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Article published In: Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 14:2 (2024) ► pp.242–303

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Vowel shifts in Middle Wichi (Mataguayan family, South America)

ORCiD logo with link | Universidad Nacional de La Plata | Universidad de Buenos Aires
ORCiD logo with link | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Published online: 23 May 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.22030.ner
Abstract
This paper analyzes vowel shifts in Wichi (Mataguayan, South America) between the 18th and early 20th centuries, some of which contributed to the emergence of the Pilcomayeño and Bermejeño dialects. Based on a historical database and using the comparative method, we date the vowel shift over the period we have named as Middle Wichi. At the early stage of this period, the /e/ > /a/ lowering is analyzed as a sporadic change, spread across the dialects in part of the vocabulary. At a later stage, the chain shift /ɑ/ > /o/ > /u/ > /e, i/, the merger of /u/ with /e/ and /i/, and the sporadic change of /i/>/e/ lowering in some words took place in Bermejeño. The paper explores implications in the implementation of sound change, the regular changes and the lexical diffusion, in particular, in chain shifting. It also explores some connections with other Mataguayan languages in both the lowering e>a and the possible causes of the changes. Thus, the paper contributes to the historical study of the Wichi language and the Mataguayan family in the Gran Chaco area in South America.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Wichi language periodization: Some historical and linguistic background from the 18th century to the early 20th century
  • 3.Sources, lexical databases, and methodology
    • 3.1Historical sources
    • 3.2Historical database
    • 3.3Methodology
  • 4.The vowel phonological inventory in Old Wichi and in Present-Day Wichi
    • 4.1Old Wichi: A tentative reconstruction of the vowel inventory
    • 4.2Present-Day Wichi: Contemporary vowel inventories
  • 5.Vowel shifts in Middle Wichi
    • 5.1Early Middle Wichi: The e>a shift in Pilcomayeño and Bermejeño dialects
    • 5.2Late Middle Wichi: Back vowel chain shift in the Bermejeño dialect
    • 5.3Late Middle Wichi: The i>e shift in Bermejeño dialect
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Historical sources of Wichi data
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