Simple Consonants with Oral Vowels

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3.3.3 Simple Consonants with Oral Vowels

As mentioned above, there are certain combinations of consonants with vowels which either do not occur at all or are very rare. Table 3-5 below gives examples of all of the simple, oral consonants with each oral vowel that occur in my database. Because the chart is grouped according to vowel type, minimal or near minimal pairs are provided for all of the phonemes and oral vowels. I include p and l here to give examples even though all the instances in which they occur are borrowed words. The fact that the sounds are borrowed does not make them any less a part of the phonological consciousness or awareness of the speakers, especially since the usage of these phonemes is widespread and frequent. Whenever available, monosyllabic words are given to illustrate the consonants. Nasal consonants have been omitted from this chart: they will be addressed in §3.3.5. In Table 3-5 below, the place of articulation POA appears in the far left column, followed by the specific consonant C in question. Across the top row each oral vowel is listed individually. Examples of the co-occurrence of the vowel with the consonant appear in the appropriate cell. An English gloss is provided in single quotes. If there are no examples of a co-occurrence in my database the cell is empty. When the only example of a phoneme occurs in a borrowed word, I have included the example, but I have shaded the box in order to clarify that they are not indigenous occurrences. In multisyllabic words, the stressed syllable is underlined. Table 3-5 Examples of simple consonants with oral vowels POA C i ɛ a o u a. labial p pi˧su˩ ‘floor’ pe˧ʃu˦˩ ‘peso’ pa˧ju˦˩ ‘handkerchief’ po˧me˦la˩ ‘grapefruit’ pul˦mõ˦˩ñ a ˩˦ ‘lung’ b. w w i˧tᶘ︢a˥ ‘to cut’ w e˥ ‘to plant’ w a˧ho˥ ‘spicy’ wo˩ra˩ ‘corral’ tʃ︢i˦wu˩ ‘goat’ c. f fi˥ ‘slowly’ fɛ˧ ‘finished’ fa˧fɛ˩ ‘sleep’ fuei˥ ‘goes’ d. alveolar t ti˧ ‘boy’ tɛ˧ ‘ten’ ta˧˦ ‘toasted’ to˧ɾo˩ ‘bull’ tu˧˥ ‘fruit’ e. s si˥hɛ̃˩ ‘scented’ sɛ˧ ‘thick’ sa˧˦ ‘moon’ wa˩so˩ ‘glass’ su˧wa˩ ‘alone’ f. ts︢ ts︢i˥ ‘rain’ ts︢ɛ˧ ‘guava’ ts︢a˧ ‘bag’ ts︢u˥ ‘says’ 117 Table 3-5 continued POA C i ɛ a o u g. l li˧bru˩ ‘book’ ja˦ʃi˧le˧˩ ‘seat’ po˧me˦la˩ ‘grapefruit’ pe˧lo˦ta˩ ‘ball’ lu˧mɛ˦ta˧˩ ‘bottle’ h. ɾ - ˩ɾi˦˥ 72 ‘your’ - ɾɛ˩ ‘to him’ - ɾa˧˩ ‘probably’ to˧ɾo˩ ‘bull’ bu˧ɾu˩ ‘burro’ i. post- alveolar Σ ʃi˧ ‘which’ ʃa˧ ‘wildcat’ ᶘu˧ ‘boils’ j. t Σ︢ tʃ︢i˦sɛ̃˦ ‘housefly’ tʃ︢ɛ˧ʔɛ˥ ‘costs’ tʃ︢a˦ ‘mestiso’ 73 tᶘ︢u˩ ‘animal’ k. j ji˧ʔi˦ ‘big’ jɛ˩ ‘snake’ ja˧˦ ‘tree’ tu˧wi˦jo˩ ‘ankle’ ju˧fi˧˩ ‘cloud’ l. velar k ki˧˥ ‘went’ ʃkɛ˧ ‘swollen’ ka˧sĩ˦ ‘neck’ ko˥ ‘how much’ ku˥ ‘and’ m. glottal ʔ ʔi˩tʃ︢i˦˥ ‘small’ - ʔɛ˩ ‘his’ ʔa˧ ‘YNQ’ ʔo˧ ‘grinds’ ʔu˧tᶘ︢ã˧ ‘hundred’ n. h hi˦ ‘you’ hɛ˧ ‘fat’ ha˩ ‘eagle’ ho˥ ‘two’ ndu˩hu˩ ‘soap’ Of the 70 possible combinations expressed in this chart, 65 occur; however, 16 of these occur only in borrowed words. Of the co-occurrences, only 35 have monosyllabic examples available leaving 30 multisyllabic examples, including all 16 of the borrowed words. All but one of the gaps in co-occurrences involves the o which is the rarest vowel. Table 3-6 below provides a schematized summary of the simple, indigenous consonants which occur with oral vowels to demonstrate what occurs. The table is set up exactly as Table 3-5; however, the p and l have been omitted. The POA is in the far left followed by the exact consonant and each of the oral vowels. Co-occurrences which occur only in borrowed words have been removed. Those with available examples have been shaded. If no indigenous example exists, the cell is left blank. There are six instances of rare co-occurrence, meaning there are only a few examples available. These cells are marked with a diagonal line. 72 The positioning of a tone key before a syllable indicates a floating tone which attaches to the left. 73 A person of mixed indigenous and European heritage. 118 Table 3-6 Co-occurrence of simple consonants with oral vowels POA C i ɛ a o u a. labial w b. f c. alveolar t d. s e. ts︢ f. ɾ g. postalveolar Σ h. t Σ︢ i. palatal j j. velar k k. glottal ʔ l. h The table clearly demonstrates the limited distribution of o which only occurs in indigenous words following velar k and glottal ʔ and h consonants. There is also a rare occurrence of o with w while wu is lacking except in borrowed words. This is probably a case of phonetic dissimilation, perhaps giving evidence to a ban on homorganic syllables in Mazatec, specifically [labial labial] σ , as is proposed by Golston and Kehrein 1998. This confirms the restricted distribution and possible neutralization i.e., o →[u]{non-glottal or velar}___ of o that was introduced in §3.2.2. Other gaps displayed in Table 3-6 involve postalveolar consonants ʃ and tʃ︢ which rarely occur with ɛ. There are no examples of ʃɛ and only a handful of tʃ︢ɛ hence the tʃ︢ɛ cell contains a diagonal mark in my database. This gap reflects the [front front] σ restriction 74 of Golston and Kehrein 1998 which states that the postalveolar is never preceded by ɛ and the affricate only rarely. Two methods to avoid this sound combination would be, 1. to posit that t ʃ︢ɛ and ʃɛ always surfaces as tʃ︢i 74 Recall that this restriction needs refinement which is left to future research because it is too restrictive for Soyaltepec Mazatec. 119 and ʃi because the high sibilant could pull the mid vowel to a high; or 2. they always surface as ts︢ɛ and sɛ because the mid vowel could force a lowering of the sibilant. Currently, there is no data which forces one repair strategy over the other, it is a matter for further research. It is also noteworthy that the indigenous usage of ɾ is limited to i, ɛ and a, and all of the occurrences appear in clitics. 75 It sometimes occurs with all of the vowels, but only in borrowed words. In other words, there are no examples of indigenous, monomorphemic, unbound morphemes which contain ɾ. The only restriction listed in Golston and Kehrein for the flap is the prohibition of occurring with nasalized vowels. Because of its limited distribution, I have placed a diagonal line through the cells indicating ɾi, ɾɛ and ɾa. The only significant gaps in the distribution of simple consonants with oral vowels involve o, ɾ and postalveolar consonants with front mid vowels ʃɛ and tʃ︢ɛ.

3.3.4 Simple Consonants with Nasal Vowels