The evolution of Breathanach

Geoff's homepage -> Artificial Languages -> Breathanach -> Breathanach evolution

Aideicht proisceamh: 23 Iúil 2004

Last update: 23 July 2004

This document describes the evolution of my constructed language Breathanach. Occasionally it will be out of step with the main Breathanach page; if in doubt as to which is more recent, consult the "Last Update" dates.

Introduction

Breathanach is derived from a variety of Latin closely related to the Vulgar Latin from which the other Romance languages developed, with the principal difference that the distinctions between long and short vowels were retained.

Vowels

Consonantal /i u/ are treated as consonants, and in this document are spelled J W respectively. In general, final syllables were lost entirely unless they contained a long vowel, in which case they remain as schwa: canis > cain, canes > caine.

Short stressed vowels

Latin	Breathanach	Environment	example
i	e	before a, o	piscare > peascáir
	i	otherwise	minus > mion
e	i	before j
	e	otherwise	ventu > feann
a	e	before j	abjes > eibh
	o	before w	aqua > oc
	a	otherwise	canis > cain
o	u	before w	potui > puthuí
	o	otherwise	novus > nobh
u	o	before a, o	unda > ond
	u	otherwise	ulmus > ulmh

Long vowels and diphthongs

Latin	Breathanach	Environment	example
i:	e:	before a, o	vita > féath
	i:	otherwise	fine > fín
e:	ia	before a, o	plena > plian
	e:	otherwise	plenus > pléan
a:	a:	always	flavus > flábh
o:	ua	before non-velar + a, o	sola > sual
	o:	otherwise	nobilis > nóibhil
u:	o:	before a, o	usare > ósáir
	u:	otherwise	durum > dúr
au	ua	before non-velar + a, o	causa > cuas
	o:	otherwise	aurum > ór
ae	e, i (AO)	always	caesus > caos
oe	e, i (AO)	always	poena > paon

Unstressed vowels

All unstressed short vowels are reduced indiscriminately to schwa.

Consonants

Consonants developed in approximately the following order.

H disappears in all cases: hodje > oidh, Johanne > Eóinn.
Q becomes C.
V becomes F initially, B (later BH) intervocalically, and W otherwise: vesper > feisbir, levis > léibh. W becomes B after L R: parwus > parbh.
J becomes G (later GH) intervocalically: pejore > pighir.
J becomes G initially before a back vowel: Iulius > Giúil.
MN, GN and final NT become NN: pugnu > punn, ventu > feann.
NS, PS and SS all become single S, lengthening the preceding vowel: pensare > piasáir, capsa > cás.
X becomes SC: nux > nusc.
MPT and NCT become NT.
/pt kt/ both become CHT: ruptu > rucht, lacte > laicht.
Consonants preceding E I J becone slender.
P T C B D G M all lenite between vowels, between a vowel and L R, and finally after a vowel or L R; but note that T D are not lenited after L R.
Double consonants are reduced to single: mittere > mitir.

LF developments from LN

PH TH CH BH DH GH before L R disappear and lengthen the preceding vowel, changing the L R to LL RR: nigru > nioghr > LF níorr.
MP NT NC become simple B D G: rumpere > ruibir, cantare > cadáir, ancilla > aigeall.
MB ND NG become M N NG: impoisibh > iboisibh. NG in LF sounds as in "siNG".
ABH OBH UBH finally or before a short vowel become Ó Ú Ú, with TH added finally to nouns: cantabha > cantó, nobh > núth.
AIDH EIDH IDH and AIGH EIGH IGH similarly become É Í Í: gleidh > glíth.
In the preceding nine groups, if the preceding vowel is long the consonant disappears, although it is still written TH finally on nouns: fáigh > féith.
Intervocalic TH is lost before a short vowel, lengthening the preceding vowel: béathal > béal.

Relative chronology

Or, put another way, what order the changes took place in. The "stages" are purely arbitrary; a "sonant" is a vowel or /l r/.

Stage 1

Loss of /h/. Between vowels, the preceding vowel is lengthened and the following vowel lost.
/q/ > /c/
/v/ > /f/ initially, /u/ otherwise
/u/ > /b/ between /l r/ and a vowel
/e i/ > /g'/ between vowels and initially before /a o u/
/u i e/ > /w j j/ between a consonant and a vowel
/e i/ > /j/ initially before a vowel
/ie/ > /e/ initially

Stage 2

/au/ > /o:/
/ae oe/ > /e:/ (written AO)
/w/ > /b/ after /l r/
/mn gn/ > /nn/
/nt/ > /nn/ before a vowel
/ns ps/ > /s/, lengthening the preceding vowel
/ks/ (X) > /sk/
/mpt nkt/ > /nt/
/pt kt/ > /xt/ (CHT)

Stage 3

All consonants become slender before /e i j/ and finally after /e i/, and broad otherwise
short /a e/ > /e i/ before /j/
short /a o/ > /o u/ before /w/
/e i o u/ > /E e O o/ before /a o/, whether long or short

Stage 4

/E:/ > /ia/ in first syllable before a broad consonant
/O:/ > /ua/ in first syllable except before /k g/
/E O/ > /e o/, long or short
/ja wa we/ > /e o e/ before a consonant

Stage 5

/p t k b d g m/ lenite between a sonant and a vowel, or finally after a sonant
/p k b g m/ lenite between vowels, or finally after a vowel
All geminate consonants other than /n l r/ become single
Geminate /l n r/ and initial /n l r/ delenite
Final short vowels dissapear
Short vowels in non-initial syllables become schwa
Long vowels in non-initial syllables shorten