ProtoLanguage-Primer-2.htm

THE PROTO-LANGUAGE

PRIMER





(Part Two)

by Patrick C. Ryan

(9/23/98)

Lesson Three

D. Stress-Accent

(continued)

The Proto-Language had no adpositions (pre- or postpositions) but did have compounds containing nouns as second elements which were stress-accented on the second element to indicate a momentary relationship, which supplemented the understood spatial relationships of the verbs:

K[?]E HAK[?]XA HHE
[ / ge hagzha xe \ ]
The male goes behind the woman.

K[?]E HAT[?]A HHE
[ / ge hada xe \ ]
The male goes beside the woman.

The Proto-Language had no adverbs but did have phrases constructed like compounds containing verbs as second elements which were stress-accented on the second element to indicate a momentary relationship, which supplemented the understood spatial relationships of the verbs. This is a familiar pattern from modern Asian and African languages.

II. Topic




A. Object Substitutions

1. "Pronouns"

The Proto-Language had no pronouns per se but it had a number of nouns which functioned in the same way as our pronouns, and from which pronouns in many languages eventually developed.

There are two parties to a conversation: the speaker(s) and him/those to whom another speaks. These, of course, correspond to the 1^st and 2^nd persons of familiar grammatical nomenclature.

The nature of the social relationship between those two parties determined the choice of nouns just as it does in modern Asian languages.

Several of the terms could substitute for nouns in various persons. The only restriction on the use of any term was that it stood for only one person in a given context.

An example is NA, 'one', which could function as a 3^rd person referent if the 1^st and 2^nd person referents were żE, 'speaker', and FO, 'listener' (or vice versa; see below; however, if the 1^st and 2^nd person referents were NA, 'one', and K[H]E, 'other', another referent like S[H]O, 'clan-member', or T[H]O, 'tribe-member' was used.

An interesting case is żE, 'speaker', and FO, 'listener', which were used to express social distance: if the actual speaker was of higher social status than the actual listener, he referred to himself as żE, 'speaker' and so did the person of lower social status, even when the person of lower social status was actually speaking. Conversely, the person of lower social status referred to himself as FO, 'listener' even when he was actually speaking, and the person of higher social status referred to him as FO, 'listener', also when speaking to him.

M[H]O, 'human', S[H]O, 'clan-member', and T[H]O, 'tribe-member' could refer to any of the three persons.

żE, 'speaker', and FO, 'listener', were restricted to the 1^st and 2^nd persons however they were assigned within this category.

A referent that had a narrower range of employment was ME, 'conversational partners', which seems to have been restricted in its earliest employment to the inclusive 1^st person plural.

Other referents which were restricted were MA, 'it' (as a place); P[?]A, 'it' (as an material object); ?A, 'here, I'; ?O, 'there, you'; ?E, 'over there, he/it'.

The ambiguity of NA, 'one', could be eliminated by compounds with one of the last-mentioned: ?A-NA, 'the one here, I', etc. but so also could P[?]A, 'it', where the reference remained primarily adverbial: ?A-P[?]A, 'the object here', etc.

We have discussed the interrogative (pro)nouns above; and it should be clear that ?A, 'this'; ?O, 'that'; ?E, 'that over there', and their compounds like ?A-P[?]A fulfilled the role of what we would call demonstratives.

Referents for the exclusive 1^st person plural were NO, 'those put inside', and a compound NOHH (nox), 'those who have segregated themselves'. Exclusive in this context means that there are listeners who are not included in the grouping.

As an indefinite referent, there was R[H]E, 'anyone' or RE, 'anything'.

Other referents that could refer to any of the three persons were N[H]A, 'the one (animate)', and P[H]A, 'the part (animate)'.

With these, K[?]E, 'male', or HA, 'female', or K[?]XE, 'face, -self' and T[?]SA, 'body, -self', could be compounded when this distinction was useful; and żE could be added to indicate a possessive.

For the purposes of those who wish to learn to speak the Proto-Language, I suggest a simplification:

III. Comment





A. Aspect



Even linguists sometimes find in difficult to keep the imperfective aspect and the imperfect mode separate.

The imperfect mode is basically progressive: it depicts an action in progress, regardless of whether is that action is directed explicitly to a logical conclusion (perfective) or not (imperfective); the perfect mode is basically completive: it depicts an action which has been completed, i.e. has ceased regardless of whether the logical conclusion of the action was attained.

The imperfect mode is typically expressed in English in transitive sentences by modifying the direct object with a preposition:

He sips at the water in the glass.

Whereas the perfect mode is typically expressed in English in transitive sentences by modifying the verb with an adverb:

He sips up the water in the glass.

The first sentence implies that there will be water left in the glass; the sentence, that no water will be left in the glass.




1. Perfective

The perfective aspect was formed simply in the Proto-Language by adding a stress-accented HHA, 'a large definite number', to animate verbs (those beginning with aspiration, H or HH); the idea is that a large indefinite number of repetitions inevitably leads to completion.

With inanimate verbs (those not beginning with aspiration, H nor HH), the perfective aspect was formed simply in the Proto- Language by adding a stress-accented żA, 'a large definite number'.

K[?]E RA KX[H]EHHA
[ / ge ra kshexa \ ]
The male raced to the tree.



HA R[H]Ażⁱ QO K[?]OżA
[ / ha Raiy ngo goya \ ]
The female twisted off the head of the bird.





2. Imperfective

The imperfective aspect was formed simply in the Proto-Language by adding a stress-accented FHA, 'a small definite number', to animate verbs (those beginning with aspiration, H or HH); the idea is that a small definite number of repetitions inevitably leads to lack of completion.

With inanimate verbs (those not beginning with aspiration, H nor HH), the imperfective aspect was formed simply in the Proto-Language by adding a stress-accented FA, 'a small definite number'.

K[?]E RA-TS[H]O KX[H]EFHA
[ / ge ra-tso kshefa \ ]
The male was running around (from) the tree.



HA K[H]Ożⁱ FO K[?]OżA
[ / ha koiy vo gova \ ]
The female was twisting (on) the ear of the child.





3. Other Aspects (for Table of Formants, press here)


a. HA / ?A, STATIVE

K[?]E KX[H]EHA
[ / ge ksheha \ ]
The male was fast.



K[H]Ożⁱ T[?]SO K[?]E?A
[ / koiy dzo ge(?)a \ ]
The child's arm was bowed (to the front).



b. N[H]A / NA, INGRESSIVE

K[?]E KX[H]EN[H]A
[ / ge kshehna \ ]
The male sprang (began to run).



K[H]O FA ?ET[?]AN
[ / ko va (?)edan \ ]
The child began to eat the vegetable.


Notice that an originally disyllabic durative verb (*?ET[?](A)), wen combined with a stress-accented formative, draws the stress-accent back to the previously stress-unaccented syllable (T[?]A).



c. P[H]A / P[?]A, DIMINUTIVE

K[?]E T[?]SO KX[H]OP[H]A
[ / ge dzo kshopa \ ]
The male shaped (cut small pieces off of) the branch.



K[H]O T[?]SAP[?]A
[ / ko dzaba \ ]
The child was (unusually) large.



d. R[H]E / RE, TRANSFORMATIVE

K[?]Eż K[?]XA K[H]ER[H]E
[ / geiy gzha keRe \ ]
The male's hair becomes gray.



HA FA K[?]ARE
[ / ha va gare \ ]
The female gathered (in cupped hands) vegetables.



e. R[H]O / RO, AUGMENTATIVE

HA SE M[H]OR[H]O
[ / ge ze hmoRo \ ]
The female mills the seed (wanders over more than once).



NA K[H]EżER^o
[ / na keyeur \ ]
The rock is dark (grayer).



f. S[H]E / SE, SINGULATIVE

HA SO K[H]ES[H]E
[ / ha zo kese \ ]
The female perforated (make one gore) the skin.



HA HHA T[?]E-SE
[ / ha xa deze \ ]
The female goes slowly (one step at a time) to the water.



g. T[H]O / T[?]O, ITERATIVE

K[?]E T[?]SO P[H]AT[H]O
[ / ge dzo pato \ ]
The male spreads (his) arms [repeatedly flattens].



HA K[?]XA NOT[?]O
[ / ha gzha nodo \ ]
The female braided (her) hair [repeatedly put inside].



h. X[H]A / XA, INTENSIVE

K[?]E PF[H]EX[H]A
[ / ge mo pfesha \ ]
The male roasts the meat (by stirring embers).



K[H]O HATS[H]O P[?]FEXA
[ / ko hatso bvezha \ ]
The child flees from the female.






B. Mode



The progressive mode simply emphasizes the progress of the action; the completive mode, its cessation.


a. żE, PROGRESSIVE


HA FAREżⁱ ME SO
[ / ha vareiy me zo \ ]
The female is setting a fire while we drink.




b. M[H]O, COMPLETIVE


MO FAREM[H]^o
[ / mo vare:um \ ]
The meat is warm.

Vocabulary

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The Proto-Language (5) ?, (4) ?, (3) ?, (2) ?, (1) ?,

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