Origins of vowel pharyngealization in Hongyan Qiang
Hongyan, a variety of Northern Qiang (Tibeto-Burman, China) has four plain vowel monophthongs /i, u, ə, a/. Vowels may be lengthened, rhotacized, or pharyngealized, resulting in fourteen short and ten long vowel phonemes. No other varieties of Qiang have been described with pharyngealization...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/177935 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Hongyan, a variety of Northern Qiang (Tibeto-Burman, China) has
four plain vowel monophthongs /i, u, ə, a/. Vowels may be
lengthened, rhotacized, or pharyngealized, resulting in fourteen short
and ten long vowel phonemes. No other varieties of Qiang have
been described with pharyngealization, although the other
suprasegmental effects are common throughout Northern Qiang.
This paper explores how the distinctions which in Hongyan are
made by differences in pharyngealization are phonologized in other
varieties of Northern and Southern Qiang. Comparisons are drawn
with processes in other Qiangic languages and with Proto-Tibeto Burman reconstructions, in order to explore possible routes of
development of pharyngealization; the most plausible source of
pharyngealization seen thus far is retraction of vowels following
PTB *-w-. |
|---|