if japanese is altaic, how can it be so simple

8/3/2019 If Japanese is Altaic, How Can It Be So Simple

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IF JAPANESE IS ALTAIC, HOW CAN IT BE SO SIMPLE?

MARTINE ROBBEETS

1. Introduction

The origin and classification of the Japanese language is one of the hot

spots in historical linguistics today.1

The most plausible hypothesis is thatJapaneseis relatedto Koreanand theAltaic languages. However, linguisticliterature reflects a wide range of opinions on the Altaic question for

Japanese, ranging from a negative stance (Doerfer 1963-1975, 1974; Unger1990;Nichols1992;Janhunen1992:1994;Kiyose2002;Shgaito2002;Vovin2003b) to an agnostic attitude (Lewin etc. 1989: 114; Shibatani 1990: 118;Comrie 1990: 856; Lyovin 1997: 114; Johanson 1999: 2; Trask 2000: 16; Leeand Ramsey 2000: 5) to a positive stance (Ramstedt 1924; Murayama 1958;Miller 1971; Menges 1975; Miller & Street 1975; Street 1977; Finch 1987;Starostin 1991; Vovin 1994; Kortlandt 1993: 1997; Ho-min Sohn 1999: 22;Wang 1999; Itabashi 2001; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003; Robbeets 2003,2005).

One of the obstacles that prevents us from reaching a consensus aboutthe genetic aliation of Japanese is its syllabic structure. The occurrenceof consonant clusters in medial position is a phonological feature that isshared by Korean and the Altaic languages, but, on the face of it, not by

Japanese. Japanese is a textbook example of a language with a relativelysimple syllable structure, and the structure of Old Japanese was evensimpler. All Old Japanese syllables had a (C)V structure and V syllableswere restricted to word-initial position. In his survey of the languages of

Japan, Shibatani (1990: 101) refers to this problem by saying: The mostembarrassing problem for anyone attempting to relate Japanese to theAltaic family or to Korean is the phonological discrepancy between theformer andthe latter. Japanese, especially OldJapanese,basically hasa CVsyllable structure, whereas Altaic languages and Korean abound in closed

syllables with a variety of syllable-final consonants. In a manuscriptdealing with Altaic elements in Old Japanese, the same problem was

1 The cover term Altaic will be used in reference to the the Tungusic, Mongolic andTurkic languages. It refers to a group of North-East Asian languages that share a numberof phonological, morphological and structural similarities without necessarily presup-posing that these similarities are due to common ancestorship.


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pointed out by Miller and Street (1975: 146): The most serious problemencountered thus far in developing these statements involves possible OJreflexes of pA consonant clusters. J is basically a CV-CV- language; pAhad rather CV(C)-CV(C). If J derives from pA as presently reconstructed,it has either simplified older clusters or added vowels. (...) hence it willtake a great amount of further investigation to determine what the normal

J reflex was in each case where pA indicates a cluster.The so-called phonological discrepancy has the eect of making

researchers turn their attention to other languages and language fam-

ilies with relatively simple phonological systems like Austronesian. Thefact that Japanese typically has open syllables and an uncomplicatedconsonant system also leads to the assumption that Japanese has an Aus-tronesian substratum . It further leads to a number of Austronesian-Altaichybrid or mixed language hypotheses, describing Japanese as a mixtureof elements originating from two dierent language families, Altaic andAustronesian.2 A serious problem is that the assumption of a linguisticconnection between Japanese and Austronesian is not compatible withthe archeological record because there is no evidence that a substantialnumber of Austronesian speakers reached Japan in prehistory. 3

In the present paper I intend to compare Japanese etyma with a medialvoiced stop to Korean, Tungusic, Mongolic and Turkic forms that reflecta medial consonant cluster. Tracing back the voiced series in contempo-rary Japanese to original nasal clusters, an attempt will be made to showthat the so-called phonological discrepancy between Japanese, Koreanand Altaic is only a superficial one. First, I will make a number of obser-vations relevant for the reconstruction of consonant clusters in the indi-vidual proto-languages. Next, I will briefly reflect upon the methodologythat I wish to adopt when comparing the languages involved. Finally, Iwill gather and evaluate etymologies relating proto-Japanese forms withmedialnasalclusterstoformswithmedialsonorantandobstruentclustersin Korean and Altaic. For the purpose of the present paper, I will restrictmyself to etymologies for contemporary Japanese forms with medial -b-

2 It concerns exactly the kind of mixed language that Meillet in 1925 declared not

to have found. Meillet 1925: 82-83: Dans tous les cas observs jusqu prsent, il y aune tradition continue dune langue. [...] Si lon a pu arriver faire, par la comparaison,lhistoire de quelques langues, cest quelon tait sr quechaque systme nouveau devaitsexpliquer en partant dun systme unique. Illustrating his theory with the example ofRussenorsk, a so-called mixed language, Kortlandt (2000) demonstrates that the conceptof mixed language is a misconception for language shift through imperfect learning.3 Hudson 1996: 267-279 argues that archeology provides no support for Austronesianpopulation movements to Japan.


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forth and ti blood; line,yagate before long fromyami, the deverbal nounof yamu stop and the adjective stem kata- hard, yugake archers glovefrom OJ yumi-kake archers glove and originally fromyumi bow and thedeverbal noun of kakeru cover with (cloth), spread over, veil.

Third, a number of modern dialects, notably those of northern Honsh,southern Shikoku and some Ryky dialects have retained prenasaliza-tion to some extent. Sendai in northeast Honsh, for example, pronouncesmado window as [mdo] with nasality on the preceding vowel. TheKobama dialect in the Rykys has kandu for standard kado corner and

pangun for hagu strip o, tear o. In many other dialects, including stan-dard Tokyo, prenasalization has been lost. However in Tokyo dialect thereis a residue of the prenasalized velar, like in the pronunciation of kagi keyas [kai] or the nominative case marker ga as [a], with tendency of [g]to absorb the nasality and to become [].

Finally, foreign written sources suggest that the voiced obstruent seriesin Late Middle Japanese (1192-1602) andModernJapanese (1603-1867) wasstill prenasalized to a certain extent. In theJapanese-Portuguese dictionaryof 1604 -nd- and -ng- is observed for -d- and -g- in the speech of Kysh atthat time. An 18th-century Korean glossary of Japanese, the Wago-ruikai,writes Hang ul digraphs equivalent of -mp-, -nt- and -k- for the medialvoiced stops -b-, -d- and -g-. And the Nihon Kan-yakugo, a 15th centuryChinese language guide transcribes Japanese syllables preceding a voicedstop with a final nasal.

On the basis of morphological, etymological, dialectal and textual evi-dence it is safe to assume that the Old Japanese obstruents OJ b, d, g, zresulted from the rephonologization of prenasalized obstruents pJ *np,pJ *nt , pJ *nk , pJ *ns. Reminiscent of how the Altaic languages do notallow for consonant clusters in initial position, Old Japanese did not per-mit word-initial voiced obstruents except in mimetic adverbs. From theninth century on, as loans from Chinese began to have a major impact,the restriction was relaxed and initial voiced obstruents began to appearin borrowings and in contracted native forms.

2.2 Korean

The modern reinforced consonants (pp, tt, cc, kk, ss) all result from MiddleKorean consonant clusters. At the time the Korean alphabet was intro-duced (1446) the newly recorded stage of the language, usually referredto as Late Middle Korean, was characterized by a richer inventory ofconsonant clusters than Korean is today. Changes in the clusters werealready setting in and within a century many clusters had developed into


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distribution. From some materials preserved from the Silla period it canbeunderstood that Old Korean had aspiration distinctions only in the dentalstop*th and the aricate *ch. It is thus safe to assume that the developmentof aspirationis an internal Koreanprocess andthat the aspirated obstruentseries developed out of the reduction of pK *Ck consonant clusters.

Although some medial clusters are probably reconstructable for proto-Korean, others may be the result of an internal Korean development.Ramsey has shown that unaccented minimal vowels o and u rarely occur

between voiceless obstruents in Middle Korean. 8 Therefore it seems prob-

able that some of the Korean consonant clusters arose through minimalvowel syncope. (e.g. K pakk, MK pask outside < *pasok or K aph, MK alph< alpok with *-u/ok place sux). Other medial clusters were morpholog-ically generated through the insertion of the genitive marker MK s, e.g.MK twuystari hind leg (< MK twuy behind +s+ tari leg) or throughcompounding, e.g. MK han wum deep breath (< han big + swumbreath).

Cross-linguistically clusters are relatively unstable and Korean is noexception to that observation. Cluster metathesis like in MK siphu- ver-sus MK sikpu- want can occur and the regressive assimilation of aspi-ration discussed below is a special kind of cluster metathesis. The liquidphoneme in lateral clusters sporadically drops, as can be observed in thedevelopment from MK alph to K aph front and MK polk- to K pak- be

bright.Contrary to the distribution of proto-Japanese and Altaic clusters, aspi-

rates and obstruent clusters do appear in initial position in Korean. Inter-nal evidence, however, indicates that complexinitials aresecondary, inter-nally generated through phonological or morphological developments.Korean forms with initial s-clusters are often derivations with the inten-sive prefix pK *su-*so- . The initial s- in MK spolo- be fast, for example isa trace of this prefix as is indicated by MK polo- early that occurs withoutthe intensive sux. In contemporary Korean both early and fast arerepresented by the reinforced adjective pparu-.9

One phonological cause of complex initials can be vowel syncope.Words with initial consonant clusters or aspirates are often accompanied

by other phonological pecularities such as an exceptional pitch pattern, anunusual syllable structure or a special vocalism. Following Ramsey (1993:438; 1997) verb stems withcomplex initials that are tonic andmonosyllabic

8 Ramsey 1991: 221-222; 1997: 137.9 For other examples of verbs that include the Korean intensive prefix, I refer to Ramsey1977 and 1997.


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and have minimal vowels (MK o,u,i)arethoughttobecreatedthroughtheloss of a first-syllable vowel. For MK tho- ride and MK khu- be big, forexample, there are additional phonogram interpretations in the KyeylimYusa that suggest the reconstruction *hoto- ride and *hoko- be big.10

Anotherphonologicalcauseofinitialaspiratesisregressiveassimilationof the aspiration or h-metathesis. It is the kind of assimilation that can beseen in the development from MK kwoh to K kho nose, MK polh to K phalarm,MK kalh to K khal swordetc. Making internal andexternal evidenceworking in tandem, I assume that sporadic assimilation of aspiration is an

ongoing process in Korean and that it has taken place in the developmentfrom pK *cwumk to MK chwum spittle(under J tuba spittle), pK *twopkclaw, nailto MK thwop claw, nail (under J tume claw), pK *konkol to MKko nolh, ku nulh shadow (under J kage shadow).

2.3 Altaic

It is commonplace in linguistic literature to use the cover term Tun-gusic in reference to both the Manchu and Tungusic subgroups. WithCincius (1949) extensive study of comparative Tungusic phonology andBenzings (1955) revisions, the reconstruction of proto-Tungusic is fairlyclear for plain consonants, but in case of consonant clusters it becomesmore involved because processes of original vowel loss, assimilation and

metathesis can obscure the reconstructions. Proto-Tungusic is particularlyrich in sonorant clusters, consisting of a sonorant (r, l, n and m before alabial stop) followed by a stop P (b/p), T (t/d) or K (k/g) such as *lp, *lb,*lt, *ld, *lk, *lg ; *rp, *rb,*rk, *rg; and *mb, *nt, *nd, *nk, *ng (or *). Obstruentclusters consisting of a stop p, T (t/d) or K (k/g) followed by a dental (t/d)or velar stop (k/g), such as *pk, *pt, *tk, *dk, *gd, *kt can also occur.

Although medial clusters are reconstructable for proto-Tungusic, someresult from internal Tungusic developments. Some clusters are secondarydue to the loss of a short vowel. Long vowels are relatively stable through-out Tungusic, but short vowels tend to change or to drop. The consonantsequence in Ma. nomxon peaceful, friendly for example, does not reflectan original consonant cluster, but it is the result of vowel syncope. Theoriginal short vowel is still present in Na. nomoon and Ev. nomokn andin the Mongolian loansource WMo. nomuan peaceful. That clusters alsoarise on etymological boundaries can be illustrated by Neg. ejgen breath,soul, Ma. ergen breath, soul, Ol. ersi breath, erge(n) soul, Na. ergsoul, Oro. egge soul, Sol. erg life that can be derived from the verb

10 Yi 1991: 17-18.


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pTg *eri- to breathe reflected in Ev. er-, Lam. eri-, Orok er(i)-, Na. erisi-to breathe, followed by a nominal sux pTg *-ken.11 The instability ofclusters can be observed in cases of cluster metathesis (e.g. Ud. tegbese-protect versus Ev. tepke- encase, cover), assimilation (e.g. Orok nette-spread out versus Ev. nepte- spread out) and the sporadic drop of liquidphonemes in lateral clusters (e.g. in Ma. dobo-ri night corresponding toNeg. dolbon, Na. dolbo , Ol. dolbo , Orok dolboni , Jur. dolwo , Ev. dolbon).Initial consonant clusters are not reconstructable for proto-Tungusic.

Consonant clusters can occur in medial position, but there are no native

Mongolic words that possess the cluster word initially or word finally.Proto-Mongolic is particularly richin sonorant clusters. Obstruent clustersare also reconstructable. The sonorant clusters frequently consist of asonorant (r, l, n, m) followed by a stop P (b/p), T (t/d) or K (k/g) suchas *lp, *lb, *lt, *ld, *lk, *lg ; *rp, *rb, *rt, *rd, *rk, *rg; *nb, *nt, *nd, *nk, *ng(or *(g)), *mb, *mt. The obstruent clusters consist of a stop P (p/b), T(t/d) or K (k/g) followed by a dental (t/d) or velar stop (k/g) or sibilant(s), such as * pk, *bk, *pt, *bt, *ps, *bs, *tk, *dk, *gd, *kt. Medial clustersare sometimes formed through secondary developments such as vowelsyncope (e.g. WMo. aluqan hammer > Khal. alxan, Bur. alxa, Kalm alx)or they can develop on etymological or morphological boundaries (e.g.WMo. g- give + -te- passive>WMo. gte- be given). Consonant clustersare prone to metathesis and assimilation (e.g. pMo *todka- *togta stop,fasten that is reflected in WMo. todqa- hesitate: WMo. toda-, Khal. totgorfasten, Kalm. totx- snare, trap versus WMo. tota- to stop, establish,Khal. togta- stop, Kalm tokto- stand firmly) and sporadic elision of aliquid (e.g. the Mongolian doublet kelbej- kebji- lean, be inclined to oneside).

The reconstruction of medial clusters in proto-Turkic is reminiscentof that in Korean, Tungusic and Mongolic in the sense that its clusterinventory consists mainly of sonorant clusters (r, l, n, j followed by anobstruent) and that obstruent clusters can also occur. Clusters are notpossible in initial position and they tend to be unstable due to assimilation(e.g. Karakh. ple- rob versus Tuva pte-rob), metathesis and consonantloss (e.g. OTk. qapqaq qapaq a cover). Although Old Turkic has final

clusters, ultimately they may be the result of secondary developmentssuch as final vowel loss.12The very existence of pTk *l yielding *l in Oghur Turkic and * in

Common Turkic (e.g. Chu. ul versus Tk. ta stone) has been called into

11 Benzing 1955: 975.12 Johanson & Csato 1998: 73; Poppe 1960: 83.


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question by Street by what he calls the lateral-cluster fusion theory. 13The theory is based on the derivation of Tk. from lateral clusters pTk*lC,asoundchangethatRamstedtonceperipherallymentioned.14 Internalevidence for such a derivation can be found in words like Tk. bek cradlethat derives from the verb bele- swaddle and is borrowed in Hungarianas bl. The same historical explanation may account for semanticallyrelated verb stems for which a verb with stem-final -- alternates withstem-final -l-, like Tk. tl- be filled versus to- fill, be full and Tk. bul-

a- confuse versus bu- be irritated. By reassigning pTk *l to early

clusters of pTk *l with a following consonant (*b, *c, *, *j) some puzzlingphonological doublets in Turkic can be explained. Street further presentsexternal evidence in the form of Mongolian or Tungusic words that havean -lb- cluster where Turkic has --: Tk. qauq spoon and Mo. qalbuaspoon; Tk. qoupoem, song and Mo. qolbuan verse, alliterative wordsor phrase; Tk. e- cover and Ev. elbe- cover, roof a tent etc. Suggestingthat some of these words areearly borrowings from Turkic into Mongolianand Tungusic or the other way around does not alter the ground of theargument that pTk *developed from a labial cluster. The lateral clustertheory for Turkic is only relevant for the etymology of yaburu tear, break.The proposed cognates OTk. tel-, te-, Tk. del-, de-, Az. del-, de-, Tkm. de-,Yak. tel-, tes-, lead to the reconstruction pTk *telC- pierce, break through.The Turkic proto-form has been put between square brackets ([ ]) in thetablebelowbecauseitsinitial t- doesnotcorrespondregularlyandbecausethe -l- -- variation in OTk. tel- te- may be due to internal suxation,like in the case of Tk. tl- be filled and to- fill, be full.

Internal reconstruction leads to theobservation that allproto-languagesinvolved in the following comparison share the abscence of initial conso-nant clusters and the occurence of medial consonant clusters as a struc-tural feature. For proto-Japanese only nasal clusters(*np, *nt, *nk, *ns) arereconstructable, while the other languages are particularly rich in reso-nant clusters (*RP, *RT, *RK) and also have obstruent clusters (*PC, *TC,*KC). Japanese, Korean, Turkic, Mongolian and Tungusic are no exceptionto the observation that universally clusters tend to be relatively unstabledue to metathesis, assimilation, liquid loss etc. Since structural similarity

can be the result of genetic inheritance, but does not necessarily do so,what remains to be done is to check whether regular correspondences canbe established for medial clusters. The only method at our disposal forthis purpose is the comparative method of historical linguistics.

13 Street 1980.14 Ramstedt 1957: 122-123.


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3. Comparative methodology

A genetic argument is a negative argument, what in classical logic is calledadisjunctivesyllogism.Itmeansthatourdeductionprocessworksbyelim-ination. One rules out all but one of the logically possible accounts of thesimilarities holding between the languages compared, so that only inheri-tance from a putative commonancestor remains. Thus, a genetic argumentconsists not only in the presentation of a set of similarities holding overthe languages compared, it also consists in the demonstration that thesesimilarities are not likely to be the result of nature, borrowing or chance.Applying this knowledge to the Japanese reflexes of Altaic proto-formswith medial consonant clusters, it is essential to set up a methodologicalframework for sifting the etymologies proposed by various authors in thepast. Of course, not all etymological proposals that have ever been madereflecting Altaic consonant clusters are valid ones.

The sifting criteria that I have adopted in order to separate the strongeretymological proposals from the weaker ones are the following. In con-sideration of the space at my disposal, I will not go into the sifting detailsfor every single Japanese entry reflecting an Altaic cluster etymology thatI have eliminated. Rather, I will restrict myself to the illustration of thesifting criteria with a few examples.

First I have omitted medial cluster etymologies in which the internal

analysis of the Japanese proto-form is in conflict with the external com-parison. Martin (1966: 250) compares J nabe, OJ nabe pan, pot, kettle ( *nonpo- make long and wideK nelp- be wide, MK nep- be wide, MK nelu- be wide, pK *nelpu- bewideNeg. nepte-nepte even, Na. nepte-nepte even, Ol. nepte-nepte even, Oroknette- spread out, Ev. nepte- spread out pTg *nepte- spread out

WMo. nebseji-, Khal. nevsij-, pMo *nebse- be broad and long.(Martin 1966: 246; Whitman 1985: 242; Miller 1985a, 82; Starostin, Dybo &Mudrak 2003: 971)

5. omoi heavy, massive, serious, Sr qnbu-san heavy, Yaeyama nbusaanheavy (dialectal evidence for cluster), pJ *onpo- heavySibe amE, Ma. amba, Na. amba(n), Ol. amba(n), Orok ambaram very, Jur.ambanan, Jur. ambanlar many, pTg *amba- big.WMo. amban, Khal. amban, pMo *amban big, large, heavy(Martin 1966: 233; Whitman 1985: 238; Starostin 1991: 255, 268, 277; Finch1987: 11; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 295)

6. sabiru rust, get rusty, sabi rust, patina, pJ *sanpi- rustNeg. semti, Ma. sebden, Na. septu-e, Ol. septu-e, Orok septu, Ev. semtu,pTg *septu rustWMo sebte- be stained, dirty, soiled, sebti defective, blemished, pMo*sebte- stained(Miller 1985b, 151; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1230)

7. sabisii lonely, OJ sabusi samusi lonely, pJ *sanpu-


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WMo. sarbaa-du-, Khal. sarvada-, Mgr. sarba fever, pMo *sarba-a 1 to beexhausted, weakOTk. sarp, Tk. sarp, Az. sarp, Tkm. sarp, pTk *sarp dicult(Finch 1987: 58; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1215)

8. siboru wring, squeeze: pJ *sinpor- squeezeMa. sibere- twist, squeeze, Orok sipku- wrap, siperu- squeeze, Ev. sipku-wrap, pTg *sipku- twist, squeezeWMo. sibqar-, Khal. avxra-, Kalm. awxr-, owxr-, Mgr. Gura-, pMo

*sibka-, *sibkar- squeeze out, pressMTk. sipa-, Uz. sijpa-, Uig. sipa-, Tkm. spa-, Bash. hjpa-, hpr-, Oyr. sjma-,Tuva sujba-, pTk *sjpa- knead, caress(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1245)

9. soba side, vicinity, pJ *sonpa sideK nwunssep,MK sep eyebrow(


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4.2 pJ *-nt- and dental clusters

4.2.1 Phonological distribution

pJ pK pTg pMo pTk

*-nt- *-c *-TC- *-TC- *-TC-

*-nt- *-c *-RT- *-RT- *-RT-

1. ada enemy; revenge *anta [*acki] *anda *anda *ant

2. OJ adi Baikal teal *anti *andi

3. OJ ado how *anto *ack

4. azi taste *anti *amta- *amta

5. hazukasii be ashamed *pantu- *pale- [*bali-]

6. hidaku crush *pinta *pine-

7. kudoku persuade *kunto- *kwucit-

*kwucic-

8. kuzira whale *kuntira *kortu

9. OJ odasi- calm, quiet *onta- *en

10. odokasu frighten *onto- *ecul-

11. sadameru decide *santama- *sedki-

12. tazuneru investigate *tantu- *tai-

13. tizimeru shorten *tinti- *ciculu-

14. toziru shut, close *tonto- *tokto- *todka- *tokto-

*togta-

15. uzu eddy *untu *undu-

4.2.2 Underlying data

1. ada foe, enemy, revenge, pJ *anta enemyMK achyet-, inf. achyele- dislike,hate(one of the four longer verbs with-t/r- alternating stems and therefore suspect of being a compound: 20 < ?achi *enemy? + MK et- get), pK *achi enemyNeg. anda, Ma. anda, Na. anda, Ol. anda, Orok anda, Jur. n-tah-hi, Ev.anda, pTg *anda friendWMo. anda, Khal. and, Kalm. and, andn, pMo *anda friendOTk. ant, Tk. ant (and), Az. and, Tkm. ant, pTk *ant oath

20 Martin 1996: 12.


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10. odokasu threaten, frighten: odosu threaten, frighten, intimidate, odor-okasu surprise, frighten, odoroku be surprised, be frightened, pJ *onto-frighten, confuseK eciru- put in disorder, ecirep- bewildering, confused, disturbed, MKe curep- confused, disturbed, pK *ecu- put in disorder, confuse(Martin 1966: 236)

11. sadameru decide, determine: pJ *santama-, decideWMo. sede-, sedki-, Khal. setge-, Kalm. sed-, setk-, Dag. serkin, Mgr. sgir,

pMo *sedki- think of, care(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1222)

12. tazuneru investigate, searchfor: OJ taduki clue, track, trace, pJ *tantu-investigateMa. tai- study, learn, Lam. tatiga tame, make accustomed, pTg *tai-learn(Miller 1971: 99; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1427)

13. tizimeru shorten, shrink, reduce: MJ tidike- reduce, pJ *tinti- reduceMK ci cul- press, squeeze, pK *ciculu- press, squeeze.

14. toziru shut, close: toziru bind, stitch, sew up, todomeru stop, cease,MJ todo at last, finally, in the end, pJ *tonto- stop, closeMa. tokto-,Ev. tokt-,Lam. toktot-, oktot-stop,standstill,pTg*tokto-stopWMo. toda- hesitate, Khal. totgor fastenKalm. totx-snare,trap,WMo.tota- to stop, establish, MMo. (SH) tota-, Dag. torta-, Urdus dogto, Khal.togta-, Bur. togto-, Kalm tokto- stand firmly, pMo *todka- fasten *togtastopMTk. toqta-, Yak. toxt-, Dolg. tokt- stop, end, cease, pTk *tokto- stop(Martin1966: 228; Whitman 1985: 171: 217; Starostin 1991: 15, 71; Starostin,Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1478-79)

15. uzu eddy, pJ *untu eddyWMo. undura- 1 to whirl, Khal. undra- 1, Bur. ondoli fountain, well,Kalm. undr- 1, pMo *undu- to whirl.(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1501)


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4.3 pJ *-nk- and velar clusters

4.3.1 Phonological distribution

pJ pK pTg pMo pTk

*-nk- *-kC- *-KC- [*-KC- *-KC-]

*-nk- *-Rk- -RK- *-RK- *-RK-

1. ago jaw *anko *elkwul *ege *

2. hagi leg, shin *panki *pal(k) *palgan [*balak]

3. hagu strip o, tear o *panka- *pengul- *pegde-

4. kage shadow *kanka *konkol

5. mogura mole *munkura *muktu-

6. mugoi cruel *munko- *mu *bu

7. nagai be long *nanka- *nolk(o)-

8. nagu calm down *nanku- *nalkwo- *aa

9. OJ ogiro vast *onkiro *egdi

10. ogoru be extravagant *onko- * *

11.suguru choose, select *sunkur- *sogu- *sogra-

12. tagiru boil, seethe *tanki- *alki- *dargil *talga

13. toga fault, blame *tonka *dogud- *jo

14. toguro coil *tonkuro *twong- *toal-

15. yogoreru get dirty *yonko- *tesk-

4.3.2 Underlying data

1. ago jaw, chin, agi jaw, gill, pJ *anko jaw, chinK elkwul, MK elkwul face, pK *elkwul faceMa. ege, pTg *ege beakKarakh. e cheeks, eek jaw, chin, Tk. enek, Az. , MTk. eek, enek, Uzb.engk, Uig. ik, Tat. ijk, Kirgh. k, Nog. ijek, Khak. ek, Shor ek, Oyr. k,Chu. ana, Yak. i, pTk * jaw, chin

(Martin 1966: 234, 238; Miller 1985b, 149; Whitman 1985: 246; Starostin1991: 256: 271, 282; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 510-11)

2. hagi leg, shin, pJ *panki lower legK pal, MK pal foot, pK *pal foot (perhaps related with K phal, MK polharm < ? pK *palk (lower) limb)


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Ma. falanggu palm of the hand, Neg. xalgan, Na. palg, Ol. pala(n), Orokpala(n), Ev. xalgan, pTg *palgan foot.MTk. balaq 2 trouser leg, Tk. balaq 2, Az. balaG 2, Tkm. balaq 2,Tat.balaq 1 ankle, 2, Bash. balaq 2, Kaz. balaq trouser leg from the kneedownwards; birds leg from knee to ankle; horses ankle, KBalk. balaq 2,foot sole, pTk *balak lower leg.(Martin 1966: 32 ; Miller 1971: 145; Whitman 1985: 158, 188, 209; Vovin2003a: 23; Starostin 1991: 13, 43, 68, 96, 252, 270: 279-280; Starostin, Dybo& Mudrak 2003: 1075-76)

3. hagu strip o, tear o, hageru become bald, get stripped, OJpag- stripo, tear o, pJ *panka- tear oMK pengul- be separated MK penguli- Gwat crack, split (MK Gwat-intensive auxiliary), pK *pengul- separate, splitNeg. xegde-l- 2 tear o, Na. xo- 1 cut o, Ev. h- 1, hegde-l- 2, pTg*pegde- cut o, tear o(Martin 1966: 229; Whitman 1985: 128, 212; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak2003: 1178)

4. kage shadow, OJ kage shadow, reflection, radiance, light, kagami, OJkagami mirror (


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K nalk-, MK nolk- get old, age, be much used, pK *nolk- get old, extendin time(Martin 1966: 235-36; Whitman 1985: 241; Starostin 1991: 109, 253, 266, 276;Finch 1987: 11; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1035-1036)

8. nagu grow calm, calm down: nagusameru comfort, console, OJ nagi-(ocean waves) grow still, calm down, nagi calm, calmness, pJ *nanku-calmMK nalhwo- slow, unhurried, pK *nalkwo- slow, calm

Ev. a

a, Neg. a

akka

n, Ol

. an-a, Orok nand, Sol. nandaxa

n, pTg *aaquiet, slow, easy.(Whitman 1985: 241; Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 987)

9. OJ ogiro vast, pJ *onkiro vastEv. ed big, Neg. egdi 1, Na. egdi 1, Ol. egdi 1, Orok egi 1, Oro.egdi 1, Ud. egdi 1, Sol. egd1, pTg *egdi many(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 495-96)

10. ogoru be extravagant, be proud, give as a treat, pJ *onkor- behaveabundantlyWMo. , Khal. n(g), Kalm. , pMo * abundant, plentifulOTk. , i all, Yak. , Kirg. g, Kaz. kj, pTk * abundance(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1056)

11. suguru choose, select, pJ *sunkur- chooseWMo. sogu-, Khal. sogo-, Bur. hunga-, Kalm. sun-, Ordos sugu-, Dag.sogo-, Dong. sunu-, pMo *sogu- chooseKarakh. sorut- search, MTk. sora- search, soraaq search perquisition,Chuv. ra- ask, pTk *sogra- search, ask(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 1303-1304)

12. tagiru boil, seethe, foam, OJ takit- tagit- flow rapidly, seethe, pJ*tanki- flow rapidlyEv. alki- be agitated (sea), wave Lam. al-, alqab- overflow (river), pTg*alki- flow rapidly, overflowWMo. dargil, Khal. dargil, Kalm. dergl, pMo *dargil rapid currentMTk. tala Wellenschlag, talum, talqum sea waves, Tk. dalga wave, Az.dala wave, pTk *talga wave, sea undulation(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 404-405)

13. toga fault, blame, oense, pJ *tonka blame, oenseWMo. doud-, Khal. dogodo-, pMo *dogud- to blame, rebukeOTk. jo, joa-, Yak. so, pTk *jo accusation, accuse(Starostin, Dybo & Mudrak 2003: 463)


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(3) the phonological symmetry between the labial, dental and velar clus-ter correspondence series

(4) and finally, the dierent light thrown on the problem of phonologicaldiscrepancy between Japanese, Korean and Altaic;

we can conclude that, instead of driving us to dierent solutions in otherlanguage families, the Japanese reflexes of Korean and Altaic clusters,anchor the roots of the Japanese language deeper into the Altaic family.

Whereas the evidence for the nasal labial clusters (pJ *-np-) and the nasalvelar clusters (pJ *-nk-) is relatively convincing, the evidence for nasaldental clusters (pJ *-nt-) is rather weak because eleven out of fifteen ety-mologies are binary comparisons and because the Korean cognates arerather scarce. The Korean reflex of pJ *nt is an aricate pK *c. Howeverwe cannot exclude the possibility that the aricate is ultimately derivablefrom a dental cluster (< ? pK *ts). In the 15th century, /c/ was not palatalas it is in Korean today, but merely an alveolar aricate [ts]. By the 16thcentury MK disappeared from the language, a process that probablymade room for the palatalization of the aricate c.

That Korean cluster reflexes are underrepresented in general can per-hapsbeexplainedbythefrequentprocessesofliquidlossand h-metathesisdescribed above that had already set in by the time that the Korean lan-guage was recorded in an unambiguous way. Probably many clusterswere already leveled when the Korean alphabet was introduced. Undertheetymologyof kuzira whale,pJ*kuntira whaleforexample,MK kwolaywhale would be an excellent fit on the conditionthat it preserved internalevidence for a dental cluster. Liquid loss could also be the reason why aconsonant cluster is missing in the bracketed form pTk *sb - love underOJ sobap- frolic, flirt.21

The mechanisms that made Japanese into a phonologically simple lan-guage can be found in an ongoing process of cluster simplification. At aninitial stage a relatively rich inventory of sonorant clusters and a smalleramount of obstruent clusters in Altaic was gradually simplified until

21 Sporadic instability of medial clusters in Japanese is perhaps the missing link to relateke, OJ ke hair (< pJ *ka(C)i < *?kanki ) to K khal hair, K kalki, MK kalki horses mane,pK kalki hair, horsehair; Neg. nakta, Lit. Ma. iGaa, Na. saqta, Ol. sakta, Oroksnaqta, Ev. inakta hair (< pTg *xinga- hair + pTg *-kta collective sux), WMo. kilasu,Khal. xalgas, Kalm. kilsn., kilsn., Dag. kilgas, Mgr. cirGa. Mogh. qilasun, (< pMo*kilga- horsehair + pMo *-sun body part sux), OTk. ql, Tk. kl, Tat. kl, Uigh. qil, Az. gl,Tkm. gl, Yak. kl, Kirg. kl, Chuv. xlx hair, horsehair (< pTk *klk< ? *klk).


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if japanese is altaic, how can it be so simple

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