Proto-Zanahic

Introduction

Proto-Zanahic is the reconstructed ancestor of Zanahi and other Zanahic languages.

Phonology

Consonants

Reconstructed consonant phonemes of Proto-Zanahic

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		*m /m/	*n /n/
Stop	voiceless	*p /p/	*t /t/		*k /k/	*’ /ʔ/
	voiced	*b /b/	*d /d/		*g /ɡ/
	ejective	*ṗ /pʼ/	*ṭ /tʼ/		*ḳ /kʼ/
Affricate	voiceless		*c /ts/
	voiced		*z /dz/
	ejective		*ṣ /tsʼ/
Fricative			*s /s/	*š /ɕ/		*h /h/
Trill			*r /r/
Approximant			*l /l/	*y /j/	*w /w/

Vowels and Syllabics

Reconstructed vowel phonemes of Proto-Zanahic

	Short		Long
	Front	Back	Front	Back
Close	*i /i/	*u /u/	*ī /iː/	*ū /uː/
Mid	*e /ɛ/		*ē /ɛː/
Open	*a /a/	*o /ɒ/	*ā /aː/	*ō /ɒː/

Reconstructed diphthongs of Proto-Zanahic

	Short		Long
	/i/	/u/	/i/	/u/
/ɛ/	*ey /ɛi/	*ew /ɛu/	*ēy /ɛːi/	*ēw /ɛːu/
/a/	*ay /ai/	*aw /au/	*āy /aːi/	*āw /aːu/
/ɒ/	*oy /ɒi/	*ow /ɒu/	*ōy /ɒːi/	*ōw /ɒːu/

Reconstructed syllabic consonants of Proto-Zanahic

Consonant	Short	Long
/m/	*m̥ /m̩/	*m̥̄ /m̩ː/
/n/	*n̥ /n̩/	*n̥̄ /n̩ː/
/r/	*r̥ /r̩/	*r̥̄ /r̩ː/
/l/	*l̥ /l̩/	*l̥̄ /l̩ː/

Note that *i and *u (and their long forms *ī and *ū) are considered the syllabic counterparts of *y and *w respectively.

Morphology

(IN PROGRESS)

Nominals

Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns

.

Numerals

Reconstructed Proto-Zanahic numerals

Symbol	Cardinal number
	masc.	fem.	neuter
1	*’oynoh	*’oynā	*’oynom
2	*ṭuwō	*ṭuwāi	*ṭuwō
3	*treyeh	*treyeh	*treyā
4	*ketureh	*ketureh	*keturā
5	*penke
6	*šecš
7	*heptm̥
8	*’octō
9	*newn̥
10	*decm̥
20	ṭuwīcn̥ti
30	trīcant
100	*cn̥tom

Syntax