From Proto-Desanian to Old Desani: view article

Menu 1. XDS phonology 2. Main sound changes 3. RSD phonology 4. Language family comparison
Article created in: May 2024

Warning: messy notes lol. I wrote this article mainly for my own convenience, to keep all the sound changes needed for back-derivation in one place

[edit] [top]

Proto-Desanian phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		*m ⟨m⟩	*n ⟨n⟩		*ŋ ⟨n’⟩
Plosive	Plain	*p ⟨b⟩	*t ⟨d⟩		*k ⟨g⟩	*q ⟨q⟩	*ʔ ⟨’⟩
	Aspirated	*pʰ ⟨p⟩	*tʰ ⟨t⟩		*kʰ ⟨k⟩	*qʰ ⟨x⟩
	Implosive	*ɓ ⟨b’⟩	*ɗ ⟨d’⟩
Fricative			s ⟨s⟩ z ⟨z⟩
Liquid			l ⟨l⟩ r ⟨r⟩	*j ⟨y⟩

Vowels
*/a aː/ ⟨a ā⟩ */i iː/ ⟨i ī⟩ */u uː/ ⟨u ū⟩

The syllable structure in Proto-Desanian was (C)V(L) or (C)V(N), L marking a liquid or fricative consonant and N marking a nasal. Diphthongs like /au̯/ were also possible – they turned into plain vowels later. Overall, this phonology does not differ much from other languages of the region, even those unrelated (eg. early

Nesyanian had a very similar syllable structure).

[edit] [top]Main sound changes

[edit] [top]

Old Desani phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m ⟨m⟩		n ⟨n⟩
Plosive	p b ⟨p b⟩	t d ⟨t d⟩			k g ⟨k g⟩	q ⟨q⟩
Fricative		v ⟨v⟩	s z ⟨s z⟩			χ ⟨x⟩	h ⟨h⟩
Lateral approximant			l ⟨l⟩
Approximant				j ⟨y⟩
Trill			r ⟨r⟩

Vowels
/a ɑ ɛ i u ɔ/ ⟨a â e i u o⟩

The syllable structure in Old Desani was (C)V. Diphthongs and vowels in hiatus were not allowed, at least not in the earliest attested phase of the language; for example, a word like *ai could not exist but ahi was attested.

[edit] [top]Language family comparison

Numerals

	Proto-Desanian	Old Desani	North Desanian		South Desanian
	Proto-Desanian	Old Desani	Kasewayan	Rashintu	Standard Keranian	Saridzani	Rannyei
one	*āyī [aːjiː]	âsi [ɑsi]	ate [æt̪e]	aty [ɑtʲ]	áśi [ɑɕe] ás- [ɑs]	aś [aʃ]	aṡ [ɑʃ]
two	*turi [tʰuri]	tole [tɔlɛ]	səl [səɫ]	ṭul [ʈul]	tol [tol] tle- [tle]	tul [tul] tle- [tle̞]	tol [tʰol]
three	*zarāy [zaraːj]	zare [zarɛ] de-zare [dɛzarɛ]	zar [zær]	jar [d͡zaɾ]	dzar [d͡zaɾ]	jal [d͡zal]	zzar [zːɑɾ]
four	*sauqi [sau̯qi]	soqe [sɔqɛ]	tək [t̪ək]	ṭug [ʈuɡ]	soq [sok] she- [sχe]	suk [suk] ske- [ske̞]	soq [soq]
five	*xaulmā [qʰau̯lmaː]	xoma [χɔma]	humə [xumə]	wume [wumæ]	home [χumə]	huma [xuma]	qumė [qumə]
six	*zurāy [zuraːj]	zore [zɔrɛ]	dər [d̪ər]	dur [d̪uɾ]	zor [zoɾ] zre- [zɾe]	zul [zul] zle- [zle̞]	zor [zoɾ]
seven	*īkulmā [iːkʰulmaː]	ikoma [ikɔma]	ekmə [ekmə]	ekme [ækmæ]	ikome [ekumə] ikmi- [ekmi]	ekuma [e̞kuma] ekmi- [ekmi]	ikumė [ikʰumə]
eight	*b’uya [ɓuja]	voye [vɔjɛ]	bəý [bəj]	buy [buj]	vwi [vwe]	bwe [bwe̞]	wey [wej]
nine	*d’unsāy [ɗunsaːj]	duse [dusɛ]	zoś [zoʃ]	ḍut [ɖut̪]	dwoś [dwoɕ]	dus [dus]	dos [tos]
ten	*la’āya [laʔaːja]	lâye [lɑjɛ]	laý [ɫæj]	lay [lɑj]	láy [lɑj]	laý [laj]	lay [lɑj]

Proto-Desanian *xaulmā (5) and *īkulmā (7) are related to *ulmā meaning “hand/arm” (hence Old Desani [ɔma] and then Kasewayan [umə], Keranian [wamə] etc.) – *xa-ulmā means just “whole hand”, but the connection to the latter numeral is uncertain. A few other numerals contain the root *āy likely related to the word for 1.

WIP. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

Comments