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Case markers and switch-reference markers in the Muskogean languages are often similar in form and can be difficult to distinguish. This paper surveys both phenomena in each branch of the family. It argues that cleft clauses in Proto-Muskogean appeared after noun phrases to indicate focus. These cleft clauses ended in same- and different-subject switch-reference markers. With time, the cleft clauses were reinterpreted as subject and nonsubject case markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual history offers a method for writing the intellectual history of African societies that did not leave a documentary record accessible in archives. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, in this case drawing on the methods of comparative historical linguistics, it is possible to rethink the limitations of the traditional archive and privilege the intellectual work of people even when their names and the details of their individual lives have been lost to us. Through the case study of the concept of wealth in eastern Uganda over the past 2,000 years, the complexity and dynamism of people's economic ideas becomes apparent. Also apparent is the longevity of their engagement with these concepts over at least the past two millennia. Scholars working in other contexts, including modern ones, can draw on these comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to move beyond the limitations of the archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I apply the comparative method of historical linguistics to explore the relationship between Pataxó Hãhãhãe, an under-documented language of Northeast Brazil with no remaining fluent speakers, and Maxakalí, a language with a fluent, first-language speaking community. In addition to confirming a close relationship between Pataxó Hãhãhãe and Maxakalí, I examine their similarities to explore some aspects of Pataxó Hãhãhãe phonology and, to a lesser extent, morphosyntax, despite its limited documentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research theorizes that Xinkan, a non-Mayan language, exerted influence on the Ch'orti' (Mayan) verbs, providing a viable alternative to the claim of direct Ch'olti'-to-Ch'orti' descent and instead supporting the more traditional view that Ch'orti' and Ch'olti' have separate histories. Shared verbal features between Xinkan and Ch'orti' that are not typically Mayan include (1) a third person prefix a ‑ on intransitive verbs in the incompletive aspect, which contrasts with a zero morpheme for the third person in the completive, and (2) the unusual portmanteau marking of incompletive vs. completive through the contrast between prefixed and suffixed person markers respectively (with no tense/aspect markers). Xinkan-Mayan contact has been established by earlier research on lexical borrowings into Xinkan from Mayan and on Xinkan toponyms in the Ch'orti'-Ch'olti' area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies and discusses seventeen grammatical morphemes and a number of basic lexical roots that correspond in Chibchan and Macro-Jê languages. Chibchan languages are spoken across a region stretching from Honduras in the west to Venezuela in the east. Macro-Jê is one of the major phylogenetic units of Lowland South America, where the modern languages are all spoken south of the Amazon. The Chibchan and Macro-Jê forms discussed here reflect regular sound correspondences and, additionally, include shared idiosyncrasies, such as corresponding suppletion. This suggests the existence of a genealogical relationship between both language groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the basic internal classification of Chibchan. Currently, the most widely accepted hypothesis is that Proto-Chibchan first split into two branches: the ancestor of Pech and the ancestor of all the other Chibchan languages, which are subsumed under the label of Core Chibchan. This paper presents evidence casting doubt on this structure—namely, nine innovations that Pech shares exclusively with Chibchan languages of the Arhuacic subgroup spoken in northern Colombia. These shared innovations are phonological, morphological, and lexical and suggest the existence of a Pech-Arhuacic subgroup. They also suggest that a bifurcation of Proto-Chibchan into the ancestor of Pech and the ancestor of all other Chibchan languages cannot be maintained. This observation has implications for our understanding of migration in the Isthmo-Colombian Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joe Horton argues that partial aggregation yields unacceptable verdicts in cases with risk and multiple decisions. I begin by showing that Horton's challenge does not depend on risk, since exactly similar arguments apply to riskless cases. The underlying conflict Horton exposes is between partial aggregation and certain principles of diachronic choice. I then provide two arguments against these diachronic principles: (i) they conflict with intuitions about parity, prerogatives, and cyclical preferences, and (ii) they rely on an odd assumption about diachronic choice. Finally, I offer an explanation, on behalf of partial aggregation, for why these diachronic principles fail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crow-Omaha kinship systems skew kin terms intergenerationally. Although occurring worldwide, they are relatively infrequent and often exist in historically unrelated clusters: "similar inventions in areas widely apart" (per Boas). Most analyses have been formalist, evolutionist, or sociological. Here, adding some historical linguistics and focusing on the core kin-term equations via the ethnographic and ethnohistoric record of Indigenous Australia and North America, we examine how these systems arise and spread among near neighbors, and across language-family boundaries. We address comparative dynamics, sociological and linguistic, of distribution patterns over time and space. We suggest that skewing, as a social technology that enhances matrilineal-matrilocal (Crow) and patrilineal-patrilocal (Omaha) systems (with some similar and other converse patterns), confers advantages over systems with "crossness" of "Iroquois" or "Dravidian" type in circumstances of demographic stress. We affirm the key to skewing lies in its dispersal of affinal alliance beyond binary exchange and suggest some socio-evolutionary implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two ancient traditions interpret the saying, "nothing to do with Dionysus." One holds that disgruntled theatergoers shouted the phrase during the performances of tragedies. The second maintains that the phrase originated at a painting contest. I argue that this second tradition is more plausible on philological, artistic, and historical grounds. As a result, the proverb has minimal value for determining the early development of tragedy but is helpful for illustrating the nature of art criticism in antiquity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the generality of descriptive kinship terms for affines in Arawakan languages, readdressing an open problem in the historical linguistics of this family. I show that the Mojeño terms for affines of the parental generation originate in descriptive kinship terms meaning 'grandparent of Ego's child'. Next, I demonstrate that this account offers striking support for the independently proposed sound-symbolic origin of the affricate of PM *-ótse 'grandmother'. Evidence is also presented for the independent emergence of similar formations in different Arawakan languages, also considering the extralinguistic, sociohistorical conditions that may have prompted these independent formations. Finally, I propose a reevaluation of Payne's (1991) Proto-Arawakan etymology for 'seed', suggesting that it conflates the reflexes of two independent etyma. Reworking this etymology furnishes substance to Taylor's (1961) pioneering hypothesis of a family-wide form *-im(i) - 'child, seed'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Prussian diplomat and philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt, focusing on his study of languages in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, which resulted in his monograph on the history of the culture and language of Java and debates with leading Orientalist scholars. It argues that his global study of languages was one of the largest and last in the interdisciplinary European republic of letters in which scholars communicated despite differences in religion, politics, and language.

The Ch'orti' antipassive system is more conservative than that of the other Ch'olan languages, thus challenging the claim of direct Ch'orti'-to-Ch'olti' descent. Except for the innovative suffix -ma, the suffixes are reflexes of historical Mayan antipassives *-(V)n and *-(V)w. Four antipassive suffixes (- ma , - on , - o , and - yan) are used in Ch'orti' to form absolutive antipassives without patients, and some of the suffixes are used in related verbal structures, e.g., incorporatives. While the other Ch'olan languages show some evidence of having verbal absolutive antipassives, they have innovated by creating related structures with required embedded nominalized antipassives. The Ch'orti' system, like other non-Ch'olan Mayan languages, allows embedded nominalized antipassives, but never requires them. Additionally, Ch'orti' has preserved the final fricative in the nominalized antipassive [-(y)ax] suffix (in contrast to the intransitive suffix [-ah]), while the corresponding Ch'olti' suffix [-ya] has lost the fricative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uto-Aztecan subgrouping has long been the subject of debate. We aim to establish a more up-to-date foundation for Uto-Aztecan lexicostatistics by reexamining Wick Miller's influential lexicostatistic classification. Miller's cognate density measure yields a symmetrical table based on the number of cognates each language pairing shares on a modified Swadesh-100 wordlist. However, no language has cognate sets for all word meanings (glosses) on that list. We offer an improved metric, relative cognate density, for analyzing an updated database of Kenneth Hill's Uto-Aztecan cognate sets. We generate an asymmetrical table dividing the number of pairwise shared cognates ("match counts") by the number of cognate sets each comparison language actually has available. Employing more standard distance-based clustering algorithms (UPGMA, Neighbor Joining, and NeighborNet), our results align with Miller's in some respects (e.g., in identifying a Southern-Uto-Aztecan branch but not a Northern-Uto-Aztecan one) but differ in others (e.g., in not identifying "Sonoran"). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jodï are a small indigenous group of approximately 1,000 people living in relative isolation in the Venezuelan Sierra de Maigualida. Their language has generally been treated as an isolate or left unclassified in the language classification literature. However, different researchers have proposed that Jodï is related to the Cariban, Yanomaman, Sáliban, or "Makú" language families. In this article, I investigate in depth the proposed Jodï-Sáliban relationship by means of comparison of lexical and grammatical material. Based on numerous regular sound correpondences as well as grammatical correspondences—some of which are too idiosyncratic to be nothing but the product of inheritance—I conclude that Jodï is related to the Sáliban languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay analyzes the history and usage of degree modifiers and comparative constructions in Q'eqchi' (Maya). It focuses on the role of mas (< Sp. más) and the function of the modern comparative construction (long thought to be a calque of its Spanish equivalent). In contrast to previous analyses, it shows that Q'eqchi' mas does not function as a comparative (unlike Spanish más), but rather as a degree modifier, indefinite quantity, and differential operator (like Spanish muy and mucho). It shows that the comparative construction doesn't require mas , but only the positive form of a gradable predicate, along with the adposition chiru (before, in the face of) to mark the standard. It shows that mas came into Q'eqchi' during the late 1800s and seems to have functioned this way from the beginning. And it offers reasons for this shift in meaning, and its frequent misanalysis by linguists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the alignment system for verbal person-marking in Chitimacha, a language isolate of Louisiana. Using data from recently digitized versions of texts collected by Morris Swadesh in the 1930s, I show that Chitimacha exhibits a split alignment system with agent-patient alignment in the first person and nominative-accusative alignment in non-first persons. The agent-patient alternation is shown to cross-cut subjects of intransitives, objects and even subjects of transitives, and direct/indirect objects of ditransitives. The agent-patient system in Chitimacha is therefore sensitive not to transitivity but rather to the semantic categories of agent and patient, making it an exemplary case of semantic alignment. I also discuss evidence of the diachronic origins of the agent-patient pattern and show that it arose via a reanalysis of transitive verbs with impersonal subjects ("transimpersonals") as intransitive verbs with patientive subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical argument marking systems have long been treated as exceptions in alignment typology since they do not follow the same logic as, for example, nominative-accusative systems in creating subsets of argument roles that are treated identically. A recent proposal by Witzlack-Makarevich and colleagues advocates for "exhaustive alignment" as a way around this problem. This paper applies this methodology to the present-day Guaykuruan languages (Kadiwéu, Mocoví, Pilagá, Toba) with three goals: firstly, it expands on the methodology, providing a proposal on how to apply the method to languages with split-intransitive characteristics. Secondly, the paper shows how alignment subsystems in languages with hierarchical alignment can provide additional evidence for the phylogenetic relations between languages. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates how a construction-specific approach to alignment can uncover a greater degree of variety in alignment patterns, revealing that a number of Pilagá and Toba morphemes show {SA, O} vs. {SO, A} alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the diachrony of non-specific correlatives and free choice indefinites, the two structures of the Hittite pronouns of the form kui-imma (kui-) with a focus on cross-linguistically non-trivial features of their evolution. Topics covered include diachronic relationship between the two structures, stages in the evolution of free choice indefinites in Hittite language, and clitic doubling structure of free choice clauses in Hittite.

In 1902, Belmar published a list of San Gabriel Mixtepec Zapotec (SGMZ) words and phrases, the only record of this apparently dormant language. This paper presents Belmar’s SGMZ data and interprets his transcriptions to show that SGMZ is very similar to the Santa María Coatlán dialect of Coatec Zapotec, which is spoken some forty kilometers to the northeast, where it likely formed part of a historic dialect chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1902, Belmar published a list of San Gabriel Mixtepec Zapotec (SGMZ) words and phrases, the only record of this apparently dormant language. This paper presents Belmar’s SGMZ data and interprets his transcriptions to show that SGMZ is very similar to the Santa María Coatlán dialect of Coatec Zapotec, which is spoken some forty kilometers to the northeast, where it likely formed part of a historic dialect chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces phonological developments and clarifies internal relationships in the Delta-California subgroup of the Yuman language family. It demonstrates that Delta-California Yuman comprises three subdivisions and at least eight languages, proposes a reorganization of the Yuman family tree that gives equal weight to the Delta-California and Pai-River subgroups, and concludes that the Yuman family is much older and deeper than has previously been believed. It points out that long-neglected languages of the Delta-California subgroup urgently need recognition and documentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces phonological developments and clarifies internal relationships in the Delta-California subgroup of the Yuman language family. It demonstrates that Delta-California Yuman comprises three subdivisions and at least eight languages, proposes a reorganization of the Yuman family tree that gives equal weight to the Delta-California and Pai-River subgroups, and concludes that the Yuman family is much older and deeper than has previously been believed. It points out that long-neglected languages of the Delta-California subgroup urgently need recognition and documentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs a quantitative analysis of lexical data to generate a tree describing the historical relationships among Iroquoian languages. An alternative to glottochronology is used to estimate the timing of branching events within the tree. We estimate the homeland of the language family using lexical and geographic distance measures and then compare this estimate with homeland determinations in the literature. Our results suggest that Proto-Iroquoian dates to around 2624 bc, and that the Finger Lakes region of west-central New York is the most likely homeland. The results also revealed a strong relationship between linguistic dissimilarity and geographic distance, likely reflecting the isolating effects of spatial separation on the magnitude of linguistic exchange. The timing of language divergences seems to coincide with important events observable in the archaeological record, including the first evidence for the use of corn in New York and Ontario. The development of important Iroquoian cultural attributes such as the longhouse, matrilocal residence, and the intensification of agriculture all coincide with a period which saw most of the internal language divergences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the launch of IJAL 100 years ago, historical linguistics has been a central concern of researchers working on the languages of the Americas, and diachronic studies of New World language families have contributed substantially both to our knowledge of the development and dispersal of languages over time and to the refinement of the methods we use to study language history. This article surveys some of the most important developments over the past century, concentrating largely on work that has appeared in the Journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological investigations carried out by the Roman Aqaba Project seek to reconstruct the economy of the ancient seaport of Aila and contribute new evidence concerning the nature of the imperial Roman economy in the East. This study presents a component of the project that is focused on the analysis of plant remains retrieved from soil samples taken during excavations at Aila between 1994 and 2003. The archaeobotanical material examined comes from the Nabataean through Abbasid periods (first through tenth centuries c.e.) and presents a diachronic perspective on the agricultural economy of the site. The feasibility of cereal agricultural production in the hyper-arid hinterland of Aila is also examined, as well as the population's reliance on imported subsistence commodities. The results show that Aila may not have been as dependent on imported staple crops as previously assumed, which relates directly to questions regarding the size of Aila's hinterland and its production potential. Although no physical evidence exists for the use of runoff agriculture, it is feasible it was practiced near Aila, as there is proof for it at other hyper-arid sites in the region. Likewise, it seems probable that "oasis agriculture" was practiced at Aila, and perhaps even cotton cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of the historical phonology of Yawalapiti, an Arawak language spoken in central Brazil. After internal reconstruction is applied to a set of alternations observed in the language, comparative evidence for the proposed reconstructions is addressed. The alternations in question can be loosely described as involving some sort of palatalization process, but the adequacy of this label is obscured by some properties that make these alternations unnatural from a phonetic point of view and highly morphologized. It is shown that these alternations can be seen as the result of developments starting with phonetically transparent, allophonic rules of palatalization of the kind seen in other southern Arawak languages. Additional hypotheses on the historical phonology of the language are also advanced and argued for using comparative evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chapacuran language family, with three extant members and nine historically attested lects, has yet to be classified following modern standards in historical linguistics. This paper presents an internal classification of these languages by combining both the traditional comparative method (CM) and Bayesian phylogenetic inference (BPI). We identify multiple systematic sound correspondences and 285 cognate sets of basic vocabulary using the available documentation. These allow us to reconstruct a large portion of the Proto-Chapacuran phonemic inventory and identify tentative major subgroupings. The cognate sets form the input for the BPI analysis, which uses a stochastic Continuous-Time Markov Chain to model the change of these cognate sets over time. We test various models of lexical substitution and evolutionary clocks, and use ethnohistorical information and data collection dates to calibrate the resulting trees. The CM and BPI analyses produce largely congruent results, suggesting a division of the family into three different clades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Zapotec languages share the innovation of a progressive aspect preix in /ka-/ which contrasts with a habitual aspect /r-/, which is the relex of a Proto-Zapotec imperfective preix */tyi-/. Early instances of this innovative progressive aspect preix can be found in colonial Zapotec texts from the sixteenth century, and the geographic dispersion of Central Zapotec languages with this form argues that the innovation must date to some centuries prior to A.d. 1300, and that this morphological characteristic is a key marker that distinguishes Central Zapotec languages from other members of the Zapotec family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to furnish a diachronic account of selected aspects of the morphophonology of nominal possession in Mehinaku, an Arawak language spoken in central Brazil. The phenomena explained here include the systematic occurrence of word-final main stress in Absolute and Genitive forms of nouns, the nasalization of stem-final vowels in a subclass of the Genitive forms, and some vowel quality changes in the paradigms of Inalienable nouns that have defied coherent treatment in comparative and historical Arawak studies. The particular developments postulated in this account are supported both by a consideration of the synchronic regularities holding in Mehinaku phonology and by comparative evidence on the development of the Central Branch of the Arawak family to which this language belongs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comparative method of historical linguistics is carefully applied to the hypothesis that Chitimacha, a language of southern Louisiana now without fully fluent speakers, and languages of the Totozoquean family of Mesoamerica are genealogically related. Ninety-one lexical sets comparing Chitimacha words collected by Swadesh (1939; 1946a; 1950) to words reconstructed for Proto-Totozoquean (Brown et al. 2011) show regular sound correspondences. Along with certain structural similarities, this evidence attests to the descent of these languages from a common ancestor, Proto-Chitimacha-Totozoquean. By identifying regular sound correspondences, the phonological inventory and some of the vocabulary of the proto-language are reconstructed. Reconstructed words relating to maize agriculture and the fabrication of paper indicate that prehistoric Chitimacha speakers migrated to the Lower Mississippi Valley from Mesoamerica. Some speculations on how and when Chitimacha speakers migrated are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reconstruction of Proto-Tukanoan consonants and the classification of the family based on shared phonological innovations. The proposed reconstruction contrasts with previous comparative studies of the family by proposing a series of laryngealized stops (instead of voiced stops) and a different set of sounds for the alveolar and palatal points of articulation. Methodologically, it considers lexicostatistical methods to play a secondary role in the classification of languages in the Tukanoan family. It offers a detailed discussion of contact vs. inherited linguistic traits in the Tukanoan family and in the Vaupes region, well known for its multilingualism and system of linguistic exogamy, and concludes with an interpretation of the evolution of the Tukanoan family in historical terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses synchronic and diachronic typological data to trace the origin and development of the Zapotec causative marker "k-. It is suggested that the causative marker "k- arose as a language-internal innovation after Zapotec split away from its sister branch, Chatino. The paper relies on Song's (1996) typology of causative marker formation to show that the causative prefix "k- has developed out of the marker of the potential mood following de-subordination of the subordinate clauses of purpose. This work contributes to the field of Zapotecan linguistics, by tracing the evolution of an important pan-Zapotec morpheme, and to that of diachronic typology (e.g., Bickel 2007), by validating a proposed developmental sequence in the area of valence-related morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two branches of Western Numic are the Mono and Northern Paiute languages. We argue that this taxonomic structure did not arise as usually assumed in historical linguistics, through increased differentiation brought about by changes internal to each branch, but rather that diffusion between Western and Central Numic played a crucial role in forming the Western Numic family tree. More generally, we suggest that diffusion plays a greater role in language diversification than is usually recognized [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boas (1913) reported that the Chatino language area (Otomanguean) of southern Oaxaca State, Mexico, consists of three distinct varieties: (1) a group of 17 villages centered on Juquila and Yaitepec, (2) Tataltepec, and (3) Zenzontepec. Upson and Longacre (1965) compare data from the three groups and reconstruct 251 Proto-Chatino lexemes, but like Boas and all other extant work on Chatino, they do not provide any linguistic evidence that Boas's first grouping is a valid genetic unit nor do they give any account of the relationships between the three. This paper demonstrates not only that the first group is valid but also that it forms a higher level subgroup with Tataltepec. The comparison illustrates that even with a limited number of identifiable phonological innovations useful for subgrouping, a successful classification is achievable with supporting evidence from shared sporadic morphological and semantic innovations, and by taking advantage of comparative work in a sister sub-family (Zapotec) in order to filter out retentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the etymology of the Hurrian word for god, which is 'eni.' An overview of 'eni' as a loanword, deriving from Sumerian and Akkadian languages, is provided. An overview of the morphological behavior of the word 'eni,' including the author's conclusion of its foreign origin, is also provided. The article discusses the structural and typological aspects of the Hurrian language, including its lack of prefixes and infixes, the rarity of compounding within it and its status as an agglutinating language.

The article discusses the language of a tablet found in the governor's palace of the extinct city and Neo-Assyrian provincial capital Tušhan. An overview the tablet's etymology, including the linguistic elements of the Assyrian, Akkadian, Hurrian, Luwian, Old Iranian and Indo-Iranian languages within it, is provided. The article also discusses the origin of the names on the tablet, including their possibility of being Shubrian, which is an indigenous language that preceded the arrival of Assyrians to the northern Mesopotamian region.

This article is a quantitative study of the diachronic evolution of negation in K'iche' Maya. The latter can be summarized as a version of Jespersen's Cycle in which a single negator anteceding the predicate head (NO1) was replaced by a counterfactual marker reanalyzed as negator in post-predicate head position (NO2). The original negator was reanalyzed as an optional negative polarity item in indicative clauses without losing its independent negative feature in non-indicative contexts. The reanalysis started with unrelated changes that led first to the disappearance of a small class of clitic particles attaching onto the negator. These particles acted as negative force intensifiers or inter-sentential linkers and were widespread in Classical K'iche' texts. Similar collusions of pragmatic, phonological, and syntactic changes have shaped the syntax of negation in other Mayan languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epistemology of the historical sciences has been debated recently. Cleland argued that the effects of the past overdetermine it. Turner argued that the past is underdetermined by its effects because of the decay of information from the past. I argue that the extent of over- and underdetermination cannot be approximated by philosophical inquiry. It is an empirical question that each historical science attempts to answer. Philosophers should examine how paradigmatic cases of historical science handled underdetermination or utilized overdetermination. I analyze such a paradigmatic case, Darwin’s phylogenetic inferences. Darwin proceeded in three consecutive stages. The initial inference that there was some common cause of homologies was usually overdetermined. The final inference of the character traits of ancestor species was usually underdetermined. The second stage inference of the causal net that connected the species that share some common cause was inbetween. A comparison with Comparative Historical Linguistics demonstrates similar three stages of inference that move from the over- to the underdetermined. 1 Introduction2 The Overdetermined Inference of Some Common Cause3 The Inference of Common Cause Causal Nets4 The Undertermined Inference of the Properties of Origins5 Conclusion: The Historical Sciences [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses the comparative method of historical linguistics to investigate the hypothesis that languages of two well-established families of Mesoamerica, Totonacan and Mixe-Zoquean, are related in a larger genetic grouping dubbed Totozoquean. Proposed cognate sets comparing words reconstructed for Proto-Totonacan (PTn) and Proto-Mixe-Zoquean (PMZ) show regular sound correspondences attesting to the descent of these two languages from Proto-Totozoquean (PTz). Identification of sound correspondences facilitates reconstruction of PTz's phonological inventory and vocabulary. The PMZ words used in the comparison are from Wichmann (1995). The PTn words are reconstructed by the authors, who provide the Totonacan cognate sets on which these reconstructions are based, as well as discussion of the classification and phonological history of Totonacan languages. Evidence is cited indicating that Totozoquean is comparable to Indo-European in chronological depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]