Arguments For and Against Genetical Unity
When the hypothetical Finnic-Sami protolanguage (also known as Early Proto-Finnic) is reconstructed, it turns out phonologically nearly identical to the preceding stage, Proto-Finno-Volgaic (which in turn is very close to Proto-Finno-Ugric, and quite close to Proto-Uralic itself as well).
There are a number of noticeable traits common to most Finno-Lappic languages, however none of them unquestionably in favor of a family unity. The first of these is the presence of consonant gradation, found in all of the languages except the marginal languages of the group, Livonian, Veps and Southern Sami. Gradation is also found in the distantly related Samoyedic Nganasan, and it has been debated if gradation is an original Uralic feature suppressed in all other branches, an independent innovation in Finno-Lappic and Nganasan, or independent in all three of Finnic, Samic and Nganasan. Also, even if gradation in Finnic and Samic is connected, it is disputed whether this represents common inheritance or later contact influence.
The contrastive presence of rounded vowels beyond the first syllable, atypical of Uralic languages in general, is also present in both Finnic and Samic (and again also Samoyedic). This too has been argued to represent later contact influence, on the basis of comparisons such as F. *enoj : S. *eanoj "maternal uncle", where the exclusively Finnic development *aj > *oj appears to have been loaned into Samic. There is also considerable disagreement between the languages (both between the two families, and within them) in whether certain words contain a rounded vowel.
The loss of initial *w before a short rounded vowel has also been proposed as a common innovation, but with counterexamples such as Estonian võtta- "to take" (with *w preserved as its regular reflex /ʋ/ due to the development *o > /ɤ/) suggesting a date postdating not only the split between Finnic and Samic, but also of northern and southern Finnic (cf. Finnish otta-). (A complementary epenthesis of *w before initial long rounded vowels is accepted to not represent common inheritance, as it occurs also before long vowels resulting from the exclusively Samic development *a > *ō.)
For morphological features common to Samic and Finnic formerly thought to represent Finno-Lappic innovations, explanations have likewise been offered either of common Uralic inheritance or of independent innovation.
Read more about this topic: Finno-Lappic Languages
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