conlang.phundrak.com/docs/proto-nyqy/phonology.org

#+setupfile: ../headers
* Phonetics and Phonology of Proto-Ñyqy
** Phonetic Inventory and Translitteration
*** Vowels
As we stand today, eight vowels were reconstructed for Proto-Ñyqy, as
presented in the table below.

#+NAME: table:vowels:trans
#+CAPTION: Proto-Ñyqy Vowels
#+ATTR_LATEX: :placement [htb]
|             | antérieures | postérieures |
|-------------+-------------+--------------|
| fermées     | y           | ú            |
| pré-fermées | i           | u            |
| mi-fermées  | ø           | œ            |
| mi-ouvertes | e           | o            |

Below is a short guide to their pronunciation:
- e :: {{{phon(*ɛ)}}} as in General American English /“bed”/ [bɛd]
- i :: {{{phon(*ɪ)}}} as in General American English /“bit”/ [bɪt]
- o :: {{{phon(*ɔ)}}} as in General American English /“thought”/ [θɔːt]
- ø :: {{{phon(*ø)}}} as in French /“peu”/ [pø]
- œ :: {{{phon(*ɤ)}}} as in Scottish Gaelic /“doirbh”/ [d̪̊ɤrʲɤv]
- u :: {{{phon(*ʊ)}}} as in General American English /“hook”/ [hʊ̞k]
- ú :: {{{phon(*u)}}} as in General American English /“boot”/ [bu̟ːt]
- y :: {{{phon(*y)}}} as in French /“dune”/ [d̪yn]

We also have a ninth vowel, noted «ə» which denotes an unknown vowel.
It is most likely this was before the Proto-Ñyqy breakup a simple
schwa standing where a vowel got reduced either at an earlier stage
than Proto-Ñyqy or during the breakup of the language. Depending on
the languages that evolved from Proto-Ñyqy, some got rid of it later
while some other reinstated it as a full vowel with different rules
each on which vowel it would become. Thus in the current stage of
reasearch on Proto-Ñyqy, we cannot know for certain which vowel it
should have been.

It is however possible to create a featural tree for the known vowels,
determining which would have been considered closer to others, as
seens with the vowel tree below.
#+NAME: vow-tree
#+header: :var vowels=vowels-featural-list
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp :wrap "src dot :file proto-nyqy/vowel-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export"
(conlanging-list-to-graphviz vowels)
#+END_SRC

#+RESULTS[ca8201ea639a90a732e280bbf68fcc380622d674]: vow-tree
#+begin_src dot :file proto-nyqy/vowel-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export
graph{graph[dpi=300,bgcolor="transparent"];node[shape=plaintext];"vowels-0jqz164sl6mq"[label="vowels"];"+back-0jqz164sl6nb"[label="+back"];"vowels-0jqz164sl6mq"--"+back-0jqz164sl6nb";"+tense-0jqz164sl6nm"[label="+tense"];"+back-0jqz164sl6nb"--"+tense-0jqz164sl6nm";"+high-0jqz164sl6nw"[label="+high"];"+tense-0jqz164sl6nm"--"+high-0jqz164sl6nw";"/u/-0jqz164sl6o8"[label="/u/"];"+high-0jqz164sl6nw"--"/u/-0jqz164sl6o8";"-high-0jqz164sl6ou"[label="-high"];"+tense-0jqz164sl6nm"--"-high-0jqz164sl6ou";"/ɤ/-0jqz164sl6p4"[label="/ɤ/"];"-high-0jqz164sl6ou"--"/ɤ/-0jqz164sl6p4";"-tense-0jqz164sl6ql"[label="-tense"];"+back-0jqz164sl6nb"--"-tense-0jqz164sl6ql";"+high-0jqz164sl6qw"[label="+high"];"-tense-0jqz164sl6ql"--"+high-0jqz164sl6qw";"/ʊ/-0jqz164sl6r6"[label="/ʊ/"];"+high-0jqz164sl6qw"--"/ʊ/-0jqz164sl6r6";"-high-0jqz164sl6rv"[label="-high"];"-tense-0jqz164sl6ql"--"-high-0jqz164sl6rv";"/ɔ/-0jqz164sl6s4"[label="/ɔ/"];"-high-0jqz164sl6rv"--"/ɔ/-0jqz164sl6s4";"-back-0jqz164sl6v7"[label="-back"];"vowels-0jqz164sl6mq"--"-back-0jqz164sl6v7";"+tense-0jqz164sl6vk"[label="+tense"];"-back-0jqz164sl6v7"--"+tense-0jqz164sl6vk";"+high-0jqz164sl6vw"[label="+high"];"+tense-0jqz164sl6vk"--"+high-0jqz164sl6vw";"/y/-0jqz164sl6w6"[label="/y/"];"+high-0jqz164sl6vw"--"/y/-0jqz164sl6w6";"-high-0jqz164sl6wt"[label="-high"];"+tense-0jqz164sl6vk"--"-high-0jqz164sl6wt";"/ø/-0jqz164sl6x4"[label="/ø/"];"-high-0jqz164sl6wt"--"/ø/-0jqz164sl6x4";"-tense-0jqz164sl6yl"[label="-tense"];"-back-0jqz164sl6v7"--"-tense-0jqz164sl6yl";"+high-0jqz164sl6yw"[label="+high"];"-tense-0jqz164sl6yl"--"+high-0jqz164sl6yw";"/ɪ/-0jqz164sl6z7"[label="/ɪ/"];"+high-0jqz164sl6yw"--"/ɪ/-0jqz164sl6z7";"-high-0jqz164sl6zu"[label="-high"];"-tense-0jqz164sl6yl"--"-high-0jqz164sl6zu";"/ɛ/-0jqz164sl704"[label="/ɛ/"];"-high-0jqz164sl6zu"--"/ɛ/-0jqz164sl704";}
#+end_src

#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/proto-nyqy/vowel-feature-tree.png" alt="Proto-Ñyqy Vowel Featural Tree">Proto-Ñyqy Vowels Featural Tree</ImgFigure>

**** Private Data                                               :noexport:
#+name: vowels-featural-list
- vowels
  - +back
    - +tense
      - +high
        - /u/
      - -high
        - /ɤ/
    - -tense
      - +high
        - /ʊ/
      - -high
        - /ɔ/
  - -back
    - +tense
      - +high
        - /y/
      - -high
        - /ø/
    - -tense
      - +high
        - /ɪ/
      - -high
        - /ɛ/

*** Consonants
The topic of consonants, unlike vowels, is a hot debate among
linguists. while we are pretty sure proto-ñyqy has twelve consonants,
we are still unsure which consonants they are due to the extreme
unstability of the dorsal feature, and there is seemingly no
consistency as to how the consonants stabilized in the different
languages that emerged from the proto-ñyqy breakup. it is only in the
recent years Ishy Maeln proposed a new theory that is gaining traction
among proto-ñyqy specialists: each consonant could be pronounced
either as a dorsal or as a non-dorsal depending on its environment and
both potential pronunciation can be correct. she even goes further and
proposes proto-ñyqy had an alternating rule stating a given consonant
had to be non-dorsal if the previous one was, and vice versa. this
would explain the common pattern of dorsal consonants alternation
found in some early languages found after the breakup such as
proto-mojhal. this phenomenon is more thouroughly explained in
[[file:phonology.md#consonants][Consonants]].

You can find the featural tree of the Proto-Ñyqy consonants in the
consonant tree below. Each grapheme displays below its dorsal
pronunciation on the left and its non-dorsal pronunciation on the
right.

#+name: cons-tree
#+header: :var consonants=consonants-featural-list
#+begin_src emacs-lisp :wrap "src dot :file proto-nyqy/consonant-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export"
(conlanging-list-to-graphviz consonants)
#+end_src

#+RESULTS[fb6adbb160bf8050832a8ff6280f201959fdd8a2]: cons-tree
#+begin_src dot :file proto-nyqy/consonant-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export
graph{graph[dpi=300,bgcolor="transparent"];node[shape=plaintext];"consonants-0jqz165icxvs"[label="consonants"];"+coronal-0jqz165icxw0"[label="+coronal"];"consonants-0jqz165icxvs"--"+coronal-0jqz165icxw0";"+anterior-0jqz165icxw3"[label="+anterior"];"+coronal-0jqz165icxw0"--"+anterior-0jqz165icxw3";"+voice-0jqz165icxw5"[label="+voice"];"+anterior-0jqz165icxw3"--"+voice-0jqz165icxw5";"+nasal-0jqz165icxw8"[label="+nasal"];"+voice-0jqz165icxw5"--"+nasal-0jqz165icxw8";"n\nɳ / n-0jqz165icxwa"[label="n\nɳ / n"];"+nasal-0jqz165icxw8"--"n\nɳ / n-0jqz165icxwa";"-nasal-0jqz165icxwg"[label="-nasal"];"+voice-0jqz165icxw5"--"-nasal-0jqz165icxwg";"z\nʝ / z-0jqz165icxwi"[label="z\nʝ / z"];"-nasal-0jqz165icxwg"--"z\nʝ / z-0jqz165icxwi";"-voice-0jqz165icxwu"[label="-voice"];"+anterior-0jqz165icxw3"--"-voice-0jqz165icxwu";"s\nç / s-0jqz165icxww"[label="s\nç / s"];"-voice-0jqz165icxwu"--"s\nç / s-0jqz165icxww";"-anterior-0jqz165icxxc"[label="-anterior"];"+coronal-0jqz165icxw0"--"-anterior-0jqz165icxxc";"+voice-0jqz165icxxe"[label="+voice"];"-anterior-0jqz165icxxc"--"+voice-0jqz165icxxe";"j\nɟ / d͡ʒ-0jqz165icxxh"[label="j\nɟ / d͡ʒ"];"+voice-0jqz165icxxe"--"j\nɟ / d͡ʒ-0jqz165icxxh";"- voice-0jqz165icxxn"[label="- voice"];"-anterior-0jqz165icxxc"--"- voice-0jqz165icxxn";"c\nc / t͡ʃ-0jqz165icxxq"[label="c\nc / t͡ʃ"];"- voice-0jqz165icxxn"--"c\nc / t͡ʃ-0jqz165icxxq";"-coronal-0jqz165icxzj"[label="-coronal"];"consonants-0jqz165icxvs"--"-coronal-0jqz165icxzj";"+voice-0jqz165icxzm"[label="+voice"];"-coronal-0jqz165icxzj"--"+voice-0jqz165icxzm";"+nasal-0jqz165icxzo"[label="+nasal"];"+voice-0jqz165icxzm"--"+nasal-0jqz165icxzo";"+labial-0jqz165icxzq"[label="+labial"];"+nasal-0jqz165icxzo"--"+labial-0jqz165icxzq";"m\nŋ͡m / m-0jqz165icxzs"[label="m\nŋ͡m / m"];"+labial-0jqz165icxzq"--"m\nŋ͡m / m-0jqz165icxzs";"-labial-0jqz165icxzz"[label="-labial"];"+nasal-0jqz165icxzo"--"-labial-0jqz165icxzz";"ñ\nɴ / ɦ̃-0jqz165icy01"[label="ñ\nɴ / ɦ̃"];"-labial-0jqz165icxzz"--"ñ\nɴ / ɦ̃-0jqz165icy01";"-nasal-0jqz165icy0d"[label="-nasal"];"+voice-0jqz165icxzm"--"-nasal-0jqz165icy0d";"+labial-0jqz165icy0f"[label="+labial"];"-nasal-0jqz165icy0d"--"+labial-0jqz165icy0f";"+constricted-0jqz165icy0i"[label="+constricted"];"+labial-0jqz165icy0f"--"+constricted-0jqz165icy0i";"w\nw / v-0jqz165icy0q"[label="w\nw / v"];"+constricted-0jqz165icy0i"--"w\nw / v-0jqz165icy0q";"-constricted-0jqz165icy0v"[label="-constricted"];"+labial-0jqz165icy0f"--"-constricted-0jqz165icy0v";"b\ng͡b / b-0jqz165icy0y"[label="b\ng͡b / b"];"-constricted-0jqz165icy0v"--"b\ng͡b / b-0jqz165icy0y";"-labial-0jqz165icy1a"[label="-labial"];"-nasal-0jqz165icy0d"--"-labial-0jqz165icy1a";"g\nɡ / ʕ-0jqz165icy1c"[label="g\nɡ / ʕ"];"-labial-0jqz165icy1a"--"g\nɡ / ʕ-0jqz165icy1c";"-voice-0jqz165icy2i"[label="-voice"];"-coronal-0jqz165icxzj"--"-voice-0jqz165icy2i";"+labial-0jqz165icy2l"[label="+labial"];"-voice-0jqz165icy2i"--"+labial-0jqz165icy2l";"p\nk͡p / p-0jqz165icy2n"[label="p\nk͡p / p"];"+labial-0jqz165icy2l"--"p\nk͡p / p-0jqz165icy2n";"-labial-0jqz165icy2s"[label="-labial"];"-voice-0jqz165icy2i"--"-labial-0jqz165icy2s";"q\nq / ħ-0jqz165icy2v"[label="q\nq / ħ"];"-labial-0jqz165icy2s"--"q\nq / ħ-0jqz165icy2v";}
#+end_src

#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/proto-nyqy/consonant-feature-tree.png" alt="Feature Tree of Proto-Ñyqy Consonants">Feature Tree of Proto-Ñyqy Consonants</ImgFigure>

As you can see, each one of the consonants have their two alternative
indicated below their grapheme. In the case of the coronal consonants,
the alternative consonant is obtained by replacing the anterior
feature by the dorsal feature when it is present.

The way of writing consonants was therefore standardized as presented
in the table below.
#+name: table:consonants-pronunciation
#+caption: Possible Pronunciations of the Proto-Ñyqy Consonants
| Main Grapheme | Dorsal Phoneme | Non-Dorsal Phoneme | Alternate Grapheme |
|---------------+----------------+--------------------+--------------------|
| ñ             | {{{phon(*ɴ)}}}       | {{{phon(*ɦ̃)}}}            | ḿ                  |
| q             | {{{phon(*q)}}}       | {{{phon(*ħ)}}}           | ħ, h_{1}              |
| g             | {{{phon(*ɢ)}}}       | {{{phon(*ʕ)}}}           | ȟ, h_{2}              |
| c             | {{{phon(*c)}}}       | {{{phon(*t͡ʃ)}}}         | ł                  |
| j             | {{{phon(*ɟ)}}}        | {{{phon(*d͡ʒ)}}}         | ʒ                  |
| w             | {{{phon(*w)}}}       | {{{phon(*v)}}}           | l                  |
| m             | {{{phon(*ŋ͡m)}}}     | {{{phon(*m)}}}           | r, r_{1}              |
| p             | {{{phon(*χ)}}}       | {{{phon(*p)}}}           | xh, r_{2}             |
| b             | {{{phon(*g͡b)}}}     | {{{phon(*b)}}}           | rh, r_{3}             |
| n             | {{{phon(*ɳ)}}}       | {{{phon(*n)}}}           | y                  |
| s             | {{{phon(*ç)}}}       | {{{phon(*s)}}}           | x, r_{4}              |
| z             | {{{phon(*ʝ)}}}        | {{{phon(*z)}}}           | ɣ, r_{5}              |
For each of these consonants, the letter chosen represents what we
suppose was the most common or the default pronunciation of the
consonant represented. In the table are also included alternate
graphemes you might find in other, mostly older works, though they are
mostly deprecated now.

As you can see, Proto-Ñyqy had potentially two different consonants
that could be pronounced as {{{phon(*m)}}}. Although it did not influence
Proto-Ñyqy as far as we know, it definitively influenced the Pritian
branch of the family, with «ñ» and «m» influencing differently the
vowel following it.

Several consonants used to be unknown at the beginnings of the
Proto-Ñyqy study, as can be seen with the old usage of «h_{1}, h_{2}, r_{1},
r_{2}, r_{3}, r_{4}, and r_{5}». These are found mostly in the earlier documents
but progressively dissapear as our understanding of the Proto-Ñyqy
grew during the past century. They are not used anymore, but any
student that wishes to read older documents on Proto-Ñyqy should be
aware of these.

**** Private Data                                               :noexport:
#+name: consonants-featural-list
- consonants
  - +coronal
    - +anterior
      - +voice
        - +nasal
          - n\nɳ / n
        - -nasal
          - z\nʝ / z
      - -voice
        - s\nç / s
    - -anterior
      - +voice
        - j\nɟ / d͡ʒ
      - - voice
        - c\nc / t͡ʃ
  - -coronal
    - +voice
      - +nasal
        - +labial
          - m\nŋ͡m / m
        - -labial
          - ñ\nɴ / ɦ̃
      - -nasal
        - +labial
          - +constricted
            - w\nw / v
          - -constricted
            - b\ng͡b / b
        - -labial
          - g\nɡ / ʕ
    - -voice
      - +labial
        - p\nk͡p / p
      - -labial
        - q\nq / ħ

*** Pitch and Stress
It is definitively known Proto-Ñyqy had a stress system that was used
both on a clause and on a word level, as the languages that evolved
from it inherited this characteristic. However, it is not possible to
reconstruct it accurately, we only know the vowel «ə» was unstressed
and only appeared in words with two syllables or more. However, we do
not know if it had any morphological meaning or if it was productive.

On the other hand, we are much less sure about whether it had a pitch
system, and if it did whether it was productive or not. Most of the
languages that evolved from Proto-Ñyqy had or have one such as the
Mojhal-Andelian family, but some don’t such as the Pritian family. The
most commonly accepted answer is a pitch system appeared after the
breakup of the pitchless branches which happenned earlier than the
other branches which do have a pitch system. In reconstructed
Proto-Ñyqy however, if such a system was present, pitches were most
likely non-phonemic and unproductive. It only gained productivity in
later stages, after the first breakups we know, in a common unknown
ancestor language of the branches which did or still do have either an
accent or a pitch system, and even there the evolutions seem to have
happened in different ways depending on the branches. It is therefore
impossible to know what the pitch system of Proto-Ñyqy was if it had
one.

** Phonotactics
*** Syllable Structure
The prototypical syllable in Proto-Ñyqy appears as a (C)V(C)(C)
syllable with at least one consonant around the vowel, either in the
onset or in the coda. At most, it can have one consonant in the onset
and two in the coda.

No special rule have been found to rule the onset, it can host any
consonant without any effect on the vowel.

However, it has been found the coda has some rules:
- two nasal consonants cannot follow each other --- no {{{recon(-ñm)}}}
- two coronal consonants cannot follow each other --- no {{{recon(-ns)}}}
- labial consonants are never found with another consonant in the coda
  --- no {{{recon(-ps)}}}
For instance, {{{recon(noc zebec)}}} would be pronounced as {{{recon(noc
gebec)}}}. It is most likely the features to chose from when converting a
consonant from a coronal to a non-coronal were considered as absent by
default. This results in the table below --- as you can see, the pair
«z» and «j» and the pair «s» and «c» convert to the same consonant
respectively.
#+name: table:coronal-to-non-coronal-consonants
#+caption: Conversion Table of Coronal to Non-Coronal Consonants
| Coronal Consonant | Non-Coronal Consonant |
|-------------------+-----------------------|
| n                 | ñ                     |
| z                 | g                     |
| s                 | q                     |
| j                 | g                     |
| c                 | q                     |

It has also been found that if two coronal consonants do follow each
other in cross-syllabic environments, with the first one in the coda
of a first syllable and the second one in the onset of a second
syllable, then the former will become voiced as the latter.

Similarly, if two nasal consonants are found near each other in a
cross-syllabic environment, the second nasal consonant will become
denasalized. Thus, we get the conversion table below.
#+name: table:consonants-denasalization
#+caption: Denasalization Table for Proto-Ñyqy Consonants
| Nasal Consonant | Non-Nasal Consonant |
|-----------------+---------------------|
| n               | z                   |
| m               | w                   |
| ñ               | b                   |

It has also been found a schwa tends to appear between syllables when
the first one ends with two consonants and the second one begins with
one.

*** Consonantal Dorsal Alternation
As mentioned above in [[file:phonology.md#consonants][Consonants]], it seems probable according to
Maeln’s theory consonants were alternating between dorsals and
non-dorsals. We do not know if it only happened between words, within
words, or along whole clauses, but this would explain much of the
different languages that evolved from Proto-Ñyqy. The table below
shows different possible pronunciation of Proto-Ñyqy words with
word-wise consonantal dorsal alternation whether the first consonant
is to be considered a dorsal consonant or not. Note the nasal switch
as well as the extra schwa insertion in the third example as described
above in [[file:phonology.md#syllable-structure][Syllable Structure]].

#+name: table:word-consonantal-dorsal-alternation
#+caption: Different Possible Pronunciation of Proto-Ñyqy Words
| Word            | Dorsal-Initial        | Dorsal-Final        |
|-----------------+-----------------------+---------------------|
| {{{recon(pœwec)}}}    | {{{phon(*pɤwɛt͡ʃ)}}}        | {{{phon(*pɤvɛc)}}}        |
| {{{recon(zebec)}}}    | {{{phon(*zɛg͡bɛt͡ʃ)}}}      | {{{phon(*ʝɛbɛc)}}}         |
| {{{recon(ñocm noc)}}} | {{{phon(*ɴɔt͡ʃŋ͡m ə ɦɔc)}}} | {{{phon(*ɦɔcm ə ɴot͡ʃ)}}} |