Proto-Dené–Caucasian language

Proto-Dené–Caucasian is the reconstructed hypothetical common ancestor of the Dené–Caucasian languages, a proposed language superfamily to which Basque, North Caucasian, Burushaski, Sino-Tibetan, Yeniseian, Na-Dené and possibly also other language families may belong.

Reconstructed phonology

As with Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Uralic, linguists working on reconstructions of the Proto-Dené–Caucasian language usually do not use the IPA. To facilitate comparisons with the literature, Starostin's transcription (largely identical to Bengtson's) is used in this section, followed by the IPA equivalents between slashes (for phonemes) or brackets (for actual phones). It differs from the IPA especially in the affricates, each of which is written with a single character, and the laterals. This convention strongly resembles the APA.

As in all reconstructions of proto-languages, every value in the tables below is a hypothesis and may change as more work is done.

Consonants

  Bilabial Alveolar or dental Alveolopalatal Postalveolar Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
central lateral
Plosives aspirated¹ p /p/ t /t/       k /k/ q /q/ ʡ /ʡ/ ʔ /ʔ/
ejective /pʼ/ /tʼ/       /kʼ/ /qʼ/    
voiced b /b/ d /d/       g /ɡ/ G /b/    
Affricates aspirated¹   c /ts/ ƛ /tɬ/ ć /tɕ/ č /tʃ/        
ejective   /tsʼ/ ƛ̣ /tɬʼ/ ć̣ /tɕʼ/ č̣ /tʃʼ/        
voiced   ʒ /dz/ Ł /dɮ/ ʒ́ /dʑ/ ǯ /dʒ/        
Fricatives voiceless   s /s/ λ /ɬ/ ś /ɕ/ š /ʃ/ x /x/ χ /χ/ ħ /ʜ/ h /h/
voiced   z [z]² L [ɮ]² ź [ʑ]² ž [ʒ]² γ [ɣ]² ʁ [ʁ]² ʕ /ʢ/ ɦ /ɦ/
Nasals m /m/ n /n/   ń /nʲ/   ŋ /ŋ/      
Trills   r /r/   ŕ /rʲ/          
Approximants w /w/   l /ɬ/, ł /k/ j /j/          

Vowels

The reconstruction of vowels is rather tentative. Both long and short vowels are reconstructed, but it is as yet uncertain whether the distinction was phonemic or not. It was, however, crucial for phonological developments in the daughter languages.

Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
Close i /i/ ɨ /ɨ/ u /u/
Mid e /e/ ə /ə/ o /o/
Near-open ä /æ/
Open a /a/

The Proto-Dené–Caucasian root

Root Structure

The most basic root structure in Proto-Dené–Caucasian is reconstructed as follows:

Prosodical features

The evidence from Sino-Tibetan, Yenisian and North Caucasian appears to support the existence of dynamic accent (marked with an acute above the vowel):

Regular Correspondences

Suprasegmental

The stressed penultimate syllables in PDC give rise to the morpheme-wide tenseness in PNC. As only fricatives and affricates can be tense in PNC, their absence makes tense morphemes indistinguishable from the lax ones. The loss of the slot-3 glottal stop after long vowels in PY is another problem for the clear determination of stress in PDC. In the following table, P represents a PNC stop consonant, whereas F a fricative or an affricate.

PDC PNC PY
CV́ːCVː CVːCVː
VːPVː
PVː
PVːPVː
CV́ːCV V CVʔCV
VːPV
PVːV
PVːPV
CV́CVː V CVʔCVː
VPVː
PV
PVPVː
CV́CV VV CVʔCV
VPV
PVV
PVPV
CVːCV́ː CVːCVː CVːCVː
CVːCV́ CVːCV CVCV
CVCV́ː CVCVː CVCVː
CVCV́ CVCV CVCV

Segmental

Consonants

§1 Stops

Note: Na-Dené languages have three series of stops usually realized as voiceless lenes, aspirated fortes, and ejective fortes, respectively. These are most often transcribed as /t tʰ tʼ/ (emphasizing the aspiration contrast and the fact that all three series are usually voiceless). In the following table, they are transcribed as /d t tʼ/ to make comparison to the other Dené–Caucasian language families (and to the orthographies of the Na-Dené languages) easier.

PDC Basque Caucasian Burushaski Sino-Tibetan Yeniseian Na-Dené
p p p pʰ- pʰ- / bʱ- p w
p -p
b b b b p- / b- / pʰ- p w (Tlingit, Eyak)
-p
b- b- p p- / b- b ?
p -p
t t t tʰ- tʰ- / dʱ- d t
t -t
d t- d ɖ ~ ʈ ~ t t- / d- / tʰ- t d (Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit)
d -t
t t ~ ʈ t- / d- d
-t
k h k k- ~ kʰ- k- / g- g- k
k -k k
g g g g k- / g- / kʰ- k g
-k
k k kʰ- / gʱ- g
-k -k
q k q q ~ qʰ ~ ʁ qʰ- / ɢ- q- q
-k q ~ ɢ
ɢ g ɢ q ~ qʰ ~ ʁ q- / qʰ- q- / x- ~ χ- ɢ ~ qʼ ~ q?
-k q ~ ɢ
k q ~ qʰ ~ ʁ q- / ɢʱ- q- / x- ~ χ- qʼ ~ ɢ
-k q ~ ɢ / x ~ χ

Sound correspondences

The following table depicts how the phonemes of Proto-Dené–Caucasian are hypothesized to have changed into the phonemes of its descendants. Starostin's transcription is used for Proto-Dené–Caucasian, the Basque orthography is used for Basque; IPA is given for all. (Burushaski does not have a fixed orthography.) The Na-Dené correspondences are rather tentative and come exclusively from Bengtson (2008). Hyphens indicate that a phoneme evolved in different ways depending on its position in a word, for example at the beginning or the end. "0" indicates disappearance without a trace. The exact identity of the Proto-Yeniseian phoneme "r₁" is unclear. The derivatives of Proto-Dené–Caucasian consonant clusters are not shown when their constituent phonemes evolved independently.

Note: Na-Dené languages have three series of stops usually realized as voiceless lenes, aspirated fortes, and ejective fortes, respectively. These are most often transcribed as /t tʰ tʼ/ (emphasizing the aspiration contrast and the fact that all three series are usually voiceless). In the following table, they are transcribed as /d t tʼ/ to make comparison to the other Dené–Caucasian language families (and to the orthographies of the Na-Dené languages) easier.

Single consonants
Proto-
Dené–Caucasian
Proto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski (Proto-)Basque Proto–Na-Dené
p /p/ /p/ /pʰ/, -/p/ /p/ /pʰ/-, /p/ p /p/ /w/
t /t/ /t/ /tʰ/, -/t/ /d/ /tʰ/ t /t/ /t/
k /k/ /k/ /k/ /ɡ/, -/k/ /k/, /kʰ/ h /h/, 0¹ /k/
q /q/ /q/ /qʰ/-, /ɢ/-, /x/-, /ɣ/-, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /q/-, /q/, /ɢ/ /q/, /qʰ/, /ʁ/ k /k/ /q/
ʡ /ʡ/ /ʡ/ 0 /ʔ/-, /j/, 0 /h/, /j/, 0 h /h/, */ɦ/² /ʔ/
ʔ /ʔ/ /ʔ/ /ʔ/, 0 /ʔ/-, /j/ /h/, /j/, 0 h, 0 */ɦ/², 0 ?
ṗ /pʼ/ /pʼ/, /b/ /p/ /b/ /p/ b-, p /b/-, /p/ ?
ṭ /tʼ/ /tʼ/ /t/ /d/ /t/, /ʈ/, /ɖ/ t /t/ /tʼ/
ḳ /kʼ/ /kʼ/ /kʰ/, /ɡʱ/, -/k/ /ɡ/-, -/ɡ/-, -/k/ /k/ k /k/ /kʼ/
q̇ /qʼ/ /qʼ/ /ɢʱ/-, /q/, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /q/-, /q/, /ɢ/ /q/, /qʰ/, /ʁ/ k /k/ /qʼ/, /ɢ/
b /b/ /b/ /p/, /pʰ/, -/p/ /p/ /b/ b /b/ Tlingit, Eyak /w/
d /d/ /d/ /t/, /tʰ/, -/t/ /t/ /t/, /ʈ/, /ɖ/ t-, d /t/-, /d/ Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit /d/
g /ɡ/ /ɡ/ /k/ /k/ /ɡ/ g /ɡ/ /ɡ/
G /ɢ/ /b/ /q/, /qʰ/-, /ɢ/-, /ɢʱ/-, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /x/, /χ/, /q/-, /ɢ/- /q/, /qʰ/, /ʁ/ g /ɡ/ /ɢ/, /qʼ/, /q/?
c /t͡s/ /t͡s/ /t͡sʰ/, /s/, -/t/ /s/ /s/ z-, s-,³ -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-,³ -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡s/
ƛ /t͡ɬ/ /t͡ɬ/ /r/, -/k/ /j/-, /χ/ /lt/-, /lt/, /l/ l-, -rd-, -rt-, -l /l/-, -/rd/-, -/rt/-, -/l/ /t͡ɬ/, /t͡ɬʼ/
ć /t͡ɕ/ /t͡ɕ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/, -/t/ /d͡ʒ/-, /s/ /s/, /ɕ/, /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, -/ʑ/ z /s/ /d͡ʒ/?
č /t͡ʃ/ /t͡ʃ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/ /t͡ʃ/-, /d͡ʒ/-, /s/ /ɕ/, /ʂ/, /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, -/ʑ/ z-, s-³, -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-³, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡ʃ/?
c̣ /t͡sʼ/ /t͡sʼ/ /t͡s/, -/t/ /t͡s/, /s/ /ɕ/, /ʂ/, /s/ z-, s-³, -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-³, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡sʼ/, /t͡ʃʼ/?, /t͡ʃ/?
ƛ̣ /t͡ɬʼ/ /t͡ɬʼ/ /t͡ɬ/, /l/, /r/, -/k/, -/ŋ/ /j/-, /l/, /ʎ/ /lt/-, /lt/, /l/ l-, -rd-, -rt-, -l /l/-, -/rd/-, -/rt/-, -/l/ /t͡ɬʼ/
ć̣ /t͡ɕʼ/ /t͡ɕʼ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/, /ɕ/, -/t/ /s/, /t͡s/ /t͡ɕ/, /t͡ɕʰ/, /d͡ʑ/, /d͡z/, -/ʑ/ tx-, -tz-, -ts-³ /t͡ʃ/-, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³ /t͡sʼ/
č̣ /t͡ʃʼ/ /t͡ʃʼ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/ /s/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/ /ɕ/, /ʂ/, /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, -/ʑ/ tx-, -tz-, -ts-³ /t͡ʃ/, /t͡s/, /t͡ɕ/³ ?
ʒ /d͡z/ /d͡z/ /t͡s/, /d͡z/ /d͡z/, /s/ /s/ z /s/ /t͡sʼ/
Ł /d͡ɮ/ /d͡ɮ/ /t͡ɬ/, /l/, -/k/ /r/, "r₁" /lt/-, /lt/, /l/ l-, -rd-, -rt-, -l /l/-, -/rd/-, -/rt/-, -/l/ /d͡ɮ/
ʒ́ /d͡ʑ/ /d͡ʑ/ /t͡ɕ/, -/t/ /s/, /d͡ʒ/ /d͡z/-, /d͡ʑ/-, /s/, /ɕ/ z /s/ ?
ǯ /d͡ʒ/ /d͡ʒ/ /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑ/ /d͡ʒ/ /t͡ɕ/, /ʈ͡ʂ/, /d͡ʑ/ z /s/ ?
s /s/ /s/ /s/, /t͡sʰ/, -0 /d/-, /s/ /d/-, /s/ z /s/ /s/
λ /ɬ/ /ɬ/ /l/, /t͡ɬ/ /j/-, /l/, /ʎ/ /lt/-, /ɭʈ/-, /ld/ l-, -lh- /l/-, -/lh/- Athabaskan–Eyak /ɬ/
ś /ɕ/ /ɕ/ /s/, /t͡sʰ/, -0 /d/-, /s/ /d/-, /s/, /ʂ/ z /s/ ?
š /ʃ/ /ʃ/ /ɕ/-, -0 /d/-, /s/ /s/, /ɕ/, /ʂ/ s /ɕ/ Athabaskan–Eyak /ʃ/
x /x/ /x/ /χ/, -0 /x/, /χ/, /ɢ/ /h/ h /h/, 0¹ /χ/?
χ /χ/ /χ/ /χ/, /ɣ/, /qʷʰ/, -0 /χ/, /x/ /h/ h /h/, 0¹ /χ/, /x/?
ħ /ʜ/ /ʜ/ /ʔ/, 0 /ʔ/-, /j/ 0, /h/, /j/ h /h/, */ɦ/² ?
ɨ /ɨ/ /h/ /ɣ/ /ʔ/-, /j/ 0, /h/, /j/ h /h/, */ɦ/² Haida /χ/-, Athabaskan -/ː/4?
z [z] /z/ /d͡z/ /d͡ʑ/
ź [ʑ]? /ʑ/ /d͡ʒ/
γ [ɣ] /ɣ/ /ɡ/ /q/, /χ/ g /ɡ/
ʁ [ʁ] /ʁ/ /ɢ/-, /q/-, -/j/, -/w/ /χ/, /ɢ/ 0, /ʁ/ h, g /h/, 0, /ɡ/¹
ʕ /ʢ/ /ʢ/ /ʔ/, 0 /ʔ/- 0, /h/, /j/ ? ?
ɦ /ɦ/ /ɦ/ /q/? /ʔ/-, /w/-, /j/ ? h, 0 */ɦ/, 0² ?
m /m/ /m/ /m/ /b/-, /p/-, /w/-, /m/ /m/ m /m/ /w/-, /~/5, 0?
n /n/ /n/ /n/ /d/-, /n/ /n/ n /n/ /n/
ń /nʲ/ /n/ /ɲ/-, /ŋ/ /ɲ/-, /n/ /n/ n /n/ ?
ŋ /ŋ/ /n/ /ŋ/ /b/-, /ŋ/ 0-, /ŋ/ n /n/ ?
r /r/ /r/ /r/ /ʔ/-, /t/-, /r/, "r₁" /d-/, /r/ r-, -rr-, -r /rː/ /d/-, /n/, /j/
ŕ /rʲ/ /r/ /rj/, /r/ /rʲ/ /d/-, /r/ r /r/ ?
w /w/ /w/, /u̯/ /w/, 0 0-, /w/, 0 /b/-, 0, /u/ b /b/ /w/
l /l/ /ɬ/ /t͡ɬ/-, /r/ /d/-, /l/, /r/, "r₁" /ɬ/ l-, -r- /l/-, -/r/- /l/, /ɬ/
ł /ɫ/ /k/ /l/-, -/ɫ/, -/l/ /d/-, /r/, "r₁" /ɬ/ /l/-, -/l/- /ɬ/
j /j/ /j/ /j/ /j/, 0 /j/, 0 h */ɦ/² /j/
Consonant clusters
Proto-
Dené–Caucasian
Proto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski (Proto-)Basque Proto–Na-Dené
ʡw /ʡw/ /qʷ/ /h/, /x/
ʔw /ʔw/ /h/, /x/
st /st/ /t͡s/ /t͡sʰ/, /s/, -/t/, -/t͡s/, -/s/ /t/ /t͡s/ z-, s-³, -tz-, -ts-³ /s/-, /ɕ/-³, -/t͡s/-, -/t͡ɕ/-³
sṭ /stʼ/ /t͡sʼ/ /t͡sʰ/, /s/ /t/ /t͡s/, /ʈ͡ʂ/ z /s/
sd /sd/ /d͡z/ ?/t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑʱ/, /ɕ/ /t/ /t͡s/, /t͡sʰ/, /ʈ͡ʂʰ/ z /s/
št /ʃt/ /t͡ʃ/, ?/t͡ɕ/ /d͡ʑ/ /t/ ?
šṭ /ʃtʼ/ /t͡ʃʼ/ /t/ ?
šd /ʃd/ /d͡ʒ/ /t͡ɕ/ /t/ /t͡ɕ/, /t͡ɕʰ/, /d͡ʑ
xk /xk/ /χ/ /k/-, -/k/ /q/-, /q/, /ɢ/ /h/-, -/q/-, -/ʁ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/
xḳ /xkʼ/ /kʼ/ /k/-, /kʰ/-, /ɡʱ/-, /qʰ/-, -/k/ /q/, /ɢ/, /χ/ /qʰ/, /ʁ/, -/q/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/
xg /xɡ/ /ɡ/ /k/, /q/, -/ŋ/, -/k/ /q/, /x/, /χ/ /ɡ/ g /ɡ/
xq /xq/ /q/ /k/, /ɡ/, -/k/ /x/, /χ/ /qʰ/, /ʁ/, -/q/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/
xqw /xqw/ /qw/ /k/, /ɡ/, -/k/ /x/, /ɡ/ /k/, /ɡ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/
xq̇ /xqʼ/ /qʼ/ /ɡʱ/, /k/ /q/, /χ/, /x/ /qʰ/, /ʁ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/
xq̇w /xqʼw/ /qʼw/ /k/, /kʰ/ /x/, /ɡ/ /k/, /ɡ/ k, g /k/, /ɡ/
xG /xɢ/ /ɢ/, /ʁ/ /ɡ/, /kʰ/ /q/, /χ/, /x/ /qʰ/, /q/ g /ɡ/
xGw /xɢw/ /ɢw/ /ɡʱ/, /kw/ /k/ /k/, /ɡ/ g, b /ɡ/, /b/
xm /xm/? /ɦ/ /m/ /w-/ h /h/, 0¹
xŋ /xŋ/? /x/ /ŋ/
xŋw /xŋw/ /ɦ/ /ŋ/ /b/-, /ŋ/ /h/ h /h/, 0¹
ħw /ʜw/ /h/, /x/
hw /hw/ /ʔʷ/, /w/ /h/, /x/
ʕw /ʢw/ /ʔʷ/ /h/, /x/
ŋw /ŋw/ /m/ /ŋ/ /b/-, /ŋ/ /m/-, -/n/, -/m/ n /n/
Vowels
Proto-Dené–Caucasian Proto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski Basque Proto–Na-Dené
a /a/ /ɡ/ /e/, /a/, /ə/ /a/, /ɔ/, /e/, /æ/, /ə/ ? a /a/
ä /æ/ /æ/ /a/, /i/ /e/, /æ/, /ə/ ? ?
e /e/ /e/, /i/ /a/, /ə/ /a/, /e/, /æ/, /ə/ ? e /e/
i /i/ /i/, /e/ /e/, /i/ /i/ ? i /i/
ə /ə/ /ə/, /ɨ/ /ɡ/ /a/, /ə/ ? e /e/
ɨ /ɨ/ /ɨ/, /ə/ /ɨ/, /i/ /i/, /ɨ/ ? i /i/
o /o/ /o/ /ə/, /iə/, /a/ /u/, /ə/ ? o /o/
u /u/ /o/, /u/ /u/ /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ ? u /u/
Other features
Proto-Dené–Caucasian Proto-Caucasian Proto–Sino-Tibetan Proto-Yeniseian Burushaski Basque Proto–Na-Dené
stress (pitch accent?) on the penultimate syllable /(...)Cː(...)/6 CVC syllables from CVCV7 /ʔ/ (see stød)8 0? 0?

Footnotes

    Bibliography

    • BENGTSON, John D. (2008), "Materials for a Comparative Grammar of the Dene–Caucasian (Sino-Caucasian) Languages." (PDF), Aspects of Comparative Linguistics, 3, Moscow: RSUH Publishers, pp. 45–118 
    • BENGTSON, John D., 2004. "Some features of Dene–Caucasian phonology (with special reference to Basque)." In Cahiers de l'Institut de Linguistique de Louvain (CILL): 33–54.
    • NIKOLA(Y)EV, Sergei L., 1991. "Sino-Caucasian Languages in America." In Shevoroshkin (1991), pp. 42–66.
    • STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 2004–2005. Sino-Caucasian [comparative phonology] & Sino-Caucasian [comparative glossary].
    • STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 2000. "Genesis of the Long Vowels in Sino-Tibetan." In Проблемы изучения дальнего родства языков на рубеже третьего тысячелетия: Доклады и тезисы международной конференции РГГУ [Problems of the research on the distant origin of languages at the beginning of the third millennium: Talks and abstracts of the international conference of the RGGU], Moscow 2000.
    • STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1996. "Word-final resonants in Sino-Caucasian." Journal of Chinese Linguistics 24.2: 281–311. (written for the 3rd International Conference on Chinese Linguistics in Hongkong in 1994)
    • STAROSTIN, Sergei A. (1994), "Preface" (PDF), in Sergei A., Starostin; Nikola(y)ev, Sergei L., A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary, Moscow: Asterisk Publishers, pp. 7–199 
    • STAROSTIN, Sergei A. (1991), "On the Hypothesis of a Genetic Connection Between the Sino-Tibetan Languages and the Yeniseian and North Caucasian Languages", in SHEVOROSHKIN, Vitaliy V., Dene–Sino-Caucasian languages: materials from the First International Interdisciplinary Symposium on Language and Prehistory, Ann Harbor: Bochum: Brockmeyer, pp. 12–41  [Translation of Starostin 1984]
    • STAROSTIN, Sergei A. (1984), "Гипотеза о генетических связях синотибетских языков с енисейскими и северокавказскими языками [A hypothesis on the genetic relationships of the Sino-Tibetan languages with the Yeniseian and the North Caucasian languages]", in Vardu, I. F., Лингвистическая реконструкция и древнейшая история Востока [Linguistic reconstruction and the ancient history of the East], Moscow: Академия наук, Институт востоковедения Institute of Orientalistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, pp. 19–38  [See Starostin 1991 for English translation]
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