Proto-Rathmosian/Later Developments
Common Changes
- unstressed eC > iC and eyC > iyC
- word-final, short a, e lost in words of 3 or more syllables: negara > negar
- loss of word-final nasals -n, -m with nasalisation or preceding vowel, creating new ą, ę, į, ų, ɚ and ąą, ęę, įį, ųų
- loss of word-final -t
- raising of e > i, ew > iw and ey > iy before i or y in the next syllable
- loss of y between vowels and contraction of remaining vowels
- loss of word-final short, non-nasal vowels in words of 3 or more syllables: negani > negan
- raising of a(a) > ä(ä), u(u) > ü(ü) before i, y in the following syllable
- lowering of u(u) > new vowel o(o) before a(a), ä(ä), ą(ą) in the next syllable: kukad "he eats" > kokad.
- unstressed diphthongs become long vowels: aw > oo, ay > ee, ew > oo, ey > ee
- final-syllable long vowels shortened
| Pr-Rs | Stressed | Unstressed | Word-Final | i-mutated | -n/-m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | a / - | ä | ą | |
| e | e | i | e / - | i | į |
| i | i | i / - | į | ||
| u | u | u / - | ü | ų | |
| o (bef. a) | |||||
| ə | ə | ę | |||
| aa | aa | a | ää | ą | |
| ee | ee | e | ii | ę | |
| ii | ii | i | į | ||
| uu | uu | u | üü | ų | |
| oo | o | ||||
| aw | aw | oo | o | äw | -ǫ |
| ew | ew | öö | e | iw | -ę |
| iw | iw | üü | i | iw | -į |
| uw | uw | uu | u | üw | -ų |
| ay | ay | ää | e | äy | -ę |
| ey | ey | ee | e | iy | -ę |
| iy | iy | ii | i | -į | |
| uy | uy | üü | i | uy | -ų |
The changes described above resulted in the following vowel inventory for the late common period:
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -Round | +Round | -Round | +Round | |
| Close | i /i/ ii /iː/ į /ĩ/ |
ü /y/ üü /yː/ |
u /u/ uu /uː/ ų /ũ/ | |
| Mid | e /e/ ee /eː/ ę /ẽ/ |
ö /ø/ öö /øː/ |
ə /ə/ | o /o/ oo /oː/ ǫ /õ/ |
| Open | ä /æ/ ää /æː/ |
a /a/ aa /aː/ ą /ã/ |
Rathmos Changes
- ə(ə) > e(e), ɚ > a
- nasals followed by fricatives are lost, leading to compensatory lengthening and nasalisation of preceding vowel: negans > negąąs
- Cy > CC, except ry
- g > /ɣ/ in most positions, except ng, gg
- ts > ss
- p, t, k > f, þ, h and b, d > v, ð before n, m, l, r
- a(a) and ay raised to ä(ä), äy except before -n, -m or before a back vowel (a(a), o(o), u(u)) in the next syllable
- unstressed äC > eC
- word-final -a lost
- nasal vowels merge with non-nasal counterparts
- stressed ä, e, i > äw, ew, iw before -w, -lC, rC
- changes to diphthongs: ay > ae, aw > ao, äy > äe, äw > äo > ea, ey > ee, ew > eo, iy > ii, iw > iü, uw > uu, uy > uü.
- k, g, sk palatalised to ch /t͡ʃ/, ȝ /ʝ/, sh /ʃ/ (a) before a front vowel (ä, e, i, ü) or y, or (b) after e, i except when followed by a back vowel: negara > neger > neȝer but neganta > negan
- i-mutation: a(a) > ä(ä), e(e) > i(i), o(o) > ö(ö), u(u) > ü(ü) before i, y in next syllable
- word-final -i, -u lost, except after light monosyllable
- unstressed vowel reduction:
- medial syllable: a, ä, e lost, i, u lost after heavy syllable, > e after light syllable, oo > o, other long vowels > short
- final syllable: ä, i > e, uC > oC, oo > u, other long vowels > short
- medial h lost before vowels and consonants with compensatory lengthening
- medial f, s > v, z, ss > s
Carrick Changes
- ə(ə), ɚ > a
- nasal vowels merge with non-nasal counterparts
- i-mutation: a(a) > ä(ä), o(o) > ö(ö), u(u) > ü(ü) before i, y in next syllable
- stressed e(e) > ja(a), except after l, w
- u-mutation: a(a) > o(o), ja(a) > jo(o), ä(ä) > œ(œ), e(e) > ö(ö), i(i) > ü(ü)
- y lost before front vowels and w before back vowels, except a
- devoicing of word-final consonants
- mp, nk, nt > pp, kk, tt
Summary of Vowel Changes
| Change | kupakuren "smell" (loc.pl.) |
feyhilep "fighter" (dat.sg.) |
gawuya "feast" (gen.sg.) |
reykitset "he loves you" |
pupurad "it glistened" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common | |||||
| unstressed e > i | kupakurin | feyhilip | gawuya | reykitsit | |
| wf. -a, -e lost | gawuy | ||||
| wf. -n, -m lost | kupakurį | ||||
| wf. -t lost | reykitsi | ||||
| i-mutation of e, ey, ew | fiyhilip | riykitsi | |||
| intervocalic y lost | |||||
| wf. oral short vowels lost | riykits | ||||
| i-mutation of a, u | kupakürį | ||||
| a-mutation of u | kopakürį | puporad | |||
| unstressed diphthongs > long vowels | gawüü | ||||
| final-syllable long vowels > short vowels | gawi > gäwi | ||||
| Rathmos | |||||
| ə(ə) > e(e) | |||||
| loss of nasals before fricatives | |||||
| gemination of Cy | |||||
| /g/ > /ɣ/ | ġäwi | ||||
| ts > ss | riykiss | ||||
| p, t, k > f, þ, h and b, d > v, ð bef. n, m, l, r | |||||
| fronting of a(a), ay | kopäkürį | puporäd | |||
| wf. -a lost | |||||
| loss of nasalisation | kopäküri | ||||
| stressed ä, e, i > äw, ew, iw | ġäuwi | ||||
| diphthong changes | fíhilip | ġäowi | riikiss | ||
| palatalisation of k, g, sk | kopächüri | ȝäowi | riichiss | ||
| i-mutation of a(a), e(e), o(o), u(u) | |||||
| wf. -i, -u mostly lost | kopächür | ||||
| unstressed vowel reduction | kopchür | fíhelep | ȝäowe | riichess | |
| h loss | fíylep | ||||
| medial f, s > v, z, all ss > s | riiches | ||||
| Rathmosian | copchyr | fíylep | ȝeawe | ríches | pupored |
| Carrick | |||||
| ə(ə) > a(a) | |||||
| loss of medial/final h | fiyilip | ||||
| loss of nasalisation | kopaküri | ||||
| i-mutation of a, o, u' | |||||
| stressed e(e) > ya(a) | |||||
| u-mutation of a(a), ya(a), ä(ä), e(e), i(i) | |||||
| loss of prevocalic y, w | |||||
| loss of most wf. vowels | kopakür | gäw | |||
| unstressed long vowels shortened | |||||
| loss of most unstressed vowels | kopkür | fílp | riyks | pupräd | |
| wf. consonants devoiced | puprät | ||||
| mp, nk, nt > pp, kk, tt | |||||
| Carrick | kopkür | fílp | gew | ríks | puprät |