CC BY-NC-ND
24
Andrey Nikulin
University of Brasilia; andre.n.guzman@gmail.com
Historical phonology of Proto-Northern Je *
This is the first paper in a planned series on the historical phonology of Macro-Je languages. The Je languages constitute the largest and the most diverse family within the Macro-Je stock; for this reason, all comparative Macro-Je studies depend heavily on Je data. However, the only attempt at a systematic reconstruction of Proto-Je phonology and lexicon (Davis 1966) has been severely criticized in subsequent works (Ribeiro and Voort 2010, Nikulin 2015b). In this paper, I propose a reconstruction of the proto-language of Northern Je, the largest branch of the family.
Keywords: Je languages, Macro-Je languages, language reconstruction, comparative method.
1. Je family
The Je family1 comprises ten extant languages, all of which are spoken in Brazil, and approximately four extinct, poorly attested languages (one of which was spoken in the Misiones province of Argentina and in the extreme east of Paraguay). Preliminary lexicostatistical calculations and the distribution of sound changes, lexical and morphological innovations point to the following phylogenetic structure of the family:
Cerrado2
Northern Je
Panara3 (pan ) Core Northern Je
AMT: Apinaye (Apinaje, API), Kayapo (Mebengokre, kay), Timbira (tim) Tapayuna (tap), Suya (Kisedje, suy) Central Je: Xavante (xav), Xerente (xer), Acroa (+), Xakriaba (+) Southern Je
Ingain (+)
Kaingang (kgg), Xokleng (xok) (?) Jeiko (+)
* I am grateful to CAPES (Coordenagao de Aperfeigoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior) for providing a scholarship to carry out the present study.
1 Traditionally the term 'family' is used in South American linguistics to refer to low-level phyla (roughly equivalent to the term 'group' in European linguistics), while deeper phyla are commonly referred to as 'stocks' (roughly equivalent to 'families' in European linguistics).
2 This phylum has been previously called Amazonian Je (Ribeiro and Voort 2010: 549) and Northern Je (Ramirez, Vegini and Franga 2015: 261); the latter source inappropriately treats what we call Northern Je as if it were a dialect continuum of a sole language ("Proper Je"). The choice of the term Amazonian Je is infelicitous, since the geographical distribution of these languages corresponds much better to the region of Cerrado than to the Amazon.
3 Called Southern Kayapo in older sources.
Journal of Language Relationship • Вопросы языкового родства • 14/3 (2016) • Pp. 165 — 185 • © The author, 2016
Of these, Timbira is actually a dialect continuum with at least six divergent dialects: Py-kobje, Ramkokamekrá, Kraho, Apaniekrá, Pará Gaviao (Parkatéjé), Krikati. Kaingáng is subdivided into five dialects: Paraná, Central, South-Western, South-Eastern and Sao Paulo (the latter is considered an independent language in some sources). Minor dialectal differences have also been described for Kayapó as spoken by the Kayapó and Xikrín ethnic groups.
A comprehensive overview of the state of affairs in comparative and synchronic studies in Jé is offered by Rodrigues (2012).
All data are cited using UTS (Unified Transcription System), based on the IPA with minor differences and currently used as the default standard for the Global Lexicostatistical Database (http://starling.rinet.ru/new100)4. Broad phonetic transcription is preferred over phonemic representation or practical orthography with the exception of Timbira, for which a normalized supradialectal phonemic representation (Nikulin 2016b) is used. The data used in this paper are extracted from the following sources:
Panará: Dourado 2001, Bardagil-Mas et al. 2016, Lapierre et al. 2016a
Apinayé: Oliveira 2005, Ham et al. 1979
Kayapó: Costa 2015, Jefferson 1989, Stout and Thomson 1974, Salanova
2001, Salanova p.c.
Pykobjé: Sá 1999, Amado 2004
Ramkokamekrá: Popjes and Popjes 1971
Kraho: Miranda 2014
Apaniekrá: Alves 2004
Parkatéjé: Araújo 2016, Ferreira 2003
Tapayúna: Camargo 2010, Rodrigues and Ferreira-Silva 2011
Suyá: Santos 1997, Nonato 2014, Guedes 1993
Old (late XVIII-early XX century) sources cover some Southern Kayapó, Kayapó, Timbira and Xavánte dialects which are now extinct. The most remarkable of them are:
a) the dialect of Southern Kayapó once spoken in Paranaíba and Triangulo Mineiro, unique in that it retained *r (*r > y before back vowels in the dialect of Vila Boa, which apparently evolved into Panará) (Vasconcelos 2014);
b) the variety of Xavánte recorded by Ehrenreich (1895), peculiar in that it had undergone the sound changes *c > 9, *-kw- > -r¡w- and *r > y, w, 0, r (Nikulin 2015a: 27-29);
c) Timbira varieties called "Menren" and "Krao" and the Kayapó variety called "Gorotiré" by Loukotka (1963), where r is found in place of earlier (in modern Timbira h is found, whereas in Kayapó it yielded ? or disappeared) (Nikulin 2015a: 25-27).
Akroá-Mirim, Xakriabá, Ingain and Jeikó data are limited to low-quality wordlists. They might eventually turn out to be important for further comparative Jé studies (at least Xarkiabá and Ingain show some interesting phonological retentions); however, their data are not taken into account in the present series.
4 Since back and central unrounded vowels do not contrast in any Je language, back unrounded vowels a, r, m, are written here as 3, 9, i in order to facilitate the reading.
2. Overview
The first and only work dedicated to the reconstruction of Proto-Je phonology is (Davis 1966). Davis considers data from five languages (Apinaye, Timbira, Suya, Xavante and Kaingang) and proposes a reconstruction of the Proto-Je phonological system. Even though he recognizes that Kaingang and Xokleng are the most divergent members of the family, he does not attempt to postulate any phonological differences between Proto-Je, Proto-Cerrado and Proto-Northern Je. He reconstructs a system of 11 consonant phonemes, 9 oral and 6 nasal vowel phonemes. He also reconstructs 112 lexical items, whose distribution varies from Northern Je to Je (in my terminology). Davis' reconstruction relies on false cognates, especially when it comes to Kaingang (cf. 35, 55, 59, 86, 100) and fails to account for many sound correspondences, treating many developments as unexplained splits. Other shortcomings in Davis' work include listing multiple unrelated roots under one etymology (cf. 49) and absence of systematic treatment of Je morphophonology (e.g. relational prefixes, long verb forms, utterance-internal allomorphs in Xavante). The correspondences postulated by Davis are presented below as Tab. 1-2 (the notation is modified for Apinaye, Timbira, Xavante and Kaingang to match UTS).
Table 1. Proto-Je consonants according to Davis (1966).
PJ api tim suy xav kgg
*p P p w ~ hw ~ p, h before r p ~ b / m ~ w P
*t t t t, th, r, n t ~ d / n, 0 before w t, "d / n, r
*c c, 0 before w c- -y t, y, n c ~ 3 ~ y, ? before w y, d," in coda
*k k k ~ kh k ~ kh ?, h (_3), sometimes u, w (#_a), 0 (C_C) k, "g, 0 word-finally
*m m / nb m / p m p ~ b / m "b / m, p, -g" / -y, -d"
*n n / nd n /1 n t ~ d / n "d / n, t
*p p / n^ c, h, -n n, p c, 3 / p, -y y, n, -y
*V V / ng V / k V ? V / "g, k
*w w w w w, 0 0, -y
*r r r, n r r, 0 (C_3) r, -n
*z I y., p h y s y c, 3 / p, h, 0 word-finally <f>, y, h, 0 (C ), n (_C)
Table 2. Proto-Je vowels according to Davis (1966).
PJ api tim suy xav kgg
*a a a a a a, £
*3 3, e, a 3, o i, a, 3 £, 3, a a, ä
*i i i i 3 i, l, i, e
*o 0 0 0 0 £
*o o o o u ?
*u u u u u u
*e £ £ £ e £
*e e, £ e e, £ e, £, i e
*i i i i i i
PJ api tim suy xav kgg
*ä 3 £ e ä £
*t t 3 ä T
*5 5 5 5 5 ü, ä
*ü ü ü ü ü ü
*e £ £ e, e, £ e £
1 1 T T T
The reconstruction by Davis has been heavily criticized, notably by Ribeiro and Voort (2010) and Nikulin (2016a). However, an alternative detailed description of Proto-Je phonology has never been proposed to date.
Many stems in Cerrado languages have two allomorphs: one is used when the word immediately follows its syntactic dependant, another is found in non-contiguous position. The difference between these allomorphs usually affects the initial consonant or the initial syllable. In syn-chronic descriptions it is practically useful to treat these alternating segments as independent morphemes ('relational prefixes', as described by Rodrigues (1952, 1953, 2010 [1981]). In comparative work, however, it is more appropriate to consider entire stems for the following reasons: (a) bare (prefix-less) roots do not occur; (b) the shape of the prefixes is very diverse in individual languages and this diversity can be traced back to PNJ and further; (c) in some instances the prefixes are fossilized and no longer segmentable. Henceforth the stems containing relational prefixes will be notated as follows: "non-contiguous allomorph / = contiguous allomorph".
All verbs in Je languages can be nominalized (so-called 'long form'). Since the allomorphy of the nominalization suffix is lexically determined, I systematically provide both the finite ('short') and the nominalized forms of the verbs when this information is available. This is notated as follows: "short form(-nominalization suffix)". Whenever the addition of the suffix causes alternations to the stem, both forms are written separately: "short form / long form".
Finally, in most Je languages words may surface differently in utterance-final position. In Northern Je languages the differences are restricted to the presence of echo vowels and are not written out. In Central Je the differences are sometimes very noticeable (cf. xav tu // nomo 'belly') and not entirely predictable; both allomorphs will be systematically written out separated by a double slash. In Southern Je languages the vowels of certain roots are affected. I have shown that this phenomenon was present in PSJ and involved lowering of oral close-mid and open-mid vowels in final open syllables with an optional continuant coda (Nikulin 2015b). In the daughter languages (Kaingang and Xokleng) this process was obscured by a number of sound changes. PSJ syllables containing low, high or nasal vowels, as well as syllables with a nasal coda, were not affected. For roots that match said conditions, I systematically mark whether they were subject (#) or prone (?) to this phenomenon.
3. Proto-Northern Je
3.1. Syllable structure and echo vowels.
The maximal syllable structure of most Northern Je languages is CRVC, where R is a liquid or a glide. An interesting phenomenon found to a varying extent in all Core Northern Je languages is the existence of so-called echo vowels. Echo vowels (EV) occur after the coda consonants of final (stressed) closed syllables, mostly in utterance-final position. Their quality depends on the vowel in the syllable nucleus (Vi) and on the syllable coda:
Apinaye: EV = V1 (i after palatal -c;
i in finite verb forms only after -ar; suppressed in non-finite verb forms)
Kayapo: EV = Vi (i if Vi = e; o ~ u if Vi = o;
i after d", 4"; i if Vi = a; i after -c if Vi is not rounded) EV = Vi (i if Vi = a, 3, o in non-finite verb forms, a in nouns), only if the coda is r
Oliveira 2005: 78-79: 191
Stout and Thomson 1974
Salanova 2001
Ramkokamekra: EV = Vi (i if Vi = a) Popjes and Popjes 1971
Kraho: EV = Vi, only if the coda is r Miranda 2014
Tapayuna: EV = Vi Camargo 2010: 100-101
Suya: EV = Vi (i/i if Vi = a or after m, n, y if Vi is oral; Nonato 2014: 129
l in some words following en; i occurs after coronals and i elsewhere)
Echo vowels are sometimes manifested as a final i in Panara, but Core Northern Je languages appear to be much more conservative in this respect. Apparently word-final echo vowels were present in all PNJ stems ending in a consonant, except for non-finite verb forms (hence different outcomes in Apinaye and Kayapo and a different correspondence in Central Je, see below). Thus the presence of echo-vowels was marginally phonemic or quasi-phonemic in PNJ. It should be noted that they may have been suppressed in utterance-internal position for prosodic reasons. In most cases, its quality must have been identical to the quality of the syllable nucleus vowel. The dissimilation with a was apparently operative already in PNJ and persisted in Apinaye, Kayapo, Ramkokamekra and Suya; i must have surfaced after palatals and voiced post-nasalized codas.
Several rhymes may be optionally analyzed as a sequence of a vowel and a glide (followed by an echo vowel) or a sequence of two vowels. These will be treated in the Vowels section.
Syllable-initial clusters involving a liquid (CR) always have a labial or a velar onset in all Northern Je languages (except for Tapayuna and Suya, where hr, hi < *pr). It is practically useful to treat them as independent onsets for our purposes.
Syllable-initial clusters involving a glide (Cw, Cy; in some languages y yielded a fricative) have a much more restricted distribution: Cw sequences occur mostly before a or 9 (Pykobje i, Suya 3, Panara 3, i), whereas Cy sequences are relatively frequent only before e (Pykobje i). For this reason, the glides are better analyzed as parts of raising diphthongs (like Chinese medials). Note that the glides still do interact with the syllable onsets in some cases (while plain vowels do not).
In Core Northern Je languages final syllables are stressed, except certain suffixes (which might be better nalyzed as clitics for this reason). This stress pattern can be securely traced back to PNJ.
3.2. Onset.
Many voiced consonant phonemes had two allophonic realizations: one surfaced in oral syllables, another in nasal syllables (the syllable nasality was, and still is, governed by the nucleus vowel). This system is maintained in Apinaye and Kayapo, Tapayuna and Suya with minimal changes. The following pairs of PNJ consonants occurred in complementary distribution: *m ~ *"b, *n ~ *"d, ~ *"g. In addition, did not contrast with any other voiced palatal (*y, and 5). Since the allophony in question undeniably existed in PNJ (it is paralleled by very similar phenomena in other Je languages as well as in related Maxakalian, Krenak and Jabuti language families), I chose to represent these allophones in my reconstructions. See Tab. 3 for the summary.
Major differences between Davis' reconstruction of PJ onsets and my reconstruction of PNJ onsets include the reconstruction of a voiced stop series and of a richer set of palatal consonants (four phonemes, five allophones).
5 Except for one very specific environment (namely, before a secondarily nasalized vowel), in which a minimal pair involving *4 and *p is attested, see 3.3.
Table 3. Onset consonants in Northern Je languages.
PNJ pnr api kay tim tap suy
*p p p p p hw, h+ hw, h+
*pr py, pr i pr pr pr hr hi
*t t t (*ty > £) t (*ty > C) t (*ty > c) t (*ti > ci, *ty > £) th (*ti > ci, *ty > s)
s ?, 0 ?, 0 h (*ifW > w) t s
*k k (*ka > nS, =rS ~ a, *ku > i §) k k kh, k § k (*ky > c, *uka > *ua) k(h)
*kr ky, kr t kr kr khr, kr § kx k(h)i, kt
*b P p b p w (oral), m (nasal) p, w §
% s (%i > ti) c 3 c t t
*g g k k
*m m m m m m m
*mr mr mr mr r
*n n-, =r- n n n n n
y n n y n n
*V k V V V ~ ng V V
*Vr y yr yr r VT "ga
*"b np nb m [m]p nb ~ m (*nby > "j ~ y) "b (*"by > my ~ mj)
*"br npy, npr i nbr mr [m]pr nr "bi
*nd nt nd n [n]t nd ~ n nd
*nÜ nS n5 n [n]c "t (~ "d) nt (~ "d)
*ng nk ng V [y]k "g "g
*ngr "ky, "kri ngr yr [y]kr ng* "ga
*y y z y y n3 ~ y "y ~ y ~ 3
*r y, r+ r r r r r
*w v w w w w
Notes: + Before rounded vowels. J Before front vowels. § In unstressed syllables.
Major differences between Davis' reconstruction of PJ onsets and my reconstruction of PNJ onsets include the reconstruction of a voiced stop series and of a richer set of palatal consonants (four phonemes, five allophones).
3.2.1. Panara. Non-trivial developments in Panara include:
• V > y before back vowels (did not affect the southernmost dialects of Southern Kayapo): PNJ *ka=ngro 'warm' > PNR =r3=kyo; PNJ *rS 'flower' > PNR iy3; PNJ *kn 'head' > PNR iky3;
PNJ *cip=kra / *p.ip=kra 'hand' > PNR si=kya / yi=kya; PNJ *kri 'cold' > PNR kyi;
PNJ *cara / *yara 'wing, feather' > PNR saya 'flight feather'; PNJ *kanbro 'blood' > PNR =rSpyu;
PNJ *kukrití 'tapir' > pnr kyiti;
PNJ *ro 'anaconda' > PNR yo-ti;
PNJ *pro(-r) 'to cover' > pnr pyo-ri;
PNJ *nbro-ti 'Genipa americana' > pnr pyu-ti, etc.
This change did not take place before front vowels: PNJ *kre(-r) 'to eat' > pnr kre; PNJ *=kre 'house' > pnr ku=kre; PNJ *kri 'short (of height), child' > pnr ku=kri, etc.
• There are reasons to suspect that PNJ (and Proto-Cerrado) *k in unstressed syllables was phonetically voiced, at least before *a (this is still the situation in Apinayé and Tapayúna; the reflexes are distinct in Central Je). Panará seems to corroborate this hypothesis:
o *ka [ga] > nS in unstressed syllables before prenasalized consonants with subsequent flapping of n in intervocalic position: PNJ *ka=ngro 'warm' > PNR nS^kyo / =rS=nkyo; PNJ *kanbro 'blood' > pnr nS=npyu / =rSnpyu; PNJ *ka/S 'blood' > *kangS > pnr nSkS; PNJ %u=kanga 'lazy' > pnr s=wanka, etc.;
o *ka [ga] > a in unstressed syllables before voiceless consonants: PNJ *kade3tS 'cotton' > pnr asdti 'cord'; PNJ *ka%uwá ~ *ka^wa 'mortar' > pnr asua 'pestle'; PNJ *kapri 'sad' > pnr apri-pe; PNJ *kaprSt3 'turtle' > pnr apySn, etc.;
o *ku > i in unstressed syllables before voiceless consonants: PNJ *kuU 'fire' > pnr isi; PNJ *kukriti 'tapir' > pnr ikyiti; PNJ *kube 'barbarian' > PNR ipe; PNJ *kümtímí 'capybara' > pnr intir/, etc.
• Voiced stops (both plain and prenasalized) underwent devoicing. Intervocalic prenasalized stops seem to have nasalized preceding vowels. In case of monosyllabic roots i was added word-initially (probably for prosodic reasons, as proposed by Lapierre et al. 2016b): PNJ *nba 'liver' > pnr i"pa;
PNJ *nbiti 'sun' > PNR inpiti; PNJ *nd0 'eye' > pnr Tto, etc.
• Since CCC onsets are not allowed in Panará, such PNJ clusters were simplified: PNJ *ngrwá ~ Agruma 'moriche palm' > PNR i"kwa ~ kwa-.
• A sole example of PNJ */r is available, in which r disappears: PNJ *rr5Co 'toucan' > pnr yo-kwekwe, yo-sd.
It is unclear whether the phonemes g and w existed in Proto-Northern Je or whether they emerged in Proto-Core Je after the split of Panará.
3.2.2. Apinaye, Kayapo and Timbira. These languages are relatively conservative phonol-ogically.
• PNJ % yielded t or disappeared in Apinaye and Kayapo (the distribution is not clear); the Timbira reflex is h (0 before w):
PNJ %i 'seed' > API i ~ ti, kay ti, tim hi;
PNJ %o 'leaf, bodily hair' > API o, KAY to, TIM ho;
PNJ *ku%i 'fire' > API kuvi, kay kuwi, tim kuhi;
PNJ *%wa / *=^,wa 'tooth' > API wa / =cwa, kay wa / =jwa, tim wa / =cwa;
PNJ *ka%uwa ~ *ka^wa 'mortar' > API kauvd ~ katu ~ kauru, kay kawa, tim kahuwa, etc.
• Another development that affected all these languages is the affricatization of PNJ *ty (API, kay c, TIM c), though only one example is currently known:
PNJ *tyete 'to burn' > API cete, kay cet / cere, tim cet.
• The voiced stop series remains unchanged in Kayapo; in Apinaye and Timbira all of them were devoiced (which is probably why Davis does not reconstruct it for PJ):
PNJ *biti 'only' > API pic, kay bit, tim pit;
PNJ *b3 'forest' > API pd, kay b3;
PNJ *bo%i 'to arrive' > API poy, kay boyc, tim poy;
PNJ *ka^>3t3 'cotton' > API kacdtd, kay kaj3t, tim kac3t;
PNJ %wa / *=^,wa 'tooth' > API wa / =cwa, kay wa / =jwa, tim wa / =cwa;
PNJ *ga 'thou' > API ka, kay ga, tim ka;
PNJ *ga / %3-r / *^,3-r 'to fry' > API =ka / =3r ~ =dr, kay =ga / 33-rS, tim ka / h3-r3 / c3-r3.
• In Kayapo voiced prenasalized consonants became fully nasal. This has no consequences for the phonologic representation, since nasal and prenasalized consonants were allo-phones already in PNJ (as well as in PJ and probably in PMJ). However, in some exceptional cases the nasality propagated to the following vowel:
PNJ *nbra(-r) 'to walk' > kay mra(-yp);
PNJ *kanbro 'blood' > kay kamro 'blood', kamro 'spleen';
PNJ *n^a(-r) 'to bite' > kaypa(-yp).
One case of nasality assimilation is attested:
PNJ *yu^>ni 'hummingbird' > kay p.uy^>n (instead of expected *yuy4>").
• After prefixes ending in -m (< *m, *p) in Kayapo *(")$> > y: PNJ *am=^>o 'rat' > kay am=yo;
PNJ *am=dfi 'bumblebee' > kay am=yi;
PNJ *=m=n$,a(-r) 'to chew, to gnaw' > kay =m=ya / =m=ya-]i, etc. PNJ *nsometimes yield my through analogy:
PNJ *n^,opn^opo 'itchiness' > kay myomyop (analogy with the next syllable); Proto-Core Je *pi=n$,uwa / *pi=n$,w9-r 'to put vertically.PL' > kay pi=myuwd / pi=my9-r§ (analogy with tu=m=yuwd / tu=m=y9-r§ < %u=m=n$,uwa / *%u=m=n^,w9-r).
• All instances of *rw were subject to metathesis in Apinaye and Timbira; interconsonantal w was removed in Timbira. In some cases the metathesis was blocked in Timbira via vowel epenthesis:
Table 4. Velar k and kh in Timbira lects. Cases with variation or unexpected reflexes are shadowed.
PNJ Common tim Kraho Ramkokamekrá Pykobje
*"go 'water' /ko/ ko ko ku
*ngra 'paca' /kra/ kra kla kra:
*ngrwa ~ *ngruwa 'moriche log' /kowa/ kow ~ khraw klowa krow
*ng3 'yard' /k3/ k^ ka kha: (irreg.)
*ngrs 'dry' /kra/ kr^ ~ khr^ |khJ3 (irreg.) kra
*ka.ngro 'warm' /kako/ kakra ~ kakhra — kakro
*ngre 'sing' /kre/ kre ~ khre kle kre
*ngro 'pig' /kro/ kro khlo (irreg.) kru: ~ khru:
*ngokon (PAMT) 'squash' /ko?kh5n/ |ku?khon ~ ku?kon — ku?khon
*ga 'thou' /ka/ ka ka ka
*ki 'skin' /kha/ khB kha kha
*kra 'offspring' /khra/ khra ~ kra khla khra
*kre 'hole' /khre/ khre ~ kre khle khre
*kene 'stone' /khgn/ khgn khen khen
PNJ *ruwa / *rw9-k 'to descend' > api vr9 / vri, tim wr9 / wr9-k; PNJ *"grwa ~ *ngruwa 'moriche palm' > API ngvra, TIM krowa 'moriche log'; PNJ *krw9t9 'beak' > api kvr9t9, tim khr9t; PNJ *rw9-U 'rib' > api vri-?i, tim wr9?-hi.
• PNJ *r¡r is preserved in Apinayé and Timbira; for Timbira, only two examples are available, in which ¡ disappears (note that no cognates outside Core Je have been identified for any other words containing *¡r in Proto-Core Je):
PNJ *rr5Co 'toucan' > api ¡royp, kay ¡rot, tim ro; PAMT *tirr3to 'sprout' > api irroto, tim hirot.
• Voiced prenasalized stops were devoiced in Timbira; the prenasalization was lost except at morpheme boundaries. Lapierre et al. (2016b) took this as evidence to group Timbira and Panará against other Northern Je languages; however, the innovations shared by Core Northern Je and not shared by Panará clearly outnumber the number of features common to Timbira and Panará.
• In most Timbira varieties there are two contrasting voiceless velars: k and kh (Sá 1999: 5253, Popjes and Popjes 1971: 9, Miranda 2014: 30). This opposition is not rendered consistently in the transcriptions, which points to a considerable degree of variation already in Proto-Timbira. Apparently this opposition survives mainly in Pykobje and Ramko-kamekrá, whereas it is obsolescent in Kraho and non-existent in Apaniekrá and Parkateje. Timbira kh goes back to PNJ *k in stressed syllables, while Timbira k goes back to PNJ mg, *g and *k in unstressed syllables. A non-exhaustive list of Timbira etymologies illustrating this situation is provided in Tab. 4.
3.2.3. Tapayúna and Suyá. These two share some important innovations that suggest that these languages are very closely related (Rodrigues and Ferreira-Silva 2011):
• debuccalization of *p (tap hw, SUY hw) and further delabialization in complex onsets: PNJ *pa 'arm' > tap hwa, SUY hwa6;
PNJ *puru 'field' > tap, suy hulu; PNJ *pro 'wife' > tap hr5, suy hlo; PNJ *pri 'road' > tap hri, suy hli, etc.
• affricatization and optional prenasalization of PNJ *y (non-phonemic):
Proto-Core Je *y9t9 ~ *y3t3 'sweet potato' > tap yard ~3ar§ ~ n^gra, suy y3r3 ~ ny3C3 ~33r3, etc.
• alveolarization of PNJ % and ^ (tap t and nt ~ n^, suy t and nt ~ nd): Proto-Core Je *t,u$,e / 'bow' > tap tute, suy sute / =tute;
PNJ *a=^>3 / %3-r3 / *%3-r3 'to enter' > suy a=t3 / t3-l3 / S3-I3;
PNJ *=dpa / %a-m / %a-m 'to stand' > suy =ta / ta-m / sa-m;
PNJ *ka^wa 'salt' > tap katwa, suy khatwa;
PNJ *=dpwa / *^w9-r / %w9-r 'to bathe' > suy thw9 ~ tw9;
PNJ *kan^e 'star' > tap ka^e-ci ~ kande-ci, suy kate-ci;
PNJ 'mother' > tap nti-re;
PNJ *n^a / *n^a-r 'to bite' > tap ku=ta, suy "ia;
PNJ *n^o / *n^o-r 'to hang' > suy nto / nto-lo;
PNJ *n^epe 'bat' > tap ntewe, suy ndewe;
PNJ *nd,om^,opd 'itchiness' > tap ndondowo, etc.
• affricatization of PNJ *t before *t (tap ci, SUY ci): PNJ *akati 'day' > tap agaci, suy akaci;
PNJ *=ti 'augmentative' > tap =ci, SUY =ci, etc.
Individual straightforward developments in Tapayuna and Suya include:
• PNJ *t > TAP I, SUY tK:
PNJ *tepe 'fish' > tap [ewe, suy thewe;
PNJ *kato / *kato-r 'to leave / to be born' > tap kafo, suy kafo / ka^o-lo; PNJ *tiki 'belly' > suy tHki, etc.
In one case, one can suspect Kayapo or Suya influence in Tapayuna: PNJ *tiki 'black' > tap tigt, suy ^iki.
• PNJ % > TAP t, SUY s:
PNJ %i 'seed' > tap ti, suy si;
PNJ *ii>wako 'coati' > tap toako, suy swako;
PNJ *kuU 'fire' > tap kuti, suy kwisi;
PNJ %3k3 'hawk, bird' > tap t3g3, suy s3k3, etc.
• PNJ *b > tap w/m (per nasality), SUY p, w (in unstressed syllables?): PNJ *bo 'grass' > tap mo, suy po;
Proto-Core Je *b3 'forest' > tap w3, SUY p3 'grass, bush'; PNJ *b3-U ~ *b5-U 'corn' > tap w3-ti ~ mo-ti, suy w3-si; PNJ *bo1fi 'to arrive' > SUY p9yi / poro;
6 Note that Guedes (1993) systematically writes y and yw where other authors write hr and hw.
PNJ *=bí / *bí-r 'to kill' > SUY pí / pí-li;
PNJ *ba '1sg.nom, 1INCL.ABS' > tap wa, suy pa ~ wa;
PNJ *bsr-%i 'pepper (tree-seed)' > tap wsy-ti;
PNJ *bi / bi-r 'to ascend' > SUY pi;
PNJ *bi / bi-r 'to take' > tap wi, suy pi;
PNJ *bama 'father' > tap mim S, suy p9m9, etc.
The suggested distribution is violated in PNJ *biti 'only' > SUY win 'always', if the comparison is correct. In isolated cases tap, suy w is found as an irregular reflex of other PNJ stops: PNJ *(a=)kanb3t$ 'night' > tap a=gaward, but suy (a=)kanb3l5; PNJ *nb£^nj 'honey' > tap wey, but tap nbey-ti 'bee', suy nbeni; PNJ *pidi 'one' > tap, suy witi;
PNJ *pi- 'verbal prefix with unclear meaning' > SUY wi-.
• PNJ *mr > tap r; PNJ wbr > tap nr, suy nbl; PNJ *kr > tap kx, suy k(h)x; PNJ *¡r > tap ¡X,
SUY ngj; PNJ *ngr > TAP ngK, SUY ngj: PNJ *mrümU 'ant' > tap rüwU/ rüm-; Proto-Core Je wbri 'animal, game' > tap nri, SUY nbli; PNJ *nbro-ti 'Genipa americana' > tap nro-ci; PNJ *kanbri 'heron' > tap kanri; PNJ *kra 'offspring' > tap kxa, suy km; PNJ *kukriti 'tapir' > tap kukxiri, suy kuk(h)Mri;
PNJ *rri¡ri ~ *¡ri 'green' > tap ¡X^rX® ~ ¡X® 'blue, green, yellow', suy ngjangja-ni 'yellow'; PNJ *ngre 'egg' > tap ngK£, suy ngj£; PNJ *ngroto 'Pleiades' > suy ngXoro;
PNJ *ngro 'to warm up' > tap ka=ngKO 'warm', SUY ng^o, etc.
• PNJ nb > tap nb ~ m, PNJ nd > tap nd ~ n: PNJ *nba 'liver' > tap nba ~ ma;
PNJ *nbiti 'sun' > tap nbirt ~ mirt; PNJ *nde 'giant otter' > tap nde ~ ne; PNJ *nda 'rain' > tap nda ~ na; PNJ *ndo 'eye' > tap ndo ~ no, etc.
• PNJ Cw > tap Cw:
PNJ *kad?wa 'salt' > tap katwa; PNJ *kw9r9 'manioc' > tap kwdrd; PNJ %wa 'sour' > tap twa-ci, etc.
• PNJ *ky > tap c, PNJ *ty > tap c, suy s, PNJ *nby > tap y ~ 3 ~ nj, suy mj: PNJ *kye 'thigh' > tap ce;
PNJ *tyete 'to burn' > tap cere, suy sere;
PNJ *nbyed^ 'husband' > tap yere ~ jere ~ njere, suy mjeni, etc.
• In two words PNJ *k disappears in Tapayúna; in both cases, the root is preceded by the same prefix (tap tu- < PNJ %u):
PNJ %u=kande 'medicine' > tap tu=ane, suy su=kande; PNJ *1?u=kanga 'lazy' > tap tu=®nga.
• According to Nonato (2014), th and k contrast with t and k in Suya. This contrast is not recognized by Santos (1997) and Guedes (1993). Even throughout Nonato's recordings the contrast is inconsistent (e.g. i=th£-me ~ i=te-me 'my going'). As demonstrated above, SUY th more often goes back to PNJ *t, whereas SUY t usually goes back to PNJ %. I was not able to find any similar correlations for SUY k and k:
PNJ *kuke^ni 'agouti' > suy kukheni; PNJ %wako 'coati' > suy swako, etc.
Note that tap k is realized as [g] in unstressed syllables (this is reflected in my transcription) and is aspirated before back vowels (this is not reflected in my transcription). This is likely to be a retention from PNJ. However, this does not seem to be related to the aspiration contrast in Suya. Further studies are needed to determine the status of the contrast in question in Suya as well as its origins.
• PNJ *g > SUY k (might have also happened in Tapayuna but the words in question are not attested in available sources on that language):
PNJ *ga '2sg.nom' > suy ka;
PNJ *ga / %3-r / %3-r 'to fry' > suy ka;
PNJ *gu 'Iincl.nom' > suy ku, etc.
• In several isolated words, PNJ *kr > tap, suy k (Guedes: c) before front vowels: PNJ *kri 'village' > suy ki (Guedes: cz);
PNJ *kriti 'pet' > tap, suy kiri;
PNJ *kre 'parakeet' > TAPkxe, suy ke (Guedes: ce);
PNJ *kriti 'grasshopper, cricket' > tap kxit-ci ~ kit-ci.
Given that this irregular process affected different words in Tapayuna and Suya, it must have taken place after their split. Note that in other words satisfying these conditions PNJ *kr developed normally:
PNJ *kre 'hole' > tap kxe, suy kie;
PNJ *kri (/ *kri-r ?) 'to sit.PL' > suy kii, etc.
• Apparently rw-like clusters are not tolerated in Tapayuna: PNJ *ngrwa ~ *ngruwa 'moriche palm' > tap ngKuwa
PNJ *krw9y§ Amazon parrot' > tap kx3tkx3; PNJ *akrw9t9 'cashew' > tap akxoy-ti.
3.3. Nucleus.
Northern Je languages typically have large vowel inventories and little to no vowel allo-phony. I assume that PNJ vowels have been most faithfully preserved in Kayapo and Common Timbira. The correspondences are summarized in Tab. 5. Of these, *u and *a were not phonemic, and *9 and *t were very rare. *ye and *iya, as well as *wa and *uwa, were frequently in variation, whose nature is yet to be discovered.
• *u (~ *i) and *a were allophones of PNJ *u, *i and *a before nasal codas:7 PNJ *^,umH 'father (vocative)' > PNR su, KAY3un, TIM cum ~ cu, tap tu-re; PNJ *tumu 'old' > pnr =tu, API tumu, kay tum, tim tum, tap fumu suy tumu
7 The marginal status of these phonemes in Kayapo has already been noted by Salanova (2001: 24).
Table 5. Vowels in Northern Je languages.
PNJ pnr api kay tim tap suy
*a a a a a a a
*o 0 0 0 0 0 0
*£ £ £ £ £ £ £
3 3, 3 3 3 3 3
*o o o o o o, 9 + (_y) o, w9 (_y)
*e e e e e e e
*9 3 9 9 9 3 9
*u u u u u u u
*i i i i i i i
*i i i i i i i
*wa wa wa wa wa a' wa
*uwa us ~ uru uwS uwa uwa
*W9 W3, wi, u w9 w9 w9 9' w9
*ye b y3 (?) ze, e t ye, e t ye, e i e t e t
*iya iS ~ za ~ iri iys iya iya
*a 3 ~ S ~ 3 a a a ~ v 9
<0 * 5 5 0 5 0 5
ito * £ £ e £ e £
IfO * 3 s 3 3 v 9
*T T T T T T T
is * u u u u u u
1» A T ~ t t t t t
Notes: + The onset becomes labialized. J The onset becomes palatalized (see 3.2.).
PNJ *kumtum u ~ *kumtimi 'capybara' > pnr intiri, kay kunum, tim kumtum, tap kojun u ~
kofuwu, suy kutumu; PNJ *kumu 'smoke' > API kumu, KAYkum, TiMkum, suy kusi=kumu; PNJ *mrumu 'ant' > API mrumu, kay mrum, tim prum, tap ruwu;
PNJ *]iumu ~ *p.imi 'who' > API jiamd (older speakers), jiama. (younger speakers) 'another',
kay p.um (Xikrin), p.ibn (Kayapo), tim yum, tap p.tma, suy iiumu, PNJ *bama 'other person's father' > API pdmd, kay bam, tim a=pam, tap meme, suy p§m9; PNJ *=da / *da-m / *^a-m 'to stand' > pnr S3 ~ sa:r, API ca / cd-m ~ ca-r, kay ja / ja-m / a-m, tim
ca / ca-m / ha-m, suy =ta / ta-ma / sa-ma; PNJ %ama / *p.ama 'chin' > APIp.3md, kay ama, tim hama; PNJ %ama-t,o / *p.ama-t,o 'beard' > APIp.dmd, kay ama-?o, tim hama-ho, tap tam-to.
• Examples of PNJ *9 (outside the diphthong *w9):
PNJ *t9%i 'hard' > pnr tdti, API tayc / tayt, kay t9yc, tim t9y, suy turu (t9r§ ?);
PNJ %9 / *t^9 'bitter' > API 9 / 9 yd/1 / 09, KAY 9, TIM h9 / C9, TAP td;
PNJ *nbuwa / *nb9-r 'to cry' > API nbu-r ~ nbud / nb9-r, kay mud / m9-r9, suy nb9-19;
PNJ *kud9 'bad smell' > kay kuj9, tim kuc9, tap kutd;
PNJ *kur9 'smooth' > API, TIM kur9.
The same correspondence is attested in a number of roots whose distribution is limited to Ap-inaye, Kayapo and Timbira:
PAMT *nb9 / *nb9-^n ~ *nb9-r 'to carry' > API nb9 / nb9-y^n ~ nb9-r, KAY =m9 / m9-y^n 'to grab',
TIM p9 / p9-d.n (may be related to PNR i"pi-ri 'id.'); PAMT *1fOpr9 / *yapr9 'to insult, to dishonor' > API apr9 / yapr9, kay apr9 / yapr9, tim apr9 / yapr9 'to name';
PAMT *pr9 'corn husk' > API pr9 'feather', KAY pr9, TIM pr9 'corn husk / feather';
PAMT %ub9bn§ 'deep' > API up9m9, kay ub9bn;
PAMT *k9 'bad smell, fish smell' > API, TIM k9, kay k9, etc.
In one case the daughter languages disagree on the exact quality of Proto-Core Je vowel: kay y3t, TIM y3t, SUY ysrs ~ nysn ~ 33f3 'sweet potato' point to Proto-Core Je *y3t3, whereas API Z9t9 and tap yard ~ 33rd ~ n^gra 'id.' reflect PNJ *y9t9.
• The sole reliable example of PNJ *t is:
PNJ %t / %t-r / *p.t / *p.t-r 'to sit.SG' > PNR si:rj ~ si / pi, API pt / pt-r, kay pi / pt-n, TIM hi / ht-r / yi / ytt-r, SUY =pi / Si / pi-li.
• The alternation between *ye and *iya can be exemplified by the following etymologies (note that the sequence *ry is regularly simplified to *y):
PNJ *kriya / *kye-r 'to raise' > PNR ky3-ri (?), kay kriya / kye-re.
PNJ *kukiya / *kukye-r 'to ask' > PNR i"ky3-ri (?), API kukza / kukze-r, tim kukhiya 'to search', SUY kukhiya;
PNJ *kokiya / *kokye-r 'to split' > pnr kye-y 'to cut' (?), API kokze 'to pick, to lift' (?), kay kokye
~ kokiyg / kokye-re (Xikrin: -0-), tim kokhye / kokhye-d11; Proto-Core Je *a=kiya / *a=kye-r 'to yell, to argue' > API a=kiri / za=kze-r, kay a=kiy3 ~ a=kya /
33=kye-re, tim a=khye / a=kye-r, a=kHya ~ kHya. 'angry', suy a=kHya; Proto-Core Je mgiya / *ngye-d,'to enter.PL, to put into a deep container.PL' > API ngye / ngye-yd>n, a=ngye / ya=ngye, kay =riy3 / =rye-y$,n, a=rye-y, tim a=kye-y, suy a=rye / rye-le; Proto-Core Je *=riya ~ *=yete / *yet 'to hang.PL' > API a=yete / yet, kay a=riy3, suy =yere / a=yet, sariya / yariya.
In some other cases no such alternation is attested:
PNJ *kye / *kye-dn 'to drag' > pnr kr3-ri (?), API kze / kze-d.n, kay kye / kye-dn, tim khye / khye-dn; Proto-Core Je *kakye / *kakye-dn 'to scratch' > API kakze, tim kakhye / kakhye-dn, suy kak(h)e-ni; PAMT %akye / *yakye / %akye-dn 'to look for water' > API akze / zakze / akze-dn 'to open a hole',
tim hakhye / yakhye / yakhye-dn 'to fetch water'; Proto-Core Je *kiya 'fire pit' > API kiri ~ ki3, tim kHya; PNJ *kye 'thigh' > API kze, kay kye, tim khye, tap ce;
PNJ *nbyedni 'husband' > API nbzeyd/1, kay myedn, tim pyedn, tap n3ere, suy m3eni; PNJ *tyete 'to burn' > pnr titi, API cete, kay cet / cere, tim cet, tap cere, suy sere.
The distribution, if it ever existed, must have been obscured by numerous paradigmatic analogies (which seem to have operated to a lesser extent in Kayapo). *iya is restricted to open syllables, *ye is found both in open and closed syllables. It is possible that originally *ye was found exclusively in closed syllables.
• The alternation between *wa, *w9 and *uwa can be illustrated with the following examples: Proto-Core Je *kruwa ~ *krwa 'arrow' > API kru3, kay kruw3, tim kruwa, suy kxwa;
PNJ *ngrwa ~ *ngruwa 'moriche palm' > pnr Tkwa ~ kwa-, API ngvra, kay rrwa, tim krowa
'moriche log', tap ngKuwa, SUY r^wa; PNJ *ka%uwa ~ *ka^wa 'mortar' > pnr asua 'pestle', API kauv3 ~ ka?u ~ kauru, kay kawa, tim kahuwa;
Proto-Core Je *ruwa / *rw9-k 'to descend' > API vr9 / vri, kay ruw3 ~ rw9 / rw9-k, tim wr9 / wr9-k, suy lw9 / lw9-k9;
PNJ *^>wa / %w9-r / %w9-r 'to bathe' > pnr sw3-ri, API cwa / wd-r, kay 3uw3 / w9-r / 3w9-r, tim cwa / w9-r / cw9-r, SUY tw9 ~ t^w9, etc.
The medial -w- was (and still is) prohibited in syllables with labial onset. The following examples should be understood as result of elision of *w in the aforementioned environment:
PNJ *nbuwa / *nb9-r 'to cry' > API nbu-r ~ nbu3 / nb9-r9, kay mu3 / m9-r9, suy nb9-r9; Proto-Core Je ^pi^^uwa / *pi=n$,w9-r 'to put vertically.PL' > API =n3w9 / =n3w9-yd,", kay pi= m=yuw3 / pi=m=y9-r§, tim pi=cw9 / pi=cw9-r / =m=c9 / =m=c9-r, suy wi=ntw9 / wi=ntw9-l§.
Once again, the original distribution of these nuclei is obscure. *uwa and *wa are restricted to open syllables, whereas *w9 is found both in open and closed syllable. I assume that originally *w9 was restricted to closed syllables; in open syllable, *uwa and *wa would have occurred in free variation. This is corroborated by other cases of alternation in individual languages, such as tim kwa / kw3-r 'to take.PL'.
• Since Proto-Northern Je vowel inventory was very rich (no less than 15 monophthongs and 2 diphthongs were phonemic), there was little space for allophony. That is why in most cases the reflexes of PNJ vowels in modern languages are quite straightforward (major shifts have occurred in some Timbira varieties after the split of Proto-Timbira, see (Ni-kulin 2016b)). However, several poorly understood splits have taken place in individual languages, notably PNJ *3 > API 3, d (Nikulin 2015a: 13):
PNJ *anb3dni 'piranha' > API anb3n3; PNJ *=t,3 'basket' > API ka=va; PNJ *k3 'skin; breast' > API ka; PNJ *k3rs 'to whistle' > API k3r3 / k3r;
PNJ *p3t3 'southern tamandua' > API pdt3, p3t-re, p3t-ti, etc.
Their phonemic status is demonstrated by Oliveira (2005: 66-67). In most cases, a is found in phonetically open syllables, while 3 is usually found in phonetically closed syllables (including long verb forms, in which echo vowels are typically absent). The issue is further complicated by the fact that Apinaye 3 may be realized as any of these in free variation: [3, 9, a].
• Irregular nasalization in Kayapo has been treated in 3.2.2.
• The reflexes of PNJ *w9 in Panara are uncertain. w3 is found in verbs (e.g. PNJ %w9-r / %w9-r 'to bathe.NMLZ' > PNR sw3-ri) but is not attested in nouns:
PNJ *kw9r9 'manioc' > PNR kwi; PNJ *ndw9dni 'snail' > PNR pari=ntu; PNJ *tw9bni 'fat' > pnr tuma, etc.
• I have already discussed possible irregular vowel splits (especially *3 > o ~ a; *i > i ~ i) in Suya (Nikulin 2015a: 12-14). However, the analysis in question was based on Guedes's data. Once Santos's and Nonato's recordings are taken into account, the problems discussed in the cited work are no longer valid: these authors consistently record 3 where Guedes writes o ~ a and i where Guedes writes i ~ i.
• In the proto-language of Tapayuna and Suya, PNJ *o > *(w)9 before y: PNJ *botf 'to arrive' > SUY p9yi / poro;
PNJ *kukoyi 'monkey' > tap kukway, suy kukw9yi.
• In extremely rare cases the medial -w- is found before front vowels. These words have no known cognates outside Core Je (like the words having w in the onset position): Proto-Core Je *kwedni 'bird, feather' > API kveyd/1 'bird', kay kweyd/1 'bird', tim kuwedn 'bird',
tap t3=gwey 'feather', etc.
3.4. Coda.
Except for syllables whose rhymes go back to PNJ *iya or *uwa in PNJ, the codas of modern Northern Je languages reflect PNJ codas. The reflexes sometimes differ phonetically depending on whether the coda was followed by an echo vowel (in utterance-internal position) or not (in utterance-final position, long verb forms in any position). These differences are noted here for Tapayuna and Suya, where they are absolutely regular and systematic. For other languages they are written out as long as they are phonemic. See Tab. 6-7. Basic correspondences can be illustrated with the following examples: PNJ *tepe 'fish' > pnr [epi, API tepe, kay, tim tep, tap [ewe, suy thewe; PNJ *nbiti 'sun' > pnr rpiti, API nbiti, kay mit, tim pit, tap nbirt ~ mirt, suy nbirt; PNJ *t9tf 'hard' > pnr tati, API tayc / tayt, kay t9yc, tim t9y, suy turu (t9r9 ?); PNJ *nbe\,i 'good' > pnr i"pe, API nbec, kay mec, tim pey, tap nbey- ~ mey-, suy nberi; PNJ *%3k3 'hawk, bird' > pnr sa, API 3k-ti, kay 3k, tim h3k, tap t3g3, suy S3k3; PNJ *tobi 'flour, powder' > API cob // como, kay ob / jobn, tim hobn / cov; PNJ *t3bni 'raw' > API t3bn // t3m3, tim t3v, suy ^mi;
PNJ *nbyedni 'husband' > API nbzeyd?, kay myedn, tim pyedn, tap njere, suy mjeni; Proto-Core Je *todm 'armadillo' > API todn // tono, kay, tim todn, tap [oro, suy mjeni; PNJ *nbed,ni 'honey' > pnr na=peyr, API nbeyd/1, kay meyd/1, tim ped/1, tap wey, nbey-ti 'bee', suy nbeni;
PNJ *kukoyi 'monkey' > pnr iko:, api kukoy, kay kukop., tim kukhoy, tap kukway, suy kukw9yi; PNJ *puru 'field' > pnr pu:, api pur, kay puru, tim pur, tap huru, suy hulu; PNJ *ndiwt 'field' > pnr i"tui, api ndivt, kay ni, tim [n]tuwa, tap, suy ndiwt.
Cf. also PNJ, Proto-Core Je or PAMT *kopo 'fly (insect)', %ip=kopo / *pip=kopo 'claw, nail', mdepe 'bat', *ropo 'jaguar', *tyete 'to burn', *koto 'cicada', *kukritt 'tapir', *kubitt 'howler monkey', mbutu 'neck', *kete 'not', *kad>3t3 'cotton', *wete 'lizard', *p3t3 'southern tamandua', *y9t9 'sweet potato', *tutu 'pigeon', *ka"b3t3 'night', %5=koto / *p5=koto 'chest', *ngroto 'Pleiades', *"bot,i 'to arrive', *"bot,i 'courbaril', *%e%i / 'to deceive', *petf 'to make', *kaki 'cough', *tikt 'black', *kudeke 'vein', *tiki 'stomach', *kanbreke 'red', *poko 'to ignite', *koko 'wind', *atikt 'forest surrounding the village', *pe-k 'to fart', *ti-k 'to die', ba-k / *ya=nba-k 'to listen', *rw9-k 'to descend', mbaki 'scorpion', *tw9b"i 'fat', *nb3d"i 'macaw', *anb3dni 'piranha', %3d>ni/ %3d>ni 'sweet', *yud"i 'hummingbird', *kwedf"i 'bird, feather', *kuked>"i 'agouti', ^rod^i 'grugru palm', *bayi 'snake sp.', md,3yi 'woodpecker', *roro 'termite', *b3r3 'tree', *kw9r 'manioc', *pari 'foot', *tere 'Euterpe sp.', *atoro 'tinamou', *ka"bere 'Turu palm', etc.
Table 6. Coda consonants in Northern Je languages after non-nasal vowels.
PNJ tap tap suy suy
pnr api kay tim (internal1') (final1) (internal1) (final1)
*p pt P P p P wV P wV
*t tl t, yc t § ^ yc t t t rV t rV, rït
tt y c, t # c y y y y, t # y, rV #
*k 0 k k k k gV k kV, ktt
*bn bn bn bn m mï
*d" dn, ydn dn dn rV n m
%n V y^n p dn y y n m
*y y p y y y y yï
*r rï # 1 r rV, ri $ r y rV, yt IV, y t IV, yït
*w t w 0 wä wV P wV
Notes: + Internal = in the middle of an intonational phrase, final = immediately preceding a pause. J After a. § After i. # In long verb forms. 1 After 3. $ After a, in long verb forms also after 3 or 0.
Table 7. Coda consonants in Northern Je languages after nasal vowels.
PNJ tap tap suy suy
pnr api kay tim (internal1) (final1) (internal1) (final1)
*t nt nt t n nV
n£ n£ y n nV
*k nk nk k k
*m 0 m m m m mV, wV m mV
*n n n n nV, rV n nV
*p p, n P n n nï
*y y 0 0 y y
*r r r, nt r IV IV
Notes: + Internal = in the middle of an intonational phrase, final = immediately preceding a pause. J After e, 1.
Except in long verb forms, where much variation with *p and *r is attested, the examples are not very numerous. No secure etymologies with a nasal nucleus followed by *p are known, though this syllable pattern might have existed, cf. KAY op / pop 'elbow' of unknown origin. The most reliable etymologies are:
Proto-Core Je *pnto 'to run' > API pr5nto, kay pr5nt, suy kl5no; Proto-Core Je *t5tf 'sister' > API tone, kay tone 'brother', TIM toy, SUY th5no; PNJ *katoko 'firearm' > pnr ato, API katonko, kay katonk, tim katok; Proto-Core Je *koko 'lizard' > API konko, kay kc^k, tim khjk, tap kok-ci; PNJ *kene 'stone' > pnr kiey (?), API kene, kay ken, tim khen, tap kene, tap khene; PNJ %ini / *pini 'faeces' > pnr si/ yi, API Tint /pint, kay in /pin, tim kin / yin, tap tin; Proto-Core Je *k5no 'articulation, knee' > API kono, kay kon, tim kon, tap koro, suy khono; PNJ *kaprSn3 'turtle' > pnr apySn, API kaprSm, kay kaprSn, tim kaprSn, tap kakrvm-ci, suy kakl3-ci;
PNJ *kutoyi 'worm, blind snake' > API kutoy, kay kuto, tim kuto, tap kuloy; PNJ *roro 'Attalea speciosa coconut' > API r5r5, kay ron, tim ro; Proto-Core Je *tiri 'alive' > API tiri, kay tin, tim tir, suy thili.
3.4.1. Notes on echo vowels.
1. The syllables containing the nucleus *a must have contained a high unrounded echo vowel. This is still the case in some Kayapo and Timbira varieties as well as in and Suya (Stout and Thomson 1974, Popjes and Popjes 1971, Nonato 2014: 129). This vowel must have triggered palatalization of *t (in Apinaye and Kayapo) and of V (in Tapayuna and
Suya):
PNJ *krati 'base, stem, lower part of the body' > API krata 'waist, leg, beginning, medial part of a long object' ~ krayc 'wall, stem, stalk', KAY krayc 'trunk, stump, pelvis' (cf. suy khjart);
PNJ *pari 'foot' > tap hway, suy hwayi (cf. kay pari);
PNJ wba / wba-r 'to know' > wba / ™ba-ri > suy nba / nba-yi (cf. kay ma-ri);
PNJ *kapa / *kapa-r 'to pull out' > *kapa / *kapa-ri > suy kapa-yi.
Note that the same echo vowel must have existed in syllables with the vowel *i, but in this
case it triggered palatalization only in Apinaye: PNJ *biti 'only' > API pic, but kay bit (cf. TIM pit, maybe SUY wiri 'always'); PNJ *kriti 'pet' > API kriti ~ kric, but kay krit (cf. tap, suy kiri); PNJ *=di / *U-ri / *di-ri 'to put' > suy =ti / si-li / ti-li (cf. kay =ji / ji-ri), etc.
This does not necessarily suggest that the echo vowels of these two groups of words were phonetically distinct: it is common for palatalization to be blocked when the consonant is both preceded and followed by palatalizing vowels (this is precisely what happens in languages like Paresi (Brandao 2014: 46)).
2. There are numerous reasons to believe that PNJ long verb forms did not contain echo vowels, as it happens today in Apinaye (Oliveira 2005: 191). They are listed below.
• Although echo vowels are present in Kayapo long verb forms, they are chosen in a special way for syllables whose underlying rhyme is 3r or or. While in nouns with these rhyme the echo vowel is [i] (b3ri 'tree, horn'), in long verb forms it copies the nucleus (ak3-r3 / yak3-r3 'to cut'). This suggests that these words did not rhyme at an earlier stage.
• The correspondences in Central Je languages are different for nouns and long verb forms ending in PNJ *r. Compare the following pairs:
PNJ *pa / *pa-r 'to finish, to kill', Xavante pa / pa-ri 'to finish, to erase'; PNJ *pari 'foot', Xavante para 'id.'.
What matters here is not the quality of PNJ echo vowel but its presence or absence. The Proto-Cerrado forms of these words would have been *pa / *pa-r 'to finish' and *para 'foot' (the dissimilation seems to have occurred in the independent history of PNJ).
• Some Suya alternations are explainable if we assume that the echo vowels were suppressed in PNJ long verb forms:
SUY p9yi / pot 'to arrive' < *botf / *bot < *botf / *bo1j,; suy =yere / a=yet 'to hang.PL' < *=yete / *yet, etc.
The depalatalization of PNJ % through suppression of an echo vowel is attested in API tayc / tayt 'hard'.
It is uncertain whether this phenomenon affected PNJ long verb form suffixes other than V. As a preliminary solution, I reconstruct forms like PNJ *t£-m 'to go.SG', *k5-m 'to drink', *pe-k 'to fart', *ti-k 'to die', %a"ba-k / *ya=ba-k 'to listen', *rw9-k 'to descend' (with the unproductive suffixes *-m and *-k also found in a handful of other verbs). However, it has not been proven conclusively that these particular suffixes occurred without an echo vowel. The same applies to the productive suffix *-p..
4. Conclusion
For the first time, a phonological reconstruction of Proto-Northern Je has been proposed. Some issues still remain to be clarified, including:
— the emergence of long vowels in Timbira;
— the status and sources of syllable-final glottal stops in Timbira and preaspiration in Apinayé (Oliveira 2005: 78);
— the status and sources of the k / kh opposition in Suyá;
— the status of stem-initial alternations of palatal consonants and *g (*¡ in nasal syllables), first observed by A. P. Salanova (p.c.);
— the status and sources of word-initial unstressed syllables without an onset.
Now that a reconstruction of PNJ is available, we are in position to proceed to the reconstruction of Proto-Cerrado and, subsequently, Proto-Je and Proto-Macro-Je. The importance of such intermediate-level reconstructions as demonstrated, e.g., by S. Starostin (1999), cannot be underestimated; ignoring this stage has led to absence of reliable reconstructions of Proto-Je, which in turn makes further comparative studies in Macro-Je impossible.
I am planning to propose a reconstruction of Proto-Je in a forthcoming article.
References
Alves, Flávia de Castro. 2004. O Timbira falado pelos Canela Apäniekrä: uma contribuifäo aos estudos da morfossintaxe de
uma lingua Je. PhD. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Amado, Rosane de Sá. 2004. Aspectos morfofonológicos do Gaviäo-Pykobje. PhD. Säo Paulo: Universidade de Säo Paulo. Araújo, Leopoldina. 2016. Dicionário Parkateje-Portugues. Belém.
Bardagil-Mas, Bernat, Myriam Lapierre, Peranko Panará, Andrés Salanova. 2016. A Digital Dictionary of Panará.
Symposium on American Indian Languages. Rochester: Rochester Institute of Technology. Brandäo, Ana Paula Barros. 2014. A reference grammar of Paresi-Haliti (Arawak). PhD. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.
Camargo, Nayara da Silva. 2010. Lingua Tapayúna: aspectos sociolingüisticos e uma análise fonológica preliminar. MA
thesis. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Costa, Lucivaldo Silva da. 2015. Uma descrifäo gramatical da lingua Xikrin do Cateté (familia Je, tronco Macro-Je). PhD.
Brasilia: Universidade de Brasilia. Davis, Irvine. 1966. Comparative Je phonology. Estudos Lingüisticos: Revista Brasileira de Lingüistica Teórica e Aplicada 1(2): 20-24.
Dourado, Luciana Gongalves. 2001. Aspectos morfossintáticos da lingua Panará (Je). PhD. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Ehrenreich, Paul. 1895. Materialien zur Sprachenkunde Brasiliens: III. Die Sprache der Akuä oder Chavantes und
Cherentes (Goyaz). Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 27: 149-162. Ferreira, Marilia de Nazaré de Oliveira. 2003. Estudo morfossintático da lingua Parkateje. PhD. Campinas: Universi-dade Estadual de Campinas.
Guedes, Marymárcia. 1993. Siwfa Mëkapëra. Suyá: a lingua da gente: um estudo fonológico e gramatical. PhD. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Ham, Patricia, Helen Waller, Linda Koopman. 1979. Aspectos da lingua Apinayé. Cuiabá: Sociedade Internacional de Lingüística.
Jefferson, Kathleen. 1989. Gramática Pedagógica Kayapó. Anápolis: Associaçâo Internacional de Lingüística, SIL -Brasil.
Lapierre, Myriam, Bernat Bardagil-Mas, Andrés Salanova. 2016a. The nasal consonants of Panará. WSCLA. Montréal: Université du Québec à Montréal.
Lapierre, Myriam, Andrés Salanova, Bernat Bardagil-Mas. 2016b. A reconstruction of Proto-Northern Jê phone-mics. Amazónicas VI. Coloquio Internacional AMAZÓNICAS ("La estructura de las lenguas amazónicas"). Leticia/ Tabatinga: Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Universidade do Estado do Amazonas; Instituto Caro y Cuervo: 110-111.
Loukotka, Cestmír. 1963. Documents et vocabulaires inédits de langues et de dialectes sud-américains. Journal de la Société des Américanistes 52: 7-60.
Miranda, Maxwell Gomes. 2014. Morfologia e morfossintaxe da lingua Krahô (familia Jê, tronco Macro-Jê). PhD. Brasilia: Universidade de Brasília.
Nikulin, Andrey. 2015a. Verifikaciya gipotezy o zhe-tupi-karibskom rodstve [On the genetic unity of Jê-Tupi-Karib]. MA thesis. Moscow: Moskovskiy gosudarstvennyy universitet imeni M. V. Lomonosova.
Nikulin, Andrey. 2015b. Apofonia e sistema vocálico do Proto-Jê Meridional: contribuiçâo para estudos comparativos das línguas Jê. Revista Brasileira de Linguistica Antropológica 7(2): 275-306.
Nikulin, Andrey. 2016a. Proto-Jê revisited: phonology, morphophonology and language contact. Amazónicas VI. Coloquio Internacional AMAZÓNICAS ("La estructura de las lenguas amazónicas"). Leticia/Tabatinga: Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Universidade do Estado do Amazonas; Instituto Caro y Cuervo: 108-109.
Nikulin, Andrey. 2016b. Fonologia segmental do conjunto dialetal Timbira (Jê Setentrional) m.s. Brasília.
Nonato, Rafael. 2014. Clause Chaining, Switch Reference and Coordination. PhD. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Oliveira, Christiane Cunha de. 2005. The language of the Apinajé people of Central Brazil. PhD. University of Oregon.
Popjes, Jack, Josephine Popjes. 1971. Phonemic statement of Canela. Preliminary version. Anápolis: Associaçâo Internacional de Linguística (SIL Brasil).
Ramirez, Henri, Valdir Vegini, Maria Cristina Victorino de França. 2015. Koropó, puri, kamakâ e outras línguas do Leste brasileiro: revisâo e proposta de nova classificaçâo. Linguas Indigenas Amercianas 15(2): 223-277.
Ribeiro, Eduardo Rivail, Hein van der Voort. 2010. Nimuendajú was right: The inclusion of the Jabutí language family in the Macro-Jê stock. International Journal of American Linguistics 76: 517-570.
Rodrigues, Aryon Dall'Igna. 1981 [2010]. Estrutura do Tupinambá. In: Cabral et al. (eds.). Linguas e Culturas Tupi II. Brasília: LALI/UnB, Campinas: Curt Nimuendajú: 12-42.
Rodrigues, Aryon Dall'Igna. 2012. Para o estudo histórico-comparativo das línguas Jê. Revista Brasileira de Linguistica Antropológica 4(2): 279-288.
Rodrigues, Aryon Dall'Igna. 1952. Análise morfológica de um texto Tupi. Logos 15: 56-77.
Rodrigues, Aryon Dall'Igna. 1953. Morfologia do verbo Tupi. Letras 1: 121-152.
Rodrigues, Cíntia Karla Coelho, Marília de Nazaré Ferreira-Silva. 2011. Comparando as consoantes das línguas Tapajúna e Suyá. Alfa: 601-611.
Sá, Rosane Muñoz de. 1999. Análise fonológica preliminar do Pykobjê. MA thesis. Sâo Paulo: Universidade de Sâo Paulo.
Salanova, Andrés Pablo. 2001. A nasalidade em Mebengokre e Apinayé: o limite do vozeamento soante. MA thesis. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Santos, Ludoviko Carnasciali dos. 1997. Descriçào de aspectos morfossintáticos da lingua Suyá (Kïsêdjê), familia Jê. PhD. Florianópolis: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
Starostin, Sergey Anatol'evich. 1999. O dokazatel'stve yazykovogo rodstva. In: Ya.G. Testelec, E.V. Rakhilina (eds.). Tipologiya i teoriya yazyka: ot opisaniya k ob"yasneniyu (k 60-letiyu A.E. Kibrika): 57-69. Moskva: Yazyki russkoy kul'tury.
Stout, Mickey, Ruth Thomson. 1974. Fonêmica Txukuhamëi (Kayapó). Série lingüistica 3. Summer Institute of Linguistics: 153-176.
Vasconcelos, Eduardo Alves. 2014. Panará, Cayapó do Sul e a família Jê: primeiro caminho de análise. Lengua y Literatura Latinoamericana 16: 113-130.
А. В. Никулин. Историческая фонетика северной ветви семьи же.
Статья является первой в планируемой автором серии публикаций по исторической фонологии языков южноамериканской макросемьи макро-же. Поскольку в рамках этой макросемьи самой большой и разнообразной семьей являются собственно языки же, сравнительные исследования по макро-же в первую очередь зависят от степени исторической обработанности данных по семье же; при этом единственная известная на сегодня попытка системной реконструкции фонологической системы и лексического инвентаря пра-же (Davis 1966) подверглась обстоятельной критике в целом ряде работ (Ribeiro and Voort 2010, Nikulin 2015b). В настоящей статье предлагается промежуточная реконструкция для прасеверного же, представляющего крупнейшую из ветвей семьи же.
Ключевые слова: языки же, языки макро-же, языковая реконструкция, сравнительно-исторический метод.
