Old Zlang

Sound Changes from Proto-Tshyak

• bə də gə zə ʑə > pə tə kə sə ɕə
• p t ts tɕ k > pʰ tʰ tsʰ tɕʰ kʰ / #_
• sə ɕə hə > ∅ ∅ ∅
• pə tə kə > ʔə ʔə ʔə
• b d dz dʑ g p t ts tɕ k z ʑ s ɕ h ɻ l > mb nd ndz ɲdʑ ŋg mp nt nts ɲtɕ ŋk ndz ɲdʑ nts ɲtɕ ɳ ɳ / {m n ŋ}ə_
• mə nə ŋə > ∅ ∅ ∅
• mp nt nts ɲtɕ ŋk > mb nd ndz ɲdʑ ŋg
• ɔ o u > wɔ wo wu
• ʔw > w
• nw ndw ndzw dw dzw tw tsw tʰw tsʰw zw sw > ɳ ɳdʐ ɳdʐ dʐ dʐ tʂ tʂ tʂʰ tʂʰ ʐ ʂ
• ŋw ŋgw gw kw kʰw hw > ŋʷ ŋgʷ gʷ kʷ kʷʰ ʍ
• w > ∅ / C_
• ʔj > j
• ŋj ŋgj gj kj kʰj > ɲ ɲɟ ɟ c cʰ
• nj ndj ndzj ndʑj dj dzj dʑj tj tsj tɕj tʰj tsʰj tɕʰj zj ʑj sj ɕj hj > ɲ ɲdʑ ɲdʑ ɲdʑ dʑ dʑ dʑ tɕ tɕ tɕ tɕʰ tɕʰ tɕʰ ʑ ʑ ɕ ɕ ç
• mj mbj bj pj pʰj > ɲ mbʑ bʑ pɕ pɕʰ
• hl > ɬ
• ɻj lj ɬj > j j ç
• l > j / C_
• l > ɻ / V_
• lə > ɻə
• k kʷ kʰ kʷʰ > q qʷ qʰ qʷʰ / _{a ʌ ɔ ɤ o ɯ u}
• ʔɻ > ɻ
• ʔj > j
• ɻəm ɻən ɻənd ɻəndz ɻəndʑ ɻəd ɻədz ɻədʑ ɻət ɻəts ɻətɕ ɻəz ɻəʑ ɻəs ɻəɕ ɻəh > ɳ ɳ ɳdʐ ɳdʐ ɳdʐ dʐ dʐ dʐ tʂ tʂ tʂ tʂʰ tʂʰ tʂʰ ʐ ʐ ʂ ʂ ɻ
• ɻə > ∅
• nɻ ndɻ ndzɻ ndʑɻ dɻ dzɻ dʑɻ tɻ tsɻ tɕɻ tʰɻ tsʰɻ tɕʰɻ zɻ ʑɻ sɻ ɕɻ hɻ > ɳ ɳdʐ ɳdʐ ɳdʐ dʐ dʐ dʐ tʂ tʂ tʂ tʂʰ tʂʰ tʂʰ ʐ ʐ ʂ ʂ ɻ̥
• mɻ mbɻ bɻ pɻ pʰɻ > ɳ mbʐ bʐ pʂ pʂʰ
• ŋɻ ŋgɻ gɻ kɻ kʰɻ > ŋ ŋg g k kʰ
• ʌ ɤ ɯ > ɔ o u
• ɛ ɔ > iə uə
• C > ∅ / C_#
• a e i iə uə > ɑ ɤ ɯ ɯɤ uɤ / _{ŋ k w}
• a iə o u uə > ɛ ie ø y ye / _{n t j s ɕ ɻ}
• s ɕ > h h / V_
• iə > ie
• ye uə uɤ > yø uo uo
• ie yø ɯɤ uo > e ø ɤ o / Cj_
• p t k m n ŋ > ʔ ʔ ʔ ɴ ɴ ɴ \ V_
• ʔəC₁ > C₁[+pharyngealized]
• j > j̯ˤ / C[+pharyngealized]_
• V₁ > V₁[+pharyngealized] / C[+pharyngealized]_
• C₁[+pharyngealized] > C₁[-pharyngealized]
• aˤ ɛˤ eˤ øˤ iˤ yˤ ieˤ yøˤ ɑˤ ɤˤ oˤ ɯˤ uˤ ɯɤˤ uoˤ > ɑˤ æˤ ɛˤ œˤ eˤ øˤ iɛˤ yœˤ ɑˤ ʌˤ ɔˤ ɤˤ oˤ ɯʌˤ uɔˤ

Morphological and Syntactic Changes from Proto-Tshyak

• Loss of ergative marking
• Loss of number marking on nouns
• Merger of the dual and the plural on pronouns and verbs
• Adoption of "group" ŋgyôŋ reduced to ŋgyô as a plural marker in apposition to animate nouns
• Adoption of "stuff" tshaw reduced to tshau as a plural marker in apposition to inanimate nouns
• Adoption of "two" raʔ reduced to ra as a dual marker, including with pronouns
• Adoption of the medial demonstrative yaiŋ reduced to yai as a definite article
• Adoption of "be along with" chi as a topic marker for topics that are not arguments
• Loss of the resultative la or le
• Loss of the causative muo or mu
• Adoption of "result" gîw reduced to gîu in apposition to a nominalized perfective verb to mark a result noun
• Adoption of "action" (from "speed") rieuŋ reduced to rieu in apposition to a nominalized imperfective verb to mark an action noun
• Adoption of "way, manner" žam reduced to ža in apposition to a nominalized perfective or imperfective verb to mark an instrument noun
• Adoption of "person" kaw reduced to kau in apposition to a nominalized perfective or imperfective verb to mark a agent noun
• Adoption of "topic, subject" yaʔ reduced to ya in apposition to a nominalized perfective or imperfective verb to mark a patient noun
• Adoption of "place" riuʔ reduced to riu in apposition to a nominalized perfective or imperfective verb to mark a locative noun
• Loss of the nominalizers ʔuo, ti, and po
• Movement of the antipassive marker si from before the verb to after it
• Adoption of independent pronouns alongside the verbal person clitics ʔaŋ and ʔauʔ
• Adoption of "self" loʔ as a new reflexive pronoun, replacing the reflexive marker ru
• Adoption of "other" pšoiʔ combined with the definite yai as a new reciprocal pronoun, replacing the reciprocal marker bu
• Adoption of "make" tšhe (pfv.) or tšhi (ipfv.) as a new causative auxiliary verb for use with perfective and imperfective verbs
• Adoption of "become" liy (pfv.) or luy (ipfv.) as a new resultative auxiliary verb for use with imperfective verbs
• Adoption of "finish" šiʔ (pfv.) or šuʔ (ipfv.) as a new telic auxiliary verb for use with perfective verbs
• Adoption of "stay" khuoy (ipfv.) as a new continuative auxiliary verb for use with imperfective verbs
• Adoption of "stop" tšhauʔ (pfv.) or tšhoʔ (ipfv.) as a new terminative auxiliary verb for use with imperfective verbs
• Adoption of "be other" pšoiʔ reduced to pšoi as a new inverse marker
• Development of the perfective into a past perfective, from here on known as the perfect.
• Development of the imperfective into a present imperfective, from here on known as the imperfect.
• Adoption of "do" ta (pfv.) as a new past auxiliary for use with imperfect verbs to form a past imperfective
• Adoption of "shall" tśhuo as a new future auxiliary for use with perfect and imperfect verbs to form the future perfective and future imperfective
• Adoption of "must" che to mean "shall"
• Adoption of "need to" yu to mean "must"
• Adoption of "want" tšie to mean "may" and from that a subjunctive auxiliary to use with perfect and imperfect verbs; note that to use this in the past tense this needs to be combined with "do" ta (pfv.) and to use this in the future tense this needs to be combined with "shall" tśhuo.
• Loss of verbal person clitics ʔaŋ and ʔauʔ
• Adoption of the verbal pronominal du./pl. marker mi on main verbs to mark the number of subjects/agents of imperative and jussive verbs and, as for indicative and subjunctive verbs, SAP subjects, subjects of intransitive verbs, agents of imperfective verbs, and individuated objects of perfective verbs; note that the imperative du./pl. marker yi is lost.
• Change of the optative je to jussive
• Change of the direct knowledge evidential źe to an egophoric direct knowledge evidential, along with change of the mirative the to a non-egophoric direct knowledge evidential.
• Adoption of "just" kow reduced to ko as a new mirative.

Phonemes and Orthography

Consonants

• Nasals: /m n ɳ ɲ ŋ ŋʷ ɴ/ m n ň ń ŋ ŋw ŋ
• Prenasalized voiced stops: /mb nd ɲɟ ŋg ŋgʷ/ mb nd ńj ŋg ŋgw
• Voiced stops: /b d ɟ g gʷ/ b d j g gw
• Voiceless stops: /p t c k kʷ q qʷ ʔ/ p t c k kw q qw ʔ
• Aspirated voiceless stops: /pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ kʷʰ qʰ qʷʰ/ ph th ch kh kwh qh qwh
• Prenasalized voiced affricates: /mbʐ mbʑ ndz ɳdʐ ɲdʑ/ mbž mbź ndz ňdž ńdź
• Voiced affricates: /bʐ bʑ dz dʐ dʑ/ bž bź dz dž dź
• Voiceless affricates: /pʂ pɕ ts tʂ tɕ/ pš pś ts tš tś
• Aspirated voiceless affricates: /pʂʰ pɕʰ tsʰ tʂʰ tɕʰ/ pšh pśh tsh tšh tśh
• Voiced fricatives: /z ʐ ʑ/ z ž ź
• Voiceless fricatives: /ʍ s ʂ ɕ ɬ ç h/ hw s š ś hl hy h
• Voiced liquids: /ɻ l/ r l
• Voiceless liquids: /ɻ̥/ hr
• Semivowels: /w j/ w y

Vowels

Regular

Monophthongs

• Close: /i y ɯ u/ i ui iu u
• Close-mid: /e ø ɤ o/ e oi eu o
• Open-mid: /ɛ/ ai
• Open: /a ɑ/ a au

Note that /ɛ ø y/ are written a o u before /j ɻ/, and /ɑ ɤ ɯ/ are written a e i before /w/.

Diphthongs

/ie yø ɯɤ uo/ ie uoi ieu uo

Note that /yø/ is written uo before /j ɻ/, and /ɯɤ/ is written ie before /w/.

Pharyngealized

Monophthongs

• Close-mid: /eˤ øˤ ɤˤ oˤ/ î ûi îu û
• Open-mid: /ɛˤ œˤ ʌˤ ɔˤ/ ê ôi êu ô
• Near-open: /æˤ/ âi
• Open: /ɑˤ/ â

Note that /æˤ œˤ øˤ/ are written â ô û before /j ɻ/, and /ʌˤ ɤˤ/ are written ê î before /w/.

Diphthongs

/iɛˤ yœˤ ɯʌˤ uɔˤ/ iê uôi iêu uô

Note that /yœˤ/ is written uô before /j ɻ/, and /ɯʌˤ/ is written iê before /w/.

Transliteration Orthography

Consonants

• Nasals: /m n ɳ ɲ ŋ ŋʷ ɴ/ m n nr ń ŋ ŋw -m/-n/-ŋ*
• Prenasalized voiced stops: /mb nd ɲɟ ŋg ŋgʷ/ mb nd ńj ŋg ŋgw
• Voiced stops: /b d ɟ g gʷ/ b d j g gw
• Voiceless stops: /p t c k kʷ q qʷ ʔ/ p t c k kw q qw ∅/-p/-t/-k*
• Aspirated voiceless stops: /pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ kʷʰ qʰ qʷʰ/ ph th ch kh kwh qh qwh
• Prenasalized voiced affricates: /mbʐ mbʑ ndz ɳdʐ ɲdʑ/ mbr mbź ndz ndr ndź
• Voiced affricates: /bʐ bʑ dz dʐ dʑ/ br bź dz dr dź
• Voiceless affricates: /pʂ pɕ ts tʂ tɕ/ pr pś ts tr tś
• Aspirated voiceless affricates: /pʂʰ pɕʰ tsʰ tʂʰ tɕʰ/ prh pśh tsh trh tśh
• Voiced fricatives: /z ʐ ʑ/ z zr ź
• Voiceless fricatives: /ʍ s ʂ ɕ ɬ ç h/ hw s sr ś hl hy h/-s/-h*
• Voiced liquids: /ɻ l/ r l
• Voiceless liquids: /ɻ̥/ hr
• Semivowels: /w j/ w y

* Note:

p, m, h after: /a/.

t, n, s after: /i y e ø ɛ ie yø eˤ øˤ ɛˤ œˤ æˤ iɛˤ yœˤ/.

k, ŋ, h after: /ɯ u ɤ o ɑ ɯɤ uo ɤˤ oˤ ʌˤ ɔˤ ɑˤ ɯʌˤ uɔˤ/.

In open syllables:

i after /y ø ɛ yø øˤ œˤ æˤ yœˤ/.

u after /ɯ ɤ ɑ ɯɤ ɤˤ ʌˤ ɯʌˤ/.

Vowels

Regular

Monophthongs

• Close: /i y ɯ u/ i u i u
• Close-mid: /e ø ɤ o/ e o e o
• Open-mid: /ɛ/ a
• Open: /a ɑ/ a a

Diphthongs

/ie yø ɯɤ uo/ ie uo ie uo

Pharyngealized

Monophthongs

• Close-mid: /eˤ øˤ ɤˤ oˤ/ î û î û
• Open-mid: /ɛˤ œˤ ʌˤ ɔˤ/ ê ô ê ô
• Near-open: /æˤ/ â
• Open: /ɑˤ/ â

Diphthongs

/iɛˤ yœˤ ɯʌˤ uɔˤ/ îe ûo îe ûo

Morphology and Syntax

Word Order

• The core word order is SVO, but other orders are allowed.
• The word order in relative clauses is Rel-VO or Rel-VS, if a core argument is relativized, or Rel-VSO or Rel-VOS, if a non-core argument is relativized.
• The word order in serial verb constructions is always VO
• Relative clauses, genitives, determiners, and numbers follow nouns
• Adverbs typically follow verbs.
• Arguments are topicalized by bringing them to the front of a clause. If an argument of a serial verb construction is topicalized, either the entire serial verb construction is brought to the start of the clause or by bringing the argument to the start of the clause, preceding it with chi, and then replacing it in the serial verb construction with a resumptive pronoun.
• Non-arguments can be marked as topics by preceding them with chi at the start of a clause.
• Vocatives are preceded by ʔa and may be placed anywhere in a clause, including at the very start, before any topic.
• Complement clauses follow the complementizer ra.
• Agent and object are distinguished by inverse marking on the verb.

Nominal

• Noun stem
• Number
  • Dual number ra
  • Plural number
    • Animate ŋgyô
    • Inanimate tshau
  • A cardinal number
• Any number of relative clauses, usually stative intransitive
• Determiner
  • Definite yai
  • Proximal leu
  • Distal bža
  • Interrogative tshe
  • Negative he
• Any number of relative clauses, usually marked with na
• Inalienable possessor marker
• 1st sg. ma
• 1st du./pl. ru
• 1st + 2nd du./pl. de
• 2nd sg. ni
• 2nd du./pl. lo
• 3rd sg. / 3rd inanimate yo
• 3rd du./pl. animate ga
• Any number of relative clauses, usually marked with na, if there is no inalienable non-pronominal possessor
• Inalienable non-pronominal posessor

Verbal

Finite Main Verb

• Verb stem
• Antipassive si
• Evidentials
  • Egophoric direct knowledge źe
  • Non-egophoric direct knowledge the
  • Deductive qha
  • Reportative huo
  • Assumption yie
  • Dubitative ra
• Jussive je
• Dual/plural mi
• Mirative ko
• Inverse marker pšoi
• Negation
  • Negative ńa
  • Prohibitive the

Derivation of Nouns from Verbs

• Infinite verb complex
• Nominalizer
  • Result noun gîu (applied to a perfect verb stem)
  • Action noun rieu (applied to an imperfect verb stem)
  • Agent noun kau
  • Patient noun ya
  • Instrument noun ža
  • Locative noun riu

Auxiliary Verbs

• ta (perf.) forms the past imperfective from imperfect verbs.
• tśhuo (impf.) forms the future perfective or imperfective from perfect or imperfect verbs.
• liy (perf.) or luy (impf.) form resultatives from imperfect verbs.
• šiʔ (perf.) or šuʔ (impf.) form telic verbs from perfect verbs.
• khuoy (impf.) forms the continuative from imperfect verbs.
• tšhauʔ (perf.) or tšhoʔ (impf.) forms the terminative from imperfect verbs.
• tšhe (perf.) or tšhi (impf.) forms causatives from perfect or imperfect verbs, which are then used as serial verb constructions; note that this is normally only used with transitive verbs.
• tšie (impf.) means "may" and forms the subjunctive from perfect or imperfect verbs.
• wi (impf.) means "can" and is used with perfect or imperfect verbs.
• che (impf.) means "shall" and is used with perfect or imperfect verbs.
• yu (impf.) means "must" and is used with perfect or imperfect verbs.

Pronouns

Independent

• 1st sg. may
• 1st du. ru ra
• 1st pl. ru
• 1st + 2nd du. de ra
• 1st + 2nd pl. de
• 2nd sg. niuŋ
• 2nd du. lo ra
• 2nd pl. lo
• 3rd sg. yo
• 3rd du. animate ga ra
• 3rd pl. animate ga
• 3rd du. inanimate yo ra
• 3rd pl. inanimate yo tshau
• Reflexive loʔ
• Reciprocal pšoiʔ yai
• Negative hey
• Interrogative tshey
• Proximal demonstrative leuŋ
• Distal demonstrative bya

Possessive

• 1st sg. ma
• 1st du./pl. ru
• 1st + 2nd du./pl. de
• 2nd sg. ni
• 2nd du./pl. lo
• 3rd sg. / 3rd inanimate yo
• 3rd du./pl. animate ga

Person/animacy Hierarchy

There is a person/animacy hierarchy of:

First, there is the hierarchy of 1st > 2nd > relativized > 3rd > human > non-human animate > inanimate.

Second, there is the hierarchy of named > definite > indefinite.

Third, there is the hierarchy of closer to the start of the clause > further from the start of the clause.

Possession

Attributive possession is divided into alienable and inalienable possession. Alienable attributive possession is marked with the possessee followed by the relative marker na followed by tsa followed by the possessor. Inalienable attributive possession is marked with a possessive personal pronoun following the possessed which may then be followed by a possessor.

Predicative possession is expressed with that possessed as a subject for the existential verb giey (perf.) or goy (impf.) combined with either the benefactive ńdźaʔ (perf.) or ńdźuʔ (impf.), to express "have" possession, the inessive tshay (perf.) or tshuy (impf.), to express "own" possession, or the comitative law, to express "have on" possession, followed by the possessor.

Interrogatives

Word order does not change in questions.

The following particle is put at the end of yes/no questions:

• yes/no question ha

Examples

The Lord's Prayer

Seven Kill Stele

Address

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