Proto-Totonacan language explained

Proto-Totonacan (PTn)
Also Known As:	Proto-Totonac-Tepehua (PTT)
Familycolor:	American
Target:	Totonacan languages

Proto-Totonacan or Proto-Totonac-Tepehua (abbreviated PTn or PTT) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Totonacan languages of Mexico. It was first reconstructed using comparative methods in 1953 by Evangelina Arana Osnaya.^[1] Some linguists have proposed a link between the Totonacan and Mixe–Zoque language families; therefore making Proto-Totonacan a sister language of Proto-Mixe–Zoque and descendant of Proto-Totozoquean.^[2]

Phonology

Consonants

! rowspan="2"

Bilabial	Alveolar			Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive/ Affricate		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	(pronounced as /ink/)
		(pronounced as /ink/)	(pronounced as /ink/)	(pronounced as /ink/)	(pronounced as /ink/)	(pronounced as /ink/)	(pronounced as /ink/)	(pronounced as /ink/)
Fricative				pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		(pronounced as /ink/)
Approximant		pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/

Notes

• MacKay and Trechsel (2018) add ejective stops and affricates.^[3]
• Davletshin (2008) and Brown et al. (2011) add /ʔ/ and /h/.^[4] MacKay and Trechsel (2018) accept /ʔ/ but reject /h/.^[3]

Vowels

! colspan=3

plain		laryngealized
Front		Central	Back	Front	Central	Back
Close		pronounced as /link/  pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/  pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/  pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/  pronounced as /link/
Open			pronounced as /link/  pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/  pronounced as /link/

Notes

• Brown et al. (2011) accept this vowel inventory.^[2]
• MacKay and Trechsel (2018) reject laryngealized vowels in Proto-Totonacan. They argue that laryngealized vowels in the Totonac languages are too infrequent and erratic after fricatives and sonorants to support their reconstruction.^[3]

Lexicon

The following Proto-Totonac-Tepehua reconstructions are from MacKay and Trechsel (2018).^[3]

no.	gloss	Proto-Totonac-Tepehua
1	‘spicy’	ɬkaka
2	‘ash(es)’	ɬk’ak’a
3	‘dances’	ƛ’ii-ya
4	‘vomits’	p’aƛ’an-ya
5	‘ear of corn’	ƛ’aqƛ’a
6	‘counts’	puuƛ’aq’i-ya
7	‘walks’	ƛ’aawan-ya
8	‘pot’, ‘pitcher’	ƛ’amank
9	‘bends’, ‘breaks’, ‘twists’	taƛ’aq’i-ya
10	‘ripe’, ‘mature’	k’aƛa’
11	‘wins’, ‘earns’	ƛaha-ya
12	‘tires’, ‘gets tired’	ƛaqwan-ya
13	‘talks to X’, ‘greets X’	šaqaƛii-ya
14	‘makes’, ‘does’	ƛawa-ya
15	‘avocado tree’	kukaƛiiɬi
16	‘nettle’	qahni
17	‘lime (mineral)’	qaštah
18	‘dust’, ‘powder’	puqšni
19	‘flea’	aq¢’iis
20	‘wasp’	qalaati
21	‘turtle’	qahin
22	‘knee’	¢uqutni
23	‘tomato’	paqɬča
24	‘plays’	qamaanan-ya
25	‘whistles’	squli-ya
26	‘infant’, ‘baby’	sq’at’a
27	‘heron’	luuq’u
28	‘tongue’	siimaq’aati
29	‘egg’	q’aɬwaati
30	‘yucca’	q’ušq’ihu
31	‘gourd’	q’aaši
32	‘washes X’	č’aq’aa-ya
33	‘salty’	sq’uq’u
34	‘steals’, ‘steals X’	q’aɬa-
35	‘remembers’, ‘remembers X’	paastak’-ya
36	‘piles X up’	maast’uq’-ya
37	‘drinks’, ‘drinks X’	q’ut’-ya
38	‘hears’, ‘hears X’	qašmat’-ya
39	‘returns’	tasp’it’-ya
40	‘cuts X’	sit’-ya
41	‘squeezes X’	č’it’-ya
42	‘unties X’	škut’-ya
43	‘picks X up’	sak’-ya
44	‘writes’, ‘writes X’	¢’uq’-ya
45	‘foam’	puputi
46	‘neck-related (body-part prefix)’	piš-
47	‘pig’	p’ašni
48	‘cuts X’	p’uš-ya
49	‘louse’	skaata
50	‘sleeps’	ɬtata-ya
51	‘two’	-t’uy
52	‘sells X’	st’aa-ya
53	‘mouth’	kiɬni
54	‘hand-related (body-part prefix)’	maka-
55	‘knows X’	k’a¢ii-ya
56	‘year’	k’aata
57	‘tooth-related (body-part prefix)’	ta¢a-
58	‘breast’	¢’ík’iiti
59	‘stone’	čiwiš
60	‘sugar cane’	č’ankati
61	‘rain’	saʔiini
62	‘blows X’	sunu-ya
63	‘sweet’	saqsi(ʔ)
64	‘bitter’	suuni
65	‘eats’	wahin-ya
66	‘is lying down’, ‘is supine’	maa-ɬi
67	‘lizard’	slul
68	‘is seated’	wii-ɬi
69	‘liver’	ɬwak’ak’a
70	‘throws X’, ‘throws X away’	maq’an-ya

See also

• Totonacan languages
• Totozoquean languages

Notes and References

1. Evangelina. Arana Osnaya. 1953. Reconstrucción del protototonaco. Huastecos, Totonacos y sus vecinos. es. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos. 23. 123–130.
2. 2011. Totozoquean. International Journal of American Linguistics. 77. 323–372. Brown, Cecil H., David Beck, Grzegorz Kondrak, James K. Watters, and Søren Wichmann. 2. 10.1086/660972. 224807468 .
3. MacKay. Carolyn J.. Trechsel. Frank. An alternative reconstruction of Proto-Totonac-Tepehua. International Journal of American Linguistics. The University of Chicago. 2018. 84. 1. 51–92. 10.1086/694609. 148972240 .
4. Davletshin, A. (2008). Classification of the Totonacan languages. Paper read at the conference "Проблемы изучения дальнего родства языков (к 55-летию С. А. Старостина)" Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, 25–28 March 2008.