Table 2.1 displays the consonant inventory for Sanzhi. The table gives the phonemic value of the consonants and displays the orthographic representation used in this gram-mar in italics (see also page xvii for the Cyrillic orthography). The three series of stops are, in the order given in the table: voiceless non-ejective, voiced, and voiceless ejective.
The two series of fricatives are voiceless and voiced. All velars and uvulars also occur in labialized form. All voiceless non-ejective stops and fricatives (except for the pharyn-geal/epiglottal and the glottal sounds) also occur as geminates (i.e. tense).
The uvular stops /q/ and /qʷ/ have strong friction that makes them sound almost like affricates /q͡χ/ and /q͡χʷ/. The friction is absent from the ejective /q’/ and the geminates /qː/ and /qːʷ/.
The phonemic glottal stop is found in the nounbeʔe‘blood’ and at the end of some words, for instance in the root-final position of two verbsha-ʔ-(pfv)/h-erʔ-(ipfv) ‘say’
andb-erʔ-(pfv)/b-uʔ-(ipfv) ‘rot’ and the numeralkːaʔ-al‘eight’. Except forbeʔe‘blood’, only loan words and names contain the glottal stop in root-medial position (e.g.daʔim
‘continuation’, in the male namežaˁbraˁʔil).
A phonemic glottal stop, which is not written, occurs before word-initial non-pharyngealized vowels, e.g.aba[ʔaba] ‘mother’, including vowel-initial words in com-pounds, for exampleca-ibil[t͡saʔibıl] ‘first’ (one-ord), or occasionally at other morpheme boundaries of inflected words, for example,a-uk-un‘not eating’ (neg-eat.ipfv-icvb) can be pronounced [aʔukʊn] or [aʊ̯kʊn].
The semivowel /w/ is realized as a voiced labiodental fricative [v] or as a labial-velar approximant [w].
In addition to the segments listed in Table 2.1, the voiceless labiodental fricative /f/ is attested in the ideophoneuf b-ik’ʷ-ij‘blow’ (whew hpl-say.ipfv-inf) and in loan words, mostly from Russian, e.g.forel‘trout’. In older loans it had been replaced with /p/, e.g.
purma‘uniform’ (<forma).
All plain consonants occur in word-initial, word-medial, and word-final position. Gem-inates are never found in syllable-final position. Three labialized consonants (/q’ʷ/, /χʷ/, /ʁʷ/) are also not attested in syllable-final position. Table 2.2 shows the distribution of
Table 2.1: The consonant inventory of Sanzhi Dargwa
bilabial alveolar postalv palatal velar uvular pharyngeal/ epiglottal glottal
stop /p/ /b/ /pʼ/ /t/ /d/ /tʼ/ /k/ /ɡ/ /kʼ/ /q/ /qʼ/ /ʡ/ /ʔ/
p b pʼ t d tʼ k g kʼ q qʼ ʡ ʔ
/kʷ/ /ɡʷ/ /kʼʷ/ /qʷ/ /qʼʷ/
kʷ gʷ kʼʷ qʷ qʼʷ
/pː/ /tː/ /kː/ /qː/
pː tː kː qː
/kːʷ/ /qːʷ/
kːʷ qːʷ
fricative /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /x/ /χ/ /ʁ/ /ħ/ /h/
s z š ž x χ ʁ ħ h
/xʷ/ /χʷ/ /ʁʷ/
xʷ χʷ ʁʷ
/sː/ /ʃː/ /ʃː/ /xː/ /χː/
sː šː šː xː χː
/χːʷ/
χːʷ
affricate /t͡s/ /t͡sʼ/ /t͡ʃ/ /t͡ʃʼ/
c cʼ č čʼ
/t͡sː/ /t͡ʃː/
cː čː
nasal /m/ /n/
m n
liquid /r/ /l/
r l
semivowel /w/ /j/
w j
consonants by means of example words. The table contains a number of morphologically complex words for which the relevant sound happens to occur at the end of the root, but within the stem because the root is followed by suffixes (the root is given in boldface).
Final voiced stops do not undergo devoicing. Final voiceless non-ejective stops (/p/, /t/, /k/, /q/) are post-aspirated. Stops in final position are released. They are also released when a homorganic consonant follows, e.g.urek-c’al‘sixty’,ħaˁžat-ce‘necessary’ (need-dd.sg),c’elt-ne‘gravestone-pl’,le-d=nu(exist-npl=prt). If the voiceless stops /t/, /k/, or the voiceless affricate /t͡s/ occur at morpheme boundaries and are followed by homor-ganic consonants, all consonants are fully pronounced and released (1). Neither /t/ nor /k/ nor /t͡s/ become geminates under the described conditions, although gemination is otherwise a frequent process that applies across morpheme boundaries (§2.6.11). How-ever, the ejective stop /k’/ can turn into a plain stop as shown in the examples in (1c).
Table 2.2: Distribution of consonants
initial medial final
p puq’a‘nest’ qupi‘hoe’ t’up‘finger’
b bec’‘wolf’ heba‘then’ urχːab‘mill’
p’ p’aq’‘shake off’ q’aˁp’i‘shutter’ lap’‘wave’
pː pːiħaˁla‘feather’ k’apːur‘leaf’ —
t tum‘hill’ kːaˁta‘cat’ it‘that’
d du‘1sg’ juldaš‘friend’ ca-d‘is’ (cop-n)
t’ t’up‘finger’ kːat’i‘scarf’ t’ult’‘bread’
tː tːaˁm‘trap’ tːutːu‘beak’ —
k kabc‘skin, fell’ dukala‘apron’ dek‘dung’
g gurmedi‘type of kerchief’ zigar‘hurry’ dig‘meat’
k’ k’apːur‘leaf’ nik’a‘little, small’ hek’‘this/that (up)’
kʷ kʷač’a‘paw’ mikʷa‘fingernail’ nekʷ‘straw’
gʷ gʷargʷal‘onion’ targʷa‘weasel’ mergʷ‘lair, den’
kʼʷ k’ʷel‘two’ r-ik’ʷ-ija‘say’ (f-say.ipfv-inf) erk’ʷ‘river’
kː kːaˁta‘cat’ kːalkːi‘tree’ —
kːʷ kːʷacːa‘mare’ akːʷ-ar‘without’
(cop.neg-prs)
—
q qaˁr‘pear’ b-aqil‘much’ qːaq‘back’
q’ q’aˁp’i‘shutter’ puq’a‘nest’ aq’‘flock’
qʷ qʷesːa‘ashes’ ha-lqʷ-an‘the climbing one’
(up-direct.ipfv-ptcp) daˁrqʷ‘barn’
qʼʷ q’ʷaˁl‘cow’ b-elq’ʷ-ij‘break’
(n-break.pfv-inf)
—
qː qːap‘sack’ qːuˁlqːuˁ‘scythe’ —
qːʷ qːʷaz‘goose’ miriqːʷ-e‘worms’ (worm-pl) —
s sala‘in front, before’ qusmuk‘cupboard’ dus‘year’
z zija‘horsefly’ zize‘strawberry’ keruz‘slope’
sː sːika‘bear’ musːa‘place’ —
š šal‘direction, side’ haniša‘summer’ juldaš‘friend’
ž žergʷa‘wasp’ ižal‘today’ hež‘this’
šː šːi‘village’ dešːa‘ancient’ —
x xujal‘five’ xurxe‘sobber’ c’erx‘fat’
xʷ xʷit’‘whistle’(ideophone) ixʷ-le‘early’ dirixʷ‘fog’
xː xːamxːa‘foam’ dirxːa‘stick’ —
χ χat’a‘bowl’ alχni‘saw’ maχ‘barrow’
ʁ ʁajal‘twenty’ pːurʁum‘carriage’ qːabaʁ‘pumpkin’
χʷ χʷal-le‘much, a lot’ b-iχʷ-ij‘be, become’
(n-be.pfv-inf)
—
ʁʷ ʁʷab‘ploughshare’ aʁʷal‘four’ —
χː χːula‘big, tall’ duχːu‘clever’ —
χːʷ χːʷe‘dog’ ha-d-erχːʷ-ij‘fulfill’
(up-n-fulfill.pfv-inf) —
c ca‘one’ q’aca‘he-goat’ kabc‘skin, fell’
c’ c’il‘then’ imc’a‘superflous’ bec’‘wolf’
cː cːab‘sky’ kːancːa‘step’ —
č čina-b‘where-n’ ʡaˁči‘work’ deč‘drinking’
čʼ č’an‘wind, storm’ kʷač’a‘paw’ ʡaˁmč’‘May it peel off!’
(peel.pfv.opt)
čː čːaˁʡaˁl‘tomorrow, morning’ ečːa‘she-goat’ —
aThe relevant roots of morphologically complex words are given in boldface. In these words, the respective sound occurs at the end of the root, but within the stem because the root is followed by suffixes.
initial medial final
ʔ aba‘mother’ beʔe‘blood’ b-aʔ‘begin’
ħ ħaˁšak‘pot’ pːiħaˁla‘feather’ ʡaˁħ‘good’
ʡ ʡaˁbal‘three’ čːaˁʡaˁl‘tomorrow, morning’ daˁʡ‘face’
h hel‘that’ buhem‘bundle’ b-ah‘owner’
m mikʷa‘fingernail’ gurmendi‘type of kerchief’ t’em‘smell’
n nekʷ‘straw’ haniša‘summer’ arin‘too much’
r rucːi‘sister’ rursːi‘girl, daughter’ q’ar‘herbs’
l lazun‘dough’ ʡuˁla‘wheel’ hel‘that’
w weral‘seven’ gawhar‘pupil’ alaw‘around’
j jangi‘new’ zija‘horsefly’ hej‘this’
(1) a. b-uˁc-ce/b-uˁc-te‘thick’ (n-thick-dd.sg/n-thick-dd.pl) b. tunt-ce/tunt-te‘daring’
c. ik’-ka/hek’-ka‘from that’ (dem.up-abl) (alternativelyik-ka/hek-ka)
All velar and uvular consonants occur in plain and labialized forms. The labialized ve-lars and uvuve-lars can be followed by all vowels except /u/. Labialization is mostly found with syllable-initial consonants, but as Table 2.2 shows, there are also words with labi-alized consonants in final position. In most words, labialization is restricted to one con-sonant per root, but there are a number of words with two labialized concon-sonants, e.g.
gʷagʷa‘flower’,gʷargʷal‘onion’, andxʷixʷit’‘pipe’. In addition to labialization in roots, deletion of the vowel /u/ triggers labialization of the preceding consonant or following consonant (§2.6.10). Labialized consonants are mostly found in nouns, numerals, adjec-tives, adverbs, and verbs and also attested in a few particles, but not in pronouns or suffixes. Labialization is absent from Standard Dargwa and therefore speakers who have been trained in the Standard Dargwa orthography do not write them in Sanzhi, although they pronounce them. Younger speakers often replace labialized consonants by plain consonants and change a preceding or followingatoo(in speech and writing). Minimal pairs for some labialized consonants are given in (2).
(2) a. d-elq’-ij(pfv) ‘grind’ d-elq’ʷ-ij(pfv) ‘break’
b. b-iχ-ij(pfv) ‘tie, fasten’ b-iχʷ-ij(pfv) ‘be, become, be able’
c. akri‘Akri’ (place name) akʷri‘be not’ (cop.neg.msd) d. ik’-i-j‘for this / that up’ ik’ʷ-ij‘say’ (say.m.ipfv-inf)
(dem.up-obl-dat)
Geminates are always voiceless, non-ejective, and unaspirated. All voiceless non-eject-ive obstruents, except for pharyngeal/epiglottal and glottal segments, occur as gemi-nates, and even a number of labialized consonants are geminates. The phonemic status of geminates is proven by the minimal pairs and minimal oppositions in (3).
(3) a. iχ-i-j‘for this / that down’ iχː-ij‘guard, protect, care’
(dem.down-obl-dat)
b. b-uq-ij(pfv) ‘run, go’ b-uqː-ij‘carry, bring’
c. bus-ij‘rain’ b-usː-ij‘sleep, fall asleep’
d. b-ač-ij(pfv) ‘smear, spread’ ačː-ij‘strike, hit onself’
e. b-ac-ij(pfv) ‘plough’ acːi-j‘to the uncle’ (uncle-dat) f. het-i-j‘for that’ (dem-obl-dat) hetːi‘those’
Geminate fricatives are not always easy to identify because fricatives can be tense in emphatic pronunciation. But geminate stops and affricates are clearly audible as such, because there is a significant difference in the closure duration between singletons and geminates. Gemination can probably be analyzed as a difference between lax and tense consonants, but the exact phonetic properties of geminates still need to be clarified by future research.
In addition to their occurrence in stems, geminates occur at morpheme boundaries (see §2.6.11 below). A few sonorants can also occur as tense consonants within roots (/n/, /m/, /l/, /r/, and /w/) and/or at morpheme boundaries, but their phonemic status needs further clarification. Only geminates of /n/, /r/, and /l/ are found in native items (4); the other sonorants are only found in loan words (5).
(4) t’unneq‘basket’ =malle(emphatic particle) -lla/-la(genitive suffix) -lle/-le(adverbialzing suffix)
urra‘foreign’
(5) Allah‘Allah’ amma‘but’
sːurrat‘picture’ Maˁħaˁmma(male personal name)