#schleicher's fable

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Some Times News

One of the articles in my zine documents the development of my conlang, Havric. It is an Indo-European language that could have hypothetically evolved in Central Asia between the Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian branches. It is influenced heavily by Lithuanian and Persian, as well as the extinct languages of Hittite and Tocharian, and I plan on adding non-Indo-European influence from the Turkic and Mongolic families for realism. I want it to feel as much like a natural language as possible, one that exists within the context of its neighbors and the geopolitical history of the region.

Physical copies of Issue 6 went out to subscribers a week ago, and I'll post it publicly next month, but here's a preview because I wanted to make a post about Havric.

And here are the 12 reconstructions in question

In Issues 5, published in May, I wrote about the specific sound shifts that occurred between Proto-Indo-European and Havric, which I used to make my Proto-Havric reconstruction in Issue 6.

I also took inspiration from Wiktionary's glossed version of Schleicher's Fable (glossing is when you break a text down word-by-word and explain the tenses/conjugations/declensions in order)

*h₂ówis h₁éḱweskʷe *h₂éwyey Hyósmey h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂ ne h₁ést só h₁éḱwoms dérḱt. sḗm gʷréh₂um wóǵʰom wéǵʰet, sḗm méǵh₂m̥ bʰoréh₂m, sḗm ǵʰmónm̥ h₂ṓku bʰéret. h₂ówis h₁éḱwomos wékʷt: "dr̥ḱént ǵʰmṓ h₁éḱwom h₂éǵeti, h₁méne ḱḗr h₁mé kénkti." sḗm h₁éḱwos wékʷt: "ḱludʰí, h₂ówi!, n̥sméy ḱéres n̥smé kénkn̥ti, Hyós ǵʰmṓ, pótis, kʷérti tósmoy pélkim per h₂wĺ̥h₁néh₂ h₂éwis, só h₂ówis h₂wĺ̥h₁néh₂ ne h₁ésti." tóm ḱlutós, só h₂ówis h₁en h₂éǵrom bʰéwget.

sheep-NOM.SG horse-NOM.PL=and sheep-DAT.SG REL-DAT wool-VBADJ-TH-N.PL NEG be-3.SG.AOR that-NOM.SG horse-ACC.PL see-3.SG.AOR | one:NOM heavy-ACC.SG wagon-ACC.SG carry-3.SG.AOR | one:NOM great-ACC.SG load-TH-ACC.SG | one:NOM man-ACC.SG quickly bear-TH-3.SG.AOR | sheep-NOM.SG horse-DAT.PL say-3.SG.AOR | see-PTCP man:NOM.SG drive-T-3.SG.AOR | 1.SG.GEN heart:NOM.SG 1.SG.ACC pain-3.SG.PRES | one:NOM horse-NOM.SG say-3.SG.AOR | listen-IMP.2.SG sheep-VOC | 1.PL.GEN heart-NOM.PL 1.PL.ACC pain-3.PL.PRES REL-NOM man:NOM.SG | master-NOM.SG | make-3.SG.PRES that-DAT.SG cover-DN-ACC.SG from wool-VBADJ-TH-N.NOM.PL sheep:GEN.SG | that-NOM.SG sheep-NOM.SG wool-VBADJ-TH-N.NOM.PL NEG be-3.SG.PRES | that-ACC.SG hear.AOR-VBADJ| that-NOM.SG sheep-NOM.SG in field-ACC.SG flee-TH-3.SG.AOR

There's no definitive version of Havric yet, it's all still in flux as I decide how I want it to sound. I'll write more about it in future issues of the zine, so stay tuned for that.

[vigilantsycamore]

So I thought to myself, "hey, just to see what happens, why don't I put Schleicher's fable* through all the sound changes that occurred between Proto-Indo-European and English, and none of the grammatical or semantic changes, and see how incomprehensible the end result is?" and, well...

I tried to make it more legible by mimicking modern English orthography

Ewe iwerk Ewe yamie wool neest, say iume teawrt. Say quere wie withe; say meke bayre; say yeemen wie berdge. Ewe ewve weghwedge: "Yeemen spie iuse yas achedge, her me awnothre." Iwe thue weghwend: "Lyde, ewey! That spime, immie awnothre her: yeeme fathe see ewuwe wool bearm wester weft, ewve thue wool neeste." That hieluse, ewe acre bichth.

Granted, I'm a nerd not an expert, so I could have gone wrong somewhere but I think this does go to show how much more there is to a language than just its sounds

*For those who don't know, Schleicher's fable is basically a short narrative written in reconstructed Proto-Indo-European, as a demonstration of the language

[archipithecus]

Schleicher's Fable in an Fantasy PIE Conlang

‘Ówis hékwowsqwe

‘Áwej hjosméj awlnáá né hést, só hékwoms n'derkt. Só n'gqwrhúm wógom wéget; só mén'gam bórom; só dgémonm ‘ówku béret. ‘Ówis hékwojbjos wéwqwet, «dgémonm spékjow hékwoms hjós ‘án'geti, kéjr moj agqnutór». Hékwos tu wéwqwont: «kludí, ‘owej! tón'd spékjomes, nsméj agqnutór kéjr: dgémow pótis sej ‘áwjowm awlnáá gqwérmom wéstrom hwébt, ‘áwibjos tu awlnáá né hésti». Tón'd kekluwóws ‘ówis ‘an'gróm bun'gqét.

Schleicher (1868) (English translation)

The Sheep and the Horses

A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.

I'm making a dialect and/or very early branch of late Proto-Indo-European for my funky fantasy Earth project where I toss all my funky fantasy ideas. Under the cut I've put the IPA transcription of my version, the PIE reconstruction of the fable I used, and notes on my sound changes and romanization.

IPA transcription of my version

ʕówis hé.kwowsqʷe

ʕáwej çosméj awl̩nāː né hést, só hékwoms ⁿderkt. só ⁿɢʷr̩húm wógom wéget; só méⁿgam bórom; só dgémonm̩ ʕówku béret. ʕówis hékrojbjos wéwqʷet, «dgémonm̩ spékjow hékwoms çós ʕáⁿgeti, kéjr moj aɢnutór». hékwos tu wéwqʷont: « kludí, ʕowej! tóⁿd spékjomes, n̩sméj aɢnutór kéjr: dgémow pótis sej ʕawjowm awl̩náː ɢʷermom wéstrom xʷébt, ʕáwibjos tu awl̩náː né hésti». tóⁿd kekluwóws ʕówis ʕaⁿgróm buⁿɢét.

Melchert (2009, revisited 2014)

H₂ówis (h₁)ék̂wōs-kʷe

h₂áwej h₁josméj h₂wl̥h₁náh₂ né h₁ést, só h₁ék̂woms derk̂t. só gʷr̥hₓúm wóĝhom wéĝhet; só méĝh₂m̥ bhórom; só (dh)gĥémonm̥ h₂ṓk̂u bhéret. h₂ówis h₁ék̂wojbh(j)os wéwk(ʷ)et: (dh)ĝhémonm̥ spék̂joh₂ h₁ék̂woms h₁jós h₂áĝeti, k̂ḗr moj aghnutór. h₁ék̂wōs tu wéwkʷont: k̂ludhí, h₂owei! tód spék̂jomes/n, n̥sméi aghnutór k̂ḗr: (dh)ĝhémō pótis sē h₂áwjōm h₂wl̥h₁nā́h₁ gʷhérmom wéstrom (h₁)wébht, h₂áwibh(j)os tu h₂wl̥h₁náh₂ né h₁ésti. tód k̂ek̂luwṓs h₂ówis h₂aĝróm bhugét

Sound Changes

h₁, h₂, h₃ are [h], [ʕ], [ɣʷ] as consonants, and become [e], [ɑ], [o] as vowels. The color the vowels the normal way (h₁ doesn't color, h₂ colors to ɑ, and h₃ colors to [o])

[h] devoices the following sonorant, and turns approximants (l, j, w) into fricatives (ɬ, ç, xʷ)

The velars (k, g, gʰ, kʷ, gʷ, gʷʰ) are uvular (q,ɢ, ɢʰ, qʷ, ɢʷ, ɢʷʰ), and the palato-velars (ḱ, ǵ, ǵʰ) are velar (k, g, gʰ). Somewhere on Wikipedia it said that the dorsal consonants might have all been further back than normally reconstructed, and I don't know enough to have an informed opinion on that, but uvulars are fun and sexy.

Plain voiced stops (b, d, g, ɢ, ɢʷ) are prenasalized (ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑɡ, ᶰɢ, ᶰɢʷ), and aspirated voiced stops (bʰ, dʰ, gʰ, ɢʰ, ɢʷʰ) are de-aspirated (b, d, g, ɢ, ɢʷ). I think this is a plausible sound change, I mainly did it because I can't intentionally pronounce an aspiration distinction, and prenasalized consonants are fun, and not very sterotypically Indo-European.

Labialized stops delabialize next to [u] (and [w]) (classic boukólos)

Long mid vowels [eː, oː] become diphthongs [ej, ow] (mainly because I didn't want to write < ee, oo >)

Schwa is deleted word finally and initially, otherwise turns to [e]

Romanization

ʻ = [ʕ]

a = [ɑ], doubled vowels are long

hl, hj, hw = [ɬ, ç, xʷ]

hr, hm, hn = [r̥, m̥, n̥]

Prenasalization is written with < n' > before the stop, to distinguish it from a regular nasal-voiced stop sequence. Also in my IPA transcriptions I just use a simple < ⁿ > to represent prenasalization because that was easier for the sound change applier, and my computer won't render some of the exotic n's.

q, n'gq, gq, qw, n'gqw, gqw, ghw = [q,ⁿɢ, ɢ, qʷ, ⁿɢʷ, ɢʷ, ɣʷ]

I use guillemets («») for quotation marks because I'm using ‘ and ’ to mark important information (and also because guillemets are kinda sexy).

Syllabic resonants (r̩, l̩, m̩, n̩) are unmarked. I thought about using apostrophes to mark them, but it seemed excessive especially with also using them with the prenasalized stops, which I thought were more important to show. I think they're pretty intuitive.

Accents are stress, of course.

Everything else is pronounced as it is in the IPA.

Thank you for reading to the end of this post, if you know more about PIE and I got anything wrong, or just have cool ideas, please let me know.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

If there are any linguistics professionals reading this, I could use some help.

I'm doing research into Proto-Indo-European, the mother tongue of much of Europe and South Asia, and I recently discovered Schleicher's Fable, a short story about sheep and horses which has been translated into a dozen proto-languages to show how different branches envolved over the millennia.

My problem is that I don't know the word order or declensions (suffixes for different conjugations) of any of these languages, so I have no idea which words mean what throughout the text.

I know owis/hovis/avis means sheep (same etymology as modern English "ewe")

Ekwos means horse (equus, equestrian, etc.)

Wlna/wlana/vilno means wool

Oinom/aikam/enem means one

Krd/kart/sird means heart (cardio)

Widntei/widntbhos means see/seeing/sight (video/visual)

I think agnutai/egnutoi means hurt or pain (agony) but I don't know for sure

Same with megehm/megam for big (presumably like mega/magnum)

I can recognize a handful of other words from context, but some sentences completely confuse me. The phrase "heavy wagon" appears to be "woghom wegontm," both words of which look like they possibly share the same root, but I don't know which means heavy and which means wagon. All the variations of "dgmonm oku bherontm" mean "carry a man quickly," but I don't know which words corresponds to carry, man, or quickly. I think bherontm means carry because it has the -ontm suffix which I think marks a verb, but again, I just don't know.

I don't know the words for "the master makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself" or "the sheep fled into the plain." It's helpful that the story is broken down into lines, but it doesn't explain what each individual word means in order, so I don't know the proper translation.

Does anyone know where I can find an in depth breakdown of Schleicher's Fable with every word and declension annotated? I've tried looking up Proto-Indo-European glossaries/dictionaries online, but every corpus spells the words differently (lots of subscript letters and numbers and asterisks), some words have multiple PIE translations and no two sites agree on which to use when. It's not helpful at all.

I need a word-by-word translation, something like:

PIE: owis kwesjo wlna na est ekwoms speket

Literal: sheep which wool no have horses saw

English: a sheep which had no wool saw horses

Does anyone know where I can find the proper resources for this project?

[some-dude-with-a-cat-blog]

A language thing

Schleicher's fable rendered in my modified semi-phonetic notation of Byrd's 2013 reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European and very rough Proto-Indo-Iranian and Sanskrit rendered in similar romanization. The Sanskrit is my own novice translation, but much of it is reconstructed. Corrections and suggestions are welcome! Hówis ‘écwōs-qe háwej ‘josméj hwl̥’náh né ‘ést, só 'écwoms derct. só gʷr̥hₓúm wóǵʰom weǵʰed; só méǵhm̥ bʰórom; só dʰǵʰémonm̥ hṓcu bʰered. hówis ‘éqojbʰjos wewked: “dʰǵʰémonm̥ spécjoh ‘écwoms-qe háǵeti, cḗr moj agʰnutor”. ‘écwōs tu wewkond: “cludʰí, howej! tód spécjomes, n̥sméj agʰnutór cḗr: dʰǵʰémō, pótis, tósjo háwjes hwl̥’náh gʷʰérmom wéstrom wept, háwibʰjos tu hwl̥’náh né ‘esti. tód cecluwṓs hówis haǵróm bʰuged. 'Awis 'acwās-ka. 'Awei, kasja 'wr̥̄'nā' na 'āst, 'akwams spacát, 'aikam gr̥úm waǵʰam wáǵʰantm̥, 'aikam-ka magʰam bʰaram, 'aikam-ka ǵʰámanm̥ ācu bʰarantm̥. 'Awis nu 'ácwabʰjas áwaukat: “ǵʰŕ̥dajam ágʰnutai mai, 'acwams 'aǵantam wī'ram wídn̥tai”. Ácwās tu áwaukant: “Crudʰí 'awi! Cr̥d ágʰnutai n̥smái wídn̥tbʰjas: nar, patis, 'awjam-r̥ wr̥̄nām swabʰi gʰarmám wastram kr̥nauti”. Awjam-ka wr̥̄nā na 'āst. Tat cácruwas awis aǵram ábʰugat. Avi ašvāh-ca. Avaje jásme ū́rṇā na asti, ašwān pášjat, ekã gurum vāhanam váhantam, ekã-ca mahām bʰāram, ekã-ca kṣam āšú bʰarantam. Avi nú ášvebʰjah ūvaca: “Hṛd āgʰāti me, ašwān aǵantam vīram vítante”. Ášvāh tu avocanti: “Šrudʰí avi! Hṛd āgʰāti asmabʰjam vítantabʰjam: nṛ́, páti, aveh ūrṇām svabʰi gʰarmám vastram kṛṇóti”. Avaje-ca ū́rṇā na asti. Tatah šušrā́vah avi aǵram ábʰugat.

[daribenetka]

Schleicher’s fable 2.0: kala ninwata

There’s a good reason if I’m not posting any #lexember since Dec. 15th or so. In the past two days I’ve been working on a sample text for ŋawkamilani and I thought that Schleicher’s fable was a good choice. BUT! The ŋiŋawkami have no knowledge of sheeps and horses so I had to edit the story a little bit. So here’s the English and the translated versions:

The shark and the fishes

In the past, a shark saw fishes swimming in a nwatakea (a small atificial pool at the seaside). The shark said to the fishes: “My heart pains me, seeing fish closed in a corral by man!” The fishes replied: “Listen, Shark, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the fisherman, sails with his boat and catches a shark; the shaman takes its scales for his rituals; women open it up and take its entrails to cook them; and finally the other men take its teeth to make their neklaces. Which is worse?”

kala ninwata

ŋimełi van voivu lenwata te onwatakea aŋawte yakala. vomate lenwata yakala: “omo vopena yakayo, yawemo te onwatakea vokeaku lenwata!” vawŋawmate vanwata: “kito moye, ŋawelo, ivute vapena vawkayo aivu kilaw: yawemo yapimi i okivo ovola vomała, ke kikala teo vokata; kaw okivo ovepe obe vokata lebe lekwate yataŋakwaia; vawlana kikala vamame ke kaw ekuko levika vawkata; ke naweno, kaw leneko emawtu obe vawkata lekanini vawemo. łe vowole?”

Some hints on pronunciation:

ł is [ɰ]

v is [ʋ]

b is [ⱱ]

[vilikemorgenthal]

Tamoɣáta ki klápa cíɣpim nótosuo, ei ñýote tajámi nokílam hóte, ei ôte tamǿkmat vaɣ omǿkmøze jépe, ei spôte tamǿkmat vaɣ héte vjut. Tacnékat ei klápa ei nótosuo : « Amiosí ñehóumah, aepomóɣ héte tajámi me ei nótosum. » Tucnékat ei nótosu : « Tusóutmen, ao klápa, nymiosí ñehóumah nøpomóɣ kio : ki het, ei skojám imé, taɣékmeno cíɣlem klápa ovâka tóutano tápohanah. Na tan veos cíɣle klápao. » Taposóut nátah, taɣósata ei klápa mýehaske.

“A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.”

The Sheep and the Horses is a classic of IE linguistics —there’s nothing like putting your new theory to work to feel the aesthetics and compare the changes made from the previous reconstructions. While being intended primarily for indo-europeanists, nothing prevents it from being used by conlangers