220 2.11.1. Phone and phoneme inventory
2.11. Luodian Luokun 2.11.1. Phone and phoneme inventory
Initial consonants BiLab
LaDe Alv
PoAl AlPal
Pal Vel Glo
Plos
vl o, [oi]
s j, jv f, [fi], fv
PreGlo fa
fc
Aff vl
sb
Fric vl
e [
r[], r b, bx
[ w]
[ g]
vd u, [uv] [y[], y Y
G, Gv
Nas vd
l m ¯
M, Mv
Lat vd
k
App vd
v i
Final consonants
o, s, j, f, l, m, M, Q
Vowels Front
Central Back
unrd unrd rd
Close h, [h:]
[ X] t
Near-close
[ H]
[ T]
Close-mid [
d], [d:] n
Mid =
Open-mid
D, [D:] B
Near-open Open
`, `:
Tones Category
1 2 3 4 5 6 7, 9
8, 10
Pitch value 24 423 33 31 35 41 35 33
2.11.2. Notes
•
[v] and [w] each occur several times. The distinction between the two phones is not very clear. The pronunciation of the two phones is quite often a blending of the two sounds.
[vw] was transcribed for one item. These two phones are treated as allophones.
•
[f] occurs only with even tones and [v] occurs mostly with odd tones, though also with a few even tones. The two sounds are quite distinct and are both phonemic. See
minimal pairs .
2. Phonology of data points 221
•
[s] and [ r[] are not distinct phonemes, but are allophonic variations. The pronunciation of the
voiceless fricative in the alveolar region ranges between these two sounds, and they are considered one phoneme. The same situation holds for [z] and [
y[]. [s] occurs mostly on odd tones and [z] occurs mostly on even tones. These two sounds are
phonemic. See minimal pairs
.
•
[ b] occurs numerous times and [Y] occurs mostly before back rounded vowels, but not
exclusively. [
b] also occurs before some back rounded vowels. Though positing a rule in the environment before back rounded vowels is possible, there are enough contrastive pairs to warrant regarding
both phones as contrastive. See minimal pairs
.
•
[ Y], as mentioned above, occurs mostly before rounded back vowels and [z] never occurs in
that environment. However, both phones occur before [a] and [ ], so are treated as separate
phonemes for this lect. See minimal pairs
.
•
[ bx] occurring only in 269 ‘to push’ [bxh0] is questionably phonemic. However, the sound
is quite distinct from something like [ bth], so it is considered phonemic here.
•
[x] only occurs on two morphemes, [h] occurs on one 51 ‘paddy rice’ [ Gt3 g`:t0], where
[ g`:t0] literally means ‘white’, and [G] occurs many times. However, that item, when elicited
alone, was clearly voiced: 408 ‘white’ [ G`:t0]. This lect has nearly lost contrastive voicing for
velar and glottal fricatives. [x] and [h] are not considered phonemic for this lect.
•
[ Q] only occurs on one morpheme: 81 ‘rabbit’ [st2 =Q2]. This sound is distinct, however, and
is consistent with the word for this item in some other lects, therefore, it is considered phonemic.
•
[pj] occurs on nine items. [pi] + V combination occurs on two items, one of them being 67 ‘vegetable’ [
ohj6], which normally has a distinct palatal initial. The items with [pj] initial do not have a strong, distinct
palatal sound. The sound ranges from [pj] to [pi]. In general, items could have been transcribed [pj] or [pi]. Since the palatalization is not distinct, the UR of [pj] initials are viewed as [pi], and
[pj] is not considered phonemic. See rule
below.
•
[kw] occurs on at least 12 items and is considered phonemic. [ku] + V occurs twice. However, the labialization is generally quite distinct, so the situation is
not like that with [pj].
•
[ Mv] occurs on two items and the labialization is fairly distinct.
[ M] occurs on nine morphemes and [Mt] + V combination does not occur.
•
[ fi] occurs on seven morphemes and [fv] occurs on one.
[ fh] + V combination occurs one time and [ft] + V occurs twice. The palatalization on [fi]
is not very distinct, and similar to [pj], could be transcribed as [ fh] or [fi]. Therefore, it is not
considered phonemic. See rule
below. On the other hand, 421 ‘stupid’ [ fv`3], is spoken with
a quite distinct labialized initial. There is no question that it is labialized. The two [ ft] + V
combinations are also distinctly not labialized initials, so both [ fv] and [ft] + V combinations
occur. Both are phonemic.
222 2.11.3. Minimal pairs
