Language scratchpad/Altlangs/Alternate reconstructions/Proto-Japonic scratchpad/Proto-Ryukyuan scratchpad
This subarticle lists some of my notes on Proto-Ryukyuan.
Disclaimer: The entirety of this article's contents is to be considered science fiction. They are not, in any way, verified and accepted reconstructions of real-life proto-languages, even if they are largely based on accepted reconstructions.
Phonology
Proto-Ryukyuan is reconstructed with a typical five vowel system:
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | *i | *u |
| Mid | *e | *o |
| Open | *a |
Morphology
Verbs
In general, there are six conjugational classes of Proto-Ryukyuan verbs, of which the first is most likely the only productive class. The six classes have equivalents in Classical Japanese:
- First conjugation (athematic): CJ quadrigrade
- Second conjugation (thematic): CJ monograde and bigrade
- Third conjugation: CJ s-irregular
- Fourth conjugation: CJ k-irregular
- Fifth conjugation: CJ r-irregular
- Sixth conjugation: CJ n-irregular
The third, fourth and sixth conjugations each only have one verb (*se-/*as- "to do", *ko- "to come", *sin- "to die"), while the fifth conjugation only has three verbs and one suffix (*ar-, *wor-, *jar-, *-itar-). The sixth conjugation is difficult to reconstruct, as most languages have merged it with the first conjugation.
The following is a comparison of the six conjugational classes' base forms:
| Imperfective | Infinitive | Attributive | Perfective | Imperative | Participle 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | *tora | *tori | *toro | *tore | *tore | *torite |
| Second | *oke | *oke | *okero | *oke | *okero | *okete |
| Third | *se | *si | *sero | *se | *sero | *site |
| Fourth | *ko | *ki | *koro | *ke | *ko | *kite |
| Fifth | *wo(ra) | *wori | *wo(ro) | *wore | *wore | *wote |
| Sixth | *sine | *sini | *sinero | *sine | *sine | *sinite |
The following is a comparison of selected inflectional forms:
| First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volitional | *tor-a | *oke | *se | *ko | *wo-mu/*wor-a | Imperfective |
| Conditional | *tor-a-ba | *oke-ba | *se-ba | *ko-ba | *wo-ba/*wor-a-ba | Imperfective + *-ba |
| Negative | *tor-a-nu | *oke-nu | *se-nu | *ko-nu | *wo-nu/*wor-a-nu | Imperfective + *-nu |
| Infinitive | *tor-i | *oke | *si | *ki | *wor-i | Infinitive |
| Past | *tor-i-tar- | *oke-tar- | *si-tar- | *ki-tar- | *wo-tar- | Participle 2 + *-tar- |
| Imperative | *tor-e | *oke-ro | *se-ro | *ko | *wor-e | Imperative (*-e/*-ro) |
| Attributive | *tor-o | *oke-ro | *se-ro | *ko-ro | *wor-o | Attributive |
| Prohibitive | *tor-o-na | *oke-ro-na | *se-ro-na | *ko-ro-na | *wor-o-na | Attributive + *-na |
| Provisional | *tor-e-ba | *oke-re-ba | *se-re-ba | *ke-ba | *wor-e-ba | Perfective + *-(re)ba |
| Participle 1 | *tor-e | *oke | *se | *ke | *wor-e | Perfective |
| Participle 2 | *tor-i-te | *oke-te | *si-te | *ki-te | *wo-te | Participle 2 |
| Negative Participle | *tor-a-da | *oke-da | *se-da | *ko-da | *wo-da/*wor-a-da | Imperfective + *-da |
The conclusive, in general, was formed periphrastically, using *womu or *wori attached to the infinitive. The latter is comparable to the Classical Japanese r-irregular conclusive -ri. The -mu suffix, if used, generally evolved into an indicative marker.
Bibliography
- Thorpe, M. L., Ryūkyūan Language History (1983)