Paleo-Pabappa

Paleo-Pabappa is a term for the Patuupʷto language spoken in Paba until it was replaced by the Gold language, which then split into Babakiam and the Macro-Pabap languages. Babakiam is the ancestor of Pabappa and Poswa, which spread out and replaced the relics of both Paleo-Pabappa and the Macro-Pabap languages.

Proto-Thaoa (1085) to Patuupʷto (~1678 AD)

Alternate names: Paleo-Pabappa, Big Hearts, Lazy Palms, Protection, Diver

Paleo-Pabappa was the language of the Patuupʷto tribe, which split into many separate branches due to migrations both voluntary and involuntary. Most of these branches soon adopted the languages of the surrounding populations, however. For example, the Lazy Palms likely assimilate into the Oysters, while the enslaved Divers take on the languages of their masters.

The Soft Hands spoke Gold.

See Paleo-Pabappa#Šàno for a related language also spoken here.

Initial phoneme inventory:

                       PLAIN                         LABIALIZED
Bilabials:             p   b   m   f   v                     mʷ      w  
Alveolars:             t   d   n       l             tʷ  dʷ  nʷ            
Postalveolars:         č   ǯ           y                       
Velars:                k       ŋ   h   g   ḳ                 ŋʷ  hʷ  gʷ

Note that the inherited /h/ sound was a true /h/ in the onset, but variable in the coda.

The vowel inventory was

Short vowels:          a  e  i  o  u  ə
Long vowels:          aa ee  ī oo  ū 
Falling diphthongs:      ae ei ao ou
                            əi    əu

This list may have to be cut somewhere in the middle, with the full list applying to just one subbranch and ending around the year 2668.

1. The voiced coronal obstruents d ǯ merged as r.
2. The sequences ae ao shifted to ai au.
3. The labialized obstruents tʷ dʷ gʷ shifted to pʷ w w.
4. The velar ejective ḳ merged to k.
5. The sequences č kč merged as s; preceding vowels retained their tones.
6. In word-initial position, the voiced velar fricative g shifted to y.
7. The labialized nasals mʷ nʷ ŋʷ merged as mʷ.

   NOTE ON POLITICS: Highland Pabappa breaks off here.

8. In syllable-final position, the sequences uk un uh shifted to ukʷ umʷ upʷ . (This is called the "uh-oh" shift because it shifts /uh/ and some primordial /oh/.)

   This may be the source of the replacement of some word-initial /hʷ/ with /p/.

9. In syllable-final position, the sequences ik in ih shifted to iš iň iš .
10. In all positions, the voiced velar fricative g disappeared and lengthened the preceding vowel. This often occurred in the second element of a diphthong or intervocalically.
11. The velars h hʷ came to spelled x xʷ.
12. f fʷ v shifted to h hʷ g.
13. The clusters kx kh (and their labialized counterparts) shifted to k.

Thus the final consonant inventory of proto-paleo-Pabappa was

Rounded bilabials:    pʷ  mʷ      hʷ  w
Spread bilabials:     p   m   b
Alveolars:            t   n   r   s   l
Palataloids:              ň       š   y
Velars:               k   ŋ   g   x        
Labiovelars:          kʷ          xʷ    
Postvelars:                       h   

And the vowel inventory was

Short vowels:          a  e  i  o  u  ə
Long vowels:          aa ee ii oo uu 
Falling diphthongs:         ai    au
                            ei    ou
                            əi    əu
 

Patuupʷto (1678) to Puroupwa (2672 AD)

This language derives its name from the Patuupʷto word oroupʷa "limestone", as it is spoken in a mountainous area filled with many steep limestone cliffs.

1. The velars k ŋ x shifted to č ň š.
2. The postalveolars ň š depalatalized to n s except before /i/.
3. The sequence ʷoo shifted to ʷuo.
4. ʷa ʷe ʷi ʷo ʷu ʷə > o o i o u u, including in diphthongs.
5. In closed syllables, all diphthongs and double vowels were reduced to their first vowel.

Thus the consonant inventory was

Labials:         p   m   b       w  
Alveolars:       t   n   r   s   l 
Palataloids:     č   ň       š   y  
Velars:          k           h   g       

The vowel inventory was

Short vowels:          a  e  i  o  u  ə
Long vowels:          aa ee ii oo uu 
Falling diphthongs:      ae    ao  
                            ei
                      oa oe oi    ou
                            əi    əu

Patuupʷto (1678) to Pombi (2672 AD)

This language will need a new name.

1. The velars k ŋ x shifted to č ň š.
2. The postalveolars ň š depalatalized to n s except before /i/.
3. The sequence ʷoo shifted to ʷuo.
4. ʷa ʷe ʷi ʷo ʷu ʷə > o o i o u u, including in diphthongs.
5. In closed syllables, all diphthongs and double vowels were reduced to their first vowel.

Patuupʷto (1678) to Pipaippis (3200 AD)

The starting date is very vague because the four languages split apart slowly.

1. The velars k ŋ x shifted to č ň š.
2. The postalveolars ň š depalatalized to n s except before /i/.
3. The sequence ʷoo shifted to ʷuo.
4. ʷa ʷe ʷi ʷo ʷu ʷə > o o i o u u, including in diphthongs.
5. In closed syllables, all diphthongs and double vowels were reduced to their first vowel.
6. Frics became stops after a high tone.
7. The schwas ə ə̄ changed to u ū unconditionally.
8. All labialized consonants change to plain bilabials.
9. Voicing distinction disappears entirely. This was actually triggered by a new voicing of stops after low tones, but because this change removed the last remaining environment that could host a minimal pair, there was no longer any phonemic contast.

   NOTE ON POLITICS: This is 1900 AD.

10. Prevocalic sequences pi mi fi shifted to t n s (with no following glide). Thus the prevocalic glide /j/ was completely eliminated except in isolation.
11. Intervocalically, bʷ b ž g shifted to w Ø y Ø.

    Note, there is no /ž/ at present because the source language was changed.

Pipaippis (3200) to Haswaraba (8773 AD)

As described currently, this language far outlasts the extinction of all other Paleo-Pabap languages, and may need to be cut down at a very early stage.

The name of the language used here is a repurposing of that of the unrelated Haswaraba language.

1. All word-final vowels became short.
2. Tones were eliminated.
3. Before any /i/, the consonants p m t n l r k shifted to pʲ mʲ č ň ł ř ć.
4. Before any /u/, the consonants p m t n l r č ň k shifted to pʷ mʷ tʷ nʷ w bʷ kʷ ŋʷ kʷ.
5. The short vowels a i u ə all merged as a.
6. The long vowels ā ī ū ə̄ shifted to a i u ə.

Grammar

Paleo-Pabappa has the highest number of noun classes of any language on the planet; these are used both in the traditional way and with verbs to create compounds such as "run like a rabbit"; this is why there are many classifiers for specific types of animals.

Noun classes

Paleo-Pabappa did not have an established syllable order such as that used by Late Andanese.

Paleo-Pabappa retains the single-consonant forms of the CV classifiers, which appear only before stems beginning in vowels. In Proto-Kava and proto-Eastern Subumpamese, these were replaced with reduplicated CVC forms, and in the Gold language, they were replaced with the ordinary CV classifiers but later disappeared entirely.

Animate Group I

1. pu: Pregnant women and epicenes; verbs of emotion.

   Becomes p- before vowel-initial stems.

2. pi: Adult females; worms.

   Becomes p- before vowel-initial stems and takes epicene verb agreement.

3. tə: Adult males; rabbits and hares.

   Becomes p- before vowel-initial stems and takes epicene verb agreement.

Note that the feminine prefix pi- is historically cognate to the m- group below, which by the time of paleo-Pabappa had come to be a category for children rather than women. In fact, the prefix was originally identical with mi- "milk; breast", but underwent a sound change due to being always used as a prefix whereas mi- could also appear in standalone form.

In addition to losing their vowels before vowel stems, these three stems disappear entirely before p-stems on the conditions that:

1. The p-stem is not another noun. (For example, one must say pipèpu "her crab", not *pèpu.)

Animate Group II

1. ni: Maidens, young girls; certain female body parts; ducklike birds.

   Becomes m- before stems beginning in u- and ń- before other vowel-initial stems.

2. mu: Young children; most other birds.

   Becomes m- before vowel-initial stems.; appears as mə- in a few words.

3. pe: Crustaceans; sea life.

   Becomes m- before vowel-initial stems.

Animate Group III

Nouns in this group must be padded with one of the human identifier prefixes in order to form disyllabic prefixes.

1. pa: Sheep and goats.
2. ńe: Snakes.
3. hə: Frogs, amphibians.

   Becomes f- before vowel-initial stems.

4. li: Turtles.
5. la: Mice and rodents.
6. ča: Flying insects.
7. ke: Cats.
8. po: Ants, crawling insects.

   Becomes p- before vowel-initial stems and takes epicene verb agreement.

"Po-" is historically identical to the prefix for pregnant women and epicenes, but was never of the same level on the animacy hierarchy. <---POSSIBLY JUST DELETE THIS ENTIRELY FROM ALL LANGUAGES

These prefixes can also be used to denote the habitats of the animals. e.g. ča = sky, hə = swamp, ke = forest, la & ńe = underground

Inanimate Group I

Most words in this group are words for plants or objects made from plants.

1. ši: Some types of trees.
2. hə: Corals.
3. ti: Flower blossoms.

   Contracts to t- before a vowel.

4. ma: Very tall grasses.
5. pe: Money; some grasses.
6. mu: Fruit; buildings.
7. me: Alcohol, soap, and mixed formulas.
8. fo: Some types of grass.
9. pu: Succulent fruit; grass, clover, small plants; round objects; some trees;
10. nə: Claws, sharp objects; certain fruits.
11. fu: Wind and air; claws and other hard body parts.

Inanimate Group II

This group contains body parts and certain things typically held close to one's person.

1. ti: Teeth.

   Contracts to t- before a vowel.

2. ko: Bones.
3. ni: Feminine hygiene products.
4. i: Edible body parts.
5. to: Blood and bodily humors.
6. pa: Clothes.
7. fo: Some words for clothes.
8. mi: Milk, inedible body parts.

The prefix mi- is historically identical with the feminine prefix pi-. The "teeth" prefix ti- is historically homophonous with, but not related to, the "flower blossom" prefix.

Inanimate Group III

This group contains landforms and other objects most usually found in the locative rather than as the agent or patient of a verb.

1. ə: Open places.
2. o: Furniture and land formations.
3. po: Oceanographic formations.
4. mu: Fruit; buildings.
5. pe: Ocean and sea.
6. ča: Tall trees; the sky.
7. pi: Water, weather.
8. me: Kingdoms and empires.
9. pu: Celestial objects.

The prefix ča- "trees; sky" is in fact a single morpheme even going back to the days of Mumba, and not a merger of a velar with a palatal.

Inanimate Group IV

This group contains handheld objects and alienable possessions.

1. yo: Handheld objects; coins.
2. ši: Certain other handheld objects.
3. ri: Some other handheld objects.
4. hə: Corals; still other handheld objects.
5. ke: Wheels.
6. pu: Round objects; arrows, weapons, and handheld tools.
7. a: Whips.

The prefix ke- can be used for large circular objects; yo- for small ones, and pu- for spheres.

Uses of noun classes

Note that some noun classes had little use as nouns; for example li- "turtle" was only used in a few words for turtles. Instead, they were productive primarily as verbs, such as "to walk slowly", "to be hard", etc.

Later history of Paleo-Pabappa

Paleo-Pabappa did not evolve into Pabappa. Instead, Paba's people shifted to speaking the Gold language as it was introduced from AlphaLeap, and quickly developed a distinctive dialect of it that ultimately came to be called Pabappa. However, Paleo-Pabappa still survived inside Subumpam, since the two nations of northeastern Subumpam had joined the Subumpamese Union after seceding from Paba. The other Subumpamese people considered Paleo-Pabappa to be just another of the many Subumpamese languages, as it shared similarities with neighboring languages such as Galà and proto-Eastern Subumpamese.

Paleo-Pabappa split into three languages: one for each of the two Pabap nations in Subumpam, and one for people in Paba who had not yet shifted to speaking Gold. However, Subumpam was soon wiped out in a catastrophic war, and Paba's strong national government drove the remnant speakers of Paleo-Pabappa into learning what was to eventually become Pabappa.

Highland Pabappa

Not to be confused with Highland Poswa.

This is a language family that breaks off around 1400 AD from the branch that spawns Paleo-Pabappa proper. However, these languages are excluded from the definition of Lenian languages because its people are physically and culturally different.

The phonology of proto-Highland was

Rounded bilabials:    pʷ  mʷ      hʷ  w
Spread bilabials:     p   m   b   f   v
Alveolars:            t   n   r   s   l
Palatals:                             y
Velars:               k   ŋ       h   g 

The vowel inventory was

Short vowels:          a  e  i  o  u  ə
Long vowels:          aa ee ii oo uu 
Falling diphthongs:         ai    au
                            ei    ou
                            əi    əu

Proto-Highland (~1400) to Litila (2668 AD)

Labialized consonants stay.

1. The voiced bilabial stop b shifted to p.
2. stops after a high tone become geminate? C.f. gala

Raspara language

The Raspara people may have spoken a "Military Pabap" language derived from Merar, which would mean that Merar was a branch of paleo-Pabappa.

Šàno

This language was spoken by a coastal (southwestern or southeastern) tribe. The name is an exonym. Note that the development is very similar early on to Subumpamese.

The consonant inventory of the mainland dialect of Tapilula was

Rounded bilabials:                     hʷ  w
Spread bilabials:      p       m   b   f  (Ø)
Alveolars:             t       n   d       l
Rounded alveolars:     tʷ      nʷ  dʷ         
Velars:                k   ḳ   ŋ   ġ   h   g

1. The aspirated velar stop k became č before the vowel /i/. If another vowel followed, the /i/ disappeared. This happened even if the /i/ was accented.
2. When a "velaroid" consonant (/k ḳ ŋ h g l/) followed an accented high tone vowel, the vowel metathesized, leaving a closed syllable.
3. A schwa before another vowel in any syllable disappeared. Thus əa əe əi əo əu əə shifted to a e i o u ə. This happened in both open and closed syllables.
4. The sequences iu and ui shifted to əə.
5. The double-vowel sequences aa ee ii oo uu əə shifted to the single vowels a e i o u ə in closed syllables only.
6. The sequences ii uu əə (which now occurred only in open syllables) shifted to əi əu ə.
7. The sequences ai ei oi merged as ei; the sequences au eu ou merged as ou.
8. The mid-vowel sequences eo eə shifted to ee. Meanwhile oe oə became oo. These four sequences were all rare, however, because of shifts further back in time that affected only mid vowels.
9. All consonants adjacent to an /u/ in either direction became labialized.

   NOTE ON POLITICS: Up until this point, the Šàno language is nearly identical to proto-Subumpamese.

10. The sequences ae ao shifted to ai au.
11. The voiced labiovelar fricative gʷ became bʷ.
12. All labialized consonants become rounded bilabials.
13. In absolute initial position, t >s.
14. In syllable-final position, the voiced velar fricative g disappeared and lengthened the preceding vowel. This often occurred in the second element of a diphthong.
15. Vowel sequences in which the second element was high-tone (less common) lengthened the second vowel, thus merging with the ones which had previously been followed by /g/.
16. uā>wā.
17. Velar consonants moved up: k ŋ h g > č ň š r, probably unconditionally.
18. q>k.
19. f fʷ shifted to h hʷ.
20. In absolute final position, š č ň > s t n.

Thus the consonant inventory was

Rounded bilabials:     pʷ      bʷ  hʷ  w
Spread bilabials:      p   m   b       
Alveolars:             t   n   d   s   l   r
Palataloids:           č   ň       š      
Velars:                k           h 

The language still retained a full six-vowel system and the world's largest inventory of permissible vowel sequences:

aa    ai    au
ea ee ei      
ia ie    io         
oa       oo ou
ua ue    uo
      əi    əu

All seventeen of these occurred as falling diphthongs, but only the nine beginning with /a e o/ also occurred as rising diphthongs. Sequences with two of the same vowel were distinguished by the tone pattern and, when following a labialized consonant, also by vowel color.

Additionally, long vowels were present, and were distinct from sequences of two short vowels. Thus, there were three tones: high, low, and long.

Labialized consonants carried little information, because they inherited the gaps of *ʷə ʷa and rarity of ʷe ʷi from Tapilula, filling these only when bordering a /u/. They were not distinctive in the syllable coda either because the only non-labialized coda consonants that could occur after an /u/ were those that had previously occurred after the diphthong /ao/.

Paleo-Pabappa splits into four languages at this point, but they share most of the immediately subsequent changes.