User:Ceige/Tossaq

Tossaq (Toqyaq) is an Indo-European language with aggressive assimilatory sound changes.

Sound Changes

Pre-Proto-Tossaq

• Diphthongisation of e and o to ie and uo respectively
• Treatment of any vowel + h(1, 2, 3) as ʀǝ
• epenthetic vowels added before and after clusters, with:

• liquids L and R assimilating to the adjacent consonant's manner of articulation e.g. tr- -> ǝtr- -> ǝtt-
• nasals staying unassimilated.

Examples:

• tewt-eh2 -> tjewt-ʀǝ
• drukós -> ǝdduk-uos

Proto-Tossaq

• ie, uo, ʀǝ become ja, wa, ʀa respectively
• metathesis of any second liquid sound to the end of the word, e.g. tjewt- -> tjatw-
• general loss of word final vowels and inflectional endings

Examples

• tjewt-3a -> tjatw(-ʀa)
• ǝdduk-uos -> ǝdduk(-was)

Old-Tossaq

• consonants assimilate to the place of articulation of following liquids (or i/u):

• for plosives: Pw, Pj, Pʀ -> p, t, k (b, d, g, bh, dh, gh etc)
• for fricatives: Fw, Fj, Fʀ -> f, s, h
• for liquids: Lw, Lj, Lʀ -> w, y, ʀ
• for nasals: Nw, Nj, Nʀ -> m, n, ŋ

• front/back distinctions of vowels are lost, e.g. twa, tja, tʀa -> pa, ta, ka

• for open vowels: a
• for closed vowels: ɯ (ı, ǝ in writing)

Examples

• tjatw(-ʀa) -> tap(ʀa)
• ǝdduk(-was) -> ǝbbǝk(was)

Early-Middle Tossaq

• syllabe-final consonants colour the preceding vowel and merge together:

• labials add the ring diacritic, dentals add the trema, e.g. ǝbbǝk -> ǝ̊bbǝk
• in some dialects, velars add the macron, e.g. ǝ̊bbǝ̂k
• voiceless plosives become -q
• voiced plosives lengthen the preceding vowel
• fricatives become -h
• liquids still colour the final vowel, but leave no other direct trace
• nasals become -n
• in summary: -P, -V, -F, -L, -N -> -q, -:, -h, -ø, -n

Examples:

• tap(ʀa) -> tåq(ʀa)
• ǝbbǝk(was) -> ǝ̊ǝ̊bǝ̂q(wäh)

Late-Middle Tossaq

• Vowel colouring results in a new vowel system:

• å ä â a -> o, e, a, æ (where a and æ are often merged)
• ǝ̊ ǝ̈ ǝ̂ ǝ -> ü, i, u, ǝ (where ü and u are often merged, and i and ǝ are also often merged)

Examples:

• tåq(ʀa) -> toq(ʀa)
• ǝ̊ǝ̊bǝ̂q(wäh) -> üübuq(weh)