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. > iR

Palatalization

• k > č /_V[+front]
• g > dž /_V[+front]

Accent

• Retracted to first syllable.

Assorted vowel changes

• i > ь (ultrashort lax front vowel)
• u > ъ (ultrashort lax back vowel)
• e > ä
• o > a

• Long vowels are shortened.

Vowel harmony

• V > [+front] /first vowel is [+front]
• V > [-front] /first vowel is [-front]

This remains a synchronically productive process in some languages. The vowel classes are:

• Front: i e ä ö ü ь
• Back: ï ë a o u ъ

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.