Proto-Eskaleut | |
---|---|
Proto-Eskimo–Aleut Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan | |
Reconstruction of | Eskaleut 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).
Fortescue reconstructs the phoneme inventory of Proto-Eskaleut as follows: [1]
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] |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | ə | ||
Open | a |
Notes:
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).