Proto-Sumro-Naukl

Proto-Sumro-Naukl vocabulary

Proto-Sumro-Naukl affixes

Basic words

Proto-Sumro-Naukl is a Sumro-Letaeric language and it is the ancestor of the Sumro-Naukl languages. It was originated in northern Makutevnag, having diverged from Proto-Sumro-Letaeric, in !0AN (using the Sumric Calendar, or !5113YBP using the Years Before Present Calendar) in the cave city Gilgav. There its speakers were attacked by a super-pack of wolves and were forced to retreat. Some speakers ended up on the Naukl Islands where their language became Proto-Naukl, the rest travelled by boat and ended up in Malomanan where the language then diverged into Proto-Sumric, Proto-Sucumian and Proto-Mangeodge.

=Phonological History= ts→s

p, b, {t, d}, k, g, q → ɸ, β, ð, ç, ʝ, χ/V_V - Meocijao's Law

V→∅/_#!V=y

y→ɑ/ɤ..._#

y→u/u..._#

r→∅/_#

ø→u/_F

ɤ→æ

s, z → ʂ, ʐ/V_V!sː zː

s→∅/V_C

t→∅/_#

v→w/_C

pʍ bʍ {tʍ dʍ} kʍ gʍ > ɸ β ðʷ çʷ ʝʷ

eʔ jeʔ aʔ ħeʔ ɪʔ ʊʔ ʉʔ → iː æː eː aː ɪː ʊː ʉː

oħ woħ, waħ → uː oː ɑː

ə→∅

C[+pharyngeal] → h

Cʲ>C

ɨ>ə

=Loanwords= Proto-Sumro-Naukl had two sources of loanwords. One was substrate words from Tagitwi, the Arhwi-Roquai language that the people spoke before shifting to speaking Proto-Sumro-Letaeric. These words tend to be for family terms, cultural items and other everyday vocabulary. The other source is the Kpanu language that was spoken on what was then the northern coast of Makutevang (now the whole area is submerged under the sea) due to the Nebyeto having traded with them. Since the Nebyeto traded mostly for seafood the loanwords tend to be about the sea - the Nebyeto lived inland and so had no direct contact with the sea, and so no native terminology regarding the sea).

Substrate words from Tagitwi

 * *nebjeδ- ("Nebyeto, the Nebyeto people") < Tagitwi *nebyeto- ("Nebyeto, the Nebyeto people")

Loanwords from Kpanu

 * *ahirokot- ("octopus") < Kpanu *aˤiʔukutu ("octopus")
 * *apin- ("orca") < Kpanu *aˤpinaˤ- ("orca")
 * *ġajǒs- ("current, tide, wave, sea") < Kpanu *ʔikaˤwusu- ("sea")
 * *ġǒvahö- ("seal") < Kpanu *ʔikupʰaˤwi- ("seal")
 * *niva- ("saltwater fish") < Kpanu *nipʰaˤfaˤ- ("fish")
 * *yźaδ- ("oyster") < Kpanu *usat ("oyster")

=Phonology= Proto-Sumro-Naukl is transcribed using the Nebyetic Phonetic Alphabet.

Consonants
=Nouns=

PSN nouns are fusional and inflect for two genders (animate vs inanimate), three numbers (singular, paucal and plural) and four cases (nominative, accusative, genitive and dative). There are a number of declensions which a noun may fall into but the majority of the vocabulary belongs to the Common Noun declension which inflects as follows:

Note that the names of the declensions are named directly after those in Old Sumrë due to Old Sumrë biased documenters. While the names are relevant in Old Sumrë they are not so in Proto-Sumro-Naukl. The various declension exhibit alternations in the stem throughout the paradigm. For animate nouns these alternations happens in all non-sg nominative cases. For inanimate nouns the alternations only happen in the genitive and dative cases.

Paucal Number
The Paucal number is a bit of an anomaly as all nouns inflect the same way regardless of declensions. Also only nouns denoting tangible nouns can take the paucal number. Paucal 1 is for nouns which commonly occur in groups, Paucal 2 is for nouns which usually occur alone.


 * *ahirokot- ("octopus") > *ahirokothi- ("some octopuses")
 * *apin- ("orca") > *apinhæśi ("some orcas")
 * *asqæxi- ("thistle") > *asqæxihæśiǎ ("some thistles-")

Collective nouns
The PSN collective denoted a general occurrence of a noun or for when talking about an unspecific hypothetic noun. The collective is made by reduplicating the final CVC sequence in a noun.


 * *apin- ("orca") > *apinpin ("orca-")
 * *atxǒc- ("knuckle") > *atxǒcxǒc ("knuckle-")

Nouns that end in CV keep the CVC pattern by placing /n/ at the end of the reduplicated syllable.


 * *asqæxi- ("thistle") > *asqæxixin ("thistle-")
 * *ha- ("leg") > *hahan ("leg-")

H-nouns
H-nouns exhibit an alternation where /q/ becomes /x/.


 * *talaǎq- ("pet")
 * *taaröq- ("spear")

Y-nouns
Y-nouns exhibit an alternation between /g/ and /ʝ/.


 * *misag- ("fish")
 * *silig- ("bowl")

Null-nouns
Null-nouns experience an alternation where /k/ becomes /ç/.


 * *taraδak- ("cat")
 * *surök- ("rubbish heap")

D-nouns
D-nouns exhibit an alternation where /t/ or /ð/ appears throughout the paradigm between the stem and inflection.


 * *hiśi- ("ant")
 * *usia- ("food")

δ-nouns
δ-nouns exhibit an alternation between /d/ and /δ/.


 * *tirad- ("tail")
 * *munöd- ("ancestor")

P-nouns
P-nouns exhibit an alternation between /p/ and /ɸ/.


 * *aśap- ("bush")
 * *haδiśap- ("mouth")

S-nouns
S-nouns exhibit an alternation where /b/ is dropped throughout the paradigm.


 * *ynsib- ("lizard")
 * *jawrab- ("bat")*


 * As is typical for Sumro-Letaeric languages, the word for "bat" is inanimate due to negative association with bats, due to the speaker's far flung ancestors sharing a habitat with poisonous bats.

Possessive Suffixes
Animate

Inanimate

When a possessive suffix is attached to a noun, it inflects like a common noun regardless of what declension the stem is in:


 * *talaǎq- ("pet") > *talaaǎxa ("pet-") vs *talaǎqba ("my pet") > *talaǎqbaǎ ("my pet-")

Determinative Pronouns
=Adjectives=

Agreement
An adjective agrees to an inanimate noun by adding the suffix -ǎ before any case/number suffixes.
 * *vriqar- ("pale") > vǒ vriqarǎ ("pale dagger")
 * *wuδæś- ("big") > sæ wuδæśǎ ("big island")

Adjective Order
Within a noun phrase, attributive adjectives follow a strict order, ranging from more "animate" adjectives appearing closer to the left edge of the clause than "inanimate adjectives". In this specific context an animate adjective is one that describes qualities like "moving, alive" while inanimate adjectives describe qualities like "unmoving, non-living". There are 4 slots in which in adjective may appear which are:


 * 1) Alive, dead
 * 2) Taking, making a sound, silent
 * 3) Moving, still
 * 4) Emotional
 * 5) Good, bad
 * 6) Colour
 * 7) Else

So for example the phrase masvataræ jagü darǒlx iwræ ("good calm and bright buzzard" - lit. "buzzard calm good bright") is correct but *masvataræ darǫlx jagʉ iwræ ("buzzard good calm shining") is ungrammatical.

Comparative
=Pronouns=

=Verbs=

D-verbs
D-verbs experience an alternation where /δ/ is inserted before all non-1st person verb endings.


 * *aġææǎ- ("to dwell")

S-verbs
S-verbs experience an alternation between /d/ and /ð/ except in the 1S.


 * *silod- ("to rumage")

P-verbs
P-verbs experience an alternation between /p/ and /ɸ/.


 * *aminjap- ("to knap")

S2-verbs
S2-verbs experience an alternation where /b/ drops throughout the paradigm except for the 1S.


 * *vinub- ("to carve")

R2-verbs
R2-verbs show an alternation where /k/ becomes /ç/ throughout the paradigm except for the 1S.


 * *urak- ("to swim")

Y-verbs
Y-verbs experience an alternation between /g/ and /ʝ/.


 * *salög- ("to sleep")

H-verbs
H-verbs experience an alternation between /q/ and /x/.


 * *alaδaq- ("to clothe")

Perfective
The perfective mood in PSN is created by attaching the suffix *-ha onto the verb stem to create a new perfective verb. This verb then conjugates as any other verb.


 * *pǒl- ("to hew") > *pǒlha ("to have hewn") > *pǒlhas ("I have hewn")
 * *dǒhiδ- ("to make") > *dǒhiδha ("to have made") > *dǒhiδhais ("you have made")

Transgressive
The transgressive creates an adverb roughly meaning "while X" or "having done X" (when combined with the perfect). The transgressive if formed with the suffix *-ʉəm onto the third person singular animate form of the verb.


 * *kaź- ("to wash") > *kaźǎś- ("it washes") > *kaźǎźüəm ("while washing")
 * *qjarn- ("to petrify") > *qjarnǎś ("it petrifies") > *qjarnǎśüəm ("while petrifying")

The perfective transgressive is formed with the suffix *-ʉəm onto the third person singular animate perfective.


 * *kaź- (“to wash”) > *kaźha- (“to have washed”) > *kaźhaǎś (“it has washed”) > *kaźhaǎśüəm (“having washed”)
 * *qjarn- (“to petrify”) > *qjarnha (“to have petrified”) > *qjarnhaǎś- (“it has petrified”) > *qjarnhaǎśüəm (“having petrified”)

Supine
The supine is a verbal noun used to describe motion and indicates purpose and intention, or as the predicate of another verb. It is formed with the prefix *k-:


 * *asgal- ("to drift") > *kasgal ("drifting")
 * *ġajaxav- ("to invite") > *kġajaxav ("inviting")

Other verbal noun affixes include the suffixes *-ta, *-un: *asgalta/asgalun ("drifting"), *ġajaxavta/ġajaxavun ("inviting")

Interrogative
The interrogative is formed with the prefix *m- onto the verb:


 * *pǒls ("I hew") > *mpǒls ("do I hew?")

Past Participle
The past participle is formed with the suffix -ik.

=Numbers=

=Krintham's Poem=

Krintham's poem is a short prosaic text written by the shaman Krintham. It has become used as a popular text to translate among the Sumro-Letaeric languages to compare the different languages side by side.


 * sāwə wǒśtauδæ βuhæratsenasӑuδæ us

this-INAN day-DAT.INAN beautiful-INAN-DAT.INAN with

"on this beautiful day"


 * nӑźææ ninææqa pǒlhaæhurf cəvunu ærǒjδӑnu

man-PL woman-PL-CONJ hew-PERF-3PL path-ACC.INAN long-INAN-ACC.INAN

"Men and women have hewn a long path"


 * aśəhkauδæ us ġas miqʷəl siwn makuwæbǒuδe asæś

idea-DAT.INAN with 1PL.INCL be_able travel world-1PL.INCL.POSS-DAT through

"So that we can travel through our world"


 * morgʷææ bawutææ gʷǒlasææhurfriwc iomӑ

god-PL old-PL protect-3P.PL-FUT 3SG.INAN-ACC

"may it be protected by the old gods"


 * iusla pǐǐurǒtqa jalæhææhurfariwc iwræwa iomӑw röġi

sun moon-CONJ expand-3PL.INAN-FUT shining-ACC.INAN 3SG.INAN-DAT on

"may the sun and moon shine light over it"


 * törgʷææ naaδ ksiwn

foot-PL person-GEN.PL SUP-walk

"as peoples' feet walk"