Proto-Eskimo–Aleut language
Proto-Eskimo–Aleut was the common ancestor of the Eskimo languages and Aleut. Its existence is known through similarities in Eskimo and Aleut. The existence of Proto-Eskimo–Aleut is generally accepted among linguists. It was for a long time true that no linguistic reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo–Aleut had yet been produced, as stated by Bomhard (2008:209). Such a reconstruction was offered by Knut Bergsland in 1986. Michael Fortescue (1998:124-125) has offered another version of this system, largely based on the reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo in the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary he co-authored with Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan (1994:xi).
Phonology
Fortescue reconstructs the phoneme inventory of Proto-Eskimo-Aleut as follows:[1]
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Uvular | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | palatalized | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | (nʲ)[decimal 1] | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | p | t | tʲ | k | q | |
| Affricate | c[decimal 2] | sʲ[decimal 2] | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | |||||
| voiced | v | ð | ɣ | ʁ | ||
| Lateral fricative | (ɬ)[decimal 3] | |||||
| Approximant | l | j[decimal 4] | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Open | a | ||
Notes:
- ↑
- /nʲ/ may not have been distinct from */n/; Fortescue reconstructs it for the correspondence of "Sirenikski Eskimo initial /j/, elsewhere /n/".
- 1 2 It is not clear from Fortescue's description whether the sounds denoted by */c/ and */sʲ/ were affricates [ts tsʲ] or fricatives [s sʲ].
- ↑
- /ɬ/ may have been a later development from clusters of */l/ with a plosive.
- ↑
- /j/ was most likely a fully palatal approximant, but it is grouped with the palatalized alveolars for convenience.
Possible relation to other language families
There are no generally accepted relations between Proto-Eskimo–Aleut and other language families. A substantial case for a genetic relationship between Proto-Eskimo–Aleut and several languages of northern Eurasia was published by Michael Fortescue in 1998 in Language Relations across Bering Strait (see Uralo-Siberian languages).
References
- ↑ Fortescue 1998, pp. 124–125
Bibliography
- 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: Comparative Phonology, Morphology, and Vocabulary, 2 volumes. Leiden: Brill.
- Fortescue, Michael, Steven Jacobson, and Lawrence Kaplan. 1994. Comparative Eskimo Dictionary with Aleut Cognates. Alaska Native Language Center.
- Fortescue, Michael. 1998. Language Relations across Bering Strait: Reappraising the Archaeological and Linguistic Evidence. London and New York: Cassell.