Mayan phonology

Bennett, Ryan

doi:10.1111/lnc3.12148

Cited by 30 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 91 publications

(250 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…With this background in place, we now return to the connection to vowel‐initial roots, the CVC requirement, and the location of the ergative morpheme. In particular I argue, following work cited previously and discussed in detail in Bennett , that these roots are underlyingly vowel initial—/VC/—and that the glottal stop is epenthetic, inserted to satisfy the CVC templatic requirement. Following the general templatic proposal, I assume that if a vowel initial root like /ab/ ‘hammock’ reaches the nP/vP phase and there is no consonant internal to the phase, then [ʔ] is inserted to fill the initial C slot of the CV‐skeleton.…”

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 80%

“…The very existence of this type of allomorphy suggests an underlying difference between vowel‐initial [VC] and other [CVC] roots (as opposed to an analysis in which the initial glottal stop is underlying present in the [VC] forms). The notion that initial glottal stop is epenthetic for vowel‐initial roots is further supported by the observation that, in some Mayan languages, there is a contrast between roots with an invariant or “firm” initial glottal stop and roots that display the alternations discussed previously; see Bennett for citations and discussion.…”

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 81%

“…A similar alternation is found with Set A prefixes and a cognate of the agentive prefix in K'ichean languages like Kaqchikel. Compare ik’ [ʔik’] ‘month’, r‐ik’ [rik’] ‘her period’, and aj‐’ik’ [axʔik’] ‘domestic worker’ (Barrett , discussed in Bennett ). Bennett notes:

The retention of epenthetic [ʔ] is extremely common for agentive prefixes in other Mayan languages as well (these are all cognate with Kaqchikel aj ).…”

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bennett notes:

The retention of epenthetic [ʔ] is extremely common for agentive prefixes in other Mayan languages as well (these are all cognate with Kaqchikel aj ). This heterogenous behavior cannot be explained by positing an underlying glottal stop; some higher grammatical principle is clearly involved, such as prosodic conditioning or morphological cyclicity (Bennett :478).…”

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Little‐v⁰Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol

Coon

2017

Syntax

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper addresses typological differences in subject-verb agreement and provides evidence that transitive subject agreement need not always involve a high functional head, namely T 0 , but may instead be the result of a local relation between the subject and a low functional head, v 0 . In Mayan languages, grammatical relations are head-marked on the predicate through two series of morphemes, known as "Set A" (ergative/possessive) and "Set B" (absolutive). I argue that Set A morphemes reflect a local relationship of agreement between v 0 and the transitive subject in its low base position and, in an analogous structural configuration in the nominal domain, between a possessive n 0 head and the possessor. Crucially, I show that no higher functional projection is involved. This is important in light of proposals that ergative agreement systems are epiphenomenal, resulting from standard nominative agreement from T 0 which is blocked from agreeing with morphologically casemarked ergative subjects (Woolford 2010). In this paper, I examine the morphologically ergative Mayan language Ch'ol to show that true ergative agreement is possible even in the absence of morphological case. This paper has implications for the typology of ergative case and agreement systems and contributes to our understanding of the nature of agreement and clitic doubling. two anonymous Syntax reviewers for helpful discussion and comments on various stages of this work. I am grateful to Virginia Mart ınez V azquez, Morelia V azquez Mart ınez, Juan Jes us V azquez Alvarez, and Nicol as Arcos L opez for discussion of Ch'ol and to Magdalena Torres for Chuj. Any errors in data or analysis are, of course, my own. This work was supported by an FRQSC Nouveaux-Chercheurs grant. 1 Unless otherwise noted, Mayan data below are from the author's field notes. Abbreviations in glosses are as follows: A = Set A (ergative/possessive); ABS = absolutive; ACC = accusative; APPL = applicative; B = Set B (absolutive); CAUS = causative; CL = noun-class clitic; CLF = nominal classifier; DAT = dative; DET = determiner; DTV = derived/nonroot transitive suffix; EP = epenthetic insertion; ERG = ergative; FEM = feminine; IMP = imperative; IPFV = imperfective; ITV = intransitive verb suffix; LOC = locative; MASC = masculine; NML = nominal; NOM = nominative; PASS = passive; PERF = perfect; PL = plural; PFV = perfective; SG = singular; TAM = tense, aspect, mood; and TV = transitive verb suffix.

show abstract

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 81%

The retention of epenthetic [ʔ] is extremely common for agentive prefixes in other Mayan languages as well (these are all cognate with Kaqchikel aj ).…”

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bennett notes:

Section: Morphophonological Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Little‐v⁰Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol

Coon

2017

Syntax

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, while Chuj has a null n 0 and an overt verbal status suffix, Ch'ol exhibits the reverse. The fact that we do not find two overt morphemes is perhaps unsurprising, given (i) the tendency for status suffixes to delete in non-phrase-final position in many Mayan languages, and (ii) the fact that vowel hiatus is frequently resolved by syncope (Bennett 2016). One possibility is that the choice of whether to realize the verbal status suffix -i (Chuj) or the nominalizing head -el (Ch'ol) is simply a morphological accident.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Nominalizations and the structure of progressives in Chuj Mayan

Coon

Carolan

2017

Volume 2

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper investigates the structure of progressives and nominalizations in Chuj, an understudied Mayan language of Guatemala. Like many other Mayan languages, Chuj shows aspect-based split ergativity: the otherwise ergative head-marking pattern in the language disappears in the progressive aspect. In other Mayan languages-for example Ch'ol (Coon 2010; and Yucatec (Bricker 1981)-the appearance of a non-ergative pattern in the progressive has been attributed to nominalization. In Chuj, however, there is no clear morphological reflex of nominalization, as is found in other languages in the family. Using data from negation, particle placement, and agreement, we argue that Chuj progressives nonetheless involve an aspectual matrix predicate and a nominalized embedded verb. This provides a clear structural explanation for the split pattern. Finally, we distinguish different types of nominalizations in Chuj: those which are nominalized directly from a root, and those which are nominalized above verbal projections.

show abstract

The versatility of creaky phonation: Segmental, prosodic, and sociolinguistic uses in the world's languages

Davidson

2020

WIRES Cognitive Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Creaky phonation (also known as creaky voice, vocal fry, laryngealization, or glottalization) is a voice quality that refers to shortened and thickened vocal folds that vibrate at a low and quasi‐regular fundamental frequency with a long period of damping. Cross‐linguistically, creaky phonation can span either short or long domains. When implemented on individual vowels or consonants (as in Zapotec or Montana Salish), it can signal phonemic contrast with other voice qualities, or it can be an additional acoustic cue to enhance other contrasts, such as tone (as in Mandarin or Cantonese). Another segmental use of creaky phonation in many languages is as a variant of glottal stop. Creaky phonation can also be implemented as a prosodic element that signals the end of a phrase (as in English or Mandarin), or indicates relinquishing a conversational turn (as in Finnish). It can also express meaning in a social interaction, such as irritation (in Vietnamese). Lastly, creaky phonation can be deployed as a sociolinguistic marker to establish identities, convey affect, or distinguish one speech group from another within the same language. In some social circumstances, such as the perception that young women use creaky phonation at greater rates than men do, it can be evaluated negatively by listeners. As creaky phonation can be combined with linguistic elements at various levels and is easily perceptible, it has taken on a remarkable number of roles in our linguistic repertoires. This article is categorized under: Linguistics > Language in Mind and Brain

show abstract

Mayan phonology

Cited by 30 publications

References 91 publications

Little‐v⁰Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol

Little‐v⁰Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol

Nominalizations and the structure of progressives in Chuj Mayan

The versatility of creaky phonation: Segmental, prosodic, and sociolinguistic uses in the world's languages

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Mayan phonology

Cited by 30 publications

References 91 publications

Little‐v0Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol

Little‐v0Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol

Nominalizations and the structure of progressives in Chuj Mayan

The versatility of creaky phonation: Segmental, prosodic, and sociolinguistic uses in the world's languages

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Little‐v⁰Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol

Little‐v⁰Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol