User:Ceige/Ceigean Afroasiatic
| CJ-Afroasiatic (jokingly) | |
|---|---|
| 𐤔𐤌𐤉𐤕 / ⵙⵎⵉⵜ / (ta)Šimiyata | |
| Pronunciation | [[Help:IPA|simijata]] |
| Created by | – |
| Native speakers | - (Yonks ago) |
Afroasiatic
| |
Early form | Early Proto-Afroasiatic
|
This is my attempt at making a conlanger-oriented pseudo-reconstruction of "some stage" of Proto-Afroasiatic. By "Conlanger-oriented" I mean it incorporates a few extra bits that may not have actually existed or been widespread or common in the Proto-Afroasiatic stage, but I kept them in because I thought they look fun - mimation/nunation is a good example.
Grammar
Nouns
Gender
The base gender system is unmarked for male and marked for female.
| Gender | Suffix |
|---|---|
| Male | Ø |
| Female | -t- |
This gender marker is normally suffixed onto the end of a noun, and is, depending on the speaker, joined with an epinthetic vowel (thus, -t- > -at-). However, the gender marker can appear in other places due to derivational processes.
Case
There are two main noun cases in CJ-Afroasiatic. Only one is effectively marked, and that is the nominative. There is also a debatable adjectivo-genitive marker, but this is a bit more versatile than a case marker, and can apparently be used for implying plurality. They are normally suffixed after gender, but like the gender marker, derivational processes can change this.
| Case | Suffix |
|---|---|
| Absolutive | -(a)- |
| Nominative | -u- |
| (Genitive) | -i- |
State and Definitivity
In addition to gender and case, state is also used to clarify the syntactic and semantic role of a noun and contributes to the overall form of it. The construct is used like in Semitic languages, to indicate that the noun is part of a greater phrase. It essentially involves the phonological erosion of any important final vowels that aren't part of the noun root - e.g., case.
In necessary cases we can assume an epinthetic vowel -ə resulting from these reductions.
In addition, there is the Mimation/Nunation, which is essentially chucking a nasal consonant onto the end of the case ending (and thus making this contrasted with the construct state). This seems to serve an emphatic role of emphasising a complete or unbound (whatever that is) phrase.
Plurality
There appears to be no stable system of making plurals. Egyptian appears to use -w and -wt for its external plural markers. Semitic appears to use vowel lengthening instead. Internal (vowel-grade) plural marking seems to orient around making the noun look different in whatever easy way is possible, at least in some cases.
Berber nouns appear comparitively neat when it comes to vowel alterations however, and the -n- marker appears to have some parallels (at a glance) in Arabic. Since we're doing this for conlanging, and not proper reconstruction purposes, let's just assume that -n- was used in plural formation, alongside appropriate vowel shifts.
In the following table, ə = a short vowel. ə in many cases may become /u/, /i/ or /a/ (conditions not known yet). External plural marker seem to possess some concatenating abilities.
| Plural Type | Formation | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| External #1 | ROOT- > ROOT-ən- | a-ROOT- > ə-ROOT-ən- |
| External #2 | ROOT- > ROOT-aw- | |
| External #3 | ROOT- > ROOT-v̄ (-ū, -ā) | ROOT- > ROOT-ī |
| Broken External #1 | a-CəCəC- > ə-CəCC-an | a-CəC- > ə-CaC-ən- |
| Broken External #2 | əCvC- > aCC-aw- | əCvC- > aCC-aw-ən |
| Broken #1 | -i- | |
| Broken #2 |