Proto-East Mirarian language

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Proto-East-Mirarian (PEM) is the hypothetical reconstructed ancestor to the East-Mirarian language family. It is believed to have been spoken somewhere between 7000 to 4000 years ago (estimates vary). The precise location of their original homeland is not known, though most theories place it somewhere in the vicinity of the Sheisho mountains in western Juhashka.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant system had a two-way contrast of stop consonants (fortis vs. lenis).

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Laryngeal
central lateral plain labial
Nasal *m *n (*ñ)
Plosive and Affricate *p *b *t *d (*ć) (*j) *k *g *kʷ *gʷ *q
Fricative *s *z
Glide *j *x *w
Liquid *r *l

Vowels

It is generally accepted that Proto-East-Mirarian had 8 vowels, which were sorted into two harmony classes. These harmony classes are traditionally called "front" and "back", though their precise nature has been difficult to assess due to conflicting evidence from different branches. Rounded vowels only occurred in initial syllables (with the exception of some reduplicated stems and fossilized prefixes); unstressed syllables distinguish between height, with vowels harmonizing based on the class of the initial vowel.

The system of vowel harmony is commonly assumed to be palatal based on evidence from Mahavic and Hedretic, with the system of Tongue Root harmony in Ughmar and Elipan being a shared innovation. However, it has been suggested that vowel development in various languages point to the RTR harmony having been primary, which was retained in the central EM branches while being lost in the outliers. This theory has become more popular in recent years but it has yet to gain general acceptance.

Palatal
Front Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
High *i /i/ *ü /y/ *ı /ɯ/ *u /u/
Low *ä /e ~ æ/ *ö /ø/ *a /ɑ/ *o /o/
Tongue Root
Advanced Retracted
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
High *i /i/ *ü /u/ *ı /ɪ/ *u /ʊ/
Low *ä /ə/ *ö /o/ *a /a/ *o /ɔ/

Phonotactics

The maximal possible syllable in Proto-East-Mirarian is of the form C₁VxC₂. These categories consist of:

  • C₁ — Any consonant.
  • V — Any vowel.
  • x — /x/.
  • C₂ — Any consonant besides /q č ć ś x kʷ gʷ/.

/p r x ŋ ć/ cannot occur word initially. /b/ and /d/ may not occur as the first consonant in a cluster. /x/ cannot occur as the second consonant in a cluster. Voiced obstruents and glides cannot occur as geminates. Illegal clusters are broken up with the addition of an epenthetic |i|. Consonant clusters involving three consonants are rare; all begin with /x/, resulting from apocope of /i ı/.