The complexification of Tungusic interrogative systems

The present study discusses the nature and development of a Tungusic phoneme
*K- that has proven difficult to reconstruct. It is only fully preserved in one
subbranch of the Tungusic language family and today is usually considered a velar
fricative *x- (Benzing 1956). However, there is evidence from a Tungusic language
called Alchuka hitherto almost unknown outside China (Mu Yejun 1985, 1986, 1987,
1988). In this language the phoneme is, somewhat irregularly, preserved as unaspi-
rated k-, which may corroborate its reconstruction as a plosive (Rozycki 1993). The
main focus of the paper is the role of the phoneme in the interrogative system of
Proto-Tungusic as well as the detrimental implications of its loss in most Tungu-
sic languages. In Proto-Tungusic the phoneme had the function of a submorpheme
or resonance similar to English <wh> (Bickel & Nichols 2007, Mackenzie 2009).
Its loss led to incoherent interrogative systems with a large number of individual
forms that are synchronically opaque, i.e. to complexification. Finally, the question
is addressed whether this can be considered a “change for the worse”, as indicated
by the title of this volume.