Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan language

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Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan
Reconstruction of Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
Era2000 BCE

Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages. It is purported to have broken up into the Northern (Chukotian) and Southern (Itelmen) branches around 2000 BCE, when western reindeer herders moved into the Chukotko-Kamchatkans' homeland and its inland people adopted the new lifestyle. [1]

Contents

A reconstruction is presented by Michael Fortescue in his Comparative Dictionary of Chukotko-Kamchatkan (2005).

Phonology

According to Fortescue, Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan had the following phonemes, expressed in IPA symbols.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
Stop *p*t*c*k*q
Fricative *v*ð*ɣ*ʁ
Nasal *m*n*ŋ
Approximant *w*l*j
Rhotic *r

*/c/ is a true voiceless palatal stop (not the affricate č). Note that Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan had only voiceless stops, no voiced stops (such as /bdɡ/). However, there is a series of voiced fricatives, */vðɣʁ/. These have no voiceless counterparts (such as /fθx/).

*/v/ is a voiced labiodental fricative (like v in English). */ɣ/ is a voiced velar fricative (like the g in Dutch ogen, modern Greek gamma, Persian qāf, etc.). */ʁ/ is a voiced uvular fricative (like r in French).

The entire */tðnlr/ series is alveolar — i.e. */tðn/ are not dentals.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close iu
Mid eəo
Open æa

Grammar

It is generally accepted that Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan had an eleven-case system for nouns, but Dibella Wdzenczny has hypothesised that these evolved from only six cases in Pre-Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan. [1] Below is the reconstructed case system of Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan. [2]

CaseDeclension 1 (singular)Declension 2 (singular)Declension 1 (plural)1Declension 2 (plural)
absolutive -∅/-(ə)n/-ŋæ/-lŋǝn-(ǝ)n-t-(ǝ)nti
dative -(ǝ)ŋ-(ǝ)naŋ-(ǝ)ðɣǝnaŋ
locative -(ǝ)k-(ǝ)næk-(ǝ)ðǝk
instrumental -tæ-(ǝ)næk-(ǝ)ðǝk
comitative kæ--tæ--
associative ka--ma--
referential -kjit-(ǝ)nækjit-(ǝ)ðǝkækjit
ablative -ŋqo(rǝŋ)-(ǝ)naŋqo(rǝŋ)-(ǝ)ðǝkaŋqo(rǝŋ)
vialis -jǝpǝŋ-(ǝ)najpǝŋ-(ǝ)ðǝkajpǝŋ
allative -jǝtǝŋ-(ǝ)najtǝŋ-(ǝ)ðǝkajtǝŋ
attributive -nu-(ǝ)nu-(ǝ)ðɣǝnu

1Note that the (mostly inanimate) nouns of the first declension only marked plurality in the absolutive case.

The protolanguage is thought to have been a nominative-accusative language, with the current Chukotko-Kamchatkan ergative aspects coming later in the (Northern) Chukotian branch, possibly through contact with nearby Eskimo–Aleut-speaking peoples. This would explain why Itelmen, spoken further south than any Eskimo–Aleut speakers visited, lacks ergative structures. Some linguists, however, maintain that Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan began as an ergative language and lost that feature over time. [3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Dibella Wdzenczny. "The Case for Fewer Cases in Pre-ChukotkoKamchatkan: Grammaticalization and Semantics in Internal Reconstruction". Commons.emich.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  2. ↑ Cultural Studies (22 December 2011). Proto-CK (and Proto-C) inflections : Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary. De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN   9783110925388 . Retrieved 2016-04-03.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ Fortescue, Michael. 2005. Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary. Trends in Linguistics 23. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
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