iron in it, makes for violet/magenta-ish blood, apparently. Íröd is lousy with iron, especially in the water. I think the adasar will use that as the bloodborne oxygen carrier.

I really liked the theory of humors you made out of that and the linguistic/lexical consequences.

[Man in Space]

Very much WIP but I needed to get it down before my shift starts.

Proto-Kgáweq’-Täptäg phonology

/*n/
/*b *t *k *kʷ *q *qʷ *ʔ/
/*f *s *h/
/*ts/
/*ɾ/
/*l *ɹ *j/

/*a *ã *i *ĩ *u *ũ/
/*ѣ *ь *ъ/

Syllable structure is:

((X)Y)(K)C(R)(G)V(G)((R/S)(ʔ)/h)

where

X = /t k q ʔ ɹ ɾ l s ts/
Y = /ѣ ь ъ/
K = /k g ʔ/
C = any consonant
R = /ɹ ɾ l s/
G = /i u/
S = /t d k g/

and where X and Y constitute parts of a minor syllable/sesquisyllable. Put another way,

(X(Y))-(K)C(R)-(G)V(G)-(R(ʔ)/S(ʔ)/h)

This can be effectively split up as

M: [ ( X ) ( Y ) ]
O: [ ( K ) C ( R ) ]
N: [ ( G ) V ( G ) ]
K: [ ( R ( ʔ ) / S ( ʔ ) / h ) ]

END PHONOLOGIES

More: show

Kgáweq’
/n/ n
/t t’ d k k’ g q q’ ʔ/ t t’ d k k’ g q q’ ’
/ts ts’ kx kx’ qχ qχ’/ ts ts’ kg kg’ qg qg’
/s h/ s h
/tɬ tɬ’/ tl tl’
/ɬ/ ł
/l j w ʕ/ l y w r

/a e o : ə i u : aə eə iə/ a e o : â i u : aa ee ii, with contrastive stress (á) and creaky voice (ą) or both (ą́)

Täptäg

/m m̥ n n̥/ m mh n nh
/p pʰ b b̥ bʶ t tʰ tʶ d d̥ dʶ c cʰ cʶ ɟ ɟ̊ k kʰ kʶ g g̊/ p ph b bh bj t th tj d dh dj c* ch* cj* c* ch* cj* g* gh* c ch cj c ch cj g gh (the ʶ is supposed to be dorsal frication à la Lakota)
/ɸ h̪͆ θ s ʃ x χ h/ ph x th s sh kh qh h
/β z/ v z
/ɾ j/ r i

/æ e i a o u/ ä e i a o u
/æː eː iː aː oː uː/ ää ee ii aa oo uu
/æe̯ oe̯ æo̯ ao̯/ äe oe äo ao

(/m n/ and /m̥ n̥/ become [ŋ ŋ̊], respectively, finally)

TO KGÁWEQ’

More: show

Lowering of opening diphthongs
*wu *yi > wo ye

Nasal vowels become creaky voiced
*V~ > [-nas +creaky]

Labiodorsal decay
*Kʷ *Qʷ > K Q

*luyʔqʷliw > lį́į́qgįį
*kʷɹyow > kraa
*ѣkʷi > ’âki

*f you
*f > w / C_V
*l *r > w y / f_

*kfũw > kwũw (> kǫ’)
*flawk > fwawk (> fa’k > hąk)

Tap cluster resolution
*ɾl *ɾw *ɾy > ɾtɬ ɾgw ɾgy

Complex onset simplification
*wVw *wVj *jVw *jVj > Vʔ Vj Vw Vʔ

*ъkjĩw > ’ukį́’
*qlway > qga’
*lwowh > lo’h (> ląą)
*lũwɾji > lį́į́gi
*jowjlaw > [/b]’ó’elaa[/b]

Vocalization of pre-vocoid *ɹ *l
{*ɹ,*l} > a / {#,C}_{w,y}V

*ɹwũfliw > ’âwų́łii

Secondary creaky voice
*Vʔ > [+creaky] / _C%

*lwowh > ląą
*flawk > hąk

Some stuff about closing diphthongs
*aw *ay *ãw *ãy > o e õ ẽ / _%
*uw *ũw > ow õw
*iy *ĩy > ey ẽy

*V(C)(C)h% resolution
*a *ə *e *i *o *u > aə eə eə iə aə iə / _(C)(C)h
*h > Ø
*ə *e *i *o *u > aə eə eə iə aə iə / _{w,y}%
*ə *e *i *o *u > aə eə eə iə aə iə / _{w,y}%
*{w,y} > Ø / _%

*ɹĩfãy > rę́hęę
*fowh > haaw
*kʷĩw > kį́į́
*liwh > lįį
*kilow > kílaa
*ɹĩfãy > rę́hęę

Spirantization of *l / S_
*l > ɬ / S_
(eventually) *tɬ *t’ɬ *kɬ *k’ɬ *qɬ *q’ɬ *ʔɬ > tɬ tɬ’ kx kx’ qχ qχ’ ɬ

*qlãwku > qgą̂́k

Resolution of lambda clusters
*C > Ø / C_l

Lambdacism of *n
*n > l

Vowel harmony
(height harmony based on the vowel in the final syllable)

Loss of final high vowels
{*u,*i} > Ø / V(C)_#
{*u,*i} > Ø / C{w,y}_#

*lũwɾji > lį́į́gi

Anticipatory yer deletion
*ѣ > Ø / _(C)(C)ə
*ь > Ø / _(C)(C)i
*ъ > Ø / _(C)(C)u

*qъfuk > quk
*qѣkʷiw > qâkíí
*ѣjlĩ > âyl

Vocalization of yers
*ѣ *ь *ъ > a e o / ə i u (depending on vowel harmony)

*ʔъfuy > ’uhį́į́
*ѣkʷi > ’âki
*ѣjɾwĩw > ’âygį́į́

Debuccalization of *f and *r
*r > ʕ
*f > h

TO TÄPTÄG (still needs a LOT of work)

More: show

Stop series production
T D N < *TV *vTV *(v)TV~
TH DH NH < *TV{h,ɹ} *vTV{h,ɹ} *(v)TV~{h,ɹ}
TH DH NH < *Tɹ- *vTɹ- *(v)TV~ɹ-
Tʶ Dʶ < *KTV *vKTV

Fronting of labialized dorsals
*ѣkʷɹi > bhe
*kʷikfow > pikxoo

Further development of slack voice and aspiration
*SVCh *NVCh > S̥VC N̥VC
*Sɾ *Nɾ > S̥ N̥

Development of long vowels
*V{w,j} > *Vː (with caveats)

Multiphthongs
*aji > eæ
*lajĩ > neä? nae?

Dump for gen

More: show

C=lfjɹq£hkªʔs£tɾnç
V=iuĩãũa
U=00000ʷʲ
W=00ʷʲ
Y=ѣъь
X=0000çʔqkɹtslɾ
K=00000ʔk£
R=00l00ɹɾs
S=00000tk
Q=000000kɹɾstl
H=000000ʔ

ç|ts
ʷu|ʷo
ʲi|ʲe
uʷ|oʷ
iʲ|eʲ
ʷ|w
ʲ|y
£|kʷ
ª|qʷ
0||

KCRUVWQH
XYKCRUVWQH
KCRUVWh
XYKCRUVWh
KCRUVWQHKCRUVWQH
XYKCRUVWQHKCRUVWQH
KCRUVWh
XYKCRUVWhKCRUVWh

[Man in Space]

Holy cent-signs batman!

Strictly speaking, the correct Unicode character for the letter is ⟨ȼ⟩, with ⟨¢⟩ being reserved for currency. (On my machine they render quite differently.)

Huh. They show up almost identically for me.

I’ve just discovered the existence of hemerythrin. Lots of iron in it, makes for violet/magenta-ish blood, apparently. Íröd is lousy with iron, especially in the water. I think the adasar will use that as the bloodborne oxygen carrier.

I really liked the theory of humors you made out of that and the linguistic/lexical consequences.

Thank you!

[Man in Space]

Some tweaks…

/*n/
/*b *t *k *kʷ *q *qʷ *ʔ/
/*s/
/*ɾ/
/*ɹ *l/

/*a *ã *i *ĩ *u *ũ/
/*i̯ *u̯/
/*ѣ *ь *ъ/

- *-kq- [*-qq-] / O

MONK

– M –
X: *b *t *k *q *ʔ *s *ɾ *ɹ *l
Y: *ѣ *ь *ъ

– O –
(I): *b *k *ʔ *s
C: *n *b *t *k *kʷ *q *qʷ *ʔ *s *ɾ *ɹ *l
(R): *s *ɾ *ɹ *l

– N –
(W₁): *i̯ *u̯
V: *a *ã *i *ĩ *u *ũ
(W₂): *i̯ *u̯

– K –
(B): *b *t *k *ʔ *s *ɾ *ɹ *l
(U): *s *ʔ

To Kgáweq’

More: show

Debuccalization of *s

*s > h

Lowering of opening diphthongs

*wu *ji > wo je

Nasality becomes creaky voice

*Ṽ > V̰

Unrounding of labiodorsals

*kʷ *qʷ > k q

Epenthesis in tap clusters

*ɾl *ɾɹ *ɾw *ɾj > ɾdl ɾdɹ ɾgw ɾgj

Simplification of complex nuclei

*u̯Vu̯ *u̯Vi̯ *i̯Vu̯ *i̯Vi̯ > Vʔ Vi̯ Vu̯ Vʔ

Secondary genesis of creaky voice

*V > V̰ / _Cʔ

Diphthong reduction

*au̯ *a̰u̯ *ai̯ *a̰i̯ > o o̰ e ḛ
*u *ṵ > o o̰ / _u̯
*i *ḭ > e ḛ / _i̯

Genesis of lowering diphthongs

*a *a̰ *e *ḛ *i *ḭ *o *o̰ *u *ṵ > aə a̰ə eə ḛə iə ḭə aə a̰ə iə ḭə / _(C)(C)h
*h > Ø / V_C
*e *ḛ *i *ḭ *o *o̰ *u *ṵ > eə ḛə iə ḭə aə a̰ə iə ḭə
{*u̯,*i̯} > Ø / _%

*b gone

*ə > Ø / _b
*ab *ib *eb *ub *ob > oʔ eu̯ʔ au̯ʔ ou̯ʔ au̯ʔ / _#
*ab *ib *eb *ub *ob > o eu̯ au̯ ou̯ au̯ / _C
*b > g / #_
*b > ʔu̯ / _V

Spirantization of *l after stops

*l > ɬ / S_

Development of ejectivity

*S > S’ / ʔ_
*S > S’ / _ʔ

Resolution of lambda clusters

*C > Ø / C_l

Debuccalization and replacement of of *l

*l *ɹ > ʕ l

Introduction of vowel harmony

Vowels fall into either the u-state or the o-state depending on the final vowel of the word

Affrication of lateral clusters

*tɬ *t’ɬ *kɬ *k’ɬ *qɬ *q’ɬ > tɬ tɬ’ kx kx’ qχ qχ’
*ɾdl *ɾdɹ *ɾgu̯ *ɾgi̯ > ɾtɬ ɾts

Loss of final vowels

*V > Ø / _# (monophthongs only)

Anticipatory yer deletion

*ъ > Ø / _w
*ь > Ø / _j
*ѣ > {ə,a} / _{u̯,i̯}

Vocalization of yers

*ъ *ь *ѣ > u/o e/i a/ə

Debuccalization of taps

*ɾ > Ø / _g
*ɾ > ʔ

Denasalization of *n?

*n > {d,g}?

To Täptäg

This is still somewhat incomplete…some of the symbols I'm using as kind of shorthand so I don't have to type things out a million times.

More: show

Debuccalization of *s

*s > h

First palatalization

*b *t *k *kʷ *q *qʷ *ʔ > f s x xʷ χ χʷ h / _{ь,i̯,i}

Spreadout of the vowel system

*a *ã *ĩ *ũ > ə a e o

Coda phonation redistribution

*V(C)h *V(C)ʔ > *V̤(C) *Vˀ(C) / _%

Voicing

*t *k *kʷ *q *qʷ > d g gʷ ɢ ɢʷ / {Y,V}_{Y,V,ɾ,ɹ,l}

*sьqat > hьɢət

Nasalization of *ɢ

*ɢ *ɢʷ > ŋ ŋʷ

Dorsal fricative push chain

*x(ʷ) *χ *χʷ > h̪͆ x xʷ

Second palatalization

*K *Kʷ > Ḱ Ḱʷ / _E
*k(ʷ) *g(ʷ) *x *xʷ > c ɟ ʃ ʃ͜ɸ

*O-domain simplification

*-kS- *-ʔS- *-hS- > -Sʶ- -Sː- -Sʰ-
*-bs- *-bʃ- > s͎ ʃ͎
*-bχ(ʷ)- *-kχ(ʷ)- *-qχ(ʷ)- *-ʔχ(ʷ)- > -pʶ- -kʶ- -qʶ- -h(ʷ)-

Disposal of rounded dorsals

*ŋʷ *kʷ *qʷ *gʷ *xʷ *hʷ > ŋ k q g x h / _{ъ,u̯,u,o}
*ŋʷ {*kʷ,*qʷ} *gʷ {*xʷ,*hʷ} > m p b ɸ

Fronting of uvulars

*q *χ > k x

Yer-crazy

*bYs *bYʃ > z͎ ʒ͎ / _{ɾ,ɹ,l,V}
*sYb *ʃYb > s͎ ʃ͎ / _{ɾ,ɹ,l,V}
*S˭ *Sʰ *Sː > Z Sʱ S / ʔY_{ɾ,ɹ,l,V}
*Y > Ø / {s,ʃ}_
*t *k > ʔ h / _Y
*Y > Ø
{ʔ,h}S {ʔ,h}Z > Sʰ Z̥

*tьba *tъba *kьba *kъba > sьbə tъbə ʃьbə hъbə > s͎ə b̥ə ʃ͎ə bʱə

My employer still has my *W₂?

*i̯ʔ *u̯ʔ > d g
*ai̯ *əi̯ *ei̯ *oi̯ *ui̯ > æ ɑe æe oe i
*au̯ *əu̯ *eu̯ *iu̯ *ou̯ > o eɑ æo eo u
*a *ə *i > ɑ i eæ
*V(C)ʔ *V(C)h > Vː(C) Ṽ(C) / _%

Loss of *W₁ and changes to onset resonants

*l *ɹ > *w *j / _V
*W₁ > Ø

Fortition of the velar nasal

*ŋ *ŋ̊ > g g̊

Epenthesis

*ɾɹ *ɾl *ɾw *ɾj > ɾdj ɾdw ɾgw ɾgj (vel. sim. if in clusters preceded by original *b *k *ʔ *s—this gives us outcomes like ɾtʶj- ɾtw- ɾkʰw- ɾg̊j-, as appropriate)

Nasalization of *l

*l > n

Vive la France

*ɹ > ʁ~χ (with trilled release)

A few notes:

- /s͎ z͎ ʃ͎ ʒ͎/ here are whistled fricatives.
- I'm going for five stop series: Unvoiced, voiced, aspirated, slack voiced, and voiceless with dorsal frication.
- We have all of /ɸ f h̪͆/ if I've played my cards right.
- /χ͈~ʁ͈/ is supposed to be a fricative with a trilled release.

Ultimately I'm trying to end up with something like:

/m m̥ n n̥/ m mh n nh
/p pʰ pʶ b b̥ t tʰ tʶ d d̥ c cʰ cʶ ɟ ɟ̊ k kʰ kʶ g g̊/ p ph pj b bh t th tj d dh [see below]
/ɸ h̪͆ s z ʃ ʒ χ͈~ʁ͈ h/ f x s z š ž ř h
/s͎ z͎ ʃ͎ ʒ͎/ sv zv šv žv
/ɾ/ r

/æ æ̃ æː e ẽ eː i ĩ iː ɑ ɑ̃ ɑː o õ oː u ũ uː/ ä än ää e en ee i in ii a an aa o on oo u un uu
/æo æ̃õ eɑ ẽɑ̃ eo ẽõ ɑe ɑ̃ẽ oe õẽ/ ao aon äa äan äo äon ae aen oe oen (see below)

The palatals and velars have some interplay. Basically, before orthographic e i, c g et al. are palatal; they're velar otherwise. To get a velar before e i, you simply add u: bhorguet /b̥oɾget/. To get palatals before vowels other than e i, add an i if there's an onglide and e otherwise: bhorgeat /b̥oɾɟɑt/ (this is why /æ/ a in the diphthongs, to prevent orthographic collisions).

[Man in Space]

Some updates, plus numbers for Janko.

Proto-Kgáweq’-Täptäg	Kgáweq’ Ortho	Kgáweq’ IPA	Täptäg Ortho	Täptäg IPA
*tisbi̯ei̯ 'one'	dęʼ	dḛʔ	sivae	sivæe̯
*ʔi̯ui̯ 'two'	ʼuʼ	ʔuʔ	ši	ʃi
*ʔluɾablĩ 'three'	łúnâł	ɬúnəɬ	frabe	fɾɑbe
*ʔqabʔtlã 'four'	qʼatl	qʼatɬ	quiiptoan	kiːptwɑ̃
*kъɾɹũɹ 'five'	(tlʼéqgʼodęʼ)	(ˈtɬʼeqχʼodḛʔ)	xrdyoř	h̪͆ɾdjoʁ͈
*ʔtɹiqʔ 'six'	tlʼiqʼ	tɬʼiqʼ	dhoiic	d̥wiːk

Of note is that the Kgáweq’ form (which is updated to correct phonetics; it should be in the u-state, not the o-state) is an innovation; it was a lexicalized phrase, *tɬʼiqʼ-lъ-tisbi̯ei̯ 'six-PRIV-one'.

Sort of an aide-mémoire

More: show

Some notes on Tp:
- PTK *tl > ts in T following *s > h.
- *t > Ø / _{s,ʃ} contemporaneous with *bs *bʃ > s͎ ʃ͎.
- *su̯- > s͎
- deletion of some syllables of #(C)_CV
- The epenthetic stop in *ɾ-R sequences…I forgot I included it the same way in Kgáweq’, so it has been changed: *ɾw- *ɾj- (< **ɾl- **ɾɹ-; original **ɾw- **ɾj- retired to Belize) > rgw- rdj-: rguoon /ɾgwõõ/, äärgou /ææɾgwu/, rdeaa /ɾdjɑɑ/, žvunrdie /ʒ͎ũɾdje/.
- ceuř /cuʁ͈/, ciuř /cjuʁ͈/, quiin /kĩː/, quei /kji/, aasquie /aːskje/, cui /kwi/, cue /cwe/, quo /kwo/, queuo /kewo/, cueuo /kwewo/…
- geoon /ɟõː/, gion /ɟjõ/, gon /gõ/, gueon /gjõ/, geoin /ɟwĩ/, gi /ɟi/, goä /gwæ/, goee /gweː/, duguen /dugẽ/…
- *wu ji (< *Ru *Ri) are retained as such but spelt ou ei (and ouu eii oun ein vel. sim.).

On the way to Kg:
- *ʔu̯eʔ > ʔØVØ
- *C{Y,V}bV > Z{Y,V}ʔu̯V
- Switch *l *ɹ > *w *j / _V and *W₁ > Ø
- *ɾ > d
- *ts remained as such and did not debuccalize, > *s, t > ts / _{i̯,i}
- *b > ʔ / _C

[Man in Space]

Kgáweqʼ may come to feature an unusual and mildly productive derivational operation. I noticed I had a minimal pair ’ấsts’âd /ˈʔəsts’əd/ 'to harm' and ’âsts’ấd /ʔəsˈts’əd/ 'to debate'; they differ solely in stress assignment.

This piqued my curiosity as, if you turned your head and squinted, it doesn't seem that much of a stretch to kind of get from one concept to the other. I therefore decided it originated in a language game or taboo deformation process whereby the stress of the root was reversed to make it euphemistic-sounding. Certain of these happened to be coïncidental, some kind of fell victim to a sort of euphemism treadmill, some were just colloquialisms that were picked up. Literally, it's a reversal of the stress pattern on the root: ’ấsts’âd 'to harm' is therefore the original, with ’âsts’ấd 'to debate' being the derived form. This in many cases has a decidedly slangy overtone to it, somewhat like a more scholarly Pig Latin; some of these have themselves come to be seen as profane. Others, however, have basically ascended.

----------------

Considering using the turn G for the velar nasal again, as in Gamilaraay…

_⅁askar a_⅁an k_⅁

That doesn't compose very well on here. Hmm.

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Scratch space for some miscellaneous notes on KT

More: show

ʔo̰ˈdaq < ʔo̰ˈdaq
ʔu
ʔъɾ{l,ɹ}aq(a) > ʔъɾd{l,ɹ}aq(a)
ʔъʔɾd{l,ɹ}aq(a) – Rdɾ metathesis, R becomes creaky voice on the yer

*ʔъ > ř

----------------

Backing up some old information from the Other Place to save on number of open sites and tabs. Much of the below is well out-of-date but I do need to use it as a reference at the least.

Greater O

More: show

Okay, so this started out as part of the 9-phoneme challenge on the ZBB, and I decided I'd like to throw a language family made out of this into my conworld. Feedback would be much appreciated, especially for those of you with extensive knowledge on PIE and its ablaut.

Phonology
/p t k |N| h j w ʁ e/ p t k {n,m} h j w r e

Allophony
- p t k > pf ts kx / _j
- |N| h j w ʁ > |N̩| a i u a / {C,#}_#
- p t k > β z ɣ / V_V (V in this case can be |N̩|)
- p t k > f s x / _# (I'm thinking about not doing this, however)
- |N| assimilates to the POA of a nearby consonant unless it's intervocalic, between a vowel and a word boundary, or between two /h/s

I'm wanting this to be sort of like Salish in that nouns are more like verbs.

In the main descendant of this language, I want the word for "people, beings" to be o and become the endonym (hence "O Language").

So far I think I have a plural prefix *r, a verb root *w "be conscious", and a "specifier"/deverbal/what-have-you-Salish-type-thing infix *-e-. This yields the proto-form *rwe [ʁwe] "the ones who have consciousness" (> O o "the people"). Without the specifier, the form would be *rw [ʁu] "they have consciousness". Given another root, say *tjk [tsix] "eat", the infixed form would be *tjek "eater". Plural forms would be *rtjk [atsix] "they eat" and *rtjek [atsjex] "eaters".

The *e-infixed words would be used to mark the subject and the benefactive. Roots appearing as a predicate or in object position would not take the *e-infix.

Apophony

I want to include some sort of apophony or ablaut in this language involving transitivity. I'm currently thinking perhaps *Ø ~ *j ~ *h for intransitive, transitive, and transitive with a dative/benefactive argument:

*nr [na] "play, exercise" ~ *njr [nja] "play (a game), exercise (a muscle)" ~ *nhr [naʁ] "play (a game) for s.o., exercise for s.o./s.th." (e.g., an army)
*kwn [kun] "go to the market" ~ *kjwn [k͜xjun] "buy (s.th.)" ~ *hkwn [aɣun] "buy (s.th., for s.o.)" (note the metathesis)
*wt [us] "sing" ~ *jwt [jus] "sing (s.th.)" ~ *hwt [hus] "sing (s.th.) for s.o."

Certain verbs (such as *e "exist") can take the transitive affixes with slightly shifted semantic meanings (cf. how "disappear" in English can be used transitively to make a causative: He disappeared him):

*e [e] "exist" ~ *je [je] "build" ~ *he [he] "build s.th. for s.o." (I'm not sure how to handle the *e-infix with verbs with a native *e in them; any ideas?)

Numbers
*tn [tn̩] "zero"
*wr [wa] "one"
*trkh [taɣa] "two"
*jn [jn̩] "three"
*wrt [was] "four"
*tje [t͜sje] "five"
*rh [ʁa] "six"
*rhwr [ʁawa] "seven"
*rhtrkh [ʁazaɣa] "eight"
*rhjn [ahin] "nine"
*rhwrt [rawas]"ten"
*rhtje [ratsje] "eleven"
*trkhrh [taɣaʁa] "twelve"

Roots with no nucleus
Certain roots, including all roots with no resonant (such as *kp "twist, bend, contort") take an epenthetic /e/ in the intransitive. Certain roots with resonants do as well, though this is not very common. These will be denoted with a (e)—*k(e)p, *h(e)k "sniff at, smell".

*kep ~ kjp ~ khp
*hek ~ hik ~ hhp

The *-e- infix in roots with *e
In a root with native *e the *-e- infix takes the variant form *-j-.

*je (no infix) ~ *jej (infixed form)

Multisyllabic roots
Multisyllabic roots have the apophony applied to the final syllable of the root.

*teknt "dig" ~ *tekjnt "dig (s.th.) (up)" ~ *tekhnt "dig (s.th.) for (s.o.)"

Okay, on to tenses.

Tenses
There are four tenses, the prefixes appearing after the plural-subject marker (if applicable):
*w- distant past (typically more than a generation or two before)
*h- recent past
*Ø- present
*jp- future

A couple of examples:

*wre [uʁe] "they existed (long ago)" ~ *hre [aʁe] "they existed" ~ *re [ʁe] "they exist" ~ *jpre [ipʁe] "they will exist"
*ww [wu] "he was conscious (long ago)" (also used as a euphemism for "he died") ~ *hw [hu] "he was conscious" ~ *w [u] "he is conscious" ~ *jpw [ivu] "he will be conscious"
*wnr [una] "he played (long ago)" ~ *hnʁ [ana] "he played" ~ *nr [na] "he plays" ~ *jpnr [ipna] "he will play"
*wkjwn [ukxjun] ~ *hkjwn [akxjun] ~ *kjwn ~ *jpkjwnj [ipkxjun]
*whwt [uhus] ~ *hhwt [ahus] ~ *hwt [hus] ~ *jphwt [iphus]

Object-marking
Object-markers typically are suffixes.

*-r 1sg
*-wn 2sg
*-h 3sg alive
*-k 3sg nonliving
*-tj 1pl
*-pw 2pl
*-nk 3pl alive
*-he 3pl nonliving

The same markers are used for marking both the direct object and the dative/benefactive, the suffixes appearing in that order.

*rhektj [ahektsi] "they built it for me"

Some tweaks to the sound changes:

j > Ø / C_V
N̩ > on / _#
N̩ > o / else
pf ts kx > f s x
Vɣ > Vː
Two like vowels (lengths can be different) in hiatus drop one
we weː > o oː
o(ː) > u(ː) / ! ʁ_
i(ː) u(ː) > iə uə
aj aːj ej eːj > e eː i iː
i(ː) u(ː) > e(ː) o(ː) / ʁ_
β z > β~w ɾ
k h > q χ / _ʁ
k h > q χ / ʁ_
j > ʒ > z
i u > j w / _V
i u > j w / V_
wa > wo
aː eː iː oː uː > ɛə ej aj ow aw
ɛə iə uə > ɛ~ə ɨ ə
j > Ø / _w
w > Ø / _j
Glides break up hiatus; glides are /w/ between two central vowels, the POA of a non-central vowel adjacent to a central vowel, or the POA of the first vowel
a > ɛ / ! ʁ_
ʁ > Ø
aj aw > ae ao
Vh > Vː / _{#,C}
Vh > Vːj / _E
Vh > Vːw / _B
h > Ø / C_V
kBG xBG qBG χBG > kʷ xʷ qʷ χʷ (G here is one of h,w,j)
x xʷ > ː {w,ɥ} / E_#
Two plosives assimilate to the second

Okay, let's take a look at the week's Lexember vocabulary as reflected in O (again, haven't run these through an actual SCA, this is just by-eyeing it):

Lexember 1 – *hjt [his] "be a parent" > his ⟨his⟩ (pl. ɛːjis ⟨è:yis⟩)

Derived terms:
- *hjjt [hjis] "beget, father, mother" > his ⟨his⟩
- *hjet [hjes] "parent" > hes ⟨hes⟩
- *rhjet [ʁajes] "parents" > eːs ⟨e:s⟩

Lexember 2 – *kwr [kwa] "be male" > kwo ⟨kwo⟩

Derived terms:
- *kwer [kweʁ] "man, male" > kwo ⟨kwo⟩ (pl. ɛkwo ⟨èkwo⟩)
- *kjwr [kxjuʁ] "become a man; make a man out of s.o." > xo ⟨go⟩ (pl. ɛxo ⟨ègo⟩)
- *hkwr [aɣwa] "make a man out of s.o." > ɛwo~əwo ⟨ëwo⟩

Lexember 3 – *knwr [kn̩wa] "be friendly, (be a) friend" > kʷo ⟨ḳo⟩

Derived terms:
- *knwer [kn̩weʁ] "friend" > kʷo ⟨ḳo⟩ (pl. ɛjowo~əwowo ⟨ëjowo~ëwowo⟩)
- *knhwr [kn̩hwa] "brown-nose (for some reason)" > kʷwo ⟨ḳwo⟩

Lexember 4 – *hkw (metathesized form *khw) [aɣu] "be married" > ɛːw~əːw ⟨ëw⟩

Derived terms:
- *hkew [aɣew] (pl. *rkhew [akhew]) "spouse" > ɛːw~əːw ⟨èw⟩ (pl. akiw ⟨akiw⟩)
- *khhw [kahu] "be married to (s.o.)" > kɛːwə ⟨kè:wơ⟩
- *hkjw [ak͜xju] "marry (two people)" > ɛxə ⟨ègơ⟩
- *hkjew [ak͜xjew] (pl. *rkhjew [akhjew]) "justice of the peace, minister, one who conducts marriages" > ɛxew ⟨ègew⟩ (pl. akzew ⟨akzew⟩)
- *jphkew [iβaɣew] "betrothed, fiancé(e), one engaged to be married" > ɨβɛjew~ɨβəjew ⟨ưvëyew⟩ (pl. eβɛjew~eβəjew ⟨evëyew⟩)

Lexember 5 – *hk [ax] (transitive form *hjk [hix]) "adopt, raise as one's own; vouch (for), support" > ɛː ⟨è:⟩, hɨx ⟨hưg⟩

Derived terms:
- *hek [hex] "adoptive parent; sponsor" > heː ⟨heg⟩
- *hhk [hax] "look after/raise someone's child for them/in their stead" > hɛː ⟨hèg⟩

Lexember 6 – *hrwk [hʁux] "be ashamed" > χox ⟨xog⟩

Derived terms:
- *hrwjk [hawix] "disown" > hɛwɨx ⟨hèwưg⟩
- *hrwhk [hawax] "disown (s.o.) for X reason" > hɛwox ⟨hèwog⟩

Lexember 7 – *tj [tsi] "(be a) slave" > sɨ ⟨sư⟩

Derived terms:
- *tej [tej] "slave" > ti ⟨ti⟩ (pl. aɾi ⟨ari⟩)
- *tjj [tsji] "enslave" > sɨ ⟨sư⟩ (pl. asɨ ⟨asư⟩)
- *tjej [tsjej] "slave-driver" > si ⟨si⟩ (pl. asi ⟨asi⟩)
- *htj [atsi] "raid for slaves, go to war for slaves" > ɛsɨ ⟨èsư⟩ (pl. asɨ ⟨asư⟩)
- *htjej [atsjej] "slaver, slave merchant, slave trader" > ɛsi ⟨èsi⟩ (pl. asi ⟨asi⟩)
- *htej [azej] "former slave" > ɛɾi ⟨èri⟩ (pl. aɾi ⟨ari⟩)
- *iptej [iptej] "prisoner of war" > ɨtːi ⟨ưtti⟩ (pl. etːi ⟨etti⟩)

O gets a sisterlang! These sound changes are preliminary. I'm not quite sure if I'm satisfied or not w.r.t. the abundance of long vowels that result. Also, how probable is a contrast between /Vw Vj/ and /Vʊ Vɪ/ (as this plays into the sound changes a bit)?

j > Ø / C_V
N̩ > an / _#
N̩ > a / else
V > Vː / in open syllables
pf ts kx > f s x
{a,e}(ː)ʁ(h) i(ː)ʁ(h) u(ː)ʁ(h) > aʊ eʊ oʊ
Vj Vw > Vɪ Vʊ / _{C,#} (creating open syllables)
aː iː uː > ɐː eː oː / _#
a(ː) i(ː) u(ː) > ɐ(ː) e(ː) o(ː) / _N

(Again, these are all by eye, not by sound-change program:)

tn̩ > tan
wa > wɐː
taɣa > taːɣɐː
jn̩ > jan
was > was
se > seː
ʁa > ʁɐː
ʁawa > ʁaːwɐː
ʁazaɣa > ʁaːzaːwɐː
ahin > aːhen
ʁawas > ʁaːwas
ʁatsje > ʁaseː
taɣaʁa > taːɣaːʁɐː
ʁajes > ʁaːjes
kn̩wa > koːwɐː
kn̩weʁ > kaːwaʊ
aɣew > aːɣeʊ
iβaɣew > iːβaːɣeʊ
atsjej > aseɪ

----

β > ʊ / near a back vowel (does not include /a(ː)/
β > b / else
n > ɾ / V_V (applies across word boundaries)
Vn > V[+nas]
S h > N ŋ / _V[+nas]
S > N / _N
Vɣ > Vːʊ
a > e / _j

tn̩ > tan > nãn
wa > wɐː > wɐː
taɣa > taːɣɐː > taːʊɐː
jn̩ > jan > jãn
was > was > was
se > seː > seː
ʁa > ʁɐː > ʁɐː
ʁawa > ʁaːwɐː > ʁaːwɐː
ʁazaɣa > ʁaːzaːwɐː > ʁaːzaːwɐː
ahin > aːhen > aːŋẽn
ʁawas > ʁaːwas > ʁaːwas
ʁatsje > ʁaseː > ʁaseː
taɣaʁa > taːɣaːʁɐː > taːʊaːʁɐː
ʁajes > ʁaːjes > ʁejes
kn̩wa > koːwɐː > koːwɐː
kn̩weʁ > kaːwaʊ > kaːwaʊ
aɣew > aːɣeʊ > aːʊeʊ
iβaɣew > iːβaːɣeʊ > iːbaːʊeʊ
atsjej > aseɪ > aseɪ

----

f s x > v z ɣ / V_V
aɪ aːɪ e(ː)ɪ eʊ iʊ aʊ eːʊ iːʊ aːʊ > e eː əɪ ø y o øː yː oː
wɐ(ː) > wo(ː)
ɐː eː oː > əɪ e o / _#
aː ɐː eː iː oː uː > ɔa̯ əɪ i aɪ u aʊ
ɐ > ə
V[+nas] > V[-nas]

tn̩ > tan > nãn > nan
wa > wɐː > wɐː > wu
taɣa > taːɣɐː > taːʊɐː > toːəɪ
jn̩ > jan > jãn > jan
was > was > was > was
se > seː > seː > se
ʁa > ʁɐː > ʁɐː > ʁəɪ
ʁawa > ʁaːwɐː > ʁaːwɐː > ʁɔa̯wəɪ
ʁazaɣa > ʁaːzaːwɐː > ʁaːzaːwɐː > ʁɔa̯zɔa̯wu
ahin > aːhen > aːŋẽn > ɔa̯ŋen
ʁawas > ʁaːwas > ʁaːwas > ʁɔa̯was
ʁatsje > ʁaseː > ʁaseː > ʁɔa̯se
taɣaʁa > taːɣaːʁɐː > taːʊaːʁɐː > tuɔa̯ʁəɪ
ʁajes > ʁaːjes > ʁejes > ʁɔa̯jes
kn̩wa > koːwɐː > koːwɐː > kuwə
kn̩weʁ > kaːwaʊ > kaːwaʊ > kɔa̯wo
aɣew > aːɣeʊ > aːʊeʊ > uø
iβaɣew > iːβaːɣeʊ > iːbaːʊeʊ > aɪbuø
atsjej > aseɪ > aseɪ > azəɪ

----

o > u / ! K_, _K
ɔa̯ > ə / {ʁ,ŋ}_
ɔa̯ > o
{ø,y} > ʏ̯ / V_
ø > e
V{j,w}V(ɪ,ʏ,ʊ) > Vː(ɪ,ʏ,ʊ)
i u > e o / ʁ_
KBG > Kʷ
ʁ > ɣ (> x / #_)
N > Ø / _#

tn̩ > tan > nãn > nan > na
wa > wɐː > wɐː > wu > wu
taɣa > taːɣɐː > taːʊɐː > toːəɪ > toːɪ
jn̩ > jan > jãn > jan > ja
was > was > was > was > was
se > seː > seː > se > se
ʁa > ʁɐː > ʁɐː > ʁəɪ > xəɪ
ʁawa > ʁaːwɐː > ʁaːwɐː > ʁɔa̯wəɪ > xəːɪ
ʁazaɣa > ʁaːzaːwɐː > ʁaːzaːwɐː > ʁɔa̯zɔa̯wu > xəzəː
ahin > aːhen > aːŋẽn > ɔa̯ŋen > əŋe
ʁawas > ʁaːwas > ʁaːwas > ʁɔa̯was > xəːs
ʁatsje > ʁaseː > ʁaseː > ʁɔa̯ze > xəze
taɣaʁa > taːɣaːʁɐː > taːʊaːʁɐː > tuɔa̯ʁəɪ > tuəɣəɪ
ʁajes > ʁaːjes > ʁejes > ʁɔa̯jes > xʷəs
ʁajes > ʁaːjes > ʁejes > ʁejes > xeːs
kn̩wa > koːwɐː > koːwɐː > kuwə > kʷə
kn̩weʁ > kaːwaʊ > kaːwaʊ > kɔa̯wo > kʷo
aɣew > aːɣeʊ > aːʊeʊ > uø > uʏ
iβaɣew > iːβaːɣeʊ > iːbaːʊeʊ > aɪbuø > aɪbuʏ
atsjej > aseɪ > aseɪ > azəɪ > azəɪ

Final phonology and romanization of O

/m n/ ⟨m n⟩
/p t k kʷ q qʷ/ ⟨p t k ḳ q q̇⟩
/ɸ β~w s z x xʷ χ χʷ h/ ⟨f b s z g ġ x ẋ h⟩
/ɾ/ ⟨r⟩
/w j/ ⟨w y⟩

/a aː ɛ ɛː ɛ~ə ɛː~əː e eː i iː ə əː ɨ ɨː o oː u uː/ ⟨a a: è è: ë ë: e e: i i: ơ ơ: ư ư: o o: u u:⟩
/ae̯ ao̯ ei̯ ou̯/ ⟨áe áo éi óu⟩

The /ɛ~ə ɛː~əː/ are the result of the vowel shift having had different outcomes in different dialects.

I'm also thinking of adding an allophonic process wherein plosives become nasals before another nasal.

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Numbers from Proto-O to O

*tn [tn̩] "zero" > tun ⟨tun⟩
*wr [wa] "one" > wo ⟨wo⟩
*trkh [taɣa] "two" > tɛ~tə ⟨të⟩
*jn [jn̩] "three" > jun ⟨yun⟩
*wrt [was] "four" > wos ⟨wos⟩
*tje [t͜sje] "five" > se ⟨se⟩
*rh [ʁa] "six" > a ⟨a⟩
*rhwr [ʁawa] "seven" > awo ⟨awo⟩
*rhtrkh [ʁazaɣa] "eight" > ɛɾɛ~ɛɾə ⟨èrë⟩
*rhjn [ahin] "nine" > ɛwɨn ⟨èwưn⟩
*rhwrt [rawas]"ten" > awos ⟨awos⟩
*rhtje [ratsje] "eleven" > ase ⟨ase⟩
*trkhrh [taɣaʁa] "twelve" > tɛjɛ~təje ⟨tëyè⟩

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Plurals in O

Plurals in O typically work in one of four ways depending on the initial:

- è- is prefixed, triggering an alternation of prevocalic stops (p : v, t : r, èk : ë)
- Vocalization of uvular fricatives (x,ẋ : a)
- A change in the initial vowel (è : a, i : e, u : o, ei : ae, ou : ao)
- Either no change or an affix derived from a demonstrative for other vowel-initial words, not sure which I'll go with (number is often marked in the predicate in Proto-O)

This goes for both nouns and subject-marking on verbs. In Proto-O, the *e-infix was only used on subjects and dative/benefactives; in copular statements the predicate was treated as a verb:

PO *tej kwr "the slave is a male" (Xtej kwer) > O ti kwo (*ti kwe)
PO *rtej rkwr "the slaves are male(s)" > O èri èkwo

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Verbal argument suffixes in O

To recap the verbal suffixes of Proto-O (I've slightly modified the 3sg-nonliving affix for phonotactic reasons):

*-r 1sg
*-wn 2sg
*-h 3sg alive
*-k(e) 3sg nonliving
*-tj 1pl
*-pw 2pl
*-nk 3pl alive
*-he 3pl nonliving

When only one suffix appears (for the object), the reflexes are as follows.

Following consonants
- The 1sg and 3sg-alive suffix, having merged, are typically -è when following a consonant, triggering the same stop alternations as mentioned above with the plural (it does not vocalize uvular fricatives).
- The 2sg suffix is typically -ưn and triggers the same lenitions.
- The 3sg-nonliving affix is -ke; a preceding plosive or voiceless fricative assimilates to the -k- (sơf "strike" > ơsơkke "he struck it").
- The 1pl affix is -sư.
- The 2pl affix is -pơ (-bơ after vowels); a preceding plosive or voiceless fricative assimilates to the -p- (wonès "feed" > wonèppơ "he fed you all").
- The 3pl-alive affix is -og and triggers the same lenitions as the 1sg affix.
- The 3pl-nonliving affix is -e, but does not trigger lenition.

Syllabification rules

I'm trying to work out the tentative syllabification rules I have for *w *h *r *n *j. I think a close list would be:

• *w *h *r *n *j retain non-syllabic status immediately adjacent to *e.
• If *w *h *r *n *j appear in a cluster with one another, and this cluster is adjacent to *e, the second segment from the *e syllabifies.
• If *w *h *r *n *j appear in a cluster with one another, and this cluster is not adjacent to *e:
  • If the sequence features *n as the second element, and there is no other coda consonant, syllabify the first.
  • If the sequence does not feature *n as the second element, or if there is a coda consonant following *n, syllabification occurs such that the largest legal onset is created, provided that the coda of the same syllable is a maximum of one consonant. A legal onset does not include *h as the second element, nor does it permit a sequence of *hr- in the same syllable.
• If, after applying the above rules, *h would come second in onset position, it metathesizes with the segment immediately to its left and surfaces as [*h] immediately following *e, and [*a] otherwise. If the latter, syllabification for the previous syllable may need to be adjusted.

Hopefully I didn't mess that up. *h and *n throw wrenches into the system.

The Frequentative

The frequentative is formed in Proto-O by reduplication of the first syllable of the root. If there are two consecutive instances of *e, a glide *j* is inserted between them. This may or may not be an innovation from Proto-Tim Ar-O; I haven't decided yet.

*wt [us] 'sing' > *wtwt [uzus] 'hum a few bars, sing a little'
*kjwn [kjun] 'buy (something)' > *kjwnkjwn [kxjuŋkxjun] 'go to the market'
*hkwn [aɣun] 'buy (something for someone)' > *hkwnhkwn [aɣunaɣun] 'do someone's shopping'
*teknt [teɣn̩s] 'dig' > *teteknt [tezeɣn̩s] 'dig around'
*hjt [hit] 'be a parent' > *hjthjt [hithis] 'pretend to be a parent'
*knwr [knuʁ] 'be friendly' > *knwrknwr [knuʁknuʁ] 'hang out'
*hjk [hix] 'vouch for, support' > *hjkhjk [hikhix] 'make excuses for'
*hrwk [hʁux] 'be ashamed' > *hrwkhrwk [hʁukhʁux] 'be embarrassed'

In contemporary O, these forms would be:

*wt > [əs] ơs
*wtwt > [əɾəs] ơrơs
*kjwn > [xən] gơn
*kjwnkjwn > [xəŋxən] gơngơn
*hkwn > [Ewən] ëwơn
*hkwnhkwn > [EwənEwən] ëwơnëwơn
*teknt > [tejəs] teyơs
*teteknt > [teɾewəs] terewơs
*hjt > [hɨs] hưs
*hjthjt > [hɨtɨs] hưtưs
*knwr > [knə] knơ
*knwrknwr > [knəqnə] knơqnơ
*hjk > [hɨx] hưg
*hjkhjk > [hɨkɨx] hưkưg
*hrwk > [ɛjox] èyog
*hrhrwk > [ɛjao̯x] èyaog[/quote]

Temattwespwaypksma

More: show

Background

This language is intended to be a minority language spoken by a group in Tim Ar territory, native to an area along the Burning Mountains.

Phonology

/p t k/ p t k
/s/ s
/w j/ w y

/a ə/ a ə

/s/ is an interesting case—one could make the argument that in this language, it serves as a vowel. It can occur as an initial geminate and can stand as the nucleus of a syllable.

Syllable structure: (s)(O)C(V)(C)

Information density (binary logarithm of possible syllables) is, if I did the math right, about 10.52.

• /a/ is obligatorily nasalized [ã].
• /p t k/ are realized as [m n ŋ] m n ŋ before /a/. This includes when multiple identical segments stand together (e.g., /atta/ [ãnːã]).
• In yet another rip-off of PIE, /w j/ are realized [bku i[/bk] u i when standing in a syllable without a vowel.
• /s/ is realized as [ʃ] before /k j/. This includes when /s/ is both geminated (due to multiple identical segments) and syllabic.
• Syllabification follows the following rules:
  • If a full vowel (one of /a ə/) is present in the syllable, it serves as the nucleus.
  • If no full vowel exists in the syllable, and one of /w j/ is present in the syllable, it vocalizes.
  • In a sequence /wj/ or /jw/, the second vocalizes provided the onset has less than three segments.
  • In a sequence of /wj/ or /jw/, the first vocalizes if the onset has exactly three segments.
  • In a tautosyllabic sequence of three semivowels, the second vocalizes.
  • In the absence of any other vocalic segment in the syllable, /s/ serves as the syllable nucleus.
  • If a syllable has no vowel or semivowel, it must feature /s/.

Some examples:

/stajpwspjssja/ [snãjpuspisːã]
/spksj/ [s̩pkʃi]
/paptja/ [mãptjã]
/js/ [is]
/skpaswə/ [skmãswə]
/aak/ [ããk]
/ajttə/ [ãjtːə]
/stəksj/ [stəkʃi]
/əjsp/ [əjs̩p]
/saaj/ [sããj]
/əsssswas/ [əsːs̩swãs]
/stwəspwajpksppa/ [stwəspwãjpks̩mːã]
/skəswəw/ [ʃkəswəw]
/tsəwas/ [tsəwãs]
/ssajts/ [s̩sãjts̩]
/tats/ [tãts̩]
/skassjətkaəp/ [ʃkãʃːjətŋãəp]
/wə/ [wə]
/sjaspsw/ [ʃjãspsu]
/swa/ [swã]
/spkəj/ [spkəj]
/ajwəsskakspjsw/ [ãjwəʃːŋãkspisu]
/ssjajspəw/ [ʃ̩ʃjãjspəw]
/stəskə/ [stəʃkə]
/kəpspa/ [kəpsmã]
/sjsswəs/ [ʃisːwəs]
/tjajskasət/ [tjajʃŋãsət]
/tjatjə/ [tjãtjə]
/spwaaskaw/ [spwããʃŋãw]
/sps/ [sps̩]
/tə/ [tə]
/taptjə/ [nãptjə]
/swəps/ [swəps̩]
/səspatwa/ [səsmãtwã]
/spa/ [smã]

Writing system

I'm thinking this writing system will have ten letters: The plosives have two each (one marks the nasal allophone), /s/ has one, /w j/ have one each (they are written the same when syllabic or consonantal), and the null onset has one. The vowels /a ə/ are unmarked per se, though in syllables without an onset consonant the null marker would be used and plosives would surface with the nasal allophones before /a/. I haven't decided on the actual forms of the letters, nor their origin; Tim Ar script would be a poor source because it's sort of an inverted alphasyllabary and the vowel is obligatorily marked. The best candidates would probably be a second-generation derivative of Caber at least, or, if the Raholg people developed a writing system, whatever script they end up developing. So, using X for the null onset, here's the gist of it:

/stajpwspjssja/ [snãjpuspisːã] SNYPWSPYSS
/spksj/ [s̩pkʃi] SPKSY
/paptja/ [mãptjã] MPTY
/js/ [is] YS
/skpaswə/ [skmãswə] SKMSW
/aak/ [ããk] XXK
/ajttə/ [ãjtːə] XYTT
/stəksj/ [stəkʃi] STKSY
/əjsp/ [əjs̩p] XYSP
/saaj/ [sããj] SXY

Pronouns

1SG na
2SG ŋat
3SG.M pyə
3SG.F si

1DL wət
2DL pts
3DL.M natəw
3DL.F kitwis

1TR spŋa
2TR skway
3TR.M st
3TR.F skəp

1PL əmat
2PL stut
3PL.M əw
3PL.F styas

Sentence structure and word order

I'm debating the inclusion of this—I'd like to include this in other languages and I don't want this language to just be a one-trick pony. This comes from Daisy Rosenblum's 2013 paper "Passive Constructions in Kwak'wala". Similar to Kwak'wala, sentences in this language typically have two "objects"—one is more akin to the typical direct object, and the other is optional and is some other argument, typically semantically determined by the verb. As a corollary to this, conjunctions typically come after every noun phrase they conjoin, except the last one. So, with X V Y and Y and Y and Y and Y Z and Z, Y is the first "object" and Z is the second.

Verbal locatives

The (s) surfaces if phonotactic rules would be violated otherwise.

-ts toward (somewhere)
-p(s) away from (somewhere)
-ŋatə up(ward)
-a down(ward)
-kyə to the left
-aŋŋa to the right
-wk(s) to the settlement
-ys from the settlement
-yna in a straight line
-əw in a circle, around and around
-ŋanna on or following a set path
-w haphazardly, randomly
-kəsyə up the mountain
-nakwə down the mountain

Numbers

iwak one
ŋanat two
ti three
sknat four
stsǝ five
wǝy six
kǝŋas 6²
smapwǝ 6³
kway 6⁴

Sentence structure and word order in action

Pyə naŋak smasəw
3SG.M gut fish
'he guts the fish'

Pyə naŋak smasəw winaw
3SG.M gut fish knife
'he guts the fish using a knife'

Pyə ŋaspti kiŋaw u stip
3SG.M cut boulder and block.of.stone
'he cuts the boulder and the block of stone'

Pyə ŋaspti kiŋaw u stip pətuk u ŋaspti
3SG.M cut boulder and block.of.stone hammer and chisel
'he cuts the boulder and the block of stone with a hammer and chisel'

In the last example, note how there is no conjunction following the final element in the appropriate series of noun phrases. If there were, it would read *pyə ŋaspti kiŋaw u stip u pətuk u ŋaspti u and be ambiguous—one could read it as the subject cutting the hammer and the chisel instead of using them to cut!

Locative suffixes in action

Pyə kyakyu
pyə kyakyu
3SG.M walk
'he walks'

Pyə kyakyup
pyə kyakyu-p
3SG.M walk-away
'he walks away'

Pyə kyakiwaŋŋa (I really like how the syllabification rules affect this one)
pyə kyakyu-aŋŋa
3SG.M walk-to.the.right
'he walks to the right'

Pyə kyakyuyna
pyə kyakyu-yna
3SG.M walk-in.a.straight.line
'he walks in a straight line'

Pyə kyakyunakwə
pyə kyakyu-nakwə
3SG.M walk-down.mountain
'he walks down the mountain'

The verb

The typical verb template is:

ASPECT - VOICE - STEM/MOOD - LOCATIVE

Aspect

The (s)- only appears if syllabic constraints would be violated otherwise.

Ø- PROGRESSIVE
(s)k- INCEPTIVE
s- STATIVE
(s)t- INCHOATIVE
əp- TERMINATIVE
y- HABITUAL
at- PERFECTIVE

Voice

Ø- ACTIVE
a- PASSIVAL
s- PASSIVE
kw- REFLEXIVE

The difference between the passival and the passive is that the passival carries no information about the agent whereas the passive does. This has pragmatic implications. The passival may also be used in a sort of middle sense.

Mood

-Ø- INDICATIVE
-w- POTENTIAL CONDITIONAL
-y- INTERROGATIVE
-ə- OPTATIVE
-a- VERIDICAL CONDITIONAL

pyə naŋak
pyə naŋak
3SG.M gut/IND
'he guts'

pyə ŋaspti
pyə ŋaspti
3SG.M cut/IND
'he cuts'

pyə nakwak
pyə nak<w>ak
3SG.M gut/POT.COND
'(then) he might gut'

pyə ŋasptuy
pyə ŋaspt<u>y
3SG.M cut/POT.COND
'(then) he might cut'

pyə nakyak
pyə nak<y>ak
3SG.M gut/INT
'is he gutting?'

pyə ŋasptiy
pyə ŋaspt<i>y
3SG.M cut/INT
'is he cutting?'

pyə nakəak
pyə nak<ə>ak
3SG.M gut/OPT
'may he gut'/'if only he would cut'

pyə ŋasptəy
pyə ŋaspt<ə>y
3SG.M cut/OPT
'may he cut'/'if only he would cut'

pyə naŋaak
pyə naŋ<a>ak
3SG.M gut/VERIDICAL.COND
'he would definitely gut'

pyə ŋaspnay
pyə ŋaspt<a>y
3SG.M cut/VERIDICAL.COND
'he would definitely cut'

You can get sentences like the following:

Pyə ismakəyaŋŋa!
pyə y-s-mak<ə>y-aŋŋa
3SG.M HAB-PASS-direct/OPT-to.the.right
'would that he kept being directed to go to the right!'

Akyə ŋaəskyə?
akyə k-a-əsk<y>ə
house INCEPT-PASSIVAL-build/INT
'did they begin to build the house?'/'have they begun to build the house?' (more literally, 'has the house begun building?'; the builders are irrelevant)

Akyə ksəskyə?
akyə k-s-əsk<y>ə
house INCEPT-PASSIVE-build/INT
'has the house begun to be built?' (the builders are relevant somehow)

Pyə atmattyənakwə stut?
pyə at-Ø-matt<y>ə-nakwə stut
3SG.M PERF-ACT-guide/INT-up.the.mountain 2PL
'did he guide y'all up the mountain?' (four or more people)

Nouns

For nouns beginning in a vowel or glide:

Ø- SINGULAR
p- DUAL
s- TRIAL
t- PLURAL

asəw
Ø-asəw
SG-outcropping
'outcropping on the side of a mountain'

masəw
p-asəw
DL-outcropping
'two outcroppings on the side of a mountain'

sasəw
s-asəw
TR-outcropping
'three outcroppings on the side of a mountain'

nasəw
t-asəw
PL-outcropping
'four or more outcroppings on the side of a mountain'

yət
Ø-yət
SG-type.of.bird
'type of bird'

pyət
p-yət
DL-type.of.bird
'two yəts'

syət
s-yət
TR-type.of.bird
'three yəts'

tyət
t-yət
PL-type.of.bird
'four or more yəts'

iskiŋaw
Ø-iskiŋaw
SG-type.of.tree
'one iskiŋaw'

piskiŋaw
p-iskiŋaw
DL-type.of.tree
'two iskiŋaws'

siskiŋaw
s-iskiŋaw
TR-type.of.tree
'three iskiŋaws'

tiskiŋaw
t-iskiŋaw
PL-type.of.tree
'four iskiŋaws'

For nouns beginning in an obstruent:

Ø- SINGULAR
w- DUAL
s- TRIAL
a- PLURAL

kusaw
Ø-kusaw
SG-stone
'stone'

ukusaw
w-kusaw
DL-stone
'two stones'

skusaw
s-kusaw
TR-stone
'three stones'

akusaw
a-kusaw
PL-stone
'four or more stones'

Kinship

suŋa grandmother
skiptu grandfather
syuŋa mother, aunt related by blood
awak father, uncle related by blood
əsna sister, female cousin
tə brother, male cousin
mask wife
sknaysu husband

For aunts and uncles not related by blood, you use the particle sk along with the word for "husband" or "wife":

mask awak sk aunt (by marriage)
sknaysu syuŋa sk uncle (by marriage)

These last two terms ended up loaned into some dialects of Ngade n Tim Ar.

Further remarks on numbers

When used with a number word, nouns retain the singular form:

stsǝ smasəw
stsə Ø-smasəw
five SG-fish
'five fish'

Əw skyətina sknat knays!
əw skyət-yna sknat Ø-knays
3PL.M exist-in.straight.line four SG-light
'There are four lights!' (Who remembers this episode of TNG?)

The numbers one to three are typically only used for counting or numbering. It is considered unbecoming to use them adjectivally to denote quantity. Young children can get away with it; anybody older than about six cannot.

The case of skyət

The verb skyət is used for existential constructions, but does not behave like a typical English expletive would. Skyət requires a pronominal subject that agrees in number and gender (if it's not alive, the default is the masculine pronoun, though there are exceptions) with its referent, which appears as a predicate. It can take locative suffixes, as seen above with the "four lights" example.

The exceptions referred to tend to be items associated with women or femininity, though strangely, the word ikyas 'bus, mass transit' also takes the feminine pronoun:

Si skyənaŋŋa ikyas.
si skyət-aŋŋa Ø-ikyas
3SG.F exist-to.the.right SG-bus
'There's a bus over there (to the right).'

Information on Caber is here. I might have to port it over one of these days.

[Man in Space]

Let's see…

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The Bishop of War (native name(s) TBD; the Patchwork States are just that) is a position in the theocratic hierarchy of the Patchwork States. It is only appointed in times of war—technically speaking, any war would do, but in practice it's only reserved for if things are expected to get really pear-shaped.

A prospective bishop of war need not be tied to a particular patron in the (very large and Byzantine) pantheon of the region; clergy (and some clergy-in-training) of any recognized patron are eligible. Bishops can also be either male or female, the idea being that whoever has the best shot at it should wind up in the hot seat.

Tradition is a hard thing to kill, and all Bishops of War have worn a characteristic suit of armor since the point of metal armor as a technology became viable. There's emerged a sort of "consensus" as to what the attributes of the holy mail should be, though there is some room for customization—the "consensus" explicitly has guidelines permitting the officeholders over the years to incorporate advances in military technology—and the suit is made new for each incumbent (a feat achieved much more quickly in the era of modern technology; you just have to bless the machines, the operators, the materials, and the local power grid [yes, really] first, and you're good). It is not particularly actually practical as armor; it is essentially an NFL mascot suit with a few layers of Kevlar sandwiched in the costume fabric, more for looking badass and optimizing morale than actual use. This is a full-on metal suit of armor, and it comes with three swords (two long, thin swords with pommels like Count Dooku's lightsaber for dual-wielding and a bigger, beefier sword that is almost parodic in its construction) and two shields—one small, kind of between a buckler and a run-of-the-mill one-handed shield, and one large, used for situations where extra defense (or countermeasures; there's some gnarly spikes at the top) is required. The large shield is almost never bandied about unless you're, like, defending innocents from a siege or something.

Not sure what to do about how the armorers react to the invention of firearms. Part of me wants to think "ceremonial, so keep it simple" and part of me thinks "there'd be at least one John Wayne-type prior Bishop of War who did some gunslinging…"

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Some updated work on Təmattwəspwəyksma (needs a slight name change, to Tsəmbaktswəspwəyksma):

/p k h/ p k h
/w s j/ w s y

/Ø a ə (i) (u)/ – a ə (i) (u)

If the nucleus is the null vowel, at least one of s w y must be present in the syllable: /papØs/ [mãps̩] maps, /wØs/ us, /ssØk/ [^ts̩n] tsn, /phkØj/ [phti] phti, /pwØi/ pwi.

- /a/ is obligatorily nasalized [ã]
- /pp kk hh/ → [^bm ^dn ^gŋ] bm dn gng / _(w,y)a (/pwakkas/ [mwã^dnãs] mwadnas 'radish, tuber', /ahha/ [ã^gŋã] agnga, /jØkkas/ [i^dnãs] idnas, /əppwa/ [ə^bmwã] əbmwa)
- /p k h/ → [m n ŋ] m n ng / _(w,y)a (/skhaj/ [ʃkŋãj] skngay, /kwak/ [nwãn] nwan, /jØpa/ [imã] ima, /spa/ [smã] sma, /phakə/ [pŋãkə] pngakə)
- /p k/ → [m n] / _# (/asap/ [ãɹãm] aram 'quickly; soon', /paysswØk/ [mãj^tsun] maytsun, hsk [hs̩n] hsn)
- /ss/ → [t] / _# (/kass/ [nãt] nat 'loss')
- /ss/ → [^ts] (/passa/ [mã^tsã] matsa, /sswØkwØ/ [^tsuku] tsuku)
- /s/ → [ɹ] / {V,N}_{V,N} (/pasa/ [mãɹã] mara, /jØsppa/ [iɹ^mbã] irmba, /asjØ/ [ãɹi] ari, /wØsass/ [uɹãt] urat)
- /s/ → [ʃ] / _{ŋ,^gŋ,k,j,i} (/ska/ [ʃŋã] snga, /skjə/ [ʃkjə] skyə, /sjəsə/ [ʃjəɹə] syərə, /sjØp/ [ʃim] sim, /skha/ [ʃkŋã] sknga)
- /k/ → [t] / _{j,i} ! _a (/kjØs/ tis, /akjəss/ [ãtjət] atyət, /kwØskjØ/ [kuʃti] kusti, /akkjəka/ [ãktjənã] aktyəna, /kakjØs/ [nãtis] natis)
- /ww jj/ → [^mb ⁿdʒ] mb nj / _a (/kawwa/ [nã^mbã] namba, /kjəjja/ [tjəⁿdʒã] tyənja)
- /ww jj/ → [b dʒ] b j else (/wØksawwØj/ [uksãbi] uksabi, /shayyəp/ [sŋãdʒəm] sngajəm)

(s)(O)C(V)(C)

Tsəmbaktswəspwəyksma [^tsə^mbã^tswəspwəyks̩mã] /ssəwwaksswəspwəjkspa/

ssəw · wak · sswəs · pwəj · ks · pa
sOVC · CVC · sOYVC · OYVY · Cs · CV

For our esteemed friend Janko, some numbers:

Number	Phonemic	Phonetic	Romanized
1 (one)	/iwak/	[iwãn]	iwan
2 (two)	/hakass/	[ŋãnãt]	nganat
3 (three)	/kjØ/	[ti]	ti
4 (four)	/skhas/	[ʃkŋãs]	skngas
5 (five)	/ssǝ/	[tsǝ]	tsǝ
6 (six)	/wǝj/	[wǝj]	wǝy
7 (seven)	/hakass.ssǝ/	[ŋãnãtstsi]	nganatstsi
8 (eight)	/kjØ.ssǝ/	[titsã]	titsǝ
9 (nine)	/skhas.ssǝ/	[ʃkŋãstsǝ]	skngastsǝ
10 (ten)	/skhas.wǝj/	[ʃkŋãswǝj]	skngaswǝy
36 (6²)	/kǝhas/	[kǝŋãs]	kǝngas
216 (6³)	/spapwa/	[smãmwã]	smamwa
1'296 (6⁴)	/kwaj/	[nwãj]	nway

pyə nyatyu + -agnga = pyə nyatiwagnga
pyə nyatyu + -p = pyə nyatyum

A	Singular	Dual	Trial	Plural
1	na	wət	spnga	əmat
2	ngat	pts	sngway	tsut
3	pyə	natəw	ts	əw
4	si	tswis	skəm	snyas

Some verbal locatives I devised a while back, updated:

/-ss/ [-t] -t 'toward (somewhere)'
/-p(s)/ [-m/-ps̩] -m/-ps 'away from (somewhere)'
/-hassə/ [-ŋã^tsə] -ngatsə 'up(ward)'
/-a/ [-ã] -a 'down(ward)'
? 'upwind'
? 'downwind'
/-kjə/ [-tjə] -tyə 'to the left'
/-ahha/ [-ã^gŋã] -agnga 'to the right'
/-wk(s)/ [-wn/-un] -wn/-un 'to the settlement'
/-js/ [-js/-is] -ys/-is 'from the settlement'
/-jka/ [-jnã/-inã] -yna/-ina 'in a straight line'
/-əw/ [-əw] -əw 'in a circle, around and around'
/-hakka/ [-ŋã^dnã] -ngadna 'on or following a set path'
/-w/ [-w/-u] -w/-u 'haphazardly, randomly'
/-kəsyə/ [-kəʃjə] -kəsyə 'up the mountain'
/-kakwə/ [-nãkwə] -nakwə 'down the mountain'

The general verbal template is along these lines:

ASPECT – VOICE – STEM/MOOD – LOCATIVE

ASPECT

Ø- PROGRESSIVE
(s)k- INCEPTIVE
s- STATIVE
(s)k- INCHOATIVE (used for near-future consequent statements, hortatives, imperatives, suggestions, hopes)
əp- TERMINATIVE
y- HABITUAL
ak- PERFECTIVE

VOICE

Ø- ACTIVE
a- PASSIVAL ("the house is building", "the stew is cooking", "the code is compiling", "the plan is forming"…?"a situation is formenting")
s- PASSIVE
kw- REFLEXIVE

----

Segolate development for W-land:

*-CC > -CCV (-CH > -CHa, -CX > -CXi; then we get some analogy or other. Like -CHa ~ -CHi, with lexical retentions from the loser and some new noun pattern deriving out of that. Maybe plural ~ collective? singular ~ dual ~ paucal ~ plural? (paucal.INDEF = "some", paucal.DEF = "many")

----

Miscellanea

Some further, ad-hoc remarks on KT:

More: show

Simultaneous like diphthongs simplify the second
*ɾɹ- > d- / ɾ̥h̪͆-

ʔr > ts

Dr > -ddj-/-ddw-

Glottalized diphthongs tend to become long monophthongs

-dr- > -`t-

affrication before *ь

b > w / _Y
ei̯ > eᵊ

*ъ > Ø / _(ʔ)w

-b > -w
aw > aa
iw, ew > jo
əw > aaw
ow, uw > oj uj

*kɹ- > kt-
*ɾѣɾɹu̯au̯ʔ rdig ɾdig

ʔən < ɾan > ɾin
ʔən < ɾѣn > ɾn-

ʔiʕ < ɾil > ɾeæ̯n
ʔiʕ < ɾьl > ɾdw-

ʔə̰d < ʔãdri > ʔaji aiei
ʔə̰d < ʔѣdi > d̥eæ̯ dhaä-

ˈʔṵʕut < ʔũɹut > ʔojut oieut

Glyph tests:

More: show

_⅁askar a_⅁an k_⅁
⅁askar a_⅁an k_⅁
Test

Test
Test

[bradrn]

Not sure what to do about how the armorers react to the invention of firearms. Part of me wants to think "ceremonial, so keep it simple" and part of me thinks "there'd be at least one John Wayne-type prior Bishop of War who did some gunslinging…"

Perhaps different Bishops could have different tastes in this regard? You’ve already mentioned they allow some level of customisation…

- /a/ is obligatorily nasalized [ã]
- /pp kk hh/ → [^bm ^dn ^gŋ] bm dn gng / _(w,y)a (/pwakkas/ [mwã^gŋãs] mwagngas 'radish, tuber', /ahha/ [ã^gŋã] agnga, /jØkkas/ [i^gŋãs] igngas)
- /p k h/ → [m n ŋ] m n ng / _(w,y)a (/skhaj/ [ʃkŋãj] skngay, /kwak/ [nwãn] nwan, /jØpa/ [imã] ima, /spa/ [smã] sma, /phakə/ [pŋãkə] pngakə)
- /p k/ → [m n] / _# (/asap/ [ãɹãm] aram 'quickly; soon', /paysswØk/ [mãj^tsun] maytsun, hsk [hs̩n] hsn)
- /ss/ → [t] / _# (/kass/ [nãt] nat 'loss')
- /ss/ → [^ts] (/passa/ [mã^tsã] matsa, /sswØkwØ/ [^tsuku] tsuku)
- /s/ → [ɹ] / {V,N}_{V,N} (/pasa/ [mãɹã] mara, /jØsppa/ [iɹ^mbã] irmba, /asjØ/ [ãɹi] ari, /wØsass/ [uɹãt] urat)
- /s/ → [ʃ] / _{ŋ,^gŋ,k,j,i} (/ska/ [ʃŋã] snga, /skjə/ [ʃkjə] skyə, /sjəsə/ [ʃjəɹə] syərə, /sjØp/ [ʃim] sim, /skha/ [ʃkŋã] sknga)
- /k/ → [t] / _{j,i} ! _a (/kjØs/ tis, /akjəss/ [ãtjət] atyət, /kwØskjØ/ [kuʃti] kusti, /akkjəka/ [ãktjənã] aktyəna, /kakjØs/ [nãtis] natis)
- /ww jj/ → [^mb ⁿdʒ] mb nj / _a (/kawwa/ [nã^mbã] namba, /kjəjja/ [tjəⁿdʒã] tyənja)
- /ww jj/ → [b dʒ] b j else (/wØksawwØj/ [uksãbi] uksabi, /shayyəp/ [sŋãdʒəm] sngajəm)

I’m very surprised that /ə/ has no allophony here. At minimum I’d expect something like /əj jə əw wə/ → [e e o o]. Come to think of it, I’m not sure there’s any two-vowel system where this doesn’t happen.

[Darren]

At minimum I’d expect something like /əj jə əw wə/ → [e e o o]. Come to think of it, I’m not sure there’s any two-vowel system where this doesn’t happen.

I guess there's Nuxálk with allegedly just /a/ that doesn't display notable allophony (and syllabic /j w/). Maybe Arrernte too with /ɪ~ʊ a/ where /ɪ~ʊ/ variation is fairly unconditioned? And I'm tempted to say some stage of PIE (if at one point it had just */a aː/ or */æ ɒ/ or something)? I think with the syllabic semivowels it's reasonable enough.

[Travis B.]

Tradition is a hard thing to kill, and all Bishops of War have worn a characteristic suit of armor since the point of metal armor as a technology became viable. There's emerged a sort of "consensus" as to what the attributes of the holy mail should be, though there is some room for customization—the "consensus" explicitly has guidelines permitting the officeholders over the years to incorporate advances in military technology—and the suit is made new for each incumbent (a feat achieved much more quickly in the era of modern technology; you just have to bless the machines, the operators, the materials, and the local power grid [yes, really] first, and you're good). It is not particularly actually practical as armor; it is essentially an NFL mascot suit with a few layers of Kevlar sandwiched in the costume fabric, more for looking badass and optimizing morale than actual use. This is a full-on metal suit of armor, and it comes with three swords (two long, thin swords with pommels like Count Dooku's lightsaber for dual-wielding and a bigger, beefier sword that is almost parodic in its construction) and two shields—one small, kind of between a buckler and a run-of-the-mill one-handed shield, and one large, used for situations where extra defense (or countermeasures; there's some gnarly spikes at the top) is required. The large shield is almost never bandied about unless you're, like, defending innocents from a siege or something.

Not sure what to do about how the armorers react to the invention of firearms. Part of me wants to think "ceremonial, so keep it simple" and part of me thinks "there'd be at least one John Wayne-type prior Bishop of War who did some gunslinging…"

Does it look something like this:



or



?

[Travis B.]

At minimum I’d expect something like /əj jə əw wə/ → [e e o o]. Come to think of it, I’m not sure there’s any two-vowel system where this doesn’t happen.

I guess there's Nuxálk with allegedly just /a/ that doesn't display notable allophony (and syllabic /j w/). Maybe Arrernte too with /ɪ~ʊ a/ where /ɪ~ʊ/ variation is fairly unconditioned? And I'm tempted to say some stage of PIE (if at one point it had just */a aː/ or */æ ɒ/ or something)? I think with the syllabic semivowels it's reasonable enough.

I usually take posited "syllabic semivowels" to mean that the people doing the analysis are being too clever.

[keenir]

awesome creation - these bishops

Not sure what to do about how the armorers react to the invention of firearms. Part of me wants to think "ceremonial, so keep it simple" and part of me thinks "there'd be at least one John Wayne-type prior Bishop of War who did some gunslinging…"

I'd imagine that some Bishops Of War would want their guns to be just as ornate as their swords.

[Travis B.]

Would latter-day Bishops of War wear power armor, and their holy gun be something like an autocannon in the form of a howitzer?