Beal Dissertation 2
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THE SEGMENTS AND TONES OF SOYALTEPEC MAZATEC by HEATHER D. BEAL Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON December 2011 Copyright © by Heather Beal 2011 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First I want to thank my committee without whom this dissertation would not be. Colleen Fitzgerald, took me on mid-project and put in innumerable hours to help make this an acceptable work. I also want to thank all of the members who stuck with me, even though it was much longer than any of us imagined possible; Jerald Edmondson, David Silva and Michael Cahill. Each helped and encouraged along the way, offering unique insights and giving of their time and intellect to make me a better linguist. Also, to Fraser Bennett who joined my committee at the beginning, and then graciously stepped down when the rules changed, thanks for your willing help and flexibility! Finally, Donald Burquest encouraged me to pursue this degree and this specific project; even though I did not finish during his tenure, he added immeasurably to my UTA experience. My graduate career was supported financially by a Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship (2011), a Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2009), three Linguistics graduate fellowships (1995, 1997, and 1998) and an SIL International Corporate Academic Scholarship (2006). This work on Soyaltepec Mazatec would not have been possible without the love and support of my family. To my husband Bruce who would not let me quit even when I really wanted to - THANK YOU! My children Michaela and Joshua put up with a lot. You guys are awesome! I am happy to say that it is finished and I finally have time to PLAY! Thank you also to my parents Dawn and Carlton Cullis and my in-laws, the Beals and Romaines, who have offered every kind of support imaginable, above and beyond! I would also like to thank the people of Temascal and San Antonio Cosoltepec, for welcoming us into their lives and homes. I especially want to thank Jorge Domínguez García, Teodora Domínguez Olivares, Silvano Espiridi όn Alto, Alejandrina Malpica Domínguez and Angela Tomas Miguel and their families for the many, many hours they spent teaching me their language and sharing their lives. Finally and ultimately - To God be the Glory – by HIS Grace and with HIS help it is finally done! November 7, 2011 iii ABSTRACT THE SEGMENTS AND TONES OF SOYALTEPEC MAZATEC Heather D. Beal, PhD The University of Texas at Arlington, 2011 Supervising Professor: Colleen Fitzgerald This dissertation describes the segments and tones of Soyaltepec Mazatec, an Oto-Manguean language of southern Mexico virtually undescribed in the literature with the exception of Pike (1956). The preliminary work done by Pike and subsequent analyses by Goldsmith (1990) and Pizer (1994) are reviewed giving evidence that the system is complex and not easily explained. Documentation of the segments of the language as well as a more complete documentation of the tonal system has significance for language preservation, comparative Oto-Manguean studies and phonological theories of tone. This paper presents original field data gathered by the author during visits to Oaxaca, Mexico, and describes the phonetic and phonological patterning for segments and tones, as well as presenting an analysis for the tone sandhi. The author’s research reveals that Soyaltepec Mazatec contains 17 consonant phonemes and 5 vowel specifications which contrast for nasality. The phonological processes that occur are described as well as the intricacies of the co-occurrence of phonemes within the syllable which are shown to be vital in determining the nature of the syllable onsets. Four levels of tone are confirmed to occur lexically as well as five rising and two falling tones. The tonal processes include the transfer of tones between morphemes as well as the spread of a low register to the end of a phonological domain. These processes are autosegmental in nature; however, because the language makes use of four levels of tone, the one-dimensional tonal iv representations which are traditionally used are expanded using Register Tier Theory (RTT). Although RTT has not been widely adopted, it is shown to be not only useful but necessary as a framework to describe four distinct levels of tone while still allowing the flexibility of independent feature spreading which accounts for the processes that occur in a straightforward, insightful and predictive manner. It has been suggested that Mesoamerican tone languages do not fit nicely into the typical tonal typology that divides tone languages into African and Asian types. Soyaltepec Mazatec has the inventory of an Asian tone language with tones which are strongly attached to their lexical TBU while at the same time exhibiting processes that are African. It has contour tones that are sequential in nature, floating tones, downstep and widespread spreading. Furthermore, tone is important both in the lexicon and in the grammar of the language. All of these characteristics are prototypical of African systems. Soyaltepec Mazatec does not fit into either tonal classification; it is a combination of the two. The traditional tonal bicameral typology should not be viewed as rigid, exclusive categories. Un-analyzed tonal languages need to be investigated without typological presumptions. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS....................................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………..………..….. .......................................... 1 1.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background and Sociolinguistic Situation .................................................................... 2 1.3 Motivation ..................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 8 1.5 Tone Theory .................................................................................................................. 8 1.5.1 Tone Notations ............................................................................................ 9 1.5.2 Autosegmental Phonology ......................................................................... 11 1.5.3 Tonal hierarchy .......................................................................................... 16 1.5.3.1 Features .................................................................................... 17 1.5.3.2 Tonal Geometry ........................................................................ 19 1.5.3.3 Summary .................................................................................. 24 1.5.4 Register Tier Theory .................................................................................. 25 1.5.4.1 Four Tone Levels...................................................................... 25 1.5.4.2 RTT Representations ................................................................ 28 1.5.4.3 Spreading .................................................................................. 30 1.5.4.4 OCP Effects .............................................................................. 33 vi 1.5.4.5 Summary .................................................................................. 35 1.6 Tonal Typology ........................................................................................................... 36 1.7 Dissertation Overview ................................................................................................ 38 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................... 39 2.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 39 2.2 Pike (1956) .................................................................................................................. 41 2.2.1 Change Caused by Single Tones ............................................................... 44 2.2.1.1 Regressive Perturbation ............................................................ 44 2.2.1.2 Progressive Perturbation ........................................................... 46 2.2.2 Change Caused by Contour Tones ............................................................. 50 2.2.2.1 Contour Tone Split with Endpoint Shift ................................... 50 2.2.2.2 Sandhi Surrounding the Mid-high to High Contour ..................................................................................... 52 2.2.2.3 Nonperturbable Sequences ....................................................... 57 2.2.2.4 Sandhi and Enclitics ................................................................. 59 2.2.3 Change