Anthologica Universe Atlas / Forums / Department of Creativity / The Sound Change Thread / The Sound Change Thread
In Classical Quazian, which I am working on right now, the stop system has a six-POA /p t ʈ tʃ k q/ distinction, with voiced counterparts and prenasalized versions of both voiced and voiceless stops, giving 24 stop plosives. In addition to this, there are four nasals /m n ɲ ŋ/, four fricatives /s ʂ ʃ χ/ and a handful of sonorants /w l ɭ j ʀ/.
a. Prenasalized stops become something else, depending on dialect. Popular options are:
*ⁿT ⁿD -> D N
*ⁿT ⁿD -> N̥ N
*ⁿCV -> CṼ
or some combination of these.
b. A depalatalization occurs in most dialects, eliminating retroflexes and palatoalveolars from the system, as follows:
*t d s-> ts dz h -> s z h
*ʈ ɖ ʂ ɭ-> t d s ɾ
*tʃ dʒ ʃ -> ts dz s
c. Uvulars change to something else, depending on dialect:
*q -> ʔ (usually; sometimes remains in initial position)
*ɴ (from *ᶰɢ) -> ŋ (also almost everywhere; the prenasalized uvulars end up with the same reflexes as their velar counterparts.)
The fate of *ʀ may differ from dialect to dialect:
a) *χ and *s merge into /h/; *ʀ and *ɢ merge into /ɦ/.
*χ, *s -> h
*ʀ, *ɢ -> ɦ
b) Similar to a), but with uvulars fronting to velars and *χ having a different reflex than *s:
*χ -> x
*ʀ, *ɢ -> ɣ
c) Similar to b), but *ʀ pairs with *χ instead of with *ɢ:
*χ, *ʀ -> x
*ɢ -> ɣ
Situation c) has a few subvariants, including merging resulting /x/ with /h/ and/or merging /ɣ/ with /g/.
Somewhere along the way, an entirely unextraordinary change of *w to /v/ occurred.
A standard-looking phonetic inventory for consonants would look something like this:
Some common variants of this inventory are: adding a set of voiceless nasals; eliminating the velar fricatives and adding /ɦ/; retention of /q/. Some sample CQ words with their modern Quazian reflexes (note that codas generally underwent different changes):
*pɨ́t -> pɨ́ʔ
*ṣâl -> sâu
*ᵑgâɲ -> ŋẽ̂
*qân -> ʔɑ̃̂
*ʈúsa -> túhə
*ᵐpáʀ -> bɑ̂
*kúnayak -> kúnəyəʔ
*náq -> *nɑ́ʔ
*čətúk -> tsəsúʔ
*dôʀ -> zuò
*dʒáw -> dzó
*χît -> xìʔ
*ⁿʈéʀ -> dié
Thoughts? I'm most worried about my depalatalization changes.
a. Prenasalized stops become something else, depending on dialect. Popular options are:
*ⁿT ⁿD -> D N
*ⁿT ⁿD -> N̥ N
*ⁿCV -> CṼ
or some combination of these.
b. A depalatalization occurs in most dialects, eliminating retroflexes and palatoalveolars from the system, as follows:
*t d s-> ts dz h -> s z h
*ʈ ɖ ʂ ɭ-> t d s ɾ
*tʃ dʒ ʃ -> ts dz s
c. Uvulars change to something else, depending on dialect:
*q -> ʔ (usually; sometimes remains in initial position)
*ɴ (from *ᶰɢ) -> ŋ (also almost everywhere; the prenasalized uvulars end up with the same reflexes as their velar counterparts.)
The fate of *ʀ may differ from dialect to dialect:
a) *χ and *s merge into /h/; *ʀ and *ɢ merge into /ɦ/.
*χ, *s -> h
*ʀ, *ɢ -> ɦ
b) Similar to a), but with uvulars fronting to velars and *χ having a different reflex than *s:
*χ -> x
*ʀ, *ɢ -> ɣ
c) Similar to b), but *ʀ pairs with *χ instead of with *ɢ:
*χ, *ʀ -> x
*ɢ -> ɣ
Situation c) has a few subvariants, including merging resulting /x/ with /h/ and/or merging /ɣ/ with /g/.
Somewhere along the way, an entirely unextraordinary change of *w to /v/ occurred.
A standard-looking phonetic inventory for consonants would look something like this:
| p | t | k | ʔ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | d | g | ||
| m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| s | x | h | ||
| z | ɣ | |||
| v | ɾ | j | ||
| l | ||||
| ts | ||||
| dz |
Some common variants of this inventory are: adding a set of voiceless nasals; eliminating the velar fricatives and adding /ɦ/; retention of /q/. Some sample CQ words with their modern Quazian reflexes (note that codas generally underwent different changes):
*pɨ́t -> pɨ́ʔ
*ṣâl -> sâu
*ᵑgâɲ -> ŋẽ̂
*qân -> ʔɑ̃̂
*ʈúsa -> túhə
*ᵐpáʀ -> bɑ̂
*kúnayak -> kúnəyəʔ
*náq -> *nɑ́ʔ
*čətúk -> tsəsúʔ
*dôʀ -> zuò
*dʒáw -> dzó
*χît -> xìʔ
*ⁿʈéʀ -> dié
Thoughts? I'm most worried about my depalatalization changes.