Famju languages
| Famju | |
| Period | -2100 YP to -1900 YP |
| Spoken in | area around Do Anjake |
| Total speakers | unknown |
| Writing system | unknown |
| Classification | Ájnljo |
| Typology | |
| Basic word order | unknown |
| Morphology | unknown |
| Alignment | unknown |
| Credits | |
| Created by | unknown |
Famju is a dialect continuum spoken in the area of DoAnjaKe lake. It is the descendant of Early Ájnfamo.
Phonology
Consonants
| m | n | |||
| p /t͡p/ ~ /b/ <tp> | t͡s <c> d͡z <ſ> | t d | k | |
| f | s z | ʃ <ś> ʒ <ź> | x | |
| r l | j |
Vowels
| i | u |
| ɛ <e> | ɔ <o> ɑ <a> |
Other nucleuses
| iː <ii> | iu |
| ju | uː <uu> |
| ɛj <ej> | ɛu, ɛʊ̯, ɛɔ̯ <eu> |
| jɔ <jo> | ɔw <ow> |
| ɑj, jɑ <aj> | ɑu, ɑʊ̯, ɑɔ̯ <au> |
Each syllable has either high or low tone. Low tone is unmarked, high tone is marked with acute accent. Words are all either monosyllabic or disyllabic. In disyllabic words in which the second syllable has a high tone, the first vowel is lengthened. Lengthened ii and uu are realised as [iːj] and [uːw] respectively.
Changes from Early Ájnfamo
Geminated sonorants loss
Geminated sonorants are lost in various ways:
- rː > zː ~ ðː > ð
- lː > ʎː > ʎ > j
- NːV > NṼ
Consonantal shifts
The opposition of voiced - voiceless obstruent changes to obstruent - fricative:
- D > D~T* > T > T
- T > Tʰ > Tθ ~ θ > θ
*semi-voiced
- p, t͡p, t, k > ɸ, θ͡ɸ, θ, x > f, θ͡f, θ, x
- b, d͡b, d, g > p, t͡p, t, k
The dental fricatives sigmatise to affricates, then d͡z simplifies to d, the language having d͡z, but no d:
- θ, ð > t͡s, d͡z > t͡s, d
With the voicing opposition in obstruents restored, some dialects undergo the change t͡p > b, the two sounds sounding similar and to remove the odd phoneme t͡p. As time carries on, this change gradually spreads to all dialects. Consequently, θ͡f is also removed:
- θ͡f > ð͡v ~ ðv > ðː > d͡z
Denasalisation
Nasalised vowels denasalise to a sequence of a vowel and n. This creates a large number of redundant syllables NVn. Different dialects handle with them in different manner and with different speed, but eventually all remove the initial nasal, with the latter one changing to m if the former was m.
- nVn > (h/ʔ/∅)Vn
- mVn > (h/ʔ/∅)Vm