Carpathian language: Difference between revisions
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Several linguists throughout the late 20th century noted the presence of so called "Carpathian [[w:Stratum_(linguistics)#Substratum|substratum]]" – an unidentified, likely non-Indo-European language formerly spoken in the Carpathians. Because there are irregularities in Carpathian substrate words, they might have been borrowed from distinct, but closely related languages. In the west, the substrate languages probably had an š-type sibilant which corresponds to an s-type sibilant in the east. The speakers of the Proto-Carpathian language arrived in the region around 2500 BCE and fully assimilated the local [[w:Paleo-European languages|Paleo-European]] population by the middle of 1st millennium BCE. The detailed reconstruction of this language (or languages) is impossible. Some of the borrowed words have cognates in all dialects of Carpathian, and semantically the substrate consists primarily of basic geographic and botanical terminology as well as toponymy, they are better preserved in dialectal vocabulary of the Carpathian Highlands. Some aspects of the Carpathian phonology, such as pleophony and consonant gemination, and grammar (absence of the passive voice, polypersonal agreement of verbs) are associated with the substrate. | Several linguists throughout the late 20th century noted the presence of so called "Carpathian [[w:Stratum_(linguistics)#Substratum|substratum]]" – an unidentified, likely non-Indo-European language formerly spoken in the Carpathians. Because there are irregularities in Carpathian substrate words, they might have been borrowed from distinct, but closely related languages. In the west, the substrate languages probably had an š-type sibilant which corresponds to an s-type sibilant in the east. The speakers of the Proto-Carpathian language arrived in the region around 2500 BCE and fully assimilated the local [[w:Paleo-European languages|Paleo-European]] population by the middle of 1st millennium BCE. The detailed reconstruction of this language (or languages) is impossible. Some of the borrowed words have cognates in all dialects of Carpathian, and semantically the substrate consists primarily of basic geographic and botanical terminology as well as toponymy, they are better preserved in dialectal vocabulary of the Carpathian Highlands. Some aspects of the Carpathian phonology, such as pleophony and consonant gemination, and grammar (absence of the passive voice, polypersonal agreement of verbs) are associated with the substrate. | ||
The hypothesis that Carpathian is the closest living relative to the Paleo-Balkan languages originated in 1944, based on the number of proposed lexical cognates being greater than that of between Dacian and any other Indo-European subfamily. The other more recent proposal is Carpathian being a divergent Baltic language, it found the most support in Lithuania; the proposal also includes the Paleo-Balkan languages as a closely related subbranch. Noting that Dacian-speaking peoples inhabited the Carpathian region till the fifth century CE, providing a substratum of abstract, geographical and biological terms such as ''ramùs'' “peaceful” ( ← Dac. ''*ramus''), ''kòpa/kàpa'' “mountain slope” ( ← Dac. ''*kapas''), ''kérbā'' “swamp” ( ← Dac. *kerba), '' | The hypothesis that Carpathian is the closest living relative to the Paleo-Balkan languages originated in 1944, based on the number of proposed lexical cognates being greater than that of between Dacian and any other Indo-European subfamily. The other more recent proposal is Carpathian being a divergent Baltic language, it found the most support in Lithuania; the proposal also includes the Paleo-Balkan languages as a closely related subbranch. Noting that Dacian-speaking peoples inhabited the Carpathian region till the fifth century CE, providing a substratum of abstract, geographical and biological terms such as ''ramùs'' “peaceful” ( ← Dac. ''*ramus''), ''kòpa/kàpa'' “mountain slope” ( ← Dac. ''*kapas''), ''kérbā'' “swamp” ( ← Dac. *kerba), ''burùkalā'' “cranberry” ( ← Dac. ''*brukla'') or ''tī́ras'' “blank, desolate” ( ← Dac. ''*tiras''). Other linguists have rejected the Dacian origins for many of these words and instead suggest native Carpathian etymologies, however some words, such as ''dìtas'' “bright” cannot be explained otherwise – PIE ''*dih₂tís'' “brightness” would have resulted in ''**dī́tas''. | ||
===Shared features with Balto-Slavic=== | ===Shared features with Balto-Slavic=== | ||
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Some examples of words shared between Carpathian and Balto-Slavic languages: “linden” — Carpathian ''léipā'', Lithuanian ''líepa'', Old Prussian ''līpa'', Common Slavic ''*lìpa''; “hand” — Carpathian ''rañkā'', Lithuanian ''rankà'', Old Prussian ''ranka'', Common Slavic ''*rǭkà''; “head” — Carpathian ''galwā́'', Lithuanian ''galvà'', Old Prussian ''galwa'', Common Slavic ''*golvà''. | Some examples of words shared between Carpathian and Balto-Slavic languages: “linden” — Carpathian ''léipā'', Lithuanian ''líepa'', Old Prussian ''līpa'', Common Slavic ''*lìpa''; “hand” — Carpathian ''rañkā'', Lithuanian ''rankà'', Old Prussian ''ranka'', Common Slavic ''*rǭkà''; “head” — Carpathian ''galwā́'', Lithuanian ''galvà'', Old Prussian ''galwa'', Common Slavic ''*golvà''. | ||
Many scholars instead prefer a dialect continuum model where the late PIE northeastern dialects developed into Balto-Slavic (or even separate Baltic and Slavic), while the southwestern dialect that had migrated into the mountains developed into Carpathian. This may explain many differences between the two branches, particularly in their corresponding verbal morphology and lexicon, as well as certain archaic Carpathian features, not found in Balto-Slavic, such as consonantal reflexes of Proto-Indo-European laryngeals *h₂ and *h₃, found only in the [[w:Anatolian languages|Anatolian]] languages and Armenian (irregularly): Carpathian ''harèlis<sup>W</sup>/harìlis<sup>E</sup>'' “eagle” (from PIE ''*h₃érō''), with some words having doublets in dialects ''hwḗjas/wḗjas'' “air” (PIE''*h₂weh₁-'' “to blow”), '' | Many scholars instead prefer a dialect continuum model where the late PIE northeastern dialects developed into Balto-Slavic (or even separate Baltic and Slavic), while the southwestern dialect that had migrated into the mountains developed into Carpathian. This may explain many differences between the two branches, particularly in their corresponding verbal morphology and lexicon, as well as certain archaic Carpathian features, not found in Balto-Slavic, such as consonantal reflexes of Proto-Indo-European laryngeals *h₂ and *h₃, found only in the [[w:Anatolian languages|Anatolian]] languages and Armenian (irregularly): Carpathian ''harèlis<sup>W</sup>/harìlis<sup>E</sup>'' “eagle” (from PIE ''*h₃érō''), with some words having doublets in dialects ''hwḗjas/wḗjas'' “air” (PIE''*h₂weh₁-'' “to blow”), ''meibáheta'' “is telling me it” (*bʰéh₂ti “to speak”). | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
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===Pitch accent=== | ===Pitch accent=== | ||
Standard Carpathian and most of the Carpathian dialects, have mobile pitch accent. There are three types of tones: | Standard Carpathian and most of the Carpathian dialects, have mobile pitch accent. There are three types of tones: | ||
*Rising, acute or tone-1 — rising tone if followed by another syllable, or a brief rise followed by a long fall, if followed by a pause: ''dílgas'' [ˈdíl. | *Rising, acute or tone-1 — rising tone if followed by another syllable, or a brief rise followed by a long fall, if followed by a pause: ''dílgas'' [ˈdíl.gɑ́s] “long (masculine)” if followed by another word, or [ˈdíl.gɑ̀s] if followed by a pause; ''rankā́'' [ˈrɑ̂ŋ.kɑ́ː] “hand” if followed by a pause; The syllable preceding stressed syllable receives an [[w:Upstep|upstep]] , when the stressed syllable is followed by pause. | ||
*Level, circumflex or tone-2 — mid tone, steady throughout the syllable: ''tāris'' [ˈtɑ̄ː.rīs] “language” if followed by another word, or [ˈtɑ̄ː.rìs] if followed by a pause. The stressed syllable receives a [[w:Downstep|downstep]], if the preceeding word has rising pitch. | *Level, circumflex or tone-2 — mid tone, steady throughout the syllable: ''tāris'' [ˈtɑ̄ː.rīs] “language” if followed by another word, or [ˈtɑ̄ː.rìs] if followed by a pause. The stressed syllable receives a [[w:Downstep|downstep]], if the preceeding word has rising pitch. | ||
*Falling or tone-3 – short falling or low tone: ''ràgas'' [ˈrɑ̀. | *Falling or tone-3 – short falling or low tone: ''ràgas'' [ˈrɑ̀.gɑ̀s] (Western ''rògas'' [ˈrò.gɑ̀s]) “horn”. The stressed syllable receives a downstep if the preceding word has either tone-1 or tone-2. | ||
Tones 1 and 2 are only possible for long syllables – those containing either a long monophthong, a diphthong, or a short vowel followed by a sonorant in a closed syllable. Short stressed syllables receive tone-3 by default, historically the distinction in pitch neutralised in short syllables to a low tone. Unstressed syllables (both short and long) harmonise with the stressed syllable, they do not receive a distinct tone on their own, but keep the pitch height of the stressed syllable. Historically some unstressed long syllables could receive rising pitch (tone-1), which used to be independent from the stress position, while all other long syllables received tone-2. However, the pitch distinction was later lost on all unaccented syllables, turning into the intonation distinction that spreads through the whole accented word. | Tones 1 and 2 are only possible for long syllables – those containing either a long monophthong, a diphthong, or a short vowel followed by a sonorant in a closed syllable. Short stressed syllables receive tone-3 by default, historically the distinction in pitch neutralised in short syllables to a low tone. Unstressed syllables (both short and long) harmonise with the stressed syllable, they do not receive a distinct tone on their own, but keep the pitch height of the stressed syllable. Historically some unstressed long syllables could receive rising pitch (tone-1), which used to be independent from the stress position, while all other long syllables received tone-2. However, the pitch distinction was later lost on all unaccented syllables, turning into the intonation distinction that spreads through the whole accented word. | ||
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==Vocabulary== | ==Vocabulary== | ||
''Main article: [[Carpathian vocabulary]]'' | ''Main article: [[Carpathian vocabulary]]'' | ||
''Main article: [[Carpathian/Phrasebook]]'' | |||
Although the Carpathian language is Indo-European, one can identify many words that do not have cognates within the Indo-European language family. Carpathian has borrowed a large portion of its vocabulary from the Balto-Slavic languages, mainly from Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian, as well as some words from Hungarian, a Uralic language, and an extinct Oghuric language, called Avar, that used to be spoken south of the Carpathian Mountains. The percentage of [[w:Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] loanwords can be estimated at approximately 5%, which is comparable to Romanian and Hungarian loanwords in Southern Lowlands dialects of Carpathian, but they constitute a specific portion of vocabulary, such as topographical features and plants. The [[w:Pre-Indo-European languages|Pre-Indo-European substrate]] is more well-preserved in Eastern Carpathian, particularly in the Highland dialects. In these borrowings, the voiced plosives are unstable or non-existent, which may indicate that the original languages lacked voicing distinction. The initial "s" before another consonant (often called the [[w:Indo-European s-mobile|s-mobile]]) is often dropped before a plosive, with some exceptions, such as ''stogas<sup>W</sup>/stagas<sup>E</sup>'' “stack” from PIE ''*stógos'' (which is also an example, where [[w:Winter's law|Winter's law]] failed to apply, suggesting that the word may be a loanword). | Although the Carpathian language is Indo-European, one can identify many words that do not have cognates within the Indo-European language family. Carpathian has borrowed a large portion of its vocabulary from the Balto-Slavic languages, mainly from Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian, as well as some words from Hungarian, a Uralic language, and an extinct Oghuric language, called Avar, that used to be spoken south of the Carpathian Mountains. The percentage of [[w:Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] loanwords can be estimated at approximately 5%, which is comparable to Romanian and Hungarian loanwords in Southern Lowlands dialects of Carpathian, but they constitute a specific portion of vocabulary, such as topographical features and plants. The [[w:Pre-Indo-European languages|Pre-Indo-European substrate]] is more well-preserved in Eastern Carpathian, particularly in the Highland dialects. In these borrowings, the voiced plosives are unstable or non-existent, which may indicate that the original languages lacked voicing distinction. The initial "s" before another consonant (often called the [[w:Indo-European s-mobile|s-mobile]]) is often dropped before a plosive, with some exceptions, such as ''stogas<sup>W</sup>/stagas<sup>E</sup>'' “stack” from PIE ''*stógos'' (which is also an example, where [[w:Winter's law|Winter's law]] failed to apply, suggesting that the word may be a loanword). | ||