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1. Phonology and word list
1.1. Introduction
The tones in the raw data were recorded using the Chao scale, and in order to translate these pitch representations into tone categories, we organized a total of 76 words into Gedney boxes
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for analysis. Each word was read into the computer from tape, and the pitch for each word was ana-
lyzed using the SIL program WinCecil. In WinCecil, the pitch of an utterance can be measured at any point in the stream of speech. The pitch values were measured in semitones. These values were
recorded for each Bouyei word in the Gedney boxes, and values in each box were averaged excep- tional words were thrown out. These averages then served as an objective, but not absolute guide,
in determining the tone categories of each word in each raw data list. For any particular tone category, some of the words of course will not have the exact pitch value that was arrived at by
averaging the Gedney box examples. But if the tone on a word is close to the average, and that word is known to have that particular tone category in other Tai languages and lects, then it was
given that tone category in our analysis.
Each phone of each transcribed word was organized into tables—one table for each phone per word list. In this way, the particular environments that the phone occurred in could be viewed.
Phones could be easily compared with each other, and frames could be easily organized when it was necessary to re-check the data. Each occurrence of each phone was studied, and each phone
was analyzed as to its phonemic status.
There are some generalities and characteristics to be noted regarding Bouyei phonology. One is palatalized and labialized consonants. Many Bouyei lects have
oi, fi, jv, fv, and Mv. It is often quite difficult to distinguish a palatalized or labialized consonant from a simple consonant-vowel
series i.e., oi- versus oh-. Nonetheless, we have tried to determine in each of the lects whether or
not these consonant clusters function as phonemic units or not. It should be noted, however, that the phonemic status of these sounds is often based on what amounts to a judgment call. For those
interested, for each lect there are notes regarding factors relevant to this decision. Other phono- logical methods word games, etc. would need to be used to arrive at a definite analysis for each
lect.
A characteristic of some of the lects is aspiration, mainly occurring in the northwest lectal area. Some lects have random aspiration or aspiration on some Chinese loan words, but are not counted
as having phonemic aspiration. Another problem area is point of articulation of the coronal fricatives. Sometimes two phones
as far apart in point of articulation as S and b are allophones of a single phoneme. Other times
phones very close to each other are both phonemic. There is a very limited set of syllable-final consonants in Bouyei. Typically found are
o, s, j, f, l, m, M. However, some lects lack one or more of these. In general, each of these finals is
phonemic. Sometimes it is very difficult to tell if the glottal stop is actually ever contrastive with each of the other final plosive stops.
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William Gedney devised a method of arranging the words of the Tai language under consideration in a table according to Tai proto tones. This method facilitates an understanding of the tonal system of the language in
question. See Gedney 1989
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2 1. Phonology and word list
All syllables begin with a consonant. If no other consonant begins the syllable, then it begins with [
f]. Exceptions to this are very rare and phonetically conditioned. Vowel length is phonemic only for the [a] vowel. Though in some lects there are occurrences
of lengthened vowels other than [a], they are never phonemic. In section 2, for each point studied, we list the phoneme inventory additional allophones are in
brackets “[ ]”, minimal pairs, and any allophonic rules. Notes on the analysis of various phones are also given. The transcriptions of the world list are given last for each data point.
1.2. Word list
Kategori