- Proto-Dené–Caucasian language
-
Proto-Dené–Caucasian is the reconstructed hypothetical common ancestor of the Dené–Caucasian languages, a proposed language superfamily to which Basque, North Caucasian, Burushaski, Sino-Tibetan, Yeniseian, Na-Dené and possibly also other language families may belong.
Contents
Reconstructed phonology
As with Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Uralic, linguists working on reconstructions of the Proto-Dené–Caucasian language usually do not use the IPA. To facilitate comparisons with the literature, Starostin's transcription (largely identical to Bengtson's) is used in this section, followed by the IPA equivalents between slashes (for phonemes) or brackets (for actual phones). It differs from the IPA especially in the affricates, all of which are written with a single character, the laterals, and the pharyngeal and epiglottal consonants (complicated by the fact that Starostin did not use the term "epiglottal").
As in all reconstructions of proto-languages, every value in the tables below is a hypothesis and may change as more work is done.
Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar or dental Alveolopalatal Postalveolar Velar Uvular Epiglottal Glottal central lateral Plosives aspirated¹ p /p/ t /t/ k /k/ q /q/ ʡ /ʡ/ ʔ /ʔ/ ejective ṗ /pʼ/ ṭ /tʼ/ ḳ /kʼ/ q̇ /qʼ/ voiced b /b/ d /d/ g /ɡ/ G /ɢ/ Affricates aspirated¹ c /ts/ ƛ /tɬ/ ć /tɕ/ č /tʃ/ ejective c̣ /tsʼ/ ƛ̣ /tɬʼ/ ć̣ /tɕʼ/ č̣ /tʃʼ/ voiced ʒ /dz/ Ł /dɮ/ ʒ́ /dʑ/ ǯ /dʒ/ Fricatives voiceless s /s/ λ /ɬ/ ś /ɕ/ š /ʃ/ x /x/ χ /χ/ ħ /ʜ/ h /h/ voiced z [z]² L [ɮ]² ź [ʑ]² ž [ʒ]² γ [ɣ]² ʁ [ʁ]² ʕ /ʢ/ ɦ /ɦ/ Nasals m /m/ n /n/ ń /nʲ/ ŋ /ŋ/ Trills r /r/ ŕ /rʲ/ Approximants w /w/ l /l/, ł /ɫ/ j /j/ - ¹ As in today's Caucasian languages, all plosives and affricates (except /ʡ/ and /ʔ/) were seemingly either voiced, ejective, or aspirated. Because aspiration alone was not phonemic, it is not shown in the phonemic transcription of Proto-Dené–Caucasian, Caucasian languages, or Na-Dené languages in this article.
- ² These sounds were probably not separate phonemes, but allophones of their voiceless counterparts.
Vowels
The reconstruction of vowels is rather tentative. Both long and short vowels are reconstructed, but it is as yet uncertain whether the distinction was phonemic or not. It was, however, crucial for phonological developments in the daughter languages.
Front Central Back unrounded rounded Close i /i/ ɨ /ɨ/ u /u/ Mid e /e/ ə /ə/ o /o/ Near-open ä /æ/ Open a /a/ The Proto-Dené–Caucasian root
Root Structure
The most basic root structure in Proto-Dené–Caucasian is reconstructed as follows:
- Nominal and verbal roots:
- */C1VC2V/
- */C1VC2VC3V/
- Verbal and adjectival roots may be preceded by class prefixes and have the following structure (/=/ denotes the position of a class marker):
- */=VC1V/
- */=VC1VC2/
- Pronominal roots may be monosyllabic:
- */CV/
Prosodical features
The evidence from Sino-Tibetan, Yenisian and North Caucasian appears to support the existence of dynamic accent (marked with an acute above the vowel):
- Stress on the penultimate syllable:
- */C1V́C2V/
- */C1VC2V́C3V/
- Stress on the final syllable:
- */C1VC2V́/
- */C1VC2VC3V́/
Regular Correspondences
Suprasegmental
The stressed penultimate syllables in PDC give rise to the morpheme-wide tenseness in PNC. As only fricatives and affricates can be tense in PNC, their absence makes tense morphemes indistinguishable from the lax ones. The loss of the slot-3 glottal stop after long vowels in PY is another problem for the clear determination of stress in PDC. In the following table, P represents a PNC stop consonant, whereas F a fricative or an affricate.
PDC PNC PY CV́ːCVː FːVːFːVː CVːCVː FːVːPVː PVːFːVː PVːPVː CV́ːCV FːVːFːV CVʔCV FːVːPV PVːFːV PVːPV CV́CVː FːVFːVː CVʔCVː FːVPVː PVFːVː PVPVː CV́CV FːVFːV CVʔCV FːVPV PVFːV PVPV CVːCV́ː CVːCVː CVːCVː CVːCV́ CVːCV CVCV CVCV́ː CVCVː CVCVː CVCV́ CVCV CVCV Segmental
Consonants
§1 Stops
Note: Na-Dené languages have three series of stops usually realized as voiceless lenes, aspirated fortes, and ejective fortes, respectively. These are most often transcribed as /t tʰ tʼ/ (emphasizing the aspiration contrast and the fact that all three series are usually voiceless). In the following table, they are transcribed as /d t tʼ/ to make comparison to the other Dené–Caucasian language families (and to the orthographies of the Na-Dené languages) easier.
PDC Basque Caucasian Burushaski Sino-Tibetan Yeniseian Na-Dené p p p pʰ- pʰ- / bʱ- p w p -p b b b b p- / b- / pʰ- p w (Tlingit, Eyak) -p pʼ b- b- p p- / b- b ? p pʼ -p t t t tʰ- tʰ- / dʱ- d t t -t d t- d ɖ ~ ʈ ~ t t- / d- / tʰ- t d (Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit) d -t tʼ t tʼ t ~ ʈ t- / d- d tʼ -t k h k k- ~ kʰ- k- / g- g- k k -k k g g g g k- / g- / kʰ- k g -k kʼ k kʼ k kʰ- / gʱ- g kʼ -k -k q k q q ~ qʰ ~ ʁ qʰ- / ɢ- q- q -k q ~ ɢ ɢ g ɢ q ~ qʰ ~ ʁ q- / qʰ- q- / x- ~ χ- ɢ ~ qʼ ~ q? -k q ~ ɢ qʼ k qʼ q ~ qʰ ~ ʁ q- / ɢʱ- q- / x- ~ χ- qʼ ~ ɢ -k q ~ ɢ / x ~ χ Sound correspondences
The following table depicts how the phonemes of Proto-Dené–Caucasian are hypothesized to have changed into the phonemes of its descendants. Starostin's transcription is used for Proto-Dené–Caucasian, the Basque orthography is used for Basque; IPA is given for all. (Burushaski does not have a fixed orthography.) The Na-Dené correspondences are rather tentative and come exclusively from Bengtson (2008). Hyphens indicate that a phoneme evolved in different ways depending on its position in a word, for example at the beginning or the end. "0" indicates disappearance without a trace. The exact identity of the Proto-Yeniseian phoneme "r₁" is unclear. The derivatives of Proto-Dené–Caucasian consonant clusters are not shown when their constituent phonemes evolved independently.
Note: Na-Dené languages have three series of stops usually realized as voiceless lenes, aspirated fortes, and ejective fortes, respectively. These are most often transcribed as /t tʰ tʼ/ (emphasizing the aspiration contrast and the fact that all three series are usually voiceless). In the following table, they are transcribed as /d t tʼ/ to make comparison to the other Dené–Caucasian language families (and to the orthographies of the Na-Dené languages) easier.
Single consonants Proto-
Dené–CaucasianProto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski (Proto-)Basque Proto–Na-Dené p /p/ /p/ /pʰ/, -/p/ /p/ /pʰ/-, /p/ p /p/ /w/ t /t/ /t/ /tʰ/, -/t/ /d/ /tʰ/ t /t/ /t/ k /k/ /k/ /k/ /ɡ/, -/k/ /k/, /kʰ/ h /h/, 0¹ /k/ q /q/ /q/ /qʰ/-, /ɢ/-, /x/-, /ɣ/-, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /q/-, /q/, /ɢ/ /q/, /qʰ/, /ʁ/ k /k/ /q/ ʡ /ʡ/ /ʡ/ 0 /ʔ/-, /j/, 0 /h/, /j/, 0 h /h/, */ɦ/² /ʔ/ ʔ /ʔ/ /ʔ/ /ʔ/, 0 /ʔ/-, /j/ /h/, /j/, 0 h, 0 */ɦ/², 0 ? ṗ /pʼ/ /pʼ/, /b/ /p/ /b/ /p/ b-, p /b/-, /p/ ? ṭ /tʼ/ /tʼ/ /t/ /d/ /t/, /ʈ/, /ɖ/ t /t/ /tʼ/ ḳ /kʼ/ /kʼ/ /kʰ/, /ɡʱ/, -/k/ /ɡ/-, -/ɡ/-, -/k/ /k/ k /k/ /kʼ/ q̇ /qʼ/ /qʼ/ /ɢʱ/-, /q/, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /q/-, /q/, /ɢ/ /q/, /qʰ/, /ʁ/ k /k/ /qʼ/, /ɢ/ b /b/ /b/ /p/, /pʰ/, -/p/ /p/ /b/ b /b/ Tlingit, Eyak /w/ d /d/ /d/ /t/, /tʰ/, -/t/ /t/ /t/, /ʈ/, /ɖ/ t-, d /t/-, /d/ Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit /d/ g /ɡ/ /ɡ/ /k/ /k/ /ɡ/ g /ɡ/ /ɡ/ G /ɢ/ /ɢ/ /q/, /qʰ/-, /ɢ/-, /ɢʱ/-, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /x/, /χ/, /q/-, /ɢ/- /q/, /qʰ/, /ʁ/ g /ɡ/ /ɢ/, /qʼ/, /q/? c /t͡s/ /t͡s/ /t͡sʰ/, /s/, -/t/ /s/ /s/ z-, s-,³ -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-,³ -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡s/ ƛ /t͡ɬ/ /t͡ɬ/ /r/, -/k/ /j/-, /χ/ /lt/-, /lt/, /l/ l-, -rd-, -rt-, -l /l/-, -/rd/-, -/rt/-, -/l/ /t͡ɬ/, /t͡ɬʼ/ ć /t͡ɕ/ /t͡ɕ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/, -/t/ /d͡ʒ/-, /s/ /s/, /ɕ/, /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, -/ʑ/ z /s/ /d͡ʒ/? č /t͡ʃ/ /t͡ʃ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/ /t͡ʃ/-, /d͡ʒ/-, /s/ /ɕ/, /ʂ/, /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, -/ʑ/ z-, s-³, -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-³, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡ʃ/? c̣ /t͡sʼ/ /t͡sʼ/ /t͡s/, -/t/ /t͡s/, /s/ /ɕ/, /ʂ/, /s/ z-, s-³, -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-³, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡sʼ/, /t͡ʃʼ/?, /t͡ʃ/? ƛ̣ /t͡ɬʼ/ /t͡ɬʼ/ /t͡ɬ/, /l/, /r/, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /j/-, /l/, /ʎ/ /lt/-, /lt/, /l/ l-, -rd-, -rt-, -l /l/-, -/rd/-, -/rt/-, -/l/ /t͡ɬʼ/ ć̣ /t͡ɕʼ/ /t͡ɕʼ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/, /ɕ/, -/t/ /s/, /t͡s/ /t͡ɕ/, /t͡ɕʰ/, /d͡ʑ/, /d͡z/, -/ʑ/ tx-, -tz-, -ts-³ /t͡ʃ/-, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡sʼ/ č̣ /t͡ʃʼ/ /t͡ʃʼ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/ /s/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/ /ɕ/, /ʂ/, /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, -/ʑ/ tx-, -tz-, -ts-³ /t͡ʃ/, /t͡s/, /t͡ɕ/³ ? ʒ /d͡z/ /d͡z/ /t͡s/, /d͡z/ /d͡z/, /s/ /s/ z /s/ /t͡sʼ/ Ł /d͡ɮ/ /d͡ɮ/ /t͡ɬ/, /l/, -/k/ /r/, "r₁" /lt/-, /lt/, /l/ l-, -rd-, -rt-, -l /l/-, -/rd/-, -/rt/-, -/l/ /d͡ɮ/ ʒ́ /d͡ʑ/ /d͡ʑ/ /t͡ɕ/, -/t/ /s/, /d͡ʒ/ /d͡z/-, /d͡ʑ/-, /s/, /ɕ/ z /s/ ? ǯ /d͡ʒ/ /d͡ʒ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑ/ /d͡ʒ/ /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, /d͡ʑ/ z /s/ ? s /s/ /s/ /s/, /t͡sʰ/, -0 /d/-, /s/ /d/-, /s/ z /s/ /s/ λ /ɬ/ /ɬ/ /l/, /t͡ɬ/ /j/-, /l/, /ʎ/ /lt/-, /ɭʈ/-, /ld/ l-, -lh- /l/-, -/lh/- Athabaskan–Eyak /ɬ/ ś /ɕ/ /ɕ/ /s/, /t͡sʰ/, -0 /d/-, /s/ /d/-, /s/, /ʂ/ z /s/ ? š /ʃ/ /ʃ/ /ɕ/-, -0 /d/-, /s/ /s/, /ɕ/, /ʂ/ s /ɕ/ Athabaskan–Eyak /ʃ/ x /x/ /x/ /χ/, -0 /x/, /χ/, /ɢ/ /h/ h /h/, 0¹ /χ/? χ /χ/ /χ/ /χ/, /ɣ/, /qʷʰ/, -0 /χ/, /x/ /h/ h /h/, 0¹ /χ/, /x/? ħ /ʜ/ /ʜ/ /ʔ/, 0 /ʔ/-, /j/ 0, /h/, /j/ h /h/, */ɦ/² ? h /h/ /h/ /ɣ/ /ʔ/-, /j/ 0, /h/, /j/ h /h/, */ɦ/² Haida /χ/-, Athabaskan -/ː/4? z [z] /z/ /d͡z/ /d͡ʑ/ ź [ʑ]? /ʑ/ /d͡ʒ/ γ [ɣ] /ɣ/ /ɡ/ /q/, /χ/ g /ɡ/ ʁ [ʁ] /ʁ/ /ɢ/-, /q/-, -/j/, -/w/ /χ/, /ɢ/ 0, /ʁ/ h, g /h/, 0, /ɡ/¹ ʕ /ʢ/ /ʢ/ /ʔ/, 0 /ʔ/- 0, /h/, /j/ ? ? ɦ /ɦ/ /ɦ/ /q/? /ʔ/-, /w/-, /j/ ? h, 0 */ɦ/, 0² ? m /m/ /m/ /m/ /b/-, /p/-, /w/-, /m/ /m/ m /m/ /w/-, /~/5, 0? n /n/ /n/ /n/ /d/-, /n/ /n/ n /n/ /n/ ń /nʲ/ /n/ /ɲ/-, /ŋ/ /ɲ/-, /n/ /n/ n /n/ ? ŋ /ŋ/ /n/ /ŋ/ /b/-, /ŋ/ 0-, /ŋ/ n /n/ ? r /r/ /r/ /r/ /ʔ/-, /t/-, /r/, "r₁" /d-/, /r/ r-, -rr-, -r /rː/ /d/-, /n/, /j/ ŕ /rʲ/ /r/ /rj/, /r/ /rʲ/ /d/-, /r/ r /r/ ? w /w/ /w/, /u̯/ /w/, 0 0-, /w/, 0 /b/-, 0, /u/ b /b/ /w/ l /l/ /l/ /t͡ɬ/-, /r/ /d/-, /l/, /r/, "r₁" /l/ l-, -r- /l/-, -/r/- /l/, /ɬ/ ł /ɫ/ /ɫ/ /l/-, -/ɫ/, -/l/ /d/-, /r/, "r₁" /l/ /l/-, -/l/- /ɬ/ j /j/ /j/ /j/ /j/, 0 /j/, 0 h */ɦ/² /j/ Consonant clusters Proto-
Dené–CaucasianProto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski (Proto-)Basque Proto–Na-Dené ʡw /ʡw/ /qʷ/ /h/, /x/ ʔw /ʔw/ /h/, /x/ st /st/ /t͡s/ /t͡sʰ/, /s/, -/t/, -/t͡s/, -/s/ /t/ /t͡s/ z-, s-³, -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-³, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ sṭ /stʼ/ /t͡sʼ/ /t͡sʰ/, /s/ /t/ /t͡s/, /ʈ͡ʂ/ z /s/ sd /sd/ /d͡z/ ?/t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/, /ɕ/ /t/ /t͡s/, /t͡sʰ/, /ʈ͡ʂʰ/ z /s/ št /ʃt/ /t͡ʃ/, ?/t͡ɕ/ /d͡ʑ/ /t/ ? šṭ /ʃtʼ/ /t͡ʃʼ/ /t/ ? šd /ʃd/ /d͡ʒ/ /t͡ɕ/ /t/ /t͡ɕ/, /t͡ɕʰ/, /d͡ʑ xk /xk/ /χ/ /k/-, -/k/ /q/-, /q/, /ɢ/ /h/-, -/q/-, -/ʁ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/ xḳ /xkʼ/ /kʼ/ /k/-, /kʰ/-, /ɡʱ/-, /qʰ/-, -/k/ /q/, /ɢ/, /χ/ /qʰ/, /ʁ/, -/q/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/ xg /xɡ/ /ɡ/ /k/, /q/, -/ŋ/, -/k/ /q/, /x/, /χ/ /ɡ/ g /ɡ/ xq /xq/ /q/ /k/, /ɡ/, -/k/ /x/, /χ/ /qʰ/, /ʁ/, -/q/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/ xqw /xqw/ /qw/ /k/, /ɡ/, -/k/ /x/, /ɡ/ /k/, /ɡ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/ xq̇ /xqʼ/ /qʼ/ /ɡʱ/, /k/ /q/, /χ/, /x/ /qʰ/, /ʁ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/ xq̇w /xqʼw/ /qʼw/ /k/, /kʰ/ /x/, /ɡ/ /k/, /ɡ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/ xG /xɢ/ /ɢ/, /ʁ/ /ɡ/, /kʰ/ /q/, /χ/, /x/ /qʰ/, /q/ g /ɡ/ xGw /xɢw/ /ɢw/ /ɡʱ/, /kw/ /k/ /k/, /ɡ/ g, b /ɡ/, /b/ xm /xm/? /f/ /m/ /w-/ h /h/, 0¹ xŋ /xŋ/? /x/ /ŋ/ xŋw /xŋw/ /f/ /ŋ/ /b/-, /ŋ/ /h/ h /h/, 0¹ ħw /ʜw/ /h/, /x/ hw /hw/ /ʔʷ/, /w/ /h/, /x/ ʕw /ʢw/ /ʔʷ/ /h/, /x/ ŋw /ŋw/ /m/ /ŋ/ /b/-, /ŋ/ /m/-, -/n/, -/m/ n /n/ Vowels Proto-Dené–Caucasian Proto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski Basque Proto–Na-Dené a /a/ /a/ /e/, /a/, /ə/ /a/, /ɔ/, /e/, /æ/, /ə/ ? a /a/ ä /æ/ /æ/ /a/, /i/ /e/, /æ/, /ə/ ? ? e /e/ /e/, /i/ /a/, /ə/ /a/, /e/, /æ/, /ə/ ? e /e/ i /i/ /i/, /e/ /e/, /i/ /i/ ? i /i/ ə /ə/ /ə/, /ɨ/ /a/ /a/, /ə/ ? e /e/ ɨ /ɨ/ /ɨ/, /ə/ /ɨ/, /i/ /i/, /ɨ/ ? i /i/ o /o/ /o/ /ə/, /iə/, /a/ /u/, /ə/ ? o /o/ u /u/ /o/, /u/ /u/ /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ ? u /u/ Other features Proto-Dené–Caucasian Proto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski Basque Proto–Na-Dené stress (pitch accent?) on the penultimate syllable /(...)Cː(...)/6 CVC syllables from CVCV7 /ʔ/ (see stød)8 0? 0? - ¹ /h/ has disappeared in the southern dialects of Basque in historical times.
- ² /ɦ/ is reconstructed (*) for earlier stages of Basque; it has become /h/ in two northern dialects and disappeared in all others (the remaining northern one and the southern ones).
- ³ Next to /o/ and /u/.
- 4 Lengthening of the preceding vowel.
- 5 Nasalization of the preceding vowel.
- 6 In PNC, the prosodic feature of morpheme-wide tenseness is marked by presence of one or more long (tense) consonants in a morpheme. Starostin also uses a superscript T to mark a tense morpheme and a superscript L to mark a lax one, i.e. PNC *(...)Cː(...) = *(...)C(...)T and *(...)C(...) = *(...)C(...)L.
- 7 Or rather, when the stress was on the last syllable and the second consonant was a liquid (/CVˈRV/), the word became /CRV/ instead of the otherwise expected /CVR/.
- 8 At the third position of the first (or only) syllable (/CVʔC/), unless that syllable is long (/CVːC/).
Categories:- Proto-languages
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