Re: Weekly Vocab #2.1.28 (repost #1)

Eric Christopherson wrote:

> quoting me:
>
>> BTW, Sore Suraetua is only a provisional name. It simply means
>> "Old Suraetua" in Suraetua. It should have a name in itself, but
>> what? Suraetua in Sora Suraetua is Hiksjuraranithwara,
>
> Is that form cognate with the word <Suraetua>? Pretty cool sound
> changes, if so :)
Yes, they are cognate. I've based all my conlangs on names in stories
and simulations I made up in my childhood and youth. Suraetua is the
language of a bronze age culture in my conworld, while the
(provisional) Hiksjuraranithwara is adapted to fit the names I
invented for a stone age phase of the same nation, while at the same
time keeping up a continuity from the North East Caucasion which I am
using as a proto-language. Rather a bit of a puzzle, but I quite like
such puzzles.

The sound changes will doubtless change a little as I investigate
these things a little better. But I can sum up the relevant ones
here. Most of the characters represent the phonemes you'd expect them
to represent, but _h_ is an unspecified laryngeal (have yet to decide
on that), _ksj_ (Norwegian inspired spelling) is a strongly
aspirated /k/, and _th_ is a weakly aspirated /t/.

Now, the _h_ becomes a glottal stop, and then is lost.
The initial /i/ then also is lost, due to lack of stress, or some
other condition.
_ksj_ (in this environment) first loses the plosive, becoming a /S/,
then an /s/.
The _ura_ sequence is not changed.
/r/ before an unstressed vowel is lost, if the environment allows it.
The -an ending is modified to an -e ending, probably the influence of
the nasal on the vowel before its loss.
The /i/ in the instrumental -ithwa ending is not changed.
The aspiration of the _th_ is lost.
/wa/ is contracted to /u/.
In the nominaliser -ra, /r/ before an unstressed vowel is again lost.

MorphemeAddict@WMCONNECT.COM wrote:
>
> Must the name of the language have a meaning?  Most natural
> language names mean only "of such-and-such country" if they have
> any meaning at all.
If the Suraetuans or whatever never were in contact with anybody
speaking a different language, they probably wouldn't even need to
name their own language. But I guess not many nations have
experienced this kind of solitude.

The name must have a meaning from the start, but I have perhaps not
been considering the possibility enough that the name is kept, but
becoming meaningless with time. 'Suraetua' gives a very distinct
meaning, so maybe it's a new invention from the days of Lerae and
Uttrediay. This means the old one shouldn't be a cognate. So maybe
I'll go for Hihinusa, or Amhanara ("ours"), or Hihinuhikira
("language" + intensive). Even the Hihinuhikirans (if that's what it
will be) will have an old history of naming their language, though.

I kind of like Amhanara.

LEF