Contour Split and Shift Reanalyzed

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2.4.1 Contour Split and Shift Reanalyzed

In this section, I discuss Pizer’s reanalysis of contour sandhi involving the Mid-high tone. Pizer’s first argument agrees with Goldsmith’s analysis of contour split and shift that was discussed in §2.3.3, but stresses that only contour tones that end with a Mid-high tone behave this way. Pizer emphasizes that not all contour tones in Pike’s data follow the same pattern. The contour tones that end in a Mid-high tone separate and shift the second tone of the contour to the final syllable when an affix is added, as in 38. However, the Mid to High contour tone does not separate and shift under similar circumstances, as in 39. 38 Standard contour tone realignment Pizer 1994:109 48 Underlying forms In context tki˧˦ + -hni˩ → tki˧-hni˦˩ ‘medicine’ ‘our’ ‘our medicine’ 39 Contour without realignment Pizer 1994:109 Underlying forms In context nta˧˥ + - ra˩ → nta˧˥-ra˩ ‘good’ ‘probably’ ‘it is probably good’ The first word in 38 has a Mid to Mid-high contour in its underlying form, but a level Mid tone in context while the first word in 39 maintains its underlying Mid to High contour in context. Furthermore, the final syllables in both examples are Low in their underlying forms, but in context the final syllable in 38 is a falling Mid-high to Low contour while the final syllable in 39 is a level Low. The behavior of the Mid to Mid-high ˧˦ contour is different from the behavior of the Mid to High ˧˥ contour. The contour in 39 is not redistributing itself over the available syllables in a one to one match up from left to right. 49 Pizer’s initial hypothesis is that the shifting that occurs in 38 is provoked by the Mid-high tone, not by the 48 Again, I have altered the representation of the data in Pizer’s examples so that they are consistent with the IPA in both choice of segmental characters and tone keys in order to be internally consistent to the representations used in this dissertation. 49 The Universal Association Convention UAC described by Goldsmith 1976 and Pulleyblank 1986 states: “Match the tones and tone-bearing units TBUs one to one, left to right.” Kenstowicz 1994:317 Contours are traditionally formed when there are more tones than syllables because the leftover tones attach to the final syllable. 82 contour itself. However, she also points out that not all Mid-high tones delink from their source and shift or spread to the right, only those Mid-high tones involved in contours shift. Level Mid-high tones do not perturb the following syllable, as is demonstrated in 40. 40 Examples of M 1 not influencing the following syllable Pizer 1994:110 Attested form Hypothesized by Pizer a. na˧mi˦-sa˧ na˧mi˧-sa˦ 50 ‘yeast’ b. t ʃ︢ʔa˦-ʔe˩ t ʃ︢ʔa˦-ʔe˦˩ ‘his father-in-law’ Pizer indicates that if all Mid-high tones acted in the same way, then 40a and b should not exist with the attested tones, but with her hypothesized tones. 51 She concludes that the Mid-high tone instigates the split and shift process, but only when it is part of a contour. The resulting process is similar to that which was described above in §2.3.3 from Goldsmith and §2.2.2.1 from Pike. Pizer’s rule is summarized as M 1 - Shift 52 in 41. The brackets indicate that the final X may be linked to either a M 2 or a L. 41 M 1 -Shift Pizer 1994:110 X X t M 1 M 2 L Crucial to her rule is that the M 1 is part of a contour tone; but, the beginning point of the contour is not important, hence it is indicated with a t. The M 1 is originally linked to the initial X as is indicated by the solid association line; however, as part of the process, this linkage is broken which is indicated by the 50 Pizer does not actually spell out this form; I have deduced it from her statements and included it for clarity. She indicated that the M 1 should shift in this situation in the same way that other M 1 ’s in contours shift, if in fact all level tones were behaving the same way whether or not they were in contours. 51 It is an interesting argument, however, she does not take into account the fact that the forms in 40 each contain a derived Mid-high tone and the spreading indicated is usually provoked by an underlying Mid- high rather than the surface tone. 52 In Pizer’s terminology she refers to this as 2-Shift, I have changed the terminology in order to reflect my choice of tonal abbreviations, i.e., H for 1, M 1 for 2, M 2 for 3 and L for 4. 83 parallel bars across the association line. The M 1 forms a new association line with the second X which is indicated by the dashed association line. She also includes a rule for M 2 deletion which prevents a M 2 from following a M 1 when linked to the same syllable. This accounts for the absence of a falling contour if the targeted syllable contains a M 2 , but not if it contains a L. This rule is provided in 42. 42 M 2 deletion Pizer 1994:111 X M 1 M 2 ∅ When the M 1 and M 2 are linked successively to the same X, the M 2 delinks which is indicated by the bars across the association line and the M 2 then deletes. Pizer’s argument demonstrates two points. First, not all contours behave the same way. Second, sometimes tonal primitives behave differently depending on whether or not they are in a contour which if true would be a significant finding. This indicates that something more complicated than a simple realignment of tones is occurring when contours split and shift.

2.4.2 H-Spread