Palaihnihan (also Palaihnih) is a language family of northeastern California. It consists of two closely related languages, both now extinct:
| Palaihnihan | |
|---|---|
| Palaihnih, Laikni | |
| Geographic distribution | California |
| Linguistic classification | Hokan ?
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Palaihnihan |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | pala1350 |
Reconstruction
editThe original reconstruction of proto-Palaihnihan suffered from poor quality data. David Olmsted's dictionary depends almost entirely upon de Angulo, who did not record the phonological distinctions consistently or well,[1] and carelessly includes Pomo vocabulary from a manuscript in which he (de Angulo) set out to demonstrate that Achumawi and Pomo are not related.[2] William Bright has also pointed out problems with Olmsted's methods of reconstruction.[3] The reconstruction is being refined with newer data.[4]
Good, McFarland, & Paster (2003) conclude there were at least three vowels, *a *i *u, and possibly marginal *e, along with vowel length and ablaut. Consonants were as follows:[4]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | (Epi)glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | plain | p | t | tʃ | k | q | ʔ |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | qʰ | ||
| ejective | pʼ | tʼ | tʃʼ | kʼ | qʼ | ||
| Fricative | s | ʜ h | |||||
| Nasal | plain | m | n | ||||
| glottalized | mˀ | nˀ | |||||
| Trill | plain | r | |||||
| glottalized | rˀ | ||||||
| Approximant | plain | w | l | j | |||
| glottalized | wˀ | lˀ | jˀ | ||||
Genetic relations
editThe Palaihnihan family is often connected with the hypothetical Hokan stock. Proposed special relationships within Hokan include Palaihnihan with Shastan (known as Shasta-Achomawi) and within a Kahi sub-group (also known as Northern Hokan) with Shastan, Chimariko, and Karuk.
References
edit- ^ Nevin 1991, 1998.
- ^ Gursky, Karl-Heinz (1987). "Achumawi und Pomo, eine besondere Beziehung?". Abhandlungen der völkerkundlichen Arbsgemeinschaft. 57. Nortorf.
- ^ Bright, William; Olmsted, D. L. (1965). "Review of A history of Palaihnihan phonology by D. L. Olmsted". Language. 41 (1). Baltimore: Linguistic Society of America: 175–178. doi:10.2307/411871. JSTOR 411871.
- ^ a b Good, McFarland, & Paster (2003) "Reconstructing Achumawi and Atsugewi: Proto-Palaihnihan revisited"
Bibliography
edit
- Bright, William; Olmsted, D. L. (1965). "[Review of A history of Palaihnihan phonology by D. L. Olmsted]". Language. 41 (1): 175–178. doi:10.2307/411871. JSTOR 411871.
- Good, Jeff; McFarland, Teresa; & Paster, Mary. (2003). Reconstructing Achumawi and Atsugewi: Proto-Palaihnihan revisited. Atlanta, GA. (Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, January 2–5).
- Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
- Nevin, Bruce E. (1991). "Obsolescence in Achumawi: Why Uldall Too?". Papers from the American Indian Languages Conferences, held at the University of California, Santa Cruz, July and August 1991. Occasional Papers on Linguistics 16:97–127. Department of Linguistics, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
- Nevin, Bruce E. (1998). Aspects of Pit River phonology. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.
- Olmsted, David L. (1954). "Achumawi–Atsugewi non-reciprocal intelligibility". International Journal of American Linguistics. 20 (3): 181–184. doi:10.1086/464275. S2CID 144619581.
- Olmsted, David L. (1956). "Palaihnihan and Shasta I: Labial stops". Language. 32 (1): 73–77. doi:10.2307/410654. JSTOR 410654.
- Olmsted, David L. (1957). "Palaihnihan and Shasta II: Apical stops". Language. 33 (2): 136–138. doi:10.2307/410725. JSTOR 410725.
- Olmsted, David L. (1959). "Palaihnihan and Shasta III: Dorsal stops". Language. 35 (4): 637–644. doi:10.2307/410603. JSTOR 410603.
- Olmsted, David L. (1958). Atsugewi Phonology, International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 24, No. 3, Franz Boas Centennial, Volume (Jul., 1958), pp. 215–220.
- Olmsted, David L. (1964). A history of Palaihnihan phonology. University of California publications in linguistics (Vol. 35). Berkeley: University of California Press.