Bźatga/History

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Outline History

Old Bźatga

Old Bźatga (Bríatéga) is the form of the language belonging to the earliest written records from the 8th century when Irish monks (OBz. papi or celí dié) introduced the Latin alphabet to the island. It is characterised by extensive nominal and verbal inflections largely inherited from Common Brittonic and by a small number of words borrowed from Old Irish and Ecclesiastical Latin, largely in the spheres of religion and technology (e.g. liérieca "cleric" (OI cleirech), sagrata "priest" (OI sagart), annódia "mother church" (OI andóit, canniela "candle" (OI caindel), penna "pen" (L penna), scriuade "he writes" (OI scríbaid)).

Short Vowels Long Vowels Diphthongs Consonants
a /a/ á /aː/ ia /ea > ia/ p /p/ b /b/ u /β/
e /ɛ/ é /eː/ ie /ie/ t /t/ d /d/ z /ð̠/
i /ɪ/ í /iː/ ua /oa > ua/ c /k/ g /g/ i /j/
o /ɔ/ ó /oː/ uo /uo/ m /m/ n /n/ s /s/
u /ʊ/ ú /uː/ l /l/ r /r/ h /h/
áe /ɛː/
óe /ɔː/

The loss of distinctive vowel quantity during the Old Bźatga period led to the following vowel system: a, e, é, i, o, ó, u, where é, ó represent /e, o/. Marked í, ú were often used to represent sequences of ii, uu, e.g. dúo "black", ríe "kings". Iotisation continued to be marked with i after the consonant, e.g. Bźatga was written Briatéga, ModBź. brańa "foul" was written brania (but in earlier texts also braina or brainia).

Nominal Inflection

Nouns are inflected for several classes, which show a greater degree of variation than the modern language.

donia "man" more "sea" prédo "shape" troues "foot" "river" aua "name" lieda "valley" adir "father"
Nsg. donia more prédo troues aua lieda adir
Asg. troueda auona adera
Gsg. donie auane liedía adra
Dsg. doniu trouede auone liedeie adre
Npl. donii mori prédoue trouede auone auani liedía adre
Apl. doniu prédu troueda auona adra
Gpl. donia moría prédúa auana
Dpl. donioua moreua trouedua auoua auaua liedeua adréua

Verbal Inflection

Active Deponent Passive
caraue "I love" baziue "I drown" caberu "I take" sebur "I follow" caradar "is loved"
Pres. Ind. caraue
caraie
carade
caraua
carade
carat
baziue
bazíe
bazide
baziua
bazide
bazit
caberu
cabíe
cabere
caberoua
caberede
caberot
sebur
sebedar
sebedra
sebouar
sebeder
sebotra
-
-
caradar
-
-
caratar
Impf. Ind. caranne
carada
carada
carammis
caraui
carates
bazinne
bazida
bazida
bazimmis
baziui
bazites
caberenne
caberida
cabereda
caberemmes
cabereui
caberetes
sebinne
sebida
sebida
sebimmis
sebiui
sebites
-
-
carade
-
-
caratis
Pret. Ind. carasu
carase
carase
carasoua
carasede
carasot
bazisu
bazise
bazise
bazisoua
bazisede
bazisot
cabretu
cabrete
cabrete
cabretoue
cabretede
cabretot
sebesur
sebesar
sebestra
sebemar
sebeser
sebestra
Pres. Subj. cara
cara
cara
caraua
carade
carat
bazia
bazia
bazia
baziaua
baziade
baziat
caberra
caberra
caberra
caberraua
caberrade
caberrat
sesiur
sesietar
sesiedra
sesioura
sesieder
sesiotra
Pret. Subj. caranne
carada
carada
carammis
caraui
carates
bazinne
bazida
bazida
bazimmis
baziui
bazites
caberrenne
caberrida
caberreda
caberremmes
caberreui
caberretes
sesínne
sesída
sesída
sesímmis
sesíui
sesítes
Past Ptc. carada bazida cabréda sebida
Pres Ptc. carat bazit caberot sebit
Ptc. of Nec. caradoia bazidoia cabretoia sebidoia

A number of irregularities occur in the preterite such as reduplication and ablaut:

  • lieú "I hear": celioú, celioie, celioie, celiououe, celioiede
  • veziu "I pray": vaza, vaza, vaze, vazaue, vazade, vazar.

Middle Bźatga

The orthography of Middle Bźatga changed little from that of Old Bźatga, except that iotisation came to be written:

  • first with a superscript i after the consonant, e.g. Briatga, doniua
  • then with an apostrophe-like mark or raised vertical line, e.g. Br’atga/Brιatga, don’ua/donιua
  • finally with an acute accent, e.g. Bŕatga, dońua

Nominal Inflection

The declension paradigm was affected by syncope and the process of levelling, which merged the Nom. and Acc. classes and often the Gen. and Dat. ones, particularly where identical forms recurred in a single class or where iotisation led to stem-changes.

dońa "man" more "sea" prédo "shape" trouda "foot" "river" aua "name" ĺeda "valley" adir "father"
Nsg. dońa more prédo trouda aua ĺeda adra
Asg.
Gsg. dońe trouda, -e auna, -e aune ĺeďa, -e adra, -e
Dsg. dońu troude aune ĺeďe adre
Npl. dońi mori prédue troude aune auni ĺeďa, -e adre
Apl.
Gpl. dońua morua prédua trouda auna auna ĺeďa adra
Dpl. trouda, -ua auna, -ua auna, -ua ĺeda, -ua adra, -ua

Verbal Inflection

Syncope initially resulted in a complex verbal system akin to Old Irish, in which verbs with unstressed prefixes such as ca-, var-, ab- had two different forms: a primary form, used when the verb stood alone (e.g. cabére "he takes", vagánde "he plays") and a secondary form used when another prefix was added (e.g. nacábre "he does not take", ravágnade "he might play"). Quite quickly, however, the situation was levelled so that the primary form was used throughout but with a shift of stress to the original prefix (e.g. nacábere, ravágande).

There was also some simplification of the verbal paradigm and, in particular, the reduction of anomalous forms. Weak verbs ending in 1sg pres. ind. -ue are merged into a single category, following caruemi and deponent verbs are mainly taken into the -ue category. The use of pronominal endings becomes increasingly mandatory in non-3rd person forms.

Active Passive
carue "I love" bazue "I drown" caberu "I take" sebue "I follow" caradar "is loved"
Pres. Ind. carue(mi)
caŕe(tu)
carde
carua(zni)
carde(zui)
carat
bazue(mi)
baźe(tu)
bazde
bazua(zni)
bazde(zui)
bazat
caberu(mi)
cabeŕe(tu)
cabere
caberua(zni)
caberde(zui)
caberot
sebue(mi)
sebie(tu)
sebde
sebua(zni)
sebde(zui)
sebat
-
-
cardar
-
-
cartar
Pret. Ind. carsu(mi)
carse(tu)
carse
carse(zni)
carse(zui)
carsot
bazsu(mi)
bazse(tu)
bazse
bazse(zni)
bazse(zui)
bazsot
cabretu(mi)
cabrete(tu)
cabrete
cabrete(zni)
cabrete(zui)
cabretot
sebsu(mi)
sebse(tu)
sebse
sebse(zni)
sebse(zui)
sebsot
Pres. Subj. cara(mi)
cara(tu)
cara
cara(zni)
cara(zui)
cara(ie)
baza(mi)
baza(tu)
baza
baza(zni)
baza(zui)
baza(ie)
cabera(mi)
cabera(tu)
cabera
cabera(zni)
cabera(zui)
cabera(ie)
seba(mi)
seba(tu)
seba
seba(zni)
seba(zui)
seba(ie)
Past Ptc. carda bazda cabréda sebda
Pres Ptc. carat bazit caberot sebit
Ptc. of Nec. cardoia bazdoia cabrédoia sebdoia

Phonological History

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

  • Short vowels remain in stressed syllables: a, e, i, o, u
  • Long vowels and diphthongs in stressed syllables:
Proto-Celtic Common Brittonic
ā, au
ai ɛː
ei
eu, ou ɔː
ī
oi
ū
  • Reduction of pretonic & final vowels
    • short vowels lowered: o > ɔ (merges with a), i > e, u > o
    • long vowels shortened
  • Lenition of intervocalic stops, m & s
    • voiceless stops p, t, k > voiced b, d, g
    • voiced stops b, d, g > voiced fricatives v, ð (later z), ɣ
    • m >
    • s > h
    • st > ss

Proto-Bźatga (1st to 8th Centuries)

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

  • Geminate stops and ss simplified
    • dd > d, bb > b, gg > g, tt > t, kk > c.
  • Compensatory Lengthening of vowels before nC
    • a > ā; e > ɛː; i > eː; o > ɔː; u > oː
  • Diphthonisation in stressed syllables, except before Cj
    • ɛː > ea > ia
    • eː > ie
    • ɔː > oa > ua word-initially
    • oː > uo word-initially
  • Vocalisation of ɣ
    • 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 > ɛːje, ɛːji
    • final -h- (from s) is lost
  • Merger of v, ṽ and w
    • v (from PrC. b), (from PrC. m) and w (from PrC. w, g, h) merge into a single sound, probably the bilabial fricative β
    • metathesis of Cβ as uC
    • vocalisation of βC > uC

Old Bźatga (8th to 12th centuries)

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

  • Metathesis of VrC > rVC
    • new mr- > br-, nr- > dr-
  • Loss of vowel quantity
    • 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, merging with existing ɪ, ʊ as ê, ô (note ɪjV, V become ijV, V.
    • iː, uː create new short vowels i, u
    • the new vowel system:
  Front Near- front Central Near- back Back
Close
Blank vowel trapezoid.svg
i
u
e
o
ə
ɛ
ɔ
a
  Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
  • Iotisation
    • semi-vowel j merges with adjacent consonant
    • tj, kj > ć; dj, gj > ģ; s > ś; z > ź; l > ĺ; n > ń; r > ŕ
    • also affects jr, jn, jl < gC; jt, js < xC
    • does not affect bilabials p, b, m
    • βj remains word-initially but becomes j medially.
    • note that iotisation continues to work as a productive sound change.
  • Merger of semivowels
    • sequences ij, ji, , βu merge into a single vowel i or u
    • iV > jV, causing iotisation to the preceding consonant
      • Where the i represents the word stem, it remains, e.g. ría > źia
      • The sequence iu becomes ju, e.g. liua > ĺua
    • 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.
  • Palatalisation
    • consonants preceding i are palatalised
    • 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

Brythonic wesanteinos brigantiːnos
Monopthongisation wesanteːnos brigantiːnos
Vowel reduction wesanteːnəs brigantiːnəs
Lenition wehanteːnəs briɣantiːnəs
Comp. Lengthening wehaːteːnəs briɣaːtiːnəs
Diphthonisation wehaːtienəs
Vocalisation of ɣ, h wiːaːtienə brijaːtiːnə
Merger of v, ṽ, w βiːaːtienə
Methathesis of r
Loss of vowel quantity βiatienə brijatinə
Merger of high vowels
Iotisation βiaćenə
Merger of semivowels βjaćenə bŕatinə
Syncope βjaćnə bŕatnə
Palatalisation
Bźatga vjaćna bźatna

Vowels

PC Brythonic + Length General Initial -w, -lC, -bC -jC j- w-
a a a a a au aCʲ ja va
ā
ā ā ā
au
ai ɛː ia1
ɛː2
ʲa ja jau eCʲ je vja
e e e e ve
e
ei ē ie1
ē2
ʲe je ʲeu iCʲ vje
ê eu i
i i i
ī i i ju vi
ī ī
o o o o o ou oCʲ jo vo
ɔː
eu ɔː ɔː
ou
oi ō ō ô vo uCʲ
u u u
ū u u u ju u
ū ū u
  1. before a back vowel in next syllable
  2. before a front vowel in next syllable

Consonants

PC Initial +j +i Medial +j +i Geminate
p (kʷ) p pj b bj p
t t ć ŝ d ģ t
k c ć g ģ c
b (gʷ) b bj v j b
d d ģ z ź d
g g ģ j/v j g
m m mj v j m
n n ń ń n ń ń n
l l ĺ ĺ l ĺ ĺ l
r r ź ź r ź / ŕ ź / ŕ r
s s ś ś - j s
j j-, -
w v, - v j

Consonant Clusters

Inital Medial
tl ĺ zl
tn zn
tr tr dr
tri, trj ć ģ
kl ĺ ĺ
kn ń ń
kr cr gr
ks ś
kt ć
dl ĺ zl
dm zv
dn zn
dr dr zr
gl ĺ ĺ
gn ń ń
gr gr ź
lp, lt, lk up, ut, uc
lb, ld, lg v, l, v
mp, nt, nk ~p, ~t, ~k
mb, nd, ng ~b, ~d, ~g
rp, rt, rk rVp, rVt, rVk
rb, rd, rg rVv, rVz, rVv
sɸ, sw zv v
st śt s
sti, stj ść ś
stl, str sl, sr sl, sr
sk śc śc
ski, skj ść ść
skl, skr sl, sr sl, sr
sm, sn zn _m, _n
smi, sni źńi
sl, sr zl, zr _l, _r
sli, sri źĺi, źi