Chaek Caep / Tsyháek Tsyáep (i.e. Middle Tshyak)

[Travis B.]

This is a thread on a descendent of Tshyak, now renamed Tshyak Plaew (i.e. Old Tshyak). It represents the transition of the language to being more analytic, the reduction of its phonology, and the development of tone.

[Travis B.]

Sound Change

The following changes are already present, but are relevant below:

• hr > ɻ̥
• hl > ɬ
• hw > ʍ
• hj > ç
• hm > m̥
• hn > n̥
• hɲ > ɲ̊
• hŋ > ŋ̊

The following changes take place:

• All unstressed (i.e. not in the root syllable) vowels reduce to [ə].
• Voiced obstruents in the onset and in prefixes, unless there is a voiceless prefix preceding it, cause the development of low tone; all other syllables receive high tone.
• Prefix /m/ before a root onset consonant becomes homorganic prenasalization of the onset consonant and is otherwise lost, except [məh] becomes [m̥].
• nz ɳʐ ɲʑ > ndz ɳdʐ ɲdʑ
• mʍ ns ɳʂ ɲɕ nɬ ɲç > m̥ nts ɳtʂ ɲtɕ ntɬ ɲ̊
• ɳɻ nl ɳɻ̥ > ɳdʐ ndɮ ɳtʂ
• Non-prenasalized voiced obstruents devoice.
• Prenasalized voiceless obstruents voice.
• Prenasalization is lost.
• Prefix [s] before root onset consonant becomes aspiration of onset plosives and devoicing of onset sonorants and is otherwise lost.
• Vowels followed by coda [h] or onset plosives become breathy voiced.
• Coda [ɻ] and [l] are lost and become lengthening of the preceding vowel.
• ɻəw > ɻw
• ləw > lw
• ɻəj > ɻj
• ləj > lj
• ɻəɻ > ɻ
• ɻəl > l
• ləɻ > ɻ
• ləl > l
• pə tə kə bə də gə > p t k b d g / _{ɻ, l, w, j}
• dl tl > dɮ tɬ
• gj kj > c
• sw > ʍ
• a ɔ o u > ɛ œ ø y / j_
• a ɛ e i > ɒ œ ø y / {w, ʍ}_
• w > ∅ / C_
• mj nj > ɲ
• sl > ɬ
• ɻj > j
• ɻ̥j > ç
• lj > ʎ
• ɬj > ç
• dɮj >dʑ
• tɬj > tɕ
• Starting at about this point serial verb constructions start becoming compounding.
• Words when used by themselves often become compounded from this point on to disambiguate their meaning as phonemic distinctions in onsets are lost.
• g gʰ k kʰ > ɢ ɢʰ q qʰ / _{a ɒ ɔ o u}
• gj gʰj kj kʰj > g gʰ k kʰ
• gɻ gʰɻ kɻ kʰɻ > g gʰ k kʰ
• dj dʰj tj tʰj > dʑ dʑʰ tɕ tɕʰ
• dzj dzʰj tsj tsʰj > dʑ dʑʰ tɕ tɕʰ
• dʐj dʐʰj tʂj tʂʰj > dʑ dʑʰ tɕ tɕʰ
• bɻ bʰɻ pɻ pʰɻ > bʐ bʰʐ pʂ pʰʂ
• bj bʰj pj pʰj > bʑ bʰʑ pɕ pʰɕ
• sj > ɕ
• ʂj > ɕ
• l ʎ > j j / C_
• ɢ ɢʰ > ʁ ʁ
• ɻəm ɻəm̥ > mɻ m̥ɻ
• ɻən ɻən̥ > nɻ n̥ɻ
• ɻəɲ ɻəɲ̊ > ɲɻ ɲ̊ɻ
• ɻəŋ ɻəŋ̊ > ŋɻ ŋ̊ɻ
• ɻəʍ ɻəs ɻəʂ ɻəɕ ɻəɬ ɻəç ɻəh > ʍɻ sɻ ʂ ɕɻ ɬ çɻ ɻ̥
• ɻəʁ ɻəq ɻəqʰ > ʁɻ qɻ qʰɻ / _V
• ɻəg ɻək ɻəkʰ > gɻ kɻ kʰɻ / _V
• ɻəɟ ɻəc ɻəcʰ > ɟɻ cɻ cʰɻ / _V
• ɻədʑ ɻətɕ ɻətɕʰ > dʑɻ tɕɻ tɕʰɻ / _V
• ɻədʐ ɻətʂ ɻətʂʰ > dʐ tʂ tʂʰ / _V
• ɻədz ɻəts ɻətsʰ > dzɻ tsɻ tsʰɻ / _V
• ɻəd ɻət ɻətʰ > dɻ tɻ tʰɻ / _V
• ɻəbʑ ɻəpɕ ɻəpʰɕ > bʑɻ pɕɻ pʰɕɻ / _V
• ɻəbʐ ɻəpʂ ɻəpʰʂ > bʐ pʂ pʰʂ / _V
• ɻəb ɻəp ɻəpʰ > pɻ pɻ pʰɻ / _V
• ləm ləm̥ > ml m̥l
• lən lən̥ > nl n̥l
• ləɲ ləɲ̊ > ɲl ɲ̊l
• ləŋ ləŋ̊ > ŋl ŋ̊l
• ləʍ ləs ləʂ ləɕ ləɬ ləç ləh > ɬ ɬ ɬ ɬʲ ɬ ɬʲ ɬ > ɬ ɬ ɬ ɕ ɬ ɕ ɬ
• ləʁ ləq ləqʰ > ʁl ql qʰl / _V
• ləg lək ləkʰ > gl kl kʰl / _V
• ləɟ ləc ləcʰ > ɟl cl cʰl / _V
• lədʑ lətɕ lətɕʰ > dɮʲ tɬʲ tɬʲʰ > dʑ tɕ tʰɕ / _V
• lədʐ lətʂ lətʂʰ > dɮ tɬ tɬʰ / _V
• lədz ləts lətsʰ > dɮ tɬ tɬʰ / _V
• ləd lət lətʰ > dɮ tɬ tɬʰ / _V
• ləbʑ ləpɕ ləpɕʰ > bɮʲ pɬʲ pʰɬʲ > bʑ pɕ pʰɕ / _V
• ləbʐ ləpʂ ləpʂʰ > bɮ pɬ pʰɬ / _V
• ləb ləp ləpʰ > bl pl pʰl / _V
• Breathy voiced low tone vowels become a new low tone, with the old low tone becoming mid tone.
• Breathy voiced vowels undergo the following change (ignoring length): a ɛ œ e ø i y ɔ o u > ɐ ɛə œə eə øə ɪə ʏə ɔə oə ʊə
• Coda [h] is lost.
• All syllables in a word are lost except its root syllable; note that the initial consonant of the second syllable after the root syllable remains if the root syllable does not have a coda itself. Also note that this does not apply to compounds of separate words.
• Mid tone vowels followed by coda stops become mid-rising tone.
• Voiced coda obstruents lose voicing.
• Coda voiceless non-plosives debuccalize to [h].
• Aspirated coda plosives lose aspiration.
• tʂ tɕ > ʂ ɕ / V_$

At this point verbs take the following inflection:

antipassive voice: aspirated plosive/voiceless sonorant initial, high tone
passive voice: voiced plosive initial, high or mid or low tone
reflexive voice: rhotic medial, high or or mid low tone
reciprocal voice: mid or low tone
causative voice: mid or low tone
antipassive causative voice: high tone
verbal noun: high tone
agent noun: high tone
patient noun: high tone

Note that not all verbs behave this way, particularly verbs that had prefixes as part of their stems.

Verbs that had no codas on their stems or had stems ending in /ɻ/, /l/, or /h/ take the following inflection. in order of priority:

past: -t
subjunctive: -ɻ (also -ʂ in stems ending in /p t/, and -h in stems ending in /h/)
jussive: -c
du. ergative: -q
du. absolutive: -t
2nd absolutive or ergative: -k or -q* (only if no stem coda, otherwise retain stem end consonant and suppress breathiness or vowel length) (* if followed by 1st excl. absolutive or ergative or inverse)
1st excl. absolutive or ergative: -m (only if no stem coda, otherwise retain stem end consonant and suppress breathiness or vowel length)
1st incl. absolutive or ergative: -p
pl. absolutive: -j (also -ɕ in stems ending in /p t/, -c in stems ending in /k/, -ɲ in stems ending in /m n ŋ/, -j but no vowel lengthening in stems ending in /ɻ/, and -ʎ in stems ending in /l/)
pl. ergative: -h
inverse: "breathy" vowel and tone (only if no stem coda, otherwise retain stem end consonant and suppress breathiness or vowel length).

[Travis B.]

This results in the following phoneme inventory:

Syllables have the maximal structure (C)(C)CV(C) but most syllables have one to two consonants in the onset.

Syllables can have one of four tones, low, mid, high, and mid-rising.

The following phonemes can be found in onsets:

voiced nasals: m n ɲ ŋ
voiceless nasals: m̥ n̥ ɲ̊ ŋ̊
unaspirated voiced stops: b d ɟ g
unaspirated voiceless stops: p t c k q ʔ
aspirated voiced stops: bʰ dʰ ɟʰ gʰ
aspirated voiceless stops: pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ qʰ
unaspirated voiced affricates; dz dʐ dʑ dɮ
unaspirated voiceless affricates: ts tʂ tɕ tɬ
aspirated voiced affricates: dzʰ dʐʰ dʑʰ dɮʰ
aspirated voiceless affricates: tsʰ tʂʰ tɕʰ tɬʰ
voiced fricatives: ʐ ʑ ɮ ʁ
voiceless fricatives: ʍ s ʂ ɕ ɬ ç h
voiced liquids: ɻ l ʎ
voiceless liquids: ɻ̥
semivowels: w j

The following clusters can be found in onsets:

ʍɻ sɻ ɕɻ çɻ
mɻ m̥ɻ
ml m̥l
bɻ bʰɻ pɻ pʰɻ
bl bʰl pl pʰl
bj bʰj pj pʰj
bʐ bʰʐ pʂ pʰʂ
bʑ bʰʑ pɕ pʰɕ
bʑɻ bʰʑɻ pɕɻ pʰɕɻ
bɮ bʰɮ pɬ pʰɬ
nɻ n̥ɻ
nl n̥l
dɻ dʰɻ tɻ tʰɻ
dzɻ dzʰɻ tsɻ tsʰɻ
dʑɻ dʑʰɻ tɕɻ tɕʰɻ
ɲɻ ɲ̊ɻ
ɲl ɲ̊l
ɟɻ ɟʰɻ cɻ cʰɻ
ɟl ɟʰl cl cʰl
ŋɻ ŋ̊ɻ
ŋl ŋ̊l
gɻ gʰɻ kɻ kʰɻ
gl gʰl kl kʰl
gj gʰj kj kʰj
ʁɻ qɻ qʰɻ
ʁl ql qʰl

There are the following "non-breathy"* short monophthongs:
a ɛ œ e ø i y ɒ ɔ o u

and the following "non-breathy"* long monophthongs:
aː ɛː œː eː øː iː yː ɒː ɔː oː uː

and the following "breathy"* diphthongs (and one monophthong):
ɐ ɛə œə eə øə ɪə ʏə ɒə ɔə oə ʊə

* They really are not distinguished by breathiness, as breathiness was lost historically.

"Non-breathy" syllables have either mid, high, or mid-rising tone; mid-rising tone is found where mid tone was originally but there was a coda stop /p t k/; however, syllables gained extra coda plosives through the reduction of following syllables, allowing syllables ending in plosives to have mid tone as well.

"Breathy" syllables have low or high tone; low tone in "breathy" syllables correspond to mid tone in non-breathy syllables. It should be noted that there is no equivalent to mid-rising tone in breathy syllables, since breathy syllables originally had coda /h/. However, due to sound change there are now syllables ending in /h/ which did not originally have coda /h/ (and indeed original coda /h/ was lost entirely aside from its imparting breathiness on vowels, and through that causing the generation of centralized vowels and modifying tone).

Long vowels arose from the elision of original coda /ɻ l/; however, these consonants can still arise, after short vowels, due to vowels in following syllables turning them into onsets, and then later getting elided, leaving them as codas again. These can also be found before various consonants, due to following syllables losing their nuclei and codas and leaving their onsets as new codas for the preceding syllable.

There are the following codas:
m n ɲ ŋ p t c k q ʂ ɕ h ɻ l ʎ w j

[Travis B.]

Orthography

Middle Tshyak has a "grammarian" orthography meant for rendering the spoken language precisely. However, it is not what is commonly used for writing it, by that portion of the population which is literate.

Rather, an orthography based on that of Old Tshyak is used, which is essentially Old Tshyak spelling but with all syllables after the root syllable removed, except that if the Old Tshyak version of the word had the form prefixes-initial-medials-vowel-initial-medials-vowel..., they are written as prefixes-initial-medials-vowel-initial-medials-a, representing that the final consonant of the Middle Tshyak syllable originally belonged to a second syllable.

At the same time, some mergers are present, such as:

Old Tshyak ry being written as y
Old Tshyak hry, hly, sly, s'ry, and s'ly all being written as hy
Old Tshyak sl and s'l being written as hl
Old Tshyak s'r being written as hr
Old Tshyak sw and s'w being written as hw
Old Tshyak sy and sry being written as sh before front vowels and a (which is written ae)
Old Tshyak zy and zry being written as zh before front vowels and a (which is written ae)
Old Tshyak sy and sry being written as sy before back vowels.
Old Tshyak zy and zry being written as zy before back vowels.
Old Tshyak mh being written as sm
Old Tshyak mhw being written as sm
Old Tshyak mhy being written as sngy
Old Tshyak mr being written as ndr (ignoring following w or y)
Old Tshyak mhr being written as ntr (ignoring following w or y)
Old Tshyak my and ny being written ngy before front vowels and a (which is written ae)
Old Tshyak my being written ny before back vowels
Old Tshyak m'b being written as mb (ignoring following r, l, w, or y)
Old Tshyak md being written as nd (ignoring following w or y)
Old Tshyak mdz beng written as ndz (ignoring following w or y)
Old Tshyak mdr being written as ndr (ignoring following w, or y)
Old Tshyak mj being written as nj
Old Tshyak mgy being written as n'gy
Old Tshyak mg being written as n'g (ignoring following r, l, w, or y)
Old Tshyak sp and sph being written as ph (ignoring following r, l, w, or y)
Old Tshyak st and sth being written as th (ignoring following w or y)
Old Tshyak sts and stsh being written as tsh (ignoring following w or y)
Old Tshyak str and sthr being written as thr (ignoring following w, or y)
Old Tshyak sc and sch being written as ch
Old Tshyak sky and skhy being written as khy
Old Tshyak sk and skh being written as kh (ignoring following r, l, w, or y)
Old Tshyak ndy, ndzy, and ndry all being written nj before front vowels and a (which is written ae)
Old Tshyak dy, dzy, and dry all being written j before front vowels and a (which is written ae)
Old Tshyak ty, tsy, and try all being written c before front vowels and a (which is written ae)
Old Tshyak thy, tshy, and thry all being written ch before front vowels and a (which is written ae)
Old Tshyak ndy, ndzy, and ndry all being written ndzy before back vowels.
Old Tshyak dy, dzy, and dry all being written dzy before back vowels.
Old Tshyak ty, tsy, and try all being written tsy before back vowels.
Old Tshyak thy, tshy, and thry all being written tshy before back vowels.
Old Tshyak n'gry being written n'g before front vowels
Old Tshyak gry being written g before front vowels
Old Tshyak kry being written k before front vowels
Old Tshyak khry being written kh before front vowels
Old Tshyak prefix b, d, and g being written as g except before onset r, l, w, or y
Old Tshyak prefix p, t, k, and ' being written as ' except before onset r, l, w, or y
Old Tshyak prefix b, g, p, and k being attached to the root before onset r or l
Old Tshyak prefix d, g, t, and k being attached to the root before onset w
Old Tshyak prefix b, d, p, and t being attached to the root before onset y
Old Tshyak prefix b, d, and g being omitted before a voiced obstruent initial or another obstruent voiced prefix
Old Tshyak prefix p, t, k, and ' being omitted before a voiceless initial or another voiceless prefix

[Travis B.]

Syntactic or Morphological Changes

Middle Tshyak has largely lost verbal aspect marking, with most verbs settling on one form or the other to use, with that form being used in serial verb constructions by default regardless of its original perfectivity, and as a main verb being combined with tha (gram. thá) "do" (pfv.) as a compound verb, with tha taking inflection except for absolutive inflection, which is still taken by the main verb, for using a verb form that was orignally imperfective as perfective, and with thae (gram. tháe) "do" (ipfv.) as a compound verb, with thae taking inflection except for absolutive inflection, which is still taken by the main verb, for using a verb form that was originally perfective as imperfective.

Due to loss of verb agreement, nyo (gram. nyoe), short for nyok (gram. nyoek) "be many, be much", is used to mark plurality of the ergative argument of transitive verbs and the absolutive argument of intransitive verbs by being placed before the main verb (and before any inverse marker) except when the plurality of the argument in question is already apparent.

Due to loss of verb agreement, le (gram. le) / leta (gram. lēt) / ley (gram. ley), originally a demonstrative, is commonly used as a definite article and to indicate number when other verbs that indicate number are not being used with them.

Due to loss of verb agreement, n'gya (gram. ja) / n'gyata (gram. jāt) / n'gyay (gram. jay), short for n'gyat (gram. jat) "be some", is used as an indefinite article and to indicate number.

Due to loss of verb agreement, full pronouns are used for the 1st and 2nd persons in addition to the 3rd person.

Due to the loss of verb inverse marking, phae (gram. pháe), short for phraet (gram. phsráet) "be other", is used to mark inverse on verbs by being placed before the main verb (after verbs marking subjunctive or jussive mood).

Due to the loss of verb tense marking, ngyae (gram. nyae), from sngyae (gram. hnyáe) "be before", is used to mark past tense on verbs by being placed before the main verb (after any inverse maker).

Due to the loss of subjunctive marking, wir (gram. wuir) for non-past and wit (gram. wuit) for past is placed before the main verb, originating from a subjunctive modal verb could marked for non-past or non-past, with the main verb marking only its object.

Due to the loss of jussive marking, smey (gram. hméy) (pfv.) or smoy (gram. hmóy) (ipfv.), derived from Old Tshyak mhey and mhoy "allow" respectively, is placed before the main verb, with the main verb only marking its object.

Due to the loss of causative marking, tre (gram. tsré) (pfv.) or tri (gram. tsrí) (ipfv.) "make" is placed before the main verb.

Due to the loss of reflexive marking, lop (gram. lop) "self" is placed after the verb in question.

Due to loss in number of distinctive syllables and multiple stems merging when different inflectional endings are taken into account, compounding increases. Nominal compounding often takes the form it did in Old Tshyak, but oftentimes the sources of different compounded elements are themselves compounded when used by themselves, so nominal compounding can no longer be considered simply the stringing of nouns. Verbal compounding is new in Middle Tshyak, and is based on intransitive verbs with adverbial meanings being placed before the main verb.

Adverbs and adverbial intransitive serial verbs typically get placed before the main verb rather than after. The negative adverb ngya (gram. nya) typically gets placed first before any verbs.

Adverbs and adverbial intransitive serial verbs can modify other, typically transitive, serial verbs, being placed before them.

The transitive serial verb sray "be greater than" is typically placed after adverbial intransitive serial verbs to qualify them, and in this case the adverbial intransitive serial verbs so qualified are placed after the main verb.

[Travis B.]

Registers

The inherited pronouns are usually used for speaking to people of the same social status, lower social status, and or younger age.

When speaking respectfully to or of people of a similar status who are not close, the following is used

If one is male:

1st sg. sat ni (gram. sát ni) (speaking to sg.) / sat long (gram. sát long) (speaking to du.) / sat lo (gram. sát lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. sat nita (gram. sát nīt) (speaking to sg.) / sat long (gram. sát long) (speaking to du.) / sat lota (gram. sát lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. sat niy (gram. sát niy) (speaking to sg.) / sat longya (gram. sát lony) (speaking to du.) / sat loy (gram. sát loy) (speaking to pl.)

(sat (gram. sát) "brother")

If one is female:

1st sg. nay ni (gram. nay ni) (speaking to sg.) / nay long (gram. nay long) (speaking to du.) / nay lo (gram. nay lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. nay nita (gram. nay nīt) (speaking to sg.) / nay long (gram. nay long) (speaking to du.) / nay lota (gram. nay lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. nay niy (gram. nay niy) (speaking to sg.) / nay longya (gram. nay lony) (speaking to du.) / nay loy (gram. nay loy) (speaking to pl.)

(nay (gram. nay) "sister")

If who one is speaking to is male:

2nd sg. sat ma (gram. sát ma) (speaking as sg.) / sat rung (gram. sát rung) (speaking as du.) / sat ru (gram. sát ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. sat mata (gram. sát māt) (speaking as sg.) / sat rung (gram. sát rung) (speaking as du.), / sat ruta (gram. sát rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. sat may (gram. sát may) (speaking as sg.) / sat rungya (gram. sát runy) (speaking as du.) / sat ruy (gram. sát ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(sat (gram. sát) "brother")

If who one is speaking to is female:

2nd sg. nay ma (gram. nay ma) (speaking as sg.) / nay rung (gram. nay rung) (speaking as du.) / nay ru (gram. nay ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. nay mata (gram. nay māt) (speaking as sg.) / nay rung (gram. nay rung) (speaking as du.), / nay ruta (gram. nay rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. nay may (gram. nay may) (speaking as sg.) / nay rungya (gram. nay runy) (speaking as du.) / nay ruy (gram. nay ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(nay (gram. nay) "sister")

If who one is speaking of is male:

3rd sg. sat le (gram. sát le)
3rd du. sat leta (gram. sát lēt)
3rd pl. sat ley (gram. sát ley)

(sat (gram. sát) "brother")

If who one is speaking of is female:

3rd sg. nay le (gram. nay le)
3rd du. nay leta (gram. nay lēt)
3rd pl. nay ley (gram nay ley)

(nay (gram. nay) "sister")

When speaking respectfully to or of people of a higher status or older age who one does not have too distant a relationship with, the following is used:

If one is male:

1st sg. ngyeh ni (gram. nyè ni) (speaking to sg.) / ngyeh long (gram. nyè long) (speaking to du.) / ngyeh lo (gram. nyè lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. ngyeh nita (gram. nyè nīt) (speaking to sg.) / ngyeh long (gram. nyè long) (speaking to du.) / ngyeh lota (gram. nyè lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. ngyeh niy (gram. nyè niy) (speaking to sg.) / ngyeh longya (gram. nyè lony) (speaking to du.) / ngyeh loy (gram. nyè loy) (speaking to pl.)

(ngyeh (gram. nyè) "son")

If one is female:

1st sg. rkha ni (gram. qhrá ni) (speaking to sg.) / rkha long (gram. qhrá long) (speaking to du.) / rkha lo (gram. qhrá lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. rkha nita (gram. qhrá nīt) (speaking to sg.) / rkha long (gram. qhrá long) (speaking to du.) / rkha lota (gram. qhrá lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. rkha niy (gram. qhrá niy) (speakign to sg.) / rkha longya (gram. qhrá lony) (speaking to du.) / rkha loy (gram. qhrá loy) (speaking to pl.)

(rkha (gram. qhrá) "daughter")

If who one is speaking to is male:

2nd sg. sat moh ma (gram. sát mò ma) (speaking as sg.) / sat moh rung (gram. sát mò rung) (speaking as du.) / sat moh ru (gram. sát mò ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. sat moh mata (gram. sát mò māt) (speaking as sg.) / sat moh rung (gram. sát mò rung) (speaking as du.) / sat moh ruta (gram. sát mò rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. sat moh may (gram. sát mò may) (speakign as sg.) / sat moh rungya (gram. sát mò runy) (speaking as du.) / sat moh ruy (gram. sát mò ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(sat moh (gram. sát mò) "paternal uncle")

If who one is speaking to is female:

2nd sg. nay di ma (gram. nay ti ma) (speaking as sg.) / nay di rung (gram. nay ti rung) (speaking as du.) / nay di ru (gram. nay ti ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. nay di mata (gram. nay ti māt) (speaking as sg.) / nay di rung (gram. nay ti rung) (speaking as du.) / nay di ruta (gram. nay ti rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. nay di may (gram. nay ti may) (speakign as sg.) / nay di rungya (gram. nay ti runy) (speaking as du.) / nay di ruy (gram. nay ti ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(nay di (gram. nay ti) "maternal aunt")

If who one is speaking of is male:

3rd sg. sat moh le (gram. sát mò le)
3rd du. sat moh leta (gram. sát mò lēt)
3rd pl. sat moh ley (gram. sát mò ley)

(sat moh (gram. sát mò) "paternal uncle")

If who one is speaking of is female:

3rd sg. nay di le (gram. nay ti le)
3rd du. nay di leta (gram. nay ti lēt)
3rd pl. nay di ley (gram. nay ti ley)

(nay di (gram. nay ti) "maternal aunt")

When speaking respectfully to or of people of a lower status or younger age who one does not have too distant a relationship with, the following is used:

If one is male:

1st sg. sat moh ni (gram. sát mò ni) (speaking to sg.) / sat moh long (gram. sát mò long) (speaking to du.) / sat moh lo (gram. sát mò lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. sat moh nita (gram. sát mò nīt) (speaking to sg.) / sat moh long (gram. sát mò long) (speaking to du.) / sat moh lota (gram. sát mò lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. sat moh niy (gram. sát mò niy) (speakign to sg.) / sat moh longya (gram. sát mò lony) (speaking to du.) / sat moh loy (gram. sát mò loy) (speaking to pl.)

(sat moh (gram. sát mò) "paternal uncle")

If one is female:

1st sg. nay di ni (gram. nay ti ni) (speaking to sg.) / nay di long (gram. nay ti long) (speaking to du.) / nay di lo (gram. nay ti lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. nay di nita (gram. nay ti nīt) (speaking to sg.) / nay di long (gram. nay ti long) (speaking to du.) / nay di lota (gram. nay ti lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. nay di niy (gram. nay ti niy) (speakign to sg.) / nay di longya (gram. nay ti lony) (speaking to du.) / nay di loy (gram. nay ti loy) (speaking to pl.)

(nay di (gram. nay ti) "maternal aunt")

If who one is speaking to is male:

2nd sg. ngyeh ma (gram. nyè ma) (speaking as sg.) / ngyeh rung (gram. nyè rung) (speaking as du.) / ngyeh ru (gram. nyè ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. ngyeh mata (gram. nyè māt) (speaking as sg.) / ngyeh rung (gram. nyè rung) (speaking as du.), / ngyeh ruta (gram. nyè rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. ngyeh may (gram. nyè may) (speaking as sg.) / ngyeh rungya (gram. nyè runy) (speaking as du.) / ngyeh ruy (gram. nyè ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(ngyeh (gram. nyè) "son")

If who one is speaking to is female:

2nd sg. rkha ma (gram. qhrá ma) (speaking as sg.) / rkha rung (gram. qhrá rung) (speaking as du.) / rkha ru (gram. qhrá ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. rkha mata (gram. qhrá māt) (speaking as sg.) / rkha rung (gram. qhrá rung) (speaking as du.), / rkha ruta (gram. qhrá rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. rkha may (gram. qhrá may) (speaking as sg.) / rkha rungya (gram. qhrá runy) (speaking as du.) / rkha ruy (gram. qhrá ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(rkha (gram. qhrá) "daughter")

If who one is speaking of is male:

3rd sg. ngyeh le (gram. nyè le)
3rd du. ngyeh leta (gram. nyè lēt)
3rd pl. ngyeh ley (gram. nyè ley)

(ngyeh (gram. nyè) "son")

If who one is speaking of is female:

3rd sg. rkha le (gram. qhrá le)
3rd du. rkha leta (gram. qhrá lēt)
3rd pl. rkha ley (gram. qhrá ley)

(rkha (gram. qhrá) "daughter")

When speaking respectfully to or of one or more persons of markedly higher social status, the following are used:

1st sg. tlyer ni (gram. tsyée ni) (speaking to sg.) / tlyer long (gram. tsyée long) (speaking to du.) / tlyer lo (gram. tsyée lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. tlyer nita (gram. tsyée nīt) (speaking to sg.) / tlyer long (gram. tsyée long) (speaking to du.) / tlyer lota (gram. tsyée lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. tlyer niy (gram. tsyée niy) (speaking to sg.) / tlyer longya (gram. tsyée lony) (speaking to du.) / tlyer loy (gram. tsyée loy) (speaking to pl.)

(tlyer (gram. tsyée) "servant")

If who one is speaking to is male:

2nd sg. rbyat ma (gram. psyraet ma) (speaking as sg.) / rbyat rung (gram. psyraet rung) (speaking as du.) / rbyat ru (gram. psyraet ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. rbyat mata (gram. psyraet māt) (speaking as sg.) / rbyat rung (gram. psyraet rung) (speaking as du.), / rbyat ruta (gram. psyraet rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. rbyat may (gram. psyraet may) (speaking as sg.) / rbyat rungya (gram. psyraet runy) (speaking as du.) / rbyat ruy (gram. psyraet ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(rbyat (gram. psyraet) "lord")

If who one is speaking to is female:

2nd sg. mthak ma (gram. dhák ma) (speaking as sg.) / mthak rung (gram. dhák rung) (speaking as du.) / mthak ru (gram. dhák ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. mthak mata (gram. dhák māt) (speaking as sg.) / mthak rung (gram. dhák rung) (speaking as du.), / mthak ruta (gram. dhák rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. mthak may (gram. dhák may) (speaking as sg.) / mthak rungya (gram. dhák runy) (speaking as du.) / mthak ruy (gram. dhák ruy) (speaking as pl.)

(mthak (gram. dhák) "lady")

If who one is speaking of is male:

3rd. sg. rbyat le (gram. psyraet le)
3rd. du. rbyat leta (gram. psyraet lēt)
3rd. pl. rbyat ley (gram. psyraet ley)

(rbyat (gram. psyraet) "lord")

If who one is speaking of is female:

3rd sg. mthak le (gram. dhák le)
3rd du. mthak leta (gram. dhák lēt)
3rd pl. mthak ley (gram. dhák ley)

(mthak (gram. dhák) "lady")

When one is lording over people socially beneath them, the following are used:

If one is male:

1st sg. rbyat ni (gram. psyraet ni) (speaking to sg.) / rbyat long (gram. psyraet long) (speaking to du.) / rbyat lo (gram. psyraet lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. rbyat nita (gram. psyraet nīt) (speaking to sg.) / rbyat long (gram. psyraet long) (speaking to du.) / rbyat lota (gram. psyraet lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. rbyat niy (gram. psyraet niy) (speaking to sg.) / rbyat longya (gram. psyraet lony) (speaking to du.) / rbyat loy (gram. psyraet loy) (speaking to pl.)

(rbyat (gram. psyraet) "lord")

If one is female:

1st sg. mthak ni (gram. dhák ni) (speaking to sg.) / mthak long (gram. dhák long) (speaking to du.) / mthak lo (gram. dhák lo) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. du. mthak nita (gram. dhák nīt) (speaking to sg.) / mthak long (gram. dhák long) (speaking to du.) / mthak lota (gram. dhák lōt) (speaking to pl.)
1st excl. pl. mthak niy (gram. dhák niy) (speaking to sg.) / mthak longya (gram. dhák lony) (speaking to du.) / mthak loy (gram. dhák loy) (speaking to pl.)

(mthak (gram. dhák) "lady")

2nd sg. tlyer ma (gram. tsyée ma) (speaking as sg.) / tlyer rung (gram. tsyée rung) (speaking as du.) / tlyer ru (gram. tsyée ru) (speaking as pl.)
2nd du. tlyer mata (gram. tsyée māt) (speaking as sg.) / tlyer rung (gram. tsyée rung) (speaking as du.), / tlyer ruta (gram. tsyée rūt) (speaking as pl.)
2nd pl. tlyer may (gram. tsyée may) (speaking as sg.) / tlyer rungya (gram. tsyée runy) (speaking as du.) / tlyer ruy (gram. tsyée ruy) (speaking as pl.)

3rd sg. tlyer le (gram. tsyée le)
3rd du. tlyer leta (gram. tsyée lēt)
3rd pl. tlyer ley (gram. tsyée ley)

(tlyer (gram. tsyée) "servant")

[Travis B.]

Egophoricity

Egophoricity is expressed with combining the Old Tshyak witness zhe and deductive ka evidentials into zheka (gram. syēk).

[Vardelm]

That is a lot of sound changes!!!!

[Travis B.]

That is a lot of sound changes!!!!

It is inflated, though, by the number of changes that can really be summed up as "metathesis of prefix /ɻ/ or /l/ with the initial consonant or pseudoaffricate of the stem, except for some some cases they merge with the initial consonant or pseudoaffricate (/ɻ/ being elided with retroflex initials and /l/ being fricated with sibilant affricate or pseudoaffricate initials, and later delateralized if palatalized)".

[gach]

Can you tell a bit more about the distribution and use of your egophoric? I'm also putting an egophoric evidential in one side project language and it'd be interesting to see if you've done something differently to me.

[Travis B.]

Can you tell a bit more about the distribution and use of your egophoric? I'm also putting an egophoric evidential in one side project language and it'd be interesting to see if you've done something differently to me.

Actually, I have not figured this out exactly yet. I am inspired in doing so by Tibetan, but I have not yet run into a really good description of egophorics (and there is no Wikipedia page for egophoric as of yet) to work off of, especially if I do not want to just copy what Tibetan does.

[Vardelm]

Actually, I have not figured this out exactly yet. I am inspired in doing so by Tibetan, but I have not yet run into a really good description of egophorics (and there is no Wikipedia page for egophoric as of yet) to work off of, especially if I do not want to just copy what Tibetan does.

I haven't seen a great explanation of Tibetan's egophoric evidential yet. Manual of Standard Tibetan by Tournadre & Dorje is probably about as good as I've seen. Actually, in general, descriptions of Tibetan evidentials are all over the map and often hard to reconcile.

[Travis B.]

Actually, I am going to derive egophoricity a different way. I already have a mirative marker te, so I am going to use the mirative marker on all non-egophoric witnessed statements, as they obviously are less expected than egophoric ones (as one isn't involved with them personally). Then I am going to omit the witness evidential zhe if it is combined with the mirative marker, so that the old witness evidential is now an egophoric marker, and the old mirative marker is now the new non-egophoric witness evidential.

[Travis B.]

I have now uploaded what I have written about Middle Tshyak (and a little more) here.

[gach]

I am inspired in doing so by Tibetan, but I have not yet run into a really good description of egophorics

There's a handy Academia.edu category for egophoricity, https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Egophoricity. Newari is maybe the most standard language to cite in the literature and I've also found the Kurtöp system to be influential for my work.

[Travis B.]

I am deriving the functioning of egophoricity in Middle Tshyak from its origin in the use of the mirative to mark information that is not expected. Over time, the use of direct knowledge evidentials (which I have been calling "witness", but which are not actually limited to things that have been witnessed per se) without the mirative contracted to mean things that absolutely are not new information, i.e. things known personally, with the mirative being used to mark all other direct knowledge evidentials. In turn the mirative is lost except with direct knowledge evidentials, and then the direct knowledge evidential is lost when it was previously combined with the mirative, leaving the mirative morpheme as a new non-egophoric direct knowledge evidential, and the old direct knowledge evidential morpheme as an egophoric evidential. In turn, the adverb klah (gram. kyâ) "just, a moment ago" started getting used in the present as a new mirative morpheme, to reinforce the mirative meaning of the old mirative morpheme, and eventually by itself once the old mirative morpheme is lost with deductive and reportative evidentials and without regard to tense.

The result of this, though, is that the new egophoric does not operate like a mere agreement marker in statements and questions (i.e. with the 1st person in statements and 2nd person in questions) but rather can be used in any case direct knowledge is indicated that one is personally involved in rather than observed from without, in statements, when one is asking of whether someone is personally involved in something, in questions, and when indicating that the person being quoted or paraphrased is personally involved in something, in reported speech.

[Travis B.]

I have created another variety contemporary with (standard) Middle Tshyak named Middle Laeh Tshyak, hosted at here. Note that there is no "Old Laeh Tshyak" per se since Middle Laeh Tshyak is descended from Old Tshyak just like (standard) Middle Tshyak.

It differs from (standard) Middle Tshyak in preserving much more of the Old Tshyak inflectional morphology, preserving the Old Tshyak onset voicing distinction, preserving and expanding the set of prenasalized consonants (from preceding /mə m n ŋ/, having converted aspiration into breathy voice (and like (standard) Middle Tshyak converted breathy voice into diphthongized/centralized vowels), having developed new aspiration from initial voiceless stops, having preserved prefix /s ɻ l/ and turned them into part of initial consonant clusters by eliding the /ə/ between them and the initial (rather than having prefix /s/ aspirate initial plosives and devoice initial sonorants and having prefix /ɻ l/ undergo metathesis with initials), having lengthened all vowels in stressed open syllables except ones which originally ended in /h ɻ l m n ŋ/ (unlike in (standard) Middle Tshyak, where /ɻ l/ lengthen vowels in syllables where they were originally found as codas), having no mid-rising tone, turned coda /m n ŋ/ into prenasalization of the following consonant, fronted vowels before coda /t n ɻ l/ (producing rounded front vowels), backed vowels before coda /k ŋ w/ (producing unrounded back vowels), reduced coda /p t k/ to [ʔ], reduced coda /m n ŋ/ to [ɴ], not palatalized initials before /j/ but rather elided /j/ after fronting following vowels, not backed /ŋg g k kʰ/ before /a/ and back vowels, not have prefix stops get attached to the initials before /ɻ l w j/, not palatalize or round vowels after initial /w j/, and so on.