Proto-Eteonoric: Difference between revisions

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'''Proto-Noric''' is the reconstructed common ancestor of the [[Noric]]
{|border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=50% class="bordertable" style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; font-size: 95%; float: right;"
languages.  It was probably spoken about 3000 years ago in central
|colspan="2" bgcolor="#DEFFDE" align="center" |'''Proto-Eteonoric'''
Austria, somewhere between Vienna and Salzburg.
|-
|valign="top"|Spoken in:
||Austria, ca. 1000 BC
|-
|valign="top"|[[Conworld]]:
||[[League of Lost Languages]]
|-
|valign="top"|Total speakers:
||extinct (reconstructed)
|-
|valign="top"|Genealogical classification:
||[[Eteonoric]]
: '''Proto-Eteonoric'''
|-
|valign="top"|[[Basic word order]]:
|| V2, SOV in subclauses
|-
|valign="top"|[[Morphological type]]:
|| agglutinating
|-
|valign="top"|[[Morphosyntactic alignment]]:
|| accusative, topic-prominent
|-
|colspan="2" bgcolor="#DEFFDE" align="center" |'''Created by:'''
|-
||The group ||2005-2012
|}
 
'''Proto-Eteonoric''' is a [[diachronic conlang]] that forms a part of the [[League of Lost Languages]].  The language was built as a group effort (the main contributors being [[User:WeepingElf|Jörg Rhiemeier]], [[User:Rfmills|Roger Mills]], [[User:Melroch|Benct Philip Jonsson]] and [[User:PaulBennett|Paul Bennett]]). 
 
Proto-Eteonoric is the reconstructed common ancestor of the [[Eteonoric]] languages.  It was probably spoken about 3000 years ago in central Austria, somewhere between Vienna and Salzburg.
 
<s>An essential part of the project is the [http://noric.allhyper.com/index.php Proto-Noric Dictionary and Root Generator].</s>


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
Line 7: Line 39:
===Consonants===
===Consonants===


{|
{|class="wikitable"
| || Labial || Alveolar || Postalveolar || Palatal || Velar || Glottal
|-
!colspan="2"| &nbsp;
! Labial
! Alveolar
! Postalveolar
! Palatal
! Velar
! Uvular
! Glottal
|-
!rowspan="3"| Stops
! Voiceless
| *p || *t || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || *k || *q || &nbsp;
|-
! Voiced
| *b || *d || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || *g || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Stops, voiceless
! Aspirated
| '''*p''' || '''*t''' || || || '''*k''' || '''*q''' [ʔ]
| *ph [pʰ] || *th [tʰ] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || *kh [kʰ] || *qh [qʰ] || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Stops, voiced
!rowspan="3"| Affricates
| '''*b''' || '''*d''' || || || '''*g''' ||
! Voiceless
| &nbsp; || *c [ts] || *č [tʃ] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Stops, aspirated
! Voiced
| '''*ph''' [pʰ] || '''*th''' [tʰ] || || || '''*kh''' [kʰ] ||
| &nbsp; || *dz || *dž [dʒ] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Affricates, voiceless
! Aspirated
| || '''*ts''' || '''*tc''' [tʃ] || || ||
| &nbsp; || *ch [tsʰ] || *čh [tʃʰ] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Affricates, voiced
!rowspan="2"| Fricatives
| || '''*dz''' || '''*dx''' [dʒ] || || ||
! Voiceless
| &nbsp; || *s || *š [ʃ] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || *h
|-
|-
| Affricates, aspirated
! Voiced
| || '''*tsh''' [tsʰ] || '''*tch''' [tʃʰ] || || ||
| &nbsp; || *z || *ž [ʒ] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Fricatives, voiceless
!colspan="2"| Nasals
| || '''*s''' || '''*c''' [ʃ] || || || '''*h'''
| *m || *n || &nbsp; || &nbsp;|| &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Fricatives, voiced
!colspan="2"| Lateral
| || '''*z''' || '''*x''' [ʒ] || || ||
| &nbsp; || *l || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Nasals
!colspan="2"| Rhotic
| '''*m''' || '''*n''' || || || ||
| &nbsp; || *r || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Liquids
!colspan="2"| Semivowels
| || '''*l,*r''' || || || ||
| *w || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || *j || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
|-
| Glides
| '''*w''' || || || '''*j''' || ||
|}
|}


===Vowels===
===Vowels===


* Short: '''*a, *e, *i, *o, *u, *y''' [ɨ]
{|class="wikitable"
* Long: '''*â, *ê, *î, *ô, *û'''
|-
! &nbsp;
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! High
| *i
| *y [ɨ]
| *u
|-
! Mid
| *e
| &nbsp;
| *o
|-
! Low
| &nbsp;
| *a
| &nbsp;
|-
|}
 
All vowels except '''*y''' which is always short, may be short or long.  Long vowels are marked with a grave accent: '''à è ì ò ù'''.
 
===Accent===
 
The Proto-Eteonoric accent may fall on any syllable and is marked with an acute accent ('''á é í ó ú ý''') on the vowel, or a circumflex ('''â ê î ô û''') if it is long.


===Root structure===
===Root structure===


C(R)VC or CV(R)C
C(R)VC or CV(R)C
''Words'' however are minimally C(R)VCV or CV(R)CV and must end in a vowel (or vowel + sonant?)


==Morphology==
==Morphology==


(to be filled in)
===Nouns===
 
Nouns do not inflect much.  The ''plural'' marker is '''*-my'''; the ''topic'' marker is '''*-tâ''' (which attracts stress).  The plural topic marker is '''*-mytâ''' (also attracts stress).  The genitive relation is expressed by the particle '''*nu''' placed between possessum and possessor, e.g. '''*atéga nu babâ''' (house GEN father) 'the father's house'.  If such a NP is topicalized, the topic marker is appended to the final element: '''*atéga nu babàtâ'''.
 
===Pronouns===
 
====Personal pronouns====
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"| &nbsp;
! Singular
! Plural
|-
!rowspan="2"| 1st person
! Exclusive
| *atê
| *kímy
|-
! Inclusive
| &nbsp;
| *kórymy
|-
!colspan="2"| 2nd person
| *iwká
| *kakýmy
|-
!rowspan="3"| 3rd person
! Masculine
| *jáša
| *jášamy
|-
! Feminine
| *jáši
| *jášimy
|-
! Neuter
| *atâ
| *atâmy
|-
|}
 
====Demonstratives and others====
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! &nbsp;
! Person
! Thing
! Place
! Way
! Reason
|-
! This
| *thámi
| *tháta
| *tháši
| *thákala
| *thámada
|-
! That
| *ními
| *níta
| *níši
| *níkala
| *nímada
|-
! Which?
| *kémi
| *kéta
| *kéši
| *kékala
| *kémada
|-
! Some
| *sémi
| *séta
| *séši
| *sékala
| *sémada
|-
! Every
| *jômi
| *jôta
| *jôši
| *jôkala
| *jômada
|-
! No
| *bêmi
| *bêta
| *bêši
| *bêkala
| *bêmada
|-
|}
 
===Numerals===
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! &nbsp;
! Cardinal
! Ordinal
|-
! 1
| ìqhá
| ìqhádža
|-
! 2
| câhu
| câhudža
|-
! 3
| ûba
| ûbadža
|-
! 4
| šujú
| šujúdža
|-
! 5
| ánta
| ántadža
|-
! 6
| ýto
| ýtodža
|-
! 7
| hátù
| hátùdža
|-
! 8
| twatâ
| twatâdža
|-
! 9
| dáqù
| dáqùdža
|-
! 10
| áša
| ášadža
|-
! 11
| ýče
| ýčedža
|-
! 12
| ábì
| ábìdža
|-
! 20
| udó
| udódža
|-
! 100
| úkhi
| úkhidža
|-
! 1000
| òjcí
| òjcídža
|-
|}
 
===Adjectives===
 
Adjectives agree with their head nouns in number (the plural suffix is '''*-my''', as with nouns).  The degree of comparison is expressed by the suffixes '''*-kha''' (comparative, does not attract stress) and '''*-khatá''' (superlative; attracts stress).  The latter two suffixes precede the plural suffix.
 
===Prepositions===
 
Proto-Eteonoric is a prepositional language.
 
====Local prepositions====
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!&nbsp;
!At
!From
!To
!Through
|-
!General
|*ta
|*do
|*ke
|*čhà
|-
!In
|*qitá
|*qidó
|*qiké
|*qičhâ
|-
!On
|*satá
|*sadó
|*saké
|*sačhâ
|-
!Under
|*čhìtá
|*čhìdó
|*čhìké
|*čhìčhâ
|-
!Near
|*litá
|*lidó
|*liké
|*ličhâ
|-
|}
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Up
|*hî
|-
!Down
|*chó
|-
|}
 
====Other prepositions====
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!With (comitative)
|*nîli
|-
!By/With (instrumental)
|*dára
|-
!Without
|*banî
|-
!For
|*džúki
|-
!Against
|*badžú
|-
|}
 
===Verbs===
 
The verb is inflected for tense and mood, and the person and number of the subject.  There are also several subordinating suffixes.
 
====Mood====
 
Mood is expressed by a suffix on the verb.  The following moods are distinguished:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Indicative
| -∅ (no suffix)
|-
! Subjunctive
| -ka
|-
! Optative
| -kala
|-
! Imperative
| -chí
|-
|}
 
The imperative suffix attracts stress and is never followed by any other suffix except the plural suffix '''*-my'''.
 
====Tense====
 
There are two tenses in Proto-Eteonoric: ''present'' (non-past) and ''past''.  Only the indicative and the subjunctive moods combine with the past tense.  The present tense has no suffix, while the past tense is marked with the suffix '''*-še'''.  In the subjunctive mood, the past tense suffix follows the subjunctive mood suffix.
 
====Person and number====
 
The personal prefixes are:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! 1st person
| *ki-
|-
! 2nd person
| *ka-
|-
! 3rd person
| ∅- (no prefix)
|-
|}
 
The plural is expressed by the suffix '''*-my''' in all three persons.  This suffix follows the mood and tense suffixes.
 
====Subordinating suffixes====
 
The verb of a subordinate clause takes a suffix which expresses the relation between the subordinate clause and the main clause.  This suffix is always the last in the verb complex and attracts stress.  The following subordinating suffixes can be reconstructed for Proto-Eteonoric:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Relative
| *-máchi
|-
! Complement
| *-mâ
|-
! If
| *-čhî
|-
! When
| *-tatá
|-
! Before
| *-kêmi
|-
! After
| *-dôthi
|-
! Because
| *-gûru
|-
! Though
| *-nîlu
|-
|}
 
===Conjunctions===
 
Proto-Eteonoric has only coordinating conjunctions, as subordination is done with verb suffixes (see above).
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! And
| *ki
|-
! Or
| *čha
|-
! Not
| *be
|-
! Thus
| *da
|-
|}


==Syntax==
==Syntax==


(to be filled in)
===Morphosyntactic alignment===
 
Proto-Eteonoric is a nominative-accusative language.  Subjects and direct objects are not marked for case, but the subject always precedes the object unless the object is topicalized (see below).  The verb inflects for the person and number of the subject.  Overlaying this, Proto-Eteonoric is a topic-prominent language; in many sentences, one argument is topicalized.
 
===The Noun Phrase===
 
Adjectives precede the noun, while possessors and relative clauses follow.  The topic marker is always suffixed to the last element in the NP.
 
===The Clause===
 
In main clauses, the verb is always in the second position. If a noun phrase is marked as topic, it comes first in the sentence. Otherwise, the subject precedes the verb and the object follows the verb. Subordinate clauses have Subject Object Verb word order.
 
====Main clause without topic====
 
In a main clause without topic, the subject is placed before the verb and the object after it:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="3"| (1)
| '''amâ bíli rúnthu'''
|-
| ''mother love child''
|-
| 'The mother loves the child.'
|}
 
Proto-Eteonoric is a ''pro-drop'' language, i.e. the subject pronoun can be omitted if the verb is inflected for a person other than third person singular:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="3"| (2)
| '''rúnthu kibíli'''
|-
| ''child 1SG-love''
|-
| 'I love the child.'
|}
 
As the example shows, the object moves into the first position in such a clause due to the V2 constraint (in a main clause, the verb is always in second position).
 
====Main clause with topic====
 
If a noun phrase is topicalized, it is placed before the verb, and everything else after the verb.  If the topicalized noun phrase is the subject, the word order does not change, and no other marking is necessary:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="3"| (3)
| '''amàtâ bíli rúnthu'''
|-
| ''mother-TOP love child''
|-
| 'As for the mother, she loves the child.'
|}
 
If the object is topicalized, a pronoun is placed after the subject:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="3"| (4)
| '''runthutâ bíli amâ jáša'''
|-
| ''child-TOP love mother 3SG:M''
|-
| 'As for the child, the mother loves him.'
|}
 
Prepositional phrases can also be topicalized.  In this case, the noun phrase is placed first without the preposition, and a pronoun is placed after the preposition:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="3"| (5)
| '''babàtâ méta amâ láki ke jáša'''
|-
| ''father-TOP give mother fish to 3SG:M
|-
| 'As for the father, the mother gives a fish to him.'
|-
|}
 
====Subordinate clause====
 
In a subordinate clause, the subject precedes the object, and the verb goes last.
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="3"| (6)
| '''lìčú líntu čankašedôthi pínčhiše mísa atâ'''
|-
| ''fox bird catch-PAST-after steal-PAST cat 3SG:N''
|-
| 'After the fox caught the bird, the cat stole it.'
|-
|}
 
This is also true for relative clauses:
 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="3"| (7)
| '''lìčú líntu čankašemáchi sélmaše atâ'''
|-
| ''fox bird catch-PAST-REL eat-PAST 3SG:N''
|-
| 'The fox that caught the bird ate it.'
|-
|}
 
==Vocabulary==


==Semantic Spaces== (Paul Bennett)
{|
|-
| ábì || Num || twelve
|-
| ábìdža || Num || twelfth
|-
| ašá || Num || ten
|-
| ašúdža || Num || tenth
|-
| amâ || N || mother
|-
| ánta || Num || five
|-
| ántadža || Num || fifth
|-
| atê || pron || I (1st pers.sing.)
|-
| atéga || N || house, dwelling
|-
| babâ || N || father
|-
| bádi || adj || yellow
|-
| bánki || N || hill
|-
| bíli || V || love
|-
| bnegâ || adj || big, large
|-
| câhu || Num || two
|-
| câhudža || Num || second
|-
| châqho || N || chamois
|-
| chó || adposition || down
|-
| cholcí || N || marten
|-
| cìbý || N || Alpine cough
|-
| dáqù || Num || nine
|-
| dáqùdža || Num || ninth
|-
| dáwno || N || river
|-
| -dža || suffix || derives ordinal numbers from cardinals
|-
| džèlê || N || red deer
|-
| gwîno || N || wine
|-
| gýrdy || N || enclosure, courtyard
|-
| hátù || Num || seven
|-
| hátùdža || Num || seventh
|-
| -ima || suffix || denotes inhabitant of X
|-
| ípe || N || partridge
|-
| ìqhá || Num || one
|-
| ìqhádža || Num || first
|-
| iwká || pron || (2nd pers.sing.) thou
|-
| îwsi || N || garden, field
|-
| jûlthè || N || cow
|-
| kántu || V || hold
|-
| khórja || N || star; a constellation?
|-
| khrèthá || N || roe deer
|-
| kôri || N || tree bark
|-
| kórpi || N || forest
|-
| kûrdo || adj || deaf
|-
| kýrsa || N || bread
|-
| láki || N || fish
|-
| líntu || N || bird
|-
| lìčú || N || fox
|-
| méta || V || give
|-
| méthu || N || mead
|-
| mísa || V || eat
|-
| mîtho || N || badger
|-
| múto || V || cut
|-
| nòla || N || wood
|-
| nolčî || N || tree
|-
| òjcí || Num || one thousand
|-
| òjcidža || Num || one thousandth
|-
| páli || N || mountain
|-
| pâre || V || show
|-
| pása || N || anger
|-
| pásima || N || barbarian
|-
| phlóka || N || cloth
|-
| pínčhi || V || steal
|-
| qímà || N || sky
|-
| qúnà || N || mountain
|-
| qý- || prefix || place for X, place with X
|-
| qýlaki || N || pond
|-
| qýnolčì || N || coppice, grove, forest
|-
| qýchima || N || valley dweller
|-
| qýcho || N || valley
|-
| rêsi || N || grain, cereal
|-
| riwgú || N || marmot
|-
| ríwma || N || squirrel
|-
| rúnthu || N || child
|-
| sélta || N || bridge
|-
| sélma || V || eat
|-
| šérka || N || ox
|-
| šôli || V || heal
|-
| šôphè || N || human being
|-
| šujú || Num || four
|-
| šujúdža || Num || fourth
|-
| tandú || N || ibex
|-
| têrzo || N || tree
|-
| tôši || N || rope
|-
| twatâ || Num || eight
|-
| twatâdža || Num || eighth
|-
| týlpa || adj || mute
|-
| ûba || Num || three
|-
| ûbadža || Num || third
|-
| udó || Num || twenty
|-
| udódža || Num || twentieth
|-
| úkhi || Num || one hundred
|-
| úkhidža || Num || one hundredth
|-
| úrnò || N || man
|-
| wárda || N || clan-house
|-
| wèwga || adj || wide
|-
| ýče || Num || eleven
|-
| ýčedža || Num || eleventh
|-
| ýto || Num || six
|-
| ýtodža || Num || sixth
|-
| zíwy || N || hare
|-
| zulkâ || N || aurochs
|-
| žulê || N || pheasant
|-
|}


Do we need to discuss the partitioning of semantic space? It is obvious that the Noric people were subjected to and survived several waves of outside dominant cultures (by my eye Italo-Celtic, Italic, Germanic, Ugric and/or Turkic and Germanic again, more or less). That cultural overlay is going to lead to loan-words and the loaning of which things are culturally significant enough to have special terms for them. For instance, Noric people are likely to have grown wheat and barley, driven goats or sheep, drunk wine and mead (knowledge of both probably came with IE speakers (wine in turn probably came from Caucasian people (something like /Gwinja/ IIRC)), and beer came later (around 1AD?) from the Romans (Latin ''cerevisia''), who got it from the Egyptians), known about horses but probably not donkeys (knowledge of the horse (PIE *''ek^uo'') probably came with IE speakers), and had a concept of a home consisting of an entrance area and an inner area with a hearth. They would probably have had separate words for a village and a town (actually, the PIE word for "town" (cf. Greek ''polis'') was apparently borrowed from an unknown source -- might be worth thinking about). Plausibly, they traded in slaves (with a word for "slave" distinct to "man", and a word for "buy/sell slave(s)" distinct from the general "buy/sell"). Plausibly they would draw a line between a libation and a "regular" drink, and maybe between sacrificial killing, killing in battle/"slaying", and "regular" killing.


[[Category:Noric]]
[[Category:Eteonoric]]
[[Category:LLL]]
[[Category:LLL]]
[[Category:Diachronic conlangs]]
[[Category:Conlangs]]

Latest revision as of 12:00, 19 March 2014

Proto-Eteonoric
Spoken in: Austria, ca. 1000 BC
Conworld: League of Lost Languages
Total speakers: extinct (reconstructed)
Genealogical classification: Eteonoric
Proto-Eteonoric
Basic word order: V2, SOV in subclauses
Morphological type: agglutinating
Morphosyntactic alignment: accusative, topic-prominent
Created by:
The group 2005-2012

Proto-Eteonoric is a diachronic conlang that forms a part of the League of Lost Languages. The language was built as a group effort (the main contributors being Jörg Rhiemeier, Roger Mills, Benct Philip Jonsson and Paul Bennett).

Proto-Eteonoric is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Eteonoric languages. It was probably spoken about 3000 years ago in central Austria, somewhere between Vienna and Salzburg.

An essential part of the project is the Proto-Noric Dictionary and Root Generator.

Phonology

Consonants

  Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Stops Voiceless *p *t     *k *q  
Voiced *b *d     *g    
Aspirated *ph [pʰ] *th [tʰ]     *kh [kʰ] *qh [qʰ]  
Affricates Voiceless   *c [ts] *č [tʃ]        
Voiced   *dz *dž [dʒ]        
Aspirated   *ch [tsʰ] *čh [tʃʰ]        
Fricatives Voiceless   *s *š [ʃ]       *h
Voiced   *z *ž [ʒ]        
Nasals *m *n          
Lateral   *l          
Rhotic   *r          
Semivowels *w     *j      

Vowels

  Front Central Back
High *i *y [ɨ] *u
Mid *e   *o
Low   *a  

All vowels except *y which is always short, may be short or long. Long vowels are marked with a grave accent: à è ì ò ù.

Accent

The Proto-Eteonoric accent may fall on any syllable and is marked with an acute accent (á é í ó ú ý) on the vowel, or a circumflex (â ê î ô û) if it is long.

Root structure

C(R)VC or CV(R)C

Words however are minimally C(R)VCV or CV(R)CV and must end in a vowel (or vowel + sonant?)

Morphology

Nouns

Nouns do not inflect much. The plural marker is *-my; the topic marker is *-tâ (which attracts stress). The plural topic marker is *-mytâ (also attracts stress). The genitive relation is expressed by the particle *nu placed between possessum and possessor, e.g. *atéga nu babâ (house GEN father) 'the father's house'. If such a NP is topicalized, the topic marker is appended to the final element: *atéga nu babàtâ.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

  Singular Plural
1st person Exclusive *atê *kímy
Inclusive   *kórymy
2nd person *iwká *kakýmy
3rd person Masculine *jáša *jášamy
Feminine *jáši *jášimy
Neuter *atâ *atâmy

Demonstratives and others

  Person Thing Place Way Reason
This *thámi *tháta *tháši *thákala *thámada
That *ními *níta *níši *níkala *nímada
Which? *kémi *kéta *kéši *kékala *kémada
Some *sémi *séta *séši *sékala *sémada
Every *jômi *jôta *jôši *jôkala *jômada
No *bêmi *bêta *bêši *bêkala *bêmada

Numerals

  Cardinal Ordinal
1 ìqhá ìqhádža
2 câhu câhudža
3 ûba ûbadža
4 šujú šujúdža
5 ánta ántadža
6 ýto ýtodža
7 hátù hátùdža
8 twatâ twatâdža
9 dáqù dáqùdža
10 áša ášadža
11 ýče ýčedža
12 ábì ábìdža
20 udó udódža
100 úkhi úkhidža
1000 òjcí òjcídža

Adjectives

Adjectives agree with their head nouns in number (the plural suffix is *-my, as with nouns). The degree of comparison is expressed by the suffixes *-kha (comparative, does not attract stress) and *-khatá (superlative; attracts stress). The latter two suffixes precede the plural suffix.

Prepositions

Proto-Eteonoric is a prepositional language.

Local prepositions

  At From To Through
General *ta *do *ke *čhà
In *qitá *qidó *qiké *qičhâ
On *satá *sadó *saké *sačhâ
Under *čhìtá *čhìdó *čhìké *čhìčhâ
Near *litá *lidó *liké *ličhâ
Up *hî
Down *chó

Other prepositions

With (comitative) *nîli
By/With (instrumental) *dára
Without *banî
For *džúki
Against *badžú

Verbs

The verb is inflected for tense and mood, and the person and number of the subject. There are also several subordinating suffixes.

Mood

Mood is expressed by a suffix on the verb. The following moods are distinguished:

Indicative -∅ (no suffix)
Subjunctive -ka
Optative -kala
Imperative -chí

The imperative suffix attracts stress and is never followed by any other suffix except the plural suffix *-my.

Tense

There are two tenses in Proto-Eteonoric: present (non-past) and past. Only the indicative and the subjunctive moods combine with the past tense. The present tense has no suffix, while the past tense is marked with the suffix *-še. In the subjunctive mood, the past tense suffix follows the subjunctive mood suffix.

Person and number

The personal prefixes are:

1st person *ki-
2nd person *ka-
3rd person ∅- (no prefix)

The plural is expressed by the suffix *-my in all three persons. This suffix follows the mood and tense suffixes.

Subordinating suffixes

The verb of a subordinate clause takes a suffix which expresses the relation between the subordinate clause and the main clause. This suffix is always the last in the verb complex and attracts stress. The following subordinating suffixes can be reconstructed for Proto-Eteonoric:

Relative *-máchi
Complement *-mâ
If *-čhî
When *-tatá
Before *-kêmi
After *-dôthi
Because *-gûru
Though *-nîlu

Conjunctions

Proto-Eteonoric has only coordinating conjunctions, as subordination is done with verb suffixes (see above).

And *ki
Or *čha
Not *be
Thus *da

Syntax

Morphosyntactic alignment

Proto-Eteonoric is a nominative-accusative language. Subjects and direct objects are not marked for case, but the subject always precedes the object unless the object is topicalized (see below). The verb inflects for the person and number of the subject. Overlaying this, Proto-Eteonoric is a topic-prominent language; in many sentences, one argument is topicalized.

The Noun Phrase

Adjectives precede the noun, while possessors and relative clauses follow. The topic marker is always suffixed to the last element in the NP.

The Clause

In main clauses, the verb is always in the second position. If a noun phrase is marked as topic, it comes first in the sentence. Otherwise, the subject precedes the verb and the object follows the verb. Subordinate clauses have Subject Object Verb word order.

Main clause without topic

In a main clause without topic, the subject is placed before the verb and the object after it:

(1) amâ bíli rúnthu
mother love child
'The mother loves the child.'

Proto-Eteonoric is a pro-drop language, i.e. the subject pronoun can be omitted if the verb is inflected for a person other than third person singular:

(2) rúnthu kibíli
child 1SG-love
'I love the child.'

As the example shows, the object moves into the first position in such a clause due to the V2 constraint (in a main clause, the verb is always in second position).

Main clause with topic

If a noun phrase is topicalized, it is placed before the verb, and everything else after the verb. If the topicalized noun phrase is the subject, the word order does not change, and no other marking is necessary:

(3) amàtâ bíli rúnthu
mother-TOP love child
'As for the mother, she loves the child.'

If the object is topicalized, a pronoun is placed after the subject:

(4) runthutâ bíli amâ jáša
child-TOP love mother 3SG:M
'As for the child, the mother loves him.'

Prepositional phrases can also be topicalized. In this case, the noun phrase is placed first without the preposition, and a pronoun is placed after the preposition:

(5) babàtâ méta amâ láki ke jáša
father-TOP give mother fish to 3SG:M
'As for the father, the mother gives a fish to him.'

Subordinate clause

In a subordinate clause, the subject precedes the object, and the verb goes last.

(6) lìčú líntu čankašedôthi pínčhiše mísa atâ
fox bird catch-PAST-after steal-PAST cat 3SG:N
'After the fox caught the bird, the cat stole it.'

This is also true for relative clauses:

(7) lìčú líntu čankašemáchi sélmaše atâ
fox bird catch-PAST-REL eat-PAST 3SG:N
'The fox that caught the bird ate it.'

Vocabulary

ábì Num twelve
ábìdža Num twelfth
ašá Num ten
ašúdža Num tenth
amâ N mother
ánta Num five
ántadža Num fifth
atê pron I (1st pers.sing.)
atéga N house, dwelling
babâ N father
bádi adj yellow
bánki N hill
bíli V love
bnegâ adj big, large
câhu Num two
câhudža Num second
châqho N chamois
chó adposition down
cholcí N marten
cìbý N Alpine cough
dáqù Num nine
dáqùdža Num ninth
dáwno N river
-dža suffix derives ordinal numbers from cardinals
džèlê N red deer
gwîno N wine
gýrdy N enclosure, courtyard
hátù Num seven
hátùdža Num seventh
-ima suffix denotes inhabitant of X
ípe N partridge
ìqhá Num one
ìqhádža Num first
iwká pron (2nd pers.sing.) thou
îwsi N garden, field
jûlthè N cow
kántu V hold
khórja N star; a constellation?
khrèthá N roe deer
kôri N tree bark
kórpi N forest
kûrdo adj deaf
kýrsa N bread
láki N fish
líntu N bird
lìčú N fox
méta V give
méthu N mead
mísa V eat
mîtho N badger
múto V cut
nòla N wood
nolčî N tree
òjcí Num one thousand
òjcidža Num one thousandth
páli N mountain
pâre V show
pása N anger
pásima N barbarian
phlóka N cloth
pínčhi V steal
qímà N sky
qúnà N mountain
qý- prefix place for X, place with X
qýlaki N pond
qýnolčì N coppice, grove, forest
qýchima N valley dweller
qýcho N valley
rêsi N grain, cereal
riwgú N marmot
ríwma N squirrel
rúnthu N child
sélta N bridge
sélma V eat
šérka N ox
šôli V heal
šôphè N human being
šujú Num four
šujúdža Num fourth
tandú N ibex
têrzo N tree
tôši N rope
twatâ Num eight
twatâdža Num eighth
týlpa adj mute
ûba Num three
ûbadža Num third
udó Num twenty
udódža Num twentieth
úkhi Num one hundred
úkhidža Num one hundredth
úrnò N man
wárda N clan-house
wèwga adj wide
ýče Num eleven
ýčedža Num eleventh
ýto Num six
ýtodža Num sixth
zíwy N hare
zulkâ N aurochs
žulê N pheasant
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