A Phonology Of Eastern Kmhmu' With Special Reference To Palatal Continuant Codas And Neutralisation Of Vowel Length Contrast

Abstract

The eastern variety of Kmhmu' described in this study has a rich phoneme inventory of 36 consonants and 10 distinctive vowel qualities with contrastive vowel length. There is no contrast of vowel phonation or tone, although voicing and glottalisation do contrast in initial consonants. Word and syllable structure are described along with word formation patterns. Previous descriptions of this variety of Kmhmu' differ in their interpretation of the final voiceless palatal continuant and in their interpretation of vowel length preceding final /? h j?/ (Smalley 1961, Preisig 1990, Suksavang Simana et al. 1994 and Suwilai 2002). This study presents data and analysis which clarify these details. This analysis suggests that the voiceless palatal approximant in final position be interpreted as an approximant, rather than a fricative as others have analysed it, because it is realised with little turbulence. It also demonstrates how vowel length contrast is neutralised in syllables with final laryngeal consonants /? h j?/, where duration is consistently intermediate between long and short. The neutralisation of vowel length before final /j?/ is thought to be due to the articulatory and auditory similarity to final /h/.

Keywords

• Kmhmu'
• phonology
• vowels