306 2.16.2. Notes
Vowels Front
Central Back
unrd unrd
unrd rd
Close h
[ X]
[ L] t
Near-close [
H] [
T]
Close-mid
[ d]
n, [n:]
Mid
=
Open-mid D
B
Near-open ?
Open `, `:
Tone Category
1 2
3, 4 5
6 7, 8, 9
Pitch value 44 33
or 31
41 55 24 44
2.16.2. Notes
•
There is only one instance of final [p].
•
[ph] only occurs four times and [ oeg] also occurs four times, but only before rounded vowels.
[ph] and [p] are contrastive. See minimal pair
. [pfh] is in complementary distribution with [ph]. See
rule . Item 328 ‘father’ was spoken as
[ out13] and [oegt13] as well. The [pv] sound will be viewed as a variation of [pfh], not as
phonemic.
•
Aspiration on [t] and [k] is not seen as phonemic as it always occurs on a 42 or 41 falling tone. [th] occurs on seven items and [kh] also occurs on seven items six morphemes. However, [t]
also occurs six times with a 42 tone, and [k] occurs on one morpheme with a 42 tone. In the younger person’s speech, [ph] only occurs two times: on a 42 tone and a 41 tone.
[th] occurs seven times: five times on 42 or 41 tones and two times on even tones 55 and 33. [kh] occurs five times: all on 42 or 41 tones. See
rules for t and k.
•
[t], [ts], and [ sb] are contrastive. See
minimal pairs .
•
[tsh] and [ sbg] both occur one time, each time on a Chinese loan. For these reasons, even
though there is phonemic aspiration on [p] and allophonic aspiration on [t] and [k], these two phones are not considered phonemic.
•
[tw] occurs on three items: one a Chinese loan and [tu_] also occurs two times. [tw] is considered a variation of [tu_] rather than a phoneme, because there is no historical
basis for [tw], and the phonology is made simpler.
•
[v] and [w] are allophones: [v] occurring numerous times and [w] occurring on five mor- phemes. The sounds transcribed as [v] or [w] are often somewhere in between, closer to [v].
There is often variance in pronunciation for a single item. The phoneme is taken to be v.
•
[s] and [z] are contrastive. See minimal pair
. [
y[] only occurs once and is not considered phonemic. [
b] and [s] are contrastive, though [s] never occurs before an [i]. See minimal pair
.
2. Phonology of data points 307
[ Y] is an allophone of [z]. See
rule .
[sw] only occurs once, has no historical source, and is taken as [su].
•
[ I] occurs only three times and is considered a variation of [j].
•
[ Fv] only occurs once, [Ft_] never occurs, and [Fv] is taken as [Ft_].
[x] and [ F] are contrastive. See
minimal pair .
•
[ ¯] and [n] are contrastive and [¯] occurs on a total of 13 morphemes. See
minimal pair .
•
[ M] occurs on seven morphemes, [Mv] occurs two times, and [Mt_] does not occur. In addition,
since [ Mv] occurs on 15 ‘day’ [Mv`m20], which has the proto-form Mv=m1, it is considered
phonemic.
•
[pj] occurs twice, though it does not occur on items related to proto-forms with oi. The
palatalization is also not very strong. [pi_] also occurs two times and [pj] is taken as [pi_].
[ fi] occurs two times, both on items with fi proto-forms: 189 ‘hoe’ and 260 ‘livestay’. In
the word list, there are three other items with fi proto-forms. For this lect, one of those is a
completely different lexical item, one is a Chinese loan, and the other has the initial [j]. Also, [
fh_] never occurs. In view of this, [fi] is considered phonemic. See minimal pair
.
•
[ fk] occurs once, is regarded as a phonetic aberration, and is not phonemic.
•
[kw] occurs a number of times in varying environments and is phonemic. [
fv] occurs only once: 421 ‘stupid’ [fv`31]. This lexical item often has the [fv] initial in Bouyei lects. However, 312 ‘to wipe’ has a
fv proto-form, but in this lect is [ft=s33]. There is a minimal pair with 421 [
fv`31], 295 ‘to open one’s mouth’ [f`30]. It is difficult to know whether this phone is phonemic or not. Here we view it as phonemic and view item
312 ‘to wipe’ as having a [ fv] initial in the UR.
•
[hw] occurs two times. Since [h] never occurs, this is viewed as [ wv] in the UR.
[xu_] occurs once. The items that have [hw] do not correspond to proto-forms with xw or hw. Therefore, [hw] is viewed as xu, and not phonemic.
•
[a] and [a:] are contrastive, though [a:] only occurs on nine morphemes. See minimal pairs
. [ ]
occurs a large number of times and is contrastive with [a]. See minimal pair
. [
?] occurs on eight morphemes and is contrastive with [a]. See minimal pair
.
•
[e] only occurs three times and is considered a variation of [ D], while [D] occurs many times.
•
[ H] is an allophone of [i] and only occurs four times. See
rule below.
•
[o:] only occurs once and is not considered phonemic. [ B] occurs on nine morphemes and is
contrastive with [o]. See minimal pair
.
•
[ T] only occurs on three morphemes and is considered a variation of [u].
[u] occurs several times in the same environment as [ T].
•
[ X] occurs six times, [L] occurs once, and [=] occurs numerous times.
[ XL] always occurs in the environment __=. However, [=] occurs in the environment __
four times. There is variation between [ =] and [X.L] in this environment and [XL] does not
occur in any other environment.
308 2.16.3. Minimal pairs
