Old Cẹhiri

Old Cẹhir Period This period covers the changes from Maliløri to Old Cẹhir up untl the 1st Century MA. Loss of word final /e, a, o/: Mri yósəfa [jósəfa] "coast" → OC yósəf [jɑ́sə̀f] When the approximants /j/ an /w/ preceeded word final /e, a, o/ they were lost also: Mri dyonálwa [djònálwa] "heart" → OC dyanál [djɑ̀nɑ́l] An exception to this rule is in monosyllabic words: Mri ro [ro] "dog" → OC ra [rɑ́] However monosyllabic words ending in C{w,j}{e,a,o} loose the final vowel and vocalise the approximants to become C{u,i}: Mri rwo [r̩wo] "rhino" → OC ru [rú] The fricatives /ɸ, β, x, ṽ / debuccalise to become /h/: Mri srạbhi [s̩rɶ́βi] "apple" → OC sróhi [s̩róhì] The plosives /p, t, k/ lenite to become the fricatives /ɸ, θ, x/: Mri tódo [tódo] "guilt" → OC þát [θɑ́t] "mistake" The plosives /b d, g/ devoice to become the plosives /p, t, k/: Mri ldəra [l̩dəra] "candle"→ OC ĺtər [ĺ̩tə̀r] "wax". One exception is that /b/ doesn't devoice when word intitial and before a back vowel: Mri bạti [bɶ́ti] "fur" → OC bóþi [bóθì] "down, fluffy feather" and not póþi [póθì]. The fricatives /ɸ, θ, x, s/ voice to become /β, ð, ɣ, z/ when after a low tone or unaccented vowel: Mri äsílga [ɶ̀sílga] "constellation" → OC ozílc [òzílk]. Unaccented /e/ becomes /i/ except when before /r/: Mri nsəte [n̩sətɛ] "to whiten" → OC nsə́þi [ǹ̩sə́θi]. The vowels /o(ː)(ːː)/ and /a(ː)(ːː)/ become /ɑ(ː)(ːː)/: Mri älgṓ [ɶ̀lgóː] "flock" → OC olcā́ [òlkáː] "herd of domestic eagles, fleet". The vowels /ɶ, œ, ø, y/ shift to become /o, a, œ, ø/: Tone reform: Old Cẹhir restructured its tone system based on the fossilied tones inherited from Old Sumre: When the first syllable of a word begins in a low tone followed by an unaccented syllable, the second syllable gains a high tone: OC sènsəð [sènsəð] "to mount" → OC sensə́ð [sènsə́ð]. When the first syllable of a word begins in a high tone followed by an unaccented syllable, the second syllable gains a low tone: OC vúrət [vúrət] "seperation, gulf, gap" → OC vúrət [vúrə̀t]. When a syllable that has a low tone follows an unaccented syllable, the first syllable gains a high tone: OC izəþöí [izəðø̀í] "reigns, tether" → OC izə́ðöí [izə́ðø̀í]. When a syllable that has a high tone follows an unaccented syllable, the first syllable gains a low tone: OC tuvár [tuvɑ́r] "crow" → tuvár [tùvɑ́r]. When a word has no tone at all it gains tone depending on the voicing of its consonants: When the consonant after the first vowel/syllabic consonant is unvoiced the first syllable gains a high tone and the second syllable gains a low tone: OC ltər [l̩tər] "wax" → OC ĺtər [ĺ̩tə̀r] "wax". When the consonant after the first vowel/syllabic consonant is voiced the first syllable gains a low tone and the second syllable gains a high tone: OC nlā [n̩lɑː] "nose" → OC nlā́ [ǹ̩lɑ́ː]

Summary of Old Cẹhir sound changes: C{w,j}{e,a,o}→C{u,i}/_#

e, a, o→∅/_#!#C_#

ɸ, β, x, ṽ →h

p, t, k → ɸ, θ, x

b, d, g→p, t, k

ɸ, θ, x, s→ β, ð, ɣ, z/V[-high]_

e[-tone]→i!_r

o(ː)(ːː), a(ː)(ːː)→ɑ(ː)(ːː)

ɶ, œ, ø, y→o, a, œ, ø

$[-tone]→$[+high]/$[+low]..._

$[-tone]→$[+low]/$[+high]..._

$[-tone]→$[+high]/_...$[+low]

$[-tone]→$[+low]/_...$[+high]

$[-tone]C[-voice]$[-tone]→$[+high]C[-voice]$[+low]

$[-tone]C[+voice]$[-tone]→$[+low]C[+voice]$[+high]

h>k/_C

Late Old Cẹhir Period This period covers the changes between Old Cẹhiri and Late Old Cẹhir up until the 3rd Century MA. /ə/ becomes /ɑ/: OC ĺtər [ĺ̩tə̀r] "wax" → LOC ĺtar [ĺ̩tɑ̀r]. Long /ɑː/ becomes /o:/: OC nlā́ [ǹ̩lɑ́ː] "nose" → LOC nlṓ [ǹ̩lóː] Loss of /j/ when intervocalic: OC oyínəzu "stupid" → LOC oínazu Loss of word final /i/: OC bóþi [bóθì] "down, fluffy feather" → LOC bóþ [bóθ] An effect of this change is that common nouns changed how they are marked for plurality: Common nouns ending in vowels: Nouns that ended in vowels marked their plurality by replacing the final vowel with the suffix -i which caused i-mutation on the vowel in the preceedig syllable. However due to leveling the i-mutation no longer affected this class of nouns. When the final /i/ was dropped the final vowel of the stem continues to be dropped but was no longer replaced, creating zero marking plurality. These nouns are known as "weak nouns": OC olcā́, olcí [òlkáː, òlkí] "eagle flock, eagle flocks" → LOC olcṓ, òlc [òlkóː, òlk]. Common nouns ending in consonants: Due to the earlier i-mutation in Malelweri which caused the plural suffix to mutate the final vowel of the noun stem. The plural of common nouns ending in consonants is inferred by this mutation alone after word final /i/ was lost. These nouns are known as "strong nouns": OC þát. þẹti [θɑ́t, θœ́ti] "mistake, mistakes" → LOC þát, þẹt [θɑ́t, θœ́t] Common nouns ending in /i/: Since common nouns whose stem ended in /i/ already had the effects of i-mutation affect them in their singular forms and that both their final vowel and plural suffix had been deleted by this sound change, no remnents of the old plural were left on these nouns. Due to this their nominative singular and plural forms look identical. These nouns are known as "stale nouns": OC sróhi, sróhi [sróhì] "apple, apples" → LOC sróh, sróh [sróç] "apple, apples". Word final [h] becomes [ç]: OC sróhi [sróhì] "apple" → LOC sróh [sróç]

Summary of Late Old Cẹhir sound changes: ə→ɑ

ɑː(ː)→oː(ː)

j→∅/V_V

i→∅/_#

h→ç/_#