Proto-Cymec Pamedarian
| Proto-Cymec Pamedarian | |
|---|---|
| Language Code | PCM |
| Endonym (Romanised) | Kymba |
| Endonym (IPA) | /kymba/ |
| Endonym (Etymology) | West |
| Language Family | Cymec Pamedarian |
Proto-Cymec Pamedarian was the original language spoken by a group of Lower Pamedarian clans about 3000 to 5000 years ago. Due to strong influence from Proto-Tersamian, Cymec Pamedarian has lost all of the uvular and pharyngealised consonants, developed vowel harmony and has a slightly more complex syllable structure, with more consonants allowed in the coda. In addition, PCM is strongly head-initial, unlike the mixed nature of Proto-Pamedarian. However, unlike both Proto-Tersamian and Proto-Pamedarian, PCM does not have grammatical gender, although it still has separate pronouns for animate and inanimate nouns.
Phonology
Consonants
Proto-Cymec Pamedarian has a much reduced set of consonants compared to Proto-Pamedarian, but still retains a 3-way distinction in plosives (fortis, aspirated and lenis).
| Consonants | Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex¹ | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | [ɳ] | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | Fortis | p | t | [ʈ] | k | ||
| Aspirated | pʰ <ph> | tʰ <th> | [ʈʰ] | kʰ <kh> | |||
| Lenis | b | d | [ɖ] | g | |||
| Fricative | s | [ʂ] | ʃ <sj> | x ~ h <h> | |||
| Affricate | d͡z ~ z <z> | [ʈ͡ʂ] [ɖ͡ʐ ~ ʐ] | t͡ʃ <c> | ||||
| Approximant | l | ɻ ~ ɽ <r> [ɭ] | j | ||||
- Retroflex consonants are pronounced subapically like in Tamil.
Just like in Swedish, retroflex /ɻ/ can cause neighbouring consonants to become retroflex. When the following consonants come after /ɻ/, their position of articulation changes accordingly, with /ɻ/ being elided:
| Original Sequence | New Sequence |
|---|---|
| /ɻn/ | [ɳ] |
| /ɻt/ | [ʈ] |
| /ɻtʰ/ | [ʈʰ] |
| /ɻd/ | [ɖ] |
| /ɻs/, /ɻʃ/ | [ʂ] |
| /ɻd͡z ~ ɻz/ | [ɖ͡ʐ ~ ʐ] |
| /ɻt͡ʃ/ | [ʈ͡ʂ] |
| /ɻl/ | [ɭ] |
/ɻ/ can also influence precending consonants in a similar manner, but in this case, it does not get elided:
| Original Sequence | New Sequence |
|---|---|
| /nɻ/ | [ɳɻ] |
| /tɻ/ | [ʈɻ] |
| /sɻ/, /ʃɻ/ | [ʂɻ] |
| /lɻ/ | [ɭɻ] |
In summary,
ɻ{n,t,tʰ,d,{s,ʃ},d͡z,t͡ʃ,l} > {ɳ,ʈ,ʈʰ,ɖ,ʂ,ɖ͡ʐ,ʈ͡ʂ,ɭ}
{n,t,{s,ʃ},l}ɻ > {ɳ,ʈ,ʂ,∅}ɻ
Coda plosives sometimes assimilate for voicing. Particularly, if the plosive comes before /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /b/, /d/, /g/, /d͡z/, then it becomes voiced:
{p,t,k}{m,n,ŋ,b,d,g,d͡z} > {b,d,g}C
Other assimilatory processes include:
sj > ʃ
CC > C
{sʃ,ʃs} > ʃ
ʃd͡z > sd͡z
st͡ʃ > ʃt͡ʃ
VV > Vː
Vowels
Proto-Cymbec features tongue-root vowel harmony, with 4 vowels in each of the categories. All vowels in a word should ideally be in the same category.
| Vowels | Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +ATR | -ATR | +ATR | -ATR | |
| High | i | ɨ <ï> | y ~ ʊ <y> | u ~ o <u> |
| Low | e | ɛ <ë> | a | ɔ ~ ɒ <o> |
Two vowels may come together to form a diphthong, or a long vowel if they are the same quality.
Phonotactics
The maximum syllable structure is CVV{m,n,ŋ,p,t,k,s,ʃ,x,l,ɻ}. If both vowels are the same quality, they merge to become a long vowel.
Prosody
Stress usually occurs on the first syllable but it is non-phonemic.