Verse:Mwail/Ker

Proto-Trans-Sarnathian, a descendant of Proto-Akya-Woms, was spoken 3000 years BP.

Fortunately for Angaian historical linguists, extremely conservative relatives of Zzean within the Trans-Sarnathian branch are spoken in highly mountainous areas. They allow much of Proto-Trans-Sarnathian to be reconstructed.

Tree

• Proto-Trans-Sarnathian
  • Dylathic
    • Dylathian
  • Old Zzean
    • Min analogue (Monosyllabic tonal Navajo gib)
    • Middle Zzean
      • Modern Standard Zzean

Todo

h₂aw-bʰorḱ 'enclosure' → Proto-Trans-Sarnathian obʰroc → Late Old Zzean əvʰɣɑc → Middle Zzean vəjt → EModZz fi(breathy, final stop tone) → ModZz fi͇ (tone class is D2) 'house'

ḱobreb → PTS cobrɛb → -bəb → p'ʌb → pà (E3) ‘cost’

• PTS ə → w
• PTS i → Modern Zzean ⟨ey⟩
• PTS e → i
• PTS a → Modern Zzean ⟨wa⟩
• PTS o → Modern Zzean ⟨a⟩
• PTS u → ɨ → Modern Zzean /i/ ⟨i⟩
• PTS ew → ea
• PTS aw → ea
• PTS ow → wa
• PTS ej → ay
• PTS aj → e
• PTS oj → w

Proto-Trans-Sarnathian phonology

Vowels

i ɨ u ə e o a ē ō ā ī ɨ­̄ ū əi əɨ əu aj aɨ au

Consonants

• /m n l r/
• /p t c k kʷ/
• /bʰ dʰ ɟʰ gʰ gʷʰ/
• /pʼ tʼ cʼ kʼ kʷʼ/
• /ç s̠ ʔ/
• /j w/

Stress

Word-final

Grammar

Nouns

Most nouns have an unmarked form and a marked form (called the singulative for sake of convenience) that is only used for indefinite singular nouns. Like Welsh plurals, the singulative is unpredictable and is marked with a suffix, vowel affection, or both.

For the definite article, the appropriate classifier is used, except for inalienably possessed nouns; the number is marked on the classifier.

Verbs

Proto-Trans-Sarnathian switched to using Colloquial Welsh-like constructions using inherited verbal nouns. Old finite verb forms were lost by the Proto-Trans-Sarnathian stage aside from a handful.

Lexicon

• xjeʔ ‘1SG’ (From PAW disjunctive 1SG *h₂yeh₁); Zzean zhi̬
• PAW *sleh₃s → PTS *s-lō-s → Old Zzean *sluəs → lu(C2) → lŵ 'to sit’
• h₂aw-bʰorḱ 'enclosure' → Proto-Trans-Sarnathian obʰroc → Late Old Zzean əvʰɣɑc → Middle Zzean vəjt → EModZz fi(breathy, final stop tone) → ModZz fi͇ (tone class is D2) 'house'
• ḱobreb → PTS k.brɛb → kbəw → p'ʌw → pà (E3) ‘to buy'
• roy ‘in’ → PTS s-roj → rrw̖y ‘interior’
• bʰetr → PTS bʰēr → OZz bʰiən → piən (A2) → piw (A2) → pe̖a ‘(higher register) in (postposition)’; → dialectal pjuː → thw̖ ‘at (postposition)’