Gujarati phonology

Gujarati phonology

Gujarati phonology is the study of the inventory and patterns of the consonants, vowels, and prosody of the Gujarati language.

Vowels

*The three sibilants of Sanskrit are now two in standard Gujarati: IPA|/s/ and IPA|/ʃ/. Retroflex IPA| [ʂ] still appears in clusters in which it precedes another retroflex: IPA| [spəʂʈ] ('clear'). [Harvcoltxt|Mistry|1997|p=658]
*Persian and English are sources of IPA|/z/. Persian's IPA|/z/'s have by and large been transposed to IPA|/dʒ/ and IPA|/dʒʱ/: IPA|/dʒin̪d̪gi/ ('life') and IPA|/tʃidʒʱ/ ('thing'). The same cannot be so easily said for English: IPA|/tʃiz/ ('cheese').
*The distribution of sibilants varies over dialects and registers. The standard set is IPA| [s] and IPA| [ʃ] , while some speakers maintain IPA| [z] as well for the appropriate borrowings. Some dialects only have IPA| [s] , others prefer IPA| [ʃ] , while another system has them non-contrasting, with IPA| [ʃ] occurring contiguous to palatal segments. Lastly, a colloquial register has IPA| [s] or both IPA| [s] and IPA| [ʃ] replaced by voiceless IPA| [h] . This replacement does not extend to Sanskrit borrowing used by educated speakers speaking this register.
*The occurrence of IPA|/ɾ/ as a second member in consonantal clusters is one of Gujarati's conservative features as a modern Indo-Aryan language. For example, languages used in Asokan inscriptions (3rd century BC) display contemporary regional variations, with words found in Gujarat's Girnar inscriptions containing clusters with IPA|/ɾ/ as the second member not having IPA|/ɾ/ in their occurrence in inscriptions elsewhere. This is maintained even to today, with Gujarati IPA|/t̪ɾ/corresponding to Hindi IPA|/t̪/ and IPA|/t̪t̪/. [Harvcoltxt|Mistry|2001|p=274]

tress

The matter of stress is not quite clear:
*Stress is on the first syllable except when it doesn't have IPA|/a/ and the second syllable does.Harvcoltxt|Mistry|1997|p=660]
*Stress is barely perceptible. [Campbell, G.L. (1991) "Gujarati." "Compendium of the world's languages. v. 1. Abaza to Lusatian." New York: Routledge. pp. 541-545.]
*Stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable of a word, however, if the penultimate vowel in a word with more than two syllables is schwa, stress falls on the preceding syllable. [ [http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=85&menu=004 UCLA Language Materials Project: Gujarati.] Retrieved on 2007-04-29]

ə-deletion

Schwa-deletion, along with a-reduction and IPA| [ʋ] -insertion, is a phonological process at work in the combination of morphemes. It is a common feature among Indo-Aryan languages, referring to the deletion of a stem's final syllable's IPA|/ə/ before a suffix starting with a vowel.

This does not apply for monosyllabic stems and consonant clusters. So, better put, #VCəC + V# → #VCCV#. It also doesn't apply when the addition is an "o" plural marker ("see Gujarati grammar#Nouns") or "e" as an ergative marker ("see Gujarati grammar#Postpositions"). [Harvcoltxt|Mistry|1997|pp=661-662] It "sometimes" doesn't apply for "e" as a locative marker.

The second example shows an ɑ-reduction as well.

ə-insertion

ə finds itself inserted between the emphatic particle IPA|/dʒ/ and consonant-terminating words it postpositions. [Harvcoltxt|Cardona|Suthar|2003|p=667]

Fortunately IPA| [kɛ̤ʋũ's] situation can be explained through murmur. If to a formal or historical root of IPA|/kəɦe/ these rules are considered then predicted, explained, and made regular is the irregularity that is IPA| [kɛ̤ʋũ] (romanized as "kahevũ").

Thus below are the declensions of IPA| [kɛ̤ʋũ] 's IPA|/ɦ/-possessing, murmur-eliciting root IPA|/kəɦe/, this time with the application of the murmur rules on the root shown, also to which a preceding rule must be taken into account:

:0. A final root vowel gets deleted before a suffix starting with a non-consonant.

However in the end not all instances of IPA|/ɦ/ become murmured and not all murmur comes from instances of IPA|/ɦ/.

One other predictable source for murmur is voiced aspirated stops. A clear vowel followed by a voiced aspirated stop can vary with a pair gaining murmur and losing aspiration: IPA|#VCʱ ←→ #V̤C.

References

Bibliography

*citation
last1= Cardona
first1= George
year= 2003
authorlink1= George Cardona
last2= Suthar
first2= Babu
authorlink2= Babu Suthar
chapter= Gujarati
url= http://books.google.com/books?id=jPR2OlbTbdkC&pg=PA659&dq=indo-aryan+languages&sig=69z4DJxBuD4SPTTINIbzK_YW6ac
editor1-last= Cardona
editor1-first= George
editor2-last= Jain
editor2-first= Dhanesh
title= The Indo-Aryan Languages
publisher= Routledge
isbn= 9780415772945
.
*citation
last= Dave
first= T.N.
title= Notes on Gujarati Phonology
journal= Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies
volume= 6
issue= 3
year= 1931
pages= 673-678
url= http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1356-1898%281931%296%3A3%3C673%3ANOGP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W
.
*citation
last= Firth
first= J.R.
title= Phonetic Observations on Gujarati
journal= Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
volume= 20
issue= 1
year= 1957
pages= 231-241
url= http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X%281957%2920%3A1%2F3%3C231%3APOOG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
.
*citation
last= Masica
first= Colin
authorlink= Colin Masica
year= 1991
title= The Indo-Aryan Languages
place= Cambridge
publisher= Cambridge University Press
isbn= 9780521299442
url= http://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=indo-aryan+languages
.
*citation
last= Mistry
first= P.J.
year= 2003
chapter= Gujarati
editor-last= Frawley
editor-first= William
title= International Encyclopedia of Linguistics
edition= 2nd
place= Oxford
publisher= Oxford University Press
volume= 2
.
*citation
last= Mistry
first= P.J.
year= 2001
chapter= Gujarati
editor1-last= Garry
editor1-first= Jane
editor2-last= Rubino
editor2-first= Carl
title= An encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present
publisher= New England Publishing Associates
.
*citation
last= Mistry
first= P.J.
year= 1997
chapter= Gujarati Phonology
editor-last= Kaye
editor-first= A.S
title= Phonologies of Asia and Africa
place= Winona Lake
publisher= Eisenbrauns
.
*citation
last= Mistry
first= P.J.
year= 1996
chapter= Gujarati Writing
editor1-last= Daniels
editor2-last= Bright
title= The World's Writing Systems
publisher= Oxford University Press
.
*citation
last= Pandit
first= P.B.
title= Historical Phonology of Gujarati Vowels
journal= Language
volume= 37
issue= 1
year= 1961
pages= 54-66
url= http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0097-8507%28196101%2F03%2937%3A1%3C54%3AHPOGV%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R
.
*citation
last= Turner
first= Ralph Lilley
title= Gujarati Phonology
journal= Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
year= 1921
pages= 505-544
.
*citation
last= Turner
first= Ralph Lilley
title= Indo-Aryan Nasals in Gujarati
journal= Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
year= 1915
pages= 1033-1038
.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gujarati language — Infobox Language name=Gujarati nativename=ગુજરાતી गुजराती گُجراتی Gujǎrātī pronunciation=/gudʒ.(ə) ɾɑ̈t̪i/ region=India, Pakistan, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada, Zambia, Zimbabwe speakers=46 …   Wikipedia

  • Marathi phonology — The phoneme inventory of the Marathi language is similar to that of many other Indo Āryan languages. An IPA chart of all contrastive sounds in Marathi is provided below. Consonants[1]   Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex (Alveolo ) palatal… …   Wikipedia

  • English phonology — See also: Phonological history of English English phonology is the study of the sound system (phonology) of the English language. Like many languages, English has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect. In… …   Wikipedia

  • Navajo phonology — is the study of how speech sounds pattern and interact with each other in that language. The phonology of Navajo is intimately connected to its morphology. For example, the entire range of contrastive consonants is found only at the beginning of… …   Wikipedia

  • Modern Hebrew phonology — Main article: Hebrew language For assistance with IPA transcriptions of Hebrew for Wikipedia articles, see WP:IPA for Hebrew. This article is about the phonology of the Hebrew language based on the Israeli dialect. It deals with current phonology …   Wikipedia

  • Standard Chinese phonology — The phonology of Standard Chinese is reproduced below. Actual production varies widely among speakers, as people inadvertently introduce elements of their native dialects. By contrast, television and radio announcers are chosen for their… …   Wikipedia

  • Old Chinese phonology — The phonology of Old Chinese describes the language reflected by the rhymes of the Shijing and the phonetic components of Chinese characters, corresponding to the earlier half of the 1st millennium BC. Scholars have attempted to reconstruct the… …   Wikipedia

  • Ottawa phonology — Main article: Ottawa language Ottawa (also spelled Odawa) is a dialect of the Ojibwe language spoken in a series of communities in southern Ontario and a smaller number of communities in northern Michigan. Ottawa has a phonological inventory of… …   Wikipedia

  • Dutch phonology — For assistance with IPA transcriptions of Dutch for Wikipedia articles, see WP:IPA for Dutch and Afrikaans. Dutch grammar series Dutch grammar Dutch verbs Dutch conjugation t kofschip T rules Dutch nouns Dutch declension Gender in Dutch grammar… …   Wikipedia

  • Ojibwe phonology — The phonology of the Ojibwe language (also Ojibwa, Ojibway, or Chippewa, and most commonly referred to in the language as Anishinaabemowin) varies from dialect to dialect, but all varieties share common features. Ojibwe is an indigenous language… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”