Proto-Almaic
Proto-Almean is the common ancestor of all the Almean languages, a family of languages widespreas in the Yolder and Ausmiran continents.
Proto-Almean is estimated to have been spoken from around 5000 to 3500 a.E., and it's original homeland may have been the Almeran plains from which the language derives its name. Its descendant languages include Angaran and Yohari.
Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palat. | Velar | Uvular | Glot. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unv. | vce. | unv. | vce. | vce. | unv. | vce. | unv. | vce. | unv. | |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||||||
| Ejectives | p’ | t’ | k’ | |||||||
| Stops | p | b | t | d | k | g | q | ʔ | ||
| Fricatives | f | v | s | z | x | h | ||||
| Liquids | l | ʀ | ||||||||
Vowels
| Front | Center | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| rnd | unr. | unr. | |
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
Syllable structure
((h)C) V (N)
- C: a consonant, which may be pre-aspirated word-medially.
- V: a vowel
- N: is a nasal consonant with unspecified place of articulation.
Prosody
Stress usually falls on the second to last syllable, unless the word ends in a nasal vowel or preaspirates suffixes, in which case it falls on the last syllable.
Syntax
| WALS Ch. | Structure | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| WALS 81 - 84 | SOVX, SXOV | — [S: the dog] [O: the cat] [V: chases] [X: to the tree] — [S: the dog] [X: to the tree] [O: the cat] [V: chases] |
| WALS 85 | Prepositions | — [PP: to] [N: the tree] |
| WALS 86 | Genitive Noun | — [G: the cat's] [N: toy] |
| WALS 87 | Noun Adjective | — [N: dog] [Adj: big] |
| WALS 88 | Noun Demonstrative | — [N: dog] [Dem: that] |
| WALS 89 | Numeral Noun | — [Num: three] [N: balls] |
| WALS 90 | Noun Relative?, Correlative? | ? |
| WALS 94 | Internal subordinator word | — [S: the dog] [Adv: if] [V: sees] |
| WALS 100 | Active alignment | — [Act: the dog] [Pas: the cat] [V: chases] — [Act: the dog] [V: walks] — [Pas: the cat] [V: falls] |
Grammar
Pronouns
- sa – I (1st p. singular)
- sana – we (1st p. plural inc.)
- sado – we (1st p. plural excl.)
- ika – you (2nd p. singular)
- ikana – you (2nd p. dual)
- ikado – you (2nd p. plural)
- go – he/she (3rd p. singular)
- gona – they (3rd p. dual)
- godo – they (3rd p. plural)
- a – it/that (3rd p. singular)
- ahdo – they/those (3rd p. dual)
- ahna – they/those (3rd p. plural)
- Determiners
- Only an indefinite article is used
- Number
- Marked by particles, three different forms: singular, dual, plural
- Tenses
- Present, unmarked; past and habitual, regularly marked by affixes; future
Samples
“Tenju ohdattali e sin”
/ˈte.ɲu oh.daˈt’a.li e sĩ/
| tenju | oh=dattali | e | sin |
| mister | indf=animal | pat | see |
“The mister sees an animal”
“Ti ohrante, kginja ka hilati ohagahi ohemon to e sin mo, …”
/ti ohˈʀan.te ˈk’i.ɲa ka hiˈlati o.haˈga.hi o.heˈmõ to e sĩ mo/
| ti | oh=rante, | kginja | ka | hila=ti | oh=agahi | oh=emon | to | e | sin | mo |
| On | indf=hill, | wool | neg | have=rel | indf=sheep | indf=horse | pl | pat | see | pst, |
“On a hill, a sheep that had no wool saw horses, …”
On a hill, a sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.