Proto-Kai

Proto-Kai
	Ká-eghedži; File:Old Kai k.svgFile:Old Kai a.svgFile:Old Kai i.svgFile:Old Kai e.svg File:Old Kai g.svgFile:Old Kai e.svgFile:Old Kai h.svgFile:Old Kai i.svg;
	; The word šurhóas written in Proto-Kai on an early Jähimajist text, dated circa 3777 Ʋ; Star of the Kaijin People
Region	Riden Peninsula (Primarily), Assai
Language family	Han-Kaijin Kai Eastern Kai Riddish Proto-Kai; ; ; ;
Writing system	Kai, Assai, Primative Kaijin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	OK

This article is part of Project Genesis.

Proto-Kai (PK, File:Old Kai k.svgFile:Old Kai a.svgFile:Old Kai i.svgFile:Old Kai e.svg File:Old Kai g.svgFile:Old Kai e.svgFile:Old Kai h.svgFile:Old Kai i.svg Ká-eghedži, Modern Kai: Éjajikádim, Assai: Kai-ekí) is the earliest stage of the modern Kai Language as well as the immediate ancestor of the closely related Assai Language, conventionally believed to have been spoken between 3577 Ʋ and 4327 Ʋ. As a Kai-Meridian Language of the Eastern Kai Family, Kai was the official language of the Alawazi Empire in Eastern Ridan as well as its successor states. Old Kai was spoken throughout much of the Riden Peninsula as well as western Greater Assai, where it later developed into the independent Assai Language.

Religious Jähimajist texts dated from circa 3777 Ʋ account for the majority of modern surviving Old Kai texts, with their near-perfect condition allowing linguists to have significantly reconstructed Old Kai. Today, much of its phonology, syntax, and morphology is well understood and documented, with many of its grammatical features (such as VSO syntactic structure, complex noun declension system, and prominent use of the 3rd person) surviving into Old Kai’s descendant languages of Kai and Assai.

As an Eastern Kai language, Old Kai is believed to be a descendant of Proto-Kai spoken in Southern Zhou. The emigration of the Kaijin people from their Zhou homelands after the Zhou Kaijin genocide led to the movement of Proto-Eastern-Kai into the Riden Peninsula, where it was spoken for several centuries as the dominant language of the region, replacing the Old Riddish Languages of Dumar and Tiriz. Old Kai would later develop in the Alawazi Empire of Eastern Riden, which itself developed into Middle Kai following the invasion of the Zhou in 4264 Ʋ. The invasion of Greater Assai by the Kaijin in 3779 Ʋ resulted in the spreading of Old Kai to Assai, where it later developed into the independent Assai Language after the collapse of the Alawazi Empire and its consequential isolation from Middle Kai.

Old Kai is very different from Modern Kai, being difficult for Modern Kai speakers to understand without study. Conversely, the Assai Language shares several grammatical similarities with Old Kai which allow speakers of Assai to read Old Kai without significant difficulties. Old Kai was written using Old Kai Script, which was later replaced by the use of the simplified Kai Script. Old Kai Script continued to be used in Classical Kai, a derivative literary form of Old Kai which continued to be used well into the Middle Ages.

Demographics and History

Geographical Distribution

History

Phonology

Vowels

Front				Back
Rounded		Unrounded		Rounded		Unrounded
y /y/	ó /ø/	e /e/	i /i/	u /u/	o /o/	a /a/
		á/ai/				á/ai/

Note that for all the above sounds except for /ai/ a long form may be indicated by adding an umlaut (ő in the case of ó) to indicate the vowel is pronounced long. For example, 'ö' = /o:/, 'ä' = /a:/, etc.

Proto-Kai utilises vowel harmony, wherein every word will utilise vowels of the same group. These groups are as follows, with all vowels therein including their respective long forms (with the exception of the diphthong /ai/)

Front /i y e ø ai/, where /u/ will change to /y/, /o/ to /ø/, and /a/ to /e/.
Back /u o a ai/, where /y/ will change to /u/, /ø/ to /o/, and /e i/ to á/.
Rounded /y ø u o/, where /i/ will change to /y/, /e/ to / ø/, /a/ to /o/, and /ai/ to /u/
Unrounded /e i a ai/, where /y/ will change to /i/, /ø/ to /e/, /o/ to /a/, and /u/ to /o/

For example, the word "ïndja" (‘to drink’) consists of a front vowel system root with the infinitive -ja suffix. Conjugated into the 3^rd person singular formal, the affix -jakhe would normally be added. The vowel /a/ will harmonise with the front vowel root to an /e/, resulting in the word "ïndjekhe" (harmonised) instead of "ïndjakhe".

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		/m/ (m)	/n/ (n)
Plosive	Voiceless	/p/ (p)	/t/ (t)	/tʃ/ (tš)	/c/ (kh)	/k/ (k)
	Voiced	/b/ (b)	/d/ (d)	/dʒ/ (dž)	/ɟ/ (gh)	/g/
Fricative	Voiceless	/f/ (f)	/s/ (s) /ts/ (ts)	/ʃ/ (š)
	Voiced	/v/ (v)	/z/ (z) /dz/ (dz)	/ʒ/ (ž)
Approximant					/j/ (j)
Trill			/r/ (r)			/R/ (rh)

Orthographic representation of each character is indicated in brackets.

Phonotactics

Proto-Kai follows a (C)V(C)(C) phonotactic system, wherein:

/ts m/ cannot form the coda.

Morphology

Noun Declension

Proto-Kai had three genders, which are as follows:

Animate
Feminine
Neuter

Similarly, Proto-Kai had seven cases (see below). Whilst there are no definite or gender-declining indefinite articles, case declension varies according to the gender of a word. Thus,

Case	Animate (ádže – water)		Inanimate (ÿkhytš – hope)		Neuter (itan – mountain)
Case	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ádže	ádžen	ÿkhytš	ÿkhytšif	itan	Itanatsö (-atsü)
Accusative	ádžeš	ádžešin	ÿkhytše	ÿkhytšef	itanaš	Itanašö (-ašü)
Dative	ádžesi	ádžesin	ÿkhytši	ÿkhytšifi	itaneghi	itanekhi
Genitive	ádžež	ádžeži	ÿkhytšite	ÿkhytšifte	itanitš	Itanötš (-ütš)
Vocative	ádžekhó (-kho)		ÿkhytšókhe (-okhe)		itanna
Locative	ádžerÿ (-rü)	ádžere	ÿkhytšedž	ÿkhytšedži	itanerhe	Itanerho (-erhu)
Instrumental	ádžekhe	ádžeghe	ÿkhytšá	ÿkhytšáf	itanitse	itanidze

The indefinite article ‘ë’ may be used before a noun followed by a hyphen. For example, ‘He went to the mountain’ would be ‘ferješghó eliz itanerhe rhykhőjo’ (go+[conj.]+[modal] he mountain+[locative] [simple past modal verb]), whilst ‘He went to a mountain’ would be ‘ferješghó eliz ë-itanerhe rhykhőjo’.

A noun phrase in Proto-Kai may use the genitive or the affix ‘-be’ depending on the inalienable/alienable nature of the compound noun. For example, ‘Khórhÿtešikiž Ká-eghedži’ means ‘the language of the Proto-Kai’, an example of alienable possession (ie, the language is something which can be lost). Conversely, ‘Khórhÿtešikibe Ká-eghedži’ means ‘the Proto-Kai language’ utilising inalienable possession, and is thus something which cannot be lost.

Adjectives

Adjectives are not declined according to gender and/or case in Proto-Kai. However, adjectives can be turned into nouns through the addition of the suffix –(e)šïr. For example, ‘eghedži’ (old) can become ‘eghedžišïr’ (old age). Similarly, nouns can also be converted into adjectives by the use of the suffix -tse. For example, ‘ádže’ (water) becomes ‘ádžetse’ (aqueous, watery). Adverbs are also produced from adjectives through the addition of the suffix -džek. For example, ‘reši’ (fast) becomes ‘rešidžek’ (quickly, rapidly).

Adjectives in Proto-Kai are always added after the main noun phrase. Similarly, adverbs are always added after the main verb phrase. Thus, ‘an old man quickly drank the aqueous water’ would be ‘ïndješghó rešidžek ë-ero-eghedži ádžeš-ádžetse rhykhőjo’ (drinks quickly a man old water aqueous [modal verb]). Note that adjectives are usually connected to their noun via a hyphen, although this is purely a literary custom.

Verb Conjugation

Verbs in Old Assai conjugate according to number and person. Tenses are indicated through the use of auxiliary verbs.

Person	Type	Pronoun	Affix	*Example (ïndja, to drink)*
1^st Person		Rhe	[]-je	ïndje
2^nd Person		Rhus	y-*[]-je	indje
Conjunctive		sth. Kó sth.	[]-jis	Ïndjis
3^rd Person Singular	Masculine/Animate	Eliz	[]-ješ	ïndješ
	Feminine/Inanimate	Khež	[]-jo	Ïndja
	Neuter	Ïz	[]-ji	Ïndji
	Unknown	Sádže	[]-ješ	ïndješ
	Formal	Yt	[]-jakhe	Ïndjekhe
3^rd Person Plural	Known	Te	Šá-[]-ys	šáïndis
	Unknown	Tïdže	Šá-[]-as	šáïndis
	Formal	Ytdžï	Šá-[]-jakhe	šáïndjekhe

Mood is indicated in the following way:

Imperative: the omission of any suffixes indicates the imperative mood in Proto-Kai. For example, ‘drink!’, in the context of a group of known people, would be ‘šáïnd!’. The same word in the context of a single male person would be ‘ïnd!’.
Interrogative: the use of the participle ‘tše’ before the verb indicates the interrogative mood. No other changes occur. Thus, ‘she is drinking’ is ‘ïndjo khež’, whilst ‘is she drinking?’ would be ‘tše ïndjo khež?’
Conditional: the infix –(i)mï- is added after the root of the verb. For example, ‘he drinks’ is ‘ïndješ eliz’, ‘he might/could drink’ is ‘ïndimïješ eliz’. Šátšikhis te (they [known] speak) would become šátšikhimïs te (they might/could speak)

Tense, Negation, and Modal Verbs

Tenses are indicated by the use of modal verbs, which are illustrated below:

Tense		Modal Verb	Example	Translation
Future	Near	vughüžja	vughüdž eliz mitan ïndja, or ïndješghó eliz mitan vughüžja	He drinks tomorrow
Future	Distant/Unspecified	ykhotšjo	ykhotš eliz ïndja, or ïndješghó eliz ykhotšjo	He will drink
Present	Continuous	berja	ereš eliz ïndja, or ïndješghó eliz berja	He is drinking
Past	Perfect	keredzja	kerž eliz ïndja, or ïndješghó eliz keredzja	He has drunk
	Simple	rhykhőjo	rhykhoš eliz ïndja, or ïndješghó eliz rhykhőjo	He drank
	Continuous	tšetškádzja	tšetšeš eliz ïndja, or ïndješghó eliz tšetškádzja	He was drinking

All these modal forms may be structured in one of two ways, by using the conjugated modal verb with an infinitive at the sentence’s end, or by using the conjugated verb with a modal marker (-ghó) and the modal infinitive at the sentence’s end.

All of the above verbs are irregular. Their conjugations are as follows:

Type	Pronoun	vughüžja	ykhotšjo	berja	keredzja	rhykhőjo	Tšetškádzja
1^st Person	Rhe	vaghüž	ykho	berje	kedzje	rhykhő	tšetše
2^nd Person	Rhus	ughažja	ykhydžo	irje	ikedž	yrhykhő	itšetše
Conjunc.	sth. Kó sth.	vughüžaž	ykhotšiš	eržiš	kerjis	rhykhyš	tšetšiš
Masc./Ani.	Eliz	vughüdž	ykhotš	ereš	kerž	rhykhoš	tšetšeš
Fem./Ina.	Khež	vughü	ykhu	ere	keredza	rhykho	tšetša
Neuter	Ïz	vughádž	ykh	er	kerži	rhykhy	tšetši
Unknown	Sádže	vughüdž	ykhotš	ereš	kerž	rhykhoš	tšetšeš
Formal	Yt	vukhano	ykhodžókhu	erakhe	keredzje	rhykhokhy	tšetšjakhe
Known	Te	šávys	šukhys	šáberi	šákedž	šurhykhys	šátšetšis
Unknown	Tïdže	šávas	šukhyš	šáberas	šákedzas	šurhykhos	šátšetšaš
Formal	Ytdžï	šávukhano	šukhodžókhu	šáberakhe	šákeredzje	šurhykhokhy	šátšetšjakhe

Negation is expressed in Proto-Kai by using the infix -ne- immediately following the stem. For example, ‘She is drinking’ is ‘ere khežïndja’ or ‘ïndjaghó khež berja’, whereas ‘She is not drinking’ is ‘erene khež ïndja’ or ‘ïndjaneghó khež berja’. Proto-Kai frequently utilises modal verbs to denote subtle changes in meaning. See section on syntax for the way in which these modal verbs are used.

Evidential Markers

Whether or not an event is known to have occurred by the speaker can be described by using the narrative infix -yt- (that is, if the speaker witnessed the event occur) or through the use of the rumour infix -fetä- (that is, if the speaker did not witness the events occur). If the speaker is unsure of the truth of what was said, the infix -zeka- is used. Furthermore, whether or not an event was seen or heard by the speaker can be illustrated using the infix -inó- or -ikha- respectively. Thus,

tšikhinejughe khež Káš-eghedži rhykhőjo means 'she was seen to have been speaking Proto-Kai'.
tšikhikhajughe khež Káš-eghedži rhykhőjo means 'she was heard to have been speaking Proto-Kai'.
tšikhitjughe khež Káš-eghedži rhykhőjo means '(I, the speaker, witnessed that) she was speaking Proto-Kai'
tšikhfetäjughe khež Káš-eghedži rhykhőjo means '(I did not witness this, but believe that) she was speaking Proto-Kai'.
tšikhizetajughe khež Káš-eghedži rhykhőjo means '(I'm not sure about this, but believe that) she was speaking Proto-Kai'.

Note that when an inpossible phonetic clustering from affixes would have occured, the vowel 'i' has been used before the affix. Additionally, affixes have been harmonised.

Syntax

Proto-Kai is a head-initial language with a Verb-Subject-Object sentence structure. The complex case system of noun declension in Proto-Kai permits for a particularly free sentence ordering, although the placement of the verb in the sentence is particularly strict. This freedom of syntax, as well as the capability of words to accredit complex meanings from affixes, is partially why the Classical Kai derrivative of Proto-Kai was used extensively for literature.

Verb placement in Old Assai is particularly important, with the main verb or modal verb indicative of tense always being used first, followed by any verb phrase modifiers (ie, adverbs). Modal verbs or verbs agreeing with an initial modal verb must always be used at the end of a sentence, the exception chiefly being in poetry. Between the two verbs, however, the order of subject and object is not particularly important. Subject occuring before object is, however, more typical of colloquial speech.

Forming Questions

Questions are formed in Old Assai through the use of the participle tše before the initial verb. For example, Takür drinks water would be ïndješ Takür ádžeš (literally drinks Takür water+[acc.]), whilst Does Takür drink water? would be tše ïndješ Takür ádžeš?.

Subordinate Clauses

Subordinate clauses usually have the main verb sent to the end of the sentence with the introduction of a subordinate conjunction. For example, 'His father, who is old, drinks water' would become ïndješ rykhóbe eliz, eghedži eja, ádžeš (literally: drinks father of he, old is, water+[acc.]).

Example Texts

The Lord's Prayer

Rykhóbe（Father (w/ inalienable poss.)） ïz（neuter 3rd sing.）, beješ（lives） eliz（he） itširÿ（heaven+LOC）,

eja（is） dzekitš（name+GEN） eliz（he） utokonitškho（hallowed）.

ykhotš（will） kešyriž（kingdom+GEN） eliz（he） eferja（come (infin.)）,

ykhotš（will） žižekiž（will+GEN） eliz（he） kuja（be done (infin.)）

Saberÿ（Sabel+LOC）, eliz（he） itširÿ（heaven+LOC） kuješ（does）.

Tsághješ（gives） tesi（3rd known+DAT） ghóre（today） mitábaniteite（bread+ACC+GEN） te（3rd known） ghóšir（daily）,

Kó（and） fóryghokoješ（forgives） sekaršiži（trespasses+GEN） ïz（3rd neuter）,

fóryghokojy（forgive） ïz（3rd neuter） tïdžeš（3rd plu. unknown+ACC）, ïziš（3rd neuter+ACC） šáfóryghokoas（trespass against）,

Kó（and） šetšanneješ（lead+not） ïziš（3rd neuter+ACC） žekherhedž（temptation）,

dži（but） arutážješ（deliver） ïziš（3rd neuter+ACC） dzar-kerÿ（evil-from）.

Our Father, who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On Earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trepass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

Excerpt from Songs of Jäh

šurhóas（redden） dzerán（sun+NOM PLU） etšrÿ（west+LOC）

rhÿšókhjy（fears） ïz（3rd N.） žitanaš（night+ACC）

ghokan（protect） ïziš（3rd N.+ACC）, džä-metšÿ（Jäh-great）

bekhar（let (IMP)） eliz（3rd N.） esiž（light+GEN） eliz（3rd N.）, žitantseaš（night+ADJ+ACC） rhekhješ（torments）

khe（Until） šurhóas（redden） dzerán（sun+NOM PLU） asrÿ（east+LOC）

The suns redden in the west,

I fear of the night,

O Great Jä, protect me,

Let your Light torment the nightness,

Until the suns redden in the east.

Lexicon

Main Article: Proto-Kai/Lexicon.

Tsurónokh (an.) - adult, mature person.
tšo (adj.) - high, upper, over.
Dzerá (an.) - sun (lit. 'great light').
dze- (prefix) - intensifier.
Rá (an.) - light (also es), ray.
Tšódzerá (an.) - noon, midday (lit. 'high sun').
noghy (prep.) - after, later, then.
Nóghytšódzerá (an.) - afternoon (lit. 'after noon').
Noghytsurónokh (an.) - elder, wise person, senior, shaman (lit. 'after adult').