Proto-Quame

Proto-Quihum/Lexicon

The main source languages for the reconstruction of PQ are Ancient Wiebian, Thensarian, Naquian and Boot Polish.

Todo

Nsəlxcin Resources

• ablaut patterns
  • combine with stress shifting rules?
• determiner endings
• verbs
• derivational morphology

• idea: tk, tq > sk, sq
• there's a lot of nt's and st's - too much?
• -əlx is gibby
• -p could disappear/CL in both Pf and Tal
• Cluster resolution - 1st and last consonant or second-to-last and last?

Morphemes

• sta= = more
• -s = verbal noun
  • Thensarian infinitive -s;
  • Wiebian verbal noun -s
• -x = 2sg imperative
• -aʔ, -ix = nominal affixes?
  • Wiebian -e, ^U-e
• -lx = place nouns?
  • Wiebian -er
  • Thensarian -ly-m?
• ʔal and ʔalʼ 'at, near' as variants
  • Wiebian er 'for' and Thensarian ar 'and'
• t- = (interrogative morpheme)
  • Wiebian das words
  • Thensarian tis 'who' and tas 'what'
• kʷ- = we, our (inc); emphatic; also 'here' (inc)?
  • the kʷi in kʷix̌əmʼ?
  • Wiebian was words
  • Thensarian cis 'this man' (sounds like Clofab cesin!)
• nikt-s = 'thing' (< carry)?
  • Tíogall ní 'thing; not' < Thn. nīs (idem)
  • Wiebian nicht, nichts 'indeed'
• kastʼ = 'accompany'
  • Wiebian Heste 'wife'
• əyn = determiner
  • Wiebian ein (article)
• hay! = vocative
  • Wiebian ei

Phonology

Consonants

The following inventory of consonants is reconstructed for PQ by Sjawu Panzux, and is now accepted by the majority of scholars. Languages such as Adetsib have the most archaic consonant inventories.

		Labial	Coronal		Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
			central	lateral		plain	labialized	plain	labialized
Nasal	plain	*m	*n
	glottalized	*mʼ /mˀ/	*nʼ /nˀ/
Plosive	plain	*p	*t			*k	*kʷ	*q	*qʷ	*ʔ
	voiced	*b	*d			*g	*gʷ
	ejective	*pʼ	*tʼ			*kʼ	*kʷʼ	*qʼ	*qʷʼ
Fricative			*s	*ł /ɬ/		*x	*xʷ	*x̌ /χ/	*x̌ʷ /χʷ/	*h
Affricate	plain		*c /ts/	*ƛ /tɬ/
	voiced		*z /dz/	*λ /dɮ/
	ejective		*cʼ /tsʼ/	*ƛʼ /tɬʼ/
Resonant	plain			*l	*y /j/		*w
	glottalized			*lʼ /lˀ/	*yʼ /jˀ/		*wʼ /wˀ/

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	*i		*u
Mid		*ə
Open		*a

Suprasegmentals

Stress was phonemic.

Phonotactics

Consonant clusters were allowed and could become complex, as in the Salishan languages.

Rules:

• When initial reduplication occurs, glottalized initials deglottalize.

Grammar

Typology

The basic word order was V2, modifier-modified.

Ablaut

Much like in PIE, PQ had an ablaut system where roots were inflected in different ablaut grades.

Determiners

Should have some syncretism

can spam laryngeals and clusters

• r < PQ nʼ, wʼ, lʼ, l (+clusters)
• m < PQ m, mʼ (+clusters)
• n < PQ n (+clusters)
• s < PQ tʼ, s, c, cʼ
• e < PQ laryngeals, -p, -i
• -0 < PQ -0, -p, -a, -ə

Ahn 'father' - masculine
	Singular	Plural
Indef. nom.	eine Ahn	einen Ahn
Def. nom.	ein Ahn	einer Ahn
Indef. acc.	ein Ahn	einer Ahn
Def. acc.	einem Ahn	eines Ahn
Indef. gen.	einem Ahn	eines Ahn
Def. gen.	eine Ahn	einen Ahn

Mahl 'mother' - feminine
	Singular	Plural
Indef. nom.	einem Mahl	eines Mahl
Def. nom.	eine Mahl	einen Mahl
Indef. acc.	eine Mahl	einen Mahl
Def. acc.	ein Mahl	einer Mahl
Indef. gen.	ein Mahl	einer Mahl
Def. gen.	einem Mahl	eines Mahl

Ŧeib 'chalice' - neuter
	Singular	Plural
Indef. nom.	ein Ŧeib	einer Ŧeib
Def. nom.	einem Ŧeib	eines Ŧeib
Indef. acc.	einem Ŧeib	eines Ŧeib
Def. acc.	eine Ŧeib	einen Ŧeib
Indef. gen.	eine Ŧeib	einen Ŧeib
Def. gen.	ein Ŧeib	einer Ŧeib

Nominals

Plurals were formed by reduplication (as in Salish languages).

Plural: kawʼqs 'raven' > kəkáwʼqs

Pronouns

bi-: transitivizer? 3rd person object affix?

Verbs

Verbs were conjugated for subject, aspect, mood, evidentiality, and voice.

• Subject agreement: For each pronoun, and 3rd person m/f/n, and perhaps collective
• Aspects: present, preterite, stative
• Evidentiality: direct, hearsay, unclear memory, quotative, inferential
• Moods: {Indicative, desiderative, jussive, optative}, {mirative, subjunctive}, imperative
• Voices: Active, mediopassive, causative

Ablaut grades

• present: a-grade
• preterite: i-grade
• stative: zero-grade?
• verbal noun: u-grade

TAM affixes

• -x - 2sg imperative

Tense/Agreement suffixes

Subject markers:

• 1sg: -n
• 2sg: -y'
• 3sg.m: -m
• 3sg.f: -c
• 3sg.n: -0
• 1pl.ex: -maʔ
• 2pl: -tkʷ
• 3pl: -ti

Object markers:

• 1sg: n-
• 2sg: l'-
• 3 (animate): b-
• 3 (neuter): k-
• 1pl.ex: m-
• 1pl.in: d-
• 2pl: c'-

Some etymologies

• 1: *x̌əmʼ-; *kʷi-x̌əmʼ- 'only one'
• 2: *tił-x̌ulʼ
• 3: *nazg-
• 4: *λawpʼ-
• 5: *calił
• 6: *sta-x̌əm-ʼ 'one more'; *qʷ’əl’
• 7: *nʼəxʷd
• 8: *lx̌ʷzitʼ
• 9: *pʼalʼgʷ
• 10: *q’əyʼ-x̌ulʼ
• step/level: *naycʼ ('20' in Talsmic)
• stone: *ƛʼecqʷ
• water: *yənqʷʼ
• day: *m’ul

Sample text

On a hill, a sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses". The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool". Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.