Social:Proto-Algic language

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Short description: Reconstructed ancestor of the Algic languages
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

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

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

Consonants

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

References

  1. Bakker, Peter (2013). "Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree". Diachronic and typological perspectives on verbs. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 223–260. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 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] 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)
  • Baldi, Philip, Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology (ISBN:311088609X, 1990)
  • Berman, Howard (1982). "Two Phonological Innovations in Ritwan". International Journal of American Linguistics 48 (4): 412–420. doi:10.1086/465750. 
  • Berman, Howard (1990). "New Algonquian–Ritwan Cognate Sets". International Journal of American Linguistics 56 (3): 431–434. doi:10.1086/466168. 
  • Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509427-5. 
  • Campbell, Lyle (2004). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53267-9. 
  • Campbell, Lyle; Poser, William J. (2008). Language Classification: History and Method. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-88005-3. 
  • Goddard, Ives (1990). "Algonquian Linguistic Change and Reconstruction". in Baldi, Philip. Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs 45. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 99–114. ISBN 978-0-89925-546-0. 
  • Pentland, David H. (2006). "Algonquian and Ritwan Languages". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. 1 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 161–166. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02265-3. 
  • Proulx, Paul (1977). "Connective Vowels in Proto-Algonquian". International Journal of American Linguistics 43 (2): 156–157. doi:10.1086/465473. 
  • Proulx, Paul (1980). "The Subordinative Order of Proto-Algonquian". International Journal of American Linguistics 46 (4): 289–300. doi:10.1086/465664. 
  • Proulx, Paul (1982). "The Origin of the Absolute Verbs of the Algonquian Independent Order". International Journal of American Linguistics 48 (4): 394–411. doi:10.1086/465749. 
  • Proulx, Paul (1984b). "Algonquian Objective Verbs". International Journal of American Linguistics 50 (4): 403–423. doi:10.1086/465850. 
  • Proulx, Paul (1989). "A Sketch of Blackfoot Historical Phonology". International Journal of American Linguistics 55 (1): 43–82. doi:10.1086/466104.