literature

Proto-Samaran language

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Literature Text

Phonology


Consonants:


/p t ʈ k q/ [p t ṭ k q]
/pʰ tʰ ʈʰ kʰ qʰ/ [ph th ṭh kh qh]
/b d ɖ g ɢ/ [b d ḍ g ġ]
/bʰ dʰ ɖʰ gʰ ɢʰ/ [bh dh ḍh gh ġh]
/t͡s t͡ɬ t͡ʃ ʈ͡ʂ/ [ts tl tšh ṭṣ]
/t͡sʰ t͡ɬʰ t͡ʃʰ ʈ͡ʂʰ/ [tsh tlh tšh ṭṣh]
/d͡z d͡ɮ d͡ʒ ɖ͡ʐ/ [dz dł dž ḍẓ]
/d͡zʰ d͡ɮʰ d͡ʒʰ ɖ͡ʐʰ/ [dzh dłh džh ḍẓh]
/s ɬ ʃ ʂ χ ħ h/ [s l š ṣ ḫ~h₂ ḥ~h₃ h~h₁]
/z ɮ ʒ ʐ ʁ ʕ/ [z ł ž ẓ x~h₄ ẋ~h₅]
/m n ɳ ɴ/ [m n ṇ ŋ]
/mʰ nʰ ɳʰ ɴʰ/ [mh nh ṇh ŋh]
/ɾ/ [r]
/j w/ [i w]

Vowels:


/i ɨ u/ [i y u]
/ə/ [e]
/a/ [a]

/iː ɨː uː/ [ī ȳ ū]
/əː/ [ē]
/aː/ [ā]

Phonotactics:


CCVCC

Accent:


First syllable on nouns and verbs, and last syllable on adjectives and participles has high pitch.

Nouns


Gender and number:


Masculine Singular -as wurh₃gas 'wolf' / h₅erias 'master'
Masculine Dual -ar wurh₃gar 'two wolves' / h₅eriar 'two masters'
Masculine Plural -ai wurh₃gai 'wolves' / h₅eriai 'masters'

Feminine Singular -eh₃ wurh₃geh₃ 'she-wolf' / h₅erieh₃ 'lady'
Feminine Dual -eh₃r wurh₃geh₃r 'two she-wolves' / h₅erieh₃r 'two ladies'
Feminine Plural -eh₃i wurh₃geh₃i 'she-wolves' / h₅erieh₃ 'ladies'

Neuter Singular -am h₁antham 'flower' / krah₄iam 'word'
Neuter Dual -awe h₁anthawe 'two flowers' / krah₄iawe 'two words'
Neuter Plural -a h₁antha 'flowers' / krah₄ia 'words'

Case:


Masculine declension:


Nominative -as h₅erias 'master' / h₅eriar 'two masters' / h₅eriai 'masters'
Accusative -am h₅eriam 'master' / h₅eriams 'two masters' / h₅eriami 'masters'
Genitive -ah₂ēs h₅eriah₂ēs 'of master' / h₅eriah₂ar 'of two masters' / h₅eriah₂i 'of masters'
Instrumental -eh₁y h₅erieh₁y 'with master' / h₅erieh₁r 'with two masters' / h₅erieh₁i 'with masters'
Allative -ah₂am h₅eriah₂am 'to master' / h₅eriah₂amr 'to two masters' / h₅eriah₂ami
Ablative -ah₂at h₅eriah₂at 'from master' / h₅eriah₂atr 'from two masters / h₅eriah₂ati 'from masters'
Locative -is h₅eriis 'in/on master' / h₅eriir 'in/on two masters' / h₅eriī 'in/on masters'
Benefactive -ah₂ath h₅eriah₂ath 'for master' / h₅eriah₂athr 'for two masters' / h₅eriah₂athi 'for masters'

Feminine declension:


Nominative - eh₃ h₅erieh₃ 'lady' / h₅erieh₃r 'two ladies' / h₅erieh₃i 'ladies'
Accusative -eh₃m h₅erieh₃m 'lady' / h₅erieh₃mr 'two ladies' / h₅erieh₃mi 'ladies'
Genitive -ah₂ēh₃ h₅eriah₂ēh₃ 'of lady' / h₅eriah₂ēh₃r 'of two ladies' / h₅eriah₂ēh₃i 'of ladies'
Instrumental -eh₁e h₅erieh₁e 'with lady' / h₅erieh₁er 'with two ladies' / h₅erieh₁ei 'with ladies'
Allative -ah₂em h₅eriah₂em 'to lady' / h₅eriah₂emr 'to two ladies' / h₅eriah₂emi 'to ladies'
Ablative -ah₂et h₅eriah₂et 'from lady' / h₅eriah₂etr 'from two ladies' / h₅eriah₂eti 'from ladies'
Locative -ih₃ h₅eriih₃ 'in/on lady' / h₅eriih₃r 'in/on two ladies' / h₅eriih₃i 'in/on ladies'
Benefactive -ah₂eth h₅eriah₂eth 'for lady' / h₅eriah₂ethr 'for two ladies' / h₅eriah₂ethi 'for ladies'

Neuter declension:


Nominative -am krah₄iam 'word' / krah₄iawe 'two words' / krah₄ia 'words'
Accusative -am krah₄iam 'word' / krah₄iawem 'two words' / krah₄iama 'words'
Genitive -ah₂ krah₄iah₂ 'of word' / krah₄iaweah₂ 'of two words' / krah₄iaah₂i 'of words'
Instrumental -i krah₄ii 'with word' / krah₄iawei 'with two words' / krah₄iaii 'with words'
Allative -ah₂am krah₄iah₂am 'to word' / krah₄iaweah₂am 'to two words' / krah₄iaah₂ami 'to words'
Ablative -ah₂at krah₄iah₂at 'from word' / krah₄iaweah₂at 'from two world' / krah₄iaah̩ati 'from worlds'
Locative -im krah₄iim 'in/on word' / krah₄iaweim 'in/on two world's / krah₄iaimi 'in/on worlds'
Benefactive -ah₂ath krah₄iah₂ath 'for word' / krah₄iaweah₂ath 'for two worlds' krah₄iaah₂athi 'for worlds'

Verbs


Morphemes:


[Mood] + [Root + Root's derivative extension(s) + Voice + Aspect + Tense + Person

Aspect:


Imperfective - krah₄- 'to speak'
Perfective -ta- krah₄ta- 'to speak (action is performated in a past)
Prospective -šy- krah₄šy- 'to speak (action will be performated in a future).

Voices:


Active - krah₄- 'to speak'
Causative -ŋa- krah₄ŋa- 'to cause to speak'
Passive -mu- krah₄mu- 'to be spoken'
Passive-Causative -wi- krah₄wi- 'to be caused by speaking'

Tense:


Past -s- krah₄s- 'to speak (in past)
Non-past - krah₄- 'to speak'

Mood:


Indicative <-> krah₄- 'to speak'
Conditional  bhū krah₄- 'would to speak'
Potentional  maġ krah₄- 'may to speak'
Eventive  geh₁ krah₄- 'could to speak'
Imperative a a krah₄ 'speak !'

Person:


   Singular / Dual / Plural
1. -ni krah₄ni 'I am speaking' / -ner krah₄ner 'We both are speaking' / -nei krah₄nei 'We are speaking'
2. -thu krah₄thu 'thou art speaking' / -thwer krah₄thwer 'you both are speaking' / -thwei krah₄thwei 'you are speaking'
3. -h₂i krah₄h₂i 'he/she/it is speaking' / -h₂ir krah₄h₂ir 'they both are speaking' / -h₂ii krah₄h₂ii 'they are speaking'

Negation:


me krah₄ni 'I am not speaking'

Participles


Adjectival -ph-as/-eh₃/-am krah₄phas 'speaking'
Adverbial -ph-yh₁ krah₄phyh₁ 'speaking'

Gerund and Infinitive:


Gerund -ram krah₄ram 'speaking'
Infinitive -ruh₁ krah₄ruh₁ 'to speak'

Adjectives


Degrees of comparison:


Positive - wadzhas 'good'
Comparative -r- wadzhras 'better'
Superlative -tem- wadzhtemas 'best

Adverbs


Degrees of comparison:


Positive - wadzhyh₁ 'well'
Comparative -r- wadzhryh₁ 'better'
Superlative -tem- wadzhtemyh₁ 'best'

Numerals


Cardinal:


  Masculine / Feminine / Neuter

1. h₅aimas / h₅aimeh₃ / h₅aimam
2. ruwah₁
3. h₄reis
4. tlhaqah₄i
5. tšintši
6. h₂sah₂uri
7. h₂adłani
8. h₁enieqi
9. lythni
10. nhakru
11. h₅aimanhaki
20. ruwanhakri
21. ruwanhakri h₅aimas
100. nhakam
1.000. ġaṣtum

Ordinal -ts- h₅aimts-
Multiplicative -mēn- h₅aimmēn-
Reproductive -h₄eis- h₅aimh₄eis-
Distributive -nhīn- h₅aimnhīn-
Fractional -h₁aw- h₅aimh₁aw-

Pronouns


Personal pronouns:


   Singular / Dual / Plural
1. h₄aghi 'I' / ner 'We both' / nei 'We'
2. thuh₁ 'thou' / thwer 'you both' / thwei / 'you'
3. h₂eš 'he/she/it' / h₂ešr 'they both' / h₂eši 'they'

Possessive pronouns:


Singular / Dual / Plural

1. neh₂- 'my' / neh₂r- 'two of us' / neh₂i- 'our'
2. thuh₁- 'thy' / thuh₁r- 'two of you' / thuh₁i- 'your'
3. h₂eš- 'his/her/its' / h₂ešr- 'two of their' / h₂eši- 'their'

Demonstrative pronouns:


Proper sin- 'this'
Distant tum- 'that'
More distant 'h₂etum- 'over that'

Prepositions


Locational:


h₂i 'in'
ah₂i 'on'
h₂uh₁ 'above'
h₁udhi 'under'
perh₂ 'beside'
h₅edi 'away'
bhēdhi 'between'
ġah₃ 'behind'
h₃y 'out'
h₂iġuġ 'around'
treh₃s 'before'
h₂iṭēm 'during'
ṭha 'after'
ḍuh₂r 'through'

Other:


h₃an 'without'
sih₁n 'with'
h₂iphur 'instead'
treh₂sih₁n 'against'
mesih₁n 'despite, though'
h₂idłuŋ 'along, according to'
ṭy 'as'
kum 'like'

Particles


Conjunctions:


Paratactical conjunctions:


h₁ei 'and'
h₁eiže 'also'
h₂it 'or'
h₂ine 'but'
ṣuts 'so'
tseṇ 'than'

Hypotactical conjunctions:


ṇah₁i 'to, for'
ẓareh₁ 'although'
bhes 'because'
h₁esy 'if'
h₁asu 'that, providing'

Modifiers:


h₅aimyh₁ 'only'
h₁uṣṭy 'yet'

Polarity particles:


dha 'yes'
me 'no'

Syntax


Word order:


SOV (Subject - Object - Verb)

Describing word - Described word

Copular verb:


h₁es- 'to be'

Word Formation


Root extensions:


To form nouns (mostly from verbs):

-i- - human stative beings: h₅er- 'to command' → h₅er-i- 'master, commander'
-g- - animated beings, animals, spirits: wurh₃- 'to growl' → wurh₃-g- 'wolf'
-dh- - prolonged objects: tyr- 'wood' → tyr-dh- 'stick'
-bh- - rounded objects: h₂eŋk- 'stone' → h₂eŋkebh- 'rounded stone'
-n- - instruments, tools: h₂eŋk- 'stone' → h₂eŋkm- 'stone tool' / pih₂ṣ- 'to draw' → pih₂ṣn- 'drawing tool'
-ġ- - large objects: bhar- 'bottom' → bharġ- 'mountain'
-k- - small objects: khag- 'to weigh' → khagg- 'small weight'
-t- - abstracts, instances: krah₄- 'to speak' → krah₄t- 'speech'

Derivational affixes:


Nominalizers:


Agentive / Related person -etš- krah₄- 'to speak' → krah₄etš- 'speaker' / bhuġġeh₃ 'cow' → bhuġġetš- 'cowman'
Place -eh₅i-am krah₄- 'to speak' → krah₄eh₅iam 'rostrum'
Diminutive -il- šuh₂las 'son' → šuh₂lilas 'little son'
Augmentative -uġ- bharġam 'mountain' → bharġuġam 'grand mountain'
Related abstract -andham bhurh₁as 'brother' → bhurh₁andham 'brotherhood'
Instrument -etl-am ktest- 'to destroy' → ktestetlam 'instrument for destroying'

Adjectivizers:


Possessive / Affiliative -eh₃n- h₁arsas 'horse' → h₁arseh₃n- 'equine'
Originative -esq- diaŋgam 'sky' → diaŋgesq- 'celestial'
Similaritive -ah₂ud- h₁eilas 'cat' → h₁eilah₂ud- 'felid'
Feature -aṣ- pih₁lam 'hair' → pih₁laṣas- 'hairy'
Privative me-.-aṣ- dhembhas 'tooth' → medhembhaṣas- 'toothless'

Comments19
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ahbhsedg's avatar

Incredible! In the prehistoric world, languages were most likely geographically transitional like a gradient, so for example there must have been another language that was similar to Proto-Indo-European spoken nearby, and the languages get more and more different as you distance away from Proto-Indo-European. This 'Proto-Samaran' language could have been another language that was akin to Proto-Indo-European before being ultimately absorbed by it. These two languages (among other languages) could be seen as halfway between the language(s) spoken by the ANE, CHG, and WHG, with 'Proto-Samaran' having a closer affinity with features of ANE language.