Proto-Ampayrù language

Consonants
Prenasalized consonants are existing only between vowels as allophones of tenuis consonants.

Phonotactics
(C)(G)V(G/ʔ)


 * C = any consonant
 * G = glide
 * V = any vowel
 * ʔ = glottal stop

Accent
Breathy voiced stress on second syllable. Monosyllabic words don't have stress.

Tones
Neutral, High, Low, Rising, Falling. Tones have distinctive role in lexicon.

Number
(1. Subject = Absolutive, Agent = Nominative, Patient = Absolutive, 2. Subject = Nominative, Agent = Nominative, Patient = Accusative)
 * split-ergative alignment: ergative-absolutive in past tenses, nominative-accusative in non-pasts.
 * indirective ditransitive alignment (Donor = Pegative, Recipient = Dative, Theme = Accusative)
 * possessor (preffixes).

Tense
Two groups of tense, past and non-past, are distinguished by type of morphological alignment:


 * past tenses are expressed by ergative-absolutive alignment,
 * non-past tenses belong to nominative-accusative alignment.

Affirmativity

 * moods expressed by modal verbs.
 * subject marked by independent postpositional pronoun.
 * pronominal object cliticized to subjective pronoun.

Pronouns

 * plural form created by clitic particle added to singular pronominal stem.
 * exclusive and inclusive forms in 1. and 2. plural persons.

Syntax
- SOV