Old Mkroh

Old Mkroh is known synchronically as grò; its name in Old Tshyak is mkroh.

Sound Changes from Proto-Tshyak

• hɻ hl hw hj > ɻ̥ ɬ ʍ ç
• n ŋ d t dz ts dʑ tɕ g k ʔ z s ʑ ɕ h ɻ l ɻ̥ ɬ > nʷ ŋʷ dʷ tʷ dzʷ tsʷ dʑʷ tɕʷ gʷ kʷ ʔʷ zʷ sʷ ʑʷ ɕʷ ʍ ɻʷ lʷ ɻ̥ʷ ɬʷ / _{w V[+rounded]}
• V[+back -low -rounded] > V[+back -low +rounded]
• C[-voiced -glottal] > C[+aspirated] / #_
• Syllables with voiceless consonants in the initial or preinitials not preceded by a voiced obstruent preinitial receive high tone, all other syllables receive mid tone.
• zə ʑə sə ɕə hə > ∅ ∅ ∅ ∅ ∅
• b p d t dʷ tʷ dz ts dzʷ tsʷ dʑ tɕ dʑʷ tɕʷ g k gʷ kʷ z s zʷ sʷ ʑ ɕ ʑʷ ɕʷ h > mb mp nd nt ndʷ ntʷ ndz nts ndzʷ ntsʷ ɲdʑ ɲtɕ ɲdʑʷ ɲtɕʷ ŋg ŋk ŋgʷ ŋkʷ ndz nts ndzʷ ntsʷ ɲdʑ ɲtɕ ɲdʑʷ ɲtɕʷ ŋ / {mə nə ŋə}_
• ə > ∅ / {m n ŋ}_{ɻ l ɻ̥ ɬ ɻʷ lʷ ɻ̥ʷ ɬʷ w j ʍ ç}
• ɻ̥ ɬ ɻ̥ʷ ɬʷ ʍ ç > ɻ l ɻʷ lʷ w j / {m n ŋ}_
• mə nə ŋə > ∅ ∅ ∅
• w > ∅ / C_
• j > ∅ / C_
• ɻ l > j j / C_
• ɻʷ lʷ > ɻ l / C_
• Syllables with {p t k ʔ} in the coda receive mid-rising tone.
• Syllables with {s ɕ h} in the coda receive low tone.
• mp nt ntʷ nts ntsʷ ɲtɕ ɲtɕʷ ŋk ŋkʷ > mb nd ndʷ ndz ndzʷ ɲdʑ ɲdʑʷ ŋg ŋgʷ
• b d dʷ dz dzʷ dʑ dʑʷ g gʷ z zʷ ʑ ʑʷ > p t tʷ ts tsʷ tɕ tɕʷ k kʷ s sʷ ɕ ɕʷ
• mb nd ndʷ ndz ndzʷ ɲdʑ ɲdʑʷ ŋg ŋgʷ > b d dʷ dz dzʷ dʑ dʑʷ g gʷ
• m n ŋ b p pʰ d t tʰ dz ts tsʰ g k kʰ ʔ s h ɻ l > mʲ nʲ ɲ bʲ pʲ pʲʰ dʲ tʲ tʲʰ dzʲ tsʲ tsʲʰ ɟ c cʰ ʔʲ sʲ ç ɻʲ lʲ / _j
• j > ∅ / C_
• ɛ ɔ > iə uə
• e o > e̞ o̞
• s ɕ h ʔ > ∅ ∅ ∅ ∅ / V_$
• s > ∅ / C_$
• m n ŋ p t k ʔ s h > mʲ nʲ ɲ pʲ tʲ c ʔʲ sʲ ç / _ʔʲ
• n ŋ t k ʔ s ɕ h > nʷ ŋʷ tʷ kʷ ʔʷ sʷ ɕʷ ʍ / _ʔʷ
• ʔ ʔʷ ʔʲ > ∅ ∅ ∅ / C_
• pə tə kə > ʔə ʔə ʔə
• ɻə lə > ∅ ∅ / _{ɻ ɻʷ ɻ̥ ɻ̥ʷ l lʷ w j}
• ʔə > ʔ / _C[+voiced +approximant]
• ʔw ʔj > ʔʷ ʔʲ
• ɻʷ lʷ > ɻ l / C_
• ʔʷ ʔʲ ʔɻ ʔl > w j ɻ l / _V(C){ʔ ʔʷ ʔʲ}
• ʔʷ ʔʲ ʔɻ ʔl > w j ɻ l / ʔV(C)_

Syntactic and Morphological Changes from Proto-Tshyak

• Serial verb constructions move before main verbs
• The objects of serial verb constructions move before the coverbs rather than after them.
• The objects of main verbs, which are frequently fronted already to topicalize them, permanently move before it and the serial verb constructions rather than after it.
• Relative clauses get moved before the nouns they qualify.
• Possessive pronouns get moved before the nouns they qualify.
• Pronominal clitics get limited to marking verbs.
• Coverbs turn into case postposition clitics; in turn, they close their marking with pronominal clitics and get attached to independent pronouns.
• The optative mood turns into a jussive mood.
• The dual SAP argument and plural SAP argument turn into dual and plural markers for the animate argument that is highest in the person hierarchy, being used even when no SAP markers are present.

Phonemes and Orthography

Consonants

Vowels

Monophthongs

[ə] is present between prefixes and following consonants.

Diphthongs

Tones

Syllable Structure and Phonotactics

Initial syllables may be preceded by prefixes of /ʔ ɻ l/ followed by [ə] except for syllables starting in approximants. /ɻ l/ can only follow nasals, plosives, and sibilant fricatives, and /l/ cannot follow coronal plosives. Nominal suffixes tend to be open syllables even when historically derived from closed syllables. Non-initial syllables also tend to be unaspirated.

Syntax and Morphology

Word Order

SOXV, with topic-fronting; genitive-relative-noun-definiteness-number-case; compounds are head-first. The question marker há is found at the ends of sentences.

Relative clauses that are not stative intransitive verbs are followed by the relative marker na. Relative clauses that refer to something at a lower level in the phrase structure than the noun they immediately precede have a resumptive pronoun placed after na. Attributive NPs behave like relative clauses in that they require the relative marker na to precede their referents and have similar usage of resumptive pronouns.

Resultative verbs associated with a main verb are placed directly before the main verb, unlike in Proto-Tshyak where they are placed after the object.

Definiteness

Number and Animacy

Note that nouns marked with a number are not marked for number in the IE sense. Also, verbs marked with stative verbs that imply number normally are not marked for number.

Cases

Case is marked after number and any cardinal numbers.

Verbs

The following affixed are prefixed to the verb stem:

Note that when these are prefixed to the verb stem the verb stem loses any prefixes.

The following affixes are suffixed to the verb stem, in the following order:

Subordinating Conjunctions

There really are not any proper subordinating conjunctions; rather, a clause is simply marked for a case and used as an NP. However, here are some of the common case usages with subclauses.

Possession

Attributive possession is divided into alienable and inalienable possession. Alienable attributive possession is marked with the genitive of the possessor tsá followed by a relative marker na followed by the possessed. Inalienable attributive possession is marked with either a possessive personal pronoun preceding that possessed or the possessor followed by a possessive personal pronoun agreeing with the possessor followed by the possessed.

Predicative possession is expressed with that possessed as a subject for the existential verb kiey (pfv.) / koy (ipfv.) combined with the possessor marked either with the benefactive dźǎ, to express "have" possession, the inessive tsú, to express "own" possession, or the comitative la, to express "have on" possession.

Pronouns

Non-possessive

Possessive

Examples

Seven Kill Stele

The Lord's Prayer

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