"Note that I didn't state that there would be MORE abstraction, only that it would be DIFFERENT abstractions."

That doesn't makes sense. What should be a different abstraction of C? If you've an other syntax for the C pointer arithmetic it's still the same abstraction.

If you can do still the same things, then it's still the same abstraction. You can only combine multiple abstractions in one language, but I think that's not a good idea.

"You can have different abstractions compared to what C has and still retain the granularity of control you want."

I don't think so, because you would add the complexity of both, the higher abstraction parts and the C parts. You would generate a language which is harder to master than their component parts.