| Summary: | The current article is concerned with the development of Proto-Samoyed *j in intervocalic position in Nganasan. In previous studies, intervocalic PS *j is said to disappear in Nganasan, leading into the formation of secondary vowel sequences in addition to the primary ones inherited from Proto-Samoyed. A more detailed inspection of certain Proto-Samoyed etymologies reveals that *j indeed disappears in intervocalic position unless it is either preceded or followed by a sequence of two vowels, in which case it is preserved and phonetically often strenghtened to d’. The implications of this change are further discussed in light of one particular etymology, that of PS *kåläjə̑ŋ ’mammoth / whale’, for which Nganasan has, in addition to the regular reflexkol’iiŋ’whale’, several doublet reflexes that appear to be early borrowings from a neighbouring Samoyed language.
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