Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 Some Basic Background on Yalálag Zapotec
1. Location and Genetic Affiliation
(1) Autonym: Dìʼll Wlhàll Yàlhálhg ( /dìʔʒ wlàʒ jàlálɣ/ ) ~ ( /dìʔʒ wɾàʒ jàɾáɾɣ/ )
(2) Areas Spoken • ~2100 speakers in Villa Hidalgo (formerly Villa Yalálag), Oaxaca, Mexico • Many speakers also live in Oaxaca City, Mexico City, and throughout the US
(3) Location and Image of Villa Hidalgo (formerly Villa Yalálag)
Images taken from Google Maps
1 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 (3) Oto-Manguean Languages
Oto-Manguean Oto-Pamean Popolucan … Mixtecan-Amuzgoan Mixtec Zapotecan (approx. 23 languages, depending on how one counts) Chatino Western Zapotec Papabuco Zapotec Southern Zapotec Central Zapotec … San Lucas Qiaviní Zapotec Northern Zapotec Sierra Juárez Zapotec Rincon Zapotec Choapan Zapotec Cajonos Zapotec Tabaá Zapotec Lachirioag Zapotec Cajonos Zapotec Zoogocho Zapotec Largely mutually intelligible Yatzachi Zapotec Yalálag Zapotec
(4) Map of Oto-Manguean Languagues
Image taken from ‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oto-Manguean_languagesʼ
2 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 (5) Map of Zapotecan Languages 1
Image taken from ‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapotec_languages’
(6) Current Vitality of Zapotecan Languages
• Zapotecan languages vary greatly in their vitality / endangerment • All communities, however, are under pressure from the socially dominant mestizo, Spanish-speaking society o Some parents discourage children from speaking their own indigenous languages o Economic pressures incentivize speaking Spanish and moving out of Zapotecan- speaking communities o Schooling is largely in Spanish, even in Zapotecan-speaking communities
(7) Prior Literature on Yalálag Zapotec
• There is a great variety of literature on Zapotec languages. o The vast majority of these works are in Spanish.
• Avelino (2004) and Wikipedia2 list a number of previous works on Yalálag Zapotec, most of which are (again) in Spanish. The principle works in English seem to be:
Newberg, Ronald. 1983. “Yalálag Zapotec Phonology.” SIL Mexico Working Papers 9: 12-25.
Avelino, Heriberto. 2001. The Phonetic Correlates of Fortis/Lenis ni Yalálag Zapotec. MA Thesis. UCLA.
Avelino, Heriberto. 2004. Topics in Yalálag Zapotec, with Particular Reference to its Phonetic Structures. PhD Thesis. UCLA.
1 Note: ‘Serrano’ is approximately the Cajonos sub-family in (3), which includes Yalálag Zapotec. 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yal%C3%A1lag_Zapotec
3 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 2. Phonological Inventory and Practical Orthography
The practical orthography I adopt below is basically that of Avelino (2004), which was developed in concert with speakers of Yalálag Zapotec.3
The description below of the sound system of Yalálag Zapotec is taken from Avelino (2004), and is simply our starting point. We may well find that it doesn’t fit the facts as we discover them in class…
2.1 Vowel System and Practical Orthography
(8) Basic Vowel Space / Inventory i /i/ u /u/~/ɯ/ e /e/ o /o/~/ɤ/ a /a/
a. The distinction between ‘o’ and ‘u’ is somewhat unstable • Avelino (2004) reports finding no minimal pairs • In a great many words, ‘o’ and ‘u’ are in free variation (Avelino 2004: 84-85) o However, Avelino (2004: 85-86) reports that there are a few words where the segments are not in free variation.
b. The back vowels ‘o’ and ‘u’ have minimal-to-no rounding (Avelino 2004: 91)
(9) ‘Checked’ Vowels i’ /iʔ/ u’ /uʔ/~/ɯʔ/ e’ /eʔ/ o’ /oʔ/~/ɤʔ/ a’ /aʔ/
• In many descriptions/grammars of Zapotecan languages, the authors distinguish a series of ‘checked vowels’ as part of the vowel system/inventory
• Avelino (2004), however, argues that, for Yalálag Zapotec, we should instead simply analyze these as vowels followed by glottal stops in coda position o Under this analysis, glottal stop simply has an especially limited distribution in Yalálag Zapotec, restricted to immediately post-vocalic position
Some Minimal Pairs
a. (i) yà /jà/ ‘bell’ (ii) yà’ /jàʔ/ ‘square’
b. (i) lá /l:á/ ‘hot’ (ii) lá’ /l:áʔ/ ‘Oaxaca’
c. (i) llà /ʒà/ ‘day’ (ii) llà’ /ʒàʔ/ ‘tepid’
3 The one change I make concerns the representation of ‘fortis’ (long) liquids. For some reason, Avelino (2004) doesn’t distinguish these from ‘lenis’ (short) liquids in her orthography. Consequently, I borrow the convention used by Sonnenschein (2005) in his orthography for the very closely related Zoogocho Zapotec, whereby ‘fortis’ liquids are represented by the digraph ‘lh’.
4 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 (10) ‘Glottal’ Vowels i’i e’e o’o a’a
• As in other Zapotec languages, Yalálag distinguishes a series of ‘glottalʼ vowels
• Avelino (2004: 179) reports that the exact realization of this quality can vary greatly both across and within speakers: o Sometimes, it’s a sequence of homorganic vowels, separated by a glottal stop (/VʔV/), hence Avelino’s (2004) choice of orthographic representation o Sometimes, it’s realized as a long vowel, with vocal fry at its midpoint o Sometimes, it’s simply a creaky vowel
• Avelino (2004) reports that there is not a high back vowel with this ‘glottal’ quality
Some Minimal Pairs
a. (i) gà /gà/ ‘nine’ (ii) gà’à /gàʔà/ ‘basket’
b. (i) yín /jín/ ‘chest of clothes’ (ii) yí’ín /jí’ín/ ‘chili’
c. (i) bê /bê/ ‘echo’ (ii) bé’è /béʔè/ ‘in the morning’
(11) Tone
According to Avelino (2004), there are three (lexical) tonal values that vowels in Yalálag Zapotec can bear: High (level), Low (level), Falling
Some Minimal Pairs
High Low Falling
a. yá /já/ ‘sweathouse’ yà /jà/ ‘bell’ yâ /jâ/ ‘cane’
b. zú /zú/ ‘stand up’ zù /zù/ (kind of beverage) zû /zû/ ‘to fly’
c. llén /ʒén/ ‘smoke’ llèn /ʒèn/ ‘blood’
d. bllínn /bʒín:/ ‘mule’ bllìnn /bʒìn:/ ‘foam’
e. bèl /bél:/ ‘snake’ bêl /bêl:/ ‘fish’
5 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 2.2 Consonantal System and Practical Orthography
(12) Overview of the Yalálag Zapotec Consonantal Inventory (Avelino 2004: 93)
(13) ‘Fortis’ vs. ‘Lenis’ in Yalálag Zapotec
• Linguists often distinguish a ‘fortis’ series from a ‘lenis’ series in Zapotec consonants
o Historically, the ‘fortis’ series developed from consonant clusters, while the ‘lenis’ series developed from single segments
o These historical origins lead to some complex morpho-phonological behavior, which we will encounter as we come to them
• Generally speaking, in the present-day languages:
o The ‘fortis’ consonants are voiceless (aspirated) obstruents and long (dental) sonorants
o The ‘lenis’ consonants are voiced (unaspirated) obstruents and short (alveolar) sonorants § Also, lenis plosives often ‘lenite’ to fricatives
Fortis Consonants in Yalálag Zapotec: / pʰ , tʰ , kʰ , kʷ , tʃ , s , ʂ , ʃ , χ , n: , l: /
Lenis Consonants in Yalálag Zapotec: / b (β) , d (ð) , g (ɣ) , z , ʐ , ʒ , n , l , j , w /
6 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 (14) Bilabial Oral Stops
a. Voiceless Aspirated: p /pʰ/ páp ‘potato’
b. Voiced: b /b/ bà ‘tomb’
• Avelino reports that ‘b’ is often pronounced lenited as /β/
(15) Alveolar Oral Stops
a. Voiceless Aspirated: t /tʰ/ tê ‘gray’
b. Voiced: d /d/ dè ‘ashes’
• Avelino (2004) reports that ‘d’ is often pronounced lenited as /ð/ • Avelino (2004) reports that the point of articulation for ‘t’ and ‘d’ can range from dental to post-alveolar
(16) Velar Oral Stops
a. Voiceless Aspirated: k /kʰ/ kà’à ‘no’
b. Voiced: g /g/ gà’à ‘basket’
• Avelino reports that ‘g’ is often pronounced lenited as /ɣ/
(17) Voiceless Labio-Velar Oral Stop kw /kʷ/ kwâ ‘dough’ lékw ‘rooster’
• Avelino (2004: 100) provides a distributional argument for viewing ‘kw’ as a single segment in Yalálag Zapotec, rather than a consonant cluster.
• There is no voiced counterpart to this segment.
(18) Glottal Stop (see earlier discussion of ‘Checked Vowels’)
(19) Voiceless Palato-Alveolar Affricate ch /tʒ/ chá ‘pan’ chì ‘ten’
• There is no voiced counterpart to this affricate in Yalálag Zapotec
(20) Bilabial Nasal Stop m /m/ melhas ‘pretty’ (nbalhas)
• Avelino (2004) reports that /m/ is rather marginal in Yalálag Zapotec. It occurs in but a handful of native words (though it’s frequent in Spanish loans)
7 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 (21) Short (Lenis) Alveolar Nasal Stop n /n/ ná ‘hand’ bîn ‘vein’
• Avelino (2004) reports that the short (lenis) alveolar nasal often surfaces as a velar nasal when in coda position.
(22) Long (Fortis) Dental Nasal Stop nn /n:/ nnà’à ‘now’ bînn ‘seeds’
• Avelino (2004) reports that the long (fortis) dental nasal never surfaces as velar when in coda position
(23) Short (Lenis) Lateral Liquid lh /l/ (/ɾ/) lhá’ ‘name’ lhàw ‘eye’
(24) Long (Fortis) Lateral Liquid l /l:/ (/l/) lá ‘hot’ làw ‘monkey’
• For some reason, Avelino (2004) doesn’t distinguish /l/ and /l:/ in his practical orthography. I use here the convention followed by the Yalálag writers Ortiz Chino and Molino Cruz, and represent the lenis liquid with the digraph “lh”.
• Avelino (2004) reports that /l:/ is sometimes produced interdentally
(25) Dental Fricatives
a. Voiceless: s /s/ sìt ‘Mexico’
b. Voiced z /z/ zít ‘far’
(26) Retroflex Post-Alveolar Fricatives
a. Voiceless: x /ʂ/ xá ‘father’ xòn ‘eight’
b. Voiced: xh /ʐ/ xhá ‘my clothes’
• Avelino (2004: Chapter 6) reports that the production of these phones differs in interesting ways from the retroflex fricatives of (e.g.) Hindi.
(27) Voiced Palatal Fricative ll /ʒ/ llá ‘tepid’ llà ‘day’ llìt ‘egg’ llèn ‘blood’
• Although this segment can surface voiceless, there is no phonemically voiceless palatal fricative in Yalálag Zapotec (cf. (19))
8 Seth Cable Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language Fall 2017 Ling748 (28) Voiceless Uvular Fricative j /χ/ bèj ‘well’ bêj ‘cloud’ yáj ‘flower’ bèllj ‘chicken’ jsîw ‘onion’
• Avelino (2004) reports that this segment occurs on its own only in word-final position. Otherwise, it’s always part of a consonant cluster.
• Avelino (2004) reports that /x/ in some Spanish loans can surface as /χ/
• There is no voiced counterpart to this segment.
(29) Glides
a. Palatal y /j/ yá ‘clear’ yâ ‘tender’ yày ‘tree’
b. Labio-Velar w /w/ wá ‘mature’ mîw ‘friend’
(30) Extra-Systemic Consonants
The following consonantal sounds are not indigenous to Zapotecan languages. However, they have come into Yalálag Zapotec and many other Zapotecan languages via borrowings from Spanish.
a. Tapped / Trilled Rhotic r /r/ rós ‘pink’
b. Labio-Dental Fricative f /f/ fáβ ‘laundry detergent’
c. Palatal Nasal Stop ñ /ɲ/ píñà ‘pineapple’
d. Voicleess Velar Fricative j /x/ júèb ‘Thursday’
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