Is Burunking/history

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Proto-Burunking

Consonants

Nasal m [m] n [n]
Aspirated Stop p [pʰ] t [tʰ] k [kʰ]
Unaspirated Stop b [b] d [d] g [g]
Fricative s [s] h [h]
Liquid l [l]
r [r]

Vowels

High i [i] u [u]
Mid e [e] o [o]
Low a [a]

Phonotactics

In the earliest period the minimal syllable structure was a single vowel. The maximal structure was:

sC1VC2s
  • Syllables could begin with any single consonant or sp, sk, st.
  • V could be any vowel.
  • Syllables could end with single l, r, n, s or complex ls, rs, ns.

Chronology of Changes

  • Initial Cluster simplification: initial sp, sk, st became s [s] while earlier s > sh'.
    • New s also develops after final l, n, r.
  • P becomes f
  • H-loss: occurred in the following stages:
    • initially, leading to word-initial vowels (e.g. ha- > a-)
    • after l, n, r which became L, N, R
    • medially, giving rise to new long vowels and diphthongs:
ha he hi hu hu
a aa > a ae > ee > e ai ao > oo > o au
e ea > aa > a ee > e ei eo > oo > o eu
i ya ye ii > i yo yu
o oa > aa > a oe > ee > e oi oo > o ou
u ua ue ui uo uu > u
  • Fortition of final consonants: l > L, n > N, r > R, (merging with existing L, N, R < lh, nh, rh), and s > ts, s > tsh
    • Strong consonants are retained in derived words between vowels but return to their weak counterparts before consonants
  • Changes to diphthongs: following the reduction of earlier long vowels, diphthongs become long vowels and then diphthongs:
    • ai > ɛː > ya
    • au > ɔː > ua
    • ei > eː > ye
    • eu, ou > oː > ue
    • oi > øː > yo
  • Elimination of final clusters:
    • l is vocalised to u before all consonants leading to new diphthongs au, eu, yu, ou and long uu, so Vlts > Vuts
    • nts becomes ts
    • rts becomes rVts
      • elsewhere within a root, rC > rVC (e.g. erdi > eredi).
  • Vowel Raising: i and u raise a, e, o to e/o, i, u in a preceding vowel. This process is regressive so a new i or u raises the preceding vowel again, e.g. eredi > eridi > iridi.
  • Lenition of medial s, sh to h, x and ts, tsh to s, sh.
    • This creates new diphthongs and long vowels as VhC, VxC become VVC, ViC.
  • N, L, R become ɲ, ʎ, ʐ then ng, i, z.
  • Palatalization of t, d, s to ch, j, sh before i, y and n, l, r become ɲ, ʎ, ʐ then ng, i, z.
  • Labialization of k, g, t, d, ng to p, b, s, z, m before u.
  • Vowel Lowering: an a causes a preceding i, u to become e, o, except where it is blocked by an intervening semivowel.
  • rC > CC

Vowel affection:

_a _i _u
a e o
e i
i e
o u u
u o

Syllables

p b t d k g x h sh s n N l L r R
a a fa ba ta da ka ga xa ha sha sa na nga la ya ra za
e e fe be te de ke ge xe he she se ne nge le ye re ze
o o fo bo to do ko go xo ho sho so no ngo lo yo ro zo
i i fi bi chi ji ki gi xi shi ni ngi li yi ri zi
ya ya bya cha ja kya gya xa sha nga ya za
ye ye bye che je kye gye xe she nge ye ze
yo yo byo cho jo kyo gyo xo sho ngo yo zo
u u fu bu su zu pu bu xu fu shu su nu mu lu yu ru zu
ua ua fua bua sua zua pua bua xua fa shua sua nua mua lua yua rua zua
ue ue fue bue sue zue pue bue xue fe shue sue nue mue lue yue rue zue
uo uo fuo buo suo zuo puo buo xuo fo shuo suo nuo muo luo yuo ruo zuo
+C iCVL :CVL nC, mC uC CC
Final sh s ng i z