Proto-Isthmus/Lexicon

This lexicon is largely reconstructed from the Faraghin wordlist, combined with Radius' work on pronouns and informed by comparisons with the Miwan languages and Ngauro. The reconstructions are still being revised, but (after more than five years!) I think this process really is nearly complete.

Some more semantic shifting is probably still needed though, so the meanings of many of the roots and affixes remain subject to change. The reader should also bear in mind that several of the compounds and derived words listed here may originate from later than PI (e.g. some affixes which are reflected in the relevant Faraghin words may not have been attached yet at the PI stage), and some of the roots may be spurious (e.g. if the Faraghin word is actually a loan). I've tried to indicate the likely date of compounds and derivations where it can be determined; more attention should probably be given to this issue.

Some words may have contained vowels that were lost in Faraghin; places where these might have occurred are indicated by [V].

Affixes and grammatical words

Proto-Isthmus	Gloss
-a	active suffix
-(a)ɖu	diminutive suffix (seen in some Faraghin kinship terms)
-aj	compound causative suffix
-(a)k	old nominalizing suffix, seems to form nouns from adjectives
as-	genitive/accusative prefix (becomes derivational in Proto-Ferogh)
as-	adjective-intensifying prefix
(as)la	'for; for the sake of' (postposition, possibly related to ila; becomes a benefactive suffix in Doroh)
(as)pjuts[V]	'not' (negative particle, becomes a Faraghin negative prefix)
-(a)t	augmentative suffix
bej	'what' (inanimate interrogative/relative pronoun)
da	'I' (1SG personal pronoun)
-di	verbal noun suffix
-dja	participle suffix
dza-	dative prefix (derivational in Boésin and Doroh; otherwise lost except for Faraghin pronouns)
fe	'ye' (2PL personal pronoun)
guʈ	'we' (1PL personal pronoun)
-i	simple causative suffix
<i>, <j>, -j	inceptive/inchoative infix & suffix (J-grade)
ila	'to; toward' (postposition; becomes an allative suffix in Doroh)
<(i)n>, -(i)n	imperfective/durative infix & suffix (N-grade)
in	(postposition, original meaning unknown; becomes a genitive suffix in Doroh)
its	'on' (postposition, probably related to idz 'head'; becomes both an adjectivizing suffix and an accusative case suffix in Proto-Ferogh)
kej	'who' (animate interrogative/relative pronoun)
ludz	'they' (3PL personal pronoun)
-ludz	3PL verbal agreement suffix
mina	'with; together with' (postposition; becomes a comitative suffix in Doroh)
mis	'it' (3SG inanimate personal pronoun)
-mis	3SG inanimate verbal agreement suffix
[V]nak[V]	'outside' (WI postposition, becomes a case suffix in Faraghin)
[V]nij	'place' (?PI noun, becomes a Faraghin locative nominalizing suffix)
njo	'he, she' (3SG animate personal pronoun)
-njo	3SG animate verbal agreement suffix (in Faraghin forms the citation form of verbs)
-o, -a	plural suffix
[V]sits[V]	'possessor, user' (?PI noun, becomes a Faraghin nominal suffix)
tujn	'thou' (2SG personal pronoun)
-[V]ʈa-	'do repeatedly' Faraghin verbal suffix (< contracted form of an old auxiliary verb)
-u	detransitive suffix
ujn[V]	'like' (becomes a Faraghin adjectivizing suffix)
um	'of' (postposition; becomes a genitive case suffix in Proto-Ferogh)
<(u)s>, -(u)s	resultative infix & suffix (S-grade)
REDUP~	iterative/intensive prefix (Reduplicated grade)

Roots and derived words

Proto-Isthmus	Gloss
[V]bad-aɖu	father ([V]bad 'father' + diminutive -(a)ɖu)
[V]balon[V]	iron (likely a Proto-Ferogh or later coinage; possibly loaned from Ngauro: cf. OEMiw *bu:r 'shine')
bas[V]	flat, even (cf. FMiw pasta 'cloth')
[V]basd[V]	master (?looks like s-grade of [V]bad 'father')
[V]bin[V]	nothing
[V]bleɖus[V]	fate, a Faraghin goddess (possibly related to blen 'face')
[V]blen[V]	face, front
da~daj-a-	dance (reduplicated grade of daj-; cf. EMiw varja, FMiw varja: 'dance')
[V]da-ɖu	little girl, daughter (with diminutive -(a)ɖu; ?cf. taʈa 'sister')
[V]dasjem[V]	hemp (maybe a later coinage or loan)
[V]dim-i-	give (with causative stem vowel)
[V]dludz-j-a-	awaken (j-grade of [V]dludz- '(be) awake')
[V]dlum-a-	tell about, report
dosg-a-	camp (s-grade of dog- 'set down')
[V]dumesg[V]	glass (maybe a later coinage, or loaned from Ngauro; possibly = 'boiled sand')
dzant-a-	test (by experience), prove, try (cf. Ngauro zanta 'legal', FMiw zinti: 'taboo')
dzusin-i-	redden (something), paint, color (causative stem of j-grade of dzusn- '(be) red'; cf. EMiw tun 'red')
ɖujf-a-	jump, startle, scare (cf. OEMiw traf 'fire')
[V]ged[V]	young(er) (brother)
gasd-a-	float (s-grade of gad- 'flow, float' > Faraghin gars 'boat')
gi + dzjiʈ	the moon (probably means something like 'mighty star'; cf. EMiw zwi:ki, with elements of the compound reversed)
(as)-gijʈ[V]	mighty, powerful (cf. FMiw aska:r 'haunted')
(as)-gont-a-	fly (> Faraghin ghantač 'dragon'; cf. FMiw kwintas 'bird')
(as)-gosp-a-	steal (s-grade of gop- 'take, carry'; probably not related to OEMiw iskefli 'lice')
[V]gud-a-	descend (from an ancestor)
(as)-guj-(i)ts	sharp (> Faraghin ghisk 'knife', ghiskan 'cut'; ?cf. FMiw askini: 'painful')
(as)-gun[V]	old(er) (?cf. FMiw asku 'polite')
idz	head; head of livestock, domesticated animal (cf. FMiw iz 'head')
[V]jut-a-	own, possess
[V]kat-a-	amuse
[V]kijb-a-	eat
[V]kisd-(at)	anger (s-grade of [V]kid- 'be angry')
[V]kit[V]dzim[V]	honor (maybe a WIsth. or later compound)
(as)-kjustil-a-	bequeath (probably a PIsth. compound)
[V]klijl[V]t-a-	seize, capture (cf. FMiw guljad 'defeat')
(as)-klon[V]	guts, boldness
(as)-koɖ[V]	good
(as)-koɖ-idz	goat (PIsth. or WIsth. compound: (as)-koɖ[V] 'good' + idz 'head of livestock, domesticated animal'; borrowed into Ndak Ta as kwir < Proto-Ferogh or early Faraghin koir or xoir)
(as)-kun-(at)	malevolent spirit, devil
[V]laɖu-(i)ts	free
[V]lit-(i)ts	?longsword (Faraghin lets; ?cf. Forest Miwan li 'song')
[V]lup-a-	lie, deceive
mesg-a-	raid, capture (apparently s-grade of meg- 'boil', possibly with the metaphorical meaning 'behave wildly or badly'; > Faraghin maghačan 'loot, take as booty', and cf. OEMiw me:g 'be loud, be rowdy')
[V]min[V]	son
mas-(at)	house (cf. Ngauro mos 'house, temple, town')
[V]mudz[V]	blood
[V]mun-(i)ts	soft, weak (cf. FMiw mul 'oblivious')
naga-(at)	lord, chief (cf. Ngauro naka 'lord, god')
nag(a)-su[n]	bear (the animal) (PIsth. compound: naga 'lord' + su[n] 'forest')
[V]nidz[V]	weak, bad (cf. FMiw ni:glu 'feeble')
njadzga	war (cf. FMiw za:ska < Ngauro)
[V]nopol-a-	be bored
[V]pat[V]	one
(as)-pes	people (e.g. in tribal name Ferogh < as-pes-dosg 'of the people of the camp'; cf. Miw < PEI *ʔum pews, also 'of the people')
[V]plesg-a-	get or be used to (s-grade of [V]pleg- 'meet')
[V]plun-j-a-	stab, slash (j-grade of a root [V]plun-, maybe meaning 'to cut up' or something similar)
[V]puj-at	clean, pure (?< [V]puj- 'be clean' + augmentative -(a)t)
(as)-pusg-a-	make, craft (?cf. either FMiw bizgi: 'sacrifice' or Ndak Ta alpau 'make, create')
[V]sij-(i)ts	holy
[V]son[V]	fire
su[n]	forest
[V]susd[V]	year (s-grade of [V]sud- 'circle, go around')
taʈa	sister (cf. [V]da-ɖu 'girl, daughter')
[V]tet[V]	rule, method
(as)-tidz[V]	great, mighty
[V]tisk[V]	sword (possibly a Ngauro loan into pre-Western-Isthmus, < a PEI root [V]dik- 'make, form')
[V]tjon-(at)	left hand
tlujb-a-	marry (possibly j-grade of a root tlub- 'be married'; cf. FMiw dimbal 'wife')
[V]tund-a-	watch over, take care of
tsimp-a-	twist, stunt (cf. EMiw timpi:za 'necklace')
[V]tsisk[V]	name (s-grade of [V]tsik- 'to name, to call')
tso-(at)	gold (cf. FMiw twa:nka 'gold')
tsujf	sea, ocean (cf. Ngauro saü, borrowed into Ndak Ta as sau 'coast')
[V]tsun[V]	two
ʈelk	king, chief (cf. Ngauro dyaka 'kingly, royal', borrowed into Ndak Ta as diàka 'king')
[V]ʈits[V]	cover (> Faraghin česk 'covering, lid', českan 'hide', etc.)
[V]ʈusk[V]	fist (s-grade of [V]ʈuk- 'clench, make a fist')

See also

• Proto-Isthmus
• Eigə-Isthmus languages