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Bźatga: Difference between revisions
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'''Bźatga''' (/ˈbʒatgɐ/) is an Indo-European language spoken by the people of ''Veśŕa'', or the ''Ensva Veśru'', an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean which includes ''Ǎĺêsa'' and its neighbouring islands in the Atlantic Ocean. According to the people of these islands, the language came with their ancestors from a land called ''Prêńa'' along with a knowledge of metalworking and the sacred horse. | '''Bźatga''' (/ˈbʒatgɐ/) is an Indo-European language spoken by the people of ''Veśŕa'', or the ''Ensva Veśru'', an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean which includes ''Ǎĺêsa'' and its neighbouring islands in the Atlantic Ocean. According to the people of these islands, the language came with their ancestors from a land called ''Prêńa'' along with a knowledge of metalworking and the sacred horse. | ||
==History== | |||
The development of Bźatga is divided into four periods: | |||
* '''Proto-Bźatga''' [''*Briɣantigoh''] (1st–8th centuries) begins with the split from Common Brittonic in the late 1st century AD to the earliest written records in the early 8th century. Though the language is unattested, its development can be adduced. The most important developments during this period were the loss of nasals before other consonants + compensatory lengthening (e.g. Brit. ''*pempe'' > PBz ''*pɛːpe''), the development of new rising diphthongs (e.g. Brit. ''*cɛːton'' > PBz. ''*ciada'') and the falling together of the 1st and 2nd declensions, along with the loss of marked gender (e.g. Brit. ''*wiros, banonā'' > PBz. ''vira, banona''). | |||
* '''Old Bźatga''' [''Bríatéga''] (8th–12th centuries) is the period defined by the arrival of writing to Veśŕa to the onset of syncope in the 12th century, which led to iotisation being phonemicised. The key developments of this period are the loss of distinctive vowel quality, leading to the present vowel system, and the development of iotisation. The period is also marked by the earliest loanwords from Old Irish, Ecclesiastical Latin (mostly via Old Irish) and Old Norse. | |||
* '''Middle Bźatga''' [''Br’atga'' or ''Bŕatga''] (12th–16th centuries) begins with the development of syncope in the 12th century and ends with the renewal of contact with the outside world in the 16th. As well as syncope, it is characterised by the reduction of the inflectional system and the growth of more syntactic methods of expression, for example prepositions replaced case endings and pronouns replaced verbal endings. These changes were not fully reflected in the formal written language, leading to a divergence in written and spoken Bźatga. The late MBz. period also saw the development of palatalisation before ''i''. | |||
* '''Modern Bźatga''' [''Bźatga''] (16th century to present) begins with a period of renewed contact with the outside world, which brought new loanwords (particularly of Greek and Latin origin) and resulted in a vernacular written language ousting the archaic formal language. | |||
==Phonology and Orthography== | ==Phonology and Orthography== | ||