Proto-Dumic
| For the description of this language as reconstructed in the 2011-2014 Relay, see Proto-Dumic (reconstructed). Also available: Proto-Dumic (reconstructed)/Lexicon |
| Proto-Dumic | |
| Period | c. -2000 YP |
| Spoken in | western Great Bay |
| Total speakers | unknown |
| Writing system | none |
| Classification | Dumic |
| Typology | |
| Basic word order | SOV |
| Morphology | agglutinating |
| Alignment | ergative |
| Credits | |
| Created by | WeepingElf Basilius brandrinn |
Proto-Dumic is a language spoken in the hills to the west of the Great Bay (Tagimī) during the early Bronze Age. It is significant as the ancestor of the Dumic languages.
The term Dumic is derived from the Trinesian word for "people", dum.
Background
The speakers of Proto-Dumic lived in the warm, hilly lands to the west of the Great Bay around the start of the second millennium BP. They were a largely settled, agricultural people organised into loose chiefdoms. Authority was passed down patrilineally, and was both temporal and religious; each chief was expected to intercede with the gods and the ancestors, who resided in a parallel spirit world, for the benefit of their subjects.
In this and other ways, material and spiritual power were thoroughly intertwined in Proto-Dumic culture. Metal – a rare commodity – was especially viewed as having supernatural properties, and the ideas of lustre and radiance were associated with power. Notably, the symbols of rulership were an inalienably possessed bronze axe and spear.
Phonology
Phoneme inventory
Consonants
| labial | dental | alveolar | velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nasal | m | n | ||
| voiceless | p | t | s | k |
| voiced | w | ð | r | ɣ |
Vowels
| front | back | |
|---|---|---|
| high | i | u |
| low | a | |
Phonotactics and morphophonology
Syllable structure is CV(N). Most roots are bisyllabic, although a few are of the form CVN and a few are trisyllabic.
Voiceless and voiced (non-nasal) consonants alternate: a voiced consonant following a coda nasal is changed to its voiceless counterpart. (However, nasals do not assimilate in place of articulation.) Hence the only permissible form of cluster is a nasal followed by an unvoiced consonant or another nasal.
Suprasegmentals
Proto-Dumic has a dynamic stress that falls on the penultimate syllable of the word. Postpositions may carry secondary stress, although there is no clear rule governing its assignment.
Morphology
Proto-Dumic is a highly regular, mostly suffixing, agglutinative language.
Nominal morphology
Declension
Nouns decline for four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural) and three cases (absolutive, ergative, postpositional), which are indicated by suffixes. The number suffix precedes the case suffix.
| singular | -Ø |
|---|---|
| dual | -ta |
| trial | -ri/-si |
| plural | -mu |
| absolutive | -Ø |
|---|---|
| ergative | -kan |
| postpositional | -ni |
Possession
Possession can be indicated by the addition of a prefix – transparently identical to the corresponding pronoun – to the possessum. Prefixes ending in a nasal trigger the voiced-to-voiceless change in initial consonants as normal.
Some nouns are inalienably possessed, and cannot occur without a possessive prefix.
| singular | dual | trial | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | inclusive | ti- | tita- | tiri- | timu- |
| exclusive | ku- | kuri- | kumu- | ||
| 2nd | ma- | mata- | mari- | mamu- | |
| 3rd | masculine | kan- | kanta- | kansi- | kanmu- |
| feminine | tum- | tumta- | tumsi- | tummu- | |
Pronouns
Personal pronouns distinguish inclusivity in the first person and gender in the third, and decline as regular nouns.
Note that the demonstratives ('this, that') are fully distinct from the interrogatives ('who, what').
| singular | dual | trial | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | inclusive | ti | tita | tiri | timu |
| exclusive | ku | kuri | kumu | ||
| 2nd | ma | mata | mari | mamu | |
| 3rd | masculine | kan | kanta | kansi | kanmu |
| feminine | tum | tumta | tumsi | tummu | |
| singular | dual | trial | plural | ||
| demonstrative | proximal | si | sita | siri | simu |
| distal | mu | muta | muri | mumu | |
| interrogative | personal | win | |||
| impersonal | ram | ||||
Verbal morphology
Conjugation
Verbs take suffixes for reflexivity, aspect, mood, evidentiality, and voice, in that order (although the reflexive is properly a derived form and is not described here). A verb in a subordinate clause also takes the subordinating suffix after all other suffixes.
| imperfective | -Ø |
|---|---|
| perfective | -wa/-pa |
| indicative | -Ø |
|---|---|
| subjunctive | -sa |
| optative | -ði/-ti |
| imperative | -kim |
| factual | -Ø |
|---|---|
| inferred | -mu |
| hearsay | -ka |
| hypothetical | -si |
| active | -Ø |
|---|---|
| antipassive | -ðanta/-tanta |
| subordinator | -ki |
|---|
Adjectives
There is no separate class of adjectives in Proto-Dumic; verbs fill the same function. A verb used attributively takes the subordinator -ki.
Derivational morphology
Derivational affixes
| diminutive | -kin, -tam, -miri |
|---|---|
| augmentative | -wu/-pu, -taku |
| a kind of X | -niri |
| sth. related to X | -pini |
| mass of X | -tumka |
| singulative | -kiki |
| to make an X | -kanti |
|---|---|
| to be an X | -miði |
| to have an X | -ðuði/-tuði |
| ABS doer / done thing | -ða/-ta |
|---|---|
| ERG doer | -ðira/-tira |
| location | -pa |
| result of action | -ninta |
| verbal abstract | -kasi |
| gerund | -kin |
| imperfective | -tini |
|---|---|
| perfective | -kaɣa |
| to begin X | -timi |
|---|---|
| to stop X | -mumpi |
| to continue X | -rini/-sini |
| to repeat X | -ririn/-sirin |
| causative I | -ku |
|---|---|
| causative II | -taka |
| de-causative | -sun |
| reflexive | -ma |
The valency-adjusting suffixes merit special attention. They work as follows:
- Causative I, -ku, also works as transitivizer. The argument in ABS remains, the old argument in ERG (in transitives) is demoted (but can be re-introduced using an appropriate postposition), and a new argument in ERG is added which denotes the one who causes, initiates or controls the whole situation.
- 'X(abs) is_red' → 'Y(erg) makes X(abs) red'
- 'X(erg) sees Y(abs)' → Z(erg) shows Y(abs) (to X(obl))
- Causative II, -taka, is applied to transitives only and can be viewed as causative I from antipassive: the argument in ABS is demoted (can be reintroduced), the old argument in ERG is put in ABS, a new argument in ERG denotes the causator.
- 'X(erg) makes Y(abs) red' → 'Z(erg) makes X(abs) make things red'
- 'X(erg) sees Y(abs)' → 'Z(erg) makes X(abs) see (e. g. cures X's blindness)'
- De-causitive/detransitive, -sun, is applied to transitives (including causatives), the argument in ABS remains, the argument in ERG is demoted together with the idea that the situation was caused/initiated/controlled by anyone.
- 'X(erg) opens Y(abs)' → 'Y(abs) is open'
- 'X(erg) sees Y(abs)' → 'Y(abs) is visible'
Applicatives
In an applicative construction, an oblique argument is promoted to the position of absolutive, while the former absolutive is demoted (but can be reintroduced with a semantically appropriate postposition). The morphological marking for such applicatives is based on the postposition taken by the original oblique argument. The marker can be derived from the respective postposition by a prefix tim- (with standard consonant alternations), and the whole derived marker is then prefixed to the verb.
- A-kan
- A-kan
- A-ERG
- B
- B-Ø
- B-ABS
- timsanaram
- tim-ra-naram
- APPL-DAT-burn
- A-kan
- A-kan
- A-ERG
- B
- B-Ø
- B-ABS
- timtinnaram
- tim-ðin-naram
- APPL-GEN-burn
- A-kan
- A-kan
- A-ERG
- B
- B-Ø
- B-ABS
- timsumaɣu
- tim-ru-maɣu
- APPL-on-sit
- A-kan
- A-kan
- A-ERG
- B
- B-Ø
- B-ABS
- timkinsiðumma
- tim-kinsi-ðumma
- APPL-from_under-take
Compounding
Compounding is highly productive and head-final.
Syntax
Basic word order
The basic word order is SOV, although any of the six orders is possible. The language has a strong tendency towards being head-final.
- Tuɣikan
- tuɣi-kan
- dog-ERG
- rum
- rum-Ø
- man-ABS
- kapampa.
- kapam-wa
- bite-PFV
- Ðimiki
- ðimi-ki
- be_young-SUB
- timtukan
- timtu-kan
- person-ERG
- kaðaki
- kaða-ki
- be_big-SUB
- ɣamma
- ɣamma-Ø
- ɣamma-ABS
- wantawa.
- wanta-wa
- hunt-PFV
Noun phrases
Appositions
Appositions are used in the postpositional case and precede their head noun.
- tinaðini
- ti-naði-ni
- 1SG-country-POST
- sumpu
- sumpu
- island
Possession
To express attributive possession between two alienable nouns, the genitive postposition ðin is used following the possessor, which is in the postpositional case, and before the possessum.
- ramsani
- ramsa-ni
- woman-POST
- ðin
- ðin
- GEN
- kuɣin
- kuɣin
- shadow
Some nouns - mostly body parts or social relations - are inalienably possessed. (They are identified in the lexicon.) Inalienably possessed nouns can only occur with a possessive prefix.
- titaðani
- ti-taða-ni
- 1SG-father-POST
- ðin
- ðin
- GEN
- kansipa
- kan-sipa
- 3SG.M-name
If the possessor is a pronoun, the possessive prefixes alone are normally used, whether the possessum is inalienably possessed or not.
- tikami
- ti-kami
- 1SG-axe
- titaɣi
- ti-taɣi
- 1SG-face
However, it is possible to emphasise the possessor by using the personal pronoun with ðin. The possessive prefix is also used if the possessum is inalienable.
- tini
- ti-ni
- 1SG-POST
- ðin
- ðin
- GEN
- kami
- kami
- axe
- tini
- ti-ni
- 1SG-POST
- ðin
- ðin
- GEN
- titaɣi
- ti-taɣi
- 1SG-face