An Alternative Reconstruction of Proto-Totonac-Tepehua (Article)
Title: An Alternative Reconstruction of Proto-Totonac-Tepehua
Author: Carolyn J. MacKay
Author: Frank R. Trechsel
Abstract: This paper presents a reconstruction of the phonological inventory of Proto-Totonac-Tepehua (PTT) that differs significantly from previous reconstructions. The chief difference is that the PTT inventory proposed here includes a series of glottalized stops and affricates and does not include a series of laryngealized vowels. It is argued that it is easier to explain the correspondences among cognates in the Totonac and Tepehua languages if the protolanguage includes a series of glottalized stops and affricates. The diachronic changes that are required to account for the distribution of glottalized consonants in the Tepehua languages and laryngealized vowels in the Totonac languages are more natural and less marked under this proposal than under the alternative proposals involving laryngealized vowels in PTT.
Year: 2018
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: International Journal of American Linguistics. Vol 84:1 pp. 51-92
Publisher: University of Chicago Press. International Journal of American Linguistics

Permalink: https://apps.neh.gov/publicquery/products.aspx?gn=PD-50016-11