Proto-Uto-Aztecan

Proto-Uto-Aztecan is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Uto-Aztecan languages. Authorities on the history of the language group have usually placed the Proto-Uto-Aztecan homeland in the border region between the United States and Mexico, namely the upland regions of Arizona and New Mexico and the adjacent areas of the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua, roughly corresponding to the Sonoran Desert and the western part of the Chihuahuan Desert. It would have been spoken by Mesolithic foragers in Aridoamerica, about 5,000 years ago.

Proto-Uto-Aztecan
PUA
Reconstruction ofUto-Aztecan languages
RegionAridoamerica
Era3,000 BCE
Lower-order reconstructions

Homeland

Reconstructions of the botanical vocabulary offer clues to the ecological niche inhabited by the Proto-Uto-Aztecans. Fowler placed the center of Proto-Uto-Aztecan in Central Arizona with northern dialects extending into Nevada and the Mojave desert and southern dialects extending south through the Tepiman corridor into Mexico.[1] The homeland of the Numic languages has been placed in Southern California near Death Valley, and the homeland of the proposed Southern Uto-Aztecan group has been placed on the coast of Sonora.[2]

A contrary proposal suggests the homeland of Proto-Uto-Aztecan to have been much farther to the south; it was published in 2001 by Jane H. Hill, based on her reconstruction of maize-related vocabulary in Proto-Uto-Aztecan. By her theory, the assumed speakers of Proto-Uto-Aztecan were maize cultivators in Mesoamerica, who gradually moved north, bringing maize cultivation with them, during the period of roughly 4,500 to 3,000 years ago. The geographic diffusion of speakers corresponded to the breakup of linguistic unity.[3][4] The hypothesis has been criticized on several grounds, and it is not generally accepted by Uto-Aztecanists.[5][6][7][8][9] Using computational phylogenetic methods, Wheeler & Whiteley (2014)[10] also suggest a southern homeland for Proto-Uto-Aztecan in or near the area occupied by historical Cora and some Nahua. Nahuatl forms the most basal clade in Wheeler & Whiteley's (2014) Uto-Aztecan phylogram. A survey of agriculture-related vocabulary by Merrill (2012) found that the agricultural vocabulary can be reconstructed for only Southern Uto-Aztecan. That supports a conclusion that the Proto-Uto-Aztecan speech community did not practice agriculture but adopted it only after entering Mesoamerica from the north.[11]

A recent proposal, by David L. Shaul, presents evidence suggesting contact between Proto-Uto-Aztecan and languages of central California, such as Esselen and the Yokutsan languages. That leads Shaul to suggest that Proto-Uto-Aztecan was spoken in California's Central Valley area, and it formed part of an ancient Californian linguistic area.[12]

Phonology

Vowels

Proto-Uto-Aztecan is reconstructed as having an unusual vowel inventory: *i *a *u *o *ɨ. Langacker (1970) demonstrated that the fifth vowel should be reconstructed as *ɨ as opposed to *e, and there has been a long-running dispute over the proper reconstruction.[13][14][15]

Consonants
BilabialCoronalPalatalVelarLabialized
velar		Glottal
Stop *p*t*k*kʷ*ʔ
Affricate *ts
Fricative *s*h
Nasal *m*n*ŋ
Rhotic *r
Semivowel *j*w

*n and *ŋ may have actually been *l and *n, respectively.

Lexicon

The following are selected Proto-Uto-Aztecan reconstructions from Stubbs (2011).[16]

Abbreviations
  • NUA = Northern Uto-Aztecan
  • SUA = Southern Uto-Aztecan
glossProto-Uto-Aztecan
arrow*huc(a) > *huC
breast*piCti(C)
buzzard, turkey vulture*wiLhukuN
claw, nail*siCtuN / *suCtuN
cook, boil, bake, roast*kwasïC / *kwasaC
cricket*tukaw-capaLa
ear*nakka / *naNkapa (< *na(N)kasapa ?)
eye*pusi
give*makaC
hand, arm*man > *ma
head*mo’o; *ku / *ku’o
heart*suna > SUA *suLa
heavypïttï / *pïttiya / *pïttV’a
heel*tanapiCko / *tamukpi’-(ko)
horn, antler*awaC / *a’awaC
house, home*kanni (NUA) / *kaLi (SUA); *ki
husband*kuNa / *kumCa / *kuCma
liver*nïmaC / *nïmaN
lungs*somCo / *soNCa > *soŋo
moon*mïcaC (< *mancaL ?)
mother*yï’ï / *yïC / *yïk; *ya...
mouth*tï’na > *tï’ni; *tï’nV-pa > *tï’n-pa > *tïmpa
navel*sikuN / *sikʷuL
neck*kuta / *kuLa
no, not*ka / *kay
nose*yakaC / *ya’ka; *mupiC / *mukpiC
rabbit, cottontail*tapuC / *taput
rainbow*ko(C)-samaLo
road*poC / *po’ï / *powï
rock, stone*tïmï-ta > *tïN-(pV)
rot, pus, infection*piska / *pisVka
salt*omCa / *oNCa > oŋa
skunk*huppa; *po(C)ni
skyNUA *tukuN(-pa) > SUA *tVkpa
sleep*ïppïwi / *ïCpïCi / *pïwi; *koci
snow*kïpa; *nïpa
summer*taCcaC < *tattaC / *taCcaC
sun, day*ta-
tail*kwasi
tongue*Laŋu; *akoN
tooth*tamaC / *tamaN / *taman
urinate*si’i / *si’a
water*pa / *pa’wi
what*han-ta / *hiCta / *hin-ta
when*ha-na-’oko
who*haka / *haki
wind, blow*hïka / *hïkawa / *hïkwa
winter*tommo / *toCmo
wolf*cï’ï
one*sïma’ / *sïmï’; *sïnu
two*wakay / *wokay
three*pakay

References
  1. Fowler 1983.
  2. Campbell 1997, p. 137.
  3. Hill 2001, .
  4. Hill 2010, .
  5. Kemp et al. 2010, .
  6. Merrill et al. 2010, .
  7. Brown 2010, .
  8. Campbell 2003.
  9. Campbell & Poser 2008, p. 346-350.
  10. Wheeler, W. C.; Whiteley, P. M. (2014). "Historical linguistics as a sequence optimization problem: the evolution and biogeography of Uto‐Aztecan languages" (PDF). Cladistics. 31 (2): 113–125. doi:10.1111/cla.12078.
  11. Merrill 2012.
  12. Shaul 2014.
  13. Langacker 1970, .
  14. Dakin 1996, .
  15. Campbell 1997, p. 136.
  16. Stubbs, Brian D. 2011. Uto-Aztecan: A comparative vocabulary. Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services.

Sources
Brown, Cecil H. (2010). "Lack of linguistic support for Proto-Uto-Aztecan at 8900 BP (letter)". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 107 (15): E34, author reply E35–6. doi:10.1073/pnas.0914859107. PMC 2841887. PMID 20231478.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Caballero, G. (2011). "Behind the Mexican Mountains: Recent Developments and New Directions in Research on Uto‐Aztecan Languages". Language and Linguistics Compass. 5 (7): 485–504. doi:10.1111/j.1749-818x.2011.00287.x.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Campbell, Lyle (2003). "What drives linguistic diversification and language spread?". In Bellwood, Peter; Renfrew, Colin (eds.). Examining the farming/language dispersal hypothesis. Cambridge(U.K.): McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. pp. 49–63.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Campbell, Lyle; Poser, William J. (2008). Language classification, history and method. Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Cortina-Borja, M; Valiñas-Coalla, L (1989). "Some remarks on Uto-Aztecan Classification". International Journal of American Linguistics. 55 (2): 214–239. doi:10.1086/466114.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Cortina-Borja, M.; Stuart-Smith, J.; Valiñas-Coalla, L. (2002). "Multivariate classification methods for lexical and phonological dissimilarities and their application to the Uto-Aztecan family". Journal of Quantitative Linguistics. 9 (2): 97–124. doi:10.1076/jqul.9.2.97.8485.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Dakin, Karen (1996). "Long vowels and morpheme boundaries in Nahuatl and Uto-Aztecan: comments on historical developments" (PDF). Amerindia. 21.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Fowler, Catherine S. (1983). "Some lexical clues to Uto-Aztecan prehistory". International Journal of American Linguistics. 49 (3): 224–257. doi:10.1086/465789.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Goddard, Ives (1996). "Introduction". In Goddard, Ives (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians. 17. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 1–16.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Haugen, J. D. (2008). Morphology at the interfaces: reduplication and noun incorporation in Uto-Aztecan. Vol. 117. John Benjamins Publishing.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Heath, J. (1978). "Uto-Aztecan* na-class verbs". International Journal of American Linguistics. 44 (3): 211–222. doi:10.1086/465546.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Hill, Jane H. (December 2001). "Proto-Uto-Aztecan". American Anthropologist. New Series. 103 (4): 913–934. doi:10.1525/aa.2001.103.4.913. JSTOR 684121.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Hill, Jane H. (2010). "New evidence for a Mesoamerican homeland for Proto-Uto-Aztecan". PNAS. 107 (11): E33, author reply E35–6. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107E..33H. doi:10.1073/pnas.0914473107. PMC 2841890. PMID 20231477.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Hill, J. H. (2011). "Subgrouping in Uto-Aztecan. Language Dynamics and Change". Language Dynamics and Change. 1 (2): 241–278. doi:10.1163/221058212x643978.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Iannucci, David (1972). Numic historical phonology. Cornell University PhD dissertation.
Kaufman, Terrence (2001). Nawa linguistic prehistory. Mesoamerican Language Documentation Project.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Kaufman, Terrence (1981). Lyle Campbell (ed.). Comparative Uto-Aztecan Phonology. Unpublished manuscript.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Kemp; González-Oliver; Malhi; Monroe; Schroeder; McDonough; Rhett; Resendéz; Peñalosa-Espinoza; Buentello-Malo; Gorodetsky; Smith (2010). "Evaluating the farming/language dispersal hypothesis with genetic variation exhibited by populations in the Southwest and Mesoamerica". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 107 (15): 6759–6764. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107.6759K. doi:10.1073/pnas.0905753107. PMC 2872417. PMID 20351276.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Kroeber, Alfred Louis (1907). Shoshonean dialects of California. The University Press. Retrieved 24 August 2012.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Kroeber, Alfred Louis (1934). Uto-Aztecan Languages of Mexico. 8. University of California Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Langacker, Ronald W. (1970). "The Vowels of Proto Uto-Aztecan". International Journal of American Linguistics. 36 (3): 169–180. doi:10.1086/465108.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Langacker, R. W. (1977). An overview of Uto-Aztecan grammar. Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Langacker, R. W. (1976). Non-distinct arguments in Uto-Aztecan. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Manaster Ramer, Alexis (1992). "A Northern Uto-Aztecan Sound Law: *-c- → -y-¹". International Journal of American Linguistics. 58 (3): 251–268. doi:10.1086/ijal.58.3.3519784. JSTOR 3519784.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Merrill, William L.; Hard, Robert J.; Mabry, Jonathan B.; Fritz; Adams; Roney; MacWilliams (2010). "Reply to Hill and Brown: Maize and Uto-Aztecan cultural history". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 107 (11): E35–E36. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107E..35M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1000923107. PMC 2841871.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Merrill, W (2013). "The genetic unity of southern Uto-Aztecan". Language Dynamics and Change. 3: 68–104. doi:10.1163/22105832-13030102.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Merrill, William L. (2012). "The Historical Linguistics of Uto-Aztecan Agriculture". Anthropological Linguistics. 54 (3): 203–260. doi:10.1353/anl.2012.0017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Miller, Wick R. (1986). "Numic Languages". In Warren L. d’Azevedo (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 11, Great Basin. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 98–106.
Miller, Wick R. (1983). "A note on extinct languages of northwest Mexico of supposed Uto-Aztecan affiliation". International Journal of American Linguistics. 49 (3): 328–333. doi:10.1086/465793.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Miller, Wick R. (1983). "Uto-Aztecan languages". In Ortiz, Alfonso (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians. 10. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 113–124.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Miller, Wick R. (1984). "The classification of the Uto-Aztecan languages based on lexical evidence". International Journal of American Linguistics. 50 (1): 1–24. doi:10.1086/465813.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Mithun, Marianne (1999). The languages of Native America. Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Sapir, E. (1913). "Southern Paiute and Nahuatl, a study in Uto-Aztekan". Journal de la Société des Américanistes. 10 (2): 379–425. doi:10.3406/jsa.1913.2866.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Shaul, David L. (2014). A Prehistory of Western North America: The Impact of Uto-Aztecan Languages. University of New Mexico Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Shaul, David L.; Hill, Jane H. (1998). "Tepimans, Yumans, and other Hohokam". American Antiquity. 63 (3): 375–396. doi:10.2307/2694626. JSTOR 2694626.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Steele, Susan (1979). "Uto-Aztecan: An assessment for historical and comparative linguistics". In Campbell, Lyle; Mithun, Marianne (eds.). The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 444–544.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Voegelin, C. F.; Voegelin, F.; Hale, K. (1962). Typological and Comparative Grammar of Uto-Aztecan: Phonology. Memoirs of the International Journal of American Linguistics. 17. Waverly Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Whorf, B. L. (1935). "The Comparative Linguistics of Uto-Aztecan". American Anthropologist. 37 (4): 600–608. doi:10.1525/aa.1935.37.4.02a00050.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.