Suwáá/Classical
Classical Sjowaázh refers to an archaic literary standard of Sjowaázh, partly based on Late Old Sjowaázh.
Phonology
Consonants
Identical to Modern Sjowaázh
Syllabic resonants: m mm n nn nr nnr l ll r rr (ḿ ń ĺ ŕ m̀ ǹ l̀ r̀)
Vowels
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i /ɪ/ | ii /iː/ | o /o/ | oo /oː/ |
| Open | e /ɛ/ | ee /ɛː/ | a /ɑ/ | aa /ɑː/ |
Tone
Classical Sjowaázh had three level tones: high (á), mid (a), low (à). Conservative Modern High Sjowaázh has vestiges of the 3-tone system in its intonation.
7 possible pitch accent patterns:
- short: á, a, à
- long: áa, aà, àa, aa
The mid tone and low tone later merged, hence why high tone is the marked tone in High Sjowaazh.
Grammar
Classical Sowaár was optimized for poetic meters (like Marathi) – word order was relatively free and affixes used both long and short syllables. Vowel length was relatively free in affixes (obeying some constraints) and fixed in roots. There were also fewer tonal distinctions in affixes. [TODO: rules]
Number prefixes for nouns existed but was optional.
More fusional and less agglutinative than Modern Sjowaázh?