Proto-Eskimo language

Proto-Eskimo or Proto-Eskimoan is the reconstructed ancestor of the Eskimo languages.[1] It was spoken by the ancestors of the Yupik and Inuit peoples. It is linguistically related to the Aleut language, and both descend from the Proto-Eskimo-Aleut language.[2]

Proto-Eskimo
Proto-Eskimoan
Reconstruction ofEskimoan languages
Eraby ca. 2000 BCE
Reconstructed
ancestor
Lower-order reconstructions

Comparative studies of Eskimo and Aleut languages suggest that the Proto-Eskimo and Proto-Aleut languages diverged between 4000 and 2000 BCE.[3][4]

Phonology

According to the International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, "Eskimo languages show variation primarily in their phonology and lexicon, rather than in syntax. Aleut phonology is quite unremarkable, compared to the interesting phenomena exhibited by most varieties of Eskimo. Proto-Eskimo had four vowels */i a u ə/, but few or none of the long vowels or diphthongs found in the modern languages."[5]

See also

References
  1. Fortescue, Michael, Steven Jacobson, and Lawrence Kaplan. 1994. Comparative Eskimo Dictionary with Aleut Cognates. Alaska Native Language Center.
  2. BERGE, A. (2010). Origins of Linguistic Diversity in the Aleutian Islands. Human Biology, 82(5/6), 557-581. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41466704
  3. Bergsland, K. 1986. Comparative Eskimo- Aleut phonology and lexicon. J. Soc. Finno-Ougrienne 80:63-137.
  4. Bergsland, K. 1989. Comparative aspects of Aleut syntax. J. Soc. Finno-Oug
  5. International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: AAVE-Esperanto. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. 2003. pp. 522–523. ISBN 9780195139778.


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