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the majority of syllables that host this contour have a nasal onset. There are examples of just four vowels and one diphthong:
• [i] - 46g
• [a] - 46f
• [o] - 47a
• [õ] - 46b
• [ao] - 46i
The two least common vowels [o] and [õ] and the least common diphthong [ao] each co-occur with this rare contour. All of the words that contain the contour are nouns.
In multisyllabic words, the contour can occur either on the first syllable of di– and trisyllabic words 48a, b or last syllable of trisyllabic words 48c.
48 L-M
2
on multisyllabic words Soyaltepec Mazatec
Gloss Tonal Pattern
a. na˩˧ti˦˥
‘louse’ L-M
2
M
1
-H b.
na˩˧ʃu˧hnu˦˩ ‘spike’
L-M
2
M
2
M
1
-L c. ta˧ri˥sko˩˧
‘vulture’ M
2
H L-M
2
While the contour is rare, several of the words that contain it are common, such as ‘mother,’ ‘money’ and ‘OK.’ It occurs with a limited set of onsets and vowels several of which are also rare, only
on nouns, and with a more limited syllable distribution within words than most tones; however, it is not in complementary distribution with any other tone or contour, as will be seen in
§4.3.8 below. It seems likely that it is an archaic form that was fossilized on certain common morphemes.
4.3.5 Low to Mid-high Rising Tone Contour
˩˦
The final rising contour to be discussed, the Low to Mid-high contour, is also rare. Available examples are limited.
Phonetically, it begins at the low point of the speaker’s pitch range and rises above
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the midpoint of that range. Phonologically, the Low to Mid-high tonal contour results from a Low tone L l and a Mid-high tone H l being expressed on the same syllable. This contour is similar to the M
1
-H and M
2
-M
1
contours in that it usually only surfaces in isolation and tends to separate in context, giving evidence that its tones do not need to be linked in its underlying representation but can be linked using the UAC.
Because there are two identical l registers attached to the same tone bearing unit 49a, the two are motivated by the OCP to merge producing the representations in 49b-c.
49 Phonological representation of
nd ʒ︢ɛ˩˦ ‘hominy’
a Two tones attached to one TBU l
l L
H nd
ʒ︢ɛ b. OCP Register Merger
with two TRNs c. OCP Register Merger
with one TRN l
l L
H L H
nd ʒ︢ɛ
nd ʒ︢ɛ
The difference between 49b and 49c is a theoretical distinction and beyond the scope of this paper. Either representation can be used to indicate a rise from a Low tone to a Mid-high tone and therefore yield
identical phonetic realizations. For the purposes of this dissertation, either representation is acceptable. The tonal melodies are linearly ordered and therefore must be articulated in succession, but they are not ordered
with respect to the register. Examples appear in 50 arranged according to onset type. All of the onsets that co-occur are
complex. There are no examples of simple labial, coronal, dorsal or glottal onsets that occur with the Low to Mid-high contour; therefore, a completely blank example set will not be inserted here. The standard
groupings for complex onsets appear in 50 including S-stopstop-stop, Contains ʔ obstruent and
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sonorant, Contains h obstruent and sonorant and Begins with N. In multisyllabic words, the contour in question occurs on the final syllable which is underlined for clarity.
50 Examples of the L-M
1
rising contour with complex onsets
Type Sub-type
Transcription Gloss
a. S-stopstop-stop
none b.
Contains ʔ Obstruent
t ʃ︢ʔei˩˦
‘take ǃ’
c. Contains
ʔ Sonorant
none d.
Contains h Obstruent
t ʃ︢ho˩˦
‘egg’ e.
Contains h Obstruent
t ʃ︢hũ˩˦
‘woman’ f.
Contains h Sonorant
none g.
Begins with N na˩˧nda˩˦
‘godmother’ h.
Begins with N t
ʃ︢u˩ndu˩˦ ‘worm’
i. Begins with N
nd ʒ︢ɛ˩˦
‘hominy’ Again, there are no simple onsets which co-occur with the Low to Mid-high contour. Among the complex
onsets, there are none represented that end in a sonorant consonant 50c, f. There are, however, both voiced 50g, h, i and voiceless 50b, d, e onsets represented. Four of the six examples contain affricates
and all contain coronal segments the most common phonemes. Five of the ten vowels are represented along with one diphthong:
• [
ɛ] - 50i •
[a] - 50g •
[o] - 50d
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• [u] - 50h
• [ũ] - 50e
• [i
ɛ] - 50b Of the five simple vowels, one is nasal and the remaining four are oral. The high front vowel is only
present in the diphthong. Only two grammatical categories occur: •
Nouns - 50d, e, g, h, i •
Verbs - 50b The Low to Mid-high contour only occurs on the two disyllabic words already listed above 50g, h and
each time it is on the final syllable. In the first example 50g, the contour in question follows a Low to Mid rising contour and the second 50g it follows a level Low tone.
Similar to the Low to Mid rising contour, the Low to Mid-high contour is rare and occurs with limited types of onsets which for the most part do not overlap with each other. Most of the words that
appear with this contour are very common in Mazatec culture, e.g. ‘woman,’ ‘hominy,’ ‘egg.’ Again, it seems to be an archaic form that has become fixed on these common words and not a contour which is in
complementary distribution with another contour as will be seen in §4.3.8.
4.3.6 Mid-High to Low Falling Tone Contour
