Proto-Dené-Caucasian roots

The Proto-Dené–Caucasian language is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Basque, Burushaski, North Caucasian, Sino-Tibetan, Yeniseian, Na-Dené and possibly also other languages of Eurasia and North America.

The relationship among these languages and the existence of a Dene–Caucasian family is disputed or rejected by most linguists.^[1][2][3][4]

Several remarks must be made:

• The inclusion of Na-Dené (here understood to include Haida) is only preliminary, as the work on the regular sound correspondences has not been completed yet.
• Sumerian has been included only as a tentative member. As with other ancient languages, much work remains to be done to elucidate its phonology. Besides Dené–Caucasian, Sumerian has also been compared to Nostratic (and/or its branches) and Austric (especially Munda). None of these proposals are considered as conclusive. There is not enough evidence to state with certainty that Sumerian was (or, in the case of the oldest proto-languages, was not) a relative of any of them.

Glossary

Special lists

100-word list

Meaning	Corresponding meaning
	Different meaning
	No known match

Meaning	PDC	Basque	Caucasian	Burushaski	Sino-Tibetan	Yeniseian	Na-Dené	(Sumerian)	Comments
blood1	t͡ɕʼaːd͡ɮwV́	-særːði^1	t͡ɕʼaːd͡ɮwV(ː)²		t͡sak³	sur^4			^1 In izerdi /iserːði/ 'sweat' < */i-særːði/; */i-/ is the fossilized 2nd animate class marker. ² PEC: PNa */t͡sʼeːgi(ː)/ 'blood', */t͡sʼeːge(ː)-n/ 'red'; PAv */t͡ʃʼa(ː)gV(ː)-/ 'alive'; PLez */t͡ʃʼV(ː)t͡ɬːʷV(ː)-/ (-w-) 'alive; lively, animated'; Hurr /zur-gi/ 'blood' ³ Alternatively /t͡ɕak/ 'red (metal), gold' ^4 Also 'red'
blood2	hwiʔnV(ː)	Huni^1	hweʔnV(ː)²	huní³	ʔʷiːj^4			umun^5	^1 Zuberoan hün 'marrow, brain', Lapurdian fuiñ 'marrow, pith' ² PEC: Akhwakh /hini/ 'blood', Avar /han/ 'meat' ³ Yasin 'stone (of fruit)' ^4 Some languages contain a prefix, hence also */s-ʔʷiːj/ ^5 u3-mun; u3-mu-un; umun "blood"
blood3	TVɬV	-dol^1			t(h)ǝlH²		dǝ̀t͡ɬ³	dara^4	^1 In odol 'blood' < */o-dol/; /o-/ is the fossilized 1st animate class marker. ² 'meat, flesh' ³ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak: Eyak /deɬ/; Chipewyan /dɛ̀ɬ/, Navajo /dìɬ/ 'blood', etc. ^4 dara4 "(to be) red; (to be) brown; blood"
blood4	gVrV	gorː-^1		gir²			ɢɑi³	kurun^4	^1 In gorri 'red; incandescent', gorri-t 'to become red'; gor-din 'raw', gorringo 'yolk of eggs' < */gorː-/ ² Nagar 'water that flows from a wound' ³ The Skidegate dialect of Haida, also other dialects: (A) /ʕɑ́y/ 'blood', /s-ʕi-t/ 'to be red'; Tlingit /-ɢe/ ~ /-ɢi/ 'bright, shining'; Proto-Athabaskan */ɢɑy/ 'white' > Navajo /-gɑ̀ì/, etc. ^4 kurun; kurun2; kurun3 "a beer; blood; (to be) good; (to be) sweet"
blood5	t͡ɬEwŋV́(ː)		t͡ɬEwnV(ː)^1	-ltán²	t͡ɬɨaŋ³			urin^4	^1~*/x-/, */ɬ-/; Proto-East-Caucasian 'internal fat', Proto-West-Caucasian */ɬA/ 'blood'. ² In Burushaski */mu-ltán/. ³ 'heart'; Old Chinese */d͡ɮaŋ/ 'intestines', Lushai /luŋ/ 'heart', Kiranti */ḷuŋ/ 'lung, heart' ^4 urin; u3-ri2-in "blood"
bone	kot͡sʼa(ː)		kot͡sʼa(ː)^1		kuːt²		-kut͡s³		^1 Alternatively */kot͡sʼe(ː)/; Proto-East Caucasian: Hunzib /kʼot͡sʼu/ 'back of head', Agul /kʼat͡sʼ/ 'vertebra' ² Starostin compares this form to PDC */xqʼHwɨ(ː)ntV́ː/ 'elbow' ³ In Haida (A) /s-kut͡s/, also (M) /s-kud͡ʒ/ ~ /s-kud͡ʒi/ 'bone'.
eye	wemqʼV́	moko^[1]	wimqʼV^[2]	-moq-^[3]	mjVk^[4]	ʔǝqa-^[5]	wɑ̀ɢ^[6]	(igi)^[7]	^1 ‘beak, bill’ if not from Romance. Compare also /begi/, problematic for phonological reasons. ² ‘witness; true’ < ‘eye-witness’ < ‘eye’ ³ /-móq-iʂ/ ‘face’ (Yasin), ‘cheek’ (Hunza, Nagar), Yasin /-móq-ot/ ‘cheek’ ^4 ‘eye’ > Old Chinese */muk/ ‘eye’, Tibetan /mig/, etc. ^5 ‘to be visible’ ^6 (/wɑ̀qˑ/) Tlingit ‘eye’. Also Proto-Athabaskan */n(ə)-weˑɢ-/ > Deg Xinag /-mɑɢˑ/, Navajo /-nɑ́ɑ́ʔ/ ‘eye’ ^7 Emegir dialect, Emesal has /ibi/.

Body Parts

Meaning	PDC	Vasconic	Caucasian	Burushaski	Sino-Tibetan	Yeniseian	Na-Dené	(Sumerian)	Comments
back	d͡zV[k]wV	-ska-^[1]	zəkʷa^[2]	-sqa^[3]		ʔuska^[4]	sku^[5]	(sug)	^1 In (c) bizkar /biskarː/ ‘back; crest, hill’ < */bi-ska-rː/; */bi/- is a fossilized inanimate marker, *-/rː/ is a fossilized plural ending. ² Proto-Abkhaz-Tapant ‘back’ > Abkhaz азқәа /azkʷa/, etc. ³ ‘on one’s back’ – must be preceded by personal prefix, e.g. /ˈa-sqa/ ‘on my back’. ^4 */suga/ ~ */ʔuska/ ‘back, backwards’ (adverb), e.g. Ket /ɕuga⁶/; /uɕka⁵/ ‘back (homeward)’, etc. (the raised numbers are probably tones – which ones?) ^5 Haida (Skidegate). Also Haida (Masset) sgwaay /sgwaːj/ ‘back’.
back (upper)1	wəd͡ɮV	-balda^[1]	wəd͡ɮV^[2]	-wáld-^[3]				(bar)^[4]	^1 In Basque sorbalda /ɕorːbalda/ < */ɕorː-balda/ ‘shoulder’ ² In Hunza, Nagar /-wáld-as/, Yasin /-wáld-es/ ‘back’ ³ Proto-East Caucasian. > Bezhta /boɬo/, Hunzib /bolo/, etc. ^4 ‘back, shoulder; behind’
back (upper)2	bHǝrxkV́		bHǝrχV^[1]	-pʰóʁonas^[2]	ph(r)aːk^[3]			(murgu)^[4]	^1 Proto-East Caucasian ‘back, shoulder-blade’ > Proto-Lezghian */marχˁVl/ ² Yasin ‘shoulder’ ³ ‘shoulder’ ^4 ‘shoulder; back’
body
cheek	daːŋʔɨː		daːŋʔɨː^[1]		Taŋ^[2]		da͊ʔ^[3]	(tun)^[4]	^1 Proto-East Caucasian ‘cheek; gum’ ² Kiranti ³ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit > Eyak /dɑˑʔ/ ‘face’; Hupa /-dɑʔ/ ‘mouth, lips’, Chipewyan /-dɑ̀/, /-dɑ́/ ‘lip, beak’, Navajo /-dɑ̀ɑ̀ʔ/ ‘lip, bill’ ^4 ‘lip; chin’
eye	wemqʼV́	moko^[1]	wimqʼV^[2]	-moq-^[3]	mjVk^[4]	ʔǝqa-^[5]	wɑ̀ɢ^[6]	(igi)^[7]	^1 ‘beak, bill’ if not from Romance. Compare also /begi/, problematic for phonological reasons. ² ‘witness; true’ < ‘eye-witness’ < ‘eye’ ³ /-móq-iʂ/ ‘face’ (Yasin), ‘cheek’ (Hunza, Nagar), Yasin /-móq-ot/ ‘cheek’ ^4 ‘eye’ > Old Chinese */muk/ ‘eye’, Tibetan /mig/, etc. ^5 ‘to be visible’ ^6 (/wɑ̀qˑ/) Tlingit ‘eye’. Also Proto-Athabaskan */n(ə)-weˑɢ-/ > Deg Xinag /-mɑɢˑ/, Navajo /-nɑ́ɑ́ʔ/ ‘eye’ ^7 Emegir dialect, Emesal has /ibi/.
face	nHeːmdV						-neˑnʔ
feather
foot1	tʼwiːɦVː^[1]	-te-^[2]	tʼwiːɦVː^[3]	-húʈ-^[4]	tɨH^[5]		-tʼɑ-^[6]		^1 Also with a metathesized counterpart */ɦiːtʼwVː/ in Proto-Avaro-Andian and Burushaski. ² In Basque izter /isterː/ ‘thigh’ < */i-s-te-rː/; */i-/ is the fossilized 3nd animate class marker, */-s-/ is a fossilized prefix, usually marking body parts (see the Tibetan and Haida forms below), */-rː/ is the fossilized plural marker. ³ ‘foot, forefoot’ ^4 Yasin /-húʈ-is/, Hunza, Nagar /-úʈ/, /-úʈ-is/ ‘foot’ ^5 ‘heel, ankle’. Old Chinese */təʔ/ ‘foot, heel’ Tibetan /sta/ ‘hip bone’ ^6 In Haida stʼáay /s-tʼɑːj/, stʼa- /s-tʼɑ-/ ‘foot’, tʼaa- /tʼɑː/ ‘step’; Sarsi /-tʼɑːs/, /-tʼɑːz/ ‘to move one's own foot’, etc.
foot2	qʼHwV́lV^[1]		q̱ʼHwVlV^[2]			χɔlV-^[3]	qʼuluu^[4]		^1 Or */qʼHwV́ɫV/ ² Proto-East Caucasian > Lezgi /qʼyl/ ‘foot, kick’, etc. ³ In Yeniseian /χɔ(ʔ)lV-[t͡ʃ]iɢ/ ‘hoof’ ^4 Haida (Masset) /qʼuːlu/ ‘knee’
forehead
forehead < edge	bʕáːɫho	bela-^[1]	bʕaːɫho^[2]	bal^[3]	-PVl^[4]				^1 In Basque belar /belarː/ < */bela-rː/; *-/rː/ is a fossilized plural ending ² Proto-East Caucasian ‘edge, protruding end’> Proto-Lezghian */pːaˁlː/ ‘forehead; horn’ > Rutul /bæl/, Kryz /bel/ ‘forehead’ ³ ‘forehead’ < ‘edge’ ^4 Attested in Tibetan /dprɑl/ ‘forehead’ < */d-r-pɑl/
gullet
head	t͡ɕʼV́qV		SqIa^[1]	-t͡ʃáʁanes^[2]		t͡s[ɨ]ʔɢ-	-t͡siʔ^[3]	(saĝ)^[4]	^1 Proto-West Caucasian > Ubykh /ʃɑ/, Kabardian /ɕħɑ/ ² Yasin ‘back of head’ ³ Proto-Athabaskan ‘head’. Also Eyak /t͡siʔ/ ‘neck’, Tlingit /si/ ‘neck’ ^4 Phonetic [saŋ]
horn	t͡ɬwɨrV	-rːðarː	t͡ɬwɨrV^[1]	-ltúr^[2]					^1 Proto-East Caucasian ² Hunza, Nagar /-ltúr/, Hunza, Nagar, Yasin /Tur/ (standalone form)
jaw
joint
lip	kʼweːmtʼiː		kʼweːmtʼiː				kʼúdʼɑ
mouth	χwǝ-	-ho	χwɨ-		khʷəː(H)	χowe	χUʔ	(kag)
neck
nose	mHart͡ʃwV́	muɕu^[1]	mHart͡ʃwV^[2]	-múʃ^[3]				(muš)^[4]	^1 (G) musu ‘nose’, (c) ‘snout, face, mouth, lip, kiss’, according to Bengtson, this Dené–Caucasian etymology accounts for the Romance words listed by Trask (1997: 261); (G) musu-zulo ‘nostrils’ ² Proto-East Caucasian > Chamalal /maʃ/ ‘snot’, etc. ³ ‘snot’ (also ‘nose’ in Yasin), Hunza, Nagar /-múʃ-kane/ ‘on one's face, face down’, Yasin /-múʃ-puʃiŋ/ ‘nostrils’ ^4 Phonetic [muʃ] ‘face, appearance’
point
tongue	méɫt͡sʼi	mixi	melṯ͡sʼi	-mélt͡ʂ				(meze)
tooth	kVrd͡ʒwV	xort͡s	kVrd͡ʒeː

Pronominal morphemes

Meaning	Dene–Caucasian	Basque	Caucasian	Burushaski	Sino-Tibetan	Yeniseian	Na-Dené	(Sumerian)	Comments
1st sg.	*ŋV	*ni, *n-	*nɨ̆	*a-	*ŋa:-	*ŋ		/ŋa(e)/^(1)	(1) Emesal dialect /ma(e)/
	*dzV	*-da-/*-t	*zo:	*dzʲa		*ʔadz	^(1)		(1) Proto-Athabaskan *ʃ, Haida dii
	*KV	*gu^(1)/*g-			*kă-		^(2)		(1) 1st pl.; (2) Tlingit χa, Eyak x-, xʷ
2nd sg.	*KʷV	*hi, *h-, *-ga-	*ʁV:	*gu-/*go-	*Kʷa-	*(V)k(V)	^(1)		(1) Proto-Athabaskan *χʷ-, Tlingit ɣi ~ yi = 2nd pl.; Tlingit ʔi, Eyak ʔi "thou"
	*wVn		*wo:-n	*u-n	*nă-(ŋ)	*ʔaw	^(1)		(1) Proto-Athabaskan *ŋ̰ən-, Haida daŋ, Tlingit waʔɛ́
3rd sg.	*w- (*m-)	be-ra	*mV	*mu-^(1)	*m-	*wV	^(2)		(1) feminine; (2) Proto-Athabaskan *wə-, Eyak wa-, Tlingit wɛ́, Haida ’wa
2nd pl.	*Su	*su, *s-	*zʲwĕ					/za(e)/^(1)	(1) 2nd sg.

Class affixes

PDC	Basque	Caucasian	Sino-Tibetan	Yeniseian	Comments
*u̯-	*o-/*u-	*u̯-		*a/*o
*j	*e-/*i-	*j-	*g- (?)	*i/*id
*w	*be-/*bi-	*w-/*b-(/*m-)	*b-/*m-	*b
*r		*r-/*d-	*r-/*d-
*s	*-s-	(*-s-)	*s-

Other words

The majority of the word forms in the table represent reconstructions in the respective proto-languages, to wit, Proto-Basque, Proto-North Caucasian, Proto-Burushaski, Proto-Sino-Tibetan, Proto-Yeniseian and Proto-Na-Dené (here meant to include Haida). Nevertheless, especially in the cases of Na-Dené, North Caucasian and Sino-Tibetan, some expressions have not been attested in the whole family and can only be traced back to the individual intermediate daughter (proto-)languages. See the footnotes for details. As for Proto-Na-Dené, its reconstruction is still in its infancy but may soon be improved thanks to the recently finished dictionary of Haida.

As above, /V/ means that the vowel in this position has not been successfully reconstructed yet,

Meaning	Basque	Caucasian	Burushaski	Sino-Tibetan	Yeniseian	Na-Dené	PDC
back	/bi-ska-rː/^1	/zəkʷa/^2	-/sqa/^3		/ʔuska/^4	/sku/^5	ʒV[k]wV /d͡zV[k]wV/
arm		/ɢːHwɨnAː/^6		/keːn/^7	/ken/^8	-/ɢạːn/-^9	xGHwV́nĀ /xɢˈHwVnAː/
limb	/ɕoin/^10	/Ht͡s̕ːweːjmə/^11	-/ˈɕaŋ/^12			/t͡s̕ən/^13	Hc̣wḗjŋə /Ht͡s̕ˈweːjŋə/
genitalia	/kunt͡sa/^14	/k̕ʜəlt͡ʃ̕V/^15	-/ˈʁuʂ/^16		/gVns/-^17	/gut͡ʃ̕/^18	xḳħəlć̣V́ /xk̕ʜəlˈt͡ɕ̕V/
rodent	/ɕagu/^19	/t͡saːrgːwV/^20	/t͡ɕarˈge/^21	/sreŋ(H)/^22	/saʔqa/^23	/t͡saɬg/^24	[c]arxgwV́ /ˈ[t͡s]arxgwV/
branch	/(H)ar/-^25	/ʡaʟV/^26		/jəːl/^27	/ʔuʔlan/^28	/ʔiːɬ/^29	jʡV́ɫV /jˈʡVʟV/
smoke	/ke/^30	/k̕ːwɨnʜV/^31		/ghiw/^32	/gi(ʔ)ŋ/^33	/qʷunʔ/^34	ḳwɨŋħV /k̕wɨŋʜV/
star₁	/i-sarː/^35	/d͡zːwhariː/^36		/t͡ser/^37			ʒwhárī /ˈd͡zwhariː/
star₂			/sV[m]/^38	/seːŋ/^39		/(t)səŋ̣ʔ/^40	ciŋwV /t͡siŋwV/
day	/e-gun/^41	/ʁwemdV/^42	/gunt͡s/^43		/χoːŋ/^44	/gʷeːn/^45	ʁweŋV́ /ʁweˈŋV/
house	/gʷune/^46	/ɢːwinʡV/^47		/q(ʷ)im/^48		/qVn/^49	GwímʡV /ˈɢwimʡV/
basket	/a-ɕka/^50	/t͡ɕːæq̕wa/^51	/t͡ɕVq/^52	/[t͡ɕe]kʷ/^53	/sɨʔk/^54	/t͡s̕agʔ/^55	ć̣ä́xqwa /ˈt͡ɕ̕æxqwa/

¹ (c) bizkar /biskarː/ ‘back; crest, hill’; */bi/- is a fossilized inanimate marker, *-/rː/ is a fossilized plural ending.
² Proto-Abkhaz-Tapant ‘back’ > Abkhaz азқәа /azkʷa/, etc.
³ ‘on one’s back’ – must be preceded by personal prefix, e.g. /ˈa-sqa/ ‘on my back’.
⁴ */suga/ / */ʔuska/ ‘back, backwards’ (adverb), e.g. Ket /ɕuga⁶/; /uɕka⁵/ ‘back (homeward)’, etc. (the raised numbers are tones – which ones?)
⁵ Haida (Skidegate) sku /sku/, (Masset) sgwaay /sgwaːj/ ‘back’.
⁶ */nHɨwɢːAː/ / */ɢːHwɨnAː/ > Lezgi /qːyn/ ‘shoulder’, Bezhta нухъулӀ /nuq-ut͡ɬ/ ‘armpit’, Dargwa: Akusha наикъ /naɪqː/ ‘hand, arm’, etc.
⁷ Old Chinese ‘shoulder’.
⁸ Ket /kɛn-tə-buʎ⁵/ ‘shoulder joint’, Arin /qínaŋ/ ‘arm’, etc.
⁹ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak. Navajo -gaan –/gàːn/ ‘arm; foreleg (of animal); limb (of tree)’, Chipewyan gghan /gʁàn/- ‘arm’, etc.
¹⁰ (B) soin /ɕoin/ ‘shoulder, garment’, (Z) suin /ɕuin/ ‘shoulder, midsection of pork’, süñhegi /ɕyɲ-hegi/ ‘shoulder’, etc.
¹¹ Proto-East-Caucasian. Lezgi /t͡s̕um/ ‘shin-bone’, Archi /t͡s̕am-mul/ ‘ankle’, Chechen носта /nosta/ ‘shin, shank’, etc.
¹² (Y,H,N) ‘limbs, body parts’.
¹³ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak. Navajo ts'in /t͡s̕ìn/ ‘bone’, Hupa /t͡s̕iŋʔ/ / /t͡s̕in-eʔ/ ‘bone, leg’, Galice /t͡s̕an/ ‘bone’, etc.; Eyak -/t͡s̕al/ ‘bone’.
¹⁴ (Baztan) emakuntza /emakunt͡sa/ ‘vulva, parte exterior de la vagina en el ganado’; probably modified < */kult͡sa/ by influence of the noun-forming suffix *-/kunt͡sa/ (-kuntza).
¹⁵ Proto-East-Caucasian. Akhwakh /k̕at͡ʃ̕o/ ‘vulva’, Archi /k̕at͡ʃ̕a/ ‘penis (of a boy)’, etc.
¹⁶ ‘vulva’
¹⁷ Kott /kant͡ʃal/ ‘testiculi’, Pumpokol /kutːe/ ‘penis’.
¹⁸ Eyak ‘penis’.
¹⁹ ‘mouse’; cf. also (c) saguzar /ɕagu-sar/ ‘bat’ (‘old mouse’), satitsu /ɕat-it͡ɕu/ ‘mole’ (‘blind mouse’), etc.
²⁰ Chechen шатӀкъа /ʃat̕q̕a/ ‘weasel’, Avar цӀакьу /t͡sat͡ɬ̕ːˈu/ id., Tsakhur сок /sok/ id., Adyghe цыгъуа /t͡səʁʷa/ ‘mouse’, etc.
²¹ (Y) /t͡ɕarˈge/ ‘flying squirrel’.
²² Old Chinese */sreŋ/ ‘weasel’, Tibetan /sre-moŋ/ ‘weasel’, Burmese /hraɲ̊ʔ/ ‘squirrel’, etc.
²³ Ket /saʔq/, Yug /saʔx/ / /saʔq/, Kott /ʃaga/, etc. ‘squirrel’.
²⁴ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit. Tlingit tsalg /t͡saɬg/ ‘squirrel’; cf. Eyak /t͡səɬk̕/ id., Proto-Athabaskan */t͡sələx/ > Mattole /t͡salis/, etc.
²⁵ Abstracted from (B) araka /ara-ka/ ‘knot (of tree)’, (R) arakaldi /ara-kaldi/ ‘tanda de palos’.
²⁶ Proto-East-Caucasian. Akhwakh, Tindi, etc. /hala/, Tsez ара /ara/, Hinukh али /ali/ ‘branch’.
²⁷ Tibetan /jal-ga/ ‘branch, bough’, Lushai /zaːr/ ‘bough, branch’.
²⁸ Ket /ulan⁵/, Yugh /ulan⁵/ ‘rod, twig’.
²⁹ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak. Hupa /ʔiɬ/ ‘pine boughs’, Navajo ił /ʔìɬ/ ‘evergreen boughs’, etc.; Eyak /ʔaːɬ/ ‘bough, branch (of conifer)’.
³⁰ (B) ke, kei-, (AN) ke, eke, (L,Z) khe /kʰe/, (R) eke ‘smoke’. Regular loss of nasal < PDC cluster *-/ŋH/-.
³¹ Avar кӀуй /k̕ːuj/, Bezhta, Hunzib хъо /qo/, Udi /kːuin/, Ubykh /ʁʷa/, etc. ‘smoke’.
³² Old Chinese */kʰiws/ ‘smell, fragrance, stench’, Tibetan /dku/ ‘sweet scent; unpleasant scent’, Burmese /kʰəwh/ ‘smoke’, etc.
³³ Kott /kiŋ/ ‘smell’. Cf. Basque */kino/ > (BN,L) k(h)ino ‘bad odor’, (Z) khiño /kʰiɲo/ ‘bad taste’.
³⁴ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak. Hupa /xoŋʔ/, Galice /kʷanʔ/, Navajo kǫ' /kõ̀ʔ/, Chipewyan kún /kún/ ‘fire’, etc.; Eyak -/quʔ/- ‘fire’ (prefix).
³⁵ Modern Basque izar ‘star’, izarra ‘the star’.
³⁶ Akhwakh /t͡s̕ʷːari/, Batsbi /t̕ʕejri/, Dargwa: Chiragh зуре /zure/, Abkhaz аиеҿа /ˈa-jat͡ʃ̕a/, etc. ‘star’.
³⁷ Tibetan /ãt͡sʰer/ ‘to shine, to glitter’; /zer/, /g-zer/ ‘ray’, Kachin /d͡ʒan¹/ ‘the sun’, etc. Is that a high tone?
³⁸ (Y) /aˈsumun/, (H,N) /aˈsii/ (pl. /aˈsiimut͡s/).
³⁹ Old Chinese */seːŋ/ ‘star’ (Modern Mandarin xīng /siŋ˥/ ‘star’), Lepcha /kur-sóŋ/ ‘bright, lucid, name of 5th month, a planet, the morning star’, Kiranti */saŋ/ ‘star’, etc.
⁴⁰ Proto-Athabaskan. Hupa /t͡siŋʔ/, Mattole /t͡siŋ/, Navajo sǫ' /sõ̀ʔ/, Dena'ina sen /sən/, sem /səm/, sim /sim/, Carrier sum /sʌm/ ‘star’, etc.
⁴¹ (c) egun, (Z) egün ‘day’.
⁴² Proto-East-Caucasian. Hinukh /ʁʷede/, Bezhta водо /wodo/ ‘day’, Lak гъантта /hantːa/ ‘a day, 24 hours’, etc.
⁴³ (Y,H,N) /gunt͡s/ ‘day’; cf. (Y,H,N) /gon/ ‘dawn’.
⁴⁴ Ket /qɔŋ⁴/ ‘by daytime’, Kott /hoːnaŋ/ ‘not long ago’, etc.
⁴⁵ Proto-Athabaskan–Eyak. */gʷeːn/ > */d͡ʒʷeːn/ > Hupa /d͡ʒeːn-is/, /d͡ʒiŋ/- ‘day’, Sarsi /d͡zín-is/, Navajo jį /d͡ʒĩ̀/, etc.; Eyak /gah/ ‘day’.
⁴⁶ ‘plot, place, space, situation’: (B,G) une, (AN) une, gune, (BN,L) gune, (Z) güne, üne.
⁴⁷ Tsez хъун /qun/ ‘farmstead’, Hinukh /qʷen/ id., Abaza гӀвна /ʕʷna/ ‘house’, Adyghe уэна /wəna/ id., etc.
⁴⁸ Old Chinese */kuŋ/ ‘palace’, Tibetan /kʰjim/ ‘house’, Lepcha /kʰjum/ ‘house’, etc.
⁴⁹ Proto-Athabaskan. Navajo kin /kìn/, Chipewyan kųę́ /kũ-ẽ́/ / kįę́ /kĩ-ẽ́/ ‘house’.
⁵⁰ (c) aska /aɕka/, (Z) arska /arɕka/ ‘trough, manger’.
⁵¹ */t͡ɕːæq̕wa/ ~ */t͡ɕ̕ːæqwa/ > Archi /t͡ʃ̕aq̕ʷ/ ‘spoon; wooden shovel for winnowing’, Avar (dial.) чӀикӀаро /t͡ʃ̕ːiˈk̕aro/ ‘spoon’, Ubykh /t͡ʃaˈq̕ʷə/ ‘basin, tureen’, etc.
⁵² (H) -/t͡ɕuq/, (N) -/ˈt͡ɕoq/ ‘a measure of grain’, (Y) /t͡ɕiq/ ‘a measure of grain; a tray for sifting wheat’.
⁵³ Old Chinese */t͡ɕekʷs/ ‘to empty a cup’, */t͡ɕekʷ/ ‘wine cup’, Lushai /suak/~/suaʔ/ ‘to ladle, ladle out’.
⁵⁴ Ket /ɕɨʔk/, Yugh /sɨʔk/ ‘trough for dough (почёвка)’.
⁵⁵ Hupa /t͡s̕aʔ/- ‘basket’, Minto /t͡θ̕og/ ‘plate’, Navajo ts'aa' /t͡s̕àːʔ/ ‘shallow basket’, etc.; Eyak /t͡s̕aːk-ɬ/ ‘dipper’; Tlingit s'éex' /s̕íx̕/ ‘dish, plate’.

Notes

1. Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 286-288
2. Goddard, Ives (1996). "The Classification of the Native Languages of North America". In Ives Goddard, ed., "Languages". Vol. 17 of William Sturtevant, ed., Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pg. 318
3. Trask, R. L. (2000). The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pg. 85
4. Dalby, Andrew (1998). Dictionary of Languages. New York: Columbia University Press. pg. 434

See also

• Dene–Caucasian languages

References

• BENGTSON, John D., 2006. "Materials for a Comparative Grammar of the Dene–Caucasian (Sino-Caucasian) Languages."
• BENGTSON, John D., 2004. "Some features of Dene–Caucasian phonology (with special reference to Basque)." In Cahiers de l'Institut de linguistique de Louvain (CILL): 33–54.
• BENGTSON, John D., 2003. "Notes on Basque Comparative Phonology." Mother Tongue 8: 21–39.
• BENGTSON, John D., 2002. "The Dene–Caucasian noun prefix *s-." In The Linguist's Linguist: A Collection of Papers in Honour of Alexis Manaster Ramer, ed. by F. Cavoto, pp. 53–57. Munich: LINCOM Europa.
• BENGTSON, John D., 1999. "Wider genetic affiliations of the Chinese language." Journal of Chinese Linguistics 27 (1): 1–12.
• BENGTSON, John D., 1999. "Review of R.L. Trask, The History of Basque." In Romance Philology 52 (Spring): 219–224.
• BENGTSON, John D., 1998. "Caucasian and Sino-Tibetan: A Hypothesis of S. A. Starostin." General Linguistics, Vol. 36, no. 1/2, 1998 (1996). Pegasus Press, University of North Carolina, Asheville, North Carolina.
• BENGTSON, John D., 1997. "Ein Vergleich von Burushaski und Nordkaukasisch". Georgica volume, pages?
• BENGTSON, John D., 1997. "The riddle of Sumerian: A Dene–Caucasic language?" Mother Tongue 3: 63–74.
• BENGTSON, John D., 1996. "A Final (?) Response to the Basque Debate in Mother Tongue 1." (see External links below)
• RUHLEN, Merritt, 2001. "Il Dene–caucasico: una nuova famiglia linguistica." Pluriverso 2: 76–85.
• RUHLEN, Merritt, 1998. "Dene–Caucasian: A New Linguistic Family," in The Origins and Past of Modern Humans—Towards Reconciliation, ed. by Keiichi Omoto and Phillip V. Tobias, Singapore: World Scientific, 231–46.
• RUHLEN, Merritt, 1998. "The Origin of the Na-Dene." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 95: 13994–13996.
• SHEVOROSHKIN, Vitaliy V., 2004. "Proto-Salishan and Proto-North-Caucasian Consonants: a few cognate sets." in Nostratic Centennial Conference: the Pécs Papers. ed. by. I. Hegedűs & P. Sidwell, pp. 181–191. Pécs: Lingua Franca Group.
• SHEVOROSHKIN, Vitaliy V., 2003. "Salishan and North Caucasian." Mother Tongue 8: 39–64.
• SHEVOROSHKIN, Vitaliy V., 1999 "Nostratic and Sino-Caucasian: two ancient language phyla." In From Neanderthal to Easter Island (Festschrift W. W. Schuhmacher), ed. by N. A. Kirk & P. J. Sidwell. pp. 44–74. Melbourne.
• SHEVOROSHKIN, Vitaliy V., 1998. 1998 Symposium on Nostratic at Cambridge. Mother Tongue 31, 28–32 (the whole issue as image files)
• STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 2004-2005. Sino-Caucasian comparative phonology & Sino-Caucasian comparative glossary.
• STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 2002. "A response to Alexander Vovin's criticism of the Sino-Caucasian theory." Journal of Chinese Linguistics 30.1:142–153.
• STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 2000. "Genesis of the Long Vowels in Sino-Tibetan." In Проблемы изучения дальнего родства языков на рыбеже третьего тысячелетия: Доклады и тезисы международной конференции РГГУ, Moscow 2000.
• STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1996. "Word-final resonants in Sino-Caucasian." Journal of Chinese Linguistics 24.2: 281–311. (written for the 3rd International Conference on Chinese Linguistics in Hong Kong in 1994)
• STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1995. "Old Chinese Basic Vocabulary: A Historical Perspective." In The Ancestry of the Chinese Language (Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph No. 8), ed. by W. S.-Y. Wang, pp. 225–251. Berkeley, CA.
• STAROSTIN, Sergei A., 1994. "A Comparative Dictionary of North Caucasian Languages". Moscow. (see External links below)
• STAROSTIN, Sergei A. and Orel, V., 1989. "Etruscan and North Caucasian." Explorations in Language Macrofamilies. Ed. V. Shevoroshkin. Bochum Publications in Evolutionary Cultural Semiotics. 23. Bochum.
• VOVIN, Alexander, 1997. "The Comparative Method and Ventures Beyond Sino-Tibetan." Journal of Chinese Linguistics 25.2: 308–336.
• VOVIN, Alexander, 1997. "Building a 'bum-pa for Sino-Caucasian." Journal of Chinese Linguistics 30.1: 154–171.

External links

• starling.rinet.ru
• www.sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de
• Sino-caucasian etymology starling.rinet.ru
• ahlstudies at www.tlg.uci.edu
• dhumbissues at www.tlg.uci.edu