Attested sequences SYLLABIFICATION OF VOCOID SEQUENCES

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CHAPTER 4 SYLLABIFICATION OF VOCOID SEQUENCES

The syllabicity of all vocoids in Enggano is predictable by the phonological environment in which they occur. This yields surface complementary distribution between vowels and glides. In this thesis, I use the term vocoid to refer to underlying forms. The terms vowel and approximant are used to refer to surface syllabic and nonsyllabic vocoids, respectively. Sequences of two or more vocoids are very frequent in Enggano. This chapter discusses possible attested vocoid sequences section 4.1, syllabification of vocoid sequences section 4.2, and the acoustic correlates of syllabification section 4.3. The chapter ends with a formal analysis of the facts in the framework of Optimality Theory section 4.4.

4.1 Attested sequences

Table 11 and Table 12 show all possible twoLvocoid sequences in Enggano. Table 11 shows the oral sequences, while Table 12 shows the nasal sequences. Oral and nasal vowels do not occur together in the same word. The two tables below reflect counts of underlying forms. Vowels that receive nasalization in surface form from a nasal consonant are included in Table 11. The tables also include syllableLinitial high vocoids that are glides in surface forms. Each cell gives one or two example words containing 42 the sequence, followed by a number indicating the total number of occurrences of the sequence in the data. 20 Table 11. Oral vocoid sequences _i _ɨ _u _e _ɘ _o _a T i_ [ji] ‘behavior’ 4 [jɨɁ.ɨ.aɁ] ‘rope’ [hi.ɨr] ‘woman’ 6 [ju] ‘ocean’ [hi.ur] ‘dust’ 12 [je] ‘vomit’ 1 [jɘb] ‘fire’ [kari.ɘ] ‘work’ 1 [joʔ.oʔ] ‘spear’ 9 [jaʔ.a] ‘knife’ [pi.ak] ‘tired’ 34 67 ɨ_ [kakɨ.ɘ] ‘short’ 3 [ʔɨ.aʔ] ‘tie’ 13 16 u_ [juʔwis] ‘oar’ 4 [ʔu.eh] ‘sleep’ 1 [dawoh] ‘thunder’ 2 [waʔ] ‘uncle’ [pu.ak] ‘go’ 10 17 e_ [jaʔə̆keʔ.ei ̯] ‘type of boil’ 1 [ʔe.ok] ‘vein’ 3 [ʔe.a] ‘bone’ 18 22 ɘ_ [pɘi ̯s] ‘machete’ [kɘh.ɘi] ‘spilled’ 3 3 o_ [koi ̯] ‘pig’ [ʔajojaʔ] ‘pay out’ 7 [boh.o̯e] ‘wild’ 5 [do.ab] ‘lightning’ 1 13 a_ [kai ̯s] ‘sound’ 18 [jar.kɨ.aʔ.aɨ ̯] ‘small fence’ 1 [pau] ‘horizon’ [ʔawaʔ] ‘go’ 11 30 T 37 7 23 7 4 14 76 168 20 The total number of each type of sequence may be skewed since the source data is made up of words elicited for phonological features. It is most likely skewed in favor of the less common vocoid sequences since I elicited for at least five examples of all possible vocoid sequences. 43 Table 12. Nasal vocoid sequences _ĩ _[ ̃ _ũ _ẽ _ɘ̃ _õ _ã T ĩ_ [jĩʔ.ĩ] ‘type of tool’ 1 [jũʔ] ‘stem’ [hĩ.ũk] ‘louse’ 5 [jɘ̃h] ‘cold’ [kĩʔ.jɘ̃] ‘paralyzed’ 4 [kãjõ] ‘straight’ [pãʔjõp] ‘hug’ 2 [kĩʔjãp] ‘grasshopper’ 4 16 [ ̃_ [jũʔə̆pA ̃.ãʔ] ‘fence’ 1 1 ũ_ [ʔũ.ẽ] ‘cry’ [kũh.wẽ] ‘usefulness’ 2 2 ẽ_ [ʔẽ.õ] ‘mud’ 4 4 ɘ̃_ õ_ [pãkõʔ.õ̯ãʔ] ‘know’ 1 2 ã_ [kãjõ] ‘straight’ [pãɪ ̯̃k] ‘shrimp’ 1 [kãʔ.ãũ̯] ‘fat’ 1 [kã.ãh] ‘afraid’ 1 4 T 3 7 2 4 6 6 29 Out of 49 possible coLoccurrences, 23 oral and 15 nasal sequences are attested. The smaller number of nasal sequences is congruent with the distribution of oral and nasal vowels in general, where oral vowels occur more frequently than nasal vowels. Nine oral sequences do not have nasal counterparts: iɨ, ie, ɨɘ, ui, uo, ei, ɘi, oe, and aɨ. The only nasal sequence with no attested oral counterpart is in the word kããh [kã.ãh] ‘afraid’. This is the only homorganic vocoid sequence in the data. Vowels at the edges of the vowel space tend to coLoccur more frequently with other vowels at opposite edges of the vowel space. This is the expected distribution since a 44 vowel transition moving across a large area of the vowel space is easier to recognize than one in which there is little movement. However, there are some coLoccurrences of vowels rather close to each other, such as iɨ in hiɨr [hi.ɨr] ‘woman’, ei in iaʔkeʔei ̯ [jaʔə̆keʔei] ‘boil n.’, and ɨɘ in kakɨɘʔ [kakɨ.ɘʔ] ‘short’. These sequences are less common than sequences stretching across the vowel space such as ia, iu, and au. There are no lowLmid sequences, although there are both lowLhigh and midLhigh sequences. Vocoid sequences tend strongly to occur in final stressed position. HL and LH sequences are also more common than same height sequences. There are no sameL height sequences in nonLfinal position. Besides twoLvocoid sequences, there are also sequences of three and five vocoids in Enggano such as iapaʔioi [japaʔ.joi ̯] ‘traditional wedding’ and ʔaioiaʔ [ʔajojaʔ] ‘pay out a rope’. There are no fourLvocoid sequences in the data, although this is assumed to be an accidental gap. Syllabification of three or more vocoids is discussed at