Proto-Jaronic

Proto-Jaronic roots

Proto-Jaronic affixes

Proto-Jaronic is the common ancestor of all Jaronic languages and was spoken in the 14th century when it arrived to Malomanan.It is the direct ancestor of Proto-Nulgbokan.

= Proto-Sumric loans = Due to early contact with Proto-Sumric speaking peoples several loanwords from Proto-Sumric were loaned into Proto-Jaronic, mostly vocabulary pertaining to wildlife and the landscape.


 * PJ *skéh- ("thistle") < PS *askxi- ("thistle")
 * PJ *séw- ("rhino") < PS *asrəβǒs- ("rhino")
 * PJ *béd- ("lynx, lion, large cat") < PS *bədats- ("lynx")
 * PJ *géhl- ("hare") < PS *egəʔlǒ- ("arctic hare")
 * PJ *pyéy- ("whale") < PS *fyaġ- ("beluga whale")
 * PJ *pén- ("orca") < PS *əpin- ("orca")
 * PJ *sérw- ("dog") < PS *əśǒrβ- ("dog")
 * PJ *wélmw- ("mole") < PS *əβǒlmu- ("mole")
 * PJ *wéy- ("sea otter") < PS *əβǒjx- ("sea otter")
 * PJ *kés- ("snow goggles") < PS *xyś- ("snow goggles")
 * PJ *géw- ("boar") < PS *xəgau- ("boar)
 * PJ *héys- ("permafrost") < PS *üyźě- ("permafrost")
 * PJ *kéts- ("valley") < PS *üxatśə- ("low lying land")
 * PJ *sén- ("Proto-Sumric speaker") < PS *synna- ("Sumna")
 * PJ *m̥gélsy- ("Malomanan") < PS *əməgelsjǒ ("Mӑgalsjo")
 * PJ *rés- ("language") < PS *raasβ ("language")

=Phonology= The basic root structure is C(M)(R)e(A)(R)C.


 * 1) C = Any consonant
 * 2) M = *m, *w
 * 3) R = *r, *l
 * 4) A = *y, *w

Consonants

 * Liquids cannot occur after voiceless plosives or /s/.
 * The rhotised series of plosives denote a plosive which was followed be an optional /r/. It varied from speaker to speaker whether the /r/ was included.
 * The laterals *l *l1 *l2 *l3 are reconstructed as being /l ʎ ɫ ʟ̝/
 * Two plosives of different voicing may not cluster. Should they come together, then the first plosives takes on the voicing of the second.
 * *gʷéyd- ("to smash, to grind") > *gʷitkémes ("prone to smash").
 * Two of the same consonant may not cluster.
 * If two of the same nasal/fricative/approximant come together then they merge into a short nasal/fricative/approximant.:
 * If two of the same rhotacized plosive come together then the optional r becomes mandatory and syllablic.
 * If two of the same voiceless/voiced plosive come together then the first becomes a nasal of the same PoA:
 * If two of the same labialised plosive come together then the first becomes *m:
 * If two of the same voiceless/voiced plosive come together then the first becomes a nasal of the same PoA:
 * If two of the same labialised plosive come together then the first becomes *m:
 * If two of the same labialised plosive come together then the first becomes *m:

Vowels

 * Vowels are not permitted word initially in roots.

Stress
Proto-Jaronic had a stress accent where the accent could fall on any syllable given the correct environment. The stress fell on the initial syllable of a root but it could be shifted by the attaching of affixes. Certain affixes had a fixed accent such as the prefix *yé-. When the suffix begins in a consonant then the initial syllable of the suffix carries the stress: *gʷéyd- ("to smash, to grind") > *gʷitkémes ("prone to smash").

Ablaut

 * The first grade is the default for all bare stems. This is the grade used in active nouns.
 * A switch to the 2nd grade is made when the stress shifts to a preceding syllable.
 * A switch to the 3rd grade is made when the stress does not shift and a suffix with a nasal is attached. The stress may shift by attaching of another suffix at the end but this does not affect the 3rd grade ablaut. This is the grade used in passive nouns.
 * A switch to the 4th grade is made when the stress shifts to a following syllable.

When the vowel in the stem is the diphthongs *ey *ew then the 4th grade forms as *i *u.

=Noun Phrase=

Noun class
Proto-Jaronic had two noun classes which were active and passive. Active nouns denote something that is typically an agent of a verb and passive nouns typically denote the patient but also many inanimate objects. The division is not an animate-inanimate split for animate beings can be referred to by passive nouns if they are the typical recipients of an action and inanimate things can be referred to by active nouns if they are viewed as being enactors of actions (such as tools but also "dynamic" things such as water, wind, fire etc that move without influence from an animate being). The majority of nouns are derived from verbs using the noun class suffixes (although core vocabulary tends to be purely nominal stems), the suffixes are -es for active nouns (in the 1st grade) and -on for passive nouns (in the 3rd grade). Active nouns derived from verbs that are tools or any inanimate object used to perform an action may also take on the prefix *yé- to distinguish it from an active noun performed by an animate agent, this triggers the 2nd grade. Note that subjects of stative verbs take on the absolutive case.


 * *gʷéyd- ("to smash, to grind")
 * *gʷéyd-es ("attacker, warrior, soldier")
 * *yé-gʷoyd-es ("grinding tool, club, hammer")
 * *gʷáyd-an ("nut")

When a noun has the suffix *-yó, all case endings lose the initial vowel:


 * *teskemyó-s ("human, person")

Case

 * *dréwbʷ- ("father") + *peyt- ("rope").


 * Nominative: Marks the sole argument of an intransitive clause and subject of a transitive clause
 * Abolutive: Marks the patient of a verb and involuntary agent of a verb, the predicate of the copula verb
 * Vocative: Marks a noun when referred directly to
 * Essive: A state of being, "as"
 * *drubʷmés ("as a father")
 * Relative: Regarding/concerning/about X, possessive
 * *dréwbʷos ("father's, about the father")

Proto-Jaronic was an active-stative language, meaning that the sole argument of an intransitive clause was marked the same way as an an agent of a transitive clause (in the nominative case) but may be marked the same way as a patient (absolutive case) to mark an unwilling or unintending agent (i.e it implies a lack of volition):


 * dréwbʷ-es tr̥ŋ-g-l3é

father-NOM.ACT cut-3S.ACT-PST

"father cut"


 * dréwbʷes péyt-∅ tr̥ŋ-g-l3é

father-NOM.ACT rope-ABS cut-3S.ACT-PST

"father cut rope"


 * dréwbʷ-∅ péyt-∅ tr̥ŋ-g-l3é

father-ABS rope-ABS cut-3S.ACT-PST

"father accidentally/was made to cut rope"

Demonstrative Pronouns
Proto-Jaronic makes no proximal distinction in its demonstratives.

The following demonstrative pronouns were made by compounding the interrogative pronouns with *gʳet- ("the stem used to form the demonstratives above). The pronouns "here" and "now" are made by modifying the place and time demonstratives with the pronoun *gʳátan: *gʳátan il2ógʳot ("here") *gʳátan ikm̥gʳót ("now").

Interrogative Pronouns
Active "what" (*yédes) is equivalent to "who" and passive "what" (*yádan) is equivalent to "what, which".

Adjectives
Adjectives in Proto-Jaronic agree with the head noun in gender and case but not in number. Agreement is made by attaching the same nominal suffixes to the adjective's stem (which will trigger the same grade as on the noun). Adjective in Proto-Jaronic can be placed either before or after the noun but they tend to be placed before:
 * *hénolk- ("old") > *hénolkes gʷéydes ("old warrior"), *henl̥kmés gʷidmés ("as an old warrior")
 * bréyn- ("big, solid, hard") > 'gʷédes bréynes ("big warrior"), bʷáykan bráyn'an ("big rock")

The equative suffix *-l1es attaches to adjectives to denote "as X as". Such adjectives can be used either attributively or predictively. The compared to noun is placed in the essive case. When used attributively the compared to noun is compounded onto the adjective as a prefix and the subject is in the nominative case. No adjective with this suffix takes on any further inflection.


 * sérw bʷéyd-og brin-l1és mik-més

dog-ABS be-3S.ACT big-EQ wolf-ESS

"the dog is as big as the wolf"


 * sérwes mik-mes-brin-l3és

dog-NOM wolf-ESS-big-EQ

"the dog which is as big as the/a wolf"

Comparitive formed with the verb *gréyk- "to surpass" with the adjective taking on the nominal suffixes -reŋ and then -yo(-s,-n).

comparative adverbs: -r̥ŋ-yó-iti

=Verb Phrase=

Conjunction
The stative refers to an action having being done and is often used to create adjectives and adverbs e.g *páytan wáwdnowes ("the rope having been wound"). It is also used for inherently stative verbs that relate to a state of being ("I am tall") or experiencing ("I see") vs those which relate to physical actions ("I walk"). Subjects of stative verbs take on the absolutive case.

The middle voice is used when the agent of the clause is a passive noun as passive nouns are incapable of being active agents.


 * páyt-an wáwd-n-owe

rope-NOM.PASS wind-MID-3S.PASS

"The rope is being wound"


 * bʷáyk-an táys-n-ow-l3e

rock-NOM.PASS kill-MID-3S.PASS-PST

"the rock killed (someone)"

Derivation from verbs
Verbal nouns are created with the suffix *-wígʳ. When the root ends in a plosive the *w merges with it as labialisation. There is also the suffix *-ol1
 * *gʷéyd- > *gʷidʷígʳ, *gʷéydol1

Active participles are derives with the suffix *-edʷ and middle participles with the suffix *-no.
 * *gʷéyd- > *gʷéydedʷ, *gʷáydno