Mixtecan languages
| Mixtecan | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Oto-Manguean
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | mixt1422 |
 Extent of the Mixtecan languages: prior to contact (olive green) and current (red) | |
The Mixtecan languages constitute a branch of the
Proto-Mixtecan
| Proto-Mixtecan | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Mixtecan languages |
The
Proto-Oto-Manguean has been reconstructed by Robert E. Longacre and Calvin Rensch. The phonological system of the proto-language has nine consonants, four vowels, and four tones.[5] The groups of consonants and the diphthongs formed from this limited repertory would have been the origin of the phonemes in the daughter proto-languages of the various subgroups of Proto-Oto-Manguean. Some of the most significant changes in the diversification of Proto-Oto-Manguean phonemes into Proto-Mixtecan phonemes are the following:
| Proto-Oto-Manguean | *t | *k | *kʷ | *s | *n | *y | *w | *nt | *nk | *nkʷ | *ns | *nn | *ny | *nw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Mixtecan | *t | *k | *θ | *y | *w | *ⁿd | *ⁿɡ | *ⁿɡʷ | *ⁿɡʷ | *l | *m |
Rensch revised the reconstruction work of Longacre. He revised the probable phonological inventory and described some of his proposals, based on comparisons of the cognates in the Mixtecan languages. After this work, he proposed a reconstruction of the phonological system of Proto-Mixtecan.[6] This proposal contains sixteen consonants, four vowels, and four tones.
| Reconstruction of the Proto-Mixtecan consonant system | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
Nasal consonant
|
*m | *n | ||||||
| Occlusives | *t *ⁿd |
*k *ⁿɡ |
*kʷ *ⁿɡʷ |
*ʔ | ||||
| Fricatives | *θ | *x | *xʷ | *h | ||||
| Approximants | *l | *j | *w | |||||
| Source: Rensch (1977): 59. | ||||||||
Longacre (1957) had reconstructed the following consonant inventory for Proto-Mixtecan:[7]
| Bilabial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | *m | *n | *ñ | |||||||||
| Occlusive | *t | *d | *k | *ɡ | *kʷ | *ɡʷ | *ʔ | |||||
| Fricative | *θ | *x | *xʷ | |||||||||
| Approximant | *l | *j | *w | |||||||||
References
- ^ 2000 census; the numbers are based on the number of total population for each group and the percentages of speakers given on the website of the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=660, accessed 28 July 2008).
- ^ Macaulay, Monica. 1996. A grammar of Chalcatongo Mixtec. University of California Publications in Linguistics, pp 4–6.
- ^ Suárez, 1983: 153.
- ^ Bellwood: 2005, 239.
- ^ Rensch, 1966.
- ^ Rensch, 1977: 59.
- ^ Silverman, 1993, p. 109
- Longacre, Robert E. 1957. Proto-Mixtecan. International Journal of American Linguistics 23(4):1–195.
Further reading
- Zhivlov, Mikhail. 2020. Notes on Mixtec comparative phonology. The 15th Annual Sergei Starostin Memorial Conference on Comparative Historical Linguistics. Moscow: RSUH.
See also
