Proto-Coelo-Caric
The Proto-Coelo-Caric language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Coelo-Caric languages, Silōs and Carichendan. It would have descended from the Proto-Sinos-Koelic language.
Development into the Coelo-Caric languages
Phonological stages from Proto-Coelo-Caric to Standard Modern Silōs
The following changes are known or presumed to have occurred in the history of Pre-Silōs in the wider sense from the end of Proto-Coelo-Caric up to the modern language. The changes are roughly in chronological order, with changes that operate on the outcome of earlier ones appearing later in the list.
Pre-Silōs (pS)
This stage began with the separation of a distinct speech, perhaps while still forming part of the Proto-Indo-European dialect continuum. It contained many innovations that were shared with other Indo-European branches to various degrees, probably through areal contacts, and mutual intelligibility with other dialects would have remained for some time. It was nevertheless on its own path, whether dialect or language.
Denasalization of PCC */ʼn/ ([n̪], an interdental nasal stop):
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Merging of PCC */x/, */g/, */č/ into a new consonant, */ǯ/ [d͡ʒ] — *ča čenta "home world" > *ǯaǯenta > zazelta "Earth, the world"; *uxa "blue" > *uǯa > zva |
*/ŋ/ > */ɴ/ — *ŋa "to have" > *ɴa > a |
Strengthening of PCC voiceless fricatives into plosives:
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Lenition of the velar plosive */k/ to a new consonant, */x/ [x] (probably [h] in some environments) — *ʼnakis "strength" > *ðaxis > fais |
*/ɔe/ > */ɔj/; */eɔ/ > */jɔ/ — *teɸnɔe "speech, language" > *tepɔj > tepōi "language"; *leɔ "that" > *ljɔ > liō "(s)he/it, this/that" |
Hiatus epenthesis. The epentheme is */n/ if at least one of the vowels is */a/ and neither is */u/, unless there is a neighboring */n/ already present, in which case it is instead */j/. Otherwise, a new consonant, */w/, breaks the hiatus:
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Merging of */j/ to */i/ |
In closed syllables, and when permitted by phonotactics, the reduction of the diphthong */iɔ/ into */iw/ |
Appearance of the closed vowel, phonemicising the reduced, nasal allophone */ɵ/ of */ɔ/ between nasal consonants — *ð-a-ɔ-m-sats "in the perspective of going towards" > *ðanɵmsats > falusats "hello (polite)" |
Primitive Silōs (PmS)
This stage began its evolution as a form of centum PIE that had lost its laryngeals and had five long and six short vowels, as well as one or two overlong vowels. The consonant system was still that of PIE minus palatovelars and laryngeals, but the loss of syllabic resonants already made the language markedly different from PIE proper. Mutual intelligibility might have still existed, but strained, and this period marked the definitive break of Germanic from the other Indo-European languages and the beginning of Germanic proper, containing most of the sound changes that are now held to define this branch distinctively. This stage contained various consonant and vowel shifts, the loss of contrastive accent, and the beginnings of the reduction of unstressed syllables as a result.
Coelo-Caric labial change: Chain shift of the labial consonants. Voice is no longer contrastive of the plosive consonants.
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*/wv/ > */w/ |
Old Silōs (OS)
By this stage, Germanic had emerged as a distinctive branch and had undergone many of the sound changes that would make its later descendants recognisable as Germanic languages. It had shifted its consonant inventory from a system rich in plosives to one containing primarily fricatives, had lost the PIE mobile pitch accent in favour of a predictable stress accent, and had merged two of its vowels. The stress accent had also begun to cause the erosion of unstressed syllables already, which would continue in its descendants up to the present day. This final stage of the language included the remaining development until the breakup into dialects, and most notably featured the appearance of nasal vowels and the first beginning of umlaut, another characteristic Germanic feature.
*/ɵ/ > */ū/ — *ð-a-ɔ-m-sats "in the perspective of moving towards" > *vanwɵsats > *vanūsats > falusats "hello (polite)" |
*/ɔ/ > */ō/ — *ð-ɔ-a-m-sats "in the perspective of moving away" > *vɔnwasats > *vōnwasats > fōlvasats "goodbye (polite)" |
Liquid: in relatively unpredictable environments, the changes */n/ to */l/ and */l/ to */r/ occur, which may or may not occur in feeding order — *ɸmxala "time" > *pǯala > pzara; *sinɔ-s "one" > silōs
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*/ǯ/ > /z/ [ʒ] — *čtɔb "the sun" > ǯtōm > ztōm "(decimal) point, dot" |
Phonological stages from Proto-Coelo-Caric to Modern Carichendan
The following changes are known or presumed to have occurred in the history of Carichendan in the wider sense from the end of Proto-Coelo-Caric up to the modern language. The changes are roughly in chronological order, with changes that operate on the outcome of earlier ones appearing later in the list.
Pre-Proto-Germanic (Pre-PGmc)
This stage began with the separation of a distinct speech, perhaps while still forming part of the Proto-Indo-European dialect continuum. It contained many innovations that were shared with other Indo-European branches to various degrees, probably through areal contacts, and mutual intelligibility with other dialects would have remained for some time. It was nevertheless on its own path, whether dialect or language.
Merging of non-high back vowels, */ɔ/, */a/ > */a/ — *nɔam "we (inclusive or dual)" > *naam > nami "we" |
Coelo-Caric labial change: Merger of the labial stops.
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Reduction of open diphthongs: */ae/ > */a/; */ea/ > */a/ — *teɸnɔe "speech, language" > *teɸnae > *teɸna > dyela "to say"; *leɔ "that" > *lea > la "that"; *leɔlen "those" > *lealen > lálen |
Stress accent on the vowel preceding the last consonant or hiatus in a word. |
Liquid: in relatively unpredictable environments, the changes */n/ to */l/ and */l/ to */r/ occur, which may or may not occur in feeding order — *teɸnɔe "speech, language" > *tjena > dyela "to say"
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Denasalization of PCC */ʼn/ ([n̪], an interdental nasal stop):
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Word-final long vowels are lengthened to "overlong" vowels — *séh₁mō "seeds" > *séh₁mô > *sēmô |
First palatalization:
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Nasal harmony: A plosive at the end of a consonant cluster and with a neighboring nasal stop becomes a nasal stop — *(C)CPVN > *(C)CNVN, where C is any consonant, V is any vowel, P is any plosive, and N is any nasal consonant — *čtɔb tjɔya "dull sun(light)" > *čtamdjaya > *čnamdjaya > cheundala "yellow" |
Appearance of the closed vowel, phonemicizing the reduced, nasal allophone */ɵ/ of */a/ (<*/a/, */ɔ/) between nasal consonants — *čtɔb tjɔya "dull sun(light)" > *čnamdjaya > *čnɵmdjaya > cheundala "yellow"
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*/ð/ > */d/ — *ʼnakis "strength" > *ðakix > *dakix > dakish |
*/md/ > */nd/ — *teʼni "name" > *semdi > sandi |
*/kn/ > */ŋn/ — *tsaknali "to know" > *tsaŋnali > tsangnali |
*/nk/ > */ŋg/ — *sanka let "to buy" > *saŋgalet > sangarat |
Early Proto-Germanic
This stage began its evolution as a form of centum PIE that had lost its laryngeals and had five long and six short vowels, as well as one or two overlong vowels. The consonant system was still that of PIE minus palatovelars and laryngeals, but the loss of syllabic resonants already made the language markedly different from PIE proper. Mutual intelligibility might have still existed, but strained, and this period marked the definitive break of Germanic from the other Indo-European languages and the beginning of Germanic proper, containing most of the sound changes that are now held to define this branch distinctively. This stage contained various consonant and vowel shifts, the loss of contrastive accent, and the beginnings of the reduction of unstressed syllables as a result.
Loss of word-final non-high short vowels /e/, /a/, /o/ — *wóyde "(s)he knows" > *wóyd > *wait
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Grimm's law: Chain shift of the three series of plosives. Note that voiced plosives had already been devoiced before a voiceless obstruent prior to this stage. Labiovelars were delabialised before /t/.
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Verner's law: voiceless fricatives are voiced, allophonically at first, when preceded by an unaccented syllable:
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All words become stressed on their first syllable. The PIE contrastive accent is lost, phonemicising the voicing distinction created by Verner's law. |
Word-initial /gʷ/ > /b/ — *gʷʰédʰyeti "(s)he is asking for" > *gʷédyedi > *bédyedi > *bidiþi "(s)he asks, (s)he prays" (with -þ- by analogy) |
Assimilation of sonorants:
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Unstressed /owo/ > /oː/ — *-owos "thematic 1st du." > *-ōz |
Unstressed /ew/ > /ow/ before a consonant or word-finally — *-ews "u-stem gen. sg." > *-owz > *-auz |
Unstressed /e/ > /i/ except before /r/ — *-éteh₂ "abstract noun suffix" > *-eþā > *-iþā > *-iþō
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Unstressed /ji/ > /i/ — *légʰyeti "(s)he is lying down" ~ *légʰyonti "they are lying down" > *legyidi ~ *legyondi > *legidi ~ *legyondi > *ligiþi ~ *ligjanþi (with -þ- by analogy)
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Merging of non-high back vowels:
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Late Proto-Germanic
By this stage, Germanic had emerged as a distinctive branch and had undergone many of the sound changes that would make its later descendants recognisable as Germanic languages. It had shifted its consonant inventory from a system rich in plosives to one containing primarily fricatives, had lost the PIE mobile pitch accent in favour of a predictable stress accent, and had merged two of its vowels. The stress accent had also begun to cause the erosion of unstressed syllables already, which would continue in its descendants up to the present day. This final stage of the language included the remaining development until the breakup into dialects, and most notably featured the appearance of nasal vowels and the first beginning of umlaut, another characteristic Germanic feature.
Word-final /m/ > /n/ — *tóm "that, acc. masc." > *þam > *þan "then"; *-om "a-stem acc. sg." > *-am > *-an > *-ą |
/m/ > /n/ before dental consonants — *ḱm̥tóm "hundred" > *humdan > *hundan > *hundą; *déḱm̥d "ten" > *tehumt > *tehunt > *tehun |
Word-final /n/ is lost after unstressed syllables, and the preceding vowel is nasalised — *-om "a-stem acc. sg." > *-am > *-an > *-ą; *-eh₂m > *-ān > *-ą̄ > *-ǭ; *-oHom "genitive plural" > *-ân > *-ą̂ > *-ǫ̂ |
Nasal /ẽː/ is lowered to /ɑ̃ː/ — *dʰédʰeh₁m "I was putting" > *dedēn > *dedę̄ > *dedą̄ > *dedǭ |
Elimination of /ə/:
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Loss of /t/ after unstressed syllables — *déḱm̥d "ten" > *tehunt > *tehun; *bʰéroyd "(s)he would carry, subj." > *berayt > *berai; *mélid ~ *mélit- "honey" > *melit ~ *melid- > *meli ~ *melid- > *mili ~ *milid- |
/ɣʷ/ > /w/, sometimes /ɣ/ — *snóygʷʰos "snow" > *snaygʷaz > *snaiwaz; *kʷekʷléh₂ "wheels (collective)" > *hʷegʷlā > *hʷewlā > *hweulō |
i-mutation: /e/ > /i/ when followed by /i/ or /j/ in the same or next syllable — *bʰéreti "(s)he is carrying" > *beridi > *biridi; *médʰyos "middle" > *medyaz > *midjaz; *néwios "new" > *newyaz > *niwjaz
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/e/ > /i/ when followed by a syllable-final nasal — *en "in" > *in; *séngʷʰeti "(s)he chants" > *sengʷidi > *singwidi "(s)he sings"
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Long a is raised:
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/j/ is lost between vowels except after /i/ and /w/ (but it is lost after syllabic /u/). The two vowels that come to stand in hiatus then contract to long vowels or diphthongs — *-oyh₁m̥ "thematic optative 1sg sg." > *-oyum > *-ayų > *-aų; *áyeri "in the morning" > *ayiri > *airi "early"
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/n/ is lost before /x/, causing compensatory lengthening and nasalisation of the preceding vowel — *ḱónketi "(s)he hangs" > *hanhidi (phonetically [ˈxɑ̃ːxiði]) |