The CBB

I hope this is the right place to post this. I'm trying to use the Pbase Query tool to develop a variety of sound changes for my conlang, but I'm struggling to under the pattern description, and I can't find anything that explains them. This is an awesome tool that could really help but I need to understand it better.

For example, this is one description = unstressed X → high / __C0# Here's a link to the full pattern description from PBase https://pbase.phon.chass.ncsu.edu/pattern/241

So I understand the above description means that unstressed X (my input was the vowel e) rises in certain environments. Following the slash, my understanding was that the space indicated where the original sound (the e) would go. The C, I'm fairly certain, means any consonant in the language, and the # indicates a syllable or word boundary. But what does the 0 mean?

Below this, PBase goes into a bit more detail, and then I get more confused. It seems to be saying the 0 is the original input, and I have no idea where 1 and 2 are supposed to factor into this. Or the blank space in front of C. Other patterns will give negative numbers in the environment description, and I have no idea where they're supposed to fit in.

I appreciate any insight.

It looks to me, based on this pattern from Kumiái, that the number -1, 0, and 1 define the locus of the change, and the environment. That is, -1 is "one position behind the changing phoneme" and 1 is "one position ahead of the changing phoneme". The "C0" in the pattern description refers to a set of phonemes that are described in the text (really C0, but I figure that must have gotten mixed up in the computer)-which appears to be all consonants in Afar.

Accordingly I would write the change in SCA2 format as
C=mnkbtdɖɡfsħhʕrljw
o/u/_(:)C#
e/i/_C#

C0 in some notations also means at least 0 consonants (maximally 1 is implied usually), i.e. the consonant is optional. That would make sense for the Afar pattern, if I recall the data correctly. Not sure about the specific notation in PBase though.

Thank you!

Creyeditor wrote: ↑30 Dec 2020 21:03 C0 in some notations also means at least 0 consonants (maximally 1 is implied usually), i.e. the consonant is optional. That would make sense for the Afar pattern, if I recall the data correctly. Not sure about the specific notation in PBase though.

In the Index Diachronica it means “a specific/the same consonant”.

Creyeditor wrote: ↑30 Dec 2020 21:03 C0 in some notations also means at least 0 consonants (maximally 1 is implied usually), i.e. the consonant is optional. That would make sense for the Afar pattern, if I recall the data correctly. Not sure about the specific notation in PBase though.

For what it's worth, I don't think this is right because looking through the database, C1 is never defined where C0 isn't already defined

Linguifex wrote: ↑02 Jan 2021 13:25

Creyeditor wrote: ↑30 Dec 2020 21:03 C0 in some notations also means at least 0 consonants (maximally 1 is implied usually), i.e. the consonant is optional. That would make sense for the Afar pattern, if I recall the data correctly. Not sure about the specific notation in PBase though.

In the Index Diachronica it means “a specific/the same consonant”.

This makes more sense to me, insofar as they could write #__C0C0, which would mean, "word initially behind a geminated consonant"