Wascotl

This entry contains reconstructed words and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Wascotl
Created by	Pollasena Discord server
Reconstruction of	Wasc languages
Region	eastern Pulsuria or Merizon Mountains
Era	-4000 to -2400 MT
Reconstructed ancestor	one of Pollasena's primary language families

Wascotl /wɑˈʃoʊt, wɑˈʃoʊtəl/ is the reconstructed ancestor of the Wasc languages. To contribute and/or make a descendant, please join the Pollasena server linked to the side.

Etymology

The glossonym *wasc-otl is reconstructed, from a root *wasc- referring to the Wasc ethnic group and the animate suffix *-otl

Phonology

Wascotl phonology is most often reconstructed as follows.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Lateral	Palatal	Velar	Labialized velar	Glottal
Nasal	*m	*n			(*n)
Stop	*p	*t			*k	*qu	*'
Affricate		*c	*tl
Fricative	*f	*s	*ł	*sc			*h
Approximant		*r	*l	*j		*w

• The realization of *n likely depended on following consonants, varying between [ŋ] before (labio)velar and glottal consonants and [n] before other consonants, and was possibly in free variation before vowels.
• Based on allophones of *n and *e, in early Wascotl *' *h may have been uvular.
  • [ç] was likely an allophone of *h before *i.
• Whether the consonants listed here as approximants (other than *r which was most likely a trill) were true approximants or voiced fricatives is uncertain.

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
High	*i	*ī	*į
Mid	*e	*ē	*ę	*o	*ō
Low				*a	*ā

• Length was most likely the distinction between *i and *ī etc., but phonation has also been proposed.
• [ɤ ɤː] were likely allophones of *e *ē after (labio)velar and glottal consonants.
• The realization of *a *ā is uncertain but most likely back [ɑ ɑː].
• A marginal vowel *u may also have occurred as an allophone of *w.

Stress

Stress in early Wascotl was most likely in free variation, later shifting to final or antepenultimate syllables.

Phonotactics

Wascotl is reconstructed as having (C)V(C) syllables; the lack of evidence for *S' clusters suggests that *' was disallowed after stop consonants.

Morphology

Alignment

Wascotl morphosyntactic alignment is not reconstructable, but most descendants have nominative-accusative alignment.

Suffix pairs

Each speech-part suffix had full and reduced forms. Whether alternations in these pairs marked any grammatical difference in early Wascotl in unknown; later they had already lost any such distinction with each word in most pairs being semantically distinct, but some noun pairs suggest a diminutive-augmentative split. The reduction or retention in each pair may also have been the result of an earlier infix lost without trace in the later language.

Nouns and pronouns

All nouns ended in a suffix marking one of five classes as follows.

	D	O	H	A	I
Full	*-ekan	*-ila	*-que	*-otl	*-scati
Reduced	*-kan	*-la	*-e	*-tl	*-ati

Plural nouns and pronouns were marked by final syllable reduplication.

Pronouns

The following pronouns are reconstructed.

	1	2	D	O	H	A	I
SG	*cek	*ques	*a'jō	*inał	*pas	*anki	*o
PL	*cek-cek	*ques-ques	*a'jō-jō	*inał-nał	*pas-pas	*anki-ki	*o-o

Verbs

All verbs ended in a suffix *-i or *-si.

Agreement

The following verb agreement prefixes are reconstructed. These prefixes appear to be derived from earlier prefixed pronouns.

	>1	>2	>D	>O	>H	>A	>I
1	*∅-	*ceque-	*ceka'jō-	*cetnał-	*ceppa-	*canki-	*co-
2	*quer-	*∅-	*quera'jō-	*querił-	*quepa-	*queran-	*quo-
D	*a'jōcek-	*a'jōques-	*∅-	*a'jōwin-	*a'jōpa-	*a'jōwan-	*a'jōwo-
O	*inac-	*inaque-	*inała'jō-	*∅-	*inapla-	*inałan-	*no-
H	*parek-	*paque-	*pasa'jō-	*parin-	*∅-	*panki-	*po-
A	*ancek-	*anque-	*anka'jō-	*ankin-	*ankipa-	*∅-	*o-
I	*oce-	*oque-	*owa'jō-	*owinał-	*opa-	*owanki-	*∅-

Adjectives and adverbs

All adjectives ended in a suffix *-cosc or *-osc and agreed with their noun in class. Agreement prefixes are reconstructed as follows, likely derived the same way as the verbal agreement prefixes.

D	O	H	A	I
*a'jō-	*ina-	*pa-	*an-	*o-

Whether adverbs were a category separate from adjectives and/or verbs is unknown.

Prepositions

All adpositions likely preceded their head.

Negation

A negative particle or clitic *tlenō is reconstructed, but rules on its use are unknown.

Numerals

Early Wascotl likely had base-6 numerals. The source of *ę- in later numerals and *łi is uncertain , but the latter was likely from a bare form of a root *łi-.

Reconstructed numerals 1 2 3 4 5 6 *sāl *ęs *ta *am *qui *kō 7 8 9 10 11 12 *ę-sāl *ę-ęs *ę-ta *ę-am *ę-qui *łi Number marking on numerated nouns and pronouns was likely optional. Reduplication Productive full reduplication may have occurred in Wascotl, but variation in the use of full reduplication in descendants make its function in Wascotl unreconstructable. Syntax Constituent order Wascotl word order was most likely SVO, and this order was likely strict based on the lack of case marking in reconstructions. Noun and verb phrases Adjectives and numerals most likely preceded their noun, and possessors likely followed their noun, though this order may have been flexible. Where adverbs were placed relative to their head is unknown. Resources CALS