Proto-Yeniseian

Proto-Yeniseian is the unattested reconstructed language from which all Yeniseian languages are descended from. It is uncertain whether Proto-Yeniseian had a similar tone/pitch accent system as Ket.[1] Many studies about Proto-Yeniseian phonology have been done, however there are still many things unclear about Proto-Yeniseian.[2] The probable location of the Yeniseian homeland is proposed on the basis of geographic names and genetic studies, which suggests a homeland in Southern Siberia.[3]

Proto-Yeniseian
PY
Reconstruction ofYeniseian languages
Reconstructed
ancestor
Proto-Dene-Yeniseian (hypothetical)
Lower-order reconstructions
  • Proto-Ketic
  • Proto-Kottic

Phonology

According to Vajda, Proto-Yeniseian had the following phonemes, expressed in IPA symbols.[4]

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Labiovelar Velar Uvular
Nasal *m *n *ŋʷ *ŋ
Plosive voiceless *p *t *č [t͡ʃ] *tʳ [ʈ] *c *kʷ *k *q
voiced *b *d *ǰ [d͡ʒ] *dʳ [ɖ] *ɟ *ɡʷ *ɡ *ɢ
Fricative *s *š [ʃ] *šʳ [ʂ] *ç *xʷ *x *χ
Lateral *ɬ *tɬ
Approximant *w *j
Rhotic *r

Vowels
FrontCentralBack
Close *i *ij *iw *u *uj *uw
Mid *e *ej *ew *o *oj *ow
Open *a *aj *aw

Vocabulary
  • *xuɬ ‘water’
  • *xuše ‘birch tree’
  • *am ‘mother’
  • *ejn ‘wedge’
  • *qed ‘man’
  • *bes ‘rabbit’
  • *don ‘knife’
  • *kus ‘horse’
  • *pub ‘son’
  • *bus ‘penis’
  • *satʳ ‘crucian (fish)’
  • *baŋ ‘land’
  • *tijk ‘snow’
  • *bejx ‘wind’
  • *tɬiwdʳ ‘lard’, ‘oil’
  • *ɬaɢa ‘star’

References
  1. "Ket language".
  2. de la Fuente, José Andrés Alonso (2006). "Proto-Yeniseian ūr₁'water'". Central Asiatic Journal. 50 (1): 3–7. JSTOR 41928405.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-11-20. Retrieved 2021-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Fortescue, Michael D.; Vajda, Edward J. (2022), Mid-Holocene Language Connections Between Asia and North America, (Brill's Studies in the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, 17), Leiden, Boston: Brill.
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