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appears per word; however, one example, 31i, contains two. Three examples, 31i, p, q, have the diphthong on the first syllable, two, 31h and l, on the second and five, 31c, d, g, i and o on the final
syllable. None of the patterns which appear have diphthongs on all three syllables. The three most common patterns are trisyllabic words with CV on each syllable as in 31a, words with a CCV on the final syllable
but CV on the first two syllables as in 31b and words with the first and last syllables as CV with CCV on the middle syllable as in 31e. The most complex syllable of Soyaltepec Mazatec i.e., CCVV can occur
in any syllable position: first, 31p and q, second 31h or third 31c, i and o. These examples demonstrate that there are no restrictions as to placement of syllable types in Soyaltepec Mazatec.
3.6 Stress
Stress
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or prominence occurs on the final syllable of the stem. It does not shift when a suffix or clitic is added to the stem. Stress has been indicated in this chapter through underlining to avoid the
multiplication of diacritics. Stress is predominantly indicated through increased intensity occasionally accompanied by a slightly lengthened vowel.
In monomorphemic words, stress occurs on the final syllable as can be seen in 32. 32
Stress on monomorphemic words Transcription
Gloss 1
σ a.
ts︢ha˧ ‘hand’
b.
sĩã˦ ‘standing’
2 σ
c. ʃu˩ta˩
‘person’
d. ni˥khĩɛ̃˥
‘to feed’ 3
σ e.
ts︢i˧wa˦ʔa˩ ‘rain’
f. ʔa˧ni˦ma˩ ‘heart’
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Since primary stress is constant and immovable in Soyaltepec Mazatec, it is possible that the phenomena should be described as a prominent syllable or with some other term. Secondary stress can also be found in
some words, but further investigation is beyond the scope of this paper.
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32a and b show examples of single syllable words, 32c and d are two syllable words and 32eand f are three syllable words. In multimorphemic words, the stressed syllable is always the final
syllable of the stem, even when an affix or clitic is added. Note the examples in 33 below. In 33a a prefix is added to the stem and the stress remains on the final syllable of the word. In 33b-f, clitics are
added to the end of the stem and the stress remains on the final syllable of the stem, it does not shift to the final syllable of the word. Note the stressed syllable that is underlined in each example.
33 Stress on multi-morphemic words
Transcription Stem
Gloss a.
thi˥-ts︢i˥ʃa˥ ts︢i˥ʃa˥
‘he is working’ b.
thi˥-ts︢i˥ʃa˥-hi˥ ts︢i˥ʃa˥
‘he is not working’ c.
tʃ︢u˩ndu˩-ra˦˩ tʃ︢u˩ndu˩
‘probably a worm’ d. ni˩sĩ˩-na˩
ni˩sĩ˩ ‘my basket’
e.
tku˩-ʔɛ˩
tku ˩
‘his head
f. tjiu˩ʃĩ˧ts︢ʔua˥-ɲa˦ tjiu˩ʃĩ˧ts︢ʔua˥ ‘our lips’
The actual placement of the stem in the surface grammatical word and the number of affixes is irrelevant. Stress placement is only dependent on the stem.
All syllable types can occur in stressed and unstressed syllables. There is no indication of vowel
reduction or tone loss on unstressed syllables. The only phenomenon in Soyaltepec Mazatec that has been associated with stress, up to this point, is nasality. Nasalized vowels usually occur in stressed syllables;
however, when a word with a nasal syllable becomes the first member of a compound, the nasality is not lost even though it no longer receives primary stress as is demonstrated above in 33f.
Although stress is active in the licensing of tone in many Oto-Manguean languages, there is no indication of this effect in Soyaltepec Mazatec. Because stress is very regular and does not enter into the
tone system, it will not be marked in the remainder of the dissertation.
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3.7 Summary
