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(Essentially, those isolate languages from the fertile Crescent area during the Bronze Age)
(Essentially, those isolate languages from the fertile Crescent area during the Bronze Age)
Other poorly attested languages like Hattic may also be used as inspiration, e.g. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassite_language Kassite].


Some examples of the kind of geography those speakers might be familiar with (note that Mesopotamia has been exposed to environmental disaster thanks to continual farming and deliberate destruction by Mongol armies): '''coming soon'''
Some examples of the kind of geography those speakers might be familiar with (note that Mesopotamia has been exposed to environmental disaster thanks to continual farming and deliberate destruction by Mongol armies): '''coming soon'''
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<!-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Babylonian_Marriage_Market --> | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Babylonian_Marriage_Market The Babylonian Marriage Market]
<!-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Babylonian_Marriage_Market --> | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Babylonian_Marriage_Market The Babylonian Marriage Market]
</gallery>
</gallery>
==Phonology==
==Phonology==
===Comparing phonologies===
===A Comparison of Language Phonologies===
====Hurrian====
====Hurrian====
Hurrian appears to have a voicing alternation in word-medial positions for consonants (excluding ts/z). Hurrian distinguishes consonant gemination and vowel length through doubling (in the case of consonants: an-na = anna) or adding in extra vowels (ka-a-an = kān). P/F distinctions are hard to determine from spelling variation in poorly attested words. Final -f alternates with -u after -a-.
Hurrian appears to have a voicing alternation in word-medial positions for consonants (excluding ts/z). Hurrian distinguishes consonant gemination and vowel length through doubling (in the case of consonants: an-na = anna) or adding in extra vowels (ka-a-an = kān). P/F distinctions are hard to determine from spelling variation in poorly attested words. Final -f alternates with -u after -a-.
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! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"|Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Dorsal
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"|Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Dorsal
|-
|-
! Plosive
! Plosives
| p || t || k
| p || t || k
|-
|-
! Affricate
! Affricates
|  || ts/z ||  
|  || ts/z ||  
|-
|-
! Fricative
! Fricatives
| f || s || x
| f || s || x
|-
|-
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! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Dorsal !! Guttural
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Dorsal !! Guttural
|-
|-
! Plosive
! Plosives
| p b || t d ṭ || k g q || ʔ
| p b || t d ṭ || k g q || ʔ
|-
|-
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! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Palatal !! Velar
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Palatal !! Velar
|-
|-
! Plosive
! Plosives
| p || t || č || k
| p || t || č || k
|-
|-
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|-
|-
| Open||  || a ||   
| Open||  || a ||   
|}
====Elamite====
Elamite's sound system is not well understood due to the orthography. /h/ was lost by Neo-Elamite, and /e/'s existence is uncertain. There may have been a voicing distinction for plosives, and fricative values are general guesses. Elamite roots at maximum are CVCCVC, but that is normally even then CVNCVC.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Dorsal !! Guttural
|-
! Plosives
| p (b?) || t (d?) || k (g?) ||
|-
! Fricatives*
| || s z [z] || š [ʃ] || h
|-
! Sonorants
| m w || n l r || y ||
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Vowels !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
| Close || i ||  || u
|-
| Mid || (e?) ||  ||
|-
| Open||  || a || 
|}
====Sumerian====
Sumerian phonology is also not a closed book, with some claiming the language had a 3-way plosive phonation distinction. The existence of /w/ and /y/ is unknown.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Palatal !! Velar
|-
! Plosives
| p pʰ || t tʰ || || k kʰ
|-
! Affricates
| || ts tsʰ || ||
|-
! Fricatives
| || s || š || h
|-
! Sonorants
| m || n l r || || g̃
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Vowels !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
| Close || i ||  || u
|-
| Mid || (e?) ||  ||
|-
| Open||  || a || 
|}
===Comparing with hypothetically contemporary languages===
====Proto-Indo-European====
Proto-Indo-European proper was already splitting up, or ''had'' split up by the time of the younger languages being compared here.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Dorsal !! "Velar" !! Labialised Back-Velar !! Glottal
|-
! Plosives
| p (b) bʰ || t d dʰ || ḱ ǵ ǵʰ || k g gʰ || kʷ gʷ gʷʰ || (h₁)
|-
! Fricatives
| || s || || h₂ || h₃ || (h₁)
|-
! Sonorants
| m w || n l r || y || || ||
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Vowels !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
| Close || i ī ||  || u ū
|-
| Mid ||  || ə ||
|-
| Open|| e ē ||  || o ō
|}
====Proto-Uralic====
Proto-Uralic has considerably more vowels (by quality, rather than quantity) than any other language described on this page. Uralic may have had consonant gradation processes. /x/ is an unknown in terms of phonation and role, and could likely be from the lenition of /k/ or like a PIE laryngeal. CVCCVC is the most complex clusters may be. Phonetic, but not phonemic, diphthongs can arise via -j or -w.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Palatal !! Postalveolar !! Velar
|-
! Plosives
| p || t || (ć) || č || k
|-
! Fricatives
| || s ð || ś ð´ || (š) || x*
|-
! Nasals
| m || n || ń || || ŋ
|-
! Liquids
| w || l r || (ľ) j ||
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Vowels !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
| Close || i ü ||  || ï u
|-
| Mid || e ||  || (ë) o
|-
| Open|| ä ||  || a (å)
|}
====Timucua====
According to the Wikipedia article on this language, it goes back to 2000 BC. I'm not exactly sure ''how'' they figured that out, but hey, might as well include a North-American language for a fun long-range comparison. Note the similarities in phonology to many of the languages above.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Consonants !! Labial !! Dental !! Palatal !! Velar !! Labiovelar !! Glottal
|-
! Plosives
| p || t || č || k || kw ||
|-
! Fricatives
| b f || s ||  || || || h
|-
! Sonorants
| m || n l r || y || || ||
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background: DarkSlateGrey; color: white;"| Vowels !! Front !! Central !! Back
|-
| Close || i ||  || u
|-
| Mid || e ||  || o
|-
| Open|| e || a || o
|}
|}


==Grammar==
==Grammar==
=== ===
===Comparison of Morphology===
<!-- Hattic informed by https://app.box.com/shared/2n64ab7i2d and http://www.philology.ru/linguistics4/dunayevskaya-dyakonov-79.htm -->
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Cases !! Hurrian !! Urartian !! Hattic !! Sumerian !! Elamite !! P.Indo-European !! P.Uralic
|-
! Absolutive
| -Ø <sup>-Ø, -lla </sup>|| -Ø <sup> -lə </sup>|| -- || -Ø || || -- || --
|-
! Accusative
| -- || -- || -Ø, -šu/-tu || -- || -n || -m || -m
|-
! Nominative
| -- || -- || -Ø || -- ||  || -s, -Ø || -Ø
|-
! Ergative
| -š <sup>-šuš</sup> || -š(ə) || -- || -e ||  || -- || --
|-
! Genitive
| -fe, -we <sup>-še </sup>, -ē || -i <sup> -wə </sup> || -n || -ak || (-na)<ref group=c>Earlier, personal suffixes with a possible epenthetic -i were used</ref> || -s, -sy- || -n
|-
! Ablative
| -tan <sup>-štan </sup>|| -danə <sup> -štanə </sup>|| -- || -ta ||  || -s, -d || -ta / -tä (part)
|-
! Dative
| -fa, -wa <sup> -ša</sup> || -ə <sup> -wə </sup>|| -- || -ra ||  || -ey || --
|-
! Essive
| -a <sup> -ša</sup>|| -- || -- || -- ||  || -- || --
|-
! Locative
| -- || -a || -i || -a, -ne ||  || -i, -Ø <sup>-su</sup> || -na / -nä
|-
! Lative
| -- || -- || -- || -e ||  || -- || -ŋ
|-
! Allative / Directive
| -ta <sup> -šta </sup>, -ē || -edə <sup> -štə <sup>arch</sup> </sup>|| -- || -- ||  || -- || -ŋ
|-
! Terminative
| -- || -- || -- || -še ||  || -- || --
|-
! Adverbial
| -- || -- || -- || -eš ||  || -- || --
|-
! Comitative
| -ra || -ranə || -- || -da ||  || -- || --
|-
! Instrumental
| -ae || -- || -- || -- ||  || -h₁, -bʰi/-mi|| --
|-
! Equative / Associative
| -nn(i), -ōš, -nna|| -- || -- || -gen ||  || -- || --
|-
! Ablative/Instrumental
| -n(i), -ne || -nə|| -- || -- ||  || -- || --
|-
! Remainder
| HUR || URA || HAT || SUM || ELA || PIE || PUR
|}
 
{{reflist|group=c}}
 
 
A list of cool morphological features:
* Hurro-Urartian anaphoric suffixes (Hurr. Abs -Ø, Obl. -'''ne''', Pl. -na; Ur. Sing. '''-nə/-ne-''', Plu. Abs. -nelə, Obl. -na).
* Hurro-Urartian Suffixaufnahme (basically adjectival agreement but applies to dependent nouns too)
:: ''Resembles PIE -n for nominalisation/participles and Japonic -no for nominalisation''
* Urartian '''-hə''' for adjectives of belonging
* Urartian '''-šə''' for abstract nouns
:: ''Resembles PIE -tis.''
* Hurro-Urartian '''-lla''' and '''-š-''', Sumerian '''-(e)ne''', PIE '''-s''' and Uralic '''-ð-''' plural markers all have something in common phonologically.
 
===Conlang cases===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Cases !! Singular
|-
! Absolutive
| -Ø
|-
! Ergative
| -??
|-
! Objective-Accusative
| -m
|-
! Genitive/Originative
| -ha
|-
! Partitive-Ablative <!-- Includes ablative and genitive functions, cf. Russian genitive-partitive -->
| -ta
|-
! Dative-Locative? <!-- And Instrumental? -->
| -i
|-
! Dative-Allative?
| -a
|-
! Locative <!-- -Associative... And Instrumental? And ablative?? -->
| -na
|}
 
Then combinations such as:
* -mi, -ma, -man
* -ti > -tši, -tan
* -nana etc.
 
Next to do: pronouns and more cases.
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