Editing Consonant gradation (section)

===Nganasan===

[[Nganasan language|Nganasan]], alone of the Samoyedic languages (or indeed any Uralic languages east of Finnic), shows systematic qualitative gradation of [[stop consonant|stops]] and [[fricative consonant|fricatives]]. Gradation occurs in intervocalic position as well as in [[consonant cluster]]s consisting of a [[nasal consonant|nasal]] and a [[stop consonant|stop]]. Note that /h/ and /ŋh/ descend from historical /p/ and /mp/, respectively. Examples of Nganasan consonant gradation can be seen in the table below. The first form given is always the [[nominative case|nominative]] singular, the latter the [[genitive case|genitive]] singular (which was marked in [[Proto-Samoyedic language|Proto-Samoyedic]] by the suffix *''-n'', resulting in a closed syllable).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Gradation
!Example
!Gloss
|-
!{{IPA|h : b}}
|{{IPA|bahi : babi}}
|'wild reindeer'
|-
!{{IPA|t : ð}}
|{{IPA|ŋuta : ŋuða}}
|'berry'
|-
!{{IPA|k : ɡ}}
|{{IPA|məku : məɡu}}
|'back'
|-
!{{IPA|s : dʲ}}
|{{IPA|basa : badʲa}}
|'iron'
|-
!{{IPA|ŋh : mb}}
|{{IPA|koŋhu : kombu}}
|'wave'
|-
!{{IPA|nt : nd}}
|{{IPA|dʲintə : dʲində}}
|'bow'
|-
!{{IPA|ŋk : ŋɡ}}
|{{IPA|bəŋkə : bəŋɡə}}
|'sod hut'
|-
!{{IPA|ns : nʲdʲ}}
|{{IPA|bənsə : bənʲdʲə}}
|'all'
|}

The original conditions of the Nganasan gradation can be shown to be identical to gradation in Finnic and Samic; that is, radical/syllabic gradation according to syllable closure, and suffixal/rhythmic gradation according to a syllable being of odd or even number, with rhythmic gradation particularly well-preserved.<ref name="EH95">Helimski, Eugene. Proto-Uralic gradation: Continuation and traces
- In: Congressus Octavus Internationalis Fenno-Ugristarum. Pars I: Orationes plenariae et conspectus quinquennales. Jyväskylä, 1995</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://helimski.com/2.140.PDF |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-02-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002150529/http://helimski.com/2.140.PDF |archive-date=2011-10-02 }}</ref>