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

3. Announcements and reminders

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

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

6. Na-Dene Tlingit Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak Eyak Proto-Athabaskan CAY S.AK Tset CBC PCA NW Can Sar Apachean 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

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

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

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

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

11. 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.

12. 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]

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

14. Uvular place of articulation

15. [q] = voiceless uvular stop –[qis] ‘Chinook salmon’ –[q  X] ‘rabbit’ –[nt  q] ‘up’ [q h ] = voiceless aspirated uvular stop –[q h E ] ‘footwear’ [q’] = voiceless uvular ejective (stop) –[q’  X ] ‘backwards’ [ X ] = voiceless uvular fricative –[ XE ] ‘grease’ [  ] = (voiced) uvular approximant –[p  t  ene] ‘he’s cooking’

16. Palatal place of articulation

17. [c] = voiceless palatal stop –[c  s] ‘hook’ –[nece] ‘it healed’ –[wec  t h  s] ‘I’m not strong’ [c h ] = voiceless aspirated palatal stop –[c h  s] ‘down feather’ [c’] = palatal ejective (stop) –[c’  t h  j] ‘gun’ [ç] = voiceless palatal fricative –[l  zt h  ç] ‘knife’ –[n  teç] ‘he’s dancing’ [j] = (voiced) palatal glide

18. Labio-velar place of articulation

19. [k w ] = voiceless labio-velar stop –[k w e  ] ‘bag’ [k wh ] = voiceless aspirated labio-velar stop –[k wh  n] ‘fire’ [k w ’] = labio-velar ejective (stop) –[k w ’is] (personal name) –[k w ’  s  l] ‘bead’ [x w ] = voiceless labio-velar fricative –[x w  s] ‘thorn’ [w] = (voiced) labio-velar glide –[n  w  s] ‘soapberry’ Labio-velar place of articulation

20. Lateral fricative and affricates [l] = (voiced) lateral approximant –[l  zt h  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’

21. Witsuwit’en consonant chart labialalveolarpalatallabio-velaruvularglottal stops p p’t t h t’c c h c’k w k wh k w ’q q h q’  affricates ts ts h ts’ lateral t tht’t tht’ fricatives s zçxwxw  h lateral  nasals mn approxima nts jw  lateral l

22. Witsuwit’en vowels frontcentralback unrounded rounded high iu mid higher-mid e  o lower-mid E low æ

23. Further details about Witsuwit’en sounds [t  z] ‘driftwood’ [t h  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.

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

25. 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

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

27. 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))

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

29. Context for /  / Lowering labialalveolarpalatallabio-velaruvular stops p’t h t’c h c’k wh k w ’q h q’  affricates ts h ts’ lateral tht’tht’ fricatives sçxwxw  h lateral  After any of:

30. Distribution of [  ], [  ] in Witsuwit’en [  ] occurs after [  ] occurs after p’t h t’c h c’k wh k w ’q h q’  ts h ts’ th t’th t’ sçxwxw  h  ptckwkw q ts tt z mn l jw 

31. Distribution of [  ], [  ] in Witsuwit’en All the places /  / can occur in Witsuwit’en t__ m__ t h __ p__ X __ l__ x w __ z__  __ s__ e.g. [t  z], [m  n], [p  n], [p  l  t], [p  z  z] e.g. [t h  z], [  z], [x w  s], [  t], [s  s]

32. 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.).

33. 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 /  /)

34. 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 [  ]

35. Inventory of Witsuwit’en vowel phones frontcentralback unrounded rounded high iu mid higher-mid e  o lower-mid E  low æ A

36. 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’

37. 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)

38. Word list transcribed (broadly) phoneticorthographic ‘driftwood’[t  z] ‘cane’[t h  z] ‘footwear’[q h E ] ‘grease’[ XE ] ‘straight up’[nt  q] ‘your collarbone’ [nt’  q]

39. 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