Witsuwit’en phonetics and phonology

1. Witsuwit’en phonetics and phonology LING 200 Spring 2006

2. Announcements and reminders

3. Witsuwit’en • apx. 180 speakers • a dialect of the Witsuwit’en-Babine language • Athabaskan family

4. Athabaskanfamily Eyak Tsek’ene Tlingit • variant spellings: Athapaskan, Athabascan, Athapascan • about 37 lgs in this family • estimated time-depth: 2500 years Witsuwit’en Navajo

5. Na-Dene Tlingit Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak Eyak Proto-Athabaskan CAYS.AKTset CBCPCANW CanSarApachean Deg Xinag Witsuwit’en Tsek’ene CAY = Central Alaska-Yukon; S.AK = S. Alaska; Tset = Tsetsaut, CBC = Central BC, PCA = Pacific Coast Athabaskan; NW Can = NW Canada; Sar = Sarcee

6. Some Witsuwit’en speakers Mabel Forsythe Lillian Morris, Peter John

7. A Witsuwit’en text • Lillian and Mabel talking together • 2:39 conversation • recorded 1997 • some background noise • what unfamiliar sounds do you hear?

8. Glottal stop [] stop made at the glottis: vocal cords brought together so no air can pass through the glottis uh-oh Hawai’i button important [o] [hwaji] [bn] [Imprnt]

9. [] in Witsuwit’en • [pe] ‘dried fish’ • [en] ‘he, she’ • [sompi] ‘no one’ • [c’teni] ‘legend’

10. Some Witsuwit’en sounds Ejective stops and affricates: transcribed [C’] How to make a (canonical) velar ejective: 0. Make a velar stop. Make a glottal stop.

11. Ejective affricates • [ts’] = ejective alveolar affricate • [pts’q] ‘his little finger’ • Compare [ts] = voiceless alveolar affricate • [ptsq] ‘his outer ear’ • Waveforms: (waveform = acoustic graph of energy x time) [p t s ’  q] [p t s  q]

12. Ejective stops • [t’] = ejective alveolar stop • [nt’q] ‘your collarbone’ • Compare [t] = voiceless alveolar stop • [ntq] ‘up’ [n t ’  q] [n t  q]

13. Uvular place of articulation

14. Uvular place of articulation • [q] = voiceless uvular stop • [qis] ‘Chinook salmon’ • [qX] ‘rabbit’ • [ntq] ‘up’ • [qh] = voiceless aspirated uvular stop • [qhE] ‘footwear’ • [q’] = voiceless uvular ejective (stop) • [q’X] ‘backwards’ • [X] = voiceless uvular fricative • [XE] ‘grease’ • [] = (voiced) uvular approximant • [ptene] ‘he’s cooking’

15. Palatal place of articulation

16. Palatal place of articulation • [c] = voiceless palatal stop • [cs] ‘hook’ • [nece] ‘it healed’ • [wecths] ‘I’m not strong’ • [ch] = voiceless aspirated palatal stop • [chs] ‘down feather’ • [c’] = palatal ejective (stop) • [c’thj] ‘gun’ • [ç] = voiceless palatal fricative • [lzthç] ‘knife’ • [nteç] ‘he’s dancing’ • [j] = (voiced) palatal glide

17. Labio-velar place of articulation

18. Labio-velar place of articulation • [kw] = voiceless labio-velar stop • [kwe] ‘bag’ • [kwh] = voiceless aspirated labio-velar stop • [kwhn] ‘fire’ • [kw’] = labio-velar ejective (stop) • [kw’is] (personal name) • [kw’sl] ‘bead’ • [xw] = voiceless labio-velar fricative • [xws] ‘thorn’ • [w] = (voiced) labio-velar glide • [nws] ‘soapberry’

19. Lateral fricative and affricates • [l] = (voiced) lateral approximant • [lzthç] ‘knife’ • [] = voiceless lateral fricative • [jl] ‘it’s white; goat (lit. ‘that which is white’)’ • [t] = voiceless lateral affricate • [stet] ‘it’s licking me’ • [th] = voiceless aspirated lateral affricate • [ncths] ‘I’m kneading it’ • [t’] = ejective lateral affricate • [st’et] ‘he farted’

20. Witsuwit’en consonant chart

21. Witsuwit’en vowels

22. Further details about Witsuwit’en sounds • [tz] ‘driftwood’ • [thz] ‘cane’ • Why wasn’t [] listed in the vowel inventory for Witsuwit’en? • Answer: [] is a predictable detail about the pronunciation of Witsuwit’en, and predictable information is usually omitted.

23. Broad vs. narrow transcription • A transcription can vary in the amount of phonetic detail included • Relatively a lot of detail: narrow transcription • e.g. [thz] ‘cane’ [tz] ‘driftwood’ • Relatively less detail: broad transcription • e.g. [thz] ‘cane’ [tz] ‘driftwood’ • When should [] be included in a transcription of Witsuwit’en?

24. Languages contain predictable vs. unpredictable information • Unpredictable, list-like information • this kind of information represented in dictionary • Predictable, rule-like information • e.g. in Witsuwit’en, schwa is pronounced as a lower-mid central vowel (in one context) • this kind of information represented in grammar a phonological rule

25. Broadest transcription • Represents only unpredictable information • Phonemic representation: /thz/ phonological rules e.g. lower vowel  phonetic representation [thz] • Phonemes: the elements of a phonemic representation (enclosed in slash brackets)

26. When to use broad vs. narrow transcription? • Typically, transcription is as broad as possible • Symbols in consonant, vowel charts are phonemes • In Witsuwit’en, [] would be transcribed only in a phonetic study of vowel quality (e.g. Ch. 4 of Hargus (to appear))

27. // Lowering In Witsuwit’en, [] is pronounced [] after voiceless aspirated stops, ejective stops, or voiceless fricatives. context of phonological rule

28. Context for // Lowering After any of:

29. Distribution of [], [] in Witsuwit’en • [] occurs after • [] occurs after

30. Distribution of [], [] in Witsuwit’en All the places // can occur in Witsuwit’en t__ m__th__ p__X__ l__xw__ z____ s__ e.g. [tz], [mn], [pn], [plt], [pzz] e.g. [thz], [z], [xws], [t], [ss]

31. Distribution of [], [] in Witsuwit’en • The distribution of [] complements that of []. • Or, [] and [] are in complementary distribution. • Only the basic member of a set of sounds which are in complementary distribution is considered phonemic (appears in vowel chart, etc.).

32. Which of [], [] is more basic? • Which of the contexts is “simpler”? e.g. reduces to natural class of sounds or single position within word • rule applies in simpler context • (not easy to tell in this case from just the information provided so far; other facts suggest that [] is derived from //)

33. Summing up [], [] in Witsuwit’en • these vowel phones in complementary distribution • [] derived by lowering rule • Post-script • /o/ lowers to [] and /æ/ retracts to [A] in the same context that // lowers to []

34. Inventory of Witsuwit’en vowel phones

35. Sounds which are not in complementary distribution • Contrast, i.e. occur in the same context • [] vs. [l] • [] ‘dam’ • [l] ‘conifer’ • [s] vs. [z] • [c’zs] ‘bag, case’ • [c’zz] ‘hide, skin’ • [m] vs. [p] • [mn] ‘roof’ • [pn] ‘lake’

36. Applied phonology • The Witsuwit’en writing system represents the phonemes, not all of the phonetic sounds • Designed by a missionary in the 70s for use on a typewriter • Revised 1993 (by your professor)

37. Word list transcribed (broadly) phonetic orthographic ‘driftwood’ [tz] <diz> ‘cane’ [thz] <tiz> ‘footwear’ [qhE] <kë> ‘grease’ [XE] <khë> ‘straight up’ [ntq] <ndik> ‘your collarbone’ [nt’q] <nt’ik>

38. Summary • Phonetic transcription typically as streamlined as possible • Predictable, rule-governed details are omitted • Distribution is a major clue as to predictability • Languages differ in • inventories of contrastive sounds • rules for pronunciation of sounds