Proto-Quame
Proto-Quihum is the reconstructed common ancestor of all Quihum languages. It's inspired by Salish languages and Proto-Indo-European. It's thought to have been spoken 6000 years before present. The main source languages for the reconstruction of PQ are Ancient Wiebian, Thensarian, and Naquian.
Todo
Overview
Phonology
Consonants
The following inventory of consonants is reconstructed for PQ and is now accepted by the majority of scholars. Languages such as Adetsib have the most archaic consonant inventories.
| Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | plain | labialized | plain | labialized | |||||
| Nasal | *m | *n | ||||||||
| Plosive | plain | *p | *t | *k | *kʷ | *q | *qʷ | *ʔ | ||
| voiced | *b | *d | *g | *gʷ | ||||||
| ejective | *pʼ | *tʼ | *kʼ | *kʷʼ | *qʼ | *qʷʼ | ||||
| Fricative | *s | *ł /ɬ/ | *š | *x | *xʷ | *x̌ /χ/ | *h | |||
| Affricate | plain | *c /ts/ | *ƛ /tɬ/ | |||||||
| voiced | *dᶻ /dz/ | *λ /dɮ/ | ||||||||
| ejective | *cʼ /tsʼ/ | *ƛʼ /tɬʼ/ | ||||||||
| Resonant | *r | *l | *y /j/ | *γ /ɣ/ | *w | *ʕ | *ʕʷ | |||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | *i ī | *u ū | |
| Mid | *ē | *ə | |
| Open | *a *ā |
Suprasegmentals
Stress was phonemic.
Phonotactics
Rules:
- When initial reduplication occurs, glottalized initials deglottalize.
Grammar
Typology
The basic word order was V2, modifier-modified.
Ablaut
Much like in PIE, PQ had an ablaut system where roots (usually of 2 or 3 consonants) were inflected in different ablaut grades.
Roots:
- ł-x̌ʷ = 'be'
- x̌-nʼ = 'live'
- k-p = 'eat'
- Haft < kapdxʷ could mean 'bread'
- ƛ-y = 'grab, capture'
- Wb. Seime = hand < ŝīmō < ƛəy-m-aʔ
- Wb. Sette = property < ŝedō < ƛyədxʷ (**ƛy-dxʷ)
- n-kʷ = 'up'
- q-x̌ = 'accompany'
Ablaut grades
- a-grade: present tense
- i-grade: preterite tense
- ə-grade: verbal noun
- u-grade
- ∅-grade: verbal noun; many derived stems
- e.g. Wiebian mit 'if, given that' < meiten 'give'
Determiners
The characteristic inflection of determiners could be a relic of an older word order where prepositions were inserted between an adjective and the following noun (cf. magnā cum laude).
Nominals
Collectives were formed by reduplication (like the plural in Salish languages).
Plural: káwʼqs 'raven' > káwʼkəwʼqs or kəwʼkáwʼqs 'ravens, all ravens' (the former is thought to be the older form)
Verbs
Verbs were conjugated for subject, object, aspect, and mood (but not for voice).
- Subject agreement: For each pronoun, and 3rd person m/f/n, and perhaps collective
- Aspects: present, preterite, stative
- Moods: indicative, subjunctive, jussive, imperative
TAM affixes
- -x - 2sg imperative
- *miydx = 'give!'
Tense/Agreement suffixes
Subject markers:
- 1sg: -n
- 2sg: -y'
- 3sg.m: -m
- 3sg.f: -cm
- 3sg.n: -0
- 1pl.ex: -məʔ
- 2pl: -skʷ
- 3pl: -ƛ
Object markers:
- 1sg: n-
- 2sg: l'-
- 3 (animate): b-
- 3 (neuter): k-
- 1pl.ex: m-
- 1pl.in: d-
- 2pl: c'-
Some etymologies
- 1: *x̌əmʼ; *kʷi-x̌əmʼ- 'only one'
- kʷíx̌əmʼ or kʷix̌ə́mʼ?
- 2: *tił-x̌ulʼ
- 3: *nadᶻg
- 4: *λawpʼ
- 5: *calił
- 6: *sta-x̌əmʼ 'one more'; *qʷ’əl’
- 7: *nʼəxʷd
- 8: *lx̌ʷdᶻitʼ
- 9: *pʼalʼgʷ
- 10: *q’əyʼ-x̌ulʼ
- step/level: *naycʼ ('20' in Talsmic)
- stone: *ƛʼecqʷ
- water: *yənqʷʼ
- day: *m’ul