Proto-west

=Phonology=

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.
 * 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 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:
 * If two of the same labialised plosive come together then the first becomes *m:

Phonological History
ʔ>h

h>a/V_V

t>r/V_V

Ch>Cˤ

h>∅

o>a

e>i

Cʷ>C

sj>ʃ

V>∅/V́C_#

C[+syllabic]>iC/C[+palatal]_, {j,w}_, C[+velar]_

C[+syllabic]>uC

s>ʃ/{r, w, k, g, j}_

Vr>rV/_#

ij>iː/_#

Stress
Proto-West had a stress accent just like Proto-Jaronic 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 *yí-. When the suffix begins in a consonant then the initial syllable of the suffix carries the stress: *gíyd- ("to smash, to grind") > *gidrí ("you smash").

Ablaut
Proto-West merged the 2nd and 3rd grades.


 * 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 *iy *iw then the 4th grade forms as *i *u.

=Nouns=

Case

 * *dríwbis ("father") + *páyran ("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"
 * *drubmís ("as a father")
 * Relative: Regarding/concerning/about X, possessive
 * *dríwbas ("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):


 * dríwb-is turŋ-g-l3í

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

"father cut"


 * dríwbis píyt-∅ turŋ-g-l3í

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

"father cut rope"


 * dríwb-∅ píyt-∅ turŋ-g-l3í

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

"father accidentally/was made to cut rope"

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

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

Adjectives
Adjectives in Proto-West 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:
 * *ínalk- ("old") > *ínalkis gíydis ("old warrior"), *inulkmís gidmís ("as an old warrior")
 * bríyn- ("big, solid, hard") > 'gídis bríynis ("big warrior"), báykan bráyn'an ("big rock")

The equative suffix *-l1is 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.


 * sírw bíyd-ag brin-l1ís mik-mís

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

"the dog is as big as the wolf"


 * sírwis mik-mis-brin-l3ís

dog-NOM wolf-ESS-big-EQ

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