Proto-Dynic
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| Proto-Dynic | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Gaffney McCoy Flancer |
| Setting | Veyn |
Dynic language family
| |
Proto-Dynic is a naturalistic constructed language made for the world of Veyn Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. It is intended to serve as the common ancestor to the largest language family in Veyn, the Dynic family. The language and the family are both named after the shared root for the word 'person' in many Dynic languages, in Aryval, the most common Dynic language; dyn.
Proto-Dynic is a non-diegetic reconstructed conlang; that is, it does not exist within world of Veyn, but rather is framed as a hypothetical reconstruction that linguists may arrive at after studying the Dynic languages of Veyn. Although most of the in-world peoples of Veyn may have a basic understanding that the Dynic languages share a multitude of similarities, and understand the concept that they may have split from a single language in the distant past, they have yet to develop a model of Proto-Dynic. Although it is in fact not a reconstructed language—it was created before/along with it's descendants, it is presented as though it were, for stylistic reasons.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labial | ||||||
| Nasal | *m | *n | *ń | *ŋ | *ŋʷ | ||
| Stop | voiceless | *p | *t | *c | *k | *kʷ | (*ʔ) |
| voiced | *b | *d | *g | *gʷ | |||
| Fricative | *s | *h | |||||
| Liquid | *r *l | *y | *w | ||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | *i | *ī | *u | *ū | ||
| Mid | *e | *ē | *ə | *ə̄ | ||
| Mid | *a | *ā | ||||
Pitch accent
Words of four or fewer syllables in Proto-Dynic carry a pitch accent, wherein a high pitch falls on one morae. There is also a so-called dangling accent, where a high pitch appears on the next mora following the word. The placement of the accent is lexical; it is not determined by any phonological processes, and must be specified for each individual word.
Long vowels in Proto-Dynic are considered two morae, thus it is possible for the high pitch to fall on one or the other long vowel morae. In this case, a contour tone is created, either rising or falling depending on where the high-pitch lies.
- High tone: acute accent ( ´ ), e.g. *árkʷ ([árkʷ])
- Rising tone: caron ( ˇ ), e.g. *mǐ-də ([mií.də])
- Falling tone: circumflex ( ̂ ), e.g. *êhi ([ʔée.hi])
- Low tone: grave accent ( ̀ ) (means that the next mora has a high pitch), e.g. *hùr ([hur]) → hur-sí ([hur.sí])
Morphology
Verbs
The verb template
| conjunct prefixes | stem | conjunct suffixes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3a | 3b | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| direct object | adverb | (converb classifier) | converb | classifier | subject | stem | auxiliary |
Subject and object marking
| Number | Subject | Object | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| 1st person | *t- | *wi- | *-ti- | *-wəh- |
| 2nd person | *n- | *bi- | *-ni- | *-bih- |
| 3rd person | *Ø- | *i- | ||
| 4rd person | *s- | *ki- | ||
| Indefinite | *a- | *a- | ||
| Reflexive | *Ø- | *de- | ||
The third person and fourth person pronominal clitics are used to keep track of multiple third person arguments within discourse, any may also be referred to as the third person proximate and third person obviate respectively. The third person is assigned to the more salient argument, or the argument which has appeared before.
Classifiers
Classifiers are optional prefixes that affect the transitivity or valency of a verb. There are a number of different classifiers for different categories of verbs. Some verbs have an inherent transitivity, which can be changed via classifiers, whilst others require a classifier for both their transitive and intransitive forms.
| IN | Use | Examples | TR | Use | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ar- | Forms intransitive verbs from stems related to motion, or creates stative verbs of position. | *arttés 'I come down' | *e- | Forms transitive verbs from stems related to motion, or creates transitive verbs from root unaccusative verbs of manipulation or change of state. | *yettés 'I lower it' |
| *re- | Forms unaccusative verbs from stems related to manipulation. | *rerén 'it comes off', *redə̀k 'it closes' | *c- | Forms transitive verbs from stems related to manipulation, or change of state. | *ictdə̀k 'I close it' |
| *ri- | Forms intransitive verbs denoting a static state from stems related to state. | *ritáidə 'it suffices' | *ac- | Forms transitive verbs from stems denoting a state of change, especially a physical impact, or causative verbs from stems relating to speech or sound. | *yactmúgidə 'it got scorched,' *yacttáidə 'I add it' |
| *e- | Forms unaccusative verbs from stems denoting a state of change, especially a physical impact. | *ekúsidə 'it is cut', *emúgidə 'it got scorched' | *əc- | Forms causative transitive verbs from stems denoting labour or a physical or mental change of state. | *tiəcnə́skidə 'You woke me up' |
| *i- | Forms intransitive verbs from stems denoting labour or a physical or mental change of state. | *itə́skidə 'I wake up' | *ce- | Forms causative transitive verbs from stems denoting physical location or position. | *icetnə́r 'I put them on the boat' |
Conjugation
Proto-Dynic has a rich system of verbal suffixes. Proto-Dynic verbs use inflection for modal and conjunctional purposes. Other categories, such as voice, tense, aspect and mood, are expressed using optional suffixed auxiliaries, which are also inflected. There are six principle parts from which all other conjugations are derived.
| Verb class | Irrealis | Infinitive | Conclusive | Adnominal | Realis | Imperative | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-stem regular | *réne | *réni | *rénusu | *rénu | *rénsa | *rénə̄ | 'take, tug' |
| s-stem irregular | *báse | *bási | *básu | *básu | *bâsa | *básə̄ | 'hit, strike' |
| i-stem irregular | *mié | *mǐ | *misú | *miú | *misá | *miré | 'look, see' |
| u-stem irregular | *cué | *cuí | *cusú | *cǔ | *cusá | *curé | 'make, do, place' |
| e-stem irregular | *ě | *eí | *esú | *eú | *esá | *eré | 'eat' |
| ə-stem irregular | *kʷê | *kʷə́i | *kʷə́su | *kʷə́u | *kʷə́sa | *kʷə̂ | 'say, speak' |
| a-stem irregular | *daŋʷáe | *daŋʷái | *daŋʷásu | *daŋʷáu | *daŋʷása | *daŋʷáre | 'sing, chant' |
| C-stem stative | *ə̄c-hé | *ə̄c-hí | *ə̄c-sí | *ə̄c-hú | *ə̄c-sá | *ə̄c-hə́re | 'big, large' |
| V-stem stative | *ə́nə-he | *ə́nə-hi | *ə́nə-si | *ə́nə-hu | *ə́nə-sa | *ə́nə-həre | 'small, little' |
The marked conclusive form may be dropped and the bare stem used to signify a conclusive meaning before a pausa.
Reduplication
Proto-Dynic makes extensive use of reduplication to form the plural of nouns. Generally, the first onset and nucleus of a word are reduplicated, with any long vowels shortened in the reduplicated syllable:
- *kél ('island') → *kekél ('islands')
- *dûnə ('person') → *dudûnə ('people')
- *sáwk ('hawk') → *sasáwk ('hawks')
Reduplication can also be used with uncountable or collective nouns to refer to large or otherwise extreme or emphatic versions of a noun. The same is true of adjectives:
- *sêl ('the ocean') → *sesêl ('the vast ocean')
- *hur-sí ('tall, high') → *huhur-sí ('very tall, very high')
- *ə̄c-sí ('large, big') → *əʔə̄c-sí ('huge, enormous')
Occasionally a reduplicated term may carry both of these meanings. For example, *kekél may have the plural meaning 'islands,' or the collective 'land, all the islands, great island, continent.'
Development
To Proto-Central Dynic
Diphthongs ending in a palatal glide become long monophthongs, some merging with original *ē, whilst others becoming a new, perhaps more closed version, such as [ɛː], written *ē₂.
- *ē → *ē₁; e.g. *sêl ('sea') → *sê₁l
- *ei → *ē₁; e.g. *iteídə ('I ate it') → *itě₁d
- *əi → *ē₂; e.g. *-dəiarusu (PFV suffix) → *-dē₂arusu
- *ai → *ē₂; e.g. *daŋʷáidə ('I ate it') → *daŋʷê₂d
A similar change occurred with *ə̄ and *əu, however *eu and *au were unaffected.
- *ə̄ → *ō₁; e.g. *nkʷə̂ (speak!) → *inkʷô₁
- *əu → *ō₂; e.g. *kʷə́idəu (the one who spoke) → *kʷê₂dō₂ (perhaps [kʷɛ̂ː.dɔː])