Penutian Languages - Evidence For The Penutian Hypothesis

Evidence For The Penutian Hypothesis

Perhaps because many Penutian languages have ablaut, vowels are difficult to reconstruct. However, consonant correspondences are common. For example, the proto-Yokuts (Inland Penutian) retroflexes */ʈ/ */ʈʼ/ correspond to Klamath (Plateau Penutian) /t͡ʃ t͡ʃʼ/, whereas the Proto-Yokuts dental */t̪/ */t̪ʰ/ */t̪ʼ/ correspond to Klamath alveolar /d t tʼ/. Kalapuya, Takelma, and Wintu do not show such obvious connections, and DeLancey has not investigated Mexican Penutian or other geographic outliers.

Based on archeological calculations, the Yok-Utian family may be as old as Indo-European, and the Klamath appear to have lived in their current location for 7000 years. Thus the time depth of the proposed Inland Penutian branch alone approaches the limits of what many think traditional historical reconstruction can determine; this is sometimes used as an argument against the Penutian hypothesis.

Based on linguistic analysis, archaeological data, other historic evidence, and field trips, Otto J. von Sadovszky. late professor of Anthropology, California State University, Fullerton, made the correlation for the migration of fishers from the Ob River (Siberia). Their folklore suggests they ultimately followed salmon along the North American coast and entered San Francisco Bay. He dubbed them Cal-Ugrians, and the Asian group Ob-Ugrians. His reconstruction of such migrations has not been well received. In his studies, he suggests a link between certain Asian language families that include Hungarian (his native tongue) and languages of the Ob River and the Penutian languages of California. See his book for a detailed analysis of the languages and the ethnohistorial reconstruction.

Below are some Penutian sound correspondences given by Lyle Campbell.

California Penutian and Klamath Sound Correspondences