The chart below[1] contains the reconstructed consonants of the Tanoan proto-language as reconstructed by Hale (1967) based on consonant correspondences in stem-initial position.
Labial Apical Apical
FricatedVelar Velar
LabialGlottal Plosive voiced *b *d *dz (*ɡ) *ɡʷ plain *p *t *ts *k *kʷ glottalized *pʼ *tʼ *tsʼ *kʼ *kʷʼ *ʔ aspirated *pʰ *tʰ *tsʰ *kʰ *kʷʰ Nasal *m *n Fricative *s *h Glide *w
The evidence for *ɡ comes from prefixes; *ɡ has not been found in stem-initial position and thus is in parentheses above. Hale reconstructs the nasalization feature for nasal vowels. Vowel quality and prosodic features like vowel length, tone, and stress have not yet been reconstructed for the Tanoan family. Hale (1967) gives certain sets of vowel quality correspondences.
The following table illustrates the reconstructed initial consonants in Proto-Tanoan and its reflexes in the daughter languages.
Initial consonants in proto-language and daughter languages Proto-Tanoan Tiwa Tewa Towa Kiowa Proto-Tanoan Tiwa Tewa Towa Kiowa consonant environment *h h h ∅ [2] h *dz j j, dʒ z d *ʔ ʔ ʔ ʔ ∅ *d before oral vowel l d d *p p p p p before nasal vowel n n n *pʼ pʼ pʼ pʼ pʼ *n n *pʰ pʰ f ɸ pʰ *w w w w j *b m m m b *ɡʷ kʷ ɡ *m m (*ɡ) k ɡ k *t t t t t *k k k *ts tʃ [3] ts s *kʷ kʷ kʷ ɡ *tʰ tʰ θ ʃ tʰ *kʷʼ kʷʼ kʷʼ kʼ *tsʰ s s *kʼ kʼ kʼ kʼ *s ɬ c [4] s *kʰ x x h kʰ *tʼ tʼ tʼ tʼ tʼ *kʷʰ xʷ xʷ *tsʼ tʃʼ [5] tsʼ
As can be seen in the above table, a number of phonological mergers have occurred in the different languages. Cognate sets supporting the above are listed below:
Cognate sets demonstrating initial consonant correspondences[6] Tiwa Tewa Towa Kiowa meaning(s) *b mɑ̃ mãʔ mĩ́ː bɔ "to bring" *m mæ̃̀n- mãn mãté mɔ̃ː-dɔ "hand" *d (+ V) līlū- diː délʔɨː – "fowl" *d (+ Ṽ) ˈnæ̃̄m- nãn nṍː dɔ̃-m "sand" (in Taos), "ground" (in Tewa, Kiowa), "space" (in Jemez) *n næ̃̄ nãː nĩ́ː nɔ̃ː first person singular *ts ˈtʃī tsíː sé ta "eye" *t tũ̀ tṹ tɨ̃́ tõ- "to say" *tsʰ sũ̀ sũwẽ sɨ̃́ tʰõ-m "to drink" *tʰ ˈtʰɤ̄ θáː ʃó tʰa- "to break" (in Taos, Tewa, Jemez), "to sever several" (in Kiowa) *ts’ ˈtʃʼɑ̄- – – tʼɔ-l "liver" *t’ tʼɑ́- tʼon tʼaː tʼɔː "antelope" *dz jɑ̄- – zǽː dɔ "song" (in Taos, Jemez), "to sing" (in Kiowa)
References[]
- ↑ The original |Americanist phonetic symbols differ from the IPA: Amer. ⟨c⟩ = IPA ⟨ts⟩, Amer ⟨ʒ⟩ = IPA ⟨dz⟩.
- ↑ The null set symbol ∅ represents the lack of a consonant, i.e. the reconstructed proto-sound was deleted in the daughter language.
- ↑ Taos (and also Picuris) /tʃ/ varies between post-alveolar [tʃ] and alveolar [ts].
- ↑ This consonant is transcribed as a palatalized [tʸ] in Hale (1967) and palatalized [kʸ] in Hale (1962).
- ↑ Taos (and also Picuris) /tʃʼ/ varies between post-alveolar [tʃʼ] and alveolar [tsʼ].
- ↑ The data here is from Hale (1967), which in turn is gathered from G. Trager's publications (for Taos), Harrington's publications (for Kiowa), Dozier in personal communication to Hale (for Tewa), and Hale's own fieldwork on Jemez.