Gujarati phonology
Encyclopedia
Gujarati phonology
is the study of the inventory and patterns
of the consonant
s, vowel
s, and prosody
of the Gujarati language
.
Phonotactical constraints include: and /ɳ/ do not occur word-initially.
Gemination can serve as intensification. In some adjectives and adverbs, a singular consonant before the agreement vowel can be doubled for intensification. #VCũ → #VCCũ.
is not quite clear:
s. It is a common feature among Indo-Aryan languages, referring to the deletion of a stem's final syllable
's /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). It sometimes doesn't apply for e as a locative marker.
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
is the study of the inventory and patterns
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
of the consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
s, vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s, and prosody
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
of the Gujarati language
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
.
Vowels
| Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... | Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... | Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the... |
i | u | ||
| Close-mid Close-mid vowel A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from a close vowel to a mid vowel... |
e | ə | o | |
| Open-mid Open-mid vowel An open-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of an open-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from an open vowel to a mid vowel... |
ɛ | ɔ | ||
| Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue... |
(æ) | ɑ | ||
- Sanskrit's phonemic vowel length has been lost. Vowels are long when nasalized or in a final syllable.
- Gujarati contrasts oral and nasal, and murmuredBreathy voiceBreathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise...
and non-murmured vowels, except for /e/ and /o/. - In absolute word-final position the higher and lower vowels of the e/ɛ and o/ɔ sets vary. and /ɔ/ developed in the 15th century. Old Gujarati split into Rajasthani and (Middle) Gujarati.
- English loanwords are a source of /æ/.
Consonants
| Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
Dental/ Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Retroflex Retroflex consonant A retroflex consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants, especially in Indology... |
Post-alv./Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m | n | ɳ | ||||
| Stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
(pʰ) | t̪ʰ | ʈʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | |
| voiceless | p | t̪ | ʈ | tʃ | k | ||
| murmured Breathy voice Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise... |
bʱ | d̪ʱ | ɖʱ | dʒʱ | ɡʱ | ||
| voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
b | d̪ | ɖ | dʒ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
voiceless | f | s | ʃ | |||
| voiced | (z) | ɦ | |||||
| Tap | ɾ | ||||||
| Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
ʋ | l | ɭ | j | |||
- A fourth nasal phonemePhonemeIn a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
is postulated for the phones [ɲ, ŋ] and the nasalizationNasal vowelA nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...
of a preceding vowel [Ṽ]. Before velar and palatal stops, there is variation between these; e.g. [mɑ̃ɡʋũ]~[mɑŋɡʋũ] ('ask for'), [ɦĩcko]~[ɦĩɲcko] ('swing'). - Stops occurring at first members of clusters followed by consonants other than /ɾ, j, ʋ/ are unreleased; they are optionally unreleased in final position. The absence of release entails deaspiration of voiceless stops.
- Intervocalically and with murmuring of vowels, the voiced aspirated stops /ɡʱ, d̪ʱ, bʱ/ have voiced spirant allophoneAllophoneIn phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
s [ɣ, ð, β]. Spirantization of non-palatal voiceless aspirates has been reported as well, including /pʰ/ being usually realized as [f] in the standard dialect. - The voiced retroflex stops and the nasal /ɖʱ, ɖ, ɳ/ have flappedFlap consonantIn phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:...
allophones [ɽʱ, ɽ, ɽ̃]. Intervocalically all three are flapped. /ɳ/ is unflapped before retroflex stops, and in final position varies freely between flapped and unflapped. The stops are unflapped initially, geminated, and postnasally; and flapped intervocalically, finally, and before or after other consonants. has [v] and [w] as allophones. - The distribution of sibilants varies over dialects and registers.
- Some dialects only have [s], others prefer [ʃ], while another system has them non-contrasting, with [ʃ] occurring contiguous to palatal segments. Retroflex [ʂ] still appears in clusters in which it precedes another retroflex: [spəʂʈ] ('clear').
- Some speakers maintain [z] as well for PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
borrowings. Persian's /z/'s have by and large been transposed to /dʒ/ and /dʒʱ/: /dʒin̪d̪ɡi/ ('life') and /tʃidʒʱ/ ('thing'). The same cannot be so easily said for English: /tʃiz/ ('cheese'). - Lastly, a colloquial register has [s], or both [s] and [ʃ], replaced by voiceless [h]. For educated speakers speaking this register, this replacement does not extend to Sanskrit borrowings.
Phonotactical constraints include: and /ɳ/ do not occur word-initially.
- ClusterConsonant clusterIn linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
s occur initially, medially, and finally. Geminates occur only medially. - Biconsonantal initial clusters beginning with stops have /ɾ/, /j/, /ʋ/, and /l/ as second members. In addition to these, in loans from Sanskrit the clusters /ɡn/ and /kʃ/ may occur.
The occurrence of /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 inscriptionsEdicts of AshokaThe Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign from 269 BCE to 231 BCE. These inscriptions are dispersed throughout the areas of modern-day Bangladesh, India,...
(3rd century BC) display contemporary regional variations, with words found in Gujarat's Girnar inscriptions containing clusters with /ɾ/ as the second member not having /ɾ/ in their occurrence in inscriptions elsewhere. This is maintained even to today, with Gujarati /t̪ɾ/ corresponding to HindiHindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
/t̪/ and /t̪t̪/. - Initially, s biconsonantally clusters with /ɾ, j, ʋ, n, m/, and non-palatal voiceless stops.
- Triconsonantal initial clusters include /st̪ɾ, spɾ, smɾ/ - most of which occur in borrowings.
- Geminates were previously treated as long consonants, but they are better analyzed as clusters of two identical segments. Two proofs for this:
- The u in geminated uccār "pronunciation" sounds more like the one in clustered ('utterance') than the one in shortened ('anxiety').
- Geminates behave towards (that is, disallow) [ə]-deletion like clusters do.
Gemination can serve as intensification. In some adjectives and adverbs, a singular consonant before the agreement vowel can be doubled for intensification. #VCũ → #VCCũ.
| big | [moʈũ] | [moʈʈũ] | big |
| straight | [sid̪ʱũ] | [sid̪d̪ʱũ] | straight |
| considerably | [kʰɑsũ] | [kʰɑssũ] | considerably |
Stress
The matter of stressStress (linguistics)
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense.The stress placed...
is not quite clear:
- Stress is on the first syllableSyllableA syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
except when it doesn't have /a/ and the second syllable does. - Stress is barely perceptible.
- Stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable of a word, however, if the penultimate vowel in a word with more than two syllables is schwaSchwaIn linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
, stress falls on the preceding syllable.
ə-deletion
Schwa-deletion, along with a-reduction and [ʋ]-insertion, is a phonological process at work in the combination of morphemeMorpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
s. It is a common feature among Indo-Aryan languages, referring to the deletion of a stem's final syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
's /ə/ before a suffix starting with a vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
.
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
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
marker (see Gujarati grammar#Nouns) or e as an ergative
Ergative
The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb...
marker (see Gujarati grammar#Postpositions). It sometimes doesn't apply for e as a locative marker.
| Stem | Suffix | Suffixed Stem | C/V | Del | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| verb root | [keɭəʋ] | educate | [iʃ] | 1st person singular, future | [keɭʋiʃ] | will educate | CVCəC + VC → CVCCVC | Yes | Polysyllabic stem with /ə/ in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a vowel (verbal declension Declension In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender... ). |
| [səmədʒ] | understand | [jɑ] | masculine plural, perfective | [səmdʒjɑ] | understood | CVCəC + CV → CVCCCV | Polysyllabic stem with /ə/ in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a semi-vowel (verbal declension Declension In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender... ). |
||
| [ut̪əɾ] | descend | [t̪o] | masculine singular, imperfective | [ut̪əɾt̪o] | descending | VCəC + CV → VCəCCV | No | Suffix starting with a consonant. | |
| [t̪əɾ] | swim, float | [ɛ] | 2nd person singular, present | [t̪əɾɛ] | swimming, floating | CəC + V → CəCV | Monosyllabic. | ||
| [ʋəɾɳəʋ] | describe | [i] | feminine, perfective | [ʋəɾɳəʋi] | described | CVCCəC + VC → CVCCəCVC | Consonant cluster. | ||
| [ɑɭoʈ] | wallow, roll | [iʃũ] | 1st person plural, future | [ɑɭoʈiʃũ] | will wallow, roll | VCoC + VCV → VCoCVCV | Non-ə. | ||
| noun | [ɑɭəs] | laziness | [ũ] | adjectival marker | [ɑɭsũ] | lazy | VCəC + V → VCCV | Yes | Polysyllabic stem with /ə/ in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a vowel (adjectival marking). |
| [ʋəkʰət̪] | time | [e] | locative marker | [ʋəkt̪e] | at (the) time | CVCəC + V → CVCCV | Sometimes yes — e as a locative marker. | ||
| [d̪iʋəs] | day | [d̪iʋəse] | on (the) day | CVCəC + V → CVCəCV | No | Sometimes no — e as a locative marker. | |||
| [ɾəmət̪] | game | [o] | plural marker | [ɾəmət̪o] | games | CVCəC + V → CVCəCV | Plural o number marker suffix. | ||
| adjective | [ɡəɾəm] | hot | [i] | noun marker | [ɡəɾmi] | heat | CVCəC + V → CVCCV | Yes | Polysyllabic stem with /ə/ in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a vowel (noun marking). |
ɑ-reduction
A stem's final syllable's /ɑ/ will reduce to /ə/ before a suffix starting with /ɑ/. #ɑC(C) + ɑ# → #eC(C)ɑ#. This can be seen in the derivation of nouns from adjective stems, and in the formation of passive and causative forms of verb stems.| Stem | Suffix | Suffixed Stem | Red | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cut | [kɑp] | [ɑ] | [kəpɑ] | be cut | Passive | Yes |
| [ɑʋ] | [kəpɑʋ] | cause to cut | Causative | |||
| cause to cut |
[kəpɑʋ] | [ɑ] | [kəpɑʋɑ] | cause to be cut | Causative Passive | No1 |
| [ɖɑʋ] | [kəpɑʋɖɑʋ] | cause to cause to cut | Double Causative | |||
| use | [ʋɑpəɾ] | [ɑ] | [ʋəpɾɑ]2 | be used | Passive | Yes |
| long | [lɑmb] | [ɑi] | [ləmbɑi] | length | Noun |
- It doesn't happen a second time.
- It can take place after an ə-deletion. #ɑCəC + ɑ# → #əCCɑ#.
[ʋ]-insertion
Between a stem ending in a vowel and its suffix starting with a vowel, a [ʋ] is inserted. #V + V# → #VʋV#. This can be seen in the formation of passive and causative forms of verb stems.| Stem | Suffix | particle Grammatical particle In grammar, a particle is a function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes . It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition... /dʒ/ and consonant-terminating words it postpositions.
Murmur/ɦ/ serves as a source for murmurBreathy voice Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise... , of which there are three rules:
The table below compares declensions of the verbs [kəɾʋũ] ('to do') and [kɛ̤ʋũ] ('to say'). The former follows the regular pattern of the stable root /kəɾ/ serving as a point for characteristic suffixations. The latter, on the other hand, is deviant and irregular in this respect.
Fortunately the [kɛ̤ʋũ] situation can be explained through murmur. If to a formal or historical root of /kəɦe/ these rules are considered then predicted, explained, and made regular is the irregularity that is [kɛ̤ʋũ] (romanized as kahevũ). Thus below are the declensions of [kɛ̤ʋũ] /ɦ/-possessing, murmur-eliciting root /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:
However in the end not all instances of /ɦ/ become murmured and not all murmur comes from instances of /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: #VCʱ ←→ #V̤C. The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
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