Proto-Arctic (proto-sdantan)

[Shemtov]

This is the protolang of an additional population in an altworld that crossed the Bering strait and live in the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago, replacing the Inuit inhabitants of that area and NW Greenland., except for south Baffin Island.



/p pʰ t tʰ t' k kʰ k' q qʰ ʔ/ <b p d t t' g k k' q qh '>
/m n/ <m n>
/s z h ɦ/ <s z h ḥ>
/t͡s'/ <ts'>
/ɬ ɮ/ <ł l>
/r/ <r>
/w j/ <w y>

/ i ɨ u/ <i ï u>
/ e o/ <e o>
/ə ə̃ ɵ/ <ä ą ö>
/a/ <a>

/ɛɪ ɛʊ ɔɪ aɪ aʊ/ <ei eu oi ai au>

Phonotactics:
(s)(C)V(N)
An s-cluster cannot occur with another fricative or an ejective

Syntax:
VSO

The language is not polysynthetic, but has proclitics that act like cases. The language is Ergative.
Proclictics:
Ergative: są
Genetive: qheim*
Locative: Sni
Ablative: öm
Dative-Lative: Wąmo
Instrumental-Perlative: Spun

*Possessed nouns take a prefix <ä(')>: Thus:
Qheim sdantą sni ä'iḥalo
Qheim sdantą sni ä'-iḥalo
GEN man LOC POS-Storage.Igloo
"In a man's storage igloo"

There is also a Definite prefix: Ni(')
Qheim nisdantą sni ä'iḥalo
Qheim ni-sdantą sni ä'-iḥalo
GEN DEF-man LOC POS-Storage.Igloo
"In the man's storage igloo"

[druneragarsh]

Ooh, interesting! I like the proclitics. The ergative alignment and VSO order are nice, too: found in natlangs, and in that sweet spot between "common" and "too rare".

Have you considered having the s-clusters assimilate in voicing? Eg. /sd-/ would become [st-].

[Shemtov]

Have you considered having the s-clusters assimilate in voicing? Eg. /sd-/ would become [st-].

It doesn't matter, because the difference between <t> and <d> is in aspiration not voicing.

[zyma]

Phonotactics:
(s)(C)V(N)
An s-cluster cannot occur with another fricative or an ejective

Sorry if this is indicated elsewhere, but is N representative of any nasal consonant?

Syntax:
VSO

How would you generally describe word order within different kinds of phrases and clauses and such?

The language is not polysynthetic, but has proclitics that act like cases. The language is Ergative.
Proclictics:
Absolutive: są
Genetive: qheim*
Locative: Sni
Ablative: öm
Dative-Lative: Wąmo
Instrumental-Perlative: Spun

Would it be correct to assume that the ergative case is unmarked?

Have you considered having the s-clusters assimilate in voicing? Eg. /sd-/ would become [st-].

It doesn't matter, because the difference between <t> and <d> is in aspiration not voicing.

Perhaps druneragarsh meant that /st/ would become [stʰ]? Maybe that's not what was meant, though; I can't say for sure.

[druneragarsh]

Have you considered having the s-clusters assimilate in voicing? Eg. /sd-/ would become [st-].

It doesn't matter, because the difference between <t> and <d> is in aspiration not voicing.

Oh drat, I meant to write /sn/ and derped! Does it become [zn]?

[Shemtov]

The plural is formed by the prefix <zin>. This comes after the possessed prefix. However, this prefix cannot be used for the dual and trial numbers, in which case, The numerals for two or three are inserted between the proclitic and the noun. Similarly, nouns beginning in an ejective cannot take the prefix; the number or a word like <skąntai> "Many" must be placed between the proclitic and the noun.

[zyma]

The plural is formed by the prefix <zin>. This comes after the possessed prefix. However, this prefix cannot be used for the dual and trial numbers, in which case, The numerals for two or three are inserted between the proclitic and the noun. Similarly, nouns beginning in an ejective cannot take the prefix; the number or a word like <skąntai> "Many" must be placed between the proclitic and the noun.

Oh, that's cool!

Have you posted a list of numbers here yet, or was that just in the random phonology thread?

[Shemtov]

I'm returning to Proto-Arctic!
VERBS:
Verbs also work with Proclitics. However, for Tense (except for future) and Aspect the Proclitics are identical in form to the Copula, which does inflect for Tense and Mood. Non-Past Indicative Verbs are left unmarked.
THE FORMS OF THE COPULA:
Non-past Indicative: Ts'i
Past Indicative: Ts'in
Non-Past Conditional: Ts'eida
Past Conditional: Ts'edän
The Conditional is used for the apodeisis. The Protasis is in the Indicative.
Non-Past Dubitative: Ts'emö
Past Dubatative: Ts'eiman
Non-Past Imperative: Ts'ïm
Non-Past Potential: Ts'ïn
Past Potential: Ts'ïman
Non-Past Interrogative: Ts'ä'ą
Past Interrogative: Ts'ä'än


Example sentences:
Ts'in ḥak'änä są nisdantą spun nireqan
Ts'in ḥak'änä są ni-sdantą spun ni-reqan
COP.PST run ERG DEF-man PERL DEF-island
"The man was running across the Island"


Ts'ä'än magi są nisdantą spïk'atą
Ts'ä'än magi są ni-sdantą spïk'atą
COP.PST.INTER kill ERG DEF-man polar.bear
"Was the man killing a polar bear?"

T'oladöm nispïk'atą
T'oladöm ni-spïk'atą
eat DEF-polar.bear
"The Polar bear eats"

[2+3 Clusivity]

If the language is ERG-ABS, you may wish to have an ERG proclitic rather than an ABS one. "Marked Absolutive" languages are extremely rare: WALS has a chapter that briefly mentions the idea and cites only a single known language. http://wals.info/chapter/98

[Shemtov]

If the language is ERG-ABS, you may wish to have an ERG proclitic rather than an ABS one. "Marked Absolutive" languages are extremely rare: WALS has a chapter that briefly mentions the idea and cites only a single known language. http://wals.info/chapter/98

Yeah, I was thinking about aspects of Nom-Acc langs and made a comparison. For some reason, looking at what ERG-ABS means, even though it's not the reality, unmarked Ergativity feels more natural to me.

[Shemtov]

THE ANTIPASSIVE:
The Antipassive is used to give an utterance an imperfective aspect.
It is constructed by putting the agent of a transitive verb into the Absolutive case. The object is not deleted. Furthermore, if a copular proclitic is used, the verb is placed between the subject and the object, not between the copula and the subject.

Example:
Ts'in nisdantą magi spïk'atą
Ts'in ni-sdantą magi spïk'atą
COP-PST DEF-man kill polar.bear
"The man killed the Polar Bear"

Compare:
Ts'in magi są nisdantą spïk'atą
Ts'in magi są ni-sdantą spïk'atą
COP-PST kill ERG DEF-man polar.bear
"The man was killing the polar bear"

[Linguist_Wannabe]

Is the language influenced by Inuit languages at all?