Babakiam/Sound changes

Gold to Papies (3100)

Alternate names: Pre-Proto-Pabappa; Pre-Pabappa; Pabappic Gold

Ukieipi was the language spoken in the city of Beni-Iubaia (earlier Iūni-Iubāia) around 8000 BC. It evolved into a language called Papies within about 1000 years, and then further into Babakiam by 6000 BC.

1. Sequences like /ʕaʕ/, /ʕiʕ/, etc. lost the first /ʕ/ regardless of whether it was in the same syllable or not. (Possibly move this back even into Gold.)
2. At the end of a syllable, /ʕ/ disappeared and changed the previous vowel to a high tone. It also voiced the following consonant. No new consonants arose from this change, but some voiced ones now became less restricted in their distribution.
3. The bilabial approximant w changed to ʕʷ (also spelled "v") before a vowel. Note that words like "kua" were still /kua/ rather than /kwa/ and thus did not undergo this change.
4. Then l lʷ both became w (not ʕʷ) in all positions although it retained a rhotic allophone. /lʷ/ was very rare, occurring only from word-initial collapse of an earlier /ul-/ sequence.
5. The rare labialized consonants kʷ ġʷ became p b unconditionally (not to be confused with the very similar shift below, which operated after a new wave of labialization!
6. Sequences of two vowels in which the first vowel was i or u became rising diphthongs. Then all clusters of a consonant followed by a semivowel came to be pronounced as coarticulated single consonants. Thus bua became bʷa, bia became bʲa, and so on. ñ was assimilated as nʲ.
7. The voiced labialized fricatives vʷ zʷ ɣʷ coalesced as w between vowels. But not ʕʷ ?
8. The voiced palatalized fricatives vʲ zʲ ɣʲ coalesced as j between vowels.
9. The voiced labialized stops bʷ dʷ ǯʷ ġʷ changed to b between vowels.
10. The voiced palatalized stops bʲ dʲ ǯʲ ġʲ changed to ǯ between vowels.
11. The voiced stops b d ǯ ġ (including ones created by the previous two rules) changed to β ð ž ɣ between vowels.
12. The voiced fricatives ð z ɣ became silent between vowels and occasionally in initial position (due to compounding). Clusters like ɣj and jɣ (in bàiɣa "temple") would change to a doubled /j/ instead of just a normal /j/. Thus doubled /j/ and /w/ were created.
13. βʷ changed to w.
14. žʲ became ž.
15. All aspirated consonants (except nasals) became voiceless, and the aspiration disappeared.

MOST COMMON DISAPPEARING CONSONANTS: d g zs zt zk
Thus the language now had the consonants p b m f v w β t d n s z ð č ǯ š ž j k g h ɣ r and the vowels a i u ā ī ū e, the last of which was a schwa. Of the consonants, all but w β ð č ǯ š ž j could be palatalized or labialized. In final position, p m s w j could occur, although p m were pronounced as glottals. This language was spoken on Fox Island, although the people were beginning to be pushed out by others. Some left and founded what became Bābā, others stayed on the southern tip of the island.

Papies (3100) to Bābākiam (4100)

Alternate names: Proto-Pabappa; Pabappa (in historical texts)

1.   The cluster ps changed to ts, thus merging with frontalized k. pš became č.
2.   A nasal in a cluster following p or s disappeared.
3.   The glottal stop ʔ disappeared in all positions. (But not ʕ or ʢ or ĥ.)
4.   The voiced fricatives β v z ž ɣ changed to b b d ǯ g before a high tone.
5.   A voiced sound in a cluster following p or s changed to ɣ. (appears in many verb forms)
6.   The post-velar fricative consonants ħ ʕ changed to f β. Note that this was the (rare) "true" /h/, not the common {h} which is /x/.
7.   The clusters pɣ sɣ changed to the ejectives ṕ ś, but this shift did not affect the labialized or palatalized versions. (These are the same consonants that became clicks in some Kxel languages.) Note: really this should not just be /p/ and /s/, but really all voiceless sounds. What happened to sequences like mk or pk?
8.   The velar fricatives h ɣ were fronted to š ž unconditionally. šʲ žʲ became š ž.
9.   The voiced stops bʷ dʷ ǯʷ gʷ changed to b.
10.   The voiced stops bʲ dʲ ǯʲ gʲ changed to ǯ.
11.   The voiced stops b d ǯ g changed to p t č k (except when in clusters).
12.   The voiced fricative ð changed to β. (ð had been revived due to loanwords.)
13.   The voiced fricatives v vʷ zʷ žʷ changed to β.
14.   The voiced fricatives vʲ zʲ žʲ changed to ž.
15.   βʷ changed to w.
16.   žʲ became ž.
17.   Tones were eliminated. However the stress accent (nouns on the penultimate syllable, verbs on the ultimate) remained and became regularized.
18.   The voiced stops d ǯ g changed to n nʲ ŋ unconditionally.
19.   The cluster pb became pp.
20.   β changed to b.
21.   z changed to s.
22.   The ejectives ṕ ś became plain.
23.   The postalveolar affricate č was softened to š unconditionally.
24.   Newly created vowel sequences beginning with i or u collapsed into rising diphthongs, thus creating a new series of palatalized and labialized consonants.
25.   The labialized consonants bʷ žʷ changed to b unconditionally.
26.   The palatalized consonants bʲ žʲ changed to ž unconditionally.
27.   The stress was shifted to the first syllable in all words. Thus the language had the consonants p m f b w t n s k ŋ š ž j and the vowels a i u ə, the last of which was a schwa. Of the consonants, all except b w ž j could be followed by a semivowel w or j, when occurring at the beginning of a syllable. At the end of a syllable, only p m w s j could occur. This stage of the language is referred to as Bābākiam, "city language".  Spoken around the year 4100, not only in the city of Bābā but a significant amount of territory away from it in all directions.