Overview

Adorish developed from Proto-Acor-Valian, a language reconstructed to have been spoken before 2200 BXR. Adorish developed from the Xynorese language spoken 100 BXR to 200 XR. More precisely, it developed from the western dialect.

Adorish solidified itself as a language separate to Xynorese in 800 XR, a century after the kingdom of Adoran was founded. Since Adoran was founded by the Erkanic king Saxtos, Erkanic was originally the principal language of the kingdom. Although it remains as the native language to the royal family and the preferred tongue of court, Adorish has become standard in most formal affairs. It is considered extremely divergent from the rest of the Xynoric languages.

Evidence in some irregular sound changes indicates that the standard literary form of Adorish (Ad. Uzâne je Adóryêno “Adorish for writing”) used in the time period of reference (1400 – 1450 XR) was a combination of several Central dialects:

-          Irregular /eo/ merger with long /e/ found in the Taifynic dialect: zylêrô (Taifynic [θʏˈlεː.ɹo̞ː] Telcon [θʏˈlεu.ɹo̞ː]).

-          Weakening of initial /ts/ to unnoted [h], a feature of Marest speech: inônê (Marest [hiˈnɔː.ne̞ː], Telcon [tsiˈnɔː.nεu])

-          Merger of /ae/ with long [ɑː] after vowels, also linked to Taifynic, but a feature found in most central dialects since triphthongs are not allowed in Adorish: tziâno (Taifynic [tsiˈɑː.no̞], Telcon [ˈtsjæ.no̞]).

The use of Standard Adorish has led to speakers in Telcon adopting these forms in native speech. Nowadays, inônê is pronounced [iˈnɔː.ne̞ː] in the capital. There is also a growing interest in the Halburan dialect of Adorish for poetry and literature.

Phonological

This section will cover all changes from Proto-Acor-Valian to Adorish:

Consonant Inventory of PAV for reference:

Stress was on the largest syllable in the word.

Syllable shape maximum was CCVC. No restrictions on consonant clusters.

It is unclear whether PAV *j represnted [j] or [ɟ]

PAV to PA (Proto-Acorian)

1.       b, d, g > v, ð, ɣ / V_V

2.       {b, bʰ},{d, dʰ, g, gʰ} > m, n / _ obstruents

3.       p, t, k > b, d, g / V_V

4.       {p, t, k}{r, l} > {rː, lː} / V_V

5.       b, d, g > f, θ, x / _j

6.       {p, t, k}{j} > {pː, tː, kː} / V_V

7.       {kʰ, gʰ} > x / #_

8.       u > o / i_, _i

9.       je > eː / _#

10.   u > v / #_vowel

11.   ej ow > iː uː/ _consonant

12.   bʰ > v

13.   bʰ, dʰ, gʰ > pʰ, tʰ, kʰ

14.   j > i / consonant_

PA to PX (Proto-Xynoric)

15.   m > n / _#

16.   {ck, cg, jk, jg} > cː > tː

17.   w > v / {m, n, l, r} _

18.   palatals > ç / #_ // z

19.   stressed u > stressed o

20.   r > a / {m, n, l, j}_

21.   y added / #C_{m, n, l, j}

22.   tʰ > θ

23.   pʰ, kʰ > f, x / _# // p, k

24.   z lost / {stressed vowel} _ // s

25.   {pn, bn} > mː, {tn, dn} > nː, {kn, gn} > yn

PX to Xynorese

26.   ua > oː

27.   i > e / _#

28.   b > v / V_V

29.   stressed oi, ai > stressed oː aː

30.   ou > uː

31.   fj > sj

32.   fj > h

33.   v ð > f θ

34.   {i, e} > g / V_V

35.   ei > eː / _# // ai

36.   eːi > iː / _#

37.   l > r / {t, d, θ, ð, s} _

38.   v, ð, ɣ > b, d, g / _r

39.   z > ð

40.   w lost / {u, diphthong} // o / VC

41.   a added / #_ {m, n, l, r}C

42.   {k, g}{k, g} > kː

43.   {p, b}{k, g} > sk

44.   {f, v}{k, g} > ok

45.   VCː > VːC

Xynorese to Old Adorish

46.   {t, s} > ʃ / _ i

47.   iː lost /  ʃ // e / # ʃ

48.   {im, in} > e / _#

49.   {m, n} lost / _#

50.   unstressed {u, e} > o / _#

51.   v > b / m _

52.   stressed uː > oː

53.   eː > e / _#

54.   ai > ae

55.   v > b > p / #_

56.   ç > ts

Old Adorish to Central Adorish

57.   {f, v} > s / _#

58.   {u, i} > {o, e} / V_

59.    eu > ju > jo / #_

60.    oi > ae // _#

61.   {b, d, g} > {p, t, k} / s_

62.    {b, g} > {p, k} / {l, r}_

63.   ng > nː

Grammatical

-          Proto-Acor-Valian originally had 7 noun classes, but Classes 3 and 4 merged into the Organic class.

-          Plural marking did exist earlier on in the language by reduplicating the first syllable. This feel out of practice in Proto-Xynoric.

-          The tense system evolved into a complex aspect-based system. This is known as the Western Xynoric shift and was believed to have occurred in Old Inviric as well.

-          Adjuncts developed in Old Adorish.

-          Complimetizers  came about in Proto-Acorian.