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Article published In:
Diachronica
Vol. 35:4 (2018) ► pp.525–551

The evolution of word prosody in the Papuan languages of Eastern Timor

| Payap University

Word prosody and sentence-level intonation undergo complex interactions through time. In this study, I focus on the effects of intonation on the development of word prosody in two closely related Papuan languages, Makalero and Fataluku. Though both are very similar segmentally, Makalero’s prosodic system is based on trochaic stress, while Fataluku is characterized primarily by phrase-level intonational contours. On the basis of internal comparative evidence, I demonstrate that the trochaic stress system of Makalero is older, and that a series of well-motivated sound changes has led to a dissociation of stress and intonation in Fataluku. A disassociation between stress and intonation is typologically unexpected, and analysis of the historical development of Fataluku’s system sheds light on how such a dissociation may have taken place.

Keywords: stress, intonation, prosody change, Fataluku, Makalero, Makasae, Oirata, East Timor, Timor Leste, Proto-Eastern Timor, Proto-Timor-Alor-Pantar
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The interaction of word- and phrase-level prosody in the Autosegmental-Metrical framework
    • 2.1Common synchronic patterns
    • 2.2Common diachronic patterns
  • 3.The languages in this study
    • 3.1The Timor-Alor-Pantar language family
    • 3.2Makalero synchronic phonology
    • 3.3Fataluku synchronic phonology
  • 4.Previous reconstructions of stress in the Proto-Timor-Alor-Pantar family
  • 5.Analysis of PETim stress
  • 6.Analysis of PETim Pitch
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 17 January 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.17019.hes
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