Či language

Či, formerly known as Šiʔbi in its ancestral language Proto-Zākh, is a language predominantly spoken in the hilly regions of southeastern Ausalon. Its unique topographical setting and relative isolation led to a distinct linguistic evolution characterized by the merging of several consonants and the development of new fricative and affricate phonemes.
Phonemic Evolution
Či's phonetic profile is distinctive, especially due to its elaborate consonant system. Traditional voiced and voiceless stop consonants in Proto-Zākh transformed into voiced fricatives, creating a rich collection of fricative sounds. The affricate phonemes developed from palatalization of velar consonants, lending a unique auditory character to the language.
Simplification of the Tense-Aspect System
One of the most notable grammatical changes in Či compared to Proto-Zākh was the simplification of the tense-aspect system. The complex Proto-Zākh system, featuring an extensive array of prefixes and infixes, became more streamlined in Či. While this led to a loss in some tense and aspect distinctions, it also allowed for increased regularity and predictability in verb conjugations, enhancing the language's accessibility.

Sound Change

1. Palatalization of Velar Consonants: /k/, /g/ become /č/, /ǧ/ respectively before front vowels /i/, /e/.
2. Final Devoicing: Voiced consonants at the end of words are devoiced.
3. Simplification of Consonant Clusters: Adjacent consonants are merged into a single consonant.
4. Vowel Raising: Short /e/ and /o/ raised to /i/ and /u/ respectively in stressed syllables.
5. Lenition of Stop Consonants: Voiceless stop consonants /p/, /t/, /k/ become voiced /b/, /d/, /g/ between vowels.
6. Development of Affricates: /t/, /d/ become /ts/, /dz/ respectively before front vowels /i/, /e/.
7. Loss of Glottal Stop: The glottal stop /ʔ/ at the beginning of a word is dropped.
8. Nasal Assimilation: The nasal /n/ assimilates to the point of articulation of the following consonant.
9. Rhotacism: The alveolar fricative /z/ becomes /r/ between vowels.
10. Fronting of Back Vowels: The back vowels /a/ and /u/ become /æ/ and /i/ respectively when followed by a front vowel /i/ or /e/.
11. Lenition of Consonant Clusters: Consonant clusters undergo lenition, where the second consonant in the cluster is weakened.
12. Diphthongization: Long vowels /ī/, /ū/ become diphthongs /ei/, /ou/ respectively.
13. Syncope: Unstressed short vowels in medial syllables were lost, reducing the number of syllables in many words.
14. Gemination of Medial Consonants: Medial consonants following short stressed vowels were geminated (doubled).
15. Lenition of Voiced Stops to Approximants: Voiced stops /b/, /d/, /g/ lenited to approximants /β/, /ð/, /ɣ/ respectively in intervocalic positions.

Root Languages

• Proto-Zākh language

Spoken by

• Či people