The system is retained relatively faithfully in Selkup (though expanded with vowel length). Two of the vowel contrasts are however only retained in Nganasan: the distinction of front and back reduced vowels, and that of *i versus *e. For the remainder of the family, following the mergers *e > *i and *ə̈ > *ə, a further shared change is raising of *ä > *e.[2] Earlier works often thus give a slightly different transcription of several vowels:[3]
Older reconstruction
Current reconstruction
*i
*i, *e
*e
*ä
*ä
*a
Even though the number of vowel phonemes was high, there were no long vowels or phonemic diphthongs. A peculiar feature of the reconstructed vowel system is the occurrence of vowel sequences, which consisted of any full vowel followed by the reduced vowel /ə/: for example, *tuə 'feather', *kåəså 'man'. These sequences were not diphthongs; the vowels belonged to separate syllables. Evidence of the vowel sequences has been preserved in only part of the Samoyedic languages, primarily in Nganasan and Enets. Wagner-Nagy (2004)[4] lists the following examples:
Close + reduced: *iə, *iə̈, *üə, *üə̈, *uə, *uə̈
Mid + reduced: *öə, *ëə, *oə, *oə̈
Open + reduced: *äə (> *eə), *åə
Close + open: *uå
Reduced + open: *əå
Proto-Samoyedic had vowel harmony like many other Uralic languages. Harmony determined whether a front vocalic or a back vocalic allomorph of a suffix was used. However, the restrictions imposed by vowel harmony were not absolute because also disharmonic word-stems can be reconstructed. Such stems break vowel harmony by combining front and back vowels: e.g. Proto-Samoyedic *kålä 'fish', *wäsa 'iron'.
In contrast to the vowel system, the consonant system is rather simple with only 13 phonemes:
The exact sound value of the affricate is not entirely clear; it may originally have been retroflex[ʈ͡ʂ] rather than dental or alveolar [t͡s]. It has remained distinct only in Selkup, merging elsewhere with *t.
As in Proto-Uralic, the ancestor of Proto-Samoyedic, the first syllable of words was always stressed, and hence there was no contrastive stress. Contrastive tones did not occur either.
As in Proto-Uralic, words could begin with a maximum of one consonant: initial consonant clusters were not allowed. Another phonotactic constraint inherited from Proto-Uralic was that the consonants *r and *ŋ were not allowed word-initially. Proto-Samoyedic had, however, innovated final consonant clusters in a few words. In all of them, the first consonant in the cluster was the semivowel *j, as in *wajŋ 'breath'. Thus, the syllable structure of Proto-Samoyedic was altogether (C)V(j)(C).
Inside words, clusters of two consonants were common. Clusters of three consonants were again possible only if the first consonant of the cluster was *j, as in *wajkkə 'neck'.
Palatalization of consonants, most prominently *k, has occurred in all recorded Samoyedic languages. This is however a post-Proto-Samoyedic development, as the details differ in each branch due to vowel developments.[5]
The Nenets-Enets group palatalizes both *k and *s to /sʲ/.
Nganasan, Selkup and Kamassian palatalize *k to a distinct /ʃ/. Nganasan also palatalizes *s to /sʲ/.
Mator appears to have no palatalization of *k; however, *s is, somewhat unusually, velarized to /k/.
Nenets-Enets and Nganasan have prominent palatalization of other consonants as well, leading to contraction of the vowel system.
Other widespread developments include prothesis of *ŋ, initial lenition of *p, and fortition of the semivowels *w, *j.
In Nganasan, Nenets and Enets, PS vowel-initial words gain an initial /ŋ/ via rhinoglottophilia (which may be subsequently palatalized to /nʲ/). This is occasionally found in other Samoyedic languages as well, usually with the exception of Mator.
PS initial *p is lenited to /f/ in Enets, /h/ in Mator and Nganasan. (/f/ still appears in the oldest Nganasan records.)
PS initial *w remains only in Nenets. In Selkup, it becomes /kʷ/; all other varieties shift it to /b/.
PS initial *j remains in both Nenets and Enets. It becomes /tʲ/ in Selkup, and /dʲ/ in other varieties.
In Mator and Kamassian, /b/, /dʲ/ are furthermore nasalized to /m/, /nʲ/ preceding a word-internal nasal. This has been an areal change, shared also with Siberian Turkic languages such as Khakas.[6]
Proto-Samoyedic was a fairly typical agglutinative language with only little morphophonological alteration, apart from vowel harmony. In the following, -A marks an archiphoneme realized as -å in words with back-vocalic harmony, -ä in words with front-vocalic harmony.
^Aikio, Ante (2006). "New and Old Samoyed Etymologies (Part 2)". Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen (59): 10.
^Wagner-Nagy, Beáta (2004). "Wort- und Silbenstruktur im Protosamojedischen". Finnisch-Ugrische Mitteilungen (26–27): 87–108.
^ abSammallahti, Pekka (1988), "Historical phonology of the Uralic languages, with special reference to Samoyed, Ugric, and Permic", in Denis Sinor (ed.), The Uralic Languages: Description, History and Foreign Influences, Leiden: Brill, pp. 478–554
^Aikio, Ante (2002), "New and Old Samoyed etymologies", Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen, 57, ISSN0355-1253
^Michalove, Peter A. (1999), "The treatment of initial *l- in Proto-Samoyed", Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne, 89, ISSN0355-0214
^ abLuobbal Sámmol Sámmol Ánte (Ante Aikio): Proto-Uralic. — To appear in: Marianne Bakró-Nagy, Johanna Laakso & Elena Skribnik (eds.), The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford University Press.
Janhunen, Juha 1998. Samoyedic. In: Daniel Abondolo (ed.), The Uralic Languages, pp. 457–479. London / New York: Routledge.
