phonetics and phonology cross-linguistic variation: ft. ware sekani

Phonetics and phonology

Cross-linguistic variation: Ft. Ware Sekani

Ft. Ware

Mike Abou

Oral vowelsfront central back

high i u

mid e o

low

Oral vowels

mslàh ‘I abandoned it’e mestìh ‘I know him’i ppìs ‘butterfly’o lpot ‘cup’u pùs ‘cat’ ps ‘river bank’

Oral vowels: acoustic plot

Oral vowels: acoustic plot

Nasal vowelsfront central back

high ĩ ũ

mid e õ

low

Oral vs. nasal vowels

tss ‘edible root, carrot’

ss ‘black bear’

Oral vs. nasal vowels

o tco ‘it’s big’

õ cõ ‘rain’

Oral vs. nasal vowels

u t’u ‘rope’

ũ ìtst’ũe ‘I’ll tie it in together’

Oral vs. nasal vowels: e, i

e mlè ‘his/her dog’

e mle ‘its castor’

i ntsì ‘your head’

ĩ ntsĩ ‘it’s bad’

Consonantslabial alveol pal-alv palatal velar lab-vel glottal

stop p t t t’ k k k’ kw kw kw’

affricate ts ts ts’

c c c’

t t t’

fricative s z š ž ç j x xw w h

l

nasal m n

Laryngeal contrasts: j vs. ç

j nèhjõ ‘he grew up’

ç jnèhçõ ‘he raised him’

[ç] = voiceless palatal fricative

Aperture contrasts: h vs.

cote sla ‘they (inanimate) are here’

h slah ‘my sister-, brother-in-law’

silà ‘my hand’

[]= voiceless lateral fricative

[uwe] ‘fish’

[pi] ‘sleep’

Laryngeal contrasts: vs. l

ut ‘scab’

l slutè ‘my scab’

tnìti ‘it’s ripening’

l tnìtìl ‘it’s ripe’

Place contrasts: s,

s tèsõ ‘I wonder’ õ ‘right, correct’

Aperture contrasts: th vs.

th nsthõ ‘lots’

õ ‘right, correct’

[x]

[x] = voiceless velar fricative[xe] ‘pack’[x] ‘club’

Aperture contrasts: kh vs. x

kh nkhe ‘he/she is returning by boat’

x xe ‘pack’

Laryngeal contrasts: x vs.

x nihxe ‘I thawed it’

ne ‘it thawed’

[ ] = voiced velar fricative

Ejective stops

Laryngeal contrasts: t vs. th vs. t'

t xtà ‘our eyes’

th xthà ‘our father’

t’ xt’àh sinthe ‘sleep inside (with) us’

Laryngeal contrasts: ts vs. tsh vs. ts'

ts tsèh ‘gum, pitch’

tsh mtsheh ‘in front of him/her’

ts’ ts’èh ‘sinew’

Laryngeal contrasts: t vs. th vs. t'

t ttoz ‘it’s soft’

th tehthòh ‘it’s fresh’

t’ tt’ò ‘it’s sticky’

Laryngeal contrasts: c vs. ch vs. c'

c cote ‘here’

ch tcho ‘it's big’

c’ c’oh ‘quill’

Laryngeal contrasts: k vs. kh vs. k'

k sku ‘worm’

kh khu 'those'

k' sk’ukhn ‘white person’

Tone

[V] = high tone vowel [V] = low tone vowel [V] = rising tone vowel

Low (`) vs. high tone

` wìh ‘once’wìh ‘stop it’

` mkh ‘by him/her’mkhè ‘his/her rabbit’

Low (`) vs. high tone

` sihkhõh ‘I wounded it’skhõh ‘my house’

` yetèhc’il ‘he/she started to skin it’

yetehc’il ‘he/she is skinning it’

Rising ( ) vs. low ( ) vs. high tone

usà thàtehmn ‘I filled up the pot’

` usà thàtèhmn ‘he/she filled up the pot’

du usà thàtehmn ‘he/she hasn't filled up the pot’

Rising ( ) vs. low ( ) vs. high tone

tszi ‘little beaver’

` sde ‘my older sister’

tlzi ‘puppy’

High vs. low vs. rising tone

80100120140160180200

p1 p2 p3 p4 p5

high

low

risingHz

Vowel allophones

[tùn] ‘his/her own gun’[tsts’i] ‘dry twig’[tc’oe] ‘porcupine’[tp] ‘it’s grey’[tpt] ‘he/she is hungry’[tte] ‘marmot’

Vowel allophones

[] []

___ ... [i], [u] ___ ... [e], [o], [], [___ C #

Vowel allophones

// [] / ___ ... high vowel

In Ft. Ware Sekani, // is pronounced [] when the following syllable contains a high vowel.

Testing the rule/...i/ /...e/

[ttsì] ‘his/her own hearing’

[tlè] ‘his/her own dog’

[ttshì] ‘his/her own head’ [ts’tshèl] ‘we’re chopping it’

[k’utthic] ‘it’s burning around fast’

[nte] ‘they reside’

[szĩh] ‘my spirit’ [zteske] ‘I killed it for myself’

Testing the rule: results

[] and [] differ significantly in height (F1) and backness (F2)