Old Swuntsim

Revision as of 20:46, 1 April 2018 by IlL (talk | contribs) (→‎Phonology)

Old Swuntsim (tSxwəcim) was the ancient Tsimulh language spoken by the Swutsim people. It is still often used as a liturgical language among religious Swutsim.

Descendants:

GMP

Tsimulh low tone > breathy voice (vowels not devoiced yet; devoiced vowels are partly merged)

Two consecutive breathy vowels > just the first vowel drops.

Satemization

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
central lateral plain labialized plain labialized
Nasal m n
Stop plain p t k ʔ
voiced b d g
ejective kʷʼ qʷʼ
Affricate plain c ξ č
voiced z j
ejective ξʼ čʼ
Fricative s σ š χ χʷ h
Approximant y w ʁ ʁʷ

Vowels

Clear vowels: i u e ə o a

Breathy vowels: ì ù ə̀ à

Grammar

Noun class system got weird - formal noun classes remain but the words semantically shift as in Sanskrit

Nouns

Noun classes

Sacred Swutsim had a noun class system like the Bantu languages. There were 12 noun classes, which are numbered as follows:

  1. ʔə-, pl. cə-
  2. bu-, pl. də-
  3. p-, pl. əpi-
  4. s-, pl. dus-
  5. ut-, pl. pσə-
  6. ma-, pl. əwə-
  7. č-, pl. abi-
  8. gu-, pl. n-
  9. σi-, pl. wi-
  10. t-
  11. t’im-
  12. pda-

Cases

  • Nominative: -0
  • Genitive: -s

Verbs

Noun class prefixes

  • I = kʷə-
  • you (sg) = xʷə-
  • we = wə-
  • you (pl) = cu-
  • Noun class prefixes:
    1. ʔə-, pl. cə-
    2. bu-, pl. də-
    3. p-, pl. əpi-
    4. s-, pl. dus-
    5. ut-, pl. pσə-
    6. ma-, pl. əwə-
    7. č-, pl. abi-
    8. gu-, pl. n-
    9. σi-, pl. wi-
    10. t-, no plural
    11. t’im-, no plural
    12. pda- (common for abstract nouns), no plural

Tense affixes

-s - past tense

Numbers

The numerals 1-9 inflected for noun class; 10 and higher units did not.

1: *-an

2: *-xʷiš

3: *-ʔiyəm

4: *-udzuq

5: *-t'u

6: *-čaydž

7: *-buč'oh

8: *-gwiməʔ

9: *-anay

10: *-kʷ'in