The Tenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics, 22nd April, 2006
The Status of Schwa in Kuching Malay1 Karthik Durvasula, Ji-Hyun Jun, Tim McKinnon, Elanna Tseng
University of Delaware
1.
Introduction • Near complementary distribution between [∂] and [e] in Malay dialects. • However, minimal pairs exist. (1)a. b.
s∂paq sepak
“slap” “kick“
• This talk will show: a. Schwas can be removed form the (Underlying Representations (UR’s) of roots. b. In affixes, schwas behave like /a/’s or like empty V-slots. c. Hence, schwas are not part of the UR’s of Kuching Malay morphemes. • Kuching Malay Vowels 2 Front
Central
Back
High
i
(∂ )
u
Mid
e
(∂ )
o
Low
2.
a
A first look at schwa in Kuching Malay • Stress (at least in citation form) is on the final syllable. Final open syllables are noticeably lengthened. (2)
[la.ri:] [l∂m.bu:]
“run” “cow”
[me.ja:] [c∂.rita:]
“table” “story”
• Final syllable has all the vowels except schwa ([∂]) - extends to all mono-syllabic roots. (3)
[a.dit]
“younger sibling”
[a.su?]
[ma.nok]
“chicken”
[ka.me?]
“dog” (1st per. sg. Pronoun)
We thank our informant Min, Peter Cole, Gabriella Hermon, and everyone else in our Fall 2005, Field Methods Group. 2 It is not clear that the phonetic quality of schwas is consistent. It appears to be a central vowel, varying between mid and high. 1
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The Tenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics, 22nd April, 2006
• Non-word-final syllables permit all the vowels. (4)
[k∂.ci?] [li.dah] [e.ko(r)]
“small” “tongue” “tail”
[ru.mah] [ro.kok] [ta.ngan]
“house” “cigarette” “leg”
• In general, there exist no consonantal clusters in monosyllabic native-Sarawak words (5a). However, consonantal clusters do appear at the left edge of words that consist of two or more syllables in both mono-morphemeic (5b) and in poly-morphemic words (5c). (5)a.
*CCV(C)
b. Mono-morphemic [slu.a:] “pants” [smangka:] “watermelon”
[kpala?] [klapa?]
“head” “coconut”
c. Poly-morphemic words [s+puloh] “a ten” [s+k∂ping] “a piece” [s+biji?] “a ball/round object” [s+malam] “a night” [k+nama+qan] “famous person” [k+takut+an] “fear” • The schwa optional when there are already two syllables in the word (6) (6) Non-obligatory: a. [s∂.mang.ka:] b. [s∂lu.a:] c. [s∂+bi.ji?] d. [s∂+ti.ap]
[smang.ka:] [slu.a:] [s+bi.ji?] [s+ti.ap]
“watermelon” “pants” “a ball” “each and every”
• Obligatory, in some words with two or more surface syllables. (7) Obligatory (>2 syllables): a. [p∂.r∂m.pwan] [p(∂)r∂mpwan], [pr∂mpwan] b. [c∂.r∂.min] [c∂r(∂)min] • Obligatory in all cases of surface di-syallabic words. (8) Obligatory (=2 syllables) a. [k∂.ci?] *[kci?] b. [g∂.mo?] *[gmo?]
“small” “fat”
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“woman” “mirror”
The Tenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics, 22nd April, 2006
c. d.
[l∂.lah] [k∂.ping]
*[llah] *[kping]
“tired” “piece”
• Summary Schwa Insertion
3.
2 surface syllable
> 2 surface syllables
Obligatory
Non-obligatory
Affix Data
3.1 The prefix [s∂-] • The prefix is usually used to add the meaning ‘one’ or ‘a’ to the root word (classifiers, partitives, and other contexts). • The schwa can optionally delete with most consonant-initial words. (9) Consonant-initial roots a. s∂+puloh b. s∂+biji? c. s∂+tiap d. s∂+ribu e. s∂+hElay
s(∂)puloh s(∂)biji? s(∂)tiap, s∂tyap s(∂)ribu s∂h∂lay
‘(one) ten’ ‘one ball’ ‘each and every’ ‘(one) thousand’ ‘one piece’
• With vowel initial words, /∂/ has to be present, and there is a optional glottal stop insertion. (10) Vowel-intial roots a. s∂+olah b. s∂+ela c. s∂+umoh d. s∂+aman e. s∂+ikat
s∂o.lah, s∂.?olah s∂e.la, s∂.?ela s∂u.moh, s∂.?u.moh s∂a.man, s∂.?a.man s∂i.kat, s∂.?i.kat
as if / as though a yard same age as peaceful as a knot of something
3.2 The circumfix [k∂- X –an] • The circumfix is (usually) attached to adjective roots to form nouns.(bersih ‘clean’, k∂bersih-an ‘cleanliness’) • Similar to the [s∂-] cases, the /∂/ optionally deletes with most consonant initial roots.
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The Tenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics, 22nd April, 2006
(11) Consonant-initial roots a. k∂+baik+an b. k∂+p∂nday+an c. k∂+takut+an d. k∂+runtoh+an e. k∂+harum+an
k(∂)baikan, k(∂)baykan k(∂)pEndayan k(∂)takutan k∂runtohan k∂haruman
goodness cleverness tear collapsing fragance
• As in the [s∂-] cases, there are two observations to be made regarding the interaction between [k∂-X-an] and vowel-initial roots: [∂] cannot be deleted, optional glottal stop insertion. (12) Vowel-initial roots a. k∂+ibu+an b. k∂+anak+an c. k∂+untong+an d. k∂+esok+an e. k∂+o
k∂i.bu(w)an, k∂.?ibu(w)an k∂a.nakan, k∂.?a.nakan k∂u.tongan, k∂.?u.tongan k∂esokan, k∂.?esokan ???
motherly childish profit/lucky tomorrow ???
3.3 Summary • Schwa-Vowel sequences occur. • Glottal-stop insertion, or syllable reduction across morpheme-boundary.
4.
The Status of Schwa • It might be better to look at it as two smaller questions: (13)a. Question I: What is the status of schwa in roots? b. Question II: What is the status of schwa in affixes?
4.1
Question I • What is the status of schwa in roots? • Two observations are relevant to this point: (14)a. Observation I: Schwas never appear in word-final (stressed) syllables (4) b. Obesrvation II: We never see /∂/-V(owel) sequences in roots (15)3 .
The bold-faced data is not from our informant (Min). We got it from the Fonologi Dialek Melayu Kuching (Sarawak) – by Madzhi Johari). 3
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The Tenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics, 22nd April, 2006
(15)a. b. c. d. e. f.
/jai?/ ‘bad’, /?ae?/ ‘water’ /sia/ ‘there’, /rioh/ ‘chaos’, /bius/ ‘injection’ /m∂rea/ ‘to be engaged’, /peok/ ‘sound asleep’ /kueh/ ‘cakes’, /duit/ ‘money’, /tua/ ‘old’ /doa/ ‘prayer’, /ng∂moes/ ‘dirty’ *∂a, *∂o, *∂u, *∂i, *∂e, *a∂, *o∂, *u∂, *i∂, *e∂
• (14a-b) cast doubt on the presence of schwas in underlying representations. Easily accounted, if schwas are not underlying present in roots. Surface forms are through a rule of epenthesis between two consonants. • The rule is obligatory when Minimality (Cohn and McCarthy 1998) has to be satisfied, else optional (6-8) (16)
Possible Derivational Analysis Ø ––––––> ∂ / C’___ C (optional except to maintain Word-Minimality)
(17)
OT Constraints Min-Word: A word should be 2 syllables long. DEP-∂: Don’t insert a schwa. *ComplexOnset: No complex onsets.
(19)
Possible OT-analysis Min-Word >> Dep-∂, *Complex Onset
4.2
Question II • What is the status of schwa in prefixes? • In contrast to roots, schwa-vowel sequences do appear across morpheme boundaries. (20)a. s∂o.lah b. k∂i.bu(w)an
‘as if / as though’ ‘motherly’
• This appears to suggest that schwas are underlyingly present in prefixes. • Problem: no schwas in roots, but there are schwas in affixes. • However, there might be other analyses.
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The Tenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics, 22nd April, 2006
• In (21), glottal stop insertion is necessary between two /a/’s and optional between an /a/ and a following vowel. (21)a. Glottal stop insertion after a root final /a/ k∂+ibu+an –––––> k∂(?)ibu(w)an, *k∂(?)ibu?an k∂+rame+an –––––> k∂ramean, *k∂rame?an k∂+pandai+an ––––> k∂pandayan, *k∂panda?an k∂+suka+an –––––> k∂suka?an, *k∂sukaan b. k+ada+an mE+luka+i mE+nuda+i
––––> kada?an ––––> m(∂)luka?i, m(∂)lukayi ––––> m(∂)nuda?i, m∂nudayi
‘situation’ ‘pain (v.)’ ‘stain (v.)’
(22) Glottal stop insertion between /∂/ and root initial /a/ (10 & 12) s∂+umoh s∂u.moh, s∂.?u.moh same age s∂+aman s∂a.man, s∂.?a.man as peaceful as k∂+untong+an k∂u.to.ngan, k∂.?u.to.ngan profit/lucky k∂+esok+an k∂e.so.kan, k∂.?e.so.kan tomorrow • One possible answer is that the schwas in the affixes are reduced forms of /a/. (23)
Affix: sa-
or
ka-X-an
(24)
Derivational Analysis a. Ø –––––> ?
/
a + ___ V
b. /a/ –––––>
/
[C___ ]Prefix
∂
• Another way would be to say the prefix schwa is just an empty V-slot, and let the schwa surface as the least marked vowel and account for both the epenthesis and the the prefixal vowel. (25)
Affix: sV-
or
kV-X-an
• A general ban against Hiatus should take care of the consecutive ‘V-V’ sequences. (26)
OT Constraints MAX-F: No deletion of features. *NLV: No long vowels. *Hiatus: No vowel-vowel sequences. DEP-? : Don’t insert a glottal stop.
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The Tenth International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics, 22nd April, 2006
ALIGN(Morpheme, L, syllable, L) : The left edge of a morpheme should align with the left edge of a syllable. CrispEdge(syllable): A syllable edge must be crisp: all segments are uniquely syllabified (27)
4.3
OT-Analysis Max-F, *NLV, *Hiatus >> DEP-∂ >> DEP-?, ALIGN-STEM, CrispEdge(syllable)
Formalisations (25) Derivational Analysis a. Ø ––––––> ∂ / C’___ C (optional except to maintain Word-Minimality) a. Ø
(26)
5.
–––––>
?
/
a + ___ V
b. /a/ –––––>
∂
/
[C___ ]Prefix
OT-Analysis Max-F, *NLV, *Hiatus, Min-Word >> DEP-∂, *COMPLEX-ONSET >> DEP-?, ALIGN-STEM, CrispEdge(syllable)
Conclusion • •
Schwas can be removed form the (Underlying Representations (UR’s) of roots. Schwas can be removed from the UR’s of Kuching Malay morphemes if analyzed as like /a/’s or empty V-slots in affixes.
• Some support for the schwa as /a/ analysis is the data that Abigail Cohn discussed yesterday about truncated words in Indonesian (Cohn 2006): (29)
6.
kabag < kepala bagian ‘section head’
Selected Reference
Cohn, Abigail. 2006. “Phonological Structure of Indonesian Abbreviations Singkatan”. Presented at ISMIL 10, April 21st, 2006. Cohn, A. and J. McCarthy. 1998. Alignment and parallelism in Indonesian phonology. Working Papers of the Cornell Phonetics Laboratory 12: 53-137. Johari, Madzhi. 1989. Fonologi Dialek Melayu Kuching (Sarawak). Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka. Lapoliwa, Hans. 1981. A Generative Approach to the Phonology of Bahasa Indonesian. Pacific Linguistics. Series D- No, 34.
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