Proto-Algic language explained

Proto-Algic
Also Known As:	PAc
Familycolor:	Algic
Era:	ca. 5000 BCE
Region:	Columbia Plateau?
Target:	Algic languages
Child1:	Proto-Algonquian

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. Its main researcher was Paul Proulx.^[6]

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	kʼʷ
Affricate	plain		c /t͡s/		č /t͡ʃ/
	aspirated		cʰ /t͡sʰ/		čʰ /t͡ʃʰ/
	glottalized		cʼ /t͡sʼ/		čʼ /t͡ʃʼ/
Fricative			s	ɬ^1	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. Book: Bakker, Peter . 2013 . Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree . Folke Josephson . Ingmar Söhrman . Diachronic and typological perspectives on verbs . Amsterdam . John Benjamins . 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. Book: Golla, Victor . 2011 . California Indian Languages . Berkeley . University of California Press . 256.
6. https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/magazine/in_memory/1965/paul-m.-proulx-65
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 (1990)
• Berman. Howard . 1982 . Two Phonological Innovations in Ritwan . . 48 . 4 . 412–420 . 1264843 . 10.1086/465750. 144518292 .
• Berman. Howard . 1990 . New Algonquian–Ritwan Cognate Sets . . 56 . 3 . 431–434 . 1265518 . 10.1086/466168. 144558611 .
• Book: Campbell, Lyle . Lyle Campbell

. Lyle Campbell . 1997 . American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-509427-5.

• Book: Campbell, Lyle . 2004 . Historical Linguistics: An Introduction . 2nd . The MIT Press . Cambridge, MA . 978-0-262-53267-9.
• Book: Campbell. Lyle . Poser. William J. . William Poser . 2008 . Language Classification: History and Method . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 978-0-521-88005-3 . amp.
• Book: Goddard, Ives . 1990 . Philip . Baldi . Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology . Algonquian Linguistic Change and Reconstruction . Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs 45 . Mouton de Gruyter . Berlin . 99–114 . 978-0-89925-546-0.
• Book: Pentland, David H. . Algonquian and Ritwan Languages . Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics . 2nd . 1 . 161–166 . 2006 . Elsevier . Oxford . 10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02265-3. 978-0-08-044854-1 .
• Proulx. Paul . 1977 . Connective Vowels in Proto-Algonquian . . 43 . 2 . 156–157 . 1264935 . 10.1086/465473. 143570568 .
• Proulx. Paul . 1980 . The Subordinative Order of Proto-Algonquian . . 46 . 4 . 289–300 . 1264710 . 10.1086/465664. 144992880 .
• Proulx. Paul . 1982 . The Origin of the Absolute Verbs of the Algonquian Independent Order . . 48 . 4 . 394–411 . 1264842 . 10.1086/465749. 145240092 .
• Proulx. Paul . 1984b . Algonquian Objective Verbs . . 50 . 4 . 403–423 . 1265400 . 10.1086/465850. 144807432 .
• Proulx. Paul . 1989 . A Sketch of Blackfoot Historical Phonology . . 55 . 1 . 43–82 . 1265411 . 10.1086/466104. 144999752 .