44 vowel transition moving across a large area of the vowel space is easier to recognize
than one in which there is little movement. However, there are some coLoccurrences of
vowels rather close to each other, such as iɨ in hiɨr [hi.ɨr] ‘woman’, ei in iaʔkeʔei ̯ [jaʔə̆keʔei] ‘boil n.’, and ɨɘ in kakɨɘʔ [kakɨ.ɘʔ] ‘short’. These
sequences are less common than sequences stretching across the vowel space such as ia, iu, and au. There are no lowLmid sequences, although there are both lowLhigh
and midLhigh sequences. Vocoid sequences tend strongly to occur in final stressed position. HL and LH
sequences are also more common than same height sequences. There are no sameL height sequences in nonLfinal position.
Besides twoLvocoid sequences, there are also sequences of three and five vocoids in
Enggano such as iapaʔioi [japaʔ.joi ̯] ‘traditional wedding’ and ʔaioiaʔ [ʔajojaʔ]
‘pay out a rope’. There are no fourLvocoid sequences in the data, although this is assumed to be an accidental gap. Syllabification of three or more vocoids is discussed at
the end of the discussion of twoLvocoid sequence syllabification below.
4.2 Syllabification
Vocoid sequences are classified here based on relative height in the vowel space: LH lower vocoid followed by higher vocoid, HL higher vocoid followed by lower
vocoid, and SH two vocoids of the same height. LH sequences include both lowLhigh and midLhigh sequences, while HL sequences include highLlow, highLmid, and midLlow
sequences. SH sequences are highLhigh, midLmid, and lowLlow. Below I discuss syllabification of vocoid sequences in three environments: word initial, nonLinitial, and
following a glottal consonant.
45 Word initial high vocoids, which are always followed by another vocoid, are
realized as the onset of the initial syllable. Example wordLinitial vocoid sequences are shown in 27.
21
27
uaʔ [waʔ]
‘uncle’
iaʔkaʔaiʔ [jaʔə̆kaʔ.aɪ ̯ʔ] ‘war’
ie [je]
‘vomit’
iohor [joh.or]
‘song’
iɘb [jɘb]
‘fire’
iiʔ [jiʔ]
‘buttocks’
ium [jũm]
‘fly n.’
iɨʔɨaʔ [jɨʔ.ɨ.aʔ]
‘rope’ The only Enggano vocoids occurring word initially are i, ĩ and u. The word
uaʔ [waʔ] ‘uncle’ is the only monomorphemic word in the data with initial u. Initial u also occurs stemLinitially in prefixed forms like ka uaua [ka wawa]
‘open’ and pa uap [pawap] ‘yawn’. The absence of ũ is either an accidental gap or
simply unattested because initial high back vocoids are so rare. In nonLinitial sequences of the shape HL and SH, both vocoids are realized as
separate syllable peaks. This is shown in 28 and 29. 28
HL sequences V
H
V
L
→V
σ
.V
σ
jukua [juku.a]
‘pole’
hion [hĩ.õn]
‘scratch’
kiak [ki.ak]
‘blood’
kaLkɨɘʔ [kakɨ.ɘʔ]
‘short’
ʔeaka [ʔe.aka]
‘close’ 29
SH sequences V
i
V
i
→V
σ
.V
σ
hĩũ [hĩ.ũ]
‘fruit’
bui [hi.ɨr]
‘woman’
kiLkeor [kike.or]
‘lost’
kããh [kã.ãh]
‘afraid’ LH sequences are realized as a vowel followed by an offglide. Examples are shown
in 30.
21
Syllabification as marked here is based on subjective perception. The acoustic study in section 4.3 quantifies syllabification patterns.
46 30
LH seequencesV
L
V
H
→V
σ
V
APPROX
kaix [kai ̯s]
‘sound’
paido [pai ̯.do]
‘cry’
kakarai [ka.ka.rai ̯]
‘chase’
ʔaup [ʔaʊ̯p]
‘four’
paiʔ [paɪ ̯ʔ]
‘throw’ As shown in the above examples, the syllablfication patterns are the same in all nonL
initial positions. LH sequences are tautosyllabic while HL and SH sequences are disyllabic.
Vocoid sequences have a different syllabification pattern after nonLinitial glottal consonants ʔ and h. In HL and SH sequences, the first vocoid is realized in the onset
of the syllable while the second vocoid receives syllable prominence. This is shown in 31 and 32.
31 HL sequences after glottal consonant V
H
V
L
→V
APPROX
V
σ
ʔaraʔiah [ʔaraʔjah]
‘livestock’
kuʔiaʔ [kuʔjaʔ]
‘push’
kaʔLnihia [kaʔə̆nj ̃hjã] ‘dream v.’
kiLʔF ̃ɘ̃ [kĩʔjɘ̃]
‘paralyzed’ 32
SH sequences after glottal consonant V
i
V
i
→V
APPROX
V
σ
iuʔuis [juʔwis]
‘oar’
bohoe [boh.o̯e]
‘wild’
ʔaLʔiur [ʔaʔjur]
‘progress v’
kehiɨ [kehjɨ]
‘thirsty’ LH sequences are phonetically realized the same as LH sequences in other
environments, that is, as a vowel followed by an offglide. Examples in 33 show LH sequences in this environment.
33 LH sequences after glottal consonant V
L
V
H
→V
σ
V
APPROX
iaʔkaʔaiʔ [jaʔə̆kaʔ.aɪ ̯ʔ] ‘war’
kahaiʔ [kah.aɪ ̯ʔ]
‘one’
nahai [nãh.ãF ̯̃]
‘allow’
kɘhɘi [kɘh.ɘi ̯]
‘spilled’ After a nonLinitial glottal consonant, LH sequences are realized as a vowel followed
by an offglide while HL and SH sequences are realized as an onglide followed by a vowel. The contrast between the two syllabification patterns is seen in the difference
47
between the LH sequence in bohoi [boh.oi ̯] ‘rope’ shown in Figure 6 on page 51 and the SH sequence in bohoe [boh.o̯e] ‘wild’ shown in Figure 10 on page 55. The
two words sound very similar in terms of vowel quality. However, the sequence in
[boh.oi ̯] is syllabified as a LH sequence, with word stress falling on the [o] and the final [i] being realized as an offglide. The sequence in [boh.o̯e] is syllabified as a SH
sequence. The initial [o] is realized as an onglide, and word stress falls on the final vowel [e].
Vocoid sequences following initial glottal consonants follow the syllabification
pattern of sequences following other consonants, as in ʔiah [ʔi.ah] [ʔjah] ‘what’ and hĩũ [hĩ.ũ] [hjũ] ‘fruit’.
When a consonant sequence ending in a glottal consonant comes before a high vocoid, the vocoid is syllabic rather than nonsyllabic as it is after intervocalic glottal
consonants; e.g. kaʔhɨɘ [kaʔə̆hɨ.ɘ] [kaʔə̆h.ɨ ̯ɘ] ‘female leader’ and kahʔuix [kahə̆ʔu.is] [kahə̆ʔ.wis] ‘crab sp.’. Since the inserted schwa is invisible to
phonological rules see section 3.3, a nonsyllabic high vocoid here would create a sequence of three consonants. ThreeLconsonant sequences are not attested in Enggano.
In summary, wordLinitial sequences are always HL, where the H vocoid is in the syllable onset. LH sequences are always realized as a vowel followed by an offglide.
NonLinitial HL and SH sequences syllabify differently depending on the preceding consonant. If the segment preceding the sequence is any consonant but glottal ʔ or
h, both vocoids are realized as separate syllable peaks. If the preceding consonant is ʔ or h, HL and SH sequences are realized as an onglide followed by a vowel. Table
13 summarizes these patterns.
48 Table 13. Syllabification patterns in vocoid sequences
LH HL
SH After nonLinitial ʔ, h V
σ
V
APPROX
V
APPROX
V
σ
V
APPROX
V
σ
Elsewhere V
σ
V
APPROX
V
σ
.V
σ
V
σ
.V
σ
Sequences of three or more vocoids follow similar syllabification patterns. There
are two main types of sequences: those beginning and ending with a low vowel, shown in 34, and those beginning and ending with a high vowel shown in 35.
34 LHL Sequences …V
L
V
H
V
L
…
nanaiaʔ [nãnãjãʔ]
‘ruin’
ʔauah [ʔawah]
‘go’
kaio [kajo]
‘straight’
keier [kejer]
‘water plant sp.’
dauoh [dawoh]
‘thunder’
doioʔ [dojoʔ]
‘pot’
ka uaua [kawawa]
‘open adj.’
ʔa ioiaʔ [ʔajojaʔ]
‘pay out a rope’ 35
HLH Sequence …V
H
V
L
V
H
…
iapaʔioi [japaʔjoi ̯]
‘traditional wedding’
kiʔuɘi [kiʔwɘi ̯]
a term of address for young girl
kaʔLdɨhɨai [kaʔə̆dɨh.ɨ ̯ai ̯] ‘bitter’
ʔeai [ʔe.ai ̯]
‘fish’
There is a single word with a LHH sequence, tauud [tawud] ‘year’, which is a
loanword. All these sequences can be explained with phonological processes already discussed
for twoLvocoid sequences. In LHL sequences, the middle H vowel is nonsyllabic as in LH sequences, and is realized as the onset of the following syllable. The fiveLvocoid LHLHL
sequences are simply longer sequences where the same process occurs. The LHH sequence is a LH sequence followed by a SH sequence. The generalization that SH
sequences after nonLglottals are two syllables does not apply here. However, SH
sequences in word initial position are tautosyllabic, as in ii [ji] ‘behavior’. This
generalization can be extended here to say that a high vocoid before V is nonsyllabic initially or after V.
49 Three of the HLH sequences are wordLfinal and are preceded by a glottal
consonant. The first H vowel is nonsyllabic because of the preceding glottal consonant, and the last is nonsyllabic because it is the second part of a LH sequence. The sequence
is thus realized as a L vowel with a H onglide and a H offglide. In the word ʔeai [ʔe.ai ̯] ‘fish’ the first vowel remains syllabic as there is no vowel before the preceding
consonant, and it is the first vowel in the word.
4.3 Acoustic correlates of syllabification patterns
