Proto-Eskaleut
Proto-Eskimo–Aleut
Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan
Reconstruction ofEskaleut languages
Lower-order reconstructions

Proto-Eskaleut, Proto-Eskimo–Aleut or Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan[citation needed] is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Eskaleut languages, 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 (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-Eskaleut as follows:[1]

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Velar Uvular
plain palatalized
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. ^ a b 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

See also: Eskaleut languages § Position among the world's language families

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

  1. ^ Fortescue 1998, pp. 124–125

Bibliography

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