Proto-algic V

Doublets and their Implications

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that a recalcitrant problem first addressed by Howard Berman - how to explain an apparent correspondence among PA *t, W t, and Y ? - is best solved by reconstructing Proto-Algic doublets. These doublets suggest dialect mixing before the breakup of Proto-Algic society, with frequent elements commonly manifesting the prestige-dialect innovations. The combination of *? with adjacent consonants, once e-dropping is taken into account, explains the glottalized consonants in several words - but others remain and should be transcribed.