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Difference between revisions of "Proto-Besokian language"
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The southern Besokians remained centred on Nishûnâc for considerably longer, even after the equine domestication in [[Oakshire]] around 2300 B.E.B. and the subsequent pre-[[Soskish peoples|Soskish]] expeditions reaching as far Amasia. The farming communities along the middle Besokan were the first to develop a dialect distinct from the speech of Nishûnâc, around 2300, originating the [[Reknayan languages|Reknayan language family]]. The riders of the south remain bound to Nishûnâc the longest, gaining a distinct language of their own around with the emergence of [[Proto-Sokish language|Proto-Soskish]] around 2150 B.E.B. | The southern Besokians remained centred on Nishûnâc for considerably longer, even after the equine domestication in [[Oakshire]] around 2300 B.E.B. and the subsequent pre-[[Soskish peoples|Soskish]] expeditions reaching as far Amasia. The farming communities along the middle Besokan were the first to develop a dialect distinct from the speech of Nishûnâc, around 2300, originating the [[Reknayan languages|Reknayan language family]]. The riders of the south remain bound to Nishûnâc the longest, gaining a distinct language of their own around with the emergence of [[Proto-Sokish language|Proto-Soskish]] around 2150 B.E.B. | ||
At least for the duration of the [[Old Besokian period]] (2200–1750 B.E.B.), all three groups maintain their strong ties with Nishûnâc and seem to return to the Second Hill for religious and presumably commercial activities. The language spoken by the small elite that permanently remains at the site, while showing clear signs of innovation and phonetic reduction, also remains close to its Proto-Besokian ancestor. [[Old Besokian language|Old Besokian]] seems mostly reserved for use during the great rites that all clans are gathered for. Its phonological and morphosyntactic innovations are not represented in writing, which adheres strictly to Proto-Besokian norms, until around | At least for the duration of the [[Old Besokian period]] (2200–1750 B.E.B.), all three groups maintain their strong ties with Nishûnâc and seem to return to the Second Hill for religious and presumably commercial activities. The language spoken by the small elite that permanently remains at the site, while showing clear signs of innovation and phonetic reduction, also remains close to its Proto-Besokian ancestor. [[Old Besokian language|Old Besokian]] seems mostly reserved for use during the great rites that all clans are gathered for. Its phonological and morphosyntactic innovations are not represented in writing, which adheres strictly to Proto-Besokian norms, until around 2000 B.E.B. By 1750, the political and spiritual power of Nishûnâc has diminished enough to allow its vassals to break free; Old Besokian carvings are found for not quite another century before Nishûnâc is finally abandoned around 1680 B.E.B., and with it the last remainders of a Besokian holy language. | ||
==Writing== | ==Writing== | ||
''Main Article: [[Proto-Besokian Writing]] | ''Main Article: [[Proto-Besokian Writing]] | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
As far as is tangible from writing, Proto-Besokian seems to share the sparse phoneme inventory of the Soskish languages, distinguishing only | As far as is tangible from writing, Proto-Besokian seems to share the sparse phoneme inventory of the [[Soskish languages]], distinguishing only 14 consonant and ten vowel phonemes. | ||
{| class="wikitable | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Proto-Besokian Consonants | |+Proto-Besokian Consonants | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
|- | |- | ||
! plosive | ! plosive | ||
| /b/ | | /b/ || || /t/ /d/ || || /k/ /g/ || || | ||
|- | |- | ||
! fricative | ! fricative | ||
| Line 41: | Line 41: | ||
|- | |- | ||
! approximant | ! approximant | ||
| || || || || || /w/ | | || || || || || /w/ || | ||
|} | |} | ||
A voicing contrast is present only the in the plosives, with /d/ as the only common voiced plosive phoneme. /g/ and /b/ are rare, /p/ absent entirely. Voiceless plosives were likely aspirated, /k/ potentially with a tenuis allophone in final position, as has been posited for [[Old Soskish]] based on transcriptions into the [[Olgish writing#Olgish alphabet|Olgish alphabet]]. | |||
{| class="wikitable | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ Proto-Besokian Vowels | |+ Proto-Besokian Vowels | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Line 51: | Line 51: | ||
|- | |- | ||
! High | ! High | ||
| | | /iː/ [iː] /i/ [ə] || /uː/ [ʉː] /u/ [ɨ] | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Mid | ! Mid | ||
| | | /eː/ [ɛː] /e/ [ɛ~ɪ] || /oː/ [ɔː] /o/ [ɔ] | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Low | ! Low | ||
| | | /aː/ [aː] || /a/ [ɑ~ʌ] | ||
|} | |} | ||
Proto-Besokian distinguishes short and long vowels in all metric positions. Accent was tone-based and fixed on the first syllable of a word, initiating a dactylic pattern propagated into suffixes and clitics and establishing the typical Besokian high-low-low rhythm. | |||
==Morphosyntax== | ==Morphosyntax== | ||
[[Category:Besokian | Proto-Besokian morphosyntax is notable for its minimalist inflection but highly complex derivational system. There is no formal distinction between word classes, and lexemes are highly polysemous and their interpretation strictly context-dependent. | ||
===Syntax=== | |||
Matrix word order is VOS from a base-generated SVO. The predicate consistently appears sentence-initial, only preceded by complementizers and conjunctions. The subject appears last, followed only by adjuncts and enclosing the remaining arguments between itself and the predicate. The order of internal arguments varies, but PP — Ind Obj — Dir Obj seems to have been preferred. Modifiers follow their hosts, either directly or connected by intervening particles (see below). | |||
While not appearing in the [[Besokian Cosmogony]], negation was likely formed by a two-item construction consisting of the complementizer *''at'' (which seems to double as a negative prefix), appearing sentence-initially, and a negative particle *''mî'' as head of a NegP scoping over the VoiceP, hence appearing directly between the last internal and the external argument. The latter position is invariable, clearly distinguishing unergative and unaccusative predicates (as the subject is an internal argument in the latter, it is followed rather than preceded by *''mî''). | |||
This gives the following (flat) template for the Proto-Besokian clause: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! spec/CP !! colspan ="4"|C !! NegP !! colspan="3"|VoiceP | |||
|- | |||
| Complementizers<br />Conjunctions<br />Clause Negation (*''at'') || Predicate || Argument PP || Indirect Object || Direct Object<br />Unaccusative Subject || Negation (*''mî'') || Unergative Subject || <VP> || Adjuncts | |||
|} | |||
===Morphology=== | |||
Like that of its [[Soskish languages|Soskish descendants]], Proto-Besokian inflectional morphology is fairly simple and poor in forms. Only three inflectional prefixes are attested, a possessive marker ''îr-'' and the couplet ''î-'' and ''ê-'', the exact function of which is not known, but which based on use in descendant languages and attestation in the [[Besokian Cosmogony]] are presumed to have marked modal and local attributes, respectively. | |||
The Proto-Besokian derivational system is significantly more complex, if barely attested and largely lost in its descendants. A small number of independent affixes are used to express simple relationships, so the prefixes ''kô-'' and ''shê-'', deriving the feminine and masculine agent noun, respectively (the feminine form the default); while similar forms are preserved in the [[Kattasian languages]], they have been replaced by [[Olgish languages|Olgish]] ''-a'' and ''-in'' in both [[Soskish languages|Soskish]] and [[Reknayan languages|Reknayan]]. A set of suffixes ''-êsh'', ''-an'', and ''-ôr'' with a function of denoting objects in different sizes (''-êsh'' the smallest and ''-ôr'' the largest) is attested on the [[Old Besokian World Map]] and preserved in several daughter languages. Compounding is common and well-attested, using an interfix ''-e-''. | |||
Beside the independent affixes, Proto-Besokian seems to have had an extensive and complex derivational system, which is not preserved in any of its daughter languages and only sparingly attested in the textual record. It appears to make use of both pre- and suffixes and stem-vowel changes, so deriving an (attested) word ''hatânishor'' ‘journey’ from an (attested) root ''tûnish''. Items derived in this way seem to retain stress on the original stem vowel, explaining irregularities in the Soskish and Kattasian stress systems. | |||
[[Category:Besokian languages]][[Category:Proto-Languages]] | |||