Schedule 80. StuTS

The Yeniseian languages are the only known tonal languages in Siberia. In this contribution, we
investigate the diachrony of one of the four monosyllabic tones in the closely related Ket and Yugh,
and in particular Werner’s (1996) hypothesis that it resulted from the loss of intervocalic consonants
in disyllabic words and the consequent contraction of the vowels. We find that certain obstruents are
systematically lost independently in Ket and Yugh, making the so-called 3rd tone a recent phenomenon
exclusive to the North-Yeniseian branch. Other consonants in Werner's (2002a,b) reference
comparative dictionary give the impression of a random distribution of loss vs. retention. Such an
apparently unconditioned variation is incompatible with Neogrammarian regular sound change, which
may be phonetically gradual but lexically abrupt, meaning that the realisation across tokens is expected
to be consistent within the same environment at the same time or else the allophones to be
phonologically conditioned (Osthoff & Brugmann 1878). Thanks to additional written and audio
sources (Kazakevich 2026), however, we offer a better solution to the apparent conundrum by showing
that the apparent variation is gradient realisation, up to the acoustic impression of absence, rather
than an innate categorical distinction between loss and retention. Similar phenomena have been
described in other diachronic studies (e.g., Dalcher 2008; Jatteau & Hejná 2018), with the conclusions
that synchronic gradient processes can be precursor to regular Neogrammarian phonological change,
even if arguably not a sound change in themselves, which is in line with the Neogrammarian Regularity
Principle.