Phonological History of Emur

The Phonological History of Emur describes the phonological changes that took place between Old Sumrë and Emur. For information of the diachronic history stretching back to Proto-Sumro-Letaeric see The Phonological History of Old Sumrë.

Key to abbreviations

 * OS = Old Sumrë
 * MS = Middle Sumri
 * Mw = Malelweri
 * Mri = Maliløri
 * OC = Old Cẹhiri
 * LOC =Late Old Cẹhir
 * MC = Middle Cẹhir
 * E = Emur
 * → = changes into

Middle Sumri Period
This period covers the changes from Old Sumrë into Middle Sumri up to the 11th Century BR.
 * Loss of productivity in mobile pitch accent: The mobile pitch accent of Old Sumrë which always had a high pitch on the penultimate syllable (with the exception of definite nouns) was no longer productive in Middle Sumri. While inflected words and compounds formed in Old Sumrë carried their pitch patterns in Middle Sumri, new Middle Sumri compounds didn't follow the pattern of placing the high pitch on the penultimate syllable. OS lústas [ɫústas] "fruit" → OS lustásvar [ɫùstásvar] "fruit tree" → MS lustásvar [ɫùstásvar] "fruit tree" compared to MS lústas [ɫústas] "fruit" → MS lústaspi [ɫústaspi] "fruit sack". Notice how the OS compound shifted the high pitch to the penultimate syllable while the MS compound did not. It is from this point on that pitch patterns became fossilised.
 * Vowels are dropped between plosives and /l, n, r, s/: OS âtólen [àːtɔ́lɛn] "to turn, to twist, to spin" → MS âtlen [àːtlɛn] "to wind", OS ansóca [ànsɔ́ka] "milk tooth" → MS ànsca [ànska] "milk tooth"
 * Exceptions to this are:
 * when /l, n, r/ are word final: OS ápal [ápal] "other" → MS ábal [ábal] and not ábl.
 * when before /lC, rC/: OS apáltwo [àpáltwɔ] "to avoid" → MS abáltwo [àbáltwɔ] and not abltwo.
 * when after /Cl, Cn, Cr, Cs/: OS ạglag [áːglag] "trap hunting"  → MS ạglag [áːglag] and not ạglg.
 * /wV/ is dropped after plosives and before /s, r, l/: OS upwólen [ùpwɔ́lɛn] "to point, to gesture, to specify" → MS ùplen [ùplɛn] "to single out"
 * /ɔʊ/ is lost between /n, s/ and /r/: OS atonasówri [atɔnàsɔ́ʊri] "kindness" → MS atnàsri [atnàsri]

One exception to /b/ being lost intervocalicaly is when it was allophonicaly gemminated in OS, this mosly occurs in non-nominative B-nouns. In this case the consonant became ungemminated: OS estụbab [ɛ̀stʌ́bab] "spider" and OS estụbbë [ɛ̀stʌ́bːe] "spiders" → MS estúab [ɛ̀stúab] "spider" and MS estúbi [ɛ̀stúbi] "spiders".
 * Epenthetic /u/ between /m/ and /n/: OS émnen [ɛ́mnɛn] "to be" → MS émunen [ɛ́munɛn]
 * Epenthetic /i/ between /n/ and /m/: OS tínma [tínma] "field" → MS tínima [tínima]
 * The voiced plosives /b/ and /d/ are dropped intervocalicaly: OS múben [múbɛen] "mountain" → MS múen [múɛn], OS wañídë [wàɲíde] "always" → MS wayí [wàjí]. This change had a great effect on S-nouns whose nominative singular forms ended in /b/ but when inflected the /b/ was intervocalic where it was lost in MS:
 * S-noun: OS tércub [tɛ́rkub] "bone" and tercúbas [tɛ̀rkúbas] "bones" → MS tércub [tɛ́rkub] and tercúas [tɛ̀rkúas].
 * Consonants voice intervocalicaly: OS áculc [ákulk] "slush" → MS águlc [águlc], OS asrápi [àsrápi] "apple" → MS asrábi [àsrábi]. This has the effect of causing words ending in voiceless consonants followed by vowels to voice when inflected: OS árbat [árbat] "jacket" and OS arbátë [àrbáte] "jackets" → MS árbat [árbat] "jacket" and MS arbádi [àrbádi] "jackets".
 * /e/ merges with /i/ unconditionaly: OS tër [tér] "sad" → MS tir [tír].
 * /ɲ/ merges with /j/ unconditionaly: OS ñóca [ɲɔ́ka] "forest" → MS yóga [jɔ́ga].
 * /n/ becomes /j/ when after /ɛr/ and before a vowel with a medial stage of /ɲ/: OS érnûr [ɛ́rnʌr] "father" → MS [ɛ́rɲʌr]   → MS éryur [ɛ́rjur].
 * /g/ devoices word intially: OS gíren [gírɛn] "to fight" → MS círen [círɛn]
 * /h/ is lost unconditionally: OS họyi [hóji] "whisper" → MS ọyi.
 * [ç] becomes phonemic: In OS word final /h/ was realised as [ç]. The loss of [h] caused [ç] to become a phoneme in MS: OS colh /kɔ́lh/ [kɔ́lç] "claw" → MS colh /kɔ́lç/.
 * /aːwa/ becomes /a/: OS mâwátar [màːwátar] "buzzard" → MS mádar [mádar]
 * /ʌ/ merges with /u/ unconditionally: OS mụlmen [mʌ́lmɛn] "to hunt" → MS múlmen [múlmɛn]
 * The sequence /F1VF1/ becomes /F1/: OS ansísten [ànsístɛn] "to whiten" → MS ànsten [ànstɛn]

Summary of Middle Sumri sound changes:
V→∅/T_{l, n, r, s}! _{l, n, r, s}#, !_ {l, r}C,

V→∅/{l, n, r, s}_T! C{l, n, r, s}_

wV→∅/T_{s, l, r}

ɔʊ→∅/{n,s}_r

∅→u/m_n

∅→i/n_m

b, d→∅/V_V

C[-voice]→C[+voice]/V_V

e→i

ɲ→j

n→j/ɛr_V

g→k/#_

h→∅

aːwa→a

ʌ→u

Malelweri Period
This period covers the changes from Middle Sumri to Malelweri up until the 5th Century BR.
 * /d/ becomes /d͡ʒ/: MS àldo [àldɔ] "firewood" → Mw àljo [àld͡ʒɔ]
 * An exception to this is when /d/ is followed by /r, l, w/ : MS àldra [àldra] "torch" → Mw àldra [àldra] "candle"
 * The cluster /sk/ becomes /ʃ/: MS scémen [skɛ́mɛn] "to hit" → Mw ṡémhe [ʃɛ́ṽɛ]
 * Epenthetic /a/ between /m/ and /g/: MS nímga [nímga] "daughter" → Mw nímaga [nímaga] → nímagha [nímaɣa].
 * Consonantal Apocope: MS árbat [árbat] "jacket" → Mw árba [árba] "jacket"
 * When a word ended in a sonorant followed by a consonant an epenthetic schwa was placed between the two consonants: MS erd [ɛ́rd] "high" → Mw [ɛ́rəd]. The word final consonant was then dropped (ɛ́rəd → ɛ́rə) and the schwa become /ɔ/: Mw éro [ɛ́rɔ] "high".
 * This change had a large effect in merging the buzzard and deer genders. Since the only distinction between the buzzard and deer genders was that buzzard nouns ended in consonants and that deer nouns ended in vowels this change causes every noun to end in a vowel, in effect wiping out the buzzard gender. Some trace of the buzzard gender noun existed in Malelweri as the deleted word final consonants in buzzard nouns were retained when inflected as they were no longer word final. This was quickly leveled out however so that the vast majority of nouns inflected just like deer nouns without the deleted consonant reappearing. Some commonly used nouns preserved the lost consonant. This retention formed a new, but small irregular declension of deer nouns named the buzzard-declension: MS ron [rɔ́n] "dog" and rónu [rɔ́nu] "dog.acc" → Mw ro [rɔ́] "dog" and rónu [rɔ́nu] "dog.acc".
 * However Middle Sumri buzzard nouns that ended in /r/ levelled in Malelweri to join the R-noun declension. Middle Sumri R-nouns ended in /s f, t, d/ but alternated those consonants to /r/ when inflected. In Malelweri the final /s, f, t, d/ were dropped but the /r/ still appeared in inflected forms. As previosuly common declension Malelweri nouns that ended in /r/ dropped the final /r/ but retained in inflected forms showed a similar pattern of retaining the /r/, they were moved to the R-noun declension and adopted R-noun case endings (which were identical to Malelweri common noun endings except that R-nouns has no distinguishable non-nominative plural forms): MS éryur [ɛ́rjur] "father", eryúri [ɛ̀rjúri] "fathers" and eryúran [ɛ̀rjúran] "of fathers" → Mw éryu [ɛ́rju] "father", eryụri [ɛ̀rjýri] and eryụra [ɛ̀rjýa] "father's, of fathers"


 * /z/ devoices to /s/: MS aslázo [aslázɔ] "orb" → Mw asláso [aslásɔ]
 * Consonant clusters assimilate in voicing with the first consonant: MS azilcía [azilkíá] "illness" → Mw asilgía [asilgía]
 * The sequence /V1FV1/ becomes /FV1/:
 * The cluster /tst/ becomes /st/: MS abàltsten [abàltstɛn] "to seperate" → Mw abhàlste [aβàlstɛ] "to split, to crack, to flee"
 * i-umlaut: 
 * The back vowels /ɔ, o, u/ front to /œ, ø, y/ when /i/ occurs in the following syllable : MS rúgis [rúgis] "sheath" → Mw rụghi [rýɣi]
 * The front unrounded vowels /{a, aː} ɛ/ round to /ɶ, œ/ when /i/ occurs in the followning syllable: MS atnàsri [atnàsri] "kindness" → Mw atnȁsri [atnɶ̀sri] "joy", MS loréli "stream" → Mw lorẹli [lɔ̀rœ́li]
 * The biggest affect of this was final vowels of nouns mutating due to the common plural suffix being -i /i/. Mw ā̀dbo [àːbɔ] "nightmare" → ȁdbi [ɶ̀dbi] "nightmares"
 * /p, b, t, k, g, m/ lenite into /ɸ, β, θ, x, ɣ, ṽ/ intervocalicaly: MS asrábi [àsrábi] "apple" → Mw asrạbhi [àsrɶ́βi].
 * Due to the previous change of V1FV1→FV1 in Middle Sumri causing penultimate /i/ to drop in plural forms of nouns ending in /iC/, when that C was /p, b, k, g, m/ it was no longer in an intervocalic environment when plural, but was when singular. This caused the creation of a new declension named the Si-plurals. MS rúgis [rúgis] "sheath" and rugzí [rùgzí] "sheaths" → Mw rụghi [rýɣi] "sheath" and rȕgsi [rỳgsi] "sheaths".
 * Loss of /w, r, l/ after a plosive and before a vowel: MS abáltwo [àbáltwɔ] "to avoid" → abhálto [àβáltɔ]
 * Metaphesis of /bd/ to /db/: MS ârbdwo [àːrbdwɔ] "nightmare" → Mw ā̀dbo [àːdbɔ]
 * Loss of /r/ before /d/: This change was very restricted and attested only in a handfull of words. MS ârbdwo [àːrbdwɔ] "horror, terror" → Mw ā̀rdbo [àːrdbwɔ] → ā̀dbo [àːdbɔ]

Summary of Malelweri sound changes:
d→d͡ʒ

sk→ʃ

∅→a/m_g

VRC→VRəC/_#

C→∅/_#

ə→ɔ

z→s

C[-voice]→C[+voice]/C[+voice]_

C[+voice]→C[-voice]/C[-voice]_

V1FV1→FV1

tst→st

a, {e, o}, {ɛ, ɔ}, u→ ɶ, ø,  œ, ø, y/_...i

p, b, t, d, k, g, m→ɸ, β, θ, ð, x, ɣ,  ṽ/V_V

w, r, l→∅/T_V

bd→db

r→∅/_d (sporadic)

Maliløri Period
This period covers the changes between Malelweri and Maliløri up until the 4th Century BR.
 * The vowels /ɔ/ and /ɛ/ merge with /o/ and /e/: Mw áro [árɔ] "bird" → Mri ro [ro]
 * Loss of word initial /a/ and /a:/: Mw ayósfa [àjɔ́sfa] "shore, coast" → Mri yósəfa [jósəfa]
 * Disyllabic words that began with /a/ followed by a /m, n, r, s, l/ followed by a consonant syllabified the first consonant: Mw àldra [àldra] "candle" → Mri ldəra [l̩dəra]
 * Multisyllabic words that began with /a/ followed by /m, n, r, s, l/ dropped the  /n, r, s, l/  also: Mw artódo [àrtɔ́dɔ] "guilt" → Mri tódo [tódo] "guilt"
 * Words that began with /a/ followed by a consonant followed by /m, n, r, s, l/  syllabified the second consonant: Mw atnásu [atnásu] "happy" → Mri tnásu [tn̩ásu]
 * Word final long vowels become overlong: Mw àrstā [àrstaː] "I return something" → Mri rstâ [r̩staːː]
 * The sequences /xV/ and /ɣV/ become /a/, when the vowel is round they become /o/: Mw aghúlva [àɣúlva] "personal space" → Mri ṓləva [óləva] "aggression"
 * The sequence /Vx/ and /Vɣ/ become /a:/, when the vowel is round they become /o:/: Mw älgígha [ɶ̀lgíɣa] "flock" → Mri älgṓ [ɶ̀lgóː]
 * Two vowels in hiatus merge into one long vowel,with the second vowel merging with the first: Mw arwóe [arwɔ́ɛ] "to sieze" → Mri rwṓ [r̩wóː]
 * Epenthesis of /ə/ between non-syllabic sonorants and consonants: Mw aválbo [àválbɔ] "shedded skin" → Mri váləbo [váləbo] "down, loose feather"
 * The affricate /d͡ʒ/ and the fricative /ʃ/ become the clusters /dj/ and /sj/: Mw mája [mád͡ʒa] "buzzard" → Mri  mádya [mádja]
 * When /d͡ʒ/ and /ʃ/ occur before a consonant they become /di/ and /si/ instead: Mw ànṡcu [ànʃku] "blizzard" → Mri ànsicu [ànsiku]

Summary of Maliløri sound changes:
ɔ, ɛ→o, e

aː, a→∅/#_

m, n, s, l, r→m̩, n̩, s̩, l̩, r̩/#_C,#C_

Vː→Vːː

xV, ɣV→a, o

Vx, Vɣ→aː, oː

V1V2→V1ː

mC, nC, sC, lC, rC→məC, nəC, səC, ləC, rəC

d͡ʒ, ʃ→di, si/_C

d͡ʒ, ʃ→dj, sj

Old Cẹhir Period
This period covers the changes from Maliløri to Old Cẹhir up untl the 1st Century MA.
 * Loss of word final /e, a, o/: Mri yósəfa [jósəfa] "coast" → OC yósəf [jɑ́sə̀f]
 * When the approximants /j/ an /w/ preceeded word final /e, a, o/ they were lost also: Mri dyonálwa [djònálwa] "heart" → OC dyanál [djɑ̀nɑ́l]
 * An exception to this rule is in monosyllabic words: Mri ro [ro] "dog" → OC ra [rɑ́]
 * However monosyllabic words ending in C{w,j}{e,a,o} loose the final vowel and vocalise the approximants to become C{u,i}: Mri rwo [r̩wo] "rhino" → OC ru [rú]
 * The fricatives /ɸ, β, x, ṽ / debuccalise to become /h/: Mri srạbhi [s̩rɶ́βi] "apple" → OC sróhi [s̩róhì]
 * The plosives /p, t, k/ lenite to become the fricatives /ɸ, θ, x/: Mri tódo [tódo] "guilt" → OC þát [θɑ́t] "mistake"
 * The plosives /b d, g/ devoice to become the plosives /p, t, k/: Mri ldəra [l̩dəra] "candle"→ OC ĺtər [ĺ̩tə̀r] "wax".
 * One exception is that /b/ doesn't devoice when word intitial and before a back vowel: Mri bạti [bɶ́ti] "fur" → OC bóþi [bóθì] "down, fluffy feather" and not póþi [póθì].
 * The fricatives /ɸ, θ, x, s/ voice to become /β, ð, ɣ, z/ when after a low tone or unaccented vowel: Mri äsílga [ɶ̀sílga] "constellation" → OC ozílc [òzílk].
 * Unaccented /e/ becomes /i/ except when before /r/: Mri nsəte [n̩sətɛ] "to whiten" → OC nsə́þi [ǹ̩sə́θi].
 * The vowels /o(ː)(ːː)/ and /a(ː)(ːː)/ become /ɑ(ː)(ːː)/: Mri älgṓ [ɶ̀lgóː] "flock" → OC olcā́ [òlkáː] "herd of domestic eagles, fleet".
 * The vowels /ɶ, œ, ø, y/ shift to become /o, a, œ, ø/:
 * Tone reform: Old Cẹhir restructured its tone system based on the fossilied tones inherited from Old Sumre:
 * When the first syllable of a word begins in a low tone followed by an unaccented syllable, the second syllable gains a high tone: OC sènsəð [sènsəð] "to mount" → OC sensə́ð [sènsə́ð].
 * When the first syllable of a word begins in a high tone followed by an unaccented syllable, the second syllable gains a low tone: OC vúrət [vúrət] "seperation, gulf, gap" → OC vúrət [vúrə̀t].
 * When a syllable that has a low tone follows an unaccented syllable, the first syllable gains a high tone: OC izəþöí [izəðø̀í] "reigns, tether" → OC izə́ðöí [izə́ðø̀í].
 * When a syllable that has a high tone follows an unaccented syllable, the first syllable gains a low tone: OC tuvár [tuvɑ́r] "crow" → tuvár [tùvɑ́r].
 * When a word has no tone at all it gains tone depending on the voicing of its consonants:
 * When the consonant after the first vowel/syllabic consonant is unvoiced the first syllable gains a high tone and the second syllable gains a low tone: OC ltər [l̩tər] "wax" → OC ĺtər [ĺ̩tə̀r] "wax".
 * When the consonant after the first vowel/syllabic consonant is voiced the first syllable gains a low tone and the second syllable gains a high tone: OC nlā [n̩lɑː] "nose" → OC nlā́ [ǹ̩lɑ́ː]

Summary of Old Cẹhir sound changes:
C{w,j}{e,a,o}→C{u,i}/_#

e, a, o→∅/_#!#C_#

ɸ, β, x, ṽ →h

p, t, k → ɸ, θ, x

b, d, g→p, t, k

ɸ, θ, x, s→ β, ð, ɣ, z/V[-high]_

e[-tone]→i!_r

o(ː)(ːː), a(ː)(ːː)→ɑ(ː)(ːː)

ɶ, œ, ø, y→o, a, œ, ø

$[-tone]→$[+high]/$[+low]..._

$[-tone]→$[+low]/$[+high]..._

$[-tone]→$[+high]/_...$[+low]

$[-tone]→$[+low]/_...$[+high]

$[-tone]C[-voice]$[-tone]→$[+high]C[-voice]$[+low]

$[-tone]C[+voice]$[-tone]→$[+low]C[+voice]$[+high]

Late Old Cẹhir Period
This period covers the changes between Old Cẹhiri and Late Old Cẹhir up until the 3rd Century MA.
 * /ə/ becomes /ɑ/: OC ĺtər [ĺ̩tə̀r] "wax" → LOC ĺtar [ĺ̩tɑ̀r].
 * Long /ɑː/ becomes /o:/: OC nlā́ [ǹ̩lɑ́ː] "nose" → LOC nlṓ [ǹ̩lóː]
 * Loss of /j/ when intervocalic: OC oyínəzu "stupid" → LOC oínazu
 * Loss of word final /i/: OC bóþi [bóθì] "down, fluffy feather" → LOC bóþ [bóθ]
 * An effect of this change is that common nouns changed how they are marked for plurality:
 * Common nouns ending in vowels: Nouns that ended in vowels marked their plurality by replacing the final vowel with the suffix -i which caused i-mutation on the vowel in the preceedig syllable. However due to leveling the i-mutation no longer affected this class of nouns. When the final /i/ was dropped the final vowel of the stem continues to be dropped but was no longer replaced, creating zero marking plurality. These nouns are known as "weak nouns": OC olcā́, olcí [òlkáː, òlkí] "eagle flock, eagle flocks" → LOC olcṓ, òlc [òlkóː, òlk].
 * Common nouns ending in consonants: Due to the earlier i-mutation in Malelweri which caused the plural suffix to mutate the final vowel of the noun stem. The plural of common nouns ending in consonants is inferred by this mutation alone after word final /i/ was lost. These nouns are known as "strong nouns": OC þát. þẹti [θɑ́t, θœ́ti] "mistake, mistakes" → LOC þát, þẹt [θɑ́t, θœ́t]
 * Common nouns ending in /i/: Since common nouns whose stem ended in /i/ already had the effects of i-mutation affect them in their singular forms and that both their final vowel and plural suffix had been deleted by this sound change, no remnents of the old plural were left on these nouns. Due to this their nominative singular and plural forms look identical. These nouns are known as "stale nouns": OC sróhi, sróhi [sróhì] "apple, apples" → LOC sróh, sróh [sróç] "apple, apples".
 * Word final [h] becomes [ç]: OC sróhi [sróhì] "apple" → LOC sróh [sróç]

Summary of Late Old Cẹhir sound changes:
ə→ɑ

ɑː(ː)→oː(ː)

j→∅/V_V

i→∅/_#

h→ç/_#

Middle Cẹhir Period
This period covers the changes between Late Old Cẹhir and Middle Cẹhir up until the 6th Century MA.
 * /z/ rhotasises to /r/: LOC oínazu [òínɑzu] "stupid" → MC oínaru [òínɑru] "innocent"
 * Loss of /l/ after fricatives: LOC síraðlás [sírɑ̀ðlɑ́s] "shreik" → MC sárðas [sɑ́rðɑ̀s]
 * Long /oː/ becomes /uː/ word finally: LOC nlṓ [ǹ̩lóː] "nose" → MC nulū́ [nùlúː]
 * Syllabic consonants become consonental: By insterting a vowel between them and the nearby consonant, syllabic consonants are no longer syllabic. The epenthetic vowel is the same as whatever vowel is in the syllable after the syllabic consonant, although the epenthetic vowel will always be short and carry the pitch that its syllabic predecer had: LOC nlṓ [ǹ̩lóː] "nose" → MC nulū́ [nùlúː], LOC þnásu [θǹ̩ɑ́su] "happy" → MC þanásu [θɑ̀nɑ́su].
 * Loss of vowels after fricatives, /r/ and before /ð/ and /θ/:
 * Tone reform: Another tone reform although much tamer than the last tone reform. In this reform the structure bases itself on the tone of the first syllable, such that if the first syllable has a high tone then the second syllable will gain a low tone and any syllables after will lose all tone and vice versa, thus creatng a system with two possible patterns and where tones only occur on the first two syllables: LOC síraðlás [sírɑ̀ðlɑ́s] "shreik" → MC sárðas [sɑ́rðɑ̀s]. This also fixes the tone patterns in place removing all traces of Old Sumrë's fossilsed mobile pitch. Despite how it is fixed it retains it's phonemic status due to there being two pitch patterns which are "soaring pitch" (where a word's first syllable has a high tone) and "swooping pitch" (where a word's first syllable has a low pitch).
 * Vowels before /rC/ become the same vowel as the vowel after /rC/: LOC izáðö [izáðø̀] "reigns" → MEC írðö → ọrðö [ǿrðø̀].

Summary of Middle Cẹhir sound changes:
z→r

l→∅/F_

oː→uː

R[+syllabic]...V1→RV1...V1

V→∅/{F,r}_{ð,θ}


 * 1) $V[+high]$[any tone]→#$[+high]$[+low]


 * 1) $V[+low]$[any tone]→#$[+low]$[+high]

V1rCV2→V2rCV2

Emur Period
This period covers the changes between Middle Cẹhir and Emur up until the 11th Century MA.

Summary of Emur sound changes:
θ→∅/_#

θ→h/#_

ð, θ→v, f

V1→∅/V1..._

k, g, x, ɣ →ts, dz, s, z/_E, E_

V[-round]→V[+round]/_V[+round]

V[+round]→V[-round]/_V[-round]

VN→Ṽ

ɤ→e

C→Cʲ/_E

j→lʲ/{p, b, m}_

tʲ, dʲ, sʲ, nʲ, rʲ, l, lʲ→t͡ɕ, d͡ʒ, ɕ, ɲ, r, ɫ, l

Vː→V

d͡ʒi, ɕi, →ɖʐɨ, ʈʂɨ

V[-high]→∅!#{(V)C_#!#_CC#

w→v

C1C2V→C1VC2

C1C2C1 → C1C2

R→∅/#_C(V)