Proto-Naktap-Semi
Phonology
| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | *m | *n | *ɲ | |
| Stop | *p *pʰ *b | *t *tʰ *d | *c *cʰ *ɟ | *k *kʰ *ɡ |
| Fricative | *s |
Vowel system is /a e i o u ə/ without vowel length or gemination. Syllable structure is (C)V(C) and stress falls on the first syllable
Grammar
Similar to it's descendants Proto-Naktap-Semi had SOV, Head-final word order. Instead of using suffixes like it's desxendants it uses particles. Plural particle *tʰə put after case particles can be reconstructed. Proto-Naktap-Semi had following cases:
- Nominative: unmarked
- Accusative: *əɲtʰə
- Genetive: *eka
- Dative: *məɟ
- Ablative *apta
- Locative *kʰan
- Lative: *pesi
- Instrumental: *kuba
Verb particles are put in this order:
Verb Valency Voice Tense Aspect Mood
Only Valency-changing suffix is Causative *pʰəɟ. Only Mood is Conditional *kʰaca. Two voices are reconstructed: Passive *ənəɟi and Reflexive (also known by Naktap-Semi linguistsas "Middle") *aba. Tense system is similar to those found in it's descendants:
- Recent Past: *aɡətʰ
- Distant Past: *muɡus
- Hesterial Past (Yesterday): *sibi
- Nonpast: *pʰe
- Hodiernal (Today): *kicʰi
- Crastinal Future (Tomorrow): *kibi
There is imperfective *agida and Habitual *damagu.
Negation is formed by adding ɟu and is mostly used for adjectives and verbs. In Naktap it's used in verbs to form inverted meaning, like "to tie" to "to untie" and particle being used before the word else. In Semi for inverted meanings descendant of *ɟuden is reconstruced, probably related to *bemibden "front, face" Other suffixes can also be reconstructed:
Nominalization: *sic
Person related to a word (not always an Agentive): *nak, shortening of *naktap "person"