Pueblo linguistic area
The Pueblo linguistic area (or Pueblo Sprachbund, Pueblo convergence area) is a Sprachbund (group of languages with similarities due to language contact) consisting of the language spoken in and near North American Pueblo locations.
Language membership
The languages of the linguistic area are the following:
The languages belong to five different families: Hopi is Uto-Aztecan, Navajo is Athabaskan, Tanoan, Keresan, and Zuni, which is a language isolate. Navajo is only a marginal member of the Sprachbund and does not share all its linguistic features, as the ancestors of the Navajo originated from Canada and Alaska and were relatively recent newcomers to the Southwest.
Tanoan consists of Taos, Picurís, Tewa, and Jemez. Keresan consists of Eastern Keres and Western Keres.[1]
Shared linguistic traits
The following are the shared linguistic traits of the Pueblo Sprachbund:
- ejective consonants
- aspirated consonants
- /i, e, a, o, u/ vowel systems
- final devoicing of vowels & sonorants
- dual number
- ceremonial vocabulary
- labialized velar stops /kʷ, kʷʼ/
Most languages have ejectives. Zuni may have developed ejectives due to contact with Tanoan and Keresan which both have complete series of ejectives: Zuni has /tsʼ, tʃʼ, kʼ, kʷʼ/ but lacks the ejectives /pʼ, tʼ/ found in the other languages. Taos and Picurís (both Tanoan) have /pʼ, tʼ, tʃʼ, kʼ, kʷʼ/; Tewa (Tanoan) has /pʼ, tʼ, tsʼ, kʼ, kʷʼ/; Jemez (Tanoan) has /pʼ, tʼ, kʼ/;[2] Keresan has /pʼ, tʼ, tsʼ, tʂʼ, tʃʼ, kʼ, sʼ, ʂʼ, ʃʼ/ (as well as glottalized sonorants /mʼ, nʼ, rʼ, wʼ, jʼ/). Navajo has /tʼ, tsʼ, tɬʼ, tʃʼ, kʼ, kʷʼ/.[3] Hopi, however, lacks ejectives completely.
All languages have aspirated consonants. Again these may have spread to Zuni via contact with Tanoan and Keresan.
Zuni has a five vowel system consisting of i-e-a-o-u. Some Tanoan languages also have i-e-a-o-u systems probably due to influence from Zuni.
Notes
- ↑ Keresan (or Keres) has variously been considered as a small family of two languages or a single language of dialect chaining.
- ↑ In Jemez, Proto-Tanoan *c’ has merged with *t’ and *kʷ’ has merged with *kʷ explaining the lack of /tsʼ, kʷʼ/ in Jemez that are found in other Tanoan languages.
- ↑ The lack of /pʼ/ in Navajo is an inheritance from Proto-Athabascan.
Bibliography
- Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Hale, Kenneth L. (1967). Toward a reconstruction of Kiowa–Tanoan phonology. International Journal of American Linguistics, 33 (2), 112-120.
- Hoijer, Harry. (1945). Navaho phonology. University of New Mexico publications in anthropology, (No. 1).
- Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Newman, Stanley. (1965). Zuni grammar. University of New Mexico publications in anthropology (No. 14). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.
- Newman, Stanley. (1967). Zuni grammar: Alternative solutions versus weaknesses. International Journal of American Linguistics, 33, 187-192.
- Trager, Felicia. (1971). The phonology of Picuris. International Journal of American Linguistics, 37, 29-33.
- Trager, George L. (1942). The historical phonology of the Tiwa languages. Studies in Linguistics, 1 (5), 1-10.
- Trager, George L. (1946). An outline of Taos grammar. In C. Osgood (Ed.), Linguistic structures in North America (pp. 184–221). New York: Wenner-Green Foundation for Anthropological Research.