Proto-Northwest Caucasian language

Short description: Reconstructed ancestor of the Northwest Caucasian languages

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Proto-Northwest Caucasian

Proto-West Caucasian
Proto-Abkhaz-Adyghe
Reconstruction of| Northwest Caucasian languages
Lower-order reconstructions|

* Proto-Abazgi
* Proto-Circassian

Proto-Northwest Caucasian (sometimes abbreviated PNWC), also called Proto-West Caucasian (PWC) or Proto-Abkhaz-Adyghe, is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Northwest Caucasian languages.

## Contents

* 1 Phonology
* 1.1 Vowels
* 1.2 Consonants
* 1.2.1 Starostin & Nikolayev (1994)
* 2 Grammar
* 2.1 Numbers
* 3 Vocabulary
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Phonology

### Vowels

Template:Urs Proto-Northwest Caucasian, just like its descendants, had a very small vowel inventory, most commonly reconstructed as consisting of 2 vowels: /a/ and /ə/. Some degree of allophony might have existed, especially near labialized and palatalized (or both) consonants.

Some scholars assume that the rich consonantal distinctions appeared from a formerly rich vowel inventory, so **/Cy/ would result in */Cʷʲə/, **/Co/ in */Cʷa/ (or possibly /Cˤʷa/), and so on. However, this view is doubted due to the tendency of vowel systems to get richer over time, and the opposite being much more rare.

### Consonants

Template:Urs There was a primary four-way distinction of almost all obstruents in Proto-Northwest Caucasian. The following variations have been proposed:

* Geminate /Cː/, plain /C/, ejective /Cʼ/ and voiced /C̬/;
* Unaspirated /C˭/, aspirated /Cʰ/, ejective /Cʼ/ and voiced /C̬/;
* Fortis /C͈/, lenis /C͉/, ejective /Cʼ/ and voiced /C̬/.

The only living descendants to have kept the 4-way distinction are the Shapsug and Bzhedug dialects. They both feature an unaspirated /C˭/, aspirated /Cʰ/, ejective /Cʼ/ and voiced /C̬/ distinction, where all the remaining languages have merged them to plain /C/, ejective /Cʼ/ and voiced /C̬/.

Additionally, there also were distinctions in labialization, palatalization and pharyngealization (and, depending on the analysis, aspiration), with combinations of those also possible, such as in case of */q(ʰ)ˤᶣ/, */q˭ˤᶣ/, */qʼˤᶣ/.

#### Starostin & Nikolayev (1994)

The table of consonants below is adapted from Starostin & Nikolayev (1994) harv error: no target: CITEREFStarostinNikolayev1994 (help), who developed a unique phonetic orthography for the Caucasian languages.[1]: 15 The following differences compared to IPA notation for consonants can be observed:[1]: 15–21

| S&N
(1994) | IPA

|
|

Fricatives  | ϑ, δ | θ, ð
š, ž | ʃ, ʒ
š́, ž́ | ɕ, ʑ
λ, L | ɬ, ɮ
Affricates  | c, ʒ | ts, dz
č, ǯ | tʃ, dʒ
č́, ǯ́ | tɕ, dʑ
ƛ, Ł | tɬ, dɮ

For airstream mechanism, phonation, and secondary articulation:

| S&N
(1994) | IPA

|
|

unaspirated
(tense)  | ◌: | ◌˭
palatalized  | ◌́ | ◌ʲ
labio-
palatalized  | ◌́ʷ | ◌ᶣ
pharyngealized  | ◌Ɪ | ◌ˤ
ejective
(glottalized)  | ◌̇/◌̣ | ◌ʼ

Voiceless consonants that are unmarked are aspirated ⟨◌ʰ⟩.

Consonants in parentheses ⟨(C)⟩ are considered to have unreliable reconstruction; labialization in parentheses ⟨C(ʷ)⟩ marks a transfer of labialization onto an adjacent vowel.[1]: 22 The exact meaning of consonants with a question mark in parentheses ⟨(?) or (C?)⟩ is not explained; it is unclear if it is used to indicate presumptive value or for dubiousness.

Pairs of consonants separated by a slash ⟨C/C⟩ have known distribution, while those separated by a tilde ⟨C~C⟩ have unknown distribution. Consonants preceding a hyphen ⟨C-⟩ occur in initial position.[1]: 22

Proto-NWC | Proto-Abazgi | Ubykh | Proto-Circassian

|
|
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*p | *p | p | *p
*p˭ | *b | b | *p˭
*b | *b | b | *b
*pʼ | *pʼ | pʼ | *pʼ
*f | *f | f | *x(ʷ)
*w | *w | w | *w
*m | *m | m | *m
*pʲ | *p | tʷ | *t
*p˭ʲ | *b | (dʷ~tʷ) | *t˭
*bʲ | *b | dʷ | *d
*pʼʲ | *pʼ | tʼʷ | *tʼ
*pʷ | *p | f | *p
*bʷ | *f | f | *b
*pᶣ | *tsʲ | tʷ |
*bᶣ | *dzʲ | dʷ | *d
*pʼᶣ | *tsʼʲ | tʼʷ | *tʼ
*pˤ | *p | vˤ | *p
*p˭ˤ |  | bˤ | *p˭
*bˤ | *b | bˤ | *b
*pʼˤ |  | pʼˤ | *pʼ
*mˤ | *m | mˤ | *m
*t | *t | t | *t
*t˭ | *d | d | *t˭
*d | *d | d | *d
*tʼ | *tʼ | tʼ | *tʼ
*r | *r | d-, r~ʁ | *t˭-, *r
*n | *n | n | *n
*rʲ | *r | ɮ | *dz
*tʷ | *tʷ | tʷ | *tʰ
*t˭ʷ | *d(ʷ) | tʷ | t˭
*dʷ | *dʷ | dʷ | *d
*tʼʷ | *tʼʷ | tʼʷ | *tʼ
*tᶣ | *tʷ |  | *ts
*tʼᶣ | tʼʷ | tʼʷ | tsʼ
*ts | *ts | ts | *s-, *ts
*ts˭ | *ts | ts | *ts˭
*dz | *dz | dz | *dz~*z
*tsʼ | *tsʼ | tsʼ | *tsʼ
*s | *s | s | *s
*z | *z | dz~z | *z
*tsʲ | *tsʲ | tsʲ | (*s)
*ts˭ʲ | *dzʲ(?) | tsʲ | *ts˭
*dzʲ | *dzʲ | dzʲ | *dz~*z
*tsʼʲ | *tsʼʲ | tsʼʲ | *tsʼ
*sʲ | *sʲ | sʲ | *s
*zʲ | *z | dzʲ~zʲ | *z
*tsʷ | *tsʷ | tsʷ | sʷ-
*ts˭ʷ | *tsʷ | tsʷ | *ts˭ʷ
*dzʷ | *dzʷ |  | *dzʷ
*tsʼʷ | *tsʼʷ | tsʼʷ | *tsʼʷ
*sʷ | *sʷ | sʷ | *sʷ
*zʷ | *zʷ | dzʷ~zʷ | *zʷ
*tsᶣ | (*tʃ) |  | *tsʲ
*dzᶣ | *dʒ~*ʒ | dʒʲ | *dzʲ
*tsʼᶣ | *tʃʼ | tʃʼʲ | *tsʼʲ
*sᶣ | *sʲ | tʃʷ | *sʲ
*zᶣ | *dzʲ~*zʲ | ʒʷ | *zʲ
*tʃ | *tsʲ | ts | *s
*dʒ | *dzʲ | dz | *dz~*z
*tʃʼ | *tsʼʲ | tsʼ | *tsʼʲ(?)
*ʃ(~*ʃ˭) | *sʲ | s | *s
*ʒ | *zʲ | z | *z
*tɕ | *tɕ | tɕ | *tɕ
*tɕ˭ | *dzʲ(~*tɕ) | tɕ | *tɕ˭
*dʑ | *dʑ | dʑ | *dʑ~*ʑ
*tɕʼ | *tɕʼ | tɕʼ | *tɕʼ
*ɕ | *ʃ(?) | ɕ | *ʃ
*ɕ˭ | *ʃ | ɕ | *ʃ˭
*ʑ | *ʒ | ʑ | *ʒ
*j | *j | j | *j
*tʃʷ | *tʃ | tʃ | *tɕ
*tʃ˭ʷ | *zʷ | tʃ | *tɕ˭
*dʒʷ | *dzʷ~*zʷ | dʒ | *dʑ~*ʑ
*tʃʼʷ | *tʃʼ | tʃʼ | *tɕʼ
*ʃʷ | *sʷ | ʃ | *ʃ
*ʃ˭ʷ | *ʃ | ʃ | *ʃ˭
*ʒʷ | *zʲ(?) | ʒ | *ʒ
*tɕʷ | *tʃ | tɕ | *tʃ
*tɕ˭ʷ | *dʒ~*ʒ | tɕ | *tʃ˭
*tɕʼʷ | *tʃʼ | tɕʼ | *tʃʼ
*ɕʷ | *ʃʷ | ʃʷ | *sʲ
*ɕ˭ʷ | *ʃ | sʷ | *ʃ˭
*ʑʷ | *ʒʷ | ʒʷ | *zʲ
*tɬ | *x | ɕ | *tɕ
*tɬ˭ | *ts | (sʲ) | *tɕ˭
*dɮ | *l | ɮ | *tħ
*tɬʼ | *x/*tsʼ | tsʼʲ | *tɕʼ
*ɬ |  | sʲ | *ɕ
*ɬ˭ | *x | sʲ | *ɕ˭
*l | *l | d-, ∅~j | *tħ-, *ɮ
*tɬʲ | *xʲ | *ɕ | *tɕ
*dɮʲ | *ɣʲ | ʁ(~zʲ) | *ɣ
*tɬʼʲ | *ɕ | tɬʼ | *tɬʼ
*ɬʲ(~*ɬ˭ʲ) | *ɕ | ɬ | *ɬ
*ɮʲ | *ʑ | ɮ | *ɮ
*lʲ | *r-, *l~*ɣʲ | ɮ | *d-
*tɬʷ | *tsʷ | tsʷ | *tʃ
*tɬ˭ʷ | *tsʷ | tsʷ | *tʃ˭
*dɮʷ | *l | w | *ħ
*tɬʼʷ | *tsʼ(ʷ) | tsʼ(ʷ) | *tʃʼ
*ɬʷ | *ʃ | sʷ | *x(ʷ)
*ɬ˭ʷ | *ʃ | s(ʷ) | *ɕ˭
*tɬᶣ | *tʃʷ | f | *x
*tɬ˭ᶣ | *ʒʷ | dʑ | *tɕ˭
*dɮᶣ | *dʒʷ | dʒ | *dɮ
*tɬʼᶣ | *tʃʼʷ | tsʼ | *tɕʼ
*ɬᶣ(~*ɬ˭ᶣ) | *ʃ | ʃʷ | *x(ʷ)
*ɮᶣ | *ʒ | ʒʷ | *ɣʲ
*k | *k | kʲ | *kʲ
*ɡ | *ɡ | ɡʲ | *ɡʲ
*kʼ | *kʼ | kʼʲ | *kʼʲ
*x | *x | ɕ | *x
*ɣ | *ɣ | ɣ~ʁ | *ɣ
*kʲ | *kʲ |  | *kʲ
*ɡʲ | *ɡʲ | ɡʲ | *ɡʲ
*kʼʲ | *kʼʲ | kʼʲ | *kʼʲ
*xʲ | *xʲ | sʲ | *ɕ
*ɣʲ | *ɣʲ | zʲ | *ʑ
*kʷ | *kʷ | kʷ | *kʷ
*k˭ʷ | *ɡʷ | ɡʷ | *k˭ʷ
*ɡʷ | *ɡʷ | ɡʷ | *ɡʷ
*kʼʷ | *kʼʷ | kʼʷ | *kʼʷ
*xʷ | *xʷ | x | *x(ʷ)
*ɡᶣ | *ɡʷ | ɡʲ | *ɡʷ
*kʼᶣ | *kʼʷ | kʼʲ | *kʼᶣ
*xᶣ | *sʷ | xʲ | *xʷ
*ɣᶣ(?) | *zʷ | ʁʲ | *ʁʷ
*q | (*ħ) | q | *q-
*q˭ | *q | q | *q˭
*ɢ | *ɣ | ʁ | *ʁ
*qʼ | *qʼ | qʼ | *q˭
*χ | *ħ | χ | *χ
*ʁ | *ʕ | ʁ | *ʁ
*q˭ʲ | *q | qʲ |
*ɢʲ | *ɣʲ | ʁʲ |
*qʼʲ | *qʼʲ | qʼʲ | *ʡ
*χʲ | *ħ | xʲ | *χʲ
*ʁʲ | *ʕ | ʁʲ | *ʁ
*qʷ | *ħʷ | qʷ | *qʷ-, *q˭ʷ
*q˭ʷ | *qʷ | qʷ | *q˭ʷ
*ɢʷ | *ɣʷ | ʁʷ | *ʁʷ
*qʼʷ | *qʼʷ | qʼʷ | *q˭ʷ
*χʷ | *ħʷ | χʷ | *χʷ
*ʁʷ | *ʕʷ | ʁʷ | *ʁʷ
*qᶣ | *ħ(ʷ) | xʲ | *qʷ-
*q˭ᶣ |  | qʲ | *q˭ʷ
*ɢᶣ | *ɣ(ʷ) | ʁʲ | *ʁʷ
*qʼᶣ | *ʕʷ (*qʼʷ?) | qʼʲ | *ʡʷ
*χᶣ | *ħ(ʷ) | χʲ | *χʷ
*ʁᶣ | *ʕ(ʷ) | ʁʲ | *ʁʷ
*q˭ˤ | *ʕ |  | *q˭
*qʼˤ | *ħ(?) | qʼˤ | *q˭
*χˤ |  | χˤ | *χ
*ʁˤ | *ʕ | ʁˤ | *ʁ
*qˤʲ | *q | q(ˤ) | *ħ
*q˭ˤʲ | *ʡ | qʼ | *ʡ
*qʼˤʲ | *ħ | qʼ | *ʡ
*χˤʲ | *ħ | χ(ˤ) | *ħ
*ʁˤʲ | *ʕ | ʁ | *j
*qˤʷ | *ħʷ | χˤʷ | *qʷ-
*q˭ˤʷ | *ʕʷ | qˤ(ʷ) | *q˭ʷ
*qʼˤʷ | *qʼʷ (*qʷ) | qʼˤʷ | *q˭ʷ
*χˤʷ | *ħʷ | χˤʷ | *χʷ
*ʁˤʷ | (*ħʷ?) | ʁˤʷ | *ʁʷ
*qˤᶣ | *qʷ | χʷ | *ħ
*q˭ˤᶣ | *ʕʷ | qʼʷ | *ʡʷ
*qʼˤᶣ | *ħʷ | qʼʷ | *ʡʷ
*ʁˤᶣ | *ʕʷ | w | *w~*ʁʷ

## Grammar

### Numbers

English | Proto-NWC Schulze | Proto-NWC Colarusso | Proto-Abazgi | Abkhaz | Abaza | Ubykh | Proto-Circassian | Adyghe | Kabardian

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

One | za | – | za-kʼə | akʼə | zakʼə | za | zə | zə | zə
Two | tʼqʷʼa | tʼqʼo | ʕʷ-ba | ɥ-ba | ʕʷ-ba | tʼqʷʼa | tʷʼə | tʷʼə | tʷʼə
Three | λ:ə | (y-)x̂ə/a | χ-ba | χ-ba/x-ba | χ-ba | ʂa | ɕə | ɕə | ɕə
Four | pʼλʼa | – | pɕ-ba | pɕ-ba | pɕ-ba | pʼɬʼə | t͡ɬə | pɬʼə | pɬʼə
Five | sx̂ʷə | (w-/y-)ćx̂ə | χʷ-ba | χʷ-ba/xʷ-ba | χʷ-ba | ɕxə | txʷə | tfə | txʷə
Six | ɬʷə | (w-)x̂cə | tʃʷba? | f-ba | t͡s-ba | fə | xə | xə | xə
Seven | bδə | ɣə́ | bəʑ-ba | bəʑ-ba | bəʑ-ba | blə | bɮə | blə | bɮə
Eight | – | (w-/y-)ɣə/a | aʕ-ba | aa-ba | aʕ-ba | ʁʷa | jə | jə | jə
Nine | bğʷʲə | ɣə́ | – | ʑʷ-ba | ʒʷ-ba | bʁʲə | bʁʷə | bʁʷə | bʁʷə
Ten | bćʷʼə | (p-/w-)źə́/źá | – | ʑʷa-ba | ʒʷa-ba | ʑʷə | pʃʼə | pʃʼə | pɕʼə

## Vocabulary

English | Proto-NWC | Proto-Abazgi | Abkhaz | Abaza | Ubykh | Proto-Circassian | Adyghe | Kabardian

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

I | – | sa/sarˈa | sa/sarˈa | sa/sarˈa | səsan | sa | sa | sa
Heart | ɡʲʷə | ɡʷə | ɡʷə | ɡʷə | ɡʲə | ɡʷə | ɡʷə | ɡʷə
Sea | – | – | – | – | ɕʷa | xə | xə | xə
They sell it | – | – | – | – | aːɕan | – | jaːɕan | jaːɕan
I go | – | – | – | – | skʲʼan | skʷʼan | skʷʼan | skʷʼan
I say | – | – | – | – | sqʼan | – | sʔʷan | sʔʷan
Language/tongue | bǝźA | bzǝ | aːbz | bzǝ | bza | bza | bza | bza
Red | – | – | – | – | pɬə | pɬəʑ | pɬəʑ | pɬəʑ
Book, Letter | – | – | – | – | txəɬ | txəɬ | txəɬ | txəɬ
top of the back | – | – | – | – | txə | txə | txə | txə
Ox | c:ʷǝ | t͡sʷə | á-ć̌ | t͡ʃʷə | t͡sʷə | t͡sʷːə | t͡sʷə, t͡ʃʷə | və
Blood | – | – | – | – | ɬa | ɬə | ɬə | ɬə
Month/Moon | – | – | aːmza | məzə | məʒa | maːza | maːza | maːza
Beard | – | – | – | – | ʒaːkʲʼa | ʒaːkʲʼa | ʒaːt͡ʃʼa | ʒaːt͡ʃʼa
Dust | – | – | – | – | saːpa | saːpa | saːpa | saːba
Barefoot | – | – | – | – | ɬapsʼə | ɬapsʼa | ɬapt͡sʼa | ɬapt͡sʼa
Donkey | – | – | – | – | t͡ʃədə | ʃədə | ʃədə | ʃədə
Hedgehog | – | – | – | – | pəzʲə | pəʐ | pəʐ | –
Water | – | – | – | – | bzə | psə | psə | psə
Fault | – | – | – | – | laːʑa | laːʑa | laːʑa | laːʑa
House | ʁ́Iʷǝna | – | – | ʕʷna | – | wəna | wəna | wəna
Mother | (a)nǝ | (a)nǝ | á-n | anǝ | na | aːna | nə | aːna
Father | (a)ṕ:ǝ | ab | ab | aba | tʷǝ | at:a | tǝ | aːda
heavy | anǝTa | xanǝta | á-χ́anta | χ́anta | – | want:aʁʷ | wantaʁʷ | wandaʁʷ
cattle-shed | anǝTa | bawǝ-ra | bora | a-bóra, -bówra | bow | – | – | bow
guest | – | – | – | – | pč̣́a | ħa-č̣́á | ħaṣ́a | ħāč̣́a
mountain / hill | bǝɣA | – | bʁa | – | – | bɣǝ | bɣǝ | bɣǝ
measles / scarlet fever / navel | bǝč̣́ǝ | bǝč̣́ǝ | a-bč̣́ǝ́ | bč̣́ǝ | bǝč̣́ǝ́ | – | nǝbǝǯ́ | bǝnža
dust / bubble / blister | bǝbǝ | – | á-bǝb | – | – | psǝ-bǝb | psǝ-bǝb | psǝ-bǝb

## See also

* Proto-Circassian language
* Proto-Abazgi language

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `recon94`

## External links

* Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology

* v
* t
* e

North Caucasian languages

The proposed North Caucasian languages family comprises of the Northwest Caucasian and Northeast Caucasian language families

Northwest
Caucasian|

| Abkhaz–Abaza|

* Abaza
* Abkhaz

|

Circassian|

* Adyghe
* Kabardian

Other languages|

* Ubykh

Northeast
Caucasian|

| Avar–Andic|

* Akhvakh
* Andi
* Avar
* Bagvalal
* Botlikh
* Chamalal
* Godoberi
* Karata
* Tindi

|

Tsezic|

* Bezhta
* Hinukh
* Hunzib
* Khwarshi
* Tsez

Dargin|

* Chirag
* Dargwa
* Itsari
* Kajtak
* Kubachi

Lezgic|

* Aghul
* Archi
* Budukh
* Kryts
* Lezgian
* Rutul
* Tabasaran
* Tsakhur
* Udi

Nakh|

* Bats
* Chechen
* Ingush

Other languages|

* Khinalug
* Lak

Italics indicate extinct languages

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