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Prefix Reform: Difference between revisions
refine phonological criteria, including a praising mention of the much easier mid-level tone approach; update the phonological examples table and rewrite the whole section a little
(transpose the tables for easier cross-comparison) |
(refine phonological criteria, including a praising mention of the much easier mid-level tone approach; update the phonological examples table and rewrite the whole section a little) |
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'''Prefix Reform''' is a proposal by [[uakci]] to change how [[prefix]]es interact with the stems of words. | '''Prefix Reform''' is a proposal by [[uakci]] to change how [[prefix]]es interact with the stems of words. | ||
Note: the two parts of the proposal, [[#Spelling changes| | Note: the two parts of the proposal, [[#Spelling changes|the spelling changes]] and [[#Pronunciation changes|the pronunciation changes]], could be considered independently of each other. | ||
==Reasons== | ==Reasons== | ||
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==Pronunciation changes== | ==Pronunciation changes== | ||
:<b>TL;DR:</b> You always stress the first syllable of the stem. Prefixes should be quieter, shorter, and use mid tone. | |||
Illustrative examples: | *Stress the first syllable of the stem rather than the prefix. For instance, in {{t|puchumgòıchuq}} ‘was taking medicine’, stress the {{t|-goı-}}, no different than {{t|bugòıchuq}} ‘doesn’t/isn’t taking medicine’ or even just {{t|goıchuq}} ‘take medicine’. | ||
*This stressed syllable should be louder and/or longer and/or more extreme in terms of the tone contour. | |||
*The unstressed prefix syllables should be shortened with regards to regular vowel length: {{t|bunúq}} ‘the non-snake’ could be [bŭnʊq]. (◌̆, the breve, is used to signal “extra-short” vowel length in the IPA.) At any rate, they should sound shorter than the stressed syllable of the stem (so [bunuː] for {{t|bunú}} is fine). | |||
*Optionally, the unstressed prefix syllables may use the weak forms of their core vowel: /u/ goes to [ʊ], /i/ goes to [ɪ], /o/ goes to [ɔ]. These contextual allophones are already used elsewhere in the language – namely, [ɔ] appears in {{t|oı}} /ɔj/, and the three are also triggered before {{t|q}}, e.g., {{t|bıq}} [bɪŋ] and not [biŋ]. Now imagine this is yet another context for them to be weakened. This leads to spicy phonoaesthetics not seen anywhere else in the language: {{t|jıa-}} [dʑɪa]!!! | |||
*In terms of tone, there are two options, the hard option and the easy option: | |||
*;The hard option: Make the prefix or prefixes’ contour “anticipate” the stem’s contour. For example, if the stem starts high, the prefixes should be high. If the stem starts lower, the prefixes should be there as well. This option has turned out hard in practice because it’s not as easy to control the tone contour of a weak unstressed syllable. | |||
*;The easy option: Always pronounce all prefixes with the mid level tone, [˧]. Extra care should be taken not to allow the tone to slide upwards or downwards as it’s pronounced – in other words, avoid *[˧˦] or *[˧˨]. | |||
Illustrative examples (using the easy option): | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
!Official | ! Official | ||
|{{t|puchụmtao}} || [ˈpuː˥˨t͡ɕŭʔŭm˨˩tʰaw˩] | | {{t|puchụmtao}} || [ˈpuː˥˨t͡ɕŭʔŭm˨˩tʰaw˩] | ||
| rowspan=2 | | |||
|{{t|jı̣achia}} || [ˈd͡ʑĭʔĭa˥˨t͡ɕia˨˩] | | rowspan=2 | || {{t|jı̣achia}} || [ˈd͡ʑĭʔĭa˥˨t͡ɕia˨˩] | ||
| rowspan=2 | | | rowspan=2 | || {{t|lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı}} || [ˈlăʔă˨˦maj˦˥ ˈbɛ̆ʔɛ̆j˨˩rɔj˩] | ||
|{{t|lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı}} || [ˈlăʔă˨˦maj˦˥ ˈbɛ̆ʔɛ̆j˨˩rɔj˩] | |||
| rowspan=2 | | | rowspan=2 | | ||
| colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | N/A | | colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | N/A | ||
| rowspan=2 | | | rowspan=2 | || {{t|jụ̂aqjuaı}} || [ˈd͡ʑŭʔŭaŋ˧˥˨d͡ʑu˨˩aj˩] | ||
| {{t|jụ̂aqjuaı}} || [ˈd͡ʑŭʔŭaŋ˧˥˨d͡ʑu˨˩aj˩] | |||
|- | |- | ||
!Proposal | ! Proposal | ||
|{{t|puchumtào}} || [ | | {{t|puchumtào}} || [pʊ˧t͡ɕʊm˧ˈtaːw˥˩] | ||
|{{t|jıachìa}} || [ | | {{t|jıachìa}} || [d͡ʑɪa˧ˈt͡ɕiːa˥˩] | ||
|{{t|lamáı beıróı}} || [la˧ˈmaj˧˥ | | {{t|lamáı beıróı}} || [la˧ˈmaj˧˥ bɛj˧ˈrɔj˧˩] | ||
|{{t|toꝡä}} || [ | | {{t|toꝡä}} || [tʰɔ˧ˈja˧˨ʔa˨˩] | ||
|{{t|juaqjûaı}} || [ | | {{t|juaqjûaı}} || [d͡ʑʊaŋ˧ˈd͡ʑuː˧˥˨aj˨˩] | ||
|} | |} | ||
The value of this proposal, apart from more flexibility and less ambiguity, is that stems no longer alternate between stressed and unstressed depending on whether they have prefixes attached to them (think {{t|<u>juı</u>taq}} vs. {{t|bụ<u>juı</u>}}). As another pleasant side effect, poly[[raku]]<nowiki />ic words in {{done|3}} are now possible (like {{t|äımu}}, which before was ambiguous with the mid-falling allotonal forms of {{t|ạımu}} and {{t|ạ́ımu}}). | The value of this proposal, apart from more flexibility and less ambiguity, is that stems no longer alternate between stressed and unstressed depending on whether they have prefixes attached to them (think {{t|<u>juı</u>taq}} vs. {{t|bụ<u>juı</u>}}). As another pleasant side effect, poly[[raku]]<nowiki/>ic words in {{done|3}} are now possible (like {{t|äımu}}, which before was ambiguous with the mid-falling allotonal forms of {{t|ạımu}} and {{t|ạ́ımu}}). | ||
==Thinking clitically – a fifth tone== | ==Thinking clitically – a fifth tone== | ||
Let us think about clitics – little segments of words that attach to other words rather than forming full units. For instance, in English, the possessive marker <i>’s</i> can attach to words like <i>California’s reputation</i> or entire phrases like <i>my most beloved partner’s necklace</i> or <i>that one guy we saw in the street’s student card</i>. But then there’s nothing stopping us from spelling it as a separate word: <i>California ’s reputation</i>, for instance. | Let us think about clitics – little segments of words that attach to other words rather than forming full units. For instance, in English, the possessive marker <i>’s</i> can attach to words like <i>California’s reputation</i> or entire phrases like <i>my most beloved partner’s necklace</i> or <i>that one guy we saw in the street’s student card</i>. But then there’s nothing stopping us from spelling it as a separate word: <i>California ’s reputation</i>, for instance. More on clitics [[wikipedia:Clitic|over on Wikipedia]] if you’re interested. | ||
Similarly in Toaq, but let’s for a moment assume that the clitical “prefix toneme” is spelled like {{tone|1}} (as a macron). Its pronunciation is outlined above, but we could summarize it as a mid-flat tone that also nullifies vowel length: {{t|jıa}} /dʑiːa˥˩/ but {{t|jīa}} /dʑia˧/. Putting this together into a new table: | Similarly in Toaq, but let’s for a moment assume that the clitical “prefix toneme” is spelled like {{tone|1}} (as a macron). Its pronunciation is outlined above, but we could summarize it as a mid-flat tone that also nullifies vowel length: {{t|jıa}} /dʑiːa˥˩/ but {{t|jīa}} /dʑia˧/. Putting this together into a new table: | ||