Taremba language family
The Taremba language family is a primary language family on Galhaf. Its name is derived from the reconstructed word táremba meaning "language" in the proto-language. It is divided into three major branches: Kasshian, Coastal, and Inland. In modern times, the most prominent branch of this family are the Neokasshi languages, descendants of Classical Kasshian. The common ancestor is known as Proto-Taremba, which was mostly unrecorded, though a few words show up in various records. There is some speculation that it may be related to the Oppaic languages in a larger Taremba-Oppaic family.
Phonology
The ancestral language had a fairly simple phonology, with mostly simple syllables and a relatively small set of phonemes (18 consonants and 6 vowels). There were no complex codas, and the only syllable-initial clusters permitted were stop-liquid sequences. While a few Tareban languages have developed more complex syllables, most still retain simple syllables with relatively small phonemic sets.
Morphology
Proto-Taremba was highly agglutinative, with multiple sets of affixes. Words could often have several affixes. Most of the descendant languages preserve some degree of that agglutination, though various degrees of fusion are common. Some descendants have undergone sufficiently drastic sound changes that the original agglutinative structure is no longer visible.
Noun inflections
The protolanguage had a rich set of classifiers, which evolved into a gender system in all of its descendants. The gender system of the descendants is highly variable, and none preserve all of the ancestral classifiers. Most have also altered the meaning of at least a few of the genders, making direct comparison between languages difficult. The protolanguage also had a rich case system, preserved in most (but not all) modern Taremban languages.
Verb inflections
Verbal inflection was particularly rich in Proto-Taremba, and remains rich in most modern languages.
Syntax
Proto-Taremba was an ergative language. Due to influence from other languages, many of the modern languages have switched to an accusative syntax.
Languages
There are three major branches, the Kasshian, the Coastal, and the Inland. Some linguists group the Coastal and Inland together in a Continental branch, others group the Coastal and Kasshian together as a Coastal-Kasshian branch, while still others believe that the three represent a fundamental threeway split. An incomplete listing:
- Kasshian
- North Kasshian
- South Kasshian
- Coastal
- Inland
- Ultramontane
- Mountain
- Southern
