Proto-Almaic

Proto-Almaic
Rapa'i
Pronunciation	[/ʀaˈpa.ʔi/]
Created by	Miguel Bartelsman
Date	2020
Setting	Conworld Angara
Extinct	ca. 3500 a.E.
Language family	Proto-Almaic Proto-Almaic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	none

Proto-Almaic is the common ancestor of all the Almaic languages, a family of languages widespread in the Yolder and Ausmiran continents.

Proto-Almaic is estimated to have been spoken from around 5000 to 3500 a.E., and it's original homeland may have been the Almeran plains from which the language derives its name. Its descendant languages include Angaran and Yohari.

Orthography

Letter	A a	B b	C c	D d	E e	F f
Pronunciation	/a/, /ã/	/b/	/x/	/d/	/e/, /ẽ/	/f/

Letter	G g	H h	I i	K k	Kg kg	– kk
Pronunciation	/g/	/h/, /-/	/i/, /ĩ/	/k/	/k’/	/k’/

Letter	L l	M m	N n	Nj nj	O o	P p
Pronunciation	/l/	/m/	/n/, /◌̃/, /N/	/ɲ/	/o/, /õ/	/p/

Letter	Pb pb	– pp	Q q	R r	S s	T t
Pronunciation	/p’/	/p’/	/q/	/ʀ/	/s/	/t/

Letter	Td td	– tt	U u	V v	Z z	'
Pronunciation	/t’/	/t’/	/u/, /ũ/	/v/	/z/	/ʔ/

^1 In words that end with ⟨n⟩, the /n/ is dropped and instead the vowels are nasalized.

^2 /h/ is not pronounced in final position, but ⟨h⟩ is preserved as clitics and affixes reveal the sound.

^3 ⟨kg⟩, ⟨td⟩, and ⟨pb⟩ are only used at the start of a word.

^4 ⟨kk⟩, ⟨tt⟩, and ⟨pp⟩ are only used in the middle of a word, so they have no correct capitalized version.

^5 ⟨n⟩ in coda position can be realized a number of ways: as vowel nasalization in final position or before /ʔ/, or as one of [m], [ɱ], [n], [ŋ], [ɴ], assimilating in place of articulation to the following consonant.

^6 ⟨'⟩ has a single representation regardless of location or capitalization.

Stress is predictable from the orthography, so it is not marked. A written word will always be stressed on the second to last syllable if it ends on an open syllable, otherwise stress will fall on the last syllable.

Phonetics

Consonants

	Labial		Alveolar		Palat.	Velar		Uvular		Glot.
	unv.	vce.	unv.	vce.	vce.	unv.	vce.	unv.	vce.	unv.
Nasal		m		n	ɲ
Ejectives	p’		t’			k’
Stops	p	b	t	d		k	g	q		ʔ
Fricatives	f	v	s	z		x				h
Liquids				l					ʀ

Vowels

	Front	Center	Back
	rnd	unr.	unr.
Close	i ĩ		u ũ
Mid	e ẽ		o õ
Open		a ã

Syllable structure

((h)C) V (N)

• C: a consonant, which may be pre-aspirated word-medially.
• V: a vowel
• N: is a nasal consonant with unspecified place of articulation.

Prosody

Stress usually falls on the second to last syllable, unless the word ends in a nasal vowel or preaspirates suffixes, in which case it falls on the last syllable.

Syntax

For examples: Proto-Almaic/Test Sentences

Primary word order is SOV. A clause can be embedded into another clause by moving its subject to the end of the clause. Thus

sheep wool have not

becomes

wool have not sheep

CHANGES: Determiners should go after the noun.

Main clause

Proto-Almaic is primarily a VSO language, with alternate orders such as SVO, employed for topic introduction, and VOS, a result of pragmatic marking, being less common.

The verb phrase

The verb phrase is, maximally, as follows:

(Preposition) Verb (Adverbs) (Auxiliary Verb)

Preverbal adpositions are valency increasing operators. These are usually applied before intransitive verbs to have them take a locative object, though they might also serve to form dative or causative constructions. Only a small subset of adpositions is allowed in this role. Adverbs are usually located directly after the main verb, when multiple adverbs are used they obey the following order:

Time – Manner – Place

Some functional adverbs, such as questions and conditionals will be located in other positions, such as at the beginning of the clause or at the end.

Auxiliary verbs are used to express certain tenses and aspects that main verbs have no inflections for, such as the future tense and the progressive aspect. When an auxiliary is used, the main verb takes no inflections, other than preverbal adpositions.

Grammar

Pronouns

• sa – I (1st p. singular)
• sana – we (1st p. plural inc.)
• sado – we (1st p. plural excl.)
• ika – you (2nd p. singular)
• ikana – you (2nd p. dual)
• ikado – you (2nd p. plural)
• go – he/she (3rd p. singular)
• gona – they (3rd p. dual)
• godo – they (3rd p. plural)
• a – it/that (3rd p. singular)
• ahdo – they/those (3rd p. dual)
• ahna – they/those (3rd p. plural)

Determiners

Only an indefinite article is used

Number

Marked by particles, three different forms: singular, dual, plural

Tenses

Present, unmarked; past and habitual, regularly marked by affixes; future

Samples

Misc. sentences

“Tenju ohdattali 'e sin”
/ˈte.ɲu oh.daˈt’a.li ʔe sĩ/

tenju	oh=dattali	'e	sin
mister	indf=animal	pat	see

“The mister sees an animal”

Schleicher's fable

“Ti ohrante, kginja 'e ka hila ohagahi to ohemon 'e sin mo, …”
/ti ohˈʀan.te ˈk’i.ɲa ʔe ka hiˈla o.haˈga.hi to o.heˈmõ ʔe sĩ mo/

ti	oh=rante,	kginja	'e	ka	hila	oh=agahi	to	oh=emon	'e	sin	mo
On	indf=hill,	wool	pat	neg	have	indf=sheep	pl	indf=horse	pat	see	pst,

“On a hill, a wool have-not sheep saw some horses, …”

“…ahdomi za ohppami godo 'e lanjicipu, …”
/ahˈdo.mi za ohˈp’a.mi ˈgo.do ʔe ˌla.ɲiˈxi.pu/

ahdo=mi	za	oh=pbami	godo	'e	lanji=cipu
3p=gen	one	indf=wagon	heavy	pat	pull=ipfv

“…one of them pulling a heavy wagon, …”

“…zakuna ohdakkenvita onjo 'e dakkencipu, …”
/zaˈku.na ohˌda.k’eɱˈvi.ta ˈo.ɲo ʔe ˌda.k’eŋˈxi.pu/

zakuna	oh=dakken-vita	onjo	'e	dakken=cipu
one:else	indf=carry-nz	big	pat	carry=ipfv

“…another carrying a big load, …”

“…o zakuna ohnagoh 'e dakkencipu qasi. …”
/o zaˈku.na ˌoh.naˈgo ʔe ˌda.k’eŋˈxi.pu ˈqa.si/

o	zakuna	oh=nagoh	'e	dakken=cipu	qasi
and	one:else	indf=man	pat	carry=ipfv	fast

“…and another carrying a man fast. …”

“…Agahi emon 'e vanza mo: …”
/aˈga.hi eˈmõ ʔe ˈvan.za mo/

agahi	to	emon	'e	vanza	mo
sheep	pl	horses	pat	say	pst

“…The sheep said to the horses: …”

“…«Sami anke ikado 'e atuza ohnagoh 'e sinsa to emon 'e manttasa.»…”
/ˈsa.mi ˈaŋ.ke iˈkado ʔe aˈtu.za ohˈna.go ʔe ˈsin.sa to ˈe.mõ ʔe manˈt’a.sa/

sa=mi	anke	ikado	'e	atuza	oh=nagoh	'e	sin-sa	to	emon	'e	mantta-sa
1s=gen	heart	2p	pat	hurt	indf=man	pat	see-ger	pl	horse	pat	drive=ger

“…«My soul weeps for you, seeing a man driving horses.»…”

“…To emon vanza mo:…”
/to eˈmõ ˈvan.za mo/

to	emon	vanza	mo
pl	horse	say	pst

“…The horses said: …”

“…«agahi 'e mihe sadomi anke atuza la 'e mahulo sin:…”
/aˈga.hi ʔe ˈmi.he saˈdo.mi ˈaŋ.ke aˈtu.za la ʔe maˈhu.lo sĩ/

agahi	'e	mihe	sado=mi	anke	atuza	la	'e	mahulo	sin
sheep	pat	listen	1px=gen	heart	hurt	det	pat	when	see

“…«Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: …”

On a hill, 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. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.