Bźatga/History: Difference between revisions

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==History==

===Proto-Celtic to Common Brittonic (to 1st Century AD)===

* '''~~Monophthongisation of~~ diphthongs'''

* '''Short vowels remain in stressed syllables:''' ''a, e, i, o, u''

** ''ai > ɛː; ei > eː~~; oi > oː;~~ eu, ou > ɔː~~, au > aː~~''

* '''Long vowels and diphthongs in stressed syllables:'''

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Proto-Celtic !! Common Brittonic

|-

| ''ā, au'' || ''aː''

|-

| ''ai'' || ''ɛː''

|-

| ''ei'' || ''eː''

|-

| ''eu, ou'' || ''ɔː''

|-

| ''ī'' || ''iː''

|-

| ''oi'' || ''oː''

|-

| ''ū'' || ''uː''

|}

* '''Reduction of pretonic & final vowels'''

** short vowels lowered

** short vowels lowered: ''o > ɔ'' (merges with ''a''), ''i'' > ''e'', ''u > o''

** long vowels shortened

* '''Lenition of intervocalic stops, ''m'' & ''s'''''

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** ''m'' > ''ṽ''

** ''s'' > ''h''

** ''st'' > ''ss''

===Proto-Bźatga (1st to 8th Centuries)===

Defined as the period after Bźatga split from Common Brittonic, before it was written.

* '''Compensatory Lengthening of vowels before ''n''C'''

** ''a > ā; e > ɛː; i > ī; o > ɔː; u > ū''

** ''a > ā; e > ɛː; i > eː; o > ɔː; u > oː''

** the change indicates that short ''e'' was /ɛ/ and short ''o'' was /ɔ/. The short high vowels ''i'' and ''u'' may similarly have been lowered to /ɪ/ and /ʊ/.

* '''Diphthonisation before CC or C + non-high vowel'''

* '''Diphthonisation before CC or C + ~~back~~ vowel/''a'''''

** ''ɛː > ea > ia''

** ''ɛː > ia''

** ''eː > ie''

** ''ē > ie''

** ''ɔː > oa > ua''

* '''~~Vocalisation of~~ ''ɣ'' ~~and~~ ''~~-h-~~'''''

** ''oː > uo''

** ''ɣ'' > ''w'' after ''o(ː), ɔː, u(ː)''

* '''Vocalisation of ''ɣ'''''

** ''ɣ'' > ''j'' after other vowels

** Intervocalic ''ɣ'' > ''w'' after ''o(ː), ɔː, u(ː)''

** Intervocalic ''ɣ'' > ''j'' after other vowels

** ''ɣC > jC'' (note ''ɣj'' already ''j'')

** ''Cɣ > Cw, Cj'' depending on the quality of the preceding vowel

* '''Vocalisation of ''-h-'''''

** medial ''-h-'' (from ''s'') becomes ''j'' before front vowels (''i, e'' etc), ''w'' before ''u'' and is lost before ''a, o''.

*** ''esa, eso'' > ''iːa, iːo''

*** ''ese, esi'' > ''~~ɛːe~~, ~~ɛːi~~''

*** ''ese, esi'' > ''ɛːje, ɛːji''

** final ''-h-'' (from ''s'') is lost

* '''Merger of ''v, ṽ'' and ''w''

** the ~~quality~~ of ~~the new sound is unclear, but it is represented here by~~ ''β''

** ''v'' (from PrC. ''b''), ''ṽ'' (from PrC. ''m'') and ''w'' (from PrC. ''w, g, h'') merge into a single sound, probably the bilabial fricative ''β''

** metathesis of C''β'' as ''u''C

** vocalisation of ''β''C > ''u''C

** metathesis of ~~C''β'' as ''u''C~~

===Old Bźatga (8th to 12th centuries)===

Defined as the period from the first written records to the phonemicisation of iotisation.

* '''Metathesis of V''r''C > ''r''VC'''

** new ''mr-'' > ''br-'', ''nr-'' > ''dr-''

* '''Loss of vowel quantity'''

** all long vowels become short, creating ~~a 10~~ vowel system.

** all long vowels become short, creating an 8 vowel system.

** ''aː, ɛː, ɔː'' merge with their short counterparts, ''a, ɛ, ɔ''

** ''eː, oː'' create new short vowels ''e, o''

** ''eː, oː'' create new short vowels ''e, o'', merging with existing ''ɪ, ʊ'' as ''ê, ô'' (note ''ɪj''V, ''uβ''V become ''ij''V, ''uβ''V.

** ''iː, uː'' create new short vowels ''i, u~~'' alongside existing ''ɪ, ʊ~~''

** ''iː, uː'' create new short vowels ''i, u''

** the new vowel system:

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|}

* '''Merger of near-high vowels'''

** ''ɪ > e'' and ''ʊ > o''

** the sequence ''ɪj''V becomes ''ij''V (later ''ia'')

* '''Iotisation'''

** semi-vowel ''j'' merges with adjacent consonant

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** note that iotisation continues to work as a productive sound change.

* '''Merger of semivowels

** sequences ''ij'', ''ji'', ''uv'', ''vu'' merge into a single vowel ''i'' or ''u''

** sequences ''ij'', ''ji'', ''uβ'', ''βu'' merge into a single vowel ''i'' or ''u''

** ''i''V > ''j''V, causing iotisation to the preceding consonant

** ''~~ovi~~'' > ''oi''

** ''oβi'' > ''oi''

===Middle Bźatga (12th to 16th centuries)===

Defined as the period in which syncope phonemicised iotised consonants to the period of renewed contact with the outside world.

* '''Syncope'''

** intervocalic, internal vowels are lost except where this would cause an impossible consonant cluster.

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** ''t, d'' > ''ts, dz''

** ''n, l, r'' > ''ń, ĺ, ŕ''

===Modern Bźatga (16th century to Present)===

Following the Middle Bźatga period, phonology has remained fairly stable but there has been a significant amount of analogical levelling in the inflectional paradigms, along with a considerable growth in borrowed words, particularly of a scientific and technological nature. The modern period also saw the replacement of the archaic, formal written language with a vernacular form and the creation of the modern spelling system.

====Examples====

Bźatga/History: Difference between revisions

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