Dene-Caucasian languages
Encyclopedia : D : DE : DEN : Dene-Caucasian languages
The Dene-Caucasian (also called Sino-Dene) language family is a conjectural language superfamily containing the Sino-Tibetan, North Caucasian, Yenisseian, Burushaski, Basque and Na-Dene languages. The theory, first proposed in the 1980s by Sergei Starostin, is inspired in large part by the work of Alfredo Trombetti, Karl Bouda, and Edward Sapir, but has never been demonstrated unequivocally. Most linguists thus do not accept that these language families are related. It is however important to note that the proponents more often consider their hypothesis "an explanatory model" rather than a final and definitive solution to the problem of possible deeper genetic links among the groups.
While most linguists consider Basque and Burushaski to be language isolates, John Bengtson published several articles in the early 1990s in which he postulated the Vasco-Caucasian family, linking Basque to the Northwest Caucasian and Northeast Caucasian families, and Macro-Caucasian, which would link these to Burushaski. The internal structure of the Dene-Caucasian language superfamily as suggested by Starostin and Bengtson can be seen below.
Family Tree Proposals
Starostin's view
The Dene-Caucasian family tree and approximate divergence dates (estimated by glottochronology) proposed by S. A. Starostin and his colleagues from the Tower of Babel project:
- 1. Dene-Caucasian languages [8,700BCE]
- :1.1. Na-Dené languages/Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit
- ::1.1.1. Athabaskan-Eyak
- :::1.1.1.1. Athabaskan
- :::1.1.1.2. Eyak
- ::1.1.2. Tlingit
- :1.2. Sino-Vasconic languages [7,900BCE]
- ::1.2.1. Vasconic (see below)
- ::1.2.2. Sino-Caucasian languages [6,200BCE]
- :::1.2.2.1. Burushaski
- :::1.2.2.2. Caucaso-Sino-Yenisseian [5,900BCE]
- ::::1.2.2.2.1. North Caucasian languages
- :::::1.2.2.2.1.1. Northeast Caucasian languages
- :::::1.2.2.2.2.2. Northwest Caucasian languages
- ::::1.2.2.2.2. Sino-Yeniseian [5,100BCE]
- :::::1.2.2.2.2.1. Yeniseian languages
- :::::1.2.2.2.2.2. Sino-Tibetan languages
Bengtson's view
Current view of J. D. Bengtson, as yet not dated by glottochronological analyses:
- 1. Dene-Caucasian
- :1.1. Sino-Tibetan
- :1.2. Na-Dené
- ::1.2.1. Haida
- ::1.2.2. Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit
- :::1.2.2.1. Tlingit
- :::1.2.2.2. Athabascan-Eyak
- ::::1.2.2.2.1. Eyak
- ::::1.2.2.2.2. Athabaskan
- :1.3. Yeniseian
- :1.4. Macro-Caucasian
- ::1.4.1. Vasconic (see below)
- ::1.4.2. Caucasian-Burushic
- :::1.4.2.1. North Caucasian
- :::1.4.2.2. Burushaski
Phonology
Transcription
In order to simplify the transcription of the extremely complicated phonologies, such as those of North Caucasian languages, Na-Dené languages and their reconstructed proto-languages, a special system is used, in which it is possible to write all phonemes as single characters. It differs from the IPA especially in affricates and laterals, it uses a dot below or above the character to mark a glottalized consonant and an accent to mark palatalized consonants.
Since it might be inconvenient for the readers to switch between the two transcription systems, the IPA version in square brackets will accompany most of the expressions, too.
Consonantism
(This section requires further work!)The following consonantism has been proposed for Proto-Dene-Caucasian:
| Obstruents | ||||||||||
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Alveo-palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | central | lateral | |||||||
| Stop | Voiceless | p [p] | t [t] | k [k] | q [q] | ʔ | ||||
| Voiceless Glottalized | ṗ [p’] | ṭ [t’] | ḳ [k’] | q̇ [q’] | ʡ | |||||
| Voiced | b [b] | d [d] | g [g] | G [ɢ] | ʕ | |||||
| Affricate | Voiceless | c [ts] | ƛ [tɬ] | č [tʃ’] | ć [tɕ] | |||||
| Voiceless Glottalized | c̣ [ts’] | ƛ̣ [tɬ’] | č̣ [tʃ’] | ć̣ [tɕ’] | ||||||
| Voiced | ʒ [dz] | Ł [dɮ] | ǯ [dʒ] | ʒ́ [dʑ] | ||||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | s [s/z]¹ | λ [ɬ/ɮ]¹ | š [ʃ/ʒ]¹ | ś [ɕ/ʑ]¹ | x [x/ɣ]¹ | χ [χ/ʁ]¹ | h | ||
| Voiceless Glottalized | ẋ [x’] | ħ | ||||||||
| Voiced | ɦ | |||||||||
| Sonorants | ||||||||||
| Nasal | m [m] | n [n] | ń [nʲ] | ŋ [ŋ] | ||||||
| Liquid | r [r] | l [l] | ŕ [rʲ] | ɫ [ʟ] | ||||||
| Approximant | w [w] | j [j] | ||||||||
¹ These fricatives may have had two allophones: voiceless and voiced
Sub-branches
Vasconic
This branch consists of the Basque language, the extinct Aquitanian language (assuming it was not just an old form of Basque), and their hypothetical ancestors.
Proposed Vasco-Caucasian cognates
Many words which are rarely borrowed between languages are very similar in Basque and the Caucasian languages. This belongs to the strongest arguments Bengtson offers to support Basque's position within the Dene-Caucasian superstock.
| An example of Vasco-Caucasian Comparanda | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Basque | Dargwa | Proto-Dargwa | Chechen | Khinalug | Lak | Tabasaran | Udi | Proto-Caucasian |
| I | ni /ni/ | ну /nu/ | */nu/ | – | – | на /na/ | – | – | */nɨ̆/ |
| thou | hi /hi/, /i/ | хIу /ħu/ | */ħu/ | хьо /ħo/ | /oχ/ | – | – | гъун /hu-n/ | */ʁwVː/ |
| we | gu /gu/ | ха /xːa/ | */xːa/ | тхо /tχo/ | /ki-n/ | – | ухьу /uxu/ | ян /ja-n/ | */ɮæː/ |
| you (plural) | zu /su/ | ша /ʃːa/ | */nu-ʃːa/ | шу /ʃu/ | /zu-r/ | зу /zu/ | учьу /ut͡ʃʷu/ | ван /va-n/ | */zʲwĕ/ |
| what? | ze-r /ser/ | се /se/ | */s(ː)e/ | стэ(н) /steː(n)/ | – | сса- /sːa-/ | – | – | */s_aːj/ |
| two | bi /bi/ | кьи /kʷ̕i/ | */kʷ̕i/ | – | /k̕u/ | кIиа /k̕i-a/ | кьу /q̕u/ | па /pa/ | */q̕Hwæː/ |
| fire | su /ɕu/ | цIа /t͡s̕a/ | */t͡s̕a/ | цIэ /t͡s̕e/ | /t͡ʃ̕æ/ | цIу /t͡s̕u/ | цIа /t͡s̕a/ | а- /a-/ | */t͡s̕ăjɨ̆/ |
| hunger | gose /goɕe/ | гаши /gaʃi/ | */kːaʃi/ | – | – | ккаши /kːaʃi/ | гаш /gaʃ/ | – | */gaʃeː/ |
Notes:
Dargwa, Chechen, Khinalug, Lak, Tabasaran, and Udi are East Caucasian languages. Proto-Dargwa is the reconstructed ancestor of Dargwa, and Proto-Caucasian is the reconstructed last common ancestor of all known East and West Caucasian languages. By convention an asterisk marks reconstructed words. "V" is an uncertain vowel, "H" is an uncertain glottal or epiglottal consonant. Dashes indicate that no forms comparable to the Basque word have been found in the language.
Sino-Caucasian
The terms Dene-Caucasian, Sino-Dene and Sino-Caucasian are often confused. While the former two are synonymous, the latter is generally regarded their sub-branch. Sino-Caucasian would thus consist of the North Caucasian, Sino-Tibetan, Yenisseian and Burushaski branches, with Na-Dene and Basque being excluded. A simplified outline of the preliminary correspondences that have been proposed by the author and his colleagues so far may be given as follows:
Sino-Caucasian Sound Correspondences
The Original Transcription
| Sino-Caucasian Sound Correspondences (original transcription) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phonemes | Caucasian | Sino-Tibetan | Yenisseian | Burushaski |
| a | a | e, a, ǝ | a (ɔ), e (ä), ǝ | |
| ä | ä | a, i | e (ä), ǝ | |
| e | e, i | a, ǝ | a, e (ä), ǝ | |
| ǝ | ǝ, ɨ | a | a, ǝ | |
| i | i, e | e, i | i | |
| ɨ | ɨ, ǝ | ɨ, i | i, ɨ | |
| o | o | (i)ǝ, a | u, ǝ | |
| u | o, u | u | o (ɔ), u | |
| ʔ | ʔ | ʔ/0 | ʔ-, j; ʔw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ʡ | ʡ | 0, ʡw > qʷ | ʔ-, j, 0; ʡw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ʕ | ʕ | ʔ/0;ʕw > ʔʷ | ʔ; ʔw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| h | h | ɣ; hw > ʔʷ, w | ʔ-, j; hw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ħ | ħ | ʔ/0 | ʔ-, j; ħw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ɦ | ɦ | q? | ʔ-, w-, j | |
| p | p | ph, -p | p | ph-, p |
| ṗ | ṗ, b | p-, -p | b | p |
| b | b | p, ph, -p | p | b |
| m | m | m | b-/p-/w-, m | m |
| xm ? | f | m | w- | |
| w | w (u̯) | w/0 | 0-, w/0 | b-, 0(u) |
| t | t | th, -t | d | th |
| ṭ | ṭ | t, -t | d | t, ṭ (ḍ) |
| d | d | t, th, -t | t | t, ṭ (ḍ) |
| n | n | n | d-, n | n |
| r | r | r | ʔ-/t-, r, r1 | d-, r |
| k | k | k-, -k | g, -k- | k(h) |
| ḳ | ḳ | kh, gh, -k | g-, -k, -g- | k |
| g | g | k-, -k | k | g |
| x | x | ẋ-, -0 | x, ẋ ˜ G | h |
| ɣ | ɣ | g | q ˜ ẋ | |
| ŋ | n | ŋ | b-, ŋ | 0-, ŋ |
| xŋ ? | x | ŋ | ||
| ŋw | m | ŋ | b-, ŋ | m-, -n/-m |
| xŋw | f | ŋ | b-, ŋ | h- |
| xg | g | k˜q, -ŋ, -k | q, x, ẋ | g |
| xk | ẋ | k-,-k | q-, q/G (ʔẋ) | h-,-q-,-ɣ |
| xḳ | ḳ | k-, kh- ˜ gh- ˜ qh-, -k | q, G, ẋ | qh, ɣ, -q |
| c | c | ch/s, -t | s | s |
| c̣ | c̣ | C, -t | c, s | ś- ˜ ṣ-, s |
| ʒ | ʒ | ch, ʒh | ʒ, s | s |
| s | s | s (/ch), -0 | s, d-(Vʔ) | d-, s |
| z | z | ʒ | ʒ́ | |
| ć | ć | ć, ʒ́h, -t | ǯ-, s | s/ś, ć/c̣, -ź |
| ć̣ | ć̣ | ć, ʒ́h, ś, -t | s, c | ć(h), ʒ́/ʒ̣, -ź |
| ʒ́ | ʒ́ | ć, -t | s, ǯ | ʒ́-/ʒ̣-, s/ś |
| ś | ś | s (/ch), -0 | s, d-(Vʔ) | d-, ś/ṣ(V́) |
| ź ? | ź | ǯ | ||
| ŕ | r | rj1, r | ŕ | d-, r |
| ń | n | ń-, ŋ | ń, n | n |
| j | j | j | j, 0 | j, 0 |
| č | č | ć, ʒ́h | č-(/ǯ-), s | ś/ṣ, ć/c̣, -ź |
| č̣ | č̣ | ć, ʒ́h | s, č, ǯ | ś/ṣ, ć/c̣, -ź |
| ǯ | ǯ | ć, ʒ́ | ǯ | ć/c̣, ʒ́ |
| š | š | ś-, -0 | s, d-(Vʔ) | s/ś/ṣ |
| ƛ | ƛ | r(..L), -k | j-, ẋ | lt-, lt/l |
| ƛ̣ | ƛ̣ | ƛ, l, r(..L), -k/-ŋ | j-, l, ĺ | lt-, lt/l |
| Ł | Ł | ƛ, l, -k | r, r1 | lt-, lt/l |
| λ | λ | l, ƛ | j-, l, ĺ | lt- (lṭ-), ld |
| l | l | ƛ, -r-, -r | d-, l ˜ r, r1 | l |
| ł | ł | l-, -ł, -l | d-, r1, r | l |
| q | q | qh-, G-, x-, ɣ-; -k/-ŋ | q-, q/G | q(h), ɣ |
| q̇ | q̇ | Gh-, q; -k, -ŋ | q-, q/G | q(h), ɣ |
| G | G | q, qh-, [G(h)-], k/-ŋ | x-/ẋ-, q/G | q(h), ɣ |
| ẋ | ẋ | ẋ, ɣ, qhʷ-, -0 | ẋ, x | h |
| ʁ | ʁ | G-, q-, -j/-w | ẋ, G | 0/ɣ |
| xq | q | k, g, -k | x, ẋ | qh, ɣ, -q |
| xqw | qw | k, g, -k | x, g | k, g |
| xq̇ | q̇ | gh, (k) | q, ẋ, x | qh, ɣ |
| xq̇w | q̇w | k, kh | x, g | k, g |
| xG | G, (ʁ) | g, kh | q, ẋ, x | qh, q |
| xGw | Gw | ghw, kw | k | k, g |
| sd | ʒ | ? ć ˜ ś ˜ ʒ́h | t | c ( ˜ ch, c̣h) |
| st | c | ch/s, -t(s), -s | t | c |
| sṭ | c̣ | ch/s | t | c ( ˜ c̣) |
| šd | ǯ | ć | t | ć(h), ʒ́ |
| št | č, ?ć | ʒ́ | t | ? |
| šṭ | č̣ | t | ? | |
The transcription is based on the one used [here].
The IPA Transcription
| Sino-Caucasian Sound Correspondences | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phonemes | Caucasian | Sino-Tibetan | Yenisseian | Burushaski |
| a | a | e,a,ǝ | a (ɔ), e (æ), ǝ | |
| æ | æ | a, i | e (æ), ǝ | |
| e | e, i | a, ǝ | a, e (æ), ǝ | |
| ǝ | ǝ, ɨ | a | a, ǝ | |
| i | i, e | e, i | i | |
| ɨ | ɨ, ǝ | ɨ, i | i, ɨ | |
| o | o | (i)ǝ, a | u, ǝ | |
| u | o, u | u | o (ɔ), u | |
| ʔ | ʔ | ʔ/0 | ʔ-, j; ʔw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ʡ | ʡ | 0, ʡw > qʷ | ʔ-, j, 0; ʡw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ʕ | ʕ | ʔ/0; ʕw > ʔʷ | ʔ; ʔw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| h | h | ɣ; hw > ʔʷ, w | ʔ-, j; hw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ħ | ħ | ʔ/0 | ʔ-, j; ħw > h/x | 0/h/j |
| ɦ | ɦ | q ? | ʔ-, w-, j | |
| p | p | ph, -p | p | ph-, p |
| p’ | p’, b | p-, -p | b | p |
| b | b | p, ph, -p | p | b |
| m | m | m | b-/p-/w-, m | m |
| xm ? | f | m | w- | |
| w | w (u̯) | w/0 | 0-, w/0 | b-, 0(u) |
| t | t | th, -t | d | th |
| t’ | t’ | t, -t | d | t, t’ (d’) |
| d | d | t, th, -t | t | t, t’ (d’) |
| n | n | n | d-, n | n |
| r | r | r | ʔ-/t-, r, r1 | d-, r |
| k | k | k-, -k | g, -k- | k(h) |
| k’ | k’ | kh, gh, -k | g-, -k, -g- | k |
| g | g | k-, -k | k | g |
| x | x | x’-, -0 | x, x’ ˜ ɢ | h |
| ɣ | ɣ | g | q ˜ x’ | |
| ŋ | n | ŋ | b-, ŋ | 0-, ŋ |
| xŋ ? | x | ŋ | ||
| ŋw | m | ŋ | b-, ŋ | m-, -n/-m |
| xŋw | f | ŋ | b-, ŋ | h- |
| xg | g | k ˜ q, -ŋ, -k | q, x, x’ | g |
| xk | x’ | k-, -k | q-, q/ɢ (ʔx’) | h-, -q-, -ɣ |
| xk’ | k’ | k-, kh- ˜ gh- ˜ qh-, -k | q, ɢ, x’ | qh, ɣ, -q |
| t͡s | t͡s | t͡sh/s, -t | s | s |
| t͡s’ | t͡s’ | C, -t | t͡s, s | sʲ- ˜ s’-, s |
| d͡z | d͡z | t͡sh, d͡zh | d͡z, s | s |
| s | s | s (/t͡sh), -0 | s, d-(Vʔ) | d-, s |
| z | z | d͡z | d͡zʲ | |
| t͡sʲ | t͡sʲ | t͡sʲ, d͡zʲh, -t | d͡ʒ-, s | s/sʲ, t͡sʲ/t͡s’, -zʲ |
| t͡sʲ’ | t͡sʲ’ | t͡sʲ, d͡zʲh, sʲ, -t | s, t͡s | t͡sʲ(h), d͡zʲ/d͡z’, -zʲ |
| d͡zʲ | d͡zʲ | t͡sʲ, -t | s, d͡ʒ | d͡zʲ-/d͡z’-, s/sʲ |
| sʲ | sʲ | s (/t͡sh), -0 | s, d-(Vʔ) | d-, sʲ/s’(V́) |
| zʲ ? | zʲ | d͡ʒ | ||
| rʲ | r | rj1, r | rʲ | d-, r |
| nʲ | n | nʲ-, ŋ | nʲ, n | n |
| j | j | j | j, 0 | j, 0 |
| t͡ʃ’ | t͡ʃ’ | t͡sʲ, d͡zʲh | t͡ʃ’-(/d͡ʒ-), s | sʲ/ṣ, t͡sʲ/t͡s’, -zʲ |
| t͡ʃ’ | t͡ʃ’ | t͡sʲ, d͡zʲh | s, t͡ʃ’, d͡ʒ | sʲ/s’, t͡sʲ/t͡s’, -zʲ |
| d͡ʒ | d͡ʒ | t͡sʲ, d͡zʲ | d͡ʒ | t͡sʲ/t͡s’, d͡zʲ |
| ʃ | ʃ | sʲ-, -0 | s, d-(Vʔ) | s/sʲ/s’ |
| t͡ɬ | t͡ɬ | r(..ɮ), -k | j-, x’ | lt-, lt/l |
| t͡ɬ’ | t͡ɬ’ | t͡ɬ, l, r(..ɮ), -k/-ŋ | j-, l, lʲ | lt-, lt/l |
| d͡ɮ | d͡ɮ | t͡ɬ, l, -k | r, r1 | lt-, lt/l |
| ɬ | ɬ | l, t͡ɬ | j-, l, lʲ | lt- (lt’-), ld |
| l | l | t͡ɬ, -r-, -r | d-, l ˜ r, r1 | l |
| ł | ł | l-, -ł, -l | d-, r1, r | l |
| q | q | qh-, ɢ-, x-, ɣ-; -k/-ŋ | q-, q/ɢ | q(h), ɣ |
| q’ | q’ | ɢh-, q; -k, -ŋ | q-, q/ɢ | q(h), ɣ |
| ɢ | ɢ | q, qh-, [ɢ(h)-], k/-ŋ | x-/x’-, q/ɢ | q(h), ɣ |
| x’ | x’ | x’, ɣ, qhʷ-, -0 | x’, x | h |
| ʁ | ʁ | ɢ-, q-, -j/-w | x’, ɢ | 0/ɣ |
| xq | q | k, g, -k | x, x’ | qh, ɣ, -q |
| xqw | qw | k, g, -k | x, g | k, g |
| xq’ | q’ | gh, (k) | q, x’, x | qh, ɣ |
| xq’w | q’w | k, kh | x, g | k, g |
| xɢ | ɢ, (ʁ) | g, kh | q, x’, x | qh, q |
| xɢw | ɢw | ghw, kw | k | k, g |
| sd | d͡z | ?t͡sʲ ˜ sʲ ˜ d͡zʲh | t | t͡s ( ˜ t͡sh, t͡s’h) |
| st | t͡s | t͡sh/s, -t(s), -s | t | t͡s |
| st’ | t͡s’ | t͡sh/s | t | t͡s ( ˜ t͡s’) |
| ʃd | d͡ʒ | t͡sʲ | t | t͡sʲ(h), d͡zʲ |
| ʃt | t͡ʃ’, ?t͡sʲ | d͡zʲ | t | ? |
| ʃt’ | t͡ʃ’ | t | ? | |
References
- BENGTSON, John D., 2004. "Some features of Dene-Caucasian phonology (with special reference to Basque)." In Cahiers de l'Institut de linguistique de Louvain (CILL).
- BENGTSON, John D., 2006. "Materials for a Comparative Grammar of the Dene-Caucasian (Sino-Caucasian) Languages."
- BENGTSON, John D., 1997. Review of "The History of Basque. London: Routledge, 1997. Pp.xxii,458" by R.L. Trask.
- BENGTSON, John D., 1997. "Ein Vergleich von Burushaski und Nordkaukasisch". In "GEORGICA (Zeitschrift für Kultur, Sprache und Geschichte Georgiens und Kaukasiens)."
- BENGTSON, John D., 1996. "A Final (?) Response to the Basque Debate in Mother Tongue 1." (see External links below)
- STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 2004-2005. "Sino-Caucasian ([comparative phonology] & [comparative glossary])". Unpublished. (see External links below)
- STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1994. "A Comparative Dictionary of North Caucasian Languages". Moscow. (see External links below)
- STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1994. "Genesis Of The Long Vowels In Sino-Tibetan" presented at the Symposium on the Ancestry of Chinese. Hongkong.
- STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1994. "Word-final Resonants in Sino-Caucasian" for the 3rd International Conference on Chinese Linguistics. Hongkong.
- STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1995. "Old Chinese Basic Vocabulary: A Historical Perspective", Journal of Chinese Linguistics, v. 8.
External links
- [Dene-Caucasian ethno-linguistic map]
- [The proposed family tree]
- [Sino-Caucasian Comparative Phonology]
- [Sino-Caucasian Comparative Glossary]
- [A Final (?) Response to the Basque Debate in Mother Tongue 1]
- [Word-final Resonants in Sino-Caucasian]
See also
The individual Dene-Caucasian phyla:
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.