Proto-Algic language

Proto-Algic (sometimes abbreviated PAc) is the proto-language from which the Algic languages (Wiyot language, Yurok language, and Proto-Algonquian) are descended. It is estimated to have been spoken about 7,000 years ago somewhere in the American Northwest, possibly around the Columbia Plateau.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} It is an example of a second-level proto-language (a proto-language whose reconstruction depends on data from another proto-language, namely its descendant language Proto-Algonquian) which is widely agreed to have existed.^[2] Its main researcher was Paul Proulx.^[6]

Proto-Algic
PAc
Reconstruction of	Algic languages
Region	Columbia Plateau?
Era	ca. 5000 BCE
Lower-order reconstructions	Proto-Algonquian

Vowels

Proto-Algic had four basic vowels, which could be either long or short:

long: *i·, *e·, *a·, *o·

short: *i, *e, *a, *o

Consonants

Proto-Algic had the following consonants:

Proto-Algic consonant phonemes

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar		Glottal
			central	lateral		plain	labialized
Stop	plain	*p	*t			*k	*kʷ	*ʔ
	aspirated	*pʰ	*tʰ			*kʰ	*kʷʰ
	glottalized	*pʼ	*tʼ			*kʼ	*kʷʼ
Affricate	plain		*c /t͡s/		*č /t͡ʃ/
	aspirated		*cʰ /t͡sʰ/		*čʰ /t͡ʃʰ/
	glottalized		*cʼ /t͡sʼ/		*čʼ /t͡ʃʼ/
Fricative			*s	*ɬ1	*š /ʃ/			*h
Nasal	plain	*m	*n
	glottalized	*mʼ	*nʼ
Liquid	plain		*r	*l
	glottalized		*rʼ	*lʼ
Semivowel	plain				*y /j/		*w
	glottalized				*yʼ /jʼ/		*wʼ

¹ The identity of this consonant is not entirely certain; in Proto-Algonquian, it is sometimes alternatively reconstructed as *θ /θ/.

It is unknown if *č /tʃ/ was an independent phoneme or only an allophone of *c and/or *t in Proto-Algic (as in Proto-Algonquian). In 1992, Paul Proulx theorized that Proto-Algic also possessed a phoneme *gʷ, which became *w in Proto-Algonquian and g in Wiyot and Yurok.

All stops and affricates in the above chart have aspirated counterparts, and all consonants, except fricatives, have glottalized ones. Proto-Algonquian significantly reduced this system by eliminating all glottalized and aspirated phonemes.^[7]

See also

• Algic languages
• Algonquian languages
• Proto-Algonquian language

References

1. Bakker, Peter (2013). "Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree". In Folke Josephson; Ingmar Söhrman (eds.). Diachronic and typological perspectives on verbs. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 223–260.
2. Paul Proulx, Proto-Algic I: Phonological Sketch, in the International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 50, number 2 (April 1984)
3. Paul Proulx, Algic Color Terms, in Anthropological Linguistics, volume 30, number 2 (Summer 1988)
4. Paul Proulx, Proto-Algic IV: Nouns, in Studies in Native American Languages VII, volume 17, number 2 (1992)
5. Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian Languages. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 256.
6. Archived 2019-11-03 at the Wayback Machine Amherst Obituary for Paul Proulx
7. Paul Proulx, Proto-Algic I: Phonological Sketch, in the International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 50, number 2 (April 1984)

• Baldi, Philip, Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology (ISBN 311088609X, 1990)
• Berman, Howard (1982). "Two Phonological Innovations in Ritwan". International Journal of American Linguistics. 48 (4): 412–420. doi:10.1086/465750. JSTOR 1264843. S2CID 144518292.
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• Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509427-5.
• Campbell, Lyle (2004). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53267-9.
• Campbell, Lyle & Poser, William J. (2008). Language Classification: History and Method. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-88005-3.
• Goddard, Ives (1990). "Algonquian Linguistic Change and Reconstruction". In Baldi, Philip (ed.). Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs 45. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 99–114. ISBN 978-0-89925-546-0.
• Pentland, David H. (2006). "Algonquian and Ritwan Languages". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 161–166. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02265-3. ISBN 978-0-08-044854-1.
• Proulx, Paul (1977). "Connective Vowels in Proto-Algonquian". International Journal of American Linguistics. 43 (2): 156–157. doi:10.1086/465473. JSTOR 1264935. S2CID 143570568.
• Proulx, Paul (1980). "The Subordinative Order of Proto-Algonquian". International Journal of American Linguistics. 46 (4): 289–300. doi:10.1086/465664. JSTOR 1264710. S2CID 144992880.
• Proulx, Paul (1982). "The Origin of the Absolute Verbs of the Algonquian Independent Order". International Journal of American Linguistics. 48 (4): 394–411. doi:10.1086/465749. JSTOR 1264842. S2CID 145240092.
• Proulx, Paul (1984b). "Algonquian Objective Verbs". International Journal of American Linguistics. 50 (4): 403–423. doi:10.1086/465850. JSTOR 1265400. S2CID 144807432.
• Proulx, Paul (1989). "A Sketch of Blackfoot Historical Phonology". International Journal of American Linguistics. 55 (1): 43–82. doi:10.1086/466104. JSTOR 1265411. S2CID 144999752.