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The '''Lámeyi languages''' are the members of the '''Aiwanic''' language macrofamily, which are spoken throughout the planet Lá. Around 160 thousand people speak Lámeyi languages, around two thirds of whom speak the Khad languages, and less than a third of whom speak the Thad languages. The name derives from the word for land in most of the Khad languages – '''''lá'''''. These languages also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 7th century AC (after colonisation). Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail. | The '''Lámeyi languages''' are the members of the '''Aiwanic''' language macrofamily, which are spoken throughout the planet Lá. Around 160 thousand people speak Lámeyi languages, around two thirds of whom speak the Khad languages, and less than a third of whom speak the Thad languages. The name derives from the word for land in most of the Khad languages – '''''lá'''''. These languages also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 7th century AC (after colonisation). Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail. | ||
Several low-level subgroups have been securely reconstructed based on the earliest written records these languages, but reconstruction of a proto-language for the family as a whole is still at an early stage, the grammatical structure | Several low-level subgroups have been securely reconstructed based on the earliest written records these languages, but reconstruction of a proto-language for the family as a whole is still at an early stage, the grammatical structure remains unclear. Although the family is traditionally presented as divided into '''Thad''' (Eastern) and '''Khad''' (Western) branches, the common origin of the latter has never been clearly demonstarated, with some scholars dividing the Khad branch into Western and Southern groups. | ||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
The language family of the planet '''Lá''' is a part of a much larger macrofamily, though most of it is still not properly constructed. The first Lámeyi language ever created was Thadmé, the idea of which came into being in 2015. Since then, the family went through several changes. By 2022 only a few languages have been developed. | The language family of the planet '''Lá''' is a part of a much larger macrofamily, though most of it is still not properly constructed. The first Lámeyi language ever created was Thadmé, the idea of which came into being in 2015. Since then, the family went through several changes. By 2022 only a few languages have been developed. | ||
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==Later development== | ==Later development== | ||
===Thad languages=== | ===Thad languages=== | ||
''Main article: [[Thad languages]]'' | |||
Proto-Thad underwent a dissimilatory phonological process, which states that if an weak consonant is followed by another weak consonant in the next syllable, the first one becomes voiced (and later turns into a voiced fricative). This law was later generalised, so that such alternations rarely occur in Thad languages. On the other hand, the Thadpalmé often has a reverse change, turning many initial fricatives back into plosives . Here are some examples of the effects of this law in Thadpalmé: | Proto-Thad underwent a dissimilatory phonological process, which states that if an weak consonant is followed by another weak consonant in the next syllable, the first one becomes voiced (and later turns into a voiced fricative). This law was later generalised, so that such alternations rarely occur in Thad languages. On the other hand, the Thadpalmé often has a reverse change, turning many initial fricatives back into plosives . Here are some examples of the effects of this law in Thadpalmé: | ||
* ''*'''t'''e'''k'''alʷ- > *'''d'''e'''k'''aran'' “shining”; | * ''*'''t'''e'''k'''alʷ- > *'''d'''e'''k'''aran'' “shining”; | ||
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===Khad languages=== | ===Khad languages=== | ||
''Main article: [[Khad languages]]'' | |||
By far the largest group within the Lámeyi family are the Khad languages. Since most of them are spoken in the western part of Lá, they are also called Western, opposed to Thad, which are Eastern. Languages of the Lámeyi family used to be classified as either Khad or Thad languages according to how the velar and uvular consonants (mainly *kʷ, *kʷʰ, *kʲ, *kʲʰ, xʷ, *q and *qʷ) developed. In Thad languages labialisation is lost, while palatalised velars become true palatals, while Khad languages typically retain labialisation (at least in their early stage of development), while palatalised velars become palato-alveolar affricates /t͡ɕ/ and /t͡ɕʰ/. However, some Khad languages preserve original palatalised velars (as Thad languages), while also keeping uvular plosives and residual labialisation (as Khad languages), and one language, called Las, only changes its palatalised velars to affricates, while keeping *tʲ, and *tʲʰ which become affricates in both Thad and Khad groups. Later a new classification was developed, which makes a distinction between '''Central''' (or '''True''') '''Khad''' (''Kyem-Khad'') and '''Peripheral Khad''' (''Meblam Khad'') languages. The latter is a [[w:Paraphyly|paraphyletic]] group, unlike the former, which shares common innovations and sound changes. Many of the smallest Khad languages (having very few native speakers) are poorly documented. The Las language is viewed as separate from both Khad and Thad, as it had likely diverged from Common Lámeyi before the Khad-Thad split formed. Many Central Khad languages lost almost all inflectional morphology inherited from Common Lámeyi, becoming fairly [[w:Analytic language|analytic]], while a branch, called Kryalpomg ([ʂɑʊ.ˈpôɣ]), exhibits a templatic verbal morphology with noun incorporation and a rich enclitic case system and coronal harmony. | By far the largest group within the Lámeyi family are the Khad languages. Since most of them are spoken in the western part of Lá, they are also called Western, opposed to Thad, which are Eastern. Languages of the Lámeyi family used to be classified as either Khad or Thad languages according to how the velar and uvular consonants (mainly *kʷ, *kʷʰ, *kʲ, *kʲʰ, xʷ, *q and *qʷ) developed. In Thad languages labialisation is lost, while palatalised velars become true palatals, while Khad languages typically retain labialisation (at least in their early stage of development), while palatalised velars become palato-alveolar affricates /t͡ɕ/ and /t͡ɕʰ/. However, some Khad languages preserve original palatalised velars (as Thad languages), while also keeping uvular plosives and residual labialisation (as Khad languages), and one language, called Las, only changes its palatalised velars to affricates, while keeping *tʲ, and *tʲʰ which become affricates in both Thad and Khad groups. Later a new classification was developed, which makes a distinction between '''Central''' (or '''True''') '''Khad''' (''Kyem-Khad'') and '''Peripheral Khad''' (''Meblam Khad'') languages. The latter is a [[w:Paraphyly|paraphyletic]] group, unlike the former, which shares common innovations and sound changes. Many of the smallest Khad languages (having very few native speakers) are poorly documented. The Las language is viewed as separate from both Khad and Thad, as it had likely diverged from Common Lámeyi before the Khad-Thad split formed. Many Central Khad languages lost almost all inflectional morphology inherited from Common Lámeyi, becoming fairly [[w:Analytic language|analytic]], while a branch, called Kryalpomg ([ʂɑʊ.ˈpôɣ]), exhibits a templatic verbal morphology with noun incorporation and a rich enclitic case system and coronal harmony. | ||
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| *s | | *s | ||
|} | |} | ||
===Las language=== | ===Las language=== | ||
The smallest group, consisting of a single languages – '''Las''' – is the most conservative branch, preserving many old feature. It used to be classified as a distant Peripheral Khad language, because it palatalises both ''*kʲ'' and ''*tʲ'', which it shares with the Khad languages. It merges both sounds into a single phoneme /c/ (which some Peripheral Khad languages do). A unique feature of Las is lack of a phoneme /p/ and word-initial [[w:Fortition|fortition]] and a simple [[w:Pitch accent language|pitch-accent system]] not unlike the pitch accent in the Thadpalmé language. There are two pitches: "high" or "marked" and "low" or "unmarked". For example: ''kwhó'' [ | The smallest group, consisting of a single languages – '''Las''' – is the most conservative branch, preserving many old feature. It used to be classified as a distant Peripheral Khad language, because it palatalises both ''*kʲ'' and ''*tʲ'', which it shares with the Khad languages. It merges both sounds into a single phoneme /c/ (which some Peripheral Khad languages do). A unique feature of Las is lack of a phoneme /p/ and word-initial [[w:Fortition|fortition]] and a simple [[w:Pitch accent language|pitch-accent system]] not unlike the pitch accent in the Thadpalmé language. There are two pitches: "high" or "marked" and "low" or "unmarked". For example: ''kwhó'' [kʷʰóː] “fire”, ''akwho'' [ɑ.kʷʰo] “find it”. There are two dialects of Las that are mutually intelligible with one another, typically called the '''R-dialect''' and the '''L-dialect''', since the reflex of *l (and its coarticulated variations) in Proto-Lámeyi is used for their classification (the L-dialect only has [l], while the R-dialect only has [ɾ]). Transitional dialects tend to have [ɺ] instead. For instance: the word for “land” is ''qala'' in the L-dialect, ''qara'' in the R-dialect and in the transitional areas it is [ˈqɑ.ɺɑ] or [ˈqɔɺɔ]. Common to the R-dialect languages is a particularly widespread lenition of the stops *p, *t, *k and *q. Their spirantization generally occurs in the word-initial position with both *p and *q becoming [h] word-initially. | ||
Most Las nouns are simple mono- or disyllabic, longer nouns are usually deverbal. In verbs, only stems may carry a marked tone. Prefixes are mostly single consonants and thus do not carry tone. There are some exceptions to this, however, most other tone-bearing units are incorporated nouns or clitics. In addition, the compound verbs take personal agreement prefixes similar to those found on nouns. This entire word may then take proclitics, which may also carry tone. There are two groups of syllables: those that only carry tone ('''"donors"''') and those that only receive tone ('''"recipients"'''). | Most Las nouns are simple mono- or disyllabic, longer nouns are usually deverbal. In verbs, only stems may carry a marked tone. Prefixes are mostly single consonants and thus do not carry tone. There are some exceptions to this, however, most other tone-bearing units are incorporated nouns or clitics. In addition, the compound verbs take personal agreement prefixes similar to those found on nouns. This entire word may then take proclitics, which may also carry tone. There are two groups of syllables: those that only carry tone ('''"donors"''') and those that only receive tone ('''"recipients"'''). | ||
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As can be seen from the table above, any high tones on clitics or stems spread to the next syllable of the word only if it is located immediately before or after the verbal stem. The person agreement suffixes typically receive a high tone, if two consecutive syllables have it. This can be seen in the examples below: | As can be seen from the table above, any high tones on clitics or stems spread to the next syllable of the word only if it is located immediately before or after the verbal stem. The person agreement suffixes typically receive a high tone, if two consecutive syllables have it. This can be seen in the examples below: | ||
:qow=ki-łin-t | :qow=ki-łin-t | ||
:'' | :''qukʷiłinut'' | ||
:“I am swimming” | :“I am swimming” | ||
and | and | ||
:qow=é-'''ki'''-łin-t | :qow=é-'''ki'''-łin-t | ||
:''''' | :'''''qú'''wí'''kí'''łinat'' | ||
:“I can swim” | :“I can swim” | ||
where the prefix ''é-'' spreads its high tone on the following short pre-stem syllable; but in other cases it does not. | where the prefix ''é-'' spreads its high tone on the following short pre-stem syllable; but in other cases it does not. | ||
:é-'''yilʷ'''-ki-yút-ail | :é-'''yilʷ'''-ki-yút-ail | ||
:'' | :''í'''yih'''kʷiyútáil'' | ||
:“s/he will carry it along” | :“s/he will carry it along” | ||
: | :mó='''cik'''=noł-lʷo | ||
:'' | :''mó'''ces'''tohłʷo'' | ||
:“you should let us through” | :“you should let us through” | ||