Classical Arcesese

Classical Arcesese was the main language of the Arcesian Empire and the lingua franca of the Arcesian peoples for a millennium. It was a daughter language of Early Arcesese, which, in turn, was a daughter language of Proto-Arcesian. The syntax of Classical Arcesese was relatively conservative.

History

Classical Arcesese was the first Arcesian language to have a properly written form. Although Early Arcesese was written in a form of proto-writing, by the second dynasty of the Arcesian Empire, the Arcesian syllabary was established. Classical Arcesese soon spread throughout northern and central Arces, displacing many of the other Arcesian languages. By the fourth dynasty of the Arcesian Empire, Classical Arcesese had become the lingua franca of the region, and it had supplanted many of the Coastal Arcesian languages.

Sound Changes from Proto-Arcesian to Early Arcesese

• tɕʰ tɕ > tʃʰ tʃ
• Loss of ɸ
  • ɸ > h / __{a, e, i}
  • ɸ > ø elsewhere

• ə insertion between final consonant clusters, except when there is syllabic [ɾ]
• Development of falling diphthongs
  • V + /j, ɰ/ > Vi
  • V + /w/ > Vu
• Loss of fricatives and approximants in medial consonant clusters; preceeding vowel > ə
  • VFC > əC
  • VAC > əC
• V₁CV₁ > V₁C
• h > x / V__V
• ɕ > z

Sound Changes from Early Arcesese to Classical Arcesese

• Loss of syllabic [ɾ] EXCEPT after a consonant at the end of word (i.e. __Cɾ#)
  • ɾ > əɾV / {stop or fricative}__
  • ɾ > əl / {approximant or lateral or nasal}__
  • ɾ > ə / elsewhere
• h > f near ə
• Loss of palatalized consonants
  • pʲ > pʰ
  • Cʲ > Cj / __{o, u}
  • Cʲ > Cə / elsewhere
• Aspirates > plain plosives
• Plain plosives > voiced plosives
• Loss of ɰ
  • ɰ > ɣ / C__ or #__
  • ɰ > y > i / elsewhere
• ii ui > i: u: > i u
• Assimilation of medial clusters to latter sound except if approximant (i.e. mt > nt, kp > pp)
• Loss of ə
  • ə > e / {o u}C__
  • ə > i / {a e i}C__
  • ə > a / elsewhere
• h > s / #__{a e i}
• Approx₁VApproximant₂ > Fricative₁VFricative₂
• N₁VN₂ > P₁VP₂
• ɾ > ɽ

Phonology

Vowel Inventory

Classical Arcesese had, more or less, the same vowel system as that of Proto-Arcesian. However, [r] was lost as a syllabic consonant except in a few circumstances.

	Front	Back
High	i i	u u
Mid	e e	o o
Low	a a

Consonant Inventory

	Labial	Dental-Alveolar		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	p p b b	t t d d				k k g g	q q
Fricative	f f	s s z z		ʂ sh		x kh ɣ gh		h h
Affricates		tʃ c dʒ j
Nasal	m m	n n
Lateral		l l
Approximant	w w			ɽ r	j y

Stress

Stress falls on the last syllable.