A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Cerrado (Jê family)

Nikulin, Andrey

doi:10.31826/jlr-2018-153-404

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Among other things, data from Kajkwakhrattxi reinforces well-known patterns in typology, such as palatalization before front vowels and flapping of [d]. In addition, our data provides evidence of sound changes that are, to best of our knowledge, unattested, such as the change from * (Nikulin 2016(Nikulin , 2017(Nikulin , 2020. Notably, Nikulin proposes that, in Kakjkwakhrattxi, PNJ *m and * > mb lenited to [w]; PNJ *mr and * > mbr merged to [r]; and PNJ * > mbj simplified to [j].…”

Section: Glosssupporting

confidence: 81%

The typologically rare approximant inventory of Kajkwakhrattxi: A series of natural sound changes

Huff

Lapierre

2021

Proc Ling Soc Amer

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Kajkwakhrattxi, a Northern Jê language spoken by fewer than 30 elders in Mato Grosso, Brazil, exhibits a typologically rare sound inventory, especially with respect to its series of approximants: /w, w̃, ʍ, ɽ, ɽ̃, j/, realized as a total of 17 different surface allophones: [w, w̃͡w, w̃, ʍ, ɥ, ɥ̃͡ɥ, ɥ̃, ɥ̊, ɾ, ɾ̃, ɽ, ɽ̃, ɻ, ɻ̃, ɻ̊, j, j̃]. We propose a novel reconstruction of Proto-Northern-Jê that accounts for this unusually dense inventory of approximants, namely as the result of a series of natural sound changes involving processes of lenition and assimilation. Our analysis makes use of novel fieldwork data on three underdocumented and endangered languages of the family: Kajkwakhrattxi, Panãra, and Kayapô. As a result, our reconstruction is based on a more phonetically detailed and internally coherent data set than was available to previous comparative work on Jê languages. Our results provide evidence for the possible breadth of diversity in the phonological systems of natural languages, both synchronically and diachronically, and advances our knowledge of the sound changes that occurred from Proto-Northern-Jê to its daughter languages.

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Section: Glosssupporting

confidence: 81%

The typologically rare approximant inventory of Kajkwakhrattxi: A series of natural sound changes

Huff

Lapierre

2021

Proc Ling Soc Amer

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“…It will be critical for transparency and verifiability of these reconstructions for future works to explicitly and systematically present cognate and correspondence sets, and provide explicit argumentation for segmental and lexical reconstructions. Jolkesky (2010) and Nikulin (2017) provide distance-based classifications of Southern Jê and Northern Jê, respectively. Re-analysis of the extant cognate sets used in these analyses using character-based methods is obvious low-hanging fruit that could yield important insights into the internal classification of Jê.…”

Section: Caribanmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Classification of South American Languages

Michael

2021

Annu. Rev. Linguist.

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With some 108 independent genealogical units, South America is the linguistically most diverse region of our planet and presents a particular challenge to linguists seeking to understand the genealogical relationships among human languages. Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the internal classification of South American language families, and this article provides a critical overview of research in this very active area, focusing on the seven largest language families of the continent: Arawakan, Cariban, Jê, Panoan, Quechuan, Tukanoan, and Tupian. The strengths and weaknesses of major classification proposals are examined, and directions for future research discussed. Several long-distance relationship proposals that South Americanists are actively debating, including Tupi-Cariban, Pano-Takanan, Quechumaran, TuKaJê, and Macro-Jê, are also examined. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Linguistics, Volume 7 is January 14, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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“…The alternative proposal where devoicing of ND in Panará and Timbira is analyzed as unconditioned devoicing of voiced stops is strongly supported by comparative evidence. All voiced stops (both plain and pre-nasalized) in other closely related languages devoice unconditionally (either simultaneously or D devoices before ND) (Nikulin 2017). In other words, unconditioned devoicing of voiced stops operated as a sound change in the pre-history of Panará and Timbira.…”

Section: Post-nasal Devoicingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-nasal devoicing and the blurring process

Beguš

2018

J. Ling.

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This paper addresses one of the most contested issues in phonology: unnatural alternations. First, non-natural phonological processes are subdivided into unmotivated and unnatural. The central topic of the paper is an unnatural process: post-nasal devoicing (PND). I collect thirteen cases of PND and argue that in all reported cases, PND does not derive from a single unnatural sound change (as claimed in some individual accounts of the data), but rather from a combination of three sound changes, each of which is phonetically motivated. I present new evidence showing that the three stages are directly historically attested in the pre-history of Yaghnobi. Based on several discussed cases, I propose a new diachronic model for explaining unnatural phenomena called the Blurring Process and point to its advantages over competing approaches (hypercorrection, perceptual enhancement, and phonetic motivation). The Blurring Process establishes general diachronic conditions for unnatural synchronic processes and can be employed to explain unnatural processes beyond PND. Additionally, I provide a proof establishing the minimal sound changes required for an unmotivated/unnatural alternation to arise. The Blurring Process and Minimal Sound Change Requirement have implications for models of typology within the Channel Bias approach. This paper thus presents a first step toward the ultimate goal of quantifying the influences of Channel Bias on phonological typology.

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A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Cerrado (Jê family)

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

The typologically rare approximant inventory of Kajkwakhrattxi: A series of natural sound changes

The typologically rare approximant inventory of Kajkwakhrattxi: A series of natural sound changes

The Classification of South American Languages

Post-nasal devoicing and the blurring process

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