Itunyoso Trique

Abstract

Itunyoso Trique /itunˈjoso ˈtɾiki/ is an Oto-Manguean language (Mixtecan branch) spoken in the town of San Martín Itunyoso, Oaxaca, Mexico. It is one of three Trique languages, all of which are spoken in Oaxaca, Mexico. According to the 2005 census (INEGI 2005), there are 1,345 inhabitants in the town, virtually all of whom speak Itunyoso Trique as a native language. However, this number does not reflect the total number of speakers, as approximately 30%–50% of the population lives outside of San Martín Itunyoso at any given time. The population of the nearby town of Concepción Itunyoso, with a population of 261 (ibid.), is considered to speak the same dialect. The remaining populations of speakers are found in Oaxaca City, Mexico City, and the United States.

Chicahuaxtla Triqui

“…Orthographically represented as <r>, rhotic /r/ in word-initial position has been commonly described as a voiced alveolar trill [r] in the Triqui languages (Hollenbach 1977, DiCanio 2010; however, based on our most recent findings, trilled [r] is not as common in this environment as once believed. Hollenbach (1977: 53) and Elliott et al (2012) note that /r/ in word-initial position may be pronounced as [dr] but is more commonly pronounced with acoustic frication, either as voiced Fortis-lenis contrasts…”

“…// does not occur in word-final position. Itunyoso Triqui <> corresponds to [] in Chicahuaxtla Triqui except for one example [ɾu 3 ðaʔ 3 ] 9 (transcribed by DiCanio) ‘cylindrical grindstone’, 10 in which the intervocalic // is fricativized, cited by DiCanio (2010: 229). In Copala Triqui, the // occurs natively in word-initial position and is pronounced as [ð] in intervocalic position only in Spanish loanwords (Hollenbach 1977), otherwise it is articulated as a plosive.…”

“…There are two laryngeals in Chicahuaxtla Triqui: /ʔ/ and //. In Itunyoso Triqui, DiCanio (2010: 229) notes that /ʔ/ is realized ‘as short duration creak with significant pitch perturbation’ in intervocalic position while as a word-final coda consonant, complete glottal closure is evident. Both /ʔ/ and // surface as mid-syllable interrupts (i.e.…”

“…In medial position, [ʔ] can be followed by a sonorant but not by an obstruent, for example /ʔ ʔ ʔ ʔ ʔŋɡ ʔ/. In Itunyoso Triqui, DiCanio (2010: 232) states that glottalization precedes and overlaps the initial portion of the consonant and is voiced throughout its duration. Contrary to DiCanio's findings, glottal stops surfacing before sonorant consonants in Chicahuaxtla Triqui rarely maintain voicing and most always involve complete closure of the glottis prior to the onset of the following consonant.…”

“… 10 DiCanio (2010: 229) translates [ɾ 3 ðʔ 3 ] as ‘grinding stone leg’. We believe ‘cylindrical grindstone’ is a more appropriate translation. …”