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|
| Proto-Northwest Caucasian | |
|---|---|
| Proto-West Caucasian, Proto-Abkhaz-Adyghe | |
| Reconstruction of | Northwest Caucasian languages |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
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.
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.
There was a primary four-way distinction of almost all obstruents in Proto-Northwest Caucasian. The following variations have been proposed:
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/.
The table of consonants below is adapted from Starostin & Nikolayev (1994), 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| *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 |
The most noticeable sound shifts are:
| 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 |
| 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 |
The proposed North Caucasian language family comprises the Northeast and Northwest Caucasian language families. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwest (Pontic) |
|  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast (Caspian) |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italics indicate extinct languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
