Lahob languages

Not to be confused with the Lakovic languages.

Lahob
Lahob-Imuniguronian; Lahobic
Created by	–
Geographic distribution	most of Márusúturon
Linguistic classification	One of Calémere's primary language families
Proto-language	Proto-Lahob
Subdivisions	Kenaywanic Central Lahobic Łogawenek Nayzehenyn Tłašnelek Chlouvānem

The Lahob languages (also known as Lahou, Lahobic, Neshlenkentian, or Lahob-Imuniguronian; Yeł. Lawo: tławiyuk notłe; Łaȟoḇaror: łaȟoḇu sorä; Chl.: hūlisakhāni dhāḍai (rarely lahāvumi dhāḍai; Nor.: þêukor Lahou, Cer.: šérošu Raó or Lahó) are a large Calémerian language family, most widely spoken on the continent of Márusúturon.

There are six currently recognized living Lahob branches, often grouped in two macro-branches:

• Northern Lahob, Core Lahob, or Lahob proper - an occasionally used, at least geographically relevant, category for the five non-Chlouvānem branches spoken in Northern Márusúturon (mainly the boreal country of Mersefêny):
  • Kenaywanic languages, spoken mainly in far western Mersefêny, including Łōplan and others, but also Kȯtıme Qoşazırme, spoken at Taiga Crane Lake (Kȯt Qoşazırme) in central Kerbellion, the westernmost Core Lahob language and one of the most divergent.
  • Central Lahobic languages, spoken in the Berkill basin and in a few communities in the far southwest (Konyzałay peninsula) of the Koitrûx peninsula; including Łohofál, Sulutamilian Minwan, Łokudár, Dal Ming Wang, and Tłowpedar.
  • Łogawenek languages, spoken in the Firap and Allak basins of Mersefêny, and moribund in far northern Soenjŏ-tave; including ...
  • Nayzehenyn languages, spoken mainly across most of the central, northern, and eastern Koitrûx peninsula, including Yełeshian Lawo, Shershan Lawo, Nahawi, and others;
  • Tłašnelek languages, spoken in the northwest of the Koitrûx peninsula as well as some isolated coastal communities further north and west, both on Gurdugal and on the Márusúturonian mainland.
• Chlouvānem languages (or Imuniguronian languages), including Chlouvānem and all of its descendants, which is the most spoken and widespread branch, counting for nearly the entirety of all Lahob speakers.

The Lahob family is one of many language families - including the unrelated Kenengyry and Samaidulic families, as well as various not better classified isolates - that most likely originated in the area of Márusúturon between the Carpan and the Skyrdegan seas, roughly between 30° and 40°N. The Urheimat of Proto-Lahob speakers is thought to be either the western shore of the High Ivulit (i.e. modern day Leñ-ṱef or Ebed-dowa) or the area around the Little Ivulit (today southern Leñ-ṱef, Līnajaiṭa, or southern Qualdomailor). From there, the Lahob peoples mainly expanded northwards, up to the taiga of northern Márusúturon, except for a few tribes (notably the Ur-Chlouvānem) who migrated southeastwards, into the Nīmbaṇḍhāra-Lāmberah plain. In most of this area, however, Lahob languages were replaced by the later spread first of Samaidulic and then of Kenengyry languages, so that practically all non-Chlouvānem Lahob languages are spoken in the Northern Márusúturonian taiga, along the Orcish Straits.
The Ur-Chlouvānem eventually settled in the far southern part of the Plains, where they intermixed with the local populations, forming a distinct ethnicity whose main connection with the other Lahob peoples is linguistic rather than genetic. Eventually the Chlouvānem language, the only attested ancient Lahob language, became the liturgical language of the Yunyalīlta, which led it to be spread across all of Márusúturon and become, as of today, the most spoken language of the planet.

By number of native speakers, they are the second-largest on the planet (just slightly behind the mostly Védrenian Yombu-Raina languages), however the vast majority of Lahob speakers speak a language belonging to the Chlouvānem branch.
Excluding Chlouvānem (and its daughter languages) with more than 1,9 billion speakers, the other Lahob languages are fairly small by number of speakers, with less than 100,000 speakers collectively: Nordûlaki is the only official language, and the main lingua franca, across the area (except for the areas in Soenjŏ-tave), and in the most densely populated areas the vast majority of people are Nordûlaki-speaking descendants of Evandorian colonists. Lahob speakers are mostly clustered in a few villages, rarely exceeding a thousand inhabitants. Central Lahobic and Nayzehenyn are the most spoken among these branches, with the three most spoken languages being, in order, Yełeshian Lawo, Łohof-aðá, and Nahawi.
The situation in the Chlouvānem-speaking areas is almost the reverse, as it is the Dachsprache everywhere across the Chlouvānem Inquisition, in a state of diglossia with thousands of local vernaculars which are either descendants of Chlouvānem itself, Chlouvānem-based creoles, or totally unrelated languages.

Name

The Lahob languages have a few competing names, all ultimately derived from Lahob proper:

• Lahob, Lahou, or Lahobic all derive from the ethnonym Łaȟoḇ [ɬaˈχɔβ] in Łaȟobarir, through Nordulaki Lahou [laˈhɔʊ̯]; the ultimate origin is Proto-Lahob *ɬakʰober, which is the common self-designation for many Lahob peoples (e.g. Łohof, Łogawe, Łokow, Łoku, Tɬow).
• Neshlenkentian derives from Łogawe nɛ łenkɛnt, meaning either "our family" or "we are a family"; łenkɛnt is ultimately connected to Proto-Lahob *liŋkajnet, the root for "family" in many non-Chlouvānem Lahob languages.
• Lahob-Imuniguronian is an outdated term which was common when the relationship between the Core Lahob languages and Chlouvānem hadn't been proved yet; as acceptance of the theory grew, the term Lahob-Imuniguronian was replaced by the simpler Lahob, that had been used for the Core Lahob languages until then. "Imuniguronian" is the English adaptation of imúnigúronen, the Cerian term (common to most Western languages) for "Chlouvānem".

Chlouvānem linguists have largely adopted the Nordûlaki term Lahou as the ethnonym for all Lahob peoples in the form lahāvai; however, the whole of the language family is most often referred to as hūlisakhāni dhāḍai, after the mythological ancestral land of Hūlisakhāna mentioned in early Chlouvānem literature. Curiously, the legend of Hūlisakhāna was probably non-Lahob in origin and the term is most likely not of Lahob origin too.
The form lahāvumi dhāḍai (or the rarer lahau ga dhāḍai) usually refers to what is known as Northern Lahob, Core Lahob, or Lahob proper in Western linguistics, however recently (and especially in Chlouvānem-language papers written by linguists from Qualdomailor, Brono, or the Kenengyry area) some linguists have begun using it for the whole family. Somewhat confusingly, kēhamyuñci lahāvumi dhāḍai, an exact translation of "Northern Lahob languages", is typically used for the Nayzehenyn languages only.

Ethnonyms

It is notable how the vast majority of Lahob peoples have ethnonyms based on two single Proto-Lahob roots, which however are still present in some way in nearly all languages of the family, *ɬakʰober (people) and *wānəme (horde, tribe, group):

• *ɬakʰober as ethnonym for e.g. the Łaȟob, Łohof, Łokow, Łogawe, Tɬow, Nahawi; also reflexed as e.g. tɬawpe in Bɔni, tłɔwr in Waam (both "family"), şakȯf (house, home) in Kȯtıme Qoşazırme, or chlågbhah (tribe) in Chlouvānem;
• *wānəme as ethnonym for e.g. the Aem, Bɔni, Wonum, Waam, Bāmn, the -vānem part in Chlouvānem (chlǣvānem originally meant "Golden Horde"), and the -wan in Minwan (min wan meaning "our folk"); also reflected as e.g. wang (group) in Łohof-aðá and womme (village) in Tɬow.

Common characteristics

Distribution of the Lahob branches in their home continent of Márusúturon.

It is difficult to point out general characteristics common to all Lahob languages because of the high divergence between the Core Lahob ones and the Chlouvānem branch. General traits are:

• A complex morphosyntactic alignment based on triggers, present with seven triggers in Proto-Lahob and retained with no change in classical Chlouvānem, and varyingly modified in other languages, typically with a few less voices (among modern languages, the only ones that retain the full set of triggers are some Southern Chlouvānem languages, notably including the Hālyanēṃṣi vernacular). The most typical trigger system surviving among Core Lahob languages is patient-agent-locative(-instrumental).
• Unmarked SOV word order (with S being the direct-case argument selected by the trigger) and consistently head-final. A change to SVO has however taken place in the central Core Lahob area (i.e. all Łogawenek languages, most Central Lahobic ones, and a few Nayzehenyn ones) and, independently, in the Near Eastern Chlouvānem languages.
• All Lahob languages express location by means of numerous verbs with changing prefixes in order to convey the sense of different English prepositions; motion verbs have two series of these prefixes, one lative and one ablative.
• Verbs are typically a closed class: most Lahob languages have a very small set of verbs in common use, and use many of those as light verbs with other roots in order to form newer meanings; verbs can typically only be formed by other verbs, and only with causative, applicative, or frequentative meanings. Chlouvānem is a partial exception, because while sharing the same restrictions to forming new verbs it has some hundreds of verb roots in common use. Some vernaculars, particularly the Jade Coastal ones, however, have developed on their own traits closer to other Lahob languages, particularly the heavy use of light verbs.

The following traits are widely found across most Core Lahob languages (which share many grammatical features), but not in Chlouvānem ones:

• A relatively small phonemic inventory, averaging around 15 consonants (all pulmonic) and 5 vowels (all oral). Tone is not phonemic.
• Small case systems (if they have case at all), with rarely more than three cases.
  • In all Lahob languages that have it (incl. Chlouvānem ones), the dative doubles as a lative case.

Proto-Lahob

Phonology

Consonants

Proto-Lahob's reconstructed phonemic inventory is almost universally agreed on by Calemerian linguists (apart from the phonemicity of *ŋʷ), with only some doubts about the realizations of certain phonemes. Its consonant inventory was the following:

→ PoA ↓ Manner		Labials	Dentals	Palatals	Velars	Labiovelars	Laryngeals
Nasals		m	n		ŋ	(ŋʷ)
Stops	Unvoiced	p pʰ	t̪ t̪ʰ	c cʰ	k kʰ	kʷ kʷʰ
	Voiced	b bʱ	d̪ d̪ʱ	ɟ ɟʱ	g gʱ	gʷ gʷʱ
Fricatives		f v	s ɬ	š	x ɣ		h ʕ
Approximants			r l	j		w

The exact quality of the reconstructed phonemes *š and *ʕ is unclear. For *š, the various theories are about substantially close phones such as [ʃ ʂ ɕ] or even [ç]. *ʕ is much more problematic. In most Lahob languages, this phoneme is only shown by its effect on neighboring vowels, which is different depending on the language but it always backs the vowel, lowers it, or does both. Chlouvānem is the exception as it directly reflects it, without any change in vowel quality, as its infamous /ɴ̆/ phoneme, whose extremely high occurrence is due to Proto-Lahob *ʕ, *l, (often) *ɬ, and *ŋ having all merged into it. As, however, other Lahob languages have a backed or lowered vowel, but never a nasalized one in the contexts where *ʕ is reconstructed, Calemerian linguists think that the Chlouvānem phoneme being nasal is a post-Proto-Lahob development.

Vowels

Proto-Lahob's vowel inventory, on the other hand, is fairly simple, with five pairs of long and short vowels - /a aː e eː o oː i iː u uː/ - plus the two vowels /ɨ ə/. The non-high vowels could also form diphthongs with /ɨ̯ ɪ̯ ʊ̯/, while /i iː/ only could with /ʊ̯/ and /u uː/ only with /ɪ̯/.

Sound correspondences in daughter languages

The following table lists the general reflexes of Proto-Lahob phonemes in the major attested Lahob languages. For sake of brevity, different outcomes caused by splits in earlier times of the language are not noted (e.g. *d having different outcomes in Yełeshian Lawo due to original intervocalic *d being n and secondary intervocalic *d (post-Proto-Nayzehenyn) being r):

Proto-Lahob	Chlouvānem	Nayzehenyn		Central Lahobic
		Yełeshian Lawo	Shershan Lawo	Łohofál	Sulutamilian Minwan
*p	p	p	p	f	f
*pʰ	ħ	h, kp1	h, kp1	f, kp1	f, kp1
*b	b	b, w	b, w	p, f	p
*bʱ	bh	w, gb1	w, gb1	p, f, gb1	p, gb1
*t	t, ṭ2	t	t	t	t, s
*tʰ	th, ṭh2	n	y	s	s, t
*d	d, ḍ2	d, r, n	d, y	d, ð	d, n, r
*dʱ	dh, ḍh2	n	y
*c	c	č, š	č, š	s	s, t
*cʰ	ch	š	š
*ɟ	j	ž	dž, ž	d, ð	d, n, r
*ɟʱ	jh		ž
*k	k, c3	k, q2	k	k, r, ȟ	k, l, s
*kʰ	kh, ch3	ħ, ∅	ħ, h
*ɡ	g, j3	g, ∅	g, h	k, ð, ȟ, ∅	k, n, s, ∅
*ɡʱ	gh, jh3	ħ, ∅	ħ, h
*kʷ	ɂ	kp	kp	kp	kp
*kʷʰ	ph
*ɡʷ	ɂ	gb	gb	gb	gb
*ɡʷʱ	bh
*x	h, V̤4, V̤k5	k1, ∅, š	k1, ∅, š	∅, l1	∅
*ɣ	h, V̤4, V̤g5	k1, ∅, ž	k1, ∅, ž, h
*h	h, V̤4	h, ħ	ħ, h	∅
*f	p	h	h	f	f
*w	v	w, ∅	w, ∅	w	w
*s	s, š3	s, ∅6	s, ∅6	∅	∅
*š	ṣ, ∅7
*[z]	Vː8, ∅9	z	z
*r	r, h6, l	r, ∅	y, ∅	l, ∅1, 10	l, ∅1, 10
*l	l	ł	ł	ł	ł
*ɬ	l, chl1	tł	tł		tł

Table notes:

1. Word-initially.
2. Usually through assimilation of a following *r.
3. When followed by *j.
4. In coda.
5. Intervocalic.
6. Word-finally.
7. Word-initially when followed by *j.
8. Before voiced consonants.
9. Adjacent to *d or *dʱ (resulting in ḍ, ḍh respectively).
10. Before stops.

Morphology

First declension

First declension nouns are those also known as *-s nouns, and distinguished four types of stems: o-stems, u-stems, i-stems, and *n-stems (cf. Chlouvānem s-nouns in -as, -us, -is, -oe). Here follows the declension of first declension nouns with a comparison in Chlouvānem and Yełeshian Lawo (a Nayzehenyn language), which only keeps this declension as a relic in a few nouns - not the root *frātos "wind" but, as in the table, *gistoros "young" (> Proto-Nayzehenyn *yestor > ehtu, cf. Chl. giṣṭaras).

Note that Yełeshian Lawo, and all Nayzehenyn languages anyway, keeps the original instrumental plural suffix as an adverb-forming suffix, e.g. ehtuwenik "in the way of a young person". This use of the instrumental plural is considered a Proto-Lahob feature, as it is still found in most other branches, and is also common in Archaic and Early Classical Chlouvānem texts.

	Proto-Lahob			Chlouvānem			Yełeshian Lawo
	o-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*frāt-os	*frāt-ant	*frāt-aj	prātas	prātāt	prāte	ehtu	ehtuwe
Vocative	*frāt-āw			prātau
Accusative	*frāt-u	*frāt-asuj	*frāt-ajir	prātu	prātāṣa	prātaih
Ergative	*frāt-ej	*frāt-ōjo	*frāt-ōn	prātei	prātāya	prātān
Genitive	*frāt-i	*frāt-ajwo	*frāt-umi	prāti	prāteva	prātumi	ehtuy	ehtum
Instrumental	*frāt-op	*frāt-ōbʱan	*frāt-ajnīko	prātap	prātābhan	prātenīka		ehtuwenik
Exessive	*frāt-ot		*frāt-ōmōn	prātat		prātāmān
Ablative	*frāt-ux		*frāt-ajnits	prātų		prātenīs
Translative	*frāt-on	*frāt-oguš	*frāt-ijawr	prātan	prātaus	prātyoh
Dative	*frāt-awm		*frāt-osām	prātom		prātasām	ehtowe	ehtuswe
Essive	*frāt-ox	*frāt-iŋgin	*frāt-egem	prātą	prātigin	prātēm
Locative	*frāt-e		*frāt-iʕīm	prāte		prātilīm
	u-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*kewʕəd-u-s	*kewʕəd-u-nt	*kewʕəd-āw-s	kældus	kældūt	kældaus	koru	korwe
Vocative	*kewʕəd-u			kældu
Accusative	*kewʕəd-aw-u	*kewʕəd-u-suj	*kewʕəd-aw-ir	kældavu	kældūṣa	kældavih
Ergative	*kewʕəd-aw-e(j)	*kewʕəd-ū-jo	*kewʕəd-ū-n	kældave	kældūya	kældūn
Genitive	*kewʕəd-aw-i	*kewʕəd-owwo	*kewʕəd-owmi	kældavi	kældagva	kældǣmi	korwe	korum
Instrumental	*kewʕəd-u-p	*kewʕəd-aw-bʱan	*kewʕəd-u-nīko	kældup	kældobhan	kældunīka		korunik
Exessive	*kewʕəd-u-t		*kewʕəd-aw-mōn	kældut		kældomān
Ablative	*kewʕəd-u-ux		*kewʕəd-u-nits	kældų		kældunīs
Translative	*kewʕəd-u-n	*kewʕəd-u-guš	*kewʕəd-u-jawr	kældun	kældugus	kælduyoh
Dative	*kewʕəd-aw-awm		*kewʕəd-u-sām	kældavom		kældusām	korwe	koruswe
Essive	*kewʕəd-aw-x	*kewʕəd-u-ŋgin	*kewʕəd-aw-egem	kældą	kældugin	kældavēm
Locative	*kewʕəd-aw-e		*kewʕəd-u-ʕīm	kældave		kældulīm
	i-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*əskutr-i-s	*əskutr-i-nt	*əskutr-āj-s	skuṭis	skuṭīt	skuṭais	kutłi	kutłe
Vocative	*əskutr-i			skuṭi
Accusative	*əskutr-aj-u	*əskutr-i-suj	*əskutr-aj-ir	skuṭayu	skuṭīṣa	skuṭaih
Ergative	*əskutr-aj-e(j)	*əskutr-ī-jo	*əskutr-ī-n	skuṭaye	skuṭīya	skuṭīn
Genitive	*əskutr-aj-i	*əskutr-ojjo	*əskutr-j-umi	skuṭayi	skuṭajña	skuṭyumi	kutłey	kutłim
Instrumental	*əskutr-i-p	*əskutr-aj-bʱan	*əskutr-i-nīko	skuṭip	skuṭebhan	skuṭinīka		kutłinik
Exessive	*əskutr-i-t		*əskutr-aj-mōn	skuṭit		skuṭemān
Ablative	*əskutr-j-ux		*əskutr-i-nits	skuṭyų		skuṭinīs
Translative	*əskutr-i-n	*əskutr-i-guš	*əskutr-i-jawr	skuṭin	skuṭigus	skuṭyoh
Dative	*əskutr-aj-awm		*əskutr-i-sām	skuṭayom		skuṭisām	kutłewe	kutłiswe
Essive	*əskutr-aj-x	*əskutr-i-ŋgin	*əskutr-aj-egem	skuṭę	skuṭigin	skuṭayēm
Locative	*əskutr-aj-e		*əskutr-i-ʕīm	skuṭaye		skuṭilīm
	n-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*hoʕ-õ	*hoʕ-en-ant	*hoʕ-en-ī	haloe	halenāt	halenī
Vocative
Accusative	*hoʕ-en-u	*hoʕ-en-asuj	*hoʕ-en-ajir	halenu	halenāṣa	halenaih
Ergative	*hoʕ-en-ej	*hoʕ-en-ōjo	*hoʕ-en-ōn	halenei	halenāya	halenān
Genitive	*hoʕ-en-jes	*hoʕ-en-wo	*hoʕ-õ-mi	halenies	halemva	haloemi
Instrumental	*hoʕ-en-op	*hoʕ-õ-bʱan	*hoʕ-õ-nīko	halenap	haloebhan	haloenīka
Exessive	*hoʕ-en-ot		*hoʕ-õ-mōn	halenat		haloemān
Ablative	*hoʕ-en-ux		*hoʕ-õ-nits	halenų		haloenīs
Translative	*hoʕ-en-on	*hoʕ-en-oguš	*hoʕ-en-ijawr	halenan	halenaus	halenyoh
Dative	*hoʕ-en-awm		*hoʕ-õ-sām	halenom		haloesām
Essive	*hoʕ-en-î(x)	*hoʕ-õ-gin	*hoʕ-õ-gem	halen	haloegin	haloem
Locative	*hoʕ-en-je		*hoʕ-en-iʕīm	halenie		halenilīm

Second declension

Second declension nouns are those that end in -m (except for -āj nouns), and also have three different possible stems: o-stems, u-stems, and i-stems. Here follows the declension of first declension nouns with a comparison in Chlouvānem, Yełeshian Lawo, and Tundra Pwaɬasd.

	Proto-Lahob			Chlouvānem			Yełeshian Lawo		Łahoḇarir
	o-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*juɟ-om	*juɟ-iwā	*juɟ-oms	yujam	yujivā	yujās	yiž	yižus	sur	susur
Vocative	*juɟ-e			yuje
Accusative	*juɟ-om-u	*juɟ-m-es	*juɟ-m-ajir	yujamu	yujmes	yujmaih
Ergative	*juɟ-m-ego	*juɟ-m-ēn	*juɟ-ōm-ūn	yujmæ	yujmian	yujāmūn
Genitive	*juɟ-om-i	*juɟ-m-ajwo	*juɟ-om-nān	yujami	yujmeva	yujaṃrān	yižom	yižonwe	susome	susunä
Instrumental	*juɟ-om-op	*juɟ-o-bʱan	*juɟ-om-nīko	yujamap	yujabhan	yujaṃrīka		yižonik
Exessive	*juɟ-om-ot		*juɟ-o-mōn	yujamat		yujamān
Ablative	*juɟ-om-ux		*juɟ-m-ajnits	yujamų		yujmenīs
Translative	*juɟ-om-on	*juɟ-m-ix	*juɟ-m-ent	yujaman	yujmį	yujmēt
Dative	*juɟ-om-awm		*juɟ-om-sām	yujamom		yujaṃsām	yižom̃e	yižuže	susumaw	sususä
Essive	*juɟ-om-x	*juɟ-m-enne	*juɟ-m-egem	yujmą	yujmenne	yujmēm
Locative	*juɟ-om-n(j)aj		*juɟ-m-iʕīm	yujaṃrye		yujmilīm
	u-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*tūl-u-m	*tūl-w-iwā	*tūl-u-ms	tūlum	tūlvivā	tūlūs
Vocative	*tūl-w-e			tūlve
Accusative	*tūl-u-m-u	*tūl-w-es	*tūl-u-jir	tūlumu	tūlves	tūluyih
Ergative	*tūl-u-go	*tūl-w-ēn	*tūl-u-m-ūn	tūluga	tūlvyan	tūlumūn
Genitive	*tūl-u-m-i	*tūl-w-ajwo	*tūl-u-m-nān	tūlumi	tūlveva	tūluṃrān
Instrumental	*tūl-u-m-op	*tūl-u-bʱan	*tūl-um-nīko	tūlumap	tūlubhan	tūluṃrīka
Exessive	*tūl-u-m-ot		*tūl-u-mōn	tūlumat		tūlumān
Ablative	*tūl-u-m-ux		*tūl-w-ajnits	tūlumų		tūlvenīs
Translative	*tūl-u-m-on	*tūl-w-ix	*tūl-u-nt	tūluman	tūlvį	tūlūt
Dative	*tūl-u-m-awm		*tūl-u-m-sām	tūlumom		tūluṃsām
Essive	*tūl-u-m-x	*tūl-u-nne	*tūl-u-gem	tūlų	tūlunne	tūlugem
Locative	*tūl-u-m-n(j)aj		*tūl-u-ʕīm	tūluṃrye		tūlulīm
	i-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*sgāt-i-m	*sgāt-i-iwā	*sgāt-i-ms	ṛgātim	ṛgātīvā	ṛgātīs
Vocative	*sgāt-j-e			ṛgātie
Accusative	*sgāt-i-m-u	*sgāt-j-es	*sgāt-i-jir	ṛgātimu	ṛgāties	ṛgātīh
Ergative	*sgāt-i-go	*sgāt-j-ēn	*sgāt-i-m-ūn	ṛgātya	ṛgātiyan	ṛgātimūn
Genitive	*sgāt-i-m-i	*sgāt-j-ajwo	*sgāt-i-m-nān	ṛgātimi	ṛgātieva	ṛgātiṃrān
Instrumental	*sgāt-i-m-op	*sgāt-i-bʱan	*sgāt-im-nīko	ṛgātimap	ṛgātibhan	ṛgātiṃrīka
Exessive	*sgāt-i-m-ot		*sgāt-i-mōn	ṛgātimat		ṛgātimān
Ablative	*sgāt-i-m-ux		*sgāt-j-ajnits	ṛgātimų		ṛgātienīs
Translative	*sgāt-i-m-on	*sgāt-j-ix	*sgāt-i-nt	ṛgātiman	ṛgātį	ṛgātīt
Dative	*sgāt-i-m-awm		*sgāt-i-m-sām	ṛgātimom		ṛgātiṃsām
Essive	*sgāt-i-m-x	*sgāt-i-nne	*sgāt-i-gem	ṛgātį	ṛgātinne	ṛgātiem
Locative	*sgāt-i-m-n(j)aj		*sgāt-i-ʕīm	ṛgātiṃrye		ṛgātilīm

*-ōj declension

A class of nouns which ended in *-ōj in their direct case forms had a particular declension, with forms mostly taken from the first and the second declension but varying between the two. The essive and the locative singular are from the third.
Chlouvānem, Yełeshian and Shershan Lawo, and Šlokhowdeš all have many remnants from this class (and in Chl. and Šlk. it is still productive), while other languages may keep the odd irregular noun (as the root used in the example, *gjun-ōj, meaning "foot").

	Proto-Lahob			Chlouvānem			Yeł. Lawo		Šlokhowdeš
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct and Vocative	*gjun-ōj	*gjun-ōj-wā	*gjun-ōj-aj	junai	junaivā	junāye
Accusative	*gjun-ōj-u	*gjun-ōj-es	*gjun-ōj-ajir	junāyu	junāyes	junāyaih
Ergative	*gjun-ōj-ej	*gjun-ōj-ēn	*gjun-ōj-ūn	junǣ	junāyēn	junāyūn
Genitive	*gjun-ōj-i	*gjun-ōj-wo	*gjun-ōj-ān	junāyi	junaiva	junāyān
Instrumental	*gjun-ōj-p	*gjun-ōj-bʱan	*gjun-ōj-nīko	junaip	junaibhan	junainīka
Exessive	*gjun-ōj-t		*gjun-ōj-mōn	junait		junaimān
Ablative	*gjun-ōj-ux		*gjun-ōj-ajnits	junāyų		junǣnīs
Translative	*gjun-ōj-n	*gjun-ōj-ix	*gjun-ōj-ent	junain	junāyį	junāyēt
Dative	*gjun-ōj-awm		*gjun-ōj-sām	junāyom		junaisām
Essive	*gjun-ōj-xəs	*gjun-ōj-nne	*gjun-ōj-gem	junąis	junainne	junaigem
Locative	*gjun-ōj-aj		*gjun-ōj-ʕīm	junāye		junailīm

Pronouns

Only the first- and second-person pronouns are reliably reconstructible in Proto-Lahob; it probably did not have common third person pronouns nor those differing in formality (which are found in Chlouvānem, most of its descendants, and, in a different way, in many Kenaywanic languages) - the pronoun declension was apparently marginally productive and terms which were used as pronouns were sometimes analogically added to it — first of all, the development of Chlouvānem's 2SG formal equal pronoun tami starting from the Lällshag borrowing tame can be seen in texts from the early centuries of the Second Era; also using nouns instead of pronouns is not uncommon among Lahob languages, as do, without a change in declension, contemporary Chlouvānem, most of its descendants, as well as some Tłašnelek languages.

Like most modern Lahob languages - Chlouvānem is, this time, the exception - the Proto-Lahob second person pronouns distinguished natural gender both in the singular and in the plural; while all plural pronouns have vanished from Chlouvānem (though the 2PL feminine one's direct and genitive cases only are attested in Archaic Chlouvānem), the feminine singular is reflected as the formal superior and the masculine singular as the formal inferior. Some Kenaywanic languages, as e.g. Łōpian, have also simplified the system by only retaining the originally masculine forms.
The dual forms may not be reliably reconstructed (as anywhere in Proto-Lahob morphology) because Chlouvānem is the only attested Lahob language with a dual form (excluding a few of its daughter languages).

Proto-Lahob	Chlouvānem	Central Lahobic				Nayzehenyn				Łogawenek				Kenaywanic		Tłašnelek
		Proto-CL	Łohofál	Sulutamilian Minwan	Łokudár	Proto-N.	Yełeshian Lawo	Shershan Lawo	Nahawi	Proto-Ł.	Łaȟoḇaror	Łogawe	Aem	Proto-K.	Łōpian	Proto-T.	Kpunnuan Tłašnelek
*ʕiŋi, *ʕ- "I"	lili	*oŋi	ngi	oni	oni	*eŋ͡mi	em̃e	em̃	im̃	*eŋ	eng	en	eng	*emʲe	emь	*oŋ͡mi	oŋmi
*rowi, *r- "you (masculine sg)"	ravi	*rōy	loy	loa	roy	*roy	rwe	ya	rē	*ruy	yuy	ruy	ruy	*rᵞovʲi	rъey	*law	naw
*nomi, *nəj- "you (feminine sg)"	nami	*noy	no	noa	noy	*nay	ney	nē	nē	*nɔm	no	na	nwŏ	*nome	—	*nami	nai
*muxmō~mexjō, *mux-/*me- "we"	—	*muma	mun	mum	mun	*mɛy	me	mē	mē	*mɛn	nän	nɛ	mye	*mᵞen	mъen	*moȟō	mohu
*korin, *kro-/*koj- "you (masculine pl)"	—	*kōn	kon	kun	ku	*kran	qan	kan	qan	*kɔr	kon	kar	kwŏ	*korʲin	kerьn	*kōn	kuki
*nogin, *(ə)ŋg- "you (feminine pl)"	nagin	*olin	ðin	onen	thi	*nawn	non	nam̃	nam̃	*nɔk	—	nak	nwŏk	*nokin	—	*nokin	noki

Basic cognates

Numbers 1-12

All Lahob languages have a duodecimal numeral system. Here are the numbers from 1 to 12 (10₁₂) in some of them. Note that there is no common word for "zero" (most of them use the word for "nothing"; Chlouvānem has the Lällshag borrowing ajrā). The Proto-Lahob numerals for three and six are based on finger counting, being the word for "finger" and its dual form (some languages have innovated a newer word for finger with a later derivation, cf. Chl. pamuvis, Yeł. Lawo kpim̃í); Kenaywanic and Tłašnelek also have the root *den, "phalanx", for one – which is reflected in all languages' word for Ɛ, *wewʕe-den, or "one phalanx more [to twelve]". It is also notable that *tītijo, used for "eight" in all branches except for Nayzehenyn and Chlouvānem, also means "limbs", referring to legs, feet, arms, and hands.
Nayzehenyn languages have three as a sub-base and their word for twelve is "four fingers" or "four times three".

Proto-Lahob	Chlouvānem	Central Lahobic				Nayzehenyn				Łogawenek				Kenaywanic		Tłašnelek
		Proto-CL	Łohofál	Sulutamilian Minwan	Łokudár	Proto-N.	Yełeshian Lawo	Shershan Lawo	Nahawi	Proto-Ł.	Łaȟoḇaror	Łogawe	Aem	Proto-K.	Łōplan	Proto-T.	Kpunnuan Tłašnelek
*jemibɨ ～ *denə "one"	emibe	*yempu	yew	empu	yiw	*imbo	im̃u	im̃o	im̃u	*zɛmeb	sämeḇ	zɛwm	šeme	*deno	de	*ten	ti
*doni "two"	dani	*doni	doy	dun	don	*done	dun	dōn	dōn	*dɔn	don	da	dwŏ	*doni	ni	*tani	tani
*pāmwəj "three"	pāmvi	*faŋi	feng	fen	han	*pɔŋ͡me	kpem̃	kpam̃	kpam̃	*paŋ	päng	pan	fang	*pᵞamᵞi	pъem	*pāmwe	paw
*nexɬə(te) "four"	nęlte	*netłet	nełe	netłe	nełë	*neetɬo	nitłu	nētło	nīnu	*nɛɬ	näł	nɛł	nyeł	*nehɬo	nał	*neȟtɬo	nihtło
*sjuŋko "five"	šulka	*sunko	suk	sunku	šonë	*siŋka	sink	sink	šinka	*huŋk	hing	hun	huk	*simʲo	sumь	*šoŋka	soka
*pāmujwā "six"	(tulūɂa)	*famowá	fangwá	famwá	howá	*pɔmewɔ́	kpengbé	kpegbá	kpikpá	*pamuwa	pämiw	pamua	fawa	*pᵞɑmᵞiwɑ	pâmâ	*pāmowā	pamoa
*cʰīko "seven"	chīka	*siko	sik	siku	šikë	*ʃika	šika	šik	šia	*sik	siȟ	si	sik	*siko	suk	*čīka	kica
*tītijo ～ *məbuŋo "eight"	mbula	*tiso	tis	sisun	tišë	*g͡buŋ͡ma	gbum̃o	gbum̃a	kpuža	*tis	tis	tis	tis	*tiyo	ti	*tīča	tica
*mawɟo "nine"	moja	*mōlo	moð	munu	muthë	*mɔdʒa	mož	m̃až	maža	*mawz	nos	nawz	ma	*mᵞɑzo	moz	*mōča	muca
*tofaʕdo "ten"	tålda	*tofad	tof	tofa	toha	*tafoda	tor	tahoy	tawra	*tɔfɑd	torf	taha	twŏϑ	*tofᵞɑdo	tofъ	*tafōta	tafuta
*wewʕe-den "eleven"	vælden	*wālen	waðen	wane	wothi	*yɔwdin	wedin	wahdin	warin	*wɑdɛn	warä	waɛ	ŏye	*vʲɑden	ved	*wawaten	wate
*māmōwə ～ *nexɬəpāmwəj "twelve"	māmei	*mamō	maw	mamu	mu	*neetɬɔŋ͡me	nitłem̃	nēłam̃	nīnwam̃	*mamu	näm	namu	mamu	*mᵞɑmᵞo	momъ	*māmōwo	mamo

Miscellaneous words

If the meaning in a daughter language is not specified, then it has not shifted since PLB; if ... appears in a daughter language column it means that the word did not shift meaning but acquired new ones in addition to those it already had.

Proto-Lahob	Chlouvānem	Central Lahobic				Nayzehenyn				Łogawenek				Kenaywanic		Tłašnelek
		Proto-CL	Łohofál	Sulutamilian Minwan	Łokudár	Proto-N.	Yełeshian Lawo	Shershan Lawo	Nahawi	Proto-Ł.	Łaȟoḇaror	Łogawe	Aem	Proto-K.	Łōpian	Proto-T.	Kpunnuan Tłašnelek
*bujnā"father"	būnā	*pōna	pon	puna	punë	*benɔ	bem̃e	bim̃a	pim̃a	*buna	bin	bun	bua	*pᵞinɑ	pъen	*ponā	pona
*mejnā "mother"	meinā	*mēna	mene	mina	minë	*menɔ	mem̃e	mim̃a	mim̃a	*mina	nin	nin	mia	*mʲena	mьan	*mīnā	mena
*ŋōntrom "head"	lāṇṭam	*ŋanto	ngat	nantu	notë	*ŋ͡montra	m̃ontła	m̃ontła	m̃uła	*ŋonots	ngunec	nonoc	ngonoc	*mᵞuntorᵞu	mūtrъ	*ŋ͡mōnča	ŋmuca
*ʕiken "arm"	—	*oken	ohen	oken	oke	*ekin	ekin	ičin	īn	*ɛkɛn	äȟän	ɛɛ	yehye	*eken	ikn	*oken	oke
*√ʕiŋ- "to live"	√lil-	*oŋ-	ang-	on-	an-	*eŋ͡m-	em̃-	im̃-	im̃-	*ɛŋ-	eng-	ɛn-	yeng-	*emʲ/mᵞ-	emь- ～ emъ-	*oŋ͡m-	oŋm-
*√gʷʱi-, "to take care of"	√bhi-	*ɡ͡bi-	gbi-	gbi-	gbi-	*ɡ͡bi-	gbi-	gbi-	kpi-	*ɡ͡bi-	gbi-	gbi-	gbi-	*ki-	ki-	*k͡pi-	kpi-
*mwerkos "black"	murkas	*ŋero	ngel	nel	nerë	*ŋ͡mereko	m̃ereku	m̃eyeko	m̃iriu	*ŋɛrk	ngäk	nɛk	ngek	*mᵞerʲɑ	marь	*mwēka	mwéka
*ɣuŋjā "moon"	huliā	*ruyà	uyá	oá	uyá	*guyyɔ́	ožwé	ožwá	wožá	*xoja	ȟuy	goy	ea	*wumʲɑ	mьâ	*xonyā	hoya
*gistoros "young"	giṣṭaras	*kitoro	kitol	sitol	kitorë	*yestor	ehtu	ihtu	ihtur	*ketɔr	kedoy	kedar	keϑwŏ	*kitorᵞa	kurâ	*yešala	cihna
*tāmiro "stone"	tāmira	*tamiro	tamil	tamil	tamurë	*tomur	tom̃	tomu	tumur	*tamer	tämey	tamer	tame	*tamʲirᵞo	temьurъ	*tāmila	temna
*liŋkajnet "family"	—	*ɬikēnet	łihet	łisine	łikinë	*ɬeŋkɛyni	łenkey	łinkēn	ninkēni	*ɬeŋkɛnɛt	łengkäd	łenkɛnt	łekyet	*lʲinkene	līkne	*ɬiŋkēne	łikéne
*frātos "wind"	prātas	*fato	fat	fat	hatë	*fwɔt	fuwe	wat	wat	*frat	rät	hrat	fat	*fʲatɑ	fьât	*fwāta	fwota
*xadono "sun"	hånna	*rolon	oðon	onon	othu	*kalona	kano	kayon	kanun	*xɑnd	ȟan	gan	ŏϑ	*wadon	wodn	*xatana	hahna
*ʕanaj "island"	lanai	*anē	ane	ani	ani	*ɔney	wene	wanē	wanē	*ɑnɛ	anä	onɛ	ŏi	*ɑne	ân	*onē	oné
*siwás "animal"	švas	*hiwó	iwó	hiwú	iwó	*siwá	swa	siwá	šiwá	*hew	hew	ew	hyŏ	*šiwa	šew	*šiwa	sia
*jetiror "stranger, foreigner"	etirah "customer"	*yetiru	yetil	esil	yetir	*yetir	eti	itir	itiš	*zɛter	särt	zɛc	šeϑe	*itirᵞo	iturъ	*yetila	citina
*ēʕto "trace, footprint"	yalta "symbol, ..."	*āto	ato	at	otë	*aata	āta	āt	ēta	*ɛt	ät	ɛt	yet	*eta	eta	*āta	ata
*lanisí "braid"	lañši "marriage, ..."	*ɬonisí	łonisí "sausage"	łonití "chain"	łuší "sausage"	*ɬanisi	łanisi "chain"	łanis "rope"	naniš "rope"	*ɬɑnes "chain"	łaner	łoz	łŏr	*lᵞaniší	weši	*ɬaniši	łanisi
*hōwrar "summer"	heirah "year"	—				*hor	ho "heat"	ħor	hur	*urɑ	iya	ura	urŏ	—		—

Comparison sentences

Comparison of sentences in different Lahob languages:

• English: I ate three fish.
• Proto-Lahob (reconstructed): *ʕiŋi pāmwəju dalətu juxlāw te.

Chlouvānem languages

• Chlouvānem: (lili) pāmvyu daltu yųlaute. [ɴ̆iɴ̆i päːmʋju däɴ̆tu jṳɴ̆äʊ̯te]
  • Līlasuṃghāṇi vernacular: lil pœy dolɂee ulat. [ɴ̆iŋ ˌpœːi̯ duɴ̆ˈɁeː ˈyːɴ̆ɐt]
  • Lāltaṣveyi vernacular: li pamb dôltô zuld. [ɴ̆i ˌpamb ˈdɔɴ̆tɔ ˈzuɴ̆d]
  • Lāmberhāti vernacular: lil pamf dôlt julôd. [ɴ̆iw̃ ˌpaɱf ˈdɔɴ̆t ˈdʒuɴ̆ɔð̞]

Central Lahobic languages

• Łohofál: ngi yułot feng dołit. [ŋi ˈjuɬɔt fɛŋ ˈdɔɬit]
• Dal Ming Wang: ngi yułut fang dołit. [ŋi ˈjuɬut faŋ ˈdɔɬit]
• Sulutamilian Minwan: oni ułut fen dołet. [ˈoni ˈuɬut fen ˈdoɬet]
• Łokudár: oni yułutë han dołitë. [ˈoni ˈjuɬutə han ˈdoɬitə]
• Tłowpedar: on yołt fan dołit. [ˈɔn ˈjɔɬt fan ˈdɔɬit]

Nayzehenyn languages

• Yełeshian Lawo: em̃e kpem̃ dałit yułwet. [ˈɛŋ͡mɛ k͡pɛŋ͡m ˈdaɬit ˈjuɬwɛt]
• Shershan Lawo: em̃ kpam̃ dałit yułwat. [ɛŋ͡m k͡paŋ͡m ˈdaɬit ˈjuɬwat]
• Nahawi: im̃ kpam̃ tanit yum̃at. [ɪŋ͡m k͡paŋ͡m ˈtanit ˈjuŋ͡mat]

Tłašnelek languages

• Kpunnuan Tłašnelek: oŋmit paw tałca cohlo. [ˈɔŋ͡mit paw ˈtaɬt͡sa ˈt͡sɔɦlɔ]
• Temyaonean Tłašnelek: oŋmit po tatła cotło. [ˈɔŋ͡mit pɔ ˈtat͡ɬa ˈt͡sɔt͡ɬɔ]
• Bōmon Tātō: oŋmit pōm tāša žōło. [ˈɔŋ͡mit poːm ˈtaːʃa ˈʒoːɬo]

External history

The history behind how I created the Lahob languages is somewhat curious: when I created Chlouvānem in my newer version of Calémere, I could not keep the same family I had already vastly developed for Laceyiam. But I didn't really like leaving it as an isolate, so that when I was filling the language infobox on the page for Chlouvānem I wrote down a meaningless "Lahob" on the language family parameter. Eventually I decided I liked the name and built the family around it.
The aesthetic inspirations for the individual non-Chlouvānem language families are varied, but overall I was mostly inspired by the Austronesian and Algonquian families.