2. Phonology of data points 451
Final consonants
o, s, j, f, l, m, M
Vowels Front
Central Back
unrd unrd rd
Close h
[ X] t
Near-close [
H] [
T]
Close-mid
[ d]
n
Mid
=, [=:]
Open-mid D B
Near-open
?, [?:]
Open `, `:
Tones Category
1 2 3, 4
5 6 7 8
Pitch value 33 31 41 35 24 45 24
2.23.2. Notes
•
[ph] occurs on only five morphemes, but the aspiration is quite clear and distinct from its unaspirated counterpart. See
minimal pair .
•
[ts] and [ sb] both occur numerous times and are not in complementary distribution.
[ sb] occurs a number of times before [a] and twice before [=], so it is not conditioned by a
following high vowel. [ts] occurs before [e], [u], and [
T] one time each. See minimal pair
.
•
[th] only occurs on six morphemes, but is very clear. Note that [th] occurs five times with a 42 tone and once with a 35 tone. See
minimal pair .
•
[kh] occurs on eight morphemes. All occur on high falling tones except one, which is on a classifier preceding the word it classifies. See
minimal pair .
•
[tsh] and [ sbg] both only occur on one morpheme: 211 ‘error’ [srg`22 kdh13] and
375 ‘ten’ [ sbgHo13]. Though they only occur once each, they are still considered phonemic
since the aspiration is quite distinct. See minimal pairs
.
•
[ ¯] occurs on four morphemes: three of these followed by [i].
[ M] occurs on 12 different morphemes, before a number of vowels. All three are considered
phonemic. See minimal pairs
.
•
[s], [ b], and [K] all occur a number of times.
[s] and [ b] are in complementary distribution. See
allophonic rule below. This is somewhat
unusual, in that [ts] and [t b] are definitely not in complementary distribution.
[ K] is phonemic. See
minimal pairs .
452 2.23.2. Notes
•
There are more occurrences of [ Y] than [z].
[ Y] always occurs before back rounded vowels except for three morphemes, where it occurs
before [a]. [z] never occurs before a back rounded vowel and only occurs before [a], [
], and [=]. Al- though these sounds are not totally in complementary distribution, they can be considered as
allophonic variations, with [ Y] occurring before rounded vowels and occurring in variation
with [z] elsewhere.
•
[h] occurs less frequently than [x], though both occur a number of times. They are not in complementary distribution, but rather are allophonic variations of each other, varying in the
degree of velarization. Note that 400 ‘fast’ [ w`m22] and 482 ‘quickly’ [g`m22 m`h33] have
the same morpheme: once with [x] and once with [h]. They are considered allophones of x. [h] occurs three times preceding [
T]. This combination could be a form of [wh] where the labial part is more vowel-like.
•
[wh] only occurs on two morphemes, but the aspiration is distinct. See minimal pair
.
•
[ F] occurs only once, being preceded by an open syllable, [G] occurs on seven morphemes, and
[ F] is considered a variation of [G].
[ G] is phonemic. See
minimal pairs with [x][h].
•
[a], [a:], and [ ] are all contrastive.
[ ] is close phonetically to [=] on some items, but most are still very distinct. Note that []
only occurs in the final position of a syllable once, whereas [a] does numerous times. However, [a] and [
] occur in many of the same environments and [] cannot be viewed as an allophone of [a] or [
=]. The phone [?] presents a similar situation. It occurs a number of times, quite distinctively contrastive with these other sounds. See
minimal pairs between [a], [
], [=], and [
?]. [a] and [a:] are contrastive. See
minimal pair .
•
[ H] only occurs before nasals and stops and [i] also occurs in these environments, but in all
others as well. Therefore, [ H] is considered to be an allophonic variation of [i] in this
environment.
•
[e] and [ D] both occur a number of times and [D] occurs more than [e]. These two sounds are
not very distinctive, ranging anywhere in the vowel space between [e] and [ D]. They do not
occur in complementary distribution, but still seem to be allophonic variations of each other. Note that [e] is considered a variation of
D.
•
[ B] occurs 13 times and [o] occurs numerous times. They are not in complementary distribution
and most of the sounds are quite distinctive. See minimal pairs
.
•
[ T] acts as an allophone of [u]. It occurs a number of times, but is mostly in complementary
distribution with [u], except for one environment. See allophonic rule
.
•
[ =:] only occurs twice. Length is not considered phonemic for this phone.
•
[ L] occurs on two morphemes and [X] occurs on four. They are considered allophones of [=],
which occurs numerous times.
2. Phonology of data points 453
2.23.3. Minimal pairs
