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Proto-Algic language

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Proto-Algic
PAc
Reconstruction ofAlgic languages
RegionColumbia Plateau?
Eraca. 5000 BCE
Lower-order reconstructions

Proto-Algic (sometimes abbreviated PAc) is the proto-language from which the Algic languages (Wiyot language, Yurok language, and Proto-Algonquian) are descended. It is estimated to have been spoken about 7,000 years ago somewhere in the American Northwest, possibly around the Columbia Plateau.[1][2][3][4][5] It is an example of a second-level proto-language (a proto-language whose reconstruction depends on data from another proto-language, namely its descendant language Proto-Algonquian) which is widely agreed to have existed.[2] Its main researcher was Paul Proulx.[6]

Vowels

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Proto-Algic had four basic vowels, which could be either long or short:

long: *i·, *e·, *a·, *o·
short: *i, *e, *a, *o

Consonants

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Proto-Algic had the following consonants:

Proto-Algic consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
central lateral plain labialized
Stop plain *p *t *k *kʷ
aspirated *pʰ *tʰ *kʰ *kʷʰ
glottalized *pʼ *tʼ *kʼ *kʼʷ
Affricate plain *c /t͡s/ *č /t͡ʃ/
aspirated *cʰ /t͡sʰ/ *čʰ /t͡ʃʰ/
glottalized *cʼ /t͡sʼ/ *čʼ /t͡ʃʼ/
Fricative *s 1 *š /ʃ/ *h
Nasal plain *m *n
glottalized *mʼ *nʼ
Liquid plain *r *l
glottalized *rʼ *lʼ
Semivowel plain *y /j/ *w
glottalized *yʼ /jʼ/ *wʼ
1 The identity of this consonant is not entirely certain; in Proto-Algonquian, it is sometimes alternatively reconstructed as /θ/.

It is unknown if *č /tʃ/ was an independent phoneme or only an allophone of *c and/or *t in Proto-Algic (as in Proto-Algonquian). In 1992, Paul Proulx theorized that Proto-Algic also possessed a phoneme *gʷ, which became *w in Proto-Algonquian and g in Wiyot and Yurok.

All stops and affricates in the above chart have aspirated counterparts, and all consonants, except fricatives, have glottalized ones. Proto-Algonquian significantly reduced this system by eliminating all glottalized and aspirated phonemes.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bakker, Peter (2013). "Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree". In Folke Josephson; Ingmar Söhrman (eds.). Diachronic and typological perspectives on verbs. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 223–260.
  2. ^ a b Paul Proulx, Proto-Algic I: Phonological Sketch, in the International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 50, number 2 (April 1984)
  3. ^ Paul Proulx, Algic Color Terms, in Anthropological Linguistics, volume 30, number 2 (Summer 1988)
  4. ^ Paul Proulx, Proto-Algic IV: Nouns, in Studies in Native American Languages VII, volume 17, number 2 (1992)
  5. ^ Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian Languages. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 256.
  6. ^ [1] Archived 2019-11-03 at the Wayback Machine Amherst Obituary for Paul Proulx
  7. ^ Paul Proulx, Proto-Algic I: Phonological Sketch, in the International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 50, number 2 (April 1984)