Flei

The Corded Ware languages in Lõis (temporary name) are a paleo-European (pre-Indo-European) language family spoken in much of Europe. The family's Urheimat is usually regarded to be somewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, where corded ware artifacts have been found. This article will document the Proto-Corded Ware language.

See also the Baden languages.

Phonology

• Stops: p t c k q /p t tʂ~c k q/
• Fricatives: f þ s x h /f θ s ʂ~ɧ h/
• Resonants: m n l rr r w y /m n l r ɹ w j/
• Vowels: a e i u ë /ä e i u ə/

Stress

Proto-Corded Ware had no strong stress.

Phonotactics

Only slightly less restrictive than Tamil; more restrictive than Latin

Proto-CW often added enunciative vowels to words ending in consonants, so for example *isqal 'child (nom.)' often became *isqallë.

Grammar

• SVO or SOV
• cases and Suffixaufnahme; not Altaic
• stem changes in nouns (like Uralic)
• polypersonal verbs

Nouns

Corded Ware had suffixes for noun cases; however there was no separate accusative case.

Plurals were often (usually?) marked by stem change.

Declension of *isqal = child

• nominative: isqal(lë), esqal(lë)
• genitive: isqalef, esqalef