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Proto-Eskaleut language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Proto-Eskimo-Aleut)
Proto-Eskaleut
Proto-Eskimo–Aleut
Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan
Reconstruction ofEskaleut languages
Era4000 BC - 2200 BC
Lower-order reconstructions

Proto-Eskaleut or Proto-Eskimo–Aleut (sometimes Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan)[1] is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Eskaleut languages, the family containing Eskimo and Aleut. Its existence is known through similarities in Eskimo and Aleut. The existence of Proto-Eskaleut is generally accepted among linguists. It was for a long time true that no linguistic reconstruction of Proto-Eskaleut had yet been produced, as stated by Bomhard.[2][better source needed] Such a reconstruction was offered by Knut Bergsland in 1986. Michael Fortescue offered another version of Proto-Eskaleut,[3] largely based on the reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo in the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary he co-authored with Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan.[4]

Phonology

[edit]

Fortescue reconstructs the phoneme inventory of Proto-Eskaleut as follows:[3]

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Velar Uvular
plainpalatalized
Nasal m n (nʲ)[1] ŋ
Plosive p t tʲ k q
Affricate c[2] cʲ[2]
Fricative voiceless
voiced v ð ɣ ʁ
Lateral fricative (ɬ)[3]
Approximant l j[4]
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ə
Open a

Notes:

  1. ↑
    • /nʲ/ may not have been distinct from */n/; Fortescue reconstructs it for the correspondence of "Sirenikski Eskimo initial /j/, elsewhere /n/".
  2. 1 2 It is not clear from Fortescue's description whether the sounds denoted by */c/ and */cʲ/ were affricates [ts tsʲ] or fricatives [s sʲ].
  3. ↑
    • /ɬ/ may have been a later development from clusters of */l/ with a plosive.
  4. ↑
    • /j/ was most likely a fully palatal approximant, but it is grouped with the palatalized alveolars for convenience.

Possible relation to other language families

[edit]

There are no generally accepted relations between Proto-Eskaleut and other language families. A substantial case for a genetic relationship between Proto-Eskaleut, Yukaghir and Uralic was published by Michael Fortescue in 1998 in Language Relations across Bering Strait (see Uralo-Siberian languages).

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Dagostino, Carmen; Mithun, Marianne; Rice, Keren (2023-12-18). The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America: A Comprehensive Guide. Vol. 2. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 843. ISBN 978-3-11-071274-2.
  2. ↑ Bomhard 2008, p. 209.
  3. 1 2 Fortescue 1998, pp. 124–5.
  4. ↑ Fortescue, Jacobson & Kaplan 1994, p. xi.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Bergsland, Knut. 1986. "Comparative Eskimo–Aleut phonology and lexicon". Journal de la Société finno-ougrienne 80:63–137.
  • Bomhard, Allan R. (2008). Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic. ISBN 978-90-04-16853-4.
  • Fortescue, Michael D.; Jacobson, Steven A.; Kaplan, Lawrence D. (1994). Comparative Eskimo Dictionary. Alaska Native Language Center. ISBN 1-55500-051-7.
  • Fortescue, Michael D. (1998-11-30). Language Relations Across The Bering Strait. London; New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-304-70330-3.
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