Table Of Content

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 351 860 FL 020 614 AUTHOR Berardo, Marcellino TITLE Syllable Boundary Demarcation in Hualapai and Havasupai. PUB DATE 92 NOTE 19p.; In: Linn, Mary Sarah, Ed. and Oliverio, Giulia, R. M., Ed. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 17, Numbers 1 and 2; see FL 020 603. PUB TYPE Research/Technical (143) Reports EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS American Indian Languages; Language Research; *Language Variation; *Stress (Phonology); *Syllables; Uncommonly Taught Languages; *Vowels IDENTIFIERS Allophones; *Havasupai; *Hualapai ABSTRACT This investigation focuses on syllable boundary demarcation in Hualapai and Havasupai, both native American Indian languages spoken in Northern Arizona. In an attempt to understand better the nature of the syllable, allophonic variation with respect to syllable position is examined. Cross-linguistic eviduace suggests that sounds may take on similar characteristics according to their position in the syllable. I. Maddieson (1985) found phonetic vowel shortening before geminates in languages as diverse as Kannada, Hausa, Finnish, and Italian. Phonetic vowel shortening in closed syllables was also found in Havasupai. A relationship between lexical stress and allophonic variation inside the syllable was found in Hualapai and Havasupai. Vowel lowering in closed syllables was also found in Hualapai and Havasupai. (Author) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS U.S. DEPAATMENT OF EDUCATION ano Improvement MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Once ot Educakonal ReSetrCh INFORMATION EDUCATIONAL I:It:SOURCES IN SYLLABLE BOUNDARY DEMARCATION CENTER IERICI e.-\ reproduced as ,s document r as Peen OACN HUALAPAI AND HAVASUAPAI from the person or organaakon received onvnating made to improve Minor changes have been reproduction duakt e stated in thins clocu TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES PO MIS 01 view or op moos represent othc.al men! 00 not nece manly INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." OEM Pos.kon or pc kcv Marcellino Berardo boundary Abstract: This investigation focuses on syllable American Indian demarcation in Hualapai and Havasupai, Native understand languages spoken in Northern Arizona. In an attempt to variation with respect to better the nature of the syllable, allophonic evidence suggests syllable position is examined. Cross-linguistic 00 according to their that sounds may take on similar characteristics phonetic vowel position in the syllable. Maddieson (1985) found Kannada, shortening before geminates in languages as diverse as LC) in closed Hausa, Finnish and Italian. Phonetic vowel shortening between syllables was also found in Havasupai. A relationship found lexical stress and allophonic variation inside the syllable was in closed syllables was iii Hualapai and Havasupai. Vowel lowering also found in Hualapai and Havasupai. systematic study Modern linguistic research has given much attention to the 1980; Ladefoged 1982; of the syllable (Fudge 1969; Halle and Vergnaud have been proposed Maddieson 1985; Treiman 1988). In fact, syllable theories phonetics, language from a number of linguistic fields such as phonology, from child language universals and child language acquisition. Reporting be a "priority" of acquisition studies, Wijnen (1988) states that there seems to of phonemes. development of the syllable-sized units over the development together in It is widely agreed by linguists that segments of sound come syllables. Syllables seem to be such a way as to form units. These units are called universally in every language. basic to the structure of human language. They occur break up words in their In fact, most native speakers seem to have the ability to segments.1 own language into syllable type investigators from all Given the above, it almost seems ironic that lan-uage been able to arrive at fields of linguistic research working on syllables have not yet definition of the syllable. Commenting on the syllable, a universally agreed upon has yet been Ladefoged (1982) states that no phonetic definition of the syllable explanation of the agreed upon. In an attempt toward a phonetic description and locate syllable boundaries. Important in determining syllable, researchers try final segment(s) of the syllable boundaries is the identification of the initial and/or nucleus. The syllable or bordering sounds (if any are present) of the syllable vowel nucleus is generally identified by a sonority peak which is typically a (Stockman and Stockman 1981) but can also be a syllabic consonant. 2 BEST COPY Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 17, Number 2, 1992, pp. 59-76 60 variation that occurs at the boundaries This investigation analyzes allophonic for allophones of phonemes can serve as cues of the syllable. It was found that Hualapai of allophonic variation in the syllable boundaries. Through an examination the that allophonic variation can also cue and Havasupai syllable, it was discovered in but unlike in other languages reviewed initial or terminal boundary of a syllable, important role in Hualapai and Havasupai this paper, knowledge of stress plays an in prestress Allophones that occur syllable initially syllable boundary demarcation. initial allophones that occur in poststress position of a word may vary from syllable position. Boundaries 2 Articulatory Evidence and Phonetic Syllable helped linguists locate syllable boundaries One significant discovery which exclusively in allophones of the same phoneme may occur was the fact that different phoneme positioned syllable initially syllable initial or syllable final position. A occurred syllable finally. Since there is would be produced differently than if it had nucleus, linguists can reasonably assume general agreement on locating the syllable initial include allophones that may mark the that phones preceding the nucleus could following the nucleus could also border of the syllable. Furthermore, sounds syllable finally. include allophones that exclusively occur Japanese and English, Fujimura and In a study on nasal consonants in height correlating to position in the Lovins (1977c) found a difference in velum height of the velum was syllable.3 Systematically throughout both languages, the initial nasals than it was for syllable final greater in the production of syllable be considered a feature which signals nasals. This difference in velum height can is relatively higher, or the end of the the beginning of a new syllable if the velum Velum height, in other words, can mark syllable if the velum is relatively lower. English) for nasals. syllable boundaries (at least in Japanese and corresponding to their position Other phonetic characteristics of consonants of sylla' le boundaries. Fujimura and in the syllable led to the better understanding that accompany English voiceless Lovins (1978) report on phonetic characteristics syllable. Phonetic characteristics plosives depending on where they occur within the stops) may signal a new syllable. such as aspiration (as is the case for voiceless voiceless stop Differences in aspiration are associated with English medial/final parts of the syllable. For example, the consonants /p,t,k/ and the initial, /p/ varies according to its position in the amount of aspiration for the English aspirated. If the /p/ follows an /s/, the syllable. In syllable initial position, the /p/ is release and the plosive /p/ becomes glottis nearly closes by the time of articulation less aspirated or unaspirated. in determining syllable The amount of aspiration, then, can play a role plosives. An aspirated stop signals the boundaries for syllables containing voiceless signal that the plosive is in beginning of a new syllable. A lack of aspiration would final position. a syllable medial or sound clusters occurring In a study on syllabification with sp , st and sk could be separated, or l'ord medially, it was found that the sibilant and the stop 3 aspirated.4 This syllables if the stop was two different interpreted as belonging to h stands for stands for plosive, $ Ph-, where P syllable the could be formalized as: -s rest of the and (-) refers to the syllable boundary aspiration, $ signifies with prefixes that found in words Examples of -s $ Ph- were plosive. In phone belongs to. with a voiceless morpheme began the following and the ended with an -s and with the sibilant interpreted as ending initial syllable was given are: mis these words, the Examples that are voiceless plosive. beginning with the next syllable $ courteous. $ calculate and dis break was made aspirated, the syllable the stop was not In words where of words of this $ sP-. Examples This can be formalized as: st-clusters is before the sibilant. tokens, the t in the $ steady. In these $ stantial and un type are: sub syllable initially. It seems, voiceless stops which occur signal a not as aspirated as voiceless plosives can when applied to feature aspiration, therefore, that the $ calculate, in tokens like mis syllable word initially or as starting boundary for a word medially. syllable which can signal allophonic variation More evidence from structures such as the English /1/. In studies concerning boundaries comes from /1/ phonetically from the initial /1/ differs that the syllable and CVC it was found been called "light" syllable initial Ill has final position. The occurring in syllable Lovins 19'78:109). "dark"(Fujimura and Ill has been labeled the syllable final syllable initially and the light /1/ occurs light-dark Ill dichotomy, for a According to the be viewed as a cue light Ill, then, can syllable finally. The the dark /1/ occurs syllable. the up-coming initial boundary of begin, marking the termination or final new syllable to considered to mark the of a dark It/ is Moreover, the occurrence syllable. boundary of the of the allophonic distinction supporting the light-dark Articulatory evidence pellets placed on 1978:109). Using metal (Fujimura and Lovens position of the Ill was also found with respect to the /1/'s were distinguished the tongue, the two tongue blade. allophones of distinction of the two with regard to the Two problems arise boundary markings is distinction for syllable of the light-dark /1/ /1/'s are /1/. One drawback and syllable final the syllable initial dialects of English, the fact that in many the problem concerning respectively. The other light and dark, not always noted when syllable boundaries is of the A/ to denote initial and final allophonic variation senaration between universals. "The bimodal for considering language difficult to account foi ,..Aample) is different vowel contexts, /1/'s (rather than by and Lovins 1978:109). dynamics" (Fujimura facts of speech by any universal important role in variation can play an above, allophonic As demonstrated syllable variation as a cue for a boundaries. Allophonic determining syllable exclusively in one allophone of a phoneme occurs boundary works when one variants phonemes have phonetic Unfortunately, not all position of the syllable. allophones of when different syllable positions. And even which occur in exclusive in the syllable, that their respective positions do tend to have the same phoneme language to remain constant from that the allophones does not necessarily mean with the English /I/. dialect as is the case language or even dialect to 4 62 Vowel Duration and Syllable Structure help in the recognition of Are there any universal phonetic cues that may take on certain characteristics or syllable constituency? Does a vowel, for example, The following reviews phonetic behave in a certain way in a specific environment? cross-linguistic viewpoint. behavior of the nucleus of the syllable from a with syllable Attempting to show that vowel shortening is associated 'a that in many languages there seems to be structure, Maddieson (1985:207) notes syllabification of the next consonant". vowel duration difference that relates to the Italian, Kannada, Hausa, Finnish, Citing evidence from languages as diverse as tend to be shorter when occurring and Rembarrnga, Maddieson states the vowels (p. 208). before a geminate than before a single consonant that geminates are two Concerning syllable boundaries, Maddieson assumes boundary. Formally, this can identical, adjacent consonants separated by a syllable V stands for vowel, G for geminate, be shown as the following: - V G $ G, where vowels are inherently $ for syllable boundary. Important to note is that some inherently shorter vowels are even shorter than other vowels. Theoretically, the shorter before a geminate consonant. that v(i.vels tend to Evidence from a variety of language families suggests of vowel shortening also holds true shorten before geminate consonants. This type conditions"(Maddieson 1985: 210). in fast/slow speech rates and "under prosodic boundaries fall between a geminate If what Maddieson "assumes" (that syllable shortening which occurs before a consonant cluster) is true, then the vowel syllable boundary. The geminate can be considered as a cue for an up-coming the end boundary of geminate following the shortened vowel can be interpreted as following syllable. the preceding syllable and the starting point of the yield conclusive Duration studies on the syllable, however, do not 'always examining segment results. Also attempting to define syllable boundaries by of the syllable interact. duration, Lisker (1978:134) focuses on how the segments linkages are markedly Lisker's premiss is based on the notion that "coarticulatory syllables". weaker between segments said to belong to different duration of In an experiment reported in Lisker (1978), the average measured. The measurement individual words with a CVCV syllable structure was termination of the began with the onset of the initial burst and concluded with the The CVCV medial closure, i.e. the closure of the second/final consonant. stressed low back vowel /a/ + a bilabial sequences consisted of a velar stop + a duration from the onset to the closure of the stop. The measured interval or average approximately 300 msec. The medial consonant for the one speaker tested was considered to be then , was "target" or "intrinsic" duration of the CVCV segment, 300 msec. /b/, the It was concluded that the durational difference between /p/ and determines the length of the medial consonants, C2 in the C1V1C2V2 sequences, plosive preceding vowel. The duration of the vowel was greater when the bilabial 5 63 Furthermore, the duration the bilabial plosive was devoiced. was voiced than when be no by C2. Since there seems to of Cl did not appear to be affected that Cl and C2 and C2, it could be suggested "coarticulatory linkage" between Cl conclusion Lisker points out, this could be one belong to different syllables. As determine V1, inconvenient fact that C2 does from the data if it were not "for the (p.140). boundary between CI and VI" and no one would consider placing a relations in CVCV sequences, the Therefore, based on the data from temporal determine syllable linkages between segments to occurrence of coarticulatory outlined boundaries cannot be accurately boundaries is not conclusive. Syllable for the above experiment. according to durational evidence, at least Syllable Boundaries: A Synthesis presented contributions to syllable structure The above sums up the phonetic allophonic section of this paper applies the in this investigation so far. The next emphasis on Hualapai and Havasupai with an approach to syllable structure to syllable boundary demarcation. understood as the sonority peak which The syllable nucleus is generally about the of a vowel segment. But what typically though not exclusively consists syllable nucleus? What is their relationship to the phones that surround the nucleus? reviewed with respect to syllable Allophonic and durational evidence were when phones take on certain characteristics boundaries. The evidence suggests that characteristics when positioned syllable- positioned syllable-initially and other for be considered as signals or cues finally. These features or characteristics may syllable boundaries. evidence supporting syllable boundary Important to note is that the reviewed of complete. In each case, only a small set demarcation is not total or systematically of exceptions even within the small set sounds are examined. There are problems or demonstrated above, sounds do tend to vary sounds under investigation. But, as beginning or end of the syllable. These depending on whether they occur at the define the syllable and its boundaries. differences are presently used to help Evidence from Hualapai and Havasupai diverse as Japanese and Investigating bordering sounds in languages as bordering universal claim on the nature of sounds English only begins to make any variety of languages and language the syllable. More work must be done on a boundaries which will lead us to universal families to learn more about syllahIc. Yuman languages Hualapai and Havasupai, tendencies. From the Northern Upland allophonic aspect of sounds that evidence is offered to shed more light on the understanding of the behavior of the sounds border the syllable. A more complete isolating the syllable, a definition, and a bordering the syllable can lead to better phonotactics of the syllable. clearer explanation of the structure ol Hualapai and Havasupai should be First, two important points concerning languages, these two considered. According to scholars working on Yuman similar. Kozlowski (1976) considers languages arc structurally and lexically very 64 for the other" both languages as the same and states that "analyses of one hold true it allows data from both (p.140). This fact is important to this investigation because languages and analyses of both languages to be considered. be some From the literature, however, there is evidence that there may the verb differences between the two languages. Redden (1966:149) comments on in use as of 1966. paradigm in Hualapai. There seems to be two different systems speakers. It is noted One system is used by older speakers and the other by younger {-0} for that the older speakers use the suffix {-0} for first person, the suffix speakers use the second person and the suffix {-k} for third person. The younger The suffix {-k} for first and third person and the suffix { -0} for second person. prefix {ma-} is used by all speakers for second person. Figure 1: Verb Forms Used by Older and Younger Speakers Younger Speakers Older Speakers a-V-0 ?ma' V-k iia 1st person sing. mac ma-V-0 mac ma -V -13 2nd person sing. eaC V-k eaC 0-V-k 3rd person sing. The pronouns riac, mac, and eac refer to first, second, and third person respectively. This finding is questioned in Hinton (1980:328). It was found that the second person and the younger speakers of Havasupai use the suffix {-0} for suffix {-0} for first person; the precise opposite of what Redden found in Hualapai. It is important to note the possibility that the two languages may not be precisely the same. The second important point refers to data used in this investigation. Information on allophonic variation comes from Kozlowski (1976), Redden (1966), Winter (1966), Langdon (1975; 1976), and Hinton (1980). Other sources and Yamamoto are Hinton (1984) Havasupai Songs and Watahomigie, Bender, (1982) Hualapai Reference Grammar. Havasupai Liquid Phonemes: The two liquid phonemes in Havasupai are /r/ and /1/. Depending on where they occur in the syllable and word, their allophonic manifestations differ. Syllable- initially, /r/ can be manifested as a voiced stop RIJ or a tense voiceless stop [t]. If /r/ occurs word-initially (and therefore syllable-initially), its allophone is the voiced stop [d]. If the in occurs syllable-initially but word medially, the allophone is a tense voiceless stop N. An essential note to the environment is that the sound must not only occur syllable-initially but also before the primary stressed vowel in the 65 word to manifest as a tense voiceless stop. More information on the nature of the stressed syllable of the Yuman word is discussed in the following section of this paper. Important for the analysis below is the fact that the occurrence of a phoneme with respect to the stressed vowel is a significant factor in descriptions of environment. Allophones of a phoneme can be manifested in different ways depending on their position in the syllable with respect to the stressed vowel. The following examples demonstrate the descriptive statement in the above. The symbol [I] represents a syllable break. Figure 2. Distribution of the Havasupai Phonetic Representation Phonemic Representation English Gloss lb. lei I tap] (tense la. /Oirap/ 1. five voiceless stop with retracted articulation) 2a. /rav/ 2b. [d ay] 2. lightening Iraya/ 3b. [daya] 3. toys 4b. [swa Ira ] 4a. /swaral 4. singing 5a. /s m ark/ 5b. ts m ark] 5. ear 6a. /pur/ put] (stop, possibly 6. hat 6b. retracted articulation) tense Demonstrated in lb, the allophone of the In in syllable-initial position is the .ense voiceless alveolar stop [t]. This allophone occurs word-medially in prestress position. Occurring word-initially (and therefore in prestress position), the allophone of In in 2b and 3b is a voiced alveolar stop. Alw syllable-initial but in a poststress position rather than a prestress position, the /r/becomes a phonetic flap. This can be seen in 4b. In poststress, syllable- final position, the phonetic manifestation of the phoneme In is a voiceless stop with tense retracted articulation, demonstrated in 6b. . 8 66 Figure 3. Position of the Havasupai In with respect to word stress iii /r/ Prestress Poststress word internal- word internal- word initial- word final- syllable inifal syllable initial/internal syllable initial syllable final [r] [d] [t) [1] Figure 4. Position of the Havasupai in with respect to syllable position /r/ syllable nternal syllable initial syllable final [d], [t], [r] [t] [r] The Ill in Havasupai is a "clear alveolar lateral". In post stress position, the lateral is "prestopped". See Figure 5 below. Figure 5. Havasupai /1/ English Gloss Phonemic Representation Phonetic Representation la. /wall lb. [wadi] 1. in the house 2a. /iwfla/ 2b. [i I wi I dla] 2. alfalfa The alveolar lateral is prestopped when it occurs in poststress position. In lb, the lateral is syllable and word final. The prestopped allophone also occurs in syllable-initial position after the stressed vowel. Lenition and Syllable Boundaries Lenition can be manifested as spirantization for stops. The uvular phoneme /q/ is offered as an example. See figure 6, la-b for examples of /q/ as an onset to a primary-stressed syllable and examples 2a-b for spirantization of the phoneme /q/ in 67 the syllable-final position of the primary-stressed syllable. An example of lenition for the fricative /v/ is given in figure 7 below. In a syllable-final consonant cluster, the phoneme /v/ may weaken to a phonetic [w]. Figure 6. /q/-1q1 and 141 English Gloss Phonemic Representation Phonetic Representation la. /qwci/ [qwaq] lb. [qwax] 1. deer 2a. /6ipeqea/ I pex I ea] 2. they were beaten 2b. Figure 7. /v/-fv-1 and [w-1 la. /kwe rava/ lb. [kwe I 6 I va] 1. sickness 2a. /kwe ravk/ 2b. [kwe I dawk] 2. he is sick The Vowel as Syllable Final Element When vowels occur as the last element of the syllable, i.e. in an open syllable, they tend to be "phonetically longer in duration" (Kozlowski 1976 p.143). Vowels in open syllables also tend to be higher than the same vowel in a closed syllable.