LINGUIST List 25.2031
Wed
May 07 2014
Diss: Naga, Historical
Ling, Phonology: Bruhn: 'A Phonological
Reconstruction ...'
Editor for this issue:
Xiyan Wang <xiyanlinguistlist.org>
Date: 07-May-2014
From: Daniel Bruhn
<dwbruhn
gmail.com>
Subject: A Phonological
Reconstruction of Proto-Central Naga
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Institution: University of California,
Berkeley
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2014
Author: Daniel Wayne Bruhn
Dissertation Title: A Phonological
Reconstruction of Proto-Central Naga
Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
Phonology
Subject Language(s):
Naga, Ao (njo)
Naga,
Lotha (njh)
Naga,
Sangtam (nsa)
Naga,
Yimchungru (yim)
Dissertation Director:
James A. Matisoff
Johanna Nichols
Andrew Garrett
Dissertation Abstract:
This dissertation presents a preliminary
reconstruction of the phonology
and lexicon (268 items) of Proto-Central Naga
(PCN), the putative ancestor
of a group of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken
primarily in Nagaland, a state
in northeast India: Ao, Lotha, Sangtam, and
Yimchungrü. Also reconstructed
in the process is the phonology and lexicon
(386 items) of Proto-Ao (PAo),
the intermediate ancestor of the Ao lects.
Teleo-reconstructions of
Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB) are drawn upon to
examine the sound changes that
took place in the development from PTB to the
Central Naga languages.
Chapter I (Introduction) provides background
information on the Central
Naga languages and discusses the history of
scholarship on this group. The
conventions and linguistic sources used
throughout this work are also
presented.
Chapter II (Proto-Ao) reconstructs the
phonology and lexicon of Proto-Ao,
the intermediate ancestor of the Ao branch of
Central Naga. It presents the
phonology of standard Chungli Ao, Mangmetong
Mongsen Ao, and Proto-Ao,
followed by reconstructions of PAo onsets and
rimes based on 386 cognate
sets. The reconstructibility of the PAo tone
system is also explored, and
the chapter is concluded with a discussion of
the PTB>PAo and PAo>Ao sound
changes proposed.
Chapter III (Proto-Central Naga) reconstructs
the phonology and lexicon of
Proto-Central Naga. It presents the phonology
of Lotha, Sangtam,
Yimchungrü, and Proto-Central Naga, followed by
reconstructions of PCN
rimes and onsets based on 268 cognate sets,
with an intervening discussion
of the prefixes. The chapter is concluded with
a discussion of the PTB>PCN
and PCN>CN sound changes proposed.
Chapter IV (Conclusion) examines the place of
the Central Naga group within
the Tibeto-Burman family based on a study of
shared phonological
innovations. The dissertation is then concluded
with a discussion of future
directions in diachronic research on the CN
languages.
Seven appendices are provided (A–G): three
indices of the sound changes
proposed for PTB>PCN (Appendix A), PCN>CN
languages (Appendix B), and
PAo>Ao lects (Appendix C); two sets of
charts summarizing the PTB>PCN>CN
(Appendix D) and PTB>PAo>Ao (Appendix E)
sound changes; and two indices of
PAo (Appendix F) and PCN (Appendix G)
reconstructions, alphabetized by
proto-gloss.
Page Updated: 07-May-2014