Proto-Algic language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Proto-Algic |
|
|---|---|
| PAc | |
| Reconstruction of | Algic languages |
| Region | Columbia Plateau? |
| Era | ca. 5000 BCE |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
Proto-Algic (sometimes called PAc) is an ancient language that no one speaks anymore. It's like the "grandparent" language from which a group of languages called Algic languages came from. These include the Wiyot language, Yurok language, and another old language called Proto-Algonquian.
Scientists believe Proto-Algic was spoken about 7,000 years ago. This was a very long time ago, even before ancient Egypt! It was likely spoken somewhere in the American Northwest, maybe around the Columbia Plateau area.
Proto-Algic is special because it's a "second-level proto-language." This means that to figure out what Proto-Algic was like, researchers first had to study another ancient language, Proto-Algonquian. A main researcher who studied Proto-Algic was Paul Proulx.
Sounds: Vowels
Proto-Algic had four main vowel sounds. Think of vowels like the 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' in English. In Proto-Algic, these vowels could be either short or long.
- Long vowels: *i·, *e·, *a·, *o·
- Short vowels: *i, *e, *a, *o
Sounds: Consonants
Proto-Algic had many different consonant sounds. Consonants are sounds like 'p', 't', 's', 'm', 'n'.
Some of the sounds in Proto-Algic were:
- Stops: These are sounds where you completely stop the air, like 'p', 't', 'k'.
- Fricatives: These are sounds where you push air through a narrow space, like 's' or 'sh'.
- Nasals: These are sounds that come out of your nose, like 'm' and 'n'.
- Semivowels: These are sounds that are a bit like vowels but act like consonants, such as 'y' and 'w'.
What's interesting is that many of these sounds also had special versions:
- Aspirated sounds: These are sounds made with a puff of air, like the 'p' in "pot."
- Glottalized sounds: These are sounds made by briefly closing and opening your throat (the glottis) at the same time as you make the sound.
Over time, when Proto-Algic changed into Proto-Algonquian, many of these special aspirated and glottalized sounds disappeared.
See also
