UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

The CVX Theory and Burushaski Syllable Structure

Special Problem Course

Piar Karim

5/6/2012

Submitted to:

Dr. Timothy Montler

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Contents Contents ........................................................................................................................................................ 1

1. Brief Summary of the CVX theory ............................................................................................................. 2

1.1 Morphological Factors: ....................................................................................................................... 3

1.1.1 Affix or (affix-like) Rule................................................................................................................. 3

1.1.2 Potential V and anti-allomorphy .................................................................................................. 4

1.1.3 Gestural Overlap and Complex Sounds ....................................................................................... 4

2. Burushaski Data and the CVX theory ........................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Burushaski sound system .................................................................................................................... 7

2.2 Consonant Clusters in Burushaski ..................................................................................................... 13

2.3 Analysis of Onset Consonant Clusters............................................................................................... 16

2.4 Analysis of Word-medial consonant clusters .................................................................................... 17

2.5. Analysis of Word-final Consonant Clusters ...................................................................................... 18

2.6 Problem with the CVX theory ........................................................................................................... 19

References: ................................................................................................................................................. 20

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The CVX theory and Syllable Structure of Burushaski

Piar Karim

This paper has two sections: 1) it gives a brief summary of the CVX theory (San Duanmu 2009) and 2) it collects and analyzes the data in Burushaski and evaluate it against the CVX theory. The CVX theory’s claim about universal syllable structure is based on the evaluation of the data from English and German belonging to West-Germanic language family, and Standard Chinese, Shanghai Chinese, Jiarong belonging to “Sino-Tibetan” language family. The data from the latter is examined “for their large final consonant clusters’’ (Duanmu 2009, 71) and the data from Jiarong is examined “for its large initial consonant cluster’’ (Duanmu 2009, 71). The data for Burushaski is collected from the Burushaski-German dictionary (Berger 1998), analyzed and tested against the CVX theory in section 2.

1. Brief Summary of the CVX theory

The CVX theory claims that the maximal syllable size of all languages is CVX, which can be CVV such as [nau] ‘now’ and [si:] ‘see’, or CVC, such as [get] ‘get’. CVX is the upper limit of the syllable size, where C, V and X can each be complex sounds. Consider the maximal syllable structure, which is shown in (1) below:

(1) The maximal Syllable CVX Syllable

O R Onset & Rhyme

X X X Timing slots (X-slot)

The CVX theory also proposes that a word has the schematic structure which is shown in (2) below:

(2) The CVX analysis of word structure: CmCeS...SCeCm S.....S one or more syllable whose maximal size is CVX Ce an optional C supported by potential V (and anti-allomorphy) Cm one (or more) optional affixes or affix-like consonants

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This theory proposes that word-medial syllables are universally quite simple, but extra consonants can occur at word edges. Non-final rhymes in English and German rarely exceed VX (Giegerich 1985, Borowsky 1986, 1989, Hall 2001, 2002). For instance, in the CELEX lexicon of English (Baayen et al. 1995), there are 7401 monomorphemic words, which contain 4546 non-final syllables. Among them there are just fifty-eight VVC rhymes (1.3 %) and thirteen VCC rhymes (0.3%). This shows that over 98% of non-final rhymes are no larger than VX. Rhymes that exceed VX are found in word-final position. Among the 7,401 monomorphemic English words, 41.4 % of them have a final cluster that exceeds VX.

The author raises questions about this apparently radical proposal and how could it treat syllables like CCVVC [smail] ‘smile’, or CVCCC, [teksts] ‘texts’ and CCCVCCC [sprints] ‘sprints’. The CVX theory explains that the extra consonants at word edges are either accounted for by morphology or can be treated through technical details such as complex sounds, feature theory and affricates. First, I will talk about morphological factors and then discuss technical details to handle extra consonants at word edges.

1.1 Morphological Factors:

It is argued in the theory that an extra word-final (or stem final) C can be kept only if a language has V-initial suffixes, so that the extra C can potentially serve as the onset of the following V. The morphological approach to syllable structure is based on the following concepts discussed by Duanmu (2010, 7):

1.1.1 Affix or (affix-like) Rule

Word final consonant clusters in English involve [t, d, s, z, Θ] and interestingly they also occur as suffixes in English; in-fact the only suffixes in English plus a marginal [n], as in blow-blown. If these sounds are excluded then the final syllable will be smaller. For example, [tenΘs] ‘tenths’ is CVCCC, but if we exclude [Θ, s], the syllable is CVX. The same is in [teksts] ‘texts’ which is CVCCCC, but if we exclude [s, t, s] again the syllable is CVX. The reason for excluding these extra consonants can be explained through the affix or (affix like) rule: “Affix or affix-like sounds can be pronounced, even if they cannot fit into syllable” (Duanmu 2009, 50). However, it is further added that in English, no all final [t, d, s, z, Θ] are suffixes. For example in [œks] ‘ax’ [-s] is not a suffix but in [bœks] backs, [-s] is a suffix. It is noted that the acceptability of a new word depends of it phonotactics component (Frisch et al. 2000) and judgment of phonetic well-formedness is independent of meaning (Duanmu 2010)

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1.1.2 Potential V and anti-allomorphy

Applying affix or (affix-like) rules discussed above, we can exclude word-final [t, d, s, z, Θ], then we will have VXC in English, which can be either VVC as in [baik] ‘bike’ or VCC as in [help] ‘help’. CVX proposes two possible ways to handle this: 1) potential V “a word-final C can serve as the onset of potential V, which may come with V-initial suffix and similarly, a word-inital C can serve as the coda of potential V, which may come with V-final prefix” and 2) anti-allomorpy “keep a morpheme with a V-final prefix” Duanmu (2009, 50). These conditions help to exclude the final C in VXC, which is illustrated in (3) below:

(3) Final C Potential V Anti-allomorphy [hel]p [hel][ping] [hel]p, [hel]p[ful] ‘help’ ‘helping’ ‘help’, ‘helpful’ ris[k] [ris][ki] [ris]k, [risk][fri] ‘risk’ ‘risky’ ‘risk’, ‘risk-free’

The languages which have CV prefixes, an extra C may occur as a coda in word-initial position which is illustrated in (4) below:

(4) Root Potential V Anti-allomorphy CCVC [CV-C][CVC] C[CVC]

1.1.3 Gestural Overlap and Complex Sounds

English has many onset CC clusters, such as [pr] in pray, [pl] in play and [kw] in quick, extra consonants cannot be excluded by applying the affix rule, potential V or Anti-allomorphy in so many words like those. CVX theory argues that CC onsets are either possible complex sound because their articulatory gestures can overlap or they can be accounted for by morphology. The word [prints] ‘prints’ in CVX structure can be presented [pr ts] pr(p r), (i n), ts(t+s) (ibid, 70). The single slot analysis for complex sound uses articulator-based feature theory which makes a distinction between articulator and gesture. Articulators are moveable speech organs that produce speech; while features are gestures made as a result of articulatory movements by articulators in mouth. In articulator-based feature theory ‘Labial’ for example is

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an articulator while ‘round’ is the gesture made by the articulator ‘labial’. The chart in (5) below illustrates this distinction:

(5) Articulator-based feature theory

Unlike previous proposals (Sagey 1989, Browsky 1989, Hall 2011) of complex sounds which radically increase the inventory of possible complex sounds, the CVX theory assumes a restricted version of complex sounds. The constraint on complex sound is: “an articulator cannot make opposite values of the same feature (F) twice within one sound (i.e, within on time slot)” or “No contour principle” (Duanmu 1994, 2010, 17).

*Articluator *Articulator

[+F] [-F] [-F] [+F]

For example, [bm] cannot be a complex sound because [b] is labial-[-nasal] and [m] is labial-[+nasal]. The reason is that the articulator [labial] with conflicting features [+nasal] and [-nasal] which require more than one timing slot cannot become a complex sound. Duanmu further claims “if the articulatory gesture of two sounds can overlap, then they can form a complex sound” (ibid 51). For example [dl] can be a complex sound because [d] is coronal-[+stop] and [l] is coronal-[+lateral]. (ibid., 30). The list in (6) below of the complex-sound analysis of possible/impossible onset clusters illustrates this:

Root

Stricture Vocal-cords Velum Place

Nasal son cont asp voice Dorsal Coronal labial

low high back ant lat round

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(6) Complex Sound Analysis a. Possible Onset Clusters (Complex Sounds): pr, fr, pl, kr,.. (no conflicting

gestures) b. Impossible Onset Cluster (Not Complex Sound): Thr, sr,... (conflicting gestures)

The complex sound analysis fits CCVX [prɛs] ‘press’ into CVX [prɛs] ‘press’. Another complex sound is [tent] CVNC where it does not fit into CVX. It is assumed in the theory that [nt] shares the feature coronal-[+stop], there is no conflicting gesture which makes it a complex sound [ɛnt] merges into [ɛ t]. t is further added that [VVNC]---- [ C]. V:C rhymes also pose challenged to CVX which claims that VX is maximal rhyme size. It is assumed in theory that “a tense vowel is equivalent to a lax vowel plus a consonant” (Duanmu 2009, 45). It is supported with the example: the rhyme of a stressed monosyllable must be either VC (as in [bit] ‘bit’ and [bɛt] ‘bet’ or as in [bi:] ‘be’ or [lɒ:], but not just V (*[bi] and *[bɛ].

The CVX theory claims that the maximal size of syllable is CVX and predicts that this could be true for all human languages. The theoretical approach to the study of syllable in CVX theory is an in-depth analysis of a small number of languages. He argues that most analyses of English assume very large size of syllable, but his study shows that the maximal size of syllable is CVX and additional consonants at word-edges can be accounted for by morphology or can be explained as complex sounds (articulator based feature theory, and affricates). In the next section, the paper will test CVX theory against data in Burushaski.

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2. Burushaski Data and the CVX theory

In this section, the paper will test the CVX theory against the data in Burushaski. The section has three parts. In part 1, Burushaski sound system will be discussed focusing on a comparison between distinctive feature and articulator-based feature theory that helps to define complex and simple sound system. In part 2, the data from "Hermann Berger, Die Burushaski-Sprache von Hunza und Nager” will be analyzed. I will use my own native speaker intuition to verify the data from the mentioned source. I will manually filter out words with consonant clusters in three positions (initial, medial and final). In part 3, the paper will analyze and explain initial, medial and final cluster based on the CVX theory. And the theory will be tested against all the data in the discussion.

2.1 Burushaski sound system

Burushaski stressed on second syllable [burúš-iski] ‘related to Burushos’ is a language isolate spoken by more than 100000 speakers in Gilgit-Baltistan, in the north of Pakistan and there are also around 300 speakers in Srinagar, Kashmir in India. Based on previous studies (Munshi 2006), Anderson (1997), Berger (1964-98), Lorimer (1935-8), Burushaski vowels (1) and consonants (2) are given below.

(1) Vowels

Front Central Back/Round

High [i] [ii] [u] [uu]

Med [e] [ee] [o][oo]

Low [a][aa]

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(2)Consonants

Labial Coronal

p b pʰ

(f)1 (v) m w

Dorsal

k g kʰ

q (qh) ʔ2

x3 ɣ h ŋ

ɻ y

The characteristic feature of consonantal inventory in Burushaski is a large number of coronal stops and affricates, phonemic contrast of retroflex sounds, and a phonemic aspiration of voiceless stops, and affricates. And it has the largest inventories of nonsonorant retroflex sounds among the languages of the region (Anderson 1997). Retroflex glide [ɻ] is not found in Dardic languages in the region. Sounds like [+asp], [+voiced, +obstruent] [t h , th, b, d, g, kʰ, cʰ, c h , ǰ, z, ʐ, f, v, h ] are not allowed in word-final position.

1 (f) & (v) are not native Burushaski sounds. (f) is replaced with [pʰ] initial position and with [p] in final position. (v)

is also replaced with (w) in all positions. 2 Burushaski has glottal stops in word initial, medial and final position like [ʔusy] ‘expression of cold” ,[ ʔu ʔuy]

‘themselves’[ geʔ] ‘snow’. Glottal stops have not been mentioned in previous literature. 3 Munshi (2006) uses [x] [-voice, uvular, fricative] and Berger uses [qh] which is [+asp, +stop, uvular]. This paper

will use [x] which is phonologically /qh/.

t d t h

t d tʰ

c cʰ

c h č ǰ čʰ

s z ʂ ʐ š n l r

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Burushaski has a basic five vowels. It has two series of contrastive long vowels bearing stress or higher pitch on the first or second mora respectively (Anderson, 1997). Varma (1941, 133) described “intonational contrasts of long vowels as representing high tone or falling tone”. For example a word like [óosanam] ‘i made them say’ has a falling tone and stress is on first mora whereas [oósanam] ‘i did not say’ has a rising tone and stress is on the second mora. However, Tiffou (1993), and Berger (1998) describe this as a difference of moraic stress. It must be noted that “long vowels only appeared in stressed syllables in Burushaski” (Anderson, 1997). And, it is also important to note that mid vowels [e, o, ʌ] vowels appear in all stress environment and high vowels [i,u] in some restricted stress environment, but mostly in unstressed environment(detailed discussion on this on stress placement section). And, [ə] only appears in unstressed environment in syllable. Furthermore, the high vowels [i, u,] alternate with [e, o] in stress environment. This is illustrated in (3) below:

(3) a. i>e for example: /iqat / > [éqat ] ‘his armpit’,

b. u>o for example: /guqat / > [góqat ] ‘your armpit’

The CVX theory uses articulatory-based feature theory to explain the complex sound which was discussed earlier. A list of Burushaski sounds in terms of distinctive feature theory will be discussed below. Then, we will discuss and establish that the articulatory-based feature theory is better than traditional feature theory in representing simple and complex sounds. A brief discussion on the basic difference between these two theories will provide basis for comparison between these.

The articulator based feature theory (Sagey, 1986, Halle 1992, 1995) defines sounds in term of a list of articulatory features. This theory makes a clear distinction between articulator and feature. For example, feature for [p] and [b] are given in (3) below:

(2) [p] [b] Closure stop stop Articulator labial labial Vocal Cord -voice +voice

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On the other hand, in distinctive feature does not make a distinction between articulator and feature. For example [p] is described as [-voic, +bilabial, +stop, +obstruent] and [b] is described [+voic, +bilabial, +obstruent]. [b] is distinctive from [p] by the parameter voicing. Distinctive feature describe the sounds on the bases of its properties. Burushaski sounds in terms of distinctive features are given in (4) (5) & (6) below

(3) Distinctive features of Burushaski Obstruents

p pʰ b ʰ t d ʰ k kʰ g q c cʰ h č čʰ ǰ s z ʂ ʐ š x ɣ h

cons + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

son - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

syll - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

cont - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + +

del.rel - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + - - - - - - - -

lateral - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

voiced - - + - - + - + - - - + - - - - - - - + - + - + - - + +

asp - + - - + - - - + - + - - - + - + - + - - - - - - - - -

nasal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

dorsal - - - - - - - - - + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - + + +

cor - - - + + + + + + - - - - + + + + + + + + + + + + - - -

ret - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + - - - - - + + - - - -

pal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + + - - - - + - - -

dent - - - + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

labial + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(4) Distinctive features of Burushaski sonorants

m n ŋ l r ɻ w y

cons + + + + + + - -

son + + + + + + + +

syll - + + - - - - -

cont + + + + + + + +

del.rel - - - - - - - -

lateral - - - + - - - -

voiced + + + + + + + +

asp - - - - - - - -

nasal + + + - - - - -

dorsal - - + - - - - -

cor - - - + + + - -

ret - - - - - + - -

pal - - - + + - - +

dent - - - - - - - -

labial + - - - - - + -

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(5) Distinctive features of Burushaski vowels

4ə ʌ u o e i

high - - + - - +

low - + - - - -

mid + - - + + -

back - + + + - -

front - - - - + +

round - - + + - -

Duanmu(2009, 17) defines “speech sound is a set of features such that a) the feature are made in one unit of time and b) no feature is made twice by the same articulator. It is further added that “since feature is just one unit of time, no feature cane be made more than once by a given articulator” (ibid, 17). According to this definition, [kw] is a single complex sound, [k] Dorsal-[+stop]+ [w] Labial-[+round]----> [kw]. In this case two articulators: a) Dorsal and b) Labial making two gestures can make a complex sound. And [t] Cor-[+stop]+[s]Corn-[+fric]---ts is also a possible complex sound because same articulator can make two gestures simultaneously. However [m] SP-[+nasal] + [b] SP-[-nasal]----> *[mb] cannot be a complex sound because an articulator cannot make opposite values of the same features at the same time. (ibid, 25).

First, I will provide the list of articulators, and features used in the theory. Then, I will describe Burushaski sound system in terms of articulator based feature representation which is different than traditional distinctive feature presentation provided above. The CVX theory assumes six articulators, following (Ladefoged and Halle (1988), Halle (1992, 1995, 2005). The lists of articulators are provided below in (7).

(6) Abbreviation Articulator VC Vocal-cords SP Soft palate (velum) TR Tongue Root

4 For this study, I have made a distinction between [ə] and [ʌ]. [ə] sound only appears in unstressed environment

like [ə.pi] ‘is no ’ an [ʌ] appears in stressed environment like [ʌ .pi] ‘my gran mo her’.

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Dor Dorsal Cor Coronal Lab Labial

The CVX theory assumes the following (8) list of features.

(7) Features Articulator Other names [stop] various [fricative] various [sonorant] various [spread] Vocal-cords [slack] Vocal-cords [lowred] Soft-palate [advanced] Tongue root [high] Dorsal [low] Dorsal [back] Dorsal [anterior] Coronal [lateral] Coronal [round] Labial

The articulator-feature representation discussed above will be based on a few sample lists of sounds in Burushaski in (9) below:

(8) List of vowels and consonants in Burushaski

Burushaski Vowels

Sound Feature Structure

[a] Dorsal-[+low, +back]

[u] Dorsal-[+high, +back]

Labial-[+round]

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TR-[+advance]

Burushaski Consonants

Dorsals

Sound Feature Structure

[k] Dorsal-[+stop]

VC-[-voice, -asp]

[kʰ] Dorsal-[+stop]

VC-[-voic, +asp]

[p] Labial-[+stop]

SP-[-nasal]

VC-[-voic]

2.2 Consonant Clusters in Burushaski

In this section, the data from (Berger, 1998) will be analyzed and a comprehensive list of Consonant clusters will be provided. In addition to the source, I used my native speaker intuition to collect and verity the data. A detailed list of consonant clusters from the mentioned sources is provided below in (10). All the extracted words were manually evaluated. The complete list is provided in (Appendix)

(10) Consonant Clusters

Initial two consonant Clusters

Labials

[bran] or [pran] ‘burst’ [praaq] ‘late morning’ [myu] ‘our father’

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Coronals

[d rap] ‘full’ [t rak] ‘jump’ [t raqo] ‘grasshopper’ [d yu] ‘take out’ [qyu] ‘shout’

Dorsals

[qyu] ‘shout’

Medial two consonant Clusters

Labials

[bampʰú] ‘baloon’ [beérumkuc] ‘how many days’ [čámd a] ‘pocket’ [d amǰáar ]‘worry’ [d ámši] ‘select’ [dúmdum] ‘drum beat’ [gambúri] ‘feathers’ [kápša] ‘shoe’ [qamqúuručo] ‘voice of cock’ [ápkuc] ‘my grand parents’ (maternal) [t h ápmo] ‘in the night’ [tumtáŋ] ‘freely available’

Coronals

[d elmíŋ] ‘oils’ [alt áanuc]‘eighth day’ [ámit pa] ‘which side’ [ǰotpát] ‘kids’ [árkuʂ ‘fear [arzóq] ‘oil fried bread’ [asmáan] ‘sky’ [asqur] ‘flower’ [ast aan] ‘shrine’ [ast am] ‘decision’ [kust izán] ‘courtesan’ [ašd aháa] ‘dragon’ [ašpuriyán]‘mane’ [mind ék] ‘foot ball’ [mirgí] ‘epilepsy’ [miskót] ‘biscuit’ [ášrapi] ‘gold coins’ [aʂgáali] ‘weak’ [báard um] ‘red’ [bald á]‘load’ [bárči] ‘obedient’ [barpás] ‘disease’ [baspúr] ‘over eating’ [baʂc án] ‘faith’ [baʂqát ] ‘wet grass’ [bátkuʂ] ‘lazy’ [bélǰuko] ‘what kind’ [béški] ‘what do you think’ [ilbán] ‘? [cʰanzár] ‘front teeth hole’ [cʰilɣuum] ‘liquid’ [cʰilpʰú] ‘chore’ [čárbu] ‘messenger’ [hanǰil] ‘coal’[čurt ák] ‘equal’ [d aálqiʂ] ‘pull up’ [d asgúyn] ‘person who lives in barren land’ [d uscák] ‘utensils’ [d áʂman] ‘clan’ [d élgus] ‘oil bot le’ [dúndu] ‘wasp’ [álčin] ‘my eye’ [pʰamoncal] ‘spindle’ [d íncir] ‘scat er’ [gárma] ‘name of a dish’ [walsá] ‘four month’ [ɣárqas] ‘lizard’ [handám] ‘carelessly’ [hanpá] ‘one side’ [harc úm] ‘?’ [hunčo] ‘nine’ [hunti] ‘nine’[ɣut kiʂ] ‘talkative’ [šínt ira] ‘beam’ [d iʂkimi] ‘grow’ [laaltíin] ‘lantern’ [malciʂ] ‘abuse’ [malyám] ‘ointment’ [pʰarcat] ‘twist’ [šépalkiʂ] ‘animal type’ [yaatqiʂ] ‘push upwards’ [walkúm] ‘four pairs’

Dorsal

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[baŋgalá] ‘bungalow’ [mumáŋgus] ‘her brother’s wife’ [paŋkát ]‘coins’ [baqmál]‘maxmal’ [baqt á] ‘sheep’ [baraqbéeš] ‘?’ [búqpa] ‘garlic’ [cʰáŋki] ‘in real’ [d oóŋhur] ‘wear’ [dáŋlathas] ‘witch’ [dóŋqam] ‘not plane’ [laqšá] ‘noodles’ [t aqšá] ‘shelf’ [maqlúuq] ‘people’ [d oóŋɣor] ‘wear’ [tuksír] ‘short sleep’ [hikdám] ‘once’ [kančani] ‘prostitute’

Medial three Consonant Clusters

Coronals

[pʰínčko] ‘polo sticks’ [ʂínc ko] ‘pillars’ [gapánckiʂ] ‘one who has cracked heel’

Final Consonant Clusters

Coronals

[baalt ] ‘apple’ [balk] ‘wood’ [hisk] ‘comb’ [qhurk] ‘fodder’ [manc ] ‘ax’ [ganʂ] ‘he should buy’ [barč] ‘cold’ [bisárʂ] ‘grass cutter’ [gaarc] ‘run’ [gašk] ‘rope’ [hart ] ‘stand’ [mučúʂk] ‘ bread turner’

We have seen above that consonant clusters at initial position are very limited. Word initial onsets clusters are limited to stop+[r]. Other initial consonant clusters are consonant+[y]. (Anderson, 1997) In my view, Burushaski phonotactics never tolerates [i+u] vowel in any syllable position. In closed monosyllables like /mi+ul/> [miíl], ‘our stomach’ and open monosyllables /mi+u/>[myú], ‘our father’ and we have /mi-yi-u/ >miyuu (vowel assimilation i+u>uu) ‘our children’ In medial position all kind of two consonant clusters and a few three consonant are also tolerated. There are few final clusters found in Burushaski and all of these clusters are found in word-medial position. It has to be noted that the final consonant clusters are coronals+ coronals and only one coronal+ dorsal for example [gašk] All final consonant clusters can be easily found in word medial position because Burushaski is a highly inflected language.

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2.3 Analysis of Onset Consonant Clusters

In CVX theory, the single slot analysis which is based on articulator-based feature theory claims that onset consonant clusters are basically complex sounds. The single-slot analysis discussed earlier assumes that onset clusters can be presented as a single complex sounds. And this position is convincing because many languages allow obstruent+ approximant clusters such as [pr, pl, br, bl, fr, fl, ky, kw...] (ibid 43). Burushaski onset clusters will be analyzed below in (11) on the basis of articulator-based feature theory discussed above.

(11) Complex Sound [pr, br, d r, t r, my, qy]

Examples Feature Structure

(a) [p] labial-[+stop]

[r] coronal-[-stop, +son]

[pr] labial, coronal-[+stop, -stop]

(b) [d ] coronal-[+dental, +stop]

[r] coronal-[-stop]

[d r] coronal-[+stop, -stop]

(c) [m] labial-[+nasal]

[y] coronal-[-nasal]

[my] labial, coronal-[+nasal, -nasal]

In examples (a) and (c) the sounds use different articulators and do not have conflicting features which make them the perfect candidate for complex sound and in (b) the sounds use same articulator and also do not have conflicting features which also makes it a complex sound. It shows that the results support the CVX theory for onset clusters in Burushaski.

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2.4 Analysis of Word-medial consonant clusters

It is discussed earlier in this paper, that the internal rhyme structure in a word is simple. In this part of the paper the internal rhyme and word final rhyme in Burushaski will be analyzed. The analysis will help us to test if maximal internal and final rhyme in Burushaski is VX which is another constraint for the optimal CVX candidate in the theory. It must be noted that vowel length in Burushaski is not contrastive because long vowel only appear in stress syllable. (Anderson, 1997). Therefore in closed syllables like [xaatkiʂ] ‘pull up’ CVVX--->CVX or long vowels [VV]:[V] will be counted as single vowels. This is further supported because [a] is not inherently long and it cannot take two time slots. Words which have three consonants in medial position like [pʰinčko] ‘polo sticks’ [ʂinc ko] ‘pillars’ [gapánckiʂ] ‘one who has crack heel’ exceed rhyme size VX<C . The CVX theory analyzes VNC clusters as C. For example [pʰinčko]-->[pʰ čko] which is optimal candidate for CVX. Another syllable structure which can pose challenge to CVX is CVVX syllable like : [d oónɣuras] ‘wear out’ [d aálqiʂ] ‘pull it up’. [yaatqiʂ] ‘push upwards’ [moorgus] ‘herb name’. I will analyze these in (12) below and show if it works:

(12) VVX Rhyme

Word Analysis

a. [d oónɣuras] [d oon][ɣu][ras]--->[d õõ][ɣu][ras]

b. [d aálqiʂ] [d aál][qiʂ]------->[d al][qiʂ]

c. [yaátqiʂ] [yaát][qiʂ]------->[yat][qiʂ]

In 12(a) above, the CVX theory proposed to analyze [VVN]C ---->[ ]C. The representation of 12 (b) and (c) can be [VVC]--->[VC] because vowel length is not contrastive in Burushaski and, it only appears in stress environment. So [VV] can be represented as [V]. In other all consonant medial cluster words in the data, the VX is the maximal size which agrees with CVX theory.

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2.5. Analysis of Word-final Consonant Clusters There are limited numbers of final consonant clusters in Burushaski. It has been observed that final consonants are limited to [t , k, c , c, ʂ, and č]. It is interesting to note all these extra consonants are made with coronal articulators. All English final consonants are also made with coronal articulator. The CVX theory proposes a coronal hypothesis to understand this: ‘coronal obstruents do not need to be supported by a syllable, or they can be exceptionally attched to a syllable, even if the syllable is full”. (ibid 48). Burushaski consonants will analyzed below in (13) through morphological factor discussed above like afix rule, potential V, anti-almorphy to show if the CVX theory works. Burushaski is a highly inflected language so we will try to analyze the final C with potential V analysis.

(13) Final C Supported by Potential V

[baal]t ‘apple’ [baal][t an] ‘apple-SG.IND’

[baal][t ik] ‘apple-PL.IND’

[baal]t ‘wash’ [baal]t imi] ‘wash-3MSG’ ‘He washed’

[man]c ‘ax’ [man][c an] ‘ax-SG.IND’

[gaš]k ‘rope’ [gaš][ko] ‘ropes’

[har]t ‘stand’ [har][t a] ‘stand-Q’ ‘Please stand?’

[gaar]c ‘run’ [gaar][cimi] ‘run-3MSG’ ‘He ran’

In the above analysis, the potential V analysis supports the extra C that occurs at word-final position in Burushaski. Burushaski has V initial suffixes so an extra consonant occurs at root-final position. This support the CVX theory that the upper size limit of syllable is CVX and extra consonant at word edges in final position for Burushaski can be accounted for by morphology.

Previous analysis of Burushaski syllable structure proposed different types of syllable structure: “(C)V, (C)VC, (C)VV, (C)VVC, (C)VC

1C

2, (C)VVC

1C

2, C

1C

2V, and C

1C

2VC. Among these,

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C2 in the last two types (i.e., C

1C

2V and C

1C

2VC) is so far only represented by r. Thus, we have

(C)rV and (C)rVC as the syllable types with possible initial clusters” (Munshi, 2006, 80). However, in this paper, we analyzed and showed that these different types of syllables can be analyzed as (C)CVX(C). The maximal size of Burushaski is CVX because extra consonants at word-initial position are complex sounds. And extra consonants at word-final position can be accounted for by morphology (potential V rule). In medial position, it has been analyzed that there is no syllable that exceed CVX size. The paper supports that the maximal size of syllable structure is CVX in Burushaski.

2.6 Problem with the CVX theory The data analyzed above supports the CVX theory’s proposal about maximal size of syllable in Burushaski but the data presented below poses a challenge to the claim of the CVX theory about light and heavy syllables. The theory proposes that (C)V is light or (unstressed syllable) and (C)VX is heavy (or stressed syllable) where C is an optional onset and X is the coda. In light syllable CV, V can be short syllable (such as shuwa) or a syllabic consonant. In (C)VX, VX can be VC or VV or CC (Duanmu 2009, 4). I will illustrate below in (14) that this does not work for Burushaski syllable weight.

Words CV.cvc Words c.CV.cvc

[d ú.gun] ‘lock it CV.cvc a.t ú.gun ‘dont lock it’ c.CV.cvc

[d í.mar] ‘take from him’ CV.cvc a.t í.mar ‘don’t take from him’ c.CV.cvc

[gu.cʰár] ‘walk’ cv.CVC a.kú.car ‘don’t walk’ c.CV.cvc

[d í.qar] ‘cut it(wood)’ CV.cvc a.t í.qar ‘don’t cut it’ c.CV.cvc

In the words presented above, CV which the CVX theory considers a light syllable is a heavy syllable in Burushaski. Burushaski has so many words where CV, apparently a light syllable according to the CVX theory is a heavy syllable in Burushaski. I will investigate this phenomenon in my next work on stress assignment in Burushaski.

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References:

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Halle, Morris. 2003,. Phonological features. In International encyclopedia of linguistics, ed. by William J. Frawley. 2nd ed. Oxford. Oxford University Press

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