Japhug*
Guillaume Jacques
rgyalrongskad@gmail.com
CNRS-CRLAO-INALCO
September 5, 2016
Illustration of the IPA, Journal of the International Phonetic Association
*
I wish to thank Alexis Michaud and two anonymous reviewers for comments on previous versions of this work; I am responsible for any remaining error. This research was
funded by the HimalCo project(ANR-12-CORP-0006) and is related to the Labex EFL
(PPC2 Evolutionary approaches to phonology: New goals and new methods (in diachrony
and panchrony). Glosses follow the Leipzig glossing rules, except for the following: auto
autobenefactive / spontaneous, emph emphatic, genr generic, ifr inferential, inv inverse,
lnk linker, testim testimonial.
1
Introduction
This paper focuses on the Japhug language (local name /kɯrɯ skɤt/) of
Kamnyu village (/kɤmɲɯ/, Chinese Ganmuniao 干木鸟) in Gdong-brgyad
area (/ʁdɯrɟɤt/, Chinese Longerjia 龙尔甲), Mbarkhams county (Chinese
Maerkang 马尔康), Rngaba prefecture, Sichuan province, China.
Japhug belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, and is one of the four Rgyalrong languages, alongside Tshobdun, Zbu and Situ.1
The description is based on the author’s fieldwork, and the word list and
the short story in the appendix have been provided by Tshendzin (Chenzhen
陈珍, female, born 1950), a retired schoolteacher (a native speaker of Japhug,
bilingual in Sichuan Mandarin since childhood).
Japhug has a highly developed system of ideophones (Jacques 2013b),
which present unusual phonological features, in particular rare clusters. In
the following discussion, phonemes or clusters found exclusively on ideophones will be treated separately. In addition, about a quarter of the Japhug vocabulary is borrowed from Tibetan, and these loanwords, like the
ideophones, fill some gaps in the phonotactic distribution of vowels and consonants (on gap-filling by loanwords see Martinet 1955 [2005], 63-64). These
cases are carefully distinguished from the native vocabulary in the analyses that follow, in order to bring out the phonotactics of inherited Japhug
vocabulary.
Consonants
Plosive
Affricate
Nasal
Fricative
Approximant
Rhotic
Lateral
unvoiced
aspirated
voiced
prenasalized
unvoiced
aspirated
voiced
prenasalized
unvoiced
voiced
sonorant
fricative
Bilabial
Dental/Alveolar
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/n/
/s/
/z/
/m/
/w/
/l/
/ɬ/
Retroflex
Alveolo-palatal
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ʂ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/r/
Palatal
Velar
Uvular
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/ɲ/
/ŋ/
/x/
/ɣ/
/χ/
/ʁ/
/j/
Glottal
/h/
In Japhug, syllables follow the template (C) (C) (C)V(C) or (C) (C)
(C)V(V) with initial clusters containing at most three consonants, and at
most one coda. Given the complexity of possible onsets, it is not practical, in
the case of Japhug, to provide an exhaustive list of possible syllables in the
language (unlike Naish languages for instance, see Michailovsky & Michaud
2006; Michaud 2012).
2
Simple onsets
The consonant inventory of Japhug comprises 50 phonemes as listed in Table
1. There is a general four-way contrast in stops and affricates between
unvoiced unaspirated, unvoiced aspirated, voiced and prenasalized.
Since monosyllabic words are few, most of the example words provided
here involve disyllabic words, whose first syllable illustrates the consonant at
issue followed by the vowel /ɯ/, the most common one. For some examples
involving possessed nouns (on this topic see Jacques 2014, 6), a possessive
prefix must always be present, and we always give here the third person
singular prefix /ɯ-/.
Table 1: Examples of the consonant phonemes
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/w/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/n/
/s/
/z/
/l/
/ɬ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/ʂ/
/r/
/ɯ-pɯ/
/ɯ-pʰɯ/
/babɯ/
/mbɯt/
/tɯmɯ/
/wɯwɯ/
/tɯboʁ/
/tʰɯɣi/
/dɯdɯt/
/ndɯ/
/tɤtsoʁ/
/tsʰɯtʰo/
/dzɯrdzɯr/
/ndzɯpe/
/nɯŋa/
/sɯmat/
/zɯmi/
/lɯlu/
/ɬɯɣnɤɬɯɣ/
/tʂɯmpa/
/tʂʰɯɣ/
/dʐɯɣdʐɯɣ/
/ndʐɯnbu/
/ʂɯŋʂɯŋ/
/rɯ/
‘its young’
‘its price’
‘blackcurrant’
‘collapse’
‘sky’
‘Boletus sp.’
‘one group’
‘imp:downstream:come’
‘turtledove’
‘appear (rainbow)’
‘Potentilla anserina’
‘kid’
‘straight’
‘way of sitting’
‘cow’
‘fruit’
‘almost’
‘cat’
‘breathing movement’
‘apron’
‘maybe’
‘strong (of tea)’
‘guest’
‘clear’
‘temporary place (nomads)’
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
/j/
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/ŋ/
/x/
/ɣ/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/χ/
/ʁ/
/h/
/ɯ-tɕɯ/
/tɕʰɯwur/
/dʑɯwdʑɯw/
/ndʑɯnɯ/
/ɕɯŋgɯ/
/ʑɯrɯʑɤri/
/cɯ/
/tɤcʰɯ/
/waɟɯ/
/ɲɟɯ/
/ɲɯɣɲɯɣ/
/ɯ-jɯ/
/kɯki/
/kʰɯna/
/gɯgɯɣ/
/ɯ-ŋgɯ/
/ɕaŋɯ/
/xɯrxɯr/
/ɣɯ/
/qɯqli/
/kɯ-sɤqʰɯqʰa/
/mɯɴɢɯ/
/χaŋχaŋ/
/naŋʁɯ/
/hanɯni/
‘his boy’
‘blister’
‘rough’
‘Angelica sp.’
‘before’
‘progressively’
‘stone’
‘wedge’
‘earthquake’
‘open (it)’
‘soft and powdery’
‘its handle’
‘this’
‘dog’
‘very dark (sky)’
‘inside’
‘heat (deer)’
‘round’
‘genitive’
‘staring’
‘naughty’
‘Ligularia fischeria’
‘a little orange’
‘shirt’
‘a little’
Among the consonants of Japhug, five are only attested in borrowings
from Tibetan and/or ideophones: /ɬ/, /ʂ/, /dʐ/, /dʑ/ and /g/.
The analysis of prenasalized voiced stops and affricates, of palatal stops
and of /ɬ/ as unitary phonemes rather than clusters /NC/, /C+j/ and /l+x/
respectively will be justified in section .
The /ɬ/ is slightly aspirated [ɬʰ], unlike other unvoiced fricatives (note
that many languages in the area have constrastive aspirated fricatives, see
Jacques 2011; Japhug however has no such contrast).
As in many languages of the Tibetan area, the /r/ in a trilled retroflex
voiced fricative [ɽ͡ʐ] in onset position, sometimes realized as a simple voiced
fricative [ʐ].
3
Consonants clusters
Japhug boasts 414 clusters in syllable onset position: 314 clusters with two
consonants and 100 with three consonants. Clusters that are only possible
at syllable boundaries are not included in this count.
Since Japhug is a heavily prefixing language (on which see Jacques
2013a), most noun or verb stems are prefixed, and thus a considerable part
of onset clusters are not attested word-initially. For instance, the cluster
/zmb/ is only found in the word /tɤzmbɯr/ ‘silt’ which contains a nominal
prefix /tɤ-/ (see Table 2).
Yet, speakers are able to parse words into syllables; in the case
of /tɤzmbɯr/ ‘silt’, the only possible syllabification in /tɤ|zmbɯr/, not
*/tɤz|mbɯr/, and thus we can ascertain that /zmb/ can be counted
as a possible onset in Japhug. On the other hand, in examples like
/pjɤnɯndzɯlŋɯz/ ‘he dozed off’, both syllabifications /pjɤ|nɯ|ndzɯl|ŋɯz/
and /pjɤ|nɯ|ndzɯ|lŋɯz/ are possible, so that /lŋ/ is not counted among
syllable onset clusters in Japhug.
Decisive evidence from partial reduplication
A useful test to analyse and classify clusters is partial reduplication, a very
productive process which can be applied to both verb and noun stems and
has a variety of morphosyntactic functions (see Jacques 2007). When partial
reduplication is applied to a syllable, the rhyme of the replicated syllable is
changed to /ɯ/ in the replicant.
Some clusters are affected by the partial reduplication: when the last
consonant of a cluster is one of the non-nasal sonorants (/r/, /l/, /j/, /w/,
/ɣ/ or /ʁ/), and the preceding consonant in neither a sonorant nor a sibilant
fricative, the sonorant is deleted, as in the derivation /ɲɤ-prɤt/ ‘he cut it’ →
/ɲɤ-nɤ-pɯ~prɤt/ ‘he cut it in all directions’.2
When the penultimate consonant of the cluster is a sonorant and the
last consonant is a non-nasal sonorant which is not a glide (/r/, /l/, /ɣ/ or
/ʁ/), this last consonant is not deleted, as in /ko-wraʁ/ ‘he attached it’ →
/ko-nɤ-wrɯ~wraʁ/ ‘he attached it in all directions’.
When the prenultimate consonant is a sibilant fricative (/s/, /z/, /ɕ/,
/ʑ/) and the last consonant is a non-nasal sonorant which is not a glide (/r/,
/l/, /ɣ/ or /ʁ/), there are various possibilities, which are detailed in section
.
This morphophonological rule is thus crucial in analyzing and classifying
consonant clusters. Sonorants that undergo deletion when partial reduplication is applied are henceforth designated as medial consonants, and it is
postulated that they do not belong to the same constituent as the rest of
the onset.
In the following, we present a complete list of consonant clusters in Ja4
phug. Groups only attested in Tibetan loanwords or ideophones (or deideophonic verbs), and not in the native vocabulary, are indicated in lightgray
and gray respectively in the tables. We only count clusters in syllable onsets,
not clusters only occurring between syllable boundaries, some of which will
be treated in section .
Clusters not ending in a (non-nasal) sonorant
Clusters whose last consonant is not a non-nasal sonorant have a limited
number of possible consonants in first position: /w/, /s/, /z/, /ɕ/, /ʑ/, /l/,
/r/, /ʂ/, /j/, /ɣ/, /x/, /ʁ/, /χ/, /n/, /m/ and the homorganic nasal, except
for a few clusters in stop+/ɕ/.
Clusters beginning in /w/ or in a alveolar fricative /s/ /z/ are listed in
Table 2.
/w/ is realized as [f] or [ɸ] before unvoiced obstruents and as [v] or
[β] before voiced ones. /w/ does not appear before nasal or prenasalized
segments, and is not compatible with a labial or a uvular segment. Some
clusters with /w/ + voiced obstruents (/wz/ and /wg/) are only attested in
Tibetan loanwords. Clusters with three consonant whose first element is /w/
and the last one is not a sonorant are all restricted to Tibetan borrowings
except /wxt/, which is realized as [xʷt] with a labiovelarized fricative (and
labializes preceding /ɯ/ and /ɤ/ to [u] and [o] respectively). Not all speakers
maintain the contrast between /wxt/ and /xt/, and the former cluster is only
attested in a single word /wxti/ ‘big’.
/s/ and /z/ as first element of a cluster are only contrastive before a
sonorant. With obstruents, the fricative has the same voicing value as the
following consonant. All clusters of this type are attested in the native
vocabulary.
5
6
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/ɬ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
Table 2: List of consonant clusters with /w/, /s/ or /z/ as a first element (38+8)
/sp/
/ft/
/ɯ-wtaʁ/
sign
/wd/
/wdɯt/
demon
/wts/
/wtsʰ/
/wtsoʁ/
/wtsʰi/
female hybrid yak
it is not serious (disease)
/ws/
/wz/
/wsaŋ/
/wzaŋsa/
fumigation
friend
/wtɕ/
/wtɕʰ/
/wtɕar /
/wtɕʰur/
summer
he pours it down
/wɕ/
/wʑ/
/wtʂ/
/wɕaʁ/
/wʑar /
/wtʂi/
he repents for it
buzzard
he melts it
/wc/
/tɯ-wcaʁ /
dorsal mat
/wɟ/
/wɟi/
he runs after it
/spoz/
incense
/sm/
/st/
/stʰ/
/smar/
/staχpɯ/
/stʰaw/
river
pea
he touches it
/sn/
/sna/
he is able, worthy
/sc/
/scʰ/
/scoʁ/
/scʰɤt/
scoop
it comes down (water level)
/sɲ/
/sɲaŋne/
fasting
/zb/
/zmb/
/zm/
/zbaʁ/
/tɤzmbɯr/
/zmɤrɤw/
dry
silt
he eat it with
/zd/
/znd/
/zn/
/zdɯm/
/znde/
/znɤje/
cloud
wall
he feels sorry, regrets it
/zɟ/
/zɲɟ/
/kɯ-nɯzɟɯ/
/zɲɟa/
suffering losses
plant sp.
7
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/ŋ/
/x/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/χ/
/wk/
/wka/
order
/wg/
/wgoz/
he prepares it
/wxt/
/wst/
/wrt/
/wsk/
/wzg/
/wzd/
/wzɟ/
/wrɟ/
/wxti/
/wstɯn/
/wrtɤn/
/wskɤr/
/wzgɤr/
/wzdɯnɯ/
/wzɟɯr/
/wrɟaŋ/
it is big
he serves him
he is trustworthy
he goes around it
he delays it
they collect it
he transforms it
he stretches it (skin)
/sk/
/skʰ/
/skɤm/
/rɟɤskʰi/
ox
pan
/sŋ/
/sŋaʁ/
he curses him
/sq/
/sqʰ/
/sqamnɯz/
/sqʰi/
twelve
tripod
/zg/
/zŋg/
/zga/
/kɤ-ɤkʰɤzŋga/
sauce
to call
Clusters with /l/, /r/ and /ʂ/ as first element are listed in Table 3. /r/ and
/ʂ/ are almost in complementary distribution as first element of a cluster,
the former appearing before voiced consonants and the latter after unvoiced
ones (except before /ɣ/, see section ). In keeping with this generalization,
/r/+nasal clusters are widely attested (nasals are phonemically and phonetically voiced in Japhug), while /ʂ/+nasal clusters are only found in attested
in some ideophones.
There are some phonotactic constraints on the distribution of these consonants: /l/ is not compatible with coronal fricatives, and /r/ and /ʂ/ never
appear before retroflex fricatives and affricates.
8
9
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/ɬ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
Table 3: List of consonant clusters with /l/, /r/ or /ʂ/ as a first element (52+1)
/lp/
/tɯ-lpɤɣ/
/lm/
/lt/
/ltʰ/
/ld/
/tɤlmɯz/
/ltɤw/
/ltʰɯmɯmi/
/ldɯɣi/
straw covering the balcony
he folds it
coming slowly (sleep)
bharal
/ln/
/lts/
/ltsʰ/
/lni/
/ɕɤltsaʁ/
/ltshɤltshɤt/
it withers
leather coat
small and weak
/ltɕ/
/ltɕʰ/
/ldʑ/
/ʂtɤltɕaʁ/
/ltɕʰɤltɕʰɤt/
/ldʑaŋkɯ/
one piece
horse whip
hanging (of fluffy objects)
green
/ldʐ/
/ldʐaŋldʐaŋ/
hanging (big object)
/lc/
/lcʰ/
/lcɯɣlcɯɣ/
/tɯ-lcʰɯɣ/
drenching
section (of a bag)
/rmb/
/rm/
/armbat/
/rmɤwja/
near
peacock
/rd/
/rnd/
/rn/
/rdɤstaʁ/
/rnde/
/rnaʁ/
stone
he finds it
it is deep
/rdz/
/rndz/
/rdzardza/
/rndzɤkɤŋe/
insolent
shade of the mountain
/rz/
/tɯ-rzɯɣ/
one section
/rndʑ/
/cɯrndʑi/
sand
/rʑ/
/tɤ-rʑaw/
wife
/rɟ/
/rɲɟ/
/rɲ/
/rɟaʁ/
/rɲɟaʁlo/
/rɲaŋ/
he dances
bolt
its is ancient
/ʂp/
/ʂpʰ/
/tɯ-ʂpa/
/ʂpʰɤwʂpʰɤw/
axe
flapping wings
/ʂt/
/ʂtʰ/
/ʂtalu/
/ɯ-pɤʂtʰɤw/
horse year
middle
/ʂts/
/ʂtsʰ/
/ʂtsot/
/ʂtshom/
vengeance
it has a crack (bucket)
/ʂs/
/ʂsɯwʂsɯw/
hairy
/ʂtɕ/
/ʂtɕʰ/
/nɯʂtɕe/
/ʂtɕʰɯʁjɯ/
he teases him
caterpillar
/ʂɕ/
/rɕɯwrɕɯw/
rough
/ʂc/
/ʂcʰ/
/tɤ-ʂcoʁ/
/ɯ-ʂcʰaʂcʰɤw/
mud
interstice
/ʂɲ/
/ʂɲoʁʂɲoʁ/
long and thin
10
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/ŋ/
/x/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/χ/
/lŋ/
/lx/
/lq/
/lŋɤlŋɤt/
/lxɤwlxɤw/
/lqɤnɤlqɤt/
hanging (fruit)
thick (clothes)
toddling
/rg/
/rŋg/
/rŋ/
/rɴɢ/
/lpɕ/
/qalpɕa/
it opens (fern leaf)
/rga/
/rŋgɤm/
/tɯ-rŋa/
/ɕɯrɴɢo/
he likes it
hard piece
face
Anisodus tanguticus
/ʂk/
/ʂkʰ/
/ʂko/
/tɤ-ʂkʰom/
it is hard
feather rachis
/ʂq/
/ʂqʰ/
/ʂqoʁ/
/tɤ-ʂqʰu/
he hugs him
bark, skin
/ʂχ/
/ʂχɯʂχi/
with big nostrils
The glide /j/ and the alveolo-palatal fricatives /ɕ/ and /ʑ/ (Table 4)
only occur before labial, dental, velar and uvular stops; they are marginally
attested with retroflex affricates. The /j/ glide, unlike other consonants,
neither devoices nor fricativizes when occurring as first element of a cluster
whose second element is an obstruent.
Clusters with /x/, /ɣ/ and /χ/, /ʁ/ as first element are listed in Table
5. These two series of fricatives always share their voicing feature with the
following segment when it is an obstruent. With nasal sonorants, they are
almost always voiced except in the group /χɲ/, which contrasts with /ʁɲ/
and is only attested in ideophones.
The velar fricatives /x/ and /ɣ/ are compatible with all places of articulation except velars and uvulars, but event these are possible in heterosyllabic
clusters (see ).
11
Table 4: List of consonant clusters with /j/ or /ɕ/ʑ/ as a first element (29+1)
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/ɬ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/ŋ/
/x/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/χ/
/jp/
/jpum/
it is thick
/jm/
/jt/
/jmɯt/
/ajtɯ/
he forgets it
it accumulates
/jn/
/jts/
/jtsʰ/
/jnom/
/tɤ-jtsi/
/jtsʰi/
it is flexible
pillar
he gives him to drink
/jtʂʰ/
/qajtʂʰa/
vulture
/jndʐ/
/jndʐɤz/
it is thick (powder)
/jk/
/tɤ-jkɯz/
secret
/jŋ/
/tɤ-jŋoʁ/
hook
/jq/
/jqe/
he is able to lift it
/jχ/
/ajχoʁ/
it is flat (belly)
/jmŋ/
/tɯ-jmŋo/
dream (n)
12
/ɕp/
/ɕpʰ/
/ɕpaʁ/
/ɕpʰɤt/
he is thirsty
he patches it
/ʑmb/
/ɕm/
/ɕt/
/ɕtʰ/
/ʑd/
/ʑmbɤr/
/ɕmi/
/ɕte/
/ɕtʰɯz/
/ʑdɯɣʑdɯɣ/
ulcer
he mixes it
he contaminates him
he is turned towards
strong, tough
/ɕn/
/ɕnat/
weaving implement
/ɕtʂ/
/ɕtʂaŋlaŋ/
hanging and swinging
/ɕk/
/ɕkʰ/
/ʑg/
/ʑŋg/
/ɕŋ/
/ɕkom/
/ɕkʰo-nɯ/
/ʑgaʁ/
/ʑŋgu/
/ɕŋaʁɕŋaʁ/
muntjac
they spread it
exactly
he crosses river on boat
bright yellow
/ɕq/
/ɕqʰ/
/ʑɴɢ/
/ɕqɤjɤr/
/ɕqʰaloʁ/
/ʑɴɢɯloʁ/
cross-eyed
latch
walnut
13
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/ɬ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
Table 5: List of consonant clusters with /x/ɣ/ or /χ/ʁ/ as a first element (49)
/xp/
/tɯ-xpa/
/χp/
/χpʰ/
/χpi/
/taχpʰe/
story
slap
/ɣmb/
/ɣm/
/xt/
/xtʰ/
/ɣd/
/ɣnd/
/ɣn/
/xts/
/xtsʰ/
/tɯ-ɣmba/
/tɯ-ɣmaz/
/xtɯt/
/xtʰom/
/ɣdɤso/
/ɣnde/
/ɣnɤsqi/
/xtsɤɕna/
/xtsʰɯm/
cheek
wound
wild cat
he puts it horizontally
species of grub
he hits with a hammer
twenty
tip of boot
it is thin
/χt/
/χtʰ/
/χtɤrma/
/naχthɤw/
offerings
he seizes the opportunity
/χts/
/χtsʰ/
/χtso/
/χtsʰɤχtsʰɤt/
it is clean
small and active
/xs/
/ɣz/
/xsar/
/ɣzɯ/
goral
monkey
/χs/
/χsɤr/
gold
/xtɕ/
/xtɕʰ/
/xtɕi/
/xtɕʰɯt/
it is small
it can hold
/χtɕ/
/χtɕoŋ/
rheumatism
/ɣndʑ/
/xɕ/
/ɣʑ/
/xtʂ/
/ɣndʑɤw/
/xɕaj/
/ɣʑo/
/nɤxtʂi/
fire
grass
bee
he will bring it with him
/χɕ/
/χɕu/
it is strong
/χtʂ/
/χtʂɯɣdʑa/
butter tea
/xʂ/
/xc/
/xcʰ/
/ɣɟ/
/xʂɤxʂɤt /
/xcat/
/tɤlɤxcʰi/
/ɣɟaw/
long and thin
many
curdled milk
churn (milk)
/χʂ/
/χc/
/χcʰ/
/χʂɤχʂɤt/
/χcoŋkroŋ/
/χcʰa/
light (clothes)
cross-legged (sitting)
right
/ɣɲ/
/ɯ-ɣɲaʁ/
disaster
/χɲ/
/χɲɤχɲɤr/
without energy
one year
/ʁb/
/ʁmb/
/ʁm/
/ʁbɤʁbɤβ/
/aʁmbɯm/
/ʁmaʁ/
thick and big
concave
army
/ʁd/
/ʁnd/
/ʁn/
/ʁdɯɣ/
/ʁndɤr/
/ʁnaʁna/
it is serious
it scatters
both
/ʁndz/
/ʁndzɤr/
he cuts it (with scissors)
/ʁz/
/ʁzɤw/
he is careful in
/ʁʑ/
/ʁʑɯnɯ/
young man
/ʁɟ/
/ʁɲɟ/
/ʁɲ/
/ʁɟa/
/ʁɲɟiʁɲɟi/
/ʁɲɤrpa/
completely
enormous
steward (monastery)
Clusters with nasal segments as first element (not counting voiced prenasalized stops and affricates) are listed in Table 6. We find homorganic nasal clusters, compatible with all places of articulation, and nonhomorganic ones, which can be either clusters in /n/+labial or velar or
/m/+non-labial. There are no clusters with a nasal directly followed by a
fricative or any non-nasal sonorant. After /n/ and /m/, the contrast between
voiced preinitial and voiced consonants is neutralized; the existence of the
cluster /mɢ/ while only the prenasalized phoneme /ɴɢ/, not simple voiced
/ɢ/ exists, shows that it should be analyzed as /mɴɢ/ phonologically.
14
Table 6: List of consonant clusters with a nasal as first element (38+1)
15
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/ɬ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/mp/
/mpʰ/
/mpɯ/
/mpʰɯl/
it is soft
it reproduces
/nb/
/nt/
/ntʰ/
/nts/
/ntsʰ/
/ntɕʰ/
/ntaw/
/ntʰɤw/
/ntsɯ/
/ntsʰɤr/
/ntɕʰoz/
/anbaʁ/
he hides
it is stable
it is caught
/mt/
/mtʰ/
/tɤ-mtɯ/
/mtʰɯ/
knot
spell
always
it neighs
/md/
/mn/
/mts/
/mtsʰ/
/mda/
/mna/
/tɤ-mtsɯ/
/mtsʰɤm/
it reaches
it heals
button
he hears
/mdz/
/mdzadi/
flea
/mtɕ/
/mtɕʰ/
/mtɕoʁ/
/tɤ-mtɕʰo/
it is sharp
wedge
/mdʑ/
/tɯ-mdʑu/
tongue
he uses it
16
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/ŋ/
/x/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/ntʂ/
/ɲc/
/ɲcʰ/
/ŋk/
/ŋkʰ/
/ntʂu-nɯ/
/ɲcɤr/
/ɲcʰoʁ/
/ŋke/
/ŋkʰor/
/mtʂ/
/kɯ-ɤrɤmtʂɯmtʂaj/
sticky
/mdʐ/
/mdʐɯɕɯɣ/
bedbug
he presses on
it shrinks
/mc/
/mcʰ/
/tɤmcar/
/tɯ-mcʰi/
tongs
gall
he walks
he arrives
/mɟ/
/mɲ/
/mk/
/mkʰ/
/tɯ-mɟa/
/mɲɤm/
/tɯ-mke/
/mkʰɤz/
jaw
species of tree
neck
he is expert
/mg/
/mŋ/
/tɯ-mga/
/mŋɤm/
advantage
it hurts
/mɢ/
/tɤ-mɢom/
clamp
they weed
/ng/
/nŋ/
/ɴq/
/ɴqʰ/
/ɴqa/
/ɴqʰi/
it is difficult
it is dirty
/mpɕ/
/mpɕɤr/
it is beautiful
/ngɯt/
/nŋo-nɯ/
it is strong
they lose
Finally, we find a few clusters comprising a stop followed by the fricative
/ɕ/ : /pɕ/ (as in /ɯ-pɕi/ ‘outside’), /kɕ/ (as in /kɯjkɤkɕi/ ‘marten’), /lpɕ/ and
/mpɕ/ (see Tables 3 and 6). These clusters historically originate from aspirated stops followed by /j/ (/pʰj/, /kʰj/), but their pattern in reduplication
indicates that this is not true any more synchronically. For instance, /mpɕɤr/
‘it is beautiful’ is reduplicated as /mpɕɯ~mpɕɤr/) not †/mpʰɯ~mpʰʲɤr/)
Clusters ending in a (non-nasal) sonorant
The non-nasal sonorants (/r/, /l/, /j/, /w/, /ɣ/ or /ʁ/) can occur after any
consonant except nasals. In this section, clusters are listed by the penultimate consonant (the one immediately preceding the non-nasal sonorant).
The list of all clusters whose final consonant is a glide /j/ or /w/ is provided in Table 7. The glides /j/ or /w/ are medials in all clusters except
/wj/, /jw/ /ɣj/ and /ʁj/. The labio-velar /w/ has a very restricted distribution as last element of a cluster; in the native non-ideophonic vocabulary, it
only occurs after /l/, /z/ andj and is never found in cluster comprising three
consonants. The palatal glide /j/ has a wider distribution: it occurs after
all places of articulation except palatal and retroflex.
Table 8 provides a list of all clusters whose final consonant is a liquid /r/
or /l/. Clusters ending in /r/ cannot contain another /r/ or /l/ segment, or
any retroflex consonant (on the crosslinguistic rarity of the cluster /lr/, see
Baroni 2014, 78). Clusters ending /l/ never contain another /l/, but allow
the presence of /r/ (/rl/, /rɴɢl/). The sonorants /r/ and /l/ are medials
before all stops and affricates, as well as before the voiced fricatives /z/ and
/ʑ/. In all other contexts, they are not medials.
Table 9 provides a list of all clusters whose final consonant is a dorsal
voiced frivative /ɣ/ or /ʁ/. Only one dorsal segment is possible within a
onset-initial consonant cluster. The sonorants /ɣ/ and /ʁ/ are medials only
before all stops and affricates.
Heterosyllabic clusters
The list of clusters presented in the previous section only include syllable
initial clusters; many more additional clusters are possible across syllable
(and morpheme) boundary. Clusters made of the coda of the first syllable
and the onset of the second syllable of a disyllabic word that are not attested
in simple onsets can be grouped in three categories.
First, while in syllable onsets we never find clusters containing two stops,
such clusters are found across syllable boundary. In Tibetan loanwords, two
clusters with /t/ as first element, /tk/ and /tp/, are attested in words such
as /χɕit.ka/ ‘spring’ (Tibetan /dpʲid.ka/) or /rɟɤt.pa/ ‘eighth month’ (Tibetan
/brgʲad.pa/).
The only other cluster containing two stops, /pt/, is attested in the word
17
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/w/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/l/
/ɬ/
/r/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
/j/
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/ŋ/
/x/
/ɣ/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/χ/
/ʁ/
/h/
Table 7: List of consonant clusters ending in /j/ or /w/ (30+18)
/dw/
/dwaŋdwaŋ/
out of his head
/zw/
/lw/
/zwɤr/
/lwɤz/
mugwort
he will be sick again
/rw/
/ʂw/
/rwa/
/aɣɯʂwaŋ/
yak felt tent
it comes in pairs
/jw/
/kw/
/jwajwa/
/kwitsɯt/
very thin
cupboard
/xw/
/xwɤrnɤxwɤr/
rotating quickly
/χw/
/χwɤr/
Hor (name)
/hw/
/hwɤrhwɤr/
wide-mouthed
18
/pj/
/pjalu/
year of the cock
/bj/
/mbj/
/bjɯbjɯɣ/
/mbjom/
hanging in great number
it is fast
/wj/
/tɕʰɯwja/
duck
/dj/
/ndj/
/djoʁdjoʁ/
/ndjɤndjɤt/
evenly mixed
gracious
/tsj/
/tsjaŋnɤtsjaŋ/
very tall, moving
/ndzj/
/sj/
/zj/
/lj/
/ndzjaʁ/
/sjaŋnɤsjaŋ/
/zjaŋzjaŋ/
/qaljaʁ/
it is tight (knot)
shaking one’s head
big
eagle
/rj/
/tɯ-rju/
word
/kj/
/kʰj/
/pa-kjo/
/kʰjɤt/
he caused it to slip
gliding
/ŋgj/
/ŋgjo/
he slips
/ɣj/
/qj/
/qʰj/
/ɴɢj/
/tɯ-ɣjɤn/
/qjaw/
/qʰjɯqʰjɯ/
/ɴɢja/
one time
it is bitter
blunt (colour)
it comes loose
/ʁj/
/ʁjit/
he thinks about him
/wsj/
/wzj/
/tɤ-wsjit/
/wzjoz/
whistle
he learns it
/spj/
/spʰj/
/stj/
/sqʰj/
/spjaŋkɯ/
/spʰjar/
/stjaŋnɤstjaŋ/
/sqʰjar/
wolf
he dries it
jumping
he stretches it
/ltʰj/
/lbj/
/lthjɤlthjɤt/
/lbjɯlbjɯɣ/
well-ironed (clothes)
hanging
/ʂpj/
/rmbj/
/ʂtsj/
/ʂqʰj/
/rɴɢj/
/ʂpjɯ/
/tɤ-rmbja/
/ʂtsjaʁ/
/ɯ-ʂqʰjoʁ/
/arɤrɴɢjoʁ/
it is spoiled (milk)
flash of lightning
it is steep (road)
its notch
having a notch
/χtsj/
/χpj/
/χsj/
/χtsjɯ/
/χpjɤt/
/ɯ-χsjɯw/
pint
he observes it
its slough
/mpj/
/mtsj/
/mpja/
/ɯ-mtsjoʁ/
it is warm
its beak
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/w/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/l/
/ɬ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/r/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
/j/
/k/
/kʰ/
/g/
/ŋg/
/ŋ/
/x/
/ɣ/
/q/
/qʰ/
/ɴɢ/
/χ/
/ʁ/
Table 8: List of consonant clusters ending in /l/ or /r/ (44+52)
/pl/
/plɯt/
he destroys it
it is destroyed
/pr/
/pʰr/
/br/
/mbr/
/pri/
/kʰɤpʰrɯ/
/brɯbrɯz/
/mbrɤt/
bear
spraying water with the mouth
having pimples
it breaks
/mbl/
/mblɯt/
/wl/
/wli/
he plants it
/wr/
/wraʁ/
he attaches it
/dr/
/ndr/
/droŋdroŋ/
/qɯmndroŋ/
big and dirty
wild goose
/tsl/
/tslɯɣtslɯɣ/
completely wrapped up
/tsr/
/tsri/
it is salty
/sl/
/zl/
/sloʁ/
/tɯ-zloʁ/
it digs (with its snout)
one time
/ndzr/
/sr/
/zr/
/ndzri/
/srɯn/
/zrɯ/
he wrings it
cotton
sunny side of the mountain
/tɕr/
/tɕrɯɣnɤtɕrɯɣ/
crunching
/ɕr/
/ʑr/
/ɕri/
/ʑru/
it leaks
it is strong
/ɕl/
/ɕlu/
he ploughs
/rl/
/rlaʁ/
it disappears
/cl/
/claŋclaŋ/
round and smooth
/cr/
/cʰr/
/ɟr/
/crɯɣcrɯɣ/
/cʰrɤwcʰrɤw/
/ɟrɯɣɟrɯɣ/
in a mess
messy and dirty
gurgling
/jl/
/kl/
/jla/
/klɯklɯɣ/
hybrid yak
stiff
/gl/
/ŋgl/
/glɤɣglɤɣ/
/cɯŋglɯɣ/
pressed
pestle
/jr/
/kr/
/kʰr/
/gr/
/ŋgr/
/ɯ-jroʁ/
/krɤɣ/
/kʰro/
/grɯwgrɯw/
/ŋgrɤl/
its furrow
he cuts/mows it
much
matsutake
it is usually the case
/ɣl/
/ql/
/qʰl/
/ɴɢl/
/ɣle/
/qlɯt/
/qʰlɯ/
/ɴɢlɯt/
he rubs it
he breaks it
naga
it breaks
/ɣr/
/qr/
/ɣro/
/qro/
he suffocates
pigeon
/ɴɢr/
/ɴɢraʁ/
it is torn
/ʁl/
/tɯ-ʁla/
forearm
/ʁr/
/ʁrɯlu/
without horns
19
/scl/
/sclaŋsclaŋ/
bald
/sql/
/sqʰl/
/sqlɯm/
/asqʰlu/
it will sink in
it is concave
/ɕpl/
/ɕploʁɕploʁ/
round and smooth
/ɕkl/
/ɕkliɕkli/
round and stiff
/ɕql/
/ɕqʰl/
/ɕqlɯwnɤɕqlɯw/
/ɕqʰlɤt/
walking in the water
it disappears
/rɴɢl/
/arɴɢlɯm/
it is concave
/χpl/
/χploʁχploʁ/
round like a ball
/ʁɲɟl/
/ʁɲɟliʁɲɟli/
big and tall
/mql/
/mɢl/
/mqlaʁ/
/tɯ-mɢla/
he swallows it
one step
/wkr/
/wɣr/
/wsr/
/wkrɯz/
/wɣrum/
/wsroŋ/
he is greedy
it is white
he protects it
/spr/
/zbr/
/zmbr/
/stʰr/
/scr/
/zɟr/
/skr/
/skʰr/
/zgr/
/sqr/
/sprɯskɯ/
/zbrilu/
/sɤzmbri/
/stʰrɯβ/
/scraʁscraʁ/
/zɟraŋzɟraŋ/
/skraskra/
/tɯ-skʰrɯ/
/zgrawa/
/sɤsqra/
reincarnated
year of the snake
he makes him angry
dangling (of snot)
very small
soft and bloated
impolite
body
leather sack
limit
/ɕpr/
/ʑmbr/
/ɕtr/
/ʑdr/
/ɕkr/
/ʑgr/
/ʑŋgr/
/ɕqr/
/ʑɴɢr/
/aɕprɯm/
/ʑmbri/
/ɕtraŋɕtraŋ/
/ʑdraŋʑdraŋ/
/ɕkrɤz/
/ʑgrɯɣ/
/ʑŋgri/
/ɕqraʁ/
/ʑɴɢro/
it is badly sewed
willow
long and soft
long and soft
oak
certainly
star
he is intelligent
Jew’s harp
/jkr/
/jtsr/
/jkrɯt/
/jtsraw/
it will solidify
he delays his departure
/xpr/
/ta-ɣɤxpra/
he sent him
/χpr/
/ʁmbr/
/χsr/
/ʁzr/
/χcr/
/ʁɟr/
/ʁgr/
/tɕʰɯχpri/
/taʁmbra/
/ɣɤχsrɯ/
/ʁzraŋʁzraŋ/
/χcɯχcri/
/ʁɟɯʁɟri/
/ʁgra/
newt
crying and shouting
handsome
dishevelled
thin, diluted
fat and soft
enemy
/ɲcr/
/ŋkʰr/
/ngr/
/ɴqr/
/ɲcɯɲcri/
/ŋkʰrɯli/
/ngrɯβ/
/ɯ-ɴqra/
thin, diluted
screw
accomplish
shabby
/mtsr/
/mpʰr/
/mkʰr/
/mgr/
/mɯmtsrɯɣ/
/mpʰrɯmɯ/
/mkʰroŋ/
/mgrɯn/
he drinks it with a straw
divination
he will be reincarnated
he receives him
/nbr/
/nbraʁ/
he hoes it
20
/p/
/pʰ/
/b/
/mb/
/m/
/w/
/t/
/tʰ/
/d/
/nd/
/n/
/ts/
/tsʰ/
/dz/
/ndz/
/s/
/z/
/l/
/ɬ/
/tɕ/
/tɕʰ/
/dʑ/
/ndʑ/
/ɕ/
/ʑ/
/tʂ/
/tʂʰ/
/dʐ/
/ndʐ/
/r/
/ʂ/
/c/
/cʰ/
/ɟ/
/ɲɟ/
/ɲ/
/j/
Table 9: List of consonant clusters ending in /ɣ/ or /ʁ/ (32+18)
/pɣ/
/pʰɣ/
/pɣa/
/pʰɣo/
bird
he flees
/mbɣ/
/mbɣaʁ/
it turns over
/wɣ/
/tɣ/
/tʰɣ/
/dɣ/
/ndɣ/
/wɣa/
/tɯ-tɣa/
/tʰɣe/
/dɣɤrdɣɤr/
/ndɣɤndɣɤt/
mill
one span
acorn
dumb
shaking
/tsɣ/
/tsɣi/
it rots
/ndzɣ/
/sɣ/
/zɣ/
/lɣ/
/tɯ-ndzɣi/
/sɣa/
/zɣa/
/lɣe/
/tɕɣ/
/tɕʰɣ/
/wʁ/
/wʁa/
he is victorious
fang
rust
maybe it will
he digs it
/ndzʁ/
/tɯ-ndzʁi/
collar bone
/zʁ/
/lʁ/
/zʁɤɲcɯ/
/lʁa/
sling
gunny bag
/tɕɣaʁ/
/tɕʰɣaʁtɕʰɣaʁ/
he squeezes it out
completely
/tɕʁ/
/tɕhʁ/
/tɕʁɯznɤtɕʁɯz/
/tɕhʁɯznɤtɕhʁɯz/
crunchy
crunchy
/ndʑɣ/
/ɕɣ/
/ʑɣ/
/ndʑɣaʁ/
/tɯ-ɕɣa/
/ʑɣɤpa/
it is squeezed out
tooth
he is arrogant
/rɣ/
/ʂɣ/
/tɯ-rɣi/
/ʂɣɤlʂɣɤl/
seed
transparent and round
/rʁ/
/rʁe/
it puts it through
/cʰɣ/
/qacʰɣa/
fox
/ɲɟɣ/
/ɲɟɣɤrɲɟɣɤr/
plump and huge
/jɣ/
/jɣɤt/
he comes back
/jʁ/
/ajʁu/
it is bent
/spɣ /
/zbɣ/
/stɣ/
/spɣi/
/tɤkɤzbɣaʁ/
/stɣɤrnɤstɣɤr/
storehouse
headache
jumping
/lcʰɣ/
/ldzɣ/
/lcʰɣaʁlcʰɣaʁ /
/stoʁldzɣɤm/
nice to wear
straw from broad beans
/ɕpɣ/
/ɕpʰɣ/
/ɕpɣo/
/ɕpʰɣo-nɯ/
unit of measure
they help him escape
/jmbɣ/
/jpɣ/
/nɤjmbɣom/
/jpɣom/
he has vertigo
it freezes
/rmbɣ/
/rpɣ/
/tɤ-rmbɣo/
/ʂpɣo/
drum
up on the mountain
/ʁmbɣ/
/ʁmbɣi/
sun
/mpʰɣ/
/ntɕʰɣ/
/ntʰɣ/
/ntsɣ/
/ntsʰɣ/
/ɲcɣ/
/ɲcʰɣ/
/mpʰɣaʁmpʰɣaʁ/
/ntɕʰɣaʁ/
/antʰɣar/
/ntsɣe/
/nɤntsʰɣɤz/
/ɲcɣɤɲcɣɤt/
/ɲcʰɣaʁ/
very tight
it splashes
it bounces
he sells it
he bumps into
many people, very noisy
birchbark
21
Table 10: Count of consonant clusters
type
CC CCC total
wC; s/zC
lC; ʂ/rC
jC; ɕ/ʑC
x/ɣC; χ/ʁC
nC
38
52
29
49
38
Cɕ
2
Cj; Cw
Cl; Cr
Cɣ; Cʁ
30
44
32
18
53
18
48
97
50
total
314
100
414
8
1
1
0
1
46
53
30
49
39
2
/sqap.tɯɣ/ ‘eleven’. This is the only case of /p/ appearing as coda (instead
of /w/) in a non-ideophonic word.
Second, although Table 5 shows restricted possibilities for clusters whose
first element is a velar or a uvular fricative, in heterosyllabic clusters there
are little constraints on the phonotactics of these clusters. The only ones
never attested are velar fricatives followed by velar or uvular stops. A velar
fricative can be followed by a uvular fricative: the cluster /ɣʁ/ is attested for
some speakers between morpheme boundaries in the case of the causative of
intransitive verbs with the onset /ʁ/. For instance, the verb /ʁaʁ/ ‘hatch’ has
a causative /sɯ-ʁaʁ/ or /sɯɣ-ʁaʁ/ depending on the speaker. Uvular fricatives followed by velar fricatives or stop are also attested, as in /praʁ.kʰaŋ/
‘cave’.
Third, while in homosyllabic clusters nasal elements cannot be followed
by fricatives or non-nasal sonorants, as shown in Table 6, such combinations are possible in heterosyllabic clusters, such as in /naŋ.ʁɯ/ ‘shirt’,
/to.nɤ.tsɯm.ɣɯt/ ‘he brings it here and there’, /ɲɯ.nɯ.sɯm.ʁɲɯz/ ‘he hesitates’, /kʰoŋ.rɤl/ ‘hollow tree’.
The sonority sequencing principle in Japhug
Many works in phonology support the idea that all segments of the world’s
languages follow a universal scale of sonority (for instance Vennemann 1988;
Blevins 1995; Parker 2002; Baroni 2014; see Ohala 1990 for an opposing
view). A particularly elaborate version of the sonority hierarchy has been
proposed by Parker (2002, 235):
(1) low vowels > mid vowels > high vowels>/ə/ > glides > laterals >
flaps > trills > nasals > /h/ > voiced fricatives > voiced stops >
voiceless fricatives > voiceless stops and affricates
22
The notion of sonority is used in particular to account for observed generalizations in the structure of consonant clusters: in most languages, clusters
follow the so-called sonority sequencing principle (SSP Blevins 1995, 210):
(2) Between any member of a syllable and the syllable peak, a sonority
rise or plateau must occur.
According to this hierarchy, in onset clusters, sonorants are expected to
be closer the syllable nucleus than obstruents (/prV/ is favoured over /rpV/),
and glides to be closer to the nucleus than any other consonant (/ljV/ is
favoured over /jlV/).
Onset clusters with glides or non-nasal sonorants violating the SSP (/jC/,
/wC/, /lC/, /rC/, where C is a consonant lower in the sonority hierarchy) are
crosslinguistically rare, but have been documented for instance in Oceanic
languages such as Dorig and Hiw (Francois 2010, 405-412).
Japhug, like other Gyalrongic languages,3 is rich in SSP-infringing clusters. For instance, no less than seven clusters with a labial consonant and
a non-nasal sonorant violating the SSP are attested: /lp/, /jp/, /lm/, /rm/,
/jm/, /rmb/. /jmŋ/.
More surprisingly, we find clusters violating the SSP without equivalent
non-violating clusters. For instance, out of 15 di-consonantal clusters with
/j/ as first element (all SSP-infringing except for /jw/), 8 have no equivalent
SSP-compliant cluster (/jm/, /jt/, /jn/, /jtsʰ/, /jtʂʰ/, /jndʐ/, /jŋ/, /jχ/).
Clusters vs unitary phonemes
In section , a list of consonantal phonemes was proposed without justification. In this section, we justify the need to analyze two groups of consonants
as unitary phonemes rather than clusters, namely the prenasalized voiced
stops, the palatals and /ɬ/.
The prenasalized voiced stops and affricates /mb/, /nd/, /ndz/, /ndʑ/,
/ndʐ/, /ɲɟ/, /ŋg/ and /ɴɢ/ all have unvoiced and unvoiced aspirated counterparts such as /mp/, /nt/, /nts/, /ntɕ/, /ntʂ/, /ɲc/, /ŋk/ and /ɴq/. Yet,
there are two pieces of evidence showing that the prenasalized voiced stops
and affricates are of a different nature from the prenasalized unvoiced ones.
First, the former can appear in clusters preceded by fricatives or nonnasal sonorants, as in /ʑmbr/, /jndʐ/ or /rɴɢl/, while the latter cannot. Clusters such as */ʑmpr/, */jntʂ/ or */rɴql/ are not tolerated in Japhug.
Second, the uvular voiced prenasalized /ɴɢ/ has no simple voiced counterpart */ɢ/, which therefore precludes analyzing /ɴɢ/ as a cluster /n+ɢ/.
The palatal stops /c/, /cʰ/, /ɟ/ and /ɲɟ/ is Japhug cannot be analyzed as /
velar+/j// clusters, as a clear contrast exists between the palatal series and a
velar followed by /j/, in minimal pairs such as /pɯ-ɲɟo/ ‘he had damages’ and
/pɯ-ŋgjo/ ‘he slipped’. The differing syllabic structure of the onsets /ɲɟ/ and
23
Table 11: Palatalization contrasts among coronal and dorsals
Onset Example
Meaning
/ts/
/tsj/
/tʂ/
/tɕ/
/c/
/k/
/kj/
/q/
/qj/
/tɤtsoʁ/
/ɯmtsjoʁ/
/tʂoʁ/
/mtɕoʁ/
/co/
/pako/
/pakjo/
/ʂqoʁ/
/qjoʁ/
Potentilla anserina
its beak
he adds water
it is sharp
valley
he prevailed over him
he caused it to slip
he hugs him
he vomits
/ŋgj/ is confirmed by their reduplication patterns: while in the former the
palatalization is present on the replicant /pɯ-nɤ-ɲɟɯ~ɲɟo/ ‘he had damages
everywhere’, in the latter the /j/ is not replicated as /pɯ-nɤ-ŋgɯ~ŋgjo/ ‘he
slipped everywhere’.
Japhug presents an impressively high number of palatalization contrasts
(see Table 11, where all contrasts are illustrated with the vowel /o/) among
coronal and dorsal onsets.
The unvoiced lateral /ɬ/ is a marginal phoneme in Japhug, which does
not appears in clusters (except heterosyllabic ones, as in /cɯɣɬaj/ ‘symptom
whereby the oral cavity becomes white’) and is very rare in the native vocabulary. Yet, its phonemic status is justified by the fact that it contrasts
with /lx/; there are no minimal pairs between the two, but the contrast can
be indirectly illustrated by examples such as /alxaj/ ‘(his clothes) are not
properly put’ /lxɯlxi/ ‘thick and cumbersome’ one the one hand and /pjɤɬɤt/
‘he became old’ and /ɬɤndʐi/ ‘ghost’ on the other hand.
Codas
As is common in the Sino-Tibetan family, the inventory of consonants in
coda position in Japhug is more restricted than in initial position. Only
twelve consonants appear in coda position: /-p/, /-w/, /-m/, /-t/, /-z/, /-n/,
/-l/, /-r/, /-j/, /-ɣ/, /-ŋ/, /-ʁ/. The stop /-p/ is only restricted to a few
ideophones, and is not found in the inherited non-ideophonic vocabulary and
in Tibetan loanwords (except as first element of the heterosyllabic cluster
/pt/ in the word /sqap.tɯɣ/ ‘eleven’, as seen in ). The codas /-n/, /-l/ and
/-ŋ/ are extremely rare (but not entirely absent) in the non-ideophonic native
vocabulary.
In word-final position, codas are voiced when followed by a word beginning with a voiced consonant or a vowel, but are devoiced in phrase-final
position, before a pause or before a voiceless segment.
24
Table 12: Realization of non-nasal codas in Japhug
Coda Example Realization
Meaning
/w/
/z/
/j/
/l/
/r/
/ɣ/
/ʁ/
/taqaw/
/tɯlaz/
/tɤmuj/
/dal/
/tatar/
/tɤndɤɣ/
/paʁ/
[taqaw]
[tɯlas]
[tɤmuj]̥
[dal]
[tatar̥]
[tɤndɤx]
[paχ] or [paˁ]
needle
forehead
feather
later
staff
poison
pig
Table 13: List of vowels in Japhug
Vowel Example Meaning
/a/
/e/
/i/
/ɤ/
/ɯ/
/y/
/o/
/u/
/qala/
/qale/
/ɟuli/
/lɤpɯɣ/
/rɯlɯ/
/qaɟy/
/tɕɤlo/
/tɤlu/
rabbit
wind
flute
radish
little ball
fish
upstream
milk
In isolation, word-final /-z/, /-r/, /-j/, /-ɣ/ and /-ʁ/ in particular are
realized as [s], [r̥], [j]̥ , [x] and [χ] respectively as in the examples in Table
12. The coda /-ʁ/ can also be realized alternatively as pharyngealization of
the preceding vowel.
The list of possible combinations between codas and vowels in Japhug is
described in .
Vowels
Japhug has eight vowel phonemes presented in Table 13. The mid-open
unrounded vowels /ɤ/ and /e/ are only marginally contrastive: /ɤ/ does not
occur in word-final open syllables except in unaccented clitics (like the linker
/nɤ/ ‘if’), and /e/ only occurs in the last (accented) syllable of a word. They
are only contrastive with the coda /-t/.
The vowel /y/ is only found with some speakers in the word ‘fish’ and
the verbs derived from it. It is nevertheless contrastive with /ɯ/ and /u/
(as shown by the quasi-minimal pairs /qaɟy/ ‘fish’, /waɟɯ/ ‘earthquake’ and
/ɟuli/ ‘flute’). Other speakers pronounce ‘fish’ with a medial /w/ /qaɟwi/.
25
Table 14: List of possible rhymes in Japhug
/a/
/e/
/i/
/ɤ/
/ɯ/
/y/
/o/
/u/
/w/
/aw/
/ɤw/
/ɯw/
/p/
/ap/
/m/
/am/
/ɯp/
/ɤm/
/ɯm/
/om/
/t/
/at/
/et/
/it/
/ɤt/
/ɯt/
/yt/
/ot/
/ut/
/n/
/an/
/z/
/az/
/l/
/al/
/r/
/ar/
/j /
/aj/
/ɣ/
/ɤt/
/ɯn/
/ɤz/
/ɯz/
/il/
/ɤl/
/ɯl/
/ɤr/
/ɯr/
/ɤj/
/ɯr/
/ɤɣ/
/ɯɣ/
/on/
/oz/
/uz/
/ol/
/or/
/oj/
/uj/
/ŋ/
/aŋ/
/ʁ/
/aʁ/
/ɯŋ/
/oŋ/
/oʁ/
Table 15: Examples of closed syllable rhymes in /-t/
Vowel Rhyme Example
Meaning
/a/
/e/
/i/
/ɤ/
/ɯ/
/y/
/o/
/u/
/at/
/et/
/it/
/ɤt/
/ɯt/
/yt/
/ot/
/ut/
/tɤtɯsɤlat/
/tɤtɯnɤmɤlet/
/tɤtɯrɤlit/
/jɤtɯlɤt/
/tʰɯtɯplɯt/
/lotɯznɯqaɟyt/
/nɯtɯsɤwlot/
/pɯtɯnɤlut/
you
you
you
you
you
you
you
you
boiled it
did it
reimbursed it
threw it
destroyed it
let him fish
took care of him
milked it
ɯ• u
i• y
ɤ• o
e•
a•
Rhymes
There are strong phonotactic constraints on possible rhymes in Japhug. The
only coda attested with all vowels is /-t/ (see Tables 14 and 15); the rhymes
/-et/, /-yt/ are only attested in the perfective second singular forms (which
have a suffix /-t/ in the variety of Japhug under study).
Before /-j/, the contrasts between /ɯ/ and /i/ on the one hand, and /ɤ/
and /e/ on the other hand, are neutralized. The rhyme /-aj/ is realized as
[ɛj].
In closed syllables with an alveolo-palatal or a palatal consonant preceding the vowel, the vowel /ɯ/ is fronted and its contrast with /i/ is neutralized
in nearly all positions. It is only maintained before /-t/ in forms with the
past /-t/ transitive suffix. For instance, we find the minimal pair /tɤ-tɯ-cɯ-t/
‘you opened it’ (pfv-2-open-pst) and /lɤ-tɯ-cit/ ‘you moved’ (pfv-2-move).
26
Table 16: Examples of associative adverbs in Japhug
Base noun Meaning Associative
Meaning
/tɤ-jwaʁ/
/χɕɤlmɯɣ/
/kɤ́-jwɯ~jwaʁ/
/kɤ́-χɕɤlmɯ~lmɯɣ/
leaf
glasses
with its leaves
with his glasses
Suprasegmentals
Unlike other Rgyalrong languages (Sun 2005, Lin 2012), Japhug has no tonal
contrasts. However, there is morphologically determined stress. Phonological words only have one stress, which is located by default on the final
syllable of the word (regardless of its part of speech).
The personal agreement suffixes and the evidential suffix /-ci/ never
receive stress, and their vowels are optionally devoiced. For instance,
/tɤ-ndza-t-a/ ‘I ate it’ (pfv-eat-pst-1sg) is realized [tɤndzátḁ] or [tɤndzáta].
In verbal forms with these prefixes, stress is penultimate, or even antepenultimate in the case of verb forms with two suffixes as in /to-k-ɤmɯ-rpú-ndʑɯ-ci/
‘they bumped into each other’ (ifr-evd-recip-bump-du-evd).
Only two verbal prefixes, the inverse /-wɣ-/ and the negative testimonial
/mɯ́ j-/, attract stress, as in /pɯ-tɯ́ -wɣ-mto/ ‘he saw you’ and /mɯ́ j-ndze/ ‘he
does not eat it’.
The only other morphological process in the language that influences
stress is the comitative adverbs formation. Theses adverbs meaning ‘together with X’ are built by combining the stress-bearing /kɤ́-/ prefix with a
reduplicated noun stem, as in the examples in Table 16.
Appended text
This text was translated into Japhug from the Chinese version of Aesop’s
fables by Chenzhen 陈珍 /tsʰɯndzɯn/ on May 2014.
(3) qale cʰo
tɤŋe kɤ-ti
ɲɯ-ŋu.
kɯɕɯŋgɯ tɕe,
wind comit sun inf-say testim-be long.ago lnk
iɕqʰa,
akɯcʰoʁle
cʰondɤre tɤŋe ni kɯ, nɤkinɯ,
the.aforementioned northern.wind comit
ɲɤ-sɤfɕɤra-ndʑɯ ɲɯ-ŋu
sun du erg dem
ifr-argue-du testim-be
The sun and the wind. Long ago, the north wind and the sun were
arguing,
27
(4) ɲɤ-sɤfɕɤra-ndʑɯ tɕe, “tɕɯʑo ɕɯ kɯ-fse
ifr-argue-du lnk 1du who nmlz:S/A-be.like
kɯ-χɕu
me-tɕɯ?”
to-ti-ndʑɯ,
nmlz:S/A-be.strong not.exist-1du ifr-say-du
They argued, they said “Who is the strongest of us?”
(5) lɯski
tɕe tɕe tɤŋe nɯ kɯ “aʑo χɕu-a”
ɲɤ-sɯso,
of.course lnk lnk sun dem erg 1sg be.strong-1sg ifr-think
qale nɯ
kɯ “aʑo χɕu-a”
ɲɤ-sɯso
tɕe, tɕeri, nɤkinɯ,
wind dem erg 1sg be.strong-1sg ifr-think lnk but dem
maka ʑo
kɤ-sɤfɕara
kɤ-sɤpe
mɯ-pjɤ-cʰa-ndʑɯ,
at.all emph inf-discuss inf-make.better neg-ifr.ipfv-can-du
kɯ-maqʰu
tɕe, to-nɯkrɤz-ndʑɯ tɕe, tɕe
nɤki,
nmlz:S/A-be.after lnk ifr-discuss-du lnk lnk dem.prox
Of curse, the sun thought “I am strong”, the wind thought “I am
strong” and they could not settle the argument. Finally, they decided,
(6) “ɕɯ kɯ tɯrme, nɯ kɯ-nɤŋkɯŋke
tɯrme ra
who erg man dem nmlz:S/A-walk.around man pl
nɯ-ŋga
ɲɯ-kɤ-sɯ-tɕɤt
kɯ-cʰa
nɯnɯ,
3pl.poss-clothes ipfv-inf-caus-take.off nmlz:S/A-can dem
ɕɯ
pɯ-kɯ-wʁa
a-pɯ-ŋu”
to-nɯ-pa-ndʑɯ.
who pfv-nmlz:S/A-prevail irr-pst.ipfv-be ifr-auto-do-du
“Whoever can cause the people walking around to take off their
clothes will be the victor”, they agreed.
(7) tɕendɤre tɯrme tɯ-rdoʁ jo-ɣi
tɕe, tɕendɤre qale nɯ,
lnk
man one-piece ifr-come lnk lnk
wind dem
akɯcʰoʁle
ntsɯ
to-wzu
tɕe,
northern.wind always ifr-make lnk
Then, a man came and the wind, the northern wind blew.
(8) nɯnɯ iɕqʰa,
to-wzu
nɤ to-wzu
tɕendɤre
dem the.aforementioned ifr-make lnk ifr-make lnk
iɕqʰa
nɯ, ri
tʂu
kɯ-ŋke
tɯrme nɯ
the.aforementioned dem but path nmlz:S/A-walk man
kɯ nɯ-ŋga
ra ko-sɯ-ɤsɯɣ-nɯ
ʑo
tɕe,
ra
dem pl
erg 3pl.poss-clothes pl ifr-caus-be.tight-pl emph lnk
It blew and blew, and the people walking on the road wore their
clothes tighter,
28
(9) tɕendɤre, iɕqʰa
nɯ, qale kɯ nɯ pa-mto
lnk
the.aforementioned dem wind erg dem pfv.3>3-see
tɕendɤre mɤʑɯ ʑo
kɯ-wxti
to-wzu.
lnk
more emph nmlz:S/A-be.big ifr-make
The wind saw that, and blew even harder.
(10)
tɕendɤre, kɯ-nɤŋkɯŋke
nɯ
ra tɤndʐo kɯ
nmlz:S/A-walk.around dem pl cold
lnk
ɲɤ-sɤ-ndzɯrndzɯr
ʑo
ifr-deideoph:caus-shivering emph lnk
mɤʑɯ ʑo
kɯ-dɤn
erg
tɕendɤre tɯ-ŋga
genr.poss-clothes
to-ŋga-nɯ
pjɤ-ra.
more emph nmlz:S/A-be.many ifr-wear-pl ifr.ipfv-need
Then, it made the people who were walking shiver from the cold,
and they wore even more clothes.
(11)
toʁde
tɕe
tɕendɤre to-wzu
an.instant lnk lnk
ɲɤ-ɲat.
ɲɤ-ɲat
nɤ
to-wzu
tɕe
tɕendɤre, “wo, aʑo nɯ
oh
ifr-be.tired ifr-be.tired lnk lnk
mɯ́ j-cʰa-a”,
ri
qale
ifr-make lnk ifr-make loc wind
tɤŋe ɯ-ɕki,
ma
1sg dem apart.from
“nɤʑo wra tɤ-tsʰɤt”
neg.testim-can-1sg sun 3sg.poss-dat 2sg
turn imp-try
to-ti.
ifr-say
After a moment, the wind became tired as he blew without pause.
He told the sun: “I can’t do it any more, it is your turn, try it!”
(12)
tɕe
tɤŋe nɯ
kɯ kɯ-mɤku
tɕendɤre,
lnk sun dem erg nmlz:S/A-be.after lnk
kɯ-sɤɕkɯ~ɕke
mɯ-jo-tɕɤt
kɯ, kɯ-mɤku
nmlz:S/A-emph~be.hot neg-ifr-take.off erg nmlz:S/A-be.after
tɕendɤre ɯ-ɣot
lnk
jo-ɕtʰɯz,
nɯ
kɯ-ndʑɯ~ndʑɤm
ʑo
3sg.poss-sunray dem nmlz:S/A-emph~be.warm emph
tɕe
tɯrme ra nɯ-ɕki
ifr-turn.towards lnk man
jo-ɕtʰɯz.
pl 3pl.poss-dat ifr-turn.towards
In the beginning, the sun did not send hot (sunrays), he sent warm
sun rays on the people,
(13)
tɕendɤre tɯrme ra nɯnɯ nɯ-mpja-nɯ
lnk
kɯ-mɤku
man
jamar tɕe,
pl dem auto-be.warm-pl about lnk
nɯ-ŋga
tɤ-kɤ-ɣɤjɯ
nɯ
ra
nmlz:S/A-be.after 3pl.poss-clothes pfv-nmlz:P-add dem pl
ɲɤ-tɕɤt-nɯ,
ifr-take.off-pl
29
Then the people, as they felt warm, first took off the clothes that
they had added.
(14)
tɕeri nɯ
ɯ-mpʰru
tɕe
tɤŋe kɯ li,
mɤʑɯ ʑo
but dem 3sg.poss-following lnk sun erg again more emph
kɯ-mpja
nɯnɯ, sɤtɕʰa ɯ-taʁ
earth 3sg.poss-on
nmlz:S/A-be.warm dem
pjɤ-ɕtʰɯz,
pjɤ-lɤt,
ifr:down-turn.towards ifr:down-throw
But then, the sun sent even warmer (rays) on the earth,
(15)
tɕendɤre tɯrme ra kɯ, tɕendɤre nɯ-ɕtʂi
man
lnk
rɯβnɤrɯβ ʑo
ʑo
nɯ
3pl.poss-sweat emph dem
pl erg lnk
pjɤ-ɬoʁ.
flowing
emph ifr:down-come.out
The people started to be drenched in sweat.
(16)
tɕe
nɯ
ʑɯrɯʑɤri
tɕe, nɯ-ŋga
ra lonba ʑo
lnk dem progressively lnk 3pl.poss-clothes pl all
emph
ɲɤ-tɕɤt-nɯ
ifr-take.off-pl
Progressively, they took off all they clothes,
(17)
tɕe, iɕqʰa
nɯ, iɕqʰa...
lnk the.aforementioned dem the.aforementioned
tɯ-ci
ɯ-ŋgɯ
tɕe
kɯ-raχtɕɯʁɟo
indef.poss-water 3sg.poss-inside lnk nmlz:S/A-bathe
pjɤ-ɕe-nɯ
pjɤ-ra.
ifr:down-go-pl ifr.ipfv-need
and they went to the river to bathe.
(18)
tɕendɤre kɯki
lnk
maŋe
χpi
ki
nɯ
ma
dem.prox story dem.prox dem apart.from
ri,
kɯki
pɯ-pɯ-ŋu
nɤ,
not.exist:testim loc dem.prox cond-pst.ipfv-be lnk
This story is just that. (the moral of this story is)
(19)
nɤkinɯ, iɕqʰa
dem
kɯ-fse,
nɯ, daltsɯtsa ɲɯ-kɤ-nɯkʰɤda
the.aforementioned dem slowly
tu-kɤ-ti
nmlz:S/A-be.like ipfv-inf-say lnk force
ɯ-mbrɤzɯ
smɯn
ipfv-inf-persuade
tɕe, tɤrkopa ɣɯ́ -wzu
kɤ-ti
ɲɯ-ŋu.
sɤz
ndɤre,
inv-make comp lnk
3sg.poss-result be.ripe inf-say testim-be
persuading people slowly gives better result than forcing them,
30
(20)
nɯ
kɯ pʰɤn,
ɯ-pʰɤntʰoʁ
tu
kɤ-ti
ɲɯ-ŋu.
dem erg be.efficient 3sg.poss-advantage exist inf-say testim-be
it is more efficient, more advantageous, it is said.
Notes
See Sun (2000a) for an overview of the Rgyalrong group, whose closest
relatives include Khroskyabs (Lai 2015) and Horpa (Sun 2007). A text
collection of Japhug with sound files is included in the Pangloss archive
(Michailovsky et al. 2014). A short grammar (Jacques 2008), a series of
articles on morphosyntax (see for instance Jacques 2013a and Jacques 2014)
and a dictionary (Jacques 2015) are available but little has been published
specifically on its phonology.
2
The morphological process illustrated here is the non-directed motion
derivation, combining a derivational /nɤ-/ prefix with partial reduplication
of the verb stem.
3
See for instance Sun (2000b) and Lai (2013, 25-29)).
1
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Guillaume Jacques