Segmental and prosodic complexity in Nivaĉle : laryngeals, laterals, and metathesis

• Main Author: Gutiérrez, Analía
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2015
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/54190

This dissertation investigates a series of phonological and phonetic aspects of Nivaĉle, a Mataguayan language spoken in the Argentinean and Paraguayan Chaco. The data is based on original fieldwork done by the author, with several Nivaĉle speakers in the communities of Uj’e Lhavos and Santa Teresita (Paraguay). This research has a twofold contribution. On the one hand, it adds to the documentation of an endangered and understudied Chaco language. On the other hand, it deepens our understanding of Nivaĉle segmental phonology and advances an Optimality Theoretic analysis of Nivaĉle prosodic phonology. One of the central topics of this dissertation is the interaction between prosodic constituency, stress, and the realization of the constricted glottis ([c.g.]) feature in vowels. Contra Stell (1989), I propose that there is no phonological opposition between modal vowels vs glottalized vowels; rather, Nivaĉle glottalized vowels are sequences of /Vʔ/, a vowel plus moraic glottal stop with different prosodic parsings. A superficially complex stress system in Nivaĉle is shown to reduce to systematic regularities of three types. First, it is shown that stress is quantity-sensitive, with a consistent correlation between bimoraic weight (tautosyllabic /Vʔ/) and stress prominence. Secondly, primary/secondary stress patterns reflect competing edge-alignment constraints where prosodic foot domains align with internal morphological category (MCat) edges. Thirdly, it is argued that a CVC syllable, which constitutes the Minimal Prosodic Word in Nivaĉle, can function as a degenerate foot. The generalization that it characteristically surfaces with secondary (rather than primary) stress is shown to be an emergent consequence of independently motivated constraint rankings. With regards to the Nivaĉle lateral obstruents,it is argued that the typologically rare velar lateral /k͡l/ is a complex segment that is the diachronic result of lateral hardening of Proto-Mataguayan *l. Based on its phonological patterning, it is proposed that /k͡l/ is specified for DORSAL and [lateral]. Integrating multiple facets of these prosodic and segmental analyses, vowel-consonant metathesis further deepens our understanding of the complex interplay of Nivaĉle phonological constraints. Metathesis is shown to be motivated by satisfaction of the Syllable Contact Law, interacting with constraints governing complex codas, derived complex onsets, epenthesis, and deglottalization. === Arts, Faculty of === Linguistics, Department of === Graduate