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Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:27:17Z

Arzena: /* Negation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

1.{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

2.{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

3.{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

4.{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

{{+|
{{gl|Othásená sallem pháo.|o-thásé-ná sallem phá-o|NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1}}
{{glend|Surprisingly, anyone can sing.}}
}}

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
{{+|
{{gl|Sékhatlalo!|sé-khatla-lo|}}
{{glend|There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!|sé-7awo-tli tshú tsá o-éya-7thamó-ká ésé ná|}}
{{glend|It rained yesterday which frightened me!}}
}}

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

{{+|
{{gl|Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá.|o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá|NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing}}
{{glend|Someone stole my things.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Támékámané ko kotá.|ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá|NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|I wasn't scared of those beasts!}}
}}
*(notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-) in the last example.

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

{{+|
{{gl|óteotlellé ko phoa.|o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø|NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS}}
{{glend|The chief will never die.}}
}}

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

The original Proto-Western phrase appears with the use of the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case) of the negated verb, topicalizing the negated element. In this construction it is glossed as TOPIC...NEG

{{+|
{{gl|Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel.|tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel|NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG TOPIC liver.ABS NEG}}
{{glend|We didn't cook the liver.}}
}}

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of the Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koyé'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The last part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast preceded it and negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:25:51Z

Arzena: /* Negation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

1.{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

2.{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

3.{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

4.{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

{{+|
{{gl|Othásená sallem pháo.|o-thásé-ná sallem phá-o|NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1}}
{{glend|Surprisingly, anyone can sing.}}
}}

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
{{+|
{{gl|Sékhatlalo!|sé-khatla-lo|}}
{{glend|There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!|sé-7awo-tli tshú tsá o-éya-7thamó-ká ésé ná|}}
{{glend|It rained yesterday which frightened me!}}
}}

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

{{+|
{{gl|Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá.|o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá|NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing}}
{{glend|Someone stole my things.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Támékámané ko kotá.|ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá|NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|I wasn't scared of those beasts!}}
}}
*(notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-) in the last example.

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

{{+|
{{gl|óteotlellé ko phoa.|o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø|NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS}}
{{glend|The chief will never die.}}
}}

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

The original Proto-Western phrase appears with the use of the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case) of the negated verb, topicalizing the negated element. In this construction it is glossed as TOPIC...NEG

{{+|
{{gl|Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel.|tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel|NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG TOPIC liver.ABS NEG}}
{{glend|We didn't cook the liver.}}
}}

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:24:17Z

Arzena: /* Negation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

1.{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

2.{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

3.{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

4.{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

{{+|
{{gl|Othásená sallem pháo.|o-thásé-ná sallem phá-o|NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1}}
{{glend|Surprisingly, anyone can sing.}}
}}

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
{{+|
{{gl|Sékhatlalo!|sé-khatla-lo|}}
{{glend|There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!|sé-7awo-tli tshú tsá o-éya-7thamó-ká ésé ná|}}
{{glend|It rained yesterday which frightened me!}}
}}

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

{{+|
{{gl|Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá.|o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá|NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing}}
{{glend|Someone stole my things.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Támékámané ko kotá.|ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá|NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|I wasn't scared of those beasts!}}
}}
*(notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-) in the last example.

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

{{+|
{{gl|óteotlellé ko phoa.|o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø|NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS}}
{{glend|The chief will never die.}}
}}

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element. In this construction it is glossed as TOPIC...NEG

{{+|
{{gl|Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel.|tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel|NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG TOPIC liver.ABS NEG}}
{{glend|We didn't cook the liver.}}
}}

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:22:50Z

Arzena: /* Negation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

1.{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

2.{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

3.{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

4.{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

{{+|
{{gl|Othásená sallem pháo.|o-thásé-ná sallem phá-o|NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1}}
{{glend|Surprisingly, anyone can sing.}}
}}

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
{{+|
{{gl|Sékhatlalo!|sé-khatla-lo|}}
{{glend|There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!|sé-7awo-tli tshú tsá o-éya-7thamó-ká ésé ná|}}
{{glend|It rained yesterday which frightened me!}}
}}

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

{{+|
{{gl|Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá.|o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá|NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing}}
{{glend|Someone stole my things.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Támékámané ko kotá.|ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá|NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|I wasn't scared of those beasts!}}
}}
*(notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-) in the last example.

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

{{+|
{{gl|óteotlellé ko phoa.|o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø|NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS}}
{{glend|The chief will never die.}}
}}

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

{{+|
{{gl|Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel.|tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel|NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG}}
{{glend|We didn't cook the liver.}}
}}

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:13:43Z

Arzena: /* Fourth Person */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

1.{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

2.{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

3.{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

4.{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

{{+|
{{gl|Othásená sallem pháo.|o-thásé-ná sallem phá-o|NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1}}
{{glend|Surprisingly, anyone can sing.}}
}}

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
{{+|
{{gl|Sékhatlalo!|sé-khatla-lo|}}
{{glend|There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!|sé-7awo-tli tshú tsá o-éya-7thamó-ká ésé ná|}}
{{glend|It rained yesterday which frightened me!}}
}}

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

{{+|
{{gl|Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá.|o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá|NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing}}
{{glend|Someone stole my things.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Támékámané ko kotá.|ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá|NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|I wasn't scared of those beasts!}}
}}
*(notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-) in the last example.

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:10:38Z

Arzena: /* Indefinite */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

1.{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

2.{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

3.{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

4.{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

{{+|
{{gl|Othásená sallem pháo.|o-thásé-ná sallem phá-o|NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1}}
{{glend|Surprisingly, anyone can sing.}}
}}

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:07:59Z

Arzena: /* Demonstratives */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

1.{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

2.{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

3.{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

4.{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:07:27Z

Arzena: /* Demonstratives */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC}}
{{gl|láTsemeswiwo|lá-Tsemeswi-wo|PL-Tsemeswi-CONS}}
{{gl|lákemó|lá-kemó|PL-village}}
{{gl|sésékamam|sé-sékamam|NC5-stand-}}
{{gl|tamá|tamá|there}}
{{gl|oyelláwo|o-yellá-wo|NC1-listen-EVID}}
{{gl|ná|1SG.ABS}}
{{gl|ta|ta|over there}}
{{glend|I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T18:00:28Z

Arzena: /* Phoric Pronouns */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' (glossed as TOPIC) and 'This is something we were talking about' (glossed as SUBJECT) respectively.

{{+|
{{gl|Ku|ku|TOPIC|}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|ŋé|ŋé|always}}
{{gl|oé7ellámó|o-é7ellá-mú|NC1.ABS-become-EVID}}
{{gl|ékálaŋo|éká-laŋ-o|play-spirit-NC1}}
{{glend|Grampa was always a playful spirit}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|é|é|SUBJECT}}
{{gl|pampa|pampa|grandfather.ABS}}
{{gl|omíolláŋémóká|o-mí-olláŋé-mú-ká|NC1.ABS-PERF-discipline-EVID-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{gl|khel|khel|NEG}}
{{glend|But he never disciplined you!}}
}}

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T17:48:24Z

Arzena: /* Modifers */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

1. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí|wolf red and stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

2. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáŋallollí|wolf red-stupid-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red wolf}}
}}

3. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá|wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

4. {{+|
{{gl|kulú tlámáopiŋallollí|wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2|}}
{{glend|the dumb, red, and wet wolf}}
}}

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T17:44:29Z

Arzena: /* -lU- and -mÚ- */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T17:44:02Z

Arzena: /* -lU- and -mÚ- */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená|tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená|NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}}}
{{glend|I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú|o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú|NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS}}
{{glend|He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).}}
}}

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2026-01-19T17:42:31Z

Arzena: /* -wo- */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

{{+|
{{gl|Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?|pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa|papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why}}
{{glend|Papa, why does sun shine?}}
}}

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-05-03T16:02:56Z

Arzena: /* Absolutive */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'
*'''láotlemétli kathéo láwolú tsá'''' 'The shaman and the wolves dream together'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-05-03T15:59:08Z

Arzena: /* Fourth Person */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tshú tsá oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-05-03T15:39:40Z

Arzena: /* Consonant Gradation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why do you swim?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-03-02T16:33:42Z

Arzena: /* Numbers */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-03-02T16:33:30Z

Arzena: /* Numbers */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''ŋaméní tsá 7otla''' '658

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-03-02T16:32:23Z

Arzena: /* Numbers */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class marker (or after 108 the plural prefix),; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes.
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-03-02T16:30:33Z

Arzena: /* Numbers */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, cardinal numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers; however, ordinal numbers did take noun classes:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'
*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-03-02T16:29:26Z

Arzena: /* Numbers */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''sixteen'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2025-03-02T16:27:49Z

Arzena: /* Numbers */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108' and '''senal''' 'two hands'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

Unlike other determiners, numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''eight'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2022-10-22T19:57:44Z

Arzena: /* Derivation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> '''''khoko'''tla'' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*''talana'' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| senal/ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

We see for 108 '''senal''' 'two hands' instead of the expected outcome '''ŋawo'''. However the ordinal form - '''ŋawao''' - from the Proto-Western root remains.

Unlike other determiners, numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''eight'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2022-10-22T19:56:28Z

Arzena: /* Derivation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

Southern dialects (those closest in proximity to speakers of Tmaśareʔ) adopted reduplication of the initial syllable to mark quantifiable plurality:
*''khotla'' 'boat'--> ''''''khoko'''tla''' 'boats' cf. '''''lá'''khotla'' 'a mass of boats, fleet'
*''tákatlom'' 'rope' --> '''''tátá'''katlom'' 'ropes'
*'''talana''' 'bird' --> '''''taa'''lana'' (< *''dadalãta'') 'birds'
*''ko'' 'tail' --> '''''kow'''o'' 'tails' (< *''kʷakʷadu'')

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| senal/ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

We see for 108 '''senal''' 'two hands' instead of the expected outcome '''ŋawo'''. However the ordinal form - '''ŋawao''' - from the Proto-Western root remains.

Unlike other determiners, numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''eight'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2022-10-22T19:44:25Z

Arzena: /* Derivation */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'
-'''ne7á'''; marks geographic regions characterized by the root.
*''étú-'' 'brick' --> ''Étúne7á'' 'the Lukpanic Coast (Brickland)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| senal/ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

We see for 108 '''senal''' 'two hands' instead of the expected outcome '''ŋawo'''. However the ordinal form - '''ŋawao''' - from the Proto-Western root remains.

Unlike other determiners, numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''eight'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2022-10-22T19:21:28Z

Arzena: /* Phoric Pronouns */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| senal/ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

We see for 108 '''senal''' 'two hands' instead of the expected outcome '''ŋawo'''. However the ordinal form - '''ŋawao''' - from the Proto-Western root remains.

Unlike other determiners, numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''eight'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Empotle7á

2022-10-22T19:21:01Z

Arzena: /* Phoric Pronouns */

{{Article}}
'''Empotle7á''' was a [[Western languages|Western language]] spoken along the west coast of [[Peilaš |Peilaš ]]. This grammar describes the language spoken around -2000 YP, give or take a few centuries. One known descendant of Empotle7á is [[Melì |Melì ]], spoken in the same area about a thousand years later.
{{Language
| color = green
| language = Empotle7á
| phonetic = [œ̀m.pò.tɬè.ʔá]
| date = 2000 BYP-??
| place = Coastal Corridor
| speakers = c. 500,000
| script = attested in Lukpanic script
| family = Western  Valley   Empotle7á
| word-or = VSO
| mor-type = agglutinating
| morphalign = ERG-ABS
| author = [[User:Arzena|Arzena]]
}}

=Context=

The Coastal Corridor ('''Tlonaone7á''' 'Land of the Long Sunset') is located on the western coast of the Peilaš continent, directly west of Tjakori and north of the [[Kipceʔ_desert|Kipceʔ Desert]]. The Corridor holds a special place in the philology of Akana because it was the urheimat of the speakers of [[Proto-Western|Proto-Western]]. The language has been dated to c. -3500 YP and is thought to have diversified into separate branches by -2000 YP. '''Empotle7á''' and, the Valley Languages of the Western family of languages more broadly, refers to the dialects spoken by the tribes that remained in the Coastal Corridor, not participating in the great migrations of the Proto-Westerners.

The people who spoke Empotle7á had no singular term for themselves. If pressed for a name for themselves that went beyond the bonds of tribe or clan, they would answer with ''Kotsóámakaná'', 'the people of ''kotsú'' (virtue, strength)'. If asked for a language, they would reply with ''7empotle7á7ó mélí'', 'the language of our tribe', which gave rise to '''Empotle7á''', the name of the language in Akanaran philology.

The tribes of the Kotsoamakana practiced a subsistence agricultural lifestyle, supplementing their crop yields with food from hunting and gathering.
Across their history in the Coastal Corridor, they came to rely increasingly on agriculture over hunting and gathering. The Corridor, during the wet season, provided watered valleys and highlands that supported garden farms. Innovations in water storage, terracing and canals (from an apparent Wellawi origin) drew water from the perennial streams and springs in the region. The tribes that did not control a permanent source of water migrated to the coast when the dry season came. The bounty of the sea and trade with foreigners such as the Tmaśareʔ and the Lukpani, too, supported a sizable, permanent maritime population

The religious views of the tribes were, like that of their Proto-Western ancestors, based on ''kotsú'' (etym. PW. '''kwacu'''), the spiritual essence of
every being. Bodily fluids, like blood and semen, as well as the organs contained heavy concentrations of ''kotsú''. Like the Proto-Westerners, the tribes practiced ritual cannibalism as a first stage of ancestor worship to absorb the spiritual essence of the departed. ''Kotsú'' was a revered substance, so much in fact that virtue and holiness were considered to be states of an abundance of ''kotsú''.

Unlike their ancestors, the tribes came to believe in a feminine counterpart, called '''tawotsú''', to the masculine ''kotsú''. This development (even though ''tawotsú'' remained defined in terms of ''kotsú'') opened considerable vistas in terms of cosmological and moral thought. With this development, women gained a space within spiritual practice that was hereto rather male-dominated. Furthermore, the idea emerged that that the spirit world contained an infinite amount of ''kotsú''. Using a whole
host of psychedelic drugs, trances, and meditations, shamans ('''lákathéo''') were believed to be able to travel to the spirit world and intercede
to the spirits and the ancestors for ''kotsú''. The spirits and the ancestors, in turn, could bestow their blessings and good fortune with ''kotsú'' or demonstrate their ire and withhold the precious substance.

Philologists of Akana believe, based on linguistic and genetic evidence, that the speakers of Empotle7á were most related to the speakers of Tmaśareʔ. The evidence comes in the ample exchange of loanwords between the two languages and shared semantic and lexical development from the time of Proto-Western that are without cognates in other branches of the larger Western language family.

In relation its sister languages, Empotle7á shares features with the [[Western_languages|Steppe]] and [[Western_languages|Lake Languages]] like Iŋomœ and Çetázó: rounded (albeit allophonic) vowels. With Iŋomœ, it shares a second personal plural pronoun from PW '''*la-du'''. From Proto-Coastal-Western there are loan words such as ''topu'' 'stubborn' and ''yetsa'' 'test'. Speakers of Proto-Lukpanic from the city of Doanu also contacted the Corridor tribes. They exchanged words relating to the ocean: ''lú'' 'ocean, sea', ''kitíwo'' 'whale', ''lipí'' 'crab', ''Póló'' 'sea goddess'; sailing: ''téwo'' 'tide', ''kikesá'' 'tack', ''taoŋa'' 'rudder'; and civilization: ''étú'' 'brick', ''popá'' 'wine', ''kum'' 'city', ''mawa'' 'salt'.

Other influences in Empotle7a come from Wellawi and Tulameyan sources. In the absence of detailed knowledge of these languages, philologists have tended to assign unexpected loanwords, syntatical and morphological developments to these sources.
==Sound Changes from [[Proto-Western]]==

The following are the sound changes posited from Proto-Western to Empotle7á.

From stages 1 through 3 tonogenesis occured. Vowels in open syllables gained high tone, while vowels in closed syllables or next to */b d dz dž γ γʷ w/ received low tone. Furthermore, the presence of low tone in words like ''kotsú'' descending from PW */kʷatsu/ suggests that, in the PW dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á, /kʷ/ was realized as [gʷ], causing low tone. This is aided by the reflex of PW */kʰakʷʰa/ as ''kháwó'', implying that /kʷʰ/ was realized as [kʷ].

===''1. Vowel Shift''===

/u/→ [o] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/i/→[e] if /a/ is in the preceding or following syllable

/V1ʔV1/→[V:]→[V+high tone]

===''2. Semivowel, Labiovelar + Vowel''===

*Kʷ=any labiovelar

/wa/→[o]

/Kʷa/→[Kʷo]

/we/→[o]

/Kʷe/→[Kʷo]

/wi/→[u]

/Kʷi/→[Kʷu]

/wo/→[w] /_V

/wu/→[w]: _V

/ja/→[é]

/ji/→[é]

/je/→[é]

/jo/→[é]

/ju/→[í]

===''3. Nasals''===

/Ṽ+alveolar consonant/→[n]

/Ṽ+labial consonant/→[m]

/Ṽ+labiovelar, velar/→[ŋ]

/ŋn→ŋm/ → [mn]

/Ṽkʷ/ → [mn]: */mĩkʷa/→ [memkʷo→ memŋo→ memno→ mœm.nɤ]

''3.2 Denasalization''

/Ṽ/ → [Vm] : _#

''3.3 The Palatal Nasal''

/ɲ/→[ŋ]

===''4. Labiovelars''===

/kʷ/→[k], #_ : */kʷẽdu/ > [gʷõɾu > konu > kɤ.nɯ]

/kʷ/→[w], V_V : */ʔekʷẽdu/ > [ʔekʷẽdu > ʔegʷõɾu > ʔewonu > ʔøwonɯ]

/γʷ/→[w], #_, V_V : */γʷiwa/ > [wu.o > wo]

===5. /γ/===

/γ/→[w], _a, o, u : */daγa/ > [tawa]

/γ/→[j], _i, e : */γedže/ > [jetle], */γiya/ > [jé]

/γl/→[w]: */γlaʔta/ > [waʔá], */γlilĩpu/ > [wylymú]

===''6. Consonants''===

/l/, /ɬ/→[ɬ]

[+plosive -voice]ɬ→tɬʰ / #_

/b/, /d/→[p, t] /_ɬ

/pɬ/→[tɬ]

/ɬC/→[ɬɬ]

/ʔC/→[ʔ]

/ʔ/→[p, t, k] / m_,n_, ŋ_

/ʤ/→[ʣ]

/ʣ/→[tɬ]

/ʧ/→[ʦ]

/b/→[w]

/d/→[0] / V_V

/d/→[t]/ #_

/t, k/→[ʔ] /_($,#): */ek.ɬi/ > [eʔ.ɬi]

===''7. Tones''===

(C)V́CV́CV́→(C)VCV́CV́

C)V́CVCV́→C)VCVCV́

===Sporadic or Dialectal Sound Changes===
All of the dialects of Empotle7á share sound changes from Proto-Western up until the last three changes in (6). Here are some consonant sound changes that distinguished the dialects. Reconstructing tonal changes of dialects is ongoing.

/ɬd, ɬt/→[tɬ]: ''* kʰułda'' > ''khotla'' cf. dialectal ''kholla''

/jt/→[ʦ]: ''* kʷʰeyta'' > ''khótsá''

/kj/→[ʦ]: ''*čewkʰyu > tsotsú'', *''kyupʰe'' > ''tsúphé''

/d/→[r]/ V_V: ''*kuda'' > ''kora''; this was found in the southern dialects, hence [[Tmaśareʔ/Lexicon|Tmaśareʔ]] loan words with medial /r/

/Cʰ$Cʰ/ where $ = any space within the same lexeme --> [Cʰ$C]: ''*tʰawa-tʰãda'' > ''thothana'' > ''thotana''

Glottal stop and vowel cluster reduction, most noticeably in compound words: /*kʰa.ya.ʔu.ʔa.šẽ/ > /khé.a.ʔo.ʔa.sem/ > /khéoasem/; */nunéʔukhé/ > /nunúkhé/

=Phonology=
==Consonants==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|- align="center"
! !! labial !! alveolar !! palatal!!velar !! glottal
|- align="center"
! stops
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ|| ʔ
|- align="center"
! affricates
| || ts tsʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! lateral affricate
| || tɬ tɬʰ || || ||
|- align="center"
! voiceless fricative
| || s || || ||
|- align="center"
! nasals
| m || n || || ŋ ||
|- align="center"
! lateral fricative
| || ɬ || || ||
|- align="center"
! approximants
| || || j ||w ||
|-
|}

/ɬ tɬ ŋ ts ʔ j/ will be written <l tl ŋ ts 7 y>

==Vowels==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!Front!!Central!!Back
|- align="center"
! High
||i|| ||ɯ
|- align="center"
! Mid
||e|| ||ɤ
|- align="center"
! Low
|| ||a||
|}

Each vowel is realized as rounded when preceded or followed by a labial or /w/. Any vowel has no more than three potential allophones, with /i/ taking the total while /ɯ/ gets by with [u] as its single allophone.

'''/a/→[ɒ, ɔ]'''

'''/e/→[œ, ø]'''

'''/i/→[y, ʏ, ʉ]'''

'''/ɤ/→[o, ɞ]'''

'''/ɯ/→[u]'''

==Syllable Structure==
Syllable structure is limited to {(C)(w)V((N)l, ŋ)}, where N = the archiphonemic nasal.

Examples: /'''tɬa˩.ŋa˧'''/, /'''swo˩'''/, /'''tɬi˥Nɬ'''/, /'''kɒm˧.pœ˥'''/, /'''sa˥'''/, /'''ʔa˩ɬ.ɬa˨ɬ'''/, /'''ʔa˩.se˧.na˨ŋ'''/

==Suprasegmentals==

Empotle7á has a register tone system of two tones: high and low tones. The orthography marks the high tone by the acute accent while leaving the low tone unmarked. As allophones, a high tone is lowered, realized as a mid tone next to a syllable containing a low tone. Additionally, a consecutive sequences of HHH gradually falls to HM1M2 while a sequence of LLL rises via LM2M1.

The nasal that manifests itself at the end of syllables is best analyzed not as an individual sound - /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ - but as an archiphonemic nasal (transcribed as /N/). It becomes /m/ at a syllable coda and a nasal of the same point of articulation as a following consonant at a syllable boundary (while assimilating that consonant into itself).
*'''tlím''' 'bee.SG' /tɬi˥N/ > [tɬy˥m]
*'''tlín''' 'bee.dual' /tɬi˥Nɬ/ > [tɬi˥n]
*'''kámam-kulú''' 'fear-wolf' /ka˥.ma˨Nkɯ˨ɬɯ˥/ > '''kámaŋolú''' [kɒ̃˦.wɒ˧.ŋɤ˦.ɬɯ]

==Allophony==
Empotle7á tends to add obstructants to roots beginning with vowels: /a/ > [ʔa]; /e/ > [ʲe]; /ɤ/>[ʷo].
*/a.wo/ 'give, tribute' > [ʔa.wo]
*/e.mu/ 'mouth' > [ʲœ̃.wu]

The bilabial nasal /m/, medial and final position, and final /ɬ/ weaken, with /m/ becoming [w] with nasalization of the preceding vowel and /ɬ/ becoming aspirated [ɬʰ] even to the point of [h]:
*/ʔe.ɬːaɬ/ 'dozen' > [ʔeɬːah]
*/pʰɤ.a.jem/ 'chief's hall' > [pʰo.a.jœ̃w]

Vowels that fall between two aspirated stops, affricates, fricatives or any combination thereof become whispered. In a sequence of WV1WV2WV - where W indicates a consonant that triggers whispered vowels - only V2 becomes whispered :
*/e.tɬa.kʰa/ 'encouragement, inspiration' > [ʲe.tɬḁ.kʰa]
*/ka.tsʰe.ɬːɯ/ 'vice, dishonor' > [ka.tsʰe̥.ɬːɯ]

==Morphophonological Processes==
===Vowel Harmony===
A vowel harmony based on vowel height exists in Empotle7á. The vowel /a/ can only be followed or preceded with /e/ and /ɤ/. Therefore, if a suffix, prefix, or root that contains /i/ or /ɯ/ comes into contact with /a/ via morphology, those high vowels closest to /a/ will drop to /e/ and /ɤ/ respectively.
*woná7ú-->'''woná7ó'''
*láwulú-->'''lawolú'''
*wosúkhá-->'''wosókhá'''

===Consonant Gradation===
*An initial /k/ from Proto-Western */kʷ/ (realized as [gʷ] in the dialect that gave rise to Empotle7a) shifts to /w/ in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|tawowuné laná|tá-kowu-né laná-Ø|NC2.ABS-cook-1sg.ERG egg.ABS}}
{{glend|I'm cooking an egg.}}

*An initial /t/ from Proto-Western */d/ elides in the presence of a prefix.
{{gl|oalam tá latloŋa?|o-talam tá latloŋa|NC1.ABS-swim 2sg why}}
{{glend|Why are you swimming?}}

===Tone Dropping===
Prefixes containing a high tone will drop to low tone when next to a historically voiced consonant. E.g.:
*''*taγedže'' --> ''tayetle'', 'it runs', not *''táyetle''
*''*tabẽdza''--> ''tawena'', 'it cuts', not *''táwena''
*''tagʷegʷu''--> ''tawowu'' 'it is cooked', not *''táwowu''

Similarly, suffixes that originated in [[Proto-Western]] from a closed syllable (-CCV) or contained a voiced consonant triggered a low tone.
*'''7allá'''- 'anger' + -''tla'' 'stative verb suffix' (< PW *-''dza'') --> '''7allatla''' 'make angry'
*'''7óná'''- 'tooth' + -''llá'' 'dynamic verb suffix' (< PW *-''łpa'') --> '''7ónallá''' 'bite'

===Nasal Assimilation===
In verbal morphology, the initial consonant of any suffix or incorporated word assimilates to the nasal at its point of articulation to a verb stem ending in /N/ or another suffix with a coda nasal. Exception, /Nj/ where N=any nasal > [ŋ].

 {{gl|tákámaŋolóká 7empowolá7é|tá-kámam-kulú-ká 7empo-kolá-7í|NC2-fear-wolf-3sg.ERG our.IP-child}}
 {{glend|Our son is scared of wolves.}}

===Vowel Assimilation===
If a root ends in a vowel and a /V/ or a /ʔV/ suffix with the identical vowel is attached, the vowels assimilate. The product is a phonemically long vowel that is always high toned.

{{gl|'''meŋu'''+'''7ú'''-->'''meŋú''' |[mœ.ŋɯ́:]| 'sheep.CONS'}}

{{gl|'''lipí'''+'''7í'''-->'''lipí'''| [ɬy.pý:]| 'crab.ERG'}}

=Nominal Morphology=
===Case===

Empotle7á's nominal morphology is simple and straightforward. The language maintains the distinction between singular, dual, and plural like its ancestor while dropping the edible/inedible dichotomy. Three declension classes, vowel stems, m stems, and the -7 stem, separate the nouns. Like many other Western languages Empotle7á marks its nouns for the ergative, absolutive, and construct cases and indicates possession via head-marking. Sound changes from the proto-language eliminated the old plural, resulting in an innovated, head-marked plural morpheme.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!singular !! absolutive !! ergative !! constructive
|-
! vowel stem
| -Ø || -7Í|| -7Ú
|-
! -7 stem
| -Ø || -Í || -Ú
|-
! m stem
| -Ø || -pÍ || -pÚ
|-
|}

*'''swo''', '''swo7í''', '''swo7ú'''

*'''la7''', '''la7é''', '''la7ó'''

*'''tlím''', '''tlímpí''', '''tlímpú'''

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!dual!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| -l || -lÍ|| -lÚ
|-
! m stem
| -n || -nÍ || -nÚ
|-
|}

*'''swol''', '''swolí''', '''swolú'''

*'''tlín''', '''tlíní''', '''tlínú'''

Empotle7á created a new morpheme to indicate the plural: ''lá''-. It seems to come from a truncated form of ''*lana'' 'some' or from -''*la''- a fronted collective classifier.

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
!plural!! absolutive !! ergative !! construct
|-
! vowel stem
| lá- || lá-...-wo|| lá-...-wo
|-
! m stem
| lá- || lá-...-pÍ || lá-...-pÚ
|-
|}

*'''láswo''', '''láswowo''', '''láswowo'''

*'''látlém''', '''látlémpí''', '''látlémpú'''

===Possession===
Empotle7á distinguishes between alienable and inalienable possession. Alienably possessed nouns are simply preceded by their possessor, cast in the construct, whereas inalienably possessed nouns take an obligatory possessive prefix marking number and person of the possessor. The prefixes follow the plural morpheme '''lá'''-.

Speakers can add nuances to meaning by using or withholding the inalienable prefixes. For example, '''nawolá''' means 'my child' and implies a blood relation whereas '''ná7ó kolá''' means the same thing but does not imply the blood relation, hence an extended meaning of 'my nephew' or even 'my orphan/ward'. Some exceptions of alienable items marked by inalienable prefixes, as a matter of culture, include livestock, spiritual items, weapons, and horses

{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c}}
! !! singular !! dual !!   plural  
|-
! 1st
| ná- || 7ená- || 7empo-
|-
! 2nd
| tsé- || tlé- || 7ie-
|-
! 3rd
| 7é- || lé- || ko-
|}

{{gl|lálewolá|lá-lé-kolá|PL-3.DU-child}}
{{glend|the children of those two}}

{{gl|nátlhó|ná-tlhó|1.SG-blood}}
{{glend|my family}}

{{gl|tó lané? Khel! Othwewo nálané nóké!!!|tá-7ó lané khel o-thwe-wo ná-lané nóké|2sg.CONS horse NEG NC1-become 1sg-horse EMPH}}
{{glend| '''Your''' horse? Of course not! This is '''my''' horse!}}

{{gl|éllí kolané|é-llí ko-lané|ANA-C2 3.PL-horse}}
{{glend|That is their horse}}

===Classifiers===

Classifiers in Empotle7á are used to overtly mark demonstratives and absolutive referents of verbs. Verbs agree with the classes of their A or E arguments, and modifiers agree with the classes of their head nouns. Here they are listed along with their characteristic suffixes. Due to substrate influence, the classifiers, when used as absolutive referent markers, are prefixed on to verbs. Empotle7á nonetheless maintains its Proto-Western roots in suffixing the classifiers to modifiers, demonstratives, and pronoun stems. They are glossed as 'NC1, NC2...

{| {{softtable}}
|-
| class="b" width="10%"| -o-
| humans, men, favored animals, predatory animals, other beings capable of speech: ''people, dogs, horses, bears, wolves, eagles, gods, spirits, demons, ancestors etc.''
|-
| class="b"| tá-/-llÍ
| organic substances and women: ''female humans, edible animals, plants, liquids; parts of the body etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -sé-
| intangible things: ''emotions, colors, wind, liquids, fire, ideas etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -wUm-
| solid, straight objects: ''sticks, weapons, arrows, fingers, penises, legs, arms etc.''
|-
| class="b"| -kU-
| inedible objects: ''rocks, stones, unripe fruit, groups and collections, non-food animals etc.''
|-
|}

NB: The two morphemes of the second noun class stem from a merger of PW *''-łki-'' and *''-ta-''. In Empotle7á, the latter is used as a verbal prefix marking absolutive referents while the former is used as a suffix elsewhere.

Usage notes: ''-o-'', ''tá-'', and ''-kU-'' are the dominant noun classes. Ie, when speakers use casual language or do not know what noun class to use for a given nominal, they will default to one of the three. Noun class 4 (''-wUm-'') finds more use as a derivational prefix, and, as a noun class marker, is nearly merged with (''-kU-''); noun class 3 (''-sé-'') remains in use, most clearly in set phrases and proverbs but is starting to merge with ''tá-''. There is an overall trend towards prefixation: ''-llÍ-'' has become a fixture of only the most careful speech, set phrases, and simple pronoun referents. The classifiers are beginning to expand further with ''tá-'' and ''wum-'' are beginning to emerge as nominalizers in derivational morphology.

Proto-Western placed an important morphological distinction on edibility. This continues in Empotle7a in the noun classes. Classes 2 and 4 carry meaning of edibility, with 2 referring to edible referents and 4 to inedible ones. However, the primary distinction seems to be intent towards eating the referent: for example, speakers refer to a group of edible things with noun class four (eg., in the following sentence the referent '''tilem''' 'mushroom' takes two referents at different parts of the story: '''''ku'''tluphuné tshú si látelem e7lí '''tá'''wowuká ku pampa'' - 'I gathered two mushrooms yesterday that daddy cooked').

===Modifers===

Modifiers and adpositions follow their head noun.

{{gl|'''lané 7eallé'''|horse slow-NC2}}
{{glend|a/the slow horse}}

{{gl|'''Laŋatsompú ''tawe'' sépheolláwo kotsú'''|spirit.world-CONS on NC4-reside-GENEV kwacu}}
{{glend|Kotsu lives in the spirit world}}

Multiple adjectives referring to a single nominal serialized the adjectives by combining them into a single lexeme. The noun classifer fell on the 'last' adjective added to the sequence. If speakers chose not to serialize adjectives, they generally then followed the form ADJ '''tsá''' ADJ; three or more simple tacked on '''tsá''' 'and' to the last adjective.

*'''kulú tlámá tsá ŋallollí'''
*wolf red and stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámáŋallollí'''
*wolf red-stupid-NC2
*the dumb, red wolf

*'''kulú tlámá opi ŋallollí tsá'''
*wolf red wet stupid-NC2 and
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

*'''kulú tlámáopiŋallollí'''
*wolf red-wet-dumb-NC2
*the dumb, red, and wet wolf

==Derivation==
{{collapsible||
Here are twenty-one derivational suffixes and prefixes found in the Empotle7á language. In my notation, ''U'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /u/ and /o/ and ''I'' means that the vowel harmonizes between /i/ and /e/. Low tone caused by historically voiced consonants or closed syllables is noted

===Null===
This category contains common nouns derived from a verb.
*''khatla'' 'shake'-->'earthquake'
*''7awo'' 'rain'-->'rain'
*''7áló'' 'smell'-->'odor, smell, stench'

Some verbs conflate multiple transitivities into a single lexeme:
*''pemí'' 'hide' (intransitive), 'cover' (monotransitive)
*''pósí'' 'request' (monotransitive), 'ask so. for sth.' (ditransitive)
*''sopam'' 'itch' (intransitive), 'scratch' (monotransitive)

===Verbalizers===
-'''7é''' Derives a 'stative' verb from a nominal. Abbreviated as STAT in glosses.
*''thana-'' ' 'cold'-->''thana7é'' 'be numb, indifferent, unfeeling'
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamo7é'' 'be stubborn/ thick-headed; have an erection'
-'''llá''' Derives a 'dynamic' verb from a nominal, whose meaning is related to the base. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7óná-'' 'tooth'-->''7ónallá'' 'bite'
*''tlhó-'' 'blood'-->''tlhollá'' 'bleed'
-'''tla''' This suffix increases the valence of a verb by one- creating causatives and transitives. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''7allá-'' 'anger'-->''7allatla'' 'become angry, to anger so.'
-'''ká''' From the postposition ''ká'' 'on behalf of'. Creates a verb with the meaning of 'seeks to achieve X', often paired with -''tla'' and -''llá''.
*''kulú'' 'wolf' --> ''kulóká'' and ''kulotlaká'' 'seek to become a wolf' (overtones of spiritual journey, hardship, self-actualization)
*''tlho-'' 'walk' --> ''tlhoká'' 'strive for, give support to so.'
-'''7ellá''' This suffix indicates that the motion of the root is towards the "focus" point (which is often, but not always, the speaker).
*''kotsú-'' 'kotsú' -->''kotsú7ellá'' 'become infused with kotsú'
-'''7atlo'''; This suffix indicates the opposite of the preceding, motion away from the focus point.
*''tlho-'' 'walk'-->''tlho7atlo'' 'walk away, leave, lose interest'

===Agentives===
-'''Í'''; Derives agent-nouns from verbs. Infrequent use by the time of this grammar.
*''tluphú-'' 'hunt'-->''tluphúí'' 'hunter'
*''latséká''-'ride'-->''latsékáé'' 'rider, horseman'
-'''o-'''; a prefix, produces agents with an absolutive agency. Productive
*''yetle-'' 'run, dash' --> ''oyetle'' 'messenger, courier'; ''tísí'' 'write' -->''otísí'' 'scribe, writer' (writing is perceived as an absolutive activity because most writing is dictation by an illiterate person to a scribe, hence the writer is not an active agent).
-'''lo'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces agent nouns or persons who have a relation to the base. Productive.
*''lellá-'' 'heal'-->''lellálo'' 'healer'; ''woné'' 'island'-->''wonélo'' 'islander'
-'''tsoŋé'''; Signifies an inhabitant of a certain region, nation, or tribe.
*''Newásetlhuyem''-'Bright Bay'-->''Newásetlhuyenoŋé''- a man of the Bright Bay clan.
*''7atono'' - 'the Lukpani people' --> ''7atonotsoŋé'' - 'a Lukpani person'

===Tools and Processes===
-'''tlUm'''; Added to verbs, this suffix produces a nominal indicating the tool by which the base process is carried out. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''wa7á-'' 'milk (an animal)'-->''wa7atlom'' 'udder, teat'
*''7wollá-'' 'vomit' --> ''7wollátlom'' 'poison'
-'''lá'''; Added to verbs, this produces a nominal indicating the result of a verb.
*''thumú'' 'have sex'-->''thumólá'' 'orgasm'
*''koa-'' 'sleep'-->''koalá'' 'sleep'
-'''tsUm'''; suffix derived nominals indicating a collection of bases.
*''laŋa-'' 'spirit'-->''laŋatsom'' 'spirit-world'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétsum'' 'herd of horses, corral, stable'
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulútsum'' 'pack of wolves, pack'

===States and Composition===
-'''tÚ'''; This suffix derives nominals from other nominals, the resulting word being an abstract nominal. Something like English -ness.
*''7ayé-'' 'frightening'-->''7ayétú'' 'fear'
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanétú'' 'horse-ness' i.e., a person with a mercurial personality.
-'''tléu'''; See above. One proposed etymology is a metathesized variant of PW *wetlu 'liver'.
*''awo-'' 'give' --> ''awotléu'' 'gift-giving, hospitality, generosity'
*''éká-'' 'not work, play, have fun' --> ''ékatléu'' 'play, free time, fun'
-'''khá'''; Added to nominals, this suffix produces nominals which have a relation in some way to the base word.
*''7imé-'' 'name'-->''7imékhá'' 'identity'
*''phéotla-'' 'inflate'-->''phéotlakhá'' 'tall tales, braggadocio'
-'''llÚ'''; Added to nominals, this suffix indicates an object which is made of the referent of the base word.
*''phélí-'' 'tree'-->''phélíllú'' 'wood, lumber'
*''khatla-'' 'shake'-->''khatlalló'' 'cheese' (shaking leather bags of milk to start formation of curds)
-'''wum-'''; a prefix derived from the fourth noun class; its concrete meaning is of a straight, solid object; more abstractly, it conveys a sense of completeness or excessiveness of a nominal or verb. Does not trigger nasal assimilation.
*''thowa-'' 'root' --> ''wumthowa'' 'a thick, nutritious tuber'; ''wotla-'' 'give birth to' --> ''wumwotla'' 'fertile, fecund'; ''otá-'' 'turn' --> ''wumotá'' 'reorient, find one's way'

===Groups and Classes===
-'''U'''; Derives honorifics. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoao'' 'sir chief'
*''phoayé-'' 'chief's children'--> ''phoayeu'' 'chief's chosen heir for succession'
-'''U'''; Denotes a single out of a collective, chiefly used for animals and plants; relic of PW edible suffix ''*-γ''
*''willí-'' 'millet'-->''willíu'' 'a grain of millet'
*''yemó-'' 'pine'-->''yemóu'' 'a single pine tree' cf. ''láyemó'' 'a definable quantity of pine trees'
-'''tá-'''; a prefix; a borrowing from the second noun class, gives 'feminineness' to the nominal: ie, diminuatives, feminine equivalents of masculine base nouns, some abstract nominals.
*''kotsú'' 'kwacu' > ''tawotsú'' 'feminine energy, yin'
*''tá-kIm'' > ''tákem'' 'a vulgar word for women lit. 'female thing''
-'''wU'''; Derives diminutives.
*''tlámá'' 'flower'-->''tlámáwo'' 'bud'
-'''woyé''' A pejorative suffix
*''kolá'' 'child'-->''koláwoyé'' 'brat'
*-''woyé'' 'id' > ''woyé'' 'idiot, bastard, knob, dummy'
-'''kIm'''; Derived the female equivalent of a masculine base nominal; restricted to animals and archaic words for human professions
*''matle-'' 'bear'-->''matlekim'' 'she-bear', ''
*''kulú-'' 'wolf'-->''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7'' (through taboo-avoidance speech)
*''wotla-'' 'give birth' -->''wotlakem'' 'midwife'
-'''yé''' Added to nominals, this suffix indicates a descendant or offspring of the base.
*''lané-'' 'horse'-->''lanéyé'' ‘foal'

===Places===
-'''yem'''; Derives nominals indicating location, either the location of an action or another nominal. Lowers adjacent vowel tone.
*''másé-'' 'shine'-->''máseyem'' 'moon'
*''phoa-'' 'chief'-->''phoayem'' 'chief's residence, authority'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7weyem'' 'wound, injury (literal)'
-'''pá'''; similar to above; place where action occurs or happens. Back-derived from ''ethá-pá''.
*''éthá''- 'grow, garden'-->''ethápá'' 'garden, vegetable patch'
*''koa'' 'sleep'-->''koapá'' 'bed'
*''7wé-'' 'pain'-->''7wépá'' 'wound, injury (chiefly metaphoric)'

===Prenominals===
Prenominals are a category of lexemes in Empotle7á that function on par with adjectives and adverbs in other languages, though, Empotle7á itself makes no explicit distinction between the two.

-'''tsÚ'''; This derives prenominals from nominals and verbs.
*''tamo-'' 'thick'-->''tamotsú'' 'stubborn(ly)'
*''thana-'' 'cold'-->''thanatsó'' ‘coldly'
*''kháló-'' ''tie up'--> ''7ékhálótsú'' 'his tying up'
-'''laŋ'''; Derives prenominals that indicate a kind of manner. From PW ''-łãγa'' 'spirit'
*''lá-'' 'man'-->''lálaŋ'' 'manly, like a man'
*''7ásem-'' 'woman'-->''7ásenaŋ'' 'womanly, like a woman'

===Compounding===
Another process of derivation that survived from Proto-Western was compounding of modifier and nominal. Classifiers were not included in this process.

Pronominal and Pronominal
*''tlamá-'' 'red' ''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''tlamawolú'' 'maverick'
c.f.
*''kulú tlamállé'' 'red wolf'

Construct Phrase
*''émáomá'' 'east, sunrise, dawn' < ''émá-7ú-má'' sun-CONS-place
*''nunúkhé'' 'bonfire' < ''nuné-7ú-khé'' evening-CONS-fire

===Reduplication===
Reproduction was extent to a limited degree in Proto-Western. The dialect that gave rise to Empotle7á generally used it to derive causative or intensive meanings from a root verb; however, it is no longer productive in the language.
*''*bẽdza'' 'know' --> ''*bẽbẽdza'' 'understand' > ''wena'', ''wemena''
*''*besa'' 'cut'--> ''*bebesa'' 'gash, split, dismember' > ''wesá'', ''wewesá''
*''*łaña'' 'be empty'-->''*łałaña'' 'hollow out, dig, remove' > ''láŋá'', ''lálaŋá''
*''*lũpa'' 'kiss' --> ''*lulũpa'' 'seduce' > ''lulomá'', cf. Tmaśareʔ ''lǫpa'' 'kiss'

===Sound Symbolism===
The resulting affect of this system on a root creates a diminuitive of its meaning. The process affected nominals more productively than verbs, of which only a limited class could be altered; ie, verbs created by other derivational processes were blocked from sound symbolism consonant reduction. In cases of homophony created by the change in consonants, the lexeme was reduplicated with the altered lexeme as the second element in the phrase.

*''kulú''-> ''ŋulú''-> ''yulú''; 'wolf' > 'wolfy' > 'pup'
*''lané'' -> ''lané wané''; 'horse' > 'horsey'
*''koa''-> ''ŋoa''-> ''yoa''; 'sleep' > 'nap' > 'catch some z's'
*''pósí'' -> ''mósí'' -> ''wósí''; 'ask' > 'ask in a cutesy way' > 'uwu pwease'

===Phrases===
Another means was the formation of nominals from phrases and the nominalization of verbs. The former process was not as productive as the latter process, and the origins of these compounds are sometimes opaque.
*''oyetle'' 'he runs' --> 'messenger, runner, courier'
*''otísí'' 'he writes' --> 'intelligent, smart'
*''é7óná'' 'its tooth'--> 'arrow, spear tip'
*''eolá''< ''éo7ú lá'' 'his man' --> 'brother'
*''twolláthá'' < ''tá-7wollá-thá'' 'it causes vomiting' --> 'scorpion'
*''láola'' < ''7ellá-7o la7'' 'under the hand' --> 'palm'

===Avoidance/Taboo Speech===
Avoidance and taboo speech was used by the speakers of Empotle7á to refer to people, animals, and things worthy of respect and fear and reverence. The form of avoidance language used in the language was done simply by saying the word backwards. Some taboo words show sound changes from Proto-Western, indicating that this was an active process in the protolanguage. The taboo language, on the other hand, tolerates syllable structures (final stops for instance) not ordinarily allowed in the daily language. Some speakers, though, shift taboo words according to the following rules that bring taboo words in line with phonological rules of the regular language: all final stops are reduced to glottal stops or add the preceding vowel; affricates do not change order (ie. /ts/ does not become /st/); /i/ is added after any final /s/ and /o/ after any /K/, /tK/, or /ts/
*''7ayé-'' 'fear, frightening' --> ''éya7-''
*''kulúkim'' 'she-wolf'-->''mikúlu7''
*''kulú'' 'wolf'-->''úlu7'' or ''úluku''
*''sawelo'' 'warrior'-->''olewasi'' 'The Warrior (a constellation)'
*''lané'' 'horse'-->''énalo''
*''khatla'' 'shake;-->''7atlakh''+ ''u'' 'honorific --> ''7atlakho'' 'epilepsy'
*''maná7'' 'death' itself a taboo inverse of ''7ánam'', which is itself a taboo inverse of Proto-Western ''*tʰãda'' 'cold'
}}

==Determiners==
The class of determiners in Empotle7á includes demonstratives and quantifiers. Both obligatorily use the noun classifiers as suffixes, the classifier agreeing with the referent which is being determined.

Additionally, Empotle7á determiners partook of the nature of phoric pronouns, in that in addition to determining another nominal, they can also stand alone with anaphoric/cataphoric reference.

{{gl|Látákhésallá|lá-tá-khésallá|PL-NC2-defecate}}
{{gl|phámá7ó|phámá-7ó|every.place-CONS}}
{{gl|saŋ|saŋ|in}}
{{gl|phállé|phá-llí|all-NC2}}
{{gl|látwatwa|lá-twatwa|PL-dog}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|tátsééká|tá-tséé-ká|NC2-want-3.ERG}}
{{gl|pháo7í|phá-o-7í|every-NC1-ERG}}
{{gl|éllí.|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|All dogs shit everywhere, but everyone wants one.}}

===Phoric Pronouns===
Simple copula sentences used the anaphoric ('''ku'''-) and cataphoric ('''é'''-) pronoun stems. Speakers began speaking about new subjects with the latter (glossed as CAT) and switched to the former (ANA) for the remainder of the dialogue. Since the pronoun takes the noun class referent, adding it on the modifier was redundant for same referent. Different referents in the same sentence required that the noun class markers stay on the modifiers.

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7éllé|7ea-7é-llí|slow-STAT-EVID.NDBT}}
{{gl|ku|ku|ANA}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse}}
{{gl|tsá|tsá|and}}
{{gl|éllí7ú|é-llí-7ú|CAT-NC2-CONS}}
{{gl|latsékáé|latséká-í|rider}}
{{gl|ŋallo7éo|ŋallo-7é-o|dumb-STAT-NC1}}
{{glend|This horse is slow, and its rider is dumb!}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|7ea7étli|7ea-7é-tli|slow-STAT-EVID1}}
{{gl|éllí?|é-llí|ANA-NC2}}
{{glend|Is it slow?}}
}}

When speakers wished to discuss the past or future, the phoric pronouns could be combined with verbs like -'''thwé'''- 'become' or -'''é7ellá'''- 'come' though this was not mandatory.

{{+|
{{gl|Métáthwéwo|mí-tá-thwé-wo|PAST-NC2-become}}
{{gl|Kulótlámá|Kulótlámá|Kulotlama}}
{{gl|lané|lané|horse.ABS|}}
{{gl|7eallé|7ea-llí|dumb-NC2}}
{{glend|Kulotlama was such a dumb horse}}
}}

Indeed, in such cases, '''ku''' and '''é''' were fronted with the subject of the sentence and often functioned more as discourse particles signifying 'This is a new statement' and 'This is something we were talking about' respectively.
*'''Ku pampa ŋé oé7ellámó ékálaŋo'''
*Grampa always would be playful.

*'''Yámá é pampa omíolláŋémóká ko tá khel!'''
*But he never disciplined you!

===Demonstratives===
Empotle7á showed a two way deixis in its demonstratives: visible '''tle''' (glossed as VIS), and non-visible '''ta''' (NONVIS). They followed their head and took their head's noun class suffix. Reduplication of the prefix increased the distance from the speaker (glossed as DIST). They were also utilized for existential sentences. The non-visible demonstrative '''ta''', in particular, was used to refer to entire past chunks of discourse; cf. lexicalized '''tlemá''' 'here' (lit. 'this place') and '''tletle''' 'over there' and '''tamá''' 'there'.

*'''Ku láTsemeswiwo lákemó sésékamam tamá oyelláwo ná ta...'''
*'I heard about that, that the huts of the Tsemeswi are to be found there...'

{{+|
{{gl|séseo|séseo|star}}
{{gl|tletlesé|tletle-sé|vis~DIST-NC3}}
{{glend|That star}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|othwéwam|o-thwé-wam|NC1-become-EVID3}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{gl|tao|ta-o|non.vis-NC1}}
{{glend|There was a wolf somewhere around here}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|séyéllíné|sé-yé-llí-né|NC5-hear-EVID4-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|kusé|ku-sé|CAT-NC5}}
{{gl|sétlatséwaná|sé-tlatsé-wam-ná|NC5-say-EVID4-2sg.ERG}}
{{gl|yámá|yámá|but}}
{{gl|sé7ámallampelné|sé-7ámallá-mpel-né|NC5-agree-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|ko|ko|NEG}}
{{gl|ta|ta|non.vis.deixis}}
{{glend|I heard what you said but I don't agree with that.}}
}}

===Numbers===
Empotle7á has retained the octal counting system of its ancestor. Counting is performed by counting the spaces between the fingers and the thumb, then by counting the non-thumb (which are used as placeholders for units of 108) fingers themselves. This results in a total of sixteen units.

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
!
! cardinal
! ordinal
|-
! 1
| tawo-
| tawó
|-
! 2
| sí-
| siu
|-
! 3
| natló-
| nallo
|-
! 4
| mená-
| menao
|-
! 5
| 7otla-
| 7otlao
|-
! 6
| míní-
| míniu
|-
! 7
| ŋallé-
| ŋalleu
|-
! 108
| senal/ŋawo-
| ŋawao
|-
|}

Other numbers:
*2(108) -- '''waneŋawo''' from PW *''γãdže-ñaγʷa'' 'great 108'
*(108)²--'''ŋamawo''' < dissimulation of *''ŋa-ŋawo''
*10008 -- '''ipipo''' from Proto-Lukpanic *''iub iub'' 'a great quantity of shells (ie., used as currency)'

The ordinal form of 108, which is homophonous to its cardinal form, has analogized along the lines of other ordinals ending in -'''ao'''. Multiples of 108 are formed by prefixing '''ŋa'''- to the root number. Other cardinal numbers are formed by the function {(multiple of 108) tsá (ones digit)}.
*'''látálawalláné ŋaméní tsá 7otla kítiwo!''' 'I see sixty five whales!'

*'''ótláwam éo ''míniuo'' lá.''' 'He's the sixth man to die.'

Sound changes from [[Proto-Western]] produced near homophones in *'''mená''' 4 (< *''mẽca''-) and *'''mení''' 6 (< *''mẽči''-); *'''nalló''' 3 ( < *''nałtu''-) and *'''nallé''' 7 (< *''nalši''-). The irregular outcomes for these numbers are interpreted as efforts to distinguish the numbers in counting.

We see for 108 '''senal''' 'two hands' instead of the expected outcome '''ŋawo'''. However the ordinal form - '''ŋawao''' - from the Proto-Western root remains.

Unlike other determiners, numbers preceded their noun head and did not take its class markers:
*'''mená la7''' - 'four men'
*'''ŋallé láoyetle''' - 'seven runners'

Speakers, however, did use class markers to clear ambiguity and to mark ordinal and determinal numbers:

*'''Koye koláyéwu. ''Sío'' tsá ''senallé'', ŋallowu.'''
*'No, you brat. ''Two'' (of a referant that takes NC1) and ''eight'' (of a referant that takes NC2), dummy.'

*'''tátsééné siullí'''
*tá-tséé-né siu-llí
*NC2-want-1sg.ERG second-NC2
*I want the second one.

==Pronouns==

The personal pronouns explicitly refer to the speaker and to the addressee. Both are distinguished in number between singular and plural; dual forms have been lost. Replacing them is the construction '''sí''' ''two'' + ''pronoun''. The second person shows a T-V distinction in its plural form.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   absolute   !!   ergative   !!   construct  
|- align="center"
! 1st singular
| ná || ná7é || ná7ó
|- align="center"
! 1st plural
| sá || sá7é|| sá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd singular
| tá || tá7é || tá7ó
|- align="center"
! 2nd formal/plural
| lao || tu7í || tú
|-align="center"
|-
|}

*The 2nd person formal/plural is from PW. *''la-du'', with the case forms eliding the initial ''la-''.
*Casual or rapid speech reduces the pronouns from the pattern ''Cá7é'' and ''Cá7ó'' to ''Cé'' and ''Có''.
===Third Person===
There are two 3rd person pronouns: anaphoric '''é''' (things already mentioned) and cataphoric '''ku''' (things not yet mentioned). They take noun class to mark their referents. Their plural stems do not form with '''lá'''- and are the irregular '''ek'''- and '''kuk'''- respectively.
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg}}
|-
! !!   é-   !!   ek-   !!   ku-   !!   kuk-  
|- align="center"
! 1st noun class
| éo || eko || kuo|| kuko
|- align="center"
! 2nd noun class
| ellí || e7lí || kullí || ku7lí
|- align="center"
! 3rd noun class
| ésé || e7sé|| kusé || ku7sé
|- align="center"
! 4th noun class
| éwum || ewum||kuwum || kuwum
|-align="center"
! 5th noun class
| éku || e7ku || kuku || ku7ku
|-
|}

{{+|
{{gl|Láomésáwénem sá7é eko.|lá-o-mí-sáwé-nem sá7é ek-o|PL-NC1.ABS-PAST-fight-1.ERG.PL we.ERG ANA.PL-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|We fought them.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|Osáwewaná kuo|o-sáwé-wam-ná ku-o|NC1.ABS-EVID3-fight-2.Erg CAT-NC1.ABS}}
{{glend|So, you fought this guy...}}
}}

===Indefinite===

The indefinite pronoun in Empotle7á is '''phá'''-, it takes noun class.

*'''Othásená sallem pháo.'''
*NC1.ABS-do-sing surprisingly indef.-NC1
*Surprisingly, anyone can sing.

===Fourth Person===

For generic, indefinite, and unknown referents

To express natural states, such as the weather and other natural phenomena, a verb was marked with the absolutive class marker -'''sé'''-
*'''Sékhatlalo!'''
*There's an earthquake! (lit. It shakes!)

*'''Sé7awotli tsá tshú oéya7thamóká ésé ná!'''
*It rained yesterday which frightened me!

The anaphoric pronoun '''ku''' is used for generic, indefinite, and unknown referents.

*'''Oméla7áká kuo7í lásaŋkhá'''.
*o-mí-la7á-ká ku-o-7í lá-saŋkhá
*NC1-PAST-steal-3sgERG ANA-NC1-ERG PL-thing
*Someone stole my things.

*'''Támékámané ko kotá.'''
*'''ta-mí-kamam-né ko ku-tá'''
*NC2-PAST-fear-1sg.ERG NEG ANA-NC2
*I wasn't scared of those beasts! (notice the speaker's hypercorrection of NC2 -''llÍ''- to -''tá''-).

=The Verb=
Empotle7á is an ergative-absolutive language. The verb is marked for participant reference, evidentiality, and tense.

==Structure==
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''(absolutive) [marked by noun class]''
| ''(tense)''
| '''stem'''
| ''(incorporated noun)''
| ''(secondary ergative = causative)''
| ''(evidential)''
| ''(primary ergative)''
|}

A modal verb: "We will make them eat the crab meal".
{| {{greentable|lightgreenbg c padded}}
|- class="bg2"
| I || II || III || IV || V || VI || VII
|-
| ''látá''
| ''oté''
| '''kowu'''
| ''lipí''
| ''thá-nem''
| ''tli''
| ''kam''
|}

The result, after vowel harmony, nasal assimilation, and consonant gradation, is:

:'''Látáotéwowulipéthánenekam'''.

==Referent Markers==
===Absolutive===
Nouns in the absolutive are simply marked by their corresponding noun class marker. Plurals place the '''lá'''- before the noun class. If a group of nominals with conflicting noun class markers are absolutive objects of a verb, speakers tend to default to the "highest" ranking class in a hierarchy of animacy (that is, trees and stones are subordinate to animals which are subordinate to humans etc); in a pinch, speakers will default to noun class 1:'''o'''-.
*'''sé7awollí''' 'It's really raining'

===Ergative===
The position of the ergative referent markers on the verb complex is position VII. The referent markers for the ergative case differ depending on the type of verb stem.

In the presence of verb stems or morphemes ending in a nasal, such as '''kámam''' or '''-wam-''', the ergative endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| -'''né'''
| -'''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| -'''ná'''
| -'''nam'''
|-
!  3rd 
| -'''ŋá'''
| -'''ŋam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-kámam-ŋam ná'''-->'''okámaŋam ná''' 'They're scared of me.'

The 2nd. person absolutive endings were appropriated to the ergative case after -*/čʰe/ and -*/čʰẽ/ merged with -*/ne/ and -*/nẽ/ in the presence of nasal consonants.

For a vowel stem, in either verbs or morphemes, the endings are as follows:

{| {{softtable|c}}
|-
! person
!  singular 
!  plural 
|-
!  1st 
| - '''né'''
| - '''nem'''
|-
!  2nd 
| - '''tshé'''
| - '''tshem'''
|-
!  3rd 
| - '''ká'''
| - '''kam'''
|-
|}

*'''o-tlemé-né tá'''-->'''otleméné tá''' 'I'm dreaming of you'

==Nominal and Verbal Incorporation==

The incorporation of a nominal imparts a meaning to the verb incorporating the noun. It increases the indefiniteness and generic nature of the statement.

cf.
{{+|
{{gl|Tákámamoká||tá-kámam-wo-ká|NC2-fear-EVID6-3sg.ERG}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.pos.-child-ERG.}}
{{gl|kulú|kulú|wolf.ABS}}
{{glend|Our child is scared of the wolf}}
}}

vs.
{{+|
{{gl|Okámamowulú|o-kámam-wo-kulú|NC1.ABS-NC2-fear-EVID6-wolf}}
{{gl|7empowolá7é|7empo-kolá-7í|1pl.POS-child-ERG}}
{{glend|Our child is afraid of wolves}}
}}

Similarly, when two verbs are incorporated, the meanings are conflated. The dvandva forms by placing the first verb in the construct state with -''7ú''-; one of the most common such verbs - ''tséé'' 'want' - has the special dvandva form -''tséu''-:
{{+|
{{gl|otséuyelláwo|o-tséu-yellá-wo|NC1-want.CONS-listen-GENEV}}
{{gl|tá?|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|Do you want to listen?}}
}}

==Evidentials==

Verbs had system of of evidentiality markers which denoted the origin of the speaker's evidence for a statement. There were eight categories of evidentiality, marked by suffixes occurring directly following the verb's root if a causative
was not present. Speakers of Empotle7á considered evidentials to be a more important source of information than tense: Two verbal morphemes -'''mí'''- and -'''oté'''- function akin to tense and mark perfective and future non-perfective aspects, respectively. Speakers tend to avoid them, however, in favor of evidentials and explicit adverbs of time (ie. yesterday, tomorrow, last year, etc), and a verb unmarked for evidentiality was considered to be indicative of an irrealis mood.

===The Senses===
The first set of evidentiality markers indicated that the evidence was gained directly by the speaker via the senses. There were three such markers: -'''tli'''-/-'''é'''-, which denotes that the speaker felt, heard, or witnessed the action visually. Men characteristically used -'''tlI'''- while women used -'''é'''-. This evidential was avoided with verbs of explicit perception like 'see', 'touch', 'hear', etc; -''mú''- was preferred instead. Next is -'''pUm'''-, which denotes that the speaker smelled the evidence, and -'''mpel'''-, which donates the speaker tasted the evidence. Speakers also used -''mpel''- to emphasize their statements.

{{+|
{{gl|otlamátle|o-tlamá-tlI|NC1-fart-EVID1}}
{{gl|tá||tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|You farted (I know because I heard it).}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|otséuyellámpelné|o-tséu-yellá-mpel-né|NC1-want-hear-EVID3-1sg.ERG}}
{{gl|tá|tá|2sg.ABS}}
{{glend|I want you to listen to me!}}
}}

===Experience===
The second set of markers indicated that the evidence is secondhand and not directly derived from the speaker's experience. There were two such markers: -'''wam'''-, which indicates that the information was received via hearsay and may or may not be accurate (glossed as HEARS), and -'''llÍ'''-, indicating that the speaker has no doubts about the information he has received (glossed as NDBT). Story-tellers often use -''wam''- throughout narration, reserving -''llÍ''- for their story's moral or climax.

{{+|
{{gl|ótlawam|o-ótlá-wam|NC1-die-HEARS}}
{{glend|They say he died.}}
}}

{{+|
{{gl|É Etsatlówal othwélléká tle7á7ó 7empokathéo|é Etsatlówal o-thwé-llí-ká tle7á-7ú 7empo-kathéo|ANA Etsatlówal NC1-become-NDBT-3sg.ERG ANA-NC1
tribe-CONS 1pl.POSS-shaman.ABS}}
{{glend|That's why Mixes-the-Smoke is our tribe's shaman.}}
}}

===Quotative===
The morpheme -'''ké'''- served as a quotative evidential marker on the verb stem. It conveys that the speaker is quoting someone else:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú|o-ótla-ké kulú|NC1-die-QUO1 wolf}}
{{glend|"The wolf died" }}
}}

When quoting a specific source, the quotative ergator was placed after the ergative or absolutive subject of the quoted verb:

{{+|
{{gl|Ótlaké kulú phoao7í|o-ótla-ké kulú phoao-7í|NC1-die-QUO wolf chief-HON-ERG}}
{{glend|"The wolf died," said Sir Chief}}
}}

A combination morpheme -'''kéwam'''- indicated that the news was heard second-hand:

{{+|
{{gl|ótlákéwam Etsatlówal |o-otlá-kéwam Etsatlówal|NC1-die-QUO2 Etsatlówal.ABS}}
{{glend|Etsatlówal died (so I've heard second hand).}}
}}

===Inference===
The third set indicated that the information was not personally experienced but was inferred from degrees of evidence. There were three of these markers: -'''lU'''-, which indicated that there was physical evidence (glossed as PHYSEV); and -'''wo'''-, which indicates that the information comes from a past event, is inferred or assumed based on the speaker's past experience of similar situations, or that the information is general knowledge (glossed as GENEV); and -'''mÚ'''- which indicated that the speaker directly participated in the event (glossed as PRTEV).

===-''wo''-===

*'''Pampa, sémásewo émao latloŋa?'''
*pampa sé-másé-wo éma-o latloŋa
*papa NC4-shine-PHYSEV sun-ABS-HON why
*Papa, why does sun shines?

===-''lU''- and -''mÚ''-===

*'''Tátlophúmúné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-mú-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-PRTEV-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (not that I got anything).

*'''Tátlophúluné tshú kulótlená'''
*tá-tluphú-lu-né tshú kulótlená
*NC2-hunt-EVID5-1sg{ERG} yesterday bear{ABS}
*I went hunting for a bear yesterday (and here's the pelt).

*'''Othwélu tótlaŋalo; tu7 táwowumúnem otlú'''.
*o-thwé-lu tótlaŋalo tu7 tá-kowu-mú-nem otlú
*NC1.ABS-become-PHYSEV ancestor.ABS | therefore NC2-cook-PRTEV-1pl.ERG liver.ABS
*He became an ancestor; therefore we cooked his liver (I participated in the event).

==Negation==
Empotle7a innovated three negation particles - ''ko'', ''khel'', and ''koyé'' - from the reconstructed Proto-Western phrase *''kʷe ye'' X ''kʰełka'', lit. "but not a stone".

The first word of the phrase *''kʷe'' gives the common negator for verbs: '''ko'''.

*'''óteotlellé ko phoa'''.
*o-ote-otle-llí ko phoa-Ø
*NC1-FUT-die-EVID5 NEG chief.ABS
*The chief will never die.

*'''otamoyétli ko ná!''' 'I don't have an erection!'

It can be joined with the other negative particle, ''khel'', after the object (which does not take a noun classifier in this case), topicalizing the negated element.

*'''Támewowu7ónam ko otlú khel'''.
*tá-mí-kowu-7ú-nam otlú-Ø khel
*NEG NC2-PAST-cook-EVID6-1pl.ERG liver.ABS NEG
*We didn't cook the ''liver''.

In pausa speakers used ''koyé'', from the first two elements of that Proto-Western phrase:
*'''Olinimpuwoká lamno7ú ná? ''Koye'''''
*'Does the priest dislike me?' ''No.''

It has four general realizations - [kɤ˧.je˧] [kɤi˨] [ke˨] [kœ˩] - spread across speakers.

The latter part of the Proto-Western negation phrase, *''kʰełka'', enters Empotle7á, too, as the negation particle ''khel''. Whereas ''ko'' follows its head, ''khel'' by contrast negated nominal phrases:
*'''Khelo phoao tamá'''
*'The chief isn't here'

*'''Khellí lálané tlemá yámá tletle'''
*'The horses aren't here but over there').

Proto-Western's original negating particle ''*ye'' survived in Empotle7á as '''é'''. It was considered archaic and preceeded its head:
*'''é tlho so tlhó'''
*Not walking but family (a proverb)

*'''É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum'''
*'The humans do not know the swiftness of horsekind'

==Lané tsá Lámeŋu/[[The horse and the sheep]]==

''Látátselláwamo wóé7ú tawe lané7í lámeŋu. Khuwésáwaŋá 7ásempí tawó meŋú thólá. Táwa7áwaŋá kolá7é siu meŋu. Táotletlawaŋá lá7é nallo meŋu. Tawowowaŋam éo7ú khé7ú na7 menao meŋu.

''Támétawatlawamo lané7í tásé meŋu: "O7wetlawokam láphétlowo kotsú tsá látátháthálo7ekam láwótsú lámeŋu."

''Ométlatséwamo meŋú meŋutsum: "Otséuyellámpel ná, laneo nó! Tápháphaékútlekam láphétlowo kotsú lané wokúllí tsá o7wetlawokam ná. É séwenatlekam láphétlowo kotsú wokútú lálanétsum, yámá láotéwenawo oto7am láphétlowo kotsú tsá pham otéthwémpel tá7é eko7ú wollu!"

''Tsá sémíyéllío tasé tsá omíyetle7atlollí lané7í tákatle7ú ké''.

*linguistic notes: The narrator uses an older form of ergative marking with the nominal classifiers. Note that, as story characters, the horse and the sheep have been elevated to the rank of humans with the classifer -''o''-: ''látátsellá'''o''''' and cf. reconstructed Proto-Western *''čeldawata''. In contrast, the opening to ''The Horse and the Sheep'' in current speech would be ''látátsellá'''ká'''''. Other archaic linguistic features of this speech include the negative ''é'' and the use of ''ko'' in its original sense of the conjunction 'but'.

=Lexicon=
[[Empotle7á/Lexicon]]

[[Category:Western languages|Empotle7a]]

Shtåså/Lexicon

2022-10-14T00:16:37Z

Arzena: /* Loan Words */

Here is the [[Shtåså]] Lexicon

=Derivativational Morphology=

==Verb to Noun==

-'''dzaš''' agent noun from verb.

-'''lji''' id.

-'''vn''' Abstract noun, (gerund) for verb action or state

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place

-'''dô'''; location at which the action of a root takes place. Eg., ''

-'''sa''' Result of verb or other relation to the base word.

-'''syn''' Instrument noun from verb.

==Nominal to Nominal==

-'''v''' Diminutive.

-'''dzyhanj''' Honorific.

-'''can''' a reduced version of -''dzyhanj''

-'''ks''' Collective. The root must be put in the oblique case.

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place; Eg., ''boš'' 'god, spirit' > ''bošum'' 'shrine'

-'''þlo''' Person with connection to base noun.

-'''dy''' Derives abstract noun from concrete noun or adjective.

-'''in''' Feminine.

==Nominal to Verb==
-'''isp''' general verbalizer.

-'''ists''' movement towards focus.

-'''aš''' stative verb (be noun).

-'''as''' causative.

'''en'''- frequently forms compounds: ''enfwej'' to farm 'give-seed'

==Adjectives and Adverbs==

-'''ddzy ''' Derives adverbs.

-'''am''' Derives adjectives from nouns. From -ama ‘with’

=Loan Words=

Shtasa has identifiable loan words from early Adata, Late Gezoro (from Southern and Central dialects), Šetâmol, and Xšali.

Shtåså usually borrows /r/ as /l/ initially or finally and as /n/ intervocally. Words tend to alter to shape a preferred CVCVC structure.

Ad.= Early Adāta

Gez.=Late Gezoro

Shet.=Šetâmol

Xsh.=Xšali

Abbreviations

adj. adjective.

adv. adverb.

conj. conjunction.

n. nominal.

pp. postposition.

vi. intransitive verb.

vt. transitive verb.

=Lexemes=
{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg sortable}}
! word !! type !! meaning !! etymology
|-
|=id||name suffix||lord, noble, lofty||Gez. =''e:do'' 'lord'
|-
| ab || n. || rain, NC2 ; tear, NC8 || ''agwa''
|-
| abisp || iv. || cry, weep || ''ab-isp''
|-
| ac||n. || fear|| ''adja''
|-
|Agôl||n||a winter month||Gez. ''agor'' 'rain'
|-
| ain||n. ||woman, wife || ''ajen''
|-
|ainv||n. || daughter, sister|| ''ain-v''
|-
|ajaun ||n. ||harp ||Ad. ''āliora''
|-
|alpom || vt.||forge || Ad. ''alpabam''
|-
| am||pp. ||comitive, with, alongside ||''ama''
|-
|Anac ||n. ||Anaiti, earth goddess ||Gez. ''Anaiti''
|-
|and ||n. ||stranger, foreigner || Ad. ''andak'', (-ak) interpreted as plural marker
|-
| anseltin||n. ||business, commerce ||Ad. ''ansertin''
|-
| ajuko||vt. ||trick, deceive ||Ad. ''aiuko''
|-
| aša||iv. ||copula ||
|-
|baddzyn|| n||forest ||
|-
|bom ||n ||brother ||
|-
| bontzuom||n||blood brother, ally || ''bom ttzuo am'' lit. 'brother with blood'
|-
|bosj ||n ||god, spirit ||
|-
|bosjam ||n ||holy; holiness ||
|-
|bosjtzlo||n ||priest, holy man ||
|-
|bosjiopaddy ||n ||a religion of Xshalad adopted by some Anhashnalaks || lit. 'path of holiness'
|-
|ben ||vt ||know; have sex with ||
|-
|bensa ||n || knowledge||
|-
|blun ||n ||belly, guts; fortitude, manly virtue ||
|-
| Cakonj||n ||Tjakori ||
|-
| ce||pp ||to, 'motion towards' ||
|-
| ce||pr ||this one ||
|-
| cec||vt; iv ||make, rub (ie leather); be able to ||
|-
| cek||n|| tribe, family, clan|| cf. ''Haiscek'' 'the Anhashnalaks', lit. 'the Great Tribe'
|-
|cekvn ||n ||tribal unity, solidarity, allegiance ||
|-
| ceny||n ||full || cf. ''enceny'' 'to fill up'
|-
| cenj||n ||fingernail; trifling small amount ||
|-
| ceslji||n ||daner ||
|-
| cessa||n ||dance ||
|-
| ces||vi ||dance || cf. ''ences'' 'seduce' lit. 'give dance'
|-
| cet||conj. ||but, however ||
|-
| ci||n ||land ||
|-
|gonj||n|| salt ||Gez. ''go:re:''
|-
|gos||n||cliff||Gez. ''gwɔs'' 'side, edge'
|-
|jog||vt||dance||Gez. ''jogo''
|-
|jaumʉ||n||servant|| Gez. ''jomoi'' 'person'
|-
|keh||n||anvil|| Gez. ''ke:x''
|-
|kuða||n||bedroom||Gez. ''kuza'' 'bed'
|-
| oc||adv. ||day after tomorrow ||
|-
| oldð||vt. ||hit, strike, punch ||
|-
|oldða ||n. ||strike, punch ||
|-
|of ||n. ||beans, grains ||
|-
|oj ||iv. ||die ||
|-
|oisa ||n. ||death, passing ||
|-
|jesusa||n||love, affection, care|| Gez. ''jesu'' + Sht. -''sa''
|-
|kʉnot||n||ibex, mountain goat, goat|| Gez. ''khoinod''
|-
|kilja||n||steppe, high plains|| Gez. ''khi:lja''
|-
|kinjol||n||council, meeting||Gez. ''khinja:ra''
|-
|kôs|| n.||pine tree||Gez. ''kos'' 'tree'
|-
| || || ||
|}

=c=

'''Cakonj''' Tjakori

'''ce''' pp. to.

'''ce'''- pron. this

'''cec''' vi. to make leather. vt. to rub vi. be able to

'''cek''' n. tribe.

'''cekvn''' n. solidarity, allegiance to one's tribe

'''ceklo''' n. kinsman

'''celd''' vt. to understand

'''ceny''' adj. full.

'''cenj''' n.ip. fingernail.

'''ces''' vi. dance.

'''ceslo''' n. dancer

'''cessa''' n. dance

'''cesþ''' n. heart.

'''cet''' conj. but, however.

'''ci''' n land.

'''cic''' adj. straight.

'''cig''' adj. yellow., cowardly

'''cigakf ''' n. a medicinal flower

'''cij''' vt. to want.

'''cik''' adj. continous.

'''civn''' n. desire

'''cyvlag''' n. flood

'''cos''' n. hair.

'''cufy''' vt. to gather, to hunt. >> '''cuyfuy'''

'''caiš''' n. breast.

'''cwen''' n. next year.

'''cwifj''' n. water.

=D=

'''da'''- pron. that .

'''damï''' adj. thick.

'''dac''' adv. here.

'''dacdy''' n. presence

'''daln''' vi. to swim, to fly.

'''dah''' vi. to shout.

'''dahas''' vt. to talk.

'''dišak''' n. any foreign ruler < Ad. ''*dizhaka''

'''dunja''' n. flattery < Ad. ''*du~ya, praise''

'''duh''' adj. good.

'''duk''' conj. therefore.

'''dušam''' adj. blue

'''duy''' n. sky

=Dð=

'''dða''' pp. for, dative marker.

'''dðel''' conj. because

'''dðaln''' vt. to stab.

'''dðûdašn''' n. bird.

'''dðam''' adj. red.

'''dðeč''' vt. to say.

'''dðeča''' n. word

'''dðun''' adj. long.

=E=

'''ej''' conj. if.

'''eldï''' n. cause.

'''en''' vt. to give.

'''en''' n. gift

'''enab''' v. to rain

'''enan''' iv. to darken vt. to set

'''end''' n. feather

'''endam''' adj. soft

'''eneiš''' vt. to fatten

'''enfwej''' v. to farm

=F=

'''fa'''- pron. everything, everyone, all.

'''fafta''' vt. to shoot, to launch.

'''fan''' conj. then, next.

'''fas''' vt. to mock.

'''fat''' vt. to throw.

'''fål''' vi. to swell.

'''fålčesþa''' n. sorrow <''fål-česþ-sa 'heart-swelling'

'''fčuddz''' relative pronoun. where

'''fe''' conj. but.

'''febï''' vt. to cook.

'''fel''' n. child, son ERG: '''felj'''

'''feljin''' n. daughter

'''feny''' n. head, brains, smarts.

'''fi'''- relative pronoun

'''fis''' vi. to make felt.

'''fyjosyn''' n. lung

'''fsasyn''' n. knife

'''ftaječ''' vt. shoot with a bow

'''fwej''' n. seed.

'''fweš''' n. tree bark.

'''fwiv''' n. seman, essence

'''fwivvin''' n. ejaculation

'''fwivisp''' v. ejaculate

'''fuå''' vi. to breathe, to blow.

'''fuås''' vt. to inflate.

'''fuð''' n. chief.

'''fuðåš''' vt. rule

=H=

'''hab''' n. tree.

'''haf''' vi. to laugh.

'''hok''' n. rock

'''halï''' vt. to fasten.

'''han''' adj. black.

'''hanj''' adj. big, great ; adv. very (manifests as ''hai-'' in compounds like ''Haisdeya'')

'''haišeiby''' n. snake, serpant < 'great-worm'

'''hammål''' adj. 624

'''haša''' n. fire.

'''hå''' adj. narrow

'''hå''' pp. outside.

'''hej''' vi. to run.

'''heiš''' n. fat, grease.

'''hem''' adj. bad.

'''hib''' adj. some.

'''hiš''' n. day.

'''hišåpudðï''' adv. tomorrow

'''hinå''' n. pine.

'''hinåþaš''' n. sap, syrup < 'pine-milk'

'''hlat''' vt. to milk.

'''hweiš''' n. neck.

'''hwič''' n. fish.

'''hug''' n. pig.

'''hulï''' n.ip. anus.

'''hulp''' vt. to hunt.

'''hust''' n. boat.

'''hûmaš''' adj. rotten.

=V=

'''vasï''' n. bone.

'''vegï''' adj. quick.

'''velh''' n. mountain.

'''vej''' n. hill.

'''ves''' vt. to cut, to split bevesa

'''vguðï''' n. eagle.

'''vgïþtuð''' n. cloud

'''vid''' n. wind.

'''viv''' vt. to drink.

'''viå''' vi. to live

'''viås''' vt. to give birth

'''vnaðaš''' n. sage

'''vosk''' n. spit.

'''voskasp''' vi. to spit.

'''vos''' vt. to wash.

'''vuš''' adj. heavy.

=I=

'''ið''' adj. slow.

'''iñ''' n. name.

'''iñaš''' iv. to have a reputation, to be somebody vt. to name

'''ils''' n. hand, bird's wing.

'''is''' vt. to fish.

'''ism''' pp. without.

'''išn''' n. wife. From ''éçeni'' 'his woman' /iʃɲ/ > [iʃn̩]

'''ïdasp''' vi. to harm

=J=

'''ja''' pron. 3sg.

'''jad''' adj. old.

'''jadv''' n. parent

'''jag''' vi. to play.

'''jagdï''' n. game

'''Jam''' n. the Sun

'''jamåišñ''' n. silver < 'sun-wife'

'''jamï''' n. mouth.

'''jas''' n. meat.

'''jaþ''' vt. to tend.

'''jaþab''' n. garden.

'''ječ''' n. arrow.

'''je''' conj. not

'''jeh''' n. river

'''jegï''' vt. to eat.

'''jelï''' adj. other.

'''jem''' vi. to row.

'''jes''' vt. to push.

'''jeså''' conj. nor.

'''ješ''' vt. to own

'''ješain''' vt. marry

'''jev''' conj. but not.

'''jisï''' vi. to leave.

'''jists''' vi. to come.

=K=

'''ka''' pp. on behalf of.

'''kadð''' n. friend.

'''kaiča''' n. gold < Gez. ''kaitja''

'''kaþ''' adj. correct.

'''keč''' adj. dirty.

'''kečisp''' iv. make dirty

'''kehåig''' n. ore < Gez. ''gehoig''

'''kek''' n. anvil < Gez. ''geg''

'''keken''' n. smithy

'''keklå''' n. blacksmith

'''kenč''' pp. towards.

'''klehan''' n. domesticated animal < Shet. ''klehan''

'''kluå''' n. leg.

'''kþshenh''' n. sister

'''ksah''' n. skin.

'''ksach''' n. mix.

'''ksam''' n. berry.

'''ksefn''' n. wild animal.

'''ksuþ''' adj. short.

'''kþalå''' n. brother. < Cet. ''kaθa lawa'' 'true man'

'''Kšalhå''' n. a Xshali

'''Kšalhåen''' n. Xshalad

'''kul''' n. hound

'''kud''' vi. to sleep.

=L=

'''la''' n. man, husband. ERG: '''lhi'''

'''lab''' n. smoke.

'''labsa''' n. jerkey

'''Lačend''' n. Rathedan

'''ladð''' n. many.

'''lai''' n. a horse breed from western Peilash < Shet. ''lai''

'''lanañ''' vt. to dig.

'''lap''' vt. to steal.

'''lapþaš''' n. thief

'''lat''' pp. under.

'''lasï''' n. back.

'''lheif''' vt. to wipe.

'''losk''' n. ear.

'''luñ''' n. right, east.

'''lum''' nt. to grind, to mill.

=M=

'''ma''' n. place, location.

'''maj''' vi. to shine.

'''Majn''' n. the Moon.

'''majnåen''' n. dream

'''majnsaip''' vt. to dream

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''maš''' n. earth

'''mašå''' n. human.

'''mašåks''' n. humankind, man

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''mazn''' iv. run vt. flee

'''mazn''' n. nose.

'''mål''' adj. 64

'''meč''' n. bear.

'''meû''' part. um, uhh

'''mina''' n. mom

'''modð''' adj. four.

'''moln''' pp. along.

'''moš''' n. tongue, language

'''mošisp''' n. to speak

'''mosk''' adj. sharp.

'''mosï''' vt. to sew.

'''mon''' n. dog.

'''monv''' n. puppy

'''monkïks''' n. herd.

'''mu''' adv. completely.

'''mumf''' adj. wet.

'''muñ''' adv. the day before yesterday.

'''musp''' vt. to suck.

=N=

'''na''' pron. I.

'''nadïn''' n. left, west.

'''nač''' adj. tame.

'''namï''' vi. to think.

'''nankï''' n. foot

'''nat''' pp. above.

'''naj''' adj. rare

'''nå''' pp. up.

'''nåas''' it. jump

'''nostï''' adj. three.

=Ñ=

'''ñaj''' adj. frequent.

'''ñej''' adj. smooth.

'''ñel''' adj. white.

'''ñeln''' pp. along

'''ñenkï''' n. sheep meŋu

'''ñif''' n. fog.

'''ñostï''' adj. pale, blunt.

=O=

'''opaya''' n. castle, fortress < Ad. ''ópaia''

'''osp''' n. rage.

'''ospas''' vt. to anger.

'''osï''' vt. to smell.

=P=

'''pad''' vi. to discover, to find

'''padgašbaš ''' n. prophet

'''padsa''' n. discovery

'''paðï''' n. tail

'''plag''' adj. new; n. novelty

'''plam''' n. flower.

'''psam''' vi. to smell bad błama

'''psamaha''' n. stench błama+xa

'''pså''' vi. to walk.

'''psås''' vi. to walk away.

'''ptasïn''' n. road, path.

'''pudðï''' pp. after, behind.

'''pusï''' n. wolf. >> '''puysuy'''

=S=

'''sa''' pron. we

'''sab''' adj. near

'''sag''' pp. inside.

'''sah''' n. eye.; NC7. sight

'''sahisp''' v. to see

'''sahn''' n. earth.

'''sålå''' n. priest.

'''sank''' n. spirit, soul.

'''så''' conj. or.

'''semna''' n. copper < Gez. ''zemra''

'''senj''' n. horse.

'''sej''' n. night.

'''sfaš''' vt. to fight.

'''sfašša''' n. fight.

'''synanj''' n. leaf

'''sþåb''' n. love.< ''česþå ab'' 'water of the heart'

'''swescin''' adj. surprising.

'''sudð''' adv. tomorrow.

'''sul''' adj. round.

'''sun''' adj. green. γłuna

'''sû''' adv. yesterday.

=Š=

'''š''' pp. down.

'''šankšåm''' vt. to know. <''çiganxajóma'' 'stand in the fire'

'''šasïn''' n. ear

'''šasïnisp''' vt. to hear

'''šavyan''' n. goat < Dimana Lokud ''zhavyan'' id.

'''ščists''' vi. to flow in. to arrive

'''šeO''' n. star

'''šecisp''' ‘to sing’

'''šec''' pp. instead.

'''šedðaš''' singer

'''šedy''' vi. to lie down, rest

'''šefy''' n. deer.

'''šeiby''' n. worm.

'''šeln''' n. horn.

'''šenj''' adj. together.

'''šenjan''' adj. starved.

'''šenjanaš''' v. to starve

'''šenjin''' n. woman

'''šes''' n. dung.

'''šesisp''' v. to defecate

'''šesk''' n. stone.

'''šeš''' n. soil.

'''šešasyn''' n. wall, rampart.

'''šev''' n. sand.

'''ši''' adj. two.

'''šips''' adj. dry.

'''šipsen''' n. desert

'''šign''' vi. to stand

'''šilpy''' n.ip. arm.

'''šist''' vt. to teach.

'''šiš''' n. snake

'''šin''' n. lake

'''škan''' vi. to defend

'''škOspa''' v. to heal

'''šna''' n. palm of hand.

'''šnOsp''' vt. to count.

'''šñamv''' adj. thin

'''šñaþ''' vt. to build, to make.

'''šosp''' vt. to burn.

'''šostþyn''' n. ashes.

'''štås''' vi. to flow out. to leave

'''štsas''' vt. to pull.

'''štus''' vtz. to place

'''šuå''' n. guts.

'''šuådy''' n. courage

'''šuådyšam''' adj. brave, courageous

'''šûk''' vi. to float.

'''šûkås''' vi. travel.

'''šûkåsty''' n. journey, travel

=T=

'''ta''' pron. you(sg.).

'''tab''' adj. one.

'''tag''' n. grass.

'''tavj''' pp. on.

'''tekim''' v. trade < Xsh. ''t'ekim''

'''tkač''' n. grassland.

'''tuv''' adj. few.

'''tuvdy''' n. scarcity, lack

'''tudð''' n. house, home.

'''tudðen''' n. village

'''tulus''' n. spice < Xsh. ''t'uluš, cinnamon''

=TH=
'''þa''' vt. to do, to make.

'''þa'''- pron. that yonder

'''þadðï''' adj. far

'''þač''' adv. there.

'''þaš''' n. milk.

'''þamy''' vi. to fall.

'''þan''' adj, cold.

'''þaþ''' vt. to use.

'''þaþud''' vt. to bite < ''þaþ ud'' 'use tooth'

'''þemf''' n.ip. daughter.

'''þynjån''' n. uncle

'''þjalå''' n. secret

'''þuš''' vt. to become

'''þul''' n. wool.

'''þund''' n. father.

'''þuny''' vt. to have sex with. >> '''þuynuy'''

'''þuv''' n. root.

'''þwa''' vt. to bend.

'''þwadðyn''' n. knee.

=Tþ=

'''tþa''' conj. and.

'''tþaddh''' conj. moreover.

'''tþag''' vi. to sit.

'''tþagas''' vt. to seat.

'''tþandðn''' adj. repeated.

'''tþïvðaš''' n. louse.

'''tþïvðjåš''' vi. be annoying

'''tþkasyn''' n. chair.

'''tþos''' conj. also.

'''tþufy''' vt. to itch.

'''tþub''' n. fruit.

'''tþuå''' n. blood.

'''tþuåšam''' adj. bloody, violent, destructive

=U=

'''ud''' n. tooth.

'''ul''' n. buddy, guy < Shetamol ''ul''

'''uš''' n. pain.

'''ušas''' vt. to cause pain.

'''us''' adj. five.

'''ûdðav''' n. egg.

=W=

'''wå''' n. vomit.

'''wåsp''' vi. to vomit.

'''wej''' adj. steep.

'''wejs''' vt. to kill.

'''wed''' vi. to turn. vt. to seduce

'''wedin(ðaš)''' n. seductress, prostitute

'''wedðy''' vt. to learn. From C. ''wedzu'' 'eat'

'''weje''' iv. to go, to travel to from Šet. ''weje'' to go

'''wen''' n. year.

'''weså''' n. sword < Gez. ''wesau''

'''wetsy''' n. liver.

'''wogy''' n. clever < Shet. ''wogu''

[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Western languages|Shtasa]]

Shtåså/Lexicon

2022-10-14T00:15:32Z

Arzena: /* Nominal to Nominal */

Here is the [[Shtåså]] Lexicon

=Derivativational Morphology=

==Verb to Noun==

-'''dzaš''' agent noun from verb.

-'''lji''' id.

-'''vn''' Abstract noun, (gerund) for verb action or state

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place

-'''dô'''; location at which the action of a root takes place. Eg., ''

-'''sa''' Result of verb or other relation to the base word.

-'''syn''' Instrument noun from verb.

==Nominal to Nominal==

-'''v''' Diminutive.

-'''dzyhanj''' Honorific.

-'''can''' a reduced version of -''dzyhanj''

-'''ks''' Collective. The root must be put in the oblique case.

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place; Eg., ''boš'' 'god, spirit' > ''bošum'' 'shrine'

-'''þlo''' Person with connection to base noun.

-'''dy''' Derives abstract noun from concrete noun or adjective.

-'''in''' Feminine.

==Nominal to Verb==
-'''isp''' general verbalizer.

-'''ists''' movement towards focus.

-'''aš''' stative verb (be noun).

-'''as''' causative.

'''en'''- frequently forms compounds: ''enfwej'' to farm 'give-seed'

==Adjectives and Adverbs==

-'''ddzy ''' Derives adverbs.

-'''am''' Derives adjectives from nouns. From -ama ‘with’

=Loan Words=

Shtasa has identifiable loan words from early Adata, Late Gezoro (from Southern and Central dialects), Šetâmol, and Xšali.

Shtåså usually borrows /r/ as /l/ initially or finally and as /n/ intervocally.

Ad.= Early Adāta

Gez.=Late Gezoro

Shet.=Šetâmol

Xsh.=Xšali

Abbreviations

adj. adjective.

adv. adverb.

conj. conjunction.

n. nominal.

pp. postposition.

vi. intransitive verb.

vt. transitive verb.

=Lexemes=
{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg sortable}}
! word !! type !! meaning !! etymology
|-
|=id||name suffix||lord, noble, lofty||Gez. =''e:do'' 'lord'
|-
| ab || n. || rain, NC2 ; tear, NC8 || ''agwa''
|-
| abisp || iv. || cry, weep || ''ab-isp''
|-
| ac||n. || fear|| ''adja''
|-
|Agôl||n||a winter month||Gez. ''agor'' 'rain'
|-
| ain||n. ||woman, wife || ''ajen''
|-
|ainv||n. || daughter, sister|| ''ain-v''
|-
|ajaun ||n. ||harp ||Ad. ''āliora''
|-
|alpom || vt.||forge || Ad. ''alpabam''
|-
| am||pp. ||comitive, with, alongside ||''ama''
|-
|Anac ||n. ||Anaiti, earth goddess ||Gez. ''Anaiti''
|-
|and ||n. ||stranger, foreigner || Ad. ''andak'', (-ak) interpreted as plural marker
|-
| anseltin||n. ||business, commerce ||Ad. ''ansertin''
|-
| ajuko||vt. ||trick, deceive ||Ad. ''aiuko''
|-
| aša||iv. ||copula ||
|-
|baddzyn|| n||forest ||
|-
|bom ||n ||brother ||
|-
| bontzuom||n||blood brother, ally || ''bom ttzuo am'' lit. 'brother with blood'
|-
|bosj ||n ||god, spirit ||
|-
|bosjam ||n ||holy; holiness ||
|-
|bosjtzlo||n ||priest, holy man ||
|-
|bosjiopaddy ||n ||a religion of Xshalad adopted by some Anhashnalaks || lit. 'path of holiness'
|-
|ben ||vt ||know; have sex with ||
|-
|bensa ||n || knowledge||
|-
|blun ||n ||belly, guts; fortitude, manly virtue ||
|-
| Cakonj||n ||Tjakori ||
|-
| ce||pp ||to, 'motion towards' ||
|-
| ce||pr ||this one ||
|-
| cec||vt; iv ||make, rub (ie leather); be able to ||
|-
| cek||n|| tribe, family, clan|| cf. ''Haiscek'' 'the Anhashnalaks', lit. 'the Great Tribe'
|-
|cekvn ||n ||tribal unity, solidarity, allegiance ||
|-
| ceny||n ||full || cf. ''enceny'' 'to fill up'
|-
| cenj||n ||fingernail; trifling small amount ||
|-
| ceslji||n ||daner ||
|-
| cessa||n ||dance ||
|-
| ces||vi ||dance || cf. ''ences'' 'seduce' lit. 'give dance'
|-
| cet||conj. ||but, however ||
|-
| ci||n ||land ||
|-
|gonj||n|| salt ||Gez. ''go:re:''
|-
|gos||n||cliff||Gez. ''gwɔs'' 'side, edge'
|-
|jog||vt||dance||Gez. ''jogo''
|-
|jaumʉ||n||servant|| Gez. ''jomoi'' 'person'
|-
|keh||n||anvil|| Gez. ''ke:x''
|-
|kuða||n||bedroom||Gez. ''kuza'' 'bed'
|-
| oc||adv. ||day after tomorrow ||
|-
| oldð||vt. ||hit, strike, punch ||
|-
|oldða ||n. ||strike, punch ||
|-
|of ||n. ||beans, grains ||
|-
|oj ||iv. ||die ||
|-
|oisa ||n. ||death, passing ||
|-
|jesusa||n||love, affection, care|| Gez. ''jesu'' + Sht. -''sa''
|-
|kʉnot||n||ibex, mountain goat, goat|| Gez. ''khoinod''
|-
|kilja||n||steppe, high plains|| Gez. ''khi:lja''
|-
|kinjol||n||council, meeting||Gez. ''khinja:ra''
|-
|kôs|| n.||pine tree||Gez. ''kos'' 'tree'
|-
| || || ||
|}

=c=

'''Cakonj''' Tjakori

'''ce''' pp. to.

'''ce'''- pron. this

'''cec''' vi. to make leather. vt. to rub vi. be able to

'''cek''' n. tribe.

'''cekvn''' n. solidarity, allegiance to one's tribe

'''ceklo''' n. kinsman

'''celd''' vt. to understand

'''ceny''' adj. full.

'''cenj''' n.ip. fingernail.

'''ces''' vi. dance.

'''ceslo''' n. dancer

'''cessa''' n. dance

'''cesþ''' n. heart.

'''cet''' conj. but, however.

'''ci''' n land.

'''cic''' adj. straight.

'''cig''' adj. yellow., cowardly

'''cigakf ''' n. a medicinal flower

'''cij''' vt. to want.

'''cik''' adj. continous.

'''civn''' n. desire

'''cyvlag''' n. flood

'''cos''' n. hair.

'''cufy''' vt. to gather, to hunt. >> '''cuyfuy'''

'''caiš''' n. breast.

'''cwen''' n. next year.

'''cwifj''' n. water.

=D=

'''da'''- pron. that .

'''damï''' adj. thick.

'''dac''' adv. here.

'''dacdy''' n. presence

'''daln''' vi. to swim, to fly.

'''dah''' vi. to shout.

'''dahas''' vt. to talk.

'''dišak''' n. any foreign ruler < Ad. ''*dizhaka''

'''dunja''' n. flattery < Ad. ''*du~ya, praise''

'''duh''' adj. good.

'''duk''' conj. therefore.

'''dušam''' adj. blue

'''duy''' n. sky

=Dð=

'''dða''' pp. for, dative marker.

'''dðel''' conj. because

'''dðaln''' vt. to stab.

'''dðûdašn''' n. bird.

'''dðam''' adj. red.

'''dðeč''' vt. to say.

'''dðeča''' n. word

'''dðun''' adj. long.

=E=

'''ej''' conj. if.

'''eldï''' n. cause.

'''en''' vt. to give.

'''en''' n. gift

'''enab''' v. to rain

'''enan''' iv. to darken vt. to set

'''end''' n. feather

'''endam''' adj. soft

'''eneiš''' vt. to fatten

'''enfwej''' v. to farm

=F=

'''fa'''- pron. everything, everyone, all.

'''fafta''' vt. to shoot, to launch.

'''fan''' conj. then, next.

'''fas''' vt. to mock.

'''fat''' vt. to throw.

'''fål''' vi. to swell.

'''fålčesþa''' n. sorrow <''fål-česþ-sa 'heart-swelling'

'''fčuddz''' relative pronoun. where

'''fe''' conj. but.

'''febï''' vt. to cook.

'''fel''' n. child, son ERG: '''felj'''

'''feljin''' n. daughter

'''feny''' n. head, brains, smarts.

'''fi'''- relative pronoun

'''fis''' vi. to make felt.

'''fyjosyn''' n. lung

'''fsasyn''' n. knife

'''ftaječ''' vt. shoot with a bow

'''fwej''' n. seed.

'''fweš''' n. tree bark.

'''fwiv''' n. seman, essence

'''fwivvin''' n. ejaculation

'''fwivisp''' v. ejaculate

'''fuå''' vi. to breathe, to blow.

'''fuås''' vt. to inflate.

'''fuð''' n. chief.

'''fuðåš''' vt. rule

=H=

'''hab''' n. tree.

'''haf''' vi. to laugh.

'''hok''' n. rock

'''halï''' vt. to fasten.

'''han''' adj. black.

'''hanj''' adj. big, great ; adv. very (manifests as ''hai-'' in compounds like ''Haisdeya'')

'''haišeiby''' n. snake, serpant < 'great-worm'

'''hammål''' adj. 624

'''haša''' n. fire.

'''hå''' adj. narrow

'''hå''' pp. outside.

'''hej''' vi. to run.

'''heiš''' n. fat, grease.

'''hem''' adj. bad.

'''hib''' adj. some.

'''hiš''' n. day.

'''hišåpudðï''' adv. tomorrow

'''hinå''' n. pine.

'''hinåþaš''' n. sap, syrup < 'pine-milk'

'''hlat''' vt. to milk.

'''hweiš''' n. neck.

'''hwič''' n. fish.

'''hug''' n. pig.

'''hulï''' n.ip. anus.

'''hulp''' vt. to hunt.

'''hust''' n. boat.

'''hûmaš''' adj. rotten.

=V=

'''vasï''' n. bone.

'''vegï''' adj. quick.

'''velh''' n. mountain.

'''vej''' n. hill.

'''ves''' vt. to cut, to split bevesa

'''vguðï''' n. eagle.

'''vgïþtuð''' n. cloud

'''vid''' n. wind.

'''viv''' vt. to drink.

'''viå''' vi. to live

'''viås''' vt. to give birth

'''vnaðaš''' n. sage

'''vosk''' n. spit.

'''voskasp''' vi. to spit.

'''vos''' vt. to wash.

'''vuš''' adj. heavy.

=I=

'''ið''' adj. slow.

'''iñ''' n. name.

'''iñaš''' iv. to have a reputation, to be somebody vt. to name

'''ils''' n. hand, bird's wing.

'''is''' vt. to fish.

'''ism''' pp. without.

'''išn''' n. wife. From ''éçeni'' 'his woman' /iʃɲ/ > [iʃn̩]

'''ïdasp''' vi. to harm

=J=

'''ja''' pron. 3sg.

'''jad''' adj. old.

'''jadv''' n. parent

'''jag''' vi. to play.

'''jagdï''' n. game

'''Jam''' n. the Sun

'''jamåišñ''' n. silver < 'sun-wife'

'''jamï''' n. mouth.

'''jas''' n. meat.

'''jaþ''' vt. to tend.

'''jaþab''' n. garden.

'''ječ''' n. arrow.

'''je''' conj. not

'''jeh''' n. river

'''jegï''' vt. to eat.

'''jelï''' adj. other.

'''jem''' vi. to row.

'''jes''' vt. to push.

'''jeså''' conj. nor.

'''ješ''' vt. to own

'''ješain''' vt. marry

'''jev''' conj. but not.

'''jisï''' vi. to leave.

'''jists''' vi. to come.

=K=

'''ka''' pp. on behalf of.

'''kadð''' n. friend.

'''kaiča''' n. gold < Gez. ''kaitja''

'''kaþ''' adj. correct.

'''keč''' adj. dirty.

'''kečisp''' iv. make dirty

'''kehåig''' n. ore < Gez. ''gehoig''

'''kek''' n. anvil < Gez. ''geg''

'''keken''' n. smithy

'''keklå''' n. blacksmith

'''kenč''' pp. towards.

'''klehan''' n. domesticated animal < Shet. ''klehan''

'''kluå''' n. leg.

'''kþshenh''' n. sister

'''ksah''' n. skin.

'''ksach''' n. mix.

'''ksam''' n. berry.

'''ksefn''' n. wild animal.

'''ksuþ''' adj. short.

'''kþalå''' n. brother. < Cet. ''kaθa lawa'' 'true man'

'''Kšalhå''' n. a Xshali

'''Kšalhåen''' n. Xshalad

'''kul''' n. hound

'''kud''' vi. to sleep.

=L=

'''la''' n. man, husband. ERG: '''lhi'''

'''lab''' n. smoke.

'''labsa''' n. jerkey

'''Lačend''' n. Rathedan

'''ladð''' n. many.

'''lai''' n. a horse breed from western Peilash < Shet. ''lai''

'''lanañ''' vt. to dig.

'''lap''' vt. to steal.

'''lapþaš''' n. thief

'''lat''' pp. under.

'''lasï''' n. back.

'''lheif''' vt. to wipe.

'''losk''' n. ear.

'''luñ''' n. right, east.

'''lum''' nt. to grind, to mill.

=M=

'''ma''' n. place, location.

'''maj''' vi. to shine.

'''Majn''' n. the Moon.

'''majnåen''' n. dream

'''majnsaip''' vt. to dream

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''maš''' n. earth

'''mašå''' n. human.

'''mašåks''' n. humankind, man

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''mazn''' iv. run vt. flee

'''mazn''' n. nose.

'''mål''' adj. 64

'''meč''' n. bear.

'''meû''' part. um, uhh

'''mina''' n. mom

'''modð''' adj. four.

'''moln''' pp. along.

'''moš''' n. tongue, language

'''mošisp''' n. to speak

'''mosk''' adj. sharp.

'''mosï''' vt. to sew.

'''mon''' n. dog.

'''monv''' n. puppy

'''monkïks''' n. herd.

'''mu''' adv. completely.

'''mumf''' adj. wet.

'''muñ''' adv. the day before yesterday.

'''musp''' vt. to suck.

=N=

'''na''' pron. I.

'''nadïn''' n. left, west.

'''nač''' adj. tame.

'''namï''' vi. to think.

'''nankï''' n. foot

'''nat''' pp. above.

'''naj''' adj. rare

'''nå''' pp. up.

'''nåas''' it. jump

'''nostï''' adj. three.

=Ñ=

'''ñaj''' adj. frequent.

'''ñej''' adj. smooth.

'''ñel''' adj. white.

'''ñeln''' pp. along

'''ñenkï''' n. sheep meŋu

'''ñif''' n. fog.

'''ñostï''' adj. pale, blunt.

=O=

'''opaya''' n. castle, fortress < Ad. ''ópaia''

'''osp''' n. rage.

'''ospas''' vt. to anger.

'''osï''' vt. to smell.

=P=

'''pad''' vi. to discover, to find

'''padgašbaš ''' n. prophet

'''padsa''' n. discovery

'''paðï''' n. tail

'''plag''' adj. new; n. novelty

'''plam''' n. flower.

'''psam''' vi. to smell bad błama

'''psamaha''' n. stench błama+xa

'''pså''' vi. to walk.

'''psås''' vi. to walk away.

'''ptasïn''' n. road, path.

'''pudðï''' pp. after, behind.

'''pusï''' n. wolf. >> '''puysuy'''

=S=

'''sa''' pron. we

'''sab''' adj. near

'''sag''' pp. inside.

'''sah''' n. eye.; NC7. sight

'''sahisp''' v. to see

'''sahn''' n. earth.

'''sålå''' n. priest.

'''sank''' n. spirit, soul.

'''så''' conj. or.

'''semna''' n. copper < Gez. ''zemra''

'''senj''' n. horse.

'''sej''' n. night.

'''sfaš''' vt. to fight.

'''sfašša''' n. fight.

'''synanj''' n. leaf

'''sþåb''' n. love.< ''česþå ab'' 'water of the heart'

'''swescin''' adj. surprising.

'''sudð''' adv. tomorrow.

'''sul''' adj. round.

'''sun''' adj. green. γłuna

'''sû''' adv. yesterday.

=Š=

'''š''' pp. down.

'''šankšåm''' vt. to know. <''çiganxajóma'' 'stand in the fire'

'''šasïn''' n. ear

'''šasïnisp''' vt. to hear

'''šavyan''' n. goat < Dimana Lokud ''zhavyan'' id.

'''ščists''' vi. to flow in. to arrive

'''šeO''' n. star

'''šecisp''' ‘to sing’

'''šec''' pp. instead.

'''šedðaš''' singer

'''šedy''' vi. to lie down, rest

'''šefy''' n. deer.

'''šeiby''' n. worm.

'''šeln''' n. horn.

'''šenj''' adj. together.

'''šenjan''' adj. starved.

'''šenjanaš''' v. to starve

'''šenjin''' n. woman

'''šes''' n. dung.

'''šesisp''' v. to defecate

'''šesk''' n. stone.

'''šeš''' n. soil.

'''šešasyn''' n. wall, rampart.

'''šev''' n. sand.

'''ši''' adj. two.

'''šips''' adj. dry.

'''šipsen''' n. desert

'''šign''' vi. to stand

'''šilpy''' n.ip. arm.

'''šist''' vt. to teach.

'''šiš''' n. snake

'''šin''' n. lake

'''škan''' vi. to defend

'''škOspa''' v. to heal

'''šna''' n. palm of hand.

'''šnOsp''' vt. to count.

'''šñamv''' adj. thin

'''šñaþ''' vt. to build, to make.

'''šosp''' vt. to burn.

'''šostþyn''' n. ashes.

'''štås''' vi. to flow out. to leave

'''štsas''' vt. to pull.

'''štus''' vtz. to place

'''šuå''' n. guts.

'''šuådy''' n. courage

'''šuådyšam''' adj. brave, courageous

'''šûk''' vi. to float.

'''šûkås''' vi. travel.

'''šûkåsty''' n. journey, travel

=T=

'''ta''' pron. you(sg.).

'''tab''' adj. one.

'''tag''' n. grass.

'''tavj''' pp. on.

'''tekim''' v. trade < Xsh. ''t'ekim''

'''tkač''' n. grassland.

'''tuv''' adj. few.

'''tuvdy''' n. scarcity, lack

'''tudð''' n. house, home.

'''tudðen''' n. village

'''tulus''' n. spice < Xsh. ''t'uluš, cinnamon''

=TH=
'''þa''' vt. to do, to make.

'''þa'''- pron. that yonder

'''þadðï''' adj. far

'''þač''' adv. there.

'''þaš''' n. milk.

'''þamy''' vi. to fall.

'''þan''' adj, cold.

'''þaþ''' vt. to use.

'''þaþud''' vt. to bite < ''þaþ ud'' 'use tooth'

'''þemf''' n.ip. daughter.

'''þynjån''' n. uncle

'''þjalå''' n. secret

'''þuš''' vt. to become

'''þul''' n. wool.

'''þund''' n. father.

'''þuny''' vt. to have sex with. >> '''þuynuy'''

'''þuv''' n. root.

'''þwa''' vt. to bend.

'''þwadðyn''' n. knee.

=Tþ=

'''tþa''' conj. and.

'''tþaddh''' conj. moreover.

'''tþag''' vi. to sit.

'''tþagas''' vt. to seat.

'''tþandðn''' adj. repeated.

'''tþïvðaš''' n. louse.

'''tþïvðjåš''' vi. be annoying

'''tþkasyn''' n. chair.

'''tþos''' conj. also.

'''tþufy''' vt. to itch.

'''tþub''' n. fruit.

'''tþuå''' n. blood.

'''tþuåšam''' adj. bloody, violent, destructive

=U=

'''ud''' n. tooth.

'''ul''' n. buddy, guy < Shetamol ''ul''

'''uš''' n. pain.

'''ušas''' vt. to cause pain.

'''us''' adj. five.

'''ûdðav''' n. egg.

=W=

'''wå''' n. vomit.

'''wåsp''' vi. to vomit.

'''wej''' adj. steep.

'''wejs''' vt. to kill.

'''wed''' vi. to turn. vt. to seduce

'''wedin(ðaš)''' n. seductress, prostitute

'''wedðy''' vt. to learn. From C. ''wedzu'' 'eat'

'''weje''' iv. to go, to travel to from Šet. ''weje'' to go

'''wen''' n. year.

'''weså''' n. sword < Gez. ''wesau''

'''wetsy''' n. liver.

'''wogy''' n. clever < Shet. ''wogu''

[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Western languages|Shtasa]]

Shtåså/Lexicon

2022-10-14T00:14:45Z

Arzena: /* Verb to Noun */

Here is the [[Shtåså]] Lexicon

=Derivativational Morphology=

==Verb to Noun==

-'''dzaš''' agent noun from verb.

-'''lji''' id.

-'''vn''' Abstract noun, (gerund) for verb action or state

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place

-'''dô'''; location at which the action of a root takes place. Eg., ''

-'''sa''' Result of verb or other relation to the base word.

-'''syn''' Instrument noun from verb.

==Nominal to Nominal==

-'''v''' Diminutive.

-'''dzyhanj''' Honorific.

-'''ks''' Collective. The root must be put in the oblique case.

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place; Eg., ''boš'' 'god, spirit' > ''bošum'' 'shrine'

-'''þlo''' Person with connection to base noun.

-'''dy''' Derives abstract noun from concrete noun or adjective.

-'''in''' Feminine.

==Nominal to Verb==
-'''isp''' general verbalizer.

-'''ists''' movement towards focus.

-'''aš''' stative verb (be noun).

-'''as''' causative.

'''en'''- frequently forms compounds: ''enfwej'' to farm 'give-seed'

==Adjectives and Adverbs==

-'''ddzy ''' Derives adverbs.

-'''am''' Derives adjectives from nouns. From -ama ‘with’

=Loan Words=

Shtasa has identifiable loan words from early Adata, Late Gezoro (from Southern and Central dialects), Šetâmol, and Xšali.

Shtåså usually borrows /r/ as /l/ initially or finally and as /n/ intervocally.

Ad.= Early Adāta

Gez.=Late Gezoro

Shet.=Šetâmol

Xsh.=Xšali

Abbreviations

adj. adjective.

adv. adverb.

conj. conjunction.

n. nominal.

pp. postposition.

vi. intransitive verb.

vt. transitive verb.

=Lexemes=
{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg sortable}}
! word !! type !! meaning !! etymology
|-
|=id||name suffix||lord, noble, lofty||Gez. =''e:do'' 'lord'
|-
| ab || n. || rain, NC2 ; tear, NC8 || ''agwa''
|-
| abisp || iv. || cry, weep || ''ab-isp''
|-
| ac||n. || fear|| ''adja''
|-
|Agôl||n||a winter month||Gez. ''agor'' 'rain'
|-
| ain||n. ||woman, wife || ''ajen''
|-
|ainv||n. || daughter, sister|| ''ain-v''
|-
|ajaun ||n. ||harp ||Ad. ''āliora''
|-
|alpom || vt.||forge || Ad. ''alpabam''
|-
| am||pp. ||comitive, with, alongside ||''ama''
|-
|Anac ||n. ||Anaiti, earth goddess ||Gez. ''Anaiti''
|-
|and ||n. ||stranger, foreigner || Ad. ''andak'', (-ak) interpreted as plural marker
|-
| anseltin||n. ||business, commerce ||Ad. ''ansertin''
|-
| ajuko||vt. ||trick, deceive ||Ad. ''aiuko''
|-
| aša||iv. ||copula ||
|-
|baddzyn|| n||forest ||
|-
|bom ||n ||brother ||
|-
| bontzuom||n||blood brother, ally || ''bom ttzuo am'' lit. 'brother with blood'
|-
|bosj ||n ||god, spirit ||
|-
|bosjam ||n ||holy; holiness ||
|-
|bosjtzlo||n ||priest, holy man ||
|-
|bosjiopaddy ||n ||a religion of Xshalad adopted by some Anhashnalaks || lit. 'path of holiness'
|-
|ben ||vt ||know; have sex with ||
|-
|bensa ||n || knowledge||
|-
|blun ||n ||belly, guts; fortitude, manly virtue ||
|-
| Cakonj||n ||Tjakori ||
|-
| ce||pp ||to, 'motion towards' ||
|-
| ce||pr ||this one ||
|-
| cec||vt; iv ||make, rub (ie leather); be able to ||
|-
| cek||n|| tribe, family, clan|| cf. ''Haiscek'' 'the Anhashnalaks', lit. 'the Great Tribe'
|-
|cekvn ||n ||tribal unity, solidarity, allegiance ||
|-
| ceny||n ||full || cf. ''enceny'' 'to fill up'
|-
| cenj||n ||fingernail; trifling small amount ||
|-
| ceslji||n ||daner ||
|-
| cessa||n ||dance ||
|-
| ces||vi ||dance || cf. ''ences'' 'seduce' lit. 'give dance'
|-
| cet||conj. ||but, however ||
|-
| ci||n ||land ||
|-
|gonj||n|| salt ||Gez. ''go:re:''
|-
|gos||n||cliff||Gez. ''gwɔs'' 'side, edge'
|-
|jog||vt||dance||Gez. ''jogo''
|-
|jaumʉ||n||servant|| Gez. ''jomoi'' 'person'
|-
|keh||n||anvil|| Gez. ''ke:x''
|-
|kuða||n||bedroom||Gez. ''kuza'' 'bed'
|-
| oc||adv. ||day after tomorrow ||
|-
| oldð||vt. ||hit, strike, punch ||
|-
|oldða ||n. ||strike, punch ||
|-
|of ||n. ||beans, grains ||
|-
|oj ||iv. ||die ||
|-
|oisa ||n. ||death, passing ||
|-
|jesusa||n||love, affection, care|| Gez. ''jesu'' + Sht. -''sa''
|-
|kʉnot||n||ibex, mountain goat, goat|| Gez. ''khoinod''
|-
|kilja||n||steppe, high plains|| Gez. ''khi:lja''
|-
|kinjol||n||council, meeting||Gez. ''khinja:ra''
|-
|kôs|| n.||pine tree||Gez. ''kos'' 'tree'
|-
| || || ||
|}

=c=

'''Cakonj''' Tjakori

'''ce''' pp. to.

'''ce'''- pron. this

'''cec''' vi. to make leather. vt. to rub vi. be able to

'''cek''' n. tribe.

'''cekvn''' n. solidarity, allegiance to one's tribe

'''ceklo''' n. kinsman

'''celd''' vt. to understand

'''ceny''' adj. full.

'''cenj''' n.ip. fingernail.

'''ces''' vi. dance.

'''ceslo''' n. dancer

'''cessa''' n. dance

'''cesþ''' n. heart.

'''cet''' conj. but, however.

'''ci''' n land.

'''cic''' adj. straight.

'''cig''' adj. yellow., cowardly

'''cigakf ''' n. a medicinal flower

'''cij''' vt. to want.

'''cik''' adj. continous.

'''civn''' n. desire

'''cyvlag''' n. flood

'''cos''' n. hair.

'''cufy''' vt. to gather, to hunt. >> '''cuyfuy'''

'''caiš''' n. breast.

'''cwen''' n. next year.

'''cwifj''' n. water.

=D=

'''da'''- pron. that .

'''damï''' adj. thick.

'''dac''' adv. here.

'''dacdy''' n. presence

'''daln''' vi. to swim, to fly.

'''dah''' vi. to shout.

'''dahas''' vt. to talk.

'''dišak''' n. any foreign ruler < Ad. ''*dizhaka''

'''dunja''' n. flattery < Ad. ''*du~ya, praise''

'''duh''' adj. good.

'''duk''' conj. therefore.

'''dušam''' adj. blue

'''duy''' n. sky

=Dð=

'''dða''' pp. for, dative marker.

'''dðel''' conj. because

'''dðaln''' vt. to stab.

'''dðûdašn''' n. bird.

'''dðam''' adj. red.

'''dðeč''' vt. to say.

'''dðeča''' n. word

'''dðun''' adj. long.

=E=

'''ej''' conj. if.

'''eldï''' n. cause.

'''en''' vt. to give.

'''en''' n. gift

'''enab''' v. to rain

'''enan''' iv. to darken vt. to set

'''end''' n. feather

'''endam''' adj. soft

'''eneiš''' vt. to fatten

'''enfwej''' v. to farm

=F=

'''fa'''- pron. everything, everyone, all.

'''fafta''' vt. to shoot, to launch.

'''fan''' conj. then, next.

'''fas''' vt. to mock.

'''fat''' vt. to throw.

'''fål''' vi. to swell.

'''fålčesþa''' n. sorrow <''fål-česþ-sa 'heart-swelling'

'''fčuddz''' relative pronoun. where

'''fe''' conj. but.

'''febï''' vt. to cook.

'''fel''' n. child, son ERG: '''felj'''

'''feljin''' n. daughter

'''feny''' n. head, brains, smarts.

'''fi'''- relative pronoun

'''fis''' vi. to make felt.

'''fyjosyn''' n. lung

'''fsasyn''' n. knife

'''ftaječ''' vt. shoot with a bow

'''fwej''' n. seed.

'''fweš''' n. tree bark.

'''fwiv''' n. seman, essence

'''fwivvin''' n. ejaculation

'''fwivisp''' v. ejaculate

'''fuå''' vi. to breathe, to blow.

'''fuås''' vt. to inflate.

'''fuð''' n. chief.

'''fuðåš''' vt. rule

=H=

'''hab''' n. tree.

'''haf''' vi. to laugh.

'''hok''' n. rock

'''halï''' vt. to fasten.

'''han''' adj. black.

'''hanj''' adj. big, great ; adv. very (manifests as ''hai-'' in compounds like ''Haisdeya'')

'''haišeiby''' n. snake, serpant < 'great-worm'

'''hammål''' adj. 624

'''haša''' n. fire.

'''hå''' adj. narrow

'''hå''' pp. outside.

'''hej''' vi. to run.

'''heiš''' n. fat, grease.

'''hem''' adj. bad.

'''hib''' adj. some.

'''hiš''' n. day.

'''hišåpudðï''' adv. tomorrow

'''hinå''' n. pine.

'''hinåþaš''' n. sap, syrup < 'pine-milk'

'''hlat''' vt. to milk.

'''hweiš''' n. neck.

'''hwič''' n. fish.

'''hug''' n. pig.

'''hulï''' n.ip. anus.

'''hulp''' vt. to hunt.

'''hust''' n. boat.

'''hûmaš''' adj. rotten.

=V=

'''vasï''' n. bone.

'''vegï''' adj. quick.

'''velh''' n. mountain.

'''vej''' n. hill.

'''ves''' vt. to cut, to split bevesa

'''vguðï''' n. eagle.

'''vgïþtuð''' n. cloud

'''vid''' n. wind.

'''viv''' vt. to drink.

'''viå''' vi. to live

'''viås''' vt. to give birth

'''vnaðaš''' n. sage

'''vosk''' n. spit.

'''voskasp''' vi. to spit.

'''vos''' vt. to wash.

'''vuš''' adj. heavy.

=I=

'''ið''' adj. slow.

'''iñ''' n. name.

'''iñaš''' iv. to have a reputation, to be somebody vt. to name

'''ils''' n. hand, bird's wing.

'''is''' vt. to fish.

'''ism''' pp. without.

'''išn''' n. wife. From ''éçeni'' 'his woman' /iʃɲ/ > [iʃn̩]

'''ïdasp''' vi. to harm

=J=

'''ja''' pron. 3sg.

'''jad''' adj. old.

'''jadv''' n. parent

'''jag''' vi. to play.

'''jagdï''' n. game

'''Jam''' n. the Sun

'''jamåišñ''' n. silver < 'sun-wife'

'''jamï''' n. mouth.

'''jas''' n. meat.

'''jaþ''' vt. to tend.

'''jaþab''' n. garden.

'''ječ''' n. arrow.

'''je''' conj. not

'''jeh''' n. river

'''jegï''' vt. to eat.

'''jelï''' adj. other.

'''jem''' vi. to row.

'''jes''' vt. to push.

'''jeså''' conj. nor.

'''ješ''' vt. to own

'''ješain''' vt. marry

'''jev''' conj. but not.

'''jisï''' vi. to leave.

'''jists''' vi. to come.

=K=

'''ka''' pp. on behalf of.

'''kadð''' n. friend.

'''kaiča''' n. gold < Gez. ''kaitja''

'''kaþ''' adj. correct.

'''keč''' adj. dirty.

'''kečisp''' iv. make dirty

'''kehåig''' n. ore < Gez. ''gehoig''

'''kek''' n. anvil < Gez. ''geg''

'''keken''' n. smithy

'''keklå''' n. blacksmith

'''kenč''' pp. towards.

'''klehan''' n. domesticated animal < Shet. ''klehan''

'''kluå''' n. leg.

'''kþshenh''' n. sister

'''ksah''' n. skin.

'''ksach''' n. mix.

'''ksam''' n. berry.

'''ksefn''' n. wild animal.

'''ksuþ''' adj. short.

'''kþalå''' n. brother. < Cet. ''kaθa lawa'' 'true man'

'''Kšalhå''' n. a Xshali

'''Kšalhåen''' n. Xshalad

'''kul''' n. hound

'''kud''' vi. to sleep.

=L=

'''la''' n. man, husband. ERG: '''lhi'''

'''lab''' n. smoke.

'''labsa''' n. jerkey

'''Lačend''' n. Rathedan

'''ladð''' n. many.

'''lai''' n. a horse breed from western Peilash < Shet. ''lai''

'''lanañ''' vt. to dig.

'''lap''' vt. to steal.

'''lapþaš''' n. thief

'''lat''' pp. under.

'''lasï''' n. back.

'''lheif''' vt. to wipe.

'''losk''' n. ear.

'''luñ''' n. right, east.

'''lum''' nt. to grind, to mill.

=M=

'''ma''' n. place, location.

'''maj''' vi. to shine.

'''Majn''' n. the Moon.

'''majnåen''' n. dream

'''majnsaip''' vt. to dream

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''maš''' n. earth

'''mašå''' n. human.

'''mašåks''' n. humankind, man

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''mazn''' iv. run vt. flee

'''mazn''' n. nose.

'''mål''' adj. 64

'''meč''' n. bear.

'''meû''' part. um, uhh

'''mina''' n. mom

'''modð''' adj. four.

'''moln''' pp. along.

'''moš''' n. tongue, language

'''mošisp''' n. to speak

'''mosk''' adj. sharp.

'''mosï''' vt. to sew.

'''mon''' n. dog.

'''monv''' n. puppy

'''monkïks''' n. herd.

'''mu''' adv. completely.

'''mumf''' adj. wet.

'''muñ''' adv. the day before yesterday.

'''musp''' vt. to suck.

=N=

'''na''' pron. I.

'''nadïn''' n. left, west.

'''nač''' adj. tame.

'''namï''' vi. to think.

'''nankï''' n. foot

'''nat''' pp. above.

'''naj''' adj. rare

'''nå''' pp. up.

'''nåas''' it. jump

'''nostï''' adj. three.

=Ñ=

'''ñaj''' adj. frequent.

'''ñej''' adj. smooth.

'''ñel''' adj. white.

'''ñeln''' pp. along

'''ñenkï''' n. sheep meŋu

'''ñif''' n. fog.

'''ñostï''' adj. pale, blunt.

=O=

'''opaya''' n. castle, fortress < Ad. ''ópaia''

'''osp''' n. rage.

'''ospas''' vt. to anger.

'''osï''' vt. to smell.

=P=

'''pad''' vi. to discover, to find

'''padgašbaš ''' n. prophet

'''padsa''' n. discovery

'''paðï''' n. tail

'''plag''' adj. new; n. novelty

'''plam''' n. flower.

'''psam''' vi. to smell bad błama

'''psamaha''' n. stench błama+xa

'''pså''' vi. to walk.

'''psås''' vi. to walk away.

'''ptasïn''' n. road, path.

'''pudðï''' pp. after, behind.

'''pusï''' n. wolf. >> '''puysuy'''

=S=

'''sa''' pron. we

'''sab''' adj. near

'''sag''' pp. inside.

'''sah''' n. eye.; NC7. sight

'''sahisp''' v. to see

'''sahn''' n. earth.

'''sålå''' n. priest.

'''sank''' n. spirit, soul.

'''så''' conj. or.

'''semna''' n. copper < Gez. ''zemra''

'''senj''' n. horse.

'''sej''' n. night.

'''sfaš''' vt. to fight.

'''sfašša''' n. fight.

'''synanj''' n. leaf

'''sþåb''' n. love.< ''česþå ab'' 'water of the heart'

'''swescin''' adj. surprising.

'''sudð''' adv. tomorrow.

'''sul''' adj. round.

'''sun''' adj. green. γłuna

'''sû''' adv. yesterday.

=Š=

'''š''' pp. down.

'''šankšåm''' vt. to know. <''çiganxajóma'' 'stand in the fire'

'''šasïn''' n. ear

'''šasïnisp''' vt. to hear

'''šavyan''' n. goat < Dimana Lokud ''zhavyan'' id.

'''ščists''' vi. to flow in. to arrive

'''šeO''' n. star

'''šecisp''' ‘to sing’

'''šec''' pp. instead.

'''šedðaš''' singer

'''šedy''' vi. to lie down, rest

'''šefy''' n. deer.

'''šeiby''' n. worm.

'''šeln''' n. horn.

'''šenj''' adj. together.

'''šenjan''' adj. starved.

'''šenjanaš''' v. to starve

'''šenjin''' n. woman

'''šes''' n. dung.

'''šesisp''' v. to defecate

'''šesk''' n. stone.

'''šeš''' n. soil.

'''šešasyn''' n. wall, rampart.

'''šev''' n. sand.

'''ši''' adj. two.

'''šips''' adj. dry.

'''šipsen''' n. desert

'''šign''' vi. to stand

'''šilpy''' n.ip. arm.

'''šist''' vt. to teach.

'''šiš''' n. snake

'''šin''' n. lake

'''škan''' vi. to defend

'''škOspa''' v. to heal

'''šna''' n. palm of hand.

'''šnOsp''' vt. to count.

'''šñamv''' adj. thin

'''šñaþ''' vt. to build, to make.

'''šosp''' vt. to burn.

'''šostþyn''' n. ashes.

'''štås''' vi. to flow out. to leave

'''štsas''' vt. to pull.

'''štus''' vtz. to place

'''šuå''' n. guts.

'''šuådy''' n. courage

'''šuådyšam''' adj. brave, courageous

'''šûk''' vi. to float.

'''šûkås''' vi. travel.

'''šûkåsty''' n. journey, travel

=T=

'''ta''' pron. you(sg.).

'''tab''' adj. one.

'''tag''' n. grass.

'''tavj''' pp. on.

'''tekim''' v. trade < Xsh. ''t'ekim''

'''tkač''' n. grassland.

'''tuv''' adj. few.

'''tuvdy''' n. scarcity, lack

'''tudð''' n. house, home.

'''tudðen''' n. village

'''tulus''' n. spice < Xsh. ''t'uluš, cinnamon''

=TH=
'''þa''' vt. to do, to make.

'''þa'''- pron. that yonder

'''þadðï''' adj. far

'''þač''' adv. there.

'''þaš''' n. milk.

'''þamy''' vi. to fall.

'''þan''' adj, cold.

'''þaþ''' vt. to use.

'''þaþud''' vt. to bite < ''þaþ ud'' 'use tooth'

'''þemf''' n.ip. daughter.

'''þynjån''' n. uncle

'''þjalå''' n. secret

'''þuš''' vt. to become

'''þul''' n. wool.

'''þund''' n. father.

'''þuny''' vt. to have sex with. >> '''þuynuy'''

'''þuv''' n. root.

'''þwa''' vt. to bend.

'''þwadðyn''' n. knee.

=Tþ=

'''tþa''' conj. and.

'''tþaddh''' conj. moreover.

'''tþag''' vi. to sit.

'''tþagas''' vt. to seat.

'''tþandðn''' adj. repeated.

'''tþïvðaš''' n. louse.

'''tþïvðjåš''' vi. be annoying

'''tþkasyn''' n. chair.

'''tþos''' conj. also.

'''tþufy''' vt. to itch.

'''tþub''' n. fruit.

'''tþuå''' n. blood.

'''tþuåšam''' adj. bloody, violent, destructive

=U=

'''ud''' n. tooth.

'''ul''' n. buddy, guy < Shetamol ''ul''

'''uš''' n. pain.

'''ušas''' vt. to cause pain.

'''us''' adj. five.

'''ûdðav''' n. egg.

=W=

'''wå''' n. vomit.

'''wåsp''' vi. to vomit.

'''wej''' adj. steep.

'''wejs''' vt. to kill.

'''wed''' vi. to turn. vt. to seduce

'''wedin(ðaš)''' n. seductress, prostitute

'''wedðy''' vt. to learn. From C. ''wedzu'' 'eat'

'''weje''' iv. to go, to travel to from Šet. ''weje'' to go

'''wen''' n. year.

'''weså''' n. sword < Gez. ''wesau''

'''wetsy''' n. liver.

'''wogy''' n. clever < Shet. ''wogu''

[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Western languages|Shtasa]]

Shtåså/Lexicon

2022-10-14T00:14:14Z

Arzena: /* B */

Here is the [[Shtåså]] Lexicon

=Derivativational Morphology=

==Verb to Noun==

-'''dzaš''' agent noun from verb.

-'''vn''' Abstract noun, (gerund) for verb action or state

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place

-'''dô'''; location at which the action of a root takes place. Eg., ''

-'''sa''' Result of verb or other relation to the base word.

-'''syn''' Instrument noun from verb.

==Nominal to Nominal==

-'''v''' Diminutive.

-'''dzyhanj''' Honorific.

-'''ks''' Collective. The root must be put in the oblique case.

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place; Eg., ''boš'' 'god, spirit' > ''bošum'' 'shrine'

-'''þlo''' Person with connection to base noun.

-'''dy''' Derives abstract noun from concrete noun or adjective.

-'''in''' Feminine.

==Nominal to Verb==
-'''isp''' general verbalizer.

-'''ists''' movement towards focus.

-'''aš''' stative verb (be noun).

-'''as''' causative.

'''en'''- frequently forms compounds: ''enfwej'' to farm 'give-seed'

==Adjectives and Adverbs==

-'''ddzy ''' Derives adverbs.

-'''am''' Derives adjectives from nouns. From -ama ‘with’

=Loan Words=

Shtasa has identifiable loan words from early Adata, Late Gezoro (from Southern and Central dialects), Šetâmol, and Xšali.

Shtåså usually borrows /r/ as /l/ initially or finally and as /n/ intervocally.

Ad.= Early Adāta

Gez.=Late Gezoro

Shet.=Šetâmol

Xsh.=Xšali

Abbreviations

adj. adjective.

adv. adverb.

conj. conjunction.

n. nominal.

pp. postposition.

vi. intransitive verb.

vt. transitive verb.

=Lexemes=
{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg sortable}}
! word !! type !! meaning !! etymology
|-
|=id||name suffix||lord, noble, lofty||Gez. =''e:do'' 'lord'
|-
| ab || n. || rain, NC2 ; tear, NC8 || ''agwa''
|-
| abisp || iv. || cry, weep || ''ab-isp''
|-
| ac||n. || fear|| ''adja''
|-
|Agôl||n||a winter month||Gez. ''agor'' 'rain'
|-
| ain||n. ||woman, wife || ''ajen''
|-
|ainv||n. || daughter, sister|| ''ain-v''
|-
|ajaun ||n. ||harp ||Ad. ''āliora''
|-
|alpom || vt.||forge || Ad. ''alpabam''
|-
| am||pp. ||comitive, with, alongside ||''ama''
|-
|Anac ||n. ||Anaiti, earth goddess ||Gez. ''Anaiti''
|-
|and ||n. ||stranger, foreigner || Ad. ''andak'', (-ak) interpreted as plural marker
|-
| anseltin||n. ||business, commerce ||Ad. ''ansertin''
|-
| ajuko||vt. ||trick, deceive ||Ad. ''aiuko''
|-
| aša||iv. ||copula ||
|-
|baddzyn|| n||forest ||
|-
|bom ||n ||brother ||
|-
| bontzuom||n||blood brother, ally || ''bom ttzuo am'' lit. 'brother with blood'
|-
|bosj ||n ||god, spirit ||
|-
|bosjam ||n ||holy; holiness ||
|-
|bosjtzlo||n ||priest, holy man ||
|-
|bosjiopaddy ||n ||a religion of Xshalad adopted by some Anhashnalaks || lit. 'path of holiness'
|-
|ben ||vt ||know; have sex with ||
|-
|bensa ||n || knowledge||
|-
|blun ||n ||belly, guts; fortitude, manly virtue ||
|-
| Cakonj||n ||Tjakori ||
|-
| ce||pp ||to, 'motion towards' ||
|-
| ce||pr ||this one ||
|-
| cec||vt; iv ||make, rub (ie leather); be able to ||
|-
| cek||n|| tribe, family, clan|| cf. ''Haiscek'' 'the Anhashnalaks', lit. 'the Great Tribe'
|-
|cekvn ||n ||tribal unity, solidarity, allegiance ||
|-
| ceny||n ||full || cf. ''enceny'' 'to fill up'
|-
| cenj||n ||fingernail; trifling small amount ||
|-
| ceslji||n ||daner ||
|-
| cessa||n ||dance ||
|-
| ces||vi ||dance || cf. ''ences'' 'seduce' lit. 'give dance'
|-
| cet||conj. ||but, however ||
|-
| ci||n ||land ||
|-
|gonj||n|| salt ||Gez. ''go:re:''
|-
|gos||n||cliff||Gez. ''gwɔs'' 'side, edge'
|-
|jog||vt||dance||Gez. ''jogo''
|-
|jaumʉ||n||servant|| Gez. ''jomoi'' 'person'
|-
|keh||n||anvil|| Gez. ''ke:x''
|-
|kuða||n||bedroom||Gez. ''kuza'' 'bed'
|-
| oc||adv. ||day after tomorrow ||
|-
| oldð||vt. ||hit, strike, punch ||
|-
|oldða ||n. ||strike, punch ||
|-
|of ||n. ||beans, grains ||
|-
|oj ||iv. ||die ||
|-
|oisa ||n. ||death, passing ||
|-
|jesusa||n||love, affection, care|| Gez. ''jesu'' + Sht. -''sa''
|-
|kʉnot||n||ibex, mountain goat, goat|| Gez. ''khoinod''
|-
|kilja||n||steppe, high plains|| Gez. ''khi:lja''
|-
|kinjol||n||council, meeting||Gez. ''khinja:ra''
|-
|kôs|| n.||pine tree||Gez. ''kos'' 'tree'
|-
| || || ||
|}

=c=

'''Cakonj''' Tjakori

'''ce''' pp. to.

'''ce'''- pron. this

'''cec''' vi. to make leather. vt. to rub vi. be able to

'''cek''' n. tribe.

'''cekvn''' n. solidarity, allegiance to one's tribe

'''ceklo''' n. kinsman

'''celd''' vt. to understand

'''ceny''' adj. full.

'''cenj''' n.ip. fingernail.

'''ces''' vi. dance.

'''ceslo''' n. dancer

'''cessa''' n. dance

'''cesþ''' n. heart.

'''cet''' conj. but, however.

'''ci''' n land.

'''cic''' adj. straight.

'''cig''' adj. yellow., cowardly

'''cigakf ''' n. a medicinal flower

'''cij''' vt. to want.

'''cik''' adj. continous.

'''civn''' n. desire

'''cyvlag''' n. flood

'''cos''' n. hair.

'''cufy''' vt. to gather, to hunt. >> '''cuyfuy'''

'''caiš''' n. breast.

'''cwen''' n. next year.

'''cwifj''' n. water.

=D=

'''da'''- pron. that .

'''damï''' adj. thick.

'''dac''' adv. here.

'''dacdy''' n. presence

'''daln''' vi. to swim, to fly.

'''dah''' vi. to shout.

'''dahas''' vt. to talk.

'''dišak''' n. any foreign ruler < Ad. ''*dizhaka''

'''dunja''' n. flattery < Ad. ''*du~ya, praise''

'''duh''' adj. good.

'''duk''' conj. therefore.

'''dušam''' adj. blue

'''duy''' n. sky

=Dð=

'''dða''' pp. for, dative marker.

'''dðel''' conj. because

'''dðaln''' vt. to stab.

'''dðûdašn''' n. bird.

'''dðam''' adj. red.

'''dðeč''' vt. to say.

'''dðeča''' n. word

'''dðun''' adj. long.

=E=

'''ej''' conj. if.

'''eldï''' n. cause.

'''en''' vt. to give.

'''en''' n. gift

'''enab''' v. to rain

'''enan''' iv. to darken vt. to set

'''end''' n. feather

'''endam''' adj. soft

'''eneiš''' vt. to fatten

'''enfwej''' v. to farm

=F=

'''fa'''- pron. everything, everyone, all.

'''fafta''' vt. to shoot, to launch.

'''fan''' conj. then, next.

'''fas''' vt. to mock.

'''fat''' vt. to throw.

'''fål''' vi. to swell.

'''fålčesþa''' n. sorrow <''fål-česþ-sa 'heart-swelling'

'''fčuddz''' relative pronoun. where

'''fe''' conj. but.

'''febï''' vt. to cook.

'''fel''' n. child, son ERG: '''felj'''

'''feljin''' n. daughter

'''feny''' n. head, brains, smarts.

'''fi'''- relative pronoun

'''fis''' vi. to make felt.

'''fyjosyn''' n. lung

'''fsasyn''' n. knife

'''ftaječ''' vt. shoot with a bow

'''fwej''' n. seed.

'''fweš''' n. tree bark.

'''fwiv''' n. seman, essence

'''fwivvin''' n. ejaculation

'''fwivisp''' v. ejaculate

'''fuå''' vi. to breathe, to blow.

'''fuås''' vt. to inflate.

'''fuð''' n. chief.

'''fuðåš''' vt. rule

=H=

'''hab''' n. tree.

'''haf''' vi. to laugh.

'''hok''' n. rock

'''halï''' vt. to fasten.

'''han''' adj. black.

'''hanj''' adj. big, great ; adv. very (manifests as ''hai-'' in compounds like ''Haisdeya'')

'''haišeiby''' n. snake, serpant < 'great-worm'

'''hammål''' adj. 624

'''haša''' n. fire.

'''hå''' adj. narrow

'''hå''' pp. outside.

'''hej''' vi. to run.

'''heiš''' n. fat, grease.

'''hem''' adj. bad.

'''hib''' adj. some.

'''hiš''' n. day.

'''hišåpudðï''' adv. tomorrow

'''hinå''' n. pine.

'''hinåþaš''' n. sap, syrup < 'pine-milk'

'''hlat''' vt. to milk.

'''hweiš''' n. neck.

'''hwič''' n. fish.

'''hug''' n. pig.

'''hulï''' n.ip. anus.

'''hulp''' vt. to hunt.

'''hust''' n. boat.

'''hûmaš''' adj. rotten.

=V=

'''vasï''' n. bone.

'''vegï''' adj. quick.

'''velh''' n. mountain.

'''vej''' n. hill.

'''ves''' vt. to cut, to split bevesa

'''vguðï''' n. eagle.

'''vgïþtuð''' n. cloud

'''vid''' n. wind.

'''viv''' vt. to drink.

'''viå''' vi. to live

'''viås''' vt. to give birth

'''vnaðaš''' n. sage

'''vosk''' n. spit.

'''voskasp''' vi. to spit.

'''vos''' vt. to wash.

'''vuš''' adj. heavy.

=I=

'''ið''' adj. slow.

'''iñ''' n. name.

'''iñaš''' iv. to have a reputation, to be somebody vt. to name

'''ils''' n. hand, bird's wing.

'''is''' vt. to fish.

'''ism''' pp. without.

'''išn''' n. wife. From ''éçeni'' 'his woman' /iʃɲ/ > [iʃn̩]

'''ïdasp''' vi. to harm

=J=

'''ja''' pron. 3sg.

'''jad''' adj. old.

'''jadv''' n. parent

'''jag''' vi. to play.

'''jagdï''' n. game

'''Jam''' n. the Sun

'''jamåišñ''' n. silver < 'sun-wife'

'''jamï''' n. mouth.

'''jas''' n. meat.

'''jaþ''' vt. to tend.

'''jaþab''' n. garden.

'''ječ''' n. arrow.

'''je''' conj. not

'''jeh''' n. river

'''jegï''' vt. to eat.

'''jelï''' adj. other.

'''jem''' vi. to row.

'''jes''' vt. to push.

'''jeså''' conj. nor.

'''ješ''' vt. to own

'''ješain''' vt. marry

'''jev''' conj. but not.

'''jisï''' vi. to leave.

'''jists''' vi. to come.

=K=

'''ka''' pp. on behalf of.

'''kadð''' n. friend.

'''kaiča''' n. gold < Gez. ''kaitja''

'''kaþ''' adj. correct.

'''keč''' adj. dirty.

'''kečisp''' iv. make dirty

'''kehåig''' n. ore < Gez. ''gehoig''

'''kek''' n. anvil < Gez. ''geg''

'''keken''' n. smithy

'''keklå''' n. blacksmith

'''kenč''' pp. towards.

'''klehan''' n. domesticated animal < Shet. ''klehan''

'''kluå''' n. leg.

'''kþshenh''' n. sister

'''ksah''' n. skin.

'''ksach''' n. mix.

'''ksam''' n. berry.

'''ksefn''' n. wild animal.

'''ksuþ''' adj. short.

'''kþalå''' n. brother. < Cet. ''kaθa lawa'' 'true man'

'''Kšalhå''' n. a Xshali

'''Kšalhåen''' n. Xshalad

'''kul''' n. hound

'''kud''' vi. to sleep.

=L=

'''la''' n. man, husband. ERG: '''lhi'''

'''lab''' n. smoke.

'''labsa''' n. jerkey

'''Lačend''' n. Rathedan

'''ladð''' n. many.

'''lai''' n. a horse breed from western Peilash < Shet. ''lai''

'''lanañ''' vt. to dig.

'''lap''' vt. to steal.

'''lapþaš''' n. thief

'''lat''' pp. under.

'''lasï''' n. back.

'''lheif''' vt. to wipe.

'''losk''' n. ear.

'''luñ''' n. right, east.

'''lum''' nt. to grind, to mill.

=M=

'''ma''' n. place, location.

'''maj''' vi. to shine.

'''Majn''' n. the Moon.

'''majnåen''' n. dream

'''majnsaip''' vt. to dream

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''maš''' n. earth

'''mašå''' n. human.

'''mašåks''' n. humankind, man

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''mazn''' iv. run vt. flee

'''mazn''' n. nose.

'''mål''' adj. 64

'''meč''' n. bear.

'''meû''' part. um, uhh

'''mina''' n. mom

'''modð''' adj. four.

'''moln''' pp. along.

'''moš''' n. tongue, language

'''mošisp''' n. to speak

'''mosk''' adj. sharp.

'''mosï''' vt. to sew.

'''mon''' n. dog.

'''monv''' n. puppy

'''monkïks''' n. herd.

'''mu''' adv. completely.

'''mumf''' adj. wet.

'''muñ''' adv. the day before yesterday.

'''musp''' vt. to suck.

=N=

'''na''' pron. I.

'''nadïn''' n. left, west.

'''nač''' adj. tame.

'''namï''' vi. to think.

'''nankï''' n. foot

'''nat''' pp. above.

'''naj''' adj. rare

'''nå''' pp. up.

'''nåas''' it. jump

'''nostï''' adj. three.

=Ñ=

'''ñaj''' adj. frequent.

'''ñej''' adj. smooth.

'''ñel''' adj. white.

'''ñeln''' pp. along

'''ñenkï''' n. sheep meŋu

'''ñif''' n. fog.

'''ñostï''' adj. pale, blunt.

=O=

'''opaya''' n. castle, fortress < Ad. ''ópaia''

'''osp''' n. rage.

'''ospas''' vt. to anger.

'''osï''' vt. to smell.

=P=

'''pad''' vi. to discover, to find

'''padgašbaš ''' n. prophet

'''padsa''' n. discovery

'''paðï''' n. tail

'''plag''' adj. new; n. novelty

'''plam''' n. flower.

'''psam''' vi. to smell bad błama

'''psamaha''' n. stench błama+xa

'''pså''' vi. to walk.

'''psås''' vi. to walk away.

'''ptasïn''' n. road, path.

'''pudðï''' pp. after, behind.

'''pusï''' n. wolf. >> '''puysuy'''

=S=

'''sa''' pron. we

'''sab''' adj. near

'''sag''' pp. inside.

'''sah''' n. eye.; NC7. sight

'''sahisp''' v. to see

'''sahn''' n. earth.

'''sålå''' n. priest.

'''sank''' n. spirit, soul.

'''så''' conj. or.

'''semna''' n. copper < Gez. ''zemra''

'''senj''' n. horse.

'''sej''' n. night.

'''sfaš''' vt. to fight.

'''sfašša''' n. fight.

'''synanj''' n. leaf

'''sþåb''' n. love.< ''česþå ab'' 'water of the heart'

'''swescin''' adj. surprising.

'''sudð''' adv. tomorrow.

'''sul''' adj. round.

'''sun''' adj. green. γłuna

'''sû''' adv. yesterday.

=Š=

'''š''' pp. down.

'''šankšåm''' vt. to know. <''çiganxajóma'' 'stand in the fire'

'''šasïn''' n. ear

'''šasïnisp''' vt. to hear

'''šavyan''' n. goat < Dimana Lokud ''zhavyan'' id.

'''ščists''' vi. to flow in. to arrive

'''šeO''' n. star

'''šecisp''' ‘to sing’

'''šec''' pp. instead.

'''šedðaš''' singer

'''šedy''' vi. to lie down, rest

'''šefy''' n. deer.

'''šeiby''' n. worm.

'''šeln''' n. horn.

'''šenj''' adj. together.

'''šenjan''' adj. starved.

'''šenjanaš''' v. to starve

'''šenjin''' n. woman

'''šes''' n. dung.

'''šesisp''' v. to defecate

'''šesk''' n. stone.

'''šeš''' n. soil.

'''šešasyn''' n. wall, rampart.

'''šev''' n. sand.

'''ši''' adj. two.

'''šips''' adj. dry.

'''šipsen''' n. desert

'''šign''' vi. to stand

'''šilpy''' n.ip. arm.

'''šist''' vt. to teach.

'''šiš''' n. snake

'''šin''' n. lake

'''škan''' vi. to defend

'''škOspa''' v. to heal

'''šna''' n. palm of hand.

'''šnOsp''' vt. to count.

'''šñamv''' adj. thin

'''šñaþ''' vt. to build, to make.

'''šosp''' vt. to burn.

'''šostþyn''' n. ashes.

'''štås''' vi. to flow out. to leave

'''štsas''' vt. to pull.

'''štus''' vtz. to place

'''šuå''' n. guts.

'''šuådy''' n. courage

'''šuådyšam''' adj. brave, courageous

'''šûk''' vi. to float.

'''šûkås''' vi. travel.

'''šûkåsty''' n. journey, travel

=T=

'''ta''' pron. you(sg.).

'''tab''' adj. one.

'''tag''' n. grass.

'''tavj''' pp. on.

'''tekim''' v. trade < Xsh. ''t'ekim''

'''tkač''' n. grassland.

'''tuv''' adj. few.

'''tuvdy''' n. scarcity, lack

'''tudð''' n. house, home.

'''tudðen''' n. village

'''tulus''' n. spice < Xsh. ''t'uluš, cinnamon''

=TH=
'''þa''' vt. to do, to make.

'''þa'''- pron. that yonder

'''þadðï''' adj. far

'''þač''' adv. there.

'''þaš''' n. milk.

'''þamy''' vi. to fall.

'''þan''' adj, cold.

'''þaþ''' vt. to use.

'''þaþud''' vt. to bite < ''þaþ ud'' 'use tooth'

'''þemf''' n.ip. daughter.

'''þynjån''' n. uncle

'''þjalå''' n. secret

'''þuš''' vt. to become

'''þul''' n. wool.

'''þund''' n. father.

'''þuny''' vt. to have sex with. >> '''þuynuy'''

'''þuv''' n. root.

'''þwa''' vt. to bend.

'''þwadðyn''' n. knee.

=Tþ=

'''tþa''' conj. and.

'''tþaddh''' conj. moreover.

'''tþag''' vi. to sit.

'''tþagas''' vt. to seat.

'''tþandðn''' adj. repeated.

'''tþïvðaš''' n. louse.

'''tþïvðjåš''' vi. be annoying

'''tþkasyn''' n. chair.

'''tþos''' conj. also.

'''tþufy''' vt. to itch.

'''tþub''' n. fruit.

'''tþuå''' n. blood.

'''tþuåšam''' adj. bloody, violent, destructive

=U=

'''ud''' n. tooth.

'''ul''' n. buddy, guy < Shetamol ''ul''

'''uš''' n. pain.

'''ušas''' vt. to cause pain.

'''us''' adj. five.

'''ûdðav''' n. egg.

=W=

'''wå''' n. vomit.

'''wåsp''' vi. to vomit.

'''wej''' adj. steep.

'''wejs''' vt. to kill.

'''wed''' vi. to turn. vt. to seduce

'''wedin(ðaš)''' n. seductress, prostitute

'''wedðy''' vt. to learn. From C. ''wedzu'' 'eat'

'''weje''' iv. to go, to travel to from Šet. ''weje'' to go

'''wen''' n. year.

'''weså''' n. sword < Gez. ''wesau''

'''wetsy''' n. liver.

'''wogy''' n. clever < Shet. ''wogu''

[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Western languages|Shtasa]]

Shtåså/Lexicon

2022-10-14T00:13:58Z

Arzena: /* Lexemes */

Here is the [[Shtåså]] Lexicon

=Derivativational Morphology=

==Verb to Noun==

-'''dzaš''' agent noun from verb.

-'''vn''' Abstract noun, (gerund) for verb action or state

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place

-'''dô'''; location at which the action of a root takes place. Eg., ''

-'''sa''' Result of verb or other relation to the base word.

-'''syn''' Instrument noun from verb.

==Nominal to Nominal==

-'''v''' Diminutive.

-'''dzyhanj''' Honorific.

-'''ks''' Collective. The root must be put in the oblique case.

-'''um'''; location where the action of a root takes place; Eg., ''boš'' 'god, spirit' > ''bošum'' 'shrine'

-'''þlo''' Person with connection to base noun.

-'''dy''' Derives abstract noun from concrete noun or adjective.

-'''in''' Feminine.

==Nominal to Verb==
-'''isp''' general verbalizer.

-'''ists''' movement towards focus.

-'''aš''' stative verb (be noun).

-'''as''' causative.

'''en'''- frequently forms compounds: ''enfwej'' to farm 'give-seed'

==Adjectives and Adverbs==

-'''ddzy ''' Derives adverbs.

-'''am''' Derives adjectives from nouns. From -ama ‘with’

=Loan Words=

Shtasa has identifiable loan words from early Adata, Late Gezoro (from Southern and Central dialects), Šetâmol, and Xšali.

Shtåså usually borrows /r/ as /l/ initially or finally and as /n/ intervocally.

Ad.= Early Adāta

Gez.=Late Gezoro

Shet.=Šetâmol

Xsh.=Xšali

Abbreviations

adj. adjective.

adv. adverb.

conj. conjunction.

n. nominal.

pp. postposition.

vi. intransitive verb.

vt. transitive verb.

=Lexemes=
{| {{bluetable|lightbluebg sortable}}
! word !! type !! meaning !! etymology
|-
|=id||name suffix||lord, noble, lofty||Gez. =''e:do'' 'lord'
|-
| ab || n. || rain, NC2 ; tear, NC8 || ''agwa''
|-
| abisp || iv. || cry, weep || ''ab-isp''
|-
| ac||n. || fear|| ''adja''
|-
|Agôl||n||a winter month||Gez. ''agor'' 'rain'
|-
| ain||n. ||woman, wife || ''ajen''
|-
|ainv||n. || daughter, sister|| ''ain-v''
|-
|ajaun ||n. ||harp ||Ad. ''āliora''
|-
|alpom || vt.||forge || Ad. ''alpabam''
|-
| am||pp. ||comitive, with, alongside ||''ama''
|-
|Anac ||n. ||Anaiti, earth goddess ||Gez. ''Anaiti''
|-
|and ||n. ||stranger, foreigner || Ad. ''andak'', (-ak) interpreted as plural marker
|-
| anseltin||n. ||business, commerce ||Ad. ''ansertin''
|-
| ajuko||vt. ||trick, deceive ||Ad. ''aiuko''
|-
| aša||iv. ||copula ||
|-
|baddzyn|| n||forest ||
|-
|bom ||n ||brother ||
|-
| bontzuom||n||blood brother, ally || ''bom ttzuo am'' lit. 'brother with blood'
|-
|bosj ||n ||god, spirit ||
|-
|bosjam ||n ||holy; holiness ||
|-
|bosjtzlo||n ||priest, holy man ||
|-
|bosjiopaddy ||n ||a religion of Xshalad adopted by some Anhashnalaks || lit. 'path of holiness'
|-
|ben ||vt ||know; have sex with ||
|-
|bensa ||n || knowledge||
|-
|blun ||n ||belly, guts; fortitude, manly virtue ||
|-
| Cakonj||n ||Tjakori ||
|-
| ce||pp ||to, 'motion towards' ||
|-
| ce||pr ||this one ||
|-
| cec||vt; iv ||make, rub (ie leather); be able to ||
|-
| cek||n|| tribe, family, clan|| cf. ''Haiscek'' 'the Anhashnalaks', lit. 'the Great Tribe'
|-
|cekvn ||n ||tribal unity, solidarity, allegiance ||
|-
| ceny||n ||full || cf. ''enceny'' 'to fill up'
|-
| cenj||n ||fingernail; trifling small amount ||
|-
| ceslji||n ||daner ||
|-
| cessa||n ||dance ||
|-
| ces||vi ||dance || cf. ''ences'' 'seduce' lit. 'give dance'
|-
| cet||conj. ||but, however ||
|-
| ci||n ||land ||
|-
|gonj||n|| salt ||Gez. ''go:re:''
|-
|gos||n||cliff||Gez. ''gwɔs'' 'side, edge'
|-
|jog||vt||dance||Gez. ''jogo''
|-
|jaumʉ||n||servant|| Gez. ''jomoi'' 'person'
|-
|keh||n||anvil|| Gez. ''ke:x''
|-
|kuða||n||bedroom||Gez. ''kuza'' 'bed'
|-
| oc||adv. ||day after tomorrow ||
|-
| oldð||vt. ||hit, strike, punch ||
|-
|oldða ||n. ||strike, punch ||
|-
|of ||n. ||beans, grains ||
|-
|oj ||iv. ||die ||
|-
|oisa ||n. ||death, passing ||
|-
|jesusa||n||love, affection, care|| Gez. ''jesu'' + Sht. -''sa''
|-
|kʉnot||n||ibex, mountain goat, goat|| Gez. ''khoinod''
|-
|kilja||n||steppe, high plains|| Gez. ''khi:lja''
|-
|kinjol||n||council, meeting||Gez. ''khinja:ra''
|-
|kôs|| n.||pine tree||Gez. ''kos'' 'tree'
|-
| || || ||
|}

=B=

'''badðïn''' n. forest.

'''båm''' n. brother, more intimate than '''kþalå'''

'''bånþuåm''' n. ally, blood brother. <''båm tþuå am'' 'brother with blood'

'''bånþuåmaš''' vt. to ally with

'''bošam''' adj. holy n. holiness. alternative /baxe/>/bOxj/>[bAS] <boš>

''boš''' n. god, spirit

'''bošþlo''' n. shaman, priest

'''bašiåpaddï''' n. The Path of Holiness, a monotheistic religion of Xshalad adopted by some
Anhashnalaks

'''ben''' vt. to know.

'''bensa''' n. knowledge

'''blun''' n. belly.

=c=

'''Cakonj''' Tjakori

'''ce''' pp. to.

'''ce'''- pron. this

'''cec''' vi. to make leather. vt. to rub vi. be able to

'''cek''' n. tribe.

'''cekvn''' n. solidarity, allegiance to one's tribe

'''ceklo''' n. kinsman

'''celd''' vt. to understand

'''ceny''' adj. full.

'''cenj''' n.ip. fingernail.

'''ces''' vi. dance.

'''ceslo''' n. dancer

'''cessa''' n. dance

'''cesþ''' n. heart.

'''cet''' conj. but, however.

'''ci''' n land.

'''cic''' adj. straight.

'''cig''' adj. yellow., cowardly

'''cigakf ''' n. a medicinal flower

'''cij''' vt. to want.

'''cik''' adj. continous.

'''civn''' n. desire

'''cyvlag''' n. flood

'''cos''' n. hair.

'''cufy''' vt. to gather, to hunt. >> '''cuyfuy'''

'''caiš''' n. breast.

'''cwen''' n. next year.

'''cwifj''' n. water.

=D=

'''da'''- pron. that .

'''damï''' adj. thick.

'''dac''' adv. here.

'''dacdy''' n. presence

'''daln''' vi. to swim, to fly.

'''dah''' vi. to shout.

'''dahas''' vt. to talk.

'''dišak''' n. any foreign ruler < Ad. ''*dizhaka''

'''dunja''' n. flattery < Ad. ''*du~ya, praise''

'''duh''' adj. good.

'''duk''' conj. therefore.

'''dušam''' adj. blue

'''duy''' n. sky

=Dð=

'''dða''' pp. for, dative marker.

'''dðel''' conj. because

'''dðaln''' vt. to stab.

'''dðûdašn''' n. bird.

'''dðam''' adj. red.

'''dðeč''' vt. to say.

'''dðeča''' n. word

'''dðun''' adj. long.

=E=

'''ej''' conj. if.

'''eldï''' n. cause.

'''en''' vt. to give.

'''en''' n. gift

'''enab''' v. to rain

'''enan''' iv. to darken vt. to set

'''end''' n. feather

'''endam''' adj. soft

'''eneiš''' vt. to fatten

'''enfwej''' v. to farm

=F=

'''fa'''- pron. everything, everyone, all.

'''fafta''' vt. to shoot, to launch.

'''fan''' conj. then, next.

'''fas''' vt. to mock.

'''fat''' vt. to throw.

'''fål''' vi. to swell.

'''fålčesþa''' n. sorrow <''fål-česþ-sa 'heart-swelling'

'''fčuddz''' relative pronoun. where

'''fe''' conj. but.

'''febï''' vt. to cook.

'''fel''' n. child, son ERG: '''felj'''

'''feljin''' n. daughter

'''feny''' n. head, brains, smarts.

'''fi'''- relative pronoun

'''fis''' vi. to make felt.

'''fyjosyn''' n. lung

'''fsasyn''' n. knife

'''ftaječ''' vt. shoot with a bow

'''fwej''' n. seed.

'''fweš''' n. tree bark.

'''fwiv''' n. seman, essence

'''fwivvin''' n. ejaculation

'''fwivisp''' v. ejaculate

'''fuå''' vi. to breathe, to blow.

'''fuås''' vt. to inflate.

'''fuð''' n. chief.

'''fuðåš''' vt. rule

=H=

'''hab''' n. tree.

'''haf''' vi. to laugh.

'''hok''' n. rock

'''halï''' vt. to fasten.

'''han''' adj. black.

'''hanj''' adj. big, great ; adv. very (manifests as ''hai-'' in compounds like ''Haisdeya'')

'''haišeiby''' n. snake, serpant < 'great-worm'

'''hammål''' adj. 624

'''haša''' n. fire.

'''hå''' adj. narrow

'''hå''' pp. outside.

'''hej''' vi. to run.

'''heiš''' n. fat, grease.

'''hem''' adj. bad.

'''hib''' adj. some.

'''hiš''' n. day.

'''hišåpudðï''' adv. tomorrow

'''hinå''' n. pine.

'''hinåþaš''' n. sap, syrup < 'pine-milk'

'''hlat''' vt. to milk.

'''hweiš''' n. neck.

'''hwič''' n. fish.

'''hug''' n. pig.

'''hulï''' n.ip. anus.

'''hulp''' vt. to hunt.

'''hust''' n. boat.

'''hûmaš''' adj. rotten.

=V=

'''vasï''' n. bone.

'''vegï''' adj. quick.

'''velh''' n. mountain.

'''vej''' n. hill.

'''ves''' vt. to cut, to split bevesa

'''vguðï''' n. eagle.

'''vgïþtuð''' n. cloud

'''vid''' n. wind.

'''viv''' vt. to drink.

'''viå''' vi. to live

'''viås''' vt. to give birth

'''vnaðaš''' n. sage

'''vosk''' n. spit.

'''voskasp''' vi. to spit.

'''vos''' vt. to wash.

'''vuš''' adj. heavy.

=I=

'''ið''' adj. slow.

'''iñ''' n. name.

'''iñaš''' iv. to have a reputation, to be somebody vt. to name

'''ils''' n. hand, bird's wing.

'''is''' vt. to fish.

'''ism''' pp. without.

'''išn''' n. wife. From ''éçeni'' 'his woman' /iʃɲ/ > [iʃn̩]

'''ïdasp''' vi. to harm

=J=

'''ja''' pron. 3sg.

'''jad''' adj. old.

'''jadv''' n. parent

'''jag''' vi. to play.

'''jagdï''' n. game

'''Jam''' n. the Sun

'''jamåišñ''' n. silver < 'sun-wife'

'''jamï''' n. mouth.

'''jas''' n. meat.

'''jaþ''' vt. to tend.

'''jaþab''' n. garden.

'''ječ''' n. arrow.

'''je''' conj. not

'''jeh''' n. river

'''jegï''' vt. to eat.

'''jelï''' adj. other.

'''jem''' vi. to row.

'''jes''' vt. to push.

'''jeså''' conj. nor.

'''ješ''' vt. to own

'''ješain''' vt. marry

'''jev''' conj. but not.

'''jisï''' vi. to leave.

'''jists''' vi. to come.

=K=

'''ka''' pp. on behalf of.

'''kadð''' n. friend.

'''kaiča''' n. gold < Gez. ''kaitja''

'''kaþ''' adj. correct.

'''keč''' adj. dirty.

'''kečisp''' iv. make dirty

'''kehåig''' n. ore < Gez. ''gehoig''

'''kek''' n. anvil < Gez. ''geg''

'''keken''' n. smithy

'''keklå''' n. blacksmith

'''kenč''' pp. towards.

'''klehan''' n. domesticated animal < Shet. ''klehan''

'''kluå''' n. leg.

'''kþshenh''' n. sister

'''ksah''' n. skin.

'''ksach''' n. mix.

'''ksam''' n. berry.

'''ksefn''' n. wild animal.

'''ksuþ''' adj. short.

'''kþalå''' n. brother. < Cet. ''kaθa lawa'' 'true man'

'''Kšalhå''' n. a Xshali

'''Kšalhåen''' n. Xshalad

'''kul''' n. hound

'''kud''' vi. to sleep.

=L=

'''la''' n. man, husband. ERG: '''lhi'''

'''lab''' n. smoke.

'''labsa''' n. jerkey

'''Lačend''' n. Rathedan

'''ladð''' n. many.

'''lai''' n. a horse breed from western Peilash < Shet. ''lai''

'''lanañ''' vt. to dig.

'''lap''' vt. to steal.

'''lapþaš''' n. thief

'''lat''' pp. under.

'''lasï''' n. back.

'''lheif''' vt. to wipe.

'''losk''' n. ear.

'''luñ''' n. right, east.

'''lum''' nt. to grind, to mill.

=M=

'''ma''' n. place, location.

'''maj''' vi. to shine.

'''Majn''' n. the Moon.

'''majnåen''' n. dream

'''majnsaip''' vt. to dream

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''maš''' n. earth

'''mašå''' n. human.

'''mašåks''' n. humankind, man

'''masï''' adj. wide.

'''mazn''' iv. run vt. flee

'''mazn''' n. nose.

'''mål''' adj. 64

'''meč''' n. bear.

'''meû''' part. um, uhh

'''mina''' n. mom

'''modð''' adj. four.

'''moln''' pp. along.

'''moš''' n. tongue, language

'''mošisp''' n. to speak

'''mosk''' adj. sharp.

'''mosï''' vt. to sew.

'''mon''' n. dog.

'''monv''' n. puppy

'''monkïks''' n. herd.

'''mu''' adv. completely.

'''mumf''' adj. wet.

'''muñ''' adv. the day before yesterday.

'''musp''' vt. to suck.

=N=

'''na''' pron. I.

'''nadïn''' n. left, west.

'''nač''' adj. tame.

'''namï''' vi. to think.

'''nankï''' n. foot

'''nat''' pp. above.

'''naj''' adj. rare

'''nå''' pp. up.

'''nåas''' it. jump

'''nostï''' adj. three.

=Ñ=

'''ñaj''' adj. frequent.

'''ñej''' adj. smooth.

'''ñel''' adj. white.

'''ñeln''' pp. along

'''ñenkï''' n. sheep meŋu

'''ñif''' n. fog.

'''ñostï''' adj. pale, blunt.

=O=

'''opaya''' n. castle, fortress < Ad. ''ópaia''

'''osp''' n. rage.

'''ospas''' vt. to anger.

'''osï''' vt. to smell.

=P=

'''pad''' vi. to discover, to find

'''padgašbaš ''' n. prophet

'''padsa''' n. discovery

'''paðï''' n. tail

'''plag''' adj. new; n. novelty

'''plam''' n. flower.

'''psam''' vi. to smell bad błama

'''psamaha''' n. stench błama+xa

'''pså''' vi. to walk.

'''psås''' vi. to walk away.

'''ptasïn''' n. road, path.

'''pudðï''' pp. after, behind.

'''pusï''' n. wolf. >> '''puysuy'''

=S=

'''sa''' pron. we

'''sab''' adj. near

'''sag''' pp. inside.

'''sah''' n. eye.; NC7. sight

'''sahisp''' v. to see

'''sahn''' n. earth.

'''sålå''' n. priest.

'''sank''' n. spirit, soul.

'''så''' conj. or.

'''semna''' n. copper < Gez. ''zemra''

'''senj''' n. horse.

'''sej''' n. night.

'''sfaš''' vt. to fight.

'''sfašša''' n. fight.

'''synanj''' n. leaf

'''sþåb''' n. love.< ''česþå ab'' 'water of the heart'

'''swescin''' adj. surprising.

'''sudð''' adv. tomorrow.

'''sul''' adj. round.

'''sun''' adj. green. γłuna

'''sû''' adv. yesterday.

=Š=

'''š''' pp. down.

'''šankšåm''' vt. to know. <''çiganxajóma'' 'stand in the fire'

'''šasïn''' n. ear

'''šasïnisp''' vt. to hear

'''šavyan''' n. goat < Dimana Lokud ''zhavyan'' id.

'''ščists''' vi. to flow in. to arrive

'''šeO''' n. star

'''šecisp''' ‘to sing’

'''šec''' pp. instead.

'''šedðaš''' singer

'''šedy''' vi. to lie down, rest

'''šefy''' n. deer.

'''šeiby''' n. worm.

'''šeln''' n. horn.

'''šenj''' adj. together.

'''šenjan''' adj. starved.

'''šenjanaš''' v. to starve

'''šenjin''' n. woman

'''šes''' n. dung.

'''šesisp''' v. to defecate

'''šesk''' n. stone.

'''šeš''' n. soil.

'''šešasyn''' n. wall, rampart.

'''šev''' n. sand.

'''ši''' adj. two.

'''šips''' adj. dry.

'''šipsen''' n. desert

'''šign''' vi. to stand

'''šilpy''' n.ip. arm.

'''šist''' vt. to teach.

'''šiš''' n. snake

'''šin''' n. lake

'''škan''' vi. to defend

'''škOspa''' v. to heal

'''šna''' n. palm of hand.

'''šnOsp''' vt. to count.

'''šñamv''' adj. thin

'''šñaþ''' vt. to build, to make.

'''šosp''' vt. to burn.

'''šostþyn''' n. ashes.

'''štås''' vi. to flow out. to leave

'''štsas''' vt. to pull.

'''štus''' vtz. to place

'''šuå''' n. guts.

'''šuådy''' n. courage

'''šuådyšam''' adj. brave, courageous

'''šûk''' vi. to float.

'''šûkås''' vi. travel.

'''šûkåsty''' n. journey, travel

=T=

'''ta''' pron. you(sg.).

'''tab''' adj. one.

'''tag''' n. grass.

'''tavj''' pp. on.

'''tekim''' v. trade < Xsh. ''t'ekim''

'''tkač''' n. grassland.

'''tuv''' adj. few.

'''tuvdy''' n. scarcity, lack

'''tudð''' n. house, home.

'''tudðen''' n. village

'''tulus''' n. spice < Xsh. ''t'uluš, cinnamon''

=TH=
'''þa''' vt. to do, to make.

'''þa'''- pron. that yonder

'''þadðï''' adj. far

'''þač''' adv. there.

'''þaš''' n. milk.

'''þamy''' vi. to fall.

'''þan''' adj, cold.

'''þaþ''' vt. to use.

'''þaþud''' vt. to bite < ''þaþ ud'' 'use tooth'

'''þemf''' n.ip. daughter.

'''þynjån''' n. uncle

'''þjalå''' n. secret

'''þuš''' vt. to become

'''þul''' n. wool.

'''þund''' n. father.

'''þuny''' vt. to have sex with. >> '''þuynuy'''

'''þuv''' n. root.

'''þwa''' vt. to bend.

'''þwadðyn''' n. knee.

=Tþ=

'''tþa''' conj. and.

'''tþaddh''' conj. moreover.

'''tþag''' vi. to sit.

'''tþagas''' vt. to seat.

'''tþandðn''' adj. repeated.

'''tþïvðaš''' n. louse.

'''tþïvðjåš''' vi. be annoying

'''tþkasyn''' n. chair.

'''tþos''' conj. also.

'''tþufy''' vt. to itch.

'''tþub''' n. fruit.

'''tþuå''' n. blood.

'''tþuåšam''' adj. bloody, violent, destructive

=U=

'''ud''' n. tooth.

'''ul''' n. buddy, guy < Shetamol ''ul''

'''uš''' n. pain.

'''ušas''' vt. to cause pain.

'''us''' adj. five.

'''ûdðav''' n. egg.

=W=

'''wå''' n. vomit.

'''wåsp''' vi. to vomit.

'''wej''' adj. steep.

'''wejs''' vt. to kill.

'''wed''' vi. to turn. vt. to seduce

'''wedin(ðaš)''' n. seductress, prostitute

'''wedðy''' vt. to learn. From C. ''wedzu'' 'eat'

'''weje''' iv. to go, to travel to from Šet. ''weje'' to go

'''wen''' n. year.

'''weså''' n. sword < Gez. ''wesau''

'''wetsy''' n. liver.

'''wogy''' n. clever < Shet. ''wogu''

[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Western languages|Shtasa]]

Wippwo

2022-10-07T05:08:48Z

Arzena: /* Verbal Content */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''wo/ǔ'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| topicalizer, 'as for'
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*wo/ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''d-ah oadoula'''
*TOP woman came, ''as for a woman who came''

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*INDEF woman came, ''a single woman came''

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou loša? -'''Zez, eisteiloa še''''' ‘Your friend isn't learning Xšali, isn't he. -Maybe,... yeah, he might tho’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of '''Nirroh Vianoalle''' the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T05:08:16Z

Arzena: /* Verbal Content */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''wo/ǔ'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| topicalizer, 'as for'
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*wo/ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''d-ah oadoula'''
*TOP woman came, ''as for a woman who came''

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*INDEF woman came, ''a single woman came''

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou loša? -'''Zez, eisteiloa še''''' ‘Your friend isn't learning Xšali, isn't? -Maybe,... yeah, he might’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of '''Nirroh Vianoalle''' the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T05:06:13Z

Arzena: /* Verbal Content */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''wo/ǔ'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| topicalizer, 'as for'
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*wo/ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''d-ah oadoula'''
*TOP woman came, ''as for a woman who came''

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*INDEF woman came, ''a single woman came''

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou loša? -'''Zez, eisteiloa še''''' ‘Is your friend learning Xšali? -Maybe, yeah, he might’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of '''Nirroh Vianoalle''' the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T05:05:27Z

Arzena: /* Verbal Content */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''wo/ǔ'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| topicalizer, 'as for'
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*wo/ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''d-ah oadoula'''
*TOP woman came, ''as for a woman who came''

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*INDEF woman came, ''a single woman came''

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou loša? -'''Zez, steiloa še''''' ‘Is your friend learning Xšali? -Maybe, yeah, he is’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of '''Nirroh Vianoalle''' the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T05:00:57Z

Arzena: /* Articles and Deictics */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''wo/ǔ'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| topicalizer, 'as for'
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*wo/ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''d-ah oadoula'''
*TOP woman came, ''as for a woman who came''

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*INDEF woman came, ''a single woman came''

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou? -'''Zez''''' ‘Is your friend learning Xšali? -Maybe’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of '''Nirroh Vianoalle''' the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T04:54:37Z

Arzena: /* Articles and Deictics */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''wo/ǔ'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| as for
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*wo/ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''ah oadoula'''
*a woman came

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*a single woman came

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou? -'''Zez''''' ‘Is your friend learning Xšali? -Maybe’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of '''Nirroh Vianoalle''' the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T04:36:33Z

Arzena: /* Sample Text */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''u'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| as for
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''ah oadoula'''
*a woman came

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*a single woman came

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou? -'''Zez''''' ‘Is your friend learning Xšali? -Maybe’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of '''Nirroh Vianoalle''' the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T04:36:07Z

Arzena: /* Sample Text */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''u'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| as for
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''ah oadoula'''
*a woman came

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*a single woman came

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou? -'''Zez''''' ‘Is your friend learning Xšali? -Maybe’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

==
A Voyage to Xshalad, Diaries of Nirroh Vianoalle the captain of a galleon - the ''Dâdâh Fisas'' ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in territory controlled by the Western 3rd Dynasty.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP

Wippwo

2022-10-07T04:34:33Z

Arzena: /* Sample Text */

{{Article}}
{{Language
| color = blue
| language = Lo Neire Wippwo
| phonetic = [lɔ 'ne.rɛ 'wip.pwɔ ]
| date = c. 1250-1600
| place = Kasca
| speakers = 5 million
| script = adapted Fáralo script
| family = Edastean  Eastern   Kascan    Naidda     Wippwo
| word-or = V1; nonconfigurational
| mor-type = fusional
| morphalign = direct
| author = [[user:Arzena|Arzena]], concept by [[user:Zompist|Zompist]]
}}

This article describes the standard language of the prosperous mercantile city of Hana, capital of the eponymous and current chief [[Kasca|Kascan]] regional power, the Serene Republic of Hana, circa 1475 YP. Neire Wippwo was originally a regional descendant of Naidda spoken in a forgotten corner of the Eige Delta (the Naidda etymon of '''Wippwo''' means 'the stinking mud'). Around 200 years before the time of this grammar, a new channel to the sea had opened up in the Wippwo. This, at first, was a result of the natural changes the course of the Delta's riverways. In the 1300s a major hurricane struck the Delta and hastened the formation of the Wippwo Passage.

The Passage began on the northern edge of the Delta, and, soon, traders from Huyfarah started plying the new route as a shortcut into the Delta. New towns sprung up with the increased volume of people and trade moving through the region. It came as no surprise that these new settlements were reputed as seedy places, mixing a riot of nationalities, religions, colorful rogues, and hard-pressed lawmen into the stinking mud of the Delta.

Of the new prosperity in the Delta, the village turned boom town of Hana prospered the most. It gained from organizing a passage tax through the Delta based on the act of passage itself, the total tonnage of cargo, and the type of cargo itself. Due to Hana's short distance from the ocean, foreigner merchants established their bases of operations in Hana; these people, in turn, demanded and created the comforts of high civilization, and so the cycle continued until Hana found itself a bustling city nicknamed 'The Pearl of the Bayou'. Needless to say, there are many fun parties in Hana, and even the stuffy literati of Ussor will tap their feet to the sultry beats of '''ados''' and '''bada'''.

Within the past century, Hana has expanded its political clout in the Delta. Its power is not yet the hard strength reminiscent of Athalē or Huyfarah but a softer power. Every notable Delta town has a Hana Yard (a compound featuring warehouses, factories, markets, living quarters, entertainment, and diplomatic offices); abroad, there are Hana Yards (which more often than not oversee much more than the eponymous Yard, functioning as ''de facto'' colonies of the Serene Republic in less-developed polities) in Ussor, Azbǽbu, Sertek and other cities and towns along the Huyfarahn coast and on the Dagam Islands (itself a dependency of the Serene Republic) as well as in lands along the oceanic trade routes of the northern hemisphere.

The full name of the language is '''Neire Wippwo''', meaning the Naidda of the Wippwo region. It is referred to as both '''Neire''' or '''Wippwo''', with the latter more common. In reference to its famous bilabial trill, it receives the name '''Wibbo''' both affectionately and disparagingly.

=Phonology=

==Phonemes==

{|
|
| Labial
|Labiodental
| Dental
| Alveolar
| Postalveolar
| Palatal
| Velar
| Glottal
|-
| Voiceless Plosive
| '''p''' /p/
|
| '''t''' /t/
|
|
|
| '''k''' /k/
|
|-
| Voiced Plosive
| '''b''' /b/
|
| '''d''' /d/
|
|
|
| '''g''' /g/
|
|-
| Voiceless Fricative
|
| '''f''' /f/
|
| '''s''' /s/
| '''š''' /ʃ/
|
|
|'''h''' /h/
|-
| Voiced Fricative
| '''β''' /β/
|'''v''' /v/
|
| '''z''' /z/
| '''ž''' /ʒ/
|
|'''γ''' /ɣ/
|
|-
| Nasal
| '''m''' /m/
|
| '''n''' /n/
|
|
|
| '''ng''' /ŋ/
|
|-
| Lateral
|
|
|
| '''l''' /l/
|
| '''ll''' /ʎ/
|
|-
| Trill
|
|
|
| '''r''' /r/
|
|
|
|-
| Approximant
| '''w''' /w/
|
|
|
|
| '''y''' /j/
|
|
|}

*<'''ng'''> represents /ŋ/ initially and in syllable codae but /ŋg/ intervocalically.

*<'''ǧ'''> will be an alternate way of writing /ɣ/

==Vowels==
Wippwo has eleven vowel phonemes: 8 oral and 3 nasal.

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
| '''i''' /i/
|
| '''u ''' /u/
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ei''' /e/
|
| '''ou''' /o/
|-
| Mid Low
| '''e''' /ɛ/
|
| '''o''' /ɔ/
|-
| Low
|
| '''a''' /a/
|
|}

{|
|
| Front
| Central
| Back
|-
| High
|
|
|
|-
| Mid High    
| '''ẽ''' /ẽ/
|
|
|-
| Mid Low
|
|
| '''õ''' /ɔ̃/
|-
| Low
|
| '''ã''' /ã/
|
|}

'''Wippwo''' has one true diphthong /ɔa/. In the standard, it is reduced when unstressed to [wə]
*Circumflexes may also be used to transcribe the nasal vowels.
==Syllable Structure==
Native lexemes in Neire Wippwo consist of the structure (C1)(C2)V(C3). Tolerated initial consonantal clusters consist of a fricative with an obstruent: /be.ʒga/ 'Daiadak; /'ʃɛ.ɾi.zmɛ/ 'tar'; /sla/ 'by the time of'; /skɛ/ 'equal, identical'; /sma/ 'sew'; /ti.ʃna/ 'prostitute'; /te.zŋo/ 'candle'. Syllables could be checked by nearly any consonant in the phonological inventory: /ʃɔ̃.vɛt/ 'desire'; /staʎ/ 'conform'; /pɛɾ/ 'spicy, hot'; however, the most common consonants to end syllables were /m n ŋ l ʎ r h β/

===Syllable final /h/===
The syllabification of final /h/ distinguished some dialects of Neire Wippwo from one another. Most often paired with a voiceless obstruent in a consonantal cluster, its etymology is /s/; which reduced to /h/ in medial clusters like /sp/, /sw/, /st/, and /sk/. The prestige dialect of Neire Wippwo breaks these old clusters: thus '''pihwa''' 'fish' is syllabified /pih.wa/ and '''pohtou''' 'attack' as /pɔh.to/, which does not occur in other dialects, which results in realizations like [pi.xwa] and [pɔ.xto].

==Stress==
Words are regularly stressed on the first syllable. The first half (roughly an iamb) of a sentence receives more volume and tone than the latter half. This produces an overall reduction effect, most noticeably in particles, pronouns and verbal auxiliaries, which have tonic and atonic allomorphs.

*'''''stéiža''' ažingla '''l-'''ah'' cf '''''ló''' ah '''ž-'''ažingla'' 'the woman begins to stumble'

==Allophony and Dialectal Variation==
There are four major dialects of Wippwo: '''Hat''' (Ya'n), '''Hana''' (Yana'a, not a classical Kascan city), '''Mumbá''' (Momuva'ean), and '''Nurol''' (Niddolan). As the state of Wippwo expanded in the 13th century, the complexities of government demanded a single language. The eventual standard, termed '''Neirebo''', 'elite Neire', was an amalgamation of the vocabulary of Hana and the phonology of Hat. Its only serious competition came from the academic and literary Momuva'eans, who boasted of their connection to the ancient Tsinakan.

Short of a major dialectal phonemic analysis, the most noticeable differences are outlined in the following consonants in the order '''Hat''', '''Hana''', '''Mumbá''', and '''Nurol'''.

=== /h/ ===
1. #_ '''[ h | j | Ø | w ]''' ''Ha, Ya, A, Wa'' Aiwa River

(Hana's replacement of /h/ with [j] is an incomplete sound change from Naidda. Originally /j/ > [h], but the reverse was analogized somewhere along the line, rendering hypercorrections of /h/ from Naidda as [j]).

2. _C, _#: '''[ ː | ː | ʃ | x ]''' ''dahmoh, dahmoh, dašmoš, daxmox'' searching-AVN

3. V_V : '''[ h | ħ | h | x ]''' ''kupeiha, kupeiħa, kupeiha, kupeixa'' hit-PVN

===/ɣ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ɣ | ħ | h | x ]''' ''Dahhã, Daħã, Dahã, Daxã'' Dagam Islands

===/ʎ/===
1. all positions: '''[ ʎ | lʲ | j | ʒ ]''' ''Tolla, Tolya, Toya, Toža'' the god Tolya

===/β/===
1. #_ , _(C)(#) '''[ β, ʙ | b | v | w ]'''
*/ɔβ/ 'many' [ ɔʙ ɔb ɔv ɔw ]

2. V_V '''[ ʙ | ʙ | v | w ]'''
*/hɔβɛ/ 'we' [ hɔʙɛ jɔʙɛ ɔvɛ wɔwɛ ]

*[ʙ] is a feature of upper class urban speech. This feature is spreading among the other dialects

=Noun Phrase=
==Structure==
The order of the noun phrase is based on the following function:

NP: [(Determiner) Noun (Modifier)]

The determiner slot is further subdivided into

D: [(article/deitic) (possessive pronoun) (number) (non-numeric quantifier)] Noun

'''lo di'''

the tree

'''l-oβ di'''

the many trees

'''ežou di'''

your tree
*cf '''l-ežou di''', DEF-2sg.POSS tree, ' ''your'' tree (as opposed to mine or his)'. Mumbá and Nurol extended the definite article to all nouns modified by a possessive pronoun.

'''ahei iš oa di'''

my six all tree

all my six trees

=== Articles and Deictics ===
{|
|
| Clitic
| Meaning
|-
|
| '''lo'''
| the
|
|-
|
| '''u'''
| a, some
|-
|
| '''do'''
| as for
|-
|
| '''go'''
| this
|-
|
| '''šo'''
| that
|}

When these particles precede an atonic vowel-initial nominal, they elide to their initial consonant.

'''*ǔ-ah'''-->'''w-ah''' 
''a woman''

'''*gǒ-all'''-->'''g-all''' 
''this fire''

The clitic '''u''' is not used as a catch all indefinite article. Compare:
*'''ah oadoula'''
*a woman came

*'''w-ah oadoula'''
*a single woman came

=== Possessive Pronouns ===

There are six possessive pronouns. Plural forms were created from unstressed enclitic pronouns.

{|
|
| Person
| Pronoun
|-
|
| 1
| ahei, hoβe
|
|-
|
| 2
| ežou, žong
|-
|
| 3
| a, awer
|}

=== Non-Numeric Quantifiers ===
{|
|
| Quantifier
| Meaning
|-
|
| wa
| a few, a minority of
|
|-
|
| nam
| some, however many
|-
|
| oβ
| many, lots of
|-
|
| hi
| most
|
|-
|
| mei
| no, none of
|-
|
| oa
| all, each
|}

=== Numbers ===
{|
| Number
| Cardinal
| Ordinal
|x10
|-
| 1
| ke
| ike
|
|-
| 2
| ni
| ini
|nirou
|-
| 3
| woa
| uwou
|woarou
|-
| 4
| boa
| ubou
| boarou
|-
| 5
| du
| udu
| durou
|-
| 6
| iš
| hiš
| šurou
|-
| 7
| mem
| imẽ
| mẽrou
|-
| 8
| son
| isõ
| sõrou
|-
| 9
| nil
| inil
| nurou
|-
| 10
| roa
|
|urou
|}

Other important numbers: '''keiša''' 100, '''keišrou''' 1000, '''roašou''' 10,000

Naidda borrowed, 1, 4, and 8 from Fáralo and were in common use. In designing the standard, the framers sought to purge this "foreign" influence from the nascent language. Nonetheless, the Fáralo numbers ''šei, bu, dei'' are still used, but are considered hallmarks of uneducated speech.

=Place Holder for Content=
==Chain of languages: Revival of Faralo and Adata in Neire Wippwo==
As the state of the Republic of Hana gained in power, its political and cultural leaders turned to the heritage of Huyfarah and the Empire of Athale. Works of art - in literature, painting, architecture - were commissioned in the style of Athale and Ussor that recalled the splendor at the noontide of these imperial powers. The classical texts of statecraft and the histories of Idores, Kheponon, and Etou were reread and commented upon, informing the organization of the Serene Republic. Etugeist philosophers contended with strange ideas and foreign philosophies brought back with merchants returning from as far afield as Zeluzhia and Xšalad. Science and medicine received the patronage of wealthy merchants and the state alike. New words relating to these fields were borrowed, sometimes forming doublets with words borrowed centuries ago.

The chart below shows the Fáralo word and the two Neire Wippwo words for which it is a shared etymon. Translation and commentary on the doublets are offered in the gloss.

{|
|
| Etymon
| Borrowed lexeme
| N.W. lexeme
| ''gloss''
|-
|
| '''lega'''
| '''lega'''
| '''lleǧa'''
| ''F. language > NW. language; borrowed as 'discourse'
|-
|
| '''mastač'''
| '''mestaš'''
| '''mašša'''
| ''F. 'administration, bureaucracy' > NW. 'gang' ''
|-
|
| '''utúči'''
| '''utuši'''
| '''tuž'''
| F. 'commit suicide' > NW. 'quit, give up'
|-
|
| '''ngastís'''
| '''ŋastis'''
| '''ngahtã'''
| ''F. 'fraud', is origin of NW. ''ngahtã'' 'swindler, cheater' ''
|-
|
| '''ngahab'''
| '''ŋahab'''
| '''ŋaḇa'''
| ''F. 'eating' > NW. 'manners, decorum; fine dining'; borrowed as a medical term 'mastication' ''
|-
|
| '''iāsi'''
| '''yasi'''
| '''hahi'''
| ''Ad. 'tool' > NW. 'thingy, doodad'; borrowed as 'instrument, tool' ''
|-
|
| '''huzāia'''
| '''huzaya'''
| '''huža'''
| ''Ad. 'sanctuary > NW. 'safe, strongbox'; borrowed as 'refuge, sanctuary'
|-
|
| '''koia'''
| '''kouya'''
| '''kožell'''
| ''Ad. 'language' > NW. 'slang, jargon' (via Namidu); borrowed as 'dialect'
|-
|}

==Verbal Content==
Irrealis is marked as a prefix on the main verb

h- before vowels:
*'''''h'''oudouloa ora Uhoa'' 'he might come to Ussor'

ei- before /s S z Z/ z>Z #_ :
*'''''ei'''žomã Šalatžou'' 'he might learn Xšali'

s- before /p t k f h~x/ and elsewhere:
*''Šouna '''s'''wimei ni Šalat, mašou '''s'''wimei ni Wippwo'' 'If I lived in Xshalad, I would not live in Wippwo'

z- before /b d g v G/ :
*''Steḇa '''z'''boreloa l-ẽlou steḇa wimloa ǧẽ lo ǧin'' 'he would own the farm if he lived with the goats (ie, in the countryside)'

A particle '''zez''' ‘maybe’ has been borrowed from Namidu and functions as a discourse particle:
*''Daull eižomã Šalatžou? -'''Zez''''' ‘Is your friend learning Xšali? -Maybe’

Negative Irrealis

sm(a)-:
*''steḇa '''sm'''oudouyei'' 'I would not come'
*''steḇa '''sma'''boreyei ẽlou'' 'I would not own'

Verbal Nouns

active: -h
*kupei'''h''' 'hitting' AVN

passive: -ha
*kupei'''ha''' 'getting hit' PVN

If a verbal noun is the head of a noun phrase, it requires determiners.

*''Gẽḇẽ '''lo''' kupeiha''
*hurt-3s>1s the hit-PNV 'Getting hit hurt me'

*''Gẽḇẽ lo kupei'''h''' om Gungo!''
*hurt-3sg>1sg the hit-AVN GEN.3sg Gungo - ‘Gungo’s punch hurt me!’

Negation

Head of NP -- ''mei''
Modifier -- ''m(a)''

''ežo '''mei''' šinah mei gẽḇẽ'' -- 'Your heartlessness did not hurt me'

''Ežo nizzi '''ma''' šinah smoudoula ǧẽzou'' -- 'Your unloving wife would never come with you'

=Sample Text=

[[Tsinakan_text|Tsinakan Stele]]

'''Stei meiloa git Šengã, lo žah košõ om lo lo om Kaš; lo mužo om lo šoudol ã lo šor: '''

'''Sla peha γin lo spo om ahei meββe ei, steβõ l-oa laša hi, hullõ wei. Git meiβõ lo laša šo hi.'''

AUX(NF-IMP) say-he Šengã, DEF-king great, DEF-king of DEF-land of.3 Kasca, DEF-brother of DEF-sun and DEF-moon, thus:

Before.3 sit-AVN with.3 DEF-throne of my father I, COP(NF-IMP)-they DEF-all country foreign, hostile for.1. Thus say-they DEF-country nearby foreign:

==
An '''ados''' lament (adopted from a medieval Galician poem)

'''Do-lõze ni lo-Kana šouna moareloa'''

'''Ewurei steiža minõ dahmoh poa'''

'''N malou kenouyei'''

'''Ero meilou: "Ni nãlou na fatei'''

'''Ni šit reβou do-lõze '''

'''Ngou wou va smedaβe'''

'''N šouna mausu galou".'''

Because in the world the truth has faded,

I decided to go a-searching for it

and wherever I asked

everybody said: 'search in another place

because truth is lost in such a way

such as we can have no news of it

and it's no longer around here'.

[dO.'lO~.zE ni lO.'ka.n@ 'So.n@ mwa.'rE5.w@

E.'wu.re 'ste.Z@ 'mi.nO~ dam:ox pw@

E~ 'ma.lo kE.'no.je

'E.rO 'melo ni 'na~.lo na 'fa.te

ni Sit 're.Bo dO.'lO~.zE

No wo va smE.'da.BE

E~ 'So.n@ 'mau.su 'ga.o]

as for-truth in def-world AOR dark-3sg

decide-1sg NF.INCP go search.AVN for.3sg

and wherever ask.PRET

everyone say.PRET-3sg in.3sg someplace IMP search

in.3sg that.way lost as for-truth

as of.3sg ABIL NEG.IRR-have

and it NEG.now here

== A Voyage to Xshalad
Diaries of Nirroh Vianoalle the captain of a galleon - the Dâdâh Fisas ('The Dancing Villain') - who plied the trade route from Kasca to the Isles, thence to Zeluzh, and finally Ralpir Sunax (Sandmouth), his last port of call in Xshalad.

'''Slahaoḇa, lo Tolláž 23 Weḇa bordaúšõ šou tatužu nušohẽ a Lohtei-koutáš Tungoulou''''

''Spring Month 2, Day 23 - I have received the trading commission from Lady Lohtei Tungoulou.''

'''Wei gangodušõ ožḇe wou noge n musã a koutášoḇe: 200 tikou om boama n mõž hiding; 50 tikou om woatã; 50 tikou om zivvinei; 7 tikou om allúž (BBEI noaraγiwã [lit. drink] va lo huhpa); 6 tikou om yasi n zeiyoutehlou n lo hiding ha lo woḇudu wou lo oḇyoloa lleida lo kedagéž Saγãyẽ wou lo nušo wou l-awer šeulli ha lo tungou lõze [lit. true rock] n ha lo kažall n wou lo turo tengẽ [lit. sparkling metal] om lo moahlou [origin] ni l-awer snon.'''

''We are to transport for our patroness' profit and gain: 200 tons of grain and sundry seeds; 50 tons of leather; 50 tons of wool cloth; 7 tons of spirits and liquors (NOT for the crew's use); 6 tons of steel tools, weapons and sundry items for sale among the primitives of Zeluzh in exchange for their obsidian, in the form of raw rock and jewelry, and sundry precious metals native to their lands.
''

'''Lo hoḇe koutáš mišefi žaḇu sosmeill a rumia [lit. paper of credit] om moudu om 500,000 nira wou võsadah lo boada om 20 tikou om perḇo ni Šalat n wou...'''

''Our patroness has also provided us with papers of credit in the amount of 500,000 nira to finance the purchase of 20 tons of spices in Xshalad and for...'

== An Appeal to Liberty (a tract arguing for Kascan unification under the leadership of the Republic of Hana, remembered in posterity as a soaring anti-monarchical, republican text) WIP