Proto-Almaic

Proto-Almaic
Rapa'i
Created by	Miguel Bartelsman
Reconstruction of	Almaic
Region	Almaic plains; Hassjic mountains
Era	5000–3500 a.E. (Lithic)
Lower-order reconstructions	Angaran Yohari

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

Proto-Angaric is a specifier-initial, adjunct-mixed, head-final language.

XP → (YP) X'

X' → (ZP) X' or X' (ZP)

X' → (WP) X

Structure rules

Phrase heads are in bold, adjuncts are in gray, optional elements are surrounded by (parentheses) or, if they can be repeated, by {curly braces}

Sentence

• CP

Complement Phrase (CP)

• (NP) VP (C)
• VP NP — Subject backing

Verb Phrase (VP)

• (NP/DP/CP) (NP/DP/CP) V {PP/AdvP} (Aux)

Noun Phrase (NP)

• {PP} (PP/AdjP) N {Adj}

Determiner phrase (DP)

• (NP) D
• (NP)_s (NP)_o D — Possessive construction

Postposition Phrase (PP)

• (NP/DP/CP) PP

Adverb Phrase (AdvP)

• (AdvP) AdvP

Adjective Phrase (AdjP)

• (AdvP/PP) AdjP

Conjunction Phrase (ConjP)

• XP/ConjP XP Conj

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.