Proto-Uto-Aztecan language

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The Proto–Uto-Aztecan language (abbreviated PUA; also sometimes Uto-Aztekan, Utoaztekan) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Uto-Aztecan languages.

Contents

[edit] History

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[edit] Phonology

[edit] Vowels

Proto–Uto-Aztecan is reconstructed as having an unusual five-vowel system: *i *a *u *o *ɨ. Before Langacker (1970) demonstrated that the fifth vowel should be reconstructed as *ɨ as opposed to *e, there had been a long-running dispute over the proper reconstruction (Campbell 1997:136).

[edit] Consonants

Bilabial Coronal Palatal Velar Labialized
velar		 Glottal
Stop *p *t *k *kʷ *ʔ
Affricate *c
Fricative *s *h
Nasal *m *n *ŋ
Rhotic *r
Semivowel *y *w

Note that in Americanist phonetic notation, <c> and <y> are equivalent to IPA /ts͡/ and /j/, respectively. *n and *ŋ may have actually been *l and *n, respectively.

[edit] Grammar

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[edit] References

  • Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Langacker, Ronald W. (1970). "The Vowels of Proto Uto-Aztecan". International Journal of American Linguistics 36 (3): 169–180. doi:10.1086/465108. 

[edit] External links

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