Proto-Anatolionesian

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Proto-Anatolionesian
Period	c. -1200 YP
Spoken in	Kyosshin, Ōshin
Total speakers
Writing system	early Ōshinese ideograms
Classification	Macro-Anatolionesian  Anatolionesian
Typology
Basic word order	SOV
Morphology	mostly isolating
Alignment	nom-acc
Credits
Created by	Thedukeofnuke

Proto-Anatolionesian is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Anatolionesian branch of the Macro-Anatolionesian family and a direct ancestor of Ōmishiman. The Anatolionesian family accounts for most of the Macro-Anatolionesian languages; the remainder are scattered throughout the remoter parts of Tuysáfa's eastern coast.

It was spoken in the late second millenium BP, after the Anatolionesian peoples had left the Tuysáfa littoral and settled the islands of Kxosšim and Woxšim (Imperial Ōmishiman Kyosshin and Ōshin, literally "grass island" and "big island"). After the settlement of Kyosshin and Ōshin, the Anatolionesian peoples started to colonise nearby islands, and their languages diverged into a number of subfamilies.

Phonology

The phonology of Proto-Anatolionesian is not too difficult to reconstruct; the only major uncertainty is the realisation of the phoneme that I transcribe /θ/. Some theories suggest that it was actually an affricate or even an aspirated stop, and these are supported by both its origin (from older /th/ or /tʰ/) and the fact that in the Ōmishiman languages it merged with /ʦ/. However, in a number of the more conservative Ōshinese languages, it has a seperate fricative reflex, and I prefer to reconstruct it as a fricative distinct from /s/ - probably pronounced [θ] or [s̪].

Consonants

	labial	coronal	palatal	velar
nasals	m	n	ɲ
stops	p · b	t · d		k · g
affricates		ʦ	ʧ · ʤ	kx
fricatives	f	θ · s	ʃ	x
liquids		r · l
semivowels	w		j

Vowels

	front	back
high	i · y	u
mid	e	o
low	a

Transcription

In this article, the nasal /ɲ/ is transcribed ň, the affricates /ʦ ʧ ʤ/ are transcribed c č j respectively, the fricative /ʃ/ is transcribed š, the liquid /j/ is transcribed y, and the front rounded vowel /y/ is transcribed ü. Vowel length is indicated with an acute accent. All other phonemes are transcribed as IPA.

Phonotactics and distribution

Syllable structure was (C)(C)V(C)(C).

The distributions of a number of phonemes are quite restricted and some pairs are only marginally phonemic. For example:

• /ʃ/ occurs mostly before stops, but it is the only fricative that can appear in that environment. Otherwise it mostly occurs before /i/; while it contrasts with /s/ in this position, the latter is much rarer.
• Short vowels cannot precede a voiced stop or affricate - the few exceptions are all loanwords or recent compounds.
• Nasal consonants do not occur adjacent to stops or affricates except in loanwords and compounds.

Sound changes from Proto-Macro-Anatolionesian

First phase (up to c. 2500 BP)

1. PALATALISATION

• t s > ʧ ʃ / _r, _j, _i
• t > ʦ / _ɨ, _u
• j > Ø / [+palatal]_

2. VOCALISATION

• r l > ɨ u / C_C

3. CONSONANTAL ASSIMILATION

• [+stop][+nasal] > [+stop +voice]
• V[+nasal][+stop] > V:[+stop +voice]
• x > h / [+stop]_
• cs ks > kx
• ps > ph
• s x > ʃ / _[+stop], _[+affricate]
• s x assimilate to a preceding fricative

4. VOWEL SIMPLIFICATION

• jɨ wɨ jə wə > i u e o
• ə > ɨ

5. MERGER OF PALATAL STOPS

• c > k / _[+palatal], [+palatal]_
• c > ʃ / _[+stop], _[+affricate]
• c > ʧ
• ɟ > ʤ

6. EPENTHESIS

• p t k > pu tɨ kɨ / _[+stop], _[+affricate] (except after a vowel)

7. DELATERALISATION IN CLUSTERS

• l > r / CC_

Second phase (up to c. 1200 BP)

8. MERGER OF NASALS

• ɲ ŋ > n / [+fricative]_
• ŋ > ɲ

9. EPENTHESIS

• x > xa / _[+resonant]

10. VOWEL RAISING

• e e: > i i: / _[+nasal], [+nasal]_

11. VOWEL SHIFT

• u: > y: / _[+semivowel], [+semivowel]_
• e: i: a: ɨ: o: u: > i: ai e: y: u: au

12. VOCALISATION

• [+stop], [+affricate] > ɨ / C_C
• j w > i u / l_, r_, j_, w_

13. LENITION OF ASPIRATED STOPS

• ph th kh > f θ x

14. VOCALISATION OF CODA LIQUIDS

• Vr > V: / _$
• ai: au: > a:i a:u
• V: > V / _lC
• el il yl al ɨl ol ul > au eu y: au u: au ou / _C

15. VOWEL MERGER

• ɨ ɨ: > y y:

Morphology

Proto-Anatolionesian had little productive morphology, being a chiefly isolating language.

Reduplication

Reduplication was used for forming collective nouns - these were broadly similar to English collective nouns, but were apparently more common in usage, perhaps due to the fact that PAnat had no morphological plural. The onset and nucleus (but not coda) of the first syllable were reduplicated at the beginning of the word:

čwo "fish" > čwočwo "shoal of fishes"

šim "island" > šišim "archipelago"

Some collectives, however, were formed irregularly. These irregularities suggest that the process dates back to Proto-Macro-Anatolionesian:

puto "human" > putopto "group of people"

swíd "house" > sweswíd "village, settlement"

Derivational morphology

While it was probably no longer productive by the time of PAnat, a system of derivational infixes and prefixes can be observed. Many words clearly originate from the addition of an affix to another word; for instance, -ar- is reconstructed as an agentive infix, as attested in such pairs as ňaus/ňaraus "to hunt"/"hunter" and pyun/paryun "boat"/"sailor".

Most pairs attested, however, were already being affected independently by sound change. It seems that the derivational affixes of PAnat had fallen out of use, and that compounding (which is prevalent in the later Anatolionesian languages) had taken their place.

Syntax

PAnat was almost entirely head-final; word order was SOV, noun came at the end of NPs without exception, and former prepositions shifted to become postpositions. The tendency in PMA for new compounds to be head-first had entirely disappeared.

The only significant exception to these strict rules was that if a sentence was ambiguous, or if it was desired to emphasise the object, the sentence could be changed to SVO.

See also

Proto-Anatolionesian/Lexicon