Far East Semitic
Inspiration: Old Chinese, Heleasic
Family tree
- Proto-Far East Semitic (~ 500 AD)
- literally read Hmoob gib, possibly with tones? (greeting: Schlaub lag!)
- hyperconservative Far East Semitic
Phonology
Consonants:
- p b t ṭ d k q g ħ ʕ -> p b t tʰ d k kʰ g x ɣ~ɢ
- m n l r w y -> m n l r w y
- θ θ̣ ð s ṣ z ś ṣ́ š x ɣ h -> θ θ ð s ts z~dz l̥ l̥~ts (from koineization) š qʰ q h
Vowels: i ɨ u e ə o a
Grammar
Nouns
definite article a or no definite article
Far East Semitic has noun classifiers but no grammatical gender.
Verbs
As in English, Far East Semitic verbs are analytic with some vestigial ablaut; participial and verbnoun forms are common, as in modern Aramaic dialects.
Derivations that correspond to binyanim in other Semitic languages are more concatenative:
- G-stem: xtab, xtib
- D-stem: kʰətʰab
- N-stem: nə·xtab
- S-stem: šə·xtab
- t-stems: tə·xtab
the pa'al / pi'el distinction surfaces as initial clusters vs minor syllables
particles for aspects like Wdm (mɨn for perfect tense etc)
Inflection
bə xtib an = I write
min xtib an = I wrote
l̥aʔ xtib an = I will write