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Article published In:
Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area
Vol. 41:2 (2018) ► pp.263–293

Vowel harmony in Stau

| Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales | Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale | Southwest Minzu University
| Independent researcher, France
In this paper, we propose that in Stau (Rgyalrongic, Sino-Tibetan) there is a system of four vowel pairs (/i/-/ə/, /e/-/ɛ/, /æ/-/ɑ/, /u/-/o/) that undergo regressive vowel harmony. This system of vowel harmony produces root morpheme forms such as [æCæ] and [ɑCɑ], whereas forms like [æCɑ] or [ɑCæ] are remarkably absent. Vowel harmony is also observed when combining morphemes to create complex words. Unambiguous cases show that the vowel of the first morpheme assimilates to the vowel of the second (e.g. /æCɑ/ → [ɑCɑ]), if the vowels of the two morphemes belong to the same vowel pair set (e.g. /æ/-/ɑ/). At the same time, there are several situations where vowel harmony is consistently not observed. Notable among these blocking mechanisms are lexemes that contain semantically-heavy first syllables. In this situation, we observe the interplay of semantics and phonology. Analysis of the vowel harmony system in Stau yields a way to measure the distance between morphemes.
Keywords: vowel harmony, vowel pairs, regressive, blocking, semantically-heavy first syllables, phonotactic constraints, status constructus, Stau, Rgyalrongic
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Harmony within the four vowel pairs
    • 2.1Root morphemes
      • 2.1.1Vowel pair 1 (/e/-/ɛ/)
      • 2.1.2Vowel pair 2 (/æ/-/ɑ/)
      • 2.1.3Vowel pair 3 (/u/-/o/)
      • 2.1.4Vowel pair 4 (/i/-/ə/)
    • 2.2Across morpheme boundaries
      • 2.2.1The negation prefix /mæ-/
      • 2.2.2Directional/perfective prefixes before prohibitive /ti-/
      • 2.2.3The topicalizer connective /rɛɡɛ/
      • 2.2.4The deictics /pə-/ ‘this’ and /ndʐə-/ ‘two before’
      • 2.2.5The diminutive suffix /-ze/ and genitive /=ji/
      • 2.2.6Reduplication
      • 2.2.7Compounding
  • 3.Factors that block vowel harmony
    • 3.1Uvular/velar fricative lowering (phonotactic constraints)
    • 3.2Consonant cluster and affricate blocking /ə/ → [i] harmony
    • 3.3Lexemes that contain semantically-heavy first syllables
    • 3.4Marked phonological borrowing from Tibetan
    • 3.5Borrowings from Chinese
    • 3.6Proper names
    • 3.7Predicate compounds
    • 3.8Portmanteau
  • 4.Vowel harmony outside the four vowel pairs
    • 4.1The adjectival prefix /kɛ-/
    • 4.2Other vowel harmony
  • 5.Traces of status constructus
  • 6.Conclusion
    • 6.1Relative distance of affixes from roots
    • 6.2Evidence for sound classes
    • 6.3Interplay between phonology and semantics
    • 6.4Other types of vowel harmony
    • 6.5Status constructus
    • 6.6Areas for further exploration
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Glossary
  • References
Published online: 1 February 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ltba.17016.gat
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