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not dependent on segmental characteristics, grammatical category or the syllable’s position in the word in question.
4.2.6 Low tone - L
˩
Low tones are also common; their presence is pervasive on all word types of Soyaltepec Mazatec. The Low tone is produced with more force than the Mid tone and occurs near the bottom of the normal
pitch space Figure 4-1. The tone occurs with either a level pitch or a falling pitch which can level out over the course of the syllable or remain slightly falling over the entire course of the syllable. Phonologically,
the Low tone consists of a low tonal melody L and a low tonal register l. An example representation appears in 21.
21 Phonological representation of
ʧ︢u˩ ‘animal’ l
L
ʧ︢u ‘animal’
Examples of words with Low tones can be found in 22 and 23. Examples of words with Low tones and simple syllables are shown in 22. Monosyllabic examples are not always available so
multisyllabic words with a Low tone on the first syllable are occasionally used. The place and manner of articulation are listed for the example syllable with the Low tone which is always the first syllable of the
example given.
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22 Low-tone syllables with simple onsets
POA Manner
Transcription Gloss
a. Labial
glide w
a˩sʔɛ˩ ‘enter’
b. Coronal
stop ti˩
‘fish’ c.
Coronal fricative
ʃa˩ ‘fog’
d. Coronal
affricate t͡ᶘu˩
‘animal’ e.
Coronal glide
j ɛ˩
‘snake’ f.
Coronal nasal
ni˩hĩ˩ ‘dried corncob’
g. Dorsal
stop ki˩tʃ︢a˩
‘metal’ h.
Glottal fricative
h ɛ̃˩
‘he smells’ i.
Glottal stop
ʔa˩sɛ̃˧˦ ‘light’
Examples of low-toned words with complex onsets are given in 23. The onsets are again grouped according to the categories discussed in §3.4.3. ‘Type’ of onset refers to the following
possibilities: S-stopstop-stop, Contains ʔ, Contains h or Begins with N. Next, the ‘Sub-type’ of the
onset further divides Contains ʔ and Contains h into categories based on whether or not the onset
contains an obstruent or a sonorant. Monosyllabic examples were available for all of the categories in 23.
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23 Low-toned syllables with complex onsets
Type Sub-type
Example Gloss
a. S-stopstop-stop
skũã˩ ‘grit’
b. S-stopstop-stop
ʃkũ˩ ‘eyes’
c. Contains
ʔ Obstruent
s ʔɛ˩
‘after a while’ d.
Contains ʔ
Obstruent k
ʔia˩ ‘there’
e. Contains
ʔ Sonorant
ʔwa˩ ‘crooked’
f. Contains h
Obstruent ts︢hĩũ˩
‘tobacco’ g.
Contains h Obstruent
ts︢hu˩ ‘onion’
h. Contains h
Obstruent ʧ︢ha˩
‘chat’ i.
Contains h Obstruent
tho˩ ‘air’
j. Contains h
Sonorant h
ɲa˩ ‘chili’
k. Contains h
Sonorant hn
ɛ˩ ‘palm’
l. Begins with N
nda˩ ‘voice’
m. Begins with N
nd ʒ︢i˩
‘wet’
In 22 and 23, examples of low-toned syllables which begin with examples of each consonantal category are found. A cursory inspection of the data seems to indicate that Low tones are more common on
words which contain complex onsets. For several categories, i.e., labial, dorsal, glottal stop and simple nasal, monosyllabic words were not available in my database. For these categories, disyllabic words which
carry the Low tone on their first syllable were supplied. For three of the four, the Low tone is on both
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syllables. An examination of 22 and 23 shows that the Low tone also occurs on syllables with seven of the ten vowels of Soyaltepec Mazatec:
• [i] - 22b, f, g
, 23d, m •
[ĩ] - second syllable of 22f •
[ ɛ] - 22e, 23c, k
• [
ɛ̃] - 22h •
[a] - 22a , c, i, 23e, h, j, l
• [ã] - none
• [o] - 23i
• [õ] - none
• [u] - 22d
, 23g •
[ũ] - 23b The vowel,
[õ], which fails to co-occur with the Low tone, is the least common vowel. The [ĩ] and [ã] are
also infrequent pairings with the Low tone. They do, however, occur occasionally in the final syllable of longer words such as those in 24.
24 Low tone on final syllable to demonstrate
[ĩ] and [ã] a. [ĩ] -
ni˩sĩ˩ ‘basket’ b. [
ã] - kh ɛ̃˩ʔã˩ ‘I eat’
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The Low tone can also occur on both oral and nasal diphthongs. Examples from 23 include: •
[ia] - 23d •
[ũã] - 23a •
[ĩũ] - 23f The examples given in 22-24 demonstrate that segmental characteristics do not license the Low tone.
The same can be said for grammatical categories. Although there seems to be a preference for nouns, examples can be found in various grammatical categories including:
• Nouns - 22b, c, d, e, g, i, f, 23a, b, f, g, i, j, k, l, 24a
• Verbs - 22a, h, 23h, 24b
• Adjectives - 23e, m
• Adverbs - 23c, d
Low tones can occur on any syllable in Soyaltepec Mazatec regardless of the segmental characteristics or the grammatical category of the morpheme in question. They can also occur on either
syllable of a disyllabic word. Low tones can precede any other toneme 25. 25
Low tones on the first syllable of disyllabic words Soyaltepec Mazatec
Gloss Tone Pattern
a. tʃ︢a˩ʔa˥
‘armadillo’ L H
b. sa˩wa˦
‘shame’ L M
1
c. ni˩sɛ˧ ‘bird’
L M
2
d. ti˩ʃa˩ ‘cave’
L L Similarly, the Low tone can occur on the final syllable of disyllabic words, paired with any toneme on the
first syllable 26.
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26 Low tone on second syllable of disyllabic words
Soyaltepec Mazatec Gloss
Tonal Pattern a.
si˥hɛ̃˩ ‘scented’
H L b.
wu˦ru˩ ‘donkey’
M
1
L c. ki˧ts︢a˩
‘fast’ M
2
L d. ʃa˩nda˩
‘chicken’ L L
The Low tone can also occur on trisyllabic words 27. It can occur on all three syllables 27a, the first two syllables 27b, the last two syllables 27c, just the first syllable 27d, just the middle syllable 27e or just
the final syllable 27f. 27
Low tone on trisyllabic words Soyaltepec Mazatec
Gloss Tone Pattern
a . ni˩ngu˩ʃi˩
church L L L
b. ha˩ma˩ja˧ tree root
L L M
2
c. khi˧ndɛ˩thua˩ door
M
2
L L d. na˩mi˦tʃ︢a˥
father-in-law L M
1
H e. k
ʔuɛ˥tʃ︢hi˩ri˧ thank you
H L M
2
f. ʔa˧ni˦ma˩
heart M
2
M
1
L The Low tone can occur on any syllable of Soyaltepec Mazatec, regardless of the segmental
characteristics, the grammatical category or the placement of the syllable within a word.
4.2.7 Summary of Tonal Primitives