ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Studia Linguistica Upsaliensia 13 and Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 20 The Vowel Systems of Five Iranian Balochi Dialects Farideh Okati Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in 6-0031, Engelska Parken, Thunbergsvägen 3, Uppsala, Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Abstract Okati, F. 2012. The Vowel Systems of Five Iranian Balochi Dialects. Studia Linguistica Upsaliensia 13. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 20. 241 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-554-8536-8. ISBN 978-91-554-8534-4. The vowel systems of five selected Iranian Balochi dialects are investigated in this study, which is the first work to apply empirical acoustic analysis to a large body of recorded data on the vowel inventories of different Balochi dialects spoken in Iran. The selected dialects are spoken in the five regions of Sistan (SI), Saravan (SA), Khash (KH), Iranshahr (IR), and Chabahar (CH) located in the province Sistan and Baluchestan in the southeast of Iran. The aim of the present fieldwork- based survey is to study how similar the vowel systems of these dialects are to the Common Ba- lochi vowel system (i, iː, u, uː, a, aː, eː, oː), which is represented as the vowel inventory for the Balochi dialects in general, as well as how similar these dialects are to one another. The investigation shows that length is contrastive in these dialects, although the durational dif- ferences between the long and short counterparts are quite small in some dialects. The study also reveals that there are some differences between the vowel systems of these dialects and the Com- mon Balochi sound inventory. The Common Balochi short /i/ vowel is modified to short /e/ in these dialects, and a strong tendency for the long /eː/ and /oː/ to become the diphthongs ie and ue, respec- tively, is observed in some of the investigated dialects, specifically in KH, which shows heavier diphthongization than the other dialects. It is also observed, especially in SI, SA, and CH, that the short /u/ shows strong tendencies to shift towards a lower position of an [o] vowel. In SI and SA, this shift seems to be a correlate of syllable structure, with lowering occurring mostly in closed syllables. It is possible that Persian, as the dominant language in the area, has had an influence on these dialects and caused a lowering tendency among the higher vowels. The vowel systems in these dialects differ slightly from each other. Phonemically, the vowels /a/, /e/, /u/, /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /uː/, /oː/ are suggested for IR; /a/, /e/, /u/, /aː/, /iː/, /uː/, as well as the diph- thongs /ie/ and /ue/ substituted for the long /eː/ and /oː/, respectively, are suggested for KH; and finally /a/, /e/, /o/, /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /uː/, /oː/, which make a more symmetrical inventory, are suggested for the SI, SA, and CH dialects. In general, the vowels in these dialects show a range of phonetic variations. In addition, processes of fronting, which is most common in coronal contexts, and nasalization, which mostly occurs in nasal environments, are observed in the data researched. Keywords: Balochi, Persian, Iranian Balochi dialects, vowel system, Common Balochi, front- ing, diphthongization, nasalization. Farideh Okati, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Box 635, Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden. © Farideh Okati 2012 ISSN 1652-1366 ISSN 1100-326X ISBN 978-91-554-8536-8 ISBN 978-91-554-8534-4 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-183822 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-183822) Printed in Sweden by Elanders Sverige AB, 2012. Distributed by Uppsala University Library. Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden. www.uu.se, [email protected] In the name of God Most Gracious, Most Merciful To my dear family 5 6 Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 9 Abbreviations........................................................................................................ 10 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 11 1.1. The Baloch ................................................................................................ 13 1.2. The Balochi language and its dialect divisions ......................................... 13 1.3. An overview of previous research on Balochi vowel systems .................. 17 1.4. Theoretical considerations ........................................................................ 30 1.4.1. Vowels: quality and quantity (duration) ............................................ 30 1.4.2. Phonological processes ...................................................................... 35 1.5. Material and Methods ............................................................................... 36 1.6. Aim of the study ........................................................................................ 41 2. Vowel quantity (duration/length) ..................................................................... 43 2.1. Factors affecting duration ......................................................................... 45 2.2. Words with different lengths ..................................................................... 46 2.3. Duration of the vowels in Sistan (SI) ........................................................ 49 2.4. Duration of the vowels in Saravan (SA) ................................................... 57 2.5. Duration of the vowels in Khash (KH) ..................................................... 65 2.6. Duration of the vowels in Iranshahr (IR) .................................................. 73 2.7. Duration of the vowels in Chabahar (CH) ................................................ 81 2.8. Conclusions ............................................................................................... 89 3. Vowel quality ................................................................................................... 97 3.1. The vowels in the Balochi dialect of Sistan (SI) ..................................... 101 3.2. The vowels in the Balochi dialect of Saravan (SA) ................................ 111 3.3. The vowels in the Balochi dialect of Khash (KH) .................................. 122 3.4. The vowels in the Balochi dialect of Iranshahr (IR) ............................... 133 3.5. The vowels in the Balochi dialect of Chabahar (CH) ............................. 145 7 4. Phonological processes ................................................................................... 157 4.1. Fronting ................................................................................................... 157 4.1.1. Fronting of /oː/................................................................................. 160 4.1.2. Fronting of /u/ and /uː/ ..................................................................... 166 4.2. Diphthongization ..................................................................................... 178 4.3. Nasalization ............................................................................................. 198 5. General Conclusion ........................................................................................ 209 5.1. Similarities and differences ..................................................................... 209 5.2. Summary ................................................................................................. 213 References .......................................................................................................... 219 Appendix ............................................................................................................ 229 8 Acknowledgements First of all, I wish to express my deep thanks to God for helping me in the per- formance of this work, and to my family who have supported me with much love during all the years of my studies. I would like to offer my deepest gratitude to my first supervisor, Prof. Åke Viberg, for his kind and expert supervision during my studies. I would also like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my second supervisor, Prof. Carina Jahani, for her thorough and truly scholarly supervision and great support during my work on this dissertation. This research would have not been possible without the unique guidance and suggestions of my phonetic supervisor, Dr. Pétur Helgason, who generously shared his time, experience, and unlimited support throughout the entire work. My special thanks go to him for giving me the privilege to work under his kind supervision. Special thanks go to Dr. Abbas Ali Ahangar, my external supervisor at the Uni- versity of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran, for his kind help and encouragement and for the scholarly supervision he offered me during my work. Many thanks must also go to Prof. Akbari and Dr. Torkamanzehi at Sistan and Baluchestan Univer- sity, who generously helped me with official issues related to my studies and my attendance as a guest at that university. I am very grateful to Dr. Mahmoud Solouki, University of Zabol (located in Sis- tan), Dr. Hoseinbor, Faculty of Agriculture of Saravan, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Dr. Rezai, University of Iranshahr, and Dr. Yarahmadzehi, Univer- sity of Chabahar, who generously provided me the opportunities to have access to the language consultants. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Lutz Rzehak and Dr. Christine Ericsdotter for their highly valued comments and suggestions