On the distributional and acoustic properties of Nivacle kl

GUTIÉRREZ, ANALÍA

Portland

Conferencia; The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas Annual Meeting (SSILA); 2012

SSILA, LSA

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the phonological understanding of the Nivacle (Matacoan-Mataguayan) segment [kl]. This sound is interesting from both typological and theoretical perspectives in that: (a) to my knowledge, it is not attested in other indigenous South American languages, (b) it is a non-homorganic affricate that has two articulators: dorsal and coronal (Stell 1989:58), and (c) a sonorant lateral /l/ is absent from the Nivacle phonological inventory the other lateral in the language is a lateral fricative. Comparative data suggest that Nivacle [kl] corresponds to /l/ in other Matacoan (Chorote, Maká, and Wichí) languages. With regards to its distributional properties, [kl] only occurs in onset position; in coda position it surfaces as [k]. As previously mentioned, cross-linguistic data suggest that Nivacle [kl] corresponds to /l/. On the one hand, I posit that [kl] is the diachronic result of lateral hardening. In other words, it can be hypothesized that [kl] was historically an underlying /l/ that underwent fortition in a prosodically strong position such as onsets. It is worth mentioning that another Nivacle sonorant, the voiced labio-velar /w/, seems to have undergone a process of hardening; it is realized as a labiodental fricative in onset position. On the other hand, the fact that [kl] delateralizes to [k] in coda position, and not to [l], suggests that the synchronic underlying representation is /kl/. The diachronic development and the synchronic representation of this segment both underlyingly and in its surface representation, will be thus investigated and explained. Further, in order to accurately represent the Nivacle [kl], different proposals for the placement of the feature [lateral] in feature geometry will be discussed (Steriade 1986; Sagey 1986; Shaw 1991; Blevins 1994). Finally, the acoustic correlates analysis of Nivacle [kl] will be presented and discussed. In sum, this paper aims to contribute to the description and understanding of the Nivacle phonology at both the segmental and prosodic level.