Lahob languages: Difference between revisions

Lili21 (talk | contribs)
Lili21 (talk | contribs)
mNo edit summary
Line 15: Line 15:
}}
}}
The '''Lahob languages''' (also '''Lahobic'''; Łaȟ. ''łaȟoḇoši dadê'', Tundra Pw. ''ɬakhowašuy duyětuy'', Chl. ''lahūbumi dældai'') are a language family on the planet of [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]]; its Urheimat is in the far northern part of Evandor, where the greatest diversity among them is still found; the most spoken language of the family is however [[Chlouvānem]], spoken (along with its daughter languages) across large areas of Greater Evandor (in the continent of ''Márusúturon'' or ''Mārsūtram''), with [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|its own heartland]] more than 10,000 km away.<br/>
The '''Lahob languages''' (also '''Lahobic'''; Łaȟ. ''łaȟoḇoši dadê'', Tundra Pw. ''ɬakhowašuy duyětuy'', Chl. ''lahūbumi dældai'') are a language family on the planet of [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]]; its Urheimat is in the far northern part of Evandor, where the greatest diversity among them is still found; the most spoken language of the family is however [[Chlouvānem]], spoken (along with its daughter languages) across large areas of Greater Evandor (in the continent of ''Márusúturon'' or ''Mārsūtram''), with [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|its own heartland]] more than 10,000 km away.<br/>
The family takes its name from ''Łaȟoḇszer'', language of the ''Łaȟoḇ'' people, the largest and first studied in the Lahob heartlands.
The family takes its name from ''Łaȟoḇeyšer'', language of the ''Łaȟoḇ'' people, the largest and first studied in the Lahob heartlands.


Lahob languages nowadays are divided into five or six branches, four of which only spoken in a small area along the Orcish Straits and the tundra/taiga border (the eastern coast of Gathuráni and (for the Woŋom-Baan branch) far northwestern Kerbellion):
Lahob languages nowadays are divided into five or six branches, four of which only spoken in a small area along the Orcish Straits and the tundra/taiga border (the eastern coast of Gathuráni and (for the Woŋom-Baan branch) far northwestern Kerbellion):
* ''Pwaɬasd-Ngos languages'', including Tundra Pwaɬasd, Forest Pwaɬasd (sometimes included in a Macro-Pwaɬasd language), Zerfek, Nehsy, and Ngos;
* ''Pwaɬasd-Ngos languages'', including Tundra Pwaɬasd, Forest Pwaɬasd (sometimes included in a Macro-Pwaɬasd language), Zerfek, Nehsy, and Ngos;
* ''Central Lahobic languages'', including Łaȟoḇszer (the language that gave its name to the family), Łokow, Yełeshian Lawo, and Shershan Lawo;
* ''Central Lahobic languages'', including Łaȟoḇeyšer (the language that gave its name to the family), Łokow, Yełeshian Lawo, and Shershan Lawo;
* ''Tlengastic languages'', including Coastal Tlengast, Hilly Tlengast, and Bänme;
* ''Tlengastic languages'', including Coastal Tlengast, Hilly Tlengast, and Bänme;
* ''Woŋom-Baan languages'' (sometimes considered as a sub-group of the Tlengastic branch), including Woŋom, Baan, and Selmeš.
* ''Woŋom-Baan languages'' (sometimes considered as a sub-group of the Tlengastic branch), including Woŋom, Baan, and Selmeš.
Line 28: Line 28:
* ''Chlouvānem languages'' include [[Chlouvānem]] and all its descendants. Despite being by far the most spoken of the whole family and having the longest documented history, it took a long time to recognize the Lahob origin of Chlouvānem, due to many factors (including the long distance (some 10,000 km) from the Lahob homeland, the enormous lexical influence of other languages, the genetic difference between the Chlouvānem and other Lahob speakers (though mainly due to interbreeding with other peoples) and the fact all other Lahob languages have a very different morphology, changed in more than 5000 years; Chlouvānem is morphologically extremely close to Proto-Lahob).
* ''Chlouvānem languages'' include [[Chlouvānem]] and all its descendants. Despite being by far the most spoken of the whole family and having the longest documented history, it took a long time to recognize the Lahob origin of Chlouvānem, due to many factors (including the long distance (some 10,000 km) from the Lahob homeland, the enormous lexical influence of other languages, the genetic difference between the Chlouvānem and other Lahob speakers (though mainly due to interbreeding with other peoples) and the fact all other Lahob languages have a very different morphology, changed in more than 5000 years; Chlouvānem is morphologically extremely close to Proto-Lahob).


Excluding Chlouvānem (and its daughter languages) with more than 1.4 billion speakers, the other Lahob languages are fairly small by number of speakers, with about 200,000 speakers collectively, 40% of which speaking Łaȟoḇszer. Other relatively large languages are Tundra Pwaɬasd (about 21,000), Yełeshian Lawo (about 20,000), and Coastal Tlengast (about 17,000).
Excluding Chlouvānem (and its daughter languages) with more than 1.4 billion speakers, the other Lahob languages are fairly small by number of speakers, with about 200,000 speakers collectively, 40% of which speaking Łaȟoḇeyšer. Other relatively large languages are Tundra Pwaɬasd (about 21,000), Yełeshian Lawo (about 20,000), and Coastal Tlengast (about 17,000).


[[File:Lahob languages.png|thumb|Distribution of Lahob branches in Evandor and Márusúturon.]]
[[File:Lahob languages.png|thumb|Distribution of Lahob branches in Evandor and Márusúturon.]]
Line 35: Line 35:
Among Calémerian linguists, Proto-Lahob morphology is very difficult to reconstruct, as all branches apart from Chlouvānem have only been studied in the last century and have morphological traits very different from Chlouvānem, and have all undergone radical changes in nominal and verbal morphology (it is however interesting to note that some Chlouvānem daughter languages have progressed independently in a similar way); vocabulary and especially phonology are however much better understood.
Among Calémerian linguists, Proto-Lahob morphology is very difficult to reconstruct, as all branches apart from Chlouvānem have only been studied in the last century and have morphological traits very different from Chlouvānem, and have all undergone radical changes in nominal and verbal morphology (it is however interesting to note that some Chlouvānem daughter languages have progressed independently in a similar way); vocabulary and especially phonology are however much better understood.


The name of the language family - properly spelled '''Łaȟoḇ''' in Łaȟoḇszer, and pronounced [ɬaˈχɔβ] is a reflex of the Proto-Lahob word *ɬakʰober, meaning "people", which it is one of two roots normally used in forming ethnonyms - the other being *wānəme "tribe, group, horde". These two roots are reflexed in almost all languages, and in many ethnonyms:
The name of the language family - properly spelled '''Łaȟoḇ''' in Łaȟoḇeyšer, and pronounced [ɬaˈχɔβ] is a reflex of the Proto-Lahob word *ɬakʰober, meaning "people", which it is one of two roots normally used in forming ethnonyms - the other being *wānəme "tribe, group, horde". These two roots are reflexed in almost all languages, and in many ethnonyms:
* *ɬakʰober as ethnonym for e.g. the Łaȟoḇ (''Łaȟoḇszer'' means "Łaȟoḇ language"), Łokow, Lawo, Šlokhow; also reflexed as e.g. ''tlekweˤ'' in Coastal Tlengast, ''tlokweʁ'' in Hilly Tlengast (both "family"), ''chlåkhmah'' (tribe) in Chlouvānem;
* *ɬakʰober as ethnonym for e.g. the Łaȟoḇ (''Łaȟoḇeyšer'' means "Łaȟoḇ language"), Łokow, Lawo, Šlokhow; also reflexed as e.g. ''tlekweˤ'' in Coastal Tlengast, ''tlokweʁ'' in Hilly Tlengast (both "family"), ''chlåkhmah'' (tribe) in Chlouvānem;
* *wānəme as ethnonym for e.g. the Bänme, Woŋom, Baan, and the -vānem part in Chlouvānem; also as e.g. ''onom'' (group) in Łaȟoḇszer and ''womme'' (village) in Šlokhowdeš.
* *wānəme as ethnonym for e.g. the Bänme, Woŋom, Baan, and the -vānem part in Chlouvānem; also as e.g. ''onom'' (group) in Łaȟoḇeyšer and ''womme'' (village) in Šlokhowdeš.


Names for the proto-language and for the language family in Lahob languages are almost non-existant apart from Chlouvānem, as most of them are native languages of traditional populations (a substantial number being hunter-gatherers), and calques from Western languages (mainly Gathura) are used; in Chlouvānem the family is called ''Lahūbumi dældai'' and Proto-Lahob is ''Olahūbumi dældā'' — the term ''Lahūbai'' for the Lahob people being a borrowing from Cerian ''Lahóbe''.
Names for the proto-language and for the language family in Lahob languages are almost non-existant apart from Chlouvānem, as most of them are native languages of traditional populations (a substantial number being hunter-gatherers), and calques from Western languages (mainly Gathura) are used; in Chlouvānem the family is called ''Lahūbumi dældai'' and Proto-Lahob is ''Olahūbumi dældā'' — the term ''Lahūbai'' for the Lahob people being a borrowing from Cerian ''Lahóbe''.
Line 81: Line 81:
An easy example word is the first person pronoun *ʕiŋi, which is reflected as:
An easy example word is the first person pronoun *ʕiŋi, which is reflected as:
* Chlouvānem ''lili''
* Chlouvānem ''lili''
* Proto-Central-Lahobic *ɛŋi > Łaȟoḇszer ''ên'' /ɛn/, Łokow ''eng'' /eŋ/, Yełeshian Lawo ''yeng'' /jeŋ/, Shershan Lawo ''êŋ'' /ɛŋ/
* Proto-Central-Lahobic *ɛŋi > Łaȟoḇeyšer ''ên'' /ɛn/, Łokow ''eng'' /eŋ/, Yełeshian Lawo ''yeng'' /jeŋ/, Shershan Lawo ''êŋ'' /ɛŋ/
* Proto-Pwaɬasd-Ngos *ɤŋi > Tundra Pwaɬasd ''ěni'' /ɤni/, Ngos ''ɤni'' /ɤni/
* Proto-Pwaɬasd-Ngos *ɤŋi > Tundra Pwaɬasd ''ěni'' /ɤni/, Ngos ''ɤni'' /ɤni/


Line 446: Line 446:
! rowspan=2 | Proto-Lahob !! rowspan=2 | [[Chlouvānem]] !! colspan=4 | Central Lahobic !! colspan=2 | Pwaɬasd-Ngos
! rowspan=2 | Proto-Lahob !! rowspan=2 | [[Chlouvānem]] !! colspan=4 | Central Lahobic !! colspan=2 | Pwaɬasd-Ngos
|-
|-
! Łaȟoḇszer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Tundra Pwaɬasd !! Ngos
! Łaȟoḇeyšer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Tundra Pwaɬasd !! Ngos
|-
|-
! *ʕiŋi, *ʕ- "I"
! *ʕiŋi, *ʕ- "I"
Line 468: Line 468:


====Verbs====
====Verbs====
Proto-Lahob had a verbal conjugation which was very similar to Classical Chlouvānem (with the reflexive *-ir- and the causative *-iʕd- affixes that are analyzed as "stem modifiers" instead of different types of endings - cf. Chlouvānem interior and causative forms). Most modern Lahob languages have retained only a small amount of verbs, often using them as light verbs by extending them with other nouns or else - cf. Łaȟoḇszer ''darek'' (to do<ref>Łaȟoḇszer, like most Lahob languages, has no infinitive - this form is actually 2SG and 3SG.</ref>), ''wašišan darek'' (to pay (< Gathura ''waxishan'' "money"), ''pov darek'' (to hunt (''pov'' "hunt" < PLB *podʱo)). Also, most Lahob languages have inverted the voices and the older *te affix for agent-trigger conjugation now marks the antipassive in the ergative/absolutive system of most Lahob languages (apart from Pwaɬasd-Ngos, Central Lahobic, and Chlouvānem).
Proto-Lahob had a verbal conjugation which was very similar to Classical Chlouvānem (with the reflexive *-ir- and the causative *-iʕd- affixes that are analyzed as "stem modifiers" instead of different types of endings - cf. Chlouvānem interior and causative forms). Most modern Lahob languages have retained only a small amount of verbs, often using them as light verbs by extending them with other nouns or else - cf. Łaȟoḇeyšer ''darek'' (to do<ref>Łaȟoḇeyšer, like most Lahob languages, has no infinitive - this form is actually 2SG and 3SG.</ref>), ''wašišan darek'' (to pay (< Gathura ''waxishan'' "money"), ''pov darek'' (to hunt (''pov'' "hunt" < PLB *podʱo)). Also, most Lahob languages have inverted the voices and the older *te affix for agent-trigger conjugation now marks the antipassive in the ergative/absolutive system of most Lahob languages (apart from Pwaɬasd-Ngos, Central Lahobic, and Chlouvānem).


Here are the singular present and past forms of "to do" (PLB *dṛ-, *dar-) for patientive/unmarked and agentive/antipassive voices in Proto-Lahob, Łaȟoḇszer, Łokow, Yełeshian Lawo, Shershan Lawo (all Central Lahobic), Šlokhowdeš, and Chlouvānem. Instantly noticeable are the closeness of the PLB and the Chlouvānem forms, but the present forms are all recognizable with similar meanings; noteworthy is how Central Lahobic uses the voice affixes before the verb instead of after it (as in Chlouvānem in prefixed verbs). Note that Łaȟoḇszer and Šlokhowdeš have both generalized third persons at the expense of second persons:
Here are the singular present and past forms of "to do" (PLB *dṛ-, *dar-) for patientive/unmarked and agentive/antipassive voices in Proto-Lahob, Łaȟoḇeyšer, Łokow, Yełeshian Lawo, Shershan Lawo (all Central Lahobic), Šlokhowdeš, and Chlouvānem. Instantly noticeable are the closeness of the PLB and the Chlouvānem forms, but the present forms are all recognizable with similar meanings; noteworthy is how Central Lahobic uses the voice affixes before the verb instead of after it (as in Chlouvānem in prefixed verbs). Note that Łaȟoḇeyšer and Šlokhowdeš have both generalized third persons at the expense of second persons:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Proto-Lahob !! Łaȟoḇszer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Šlokhowdeš !! Chlouvānem
! Proto-Lahob !! Łaȟoḇeyšer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Šlokhowdeš !! Chlouvānem
|-
|-
! colspan=7 | Present, patientive/unmarked
! colspan=7 | Present, patientive/unmarked
Line 524: Line 524:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Proto-Lahob !! Łaȟoḇszer !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Šlokhowdeš !! Chlouvānem
! Proto-Lahob !! Łaȟoḇeyšer !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Šlokhowdeš !! Chlouvānem
|-
|-
! colspan=6 | Patientive/unmarked
! colspan=6 | Patientive/unmarked
Line 580: Line 580:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Proto-Lahob !! Łaȟoḇszer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Chlouvānem
! Proto-Lahob !! Łaȟoḇeyšer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Chlouvānem
|-
|-
! colspan=6 | Subjunctive imperfective, patientive
! colspan=6 | Subjunctive imperfective, patientive
Line 667: Line 667:
! rowspan=2 | Proto-Lahob !! rowspan=2 | [[Chlouvānem]] !! colspan=4 | Central Lahobic !! colspan=2 | Pwaɬasd-Ngos
! rowspan=2 | Proto-Lahob !! rowspan=2 | [[Chlouvānem]] !! colspan=4 | Central Lahobic !! colspan=2 | Pwaɬasd-Ngos
|-
|-
! Łaȟoḇszer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Tundra Pwaɬasd !! Ngos
! Łaȟoḇeyšer !! Łokow !! Yełeshian Lawo !! Shershan Lawo !! Tundra Pwaɬasd !! Ngos
|-
|-
! *lejeʕa "one"
! *lejeʕa "one"
Line 711: Line 711:
! rowspan=2 | Proto-Lahob !! rowspan=2 | Chlouvānem !! colspan=3 | Central Lahobic !! colspan=3 | Pwaɬasd-Ngos
! rowspan=2 | Proto-Lahob !! rowspan=2 | Chlouvānem !! colspan=3 | Central Lahobic !! colspan=3 | Pwaɬasd-Ngos
|-
|-
! Proto-Central-Lahobic !! Łaȟoḇszer !! Łokow !! Proto-Pwaɬasd-Ngos !! Tundra Pwaɬasd !! Ngos
! Proto-Central-Lahobic !! Łaȟoḇeyšer !! Łokow !! Proto-Pwaɬasd-Ngos !! Tundra Pwaɬasd !! Ngos
|-
|-
! *gistoros <small>"young"</small>  
! *gistoros <small>"young"</small>