proto-southwestern-tai revised: a new reconstruction - seals 22

120 Pittayawat Pittayaporn
phonology. I then proceed to discuss important features of the proposed sound system of
PSWT that have implications for the reconstruction of Proto-Tai (PT).
2 Reconstructing PSWT phonology
Although the reconstruction put forward here agrees largely with those of Li (1977),
Sarawit (1973) and Jonsson (1991), it differs in some very crucial aspects. In this section, I
first briefly review earlier proposals on the reconstruction of PSWT, then provide some
methodological notes, and, lastly, discuss the claims made about the PSWT phonology.
2.1 Review of earlier reconstructions
All earlier PSWT reconstructions agree that PSWT had five places of articulation among
consonants: labial, alveolar, palatal, velar, and glottal. Except for the glottal series, these
places show four contrastive phonation-types: aspirated voiceless, unaspirated voiceless,
glottalized voiced, and plain voiced. Regarding the vowel system, all these proposals posit
systems that contrast frontness/backness as well as lip rounding at three vowel heights. As
for PSWT tones, they also agree that the three-way tonal contrast of PT was retained at the
PSWT level and that tonal splits had not occurred. A comparison between the different
systems can be found in Appendix A.
As is the case for PT, Li (1977) is also the standard reconstruction for PSWT.
Although his main concern in this monumental work is the reconstruction of PT, he also
provides reconstructions for the three subgroups he proposes. In this reconstruction, PSWT
can be characterized as PT with a reduced phonemic inventory resulting from mergers of
initials and vowels. One important development from PT to PSWT is the introduction of
length contrast in high vowels *i/*iː, *ɯ/ɯː and *u/*uː by regular sound changes. Sarawit
(1973) is another important attempt at reconstructing the PT vowel system. She modifies
the system of initials proposed in an earlier work by Li (1954) and reconstructs the vowel
system of each of the three branches. Though different in minor details, her PSWT
vocalism is very similar to that of Li (1977)
Two other available reconstructions of PSWT are those of Brown (1965) and
Jonsson (1991). Brown’s “Ancient Thai” corresponds roughly to PSWT in Li (1960)’s
model but only includes varieties spoken in Thailand and adjacent areas. Varieties in
Vietnam such as Black Tai and White Tai are not included. This reconstruction is different
markedly from the first two with respect to vowel length. Specifically, in this system,
contrastive vowel length is not limited to high vowels. The most recent reconstruction is
that by Jonsson (1991), which is the only work that deals primarily with PSWT. In contrast
to Brown (1965), the only length contrast in this system is that of *a and *aː. As for the
consonant system, this reconstruction is almost identical to that of Li (1977). As a point of
departure, the PSWT inventory of initials and vowels given in Li (1977) is summarized in
Table 1.
The reconstruction put forward in this paper supports many of the basic positions
outlined above, but it also makes some new claims about the sound system of PSWT.
Specifically, I argue that 1) there was a distinct series of uvular consonants in PSWT, 2)
there is no evidence for clusters *pʰr/l-, *kʰl-, ʔbr- and *mr- at the PSWT level, 3) a mid
back unrounded vowel *ɤ must be reconstructed, and 4) vowel length was contrastive in
PSWT. As a point of departure, the PSWT inventory of initials and vowels proposed here
is summarized in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3.