The Cerrado languages (also referred to as Amazonian Jê
) are a branch of the
Jê languages
The Jê languages (also spelled Gê, Jean, Ye, Gean), or Jê–Kaingang languages, are spoken by the Jê, a group of indigenous peoples in Brazil.
Genetic relations
The Jê family forms the core of the Macro-Jê family. Kaufman (1990) finds t ...
constituted by the
Goyaz Jê languages and
Akuwẽ (Central Jê).
Sound changes from Proto-Jê to Proto-Cerrado
The occurrence of the consonant */g/ in Proto-Cerrado (as in ''*/g/õt'' ‘to sleep’, ''*/g/õ'' ‘to give’, ''*/g/aj’'' ‘you’) is believed to be an innovation; it has been claimed to have been inserted in onsetless stressed syllables.
The Proto-Cerrado diphthongs ''*wa'' and ''*ja'' are believed to continue
Proto-Jê monophthongs, which have been reconstructed as ''*ô'' and ''*ê₂''. Other vowels which have been claimed to have innovated in Proto-Cerrado are:
*''*ô'' (goes back to an unrounded vowel, reconstructed as Proto-Jê ''*ə̂₁'');
*''*u'' (a merger of earlier ''*u₁'' and ''*u₂'', distinguished in the
Southern Jê languages
The Southern Jê languages are a branch of the Jê languages constituted by the Kaingang
The Kaingang (also spelled ''caingangue'' in Portuguese (language), Portuguese or ''kanhgág'' in the Kaingang language) people are an Indigenous peoples ...
as ''o'' and ''u'', respectively);
*''*ũ'' (a merger of earlier ''*ũ₁'' and ''*ũ₂'', distinguished as ''ũ'' and ''ỹ'' in
Kaingang
The Kaingang (also spelled ''caingangue'' in Portuguese (language), Portuguese or ''kanhgág'' in the Kaingang language) people are an Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group spread out over the three southern Brazilian s ...
and as ''ũ'' and ''õ'' in
Laklãnõ);
*''*ə̃'' (a merger of earlier ''*ə̃'' and ''*ỹ'', distinguished as ''ỹ'' and ''ĩ'' in
Kaingang
The Kaingang (also spelled ''caingangue'' in Portuguese (language), Portuguese or ''kanhgág'' in the Kaingang language) people are an Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group spread out over the three southern Brazilian s ...
and as ''õ'' and ''ẽ'' in
Laklãnõ);
*all vowels in the Proto-Jê unstressed syllables of the shape ''*pV-'' were neutralized in the Cerrado languages: Proto-Cerrado ''*pᵊ-'' (> Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*py-/*pu-'', Proto-Akuwẽ ''*pi-'').
Sound changes from Proto-Cerrado to the daughter languages
Onsets
The simple onset inventory of Proto-Cerrado is */p m w t n ɾ c ɲ j k ŋ g/, and the only complex onsets are */pɾ mɾ kɾ ŋɾ/.
Their reflexes in the daughter branches are shown below.
Nuclei
The inventory of the Proto-Cerrado monophthongs is reconstructed as follows.
In addition, two diphthongs can be reconstructed, */wa/ and */ja/.
The following table shows the usual reflexes of the Proto-Cerrado nuclei in
Proto-Goyaz Jê and in
Proto-Akuwẽ. The latter group shows a chain vowel shift known as the ''Akuwẽ/Central Jê vowel shift''.
Codas
References
{{Macro-Jê languages
Jê languages
Languages of Brazil