2. 1 Phonemic analyses of Yongning Na in comparative perspective Journées de Linguistique d’Asie Orientale 28-29 juin 2007 Alexis Michaud

3. 2 Plan 1. Brief presentation of the language 2. Palatalisation and some of its consequences + (time allowing) 3. and 4. Two cases of neutralisation: /kʰ/ vs. /kʶ/, retroflexes vs. coronals 5. A glimpse of the pool of phonetic variation Work in progress. Illustrates the method used in fieldwork. Tone: key issue, but synchronically independent of segments. Not addressed here. (In preparation; talk given at the Société de Linguistique de Paris on June 16th, 2007)

4. 3 1. The Na (Naxi) language Sino-Tibetan; Burmic subgroup Simple syllabic structure: (C)(G)V Tones: not described here For a phonemic account of Western Na: Michailovsky, B.; Michaud, A.: Syllabic inventory of a Western Naxi dialect, and correspondence with Joseph F. Rock's transcriptions. Cahiers de linguistique - Asie Orientale 35(1): 3-21 (2006).

5. 4 Fieldwork on Western Na (top) and Eastern Na (bottom)

6. 5 AS (Western dialect of Na) LD (Eastern dialect of Na)

7. 6 AS (Western dialect of Na) LD (Eastern dialect of Na) iɯ u v ̩ ɤ ɻ æ ɑ i yɯ u v ̩ e ɤ o ə˞ a ɑ + after /h/: nasals / ĩ /, / ũ /, / ṽ ̩ /, / w̃ɤ / Vowels, not including glides

8. 7 First glance at correspondences AS (Western Na)LD (Eastern Na) pipvpvmi mimvmv lylɯ lyli lilɯ lɯlv, ʐv, ʐɯlv Preliminary work: taking a closer look at individual correspondences, to understand the changes. Perspective: dynamic synchrony (Martinet 1955, 1975). Comparable phonemic inventory; correspondences point to earlier contrasts, but do not provide answers on the phonetic nature of these oppositions.

9. 8 gɯ ɟi 2. Palatalisation LD: palatalisation process completed, empty slots filled. « Water » in Western dialects (e.g. AS): /gi˩/; somewhat palatalised phonetically: [ ɟi˩]. In LD (an Eastern dialect): [dʑi˥]. Regular correspondence: AS /gi/, LD /dʑi/ … and the empty slot [gi] is now occupied: regular correspondence: AS /gɯ/, LD /gi/. (Ex.: « brother », /gɯ˧ zɯ˧/ vs. /gi˧ zɯ˧/) gi dʑi Initial consonant Vowel Hypothesis on the historical development in LD: gi

10. 9 Consequences on affricates: Alveolar-palatal affricate + /u/: what is its history? [dʑu], [tɕu], [tɕʰu] LD dʑu˧AS /gy˧/ (phonetically: ɟy˧) verb of existence LD lo˩ dʑu˥AS /lɑ˩gy˧/ « bracelet » /gy/ ɟy ɟju (dʑju) /dʑu/ palatalisationdiphthongisation further palatalisation: becomes alveolar reinterpretation of rhyme? Not all correspondences are straightforward: LD mv̩˩ tɕu˧AS mɯￛ tʰa˧ « under, down(wards) » Pressure of Chinese? Also ongoing in Western Na(xi) (AS dialect): [dɯ˧ mə˞˩ tɕʰi˧ tɕʰu˧ be˧ lu˧] Unlikely to be /kʰi˧ kʰju˧/. (AS)(FK)

11. 10 Further consequences on affricates? Alveolo-palatals + /i/, dentals + /ɯ/: continuity from consonant to vowel. Both sets of syllables become acoustically close. (Mandarin Chinese: zi, ci + zhi, chi; alveolo-palatals: xi, ji, qi) Notations, e.g. for Pinyin « zhi »: / ʈʂʅ /, for « zi »: / tsɿ /. IPA equivalent: /ʈʂʐ̩/, /tsz̩/. In Na(xi), for the voiced counterparts: /dzɯ/: realised as /dzɿ/ i.e. / dzz ̩/; simplest notation: / dz ̩/? Issue: how strong is the tie with the original rhyme? Allophone of /i/ in Mandarin, of /ɯ/ in Na(xi), but similar realisation. In borrowings: Na /tsɯ/ for Mandarin /tsi/ (« zi »). Relates to a general phenomenon in (phonologically) monosyllabic languages: cf. Henderson 1985, and Matisoff 1973: ‘tightly structured nature of the syllable in monosyllabic languages’ (Matisoff 1973).

12. 11 /tɕi˩/ « set (down), put » /njæ˧ tsɯ˩/ « eyebrow » formants: 2800 1450 590 formants: 3150 2080 410 /tɕi/ /tsɯ/ spectral peak for friction: about 7,000about 10,000 F2 - F1 (frequency)1670860 vowel: /tsɯ/ more open and more posterior than /tɕi/. Well distinguished acoustically. (data from speaker F5)

13. 12 In numerous cases: distinction less obvious. /dʑi/ and /dzɯ/: phonetically close /dʑi˥/ « water » /sɯ˧ dzɯ˩/ (speaker F5) « tree » /tsʰɯ˥ zɯ˥/ « barley » [speaker F4; said twice] A correction by speaker F4: ‘don’t say dʑi, say dzɯ’ Vowel: as for /tɕi˩/; friction: centre at 8,000 /dzɯ˥/ « chisel » Vowel: as for /tɕi˩/; friction: centre at 8,000

14. 13 /dʑi˥/ « water » /dzɯ˥/ « chisel » first three formants: 3100 1800 360 first three formants: 3100 1950 410 F2 - F115401440 /ɯ/: neither more open nor more posterior. Acoustically tenuous distinction. (speaker F5)

15. 14 Conclusion on palatalisation Completed. Empty slots filled. Influence on neighbouring consonants – or neighbouring syllables. Distinction threatened although both the initial and the rhyme differ. (Similar to issue in Vietnamese: Michaud and Vu-Ngoc 2004, Michaud 2004.)

16. 15 3. A marginal opposition: /k/, /kʰ/, /kʶ/ Almost complementary distribution. Phonetically, the syllables written as /kʶ/+vowel also have a degree of aspiration: [kʶʰ]. v̩v̩ æ ɑ wɑwɑ iou k kv ̩ kæ kɑkɑ kw ɑ kikoku kʰkʰ kʰv̩kʰv̩ n.a. kʰikʰikʰokʰokʰukʰu kʶkʶ kʶv̩kʶv̩ kʶækʶæk ʶɑ kʶwɑkʶwɑ n.a. Two-term opposition, except before /v̩/. Neutralisation, similar to observations on Western Na: Michaud 2006. /kʰv/: corresponds to AS /kʰv/ (e.g. « year »); cognates of /kʶv˧/ « hole »: /kʰo˧/ (AS), /kʰɑ˧/ (NL), /kʰə˞˧/ (FK)

17. 16 4. Another marginal opposition: dental and retroflex initials Retroflexion: not on same lexical items as in AS. In AS: only before vowel /o/, which is not present in LD. v̩v̩ æi ɑ uwæ ɤ t tv ̩ tæti tɑtɑ tu ʈʈv̩ʈv̩ʈæʈæ ʈiʈi ʈwæʈwæ ʈɤ Opposition before /æ/, /i/ and /v/. Examples of attested combinations:

18. 17 5. Phonetic variability (pool of variation) /lv̩/, /lɯ/: variation in the initial Realisation of initial /l/: weakens to an approximant before /ɯ/, as opposed to its lateral realisation before /v/. The friction of /v/ is very weak. Weakening of the friction of /v̩/ /mv̩/: tends to be realised as [m]. Example: /mv̩˩ tɕu˧ ʂu˩/ (brief demonstration of recordings)

19. 18 /hĩ/ realised as nasal, homorganic with following stop /hĩ/: ‘subordinating’ particle. Example: [ɖwæￛ fv˧ hĩ˧ ɖɯ˧ v˧ ŋi˩] « serious, reliable » [ɖwæￛ fv˧ ɳɖɯ˧ v˧ ŋi˩] Devoicing of /ɯ/ after unvoiced initial fricative/ affricate /sɯ/ can be realised as [s]. Example: /nu˥ sɯ˧ kv˩/ (2 nd pers. pl.)

20. 19 As a conclusion: Progress of documentation and of analysis: hand in hand. ‘Field experiments’: cf. forthcoming article in Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 3rd issue of 2007. (Western Na data.) Providing a basis for the study of phonetics/phonology: verification of data; cross-language comparison; typology. Typology of language change: ‘panchronic phonology’.