| Proto-Eskaleut | |
| Also Known As: | Proto-Eskimo–Aleut Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan |
| Familycolor: | Eskimo–Aleut |
| Target: | Eskaleut languages |
| Child1: | Proto-Eskimoan |
Proto-Eskaleut, Proto-Eskimo–Aleut or Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Eskaleut languages, family containing Eskimo and Aleut. Its existence is known through similarities in Eskimo and Aleut. The existence of Proto-Eskaleut is generally accepted among linguists. It was for a long time true that no linguistic reconstruction of Proto-Eskaleut had yet been produced, as stated by Bomhard (2008:209). Such a reconstruction was offered by Knut Bergsland in 1986. Michael Fortescue (1998:124–125) has offered another version of this system, largely based on the reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo in the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary he co-authored with Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan (1994:xi).
Fortescue reconstructs the phoneme inventory of Proto-Eskaleut as follows:
| Labial | Velar | Uvular | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | palatalized | ||||||
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /nʲ/) | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Plosive | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /tʲ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Affricate | pronounced as /link/ | cʲ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | ||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Lateral fricative | (pronounced as /link/) | ||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |
Notes:
There are no generally accepted relations between Proto-Eskaleut and other language families. A substantial case for a genetic relationship between Proto-Eskaleut, Yukaghir and Uralic was published by Michael Fortescue in 1998 in Language Relations across Bering Strait (see Uralo-Siberian languages).