Proto-Quame
Overview
The Pfeuno-K'aitian languages (PfK) are moderately inflecting languages that use mainly suffixing, ablaut, and infixing morphology. They are descended from Proto-Pfeuno-K'aitian (PfK).
Inspirations: Indo-European, Wakashan, Salishan.
Phylogeny
| Proto-Quame (P P' B) |
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Phonology
Consonants
The following inventory of consonants is reconstructed for Proto-Pfeuno-Kitelucquian. The Quichum branch preserves the most archaic consonant inventories, whereas the Kammalic branch is the most innovative.
| Labial | Denti-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | plain | labialized | plain | labialized | |||||
| Nasal | plain | *m | *n | |||||||
| glottalized | *mʼ | *nʼ | ||||||||
| Plosive | plain | *p | *t | *k | *kʷ | *q | *qʷ | *ʔ | ||
| voiced | *b | *d | *g | *gʷ | *ɢ | *ɢʷ | ||||
| ejective | *pʼ | *tʼ | *kʼ | *kʷʼ | *qʼ | *qʷʼ | ||||
| Fricative | *s | *ł | *x | *xʷ | *x̌ | *x̌ʷ | *h | |||
| Affricate | plain | *c | *ƛ | |||||||
| voiced | *z | *λ | ||||||||
| ejective | *cʼ | *ƛʼ | ||||||||
| Approximant | plain | *r | *l | *y | *w | |||||
| glottalized | *rʼ | *lʼ | *yʼ | *wʼ | ||||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | *i *ī | *u *ū | |
| Mid | *ə | ||
| Open | *a *ā |
Suprasegmentals
No phonemic pitch, tone or stress existed in Proto-Pfeuno-Kitelucquian.
Phonotactics
Consonant clusters were allowed and could become complex, as in the Salishan languages.
Grammar
Typology
The basic word order was V2, modifier-modified.
The morphological form of a typical Pfeuno-Kitelucquian word can be described as root<infix>-suffix-ending.
Ablaut
Much like in PIE, Proto-Pfeuno-Kitelucquian had an ablaut system where roots were inflected in different ablaut grades. The ablaut system became more complex in Quame languages as laryngeal infixes yielded new vowels.
Nominals
Proto-Raxo-Talsmic did not distinguish between nouns and adjectives. They both inflected for:
- 5 cases: nominative, (definite) accusative, genitive, dative, predicative
- A noun class system, indicated by different final classifier clitics. Or perhaps an animate-inanimate opposition.
- 3 numbers: Singular, dual, plural
Nouns minimally consisted of a root and an optional infix, case/number endings and a classifier suffix. The classifier suffixes play a role in gender assignment in daughter languages.
Declension
Masculine sg: nom. -0
- -0, -a, -ə, -i, -u, uncommonly -ā, -ī, -ū
Feminine sg: nom. -x̌
- -ax̌, -əx̌ > -ā
- -ix̌, -āx̌ > -ē
- -ux̌ > -ō
- -īx̌ > -ī
- -ūx̌ > -ū
- -Cx̌ > -Ca
Dual: nom. -x̌ur
so what if masculine nouns ending in long vowels get reinterpreted as feminine in pquame?
long vowel stems won't be very common
Plural -a- ablaut?
Declension A: plural -Vu
Declension B: plural -Vt
Declension C: plural -n
Declension D: singular *-0-y, pl. *-a-y
Nominal morphosyntax
The PRT nominative and accusative cases differ from the canonical nominative-accusative system in that the accusative case marks only definite or specific direct objects.
Pronouns
Verbs
Verbs were conjugated for subject, aspect, mood, evidentiality, and voice.
- Subject agreement: For each pronoun, and 3rd person m/f/n, and perhaps collective
- Aspects: present, preterite, stative
- Evidentiality: direct, hearsay, unclear memory, quotative, inferential
- Moods: {Indicative, desiderative, jussive, optative}, {mirative, subjunctive}, imperative
- Voices: Active, mediopassive, causative
Ablaut grades
- present: a-grade
- preterite: i-grade
- stative: zero-grade?
- verbal noun: u-grade
TAM affixes
- ⟨n⟩: aorist infix. (Wiobian preterite ⟨n⟩)
- -ƛ-: dynamic affix (progressive -tł- in Naquian, future -t- in Themsarian)
- -eʔ: stative affix
Tense/Agreement suffixes
| Imperfect suffixes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1.ex | -īn | -mēk̓ | |
| 1.in | - | ' | -nci |
| 2 | -z | ' | -lci |
| 3.animate | -m | -rih | |
| 3.inanimate | -ici | ||
| Aorist suffixes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1.ex | -īn | -mēk̓ | |
| 1.in | - | ' | -nci |
| 2 | -z | ' | -lci |
| 3.animate | -m | -rih | |
| 3.inanimate | -ici | ||
| Stative suffixes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1.ex | -nʔe | -moz | |
| 1.in | - | ' | -toz |
| 2 | -zʔe | ' | -li |
| 3.animate | -h | -woz | |
| 3.inanimate | -z | -toz | |
Derivational morphology
- ⟨*l⟩ verbalizer
- ⟨*r⟩ nominalizer/adjectivalizer
Some etymologies
- 1: *x̌əm-; *kʷi-x̌əm- 'only one'
- 2: *tił-x̌ur-
- 3: *nazg-
- 4: *λawpʼ-
- 5: *calił
- 6: *sta-x̌əm- 'one more'; *qʷ’əl’
- 10: *q’əyʼ-x̌ur-
- step/level: *naycʼ ('20' in Talsmic)
- stone: *ƛʼerqʷa
- fur, hair, feather: *qʷ’irə
- water: *wjənqa
- day: *m’ul
Sample text
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.