Proto-Maritime is reconstructed as having twenty phonemes. It was characterised by three points of vowel articulation, a lack of contrastive voice and the prominence of velar, uvular and glottal sounds. Syllables were simple or moderately complex.
The standard model of PM phonology has stood the test of time, but some uncertainties remain. The language was unwritten. It is believed that there were two dialects, one spoken in what is now Kuna, one in what is now Cekhon. Little is known about them, however.
Continue reading “What did Proto-Maritime sound like?”