The development of Proto-Samoyedic vowel sequences and their place in the history of Proto-Samoyed

Leonid Zaitsev (M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University; leozaytsev2003@gmail.com)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 23/1-2, 2025 - p.168-180

Abstract: The paper examines the issue of Proto-Samoyed vowel sequences (*Və/ə̑) reconstructed on the basis of correspondences between Nganasan and Enets vowel sequences and Nenets long vowels. Their genesis from Proto-Uralic has recently been described as a special development of certain sound combinations, namely *VwV, *Vli, *Vji, except for a few cases traced back to PU *Vx. The conditions for the development are not always analyzed unambiguously. In the article, I demonstrate the regularity of the development of PS *Və/ə̑ from earlier vocalic confluences that have formed after previously established loss of PU *j and *w, and claim that the development is part of a sequence of regular sound changes and other diachronical processes. A detailed relative chronology is also proposed for the processes under discussion.

Keywords: linguistic reconstruction, historical phonology, Proto-Samoyed vocalism, regular sound change, analogical leveling

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