Classical Kao

[Ars Lande]

First of all, some context...

I'm working on Pten, the conworld that will serve as setting for a novel I'm trying to write.
Basically, Pten is a planet, colonized some time in our future, where technology, for various and complex, and fortunately not plot-relevant reasons is more or less restricted to the preindustrial level. (Basically, it's fantasy in SF disguise, à la Pern)

I'm working on languages and language families, descended from natlang. Classical Kao; a descendant of English, with Mandarin influences, is the best worked-out of those.
It's technically speaking a posteriori, though since it's a far-future language it's best thought of as a priori (English mostly comes up in root formation).

Introduction — Origin of the Kao languages


The Kao language family comprises the descendants of Old Kao, the langue spoken by the small group of settlers that grossed the Ganj pass to reach the Kao subcontinent, in the first centuries of the colonization of Pten.

Old Kao — mostly known through reconstruction — is a descendant of American English. The source dialect was most probably General American, with a heavy Sinitic substratum and notable influences from Romance. Besides American English, the languages was mainly influence by Mandarin and, to a lesser extent, by several Latin American Spanish dialects. Massive sound changes and heavy syntactic influences from Sinitic languages have led to a high degree of divergence from General American. From our reconstruction, it appears that the variety of General American used was rather conservative. We may assume that Old Kao was the natural evolution of an English-based lingua franca, spoken in a population where non-native English speakers outnumbered native speakers.

The classical Kao language or Kía Eŋ ('Kía speech' or 'language of the classics') was the language of the Kía ethnic group. The Kía are named after the Kía dynasty — classical Kao covers the period from the early Kía dynasty to the First Schism — about 900 Pten years, or 1300 earth years — with considerable dialectal variations.

This grammar presents the key elements of the commonly accepted standard, still used as the official language of the Kao empire, alongside the Chancery, closer to the modern vernaculars.

This standard is defined both by the spelling reforms of Kiimai Makoa, and by the grammar and style of the 'golden century', from the Battle of Waa Pass to the death of emperor Asemangas. It is a somewhat artificial synthesis of the Ba dialects used in Shouhedai, the langue of the army and the imperial bureaucracy, and the Wes dialects, specifically the Wes dialects in use in Waadai, the great rival of Shouhedai during the Haisan dynasty. This koine also incorporated lexical and syntactic elements of other Ba dialects, and from the dialects in use in the Re river valley.

Phonology

For this reconstruction of the Classical Kao sound system, we have assumed that spelling was phonetic, from the Kiimai reforms onwards — this hypothesis is confirmed by the commentaries of later grammarians. It is also consistent with reconstructions based on the modern vernacular.

This description will only give an hint of the considerable dialectal variation. We have, rather, attempted to reconstruct as closely as possible the language, as it was spoken by the educated Shouhedai middle-class, at the beginning of the Eng dynasty.

Consonants

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The consonant inventory is rather restricted, with only 14 (15, if we include q) consonant phonemes.

• Voicing distinctions have been almost entirely lost — fricatives are always voiceless.
• The key distinguishing features for stops is aspiration. The lenis stops b, d could be voiced at the onset of an unstressed syllable. k was unaspirated at the onset of an unstressed syllable.
• q was not a native phoneme in the Shouhedai dialects — it was re-introduced by borrowings from the Eastern dialects. Its actual pronunciation in Shouhedai is unclear — it could have been a glottal or an epiglottal stop, or both, in free variation, although the most likely possibility was that it was only used in writing, and treated as a silent letter.
• ŋ was realized as a velar nasal at syllable onset, but as an uvular nasal in coda position.
• h had two main allophones: an epiglottal voiceless fricative before a, e, ee, ii and bilabial [ɸ] before o and uu.
• x had two allophones: velar before a, aa and o, palatal [ç] elsewhere.
• Fricatives were never voiced.
• r had two allophones: an alveolar trill and an alveolar approximant, in free variation. To be more specific: the Ba dialects, including the Shouhedai dialect had a trill whereas other dialects had an approximants. Extended social mobility after the Kiimai dynasty seems to have eroded this dialectal distinction.

Vowels

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Classical Kao had eight vowels, four short and four long and seven to eight diphtongs. Some dialects still distinguished short o and short u during the Eng dynasty, but the distinction never made it to the standard.

• e was realized as a schwa in unstressed syllabes. It was pronounced [ɛ] elsewhere.
• ee, usually pronounced [eː] could be diphthongized: [eɪ] in closed syllables.
• o was [ɔ] in closed syllables, [o] elsewhere.
• The phonemic status of the diphtong ei is unclear. It could have been a spelling variantof ee, which would make more sense diachronically. It only occurs in Waadai borrowings.

Tone

Classical Kao had three register tones: high (marked with an accute: á), medium (unmarked: a) and low (with a grave: à). Tones were carried by moras: syllables with a short vowel count for one mora, syllable with a long vowel or a diphthongs for two moras. Final moras did not affect the mora count in any way.

With short vowels, there are three possibilities:

• High level with, depending on dialect, a glottal-stop word-finally: dá [ta˥] ~ [taʔ˥], dog
• Mid level : san [san˧], sun
• Low level: èr [ər˩] (dative particle).

With long vowels or diphtongs, the three register tones combine to form five possible contour tones:

• Mid level : Kao [kʰaʊ˧]
• Mid-rising: taí [tʰaɪ˧˥], thirty men
• Creaky-voiced mid-rising: Yáát [jaˀːtʰ˧˥], the god Yaat
• Creaky-voiced high-falling: kóa [kʰʊaˀ˥˩], friend.
• Low-rising: Seràa [sɛ³raː˩˧] (proper name).
• Mid-falling: aà [aa˥˧], hello!

Stress

Stress falls regularly on the second-to-last syllable, with secondary stress on the first syllable in four-syllable words:
Xuuhédai [çu˧ ˈħɛ˥ daɪ˧]
Àsemáŋas [ˌa˩ sə ˈma˥ ŋas]

Monosyllabic content words are stressed: san [ˈsan˧] but grammatical particles are not: èr [ər˩].

Syllables and phonotactics

Initials
Possible initials include:

• Nothing: a, en, o
• Any single consonant: dá, wan, Kao, soi, ŋee
• s + nasal (except ŋ), aspirated stop or x: smuu, sten, staa, sxex
• p or k + s or p: kta, ptaí, psaa

Medials
Short vowels, long vowels or diphtongs take the medial position: paár, wan, de.

Finals
Finals can be:

• Absent: saa, dèe.
• t: Yáát
• The rhotic r: èr, saar, dat.
• h and x: ŋas, ŋéx, baih
• s except in intervocalic position, or at the end of an unaccented particle: mías, sáis.
• The nasals n and ŋ: haaŋ, paan, nen

Sandhi rules

The three following sandhi rules are applied, regardless of word boundaries:

1. Elision.
Before a consonant cluster, finals are elided, often leaving behind a changed tone.
Loss of s, x and h leads to the following tone changes:

• Mid-level tone becomes low (if there is one mora) or mid-falling: aas > aà, ax > à.
• High-level and mid-rising tones become mid-level: ás > a, aáh > aa
• Low, low rising and tones with accompanying creaky voiced are unchanged: àh > à, íax > ía

The elision of t, n et ŋ leads to the following changes:

• Mid-level tone becomes high-level or high-rising: aan > aá, at > á.
• Low and mid-falling tones are changed to mid-level: àn > a
• Other tones are unchanged: án > á, pían > pía, paón > paó

Loss of r causes no tone change.

2. Mid to high tone sandhi: mid to high

In any group of two syllables: Mid-level tone becomes high or mid-rising when preceding another middle tone: *waŋas > wáŋas, king [wa⁵ŋa³s], *Kao kaon > Kaó kaon, Kao country [kʰaʊ³⁵ kʰaʊn]

3. Low to mid tone sandhi:

Low-level tone becomes mid-level when preceding a syllable with mid-level tone.

*Da siix èr Kiimái waŋas > Dá siix er Kiimái waŋas [tatʰ˥ 'siːɕ˧ ər˧ 'kʰiː³˧maɪˀ˧˥ 'wa˧ŋas˧]
They serve king Kiimai.

[mèþru]

Good work! Any SAE language descendant with tone is always intriguing.

[WeepingElf]

This looks very interesting. The name, though, may be a problem: there is a novel, The Languages of Pao, by Jack Vance.

[Alon]

Question: in the s + stop initials, is the stop really aspirated? Or is a lenis stop, as in present-day English, analyzed as an allophone of /p t k/ rather than /b d g/? Of note, in JBR's Futurese, these clusters are reanalyzed as /sb sd sg/ precisely because the fortis/lenis distinction on stops shifts from voicing to aspiration.

[mèþru]

The voiced stops are analysed as allophones of the lenis ones, as in Chinese. It is probably a sound change: L=lenis stops, L/Lʰ/s_.

[Ars Lande]

This looks very interesting. The name, though, may be a problem: there is a novel, The Languages of Pao, by Jack Vance.

I agree, that's a problem. Though I like the sound of the word a lot... I'll probably change the name when I find a replacement I like.

Question: in the s + stop initials, is the stop really aspirated? Or is a lenis stop, as in present-day English, analyzed as an allophone of /p t k/ rather than /b d g/? Of note, in JBR's Futurese, these clusters are reanalyzed as /sb sd sg/ precisely because the fortis/lenis distinction on stops shifts from voicing to aspiration.

Yes, the stops are aspirated. s + stop initiais in Classical Pao do not derive from the English clusters, which were simplified in Old Pao: En. sp st sk > OP *b *d *ʔ
Rather, Old Pao lost most unstressed vowels, leading to consonant clusters which were further simplified, with s + stop initials being one of the possible outcomes.

[Ars Lande]

OK, a retcon. Using Pao is troublesome... The ethnic group and languages are now called Kao.
Also, redid the consonant table and realized g wasn't phonemic after all.

[Ars Lande]

Typology

Like all Kao languages, Classical Kao is an analytic language.

Kao languages have lost articles, all English inflections, and the articles, to the extent that a first glance, Kao syntax are immediately reminiscent to Sinitic languages.

It could be argued that a process of creolization was at work, although at no point the genetic relationship with English was interrupted. Indeed, the general trend towards a more isolating language can be explained mostly through sound change.

Classical Kao has retain some disyllabic morphemes, and derivational morphology include fusional processes and root changes. Pronouns keep traces of case.

Syntactic relationships are marked with particles, adverbs, deictic, and of course word order:

Waí nén Maá Sxaa.
1s name Maa Sxaa
My name is Maa Sxaa.

Waí íx xaraí Kía éŋ to.
1s possible write Kía dialect IND
I know classical Kao.

Maán xaraí Kía éŋ snan.
Magistrate write Kía dialect GNO
Magistrates write in classical Kao.

Classical Kao is pro-drop. It was, moreover, highly aphoristic and valued conciseness — pronouns, subject and object or indeed any other element, except the verb are usually omitted when they can be inferred from context. To some extent, this is dialectal: conciseness was a virtue in Shouhedai, which reflects in contemporary texts. The Wes and Eastern dialects were more wordy.

Waí xéit ías Kía éŋ du xéit Kía éŋ du
1s teach 2s Kía dialect PRS.IPFV -> teach Kía language PRS.IPFV
I'm teaching you classical Pao.

Reflecting usage in the modern vernaculars, modern writers tend to be more conservative in omitting elements.

[Ars Lande]

Parts of speech

The loss of inflections and the loss or reinterpretation of forms of the verb 'to be' has led to a complete restructuration of the parts of speech, leading to a typology strikingly different from our contemporary IE languages.

Classical Kao can be analysed as having the following the parts of speech:

1. Content words or noun-verbs, which can be fulfill indefferently the syntactic role of nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives, depending on the slot they occupy in the sentence: wáŋas, king, to be a king, to reign.
2. Helper verbs which work either as pure verbs or as prepositions: en, to be (somewhere), also used as a locative preposition, aa, to hail, also marks the locative.
3. Attributive nouns, which are mostly place names and temporal expressione. They can be used as nouns, adverbs or attributive adjectives, but can't occupy the verb slot or be used as predicates without a helper verb. Xuuhedaí : *waí Xuuhedaí vs. waí wen Xuuhedaí / 1s come.from Xuuhedaí, I'm from Shouhedai[
4. Quantifiers, including numerals. Like content words, they can function as any element in a sentence. They differ from these in that they can modify a noun or a verb directly without a linking particle. They are also a closed class. E.g.: ata, all. tii, two -> tii dii, do twice.
5. Pronouns can be used as nouns or attributive adjectives. They fulfill their usual role in replacing entire NPs. They differ from the traditional analysis of pronouns in that they can be modified: Xuúr de waíren / Xuú GEN 1-PL / we, people of Xuu. In late Classical Kao, pronouns were no longer a closed class, and indeed new pronouns were often innovated from titles: maán, you (honorific) < magistrate; kóa, you < friend.
6. Modal adverbs: ix, possible, can, know how to, haá (intensive)
7. Deictic particles, which follow the noun they modify, or precede the verb they modify: xe here, du there, den, then
8. The linking particles a, de, waa which allow content words to function as adjective or adverbs.
9. Modal-evidential particles: to (indicative), snan (gnomic), ià (jussive), etc.
10. Tense/negation particles: wa (remote past), nas (remote negative), etc.
11. Aspect particles: du (imperfective), me (perfect), etc.
12. Interjections: Awuu! Oh! Ah! but also used as a war cry, and in general serves to affirm the toughness of the speaker. As is common in many languages, they can break the normal phonotactics constraints: Aiio! Look at that, behold!

[Ars Lande]

Other analyses are possible, of course. In particular, the concept of content words can be seen as controversial. It could be interpreted, indeed, as an extensive use of zero-derivation. A key point of my analysis is the lack of a copula: it could also be argued that the copula does exist in Kao, with several tense-aspect-mood variants, which I interpret as tense or modal particles: ∅ or to for the present, wa for the remote past.

This interpretation is correct diachronically, and is indeed helpful in explaining the evolution from English syntax to Kao syntax. However, as a description of Classical Kao, it is cumbersome, and would be a forceful attempt to interpret Classical Kao in terms of English syntax, while the language itself has evolved in quite an un-IE direction.

Content words


To grasp the idea of content words, it is useful to have a look at a few examples.


(1) san, sun, sunny, sunshine, to shine
(1a) San méres wenxó snan.
sun rises east GNO.
The Sun rises in the East.

(1b) Tó san
IND sun.
It's sunny, the sun is shining, it's a sunny day.

(1c) En Waàdaí má on wá san aòs to. Xas ŋábo én san á kten a hetòu.
LOC Waadai 1s.POSS house REM sun IPFV IND. OPT build LOC sun REL climb REL acropolis
I had a sunny house in Waadai. I had it build on the sunny side of the Acropolis.

(2) Xuu, flower, to bloom, flourishing
(2a) Xuuhédai, flourishing city
(2b) Séxxo xuu tó,
Orange-tree flower IND.
The orange trees are in bloom.
(2c) Má ará tó waí ta mé xuú as me.
1s.POSS wife IND 1s REC give flower give PERF.
I've given flowers to my wife.

(3) mías, to give, gift, present.
(3a) Waí mías,
1s give.
I give

(3b) Ma mías,
1s.POSS give
my present

When a content-word is used as a verb, the best interpretation can sometimes be an existential construction:

(4) To dá.
IND dog.
It's a dog, there is a dog.

It is also one of the ways to mark possession
(5) Waí to dá.
1s IND dog
I have a dog. (< "As for me, there is a dog")

Several interpretation can be equally valid, cf this use of wáŋas, king, to reign.
(6) Xuuhédai tó wáŋas du.
Shouhedai IND REM HAB reign IPFV.
They reigned (as kings) in Shouhedai.
Shouhedai was governed (by a king)
There was a king in Shouhedai.
Shouhedai had kings.


Sometimes there is a non-predictable semantic shift between the use of a content word as a noun, an adjective or as a verb.
(6a) Tó waá de pan
IND work REL bread.
There is enough food.
(6b) Tó waá téran.
IND work field.
They are plowing the fields.

Names (except for place-names) are also content words, and can be used as verbs.

Awuú ! Waí nas Kiimái keh, xíkóa wex!
ah / 1s NEG.REM Kiimái HYP / shepherd OPT.
Ah! If I wasn't Kiimai, I'd like to be a shepherd!

This could lead to a particular form of mocking puns, especially because most proper names had a transparent meaning.

Eŋá Aawaísán xawáa wa raí iodáa ákxá swuú, nás mes paíptéde daár. Dén ben aá se "Aiio! xawáa Eŋá" wex.
Eŋa Awaisan emperor REM very small ugly and / NEG.REM want stoical.humor REP / then loud hail QUOT / INTERJ emperor limping / OPT.
The emperor Eŋa Awaisan was very small and misshapen, but he had a good sense of humor about it. He liked people to salute him by shouting: "Look at that! The emperor is limping".
This was a pun on the traditional salute to the emperors: Aiio! xawáa Eŋá Behold! Emperor Eŋa; but eŋá also means to limp.
(Actually, Eŋa Awaisan suffered from achondroplasia. We don't know if he had a limp as well.)

[Ars Lande]

Derivational morphology

Content words are derived from roots, or borrowing.

Roots can be monosyllabic : kio, pleasant, san, sun, baa, second sun, on, house or disyllabic: bapa, grasshoper, áiro, common, kiimái, bald yòtneès, nostalgia Some roots can be used directly as content words: san, sun, dá, dog, ŋao, cat.

Most roots, however, can't be used directly. Content words are thus formed, in most cases, through a variety of derivational strategies.

Suffixing

Classical Kao has a set of suffixes, with the following properties:

They are bound morphemes
Semantically, they restrict the meaning of a radical, by specifying a category to which it applies, producing a content word belonging to a precise semantic category: animates, tools, etc.
Morphologically, they trigger a root mutation, usually not predictably.
Suffixes have distinct, usually not predictable allomorphs.
While in Early Classical Kao, suffixing was still productive, this was no longer the case in later stages of the language.

A non-exhaustive list of common suffixes:

1. Animates:

-aa denotes animacy:
xawaa, emperor, reign < xáis expedition, travel
iodáa, to be small (animate) < iit, small

-as usually applies to human beings:

waŋas, king < wan, one >
semaŋas, diplomat, unifier, peacemaker < seman, concord

These two suffixes are commonly found in names:

Oŋóa and Oŋóas < oŋo, anger
Aòdía, Aòdías < aòdí, to annoy, annoying

2. Tool names often have the ending -a, with a final consonant change plus an occasional vowel change in the root:

bii screw > baxa screwdriver
ah harvest > ada scythe, to reap
paŋ to draw water > padà well

-(b)á is used for equipment, some tools, and musical instruments:

xen, string > xeŋá guitar
ŋií to count > ŋabá abacus
siix soldier > seexabá military gear, to prepare for war
maadé midwife > mebá medical kit

3. Place names

Place names tend to end with the suffix -ón / -òs / - ós / -un

sen, god > senón, shrine
xawaa > xawáón Imperial Palace
tiòs, inn, pub
betós (bed)room
ritós study, office

4. Pairs

-bo/-wo is used for objects going by pairs: xis > xaabó shoe, baa, male > baabó, testicles, náis, knife > nawó scissors.

5. Liquids

Liquids and beverage can end in -da

wan hot > waoda bath
aa boil > ada tea
bé grape > biuda wine

Prefixing.

Prefixes in Classical Kao have the following characteristics:

They are bound morphemes
If they trigger root mutation, the modifications are predictable
They are still productive in Late Classical Kao.

A few exemples

è- (ì- before a vowel) triggers an unpredictable semantic shift, usually relating to a change of state: taix, used, fragile > ètaix, tired, worn out. àt, god, divine > ìàt to pray

The prefix à- has much of the same properties: taix, > àtaix, weak, weaken àt > ààt, to reach/grant godhood.

a- is a privative. If the following vowel has mid-level tone, it is changed to high or mid-rising: teran, arable land > atéran, desert, sen, god > asén, secular, Kao > Akaó 'un-Kao'

àa- means 'male'. If the following vowel has mid-level tone, it is changed to high or mid-rising: ren, human being > àarén man, àaŋaó, male cat, àakuú, bull

The less common prefix ò- means 'female'. The same tone change rule applies: òxáwaa, (reigning) empress, òŋaó, female cat.

The prefix éé- is used for wild animals or plants. The same tone change rule applies. éémá, wild horse, éédá, wolf, xoon orchard > ééxoón, forest. Interestingly, it also appears in éérén, barbarian.

Fused roots

Some monosyllabic content words are actuall fused roots, or roots fused with prefixes or suffixes: kóa, friend > kio pleasant + -aa, xoon orchard' > xo tree + -ón, sren, everyone > xi, each + ren, person

Compounding

Compounding is the most productive word-formation process

1. Near synonyms

Two roots with close meanings are compounded. This process serves two purposes: disambuation between homonyms, and formation of augmentative or honorifics: xan, human being + ren (same meaning) > xáren human being, xuu flower + sri fruit > xuùri blooming, fertile, ptes place + xuu (same meaning) > Ptèxuu Sacred Place

2. Qualificating compounds

hen stronghold, wall + tuu town, village, neighbourhood > hétuu, acropolis, rex, great, large + ii, lake > réxii, sea', xan, new'+ daí, city > xádaí, colony, haó, field + mos, mouse > haómos, mouse , haí, father + paár, bird > haípaár Dragon-Bird, paár, bird + kan, corn > paákan, millet

3. Compounding with kóa

Compounding roots with kóa, friend usually forms nouns relating to professions: ma horse + kóa > makóa, rider, xi, sheep + kóa > xikóa, shepherd, raa, truth + kóa > raakóa, philosopher, yówaa foreigner > yówaakóa, ambassador.

4. Compounding with san

Compounding with san 'descendant, grandson' forms ethnic names, it can also be equivalent to a patronymic, like Greek -ίδης or a diminutive, similar in usage to English -ling. Hais Khais + san > Haìsan, Khaisan. Kao + san > Kaósan, priest of Kao, sen god + san > sésan patrician, xé year + san > xésan, yearling, baby, haban ancestor+ san > Habásan, ~conservative

The distaff counterpart daí, daughter, grandaughter took a different meaning. It meant first 'colony', then 'metropolis' or 'city-state', and is often found in city names: Xuuhédaí, Waadaí, Xédaí. It also took the meaning of 'capital city': Haìdaí, capital of the Khaisan empire.

5. Verb + default object compounds.

Intransitive verbs are often formed with verb + default object compounds. Such verbs can still be used as transitive verbs, in which case the compound is split in two: it to eat + pan food > ípan, to eat, to dine > waí ípen duu I am eating > waí it paákan pen I eat millet, me/mí to do + as gift > mías present, to give > waí mías, I give , waí me mádá as I give a lot, waí wa mé max kán as èr daí, I gave much grain to the city.