Re: Question about word-initial velar nasal

From:    John Cowan <jcowan@...>
> Roger Mills scripsit:
> > Many Indonesian/Philippine/Oceanic languages have /N-/; not many of the
> > forms are reconstructible all the way back, however.
>
> Middle Chinese had /N-/, and several Sinitic languages retain it, although
> in Mandarin it's become /w-/.  It makes me wonder about a possible
> Sino-Tibetan/Austronesian/Tai-Kadai Sprachbund effect, along with the
> more well-known ones.
Greg Anderson wrote an article in a festschrift for Howard Aronson
in which he claims that the presence of initial /N/ is an areal
feature of many native Siberian languages, including Tungusic,
Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Nivkh, Samoyedic, Eskimo and Turkic.  For the
last three groups, it appears to be a secondary phenomenon, arising
from borrowings.  So, at least as far as this feature is concerned,
there may be some connection between the two linguistic areas.

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Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
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Chicago, IL 60637

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