Proto-Tassinean
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| Proto-Tassinean | |
|---|---|
| PtT | |
| Created by | Jukethatbox |
| Reconstruction of | Tassinean languages |
| Region | Tassi Basin, Tassinean Archipelago (later, through migration) |
| Era | 3000YD-1300YD |
| Lower-order reconstructions |
|
Proto-Tassinean is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Tassinean languages, commonly spoken in the Tassinean Archipelago, though most Tassinists believe that Proto-Tassinean was originally spoken in the inland Tassi Basin, before Proto-Tassineans sailed to the Archipelago.
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | *p *b | *t *d | *k *g | ||
| Nasal | *m | *n | *N | *ŋ | |
| Fricative | *f *v | *s *z? | *h | ||
| Tap or Flap | *r | ||||
| (Lateral) Approximant | *l | *j | *w | ||
Consonants with a ⟨?⟩ are debated.
Vowels
| Short | Long[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | *i *y | *u | *ī *ȳ | *ū | ||
| Mid/close-mid | *e | *ə | *o | *ē | *ō | |
| Open | *a | *ä | *ā | |||
Prosody
Stress
Intonation
Phonotactics
Agin's law
Proto-Tassinean follows Agin's law, which is a phonotactic law focusing primarily on Tassinean languages. It states that though consonants can be placed in an adjacent manner, they can not be of the same category of consonant. e.g. the word *mäkpah was rejected as an ancestor of Adi Adi meqipah and Siwè mịkịpe due to it violating the law by putting *k adjacent to *p. The word *mäkuph was later chosen as a more accurate ancestor, taking into account other cognates like Proto-Inian *mäk-upH.
Morphophonology
Morphology
Comparison
See also: Comparison with modern derivations.
| English (Proto-Tassinean translation) |
Proto-Tassinean | Proto-Searnic | Proto-Inian | Proto-Argan † | Proto-Sangver † |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yew tree | *mäkuph | *mekipeh | *mak-upH | *mäkopḫ | *mikši |
| desert | *esäveh | *isəHwih | - | *esebéH | *vehib |
| forest | *bāhe | *bawi | *ḅāhwē | *maha | - |
| cherry | *daNehir | *ḏaNesir | *danai | ||
| apple | *hiNe | *wēsiNe | - | *hinʲe | |
| orange | *irēeŋ | *irēn | *iwin | *eran | *ireng |
| peach | *dava | *dāva | *daḅa | *dava | *tahā |
| father | *wak | *hak | - | *wec | *ila[2] |
| mother | *pēhes | *bes | *bers | *pē | *hiš |
| brother | *hōkn | *hōkon | *hok "father" |
*ohan[3] | *heg |
| sister | *naNasə | *snaNa | *naNās | *nasu[4] | *nenʲa |
Particles
Determiners
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| inanimate | animate | inanimate | animate | |
| Near | *uir | *uirjä | *iwōr | *iwänar |
| Far | *vēneh | *veāNah | *keseNōrə | |
Proto-Tassinean differentiates determiners by two categories: grammatical number and animacy.
Syntax
Constituent order
Proto-Tassinean constituent order has been debated, with some believing it to be SOV, citing Siwè and Adi Adi, while others believing it may be OSV, citing Ingwen, Ke'ek and Proto-Inian.
Noun-adjective order
Noun-adjective order is even more controversial, due to even linguistically similar languages like Siwè and Adi Adi differing on specifically adjective placement. Thus, Tassinists generally agree to not speak of noun-adjective order, assuming instead a free constituent order, for the sake of collaboration and often friendship.
Nouns
Cases
Proto-Tassinean has seven noun cases: nominative, ergative, absolutive, dative, genitive, instrumentative and locative, and they are all subject to change based on animacy. They are identified by prefixes and suffixes.
| Case | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Ergative | Absolutive | Dative | Genitive | Instrumentative | Locative | ||
| Animacy | ||||||||
| Inanimate | - | *soh- | *-vir | *-Nir | *-sə | *gid- | *-wē | |
| Animate | *-zih? | *ma- | *-Nēŋ | *-avī | *-yrn | *-aw | ||