hello
This is a scratchpad for an Algonquian language spoken in Kansas. As envisioned, it would have broken off fairly early, and so, although it's more conservative than the other Plains languages, it also shows some differences from the Central languages, such as distinguishing *θk from *sk.
General notes on development:
Some random words, in a bad orthography:
meleq /məlkʷə/ [mələkʷ] 'bear'; obviative emleqene /məlkʷən/, plural emleqeke /məlkʷəki/
lemem /ələm:ə/ [ləməm] 'dog'; obviative elmemene /ələm:ənĭ/, plural elmemeke /ələm:əki/
enmīs /nəmi:sə/ [ənmi:s] 'my older sister', ekmīs /kəmi:sə/ [əkmi:s] 'your older sister', emīs /omi:sə/ [əmi:s] 'his older sister'
And a paradigm of the AI verb menen 'he eats':
This is a scratchpad for an Algonquian language spoken in Kansas. As envisioned, it would have broken off fairly early, and so, although it's more conservative than the other Plains languages, it also shows some differences from the Central languages, such as distinguishing *θk from *sk.
General notes on development:
final vowels retained
no vowel contraction (reconstructed *we was probably *o anyways and doesn't count)
PA *r and *n merge as *n, *θ becomes /l/.
Short *ĕ *ă merge as /ə/.
Vowels lose contrastive length early, with *ō and *ī breaking to /wa/ and /ye/. New long vowels develop from clusters beginning in *h or *ʔ.
No consonant clusters other than nC, hC, lC. Other than [kw], which phonemicized as /kʷ/, clusters of consonant + semivowel geminate the consonant.
Every other syllable starting with (and including) the last is WEAK; others are STRONG.. Weak schwas are kill, weak short vowels become schwa, and weak long vowels shorten.
Some random words, in a bad orthography:
meleq /məlkʷə/ [mələkʷ] 'bear'; obviative emleqene /məlkʷən/, plural emleqeke /məlkʷəki/
lemem /ələm:ə/ [ləməm] 'dog'; obviative elmemene /ələm:ənĭ/, plural elmemeke /ələm:əki/
enmīs /nəmi:sə/ [ənmi:s] 'my older sister', ekmīs /kəmi:sə/ [əkmi:s] 'your older sister', emīs /omi:sə/ [əmi:s] 'his older sister'
And a paradigm of the AI verb menen 'he eats':
| S | P | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | enmen /nəmənə/ | enmenɛmene /nəmənēməna/ |
| 12 | ekmenɛmen /kəmənēmənə/ | |
| 2 | ekmen /kəmənə/ | kemnɛ̄mme /kəmənēm:a/ |
| 3 | emnen /mən:ə/ | emnenake /mən:aki/ |
There are too many schwas in the above system, so I'm going to unshitten the diachronics a bit.
1) If you think Proto-Algonquian had *we and *ye sequences, they simplify to *o and *i as everywhere but Eastern: *nekwetwi > nikut.
2) There is a shift of *e to *i in word-initial syllables: nemene > nimen
3) Short vowels are lengthened before clusters starting in *h or *ʔ, which then drop.
4) Word-final short vowels drop in words of more than two syllables. All but the first consonant of a preceding cluster drops with compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel, except for (now phonemic) -kw. Word-final long vowels shorten.
5) *r merges with *n and *θ becomes l; this is also true in clusters: *maθkwa > malpa
6) *ŏ and *ă merge as *a. *ō becomes u, and *ā becomes o: *oθkoni > alkan.
7) Long front vowels undergo a lowering process: *ē becomes ɛ, and *ī merges with *ĕ as e.
8) Further cluster reduction: *čC/*šC/*sC become hC, and *rC becomes nC. Sequences of CR, where R is a semivowel, geminate the preceding consonant except for /kw/, which phonemicizes as /kʷ/ <q>.
9. Vowel harmony. The six-vowel system is treated as a rectangle, with low /ɛ a/, mid /e o/, and high /i u/. No two vowels in adjacent syllables can be separated by more than one degree. The vowel of the initial syllable cannot change, but can drag a following vowel up or down as needed; this continues throughout the word.
10) *s becomes /h/ in all contexts unless geminated; *š becomes /s/ in a chain shift.
11) *kʷ merges with *p.
The resulting phonology looks something like this:
Consonants: /p t ts~tʃ k m n s h w l j/ <p t c k m n s h w l y>
Vowels: /i e ɛ ɒ o u/ <i e ɛ a o u>, with no length distinction.
Nouns may be animate or inanimate: animate malpa 'bear', inenniw 'man', alɛm 'dog'; inanimate pempi 'dust', wopon 'dawn'.
Animate nouns are pluralized with -ak; inanimates with -an, which also serves as the animate obviative ending. Often there is a stem change: alemmak 'dogs', wopankan 'dawns'.
Nouns may also be possessed. (to be continued; need dinner.)
1) If you think Proto-Algonquian had *we and *ye sequences, they simplify to *o and *i as everywhere but Eastern: *nekwetwi > nikut.
2) There is a shift of *e to *i in word-initial syllables: nemene > nimen
3) Short vowels are lengthened before clusters starting in *h or *ʔ, which then drop.
4) Word-final short vowels drop in words of more than two syllables. All but the first consonant of a preceding cluster drops with compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel, except for (now phonemic) -kw. Word-final long vowels shorten.
5) *r merges with *n and *θ becomes l; this is also true in clusters: *maθkwa > malpa
6) *ŏ and *ă merge as *a. *ō becomes u, and *ā becomes o: *oθkoni > alkan.
7) Long front vowels undergo a lowering process: *ē becomes ɛ, and *ī merges with *ĕ as e.
8) Further cluster reduction: *čC/*šC/*sC become hC, and *rC becomes nC. Sequences of CR, where R is a semivowel, geminate the preceding consonant except for /kw/, which phonemicizes as /kʷ/ <q>.
9. Vowel harmony. The six-vowel system is treated as a rectangle, with low /ɛ a/, mid /e o/, and high /i u/. No two vowels in adjacent syllables can be separated by more than one degree. The vowel of the initial syllable cannot change, but can drag a following vowel up or down as needed; this continues throughout the word.
10) *s becomes /h/ in all contexts unless geminated; *š becomes /s/ in a chain shift.
11) *kʷ merges with *p.
The resulting phonology looks something like this:
Consonants: /p t ts~tʃ k m n s h w l j/ <p t c k m n s h w l y>
Vowels: /i e ɛ ɒ o u/ <i e ɛ a o u>, with no length distinction.
Nouns may be animate or inanimate: animate malpa 'bear', inenniw 'man', alɛm 'dog'; inanimate pempi 'dust', wopon 'dawn'.
Animate nouns are pluralized with -ak; inanimates with -an, which also serves as the animate obviative ending. Often there is a stem change: alemmak 'dogs', wopankan 'dawns'.
Nouns may also be possessed. (to be continued; need dinner.)