Historical and Comparative Linguistics

Nauruan is a Micronesian language that has been classified outside of
the Nuclear Micronesian group. This classification suggests that Nauruan, unlike all other Micronesian languages, did not descend from Proto-Micronesian. Though this view has been adopted in the literature, it should be considered tenuous. It is based on little Nauruan data and is informed by work that is presented as highly tentative. This paper presents a reassessment of Nauruan classification, drawing on data from original fieldwork. Research shows not only that Nauruan is a Micronesian language, but that there is no compelling evidence for classifying Nauruan apart from the Nuclear group. Of particular importance is the claim that Nauruan fails to reflect the merger of Proto-Oceanic *d and *dr as Proto-Micronesian *c (Jackson 1986). Comparative evidence suggests that Nauruan does reflect this merger: POc *d, *dr > PMc *c > ř. It follows that Jackson’s classification for Nauruan is unmotivated, as is the Nuclear/non-Nuclear distinction within the family. Having established that Nauruan need not be classified apart from the Nuclear group, Nauruan’s precise classification within the Micronesian family is considered. A question of primary importance is whether Nauruan reflects the merger of Proto-Micronesian *s and *S. The possibility that Nauruan did not participate in this merger is considered, in which case Nauruan should be classified outside of the Central Micronesian group, like Kosraean. The possibility that Nauruan did participate in this merger is also considered, in which case Nauruan should be classified somewhere within Central Micronesian. Further, some innovations are described which are potentially shared between Nauruan and certain Central Micronesian languages. The possibility that these are shared innovations is considered, as are the implications this would have for Nauruan classification.

The chapter addresses, after a brief historiographic overview of Ryukyuan historical linguistics, those topics on phonology (vowels, consonants, accent/tone), grammar (verbs, adjectives, case, kakari-musubi) and lexicon (pronouns, demonstratives) for which the contribution of Ryukyuan is, or has been claimed to be, important for the reconstruction of proto-Japanese-Ryukyuan (pJR), the common ancestor of Japanese and Ryukyuan.

Hamito-Semitic and Austronesian language families have in common many essential and indispensible grammatical forms, which compel us to make the inevitable conclusion that they must have come from a common source. The same assertion can be made as to certain basic vocabulary found in both families, especially those denoting parts of the body, things in the physical world, family relation, pronouns, and some numerals. As a matter of fact, the most indispensable Hamito-Semitic grammatical elements are effortlessly detected in Austronesian language family and so are its traditional roots. The common existence of all such forms in language families whose members are far apart in space and time makes it evident that they must have belonged to a common Hamito-Semitic-Austronesian speech before its split into separate Hamito-Semitic and Austronesian.
    The purpose of the present work is quite obvious; it is to clearly demonstrate and firmly establish a genetic relationship between the aforementioned language families on the most solid and scientific ground.

This thesis aims to provide a full scheme of tonal development of Tai, from tonogenesis in proto-Tai to different diachronic hierarchies of tonal splits in different Tai groups and varieties, and further suggests a new viewpoint on Tai classification as well as the revised Tai tone box based on tonology. The analysis is based on data of tones from 42 Tai varieties, most of which were collected during my fieldworks in China and Thailand. Data collection and analysis has been accomplished by a revised version of Gedney’s tone box (Gedney 1989[1972], Liao & Shen 2012), which is supposed to contain the basic patterns of tonal split and merger in Tai languages. Any tone split which is not reflected in the tone box is emphasized to discuss.

The discussion of the diachronic processes of tonal development of Tai languages is the main body of this thesis. Tonogenesis is treated as the very first step of the arising of tones in proto-Tai. After tone arose, two groups of proto-initials (voiceless-voiced) conditioned primary tonal splits whereas splits conditioned by other pharyngeal features, such as aspiration and pre-glottalization represent stages of secondary development. Some secondary tonal split patterns result in three-way register splits. However, the bearing capacity of the tone numbers in a language often cause the third register to merge into one of the other two to make two-way register splits always be the mainstream. On the basis of the full tonal development scheme explored, the other two hypotheses are attested as follows.

First, based on the analysis of tonal behaviors with supplementary evidence from initial behaviors, vocalic behaviors, and exclusive lexical items, this thesis suggests two levels of Tai division as follows. Primary, it agrees on the two-term system suggested by Haudricourt (1956) to divide proto-Tai first into Dioi or ʔyai vs. Tai proper, by another two-term system, NT-YN (Northern Tai-Yongnan Zhuang) and Southern Tai. Li’s Central Tai and Southwestern Tai (Li 1977) can be divided from each other under the Southern Tai sub-group, in contrast Northern Tai and Yongnan Zhuang differ from one another under the NT-YN sub-group.

Second, based on all the possible conditioning phonation types of initials at time of tonal splits, an integrated tone box is provided. However, a unified Tai tone box have been proved to be cumbersome if a Tai variety’s affiliation has been known. It is because not all Tai varieties obtain all types of secondary tonal splits. For instance, Northern Tai varieties lack of contrastive aspirated sounds, and unaspirated stops in NT never go with glottalized initials to condition secondary tonal splits. Therefore, a tone box designated with the divisions containing the rows of aspirated sounds and unaspirated stops appear to be unnecessary for Northern Tai. For this reason, Tai tone boxes designated with specific pertinence to different Tai periods and different Tai sub-groups are first suggested if the diachronic period of a Tai variety or the affiliation of a modern Tai variety are known. Nevertheless, the integrated Tai tone box is finally suggested to be able to capture the tonal distinctions in any Tai variety.

In linguistic tradition Old Japanese (OJ) refers to the period of 700 – 800 AD, which was preceded by pre-literate Kofun and Asuka historical periods. However, OJ materials suitable for research and linguistic analysis consist of the fragmentary phonetic texts originals which hypothetically refer to the first half of VIII c.
This first draft English-version is aimed for students who is participating in seminars in Old Japanese language

C’est plus par vraisemblance historique que par justification linguistique qu’il  a été admis jusqu’à présent que la langue des populations nommées génériquement par les sources anciennes Mauri, Numidae, Gaetuli, Libyes et Maurousioi — hormis les nombreux ethnonymes qui désignent des tribus particulières — représente un stade ancien de la langue amazighe (ou berbère). Après l’édition du recueil d’inscriptions libyques de J.-B. Chabot en 1940, qui rassemble 1124 inscriptions monumentales et funéraires anciennes (à partir du VIe siècle avant J.-C.environ), les amazighologues ont nourri l’espoir d’y reconnaître un stade ancien de la langue amazighe. Or, malgré l’identification de quelques morphèmes et lexèmes, les résultats ont été moins fructueux qu’on ne l’attendait, à l’exception d’un riche répertoire anthroponymique; l’exploitation des inscriptions rupestres sahariennes, jusqu’à présent relativement négligées, permet de concevoir qu’il existe également en épigraphie libyque des possibilités de progrès. Ces indices dans l’épigraphie libyque — d’ailleurs d’une distribution géographique très inégale, selon le choix des fouilles archéologiques — et l’aspect « amazighoïde » d’une partie de la toponymie de l’Afrique du Nord ancienne ne suffisent pas à vérifier l’amazighité — du point de vue strictement linguistique — des populations maures.

With the application of the Contrastive Hierarchy Theory, the contrastive features of preliterary Scandinavian vowels are here inferred from the interaction between targets and triggers for metaphonic fronting, rounding and breaking. One Proto-Scandinavian feature hierarchy is reconstructed for prominent syllables and another for non-prominent ones. The former hierarchy sustained contrasts that differed from the latter, including contrast for rounding and a preserved distinction between Pre-Germanic */i/ and */e/. A prominence system is reconstructed that predicts both the outcome of syncope and the distribution of the two vowel systems between syllables. The analysis neatly accounts for many notorious cruxes of umlaut and breaking that correlate with the prosodic position of the trigger, including the frequent absence of i-umlaut in light syllables.

To date, no analysis has adequately accounted for the attested distribution of front umlaut in Old Scandinavian. In this study attention is paid to unexpected outcomes that defy the generally accepted rules. In particular, the complications posed by ir-umlaut are refined into an acid test against which existing hypotheses fail. A genuinely novel proposal is developed, based on the assumption that in prominent syllables contrast well into the umlaut period was upheld between descendants of Pre-Germanic (PreGmc) */e/ and */i/ respectively, even upon the Pre-Scandinavian raising of *e. Upon such raising the descendants of PreGmc */e/ had in all oral contexts evolved into a markedly fronted coronal vowel, whereas in prominent syllables descendants of PreGmc */i/ had by default, with few exceptions, in a chain shift evolved into a non-umlauting dorsal vowel. Given the assumption that a light second syllable within a main stressed bisyllabic foot was prominent,
the two vowels, active and inert as triggers for front umlaut respectively,
could both have occurred in this position.

The methodology of research on Paleo-Amazigh is similar to that applied to Trümmersprachen, to use Jürgen Untermann’s term, but with the important advantage that the well-known modern Amazigh cluster is the linguistic continuation of Paleo-Amazigh. We do not possess any long-length texts written in Paleo-Amazigh, but instead we have many different corpora with examples of Paleo-Amazigh in heterogeneous sources. Each of these corpora is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. A single piece of this puzzle cannot restore the whole picture of Paleo-Amazigh phonological, morphological and syntactic systems, but the more pieces we collect, the more accurate linguistic description we obtain. This paper is a critical and updated account of the different sources and corpora available for the study of Paleo-Amazigh and Medieval Amazigh linguistics.

In Grammaticalising the Perfect and Explanations of Language Change: Have- and Be-Perfects in the History and Structure of English and Bulgarian, Bozhil Hristov investigates key aspects of the verbal systems of two distantly related Indo-European languages, highlighting similarities as well as crucial differences between them and seeking a unified approach.

The book reassesses some long-held notions and functionalist assumptions and shines the spotlight on certain areas that have received less attention, such as the role of ambiguity in actual usage. The detailed analysis of rich, contextualised material from a selection of texts dovetails with large-scale corpus studies, complementing their findings and enhancing our understanding of the phenomena. This monograph thus presents a happy marriage of traditional philological techniques and recent advances in theoretical linguistics and corpus work.

https://brill.com/abstract/title/54227

This paper discusses the diachronic processes of tonal development of Tai languages. Tonogenesis is treated as the very first step of the arising of tones in proto-Tai. After tone arose, two groups of proto-initials (voiceless-voiced) conditioned primary tonal splits whereas splits conditioned by other pharyngeal features, such as aspiration and preglottalization represent stages of secondary development. Some secondary tonal split patterns result in three-way register splits. However, the bearing capacity of the tone numbers in a language often cause the third register to merge into one of the other two to make two-way register splits always be the mainstream.

The doctoral dissertation, accepted to be defended on 11 September 2018, contains five papers published on different forums. Some of the main findings, notably those concerning umlaut and the history of preserved contrast in the vowel system, have implications for Germanic historical phonology beyond the study of Scandinavian. In this respect the scrutiny has, during the research process, grown beyond the original scope of the research plan. The topics of the five papers are diverse, but they all relate to preliterary eastern Scandinavian sound systems during the millennium between the third and the thirteenth century CE. They all critically examine methodological issues involved in using diverse and imperfect evidence to verify etymologies or to pursue improved phonological reconstruction and analysis. The papers also all address, albeit to a quite varying degree and in different ways, sound substitutions in borrowings between Finnic and eastern Scandinavian vernacular.

In the paper, both linguistic and extra-linguistic arguments are adduced in favor of the biblical narrative historicity: there are nearly twenty times more ‘Canaanisms’ in the Middle and, especially, New Kingdom Egyptian than Egyptian loan-words in the Hebrew Bible; the internal Bible chronology matches certain dates obtained by the glottochronological method in Sergei Starostin’s modification; the Egyptian realia in the narrative point to the 2nd century B.C.E. which is hard to explain by the imagination of the Bible’s authors / redactors at the time of its recording; and last but not least, there is a strong typological similarity of subsequent Jewish diasporas to this ‘proto-diaspora’ which seems to have shaped to a large extent the future collective consciousness and historical ‘behavior strategy’ of the Jews. The paper also contains new interpretation and etymology of such ethnonyms and pseudo-ethnonyms as Aamu, Habiru/Hapiru and Apiru and addresses the problem of the presumed Exodus dating.

Persistent and fundamental dissent continues to afflict research on preliterary Scandinavian regressive remote vowel assimilation known as " umlaut " and "breaking". To date, no analysis proposed has adequately accounted for the attested distribution of fronting, rounding nor vowel-induced breaking in the Old Scandinavian lexicon. It has been far from clear how (or even whether) these different kinds of assimilation are interrelated, causally or chronologically. The predicaments extend to the very basics of phonological analysis, such as the pivotal conditions, the mechanism(s) for change and the sequential chronologies, as well as to whether the changes were phonologically metaphonic in the first place – realised to improve perception – or rather driven by phonetic coarticulation (i.e. by easening of an articulatory effort). As a starting point chosen for two articles to appear in 2017, I have not deemed it to be adequate to address the theoretical issues, as has often been done, before examining the defective description of how front umlaut came to be distributed in the attested lexicon.

The purpose of this article is to reveal an accord between the plural form of ‘-ri > -ʤ’ in the literature of Khitan small script and the duplet of ‘-ari/-aʤi’ in Korean.

Le but de cet article est de révéler un accord entre la forme plurielle de ‘-ri > -ʤ’ dans la littérature de petit script en khitan et le duplet de ‘-ari/-aʤi’ en coréen.

이 글의 목적은 거란소자(契丹小字) 문헌(文獻)에 보이는 복수형(複數形) ‘-ri > -ʤ’와 한국어 ‘(병)아리/(망)아지’ 쌍형어(雙形語)의 일치(一致)를 밝히는 것이다.

A theoretical discussion from the framework of semiotics of the ultimate epistemological status of historical-comparative linguistics and linguistic paleontology, two disciplines dealing with the investigation of human past on the basis of linguistic data.

The aim of this article is to reveal the etymology of saptá (NB an accent) ‘seven’ in Sanskrit, compared with dā-(NB a long vowel) ‘two’ in Hittite, and tawa ‘four’ in Quechuan languages in Americas.

Contents
1. The etymology of tawa ‘four’ in Quechuan languages in Americas
2. The etymology of saptá (NB an accent) ‘seven’ in Sanskrit
3. Conclusion
References

According to Greek and Latin literary and epigraphic sources, the present research analyses evidences of the language of the North African populations that ancient authors called Libyes, Mauri, Numidae, Gaetuli and Mazices. Eight chapters analyse and classify through old regions (I. Egypt, II. Cyrenaica, III. Tripolitania, IV. Phazania and Central Sahara, V. Zeugitana and Bizacena, VI. Numidia, VII. Mauretania Caesariensis, VIII. Mauretania Tingitana and Western Sahara) philological (gathered as appendix in a corpus established on chronological grounds) and epigraphic data useful for the description of the sociolinguistic situation and geographic distribution of the language of the Mauri in relation with languages in contact. Chapter IX describes the phonology and morphology of Paleo-Amazigh according to the philological and epigraphic data analysed in the precedent chapters and brings forward a lexical corpus of 107 items of Paleo-Amazigh common names. These phonological, morphological and lexical analyses are the basis to state that, as a matter of fact, the evidences of the language of the Mauri collected from Greek and Latin sources reflect Old Amazigh. Some anthroponymic recurrences through the ages and through distant North African regions have also been brought forward according to a rich corpus of more than a thousand items. The complicated question of the correlate between Amazigh spread and Proto-Amazigh chronology is also dealt with in chapter IX. A major contribution of the present research is the well attested role of Paleo-Amazigh speaking populations as mediators between Mediterranean populations (speakers of such languages as Egyptian, Punic, Greek and specially Latin) and Saharan and Sahelian populations (speakers of Nilo-Saharan, Chadic, Mande and Atlantic languages). The conclusions are set forth in chapter X. An annex of 17 plates of linguistic cartography illustrate the geographical distribution of the languages spoken in North Africa in antiquity. The work contains detailed indexes as well.

According to Greek and Latin literary and epigraphic sources, the present research analyses evidences of the language of the North African populations that ancient authors called Libyes, Mauri, Numidae, Gaetuli and Mazices. Eight chapters analyse and classify through old regions (I. Egypt, II. Cyrenaica, III. Tripolitania, IV. Phazania and Central Sahara, V. Zeugitana and Bizacena, VI. Numidia, VII. Mauretania Caesariensis, VIII. Mauretania Tingitana and Western Sahara) philological (gathered as appendix in a corpus established on chronological grounds) and epigraphic data useful for the description of the sociolinguistic situation and geographic distribution of the language of the Mauri in relation with languages in contact. Chapter IX describes the phonology and morphology of Paleo-Amazigh according to the philological and epigraphic data analysed in the precedent chapters and brings forward a lexical corpus of 107 items of Paleo-Amazigh common names. These phonological, morphological and lexical analyses are the basis to state that, as a matter of fact, the evidences of the language of the Mauri collected from Greek and Latin sources reflect Old Amazigh. Some anthroponymic recurrences through the ages and through distant North African regions have also been brought forward according to a rich corpus of more than a thousand items. The complicated question of the correlate between Amazigh spread and Proto-Amazigh chronology is also dealt with in chapter IX. A major contribution of the present research is the well attested role of Paleo-Amazigh speaking populations as mediators between Mediterranean populations (speakers of such languages as Egyptian, Punic, Greek and specially Latin) and Saharan and Sahelian populations (speakers of Nilo-Saharan, Chadic, Mande and Atlantic languages). The conclusions are set forth in chapter X. An annex of 17 plates of linguistic cartography illustrate the geographical distribution of the languages spoken in North Africa in antiquity. The work contains detailed indexes as well.

The present work describes the vowel system of the latest common ancestor of the Guang languages (proto-Guang), a relatively low node on the Kwa genetic tree, and traces changes to that system through to the present. By examining vocalic change at this low node of reconstruction (as opposed to a higher node) we sacrifice the advantages of studying many changes for the advantages of obtaining a more close-up picture of the (fewer) changes involved.

Proto-Guang roots are reconstructed as having had an underlying vowel system that consisted of seven oral vowels and five nasal vowels. Vowel harmony, involving the features [+ATR] and [+Round], existed between prefix vowels and root vowels and between V1 and V2 in disyllabic roots. Changes to this proto-system included a merger of the underlying oral vowels in North Guang languages and a phonemic splitting of oral vowels whereby the seven vowel system became a nine vowel system in some present-day Guang languages.

Abstract, errata and corrigenda to article: With the application of the Contrastive Hierarchy Theory, the contrastive features of preliterary Scandinavian vowels are here inferred from the interaction between targets and triggers for metaphonic fronting, rounding and breaking. One Proto-Scandinavian feature hierarchy is reconstructed for prominent syllables and another for non-prominent ones. The former hierarchy sustained contrasts that differed from the latter, including contrast for rounding and a preserved distinction between Pre-Germanic */i/ and */e/. A prominence system is reconstructed that predicts both the outcome of syncope and the distribution of the two vowel systems between syllables. The analysis neatly accounts for many notorious cruxes of umlaut and breaking that correlate with the prosodic position of the trigger, including the frequent absence of i-umlaut in light syllables. (see link,  has appeared in Nowele 70:2, September 2017)

The article focuses on toponyms and anthroponyms of Veps origin on the territory of Southeastern Lake Onega region. The linguistic, archeological and historical evidence made by the author indicate that the Veps language was brought to the territory of the Southeastern Lake Onega region from the Souththwestern Lake Ladoga region in 10–13th century. The process of language shift (from Veps to Russian) ended in 18–19th centuries.

В статье рассматриваются топонимы и антропонимы вепсского происхождения Юго-Восточного Обонежья в соотношении с данными археологии и историческими источниками. Полученные данные свидетельствуют о том, что вепсский язык распространился в Юго-Восточное Обонежье из Юго-Восточного Приладожья в X–XIII вв. и поддерживался неоднократными миграциями. Процесс смены языка (с вепсского на русский) завершился в XVIII–XIX вв.

This research aims at (1) locating the position of Lawahing in the linguistic map of the Bird's Head area, Alor island, (2) explaining internal variations that appear among the seven observed varieties, (3) describing some phonological changes that are shown by the seven varieties. Apart from Lawahing, the other six observed varieties are Kokar, Otvai, Kebon Kopi, Monbang, Poliboho and Tang'ala. They typologically belong to Timor-Alor-Pantar sub family of Trans New Guinean Languages. The recent and current classifications of Adang and Kabola dialects in the Bird's Head region look problematic, inconsistent and debatable. Therefore, the writer intends to make a clear picture on the internal divisions. This research involves both qualitative and quantitative methods with fieldwork technique. Data in this research collected from each of the investigated varieties are presented in the form of 200 word Swadesh lists. The main data collecting techniques are recording and elicitation. Then, the data are analysed using lexicostatistics formula and Lylle Campbell's theory of phonological variation and changes. Results show that Lawahing is a variety of Kabola. From the analysis of internal variation, Lawahing clearly exhibits a half Kabola and a half Adang although with a typically strong Kabola's phonological features. This is supported by a number of phonological changes especially alveolarization which is only found in Lawahing to distinguish it from Adang varieties such as Kokar and Otvai.

Collectively, linguistic research in Africa has produced a wealth of lexical data, and while
these data often serve useful purposes in their individual projects, their use to comparative
linguistics is minimal, given their lack of a standard format. The SIL Comparative African
Word List (1700 words) is therefore an attempt to offer a format for these data that is more
amenable to comparative analysis.
There are two main reasons for the development of this word list. First, many of the existing
African word lists simply do not contain enough lexical items to allow one to do serious
comparative analysis. Second, many existing African word lists are specific to a particular
language family, and thus, a pan-African list offers the potential of serious comparative
research. The items in this word list appear with both English and French glosses and are
arranged semantically under twelve main headings, generally moving from human domains to
non-human domains, and from concrete to more abstract items.

In Snider (1989b) I describe the vowel system of proto-Guang and trace innovations to that system which have been implemented by subsequent subgroups and present-day languages. The present paper parallels that work by describing the consonant system of proto-
Guang and by tracing subsequent innovations to that system through to the present. Among the innovations discussed are three which support the genetic unity of the North Guang branch. Until the present, the validity of claims which support the existence of this node has rested upon only a single innovation, i.e. that first proposed in Stewart (1970) and confirmed in Snider (1989b). This greatly strengthens, then, the claims for the North Guang branch.

В статье рассматриваются вопросы дословного перевода на русский географических названий и апеллятивной лексики вепсского и карельского происхождения на территории юго-восточного Обонежья. Также представлены примеры топонимических калек и влияния народной этимологии на современных вепсских территориях (в частности, на примере вепсских и русских названий деревень в селе Шимозеро). Проведено количественное и территориальное распределение топонимических калек и их языковая атрибуция. Затронуты вопросы народной этимологии в топонимии и ошибки этимологической интерпретации топонимов. По данным анализа топонимических калек установлено время былого использования прибалтийско-финских языков на изучаемой территории. Полученные результаты соотнесены с данными других наук.

This paper presents the results of an exercise in lexical comparison between language families: In order to test the statistical significance of the quantity and quality of the author's lexical comparisons between reconstructed Proto-Uralic and Proto-Eskimo roots, as presented in a previous paper, in this paper the author undertakes a thorough investigation of the quantity and quality of lexical comparisons that can be found between Pre-Basque and Proto-Eskimo roots, which clearly belong to unrelated language families. For the purpose of classifying the quality of semantic connections in lexical comparisons, the author proposes a provisional system of 5 Tiers, in which Tier 1 represents the highest level of quality of semantic connection and Tier 5 represents the lowest level. On this basis, the paper presents the results of a thorough comparison of Proto-Eskimo roots with initial *q-and Pre-Basque roots with initial *g-. It is shown that there are in fact very few such lexical comparisons of any significant phonological and semantic similarity that occur by random chance coincidence: Only 3 of 44 Pre-Basque roots with initial *g-can be found to exhibit a valid phonological resemblance with a Proto-Eskimo root with initial *q-and a Tier 1 or Tier 2 level of quality in their semantic connection. By contrast, the author has identified 14 of 76 Proto-Uralic roots with initial *k-that exhibit a comparable phonological correspondence with a Proto-Eskimo root with initial *q-and a Tier 1 or Tier 2 level of quality in their semantic connection. The paper concludes that this investigation points to a significantly strong possibility that the Uralic-Eskimo lexical comparisons are the result of a genetic language relationship rather than the result of mere random chance coincidence.

X International Scientific Conference on Comparative-Historical Linguistics “The Current State of Indo-European Linguistics and Sanskrit Studies” dedicated to the memory of Professor Vera Alexandrovna Kochergina (1924-2018), from September 24 to 26th 2019.

The Muji cluster is a newly defined series of Burmic languages affiliated with Phula and spoken in the Sino-Vietnam borderlands. The cluster is defined by unusual phonological, morphological and lexical innovations as described in Pelkey (2006, forthcoming). Among the shared innovations that set Muji apart as an insular subgrouping is a ‘mirrored’, or correlative, redistribution of tonal values in proto-checked tone classes conditioned by initial manner of articulation. This paper provides a glimpse of Muji phonology, focused on tone, and then presents Muji’s most salient tonal innovation considering data from eight Muji varieties and an unaffiliated neighboring Phula language, Phupa.