2. Phonology of data points 161
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
`, [`:]
Tones Category
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Pitch value 35 23 14 32 44 42 45 13 33
or 34
44
2.8.2. Notes
•
[tsw] occurs one time and is considered an allophone of [tsu]. [
sb] is more accurately transcribed as [sR] and is considered a variation of [ts]. See minimal
pairs between [t] and [ts].
•
[c] occurs a number of times, before a wide range of vowels, and is distinct from the sound [k]. See
minimal pairs .
[kj] is not considered distinct from [cj]. The palatalization of [cj] is easily distinguishable. See minimal pairs
.
•
[w] only occurs on eight lexical items and [v] occurs numerous times. However, the pronun- ciation is relatively distinct, neither phone approximating the sort of [wv] mixed phone
common in many other Bouyei lects. Both sounds are viewed as phonemic. See minimal pair
.
•
[ r[] and [s] are not very distinct and are considered allophonic variations of each other.
•
[z] and [ y[] are also not very distinct and will be considered variations of each other. The
pronunciation of voiced fricatives in the alveopalatal and palatal area range widely, over the entire word list, and for individual morphemes. Though the difference in pronunciation
between [z] and [ Y] is fairly distinct in some cases, it is varied in others. The morphemes for
‘water’ in items 199 ‘ink’, 286 ‘to swim’, and 23 ‘water’ are transcribed both ways. For this analysis, [
y[], [z], and [Y] are considered one phoneme, z. This needs further investigation.
•
[x] only occurs once and is considered an exceptional pronunciation of [ F].
•
[ ¯] occurs on nine lexical items: before [i], [o], and []. It is distinct from [n]. See
minimal pair
.
•
[pj] occurs on 10 lexical items and its pronunciation is clearly distinct from [pi] + V, which occurs a few times. For the items with [pi] + V, the [i] sound is very vocalic, almost length-
ened. At this point, for this lect, [pj] and [pi] are both phonemic. See minimal pairs
.
•
[kw] occurs a number of times. [ku] + V occurs three times and is considered a variation of [kw].
162 2.8.3. Minimal pairs
•
[ fi] occurs on four lexical items and is not considered phonemic here.
[ fh] + V occurs on three lexical items. These two sounds are considered variations of each
other.
•
[ `:] only occurs on six lexical items and only with a following vowel. Also, [o:] and [=:] only
occur once each. For this analysis, vowel length is not considered phonemic.
•
[a] and [ ] are both phonemic. See
minimal pairs .
•
[ H] occurs 11 times, always in the environment C__C. However, [i] also occurs in that
environment several times. [
H] is clearly a phonetic variation of i in that environment. See rule
.
•
[e] only occurs three times and is only a variation of [ D].
[ D] occurs numerous times.
•
[ T] only occurs two times and is considered a variation of [u].
•
[ B] occurs on eight lexical items, is not very distinct from [o] in this lect, and is not considered
phonemic. [o] occurs numerous times.
•
[ X] occurs a number of times in the environments C__, C__=, and C__C. However, it only
occurs in the last environment on two items: one of these occurring as [ =] elsewhere in this list.
So actually, only the first two environments apply. [
=] only occurs in the environments C__ and C__C. However, it only occurs in C__ on one lexical item, clearly an exception. Therefore, the tendency is for [
X] to occur in C__ and C__
=, and for [=] to occur in C__C. These are not functioning as separate phonemes, but are allophones. See
rule .
2.8.3. Minimal pairs
[ts] and [t] 45 ‘bowl’ [
sr`0], 109 ‘eye’ [s`0] 302 ‘to buy’ [
srX3], 46 ‘chopsticks’ [sX5] [c] and [k]
43 ‘table’ [ An0], 203 ‘hook’ [jn0]
93 ‘egg’ [ Ah4], 85 ‘chicken’ [jh4]
[ Ai] and [A]
179 ‘scissors’ [ Ait1], 22 ‘dinner’ [At1]
426 ‘cold weather’ [ AiM3], 12 ‘morning’ [AM3 Fs6]
[w] and [v] 294 ‘to open door’ [
v`h4], 164 ‘cotton’ [uh4] [n] and [
¯] 137 ‘skin’ [
mM0], 97 ‘mosquito’ [¯M1] [pj] and [p]
236 ‘brokentorn’ [ oin4], 272 ‘to blow’ [on4]
429 ‘brokentorn’ [ oiDf8], 373 ‘eight’ [oh=s8]
[ ] and [a]
65 ‘seed’ [ um0], 187 ‘axe’ [u`m0]
110 ‘nose’ [ fcM0], 105 ‘body’ [fc`M0]
2. Phonology of data points 163
2.8.4. Allophonic rules
