Zamanic
Volga Indo-European (abbreviated VIE) is the working title of a fictional branch of the Indo-European family that is an ongoing joint project of Jörg Rhiemeier and Juho Pystynen. Volga Indo-European is part of the League of Lost Languages.
Volga Indo-European developed out of the easternmost part of the Corded Ware horizon and is most closely related to Balto-Slavic, though it also shows some affinity to its former southern neighbour, Iranian. An early stage of VIE may be the source of some Indo-European loanwords in Uralic such as *aja- 'to drive' and *porćas 'pig'. The language was later in turn influenced by Uralic and Turkic languages.
Phonology
VIE is a satem group (i.e. PIE palatovelars developed into palatals and later into sibilants, and the labiovelars merge with the plain velars) with the RUKI rule (i.e., *s was backed to *š after *r, high vowels and velars).
Sound changes
List of suggestions, not (yet) in chronological order.
Merger of voiced aspirates and plain voiced stops
- Dʰ > D
Satemization
- ḱ > ć, later > s
- ǵ > dź, later > z
- kʷ > k
- gʷ > g
RUKI rule
- s > š /(i,u,r,k)_
Laryngeals
- Syllabic laryngeals become *ë, maybe several different outcomes depending on the next vowel?
- VH > V: (as usual)
- Other laryngeals are lost (as usual)
Syllabic resonants
- R. > ïR
Palatalization
- k > č /_V[+front]
- g > dž /_V[+front]
Accent
- Retracted to first syllable.
Vowel harmony
- V > [+front] /first vowel is [+front]
- V > [-front] /first vowel is [-front]
- This remains a synchronically productive process in some languages.
Morphology
The VIE languages are morphologically fusional, like the Balto-Slavic languages, with some agglutinating traits that evolved under the influence of their Uralic and Turkic neighbours.
