Lahob languages

Not to be confused with the Lakovic languages.

Lahob
Lahobic
Created by	–
Geographic distribution	northern Evandor and most of Márusúturon
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families Lahob
Proto-language	Proto-Lahob
Subdivisions	Kenaywanic Central Lahobic Łogawenek Nayzehenyn Tłašnelek Chlouvānem

The Lahob languages (also known as Lahou, Lahobic, Neshlenkentian, or Lahob-Imuniguronian; [...] Chl. lahāvumi dældai) are a large Calémerian language family, most widely spoken on the continent of Márusúturon.

There are six currently recognized living Lahob branches, often grouped in two macro-branches:

• Northern Lahob, Core Lahob, or Lahob proper - an occasionally used, at least geographically relevant, category for the five non-Chlouvānem branches spoken in Northern Márusúturon:
  • Kenaywanic languages, spoken mainly in western Sprêny, including ...
  • Central Lahobic languages, spoken across the country of Peħlleit and a few communities in the far southwest (Konyzałay peninsula) of Koitrûx; including Łohof-aðá, ...
  • Łogawenek languages, spoken in the countries of Ferbêny, most of Alêig, and moribund in far northern Soenyŏ-tave; including ...
  • Nayzehenyn languages, spoken mainly across most of central, northern, and eastern Koitrûx, including Yełeshian Lawo, Shershan Lawo, ...
  • Tłašnelek languages, spoken in northwestern Koitrûx as well as some isolated coastal communities further north and west, both on Gurdugal and on the Márusúturonian mainland (as far west as eastern Gathuráni).
• Chlouvānem languages, including Chlouvānem and all of its descendants, which is the most spoken and widespread branch, counting for nearly the entirety of all Lahob speakers.

The Lahob family is one of many language families - including the unrelated Kenengyry and Samaidulic families, as well as various not better classified isolates - that most likely originated in the area of Márusúturon between the Carpan and the Skyrdegan seas, roughly between 30° and 40°N. The Urheimat of Proto-Lahob speakers is thought to be either the western shore of the High Ivulit (i.e. modern day Leny-tḥewe or Ebed-dowa) or the area around the Little Ivulit (today southern Leny-tḥewe, Līnajotia, or southern Qualdomailor). From there, the Lahob peoples mainly expanded northwards, up to the taiga of northern Márusúturon, except for a few tribes (notably the Ur-Chlouvānem) who migrated southeastwards, into the Lāmiejāya plain. In most of this area, however, Lahob languages were replaced by the later spread first of Samaidulic and then of Kenengyry languages, so that practically all non-Chlouvānem Lahob languages are spoken in the Northern Márusúturonian taiga, along the Orcish Straits.
The Ur-Chlouvānem eventually settled in the far southern part of the Plains, where they intermixed with the local populations, forming a distinct ethnicity whose main connection with the other Lahob peoples is linguistic rather than genetic. Eventually the Chlouvānem language, the only attested ancient Lahob language, became the liturgical language of the Yunyalīlta, which led it to be spread across all of Márusúturon and become, as of today, the most spoken language of the planet.

By number of native speakers, they are the second-largest on the planet (just slightly behind the mostly Védrenian Yombu-Raina languages), however the vast majority of Lahob speakers speak a language belonging to the Chlouvānem branch.
Excluding Chlouvānem (and its daughter languages) with more than 1.4 billion speakers, the other Lahob languages are fairly small by number of speakers, with less than 100,000 speakers collectively: Nordûlaki is the only official language, and the main lingua franca, across the area (except for the areas in Soenyŏ-tave), and in the most densely populated areas the vast majority of people are Nordûlaki-speaking descendants of Evandorian colonists. Lahob speakers are mostly clustered in a few villages, rarely exceeding a thousand inhabitants.
The situation in the Chlouvānem-speaking areas is almost the reverse, as it is the Dachsprache everywhere across the Chlouvānem Inquisition, in a state of diglossia with thousands of local vernaculars which are either descendants of Chlouvānem itself, Chlouvānem-based creoles, or totally unrelated languages.

Name

The Lahob languages have a few competing names, all ultimately derived from Lahob proper:

• Lahob, Lahou, or Lahobic all derive from the ethnonym Łaȟoḇ [ɬaˈχɔβ] in ..., through Nordulaki Lahou [laˈhɔʊ̯]; the ultimate origin is Proto-Lahob *ɬakʰober, which is the common self-designation for many Lahob peoples (e.g. Łohof, Łogawe, Łokow, Tɬow).
• Neshlenkentian derives from Łogawe nɛ łenkɛnt, meaning either "our family" or "we are a family"; łenkɛnt is ultimately connected to Proto-Lahob *lenkaynət, the root for "family" in many non-Chlouvānem Lahob languages.
• Lahob-Imuniguronian is an outdated term which was common when the relationship between the Core Lahob languages and Chlouvānem hadn't been proved yet; as acceptance of the theory grew, the term Lahob-Imuniguronian was replaced by the simpler Lahob, that had been used for the Core Lahob languages until then. "Imuniguronian" is the English adaptation of imúnigúronen, the Cerian term (common to most Western languages) for "Chlouvānem".

Chlouvānem linguists have largely adopted the Nordûlaki term Lahou as the ethnonym for all Lahob peoples in the form lahāvai, so that the language family is known as lahāvumi dældai; however, the older term hūlisakhāni dældai, after the mythological ancestral land of Hūlisakhāna mentioned in early Chlouvānem literature may still be heard sometimes. Curiously, the legend of Hūlisakhāna was probably non-Lahob in origin and the term is most likely not of Lahob origin too.
The Łoqɔ (a Łogawenek language from northern Soenyŏ-tave) term ney łiŋgɛɛt, cognate with Łogawe ne łenkɛnt, has been adopted as ethnonym for the non-Chlouvānem Lahob peoples (neichlilgǣtai), and therefore neichlilgǣtumi dældai is the usual term for what is known as Northern Lahob, Core Lahob, or Lahob proper in Western linguistics. Somewhat confusingly, kēhamyutei lahāvumi dældai, which literally translates as "Northern Lahob languages", is typically used for the Nayzehenyn languages only.

Ethnonyms

It is notable how the vast majority of Lahob peoples have ethnonyms based on two single Proto-Lahob roots, which however are still present in some way in nearly all languages of the family, *ɬakʰober (people) and *wānəme (horde, tribe, group):

• *ɬakʰober as ethnonym for e.g. the Łohof, Łokow, Łogawe, Tɬow, Łoqɔ...; also reflexed as e.g. tɬawpe in Bɔni, tłɔwr in Waam (both "family"), or chlåmbhah (tribe) in Chlouvānem;
• *wānəme as ethnonym for e.g. the Bɔni, Wonum, Waam, Bāmn, the -vānem part in Chlouvānem (chlǣvānem originally meant "Golden Horde"); also reflected as e.g. wang (group) in Łohof-aðá and womme (village) in Tɬow.

Proto-Lahob

Phonology

Consonants

Proto-Lahob's reconstructed phonemic inventory is almost universally agreed on by Calemerian linguists (apart from the phonemicity of *ŋʷ), with only some doubts about the realizations of certain phonemes. Its consonant inventory was the following:

→ PoA ↓ Manner		Labials	Dentals	Palatals	Velars	Labiovelars	Laryngeals
Nasals		m	n		ŋ	(ŋʷ)	ɴ
Stops	Unvoiced	p pʰ	t̪ t̪ʰ	c cʰ	k kʰ	kʷ kʷʰ
	Voiced	b bʱ	d̪ d̪ʱ	ɟ ɟʱ	g gʱ	gʷ gʷʱ
Fricatives		f v	s ɬ	š	x ɣ		h ʕ
Approximants			r l	j		w

The exact quality of the reconstructed phonemes *š and *ʕ is unclear. For *š, the various theories are about substantially close phones such as [ʃ ʂ ɕ] or even [ç]. *ʕ is much more problematic. In most Lahob languages, this phoneme is only shown by its effect on neighboring vowels, which is different depending on the language but it always backs the vowel, lowers it, or does both. Chlouvānem is the exception as it directly reflects it, without any change in vowel quality, as its infamous /ɴ̆/ phoneme, whose extremely high occurrence is due to Proto-Lahob *ʕ, *l, (often) *ɬ, and *ŋ having all merged into it. As, however, other Lahob languages have a backed or lowered vowel, but never a nasalized one in the contexts where *ʕ is reconstructed, Calemerian linguists think that the Chlouvānem phoneme being nasal is a post-Proto-Lahob development.

An easy example word is the first person pronoun *ʕiŋi, which is reflected as:

• Chlouvānem lili
• Proto-Central-Lahobic *ɛŋi > Łaȟoḇeyšer ên /ɛn/, Łokow eng /eŋ/, Yełeshian Lawo yeng /jeŋ/, Shershan Lawo êŋ /ɛŋ/
• Proto-Pwaɬasd-Ngos *ɤŋi > Tundra Pwaɬasd ěni /ɤni/, Ngos ɤni /ɤni/

Vowels

Proto-Lahob's vowel inventory, on the other hand, is fairly simple, with five pairs of long and short vowels - /a aː e eː o oː i iː u uː/ - plus the two vowels /ɨ ə/. The non-high vowels could also form diphthongs with /ɨ̯ ɪ̯ ʊ̯/, while /i iː/ only could with /ʊ̯/ and /u uː/ only with /ɪ̯/. Diphthongs centered on schwa, once controversial among Lahob linguists, have now become accepted by most linguists because of *əj being so far the only reasonable explanation for palatalized consonants in Chlouvānem - as with e.g. *nodəjn-ə- "to hit, strike" > nadьn- "to trip into, to hit" - much like the *əjV sequence explains the distinction between CʲV and CjV (as with *ʕiŋjō > liliā "my, mine" (*CjV > CʲV) and *ērəjo > yarya "beer" (*CəjV > CjV)).

Morphology

First declension

First declension nouns are those also known as *-s nouns, and distinguished four types of stems: o-stems, u-stems, i-stems, and *n-stems (cf. Chlouvānem s-nouns in -as, -us, -is, -oe). Here follows the declension of first declension nouns with a comparison in Chlouvānem and Yełeshian Lawo (a Nayzehenyn language), which only keeps this declension as a relic in a few nouns - not the root *frātos "wind" but, as in the table, *gistoros "young" (> Proto-Nayzehenyn *yestor > ehtu, cf. Chl. giṣṭaras).

Note that Yełeshian Lawo, and all Nayzehenyn languages anyway, keeps the original instrumental plural suffix as an adverb-forming suffix, e.g. ehtuwenik "in the way of a young person". This use of the instrumental plural is considered a Proto-Lahob feature, as it is still found in most other branches, and is also common in Archaic and Early Classical Chlouvānem texts.

	Proto-Lahob			Chlouvānem			Yełeshian Lawo
	o-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*frāt-os	*frāt-ant	*frāt-aj	prātas	prātāt	prāte	ehtu	ehtuwe
Vocative	*frāt-āw			prātau
Accusative	*frāt-u	*frāt-asuj	*frāt-ajir	prātu	prātāṣa	prātaih
Ergative	*frāt-ej	*frāt-ōjo	*frāt-ōn	prātei	prātāya	prātān
Genitive	*frāt-i	*frāt-ajwo	*frāt-umi	prāti	prāteva	prātumi	ehtuy	ehtum
Instrumental	*frāt-op	*frāt-ōbʱan	*frāt-ajnīko	prātap	prātābhan	prātenīka		ehtuwenik
Exessive	*frāt-ot		*frāt-ōmōn	prātat		prātāmān
Ablative	*frāt-ux		*frāt-ajnits	prātų		prātenīs
Translative	*frāt-on	*frāt-oguš	*frāt-ijawr	prātan	prātaus	prātyoh
Dative	*frāt-awm		*frāt-osām	prātom		prātasām	ehtowe	ehtuswe
Essive	*frāt-ox	*frāt-iŋgin	*frāt-egem	prātą	prātigin	prātēm
Locative	*frāt-e		*frāt-iʕīm	prāte		prātilīm
	u-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*kewʕəd-u-s	*kewʕəd-u-nt	*kewʕəd-āw-s	kældus	kældūt	kældaus
Vocative	*kewʕəd-u			kældu
Accusative	*kewʕəd-aw-u	*kewʕəd-u-suj	*kewʕəd-aw-ir	kældavu	kældūṣa	kældavih
Ergative	*kewʕəd-aw-e(j)	*kewʕəd-ū-jo	*kewʕəd-ū-n	kældave	kældūya	kældūn
Genitive	*kewʕəd-aw-i	*kewʕəd-owwo	*kewʕəd-owmi	kældavi	kældagva	kældǣmi
Instrumental	*kewʕəd-u-p	*kewʕəd-aw-bʱan	*kewʕəd-u-nīko	kældup	kældobhan	kældunīka
Exessive	*kewʕəd-u-t		*kewʕəd-aw-mōn	kældut		kældomān
Ablative	*kewʕəd-u-ux		*kewʕəd-u-nits	kældų		kældunīs
Translative	*kewʕəd-u-n	*kewʕəd-u-guš	*kewʕəd-u-jawr	kældun	kældugus	kælduyoh
Dative	*kewʕəd-aw-awm		*kewʕəd-u-sām	kældavom		kældusām
Essive	*kewʕəd-aw-x	*kewʕəd-u-ŋgin	*kewʕəd-aw-egem	kældą	kældugin	kældavēm
Locative	*kewʕəd-aw-e		*kewʕəd-u-ʕīm	kældave		kældulīm
	i-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*əskutr-i-s	*əskutr-i-nt	*əskutr-āj-s	skuṭis	skuṭīt	skuṭais
Vocative	*əskutr-i			skuṭi
Accusative	*əskutr-aj-u	*əskutr-i-suj	*əskutr-aj-ir	skuṭayu	skuṭīṣa	skuṭaih
Ergative	*əskutr-aj-e(j)	*əskutr-ī-jo	*əskutr-ī-n	skuṭaye	skuṭīya	skuṭīn
Genitive	*əskutr-aj-i	*əskutr-ojjo	*əskutr-j-umi	skuṭayi	skuṭajña	skuṭyumi
Instrumental	*əskutr-i-p	*əskutr-aj-bʱan	*əskutr-i-nīko	skuṭip	skuṭebhan	skuṭinīka
Exessive	*əskutr-i-t		*əskutr-aj-mōn	skuṭit		skuṭemān
Ablative	*əskutr-j-ux		*əskutr-i-nits	skuṭyų		skuṭinīs
Translative	*əskutr-i-n	*əskutr-i-guš	*əskutr-i-jawr	skuṭin	skuṭigus	skuṭyoh
Dative	*əskutr-aj-awm		*əskutr-i-sām	skuṭayom		skuṭisām
Essive	*əskutr-aj-x	*əskutr-i-ŋgin	*əskutr-aj-egem	skuṭę	skuṭigin	skuṭayēm
Locative	*əskutr-aj-e		*əskutr-i-ʕīm	skuṭaye		skuṭilīm
	n-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*hoʕ-õ	*hoʕ-en-ant	*hoʕ-en-ī	haloe	halenāt	halenī
Vocative
Accusative	*hoʕ-en-u	*hoʕ-en-asuj	*hoʕ-en-ajir	halenu	halenāṣa	halenaih
Ergative	*hoʕ-en-ej	*hoʕ-en-ōjo	*hoʕ-en-ōn	halenei	halenāya	halenān
Genitive	*hoʕ-en-jes	*hoʕ-en-wo	*hoʕ-õ-mi	halenies	halemva	haloemi
Instrumental	*hoʕ-en-op	*hoʕ-õ-bʱan	*hoʕ-õ-nīko	halenap	haloebhan	haloenīka
Exessive	*hoʕ-en-ot		*hoʕ-õ-mōn	halenat		haloemān
Ablative	*hoʕ-en-ux		*hoʕ-õ-nits	halenų		haloenīs
Translative	*hoʕ-en-on	*hoʕ-en-oguš	*hoʕ-en-ijawr	halenan	halenaus	halenyoh
Dative	*hoʕ-en-awm		*hoʕ-õ-sām	halenom		haloesām
Essive	*hoʕ-en-î(x)	*hoʕ-õ-gin	*hoʕ-õ-gem	halen	haloegin	haloem
Locative	*hoʕ-en-je		*hoʕ-en-iʕīm	halenie		halenilīm

Second declension

Second declension nouns are those that end in -m (except for -āj nouns), and also have three different possible stems: o-stems, u-stems, and i-stems. Here follows the declension of first declension nouns with a comparison in Chlouvānem, Yełeshian Lawo, and Tundra Pwaɬasd.

	Proto-Lahob			Chlouvānem			Yełeshian Lawo		(TBA)
	o-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*juɟ-om	*juɟ-iwā	*juɟ-oms	yujam	yujivā	yujās	yiž	yižus
Vocative	*juɟ-e			yuje
Accusative	*juɟ-om-u	*juɟ-m-es	*juɟ-m-ajir	yujamu	yujmes	yujmaih
Ergative	*juɟ-m-ego	*juɟ-m-ēn	*juɟ-ōm-ūn	yujmæ	yujmian	yujāmūn
Genitive	*juɟ-om-i	*juɟ-m-ajwo	*juɟ-om-nān	yujami	yujmeva	yujaṃrān	yižom	yižonwe
Instrumental	*juɟ-om-op	*juɟ-o-bʱan	*juɟ-om-nīko	yujamap	yujabhan	yujaṃrīka		yižonik
Exessive	*juɟ-om-ot		*juɟ-o-mōn	yujamat		yujamān
Ablative	*juɟ-om-ux		*juɟ-m-ajnits	yujamų		yujmenīs
Translative	*juɟ-om-on	*juɟ-m-ix	*juɟ-m-ent	yujaman	yujmį	yujmēt
Dative	*juɟ-om-awm		*juɟ-om-sām	yujamom		yujaṃsām	yižom̃e	yižuže
Essive	*juɟ-om-x	*juɟ-m-enne	*juɟ-m-egem	yujmą	yujmenne	yujmēm
Locative	*juɟ-om-n(j)aj		*juɟ-m-iʕīm	yujaṃrye		yujmilīm
	u-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*tūl-u-m	*tūl-w-iwā	*tūl-u-ms	tūlum	tūlvivā	tūlūs
Vocative	*tūl-w-e			tūlve
Accusative	*tūl-u-m-u	*tūl-w-es	*tūl-u-jir	tūlumu	tūlves	tūluyih
Ergative	*tūl-u-go	*tūl-w-ēn	*tūl-u-m-ūn	tūluga	tūlvyan	tūlumūn
Genitive	*tūl-u-m-i	*tūl-w-ajwo	*tūl-u-m-nān	tūlumi	tūlveva	tūluṃrān
Instrumental	*tūl-u-m-op	*tūl-u-bʱan	*tūl-um-nīko	tūlumap	tūlubhan	tūluṃrīka
Exessive	*tūl-u-m-ot		*tūl-u-mōn	tūlumat		tūlumān
Ablative	*tūl-u-m-ux		*tūl-w-ajnits	tūlumų		tūlvenīs
Translative	*tūl-u-m-on	*tūl-w-ix	*tūl-u-nt	tūluman	tūlvį	tūlūt
Dative	*tūl-u-m-awm		*tūl-u-m-sām	tūlumom		tūluṃsām
Essive	*tūl-u-m-x	*tūl-u-nne	*tūl-u-gem	tūlų	tūlunne	tūlugem
Locative	*tūl-u-m-n(j)aj		*tūl-u-ʕīm	tūluṃrye		tūlulīm
	i-stems
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	*sgāt-i-m	*sgāt-i-iwā	*sgāt-i-ms	ṛgātim	ṛgātīvā	ṛgātīs
Vocative	*sgāt-j-e			ṛgātie
Accusative	*sgāt-i-m-u	*sgāt-j-es	*sgāt-i-jir	ṛgātimu	ṛgāties	ṛgātīh
Ergative	*sgāt-i-go	*sgāt-j-ēn	*sgāt-i-m-ūn	ṛgātya	ṛgātiyan	ṛgātimūn
Genitive	*sgāt-i-m-i	*sgāt-j-ajwo	*sgāt-i-m-nān	ṛgātimi	ṛgātieva	ṛgātiṃrān
Instrumental	*sgāt-i-m-op	*sgāt-i-bʱan	*sgāt-im-nīko	ṛgātimap	ṛgātibhan	ṛgātiṃrīka
Exessive	*sgāt-i-m-ot		*sgāt-i-mōn	ṛgātimat		ṛgātimān
Ablative	*sgāt-i-m-ux		*sgāt-j-ajnits	ṛgātimų		ṛgātienīs
Translative	*sgāt-i-m-on	*sgāt-j-ix	*sgāt-i-nt	ṛgātiman	ṛgātį	ṛgātīt
Dative	*sgāt-i-m-awm		*sgāt-i-m-sām	ṛgātimom		ṛgātiṃsām
Essive	*sgāt-i-m-x	*sgāt-i-nne	*sgāt-i-gem	ṛgātį	ṛgātinne	ṛgātiem
Locative	*sgāt-i-m-n(j)aj		*sgāt-i-ʕīm	ṛgātiṃrye		ṛgātilīm

*-ōj declension

A class of nouns which ended in *-ōj in their direct case forms had a particular declension, with forms mostly taken from the first and the second declension but varying between the two. The essive and the locative singular are from the third.
Chlouvānem, Yełeshian and Shershan Lawo, and Šlokhowdeš all have many remnants from this class (and in Chl. and Šlk. it is still productive), while other languages may keep the odd irregular noun (as the root used in the example, *gjun-ōj, meaning "foot").

	Proto-Lahob			Chlouvānem			Yeł. Lawo		Šlokhowdeš
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct and Vocative	*gjun-ōj	*gjun-ōj-wā	*gjun-ōj-aj	junai	junaivā	junāye
Accusative	*gjun-ōj-u	*gjun-ōj-es	*gjun-ōj-ajir	junāyu	junāyes	junāyaih
Ergative	*gjun-ōj-ej	*gjun-ōj-ēn	*gjun-ōj-ūn	junǣ	junāyēn	junāyūn
Genitive	*gjun-ōj-i	*gjun-ōj-wo	*gjun-ōj-ān	junāyi	junaiva	junāyān
Instrumental	*gjun-ōj-p	*gjun-ōj-bʱan	*gjun-ōj-nīko	junaip	junaibhan	junainīka
Exessive	*gjun-ōj-t		*gjun-ōj-mōn	junait		junaimān
Ablative	*gjun-ōj-ux		*gjun-ōj-ajnits	junāyų		junǣnīs
Translative	*gjun-ōj-n	*gjun-ōj-ix	*gjun-ōj-ent	junain	junāyį	junāyēt
Dative	*gjun-ōj-awm		*gjun-ōj-sām	junāyom		junaisām
Essive	*gjun-ōj-xəs	*gjun-ōj-nne	*gjun-ōj-gem	junąis	junainne	junaigem
Locative	*gjun-ōj-aj		*gjun-ōj-ʕīm	junāye		junailīm

Pronouns

Only the first- and second-person pronouns are reliably reconstructible in Proto-Lahob; it probably did not have common third person pronouns nor those differing in formality (which are found in Chlouvānem and, in a different way, in Coastal Tlengast) - the pronoun declension was apparently marginally productive and terms which were used as pronouns were sometimes analogically added to it — first of all, the development of Chlouvānem's 2SG formal equal pronoun ravi starting from the Lällshag borrowing rawe can be seen in texts from the early centuries of the Second Era; also using nouns instead of pronouns is not uncommon among Lahob languages, as do, without a change in declension, contemporary Chlouvānem, most of its descendants, as well as some Pwaɬasd-Ngos languages.

Like most modern Lahob languages - Chlouvānem is, this time, the exception - the Proto-Lahob second person pronouns distinguished natural gender both in the singular and in the plural; while both plural second person pronouns have vanished from Chlouvānem (though the feminine one's direct and genitive cases only are attested in Archaic Chlouvānem), the feminine singular is reflected as the formal superior and the masculine singular as the formal inferior.
The dual forms may not be reliably reconstructed (as anywhere in Proto-Lahob morphology) because Chlouvānem is the only attested Lahob language with a dual form (excluding a few of its daughter languages).

Proto-Lahob	Chlouvānem	Central Lahobic		Nayzehenyn
		Proto-Central-Lahobic	Łohof-aðá	Proto-Nayzehenyn	Yełeshian Lawo
*ʕiŋi, *ʕ- "I"	lili	*oŋi	ngi	*eŋ͡mi	em̃e
*kūri, *k- "you (masculine sg)"	kūri	*kuri	kuy	*kuri	kuy
*noni, *nəj- "you (feminine sg)"	nani	*noy	no	*nay	ney
*majin, *m-/*maj- "we"	main	*mēn	men	*mɛy	me
*korin, *kro-/*koj- "you (masculine pl)"	—	*kōn	kon	*kran	qan
*nogin, *(ə)ŋg- "you (feminine pl)"	nagin	*olin	ðin	*nawn	non

Basic cognates

Miscellaneous words

Proto-Lahob	Chlouvānem	Central Lahobic		Nayzehenyn
		Proto-Central-Lahobic	Łohof-aðá	Proto-Nayzehenyn	Yełeshian Lawo
*ŋōntrom "head"	lāṇṭam	*ŋanto	ngat	*ŋ͡montra	m̃ontła
*ʕiken, PL. *ʕewkjinɨ "arm(s)"	liken, læcin	*oken, *ēkin	ohen, ehin	*ekin, *yɔɔkyen	ekin, yokyen
*√ʕiŋ- "to live"	√lil-	*oŋ-	ang-	*eŋ͡m-	em̃-
*√gʷʱi-, "to take care of"	√bhi-	*g͡bi-	gbi-	*g͡bi-	gbi-
*mwerkos "black"	murkas	*ŋero	ngel	*ŋ͡mereko	m̃ereku
*ɣuŋjā "moon"	huliā	*ruyà	uyá	*guyyɔ́	ožwé
*gistoros "young"	giṣṭaras	*kitoro	kitol	*yestor	ehtu
*tāmiro "stone"	tāmira	*tamiro	tamil	*tomur	tom̃
*liŋkajnet "family"	—	*ɬikēnet	łihet	*ɬeŋkɛyni	łenkey
*frātos "wind"	prātas	*fato	fat	*fwɔt	fuwe
*xadono "sun"	hånna	*rolon	oðon	*kalona	kano