Preaspiration in western Yugur monosyllables

15 Pages·0.944 MB·Western Yugur-English

by  Roos Marti.

Preaspirationin WesternY ugur
monosyllables
Marti Roos
1 Introduction
Westem Yugur, or Yellow Uygur, is one of the smaller Turkic languages,
spoken by some 4,500 people living primarily in Stni{n Yugur Autonomous
County, in Gdnsil Province in the People'sR epublic of China. The Westem
Yugur people are part of the Yugur nationality,o ne of China's 56 officially
recognizedn ationalities,c onsistingo f 10,569p ersonsa ccording to the 1982
census.
Within the Yugur nationality,f our different languagesa re spoken: West-
em Yugur, a Turkic language,E astem Yugur, a Mongolic language,T ibet-
an, and Chinese.C hinese is the languageo f conbactb etween the different
linguistic groups, and functions as written medium. Westem Yugur is a
non-written language.
Westem Yugur can be classifieda s belonging to the North Eastem sub-
group of Turkic languageso n the basis of the developmento f CT *-d- and
*-igli'g (featuringa zaqh 'foot'andsari'y 'yellow').Itis most closely related
to Khakas, Tuva, Tofalar, and Yakut. Apparently for geographicalr easons,
Westem Yugur has sometimesb eenc onsidereda dialect of Modem Uygur,
togetherw ith Salar. Salar and Modern Uygur, however, both belong to the
*ayak branch of Turkic languages,S alar to the Oghuz subgroup and Mod-
ern Uygur to the Chaghatays ubgroup.
The first to report on the languageo f the Western Yugur were the ex-
plorersP otanin( 1893)a nd Mannerheim( 1911).T he first linguist to visit the
Yugur wasM alov; duringh is expeditionisn 1909-1911a nd 1913-1915h, e
collected materials on Westem Yugur, a part of which was published in
severala rticles before the publicationo f his vocabularya nd grammaticalo ut-
line (1957)a nd a collectiono f texts (1967). A short survey of the Westem
Yugur languagew as compiledb y Thomsen( 1959).I n the late 1950ss everal
Sino-Russian researche xpeditions were organized in Gdnst and Qinghli
provinces; the languagem aterials collected were published in subsequent
years. Teni5ev and Todaeva jointly published a short survey of both
Westerna nd EastemY ugur (1966).A more detailedm onographo n Westem
Yugur, consisting of a grammar, vocabulary and texts was published by
WestemY ugurp reaspiration 29
Teni5ev( 1976).In the 1980sC hinesel inguistss rarredr o publish on West-
em Yugur, Ch6n and I.6i jointly published a grafirmar with vocabulary
(1985),a nd Ch6nw rote severaal rticleso n this language( 1982, 1986, 1987,
1992, 1993). A Westem Yugur-Chinese dictionary was published by l.6i
(r99D.
2 Phonemic system of Western Yugur
The phonemic analysiso f Westem Yugur as will be presentedb elow starts
out from the aforementionedw ritten sources.I t appears,h owever, that the
number and quality of the phonemesa nd allophones,a nalysedb y the differ-
ent authorsf or Westem Yugur, differ. For example, Teni5ev, Ch6n, and l-6i
distinguish aspirated,r etroflex and alveo-palatalc onsonants,w hile Malov
does not. Variant forms abound, part of which seem to be due to sandhi
phenomena.M aterials recordedi n August 1994 fromMr. Zhong J)nw6n, a
3l-year-old natives peakerofW estemY ugur, have beent akeni nto consid-
eration as well.
The phonemics ystemo f WestemY ugur containse ight vowels a, e, i', i,
c, 5, u, Dand twenty-eightc onsonantspp, h, t, th, k, kh, q, qh, q, qh, a, ah,f ,
w, s, S,{ , z, 4 x, y, h, m, n, 0, l, ,, y.Also operatingw ithin the systema s a
distinguishing featurei s the phenomenono f preaspiration.
Specialf eatureso f the historical phonology are the following. Although
the usual eight CT vowels are distinguishedi n the sources,i t seemst hat CT
xi and CT *u" have mostly merged with their back vocalic counterparts i
and u in WesternY ugur, exceptw hen precededb y a palatal consonant.
The plosivesa nd affricateso ccuri n a voicelesss eriesp t k qq.o which is
in opposition with an aspirateds eriesp , th kh qh qh oh. The opposition is
neutralized,h owever, in intervocalic position in favour of the unaspirated
series, and in final position in favour of the aspirateds eries.2T his system
cannot directly be connectedt o the CT opposition of a voiced versus a
voiceless series, due to its distributional peculiarities. Apparently the CT
plosives *b, *t, *k in initial position split into a voicelessa nd aspirateds eries
p, ph, t, th, k, kh, and the CT plosives* p, *d, *g which only occurredn on-
initially, becameW estem Yugur w, z, y.3 The quality and number of the CT
affricate(s)a re uncertain.
' The data collectedf rom Mr. Zhong indicate that e is shifting to i; this processh as been
completedi n suffixes.
2 In Mr. Zhong's material,p losivesi n final position are unreleased.
3 In Mr. Zhong's material,t he velar fricative occursw ith little or no friction.
30 Marti Roos
The affricates and sibilants, apparentlyi nfluenced by Chinese, show an
opposition ofa retroflex seriesc , qh, S versus an alveolo-palatals eries c, cr,
f; occursm ainly in Chinesel oanwords.
f andx are loan phonemesf rom Chinese.
Westem Yugur featurest he developmenot f final CT *-J > WYu. -s, e.g.
WYu. /ds 'stone' < CT *ta:i. Final CT *-d > WYu. -p, though q may sur-
face in intervocalic position when a suffix with initial vowel is added, e.g.
WYu. kop'power', kuql 'his power' < CT *kdi. CT *d > WYu. z e.g.
WYu. kez- < CT *ked-'to dress',a nd CT final*-z > WYu. -s except in the
first syllable,w here *-z is preservedC. T *y- is preservedi n WesternY ugur
as such. Prostheticy - and aphaeresiso f the original *y- occur frequently.
3 Preaspiration: synchronic characteristics
Preaspiration is a rather rare phenomenoni n languages; it is mainly de-
scribed for Gaelic and Icelandic. Preaspirationp ossibly occurs et in lan-
guagest hat havel ost voice as a distinguishingf eaturei n consonants( cf. O
Murchri 1985: 197\, fuz a-d ,t,:c,utln of koat {ata).
Phonetically, preaspirationc an be describeda s an ft-like element,o r as a
palatal or velar fricative, occurring between a vowel and a consonant (cf.
Shuken 1979:452, and O Dochartaigh1 981:2 35), typically a plosive, but
also an affricate, or even a sibilant.
In Westem Yugur, preaspiration generally occurs as an ft-like element
[ft], but before [4] as a fricative [X]; it may be realised as [p] near the front
high vowels, and as [g] near [u]. Preaspirationin Westem Yugur only oc-
curs when followed by a plosive ftt, t, k, qf, afficate [q, p], or voiceless
sibilant [s, p]; this consonant may be precededb y a liquid, which is then
devoiced [g /].4 Preaspirationm ay spreado ver the entire vowel, resulting in
a completelyw hisperedv owel, e.g.lql: especiallyh igh vowels when occur-
ring between [s, p] and a velar or uvular plosive [k, q], e.g. sjxQ- 'to
squeeze',t end to be whispered.
Phonemically,t he phenomenono f preaspirationi s ambiguous; it can be
interpretede ither as a componento f the precedingv owel or of the following
consonant,a s a separatep honeme,o r asp rosodic.
a
AccordingtoChin&L6i1 9851: 2,lllprecededbypreaspirationisrealisedas[f].
WestemYu gupr reaspiration 31
Figure I . Vowel phonemeso f WesternY ugur; allophones are placed in
parentheses
Front Central Back
(4il
Closed t
High
Open IU
Closed e
Open
Closed
lnw
Open
Figure 2. Consonanpt honemeso f WesternY ugur
Labial Apico- Retroflex Front- Centro- Velar Uvular Glottal
alveolar prepalatalp alatal
Pfosives Aspiratedp fr 7h kh qh
Voicelessp t kq
FricativesVoiceless/ s p J
Voiced z 1 v
Affricates Aspirated { Ch
Voiceless q I
Nasals m n
Liquids Vibrants r
Lateral
I
approx.
Approxi- yw
mants
The transcriptions ystemu sedh erei s basedo n IPA, with some adaptationsS. pecial
symbolsh aveb eeni ntroducedfo r thea ffricateas ndf ricativest;h esei ncludes ingleg raph-
emesJ , t, q c for IPA doubleg raphemesld 3, tI, tS,o l, and Z, .i, g for lPA $, l, el.
JZ Marti Roos
Ch6n (1986) analysesp reaspirationa s belonging to the vowel system.
Apart from the above-mentionesde rieso f eightv owels, he discemsa series
of six aspiratedv owels.5H e further assumest hat the vowel and the aspira-
tion elementm ay undergo metathesisw, ith subsequentd evoicing of the
vowel;6 no conditionsf or this phenomenona re formulated.P erhaps this
metathesism ay simply be interpreteda s a spreading of the preaspiration
overt he vowel,e .g.ah> q.
Teni5ev( 1976: I 1-18)a nalysesp reaspirationa s belongingt o the conso-
nant system,i n which e.g.l tl is distinctivef rom 1n1nD1.e pendingo n its posi-
tion in a word, lhthl is realiseda s [tr] initially, as [rt] medially, and as flty -
nynli n final position.
In three cases,i p 'inside', ip- 'to drink', and up 'three', preaspiration
occursi n obliquef orms only, but not in the isolateds tems.
4 Preaspiration: diachronic characteristics
Preaspirationi n Westem Yugur monosyllablesc an be explained historically,
in that it comespondsw ith CT short vowels, and Tuva and Tofalar
pharyngealizedv owels.A bsenceo f preaspirationc orrespondsw ith CT and
Yakut long vowels. Note that preaspiration,p haryngealizationa nd vowel
length are distinctive.T he phenomenono f preaspirationd oes not occur in
mono-syllabicl oanwords.
The first to observep reaspirationin WestemY ugur was Malov; he also
pointed to a correspondenceb etweenW estem Yugur preaspirationa nd
Yakut short vowels on the one hand,a nd absenceo f preaspirationin West-
em Yugur and Yakut long vowelso n the other( Malov 1957: 163).
Janhunene stablisheda relationshipb etweenT uva and Tofalar pharyngeal-
ized (or glottalized)v owels and Yakut short vowels, and on the other hand
betweent he absenceo f pharyngealizatioann d Yakut long vowels (Janhunen
le80).
Regularc orrespondencebse tweent he languagesa re demonstratedin the
tables below; the only generale xceptioni s formed by *yu:rt 'dwelling
place', in which preaspirationa ndp haryngealizatiocno nespondw ith a long
vowel. ApparentlyC T *yu:rt > +yurt in this subgroupo f Turkic languages.
In Westem Yugur words featuringa n initial or final voicelesss ibilant,
however, this historicalc orrespondencies less consistent;e speciallyh igh
vowels in this positiont endt o be whispered.
s Accordingt o Ch6n ( I 986), preaspiratiodno esn ot occur neart he high front vowels in
WesternY ugur.
6 According to Ch6n & L6i (1985:8 ) VtC > llVC , e.g. chsh- hcth 'grass',a h/1 - hath
'horse',a nd CVrC > CrtVC,e .g.t uhph=- thgph- 'to kick'.
WestemY ugurp reaspiration
JJ
Ini'gn'dog',i'gh-'to push', and pilpth'louse't,h e phonemelS l is found
insteado f the expectedp reaspiration.
Preaspirationa nd pharyngealizationc orrespondingw ith short vowelsT
WYU Metathesis Tuva Tofa Yakut CT Meaning
a'qh/q-8 ohqlB- unq/fr- *ak- to flow; cf. Tkm a4-
anryu * hark dung; cf. Khal harq
ahrth/t- ahrtlt ahrt- crt- *art- to remaln
ahth hgn ahtld ahtlt at *hat horse;c f. Sal aht
ahthlF hat- ahtld- aht- it- *hat- to shoot
ThPh/w- qnq,n' iaplv- cahp- *taP- to dig, to cut down, to
-qaph- hit; cf. Tkm iap-
7 The sourceso f the presentedw ord material are as follows: the Westem Yugur material
stems from the sourcesm entioned in the introduction; Tuvan material from TeniSev
(1968), and Janhunen (1980); ToZu dialect material from Cadamba (1974); Tofa
material from Rassadin (1971, 1978); Yakut material from Slepcov (19'12) and
Pekarskij( 1959); Modem Uygur (NUyg.) materialf rom NadZip (1968); Salar (Sal.)
material from Lin (1985); Turkmen (Tkm.) material from Baskakov (1968); Khalaj
(Khal.) material from Doerfer & Tezcan (1980); Azerbayjan (Azb.) material from
OrudZev( 1966-1983).
8 Cf. the data recordedf rom Mr. Zhong: 4xq1 'to flow'; ag- 'excrementsf rom grain
eaters, such as humans, dogs, cats, chickens', in contrast to grass eaters, such as
bovines, horses, sheepa nd camels, the dung of which is denoted by special terms)';
ap-'toremain';aht- - 4c-'horse'; aht-='to shoot'; irtl-- yi4- - Lrf -'meat,f lesh'; j7q-
'prophecy';j pr-'dog'; j.st--- itr--'to push'; 1r5hp-'man!'i ?/q-'anow'; ?t- 'grass';
pi,st-'louse';p l'hf- 'to finish'; qahr--'toadd'; qi:gq--'tos have';q cfl-- 'to feu'; sat--
'to sell';sirh-'to squeeze's; r4--'to hit';pr7q--'tog lue'; ,ozq--( sic)'to find'; w{='to
drag';ti'nq--'to sew'; ti'hk--'to erect';a 'hq-- 'to stick into'; rgr--'to hold'; yont--'to
lie down'; Tirtp-'thread;it -- - 9t--'to arrive, to reach'; pryt-- 'to load'; ycp- 'abandoned
camp';a hs-- as- 'to change';q s 'meal'; oh7-- aS-'to open'; ip 'inside'; i,s- 'to drink';
kis- 'to cut dough'; t.Jp 'to migrate';p ahs-'to press';p a.s' head';p js- 'to boil; to be
ripe';pcs'loose'; qahs'few'; qjs 'winter'; qus-- qqs-'to vomit'; ggs 'bird'; ras -
rals'outside'; tqs-'to fall'; "bp 'three',g gun'thirty'; yaxs-'tohide'; gaq'hair'; paq-
'to sprinkle'; aqh'white'; art-'back, west';4 s- - ahs-'to cross';4 / 'name'; it- 'to do';
i.s 'smoke, fog'; is '(manual)w ork'; kit 'late'; ktikn'blue'; cl-'fire'; yut-'gall'; pi.s
'five'; pi't-'leg'; qttqp-'bag'; s-rc-' milk'; tas - tars'stone'; mhs1-' to flood'; ri7-
'base'; ri.r- tj.r'tooth'; /rJrI-'four'; lr5.s' chest';y as 'age;t ear;s oft; yovng'; zit-'to
-'there
leada long a reign';y cg is not'.
34 Marti Roos
WYu Metathesis Tuva Tofa Yakut CT Meaning
qdqhlq- iaqlr-l iah|- sal- *tak- to make fire; Tofa: to
lahsar bite; Tuva: to scratch;
cf. ToZu:i aq- tahrar
ehth ;fih Eqld eh! Et *d meat
-yeht
-eth
ilhrkh hi'rkn *erk power, wi| cf. Tkm erk
-yehrfth -hftn
i:hrqh hirqh i'ht:! *i'rk divination symbol,
-hno omen,p rophecy
i'gn pth |htld i4 i:t * i't/*it dog; cf. Sal iJt, NUyg
t.tr
i'gn- ihtld- lht- iit- *it- to push; cf. Sal iit-,
NUyg i.it-
kehrt- kherth_ kertlt_ kehyy_ ken_ * kert_ to carve
kShphlw knSph kihp kihpltp * k5p much/many; cf. Tkm
-kehph kheph kip
-k;pn
-kePn
chth hQth ctttld clrt il *ct grass
c4.- 54ld- 5ht- 5t- *5t- to penetrate, to cross
lqAq Xcq chq chqlfr 2X *ck arrow; Tuva, Tofa:
bullet
pahthlt- phqth- Pa,\/d- Qahl- *bat- to go down; WYu: to
lose; cf. Tkm bat-
pehrlah phi:rk4k ha't Vehft hut *berk power, health; very well
-phghilch
phi'khlk hek l/ehklfrv - *bek power, health; Tuva:
chains; cf. Tkm bek
pi€th hit bih! bit *bill*bil louse; cf. Sal pi.it,
-phi1tn NUyg pr.il
pi'\n- phith- l?iihtld- hilh! bilt- *b6F to finish, complete
_phi'\h_ _Phu$_
-pit-
-*th-
phikh- hiihk hilhk- hiik *bhk- to bend; Tuva: valley
Yakut: a bending;
cf.Tkm biik-
qahqhlq- Iaq- Xaq-l qahQlfr *kak- to hit; WYu: to bite; to
qarar oppose; cf. ToZu yaq-l
WestemY ugurp reaspiration
35
WYu Metathesis Tuva Tofa Yakut CT Meaning
qayar, cf.Tkm qaq-
qahPhlw- qnapn- qap- qahplg- xap- *kap- to seize with the hands
or teeth
qahth qhaht qaq qah! )(at *kat layer, row; Yakut: again
qahh/r Qhath- qant/d- q(t\- xat' *kat- to be hard, firm
qahthlt- Qhath- qantld- qi't-i'n- *kat- to add
qixrqhlq- qhirqh- _ qi'rt- *ki'rk- to shave
_qhirrqh-
-qLrq-
qczrqL qh"Itqh- qchn-l qt\l-l Tcrt-/ *kcrk- to fear
qcruar qcrhar Icrsor
saph/w ti'ttp/v si'hp/e *sap handle; cf.Tkm 9ap
sath/t satld- saht- at-i::la:- rsat- to sell; cf. Tkm 9at-
si'qqn- ti'hqlr- si:h|- q- *sik- to squeeze
-zt4h-
_zixqh-
si'rth sirtlt sirt *si't't spine; cf. Tkm 1ij-t
scqhlq- scqlu- schqlfr- t8-us- *sck to mow, to slaughter
cf. Tkm 1cq- to sting
gtka/ k- e2h4- *yuk- to glue; cf. Tkm ycq-
-pq-
tahph/w- thaphlw- ,ttilhplv- tuhp- tap' *top- to find; cf. ToZu thitp-/
-tupn' _ti.hpte_
di'hvar
tahrthlr fiahy1h_ cri:hrt/t_ dhq- tart- *tart- to draw, to haul
tehph- thgph- ,ntnplv- tehplrp- tq- *t€p- to kick
-tupn'
tihkhtk- th.!:khlk_ trk- *tik- to sew, to seam
-fi'kh-
ti'hkh- thi.kh/k- tniklT- tik- *tik- to erect
tirqUq- tnikty- *ti:k to thrust into; cf. Tkm
di:q'
6hkh- thickh- FihAT 6hklfry- trx- *6k- to pour out; WYu: id.;
-ticnkhlk- to topple down
tuhthlt- thu\h- thuhy'd- tuh!- tut- *tut- to hold; cf. ToZu thut-l
(uhdar - (uhmr
uhrkhlk- ilrt/y- *hurk- to be frightened
-5hrkh -
-chkh-
yant/t- tlhtld- cIhf si:t- *yat- to lie down
yehph ;iph iehp cep sap *yipl*yep ttuead
-zehph -Dp -tep
36 Marti Roos
WYu Metathesis Tuva Tofa Yakut CT Meaning
yentnlt- hE- ft4ld- cehl- sit- *yet- to reach,t o arrive
-ehth- -hit-
-Yeth-
luhkh pkh iiihk cuhk silk- *yuk burden; Yakut: to carry
a burden
Preaspiration and pharyngealization corresponding with long vowel
WYu MetathesisT uva Tofa Yakut CT Meaning
yuhrlh tuhrtlt cuhr! su:rt *yu:rt dwellingp lace;c f.
-Ychrlh -surt Tkm yu:rt
Wu final voicelesssi bilants- s < *-s/x-.ai nd- S < *-i
WYu Metathesis Tuva Tofa Yakut CT Meaning
ahs--as- ahslz- ah$l$-- *as- to suspendc; f. Tkm a0-
ahs-as ahi-tan ai- as *ai food; feast
ntm
ahplq--ap-h a7- ahili- ahilfrva s- *had- to open
ip/C ii-in iti-ti is *it inside
ithti-t ii-t-i inside+ POS3
hi'q-t
hic-i
hec-i
t19-1
i:p-ker Ftker ihi-ke:ri iti- *it-ka'ti into, to the inside
I{e:ri
iS- hic iil|- i.i- is- *it- to drink
_rr,i/i
kyes_ kehslz_ lrtshgl _ *k€J- to cut; cf. Tkm kes_
{-
kep- kei- kvehi-k es- *ket- to cross
k,htlq- khd€- kdhilZ- kihi- kis- *kit- to migrate
-ki s'
-kic p-