Old Meng

The Old Menghean language is, according to historical linguistics, the stage of the Menghean language from its first written attestation (c. 17th C. BCE) to approximately the end of the Meng Dynasty in 265. The language is studied through a rich corpus of prose and metrical works, the formation of characters, and rare dedicated treatises on language written by contemporaries. The Old Menghean language is the ancestor of all Menghean languages and the Shinasthana family. Its descendants are spoken by over 600 million individuals today, in over 20 states. All of them share clear characteristics that confirm their genealogy, though precise relationships between each branch have yet to be settled.

Periodization

In view of the unusually long period deemed "old" under conventional definitions, scholars also subdivide the Old Menghean period into the following:

• Archaic (c. 17th to 12th c. BCE)
• Pre-classical (c. 11th to 7th c. BCE)
• Classical (c. 7th to 3rd c. BCE)
• Post-classical (c. 3rd c. BCE to 285 CE)

These periods are defined for their respective sources and represent, according to some researchers, a purely notational device. Diachronic changes have been extensively researched, with most success in philology, epigraphy, and literature, while little consensus has emerged in the field of linguistics.

Phonology

Consonants

Initials		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
					Plain	Lab.	Plain	Lab.	Plain	Lab.
stop	Tenuis	p	t		k	kʷ	q	qʷ	ʔ	ʔʷ
	Asper	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ	kʰʷ	qʰ	qʰʷ
	Voiced	b	d		g	gʷ	ɢ	ɢʷ
Nasal	Voiced	m	n		ŋ	ŋʷ	ɴ	ɴʷ
	Voiceless	m̥	n̥		ŋ̊	ŋ̊ʷ	ɴ̥	ɴ̥ʷ
Affricate	Tenuis		t͡s
	Asper		t͡sʰ
	Voiced		d͡z
Fricative	Voiceless		s						x	xʷ
	Voiced								ɣ	ɣʷ
Liquid	Voiced		r
	Voiceless		r̥
approximant	Voiced	w	l	j		(w)
	Voiceless		l̥

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open		a