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7 The High tone on trisyllabic words
Soyaltepec Mazatec Gloss
Tone Pattern
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a. ndi˥fa˥ti˥
‘petroleum’ H H H
b. thi˥ts︢i˥ʃa˦˥ ‘working’
H H M
1
-H c.
thi˥ts︢u˦ja˧ ‘explaining’
H M
1
M
2
d. ʔɛ˦ni˥ma˩ ‘indigenous language’ M
1
H L e. ʃi˧ne˥ts︢hu˥
‘fried pork rinds’ M
2
H H f
. te˧ɲu˧hũ˥ ‘fourteen’
M
2
M
2
H The High tone occurs on all of the syllables of monosyllabic words, disyllabic words and
trisyllabic words without regard for the characteristics of the segments present or the grammatical category of the morphemes.
4.2.4 Mid-high tone – M
1
˦
The expression of the Mid-high tone as a level tone is not as pervasive as the other tonemes. While examples are available, they are hard to find. It occurs very rarely as a single tone on monosyllabic
monomorphemic words, but it commonly occurs as the endpoint or origin of several rising and falling tones including: M
1
-H, M
2
-M
1
, L-M
1
and M
1
-L. It is somewhat more common as part of longer words. The Mid- high tone appears with a fundamental frequency slightly lower than the High tone Figure 4-1 and tends to
fall slightly over the syllable. Phonologically, the Mid-high tone consists of a high tonal melody H and a low tonal register l. An example representation appears in 8.
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Recall that tonal abbreviations separated by a space represent level tones on separate syllables while those separated by a dash are tonal clusters which occur on the same syllable.
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8 Phonological representation of
sĩã˦ ‘there standing’ l
Register H
Melody TRN
sĩã TBU
‘there standing’ gloss
Examples of words with a Mid-high tone appear below in 9 and 10. Unlike the High toned morphemes, there are very few examples of monosyllabic morphemes with Mid-high tones. In order to offer examples
of various onsets, I have also included multisyllabic words whose first syllable contains the Mid-high tone. The examples are still somewhat limited and, for a few categories, there are gaps in my data, such as
complex onsets which end in nasals. More research is needed to determine if any of these types of onsets exist with the Mid-High tone. Despite the more limited distribution of the Mid-high, it will be demonstrated
that there is no reason to postulate a correlation between this toneme and any specific structure. The examples in 9 show syllables with Mid-high tones whose onset is simple. The place and manner of
articulation are listed for the syllable with the Mid-high tone which in these examples is always the first syllable of the word listed.
9 Mid-high toned syllables with simple onsets
POA Manner
Transcription Gloss
a. Labial
glide w
ɛ˦tkũ˧˦ respect
b. Coronal
stop ta˦ha˧˥
hard c.
Coronal fricative
sĩã˦ ‘there standing’
d. Coronal
affricate ts︢u˦ʔwi˦˥
sun e.
Coronal nasal
mi ˦ndʒ︢i˧
to hoe
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f. Dorsal
stop kã˦ho˦˧
twenty two g.
Dorsal stop
kũ˦ ‘are’
h. Glottal
fricative ji˦
‘you’ i.
Glottal stop
ʔɛ̃˦ni˥ma˧ indigenous language
In 10 examples of Mid-high toned syllables with complex onsets are given. The onsets are again grouped according to the categories discussed in §3.4.3. ‘Type’ of onset refers to the following possibilities: S-
stopstop-stop, Contains ʔ, Contains h or Begins with N. Next, the ‘Sub-type’ of the onset further
divides Contains ʔ and Contains h into categories based on whether or not the onset also contains an
obstruent or a sonorant. The syllable containing the Mid-high tone is the first syllable of the example. 10
Mid-high tones syllables with complex onsets Type
Sub-type Example
Gloss a.
S-stopstop-stop ʃtiu˦
‘underdeveloped’ b.
Contains ʔ
Obstruent ʃʔui˦
‘ember’ c.
Contains ʔ
Obstruent t
ʃ︢ʔo˦kũ˦ bad
d. Contains
ʔ Sonorant
ʔwɛ˦ʔɲu˦˥ he ties
e. Contains h
Obstruent thi˦
‘round’ f.
Contains h Obstruent
thĩã˦ ‘there sitting’
g. Contains h
Sonorant none
h. Begins with N
ngu˦hɲa˦˩ ‘yesterday’
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In 9 and 10 there are examples representing each onset type that occurs in Soyaltepec Mazatec. There are many onset types which are not found in monosyllabic Mid-High toned words; however,
multisyllabic words can be used to fill most of these gaps. The only gap in the data is the absence of an example which begins with a complex onset with a h-sonorant cluster. Considering that both the Mid-high
tone and the h-sonorant cluster onsets are relatively rare, it is not surprising that there is a gap in their intersection. More research could fill this gap.
Tone does not depend on the vowel of the syllable. Examples can be found in 9 and 10 of syllables which contain the Mid-high tone with nine of the ten vowels:
• [i] -
9h, 10e •
[ĩ] - 9e •
[ ɛ] - 9a, 10d
• [ɛ̃] - 9i
• [a] -
9b •
[ã] - 9f
• [o] -
10c •
[õ] - none •
[u] - 9d, 10h
• [ũ] - 9g
There is no example of the [ õ] which is the least common vowel, so again it is not surprising that no
examples are available. There are also several examples of diphthongs, both oral and nasal, which host the Mid-High tone.
Examples include:
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• [ui] -
10b •
[ĩã] - 9c, 10f •
[iu] - 10a
The above examples demonstrate that the Mid-high tone occurs with almost all of the onset types and vowels. The only gaps that occur happen among the less common onsets and vowels. There are also
examples of various grammatical categories. Examples include: •
Nouns - 9d, i, 10b •
Verbs - 9a, c, e, g, 10d, f •
Pronouns - 9h •
Adjectives - 9b, 10a, c, e •
Adverbs - 10h •
Quantifiers - 9f The Mid-High tone level is independent of segmental characteristics and grammatical categories.
Like the High tones, the Mid-high tone can be found as the first syllable of disyllabic words followed by any of the other tonal primitives 11.
11 Mid-High tones on the first syllable of disyllabic words
Soyaltepec Mazatec Gloss
Tone Pattern a.
thi˦kũ˥ ‘alive’
M
1
H b. tʃ︢ʔo˦kũ˦
‘bad’ M
1
M
1
c. tʃ︢hu˦ja˧ ‘to sew’
M
1
M
2
d. w u˦ru˩
‘donkey’ M
1
L The Mid-High tone can also appear on the final syllable of disyllabic words preceded by any of
the tonal primitives 12.
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12 Mid-High tones on the final syllable of disyllabic words
Soyaltepec Mazatec Gloss
Tone Pattern a.
ngi˥ngu˦ ‘other’
H M
1
b. tʃ︢i˦sɛ̃˦
‘housefly’ M
1
M
1
c. ts︢a˧wɛ˦
‘crazy’ M
2
M
1
d. sa˩wa˦
‘shame’ L M
1
In 11 and 12 it was shown that the Mid-high tone can combine with all the other tonemes on disyllabic words both the first and second syllable. Like the High tone, the Mid-high tone can also be found
on larger words. Since words larger than two syllables are not numerous, it is not surprising that the examples are rare; however, trisyllabic words can be found with the Mid-high on the first 13a, second
13b and third syllable 13c. 13
Trisyllabic words with Mid-high tone on each syllable Soyaltepec Mazatec
Gloss Tone Pattern
a. ʔɛ̃˦ni˥ma˩
‘indigenous language’ M
1
H L b. ʔa˧ni˦ma˩
‘heart’ M M
1
L c. nga˩su˩ndɛ˦
‘world’ L L M
1
There are no examples in my database of trisyllabic words which have a Mid-high on both of the first two syllables of a word or the last two; this is a matter for further research. Although the Mid-high
tone is not as common as the High tone or as the Mid and Low tones that we will discuss below, it is clear that it is a viable and important tone in the tone system of Soyaltepec Mazatec. I demonstrate below in §5.3
that the characteristics of the Mid-high tone are responsible for a large part of the tone sandhi that occurs in Soyaltepec Mazatec which gives the tone system its unique character. The placement of the Mid-high tone
is independent of segmental characteristics, grammatical category and syllable position within a word.
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4.2.5 Mid tone – M
