Idavic languages

Ashe and Hirst's Shalaian grammar provides the following diachronics:

Phonology

• Consonants: b d j g ɓ t’ č’ k’ kʷ’ q’ p t č k kʷ q s h ʔ m n l r w y ʕ
• Vowels: a i u ā ī ū ō
• Pitch accent: modal (á), creaky (ã)

Diachronics

• b > v; ɓ > b; g > għ, y, kh, or CL; j > ʒ; ng > ng3 > n3
• Grimm's law: p t č kʷ q > f θ ʃ x H
• q G q' > H ayin q
• further shifts: kʷ' > kʷ > xʷ
• Vowel shifts: ā > /ɛɪ/ (except before pharyngeals); ō > /əʊ/, u > /ɒ/, iw > /ju:/
• final -ā -ī shorten to -a -i
• Loss of initial glottal stop, then loss of non-prevocalic /r/
• Historical long vowels (also /ɑː/ from historical /ar/) shorten before /ʕ/

Phonotactics

1- or 2- syllabic roots most common: CVC, CVCC, CVCCa, CVCVC, CVCCVC, CVCVCC

Allowed root clusters

Allowed clusters with no glottal stop:

• mC: mn ml mr my m3 mb md mj mg mb' mt' mč' mk' mkw' mq' mp mt ms mč mk mkw mq mh
• nC: nm nr n3 ny nw nd nj ng nt' nč' nk' nkw' nq' nt ns nč nk nkw nq nh
• lC: lm ln l3 ly lw lb ld lj lg lb' lt' lč' lk' lkw' lq' lp lt ls lč lk lkw lq lh
• rC: rm rn r3 ry rw rb rd rj rg rb' rt' rč' rk' rkw' rq' rp rt rs rč rk rkw rq rh
• 3C: 3m 3n 3l 3r 3y (never initial) 3w 3b 3d 3j 3g 3b' 3t' 3k' 3p 3t 3s 3č 3k 3kw 3q
• Cm: nm lm rm 3m dm jm gm t'm č'm k'm kw'm q'm tm sm čm km kwm qm hm
• Cn: mn ln 3n bn dn jn gn b'n t'n č'n k'n kw'n q'n pn tn sn čn kn kwn qn hn
• Cl: ml nl 3l rl bl dl jl b'l t'l č'l k'l kw'l q'l fl tl sl čl kl kwl ql hl
• Cr: mr nr għr vr br dr jr t'r č'r k'r kw'r q'r pr tr sr čr kr kwr qr hr
• Cy: my ny ly ry 3y (never initial) by b'y dy t'y č'y k'y q'y py ty sy ky qy hy
• Cw: nw 3w dw jw t'w č'w q'w tw sw čw qw
• C3: m3 n3 l3 r3 b3 d3 j3 b'3 t'3 č'3 k'3 kw'3 q'3 p3 t3 s3 č3 k3 kw3 q3
• XX: bd bj bg bt' bč' bk' bs bkw' bq' pt pč pk pq db dg tb' t'k' t'q' tp tk tq jb jd jg čb' č't' č'k' čp čt čs čq gb gd gj kb' k't' k's k'č' kp kt kč ks kwb' kw't' kw's kw'č' kwp kwt kws kwč qb' q't' q'č' qp qt qs qč sb sd sg sb' st' sč' sk' sq' sp st sč sk sq

Morphology

Tone changes were part of the morphology of Proto-Shalaian, as in Modern Shalaian.

The three genders, the strong and weak declensions and the two sets of possessive markers are all Proto-Shalaian features. Verbs were not inflected for tense or person, and were syntactically verbal nouns; it is thought that verbs developed personal marking later from possessed (even doubly-possessed) verbal noun forms.

Verbs

The auxiliary

Should be as far from cartesian product as possible. Justify with analytic constructions; relex Welsh

• direct present: vor ← *bō ʕar = mae e'n, mar ← *bō mad ʕar = dydy e ddim yn
• direct past: lōkh ← *li ʔōkʷ = mi naeth e, vizha ← *bō hašgā = mae e heb
• direct future: zhar't ← *jag gãtʼ = lit. stands before

TAM markers

	present		past		future
	pos.	neg.	pos.	neg.	pos.	neg.
direct (verbal)	bō ʕar	bō mad ʕar	li ʔōkʷ	bō ašgā	jar kʷãt	bãy
question	ʔam	ʔam yankʷid	ʔōkʷ	ʔōkʷ rāk	ʔam nayd	ʔam bãy nayd
relativizer (direct)	bī	dō bī	bī ʔōkʷ	dō bī ʔōkʷ rā	bī kʷãt	dō bī kʷãt
relativizer (indirect)	čʼã	dō čʼã	čʼã ʔōkʷ	dō čʼã ʔōkʷ rāk	čʼã jar kʷãt	dō čʼã jar kʷãt
complementizer	ʔit	dō rāk ʔikʷ	ʔit hin	dō rāk hin	napā	dō jar rā ʔikʷ
if (real)	čīr	čīr rāk ʔikʷ	čīr hin	čīr rāk hin	(ʔam) kʷid ʔit	yankʷid rā ʔikʷ
if (irreal or less vivid)	rū ʕar ʔit	rū ʕar rāk ʔikʷ	rū ʕar bō hin ʔit	rū ʕar rāk hin	rū ʕar kʷid rā ʔit	rū ʕar yankʷid rā ʔikʷ

Syntax

Proto-Shalaian syntax was AuxVOS:

• Stative verbs (eventually all intransitives): Aux_i prep VN-w_i S_i (abs/erg in Shal.)
• Dynamic verbs (eventually transitives): Aux_i prep s_j-VN-w_i O_j S_i (abs/erg in Shal.)
• Infinitive clauses: prep VN.INF-w_i S_i O ... (nom/acc in Shal.)