Palaihnihan languages

Palaihnihan
Palaihnih, Laikni
Geographic distribution	California
Linguistic classification	Hokan  ? Shasta–Palaihnihan ? Palaihnihan
Proto-language	Proto-Palaihnihan
Subdivisions	Atsugewi Achumawi
Language codes
Glottolog	pala1350

Palaihnihan (also Palaihnih) is a small language family of northeastern California. It consists of two closely related languages, both now extinct:

• Palaihnihan
  • Atsugewi †
  • Achumawi † (ís siwa wó disi, also known as Achomawi, Pit River Indian)

Genetic relations

The Palaihnihan family is often connected with the hypothetical Hokan stock. Proposed special relationships within Hokan include Palaihnihan with Shastan (known as Shasta-Achomawi) and within a Kahi sub-group (also known as Northern Hokan) with Shastan, Chimariko, and Karuk.

Proto-language

Proto-Palahnihan
Reconstruction of	Palaihnihan languages

The original reconstruction of proto-Palaihnihan suffered from poor quality data. David Olmsted's dictionary depends almost entirely upon de Angulo, who did not record the phonological distinctions consistently or well, ^[1] and carelessly includes Pomo vocabulary from a manuscript in which he (de Angulo) set out to demonstrate that Achumawi and Pomo are not related. ^[2] William Bright has also pointed out problems with Olmsted's methods of reconstruction. ^[3] The reconstruction is being refined with newer data. ^[4]

Vowels

Good, McFarland, & Paster (2003) conclude there were at least three vowels, *a *i *u, and possibly marginal *e, along with vowel length and ablaut.

Consonants

Consonants were as follows: ^[4]

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	(Epi)glottal
Plosive	plain	p	t	tʃ	k	q	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ	qʰ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	tʃʼ	kʼ	qʼ
Fricative			s				ʜ h
Nasal	plain	m	n
	glottalized	mˀ	nˀ
Trill	plain		r
	glottalized		rˀ
Approximant	plain	w	l	j
	glottalized	wˀ	lˀ	jˀ

References

1. Nevin 1991, 1998.
2. Gursky, Karl-Heinz (1987). "Achumawi und Pomo, eine besondere Beziehung?". Abhandlungen der völkerkundlichen Arbsgemeinschaft. 57. Nortorf.
3. Bright, William; Olmsted, D. L. (1965). "Review of A history of Palaihnihan phonology by D. L. Olmsted". Language. 41 (1). Baltimore: Linguistic Society of America: 175–178. doi:10.2307/411871. JSTOR   411871.
4. Good, McFarland, & Paster (2003) "Reconstructing Achumawi and Atsugewi: Proto-Palaihnihan revisited"

Bibliography

• Bright, William; Olmsted, D. L. (1965). "[Review of A history of Palaihnihan phonology by D. L. Olmsted]". Language. 41 (1): 175–178. doi:10.2307/411871. JSTOR   411871.
• Good, Jeff; McFarland, Teresa; & Paster, Mary. (2003). Reconstructing Achumawi and Atsugewi: Proto-Palaihnihan revisited. Atlanta, GA. (Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, January 2–5).
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN   0-521-29875-X.
• Nevin, Bruce E. (1991). "Obsolescence in Achumawi: Why Uldall Too?". Papers from the American Indian Languages Conferences, held at the University of California, Santa Cruz, July and August 1991. Occasional Papers on Linguistics 16:97–127. Department of Linguistics, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
• Nevin, Bruce E. (1998). Aspects of Pit River phonology. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.
• Olmsted, David L. (1954). "Achumawi–Atsugewi non-reciprocal intelligibility". International Journal of American Linguistics. 20 (3): 181–184. doi:10.1086/464275. S2CID   144619581.
• Olmsted, David L. (1956). "Palaihnihan and Shasta I: Labial stops". Language. 32 (1): 73–77. doi:10.2307/410654. JSTOR   410654.
• Olmsted, David L. (1957). "Palaihnihan and Shasta II: Apical stops". Language. 33 (2): 136–138. doi:10.2307/410725. JSTOR   410725.
• Olmsted, David L. (1959). "Palaihnihan and Shasta III: Dorsal stops". Language. 35 (4): 637–644. doi:10.2307/410603. JSTOR   410603.
• Olmsted, David L. (1958). Atsugewi Phonology, International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 24, No. 3, Franz Boas Centennial, Volume (Jul., 1958), pp. 215–220.
• Olmsted, David L. (1964). A history of Palaihnihan phonology. University of California publications in linguistics (Vol. 35). Berkeley: University of California Press.