Internal reconstruction in Chulupí (Nivaclé)

This paper is about internal reconstruction and the history of Chulupí, a Matacoan language of Argentina and Paraguay. We apply internal reconstruction and postulate several sound changes in the history of Chulupí. We bring the results of this internal reconstruction to bear on external comparisons based on cognates in other Matacoan languages, and in this way we check the validity of the internal reconstruction and contribute to aspects of Matacoan historical linguistics. We discuss some methodological implications for internal reconstruction in general and its relationship to the comparative method.