Old Swuntsim
Old Swuntsim (tiSxwəcim) was the ancient Tsimulh language spoken by the Swutsim people. It is still used as a liturgical language among religious Swutsim.
Descendants:
- Modern Swutsim
- Naquian Swutsim
GMP
Tsimulh low tone > breathy voice (vowels not devoiced yet; devoiced vowels are partly merged)
Two consecutive breathy vowels > just the first vowel drops.
Satemization
Phonology
Sacred Swutsim lost Proto-Tsimulh tones.
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | plain | labialized | plain | labialized | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
| Stop | plain | p | t | k | kw | ʔ | ||||
| voiced | b | d | g | gw | ||||||
| ejective | pʼ | tʼ | kʼ | kwʼ | qʼ | qwʼ | ||||
| Affricate | plain | c | ξ | č | ||||||
| voiced | z | j | ||||||||
| ejective | cʼ | ξʼ | čʼ | |||||||
| Fricative | s | σ | š | xw | χ | χw | h | |||
| Approximant | y | w | ȝ | ȝw | ||||||
Vowels
Clear vowels: i u ə a
Grammar
Noun class system got weird - formal noun classes remain but the words semantically shift as in Sanskrit
Nouns
Noun classes
Sacred Swutsim had a noun class system like the Bantu languages. There were 12 noun classes, which are numbered as follows:
- ʔə-, pl. cə-
- bu-, pl. də-
- p-, pl. əpi-
- s-, pl. dus-
- ut-, pl. pσə-
- ma-, pl. əwə-
- č-, pl. abi-
- gu-, pl. N-
- σi-, pl. wi-
- t-
- t’im-
- pda-
Cases
- Nominative: -0
- Genitive: -s
Verbs
Noun class prefixes
- I = kwə-/kw-
- you (sg) = xwə-/xw-
- we = wə-
- you (pl) = cu-
- Noun class prefixes:
- ʔə-, pl. cə-/c-
- bu-, pl. də-/d-
- p-, pl. əpi-/əp-
- s-, pl. dus-
- ut-, pl. pσə-/pσ-
- ma-/mə-, pl. əwə-/u-
- k-/č-, pl. abi-/əb-
- gu-, pl. N-
- σi-/σ-, pl. wi-
- ti-/t-, no plural
- t’im-, no plural
- pda-/pdə- (common for abstract nouns), no plural
Tense affixes
-s - past tense