Morpho-phonology of the Nominal Suffix in Taiwan Hakka Dialects

Michael M. Opper

Phondi Talk 10/15/2010

Objectives

• Talk about the phonological fundamentals of four Taiwan Hakka dialects

• Compare the Nominal Suffix NS in Taiwan Hakka dialects with a particular emphasis on Guanxi Sixian

Hakka Dialects and Chinese

• Hakka is one of seven Chinese languages

• Spoken primarily in Northern Guangdong and Western Fujian

• Roughly three million speakers in Taiwan; fifty million worldwide

Some Features of Hakka Dialects

• All Hakka dialects have a nominalizing suffix. It is cognate to SC 兒 and has been commonly written with the “dummy character” 仔

• Lack [y]• Lack yángshǎng 陽上 ; only one shǎng tone• Register distinction in píng and rù; sometimes qù• Words with sonorant initials in higher registers• Unique words for son ‘lai6’ and mother ‘oi1’

Taiwan Hakka Dialects

• Sixian spoken by roughly 50% of Taiwan Hakka

• Hailu spoken by more than 20%

• Raoping spoken by less than 20%

• Others spoken by less than 10%

Dialects Surveyed

• Zhutian Sixian

• Guanxi Sixian

• Xinzhu Raoping

• Yangmei Hailu

Taiwan Hakka Phonology

• C(G)VX structure for heavy syllables

• CV structure for light syllables (the NS)

• Rimes (Finals) V:- {a, e, i, o, u, ɨ} VX- V {e, o, a}, X {i, u, p, t, k, m, n, ŋ}

• Dialects differ mainly in Onsets (Initials) and Tonemes

Zhutian Sixian OnsetsBilabials Labiodentals Dentals Velars Glottals

Unaspirated Voiceless Stops

p 包冰 t 刀等 k 歌经 Ø [ʔ] 嬰有

Aspirated Voiceless Stops

pʰ 泡喷 tʰ 同定 kʰ 苦圈

Unaspirated Voiceless Affricates

ts 子走

Aspirated Voiceless Affricates

tsʰ 次在

Fricatives f 福 v 碗 s 双船 h 号限

Nasals m 尾忘 n 牛难 ŋ 饿元

Lateral Approximant l 梨流

Zhutian Sixian Tones

24 – MH

31 – ML

44 - HH

32 - ML

11 – LL

X 55 - HH

Guanxi Sixian OnsetsBilabials Labiodentals Dentals Velars Glottals

Unaspirated Voiceless Stops

p 包冰 t 刀等 k 歌经 Ø [ʔ] 嬰矮

Aspirated Voiceless Stops

pʰ 泡喷 tʰ 同定 kʰ 苦圈

Unaspirated Voiceless Affricates

ts 子走

Aspirated Voiceless Affricates

tsʰ 次在

Fricatives f 福 v 碗 s 双 z 药 h 号限

Nasals m 尾忘 n 牛难 ŋ 饿元

Lateral Approximant l 梨流

Guanxi Sixian Tones

24 – MH

31 – ML

44 – HH

32 – ML

11 – LL

X 55 –HH

Xinzhu Raoping OnsetsBilabials Labiodentals Dentals Velars Glottals

Unaspirated Voiceless Stops

p 包冰 t 刀等 k 歌经 Ø [ʔ] 嬰矮

Aspirated Voiceless Stops

pʰ 泡喷 tʰ 同定 kʰ 苦圈

Unaspirated Voiceless Affricates

ts 子走

Aspirated Voiceless Affricates

tsʰ 次在

Fricatives f 福水 v 忘 s 四 z 蛳 h 号限

Nasals m 尾 n 牛难 ŋ 饿元

Lateral Approximant l 梨流

Xinzhu Raoping Tones

11 – LL 53 – HM

33 – MM

44 – HH

55 – HH

X 31 – ML

Yangmei Hailu OnsetsBilabials Labiodentals Dentals Post-Alveolars Velars Glottals

Unaspirated Voiceless Stops

p 包冰 t 刀等 k 歌经 Ø [ʔ] 嬰矮

Aspirated Voiceless Stops

pʰ 泡喷 tʰ 同定 kʰ 苦圈

Unaspirated Voiceless

Affricates

ts 子走 tʃ 张

Aspirated Voiceless Affricates

tsʰ 次在 tʃʰ 抽

Fricatives f 福 v 忘 s 四伞 ʃ 食 ʒ 有 h 号限

Nasals m 尾 n 牛难 ŋ 饿元

Lateral Approximant

l 梨流

Yangmei Hailu Tones

53 –HM

13 – LM

21 – ML 55 – HH

55 – HH

X 33 – MM

32 – ML

The Nominal Suffix NS

• Heavy syllables: CVX, Light syllables (such as the NS): CV

• CVXCV will either have an unparsed syllable (CVX)CV or an ill-formed foot (CVX)(CV).

• The NS cannot be a prosodic word, it affixes to a phonological word to avoid foot-based requirements

• Requires an onset

The Nominal Suffix NS

• Always e² in Zhutian Sixian (Common Sixian suffix) *** add examples

• ɤ in Xinzhu Raoping and Yangmei Hailu, becomes a syllabic nasal following nasals with the same place of articulation *** add examples

• Underlying /l/ in Guanxi Sixian

Guanxi Sixian NSRoot-Final Segment Suffix Form Examples

[-p] /pl̩ �/ /hap8.pl̩ �/ ‘box’

[-t] /tl̩ �/ /mat7.tl̩ �/ ‘socks’

[-k] /kl̩ �/ /kok8.kl̩ �/ ‘rice patty’

[-m] /mɤ/ /zit8.tjam3.mɤ/ ‘a little bit’

[-n] /nɤ/ /mun1.nɤ/ ‘mosquito’; /se5.ŋin2.nɤ/ ‘child’

[-n] /n�/ /l̩an2.n�/ ‘basket’

[-ŋ] /ŋ�#/ /kʰwai5.tʰoŋ1.ŋ�#/ ‘chopsticks box’

[ŋ�#] /ŋɤ/ /ŋ�#2.ŋɤ/ ‘fish’

[-i] /jŋ�#/ /pʰi1.jŋ�#/ ‘quilt’; /mi1.tʰjoi5.jŋ�#/ ‘rice bag’; /tʰjoi5.jŋ�#/ ‘belt’

[-i] /jɤ/ /pwoi1.jɤ/ ‘heat rash’ /moi5.jɤ/ ‘woman’

[-i] /jl̩ �/ /koi5.jl̩ �/ ‘scab’; /kʰwai5.jl̩ �/ ‘chopsticks’; /l̩ai2.jl̩ �/ ‘son’

[-a] /l̩ �/ /tsaː1.l̩ �/ ‘car’

[-o] /wl̩ �/ /tjao5.wl̩ �/ ‘bird’

[-u] /wŋ�#/ /hu1.wŋ�#/ ‘beard’

***switch bracket typesRoot+{suff1, suff2}Identified the problem, not solved it!!Do not emphasize OT analysis, cop out!

Guanxi Sixian NS

• Four surface forms: the syllabic lateral [lJ ], the syllabic dental nasal [nJ ], the syllabic velar nasal [ŋ̍L ] and the mid-high back unrounded vowel [ɤ].

• I hypothesize that the underlying form is /l/, only surfaces unchanged in a specific environment: after [aː]: e.g. /tsʰaː+l/ [tsʰaː.lJ ]

Guanxi Sixian NS

• Vowel final roots show a remarkable amount of free variation.

• Spreading of the non-low vowels: e.g. /tjao-l/ [tjao.wlJ ] and /koi-l/ [koi.jlJ ].

• In some forms, the /l/ becomes [ŋ̍L ]: e.g. /pʰi.jŋ̍L /. • the /l/ becomes the back vowel [ɤ]: e.g. /pwoi.jɤ/• Since /a/ has no glide counterpart, there is a ban

on epenthesis, and there is a strict adherence to right-alignment of roots with syllables, [tsʰaː.lJ ] is the only option.

Gemination

• There is a strong pressure for every syllable to have an onset.

• There is also a strong pressure for the rightmost segment of every root to be aligned with the right edge of a syllable.

Constraints for Geminates

onset Every syllable must have an onset

align-R(Root, ) The right edge of every root must align with the

right edge of some syllable.

dep Do not epenthesize

*gem Do not have geminates

Constraints for hap.pl (con’t)/hap-l̩/ onset align-R dep max *gem

☞ (a) hap.pl̩ � *

(b) hap.l̩ � *!

(c) haː.pl̩ � *!

(d) hap.l̩ɤ *!

(e) hap *!

Constraint Variation for Nasals

/mun-l̩/ align-R dep max onset *gem

☞ (a) mun.n * *

(b) mun.nɤ *! *

(c) muː.nn *! *

(d) mun *!

/mun-l̩/ align-R onset max dep *gem

(a) mun.n *! *

☞ (b) mun.nɤ * *

(c) muː.nn *! *

(d) mun *!

Explain that these variants occur because of confusion

from the dialects