Idavic languages
In the AETHER timeline, the Idavic languages are a family of in-universe conlangs. The family is intended to blend IE, Uralic, Salish, and Semitic phonaesthetics seamlessly.
Family tree
Phonology
- Consonants: b d dł j g gʷ p t tł č k kʷ q s ł š h ʔ m n l r w y ʕ
- Vowels: a i u ā ī ū (ə allophonic)
- Pitch accent: modal (á), creaky (ã)
- Creaky voice is the source of glottal reinforcement in Shalaian and vowel shifts in Netagin.
Shalaian diachronics
- b > v; ɓ > b; g > y, kh, or CL; j > ʒ; ng > ng3 > n3
- Grimm's law: p t č kʷ q > f θ ʃ x H
- q G q' > H ayin q
- further shifts: kʷ' > kʷ > xʷ
- Vowel shifts: ā > ō > /əʊ/, u > /ɒ/, iw > /ju:/
- final -ā -ī shorten to -a -i
- Loss of initial glottal stop, then loss of non-prevocalic /r/
- Historical long vowels (also /ɑː/ from historical /ar/) shorten before /ʕ/
Phonotactics
Allowed root clusters
Allowed clusters with no glottal stop:
- mC: mn ml mr my m3 mb md mj mg mp mt mtł ms mł mč mk mkw mq mh
- nC: nm nr n3 ny nw nd ndł nj ng nt ntł ns nš nč nk nkw nq nh
- lC: lm ln l3 ly lw lb ld lj lg lp lt ls lč lk lkw lq lh
- rC: rm rn r3 ry rw rb rd rdł rj rg rp rt rł rtł rs rč rk rkw rq rh
- 3C: 3m 3n 3l 3r 3y (never initial) 3w 3b 3d 3dł 3j 3g 3p 3t 3s 3ł 3tł 3č 3k 3kw 3q
- Cm: nm lm rm 3m dm jm gm tm sm šm čm łm tłm km kwm qm hm
- Cn: mn ln 3n bn dn jn gn pn tn sn šn čn łn tłn kn kwn qn hn
- Cl: ml nl 3l rl bl dl jl fl tl sl šl čl kl kwl ql hl
- Cr: mr nr għr vr br dr jr pr tr sr šr čr kr kwr qr hr
- Cy: my ny ly ry 3y (never initial) by py dy ty sy šy ły dły tły gy ky qy hy
- Cw: nw 3w dw dłw jw tw tłw sw łw čw qw
- C3: m3 n3 l3 r3 b3 d3 j3 p3 t3 tł3 ł3 s3 š3 č3 k3 kw3 q3
- XX: any cluster of 2 obstruents are allowed, as long as they agree in voicing and are not both dorsal (k, g, kw, gw, q); in addition, s + voiced stop and š + voiced stop
Morphology
Combine German, Semitic and PIE morphologies
Tone changes were part of the morphology of Proto-Idavic. Shalaic retained Proto-Idavic accent, while Netagic lost it with a shift to stem-initial stress and a vowel split conditioned by creaky voice.
The three genders, the three numbers and the possessive suffixes are Proto-Idavic features. Shalaian added a new alienable-inalienable possession distinction by creating alienable possessive prefixes from genitive pronouns.
Pronouns
- independent: lī, dā, xʷā, nī
- emphatic: *swi-lu, *swi-da, *swi-xʷa, *swi-níji
- absolutive/suffix: *-la, *-du, *-xʷa, *-níji
Root structure
Idavic roots were consonantal roots similar to PIE and Semitic languages: most roots were biconsonantals C-C or triconsonantals alternating between CVC(ə)C (also called the segolate form) and C(ə)CVC (also called the antisegolate form) by Schwebeablaut.
2-letter roots:
- √t-q 'to say' (a source of Shal. thaaH)
- √ʕ-d 'to shine, to show' (source of Shal. għeed 'bright'; għádmer 'happiness' comes from a root extension √ʕ-dm)
- √ʕ-n 'high, raised'
3-letter roots:
- √qdVb~qVdb 'true'
Schwebeablaut alternations work as follows:
- The default state is the CVCC form: qidb 'to be true'; qidbti 'loyalty'
- With closed syllable in the prefix the segolate form is used: hin·qídb 'to verify' → li·hinqadb 'I verify'
- With open syllable in the prefix the antisegolate form is used: ri·qádb 'to stay true' → li·ríqdab 'I stay true'
Ablaut
There were 8 ablaut grades:
- zero-grade (CC)
- a-grade (CaC ~ CCa or CaCC ~ CCaC)
- i-grade (CiC ~ CCi or CiCC ~ CCiC)
- u-grade (CuC ~ CCu or CuCC ~ CCuC)
- lengthened grades: ā, ī, ū-grades (intensive? transitive? plural? nominalization? pair up with short grades?)
- creaky voice: causative?
Many prefixes and suffixes require certain ablaut grades.
Examples
√ʕ-d 'to shine'
- Intransitive verbs: -ʕad- ~ -ʕid- ~ -ʕd- = to shine
- Adjectives: ʕīd = bright
- Noun:
- ʕād = light
- ʕā̃d = Sun, star? (singulativized collective)
- creaky voice marked singulatives: ʕãd = ray
- Action or state noun: ʕud-ar = (state of) shining, brightness
- Deverbal nouns:
- Derived stems:
- wa·ʕā́d = to polish
- ʕãd-ī́r = to illuminate, to show (source of Shal. għa'téer 'to prove')
- ʕád-m-ar = (root extension) happiness, joy
- ʕíd-n-ar = (root extension) beauty, radiance
Nouns
Proto-Idavic had 3 genders: inanimate (i), animate (a), and abstract (h). The abstract gender evolved to serve honorific functions in Shalaian, hence the abbreviation "h".
Proto-Idavic nouns were inflected for 3 numbers (singular, dual, plural) and 4 cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive).
Declension
Nouns declined for four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) and three numbers (singular, dual, plural).
Idavic nouns could have plurals marked with -ā, -ī, and sometimes with ablaut and/or reduplication. Nouns pluralized with a suffix are weak nouns and nouns pluralized with stem changes are strong nouns. There were broken plurals marked by lengthening the stem vowel; these often developed into lexicalized singular nouns in Shalaian.
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | - | - | - |
Accusative | - | - | - |
Dative | - | - | - |
Genitive | - | - | - |
Adjectives
As in IE and Semitic, adjectives agreed with nouns in number, gender and case.
Class 1
ʕīd- 'bright' animate/inanimate/abstract; singular, dual, plural
- nom: ʕīda/ʕīdi/ʕīdar, ʕīdand/ʕīdind/ʕīdarind, ʕīdān/ʕīdā/ʕīdarā
- gen: ʕīdak/ʕīdik/ʕīdarik, ???, ʕīdī/ʕīdāka/ʕīdarāka
Verbs
Verbs had the following forms:
- imperfect tense
- did double duty as imperative
- past participle
- infinitive or verbal noun
- zu-infinitive
- present participle
- zu-participle
Verbs were not inflected for person.
Paradigms
- Strong verbs: basic verbs, conjugated by ablaut
- Weak verbs: verbs formed with verb-forming affixes
The verb forms
- The finite forms including the imperative
- The first infinitive: origin of Shalaian finite verbs; some conflation with imperative
- The second infinitive (more of a lexical deverbal noun): origin of the Shalaian infinitive
Syntax
Lifted from German: V2, SAuxOV, verb final in subordinate clauses
Derivation
Proto-Idavic had an extensive array of derivational affixes.
Root extensions: suffixes
- Creaky voice marked intensive or transitive verbs like the Semitic geminate binyan
- -ay (h): deverbal noun
- With prefixed verbs, the stress shift derives verbal nouns: *ri·kʷā́n 'to rest' → ·ríkʷan 'rest'. This is the source of some infinitives being marked with stress shifts in Shalaian (riwháin, ríwhain 'sleep').
- -gʷid (i): augmentative; derives nouns
- -t (i): verbal noun, resultative
- -āk (i): collective
- developed to the -akh plural in Shalaian
Todo:
- agent nouns
- instrument nouns
- frequentative
- applicative
- telic
- "X a little, almost X"
- change of state
- graduative
- mis-X/over-X
Lexicon
Entries are listed in the following "Semitic abjad" order: ʔ b g gʷ d h w j dł q y k kʷ l m n s ʕ p č tł r š ł t
ʔ
- ʔappā́ 'father', pl. ʔapā́pā
- ʔəmmā́ 'mother', pl. ʔəmā́mā
b
g
- √gb 'to hit'
- Shalaian kȯ́vid 'calamity' ← *gā́b-gʷid
gʷ
d
- √db 'to live'
- dāb, pl. ʔidāb 'person'
h
w
j
dł
q
- √qdb 'true, to believe'
- qidb-ar
- Shal. ħídver 'truth'
- qədāb-t
- Shal. ħadóft 'trust'
- qũdb-
- Ntg. qoeıdb 'faithful, loyal'
- qidb-ar
y
k
- kū̃la = house
- Shal. kul'
- Ntg. c̦uall
kʷ
l
m
n
s
ʕ
- √ʕd 'to shine'
- -ʕad- ~ -ʕid- ~ -ʕd- = to shine
- ʕīd = bright
- ʕād = Sun, star
- ʕud = (state of) shining, brightness
- ʕōd = light
- Derived stems:
- wa·ʕā́d = to polish
- ʕãd-īr = to illuminate, to show (source of Shal. għa'týr 'to prove')
- ʕid-nar = (root extension) beauty, radiance
- √ʕdm 'happiness, joy'
- √ʕn 'to be high'
- √ʕnm 'to raise'
- Shal. għánam 'to honor, to exalt'
- √ʕnb 'to raise'
- Shal. għánav 'to dedicate, to devote'
- √ʕnm 'to raise'
- √ʕr 'to be in, at'
- ʕar
- Shal. ʕar
- Ntg. lo
- ʕar
p
č
tł
r
š
ł
t
- √tq 'to say'