Thean

Zzean /ˈθiːən/ is an analytic monosyllabic tonal language in the Akya-Woms family, spoken in Aem-Zmaə. It is head-final and SVO.

Diachronics

Proto-Zzeic was spoken 3000 years BP.

Todo

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

ḱobreb → PZz k.brɛb → kbəb → p'ʌb → pà (E3) ‘cost’

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

Phonology

Vowels

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

→ Early Old Zzean e ə o ʌ ɛ ɔ a iə uə ɨə i ɨ u əi əɨ əu ai aɨ au → Late Old Zzean e ʌ o ɐ ə ɑ æ iə uə ɨə ɪ ə ʊ i ɨ u ai aɨ au (Praveenize /ɛ/ → /ə/ → /ʌ/ → /ɑ/ → /æ/ → /iə/ and /u/ → /i/)

Lexicon

• xjeʔ ‘1SG’ (From PAW disjunctive 1SG *h₂yeh₁); Zzean zhi̬

PAW *sleh₃s → PZz *s-lō-s → Old Zzean *sluəs → lu(C2) → lŵ 'to sit’ h₂aw-bʰorḱ 'enclosure' → Proto-Zzeic obʰroc → Late Old Zzean əvʰɣɑc → Middle Zzean vəjt → EModZz fi(breathy, final stop tone) → ModZz fi͇ (tone class is D2) 'house' ḱobreb → PZz k.brɛb → kbəw → p'ʌw → pà (E3) ‘to buy'

• roy ‘in’ → PZz s-roj → rrw̖y ‘in (preposition)’
• bʰetr → PZz bʰēr → PZz bʰiən → piən (A2) → piw (A2) → pe̖a ‘(higher register) in (postposition)’;

→ dialectal pjuː → thw̖ ‘at (postposition)’