History
- See also: Proto-Indo-European
Pre-??? evolved from the Proto-Indo-European language spoken somewhere in the Eurasian steppes. The following are among the notable changes that occurred as the Pre-??? culture made its way into east Siberia:
- Voiced aspirated consonants became devoiced (but kept their aspiration).
- Short /e/ and /o/ were raised to /i/ and /u/ to make maximal use of the vowel space.
- Afterward, vowel length was lost, so /eː/ and /oː/ became simply /e/ and /o/.
- Labialized consonants delabialized when preceding /u/ and /o/, and palatalized consonants depalatalized when preceding /i/.
- The consonants /j/ and /w/ shifted to /ʒ/ and /v/. Unlike most Indo-European languages where syllabic /j/ and /w/ became vocalic /i/ and /u/, here they remained consonantal.
- When adjacent to a voiceless consonant, /ʒ/ and /v/ became /ʃ/ and /f/.
- Syllabic consonants became disallowed:
- Syllabic /n/ and /r/ fronted to /e/, while syllabic /l/ vocalized to /o/.
- The other syllabic consonants (/j/, /w/, and /m/) took on an epenthetic /a/ to separate them from other consonants. /ʃ/ and /f/ kept their voicelessness when pulled out of consonant clusters, thus cementing them as new phonemes.
- The dual number completely disappeared.
- Thematic inflection paradigms for nouns of the three original grammatical genders (masculine, neuter, and feminine) merged, creating a fourth "thematic" gender.
- This gender adopted /qin/, a simplification of the Proto-Indo-European word for "other", as its pronoun.
- Unlike most Indo-European languages, which simplified the robust case system of Proto-Indo-European, Pre-??? innovated two new cases under influence from nearby Siberian languages:
- A comitative, from the postposition /kum/ ("with") suffixed to the accusative.
- An illative, from the postposition /xin/ ("in") suffixed to the dative.
Phonology
Consonants
Pre-??? possessed the following consonants:
|
|
Labial
|
Alveolar
|
Palatal-
alveolar
|
Palatal
|
Velar
|
Uvular
|
| Palatalized
|
Plain
|
Labialized
|
Plain
|
Labialized
|
| Nasal
|
*m /m/
|
*n /n/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Plosive
|
Voiceless
|
*p /p/
|
*t /t/
|
|
|
*ky /kʲ/
|
*k /k/
|
*kw /kʷ/
|
|
|
| Voiced
|
|
*d /t/
|
|
|
*gy /gʲ/
|
*g /g/
|
*gw /gʷ/
|
|
|
| Aspirated
|
*ph /pʰ/
|
*th /tʰ/
|
|
|
*kyh /kʲʰ/
|
*kh /kʰ/
|
*kwh /kʷʰ/
|
|
|
| Fricative
|
Voiceless
|
*f /f/
|
*s /s/
|
*sh /ʃ/
|
|
|
*x /x/
|
|
*q /χ/
|
*qw /χʷ/
|
| Voiced
|
*v /v/
|
|
*j /ʒ/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Affricate
|
|
|
*ch /t͡ʃ/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Approximant
|
|
*l /l/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Flap/Trill
|
|
*r /r/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vowels
The following vowel phonemes are used:
|
|
Front
|
Central
|
Back
|
| High
|
*i /i/
|
|
*u /u/
|
| Mid
|
*e /e/
|
|
*o /o/
|
| Low
|
|
*a /a/
|
|
Stress accent
Pre-??? inherited the phonemic stress system of Proto-Indo-European. No syllable in a word had to be stressed, and sometimes more than one were. Here, stress is indicated with an acute accent, written thus:
- á é í ó ú
Grammar
Pronouns
The following pronouns were used:
|
|
| 1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
| Sing.
|
Pl.
|
Sing.
|
Pl.
|
Sing.
|
Pl.
|
| Masc.
|
Neut.
|
Fem.
|
Them.
|
Masc.
|
Neut.
|
Fem.
|
Them.
|
| Nominative
|
*xig
|
*evij
|
*fax
|
*jafa
|
*su
|
*tud
|
*siq
|
*qins
|
*tuj
|
*tuq
|
*tiqaj
|
*qini
|
| Accusative
|
*amí
|
*esmí
|
*fí
|
*vos
|
*tum
|
*tiq
|
*qim
|
*tuns
|
*tiqes
|
*qines
|
| Genitive
|
*míni
|
*esu
|
*tívi
|
*shafsu
|
*safó
|
*isiq
|
*qinchu
|
*tisum
|
*tiqum
|
*qinum
|
| Dative
|
*míshu
|
*esmij
|
*pháju
|
*fasmij
|
*smój
|
*qij
|
*qinij
|
*tujmaf
|
*tiqmaf
|
*qimus
|
| Ablative
|
*míd
|
*esmid
|
*fíd
|
*fasmid
|
*smód
|
*qind
|
*tujus
|
*tuqus
|
| Locative
|
*muáj
|
*esmaj
|
*tuáj
|
*fasmaj
|
*smaj
|
*qaj
|
*qinch
|
*chaf
|
*tiqshaf
|
*qinchaf
|
| Instrumental
|
*esmáj
|
*fasmu
|
*tuj
|
*qinax
|
*tushphaj
|
*tiqphaj
|
*qinash
|
| Comitative
|
*amík
|
*esmík
|
*fíkum
|
*voskum
|
*tiqum
|
*tudum
|
*tuqum
|
*qimum
|
*tunsum
|
*tuqum
|
*tiqem
|
*qiskum
|
| Illative
|
*míshuq
|
*esmin
|
*phájux
|
*fasmin
|
*smósh
|
*shin
|
*qinchax
|
*tujman
|
*tuqun
|
*qinchin
|
Case declension
Nouns and adjectives were declined for case, number, and gender. The cases were identical for both the nouns and the adjectives.
|
|
| Singular
|
Plural
|
| Masc.
|
Neut.
|
Fem.
|
Them.
|
Masc.
|
Neut.
|
Fem.
|
Them.
|
| Nominative
|
*-(a)m
|
*-∅
|
*-(a)s
|
*-(a)sh
|
*-i
|
*-(a)x
|
*-ish
|
*-i
|
| Vocative
|
*-∅
|
| Accusative
|
*-(a)m
|
*-es
|
*-es
|
| Genitive
|
*-(a)s
|
*-shu
|
*-um
|
| Dative
|
*-ij
|
*-mus
|
| Ablative
|
*-(a)d
|
*-(a)s
|
*-(a)d
|
| Locative
|
*-ij
|
*-(a)j
|
*-sav
|
*-shaf
|
| Instrumental
|
*-(a)x
|
*-phaj
|
*-(a)sh
|
| Comitative
|
*-mum
|
*-kum
|
*-shum
|
*-mum
|
*-skum
|
*-xum
|
*-shum
|
*-skum
|
| Illative
|
*-shax
|
*-shin
|
*-shax
|
*-shin
|
Verb phrases
Person/number conjugation
|
|
| Athematic
|
Thematic
|
| 1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
| Sing.
|
Pl.
|
Sing.
|
Pl.
|
Sing.
|
Pl.
|
Sing.
|
Pl.
|
Sing.
|
Pl.
|
Sing.
|
Pl.
|
| Past
|
*-am
|
*-amí
|
*-as
|
*-ití
|
*-at
|
*-and
|
*-um
|
*-umi
|
*-is
|
*-iti
|
*-id
|
*-und
|
| Present
|
*-ma
|
*-mus
|
*-sa
|
*-ti
|
*-ta
|
*-anch
|
*-u
|
*-um
|
*-ash
|
*-it
|
*-umu
|
*-unch
|
Sample text
From Schleicher's fable:
- PIE: h₂áu̯ei̯ h₁i̯osméi̯ h₂u̯l̥h₁náh₂ né h₁ést, só h₁éḱu̯oms derḱt. só gʷr̥hₓúm u̯óǵʰom u̯eǵʰed; só méǵh₂m̥ bʰórom; só dʰǵʰémonm̥ h₂ṓḱu bʰered.
- Pre-???: Qívas xashusij qafoxniqash ní xísat, sú xíkshafes dirkid; sú qinum víkhyam sú mígyaqam phírat, sú thakhyímunam qókyav phírat.
- Gloss: sheep-F.SG.NOM REL-F.SG.DAT wool-THEM.SG.NOM not be-3SG.PST, and horse-THEM.PL.ACC see-3SG.PST.THEM. and 3PL.THEM.GEN wagon-NEUT.SG.ACC pull-3SG.PST; and load-NEUT.SG.ACC carry-3SG.PST; and person-M.ACC quick-ADV carry-3SG.PST.
- English: A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly.