Aztec–Tanoan languages

Aztec–Tanoan is a hypothetical and undemonstrated language family that proposes a genealogical relation between the Tanoan and the Uto-Aztecan families. This proposed classification has not been definitively demonstrated, largely because of slow progress in the reconstruction of the intermediate stages of the two language families involved,^[1] but is still considered promising by many linguists.^[2][3] The grouping was originally proposed by Edward Sapir in his 1921 classification, but it was not until 1937 that supporting evidence was published by Benjamin Lee Whorf and G. L. Trager. Their proposal included some 67 proposed cognates, but subsequent reviews have found most of them to be unconvincing (monosyllables, onomatopoeia). A small number of their proposed cognates do seem to have some merit and in his 1997 review of the hypothesis Lyle Campbell states that the proposal is not implausible but requires detailed study.^[4] A recent article by Jane H. Hill argues that the evidence cited for the genetic relation by Whorf and Trager is better understood as a result of language contact between the Uto-Aztecan and Tanoan proto-languages.^[5]

Aztec–Tanoan
(hypothetical)
Geographic distribution	central North America
Linguistic classification	proposed language family
Subdivisions	Tanoan Uto-Aztecan ? Keres ? Zuni
Language codes
Glottolog	None
Pre-contact distribution of hypothetical Aztec-Tanoan family (map does not show the total distribution in Mexico)   Uto-Aztecan   Tanoan
Uto-Aztecan languages in Mesoamerica

Proposed cognates

The following word pairs are the proposed cognates from Whorf & Trager (1937) and Davis (1979) considered promising by Campbell (1997:273).

• 'stand', Uto-Aztecan wine/wene/wi-; Proto-Tanoan gwine (Whorf & Trager's set 12)
• Uto-Aztecan siwa- 'woman'; Proto-Tanoan liw- (Davis Kiowa-Tanoan *siu) (Whorf & Trager's set 31 / Davis' set 85)
• 'three', Uto-Aztecan pahi; Proto-Tanoan poyuwo (Davis' UA *pahi/*pahayu; Kiowa-Tanoan *podzu(a)/*pocua) (Whorf & Trager's set 73)
• Proto-Numic *pi(h)wi, *pi(h)yi 'heart'; Kiowa-Tanoan *pia (Davis) (Davis' set 3, Whorf & Trager's set 84)
• Uto-Aztecan *pu:la 'tie'; Kiowa-Tanoan *phe, *ph^ 'wrap, tie' (Davis' set 14, Whorf & Tragers' set 87)

Vocabulary

Below is a comparison of selected basic vocabulary items in Proto-Uto-Aztecan and Proto-Kiowa-Tanoan.

gloss	Proto-Kiowa-Tanoan[6]	Proto-Uto-Aztecan
hair	*pʰV₂	*kuppa
eye	*cV₄	*pusi
tooth	*dwṼ₅a; *gʷṼ₅	*tamaC, *tamaN, *taman
mouth	*sV₂	*tï’na > *tï’ni; *tï’nV-pa > *tï’n-pa > *tïmpa
hand	*mṼ₁bd-	*man > *ma
foot	*ʔṼ₅bn	*kïsa, *kïsica, *kïhisa; *naNpa, *naCp, *nappa
breast	*gʷV₃	*piCti(C); *ciʼi-wa
fish	*pV₃	*paNkwi, *pakkwi, *paC-kuyu, *paC-kucu
water	*p’V₁	*pa / *pa’wi
earth	*dṼ₄m 'ground'	*tı̈paC, *tı̈paL; *kwiya, *kwiLa
I (1.SG)	*nṼ₁b	*nï