Proto-Eskaleut or Proto-Eskimo–Aleut (sometimes Proto-Inuit-Yupik-Unangan) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Eskaleut languages, the family containing Eskimo and Aleut. Its existence is known through similarities in Eskimo and Aleut. The existence of Proto-Eskaleut is generally accepted among linguists. It was for a long time true that no linguistic reconstruction of Proto-Eskaleut had yet been produced, as stated by Bomhard. Such a reconstruction was offered by Knut Bergsland in 1986. Michael Fortescue offered another version of Proto-Eskaleut, largely based on the reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo in the Comparative Eskimo Dictionary he co-authored with Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan.
Phonology Fortescue reconstructs the phoneme inventory of Proto-Eskaleut as follows:
+ Consonants Labial Alveolar Velar Uvular plain palatalized Nasal () Plosive Affricate Fricative voiceless voiced Lateral fricative () Approximant
+ Vowels Front Central Back Close Mid Open
Notes:
Possible relation to other language families
There are no generally accepted relations between Proto-Eskaleut and other language families. A substantial case for a genetic relationship between Proto-Eskaleut, Yukaghir and Uralic was published by Michael Fortescue in 1998 in Language Relations across Bering Strait (see Uralo-Siberian languages).
References
Sources Bergsland, Knut. 1986. "Comparative Eskimo–Aleut phonology and lexicon". Journal de la Société finno-ougrienne 80:63–137.
Further reading