Proto-Upic language

Proto-Upic (PUp) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Upic languages. It is thought to have been spoken c. 3,500 - 3,000 BGS somewhere in the Koyan region of Western Fountainhead, likely on the red steppe.

Phonology
Below are the reconstructed phonemes of Proto-Upic.

Dorsal Plosives
The dorsal plosives span three places of articulation, palatal *c *c’, velar *k *k’, and uvular *q *q’. The distinction between all three places is generally retained only in the High Öbic languages, but is important to consider in reconstructing earlier stages of the other branches.

Dorsal Fricatives
The fricatives *x and *h are unusual in that they cannot be definitely associated with single places of articulation, but rather seem to each possess properties of two groups simultaneously. In some circumstances, both synchronic and diachronic, the distinction between *x and *h appears to be palatal/velar, while in others it functions as velar/uvular, but the distinction is almost always maintained. In the Northern Upic languages, which retains the palatals, *x is generally reflected by a sibilant fricative [ʃ~ɕ], while *h is reflected by both velar and uvular fricatives [x~χ], which are either allophones of a single phoneme or phonemically distinct depending on the language. Another Northern Upic feature is the merger of *x and *h in forbidden onset clusters of two consonants with the same place of articulation (Note that this rule is the motivation for placing *w as a bilabial consonant, rather than velar). Under these circumstances, *x and *h are both dissimilated to the velar fricative [x], i.e. *xy- *hr- → [xj-] [xr-]. This dissimilation rule suggests Proto-Upic *r was a uvular trill [ʀ], though it is reflected by an alveolar trill in Northern Upic, which then merges with /l/ in Low Alöbi. In Cisi, which merges the palatals into the alveolars, *x does not follow suit and is instead reflected by a velar fricative [x], leaving *h reflected purely by a uvular or pharyngeal fricative [χ~ħ].

Syllable nuclei
Proto-Upic had only three true phonemic vowels, *i *a *u, but several other possible syllabic nuclei. The four approximants *y *w *r *l each have two syllabic forms, a simple monophthong form and a closing diphthong form: The diphthongs are reconstructed to have been pronounced with a syllabic vowel component with a quality distinct from the three vowels *i *a *u, usually assumed to be a schwa [əi̯ əu̯ əʀ əl], but are phonemically analysed as /ay aw ar al/.

These eight forms, plus *a, compose the complete set of Proto-Upic syllabic nuclei /a i u r̩ l̩ ay aw ar al/.

Morphology
Upic roots have the monosyllabic form *(C)(R)V(C), where C is any consonant, R is any approximant, and V is one of the nine possible syllabic nuclei /a i u r̩ l̩ ay aw ar al/. Roots did not belong to any particular word class and had broad semantic meaning, with more precise meanings able to be expressed through certain affixes which blur the line between inflection and derivation. The following affixes are reconstructed.


 * Singular absolutive noun *i-
 * Plural absolutive noun *hu-
 * Genitive noun *-i
 * Dative noun *aħ-
 * Possessed noun *-an
 * Perfective/Resultative *-at
 * Stative *-u
 * Adjective *-ar