Lucien Cartier-Tilet
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291 lines
18 KiB
Org Mode
#+setupfile: ../headers
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* Phonetics and Phonology of Proto-Ñyqy
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** Phonetic Inventory and Translitteration
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*** Vowels
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As we stand today, eight vowels were reconstructed for Proto-Ñyqy, as
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presented in the table below.
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#+NAME: table:vowels:trans
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#+CAPTION: Proto-Ñyqy Vowels
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#+ATTR_LATEX: :placement [htb]
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| | antérieures | postérieures |
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|-------------+-------------+--------------|
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| fermées | y | ú |
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| pré-fermées | i | u |
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| mi-fermées | ø | œ |
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| mi-ouvertes | e | o |
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Below is a short guide to their pronunciation:
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- e :: {{{phon(*ɛ)}}} as in General American English /“bed”/ [bɛd]
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- i :: {{{phon(*ɪ)}}} as in General American English /“bit”/ [bɪt]
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- o :: {{{phon(*ɔ)}}} as in General American English /“thought”/ [θɔːt]
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- ø :: {{{phon(*ø)}}} as in French /“peu”/ [pø]
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- œ :: {{{phon(*ɤ)}}} as in Scottish Gaelic /“doirbh”/ [d̪̊ɤrʲɤv]
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- u :: {{{phon(*ʊ)}}} as in General American English /“hook”/ [hʊ̞k]
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- ú :: {{{phon(*u)}}} as in General American English /“boot”/ [bu̟ːt]
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- y :: {{{phon(*y)}}} as in French /“dune”/ [d̪yn]
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We also have a ninth vowel, noted «ə» which denotes an unknown vowel.
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It is most likely this was before the Proto-Ñyqy breakup a simple
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schwa standing where a vowel got reduced either at an earlier stage
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than Proto-Ñyqy or during the breakup of the language. Depending on
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the languages that evolved from Proto-Ñyqy, some got rid of it later
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while some other reinstated it as a full vowel with different rules
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each on which vowel it would become. Thus in the current stage of
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reasearch on Proto-Ñyqy, we cannot know for certain which vowel it
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should have been.
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It is however possible to create a featural tree for the known vowels,
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determining which would have been considered closer to others, as
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seens with the vowel tree below.
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#+NAME: vow-tree
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#+header: :var vowels=vowels-featural-list
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#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp :wrap "src dot :file proto-nyqy/vowel-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export"
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(conlanging-list-to-graphviz vowels)
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#+END_SRC
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#+RESULTS[ca8201ea639a90a732e280bbf68fcc380622d674]: vow-tree
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#+begin_src dot :file proto-nyqy/vowel-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export
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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";}
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#+end_src
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#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/proto-nyqy/vowel-feature-tree.png" alt="Proto-Ñyqy Vowel Featural Tree">Proto-Ñyqy Vowels Featural Tree</ImgFigure>
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**** Private Data :noexport:
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#+name: vowels-featural-list
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- vowels
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- +back
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- +tense
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- +high
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- /u/
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- -high
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- /ɤ/
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- -tense
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- +high
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- /ʊ/
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- -high
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- /ɔ/
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- -back
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- +tense
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- +high
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- /y/
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- -high
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- /ø/
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- -tense
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- +high
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- /ɪ/
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- -high
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- /ɛ/
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*** Consonants
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The topic of consonants, unlike vowels, is a hot debate among
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linguists. while we are pretty sure proto-ñyqy has twelve consonants,
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we are still unsure which consonants they are due to the extreme
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unstability of the dorsal feature, and there is seemingly no
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consistency as to how the consonants stabilized in the different
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languages that emerged from the proto-ñyqy breakup. it is only in the
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recent years Ishy Maeln proposed a new theory that is gaining traction
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among proto-ñyqy specialists: each consonant could be pronounced
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either as a dorsal or as a non-dorsal depending on its environment and
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both potential pronunciation can be correct. she even goes further and
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proposes proto-ñyqy had an alternating rule stating a given consonant
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had to be non-dorsal if the previous one was, and vice versa. this
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would explain the common pattern of dorsal consonants alternation
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found in some early languages found after the breakup such as
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proto-mojhal. this phenomenon is more thouroughly explained in
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[[file:phonology.md#consonants][Consonants]].
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You can find the featural tree of the Proto-Ñyqy consonants in the
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consonant tree below. Each grapheme displays below its dorsal
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pronunciation on the left and its non-dorsal pronunciation on the
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right.
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#+name: cons-tree
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#+header: :var consonants=consonants-featural-list
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#+begin_src emacs-lisp :wrap "src dot :file proto-nyqy/consonant-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export"
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(conlanging-list-to-graphviz consonants)
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#+end_src
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#+RESULTS[fb6adbb160bf8050832a8ff6280f201959fdd8a2]: cons-tree
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#+begin_src dot :file proto-nyqy/consonant-feature-tree.png :results none :eval no-export
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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";}
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#+end_src
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#+html: <ImgFigure src="/img/proto-nyqy/consonant-feature-tree.png" alt="Feature Tree of Proto-Ñyqy Consonants">Feature Tree of Proto-Ñyqy Consonants</ImgFigure>
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As you can see, each one of the consonants have their two alternative
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indicated below their grapheme. In the case of the coronal consonants,
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the alternative consonant is obtained by replacing the anterior
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feature by the dorsal feature when it is present.
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The way of writing consonants was therefore standardized as presented
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in the table below.
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#+name: table:consonants-pronunciation
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#+caption: Possible Pronunciations of the Proto-Ñyqy Consonants
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| Main Grapheme | Dorsal Phoneme | Non-Dorsal Phoneme | Alternate Grapheme |
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|---------------+----------------+--------------------+--------------------|
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| ñ | {{{phon(*ɴ)}}} | {{{phon(*ɦ̃)}}} | ḿ |
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| q | {{{phon(*q)}}} | {{{phon(*ħ)}}} | ħ, h_{1} |
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| g | {{{phon(*ɢ)}}} | {{{phon(*ʕ)}}} | ȟ, h_{2} |
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| c | {{{phon(*c)}}} | {{{phon(*t͡ʃ)}}} | ł |
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| j | {{{phon(*ɟ)}}} | {{{phon(*d͡ʒ)}}} | ʒ |
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| w | {{{phon(*w)}}} | {{{phon(*v)}}} | l |
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| m | {{{phon(*ŋ͡m)}}} | {{{phon(*m)}}} | r, r_{1} |
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| p | {{{phon(*χ)}}} | {{{phon(*p)}}} | xh, r_{2} |
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| b | {{{phon(*g͡b)}}} | {{{phon(*b)}}} | rh, r_{3} |
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| n | {{{phon(*ɳ)}}} | {{{phon(*n)}}} | y |
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| s | {{{phon(*ç)}}} | {{{phon(*s)}}} | x, r_{4} |
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| z | {{{phon(*ʝ)}}} | {{{phon(*z)}}} | ɣ, r_{5} |
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For each of these consonants, the letter chosen represents what we
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suppose was the most common or the default pronunciation of the
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consonant represented. In the table are also included alternate
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graphemes you might find in other, mostly older works, though they are
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mostly deprecated now.
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As you can see, Proto-Ñyqy had potentially two different consonants
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that could be pronounced as {{{phon(*m)}}}. Although it did not influence
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Proto-Ñyqy as far as we know, it definitively influenced the Pritian
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branch of the family, with «ñ» and «m» influencing differently the
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vowel following it.
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Several consonants used to be unknown at the beginnings of the
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Proto-Ñyqy study, as can be seen with the old usage of «h_{1}, h_{2}, r_{1},
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r_{2}, r_{3}, r_{4}, and r_{5}». These are found mostly in the earlier documents
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but progressively dissapear as our understanding of the Proto-Ñyqy
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grew during the past century. They are not used anymore, but any
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student that wishes to read older documents on Proto-Ñyqy should be
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aware of these.
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**** Private Data :noexport:
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#+name: consonants-featural-list
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- consonants
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- +coronal
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- +anterior
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- +voice
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- +nasal
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- n\nɳ / n
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- -nasal
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- z\nʝ / z
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- -voice
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- s\nç / s
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- -anterior
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- +voice
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- j\nɟ / d͡ʒ
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- - voice
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- c\nc / t͡ʃ
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- -coronal
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- +voice
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- +nasal
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- +labial
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- m\nŋ͡m / m
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- -labial
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- ñ\nɴ / ɦ̃
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- -nasal
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- +labial
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- +constricted
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- w\nw / v
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- -constricted
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- b\ng͡b / b
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- -labial
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- g\nɡ / ʕ
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- -voice
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- +labial
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- p\nk͡p / p
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- -labial
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- q\nq / ħ
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*** Pitch and Stress
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It is definitively known Proto-Ñyqy had a stress system that was used
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both on a clause and on a word level, as the languages that evolved
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from it inherited this characteristic. However, it is not possible to
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reconstruct it accurately, we only know the vowel «ə» was unstressed
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and only appeared in words with two syllables or more. However, we do
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not know if it had any morphological meaning or if it was productive.
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On the other hand, we are much less sure about whether it had a pitch
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system, and if it did whether it was productive or not. Most of the
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languages that evolved from Proto-Ñyqy had or have one such as the
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Mojhal-Andelian family, but some don’t such as the Pritian family. The
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most commonly accepted answer is a pitch system appeared after the
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breakup of the pitchless branches which happenned earlier than the
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other branches which do have a pitch system. In reconstructed
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Proto-Ñyqy however, if such a system was present, pitches were most
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likely non-phonemic and unproductive. It only gained productivity in
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later stages, after the first breakups we know, in a common unknown
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ancestor language of the branches which did or still do have either an
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accent or a pitch system, and even there the evolutions seem to have
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happened in different ways depending on the branches. It is therefore
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impossible to know what the pitch system of Proto-Ñyqy was if it had
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one.
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** Phonotactics
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*** Syllable Structure
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The prototypical syllable in Proto-Ñyqy appears as a (C)V(C)(C)
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syllable with at least one consonant around the vowel, either in the
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onset or in the coda. At most, it can have one consonant in the onset
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and two in the coda.
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No special rule have been found to rule the onset, it can host any
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consonant without any effect on the vowel.
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However, it has been found the coda has some rules:
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- two nasal consonants cannot follow each other --- no {{{recon(-ñm)}}}
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- two coronal consonants cannot follow each other --- no {{{recon(-ns)}}}
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- labial consonants are never found with another consonant in the coda
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--- no {{{recon(-ps)}}}
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For instance, {{{recon(noc zebec)}}} would be pronounced as {{{recon(noc
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gebec)}}}. It is most likely the features to chose from when converting a
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consonant from a coronal to a non-coronal were considered as absent by
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default. This results in the table below --- as you can see, the pair
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«z» and «j» and the pair «s» and «c» convert to the same consonant
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respectively.
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#+name: table:coronal-to-non-coronal-consonants
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#+caption: Conversion Table of Coronal to Non-Coronal Consonants
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| Coronal Consonant | Non-Coronal Consonant |
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|-------------------+-----------------------|
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| n | ñ |
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| z | g |
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| s | q |
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| j | g |
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| c | q |
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It has also been found that if two coronal consonants do follow each
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other in cross-syllabic environments, with the first one in the coda
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of a first syllable and the second one in the onset of a second
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syllable, then the former will become voiced as the latter.
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Similarly, if two nasal consonants are found near each other in a
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cross-syllabic environment, the second nasal consonant will become
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denasalized. Thus, we get the conversion table below.
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#+name: table:consonants-denasalization
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#+caption: Denasalization Table for Proto-Ñyqy Consonants
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| Nasal Consonant | Non-Nasal Consonant |
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|-----------------+---------------------|
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| n | z |
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| m | w |
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| ñ | b |
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It has also been found a schwa tends to appear between syllables when
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the first one ends with two consonants and the second one begins with
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one.
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*** Consonantal Dorsal Alternation
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As mentioned above in [[file:phonology.md#consonants][Consonants]], it seems probable according to
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Maeln’s theory consonants were alternating between dorsals and
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non-dorsals. We do not know if it only happened between words, within
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words, or along whole clauses, but this would explain much of the
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different languages that evolved from Proto-Ñyqy. The table below
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shows different possible pronunciation of Proto-Ñyqy words with
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word-wise consonantal dorsal alternation whether the first consonant
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is to be considered a dorsal consonant or not. Note the nasal switch
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as well as the extra schwa insertion in the third example as described
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above in [[file:phonology.md#syllable-structure][Syllable Structure]].
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#+name: table:word-consonantal-dorsal-alternation
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#+caption: Different Possible Pronunciation of Proto-Ñyqy Words
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| Word | Dorsal-Initial | Dorsal-Final |
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|-----------------+-----------------------+---------------------|
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| {{{recon(pœwec)}}} | {{{phon(*pɤwɛt͡ʃ)}}} | {{{phon(*pɤvɛc)}}} |
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| {{{recon(zebec)}}} | {{{phon(*zɛg͡bɛt͡ʃ)}}} | {{{phon(*ʝɛbɛc)}}} |
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| {{{recon(ñocm noc)}}} | {{{phon(*ɴɔt͡ʃŋ͡m ə ɦɔc)}}} | {{{phon(*ɦɔcm ə ɴot͡ʃ)}}} |
|