England Algonquian, the same processes that trigger vowel affection also bring about palatization. When is followed by an that is etymologically a weakened form of PEA *ī, which is in turn followed by either or , the consonant shifts to . Palatization is also triggered when is followed by , which derives from PEA *ē, and , which remains unchanged from PEA *əw. The palatization of followed by is common, but in Massachusett, is often restored before and by analogy to prevent excessive alteration of forms. In the colonial orthography, this was represented by , , , , , , or simply before . In the modern orthography, represents , the palatization of , and represents followed by the of the following affected vowel, or + [vowel]; this has the same pronunciation, but is distinguished for etymological reasons. wetu (weetyuw), ('home') from PA *wi·kiwa·ʔmi, but week[u] (weekuw) , ('it is her/his home'). sachem (sôtyum) ('chief') from PA *sa·kima·wa but sonksquaw (sôkusqâ) , ('female chief'). keteau (keetyâw) ('he/she recovers') from PEA *kīkēw. pittu (putyuw) , ('pitch' or 'gum') from PEA *pəkəw. -uhpeteog[un] (-uhpeetyâk[an]) , ('rib') from PA *spike·kani. Historical phonology The most ancient reconstructed ancestor of the Massachusett language is Proto-Algic, believed to have been spoken circa 5000 BC in what is now the Northwest Plateau region, such as the inland regions of the Pacific Northwest along the Columbia River separated from the coast by rugged mountains. Movements of people and competition for resources, shifts to other languages that developed or arrived in the region pushed the Algic languages out of their original homeland. The only known non-Algonquian Algic languages are Yurokan and Wiyotan, known only from the current languages Yurok and Wiyot, which despite sharing cultural similarities and inhabiting adjacent areas of the northernmost coastal area of California, their languages are relics of a historically more widespread group of languages which diverged in the very distant past. From an unknown Algic ancestor, Proto-Algonquian emerged sometime around 1000 BC, posited to have been spoken anywhere from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains of Montana or an area just west of the Great Lakes. The Algonquian languages spread, covering southern Canada and the northern half of the United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Around 1000 AD, Proto-Eastern Algonquian emerged, probably somewhere in southern Ontario about the Great Lakes region, and spread from the Maritimes to the Carolinas and