Verse:Mwail/Classical Thean: Difference between revisions

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=== Simple initials ===
=== Simple initials ===
* /m n l r/ m n l r
* /m n l r/ m n l r
* /p t k kʷ/ p t tz k kw
* /p t k kʷ/ p t tz k kw
* /bʰ dʰ dðʰ gʰ gʷʰ/ bh dh dzh gh gwh
* /bʰ dʰ dʑʰ gʰ gʷʰ/ bh dh dzh gh gwh
* /pʼ tʼ tθʼ kʼ kʷʼ/ b d dz g gw
* /pʼ tʼ tɕʼ kʼ kʷʼ/ b d dz g gw
* /θ s̠ x xʷ ʔ/ z s h2 h3 h1
* /ɕ s̠ x xʷ ʔ/ z s h2 h3 h1
* /j w/ y w
* /j w/ y w



Revision as of 15:25, 24 March 2025

Textual witnesses

Early Old Thean (perceived as a poetic register during the Late OTh period)

  • A rhyming prose tale, The Tale of the Alchemist, committed to writing during the Late Old Thean period
  • An Odyssey analogue (with more regular meter)

Late Old Thean (basis of Literary Thean)

  • The Code of Lady Naa¹³-Xay¹¹ (<- Tentative ModThean reading)

Late Old Thean Phonology

Simple initials

  • /m n l r/ m n l r
  • /p t tɕ k kʷ/ p t tz k kw
  • /bʰ dʰ dʑʰ gʰ gʷʰ/ bh dh dzh gh gwh
  • /pʼ tʼ tɕʼ kʼ kʷʼ/ b d dz g gw
  • /ɕ s̠ x xʷ ʔ/ z s h2 h3 h1
  • /j w/ y w

Nuclei

/i e a o u iː eː aː oː uː ai au ei eu oi ou/

Finals

/-m -n -l -r -j -w -mʔ -nʔ -lʔ -rʔ -jʔ -wʔ -ʔ -p -t -k -kʷ, -s, -Cs/

The Early Old Thean auxiliary

The Early Old Thean clause-initial auxiliary was inflected for subject agreement, tense, mood, and independent vs. dependent clauses in a system about as complex as Colloquial Welsh. In subordinate clauses, the auxiliary often cliticized to the subordinating conjunction used.

The auxiliary had a zero form for the 2nd person present independent. (Cf. Welsh zero for 2sg present)

  • Present tense affirmative: 1sg soi, 2sg sou, 3sg laː, 1pl.ex, sol, 2pl son, 3pl lar
  • Present tense interrogative, negative: bhə-gwhai, bhə-gwhau, bhə-gwhaː, bhə-gwhal, bhə-gwhan, bhə-gwhar
  • Present tense relative: h3iː, h2uː, h3aː, h2ol, h2on, h2or
  • Focused: h1ə-gwhaː
    • (dhat muː h1ə-gwhaː h2ay 'I am your father')
  • Past tense affirmative: dzhei, dzheu, dzheː, dzhel, dzhen, dzher
  • Past tense interrogative, negative: h1ə-dzhei, h1ə-dzheu, h1ə-dzheː, h1ə-dzhel, h1ə-dzhen, h1ə-dzher
  • Future tense affirmative: h1ai, h1au, h1aː, h1al, h1an, h1ar
  • Future tense interrogative, negative: h1ə-dhai, h1ə-dhau, h1ə-dhaː, h1ə-dhal, h1ə-dhan, h1ə-dhar
  • Conditional/subjunctive: dhoi, dhou, dhoː, dhol, dhon, dhor

Syntax

The Proto-Trans-Sarnathian word order was T1 S T2 V O. In Old Thean, T2 becomes cliticized or lost. In Early Old Thean, T1 is the only word that inflects in a sentence.

In later OTh, T1 becomes an invariable tense or discourse particle