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Lahob languages: Difference between revisions
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Names for the proto-language and for the language family in Lahob languages are almost non-existant apart from Chlouvānem, as most of them are native languages of traditional populations (a substantial number being hunter-gatherers), and calques from Western languages (mainly Gathura) are used; in Chlouvānem the family is called ''Lahūbumi dældai'' and Proto-Lahob is ''Olahūbumi dældā'' — the term ''Lahūbai'' for the Lahob people being a borrowing from Cerian ''Lahóbe''. | Names for the proto-language and for the language family in Lahob languages are almost non-existant apart from Chlouvānem, as most of them are native languages of traditional populations (a substantial number being hunter-gatherers), and calques from Western languages (mainly Gathura) are used; in Chlouvānem the family is called ''Lahūbumi dældai'' and Proto-Lahob is ''Olahūbumi dældā'' — the term ''Lahūbai'' for the Lahob people being a borrowing from Cerian ''Lahóbe''. | ||
==Common characteristics== | |||
Due to the presence of Chlouvānem languages and, to a lesser extent, Šlokhowdeš, all highly divergent, it is difficult to point out features common to all Lahob languages. Some notable ones are: | |||
* Proto-Lahob had a complex morphosyntactic alignment based on triggers, and this situation is exactly as in classical Chlouvānem and - with a few less voices - in its daughter languages, as well as in the Pwaɬasd-Ngos branch. Other Lahob languages have evolved this system into a typical ergative/absolutive alignment, though many languages maintain various "locative verbs" derived from the old locative-trigger voice. | |||
* Unmarked SOV word order (with S meaning what concords with the verb, at least where verbs conjugate for person) is common to all Lahob languages except Šlokhowdeš and the Woŋom-Baan branch (all predominantly SVO). | |||
* Location is expressed in all Lahob languages by means of numerous verbs with prefixes changing to convey the sense of different English prepositions. | |||
* All Lahob languages except the Chlouvānem branch treat verbs as a mostly closed verb class, with only a few basic verbs (usually from 10 to 30) used as compounds with other verbs or nominal roots; in languages where derivation is possible, verbs can usually only be derived from other verbs. | |||
* Except for the Chlouvānem branch, Lahob languages all have very small case systems (absolutive and ergative, rarely dative) if they exist at all; they rely on a large number of adpositions instead. This is a major contrast to Proto-Lahob, which is reconstructed with eleven cases (just like classical Chlouvānem). | |||
[[Category:Language families]] | [[Category:Language families]] | ||
[[Category:Lahob languages]] | [[Category:Lahob languages]] | ||