Sound Changes in Imperial Languages (Empire-in-the-West)

Archaic Imperial

Initial Phonemic Inventory

Consonants

POA	Labials	Dentals	Emphatics	Velars	Uvulars	Glottals
Tenuis stops	p /p/	t /t/	ṭ /tˤ/	k /k/	q /q/	? /ʔ/
Lenis stops	b /b/	d /d/	ḍ /dˤ/	g /g/	ḡ /ɢ/
Fricatives	f /f/	s /s/	ç /ç/	x /x/	ẋ /χ/	h /h/
Voiced fricatives	v /v/	z /z/	j /ʝ/	ɣ /ɣ/	ǧ /ʀ/
Nasals	m /m/	n /n/
Liquids		l /l/, r /r/
Glides			y /j/	w /w/

Vowels

• Short: /i a u/ i a u
• Long: /iː aː uː/ ī ā ū
• Diphthong: /ai au/ ai au

Developments

Symbols:

• E= ṭ, q, ḍ, ḡ, ṭh, qh
• V=any vowel
• C=any consonant

To Classical

1. a) ai → ɛː b) au → ɔː
2. a) i → e b)a → ɑ c) u → o d) iː → eː e)aː → ɑː f) uː → oː/when E in same word
3. a) tˤ → t b) dˤ → d c) sˤ → s d) zˤ → z
4. [stop] → [α Place]/_[α Place stop]
5. {v z ɣ ʀ} → ː/V_C
6. a)r → ɹ/V_ b)r → ɾ/elsewhere c) rr → r
7. a)z → ɹ/V_V b)ɣ → j/_[-front]
8. [Coronal] → α/_[α Coronal]