Ethogiath

Ethogiath vocabulary

=Name and History= The name Ethogiath is a compound of ethogi ("exalted, superior, divine") and ath ("speech, language, method, way"). Apparantly it is so named for its contemporary speakers, followers of X cult, thought that the language was divine and that the neighbouring language Old Naukl, and later on Middle Naukl, was a debased language. This view was held even despite Old Naukl and Ethogiath both being the daughters of Proto-Naukl. It is only fitting and ironic that Ethogiath would go extinct when it was ousted by Middle Naukl although it survives into the modern day as a liturgical language being used to write laws and sacred texts.

=Phonology=

Vowels
The exact pronunciation of /a/ is in free variation between [a] [ə] and [ɑ].

Consonants
When next to a velar consonant the nasal /n/ is [ŋ]

When after a nasal consonant or /l/, the glottal fricative /h/ is [ʔ]

When after a fricative the glottal fricative /h/ merges with the fricative to produce a geminate fricative: ḥejõsh /ˈɦe.jɤsh/ [ˈɦe.jɤsː]

Notation
In this article several symbols will be used to represent groups of sounds which are as follows:


 * V = vowel
 * X = chaotic vowel
 * A = approximant (to see which approximant a chaotic vowel will become see Vowel and Approximant Alternation)

Chaotic Vowels
Quite often in nouns, certain vowels will surface throughout a paradigm but not in the nominative singular. It is completely unpredictable as to what the quality of the vowel will be so if a noun has a chaotic vowel then it must be memorised along with the noun. In the tables below, "X" is used as a stand in notation for a chaotic vowel.

Vowel and Approximant Alternation
Quite commonly in Ethogiath vowels will alternate to become their approximant counterpart. The table below shows which vowel becomes which approximant.

Phonological History
The following sound changes detail the changes that occured between Proto-Naukl and Ethogiath.


 * o → u/_N
 * {tʰ r̥͡s ts} {dʱ r͡z ds} → θ ð
 * u → o/_...a
 * ɑ → ɤ → o → u → y →ø
 * s → ∅/V_V
 * ç x → h
 * ʝ ɣ → ɦ
 * Z → ∅/V_V ! Z = ɦ
 * ɤ → ɰ/_V
 * i y e ø ɛ → j/_V
 * u o → w/_V
 * NC → NC (where N has the same PoA as C)
 * ɛ → e
 * q → k
 * z → s
 * ʒ → z

Morphophonology
When a stem ending in /Vs/, or a voiced consonant after a vowel, takes on a suffix beginning with a vowel, the /s/ or voiced consonant is elided: ḥejõs ("sea") → ḥejõõ ("seas"), jag (“quiet”) → jaø (“calm-ACC”).

=Nouns and Adjectives=

Adjectives in Ethogiath inflect in the same way as nouns and like nouns they belong to one of the three declensions.

Nominitive vs Genitive Stems
There are a number of nouns where the nominative singular is built upon a different stem than the rest of the cases. This is usually due to sound changes which caused the nominative noun to change more radically than the noun in the other cases, making it seem as if none of the cases were built upon the nominative. In fact the other cases appear to have been derived from the genitive hence the term "genitive stem". Since the nominative stem is not predictable in any way it must be memorised.

Some examples of nominative stems with their genitive counterparts.
 * õjji ("fire") vs õjegiŵy ("of fire") < (genitive stem: õjeg-)
 * lathjy ("bear") vs lathegjô ("of bear") < (genitive stem: latheg-)

1st Declension
The 1st declension is made up of nouns whose stems ends in a consonant with no resurfacing chaotic vowels. The 1st declension animate is distinguished by the fact that all cases in the singular have merged.

Animate
Example:


 * apin ("orca")
 * aaizukut ("octopus")

Inanimate
Example:


 * ejjat ("knife")
 * ḥejõs ("sea")

2nd Declension
The second declension is made up of nouns that end in i and y.

Animate
In animate 2nd declension nouns the accusative, genitive and dative singular cases are merged, as are the accusative and genitive paucal. Note that if the noun has a distinct nominative stem then the case endings will attach to the genitive stem.

Example:
 * lathjy ("bear", chaotic vowel: õ, genitive stem: latheg-)
 * izky ("mite", chaotic vowel: õ)
 * gathti ("dolphin", chaotic vowel: u)

Inanimate
Examples:
 * dŵaaeki ("division", chaotic vowel: õ)
 * õjji ("fire", chaotic vowel: õ, genitive stem: õjeg-)
 * swetly ("proverb", chaotic vowel: y)

3rd Declension
The 3rd declension is made up of nouns and adjectives whose stems end in a consonant in the nominative but with a chaotic vowel that resurfaces throughout the paradigm. An exeption is the adjection etho ("important") which ends in a vowel.

Animate
Note that if the chaotic vowel is i y e ø, u o or õ then before another vowel they will become the approximants j, w and ŵ and any preceeding nasals will assimilate to the approximant's place of articulation. Only the vowel a is unaffected by this.

Examples:


 * ekjøn ("bird", chaotic vowel: u)
 * nõdh ("man", chaotic vowel: e)
 * ḥŵaa ("seal", chaotic vowel: ø)


 * jør ("white", chaotic vowel: e)
 * etho ("important")

Inanimate
Example:
 * wehedh ("hand, arm, shoulder", chaotic vowel: e)
 * ceedhsat ("stomach", chaotic vowel: a)


 * jør ("white", chaotic vowel: e)
 * etho ("important")

Alternating Stems
There are a number of nouns that have alternations in their stem which stem from similar alternations in Proto-Sumro-Naukl and are analogous to stem alternations in the sumric and sucumian languages. Beyond their alternations the various stems inflect like nouns in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd declensions.

X-stems
X-stems are nouns which have a k~h alternation.

Animate

 * tadlaok ("animal", 1st declension)

Inanimate

 * tadrøk ("pole", 1st declension")

X

T-Stems
Example:

=Verbs=

Ethogiath verbs inflect for seven tenses which are "present, last night, yesterday, near past, far past, immediate future and future". Verbs are divided into two classes which are "1st Conjugation" and "2nd Conjugation". The endings in the two classes are mostly identical except for the 1st.sg endings containing /s/ in the 1st conjugation and /θ/ in the 2nd conjugation. A number of verbs have up to three different stems and these are not predictable and must be memorised. There is the infinitive stem which is used to derive the infinitive with the suffix -ta and the bare stem alone forms the imperative: põt- "to hew" → põtta "to hew", põt "hew!". The 1st conjugation only has one inflectional stem while the 2nd conjugation has two, the extra inflectional stem being the "pre-vocalic inflectional stem" which is used if a suffix begins in a vowel. In the pre-vocalic infectional stems the final vowel alternates to an approximant (see Vowel and Approximant Alternation).

1st Conjugation
The 1st declension is made up of verbs whose inflectional stems end in consonants.

Example:


 * põtta ("to hew", inflectional stem: põ(d)l-)

2nd Conjugation
The 2nd conjugation is made up of verbs whose inflectional stems ends in a vowel.

Example:
 * aaihekta ("to hang", inflectional stem: aaihekdu-)