Figuring out how many sound changes I want
Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:51 pm
Okay, so I'm having trouble figuring out the number of sound changes I want for my language. I've got ~45, but most of them are major, and almost all of them were created with the goal of shifting the language towards certain results (phonology, the evolution of a particular word, etc.) I want some more "minor" sound changes that don't really have a big impact on the language, but are nonetheless present. That said, I'm trying to figure out how many to add to each phase of my language's evolution. I've pretty much got the first phase of the language figured out, but the next two I'm not so sure on.
Basically, what I'm going for is:
Basically, what I'm going for is:
- The first phase, the one I've figured out, should have as many changes as there are between PIE and Proto-Italic. The number I'm going with for this phase is 29, based on the number of sound changes enumerated in Leiden and der Vaan's Etymological Dictionary of Latin; I have 18 so far.
- The second phase should have as many changes as there are between Proto-Italic and Proto-Latino-Faliscan. I have 11 changes so far, and right now am planning 18 in total; however, this is hardly final, as it's based on the proportion of changes I have in the first phase and the number of changes I'm going for.
- The third phase should have as many changes as there are between Proto-Latino-Faliscan and Classical Latin. I have 15 changes so far, and right now am planning on 24; though again, this isn't final since it's based on analogy between this phase and the first.