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Difference between revisions of "Proto-Besokian language"
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==History== | ==History== | ||
===Attestation and Classification=== | ===Attestation and Classification=== | ||
Proto-Besokian is sparsely attested in writing in two [[Nishûnâc stone carvings|stone carvings]] at Nishûnâc, the [[Besokian Cosmogony (text)|Hêrûn hâm Hôrenod]] and the [[Old Besokian world map]], the oldest carvings at the site with a presumed date of origin in the early Bronze Age, around | Proto-Besokian is sparsely attested in writing in two [[Nishûnâc stone carvings|stone carvings]] at Nishûnâc, the [[Besokian Cosmogony (text)|Hêrûn hâm Hôrenod]] and the [[Old Besokian world map]], the oldest carvings at the site with a presumed date of origin in the early Bronze Age, around 2200 B.E.B. for the latter but potentially significantly earlier for the former, closer to the first [[Script of Abreshahar|Dasmilian writings]] in the early 3rd century. Like the younger [[Old Besokian]] carvings at the site, they are written in the [[Old Besokian writing|Old Besokian abugida]], the common ancestor of the [[Besokian script family]]. | ||
The variety thus preserved is the oldest tangible Besokian idiom, and although it shows much greater similarity to [[Old Besokian language|Old Besokian]] and the [[Soskish languages]] than to its northern descendants, it has generally been accepted as a plausible ancestor for the Besokian family as a whole, and missing lemmas can easily be reconstructed on account of attested daughter languages. Outside of the family, the Proto-Besokian seems to be closest related to the near-contemporary [[Proto-Andaro-Yenmic]], presumed to have been spoken in the northern [[Besokan valley]], forming a hypothetical [[Macro-Reknayan language family]]. | The variety thus preserved is the oldest tangible Besokian idiom, and although it shows much greater similarity to [[Old Besokian language|Old Besokian]] and the [[Soskish languages]] than to its northern descendants, it has generally been accepted as a plausible ancestor for the Besokian family as a whole, and missing lemmas can easily be reconstructed on account of attested daughter languages. Outside of the family, the Proto-Besokian seems to be closest related to the near-contemporary [[Proto-Andaro-Yenmic]], presumed to have been spoken in the northern [[Besokan valley]], forming a hypothetical [[Macro-Reknayan language family]]. | ||
===Distribution and Speakers=== | ===Distribution and Speakers=== | ||
Proto-Besokian was spoken by the early Besokian farming community at Nishûnâc and the surrounding areas subdued in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. The oldest attested form of the language, the idiom used in the Hêrûn hâm Hôrenod, seems to date to around | Proto-Besokian was spoken by the early Besokian farming community at Nishûnâc and the surrounding areas subdued in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. The oldest attested form of the language, the idiom used in the Hêrûn hâm Hôrenod, seems to date to around 2900 B.E.B., an early time of Besokian prosperity on the eve of the [[Besokian peoples#History|Besokian explorations]]. No earlier evidence for a Besokian language exists, but the continuous settlement of Nishûnâc from at least 4000 B.E.B. suggests a continuous language spoken at the site, even if over multiple historical stages. Its attestation in writing and geographical dispersal into the Besokian family relay that the language was both a vernacular and used in religious ceremonies, and likely also an administrative idiom; its liturgical usage later gave rise to the [[Old Besokian language|Old Besokian]] variety. It was this same language that was spoken by the first Besokian explorers venturing into eastern [[Belkondíl]] and [[Amasia]], eventually giving rise to the Besokian language family. | ||
===Descendants=== | ===Descendants=== | ||
The descendants of Proto-Besokian fall into four groups, forming the three branches of the Besokian family and the Old Besokian language. The first Besokian migrations are likely to have taken settlers north into the middle Besokan valley, where relationships with the Andarians were established around 2800 B.E.B. The foundation of Old Kattas around the same time laid the groundwork for the first sedentary Besokian community beyond the sway of Nishûnâc, and the Kattasi dialect is | The descendants of Proto-Besokian fall into four groups, forming the three branches of the Besokian family and the Old Besokian language. The first Besokian migrations are likely to have taken settlers north into the middle Besokan valley, where relationships with the [[Andarian peoples|Andarians]] were established around 2800 B.E.B. The foundation of [[Old Kattas]] around the same time laid the groundwork for the first sedentary Besokian community beyond the sway of Nishûnâc, and the [[Proto-Kattasi|Kattasi dialect]] is likely to have emerged not long after. Forming the basis for the [[Kattasi languages|Kattasi language family]], the descendants of this dialect were later spoken throughout the [[Reknaya]] and in [[Geran]], most notably in the [[Kingdom of Yamenna]]. | ||
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 expeditions reaching as far Amasia. | 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 1800 B.E.B., close to the end of a common Besokian culture. 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. | |||