Proto-West Persian'
The branch further divides into the Bustaxoid and Tsonboid languages.
Changes from Proto-Persian'
- high vowels
- ɪ ʊ ɪː ʊː → i u əj əw
- ɪw ɪj ʊj → iw iː uj
- loss of difthongs in _w
- (ʰ)k → (ʰ)kʷ / w_
- iw → yː
- ew → e₂ː
- æw → æː
- ow → uː
- əw → o₁ː
- more labiovelars
- kw → kʷ (what happens with qw?)
- k(ʰ)uj → k(ʰ)ʷiː
- k(ʰ)o₁ː → k(ʰ)ʷe₁ː
- k(ʰ)ɒː → k(ʰ)ʷaː / before a coronal consonant
- /i u/ lost initially before a single consonant; any newly initial velars occurring after /u/ labialized
- phonation/MOA changes
- intervocalic lenition: b d → β ð
- intervocalic voicing: p t s ɬ k(ʷ) q χ → b d z ɮ ɡ(ʷ) ɢ ʁ
- loss of aspiration
- ʰp ʰt ʰk(ʷ) ʰq → p t k(ʷ) q
- pʰ tʰ kʰ(ʷ) qʰ → ɸ θ x(ʷ) χ
- hh → χ
- stop clusters with a 2nd voiced member become voiced thruout
- lo vowels
- æ ɐ æː ɒː → a ə aː o₂ː
- development of an initial mutation system from prefixation + partial or total elision of various function words
- t-mutation: P → B, b d r w j → tw tr tr tw tj, aspirates (??), other consonants unaffected
- q-mutation: (from Vq)
- p-mutation: (from pV)
- w-mutation: (from Vw or perhaps u) k x → gʷ xʷ, b d → β ð, P → B, other consonants unaffected (some relict cases of χ₂ → ʁ exist)
- null mutation: (from Vh) B → P, F → P (but s, ɬ, χ₂ unaffected), h → χ, r w j → χr xʷ x, other consonants unaffected
- m-mutation: initial /m/ occurs as syllabic; |mb mw| → /mm/, |mn md| → /nn/, |mr ml| (regularly) → /ms mɬ/
Intermediate form
Consonants
| p | t | k | kʷ | q | |||
| b | d | ɡ | ɡʷ | ɢ | |||
| ɸ | θ | s | ɬ | x | xʷ | χ | h |
| [β | ð | z | ɮ] | ʁ | |||
| m | n | r | l | j | w |
No evidence pointing to labialized uvulars exists.
[β ð z ɮ] are best analyzable as intervocalic allophones of their unvoiced counterparts. /χ/ and /ʁ/ do contrast, tho intervocalic /χ/ occurs only in inflection and is usually somewhat longer [χˑ].
Carrying over from Proto-Persian' was the feature that both nasals could occur before just about any consonants, apparently without any POA assimilation taking place. The existence of a separate, prenasal onglide for the folloing consonant has been proposed.
Cluster/sandhi table
| Color key |
|---|
| Plain consonant clusters; may occur morpheme-internally |
| Plain consonant clusters with regular subphonemic modifications |
| Contrast neutralization |
| Intermorphemic only |
| Intermorphemic sandhi |
| Interword (?) sandhi |
| Epenthetic /u/ |
K, G, X are cover symbols for dorsals /k kʷ q/, /ɡ ɡʷ ɢ/, /x xʷ χ/.
| Coda → Onset ↓ |
p | t | K | h | m | n | ∅ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ɸ | N/A | tɸ | Kɸ | p | mɸ | nɸ | β | |
| p | N/A | tp | Kp | mp | np | b | ||
| b | N/A | db | Gb | m | β | |||
| θ | pθ | qθ | Kθ | t | mθ | nθ | ð | |
| t | pt | qt | Kt | mt | nt | d | ||
| d | bd | tr | Gd | n | ð | |||
| X | pX | tX | tX | K | mX | nX | - | |
| K | pK | tK | tK | mK | nK | G | ||
| χ2 | uʁ | χ | (mχ) | (nχ) | (ʁ) | Exception class from original *χ. | ||
| s | N/A | qs | Ks | hs | ms | ns | z | |
| ɬ | N/A | ql | Kl | hɬ | mɬ | nɬ | ɮ | |
| ʁ | N/A | tʀ | qʀ | hʀ | mʁ | nʁ | ʁ | |
| h | p | t | K | χ | mh | nh | h | |
| m | N/A | m | hm | m | m | |||
| n | N/A | n | hn | n | n | |||
| r | pr | tr | Kr | hr | ms | ns | r | |
| l | pl | ql | Kl | hl | mɬ | nɬ | l | |
| j | pj | tj | K(ʀ)j | hj | mj | nj | j | |
| w | N/A | tw | K(w) | hw | m | nw | w | |
Vowels
The short vowel inventory is /a e ə o i u/, the long vowel inventory /aː eː oː iː yː uː/. Difthongs are /aj ej əj uj/.
Two distinct types of /eː oː/ are reconstructed for PWP'. Most likely these are /eː oː/ and /ɛː ɔː/, but it remains unclear which are which. An alternate theory proposes a roundedness distinction insted with /øː ɤː/, but with little additional clarification.
