63
kind of gourd’, rha ‘blackbird’, etc. The three characteristic phonemes of the Ngada-Lio language grouping plus two unique phonemes of the Nataia are
certainly absent from the list of English phonemes. Based on the descriptions above, all the consonant phonemes of Nataia can
be put together in the following chart, showing both their place and manner of articulations.
Figure 4.2 Nataia Consonant Chart Orthography Adapted from Djawanai, 1983: 114
4.1.3 Nataia Phonological Processes
A phonological process is a term used to cover the way in which segments are influenced by adjacent segments, causing phonemes to vary in their
Consonant Sounds of Nataia :
Consonant Orthography
bi la
bi al
la bi
o- de
nt al
de nt
al al
ve ol
ar
al ve
o- pa
la ta
l
re trof
le x
ve la
r gl
ot ta
l
Nasals m
n ŋ
m n
ng voiced
stops b
d g
b d
g voiceless
stops p
t k
p t
k voiced
implosive ß ɗ
ğ bh
dh ‘g
glottal stop
ˀ voiced
fricatives z
j ɣ
z j
gh Voiceless
fricatives f
s ř
h f
s rh
h taptrill
r r
Lateral l
l PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
64
realizations according to their phonological context. In the Nataia, there are at least two types of phonological processes such as the following:
4.1.3.1 Aspiration
Voiceless oral stops are aspirated both in the initial position and in the medial position. The aspiration is clearly noticed with velar consonant sound [k],
alveolar consonant sound[t] and bilabial consonant sound [p]. Examples: [t] as in tepa t
h
əp
h
a ‘shoulder’, [p] as in pea p
h
ea ‘arrive’, and [k] as in ku’a k
h
u’ɑ ‘break down’ are aspirated. Also aspirated are the [t] as in ‘ate [at
h
e] ‘liver’, [k] as in eka [ək
h
a] ‘think’ and [p] as in sepa [səp
h
a] ‘eat’ vegetables. Aspiration occurs both in the initial position and in the medial position
because each of the three voiceless stops always becomes the onzet of the following nucleus.
4.1.3.2 Vowel Reduction
The vowel of a structural word which usually consists of one syllable tends to be reduced to schwa [ə] Djawanai, 1983: 119. In the Nataia, ne ‘already’, for
example, is reduced to nə and da ‘that ’ is reduced to də in phrases such as demu nə mai they already come, and ata də mai people who come. The
schwa [ə] which is usually very short never occurs in the last syllable of a morpheme.
After talking at great length about the individual vowel and consonant phonemes of Nataia, it is time to discuss how these sounds are organized to form
patterns. It is a matter of common knowledge, though, that sounds are organized into syllables and syllables are organized into words.
