Zuni phonology explained
See main article: Zuni language. pronounced as /notice/The phonology of the Zuni language as spoken in the southwestern United States is described here. Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds (or constituent parts of signs, in sign languages).
Consonants
The 16 consonants of Zuni:
- pronounced as //t// is dental; pronounced as //ts, s, n// are alveolar; pronounced as //l// is apical.
- pronounced as //ts, tʃ, k, kʷ// are phonetically aspirated, pronounced as /[tsʰ, tʃʰ, kʰ, kʷʰ]/, while pronounced as //p, t, ʔ// are unaspirated.
- A sequence of a stop or affricate and a glottal stop pronounced as //ʔ// is phonetically realized as an ejective. This pronunciation occurs within words and across word boundaries: pronounced as //ʔaːtʃ ʔuluka// ('they two put it in') as pronounced as /[ʔaːtʃʼulucʰæ]/. Some analyses have proposed that the sequences pronounced as //tsʔ, tʃʔ, kʔ, kʷʔ// be considered single ejective consonant phonemes pronounced as //tsʼ, tʃʼ, kʼ, kʼʷ// based on their phonotactic properties.
- pronounced as //k// and pronounced as //kʷ// contrast only before pronounced as //i, e, a//; before pronounced as //u, o// the contrast is neutralized to pronounced as //k//. This neutralization of contrast also applies to the sequences pronounced as //kʔ, kʷʔ//.
- pronounced as //k, kʷ// are palatal pronounced as /[c, cʷ]/ before the vowels pronounced as //i, e, a//, but are velar elsewhere. Since pronounced as //k// is realized as an ejective before a glottal stop, the sequences pronounced as //kʔi, kʔe, kʔa// are phonetically pronounced as /[cʼi, cʼɛ, cʼæ]/.
- In a sequence of a stop or affricate plus another consonant (except pronounced as //ʔ//), the stop/affricate has no audible release. That is, pronounced as //moktʃinne// ('elbow') is phonetically pronounced as /[mɔk̚tʃʰinːɛ]/ and not pronounced as /[mɔkʰtʃʰinːɛ]/.
- All Zuni consonants occur with contrastive duration: short or long. In Stanley Newman's analysis, the phonetically long consonants are geminates (that is, a sequence of two identical consonants) . analyze length pronounced as //ː// as a separate phoneme. Geminate affricates are realized with a long closure period and a fricative release, e.g. pronounced as //tsts// as pronounced as /[tːs]/, pronounced as //tʃtʃ// as pronounced as /[tːʃ]/.
- pronounced as //h// is phonetically a voiceless vowel pronounced as /[h]/, except when following a consonant in which case it is a velar fricative pronounced as /[x]/: pronounced as //ʔahha// ('pick it up!') is phonetically pronounced as /[ʔahxa]/.
- The sonorants pronounced as //m, n, l, w, j// (as well as vowels, see below) are optionally devoiced when followed by pronounced as //h, ʔ//. The devoicing occurs within words and across word boundaries. This is especially common when also preceded by a voiceless consonant (in addition to the following pronounced as //h, ʔ//): pronounced as //lesn hol// ('thus perhaps') pronounced pronounced as /[lɛsn̥hɔl]/.
- pronounced as //n// is optionally realized as a phonetic velar pronounced as /[ŋ]/ before pronounced as //k, kʷ//.
- There is a marginal contrast between palatal pronounced as /[c]/ and velar pronounced as /[k]/ before the low vowel pronounced as //a//. The usual pronunciation of pronounced as //k// before pronounced as //a// is palatal pronounced as /[c]/. However, in some words — all of which are probably loanwords — a velar pronounced as /[k]/ occurs before pronounced as //a// (notably in the very common word, pronounced as //melika// ('non-Mormon Anglo-American'), which is phonetically pronounced as /[mɛlikʰa]/ and not pronounced as /[mɛlicʰæ]/). This has led to an analysis of Zuni having two dorsal phonemes, pronounced as //kʲ// and pronounced as //k//, by some linguists. A discussion of the disagreement between analyses and range of social variation of certain forms are discussed in .
Vowels
| Front | back |
|---|
| High | pronounced as /i/ pronounced as /iː/ | pronounced as /u/ pronounced as /uː/ |
|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /e/ pronounced as /eː/ | pronounced as /o/ pronounced as /oː/ |
|---|
| Low | pronounced as /a/ pronounced as /aː/ | |
|---|
- High pronounced as //i, u// are typically pronounced as /[i, u]/, but lowered variants pronounced as /[ɪ, ʊ]/ may be heard in unstressed syllables.
- Mid pronounced as //e, o// are typically pronounced as /[ɛ, ɔ]/, but in unstressed syllables raised variants occur before glides with matching backness: pronounced as /[e]/ before pronounced as //j//, pronounced as /[o]/ before pronounced as //w//.
- Low central pronounced as //a//, unlike the other vowels, is not reported to have allophonic variation by Newman. However, reports its realization as fronted pronounced as /[æ]/ when it follows pronounced as //k// (phonetically: pronounced as /[c]/).
- All vowels occur with contrastive duration: short or long. In Newman's analysis, the phonetically long vowels are analyzed as distinct phonemes . analyzes length pronounced as //ː// as a separate phoneme.
- Long pronounced as //eː, oː// are typically pronounced as /[ɛː, ɔː]/, but close variants pronounced as /[eː, oː]/ can occur in fast speech.
- The other long vowels do not have variants with differing vowel quality.
- Short vowels are optionally voiceless pronounced as /[i̥, ɛ̥, ḁ, ɔ̥, u̥]/ when at the end of an utterance, e.g. the word pronounced as //ʔaɬka// in pronounced as //ʔitʃunan si ʔaɬka// ('after lying down then he slept') may be pronounced either pronounced as /[ʔaɬcʰæ̥]/ or pronounced as /[ʔaɬcʰæ]/. Additionally, a short vowel or a sequence of a short vowel and glottal stop that occurs at the end of a word with more than one syllable is deleted when followed by a word that starts with pronounced as //h, ʔ// (see also the devoicing of sonorant consonants above), e.g. pronounced as //ʔaːtʃi hinina// ('they two are the same') as pronounced as /[ʔaːtʃhinina]/ (cf. pronounced as //ʔaːtʃi jeːlahka// 'the two of them ran' where the final pronounced as //i// of pronounced as //ʔaːtʃi// is not deleted), and pronounced as //ʔasselaʔ ʔelaje// ('they two are the same') as pronounced as /[ʔasːɛlʔɛlajɛ]/ (cf. pronounced as //ʔasselaʔ powaje// 'the two of them ran' where the final pronounced as //aʔ// of pronounced as //ʔasselaʔ// is not deleted).
Syllable and phonotactics
Zuni syllables have the following specification:
C1(C2)V(ː)(C3)(C4)
That is, all syllables must start with a consonant in the syllable onset. The onset may optionally have two consonants. The syllable coda is optional and may consist of a single consonant or two consonants. There are restrictions on the combinations with long vowels, which are listed below.
Onset. When the onset is a single consonant (i.e., CV(ː), CV(ː)C, or CV(ː)CC), C1 may be any consonant. When the onset is a two consonant cluster (i.e., CCV(ː), CCV(ː)C, or CCV(ː)CC), C1 may only be pronounced as //ts, tʃ, k, kʷ//, and C2 may only be pronounced as //ʔ//. These onset clusters can occur word-initially.
Nucleus. Any vowel of either length may be the syllable nucleus when open (i.e., has no coda: CV(ː) or CCV(ː)) or with a single consonant coda (i.e., CV(ː)C or CCV(ː)C). When the coda consists of two consonant cluster, the nucleus may be any short vowel; however, long vowels only occur with coda consisting of pronounced as //tsʔ, tʃʔ, kʔ, kʷʔ//.
Coda. A single coda C3 may be any consonant. When the coda is a two consonant cluster (i.e., CV(ː)CC or CCV(ː)CC), any combination of consonants may occur with the following exception: if C3 is pronounced as //ts, tʃ, kʷ//, then C4 can only be either pronounced as //ʔ// or an identical consonant (C3 = C4).
Non-tautosyllabic combinations. Inside words, a short vowel plus a two consonant coda (i.e., CVCC or CCVCC) may only be followed by a syllable with a pronounced as //ʔ// onset. Likewise, a long vowel plus a single consonant coda (i.e., CVːC or CCVːC) may only be followed by a pronounced as //ʔ// onset. An open syllable (i.e., CV(ː) or CCV(ː)) and a short vowel plus a single consonant coda (i.e., CVC or CCVC) may be followed by a syllable with any possible onset.
Prosody
At the word level, the first syllable of lexical words receive stress. Although the acoustic correlates of stress are not fully described in Newman's grammar, at least vowel length is a significant correlate: short vowels are lengthened under syllable-initial stress. Stressed long vowels do not appear to have perceptible variation in duration.
Stress at the phrase level was not fully studied by Newman, and, therefore, its details are not well known. Pronouns and certain particles consisting of a single syllable are unstressed when inside clauses, but are stressed at the beginning of phrases.
Further reading
- Book: Bunzel, Ruth L. . Zuni . 1934 . Handbook of American Indian languages . J. J. Augustin . Gluckstadt . 3 . 383–515 . none.
- Book: Dutton, Bertha P. . American Indians of the Southwest . 1983 . University of New Mexico Press . Albuquerque . 978-0-8263-0704-0 . none.
- Book: Newman, Stanley . A practical Zuni orthography . 1954 . Zuni law: A field of values . Roberts . J. . Smith . W. . Harvard University . Cambridge . 43 . Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology . 163–170 . 1 . 0-527-01312-9 . none.
- Vocabulary levels: Zuni sacred and slang usage . Newman . Stanley . Southwestern Journal of Anthropology . 1955 . 11 . 4 . 345–354 . 10.1086/soutjanth.11.4.3628910 . 124011467 . none.
- Book: Newman, Stanley . Zuni dictionary . 1958 . Indiana University research center publications . 6 . none.
- Book: Newman, Stanley . Sketch of the Zuni language . 1996 . Handbook of North American Indians: Languages . Goddard . I. . Smithsonian Institution . Washington . 17 . 483–506 . none.
- Glottalized consonants in Zuni . Shaul . David . International Journal of American Linguistics . 1982 . 48 . 1 . 83–85 . 10.1086/465715 . 143594811 . none.
- Book: Tedlock, Dennis . Finding the center: Narrative poetry of the Zuni Indians . 1972 . Dial . New York . none.
- Book: Tedlock, Dennis . The spoken word and the work of interpretation . 1983 . University of Pennsylvania . Philadelphia . 0-8122-7880-1 . none.
- Book: Tedlock, Dennis . Finding the center: The art of the Zuni storyteller . 2nd . 1999 . University of Nebraska Press . Lincoln . 0-8032-4439-8 . none.
- Doctoral dissertation . Reference, taxonomy and inflection in Zuni . Walker . Willard . 1964 . Cornell University . none.
- Book: Yumitani, Yukihiro . A comparative sketch of Pueblo languages: Phonology . 1987 . Kansas working papers in linguistics . University of Kansas . 12 . 119–139 . none.
