Cerrado languages explained

The Cerrado languages (also referred to as Amazonian Jê^[1]) are a branch of the Jê languages constituted by the Goyaz Jê languages and Akuwẽ (Central Jê).^[2]

Sound changes from Proto-Jê to Proto-Cerrado

The occurrence of the consonant */g/ in Proto-Cerrado (as in */g/õt ‘to sleep’, */g/õ ‘to give’, */g/aj’ ‘you’) is believed to be an innovation; it has been claimed to have been inserted in onsetless-stressed syllables.

The Proto-Cerrado diphthongs *wa and *ja are believed to continue Proto-Jê monophthongs, which have been reconstructed as *ô and *ê₂. Other vowels which have been claimed to have innovated in Proto-Cerrado are:

• ô (goes back to an unrounded vowel, reconstructed as Proto-Jê *ə̂₁);
• u (a merger of earlier *u₁ and *u₂, distinguished in the Southern Jê languages as o and u, respectively);
• ũ (a merger of earlier *ũ₁ and *ũ₂, distinguished as ũ and ỹ in Kaingang and as ũ and õ in Laklãnõ);
• ə̃ (a merger of earlier *ə̃ and *ỹ, distinguished as ỹ and ĩ in Kaingang and as õ and ẽ in Laklãnõ);
• all vowels in the Proto-Jê unstressed syllables of the shape *pV- were neutralized in the Cerrado languages: Proto-Cerrado *pᵊ- (> Proto-Goyaz Jê *py-/*pu-, Proto-Akuwẽ *pi-).

Sound changes from Proto-Cerrado to the daughter languages

Onsets

The simple onset inventory of Proto-Cerrado is */p m w t n ɾ c ɲ j k ŋ g/, and the only complex onsets are */pɾ mɾ kɾ ŋɾ/.

Their reflexes in the daughter branches are shown below.

Proto-Cerrado		Proto-Goyaz Jê		Proto-Akuwẽ
oral nucleus	nasal nucleus	oral nucleus	nasal nucleus	oral nucleus (Proto-Cerrado non-high vowel)	oral nucleus (Proto-Cerrado high vowel)	before a diphthong	nasal nucleus
p */p/		p */p/		p */p/	b */b/	N/A	m */b/
mb */m/	m */m/	mb */m/	m */m/
pr */pɾ/		pr */pɾ/		pr */pɾ/	N/A		mr */bɾ/
mbr */mɾ/	mr */mɾ/	mbr */mɾ/	mr */mɾ/				N/A
w */w/		b */b/		w */w/
t */t/		t */t/		t */t/	d */d/	∅	n */d/
nd */n/	n */n/	nd */n/	n */n/		N/A
r */ɾ/		r */ɾ/		r */ɾ/		∅	r */ɾ/
c */c/		c */c/		c */c/	ĵ */ɟ/, *h */h/ (before *i)	∅	c */c/
nĵ */ɲ/	N/A	nĵ */ɲ/	N/A		N/A
j */j/	ñ */j/	ĵ (stressed)/*j (unstressed) */ĵ/	ñ */ĵ/	ĵ */ĵ/, *c */c/ (before *i)		k */k/	ñ */ĵ/
k */k/		k */k/		k */k/ (unstressed *ka- > *wa-)	h */h/	∅	k */k/
ŋg */ŋ/	ŋ */ŋ/	ŋg */ŋ/	ŋ */ŋ/				N/A
kr */kɾ/		kr */kɾ/		kr */kɾ/			kr */kɾ/
ŋgr */ŋɾ/	ŋr */ŋɾ/	ŋgr */ŋɾ/	ŋr */ŋɾ/				N/A
g */g/		g */g/	ŋ */g/	g */g/	N/A

Nuclei

The inventory of the Proto-Cerrado monophthongs is reconstructed as follows.

oral				nasal
i */i/	y */ɨ/	u */u/		ĩ */ĩ/	ỹ */ɨ̃/
ê */e/	ə̂ */ɘ/	ô */o/
e */ɛ/	ə */ɜ/	o */ɔ/		ẽ */ɛ̃/	ə̃ */ɜ̃/	õ */ɔ̃/
	a */a/

In addition, two diphthongs can be reconstructed, */wa/ and */ja/.

The following table shows the usual reflexes of the Proto-Cerrado nuclei in Proto-Goyaz Jê and in Proto-Akuwẽ. The latter group shows a chain vowel shift known as the Akuwẽ/Central Jê vowel shift.^{[3] [4]}

Proto-Cerrado	Proto-Goyaz Jê	Proto-Akuwẽ
a */a/	a */a/, *ã */ã/ (before *-m’)	a */a/
ə */ɜ/	ə */ɜ/	e */ɛ/, *ê */e/ (before a dental coda)
ə̂ */ɘ/	ə̂ */ɘ/
y */ɨ/	y */ɨ/, *ə */ɜ/ (after a velar onset), *ỹ */ɨ̃/ (before *-m’)	ə */ə/
o */ɔ/	o */ɔ/	o */ɔ/
ô */o/	ô */o/	u */u/
u */u/	u */u/, *ũ */ũ/ (before *-m’)
wa */wa/	wa */wa/, *û */ua/, *wə̂ */wɘ/ (in closed syllables)	wa */wa/
e */ɛ/	e */ɛ/	ê */e/
ê */e/	ê */e/	i */i/
i */i/	i */i/
ja */ja/	jê */je/, *î */ia/	ĵa */ɟa/
ə̃ */ɜ̃/	ə̃ */ɜ̃/	ə̃ */ə̃/
ỹ */ɨ̃/	ỹ */ɨ̃/
õ */ɔ̃/	õ */ɔ̃/	õ */ɔ̃/
ẽ */ɛ̃/	ẽ */ɛ̃/	ẽ */ɛ̃/
ĩ */ĩ/	ĩ */ĩ/	ĩ */ĩ/

Codas

Notes and References

1. Ribeiro . Eduardo Rivail . Voort . Hein van der . 2010 . Nimuendajú was right: the inclusion of the Jabutí language family in the Macro-Jê stock . International Journal of American Linguistics . 76 . 4 . 517–70 .
2. Nikulin . Andrey . 2020 . Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo . Ph.D. dissertation . Brasília . Universidade de Brasília.
3. Oliveira . Christiane Cunha de . February 2014 . The Language of the Apinajé People of Central Brazil . Ph.D. dissertation . Eugene, OR . University of Oregon.
4. Nikulin . Andrey . A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Cerrado (Jê family) . Journal of Language Relationship . 2017 . 15 . 3 . 147–180 . 10.31826/jlr-2018-153-404. free .