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| '''Proto-Rttirrian''' is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Rttirrian family of languages spoken primarily across the nation of [[Verse:Rttirria|Rttirria]], as well as other nearby nations in [[w:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]]. It was probably spoken around 1500–1000 BCE, but there are no written records of its existence. Based on the distribution and diversity of its daughter languages, Proto-Rttirrian's [[w:urheimat|urheimat]] was probably somewhere in present-day northeastern Rttirria or southwestern [[w:Myanmar|Myanmar]]. Its two main branches are South Rttirrian, spoken in Rttirria, and North Rttirrian, spoken elsewhere in Southeast Asia and notable for its [[w:Semitic languages|Semitic]]-like word root system.
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| Proto-Rttirrian was a moderately [[w:fusional language|fusional]] language somewhat like many [[w:Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] languages, which inflected verbs for person, number, [[w:animacy|animacy]], tense, and the [[w:subjunctive mood|subjunctive]] mood. It had two consonants, transcribed ''*l<sub>1</sub>'' and ''*l<sub>2</sub>'', whose pronunciations are disputed; disputes also exist over the function of its "fourth tense" (after past, present, and future) and its word order.
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| Rttirrian is not known to be related to any other [[w:language family|language family]], but various proposals have been made, especially relations to the [[w:Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] languages and various families in New Guinea and Australia; however, none of these proposals has much academic support. By far, the Rttirrian language with the most speakers is [[Rttirri]], which is spoken by over 46 million people and is the official language of Rttirria. Most of its other daughter languages have only a few thousand or hundred remaining speakers, except for [[Gaju]], with almost a million.
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| ==Phonology== | | ==Phonology== |
| ===Consonants=== | | ===Consonants=== |
| Proto-Rttirrian had a moderate-sized consonant inventory; however, it was much more flexible than its daughter languages with regards to clusters. The following consonants are reconstructed:
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;" | | {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;" |
| ! |
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| ! |Labial
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| ! |Alveolar
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| ! |Palatal
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| ! |Velar
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| ! |Retroflex
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| ! |Pharyngeal?
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| |- | | |- |
| ! Nasal | | !rowspan="2"| |
| | *'''m''' /m/ | | !colspan="2"|Labial |
| | *'''n''' /n/ | | !colspan="2"|Alveolar |
| | !colspan="2"|Palatal |
| | !rowspan="2"|Retroflex |
| | !colspan="2"|Velar |
| | !rowspan="2"|Uvular |
| | |- |
| | !Plain |
| | !Lab. |
| | !Plain |
| | !Lab. |
| | !Plain |
| | !Lab. |
| | !Plain |
| | !Lab. |
| | |- |
| | ! Plosive |
| | | '''pʼ''' /pˤ/<br>'''p''' /p/<br>'''b''' /b/ |
| | | '''pwʼ''' /pʷˤ/<br>'''pw''' /pʷ/<br>'''bw''' /bʷ/ |
| | | '''tt''' /tʼ/<br>'''tʼ''' /tˤ/<br>'''t''' /t/<br>'''d''' /d/ |
| | | '''ttw''' /tʷʼ/<br>'''twʼ''' /tʷˤ/<br>'''tw''' /tʷ/<br>'''dw''' /dʷ/ |
| | | | | |
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| | *'''rn''' /ɳ/ | | | |
| | | '''kk''' /kʼ/<br>'''g''' /g/ |
| | | '''kkw''' /kʷʼ/<br>'''gw''' /gʷ/ |
| | | | | |
| |- | | |- |
| ! Plosive | | ! Fricative |
| | *'''p''' /p/<br>*'''b''' /b/ | | | '''f''' /f/<br>'''v''' /v/<br>'''vʼ''' /vˤ/ |
| | *'''t''' /t/<br>*'''d''' /d/ | | | |
| | | '''s''' /s/<br>'''z''' /z/ |
| | | |
| | | '''sh''' /ʃ/<br>'''zh''' /ʒ/<br>'''zhʼ''' /ʒˤ/ |
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| | *'''k''' /k/<br>*'''g''' /g/ | | | |
| | *'''rt''' /ʈ/<br>*'''rd''' /ɖ/ | | | '''kh''' /x/<br>'''gh''' /ɣ/ |
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| |- | | |- |
| ! Fricative | | ! Affricate |
| | *'''f''' /ɸ/<br>*'''v''' /β/ | | | |
| | *'''s''' /s/<br>*'''z''' /z/ | | | |
| | | '''tts''' /t͡sʼ/<br>'''ts''' /t͡s/<br>'''dz''' /d͡z/ |
| | | '''ttsw''' /t͡sʷʼ/<br>'''tsw''' /t͡sʷ/<br>'''dzw''' /d͡zʷ/ |
| | | '''cch''' /t͡ʃʼ/<br>'''ch''' /t͡ʃ/<br>'''jʼ''' /d͡ʒ/<br>'''j''' /d͡ʒˤ/ |
| | | '''cchw''' /t͡ʃʷʼ/<br>'''chw''' /t͡ʃʷ/<br>'''jwʼ''' /d͡ʒʷ/<br>'''jw''' /d͡ʒʷˤ/ |
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| |- | | |- |
| ! Affricate | | ! Lateral |
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| | | '''l''' /l/<br>'''hl''' /ɬ/<br>'''lj''' /ɮ/<br>'''ljʼ''' /ɮˤ/ |
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| | *'''ch''' /t͡ʃ/
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| | |- |
| | ! Rhotic |
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| | | '''r''' /ʐ/ |
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| | | '''rr''' /ʀ/ |
| |- | | |- |
| ! Approximant | | ! Nasal |
| | *'''w''' /w/ | | | '''m''' /m/ |
| | | '''mw''' /mʷ/ |
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| | *'''y''' /j/
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| | *'''rl''' /ɭ/<br>*'''rr''' /ɻ/ | | | |
| | *'''l<sub>1</sub>'''<br>*'''l<sub>2</sub>''' | | | |
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| | | '''ng''' /ŋ/<br>'''ngʼ''' /ŋˤ/ |
| | | '''ngw''' /ŋʷ/<br>'''ngwʼ''' /ŋʷˤ/ |
| | | |
| |} | | |} |
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| * The exact pronunciation of the consonants transcribed as '''l<sub>1</sub>''' and '''l<sub>2</sub>''' is unknown.
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| :* Among the descendants of Proto-Rttirrian, these two sounds survived only in Proto-South-Rttirrian, where they merged into a single phoneme, */ʟ/. That phoneme corresponds to /l/ and many instances of the low [[w:tone (linguistics)|tone]] in Gaju, and corresponds to /w/ and diphthongal /u/ in Rttirri. In all other descendants of Proto-Rttirrian, '''l<sub>1</sub>''' and '''l<sub>2</sub>''' disappeared as consonants and survive only in their effects on surrounding vowels.
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| :* Some linguists posit that they were [[w:pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] approximants [ħ] and [ʕ], pointing to the fact that they generally had a backing effect on surrounding vowels in branches other than South Rttirrian. Others note that these backing effects were not uniform, and suggest that only '''l<sub>2</sub>''' was pharyngeal while '''l<sub>1</sub>''' was something like the velarized lateral [ɫ], or a lateral fricative [ɬ~ɮ].
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| :* Evidence that '''l<sub>1</sub>''' was some type of fricative comes from the fact that the vowel '''a''' was allophonically raised when adjacent to '''f''', '''v''', '''s''', and '''z''', as well as '''l<sub>1</sub>''', but the relevance of this observation is disputed. The realization of the vowel '''u''' was not affected by either consonant, suggesting that they were probably not velar.
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| ===Vowels=== | | ===Vowels=== |
| Proto-Rttirrian had a simple three-vowel system:
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center; border-spacing: 20px;" | | {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center; border-spacing: 20px;" |
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| ! Front | | ! Front |
| ! Central | | ! Central |
| | ! Near-back |
| ! Back | | ! Back |
| |- | | |- |
| ! High | | ! High |
| | *'''i''' /i/ | | | '''i''' /i/<br>'''ui''' /y/ |
| | | '''ie''' /ɨ/ |
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| | *'''u''' /u/
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| |- | | |- |
| ! Low | | ! Near-high |
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| | *'''a''' /ä/
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| | | | | '''u''' /ʊ/ |
| |} | | | |
| * The low vowel '''a''' was probably fronted and raised allophonically to something like [æ~e] adjacent to fricatives and '''l<sub>1</sub>'''.
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| * The high back vowel '''u''' was probably lowered allophonically to something like [ʊ~ɔ] adjacent to velar consonants.
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| ==Grammar==
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| Proto-Rttirrian had a moderate degree of [[w:fusional language|fusional]] inflection.
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| Proto-Rttirrian had an [[w:animacy|animacy]] system, which was lost in all descendants, although some scholars consider [[Gaju]] to have (re)gained a rudimentary [[w:grammatical gender|grammatical gender]] system. In Proto-South-Rttirrian, the animate gender became dominant in the singular number, i.e. the surviving third-person singular inflectional affixes and pronouns are those that descend from the Proto-Rttirrian animate gender. However, in the plural number, the inanimate gender won out. For example, the [[Rttirri]] third-person singular ergative/possessive prefix is ''wa'', derived from the Proto-Rttirrian ''*l<sub>1</sub>a-'' (animate), but the third-person plural prefix is ''rta'', from the Proto-Rttirrian ''*rdam'' (inanimate).
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| ===Verbs===
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| Verbs inflected for the person, number, and animacy of the subject and for tense.
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;"
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| |- | | |- |
| !rowspan="4" | | | ! High-mid |
| !colspan="8" | Person
| | | '''e''' /e/ |
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| | | '''o''' /o/ |
| |- | | |- |
| !colspan="2" | 1st | | ! Low-mid |
| !colspan="2" | 2nd
| | | '''oe''' /œ/ |
| !colspan="4" | 3rd
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| |- | | |- |
| !rowspan="2" | Sing. | | ! Low |
| !rowspan="2" | Pl.
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| !rowspan="2" | Sing.
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| !rowspan="2" | Pl.
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| !colspan="2" | Sing.
| | | '''a''' /ɑ/<br>'''ao''' /ɒ/ |
| !colspan="2" | Pl.
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| |-
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| ! Anim.
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| ! Inan.
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| ! Anim.
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| ! Inan.
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| |-
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| !Past
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| | ''*mu-''
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| | ''*mum-''
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| | ''*apaf-''
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| | ''*am-''
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| | ''*bu-''
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| | ''*pa-''
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| | ''*bum-''
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| | ''*bam-'' | |
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| !Present
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| | ''*na-''
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| | ''*nam-'' | |
| | ''*akf-'' | |
| | ''*sam-'' | |
| | ''*l<sub>1</sub>a-''
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| | ''*rda-''
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| | ''*l<sub>1</sub>im-''
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| | ''*rdam-''
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| |-
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| !Future
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| | ''*nay-''
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| | ''*mi-''
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| | ''*akay-''
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| | ''*mi-''
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| | ''*l<sub>1</sub>i-''
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| | ''*rdi-''
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| | colspan="2" | ''*mi-''
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| |-
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| !Tense #4
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| | ''*l<sub>2</sub>an-''
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| | ''*l<sub>2</sub>am-''
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| | ''*l<sub>2</sub>ak-''
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| | ''*l<sub>2</sub>am-''
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| | ''*l<sub>2</sub>i-''
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| | ''*l<sub>2</sub>ard-''
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| | colspan="2" | ''*l<sub>2</sub>am-''
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| |} | | |} |
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| * The exact function of the fourth tense is unknown; it may have been a [[w:perfect (grammar)|perfect]] aspect, an [[w:aorist|aorist]], or something else entirely. It evolved into two verbal moods in Proto-South-Rttirrian and took on various tense and aspect functions in other descendants.
| | ===Phonotactics=== |
| * An ''*i-'' was used to begin the stems of transitive verbs. By analogy, this would cause object pronouns to be affixed to the verb in Proto-South-Rttirrian.
| | Stress falls on the first syllable. |
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| ====Auxiliary verbs====
| | Syllable structure is maximally CVN. There may only be one pharyngealized, ejective, or labialized consonant per root, although more may be added to a single word through compounding and affixation. |
| Ample auxiliary verbs were used. Some of these would later fuse to the verb to become inflectional moods. Similarly, certain past-tense and future-tense verb prefixes would become auxiliary verbs.
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| Some of the most common auxiliary verbs are as follows:
| | ==Grammar== |
| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;"
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| ! Rttirri
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| ! English
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| |-
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| | ''*tya''
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| | to hope
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| |-
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| | ''*apta''
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| | to plead
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| |-
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| | ''*ikrta''
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| | to have to
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| |-
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| | ''*gamu''
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| | to do something<br>habitually or generally
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| |}
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| Auxiliary verbs, grammatically, were simple particles that did not inflect.
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| :<nowiki>*</nowiki>Apaf-bva '''ikrta'''.
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| :2SG.NOM.PST-leave have_to
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| :You had to leave.
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| ====Subjunctive====
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| Only one inflectional mood was used: the [[w:subjunctive mood|subjunctive]]. It agreed with the tense of the verb:
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;"
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| |-
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| ! Past
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| | ''*-mugi''
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| |-
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| ! Present
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| | ''*-nagi''
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| |-
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| ! Future
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| | ''*-nagyi''
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| |-
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| ! Tense #4
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| | ''*-l<sub>2</sub>agyi''
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| |}
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| :<nowiki>*</nowiki>L<sub>1</sub>a-chi-'''nagi''' day
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| :2SG.PRES-eat-SUBJ.PRES 3PL.INAN.ACC
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| :If you were to eat them
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| ===Nouns=== | | ===Nouns=== |
| There was an [[w:accusative case|accusative]] case used, but it was probably vestigial by the time that Proto-Rttirrian's dialects that would become its daughter languages split off: reflexes of the accusative are found only in a small number of nouns, plus all of the pronouns.
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| The following noun suffixes were used:
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;"
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| |-
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| ! rowspan="2" |
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| ! colspan="2" | Singular
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| ! colspan="2" | Plural
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| |-
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| ! Animate
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| ! Inanimate
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| ! Animate
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| ! Inanimate
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| |-
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| ! Nominative
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| | ''*-a''
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| | —
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| | ''*-maz''
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| | ''*-ma''
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| |-
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| ! Accusative
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| | ''*-ay/*-y''
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| | ''*-i/*-y''
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| | ''*-miz''
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| | ''*-mi''
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| |}
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| The following pronouns are reconstructed. Note that many of the nominative pronouns end with ''*-tku''—in Proto-South-Rttirrian, this would be reanalyzed as an affix meaning "self" with a possessive prefix, cf. [[Rttirri]] ''nattu'' ("I", lit. "my self"). This affix is present both as an independent word for "self, identity" and as a general emphatic pronoun suffix in Rttirri and, to a lesser extent, [[Gaju]].
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;"
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| |-
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| !rowspan="4" |
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| !colspan="8" | Person
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| |-
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| !colspan="2" | 1st
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| !colspan="2" | 2nd
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| !colspan="4" | 3rd
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| |-
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| !rowspan="2" | Sing.
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| !rowspan="2" | Pl.
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| !rowspan="2" | Sing.
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| !rowspan="2" | Pl.
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| !colspan="2" | Sing.
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| !colspan="2" | Pl.
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| |-
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| ! Anim.
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| ! Inan.
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| ! Anim.
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| ! Inan.
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| |-
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| ! Nominative<br>(emphatic)
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| | ''*natku''
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| | ''*napku''
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| | ''*atku''
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| | ''*satku''
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| | ''*l<sub>1</sub>atku''
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| | ''*rdartku''
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| | ''*l<sub>1</sub>apku''
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| | ''*rtapku''
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| |-
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| ! Accusative
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| | ''*ni''
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| | ''*may''
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| | ''*ki''
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| | ''*ksay''
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| | ''*gyu''
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| | ''*di''
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| | ''*guy''
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| | ''*day''
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| |-
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| ! Possessive<br>noun prefix
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| | ''*na-''
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| | ''*mi-''
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| | ''*akf-''
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| | ''*sa-''
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| | ''*l<sub>1</sub>a-''
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| | ''*rdi-''
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| | ''*il<sub>1</sub>-''
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| | ''*rda-''
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| |}
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| ===Syntax=== | | ===Syntax=== |
| The [[w:word order|word order]] of Proto-Rttirrian is unknown. Because its case system was highly atrophied and it possessed only a nominative and an accusative, it is thought likely that a [[w:subject-verb-object|subject-verb-object]] (SVO) or [[w:object-verb-subject|object-verb-subject]] (OVS) word order was used.
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| ==Sound reflexes in selected daughter languages==
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="bluetable lightbluebg" style="text-align:center;"
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| |-
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| !
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| !colspan="2"|South Rttirrian
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| !North Rttirrian
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| |-
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| !Proto-<br>Rttirrian
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| !Rttirri
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| !Gaju
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| !Proto-<br>North-<br>Rttirrian
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| |-
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| !*m
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| |colspan="3"|m
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| |-
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| !*n
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| |colspan="3"|n
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| |-
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| !*ɳ
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| |ɳ
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| |n
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| |ɳ
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| |-
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| !*p
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| |h
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| |pʰ
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| |p
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| |-
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| !*b
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| |colspan="2"|p
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| |b
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| |-
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| !*t
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| |f
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| |tʰ
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| |t
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| |-
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| !*d
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| |ʔ
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| |t
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| |d
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| |-
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| !*k
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| |k
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| |kʰ
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| |k
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| |-
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| !*g
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| |colspan="2"|k
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| |g
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| |-
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| !*ʈ
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| |ʂ
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| |tʰ
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| |ʈ
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| |-
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| !*ɖ
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| |ʈ
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| |t
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| |ɖ
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| |-
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| !*ɸ
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| |ø
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| |f, m
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| |ɸ
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| |-
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| !*β
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| |ø
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| |f, m
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| |β
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| |-
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| !*s
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| |t
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| |t͡s
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| |s
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| |-
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| !*z
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| |ç, ʃ
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| |s
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| |z, ʒ
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| |-
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| !*t͡ʃ
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| |colspan="2"|t͡ʃ
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| |ʃ
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| |-
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| !*w
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| |colspan="2"|u
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| |β
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| |-
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| !*j
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| |colspan="2"|i
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| |j
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| |-
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| !*ɭ
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| |ɽ
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| |l
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| |ɭ
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| |-
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| !*ɻ
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| |ɻ
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| |w
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| |ɻ
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| |-
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| !*l<sub>1</sub>
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| |w, u
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| |l, [[w:Tone (linguistics)|V˩]]
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| |x
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| |-
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| !*l<sub>2</sub>
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| |w, u
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| |l, [[w:Tone (linguistics)|V˩]]
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| |∅
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| |-
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| !*ä
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| |ɑ
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| |ä, ɔ, ɛ, e
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| |ä, ɔ, e
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| |-
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| !*i
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| |i
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| |i, ɪ, e
| |
| |i, e
| |
| |-
| |
| !*u
| |
| |u
| |
| |u, o
| |
| |u, o, ɔ
| |
| |}
| |
|
| |
|
| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
| * [[Gaju]]
| |
| * [[Rttirri]]
| |
| * [[Verse:Rttirria]]
| |
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| |
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| <!-- | | <!-- |
| [[Category:A priori]] | | [[Category:A priori]] |
| [[Category:Conlangs]] | | [[Category:Conlangs]] |
| [[Category:Fusional languages]] | | [[Category:Polysynthetic languages]] |
| [[Category:Languages]] | | [[Category:Languages]] |
| --> | | --> |