The normal order of the Ancestral sentence is Verb > Subject > Direct Object > Indirect Object | Prepostional Phrase (VSO). Adverbs and adnouns typically follow the verbs and nouns they modify.
The Ancestral adverb typically follows the verb it modifies, agrees with its focus, and is introduced (or marked) by the comparative particle /la/.
The Ancestral adnoun typically follows the noun it modifies, agrees with its case, and is introduced (or marked) by the comparative particle /la/.
- Adposition
- Affirmative
- Augmentative
- Conjunction | Coordinator
- Conjunction | Correlator
- Conjunction | Subordinator
- Diminutive
- Evidential
- Expletive
- Interjection
- Interrogative
- Modal
- Negative
- Pro-Adnoun
- Pro-Adverb
- Pro-Noun
- Pro-Verb
- Quotative Particle
Introduction
The canonical Ancestral verb is composed of three distinct elements:
- A vocalic focus marker circumfix
- A consonantal semantic root
- A vocalic tense marker infix
In other words, each verb can be analyzed as V1 + CC + VV + CC + V1 where:
- V1 = focus marker (indicating the emphasis of the sentence)
- CC__CC = semantic root (indicating the lexical meaning of the verb)
- VV = tense marker (indicating one of twenty-five tenses)
Every verb is introduced (marked) by one or more mood particles, indicating the attitude of the speaker to the thought.
An interesting feature of Ancestral is that every noun is in effect a “frozen” verb, that is a “being” at a particular moment in time.
Introduction
The canonical Ancestral noun is composed of three distinct elements:
- A vocalic case marker circumfix
- A consonantal semantic root
- A vocalic state marker infix
In other words, each noun can be analyzed as V1 + CC + VV + CC + V1 where:
- V1 = case marker (indicating the role of the noun in the sentence)
- CC__CC = semantic root (indicating the lexical meaning of the noun)
- VV = state marker (indicating the growth state of the noun)
Every noun is introduced (marked) by one or more noun particles, indicating additional information about the noun.
An interesting feature of Ancestral is that every noun is in effect a “frozen” verb, that is a “being” at a particular moment in time.
Introduction
In contrast to its unusually rich consonant system, the Ancestral vowel is the picture of simplicity. It simply consists of the five most common vowels in the modern world, pronounced (I believe) in more or less the Spanish manner.
No, the only remarkable thing about the Ancestral vowel is lexical, not phonological. Each of the five cardinal vowels is associated with one aspect of a single semantic sphere, namely “growth.” The nearest equivalent in a modern language is the “sing, sang, sung” pattern of Modern English, a lovely artefact of the Proto-Indo-European ablaut system.
The base vowel of every Ancestral noun can have one of these five vowel expressions, each of which indicates the specific “growth state” of that noun. For further details on this system, please see The Ancestral Noun.
The five cardinal vowels can be combined into twenty-five diphthongs, each of which is used as a wonderfully compact tense marker. For further details on this system, please see The Ancestral Verb.
Phonetic Analysis
- [i] high, front, unrounded vowel
- [e] mid, front, unrounded vowel
- [a] low, central vowel
- [o] mid, back, rounded vowel
- [u] high, back, rounded vowel
Phonemic Analysis
- /i/ high, front vowel
- /e/mid, front vowel
- /a/ low, central vowel
- /o/ mid, back vowel
- /u/ high, back vowel
Monophthong Semantics
- /i / indefinite future, dreamtime
- /e/ future, young, growing, waxing
- /a/ present, mature
- /o / past, old, fading, waning
- /u/ indefinite past, dreamtime
Dipththong Semantics
- /ii/ distant future > distant future
- /ie/
- /ia/
- /io/
- /iu/
- /ei/
- /ee/
- /ea/
- /eo/
- /eu/
- /ai/
- /ae/
- /aa/ now > now
- /au/
- /oi/
- /oe/
- /oa/
- /oo/
- /ou/
- /ui/
- /ue/
- /ua/
- /uo/
- /uu/ distant past > distant past
Diphthong Chart
|
ii |
ie |
ia |
io |
iu |
|
ei |
ee |
ea |
eo |
eu |
|
ai |
ae |
aa |
ao |
au |
|
oi |
oe |
oa |
oo |
ou |
|
ui |
ue |
ua |
uo |
uu |
Introduction
At first glance, the Ancestral consonant is breathtakingly complex. On closer inspection, however, I believe the Ancestral speaker understood it to consist of ten places and ten manners of articulation, the intersection of which was the sound (or, more properly, the absence of sound) we know as the glottal stop.
Consonant Chart (In Transcription)
| s | ||||||||||
| f | ||||||||||
| h | ||||||||||
| x | ||||||||||
| q | ||||||||||
| p | b | t | d | c | ’ | j | y | k | w | g |
| v | ||||||||||
| z | ||||||||||
| r | ||||||||||
| l | ||||||||||
| n |
Places Of Articulation
My tentative reconstruction of the places of articulation, from left to right above, are as follows:
- Bilabial
- Linguo-Labial
- Interdental
- Alveolar
- Retroflex
- Expressive
- Palato-Alveolar
- Palato-Velar
- Velar
- Labio-Velar
- Uvular
The Bilabial series is made with both lips, as in the English word /pop/ “pop”.
The Linguo-Labial series is made by placing the tip of the tongue against the upper lip, as in the Tangoa word /tete/ “butterfly”. It is an unusual sound in today’s world, but it is not difficult to pronounce.
The Interdental series is made by placing the tip of the tongue between the teeth.
The Alveolar series is made by placing the tip of the tongue behind the teeth, as in the English word /tot/ “tot”.
The Palato-Velar and Labio-Velar series will be instantly familiar to anyone acquainted with the classic reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European sound system, but
The Expressive (my term) series puzzled me for a very long time.I now believe that the Expressive series does not correspond to any definable place of articulation; instead, it consists of the most marked (i.e. acoustically distinct) representative of each permissible manner of articulation — a “super-series”, if you will. My work on understanding this aspect of the Ancestral consonant continues.
Manners of Articulation
My tentative reconstruction of the places of articulation, from top to bottom above, is as follows:
- Spirant
- Fricative
- Aspirate
- Explosive
- Laryngeal
- Plosive
- Murmur
- Implosive
- Rhotic
- Lateral
- Nasal
I would note in passing that the presence of clicked consonants will add fuel to the fire of those who believe the clicks of Khoisan are ancient.
Consonant Cluster Chart 1 (In Transcription)
| sp | sb | st | sd | sc | s | sj | sy | sk | sw | sg |
| fp | fb | ft | fd | fc | f | fj | fy | fk | fw | fg |
| hp | hb | ht | hd | hc | h | hj | hy | hk | hw | hg |
| xp | xb | xt | xd | xc | x | xj | xy | xk | xw | xg |
| qp | qb | qt | qd | qc | q | qj | qy | qk | qw | qg |
| p | b | t | d | c | ’ | j | y | k | w | g |
| vp | vb | vt | vd | vc | v | vj | vy | vk | vw | vg |
| zp | zb | zt | zd | zc | z | zj | zy | zk | zw | zg |
| rp | rb | rt | rd | rc | r | rj | ry | rk | rw | rg |
| lp | lb | lt | ld | lc | l | lj | ly | lk | lw | lg |
| np | nb | nt | nd | nc | n | nj | ny | nk | nw | ng |
Consonant Cluster Chart 2 (In Transcription)
| ps | bs | ts | ds | cs | s | js | ys | ks | ws | gs |
| pf | bf | tf | df | cf | f | jf | yf | kf | wf | gf |
| ph | bh | th | dh | ch | h | jh | yh | kh | wh | gh |
| px | bx | tx | dx | cx | x | jx | yx | kx | wx | gx |
| pq | bq | tq | dq | cq | q | jq | yq | kq | wq | gq |
| p | b | t | d | c | ’ | j | y | k | w | g |
| pv | bv | tv | dv | cv | v | jv | yv | kv | wv | gv |
| pz | bz | tz | dz | cz | z | jz | yz | kz | wz | gz |
| pr | br | tr | dr | cr | r | jr | yr | kr | wr | gr |
| pl | bl | tl | dl | cl | l | jl | yl | kl | wl | gl |
| pn | bn | tn | dn | cn | n | jn | yn | kn | wn | gn |
Infrastructure
- Arts Center
- Cultural Environments
- Cultural History Center
Company
- Culture
Feigned History Museum
- Explorers’ Club
- Secret Passages