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Contact and change in Central Salish words for salmon
Academic Work
Within comparative Salish linguistics, the problems of frequent irregular sound correspondences and overlapping lexical isoglosses are well known. In this paper, the possible effects of contact on lexical change within the Central Salish branch are examined, focusing on the semantic domain of words for salmon. This builds on previous work by Thom Hess, Donna Gerdts, Aert Kuipers, and others, studying lexical diffusion within the Salish family. All cognate sets shared by two or more languages are listed, and comments on phonological form and meaning are given. The geographic distribution and phonological irregularity of certain sets imply a mechanism of diffusion which has likely been ongoing for most of Central Salish history, and suggest that alternatives to the traditional tree model are required to account for these processes of change.
AW.00017
2018
Language and Linguistics
UBC Working Papers in Linguistics Press
International Conference on Salish Languages, 53, 182-195
International Conference on Salish Languages, 53, 182-195
Central Salish, historical linguistics, language contact, irregularity, diffusion
Working Papers
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