Conclusion Introduction eBook 37 N Pame Grammar FINAL

3.5 Conclusion

Northern Pame consonants can be segmentally complex with the greatest complexity of contrast found among the stop consonants contrasting for voicing, aspiration and glottalization. Although the presence of all these gestures makes Northern Pame quite marked in its inventory, the fact that the laryngeal features occur at the stop-vowel transient is expected. The setting of laryngeal contrast at the release of a stop is an acoustically and perceptually optimal place for maintaining phonemic distinction Silverman 1995. More marked, however, are the nasal consonants, which also contrast for laryngeal gestures on their release. The vowels, which are distinctive for six qualities, can also be contrastively nasal. Finally, Northern Pame tone high or rising is contrastive on the lexical root and will spread rightward if a sonorant or additional syllable is available. CHAPTER 4 SEGMENTATION

4.1 Introduction

Northern Pame consonants and vowels both contain patterns that can be interpreted as either a sequence of two segments or a unit of a complex segment. With regard to consonants, ambiguous sequences include such things as a consonant followed by a glide w, j, laryngeal h, ʔ or in some cases both. Table 4-1. Complete unit approach to Northern Pame consonants. V OICELESS A SPIRATED G LOTTALIZED V OICED P LN P AL L AB P LN P AL L AB P LN P AL L AB P LN P AL L AB BILABIAL STOPS p pʲ pʰ pʰʲ b bʲ CORONAL STOPS t tʰ t’ d APICAL AFFRICATES t͡s t͡sʰ t͡s’ POST - ALVEOLAR AFFRICATES t͡ʃ t͡ʃʰ t͡ʃ’ DORSAL STOPS k kʷ kʰ kʰʷ k’ k’ʷ g gʷ FRICATIVES s ʃ BILABIAL NASALS mʰ mʰʲ m’ m’ʲ m mʲ CORONAL NASALS nʰ nʰʲ n’ n’ʲ n nʲ LATERALS l ʎ lʰ ʎʰ l’ ʎ’ FLAPS ɾ ɾʲ GLIDES j w LARYNGEAL FRICATIVE h hʲ hʷ GLOTTAL STOP ʔ ʔʲ ʔʷ Table 4-1 illustrates an unrestricted unit approach to Northern Pame consonants. Under this approach, one would posit 53 consonants. Northern Pame vowels offer similar challenges where sequences such as VʔV and VhV have been interpreted as units in some other Otomanguean languages, while sequences in still others Silverman 1997a, 1997b, Silverman, et al. 1995. If the unit approach is taken in Northern Pame, the vowel inventory would contain 36 possible vowel phonemes. T ABLE 4-2. Complete unit approach to Northern Pame vowels. F RONT C ENTRAL B ACK H IGH i ḭ i̤ ĩ ḭ̃ĩ̤ uṵṳ ũṵ̃ṳ̃ M ID eḛe̤ ẽḛ̃ẽ̤ əə̰ə̤ ə̃ə̰̃ə̤̃ L OW ææ̰æ̤ æ̃æ̰̃æ̤̃ ɑɑ̰ɑ̤ ɑ̃ɑ̰̃ɑ̤̃ The problem should be clear with regard to Northern Pame segmentation: for such an inflated segmental inventory to exist with 88 phonemes, there would have to be considerable phonological support from the distribution of segments. Are such data available and what kind of segmentation do they support? This chapter investigates the specific segments involved for both consonant and vowels in Northern Pame. In addition, previous analyses are considered for Pamean languages in light of the data facts in Northern Pame. Finally, a reanalysis is given for each suggesting a unit approach for consonants, with exception being taken with the classes of bilabial palatalized, laryngeals palatalized and labialized and velars labialized. Likewise, a sequence approach is claimed with regard to what are termed here “laryngeally ambiguous vowels”.

4.2 Segmentation of consonants