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The phonology of the Zuni language as spoken in the southwestern United States is described here. Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds (or constituent parts of signs, in sign languages).
The 16 consonants of Zuni:
| Bila -bial | Dental/ Alveolar | Post -al. | Pala -tal | Velar | Glo- ttal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cen. | late. | plain | labi. | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | |||||||
| Stop | plain | p | t | (kʲ) | k | kʷ | ʔ | ||
| ejective | ( kʼ ) | (kʼʷ) | |||||||
| Affricate | plain | ts | tʃ | ||||||
| ejective | ( tsʼ ) | ( tʃʼ ) | |||||||
| Fricative | s | ɬ | ʃ | h | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||||
| Front | back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | iiː | uuː |
| Mid | eeː | ooː |
| Low | aaː | |
Zuni syllables have the following specification:
That is, all syllables must start with a consonant in the syllable onset. The onset may optionally have two consonants. The syllable coda is optional and may consist of a single consonant or two consonants. There are restrictions on the combinations with long vowels, which are listed below.
Onset. When the onset is a single consonant (i.e., CV(ː), CV(ː)C, or CV(ː)CC), C1 may be any consonant. When the onset is a two consonant cluster (i.e., CCV(ː), CCV(ː)C, or CCV(ː)CC), C1 may only be /ts, tʃ, k, kʷ/, and C2 may only be /ʔ/. These onset clusters can occur word-initially.
Nucleus. Any vowel of either length may be the syllable nucleus when open (i.e., has no coda: CV(ː) or CCV(ː)) or with a single consonant coda (i.e., CV(ː)C or CCV(ː)C). When the coda consists of two consonant cluster, the nucleus may be any short vowel; however, long vowels only occur with coda consisting of /tsʔ, tʃʔ, kʔ, kʷʔ/. [lower-alpha 3]
Coda. A single coda C3 may be any consonant. When the coda is a two consonant cluster (i.e., CV(ː)CC or CCV(ː)CC), any combination of consonants may occur with the following exception: if C3 is /ts, tʃ, kʷ/, then C4 can only be either /ʔ/ or an identical consonant (C3 = C4).
Non-tautosyllabic combinations. Inside words, a short vowel plus a two consonant coda (i.e., CVCC or CCVCC) may only be followed by a syllable with a /ʔ/ onset. Likewise, a long vowel plus a single consonant coda (i.e., CVːC or CCVːC) may only be followed by a /ʔ/ onset. An open syllable (i.e., CV(ː) or CCV(ː)) and a short vowel plus a single consonant coda (i.e., CVC or CCVC) may be followed by a syllable with any possible onset.
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