User:Soap/East: Difference between revisions
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#The vowels ''i u'' shifted to '''e o''' in closed syllables except those ending with one of /r ŋ/. | #The vowels ''i u'' shifted to '''e o''' in closed syllables except those ending with one of /r ŋ/. | ||
#The voiced stops ''b g'' shifted to '''w ɣ''' in initial position (in Birch they shifted to /w Ø/ everywhere, but this may have been stepped). | #The voiced stops ''b g'' shifted to '''w ɣ''' in initial position (in Birch they shifted to /w Ø/ everywhere, but this may have been stepped). Initial ''gʷ'' shifted to '''w''' as well. | ||
#The voiceless velar stops ''k kʷ'' shifted to '''q qʷ''' before any /a o/. (It is possible that /kʷ/ did not shift; compare Tarise where kʷ behaved as a "high" /k/ and thus was like /ku/). In theory, even this shift could be shared with Birch if Birch reverted it later. | #The voiceless velar stops ''k kʷ'' shifted to '''q qʷ''' before any /a o/. (It is possible that /kʷ/ did not shift; compare Tarise where kʷ behaved as a "high" /k/ and thus was like /ku/). In theory, even this shift could be shared with Birch if Birch reverted it later. | ||
#NOTE ON POLITICS: Anything below this line is not shared with Birch except perhaps through diffusion. | #NOTE ON POLITICS: Anything below this line is not shared with Birch except perhaps through diffusion. | ||
Revision as of 08:03, 20 January 2026
The parent language. Had only /h/ using internal reconstruction, but this could have been several fricatives that merged.
Bilabials: p b m Alveolars: t d n l r Postalveolars: č ǯ Palatals: (y) Velars: k ġ ŋ (Ø) h
Vowels were /a i u ə/.
The syllable structure is CVC, with final consonants restricted to /t n l r č k ġ ŋ/; the "g" was probably [ɣ] in this position and might have actually arisen from earlier /h/ or from the fricatives that themselves led to /h/. Underlying root-final voiced stops are possible, as is /-p/, but they were not realized as such.
Notes on diachronics
Ideally, User:Soap/Birch is a branch of this which splits off after the lenition of /č ǯ/ to /s y/ (conditionally) and probably also after a re-shaping of the vowel system to /a e i o u/ but before most of the other shifts that make Birch what it is.
Motherport branch
Ideally, as above, this is closely related to Commercial/Birch but without its most characteristic shifts. Thus the shifts shared with Birch are placed as high up as possible.
- The vowels i u shifted to e o in closed syllables except those ending with one of /r ŋ/.
- The voiced stops b g shifted to w ɣ in initial position (in Birch they shifted to /w Ø/ everywhere, but this may have been stepped). Initial gʷ shifted to w as well.
- The voiceless velar stops k kʷ shifted to q qʷ before any /a o/. (It is possible that /kʷ/ did not shift; compare Tarise where kʷ behaved as a "high" /k/ and thus was like /ku/). In theory, even this shift could be shared with Birch if Birch reverted it later.
- NOTE ON POLITICS: Anything below this line is not shared with Birch except perhaps through diffusion.
- The sequences ə i shifted to i ʲi unconditionally. (In Birch /ə/ became /a/, and it was probably a low vowel in the parent language, but became high in Motherport just like /o/ became high.)
- The vowels e o shifted to a u unconditionally. (But /ʷo/ might have become /ʷa/ before this time.) NOTE: Or, it could be /e o/ > /i u/, with /ə/ > /a/ like in Birch, and where /ə/ did not retract velars. This could perhaps better explain the lack of palatalization in this branch.
A daughter branch of this might shift /k q/ > /ć k/ and then /ć > ṭ/ like in Birch, but with different conditions, so they would only overlap rather than matching.
