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/. If /e o/ later shift back to /i u/, this shift could even be skipped, but they must have been at least allophonically different in order to trigger uvularization and palatalization.
#The  vowels ''i u'' shifted to '''e o''' in closed syllables except those ending with one of  /r ŋ/. If /e o/ later shift back to /i u/, this shift could even be skipped, but they must have been at least allophonically different in order to trigger uvularization and palatalization.
#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. Note that Birch shifted the labiovelars to labials early on, which means this branch might need to as well, which would remove them from the language.
#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. Note that Birch shifted the labiovelars to labials early on, which means this branch might need to as well, which would remove them from the language.
#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 /e a o/.
#NOTE ON POLITICS: Anything below this line is not shared with Birch except perhaps through diffusion.
#The vowels ''e ə o'' shifted to '''i a u''' unconditionally. This means that /qi/ exists, but its surface realization remained near [qe]. There was no phonemic palatalization before /i/, but since /ki ke/ > /ki qi/, it can still arise even after this shift.
#The sequences ''e i'' shifted to '''i ʲi''' unconditionally.
#The vowels ''ə o'' shifted to '''a u''' unconditionally. (But /ʷo/ might have become /ʷa/ before this time.
#Remaining ''g'' shifted to '''k''', even in situations where  the expected allophone was [ɣ]. This saves the language from having more /q/ than /k/.
#Remaining ''g'' shifted to '''k''', even in situations where  the expected allophone was [ɣ]. This saves the language from having more /q/ than /k/.



Latest revision as of 15:53, 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.


  1. The vowels i u shifted to e o in closed syllables except those ending with one of /r ŋ/. If /e o/ later shift back to /i u/, this shift could even be skipped, but they must have been at least allophonically different in order to trigger uvularization and palatalization.
  2. 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 shifted to w as well. Note that Birch shifted the labiovelars to labials early on, which means this branch might need to as well, which would remove them from the language.
  3. The voiceless velar stops k kʷ shifted to q qʷ before any /e a o/.
  4. The vowels e ə o shifted to i a u unconditionally. This means that /qi/ exists, but its surface realization remained near [qe]. There was no phonemic palatalization before /i/, but since /ki ke/ > /ki qi/, it can still arise even after this shift.
  5. Remaining g shifted to k, even in situations where the expected allophone was [ɣ]. This saves the language from having more /q/ than /k/.


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.