Proto-Caspian

[TallaFerroXIV]

Proto-Caspian is the name of a PIE-derived language i have been working and reworking on for some time now. The name is simply to place it somewhere in our world before I haul it over to my conword where I shall collide it with the native languages there. Thus P.Casp is very much like any other early stage IE language and retains much of the irregular inflection of PIE.

But for now I just want to write out the language. Partly to showcase it and partly to actually have it written down in a cohesive manner.

Sound changes


Stage I: PIE > Pre-P.Casp


Interaction of PIE *e before and after laryngeals.
*e > ē ā ō / _{h1, h2, h3,} -change affected across diphthongs.
*e > e a o / {h1, h2, h3,}_


*i *u *o > ī ū ō / _H

*Ḥ > ā / C_C

*H > u / #_C

Metathesis of larygeal + vocalic liquid pairs. an irregular sound change, usually occurred in reduced 0-grade stems.
*HṚ *ḶH > ṚH ḶH

The interaction of vocalic consonants before laryngeals goes as follows:

Code: Select all

	*h1	*h2	*h3
*ṛ	īr	ūr	ūr
*ḷ	īl	ūl	ūl
*ṃ	wā	wā	wō
*ṇ	yā	yā	yō

Assimilation of *m before coronals.
*m *ṃ > n ṇ / _ {*s *t *d *ḱ *ǵ *y *ṇ}

Vocalic consonants de-vocalize before vowels and other vocalic consonants:
*ṃ *ṇ > m n / _V


*ṃ *ṇ > wa ya

Apocope after stops but not aspirated stops nor labio-velars1:
*s > ∅ / P_

Palatalization of stops before front vowels. Not that labiovelars were unaffected by this. Note, *á was treated as a front vowel.
*k *g *gʰ *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ > č j ĵ ś ź ẑ / _{front vowels}

Merger of labio-velars with plain-velars
*kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ > *k *g *gʰ

Loss of voice of voiced aspirated stops. Note satemization of *ǵʰ
*bʰ *dʰ *ǵʰ *gʰ > pʰ tʰ šʰ kʰ

Fricativization of voiceless stops before stops.
*p *t *k *ḱ > f ś x ç / _{stop}

Some form of the ruki sound law. Though *w and *y did not trigger this change.
s > š / _{*r *u *k *i} -

S-S-SATEMIZATION!!!
ḱ ǵ > š ž

Epenhetic w is added between long vowels
w / V̄_V̄

V̄V and VV̄ segments are simplified to V̄

Loss of laryngeals :'c
H > ∅


1. possibly because *kʷ *gʷ and *gʷʰ where treated as ku gu and gʰu early on


Stage II: Pre-P.Casp > P.Casp

Fricativization of aspirated stops. Note initial~medial forms.
pʰ tʰ šʰ kʰ > f ś~c š~č x

Formation of diphthongs Vi and Vu.
Vy Vw > Vi Vu

Debuccalization of initial s and rise of the glottal? ḥ!
s > ḥ / #_

Assimilation of x.
x > ḥ

Fusion of s and y sequences.
sy > ś
ys > ś

Metatethis of ḥC giving rise to an array of Cḥ clusters.
ḥC > Cḥ

Lengthening of vowels around ḥ.
V > V̄ / _ḥ but not _ḥV̄
V > V̄ / Cḥ_ but not V̄Cḥ_

Fortuition of ḥ after n.
ḥ > g /n_

Fricativization of consonants preceding ḥ.
p t k b d g > f c ḥ w ź ġ / _ḥ

Loss of glottals post consonantly.
ḥ > ∅ /C_

Nasalization of voiced stops finally.
b d g > mb nd ng / _#

Final Inventory for Early P.Casp

I've been using my own notation so far so i shall give the IPA aproximation and the rough orthography:

Consonants:

/m n
p b t d k g
tʃ dʒ1 dʒ2 tɕ dʑ~ʑ1 dʑ2
f s ʃ ʒ ɕ1 ɕ2 χ~ɦ1 χ~ɦ2
j w r l/

<m n
p b t d k g
č j ĵ c ź ẑ
f s ś š ž ś ç h ġ
y w r l>

Vowels:

Short
tonic: /i æ u/ <í á ú>
atonic: /ɪ ə ʊ/ <i a u>

Long
tonic: /i: e: a: o: u:/ <î ê â ô û>
atonic: /i: e: a: o: u:/ <ī ē ā ō ū>

diphthongs:
/əɪ aɪ əʊ æʊ/ <ai ái au áu>

----

And that's about it! Bit more complicated with many exceptions but I may delve into that later. For now, have some word comparisons with related languages Sanskrit and Avestan.

Spoiler:

Numerals:

áigas /'æ̀ɪ̯.gəs/
dwṓ /'dwô:/
tráyas /'træ̀.jəs/
gatwár /gət'wǽr/
pánga /'pæ̀ŋ.gə/
wā́š /'wâ:ʃ/
hāftwá /χa:f.'twǽ/
açtṓu /əɕ2.'tô:w/
unáuya /'ʊ̯næ̀ʊ̯.jə/


I think I'll get into nouns in the next post as allophony has a lot to do with the major dialects that surge out of P.Casp in Late-P.Casp.

Toodles~

[zyma]

I'm afraid that all I can say for now is that this looks very well thought-out, well presented, and promising! I look forward to seeing more in the future!

[markski]

Good job so far! I like the phonological changes, particularly how the vowel system worked out and the tonic/atonic allophones. One thing I'm confused on, though, is why there are subscripts next to some of the consonants. Is it solely for the purpose of etymology or is there a phonetic difference between ɦ1 and ɦ2 etc?

[Omzinesý]

An interesting idea to derive the lang through the laryngeal state.

*i *u *o > ī ū ō / _H

*Ḥ > ā / C_C

*H > u / #_C

Metathesis of larygeal + vocalic liquid pairs. an irregular sound change, usually occurred in reduced 0-grade stems.
*HṚ *ḶH > ṚH ḶH

What does H stand for?

[markski]

What does H stand for?

In PIE studies H is usually used as a stand-in for any laryngeal. Eg. the reconstructed varient of the first person pronoun (h1)eǵHóm could contain h1, h2, h3 or h4 if such a phoneme even existed :p

[TallaFerroXIV]

I'm afraid that all I can say for now is that this looks very well thought-out, well presented, and promising! I look forward to seeing more in the future!

Thanks! Been working on it for some time now, glad it looks cohesive like that.

Good job so far! I like the phonological changes, particularly how the vowel system worked out and the tonic/atonic allophones. One thing I'm confused on, though, is why there are subscripts next to some of the consonants. Is it solely for the purpose of etymology or is there a phonetic difference between ɦ1 and ɦ2 etc?

Yeah, I feel like I need to work further on the vowels though to see what I want vowel-wise in my daughter langs. But yes, this is a proto language it is supposed to be sorta vague in that way.

About the two types of phonemes, it's mostly etymological. Type 1 phonemes are stable throughout Late-P.Casp whilst the type 2 phonemes vary significantly in the initial dialects and are sometimes merged but sometimes treated differently. I'd call them little loose ends of Early-P.Casp. I'll try and explain this better in a later post.

An interesting idea to derive the lang through the laryngeal state.

Yeah, I actually had to re do the whole language because I dsorta ignored the laryngeals the first time around...

[TallaFerroXIV]

Here are some texts in P.Casp:

"Ô Mêyas! Ô Hûlā!
Tás íšawas, tás yāsíš
mám gīwadānśám mai cārštá!"

Ányamatrî tadâ dāryâi gláčand.
Ya dašráwōm ásas tâ áźyāt:
Udânām, Frêrwa, Ápōnwa,
Náftanam, Yûrwaka.
Ítūr î Pyagawāsriyám áyēyatai.

"Oh Moon! Oh Sun!
Your arrows, your sword
my life-given you have taken from me!"

Then the All-Mother cried out in lament for the perishing one.
And from her tears these were begat:
Udana, Frera, Apona,
Notna and Yur.
Thus the five-sisterhood was made.

Árdiš Bābílaśa

Īdô anyaśáčōm wādyačwâm wāyáuśatwa wôkwa ka dḷčánd.
Tátina manáwas áustram dâuyat, an Šinârai lêncwa tái wīdánt ya ûdūr hā tśišánt.
Hā hīkántai, "Gyasšōtá, śkrêyatyas yêsūta ya ái yasmái fôgzīntar." śkrêyatē pán lêwas, nu gatú upá kakláus fáugnayat.
Tādâ hīkánt, "Gyasšōtá, wôstuš nôs dámaitar, kšun ūrdáyai uyás dyawám gīganśêt, ōfítūr nôs unányacēsšōsīntar nu áti anyašmás ántum mēuwápāsšōsīntar."
Yatár Á PÁTIŠ ftêyat hācáwai wôstuš árdiš ka manáwōm danyaśâs ušánt.
Á PÁTIŠ śêt, "Yáti wānd wātautâi wādyačwās wučyâi, î tând wáhainti, tādâ nauyás yêtuš hâitsīnti, hāi yajalyêt.
Gyasšōtá, uwár gāmá nu hâm dyačwâm wêyama ōfítūr hā mēdâršyatar."
Nē Á PÁTIŠ ûdūri áti anyaśáčōm î uwapánd, ya wôstum danyám urányat.
Tâ yâwat Bābílas jaltár -- upánē ûdūr Á PÁTIŠ anyašmás dyačwâ wīánd. Ûdūri Á PÁTIŠ áti anyašmás ántum î uwapánd.

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel -- because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Will try and and work on the "The king and the god" as well as the "sheep and the horses" soon.

[zyma]

Here are some texts in P.Casp:

Spoiler:

"Ô Mêyas! Ô Hûlā!
Tás íšawas, tás yāsíš
mám gīwadānśám mai cārštá!"

Ányamatrî tadâ dāryâi gláčand.
Ya dašráwōm ásas tâ áźyāt:
Udânām, Frêrwa, Ápōnwa,
Náftanam, Yûrwaka.
Ítūr î Pyagawāsriyám áyēyatai.

"Oh Moon! Oh Sun!
Your arrows, your sword
my life-given you have taken from me!"

Then the All-Mother cried out in lament for the perishing one.
And from her tears these were begat:
Udana, Frera, Apona,
Notna and Yur.
Thus the five-sisterhood was made.

Árdiš Bābílaśa

Īdô anyaśáčōm wādyačwâm wāyáuśatwa wôkwa ka dḷčánd.
Tátina manáwas áustram dâuyat, an Šinârai lêncwa tái wīdánt ya ûdūr hā tśišánt.
Hā hīkántai, "Gyasšōtá, śkrêyatyas yêsūta ya ái yasmái fôgzīntar." śkrêyatē pán lêwas, nu gatú upá kakláus fáugnayat.
Tādâ hīkánt, "Gyasšōtá, wôstuš nôs dámaitar, kšun ūrdáyai uyás dyawám gīganśêt, ōfítūr nôs unányacēsšōsīntar nu áti anyašmás ántum mēuwápāsšōsīntar."
Yatár Á PÁTIŠ ftêyat hācáwai wôstuš árdiš ka manáwōm danyaśâs ušánt.
Á PÁTIŠ śêt, "Yáti wānd wātautâi wādyačwās wučyâi, î tând wáhainti, tādâ nauyás yêtuš hâitsīnti, hāi yajalyêt.
Gyasšōtá, uwár gāmá nu hâm dyačwâm wêyama ōfítūr hā mēdâršyatar."
Nē Á PÁTIŠ ûdūri áti anyaśáčōm î uwapánd, ya wôstum danyám urányat.
Tâ yâwat Bābílas jaltár -- upánē ûdūr Á PÁTIŠ anyašmás dyačwâ wīánd. Ûdūri Á PÁTIŠ áti anyašmás ántum î uwapánd.

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel -- because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Will try and and work on the "The king and the god" as well as the "sheep and the horses" soon.

These look amazing! Take your time with the other ones, of course.