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Phonemic analyses of Yongning Na in comparative perspective

Phonemic analyses of Yongning Na in comparative perspective. Journées de Linguistique d’Asie Orientale 28-29 juin 2007 Alexis Michaud. Work in progress. Illustrates the method used in fieldwork.

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Phonemic analyses of Yongning Na in comparative perspective

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  1. Phonemic analyses of Yongning Nain comparative perspective Journées de Linguistique d’Asie Orientale 28-29 juin 2007 Alexis Michaud

  2. Work in progress. Illustrates the method used in fieldwork. • Tone: key issue, but synchronically independent of segments. Not addressed here. (In preparation; talk given at the Société de Linguistique de Paris on June 16th, 2007) Plan 1. Brief presentation of the language 2. Palatalisation and some of its consequences + (time allowing) 3. and 4. Two cases of neutralisation: /kʰ/ vs. /kʶ/, retroflexes vs. coronals 5. A glimpse of the pool of phonetic variation

  3. Sino-Tibetan; Burmic subgroup • Simple syllabic structure: (C)(G)V • Tones: not described here • For a phonemic account of Western Na: Michailovsky, B.; Michaud, A.: Syllabic inventory of a Western Naxi dialect, and correspondence with Joseph F. Rock's transcriptions. Cahiers de linguistique - Asie Orientale 35(1): 3-21 (2006). 1. The Na (Naxi) language

  4. Fieldwork on Western Na (top) and Eastern Na (bottom)

  5. AS (Western dialect of Na) LD (Eastern dialect of Na)

  6. Vowels, not including glides i y ɯ u v̩ e ɤ o ə˞ a ɑ AS (Western dialect of Na) LD (Eastern dialect of Na) i ɯ u v̩ ɤ ɻ æ ɑ + after /h/: nasals / ĩ /, / ũ /, / ṽ̩ /, / w̃ɤ /

  7. First glance at correspondences AS (Western Na) LD (Eastern Na) pi pv pv pv mi mi mi mv mv mv ly lɯ ly li li lɯ lɯ lv, ʐv, ʐɯ lv lv Preliminary work: taking a closer look at individual correspondences, to understand the changes. Perspective: dynamic synchrony (Martinet 1955, 1975). Comparable phonemic inventory; correspondences point to earlier contrasts, but do not provide answers on the phonetic nature of these oppositions.

  8. 2. Palatalisation LD: palatalisation process completed, empty slots filled. « Water » in Western dialects (e.g. AS): /gi˩/; somewhat palatalised phonetically: [ ɟi˩]. In LD (an Eastern dialect): [dʑi˥]. Regular correspondence: AS /gi/, LD /dʑi/ … and the empty slot [gi] is now occupied: regular correspondence: AS /gɯ/, LD /gi/. (Ex.: « brother », /gɯ˧ zɯ˧/ vs. /gi˧ zɯ˧/) Hypothesis on the historical development in LD: Initial consonant gi gi ɟi dʑi Vowel gɯ

  9. Consequences on affricates: Alveolar-palatal affricate + /u/: what is its history? [dʑu], [tɕu], [tɕʰu] LD dʑu˧ AS /gy˧/ (phonetically: ɟy˧) verb of existence LD lo˩ dʑu˥ AS /lɑ˩gy˧/ « bracelet » Not all correspondences are straightforward: LD mv̩˩ tɕu˧ AS mɯￛ tʰa˧ « under, down(wards) » (AS) (FK) /gy/ ɟy ɟju (dʑju)/dʑu/ reinterpretation of rhyme? further palatalisation: becomes alveolar palatalisation diphthongisation Pressure of Chinese? Also ongoing in Western Na(xi) (AS dialect): [dɯ˧ mə˞˩ tɕʰi˧ tɕʰu˧ be˧ lu˧] Unlikely to be /kʰi˧ kʰju˧/.

  10. Further consequences on affricates? Alveolo-palatals + /i/, dentals + /ɯ/: continuity from consonant to vowel. Both sets of syllables become acoustically close.(Mandarin Chinese: zi, ci + zhi, chi; alveolo-palatals: xi, ji, qi)Notations, e.g. for Pinyin « zhi »: / ʈʂʅ /, for « zi »: / tsɿ /. IPA equivalent: /ʈʂʐ̩/, /tsz̩/. In Na(xi), for the voiced counterparts: /dzɯ/: realised as /dzɿ/ i.e. /dzz̩/; simplest notation: /dz̩/?Issue: how strong is the tie with the original rhyme? Allophone of /i/ in Mandarin, of /ɯ/ in Na(xi), but similar realisation. In borrowings: Na /tsɯ/ for Mandarin /tsi/ (« zi »).Relates to a general phenomenon in (phonologically) monosyllabic languages: cf. Henderson 1985, and Matisoff 1973: ‘tightly structured nature of the syllable in monosyllabic languages’ (Matisoff 1973).

  11. (data from speaker F5) /tɕi˩/ « set (down), put » /njæ˧ tsɯ˩/ « eyebrow » /tɕi/ /tsɯ/ spectral peak for friction: about 7,000 about 10,000 F2 - F1 (frequency) 1670 860 vowel: /tsɯ/ more open and more posterior than /tɕi/. Well distinguished acoustically. formants: 3150 2080 410 formants: 2800 1450 590

  12. In numerous cases: distinction less obvious. /dʑi/ and /dzɯ/: phonetically close A correction by speaker F4: ‘don’t say dʑi, say dzɯ’ /dʑi˥/ « water » /sɯ˧ dzɯ˩/ (speaker F5) « tree » /dzɯ˥/ « chisel » Vowel: as for /tɕi˩/; friction: centre at 8,000 Vowel: as for /tɕi˩/; friction: centre at 8,000 /tsʰɯ˥ zɯ˥/ « barley » [speaker F4; said twice]

  13. (speaker F5) /dʑi˥/ « water » /dzɯ˥/ « chisel » F2 - F1 1540 1440 /ɯ/: neither more open nor more posterior. Acoustically tenuous distinction. first three formants: 3100 1950 410 first three formants: 3100 1800 360

  14. Conclusion on palatalisation Completed. Empty slots filled. Influence on neighbouring consonants – or neighbouring syllables. Distinction threatened although both the initial and the rhyme differ. (Similar to issue in Vietnamese: Michaud and Vu-Ngoc 2004, Michaud 2004.)

  15. 3. A marginal opposition: /k/, /kʰ/, /kʶ/ Almost complementary distribution. Phonetically, the syllables written as /kʶ/+vowel also have a degree of aspiration: [kʶʰ]. Two-term opposition, except before /v̩/. Neutralisation, similar to observations on Western Na: Michaud 2006. /kʰv/: corresponds to AS /kʰv/ (e.g. « year »); cognates of /kʶv˧/ « hole »: /kʰo˧/ (AS), /kʰɑ˧/ (NL), /kʰə˞˧/ (FK)

  16. 4. Another marginal opposition: dental and retroflex initials Opposition before /æ/, /i/ and /v/. Examples of attested combinations: Retroflexion: not on same lexical items as in AS. In AS: only before vowel /o/, which is not present in LD.

  17. 5. Phonetic variability(pool of variation) Weakening of the friction of /v̩/ /mv̩/: tends to be realised as [m]. Example: /mv̩˩ tɕu˧ ʂu˩/ (brief demonstration of recordings) /lv̩/, /lɯ/: variation in the initial Realisation of initial /l/: weakens to an approximant before /ɯ/, as opposed to its lateral realisation before /v/. The friction of /v/ is very weak.

  18. Devoicing of /ɯ/ after unvoiced initial fricative/ affricate /sɯ/ can be realised as [s]. Example: /nu˥ sɯ˧ kv˩/ (2nd pers. pl.) /hĩ/ realised as nasal, homorganic with following stop /hĩ/: ‘subordinating’ particle. Example: [ɖwæￛ fv˧ hĩ˧ ɖɯ˧ v˧ ŋi˩] « serious, reliable » [ɖwæￛ fv˧ ɳɖɯ˧ v˧ ŋi˩]

  19. As a conclusion: Progress of documentation and of analysis: hand in hand. ‘Field experiments’: cf. forthcoming article in Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 3rd issue of 2007. (Western Na data.) Providing a basis for the study of phonetics/phonology: verification of data; cross-language comparison; typology. Typology of language change: ‘panchronic phonology’.

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