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Proto-Ketan: Difference between revisions
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The morphology of Proto-Ketan was much simpler than of Meinqələr Kvetain. The old noun case system disappeared almost completely, leaving only traces in modern languages. Various noun classes merged, as their declension patterns coincided, though most descendants later formed new noun cases. Three numbers (singular, dual and plural) were still distinct, although a new collective plural ''-tē'' was slowly replacing the original plural marker in many dialects. New adjectives could be formed from nouns and other adjectives, which was not allowed in Kvetain, and these adjectives could also be nominalized, a process still productive in most descendants (although in Phomˀald adjectives became a [[w:Part of speech#Open and closed classes|closed class]]). There is no concensus on whether adjectives were [[w:Comparison (grammar)|comparable]], but in various dialects of Proto-Ketan different particles were used to form comparatives and superlatives for both adjectives and verbs, for example (from Tar Ejalan): ''xȯi'' "big", ''a'vȯi'' "bigger" and ''na' vȯi'' "the biggest"; the last two must be followed by a word ''ha'' "than". Possessives were marked with prefixes, like in most descendants. | The morphology of Proto-Ketan was much simpler than of Meinqələr Kvetain. The old noun case system disappeared almost completely, leaving only traces in modern languages. Various noun classes merged, as their declension patterns coincided, though most descendants later formed new noun cases. Three numbers (singular, dual and plural) were still distinct, although a new collective plural ''-tē'' was slowly replacing the original plural marker in many dialects. New adjectives could be formed from nouns and other adjectives, which was not allowed in Kvetain, and these adjectives could also be nominalized, a process still productive in most descendants (although in Phomˀald adjectives became a [[w:Part of speech#Open and closed classes|closed class]]). There is no concensus on whether adjectives were [[w:Comparison (grammar)|comparable]], but in various dialects of Proto-Ketan different particles were used to form comparatives and superlatives for both adjectives and verbs, for example (from Tar Ejalan): ''xȯi'' "big", ''a'vȯi'' "bigger" and ''na' vȯi'' "the biggest"; the last two must be followed by a word ''ha'' "than". Possessives were marked with prefixes, like in most descendants. | ||
Verbs generally simplified in their morphology. Most irregularities were analogically levelled, as all verbs conjugated similarly. Most verbs no more had a full set of forms and certain verbs became replaced with corresponding verbal nouns and auxillaries. This contrasted greatly with a very complex and irregular conjugation system of Meinqələr Kvetain, for example: ''jǫnami'' "we | Verbs generally simplified in their morphology. Most irregularities were analogically levelled, as all verbs conjugated similarly. Most verbs no more had a full set of forms and certain verbs became replaced with corresponding verbal nouns and auxillaries. This contrasted greatly with a very complex and irregular conjugation system of Meinqələr Kvetain, for example: ''jǫnami'' "we eat" - ''bejǫnaim'' "we are eating" - ''mijǫnu'' "we have eaten" was simplified to ''jǫnmi'' - ''''jǫnemi'' - ''jǫnarmi'' already in Proto-Ketan and the latter three forms were attested in written texts from two thousand years ago. This indicates that Kvetain was already only a written language and wasn't commonly spoken. Certain commonly used verbs had still preserved remnants of the original ablaut though those remnants were levelled in later descendants too. Analytic construction became more common: Ejale ''on fearin'' "I feel" (lit. "on me is feeling", from ''fa edini'' "to feel" which itself comes from ''*edines'' "he/she perceives"). Participles also became more common and were often used in [[w:Converb|converb]] constructions instead of compound sentences, for example (from Virjales): ''Lāve, ixen '''terneda''', zaxone ir tevāpa alnar'' "Lāve likes going for a walk and he will go to the forest later", the word ''terneda'' is a participle and can be directly translated as "with liking". | ||
==Later development== | ==Later development== | ||
As mentioned before, proto-Ketan was not a unified language and in many centuries different dialects became more and more distinct. The ancestor of Phomˀald separated first (it is the only branch that preserves the initial /m/ and it's also the most divergent of all languages). For example below there are reflexes of words ''*īg'' "one" and ''*mece'' "two": | As mentioned before, proto-Ketan was not a unified language and in many centuries different dialects became more and more distinct. The ancestor of Phomˀald separated first (it is the only branch that preserves the initial /m/ and it's also the most divergent of all languages). For example below there are reflexes of words ''*īg'' "one" and ''*mece'' "two": | ||