Timothy Usher, Santa Fe Institute
[under construction]
The West Mek family consists of six languages spoken …
The internal classification of West Mek is as follows:
West Mek
Eipo
Nalca
Nipsan
Kosarek
Sela
Kimyal
Heeschen (…¬) states that Nipsan is a dialect of Kosarek Yale; however … and his own lexicostatistical figures (below) …
Phonologically, Kimyal (Korapun, Koropun) stands apart from the others in having failed to change medial /*s/ to /h/ with consequent initial cluster and diphthong formation (below,) however lexically and grammatically does not stand out as unique.
Heeschen (1978: 9) provides lexicostatistical figures for West Mek languages as follows:
| Eipo | Nalca | Nipsan | Kosarek | Korapun | |
| Eipo | — | 77.91 | 74.29 | 70.41 | 75.76 |
| Nalca | 77.91 | — | 84.85 | 79.07 | 81.25 |
| Nipsan | 74.29 | 84.85 | — | 79.41 | 81.82 |
| Kosarek | 70.41 | 79.07 | 79.41 | — | 78.79 |
| Korapun | 75.76 | 81.25 | 81.82 | 78.79 | — |
No figures for Sela are available.
It will be noted that the figures for Eipo are significantly lower than those between other West Mek languages. The reason for this is because Eipo’s vocabulary has been largely replaced by that of a near-relative of Una in the East Mek family. Indeed, many to most of the roots which are cognate to West Mek forms reflect their East Mek versions with East Mek correspondences.
[under construction]
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| West Mek | Kimyal | Sela | Kosarek | Nipsan | Nalca | Hamnggona | |
| Young | Godschalk | Heeschen | Wälchli | Wälchli | Rule | ||
| *… | |||||||
| … | *… |
West Mek free pronouns are reconstructed as follows, with Kimyal attestations drawn from Young (1986,) Sela from Godschalk (1984,) Kosarek from Heeschen (1992: 16, ibid,) Nispan from Wälchli (2019,) Nalca from Svärd (2013: 26-27, cf. Rule, Rule and Cutting 1972: 37) and Eipo from …:
| West Mek | Kimyal | Sela | Kosarek | Nipsan | Nalca | Eipo | |
| Young | Godschalk | Heeschen | Wälchli | Svärd | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. | *na | na | na-da | n̪a | na | na-ra | na |
| 2 sg. | *an | àn | an-da | an̪ | an | an-da | an |
| 3 sg. | *ɛl | al | ? | ɛl | el | al-da | ɛl |
| 1 pl. | *nu[n] | nun; nùn [incl.] | ? | n̪u(n̪) | nun | nun-da | nʊn |
| 2 pl. | *an-kun | aʔun | haᵘn-da | ʕaᵘn̪ | aᵘn | ugun-da | aŋʊn |
| 3 pl. | *sik | sik | ? | s̪ik-in̪ ~ s̪i-n̪ | sik | sik-da | sɪk |
Kosarek third person plural /s̪in̪/ is a reduction of an originally possessive form /*sik-in/ (cf. Nipsan /sigin/.)
From Sela and Nalca a paradigm can be reconstructed which Svärd (2013: 26-27) labels nominative:
| West Mek | Sela | Nalca | |
| Godschalk | Svärd | ||
| 1 sg. nom. | *na-da | na-da | na-ra |
| 2 sg. nom. | *an-da | an-da | an-da |
| 3 sg. nom. | *ɛl-da | ? | al-da |
| 1 pl. nom. | *nun-da | ? | nun-da |
| 2 pl. nom | *an-kun-da | haᵘn-da | ugun-da |
| 3 pl. nom. | *sik-da | ? | sik-da |
From Kosarek and Nalca an ergative/possessive paradigm can be reconstructed which is found also in (at least) Una of the East Mek family (q.v. Louwerse 1988: 72-75, 106-114;) in Nalca these are followed by the augment /a/:
| West Mek | Kosarek | Nalca | |
| Heeschen | Svärd | ||
| 1 sg. erg./poss. | *na-di | n̪a-d̪i | na-dʲ-a |
| 2 sg. erg./poss. | *an-di | an̪-d̪i | an-dʲ-a |
| 3 sg. erg./poss. | *ɛl-di | ɛl-d̪i | al-dʲ-a |
| 1 pl. erg./poss. | *nun-di | n̪u-d̪i | nun-dʲ-a |
| 2 pl. erg./poss. | *an-kun-di | ʕaᵘn̪-d̪i | ugun-dʲ-a |
| 3 pl. erg./poss. | *sik-di | s̪i-n̪-d̪i | sik-dʲ-a |
It would seem that /*-di/ was really an cnclitic rather than a bound suffix, as it attaches also to the Kosarek third person plural which reflects /*sik-in/ rather than /*sik/ (above.)
Svärd gives several other case paradigms for Nalca which may well date to proto-West Mek, but these are not exemplified for other West Make languages.
[under construction]
… with Kimyal attestations drawn from Young (1986,) Sela from Gosdchalk (1984,) Kosarek from Heeschen (1992-27-28,) Hmanggona (Nalca) from Rule, Rule and Cutting (1972: 16, 30, 38-49, 58-59, 62b, cf. Svärd 2013: 12-15) and Eipo from Heeschen (1978: 28, 1998: 257-258.)
…:
…present/future …:
| West Mek | Kimyal | Sela | Kosarek | Hmanggona | Eipo | |
| Young | Godschalk | Heeschen | Rule | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. pres./fut. | *-n | -n ~ -n-a | -n-a | -n̪ ~ -n̪-a | -n ~ -n-a | -n ~ -n-ɛ |
| 2 sg. pres./fut. | *-lam | -lam | ? | -lam | -lam | -lam |
| 3 sg. pres./fut. | *-l | -l ~ -l-a | -l-a | -l ~ -l-a | -l ~ -l-a | -l ~ -l-ɛ |
| 1 pl. pres./fut. | *-ap | -ap | ? | -ap | -ap | -ap |
| 2 pl. pres./fut. | *-lo̝m | ? | -lɔm | -lɔm | -lum | -lʊm |
| 3 pl. pres./fut. | *-a[ŋ/k] | -aŋ | ? | -aŋ | -ak | -ak |
| 1 dl. pres./fut. | *-nam | -nam | ? | -n̪am | -nam | -nam |
| 2 dl. pres./fut. | *-d-om | -d-om | -d-ɔm | -d̪-ɔm | -rum | -d-ʊm |
| 3 dl. pres./fut. | *-d-a[ŋ/k] | -d-aŋ | -d-aŋ | -d̪-aŋ | -r-ak | -d-ak |
… hortative/future …:
| West Mek | Kimyal | Sela | Kosarek | Hmanggona | Eipo | |
| Young | Godschalk | Heeschen | Rule | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. hort./fut. | *-nu-n | -nu-n | ? | -n̪u-n̪ | -nu-n | -nu-n; [-nʲ-am] |
| 2 sg. hort./fut. | *-lu-lam | -l-ɔm | ? | lu-lam | -l-ɔm | -lʲ-am |
| 3 sg. hort./fut. | *-lu-l | -lu-l | ? | -lu-l | -lu-l | -lu-l |
| 1 pl. hort./fut. | *-nu-ap | [-g-ɔp] | [-k-ɔp] | [-uk-ap] | -n-op | -nʲ-ap |
| 2 pl. hort./fut. | *-lu-lo̝m | -lu-lum | ? | -lu-lɔm | -lu-lum | -lu-lʊm |
| 3 pl. hort./fut. | *-nu-a[k/ŋ] | [-g-ɔŋ] | ? | [-uk-aŋ] | -n-ok | -nʲ-ak |
| 1 dl. hort./fut. | *-nu-nam | -n-ɔm | -n-ɔm | -n̪u-n̪am | -n-ɔm | -nʊ-nam ~-nʲ-anam |
| 2 dl. hort./fut. | *-du-d-o̝m | -du-r-um | ? | -d̪u-d̪-ɔm | -du-r-um -~ -ru-r-um | -ɾu-ɾ-ʊm [-d-ʊm] |
| 3 dl. hort./fut. | *-du-d-a[k/ŋ] | [-d-ug-ɔŋ] | ? | [-d̪-uk-aŋ] | -ru-r-uk | -du-ɾ-ak ~ -ɾu-ɾ-ak |
…
From Kimyal, Sela and Kosarek Yale can be reconstructed an alternate future parqdigm we designate here as future II. This paradigm has a probable analog in East Mek. Baesd upon West Mek languages alone, only three persons can be reconstructed for this paradigm:
| West Mek | Kimyal | Sela | Kosarek | |
| Young | Godschalk | Heeschen | ||
| 1 pl. fut. II | *-ug-ap | -g-ɔp | -k-ɔp | -uk-ap |
| 3 pl. fut. II | *-ug-a[ŋ/k] | -g-ɔŋ | ? | -uk-aŋ |
| 3 dl. fut. II | *-d-ug-a[ŋ/k] | -d-ug-ɔŋ | ? | -d̪-uk-aŋ |
… recent past …
| West Mek | Kimyal | Kosarek | Hmanggona | Eipo | |
| Young | Heeschen | Rule | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. rec. past | *-n-o̝ | -n-o | -n̪-ɔ | -n-o | -n-ʷ-ɛ |
| 2 sg. rec. past | *-o̝m-o̝ | -om | -ɔm | -om | -ʊm |
| 3 sg. rec. past | *-Ø-o̝ | -o | -ɔ | -o | -w-ɛ ~ -ɔ |
| 1 pl. rec. past | *-o̝p-o̝ | -op | -ɔb-ɔ | -up | -ʊp-ɛ ~ -p-ɛ |
| 2 pl. rec. past | *-lo̝m-o̝ | ? | [-ɔm] | -lum | -lʊm |
| 3 pl. rec. past | *-o̝ŋ-o̝ | -ɔŋ | -ɔŋ | -oŋ | -ʊŋ ~ -ʊŋ-ɛ |
| 1 dl. rec. past | *-no̝m-o̝ | -nom | -n̪ɔm-ɔ | -num | -nʊmʷ-ɛ |
| 2 dl. rec. past | *-d-o̝m-o̝ | -dom | -d̪-ɔm | -r-um | -d-ʊm ~ -ɾ-ʊm |
| 3 dl. rec. past | *-d-o̝ŋ-o̝ | ? | -d̪-ɔŋ | -r-oŋ | -d-ʊŋ ~ -ɾ-ʊŋ |
… remote past …:
| West Mek | Kimyal | Sela | Kosarek | Hmanggona | Eipo | |
| Young | Godschalk | Heeschen | Rule | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. rem. past | *-si | -si | -si ~ -hi | -s̪i ~ -hi | -s-a | -s-ɛ |
| 2 sg. rem. past | *-lum-u | -lum | ? | -lum | -lum | -lʊm |
| 3 sg. rem. past | *-o̝k | -ok | ? | -ɔk | -ok | -ʊk |
| 1 pl. rem. past | *-up-u | -up | ? | -ub-u | -up | -ʊp-ɛ |
| 2 pl. rem. past | *-lum-u | -lum | ? | -lum | -lum | -lʊm |
| 3 pl. rem. past | *-e̝k | -ek | ? | -ɛk | -ek | -ɪk |
| 1 dl. rem. past | *-num-u | -num | ? | -n̪um-u | -num | -nʊm |
| 2 dl. rem. past | *-d-um-u | -d-um | ? | -d̪-um | -r-um | -d-ʊm |
| 3 dl. rem. past | *-d-e̝k | -d-ek | ? | -d̪-ɛk | -r-ek | -d-ɪk |
… potential/optative …:
| West Mek | Kosarek | Hmanggona | Eipo | |
| Heeschen | Rule | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. pot./opt. | *-te̝-n-e̝ | -s̪ɛ-n̪-ɛ ~ -h… | -si-n-ʲ-a | -tɪ-n-ʲ-ɛ |
| 2 sg. pot./opt. | *-t-o̝m | -s̪-ɔm ~ -h-ɔm | [-si-lim] | -t-ʊm |
| 3 sg. pot./opt. | *-t-Ø-o̝ | -s̪-ɔ ~ -h-ɔ | -si-Ø | -t-ʷ-ɛ ~ -t-ɔ |
| 1 pl. pot./opt. | *-te̝-b-e̝ | -s̪ɛ-b-ɛ ~ -h… | -si-b-ʲ-a | -tɛ-ⁱb-ʲ-ɛ |
| 2 pl. pot./opt. | *-t-o̝m | -s̪-ɔm ~ -h-ɔm | [-si-lum] | -t-ʊm |
| 3 pl. pot./opt. | *-te̝-ŋ-[e̝] | -s̪ɛ-ŋ ~ -hɛ-ŋ | -si-ŋ | -tɪ-ŋ |
| 1 dl. pot./opt. | *-te̝-ne̝m-e̝ | -s̪ɛ-n̪ɛm-ɛ ~-h… | -si-nim | -tɛ-nɪm-ʲ-ɛ |
| 2 dl. pot./opt. | *-tV-d-o̝m | -s̪ɛ-d̪-ɔm ~ -hɛ-d̪-ɔm | -si-r-um | -tʊ-ɾ-ʊm ~ -tɛ-ɾ-ʊm |
| 3 dl. pot./opt. | *-te̝-d-e̝ŋ-[e̝] | -s̪ɛ-d̪-ɛŋ ~ -h… | -si-r-iŋ | -tɛ-ɾ-ɪŋ |
… medial sequential …
| West Mek | Kosarek | Hmanggona | Eipo | |
| Heeschen | Rule | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. med. seq. | *-n-e̝ | -n̪-ɛ | -n-e-a | -n-ʲ-ɛ |
| 2 sg. med. seq. | *-me̝n | -mɛn̪ | -men | -mɪn |
| 3 sg. med. seq. | *-l-e̝ | -l-ɛ | -l-e-a | -l-ʲ-ɛ |
| 1 pl. med. seq. | *-e̝p-e̝ | -b-ɛ | -b-e-a | -ɛⁱb-ʲ-ɛ |
| 2 pl. med. seq. | *-mun | -mun | -mun | -mʊn |
| 3 pl. med. seq. | *-e̝k-e̝ | -ɛk | -ik-ʲ-a | -ɪk |
| 1 dl. med. seq. | *-ne̝m-e̝ | -n̪ɛm-ɛ | -nim | -nɪm-ʲ-ɛ~-nɛm-ɛ |
| 2 dl. med. seq. | *du-mun | -d̪u-mun̪ | -ru-mun | -dʊ-mɪn ~ -dʊ-mʊn |
| 3 dl. med. seq. | *-d-e̝k-e̝ | -d̪-ɛk | -r-ik-ʲ-a | -d-ɪk |
Young gives several suffixes which are said to occur with /wenena/ “when?” and have no tense. These look like medial sequential forms except that the second persons are not replaced by the suppletive /*-me̝n *-mun/, and can be connected with several idiosyncratic Hmanggona desiderative (potential/optative) forms to reconstruct an original more regular paradigm from which both the medial sequentials and the potential/optatives largely derive:
| West Mek | Kimyal | Hmanggona | |
| Young | Rule | ||
| 1 sg. | *-n-e̝ | -n-e | -nʲ-a |
| 2 sg. | *-le̝m-e̝ | -lem | -lim |
| 3 sg. | ? | ? | -Ø |
| 1 pl. | *-e̝p-e̝ | ? | -bʲ-a |
| 2 pl. | ? | ? | -lum |
| 3 pl. | *-e̝[ŋ/k]-e̝ | -ik | -iŋ |
| 1 dl. | *-ne̝m-e̝ | -nem | -nim |
| 2 dl. | ? | ? | -r-um |
| 3 dl. | *-d-e̝[ŋ/k]-e̝ | ? | -r-iŋ |
An imperative paradigm is sporadically attested for a few persons as follows. Heeschen’s Kosarek Yale forms are prefixed with the continuative aspect marker /-lam-/. It seems probable that final /*d/ is the same morpheme found in the duals above:
| West Mek | Kimyal | Kosarek | Eipo | |
| Young | Heeschen | Heeschen | ||
| 2 sg. | *-[i/e̝] | -i | -ɛ | -ɛ |
| 1 pl. | ? | ? | -lam-ku-d̪ | ? |
| 2 pl. | *-su | -su | ? | -s-ɛ [2 sg.] |
| 1 dl. | *-du-d | -du-d | -lam-d̪u-d̪ | ? |
| 2 dl. | *-su-d | -su-d | -lam-s̪u-d̪ [2 pl.] | ? |
…
| West Mek | Kimyal | Sela | Kosarek | Hmanggona | Eipo | |
| Young | Godschalk | Heeschen | Rule | Heeschen | ||
| 1 sg. | *… | |||||
| 2 sg. | *… | |||||
| 3 sg. | *… | |||||
| 1 pl. | *… | |||||
| 2 pl. | *… | |||||
| 3 pl. | *… | |||||
| 1 dl. | *… | |||||
| 2 dl. | *… | |||||
| 3 dl. | *… |