A.M.D.G hello.jpg The Movements of Proto-Martial

Sound Laws

Zerger's Sibilant Rules

Zerger's Sibilant Rules (Z.S.R.) are a set of sound laws, all of which take place in or around sibilants, and are common to all the Martial languages. They essentially set up the basis for Martial syllable structure, vowel length and nasal consonants. They are divided into five phases:

Numerical Resolution

The numerical phonemes (, and ) can be reconstructed more clearly in Proto-Martial:

Early Martial Forms

These changes are all early, and act to set up the later, more extensive reorganisations that are grouped under 'Martial Harmonisation' (q.v.). Some very early Martial forms can be given as examples of the effect of these changes below:

Shap. Early M. Gloss
Ⅰußer ūser one
bwśer bwēsnr two
daiśer daiēsnr three
taber taber four
Ⅲigobic zigobic five
Ⅰucas ūcās six
bwcas bwcās seven
daicas daicās eight
tacas tacās nine
gobic gobic ten
śaiś āsnīsn good
ⅡⅠ tid fātid because
sip īsp came
pśiu mīsnu I

We also go from:

PśeⅡu pśwraśu bwśer siepśe picai

to

Mēsnfu mw̄snraūsn bwēsnr īsemēsn picai

Blowatz' Law (B.L)

d,t > l / _[+ vowel +rounded +back]

Martial Harmonisation

A complex reorganisation of the vowel system and the addition of a lot of epentheses result in Martial openness/rounding vowel harmony. An interesting result of this is that the many Shapshiruckish paradigms with -u- and -a- suffixes alternate forms depending on the root.

The Martial vowel system settles into an eight-vowel system, with a five-way distinction in long vowels and a three-way distinction in long vowels:

After harmonisation, the forms given before become:

Shap. Early M. Martial Gloss
Ⅰußer ūser ūsaru one
bwśer bwēsnr bīsana(ri)) two
daiśer daiēsnr dēsana(ra) three
taber taber tabiri four
Ⅲigobic zigobic zigabi(ci) five
Ⅰucas ūcās ūcāsu six
bwcas bwcās bīcāsi seven
daicas daicās dēcāsa eight
tacas tacās tacāsa nine
gobic gobic gōbici ten
śaiś āsnīsn ānīsana good
ⅡⅠ tid fātid fātida because
sip īsp īpi came
pśiu mīsnu mīnu I

and, continuing to pretend there is no change apart from phonological change, from:

PśeⅡu pśwraśu bwśer siepśe picai.

via

Mēsnfu mw̄snraūsn bwēsnr īsemēsn picai.

to

Mēsanafu mīniraūsani bīsanari īmēsani picē.

Martial Phonology

Consonants

The Martial consonant system is a fairly typical small inventory, with only fourteen items:

p t k b d g f v s z r l m n

Vowels

long and short aeiou

Martial Numerals

The general form found is:

1 ūsaru
2 bīsana
3 dēsana
4 tasari
5 zisabi
6 ūcāru
7 bīcāna
8 dēcāna
9 tacāri
10 zicābi

The system reconstructed is a biquinary system, with the five radical forms: ū—ru bī—na dē—na ta—ri zi—bi, with an infixed sa or denoting which group of five is being counted.

These forms differ significantly from the expected forms, which see above, having been modified. In an early stage, all base numerical forms were reduced to trisyllables, where appropriate. Later, at least going by the standard method, the form gōbici transferred from meaning 10, to meaning 20. with the form for 10 being some derivative of zigabi 5. Levelling of middle syllables then occured, to create a cleaner biquinary system.

Martial Nominal Morphology

Of course, there were significant grammatical changes between Shapshrruckish and Proto-Martial. Nouns already tended to be unwieldy, especially with postnouns, and so a radical simplification is found.

-t/l stem: tētilu tetetu monkey would go:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked tētil-u tētit-abu tētit-aca tētit-ē tētit-afi tētil-ō
Null. tētil-ucu tētit-abucu tētit-acaci tētit-ēci tētit-afici tētil-ōci
Unit. tētil-utu tētit-abutu tētit-acati tētit-ēti tētit-afiti tētil-ōti
Part. tētil-upu tētit-abupu tētit-acapi tētit-ēpi tētit-afipi tētil-ōpi
Pl. tētil-uīsu tētit-abuīsu tētit-acaīsi tētit-ēsi tētit-afiīsi tētil-ōsi

with a postnoun ēzē, bīzē or īzē to boot.

The accusative, in particular, would be an abomination, so it is no wonder that it fell out of use entirely in Martial. A form of the Genitive III took its place, perhaps a generalisation of its use in the Shapshirruckish passive-aggressive. The actual form found, however, is one remodelled after the fashion of the Genitive II, and also the Dative, except that the thematic vowel is a lengthened ā < af.

Similarly, the Genitive I is simplified: the unmarked form remains -aca, but the marked forms reduce to ones similar to the Accusative, but with a short a, losing the distinctive -ac-.

By now, the old Totative is a proper plural, and so frequently used that the tri- and quadrosylllabic endings were also simplified. The -u- in the Nominative was dropped. The -ac- in the plural Genitive I is not lost, but lengthens the following a, creating a long -āī- hiatus.

In the case of tētilu, the form with l in the root was also generalised:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Dat.
Unmarked tētil-u tētil-ā tētil-aca tētil-itē tētil-ō
Null. tētil-ucu tētil-āci tētil-aci tētil-ēci tētil-ōci
Unit. tētil-utu tētil-āti tētil-ati tētil-ēti tētil-ōti
Part. tētil-upu tētil-āpi tētil-api tētil-ēpi tētil-ōpi
Pl. tētil-īsu tētil-īsi tētil-āīsi tētil-ēsi tētil-ōsi

n.b.The unmarked Genitive II is tētilitē, not tētilē. Why is this? This is the regular form, see examples below, which is found where the Shap. root does not end in -t and so does not assimilate to the Genitive II ending.

Except these are not the forms used either:

The postnoun ceased to exist; its number marking function was overly redundant, with the rise of quantity marking on nouns themselves, and its noun-class marking became another suffix that nouns had to carry. In this case: tētilu-na tētilucu-ni.... Generally:

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
-na/-ni -zē -cu -ra -vi/-vu -pi -nā -so -sa/-si -dē

Where there are two forms separated by a stroke, the second form is used for plurals -- this is the form deriving from the Shap. plural sie- postnoun, rather than the e- form.

Two of the forms are simplifications: -na/-ni and -nā where -mēsana/i and -mēsanā are expected.

The cu- (< Shap. cui-) and ca- demonstrative forms survived, replacing their equivalent pronouns, as did the clitic form attached to little adjectives and question adjectives. These latter forms now have more of the character of agreement prefixes, since the number-marking part of the postnoun was dropped, and so they use the same endings as nouns, except as prefixes.

From this beginning, the Shapshirruckish class-marking system undergoes a throughgoing transformation in the Martial languages. Over time, the ten primitive classes, through some unfortunate sound changes, start to collide, causing the descendant forms of the little adjectives to take their place and reform the class system, not without changes due to the special phonetic and semantic qualities of the little adjectives

More examples:

ōsadēru (< Shap. Ⅰosdairu) bone

Expected:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked ōsadēr-u ōsadēr-abu ōsadēr-aca ōsadēr-atē ōsadēr-afa ōsadēr-ō
Null. ōsadēr-ucu ōsadēr-abucu ōsadēr-acaca ōsadēr-atēca ōsadēr-afaca ōsadēr-ōca
Unit. ōsadēr-utu ōsadēr-abutu ōsadēr-acata ōsadēr-atēta ōsadēr-afata ōsadēr-ōta
Part. ōsadēr-upu ōsadēr-abupu ōsadēr-acapa ōsadēr-atēpa ōsadēr-afapa ōsadēr-ōpa
Pl. ōsadēr-uīsu ōsadēr-abuīsu ōsadēr-acaīsi ōsadēr-atēsi ōsadēr-afaīsi ōsadēr-ōsi

Actual:

It can be seen that ōsadēru differs from tētilu in the following regards:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Dat.
Unmarked ōsadēr-u ōsadēr-ā ōsadēr-aca ōsadēr-atē ōsadēr-ō
Null. ōsadēr-ucu ōsadēr-āca ōsadēr-aca ōsadēr-ēca ōsadēr-ōca
Unit. ōsadēr-utu ōsadēr-āta ōsadēr-ata ōsadēr-ēta ōsadēr-ōta
Part. ōsadēr-upu ōsadēr-āpa ōsadēr-apa ōsadēr-ēpa ōsadēr-ōpa
Pl. ōsadēr-īsu ōsadēr-īsi ōsadēr-āīsi ōsadēr-ēsi ōsadēr-ōsi

Again, presented without class marking, which in this case would be -na/-ni for human bones, and -zē for animal ones.

vowel stem: rōbavu (< Shap. robou) pebble

Expected:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked rōba-u rōba-bu rōba-ca rōba-tē rōba-va rōba-ō
Null. rōba-ucu rōba-bucu rōba-caca rōba-tēca rōba-vaca rōba-ōca
Unit. rōba-utu rōba-butu rōba-cata rōba-tēta rōba-vata rōba-ōta
Part. rōba-upu rōba-bupu rōba-capa rōba-tēpa rōba-vapa rōba-ōpa
Pl. rōba-uīsu rōba-buīsu rōba-caīsi rōba-tēsi rōba-vaīsi rōba-ōsi

Actual:

Note:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Dat.
Unmarked rōba-vu rōba-vā rōba-ca rōba-tē rōba-vō
Null. rōba-vucu rōba-vāca rōba-caca rōba-tēca rōba-vōca
Unit. rōba-vutu rōba-vāta rōba-cata rōba-tēta rōba-vōta
Part. rōba-vupu rōba-vāpa rōba-capa rōba-tēpa rōba-vōpa
Pl. rōba-vīsu rōba-vīsi rōba-cāīsi rōba-tēsi rōba-vōsi

The class suffix is -dē.

-f stem: bīnifu (< Shap. (bi)pśiⅡu) earth

Expected:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked bīnif-u bīnif-ibu bīnif-ica bīnif-itē bīnif-i bīnif-ō
Null. bīnif-ucu bīnif-ibucu bīnif-icaci bīnif-itēci bīnif-ifici bīnif-ōci
Unit. bīnif-utu bīnif-ibutu bīnif-icati bīnif-itēti bīnif-iti bīnif-ōti
Part. bīnif-upu bīnif-ibupu bīnif-icapi bīnif-itēpi bīnif-ipi bīnif-ōpi
Pl. bīnif-uīsu bīnif-ibuīsu bīnif-icaīsi bīnif-itēsi bīnif-iīsi bīnif-ōsi

Actual:

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Dat.
Unmarked bīnif-u bīnif-i bīnif-ica bīnif-itē bīnif-ō
Null. bīnif-ucu bīnif-ici bīnif-aci bīnif-ēci bīnif-ōci
Unit. bīnif-utu bīnif-iti bīnif-ati bīnif-ēti bīnif-ōti
Part. bīnif-upu bīnif-ipi bīnif-icapi bīnif-ēpi bīnif-ōpi
Pl. bīnif-uīsu bīnif-īsi bīnif-āīsi bīnif-ēsi bīnif-ōsi

Pronouns

Expected Forms

Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked mīn-u mīn-ibu mīn-ica mīn-itē mīnif-i mīn-ō
Null. mīn-ucu mīn-ibucu mīn-icaci mīn-itēci mīn-ifici mīn-ōci
Unit. mīn-utu mīn-ibutu mīn-icati mīn-itēti mīn-iti mīn-ōti
Part. mīn-upu mīn-ibupu mīn-icapi mīn-itēpi mīn-ipi mīn-ōpi
Pl. mīn-uīsu mīn-ibuīsu mīn-icaīsi mīn-itēsi mīnif-iīsi mīn-ōsi
Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked bīnif-u bīnif-ibu bīnif-ica bīnif-itē bīnif-i bīnif-ō
Null. bīnif-ucu bīnif-ibucu bīnif-icaci bīnif-itēci bīnif-ifici bīnif-ōci
Unit. bīnif-utu bīnif-ibutu bīnif-icati bīnif-itēti bīnif-iti bīnif-ōti
Part. bīnif-upu bīnif-ibupu bīnif-icapi bīnif-itēpi bīnif-ipi bīnif-ōpi
Pl. bīnif-uīsu bīnif-ibuīsu bīnif-icaīsi bīnif-itēsi bīnif-iīsi bīnif-ōsi
Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked bīnif-u bīnif-ibu bīnif-ica bīnif-itē bīnif-i bīnif-ō
Null. bīnif-ucu bīnif-ibucu bīnif-icaci bīnif-itēci bīnif-ifici bīnif-ōci
Unit. bīnif-utu bīnif-ibutu bīnif-icati bīnif-itēti bīnif-iti bīnif-ōti
Part. bīnif-upu bīnif-ibupu bīnif-icapi bīnif-itēpi bīnif-ipi bīnif-ōpi
Pl. bīnif-uīsu bīnif-ibuīsu bīnif-icaīsi bīnif-itēsi bīnif-iīsi bīnif-ōsi
Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked bīnif-u bīnif-ibu bīnif-ica bīnif-itē bīnif-i bīnif-ō
Null. bīnif-ucu bīnif-ibucu bīnif-icaci bīnif-itēci bīnif-ifici bīnif-ōci
Unit. bīnif-utu bīnif-ibutu bīnif-icati bīnif-itēti bīnif-iti bīnif-ōti
Part. bīnif-upu bīnif-ibupu bīnif-icapi bīnif-itēpi bīnif-ipi bīnif-ōpi
Pl. bīnif-uīsu bīnif-ibuīsu bīnif-icaīsi bīnif-itēsi bīnif-iīsi bīnif-ōsi
Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked bīnif-u bīnif-ibu bīnif-ica bīnif-itē bīnif-i bīnif-ō
Null. bīnif-ucu bīnif-ibucu bīnif-icaci bīnif-itēci bīnif-ifici bīnif-ōci
Unit. bīnif-utu bīnif-ibutu bīnif-icati bīnif-itēti bīnif-iti bīnif-ōti
Part. bīnif-upu bīnif-ibupu bīnif-icapi bīnif-itēpi bīnif-ipi bīnif-ōpi
Pl. bīnif-uīsu bīnif-ibuīsu bīnif-icaīsi bīnif-itēsi bīnif-iīsi bīnif-ōsi
Nom. Acc. Gen. I Gen. II Gen. III Dat.
Unmarked bīnif-u bīnif-ibu bīnif-ica bīnif-itē bīnif-i bīnif-ō
Null. bīnif-ucu bīnif-ibucu bīnif-icaci bīnif-itēci bīnif-ifici bīnif-ōci
Unit. bīnif-utu bīnif-ibutu bīnif-icati bīnif-itēti bīnif-iti bīnif-ōti
Part. bīnif-upu bīnif-ibupu bīnif-icapi bīnif-itēpi bīnif-ipi bīnif-ōpi
Pl. bīnif-uīsu bīnif-ibuīsu bīnif-icaīsi bīnif-itēsi bīnif-iīsi bīnif-ōsi