Proto-Eskimoan language

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Proto-Eskimoan
Proto-Eskimo, Proto-Inuit-Yupik
Reconstruction of Eskimo languages
Eraby ca. 2000 BCE
Reconstructed
ancestor
Lower-order reconstructions

Proto-Eskimoan, Proto-Eskimo, or Proto-Inuit-Yupik, is the reconstructed ancestor of the Eskimo languages. [1] It was spoken by the ancestors of the Yupik and Inuit peoples. It is linguistically related to the Aleut language, and both descend from the Proto-Eskaleut language. [2]

Contents

Comparative studies of Eskimo and Aleut languages suggest that the Proto-Eskimoan and Proto-Aleut languages diverged between 4000 and 2000 BCE. [3] [4]

Phonology

According to the International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, "Eskimo languages show variation primarily in their phonology and lexicon, rather than in syntax. Aleut phonology is quite unremarkable, compared to the interesting phenomena exhibited by most varieties of Eskimo. Proto-Eskimo had four vowels */i a u ə/, but few or none of the long vowels or diphthongs found in the modern languages." [5]

See also

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Proto-Eskaleut, Proto-Eskimo–Aleut or Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan 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).

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The Eskimo–Uralic hypothesis posits that the Uralic and Eskimo–Aleut language families belong to a common macrofamily. It is not generally accepted by linguists because the similarities can also be merely areal features, common to unrelated language families. In 1818, the Danish linguist Rasmus Rask grouped together the languages of Greenlandic and Finnish. The Eskimo–Uralic hypothesis was put forward by Knut Bergsland in 1959. Ante Aikio stated that it's possible that there exists some connection between the two families, but exact conclusions can't be drawn and the similarities could exist by loaning.

Proto-Inuit is the reconstructed proto-language of the Inuit languages, probably spoken about 1000 years BP by the Neo-Eskimo Thule people. It evolved from Proto-Eskimo, from which the Yupik languages also evolved.

Proto-Karenic or Proto-Karen is the reconstructed ancestor of the Karenic languages.

References

  1. Fortescue, Michael, Steven Jacobson, and Lawrence Kaplan. 1994. Comparative Eskimo Dictionary with Aleut Cognates. Alaska Native Language Center.
  2. BERGE, A. (2010). Origins of Linguistic Diversity in the Aleutian Islands. Human Biology,82(5/6), 557-581. Retrieved from JSTOR   41466704
  3. Bergsland, K. 1986. Comparative Eskimo- Aleut phonology and lexicon. J. Soc. Finno-Ougrienne 80:63-137.
  4. Bergsland, K. 1989. Comparative aspects of Aleut syntax. J. Soc. Finno-Oug
  5. International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: AAVE-Esperanto. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. 2003. pp. 522–523. ISBN   9780195139778.