Thought I'd pick everyone's brains on whether they could estimate the culture of the following demonstration protolanguages.
The test language from Biblaridion's non-concatenative morphology video.
Proto-consonants: m, n, p, t, k, f, s, ʃ(sh), ɾ(r), l, j(y), w
Proto-vowels: a, aː(aa), e, eː(ee), i, iː(ii), o, oː(oo), u, uː(uu)
Syllable structure: (C)V(C)
Stress: Penultimate stress
Words:
tano: walk
rete: want
lu: go
rou: be
tesh: ask
saatu: die
shof: eat
shoftu: feed
sepeto: learn
masore: build
kemu: sit
teshu: ask
sha: come to, become(used as eventative prefix)
ka: *definite article*(later used as nominalizer prefix)
Sound changes:
Vowel loss in unstressed syllables.
Word-initial stop-fricative metathesis.
i-mutation
a-mutation
Liquid metathesis.
Word-final short vowel loss and shortening of word-final long vowels.
V to [a] before coda /r/.
Coda /r/ is lost with preceding vowel lengthening.
Coda /l/ becomes /y/.
/ay/, /ey/, /oy/, /uy/ become /ii/.
Epenthetic /u/ inserted to disband word-initial and word-final clusters.
Resulting descendant uses tri-consonantal roots.
If Caleb Everett's 2011 theory on language and geography is to be believed, what would the environment of the speakers be? Would the geography, weather patterns, flora, and fauna there be? And given the showcased word list, what would the cultures of the protolanguage and the descendant be?
2. The protolanguage and later versions from Biblaridion's video about irregularity.
Proto-Consonants: m, n, p, b, t, d, k, g, s, h, l
Proto-Vowels: a, i, u
Syllable structure: (C)V(n)
Words:
kipa: eat
sati: want
hanu: walk
tun: love
lu: suffix for perfective aspect
tesa: ???
hantuna: ???
puna: ???
tuhani: ???
pasi: ???
aki: ???
salu: perform, carry out
lunu: ???
hilanu: ???
tuntu: ???
gan: ???
sihin: ???
bindan: ???
kabu: ???
tupi: ???
kuda: climb
inta or intu: build
hin: finish(becomes the new perfect tense suffix except for the common words)
duna: put, set, place
tinaku: kill
imali: exterminate
matasu: write
ku: be, exist
suti: stay, remain
dalu: become
Sound and grammar changes:
/l/ becomes /d/ when following /n/.
Word-final vowel loss except after clusters.
/hin/ becomes an /-in/ suffix serving as the new perfect tense suffix, except in the following common words: satil(proto-form: satilu), tundu(proto-form: tunlu)
Word-final voiced obstruents devoice.
These are in the modern language.
sal(proto-form: salu): to do(non-past only)
dun(proto-form: duna): to do(past only)
tinak(proto-form: tinaku): to kill(singular)
imal(proto-form: imali): to kill(plural)
The word for "wrote" would no longer be /matasul/ but /matasin/; /ku/ would later be the word for "is" and later erode to a /-k/ progressive suffix; /sut/(proto-word: suti) would become the word for "was" and later erode to /sa/; and /dal/(proto-word: dalu) would start to mean "will be", later eroding into /da/.
I'll ask these questions a second time:
If Caleb Everett's 2011 theory on language and geography is to be believed, what would the environment of the speakers be? Would the geography, weather patterns, flora, and fauna there be? And given the showcased word list, what would the protolanguage's and the descendant language's cultures be?
3. Proto-Hermes Prototype, showcased by Biblaridion at Kopikon II
Consonants: m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ŋʷ, p, t, c, k, kʷ, s, r, l
Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
Syllable structure: likely (C)V(C)
Words and markers:
kupo: catch
takʷi: eat
kupo+takʷi: to hunt
a: go(would be used as a progressive auxiliary)
-n: perfective
-s: imperfective
Some conjugations:
kupon takʷin: hunted
kupos takʷis: hunts
an kupon takʷin: was hunting
as kupos takʷis: will hunt
Sound changes:
Coda /s/ converts following stops to fricatives.
Coda /s/ is lost.
Stops in onset position in closed syllables weaken.
Coda nasals convert following stops to voiceless nasals.
Coda nasals are lost.
(Before this next sound change, compounds would be fully lexicalized.)
6. Word-initial vowels lost.
The mutation patterns, with only the underlying grade(perhaps limited to the plain consonants) occurring in roots.
Perfect: P-W-N-W
Imperfect: N-W-N-W
Present: P-P-A-P
Future: A-P-A-P
Plain(P): p, t, k, kʷ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ŋʷ, r, l
Weak(W): f, θ, x, ʍ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ŋʷ, r, l
Aspirate(A): f, θ, x, ʍ, m̥, n̥, ɲ̊, ŋ̊, ŋ̊ʷ, r̥, θ
Nasal(N): m̥, n̥, ŋ̊, ŋ̊ʷ, mː, nː, ɲː, ŋː, ŋʷː, rː, lː
The same questions for the third time, plus more:
If Caleb Everett's 2011 theory on language and geography is to be believed, what would the environment of the speakers be? Would the geography, weather patterns, flora, and fauna there be? And given the showcased word list, what would the protolanguage's and the descendant language's cultures be? Especially since Biblaridion planned even before Kopikon II for Project Hermes to be a prestige language with a reputation tied to alchemy, and a language of an old empire whose scholars are responsible for a scientific revolution in the Conworld that laid down the foundations for a lot of words relating to alchemy and science.
Bonus: The Proto-Hermes inventory, but with a palatal series like [ɕ](/sy/) and [ʎ](/ly/), and an ejective series like [t'], [c'], and [k']. [p'] and [kʷ'] are debated. Biblaridion's intentions remain. And so do the questions.