PHONEMES AND ORTHOGRAPHY: Language planning in ten minority languages of Thailand 0858831449

Table of contents :
Phonemes and orthography: Language planning in ten minority languages of Thailand
Table of contents....v
INTRODUCTION....vii
PART ONE....xiii
Chapter 1. Writing Systems in Thailand's Marginal Languages: History and Policy. {William A. Smalley}....1
Chapter 2. Bases for Popular Writing Systems. {William A. Smalley}....25
Chapter 3. The Problem of Vowels: Northern Khmer. {William A. Smalley}....43
Chapter 4. The Problems of Consonants and Tone: Hmong (Meo, Miao). {William A. Smalley}....85
PART TWO....124
Chapter 5. Lisu. {E.R. Hope}....125
Chapter 6. Akha. {Peter Wyss}....149
Chapter 7. Phlong (Pro Karen of Hot District, Chiang Mai). {Joseph R. Cooke, J. Edwin Hudspith, and James A. Morris}....187
Chapter 8. Mien (Yao). {Lois Callaway and C.W. Callaway}....221
Chapter 9. Mal (Thin). {David Filbeck}....239
Chapter 10. Kuy. {Beulah M. Johnston}....259
Chapter 11. Lava' (Lawa, Lua'). {Donald Schlatter}....273
Chapter 12. Urak Lawoi' (Orang Laut). {David W. Hogan}....283
APPENDIXES - {William A. Smalley}....303
1. Comparison of Orthographies....303
2. Outline of the Thai Writing System....319
REFERENCES....333

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PACIFIC LINGUISTICS C-43

PHONEMES AND ORTHOGRAPHY Language planning in ten minority languages of Thailand

William A. Smalley, editor

Out of print book Electronic copy or book copied by Pacific Linguistics RSPAS, Australian National University Canberra �ACT 0200 Australia

Smalley, W.A. editor. Phonemes and orthography: Language planning in ten minority languages of Thailand. C-43, xiii + 360 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1976. DOI:10.15144/PL-C43.cover ©1976 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.

PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Can b e44a

is published through t h e

L�ng u�� t� e C�4 e!e o n

and consists o f four seri es:

SERIES A - OCCASIONAL PAPERS SERIES B - MONOGRAPHS SERIES C - BO OKS SERIES

V

- SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS .

EDITOR: S . A . Wurm. ASSOC IATE EDITORS: D.C . Laycock, C . L . Voorhoeve, D . T . Tryon. T.E. Dutton. EDITORIAL ADVISERS: B. Bender , University of Hawaii

A. Healey , Summer Ins titute of Linguistics , New Guinea

A. Capell, University of Sydney

N . D . Liem, University of Hawaii

S . Elbert, University o f Hawaii

H. McKaughan, University of Hawaii

K . Franklin, Summer Ins titute of Linguistics . New Guinea

K. Pike, University of Michigan;

Summer Institute of Linguistics

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should be addressed t o:

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Australia .

Copyright

�

The Authors.

First published 1976.

The

edi tors ar e indebted to the Australian Na tional University for

help in t h e produ c t ion of this series. This publ icat ion was made possible by an i n it ial grant from t h e Hunter Douglas Fund .

National Library of Aus tra lia Card Number and ISBN 0 85883 144 9

To Hi� M�j e��y, �he King 0 6 Th�il�nd, who � e�� �he ex�mpl e 0 6 hum�ne e o ne e�n 6 0 � mino�i�y people�, �nd �o �ll Th�i 0 6 6i ei�l� 0 6 wh��� o e v e� l e v el �nd in wh��� o ev e� e�p�ei�y who ��e � eeking �o 6 0�mul��e �nd im plem en� � wi� e p o liey 0 6 �dmini�����io n �nd edu e��io n 6 0� �he e o un�4Y'� ling ui��ie min0 4i�ie�, �nd �o �he mino�i�y p e o pl e� � h em� elv e� . .. �hi� b o o k i� d e die�� ed .

TA B L E O F C O NT ENTS Page vii

INTRODUCTION PART ONE, by Wil l iam A . Sma l l ey Chapter 1 .

Wr it ing Systems in Thail and's Marg inal Languages :

Hi story and Pol icy

1

Chapter 2 .

Bases for Popular Wr iting Systems

25

Chapter 3 .

The Problem o f Vowe l s : Northern Khmer

43

Chapter 4 .

The Problems o f Consonants and Tone : Hmong

(Meo ,

Miao )

85

PART TWO Chapter 5 .

Li su, by E . R . Hope

125

Chapter 6 .

Akha, by P e t er Wy s s

149

Chapter 7 .

Phlong

by Jo s eph R .

(Pro Karen of Hot D i stric t , Chiang Mai ) ,

Cooke ,

J.

Edwin Hud s p i t h ,

and James A .

Mor r i s

187

Chapter 8 .

Mien (Yao ) , by Lo i s Callaway and C . W . Callaway

221

Chapter 9 .

Mal

239

(Thin ) , by David F i l b e c k

Chapter 10 .

Kuy, by Beulah M. John s ton

259

Chapter 11 .

Lavua'

273

Chapter 12 .

Urak Lawo i'

(Lawa , Lua' ) , by Donald Schlatter (Orang Laut ) , by David W . Hogan

v

283

vi

Page.

APPENDIXES, by William A . Smalley 1.

Compari son of Orthograph ies

303

2.

Out l ine of the Tha i Wr i ting System

319

REFERENCES

333

INTRO VUCTIO N Thi s volume c ons i s t s of art i c les on the s ound s y s t ems of t en of l ea ch with a d es cr i p ti on of t h e way in

Thai land ' s minor i t y languages ,

whi c h the language is b ei n g wri t t en or might b e wri t t en in Thai s cript f or t h e d evelopment of l i t eracy among t h e p eop l e , us ing their langua g e . Thes e art i c l es ar e prec ed ed by two gener a l ones : one on the h i s t ory of wri t ing s y s t ems related t o such languages in t h e area , and var i ous p ol i c ies app l i ed t o their preparat i on , and t h e oth er on the prob l ems and princip les of p r eparing wr i ting s y s t ems for previ ou s ly unwr it t en languages .

As such , t h e volume i s a c ontribu t i on both i n i t s rec ording

of lingu i s t i c ana l y s es of t he s ound s y s t ems of s ome lit t l e-known lan­ guages , and as a c ontribut i on t o our under s t anding of the pr oces s of developing wri t ing s y s t ems , a part of t he larger c on c erns of language p lanning . The arti c les are r elat i vely t ec hni cal .

In t h os e par t s where they

·

are des cr ib ing the s ound s y s t ems t h ey as sume s ome knowledge of des c r i p ­ t i ve phonology ( a branch of l i ngui s t i c s ) a s curr ent ly prac t i s ed by s om e lingui s t s .

They a l s o a s sume s ome knowled g e o f the Thai s y s t em of

wri t ing when t h ey ar e di s cu s s ing ort h ography .

However , in most chapter s

t h e phonolog i c a l and or thograph i c s ec t i ons are s eparated , s o that t h e phonolog i c a l information w i l l b e ava i l a b l e t o l i ngu i s t s wh o do not know the Thai or thography , and the c onclus i ons about orthography wi l l b e avai lab l e i n s ome d egree t o educ a t or s , admini s t rat or s , and others wh o may not be fami liar with the par t i cu l ar j argon and notat i ons of lingu i s ­ 2 tics . All of the authors s tand r eady t o int erp ret thei r sugges t i ons ab out wr i ting the r es p ec t i ve languages to any Thai educators or admin­ i s t r a t or s who might be inter es t ed.

l

The term "minority language" is defined in the first article . 2 The Appendixes to this volume may provide help for some readers trying to follow the discussion .

vii

viii

Language planning i s an anc i ent act ivit y , as government s , e du c at i onal authorit i e s , s p e c i al ac ademia , and influent ial indi viduals i n one c o untry or another have tried to c hange or develop language us age .

s y s t ems

with t he anci ent alphab et s , t h e preparation of

of dif-

has b e e n a maj or critical undert aking at s t age s in t h e f e rent languages .

And

King Ramkamhae ng and t he Tha i alphab et i s an impor­

t ant case i n p Oint , a s are the modif i c at i ons whi c h have t aken p la c e i n Thai wri t ing s i nc e .

of new

In modern t ime s , a l s o , w i t h the

nat i onal s t at e s , many o f Which are Bab e l s within t heir borders , the ques t i on o f language p l anning has b e c ome crit i c a l i n i nt ernational This c o inci d e s with t h e modern c onc ern for t he value of a l l p lac e i n

p e o p le s , n o matt e r h ow low t h e ir p r e s ent e c onomi c o r t od ay ' s p ower s y s t ems .

And at t h e s ame t ime , t h e r e has c ome t h e b road-

of modern lingui s t i c s to inc lude the s tudy of the u s e s of l anguage

1

in s o c iety , and to make a c ontr i b ut i o n t o language

Chr i s t i an mis s ion ari e s have long b ee n at the forefront of t h o s e who have p lanned new writ ing s y s t ems for hitherto unwr it t e n languages , as have the advance agent s of s ome other re ligions as well .

And i f t h e

st ereotype of t he mi s s i onary as one who t hought t oo lit t l e of t h e values of t h e culture in whi ch he was working was all too o ft en part i a lly true , conc erned

it should not o b s cure the fact t hat he wa s as oft e n with s har i ng t he values whi c h wer e import ant t o him .

Of maj or impor­

t an c e among t he s e was his ab i lity t o read and writ e , and t he enrichment he f e lt i n his life b e caus e of the mas t ery of this skill .

Mi s s i onar i e s

were t herefore among the f i r s t t o s e i z e upon the d eve loping ins ight s and t e chniques o f modern lingui s t i c s and t o adapt t hem to t he p l anning of writ ing s y s t ems .

Many d e t a i led and inS ightful

d e s crip-

t i ons of l i t t l e-known languages have b e e n a b yproduct of this effort ( Wonderly and Nida 1 9 63) .

Thi s book , in i t s mod e s t way , t r i e s to c arry

on t h i s t radi t i o n , as it d e s cr i b e s di fferent examp l e s of a litt les t ud i ed and s omet ime s rather d iffi cult problem, t he

of t he

i nt r i c a t e Thai writ ing s y stem to s ome of the diver s e s ound s y s t ems charac t e r i s t i c of languages u s e d within Thailand . The authors o f the s t udi e s in t h i s book , working in their lit t le c orner s , are not official p e o p l e in any way .

They have u s e d t he i r

s p e c ia l i s ed knowledge - t h e i r many y ears of s peaking t h e s e l i t t le-known l anguage s , and in s ome c a s e s their profe s s i onal meet a need whi c h t h ey s aw.

Like s o many before

s ki ll s - t o they want t o

shar e t he enrichment of b e ing a b l e t o r e ad and wri t e i n one1s own

1 Tauli 196 8; Rubin and Jernudd ( eds ) 1971 , especially pp . 311-23 , whi ch is an an­ notated bibliography of "Some Introductory References Pertaining to Language Planning" .

ix

. language.

Thi s b ook is a way of exp lai ning what t hey have b een doi ng ,

so t hat lingu i st s, academ i c l anguage p lanner s , and offi c ia l s wh o have t he p ow er to do language p lanning on a b r oad sca le may have a c c ess t o their y ears of st udy and exp erimentat i on . The aut hors of t h i s b ook are not all professi onal lingu i st s , but a l l of t h em are ( or have b een ) mi ssionar i es who work among minority p eop l es. Al l are very much c on c erned a b out edu c at i onal opp ort uni t i es for these minority group s , about ec onomic secur ity for them , and about t heir general mov em ent int o t he per i l ou s

wor l d , c on c erned t hat t h ey b e

abl e t o resp ond cultura l ly , lingu i st i c a lly , and emot i onally t o some of t he danger s of t h e changes t h ey must undergo. At the heart of this c on c ern i s the c onvi c t i on that in t h i s modern world t h e minority p eop les need t o b e lit erat e, and t hat b ecause such large p ercentages of t h em do not know Thai wel l , t h ey n eed l i t eracy and a modest amount of l i t erature in their own languages.

The wr i t er s of

t hese art i c l es are c onvinc ed a l so that writing sy st ems f or th ese p eop l e livi ng in Thai land should b e ba sed on Thai , and t hat l earning t o r ead t h eir own languages in Thai script w i l l h elp to provide a bridge t o t h e Thai language and t o t h e Thai educ a t i on wh ich t h ey need f or a window t o t h e out side wor l d , if not for a t oe-hold in t hat wor l d . S everal of t he authors in t h i s volume have stud i ed l i ngui st i c s on vari ou s l ev el s .

J . Edwin Hudsp it h , Beulah M. J ohnst on , James A . M orr is,

Dav id W. Hogan and Pet er Wyss hav e stu d i ed at one of the branch es of t h e Summer Inst i t ut e of Lingui st i c s; C . W . and Loi s C a llaway have also studied t oward t h e M . A . in l i ngui st i c s at the Univer sity of Ind iana , wher e D avid F i lbeck earned a Ph.D .

J oseph R . C ooke has a Ph . D . in lin­

gui st i c s f r om t h e Universi t y of Californi a , although h i s work on Phlong ( Pwo Karen ) was d one earl i er . t i onal University in Aust r al i a .

E . R . H op e earned his Ph . D . from t he Na­ I have a Ph . D . in anthrop ol og i c a l lin­

gui st i c s fr om C olumb ia Universi t y ( Smal l ey 1 9 6 1 ) and hav e b een a lin­ gui st i c and translat i on c onsultant work ing with the Bib l e S oc i et i es in Southea st A sia.

It has b een my r esp onsibi l i t y to give l ingui st i c gui d ­

anc e t o mi ssionaries and oth er s w h o t ranslate t h e Bib l e into any lan­ guages of this area .

I have long had an inter est in the d evelopment of

new wr i t ing systems, a s may b e seen i n anot her b ook of edi t ed or tho­ graphy st udies ( Smal ley et ai. 1 9 6 3 ) where some of t h e prob l em s t r eat ed in the pr esent book were discussed i n a preliminary way . The aut h or s who do not have su ch f ormal t r aining in lingu i st i c s are neverthel ess famil iar with t h e basi c li ngui st i c c on c ep t s .

They hav e

prof i t ed by var i ou s c onfer en c es and inst i tut es held on t hese prob l ems, and from di scussi ons with c ol l eagues. M ost of t h e authors are l ong-t ime r esid ent s of Thailand and hav e

x

spoken t he languages about whi ch they wr i t e for many year s . My own two papers on Northern Khmer and Hmong are excepti ons to the l att er qualifi cat ion , but in both c a s e s I worked wit h mis sIonar i e s who did f i l l the c r i t er i on .

The aut hors did not do t he s tudy repres ented here a s IIr e s ear c h " , but went about l e arning the r e s pect ive in the line o f their dut i e s .

The informat i on whi ch t hey have ac cumulated

would b e l o s t t o the s c h o l ar ly world and t o the Thai nation if it were not r e c orded in such form a s t h i s . As editor o f t h i s volume I have t r i ed t o s e e t hat the phono logi c a l material in each art i c le i s p r e s ent ed i n s u c h a manner a s wou ld b e u s e ful t o

I have oft e n there f ore helped t he aut hors t o s truc-

ture their informat i o n , and have rewri t t e n s ome s e c t ions .

No

t heoret i c al p oint s are b e ing mad e , and none s hould b e exp e c t e d .

The s e

are dat a papers i n which t h e aut hors are more concer ne d ab out the orthographic imp li ca t i ons of t h e ir work t han about the theor e t i c al ones . As informat ion about l i t t l e -known language s , the dat a are of va lue i n t h e i r own

A vari ety of i nt erpretati ons may be p o s s i b l e on s ome

pOint s , but that is gener a l ly bey ond the purp o s e of t he writ ers .

Some

of the art ic les are mu ch more detai led t han o ther s , but a l l

the

e s s ent ials of t h o s e aspects of the s o und s ys t e m whi ch are r e l evant f or popular wri t i ng s y s t em s . writing

There i s a chapter on each of the Thai-ba s e d

in us e in t h e c ountry as of t he t ime o f

of

t h i s vo lume . In r e c ent years the Thai government , in vari ou s agenci e s , has b ee n s h owing minority

1

interest i n a programme f or t h e e du c a t i on o f the Wha t ever the final p o li c y o f t he Thai t oward the

minor i t i e s may b e , t h e authors o f t h i s vo lume hope t hat t h e effor t s repres ent ed here may c o ntribute t o t h e we ll-b e i ng o f t h e s e gro up s , and may u lt imat ely greater government

t o bring them t h e b en e f i t s and r espons i b i li t i e s of and advanc ement .

We hope that whether or not the Thai

inc lude s any of the minori t y languages in a s y s tem

l " the stipulation of a script to be used in printing books for tribal teaching programs have not yet been decided upon , according to a top-ranked s ource in the Ministry of Education . "Several mis sionary groups , both Protestant and Catholic , have been working with tribal groups , the educator pointed out , and a number of different alphabet systems have been devised for teaching . "A decision on the alphabet i s parti cularly pressing , the official sai d , because of the confus ion bound to result as programs now underway progress and require changes in the future . "Indicating the Government appreciated the mis sionary efforts , the official pointed out that if reading materials were not provided that met the needs of the Government then communist literature would be introduced , to the detriment of government efforts . " (Bangkok Post , April 1 6 , 1973) . • •

xi

of bilingual education in the schools, our efforts to write the minor­ ity languages in Thai script will make it easier for the people to learn Thai and to get an education in Thai as their most accessible window to the larger world.

We also hope that these modest contribu­

tions to the knowledge of the sound systems of the minority languages will be of use to Thai scholars, to the administrators of enlightened and humanitarian programmes among the minority peoples, as well as to linguists at large. I would like to express my appreciation to the people who have made this volume possible,

especially,

the chapters of Part 2 .

of course to the authors who wrote

Several o f them read and commented on an

earlier draft of other chapters than their own, as did Norm Mundhenk, Herbert C. Purnell,

Jr, and Theodore Stern.

was done by Umphorn Suteeca, Jane A.

Typing at various stages

Smalley and Leigh R.

Kambhu.

Tape

recording equipment used in the research underlying Chapters 3 and 4 was provided under a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

The

American Bible S ociety ( and later the United Bible Societies ) provided the auspices under which I wrote and edited. Earlier drafts of much of the material in this volume were ready in 1967, but publication was delayed by pressures on me.

Much of the

material has been rewritten for the present publication, and where that has not been necessary it has been updated wherever possible. Except for the very last stages of the editorial process, the manu­ script for this book was completed before the change in Thai government in October, 1973.

It is too early to know what changes may occur in

policies toward minority peoples in Thailand under a new regime, and all references to Thai government policy should be understood in light of that fact.

William A. De a em b e r�

Smalley 1973

P A RT

Smalley, W.A. editor. Phonemes and orthography: Language planning in ten minority languages of Thailand. C-43, xiii + 360 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1976. DOI:10.15144/PL-C43.cover ©1976 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.

ONE

CHAPTER ONE

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND'S MARGINAL LANGUAGES: HISTORY AND POLICY W I LL I AM A . SMALLEY

Di s t ribut ed around Thailand ' s b or d er s and in s everal ot her areas of l t h e c ount ry are minority p eop les s p eaking a var i ety of languages . 2 S ome of t h e minor ity language group s are the n ot ed " h i l l tribes ,, of 3 Northern Thailand , like t h e Hmong ( Meo ) , Paganyaw and Phlong ( Karen ) ,

I For a general survey and summary of informat ion on the peoples of this area see LeBar 1964 . See also Young 1966 ; Seidenfaden 1958 ; Boon Chuey 1963b .

et aZ.

2

There has been considerable criticism of the term "hill tribe" as applied to peoples in Southeast Asia. They are not "tribes" in any meaningfUl sens e , and some do not live in the hills . We use the term for lack of something better (cf . Keyes 1968:53a [footnote] ) •

3

It i s our policy in thi s volume to use the name by which speakers of a language dis­ tinguish it or themselves , if we know it . There are , of course , many well-known problems in doing this , and it is sometimes neces sary to modify these terms as with "Northern" Khmer . However , we follow the principle as strictly as possible for the languages of Thailand . We are not always sufficiently informed of what speakers of languages elsewhere call themselves . In order not to lose readers familiar with the area , we also identify the names by which the groups are more frequently called , placing these in parentheses , when neces­ sary , after the people ' s own name . The names we use are frequently normalised to make them more "readable" for English­ speaking people . Hmong , for example , i s more likely to be read as something approxi­ mating the way these people refer to themselves than i s /hmoob/ (Chapter 4 ) . The spellings of these names are therefore not necessarily consistent from one language to another. For example , the in would tend to be read as sounding like love ya , which would not be particularly helpful .

1

Smalley, W.A. "Writing Systems in Thailand's Marginal Languages: History and Policy". In Smalley, W.A. editor, Phonemes and orthography: Language planning in ten minority languages of Thailand. C-43:1-24. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1976. DOI:10.15144/PL-C43.1 ©1976 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.

2

W.A.

SMALLEY

Lahu , et c . Others are p lains p e o p l e i n the Northeas t , s u c h as the Kuy l and the p e op le who s pe ak Northern Khmer ther e . S t i l l others are t o b e 2 found i n t he South , like the Ne gri t o s , t he Urak Lawoi ' ( Or ang Laut ) , and t he Malay-speaking p e op le ( Fr a s er 1 96 0) .

And i n a l l Tha i c i t i e s and

t owns there are the populati ons which speak vari ous Chine s e and Ind ian language s . Many of t h e s e minority gr oups are p e op l e with preli t erat e cultur e s . In such c a s e s this usually means t hat a c hild can be born and grow up , an adult can l ive and die , without a s t rong need t o r ead and wri t e .

He

c an l ive a normal e x i s t e n c e wi thin his own c ommunity without a f e eling t o com-

t hat he i s in any way culturally deprived by lack o f municate t hr ough marks mad e on pape r . c lude r e ading and

Life as he knows i t d o e s not in-

as a maj o r component .

To s ay this , howev e r , i s not t o s ay that t here i s no writ ing at all among minor i t y language p e o p l e , even leaving as ide the obvious cases of Chinese and Indian

There are increasing numb ers of hill

tribes individuals ,

here and the r e , who c an r ead and wri t e the

Thai language and who us e i t primarily in contacts with Tha i . of No rthern Khmer

Hundreds

hav e this s k i l l .

In Mien ( Yao) t here ar e song and r i tua l languages or diale c t s which are wri t t e n in Chines e chara c t er s and read by l i t er a t e s p e c i a li s t s . The s e oc cupy a c entral

i n M i e n cultur e .

Purne l l r ep or t s five

t h ousand pages o f such t ext photographed o r copied by Cushman and h im­ s e lf in six l o c a t i ons

a year ' s r e s earc h .

This was only a sma l l

s amp l ing o f the t e x t ava i lable ( Purne l l 1 9 7 2a ) . Th ere are a l s o i ndividual s in s ome groups , notably the Mi en ( Ya o ) , who c an read a n d writ e Chine s e as s uc h . o f f in Mien language ,

Chine s e wr it

may b e r e ad

sub s t i tuting Mien words for t h e Chines e ,

or more often in one or ano t her o f the Chine s e language s ( Cant o n e s e , Yunnane s e , et c . ) .

If a M i e n r e c e iv e s an ordi nary l e t t er wri t t e n i n

Chine s e characters h e i s

t o read i t off i n Yunnane s e ( as modi -

f i e d by the Mien), or h e may r e a d i t direct ly int o Mien , or h e may u s e a mixture of t he two ( C . W . C a l laway p . c . ) . There i s a very sma l l numbe r o f minority language i ndividuals i n Thai land who r e a d and writ e Eng l i s h d u e t o s ome unusual opportuni t y i n educat i on , s u c h as the fact t hat t hey came t o Thai land from Burma where

use the term "Northern Khmer" for the form of Khmer spoken in Northeast Thailand along the Cambodian border . This spec ial term i s required because the language there differs widely from Standard Khmer ( Chapter 3 ) . 2 Brandt 1961:l23-60 , 1965:27-43 . themselves .

I

do not know the name by which they di stingui sh

3

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND'S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

they had

sc h ool ing .

Ther e ar e a f ew indi vi duals, also , who

read and wr ite Burm e se , or Lao ( a s wri t t e n in Laos ) . S ome of the minor i t y languages are part ial e xcept i ons t o this de­ scr i pt i on a l so i n t h e sense that they ar e the fringe of a language wh i c h Thus,

h a s a l i t erary tradi t i on and educat i on in a nei ghbouring c ountry .

the Tay Yay ( Shan ) i n Tha i land are lar g e ly i l l i t erate except where th ey ha ve learned t o r ead and wri t e Thai , but Tay Yay has a l ong wri t ten tradi t i on i n Burma and a f ew of t he older men can r ead i t .

The large

Northern Khmer-speaking p opu lat i on in Thai land is not ab le ( except in very rare instanc e s ) t o read t he Khmer language in the c ountry to t he south of t hem .

Malay writ ing , h owever , p art i c ular ly in i t s Arab i c for m , l by educ ated Ma lay s in the S out h .

i s known t o a signi f i c ant

Then , of c ourse , t h ere are c ommunit i e s of minority language p e op l e s who a r e d i st ant out p ost s o f widespread l i t erate p e op l e s in India and C hina .

A signi fi c ant per c e ntage of suc h peop le read and wri t e t he ir

own language , and t h i s book i s not c onc erned with them at a l l .

Some smal l numbe r s of minor i ty language p e op l e re ad and wr i t e i n sy st ems whi c h have b e e n spe c i f i c a lly d e ve l oped f or t h em .

Such wri t ing

sy st ems range from l ong e st ab l i shed ones like that of t he Paganyaw ( Sgaw Kar en ) syst em deve l oped in Burma over one hundred year s ago and

read by some three thousand p e op l e in Thailand , t o h i gh ly exp eriment al one s deve l oped r e cently and rep or t e d i n t h i s book .

Our purp ose in t h i s

c hapt er will b e t o show where t h e vari ous typ es o f wr i t i ng sy st ems c ome from , how much they have been used , and what place they now p lay in the life of p e op l e . This di scussi on w i l l be limit ed t o t h e work wh i c h may b e c onstrued a s language p lanning , and whi c h is or has b e e n promot ed t hr ough reading pr ogrammes and the p ub li c at i on of l i terat ure .

I t s purp ose i s t o pr o­

vide the bac kground for t he descr ipti ve art i c le s whi c h follow .

Thi s

means that w e must regr e t fu l ly e xc lude ca se s where i nd i vidual memb ers of hill tribes cultur e s , educat ed in one language or another , may have wri t t en the h i l l tribes languag e impre ssionist i ca l ly in the l e t t er s of t he mor e widespread language they have learned.

Suc h wr i t i ng h a s b e e n

f or l imi ted use , and t h e r e i s n o syst ema t i c effort t o spr ead i t .

Ex­

c luded a l so are the e f f orts of prof e ssional lingui st s and ant hr op olog i st s l Note that Lao does not come within our category of minority languages in Thailand. There are more Isan ( Lao ) speakers in Thailand than there are in Laos. It is one of Thailand's regional languages, a problem of an entirely different category (Smalley forthcoming ) .

VI.A. SMALLEY

4

who have written hill tribes languages for purposes of scientific analysis, or who may have suggested writing systems for the practical use of the hill tribes people, as these are not being followed up nor spreading among the people.

The efforts of other individuals highly

interested in the hill tribes, who have written down word lists or other language information from the hill tribes language in one or an­ other writing system of their own devising and adaptation, are also not l nor are the non-missionary scripts used by pockets of Karen

included,

(Stern 1968; Marin 194 3).

This background chapter, furthermore, will

not usually describe the situation in those languages which have chap­ ters devoted to them later on. BUfLm e.6

e- ba.6 ed M!.J/.J..p:t:

PagaYlyaw

In order to understand the full ramifications involved in the writing systems used for hill tribe languages in Northern Thailand, we need to begin by looking elsewhere.

About 1830, for example, a missionary

named Jonathan Wade prepared a writing system for Paganyaw (Sgaw Karen) in Burma.

It was based on Burmese characters modified to accommodate

tones which did not match Burmese tones. What it lOOked like may be 2 In 18 43 the whole New Testament (a book of several seen in Sample 1. hundred pages) was printed in that system, followed by the Old Testa­ ment (an even longer book) in 1853.

This means that a publication of

enormous proportions had been undertaken more than 100 years ago.

Sample 1.

Paganyaw

(Sgaw Karen)

It was followed by many other books.

in modified Burmese script That Paganyaw writing system has

gained widespread use among the Paganyaw in Burma and is in use in

l

The JournaZ of the Siam Society has published word lists prepared under these condi­ tions at various t imes. See , for example , the interesting comparative lists by Kraisri 1963:183ff. See also Smalley 1963:189-201.

�uch of the information pre sented here , and most of the samples of script , are taken from North ( ed. ) 1938. See al so Nida ( ed. ) 1972. other samples were taken directly from Bibles or Bible portions published by the British and Foreign Bible Society ( London ) , or by the Bible Society in Thailand and Laos ( Bangkok ) . See also Diringer 1953:184-5.

5

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND'S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

It wa s s u itab l e f or t h e M oulmein d ialect i n Burma ,

Tha i land t oday .

and although it does not exa c t ly fit t h e s ound s y s t em of t h e Tha i land dialec t it i s us able here as well .

In addit i on to t h e Chri st ian B i b l e ,

and l i t erature wr i t t en i n Burma , s ome lit erature h a s b een wri t t en or t rans lat ed in Thai land , inc luding a trans lat i on of t h e New Test ament made especially for Thai land Pagany aw .

A mimeographed s et of languag e

l es s ons f or learning Paganyaw h a s been p r epared and i s us ed by mis s i on­ aries , anthrop olog i s t s , and oth er s working among Paganyaw p eop l e . I n add i t i on t o t h i s tradit i ona l wr i t ing s y s t em , a s ec ond , Roman s c r ipt f or Paganyaw was s eparat ely p r epared by Father Jos eph Segui n ot t e in 1 9 54 , adap t ed from another s c r i pt u s ed i n Burma ( Samp l e 2 ) . b een t aught in s c hools and to s ome adult s .

It has

A hymn b ook and book of

pray ers , a G ospel of Mark and oth er par t s of t he Bib l e have b een pub­ l i s hed in i t .

Father Segui not t e has p r epared a d i c t i onary of s ome 300

pages in t h i s s cript as wel l . 21

Su naj hoo taj ci v pax leplez tai wai Ie: «Su

t'maz si pgaz k'nyau t'gelz ! pgaz Ie av maz si pgaz k'nyau neif, k'baf taj clf nyauf auz lauz.»

22

Mei

meij yai daf iz, y'w baf su Ie : «Pgaz Ie av sav htauf av daupuj waij neif, k'baf taj clf nyauf auz; pgaz Ie av civ ngau av daupuj wag neif, k'baf taj laiz se auz soo pgaz soof kei sav pgaj t'hpaf av of dauv pgaz Ie av civ pluj av daupuj waij neif, k'baf taj clf nyauf auz Ie I'fax meif

Sample 2.

00

neif lauz.

Paganyaw

(Sgaw Karen )

in Roman script

The Paganyaw have t h e largest l iterat e gr oup of hi l l tribes p eop le in Tha i land , with an est imat ed three t h ousand r eader s in t h e Burmes e­ bas ed s c rip t and two t h ous and more in t h e Wes t ern s c ript . in b ot h i s growing .

The number

A few of thos e who read t h e Burmes e-b a s ed s cr i p t

came over i n t o Thai land a s r efugees fr om Burma , but most of t h em l earned t o r ead in Tha i land through t h e i nfluenc e of the Chr i s t i an chur c h .

The wri t ing s y s t ems and t h e li t erat ur e a va i lab l e in them are

very imp ortant to the Chr i s t ians , who are qui t e numer ous among the Paganyaw peop l e .

Some oth ers who are not Chr i s t ians are a b l e t o r ead

and wr i t e as wel l . The fact of two wri t ing s y s t em s f or t he s ame language i n the same c ountry i s , it s eems t o me, very unfor t una t e .

It ari s es from lack of

c oordinat i on between mi S S i ons , fr om the differ en c es b etween Paganyaw in Burma and in Thai land , and from resistance to t h e r ela t i ve diffi c u l ty of t eac hing the Burmese s y s t em as against the Wes t ern .

So l ong as two

c hur ches ar e working ea c h in i t s own c orner ther e d oes not s eem to b e

6

TN .A . SMALLEY

any immedi a t e pract i cal difficu lty .

But t he ab i l ity t o read and wr i t e

should c ont ribute t oward the d e ve l opment of a p e op l e rather than t o u s e le s s fragment ati o n . N o Thai-bas ed orthography has b een worked o u t for Paganyaw. is no te chn i c a l reason why i t c ou l d not b e .

There

Howe ver, Paganyaw readers

exi s t in suffic ient numbers so that they feel that their pre s e nt s y s tems are their own.

Each f e e l s that the one he u s e s represents the language From a lingui s t i c p o int of vi ew t his is not

as no other s y s t em c ou l d .

s o, but from the st andp o int of emo t i onal i dent ifi c a t i on with a fami liar sy s t em i t s eems s o t o t hem .

The p r o s p e c t of a change , o f us ing any

o t he r s y s t em, s e ems to s ome of t hem to be a vi o l at ion of their very cUl­ tural heri tage, and could c r eat e r e s entment against thos e language p lanners who would bring it in, although in the long run, a c ommon, Thai-based s y s t em might b e of c on s i derab ly greater p ermanent b enefit t o t hem .

Other mi s s i onary effor t s at deve lopi ng wr i t ing s y s t ems in languages r elat ed t o minority languages of Thai land can be s e en, for examp l e , in an area many hundre d s o f miles from where Jonathan Wade worked on Paganyaw .

About the turn of the c entury a m i s s i onary in South China

named S. P o l lard i n vented a wri ti n g s y s t em f o r the F l owery Mi ao , a group r e lat e d t o the Hmong ( Meo ) group s of Tha i l and ( s ee Samp le 3 ) . Whereas J onathan Wade had bas ed h i s wr i t ing s y s t em for t he Karen o n the a vai lab l e Burmese patt ern, Pol lard did not want t o us e t he e x tremely c umb ersome and pedagogi cally diffi cult Ch i ne s e s y s t em for the Miao but ins t e ad i n vented an ent ir e ly new sy s t em wh i c h was very suc c e s sful and s pr e ad widely among F lowery Miao p e o p l e in China .

It in turn was

adap t ed t o o ther Miao groups and other languages in South Ch ina .

It has

not been u s ed i n Thailand .

CTu V. IC'� CAr.: Tn r Trc, (, t. Y (, Y" L!> r T"t'· Cno, A T :l I[!> (,I, J!> 1" t� Ao L,

A 1. Til Cr.: j Ln

a". 11 au v. tr c, T" 1.." A· CAr.: T", 1" /r ]u it "n. CAr.: T", A

i. tt.. c, l' CA rc Tn.

n

••

T J., 1"((!> (

Sample 3.

18

T lu ((!> ("

1" T" ,'n.

A. L I'n. T.... Y Ju (.1" ((; au "

"

Flowery Miao in Pol lard Script

Soon aft er P o l lard ' s work was e s t ab l i s hed in South China, anot her mis s ionar y , J .O . Fra s e r , devi s ed s t i l l another writ i ng s y s t em , this t ime

7

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND'S MARGINAL LANGUAGES: HIS TORY AND POLICY

for t h e Lisu language ( Samp l e 4 ) .

It a l s o was highly s u c c es s ful and

many t housands of L i s u t o day s t i l l r ead i t .

The numb er o f Li su who do

s o in Burma is probab l y growing s t eadily a l l of t h e t ime.

In Thail and

it i s u s ed by a growing number .

"A: M"- MI=YI. TV. JO_ M L: ::10 TV. M: dl: YE FI SI.=.LI: ::IIi .LI: P M SVj MY M' FI_ BE= WU.S NY=:YIA BI R.: TI. TV. C,: K' N :>I=MI NV L: ::10 TV. NI, NO_ LO"

Sample 4.

Western Lisu in Fraser Script

Rom�n �tph� b et 6 y� t em6 6�om n elg h b o u�lng e o u nt�l e6 In addit i on to t h e Romani s ed s y s t em o f wr i t i ng Paganyaw ( Sgaw Kar en ) , s everal other wri t i ng s y s t ems whi ch us e a Wes t ern alphab et are i n l im­ i t ed u s e among t h e h i l l t r i b es in North Thailand .

A l l but o n e of t hes e

wer e d eveloped out s id e t h e c ountry , ei ther in Burma or i n Lao s .

Only

t he c a s e of Lahu , not c ov er ed in subs equent chap t er s , is ment i oned h er e . Before World War I, H . H . T i l b e prepar ed a Wes t ern alphab et wr i t i ng s y s t em for Lahu .

Duri ng t h e 1 9 3 0 s t h i s was r evi s ed b y J . H . Telford and

has had minor r evis i ons s in c e ( Samp le 5 ) .

It i s us ed by thousands of

Lahu in Burma and by o v er a hundred in Thai land .

There are s ome

pub l i c a t i ons in Lahu , not ably two New T es t ament tran s lat i ons , one b y Paul Lew i s and h i s c ommi t t ee of Lahu i n Burma , and t he o t h er by Vi nc ent Young .

A large hymnbo o k has appeared a l s o .

In Thai land , s et s of

l es s ons for l earning Lahu have b een prepared by Larry P eet .

For a d i s ­

cus s i o n of this Lahu orthography and i t s r elat ion to the sound s y s t em o f Lahu s ee Mat i s off 1 9 7 0 .

" " " " " Ga.lUeh g'ui" po pa 10 Ye.su k'ai cheh hta , Srmoo. " leh yaw ve aw" nyi paM An.dreh. g'ui" po aw" hk'aw 10 " " g'a maw" ve yo". Aw" lawn geu"" hpeh cheh ve hta" " k'o. " yaw hui· ma"" leh" nga ca paM hpeh" ve yo". Yc.su k'o" ve, Nga" " hk'a suh "1a"-o,,. Nga" oaw"" hui hta" chaw ca sheh. hpa te tcuh"la tu" yo" teh", yaw hur ma" hta" k'o" " " pi ve yo". Yaw hut rna" te caw" ha- geu" hta" teh

Sample 5.

Lahu in Western Script

Before World War II very l i t t l e attent ion was paid t o t h e minori ty langua g e groups of Thai land .

Some Karen Chr i s t i ans from Burma were i n

8

W.A. SMALLEY

conta c t with Karen on the Thai s i de of t h e border , and the Paganyaw ( Sgaw Karen ) wri ting s y stem so widely u s ed in Burma was us ed to some d egr ee in Thailand a l s o .

Other wi s e, however , very li t tl e effor t was t o

b e s een . During that p eriod th e c a s es i n whi c h a di s t i nc t effort was mad e by mis s ionar i es to prov i de a n ew wri ting s y s tem for a minority group i n Tha i land it s elf wer e a l l unsuc c es s ful . For examp l e , one of thes e was around 1 9 1 8 when Mr s C . H . Cro oks wr o t e Khmu ' in the old Myang ( Norther n Thai ) s c r ipt ( Samp le 6 ) then i n u s e for Myang .

Sev eral factor s c o ntributed to t h e fai lure o f thi s exp eri­

ment in s p i te of the print ing o f a f ew small par t s of the Bi b l e in v ery sma l l edi tions . F or o n e thing , when t h e Myang s cript i ts el f b ec ame virtually o b s ol et e purp o s es , it left no practi c a l cultural b a s i s for wr i ting

for

the Khmu ' in a s y stem bas ed on i t .

But more important was the fact tha t

ther e was n o cons is tent cont inuing mi s s io nary effort among the Khmu! i n Thai land , ei ther t h e migratory Khmu! c oming into t h e Chi ang Mai - Chiang l Rai area as lab our er s from Laos , or t h e mor e s ettl ed Khmut in the Nan r egion .

Other l anguages were als o wri tt en briefly in Myang s c r ipt

dur ing th e s ame p er i od .

(r.,""�)QlltJ��·" ��;)')::II"� � fcil�?ill ,,�� iN"�!:l � "a, �:J,I"" t.:I::II::I!:lI r�-a:ul :llJI a:. n ��"t.;\�;).?� f*doRll: �(';l»G"(j),)t.l� � �::U"� �"�l'¢' �f�:����)�:",� "�::fl �&�(j)(c.,:)��l?�I:'�C:::II ��::U�!:l ()I) --

�

Sample 6.

.,

..;;I ��"

�

__

Khmu' in Myang Script

Another typ e of experiment c ame about 1930 when wr i t i ng s y s tems were prep ar ed by C . K . Trang for Hmong Nj ua ( Gr een/Blue Meo ) and f or Mien CYao ) .

Thes e were done with Thai l et t er s , but a s an examinat i on o f

Samp les 7 and 8 w i l l s h ow , they were n o t alway s done with r ef er en c e t o t h e Thai s y s tem of organising i t s l etter s .

Vowels whi c h are s up po s ed

t o prec ede, to go above , or to go b elow cons onant s wer e s ometimes s trung

l For the romanisation of Thai place names I follow Royal Institute 1968a.b .

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND'S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

9

along af ter them in the Wes tern f a s h i on rath er than the Thai fashion

( Appendix 2 ) . Again th es e efforts fai led in spi te of the fact that sma ll parts of the Bib l e wer e printed in th es e wr i ting s y s tems .

Ther e wa s no c ons i s ­

tent literary effort n o r cons is ten t mis s i onary work among these p eop le, and the wri ting s y s tems thems elves wer e comp l etely uns ati s fac tory .

•

1I11 :II ...

, 'l�,

fl adt,."

, f " ..1 . sn 11l� tI .n fllU

" II n tI

-(nil 4 ti,� : IJ M"

It

4. , • 4. • til IIll U, Iftl1 lI1 1m

)ntJ 1i1tJ tfti 11 aLlD"fI tiw u.� qjL 11'l1l�l. ...t .... e fI .. t U

81 IlIL n6 tJ I l 11) l'l�tJ .. ,l 1l1. I

Sample 7 . Hmong Nj ua (Blue Mea) in Tha i script but with­ out adequately following the Tha i system .

•

�

Sample 8. Hien (Yao) in Thai script but without adequately fol lowing the Thai sys tem .

T h e po� t- wa� pe�i o d After Wor ld War I I , mi s s ionary efforts among the minority peoples of Tha i land increa s ed c on s iderably .

Part of the up s urge c ame wh en m i s ­

s ionaries wh o had b een working in South China among s ome of th es e s ame or r elated h i l l tri b es group s wer e for c ed out of tha t c o untry by the c ommuni s t advanc e .

They wanted to c ontinue their efforts in o th er

p l a c es where thes e h i l l trib es wer e to b e found . Anoth er c ontributing factor was the development of l i ngui s ti c technology such that mi s s i onari es wer e able to

tra ining to make it po s-

s ib l e for them to l earn and u s e unknown languages more adequately , and l to prepare wri ting s y s tems for them . As mi s si o naries came into Thai land from S outh China , and as o thers came to work amo ng h i l l tri b es p eop l e for the f i r s t time, a maj or c on­ c ern was to make it pos s i b l e f o r the hi l l tribes p eop le to b e ab le to us e the wri ting s y s tems and the books whi c h were already ava i la b l e from els ewher e .

Th ey s aw enormous advantages in not having to dup licate the

exten s ive efforts that had already gone into pr eparing wri ti ng s y s tems , tran s lating , and wr i ting in s om e o f the languages .

For examp l e , the

thought that books b eing u s ed by the thousand s of Lahu r eader s in Burma could al s o be used by Lahu in Thailand without any addi tional ef fort ex­ c ep t the effor t of imp orting them and teaching p eople to r ead wa s an a ttractive one indeed .

Ther e would b e no need to d ev i s e a new wri ting

l See the various degrees of linguistic training by which the authors of this book have benefited, as outlined in the Introduction .

10

W.A.

SMALLEY

system and experiment with it for years, no need to make new transla­ tions and write new books. As surveys were made, and as experience was gained, however, little by little it was found that in many cases the languages used in Thailand were enough divergent from the related languages on which the writing systems were based to create difficult problems when using the writing systems and materials from outside the country. use was impossible.

In some cases their

Some of the missionaries, therefore, began to turn

to considerations of writing these local hill tribes languages them­ selves.

Then again, some groups were found in Thailand for which there

were no writing systems elsewhere at all. A pattern therefore developed such that when it was possible to use literary materials from elsewhere for the minority languages of Thai­ land, this was done.

The Paganyaw ( Sgaw Karen) in Thailand increasingly

learned the Paganyaw script prepared over a century ago in Burma, and read books from Burma. from Burma.

The Lahu on a much smaller scale read Lahu books

But study showed that because of the large difference in

language, the Phlong ( Pwo Karen) of the Chiang Mai region could not use the Pwo Karen of Burma, and efforts to devise its own writing system began. Another factor to which we have only lightly alluded was at play, however, during this post-war period.

To give it proper perspective we

need to turn to the larger question of language policy.

Since serious

work on orthographies for minority peoples in Thailand was undertaken only by missionaries, we first consider missionary language policies.

Not all missionaries think exactly alike on questions of language policy implicit in their work.

Among the missionaries who have pre­

pared the writing systems described in this book, however, there is a considerable consensus, and an examination of their policies may serve to make more intelligible the language activity in which they have been engaged. In the first place, these missionaries find that the comprehension of the Thai language which many of the minority peoples have is often so low that it does not provide a suitable means of communication with l them on anything but a superficial level, if it is possible at all,

l

LePage 1964:15 points out that , "Even in a comparatively small country like Britain the Welsh-speaking Welsh and the Gaelic -speaking Scot s , to say. nothing of the Lallans­ spe aking Scots, need bilingual intermediaries between themselves and the government, and for dealings in the law. "

11

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND' S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

They are therefore very much concerned ab out the problem o f communica­ t i on with them .

Th i s relat e s directly t o their r e ligious work, and to

their dai ly live s as they trav e l among and live among such people .

They

are a l s o concerned , however , on a larger s ca l e b ecause they are genuin­ e ly int ere s t ed in the minority peop le them s e lv e s , their d ev elopment , their welfar e , and t he i r re lat ions t o the out side wor ld , e speci ally to the Thai .

C ommunication with the out s i de world lies at the h eart of

many of the marginal p e o p le s ' prob lems , and the mi s s i onar i e s s ense this acut e ly . The need to read and wr ite i s one of t h e very important needs mi s­ s ionar i e s see among minority peop l e i n this modern day.

They fe e l that

minori t y peop l e cannot develop, cannot gain a comp et i t ive advant age in the wo rld , cannot en large t h e ir h or i z o ns if they do not have acce s s t o l suffici ent educat i on , and part icu larly the abi l i t y t o r ead and wr it e .

Most mi s s ionar i e s r e cogni s e, howev er, the obvious fact that to gain a compet it ive advantage in a nat i on such as Tha i l and, some o f the p e o p l e from minority languages must have education in Thai .

They s ee th e need

for the development o f scho o l s among t he minority l anguage p e o p l e , and for other opportunit i e s where such p e o p l e may l earn t h e Thai language and the Thai wr i t i ng s y s t em .

For s ome mi s s ionar ie s , but no t all, t h i s

provides a s tr o ng mo tivation in the direct ion of t h e preparat i on o f Thai-ba s ed wri t ing s y s t ems f o r the m i nor ity language people .

The

authors of the various chapters in thi s b o o k want t he minority language peop le to be ab le to

on from the a b i lity to r e ad and wri t e th eir

own language t o t h e ability to r ead and wr ite Thai . Thi s point of view did not come a l l at once .

At fir s t mos t of the

mi s s i onar i e s among minority peoples i n Thailand want ed t o b a s e their alphab e t s on the We st ern s y s t em .

The e ffor t s of Er i c Cox and some

others for Mien (Yao ) d e s cribed in Chapter 8 were such a cas e .

The

mi s s i onar i e s promot ing the Romanised s y s t em for Paganyaw ( Sgaw Kare n ) s t i ll f e e l i t i s b e s t . Gradua lly, however , in the ear ly 1 9 6 0 s , there were mor e and mor e s uch mi s s ionar i e s who real i s ed that alt hough at t he time there were not very many Thai s cho o l s among the hill tribe s in t h e Nor t h , and although in many p laces there wa s litt le r egular, int ens ive, vi llage-wide cont act be tween the h i l l tribes and the Thai p e op le , the day would come when

the excellent summary of reasons for literacy programme s in minority languages in Walker 1969:148 .

12

W.A. SMALLEY

t h i s would change .

The s e mi s s ionar i e s s ensed that t h e only avenue to

education wh i ch the minor ity languag e p e o p l e had was through Thai . Even in mi s s ionary t erms , the educa t i on of t r i b a l C hr i s tian mini s t e r s and t he wider r eading in C hr i s t ian l i t eratur e would ultimat ely hav e t o b e i n Thai .

I t would b e a n imp o s s ib l e t a s k t o provide a large body o f

lit erature and f u l l training programme s f o r all t h e r e lat ively sma l l minority group s . Thi s was not t o s ay that t h e s e same mis s i onar i e s did not f e e l t he importance of wri t ing the minority languag e s or of preparing b a s i c Chr i s t ian materials in them .

Many were thor oughly convinced o f t h i s

nece s s i t y b e caus e communi cation w i t h t h e hi l l tribes people s o l ely through Thai wa s a virtual imp o s s ib i li t y .

They were co ncerned rat her

about future deve l opment and growth of education , and about the p o s ­ s i b i l i t y of trans ferring t h e skil l s gained i n r e ading one language ( t he minority language ) to another ( th e nat ional language ) .

The h i l l tribe s

should have t o l earn t o r ead and wri t e only o ne � y� t em , and the hab i t s of ident i f i ca t i on of l e t t e r s in r eadi ng which t h e y l e arned i n t h e i r own languages they should be ab l e to carry over to Thai as they b egan t o learn Thai .

At the ear ly leve l s of educa t i o n whi ch wou l d b e involved ,

they should not be forced t o l earn b o t h the We s t ern and the Thai s y st ems ( except , of cour s e , for t h e few individu a l s who might eventua lly learn Eng l i s h or s ome other Wes t ern language as such ) , as thi s would not cont r ibut e as much to t he i r pot ent ial educat ion and advanceme nt .

Learn­

ing to r e ad the minority language s in Th ai s cr ip t would open a door t o t h e Thai language .

Learning t o r ead them in We s t ern s cript woul d b e a

b l ind a l l e y . In 1 9 5 8 , under my l e adership at a week-long s eminar in Chiang Mai , a great deal o f t im e was given to the prob l em o f wr i t i ng minor i t y lan­ guages in Thai s cr i p t , and even in tho s e cas e s where the mi s s ionar i e s wer e s at i sf i e d w i t h the wri t i ng s y st ems from out s ide of Thai land , s ome thought was given as to what could be done to prepare a Thai-b a s ed ort hography i f nece s s ary .

Since that t im e , t he reali sation of the

importance o f the use o f the Thai s y s t em for minor i t y languages has greatly increas ed .

So have the p r e s s ur e s from the minor ity p e o p le s .

Whereas formerly they were showing no int er e s t what s o ever i n Thai cUl­ ture and Thai education , now many indivi dua ls ar e s trongly mo tivat ed t oward educat i on .

Som e of them ( t hough b y no means a l l ) s e e the wri t i ng

o f their languages in Tha i s cript as a s t e p in advancement towards the educa t i on i n Thai which they want .

In a r e lat ively short s p ace of t ime

the cl imat e of opinion among s ome minor ity language p eo p l e s changed quit e strongly . But why , then , not s imp ly co ncentrate on t eaching Thai to the minor ity

13

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND ' S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

language people? Some mi s s i o nar i e s have done some i nformal t each i ng o f l b u t t h e prob l em of communicat i on w i t h the minority language

Thai ,

people s t i ll remains uppermo st in their thinking .

It wi l l be a long

t ime b efore enough Thai i s known i n many minority language ar eas s o that learning to read Thai a s Thai wi l l b e come a n effi cie nt pr oce s s . Such mi s s ionari e s s e e the devel opment of wri t i ng s y s t ems for the minor­ ity languag e s , b a s ed on Thai s cr i p t , a s an important s t e p in the d i rec­ t i o n of lit eracy in Thai b e caus e it means that h i l l tribes p e op le can learn to read and wr it e the language wh ich t hey already sp eak , which they und er st and , in which t h ey can communi cat e , without t h e heavy burden o f l earning both the Thai language and the Thai wri t i ng s y s t em at the same t ime .

Once ab le to read and wr i t e their own languages , minor ity

language peop le who l earn e n ough Thai to do so may a l s o readily app ly the knowl edge of the Thai wr it ing s y s t em to the r e ad i ng a nd wri t i ng of the Thai language . Thi s point of view i s b a s e d on the pedagogical princip l e that i t i s e a s i er t o l e arn t o r ead and writ e what o n e can alr eady s p e ak , and that b a s i c reading ski l l s are di ffe rent from t h e s ki l l s o f ta lking .

It i s

true that t h e hi l l tribes p e op l e wi ll have t o l e arn t o sp eak Thai i n order to communicat e with t h e Thai world .

When t hey d o so it would b e

decidedly t o their advant age i f they already know the Thai s y s t em a s used in t h e i r own language s ( Nida 1949; UNESC O 1953; Turner 1964; LePage

196 4). Another motivating facto r i n thi s r egard i s that with the increasing advent o f Thai s choo l s , there are incr e as ing numb ers of s p eakers of minority language s who lear n t h e mechanics o f reading Thai t o a degr ee without b eing ab l e to und er s t and much o f the Thai language they t ry to r ead .

They can oft en apply the s e reading s k i l l s with und e r s t anding when

they have reading mat eria ls in their own language wr i t t e n with Thai s cript .

The act of r eading their own language makes funct i onal a s ki l l

which is not functi onal so long a s they ar e trying t o read a lev el o f Thai whi ch they do not under st and .

With incr e a s ing knowl e dge of Thai

l anguage t h i s reading skill can be incre a s i ngly appl ied to t he r ead ing of Thai .

Thus the mis s i onary finds t hat he can communicat e thr o ugh

writ ing with minority language p e o p l e s who l e arned t he mechanics o f reading i n s chool but who cannot communicate through reading and writ i ng 2

i n the Thai language t hey do not know well enough . 1

Lewis has done more than that .

See Lewis 1970.

2 For other significant motives for such literacy efforts see Walker 1969:148.

14

W.A . SMALLEY

I think it would be fair t o s ay that mo s t mi s s i onar i e s working among the minority people f e e l that they s hould support the deve lopment of an effective funct i onal b i lingual i sm among t hem .

It i s not enough for at

least a good portion of t h e h i l l t r i b e s p e op l e to know their own lan­ guag e , but they need to know Thai a s w e l l , or at l e a s t one of the re­ gional languages of Thai land .

The mi s s ionari e s , on t he other hand ,

would not f e e l t hat an att empt should b e made to stamp out the h i l l tribes language s . reali s t i c as wel l . not succeed .

Thi s would not only b e cru e l but would b e mo s t un­ It would only cr eate resi st ance and wou ld doubt l e s s

I n s tead , b i lingua l i s m , in which a subs t ant ial numb er of

the hill tribes peop le sp eak not only their own language but also the nati onal language or one of i t s regi ona l forms , is extr emely important . The promotion of lit eracy i n any form i s an i ndirect s t imulus t o s uch b i li ngua l i s m .

T h e more conf id ence people can gain i n r e adi ng and

wri t i ng their own language the s t ronger the like l i hood of their b e i ng r eady and open t o educat i on in Thai .

In t h o s e cas e s where the Thai­

b a s ed wr iting s y s t em i s us ed , the very ski l l of r eading i t s e l f mak e s i t s contribut i on toward s li t er acy in Thai .

A l l of t h e mi s si onar i e s who hav e been working on wri t i ng s y s t ems for minori ty langua g e s in Tha iland in the p o s t -war period f e e l that t heir contribut ions are t entat ive and e xperimental .

Some o f the wr i t i ng s y s ­

t ems coming from out s i de o f Thailand are not so tentative.

The Paganyaw

(Sgaw Karen ) Burme s e- b a s ed s cr i p t , as we have s hown , i s over a century o ld .

Lahu and Akha wr i t i ng sy s t em s are w e l l e s t ab li s h ed in Burma , al­

though not as strong i n Thailand . Mis si onar i e s who have b e en working in s ome cas e s for many year s on the deve lopment of the various s y s t ems have done s o b e caus e there was nothing else avai lab l e .

Where something e l s e was available they have

u s e d it , and were s omething e l s e suitable to b e come avai lab le t hey would use it .

They have s imp ly stepped in to do s omething that they felt

needed to be done . The orth ograph i e s which they have prepared in many cas e s have b e en revi sed r ep eat edly over a period of year s be caus e improvement s have been sugge s t e d or di scovered through use and e xp erimentat i o n .

In one or two

cas e s the tribal p e op l e themse lv e s have shown res i s t ance to change in the s y s t ems that they had b e gun to lear n , but even they have usually b e e n wil ling to change whe n nece s s ary , as when the few Lavua '

( Lawa ,

Lua ' ) r eader s swi tched over from a W e s t ern s y stem t o the Thai-b a s e d

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND'S MARGINAL LANGUAGES: HISTORY AND POLICY

s y s t em d e s cribed i n Chap t e r 1 1 . only to t ho s e

15

Thi s r emark , o f c our s e , appli e s again

whi c h are n o t y et d e eply e st abli shed .

F or t h o s e

whic h are , there would b e r e s entment o n t he p ar t of the t r i b a l p eo p l e i f they w e r e r equired t o change ( Walker 1 9 6 9 : 1 53- 5 ) . in thi s v olume

Muc h of the work o f orthography p lanning

may be wa s t e d if government opp o s i t i o n s hould develop , or even if t here l The que s t i o n of pres ent and pot en­ i s not government enc ouragement . t ial government policy is t herefore of c ru ci al c o n c er n . G o v e�nm e nt p o ti� y in th e 6 a� e 0 6 ting ui� ti� div e�� ity In the ear li e r years of t h i s mi s s i onary

p lanning ( up unt i l

t h e ear ly 1 9 6 0 s ) t h e government was s howing almo s t n o int ere s t i n any f orm o f educati o n or language p ol i cy f o r t h e hi l l t r ib e s of North Thai­ 2 land . Although Thai s ch o o l s were widely p revalent in Northern Khmer and Kuy areas of Nor t h e a s t Thailand , gre a t ly s t imulati ng multi lingualism i n those areas , they were not making more t han a dent e l s ewhere i n the hundreds of t h ou s ands of p eople who s p oke lit t l e or no Thai . Even t oday I think it i s prob ab ly fair t o s ay t hat in s p i t e of t h e mushro oming government i nt erest i n t h e problem s created b y l i ngui s t i c 3 dive r s it y as ethnic minori t ie s t hreat e n nat ional unity , there i s s t i l l 4 no over-all governme nt language p lanning for minority group s . There are , however , s ome evident e lement s of policy whi ch emerge somet imes in laws and o f f i c i a l s t a t ement s , and more o f t e n in char a c t eri s t i c patt erns of dealing with minority p e op l e s . The fundamenta l ori en t at i o n of s u c h Thai gov ernment p ol i c y has b ee n a s s imilativ e .

That i s , i t has b e en a s sumed t hat everyone i n Thailand

l

Walker 1969 rightly stresses that a successful minority language literacy programme "must have the acceptance , if not the active support and participation , of both the population who are to become literate and the establishment" (148 ) , whi ch in Thailand includes the government to an important degree .

• • •

2 Rekha 1969:94 report s that in ten provinces of North Thailand where there are hill tribes peoples (Nan , Chaing Rai , Chiang Mai , Mae Hong Son , Tak , Phitsanulok , Phetcha­ buri , Phetchabun , Lamphun , and Lampang ) , there were four hill tribes s chools estab­ lished in the period 1935-1937 . In the next fifteen years up until 1952 , thirteen more such schools were established . However , in the next two five-year periods , twelve and s ixteen new schools were establi shed , respectively. Then in the three year period of 1963-1966 , thirty-six s chools were e stabli shed , making a total of eighty . Thes e figures are for schools under the Mini stry o f Education and d o not include Border Police schools . Yet great as this acceleration i s s ince the early 1960s , it is only a drop in the bucket in most areas . 3

This whole questi on i s to be treated in considerable detail in Smalley , forthcoming .

4Nos s 1967:193 points out that neither the Thai c onstitution nor any other official document makes· a formal statement of general language policy . This i s , of course , a reflecti on of the unquest i oned security which Standard Thai has as the language of

+'ho.

rol"\nY'l+"t""I.:r

16

W.A.

SMALLEY

should in s ome way or o ther , over a gr e a t er or l e s s er length o f time , be a s s imi lat e d into the e x c lus ive u s e of St andard Thai .

This app lies

t o the speakers o f regiona l Thai languages and d ia l ec t s as we l l as to minority language s p eaker s .

To my knowle dge , h owever , the only maj or

s i tua t i o n in whi c h t h i s p o l i cy has b e en enfor ced with any r igidi ty i s in priva t e s chool s .

Univer sally t hroughout the country , s chools with

Chine s e l a nguage curr i c ulum in p ar t i cu lar have been for c e d t o c hange to l Thai language c urri culum , a move whi c h has d e c idedly weakened the strength o f the C hine s e language among s e cond- and t hird-generation Thai of Chin e s e a nc e s t ry in the maj or c i t i e s .

There has b e en no s y s t emat i c

at t empt t o r e s t r i c t t h e u s e of Chine s e i n any ot her way within the c ountry , t o my knowledge , a lt hough there are r e s t r i c t i ons on the import of Ch i ne s e language t e xt s without control or censor ship .

It s hould

be r emembered t hat t he Thai government has felt a t hr e at of p owerful a l i en influence and c ontrol t hr ough the medium of Chine s e . Els ewhere the p o l i cy t ends t o b e more mildly i nt erpret e d and enforc e d . C las s e s are suppo s ed t o b e t aught only in St andard Thai , but auth or i t i e s overlo ok t h e t e achers who t each in a r egional Thai language o r even i n a minority language from t ime t o t ime because t h e i r own knowledge o f St andard Thai i s weak , or be c au s e t h e y know t h e ir pup i l s c annot und er­ s t and it .

Rekha forthr ight ly advocat e s the ne c e s s ity of doing t hi s ,

and regist ers s at i sfact i on over the number o f t eachers who are abl e t o d o i t ( Rekha 1 9 6 9 : 83- 9 0 ) . Furthermore , first in Malay - s p e ak i ng areas and t hen i n h i l l trib e s area s , t h e Min i s t ry of Education h a s given c o ns iderable att ent i o n t o t h e deve lopment o f s p e c ial curricula geared t o t h e prob lems whi ch minori t y chi ldren have b e c ause of their l a c k of knowledge o f Tha i language and cult ur e .

The f ir s t spe c ial curr iculum for the h i l l tribes s chools was

promulgat e d in 1 9 6 5 .

The Mini s try of Education has h e ld s p e c i a l train­

ing programmes for its t e achers and f or t ho s e o f t h e Border P o li c e , t o orient them t o the problems o f t eaching children o f di fferent l i ngu i s ­ t ic and c ultural background ( Rekha 1 9 6 9 ) .

Rekha , who wri t e s i n a

Mini s try o f Educat ion pub l ic at i on , fur thermore empha s i s e s t h e need t o that i n many h i l l tribes s ituat i ons Thai ne eds t o b e taught to the pup i l s as a s e c ond language , r e c o gn i s ing that t h e ir mother t ongue is not Thai and developing educat i onal pro c e s s e s differ ent ly from 2 s chools where the mot her t o ngue of stud e nt s i s Thai . In s p i t e of the increas ing effort s of educat i onal authorit i e s , h ow­ ever , and i n spite o f many genuinely suc c e s sful s chools , muc h of the

l

The effective law at the present time i s the Public School Act of 1954 .

2

Thi s emphasi s occurs repeatedly in Rekha 196 9 .

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND I S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

educational programme produces little result .

17

After their survey of

every hill tribes village in northern Chiang Rai province, Hanks et ai . reported that schools were of limited usefulness for bringing tribal people into the Thai nation, that few tribal peoples understood the advantages of literacy in the Thai language, that attendance was irregu­ lar, that classes met so infrequently that even when interest was high, l

learning suffered .

The government at times has also seemed in theory to have a mild policy of encouraging government officials to speak the language of the area in which they work .

General Praphas, then Deputy Prime Minister

of Thailand, gave the following order in a speech in Surin : You can take this as an order, that government officials in areas where different languages are used must know the lan­ guages . The governor of the province should establish lan­ guage classes . This is an order which will come out right away . May Surin Province be the first to take a blue ribbon for doing this . 2 However, although there are individual officials who take seriously the learning of the language of the people for whom they are responsible, this II policy " does not seem to be anywhere enforced or widely followed . Not even competent interpreters are necessarily used ( Hanks et ai .

196 2 : 2 ) . On the question of writing those minority languages which do not now have adequate writing systems, there does not seem to be anything which could be construed as government policy .

Officials seem to have vary­

ing opinions, ranging from hostile to sympathetic, but practical dis­ cussion of the matter often gets hung up on either the inability to see any point in writing the languages of minority peoples because "in a generation they will all speak Thai ", or the inability to see how it can be done anyhow because of the technical difficulties involved . For example, in the introduction to a first reader for Hmong (Meo) children

(Educational Demonstration Unit 1 9 6 6 ) the Director-General of

the Department of Elementary Education remarks that consideration was given to the idea of preparing the introductory reader in Hmong, so that children could learn the values of the letters in their own language before switching to Thai .

However, he indicates that the committee ran

l

Hanks et at. 1964 : 71 , 72. They go on to say. "We also draw attention to certain literat e villages , particularly the Chri stian ones , where many already write their own language and can speak Thai , though not read and write it . Some such persons with no more than a year ' s training could become literate in Thai and serve as an additional source of t eachers for tribal villages. In addition to teaching children , these teachers may find adult s int erested in becoming literate in Thai . "

�elivered

16 May , 1965 , in Surin.

For the original text see Praphas 1965 : 22.

W . A . SMALLEY

18

int o ins urmountable prob l ems .

They could not s p e l l a l l of the Hmong

words in Thai script b e caus e of the di ffere nce s in s ound between the two l anguages , and there were differ ence s of wo rd order . They compro­ l m i s e d by making the p i ct ur e s Hmo ng- like and including a few Hmo ng words where they could s p e l l t hem e a s i l y .

C learly there was no antagoni sm

here to the idea of wr i t i ng m inor ity languages in Thai , if it is kept in re lat i on to the wider p o licy o f t eaching Thai languages .

The t e ch­

nical pro b l ems , however , were beyond t h em . Occa s i onally there s e em to be s ome off ici a ls who take the p o s i t i o n that t h e b e s t ans wer t o t h e m i norit y language prob l em i s suppr e s s i o n , a s rapidly a s p o s s i b l e , o f language and culture whi ch i s not compat i b l e w i t h Thai life .

This p oi nt of vi ew is analogous to t h e heavy-hand ed

p o l i cy whi ch many American admini s t rat i o ns have had t o ward the Indians in the United Stat e s .

Y e t i n s p it e of such p o l i cy ther e ar e more Navaj o

( Indian ) - s p eaking pe ople in t h e United St a t e s now than ther e were thirty y e ar s ago .

As ide from the mor a l imp lica t i ons inv olved , unwant ed s id e

effect s o f such a po l i cy can be d i s a s trous for the people concerned and ult imat e l y incr e a s e the problem for the Thai nat i on . Anyone advocating a s harp p o l icy of forced a s s imi lat i on should read such a b ook a s Vittorio Lanternar i ' s ( 1963) The R et�9� o n6 06 t h e Op­

p� e66 ed , on the react i ons of p eople to oppre s s i on .

It ranges from t h e

lootings and murders i n C ongo to t h e Mau Mau movement , from t h e " C argo Cult s " of primi t iv e Me lane s ians who think that their ances tor s will come back to des troy their oppre s s ors and bring mod ern wealth t o the " G h o s t Dance " o f the American Indian wh o s e ancestors wer e to d e s troy the Wh i t e M a n and r e s t or e t h e land to the Indi an .

A minor cargo cu lt has b r ok e n

out among Khmu ' and M e o p e o p l e s of L a o s within r e cent y e a r s ( Sma l l ey

1965; Ha lp ern 1960), which shows that t h i s kind of phenomenon may not be as remote as it may s eem . In addit ion to the Ministry o f Educat ion , s everal ot her agenci e s o f t h e Thai government a r e a l s o con c erned with the prob lem o f a more c on­ s truct ive a s s imilation of minority p e o p l e s .

The Border P o l i ce and the

Depar tment of Pub l i c Wel fare (Mannd orf 196 7 ) , with its Tr ibal Res earch Centre d e s erve s p e cial ment i on . The end re sult of the s e effort s , along with the natural contact s of trad e , i s increas ing mul t i l i ngua l i sm , increas ing ties with Thai govern­ ment and Thai economy .

F or s ome of t h e s e p e o p l e s t h i s proce s s of a s ­

s imil at i on h a s b e e n go ing on f o r centur i e s , and many p e op le who are tru ly Thai today are d e s cendant s of ance s tors s ome of whom were non-Thai , l Unfortunately the book is marred by the fact that many of the drawings of Hmong people and settings are not fully authentic .

19

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND ' S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HI STORY AND POLICY

relat ed often t o one or another of t h e s e s ame pre s ent -day minority language gr oup s . Cer tai nly educat ion i n Thai i s most important for Thai land ' s minority peop le s , but what is the b e s t way to b r i ng thi s education ab out ?

We

wou ld like t o see the Thai p o l i cy in language p l anning turn firmly to the fost ering of b i l i ngua l i sm and p lanned b i lingual educat ion .

The

chi ld learns to read and wr i t e h i s own language , preferably using a Tha i-based s cript with Thai l e t t er s ins ofar a s the s ound s of his lan­ He a lre ady

guage mat ch Thai , making adap tati ons where they do not .

speaks h i s own language , s o h i s l e arning proce s s i s that of learning t o r ead and wr ite t h e language h e sp eak s ( the minority language ) , i n a manner analogous t o t hat of a Tha i chi ld who learns t o r ead and wri t e l the language he already s p eak s ( Thai ) . I sara Charanyananda ( n . d . ) , for exampke , has found that Kuy , Khmer and Malay - s peaking chi ldren in Tha iland ' s Northeast and South are one s chool grade b eh i nd Thai chi ldren in their a b i lity to hear Tha i tone s , and thi s on the f ourth grade leve l . Tone recogni tion i s , o f cour s e , only one fact or o f many inv o lved i n learning Th ai , and t h e s e three language s are more s imilar t o Thai i n other aspect s o f sound stru ctur e than such Tibeto-Burman language s of the northern hills a s Lis u , Lahu o r Phl ong . On the other hand , b i li ngual educat i on for such a variety of lan­ guages a s exi s t s in Thailand , s ome of them spoken by comparative ly few peop l e , is an extremely heavy educat i onal and admin i s t rat ive l oad for a government t o have to b e ar .

A l though some minor ity language group s in

Thai land are large enough to warrant the inv e s tment in time and money inv o lved , the pr eparat i on of b o o k s and the traini ng of t e acher s to t e ach b i l i ngually in s ome of the sma ller groups s cat tered in the h i l l s o f North Thai land i s probably out of the que s t i on on any wide spread govern­ ment bas i s , at least for t he t ime be ing ( Bull 1958 ; LePage 196 4 ; Ray

196 3 ) . Even where t h i s i s true , the mode s t work which l i e s b ehind t h i s b ook cou ld be of s ervice t o Thailand .

The mis sionar i e s wh o wrote these

art icl e s . are not conduct i ng s choo l s , but the adu lt s ( and s ome chi ldren ) who learn t o read their own languages through the informal co ntacts of l

"If there be interest i n stimulating the demand for schools , teaching tribal people to read and write their own languages seems to serve this purpose Though some knowledge of the tribal language is desirable prior to teaching , a teacher working with an interpreter need know little more than the symbols necessary to write the lan­ guage There [is ] no necessary conflict between teaching children to read and write their own tribal language with Thai letters and teaching them also to read and write the Thai language . At certain stages the tasks will reinforce each other . " ( Hanks et al. 1964 : 73 ) . .

•

. • •

•

.

20

W .A . SMALLEY

the mi s s ionar i e s will b e hel ping to bui ld the bridge to Thai .

Unle s s

there are dr a s t i c p o l it i ca l and m i litary shift s i n this part o f the wor ld , t h e educat ional future of the minority language p e o p l e s i n Thai­ land is tied up with Th ai .

Thai language wi l l be the language of

educat i o n , Thai wr it ing the gr eat window t o the out s ide wor ld .

Thai

s cho o l s are penetrat ing s lowly into the mount ain ar e a s of the Nor t h , very rap i d ly i n t o t h e p lains ar eas of t h e North eas t .

Th e aut hors o f

thi s book wi l l welcome co nt inued r e s p on s i b l e government s t eps in the dire ct i on of minori t y l anguage lit eracy and will coop erat e with them . We h ope that the effor t s in which we have engaged w i l l b e of use t o the government agencies whi ch undertake this re sponsibi l i t y .

Mi s s i onary act ivity in wr i t i ng minor ity language s has s ometimes been misunder s tood and cr i t i ci s ed .

The mi s s ionar i e s engaged in such act ivity

are not try ing to h i nder the advancement of Thai . fort s over t h e

Rathe r , the ir e f ­

r u n may we l l provide a bridge to Thai .

The more

contact people have with books , the mor e they wil l t urn to Thai for ad­ vancement .

Some mi s si onar i e s who ar e not us ing Thai s cr i p t for teaching

minor ity people have b e e n cr i t ici sed for not d o i ng s o .

Their reas ons

are s imply that th e par t i cu lar langua g e s in que s t i on already have writ­ ing s y s t ems and wri t te n mat erials avai lab le from e l s ewhere , or the people t h ems elves have r e s i s ted chang e .

Many of the s e s ame m i s s ionar­

i e s have exp eriment ed with Tha i -b a s ed s cr i p t s and are w i l l i ng to change t o their use if and whe n it is wanted by the p e op l e concerned . There has b e e n other uninformed cri t icism .

S ome of the s ou nd s of

the minority language s differ from Thai , s ometimes dr ast i ca l ly , s omet im e s a litt le , as w e wil l s ee i n the papers which f o l l ow .

Thi s means that

s ome time s Thai d o e s not have a l l the nece s s ary s ymb o l s to sup p ly dir­ ectly for every significant s ound i n a minorit y l anguag e .

Adaptat ions

from Thai conventions have t o b e made in wri t ing the minor ity languag e . Or it means that there ar e comb inati ons of s ounds wh i ch do not occur in Thai , and s o s ome o f the s p e l l i ng s l o ok qu eer to the Thai obs erver . Some Thai p e o p l e have consider e d this an offen s e t o the Thai language . Examp l e s of such " non-Thai n combinati ons would be Hmong Daw ( Wh ite Meo ) < L� n' u

n r h l a v > l ' s e a r c h ' or < L � � t s e v > ' hou s e ' .

Such trans criptions

are explained in Chapter 4. One s t ory will i l lustrate t h e kind of mis u nder s t andi ng wh ich can ari s e . 1
encloses orthographic examples or transcriptions.

21

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND ' S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

for ' o hi o k e n ' / ko o k a y / .

1n

/ ka y /

The Lavua '

l

which cont ains t h i s s ound .

The l e t t er i s called

( Lawa , Lua ' ) word for chi cken , however , d o e s not ' fi s h ' d o e s : / ka ? / .

begin wit h this s ound , but t h e word for

The i nit ial

consonant of the alphab e t ha s t herefore been called / ko k a ? / in t eachi ng Lavua ' peop l e t o read Lavua ' in Thai wri t i ng .

Th e Lavua ' parallel i n

princ iple wa s taken , us i ng the Thai way of dOing t h i ngs , b u t with Lavua ' words .

However , s ome Thai p e op l e in hear i ng about this have f e lt t hat

the Thai language and a lphab et were b e i ng violat e d . M a d i 6 ieati a n� in aipha b et� a� t h e y � p� ea d T h e react ions a r e n o t surp r i s i ng , and t h e aut hors of the chap t e r s in this b ook have made i t a p oi nt t o develop wri t i ng s y s t ems which were as close t o the Thai s ys t em as p o s s ib le .

The fact r emains , howeve r , that

the languages be i ng wri t t e n in this way do differ from Thai to various degr e e s , and the s y s t em of spe lling mu s t t herefore differ i n details . The s e inst anc es of difference are d i s cus s ed i n each chapter . However , t o put t h i s prob lem in greater h i s t or i c a l per s pe c tive , I would l ike now t o p oi nt out how various traditi ons have spread in the h i s t ory of writ ing , and how they have been modi fied t o f i t new languages as they spread .

Thai wri t i ng i t s elf was modified from Khmer , whi ch was

modified from s ome form of wri t i ng in Indi a , and s o al ong back .

The

s ame has b e e n t ru e of We stern a lphab e t s and Arab i c , and of other i n­ s t an c e s of s cript s derived from India . A moment ' s r e f l e c t ion wi l l show that Eur op ean languag es do not a l l have the s ame wr it i ng c o nventi ons . n o t exi s t in Engl i s h .

F r e n c h < e e 0 � > , for examp l e , d o

Twi i n Nigeria , furthermore , h a s l e t t er s like

< 0 e Q> wh i c h are a d e c ided departure from the Europ ean languages from

wh i c h the writ i ng s y s t em was derived .

< p f > i s not an Engli sh c ombina­

t i on of l et t ers , but German has it in Pfennig ' o ne - hu ndr e d t h of a mar k ' . We ar e s o u s ed t o s e e i ng t h e s e differ e n c e s i n language s wri t t e n wit h Roman script t hat we think nothing of t hem , and t h e differenc e s in one s y s t em are in no way a t hr eat to any other s y s t em . Note how great ly t he Roman s y s t em wa s mo dified f or u s e in Vie tname s e :

,

�

< N h a O n g T � d da u ? >

' Wh e r e i s Mr Tu ' s h o us e ? ' .

do not oc cur in many Europ ean languages .

Comb inat ions like < n h >

< �> and < d> were s p e c i f i cally

invent ed for Vietname s e , and s erve for the s ound s whi ch i n Thai are wr it t en < �� > and < L - � > / + a / . 1

The numb er and variety of diacri t i ca l

/ / encloses phonemic writing . That i s , in this case , the Thai word i s transcribed by a system which represent s each phoneme ( s ignificant sound unit ) with a s ingle un­ ambiguous symbol . The system we follow throughout this book for the phonemic representation of Thai may be seen in Appendix 2 , Charts 1-3 . Phonemic representation of other languages is described in the respective chapters .

22

W.A. SMALLEY

marks over the vowe l s in Vie tnam e s e i s unu sua l , as i s the s p e c i al < d > . The p oi nt i s t hat t he s e do not o c c ur i n Europ ean language s , but no v i o l e nc e is done to any We stern language b y t he s e adaptat ions . Next t o t h e Roman alphabet , it i s t he Arabic s y s t em whi c h has spread mo s t wide ly , a s it has fol l owed the expans ion of I s lam .

Arabic wr it ing

s y s t ems have been used for l anguages as r emo t e ( bo t h geographically and genet ically ) as Spani sh and Malay .

Th e languag e s of the Middle East ,

t he principal languag e s o f Nor t h Afr ic a , Urdu , Kashmiri , Sindi , Pas hto and s ome o t her languages in Pak i s t a n , as well a s Malay in Indone s i a , have tradit ionally b e e n wri t t e n in Ara b i c s c r ipt , and mo s t o f t he s e im­ l although there was a shift to Roman

p or tant wor ld language s s t i ll are , dur ing Dut c h r u l e in Indone s ia .

Javane s e was wr i t t e n in Arabic s cr ip t

only f o r r e l igious purpo s e s , and o t her language s in Indon e s ia have made s ome use of Arabic s cr i p t s along s id e o n e s der ived from India . There are differences from languag e to language wi thin the Arab i c wr i t i ng tradit ion .

Dif­

Shap e s of l e t t e r s vary from r egion t o region .

feren c e s in the numb er of s igni ficant s ounds in diff er ent languag e s have brought about modi fication o f t h e numb er o f c harac t er s , c hang e s i n t he ir value , e t c . , s o t hat t he var i ou s orthographies in the Arabic t r ad i­ t ion differ in ways s omewhat analogous t o suc h differ e n c e s i n t he Roman tradi t i on as Engl i s h , German with it s Gothic lett er s , Twi ( Niger i a , Afr i c a ) and Vietname s e , as already d i s cus sed . The next m o s t extensive wr it ing tradit ion i s the Indian one .

Here

t he graphic differ enc es are even great er than in the Arabi c , b ot h within India i t s e lf , and in c ompari s o n with the wr it ing s y s t em as appli ed t o 2 Tha i , Burmes e , and languages o f Indone s i a . Modern Thai and modern Cambodian s cr i p t s have s omewhat d if f er i ng shap e s and have h ad differ ing influenc e s upon t hem , but both are u l t ima t e ly d erived from t h e anci ent Khmer wr i ting of t he Camb odian civi l i s a t i o n whi ch in tur n wa s mod i f i e d from a s c ript in S outh India .

Thi s S o u t h Ind ian s c r i p t w a s differe nt

l Turki sh as used in Turkey is a notable exception now. It is in modern time s , how­ ever , that under the degree of Kemal Pasha Ataturk writing was changed to Roman script . Turki sh and various languages and dialects related to it have been written at various times in at least the following writing systems : Cyrillic , Armenian , Greek , Hebrew, Arabic , and Roman . See Diringer 1953 : 567-8 . 2 When two languages are related they are descended from the same parent language as speech systems . They may or may not have the same orthographic tradition. It i s perfectly possible for the same script tradition to be used for unrelated languages (English and Vietnamese ) , or for two related languages to have different script tradi­ tions . In fact , Urdu and Hindi are almost identical in their language structure (though differing somewhat in vocabulary ) , but the one uses the Persian script from the Arabic tradition , and the other uses Devanagari and other related systems for its writing .

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THAILAND ' S MARGINAL LANGUAGES : HISTORY AND POLICY

from , but related t o , the c la s s i c a l Devanagari s cript .

23

The extens ion

of the South Indian s cript in vari ous modi f ied forms int o Sout heast A s i a , inc luding Indone s i a , went Buddh i sm .

with the spread of Hindu i sm and

Where I s lam f o llowed int o Indone s i a there was o c c a s i onally an

ambiva lence ( a s in Javane s e ) be tween the Arabi c s y st em and that derived from India . So Thai wr iting i t s e lf i s t h e culmi nat ion o f a long pro c e s s of adapt ing s crip ts from one language to anot her , and it is no d i s credi t t o Thai to p a s s that heritage a long to ot her languages spoken within i t s borders , if s ound princ iple s are u s ed , as d i s c u s sed in the next chapt er .

The p henomenon whi ch i s t o b e s e e n i n this b ook i s not by any means unique in the world .

The f ir s t language redu c ed to wri t i ng by Chr i s t ian

mi s s i onar i e s was Gothi c , in whi ch t h e orthography was prepared by the famous U l f i l a s in the fourth c entury A . D .

Li teracy came to muc h of

Northern Europe c entur i e s ago t hrough the efforts of mi s s ionar i e s trave l ling north from Rome .

Li t eracy has c ome to much of Afr i c a through

the effort s of mi s s ionar i e s wri t ing s c o r e s o f African language s for the fir s t t ime , tran s l at ing books into them , and t eaching p e o p l e to read . The s ame can be said for Lat in Amer i c a , for the Pacific I s land s , .for the Phi lippine s . We e s t imat e t hat t oday i n d i f f erent part s of the wor l d there are well over 1000 mi s s i onar i e s engaged in t h e work of analy s i ng languag e s , pre­ paring p r imer s and l iteracy mat erial s , and writ ing and translat ing lit erature for minor ity peop l e s here and there .

In Vi etnam one group of

mi s si onar i e s trained a s lingui s t s has a c ontra c t with the Vi etnam e s e government t o do thi s f o r many of t he languages of s out hern Vi e tnam . The s ame group h a s s i gned c ontrac t s with the government s of such var i e d count r i e s as Mexi c o , Ecuador , P eru , Bra zi l , s ome Afr i c an c ount r i e s , and Nepal for the same purpo s e .

It i s intere s t ing t o remember that the

p r e sent Vietname s e wr iting s y s t em was d e s igned by mi s s i onar i e s in the s event eenth c e nt ury , and was fairly we l l c odified by a d i c t i onary 1

pub l i shed by the mis s ionary Alexander of Rho d e s in 1 6 5 1 .

Not a l l of the mi s s io nar i e s who have devi s ed wr it ing s y stems in Thai land and e l s ewhere have done we l l .

As ind i c ated ear li er in t h i s

c hap t er , s ome c a s e s i n Thai land w e r e c omp l e t e ly abortive . s i onar i e s are qualified for the t a s k .

1 deRhodes 1651 .

Not al l mi s ­

But by and large , around the

See also Nguy�n�Binh-Ho� 195 5 ; Thompson 1 965: 52-7 .

24

W. A. SMALLEY

wor l d , in hundre d s of language s , people are lit erat e t oday who wou ld no t b e lit erat e were it not for mi s s io nary effort s .

I n many of t h e s e

count r i e s in t h i s modern day , government s have p i cked u p from where t h e mi s s i onar i e s l eft off .

Mis s i onar i e s , o f cour s e , have n o d e s ir e n o r t h e

r e s our ce s t o comp ete w i t h governments in t h e educat ion of minor ity people s , but t hrough their often unique sp eci a l knowle dge of the lan­ guage and p e op le , they s e ek to make l i t eracy p o s s ib l e wher e it is not yet avai lab le t hr ough other agenci e s .

CHAPTER TWO

BASES FOR POPULAR WRITING SYSTEMS W I LL I AM A . SMALLEY

The p r eparat i on of a new wr it i n g s y s t em whi c h wil l be maxima l ly use­ ful t o t h e p e o p l e who need it is no sma l l mat ter under the b e s t of c i r ­ c um s t anc e s , and it i s addit ionally diffi c u lt when Thai i s being u s ed a s t h e b a s e wri t ing s y s t em .

An adequat e , s e lf-cons i s tent and t eachab l e

s y s t em c annot b e devi s ed s imply b y wri t way they sound .

words in Thai s ymbols the

Ins tead , t h e s ound sy stem of the la�guage t o be wr i t t en

mus t be s tudi ed t o s ee j us t what d i s t i n c t i ons oc cur , and under what c ir c um s t anc e s , and t hen it mus t be det ermined how the Thai s y s t em of writ ing as a who l e c an be b e s t adapted to repr e s e nt t h e s ound s y st em o f t he language t o whi c h it i s b e i ng appli ed , in a way that w i l l meet a c ­ c eptance by p ot ential users . In keeping with the r e s t of thi s b ook , I am here d i s cus s ing t ho s e s i t uat i ons where the preparat i o n of a writ ing s y s t em i s at least i n par t s t imulated and a s s i s t ed by out s iders t o t he language for w h i c h the p lanning is t aking pla c e .

In c a s e s like the s e there are c ertain mi nimal

r equirement s for the as suranc e of reas onab le suc c e s s .

1.

Orthography p reparat i on mu s t involve the a c tive cooperation and

part i c ipat i on of int e l ligent s p eakers of the languag e , and ultimat e ly the b ac king of o p inion leader s .

An out si d er , no mat t er how we l l trained

and no mat ter how w e l l he knows the language , can never do t h i s t a s k alone .

Everything mus t be worked out aga inst the r ea c t i ons of inte l­

l igent p e o p le in the c ommunity , t e s ted by experiment al t each ing to p e op l e who want t o lear n and b y ob s erving how var i ous types o f p e o p l e u s e the sy s t em .

Ult imat ely it w i l l only suc c e e d and take over if opinion leaders

in suffi cie nt numb er s end o r s e it .

25

W.A. SMALLEY

26

2.

Orthography planning mu s t i nvolve an analy s t who has an extens ive

per s onal knowledge of the language , and at the s ame t ime a str ong s ense o f the s ignifi cance of s ound d i s t inct ions and s ound variations wi thin a l language . A lingu i s t who a l s o knows the language we ll i s the mo s t ob­ v i ous kind o f p e r s o n to fill t h i s requirement .

However , s ome of the

authors of t h i s book are not l i ngu i s t s ( Introduct i on), but have suc­ c e eded in gaining enough und e r s tanding o f s ound s t ru c ture to do the j ob ( Sj oberg 1 9 6 6 : 2 6 2 ) . When a n untrained p e r s o n hear s a new

he l i s t ens to it i n

t erms o f h i s own language o r other languages whi c h h e h a s prev i ous ly l earned , rather than in t erms of the language be ing studied .

The

sc ience of l ingui s t i c s ideally trains p e o p le to look at a language s ome­ what more obj e c t ive ly , a nd t o see it i n t erms of i t s own s truc ture and the unconsc i ou s signi f i canc e whi c h t he s ound s y s t em has for the who u s e i t .

A n illUstration of what this c an mean is the fact t hat as a

trained lingui s t , in a few day s of working with a nat ive speaker of a language whi ch I cannot s p e ak I often learn more s y s t emat i c i nforma t i o n about the s ound str u c ture o f t hat l anguage than the untrained p e r s o n may gain t hr ough many month s or e v e n y e a r s of learning t o s p e a k t he lan­ guage . 3.

Orthography preparat ion mus t i nvolve s omeone wh o s e e s i t a s a

part of the s oc ial r o l e o f language and o f language p lanning .

Prof e s ­

s i onal l ingU i s t s a r e not nec e s s ar i ly equipped b y t h e ir l i ngu i s t ic t rain­ ing for the fact that there are s en s itive s o c i a l and edu c a t ional c om­ p onent s t o any effe c t iv e wr it ing s y s t em , and that t h e a c c e p t ance or rej e c t i on of a wri ting s y s t em o r part s of i t by potential u s er s is r e lat ed t o many

4.

s t ic f a c t or s .

Orthography preparation mus t i nvolve experimentat ion and modi ­

f i c at i on over a p e r i od of s everal months a s p e op l e l earn t o u s e the wri t i ng s y s t em .

A lmo s t invar iab l y modifi cations will b e nec e s s ary , the

need for them oft e n c oming to l ight t hr ough l e ar ner s ' r e act ions or the diffi cult i e s they hav e . It i s o c c a s i onally p o s s ib l e for all of t he ab ove requirement s t o b e carried o u t b y t he same p er s o n , i f he i s a nat ive s peak er o f t he lan­ guage who obtains the other ne c e s sary qualificat ions in one way or an­ oth er .

In the situati ons d e s c r i b ed in this b oo k t he mo s t c ommon patt ern

is for someone e l s e to serve as analy s t , working with nat ive s pe aker s .

l

In this book the word Zinguist does not mean someone who speaks many languages . The term refers here to someone who has professional training and experience in the science of lingui stics . which is the I3,gfbly1;ical stugy of :t:;l:l,e structure of language .

27

BASES FOR POPULAR WRITING SYSTEMS

In every c a s e r ep ort ed h er e e x c e p t my own . the

a l s o had a

speaking knowledge o f t he language . s omet ime s one whi c h e xt e nded over many year s of u s e .

In t h e two languages on whi c h I am repor t i ng I

worked not only wit h native s p e akers but a l s o with long-t ime mi s s ionar i e s who made many c o ntributions t o t h e t a s k and who were re sponsible for impl ementa t i on , experiment a t i on , and o b s ervat ion of u s e . The first pha s e in devis ing a wri t i ng s y s t em , then , i s t o have a l of t h e language for

sat i s fa c t ory understanding of t h e sound s y s t em

whi c h the wri t ing s y stem i s b eing prepared . along with other r e l evant grammat i c a l charac t er i s t i c s ( Sj ob erg 1 9 6 6 : 26 2 ) . t echni c al t a s k .

This i s e s s enti a l ly a

A c c or d i ng ly , in t h i s vo lume we have tried t o d e s c r i b e

in s omewhat t e chni cal fashion t he s ound s y s t ems o f the var i ou s l an­ guages a s the author s ( or o t hers who have worked with t h em) have un­ covered t hem . A s e c ond p ha s e c ons i s t s o f d e termining the way in whi c h t he language is to be wr itt en , based on many o t her factors in add i t io n to the struc­ ture of the sound s y s t em .

For Thai land this means , first of a l l , a

cho i c e between a Wes t er n s y s t em of wri t ing and a Thai-b a s ed s y s t em . reasons whi c h we have

F or

d i s c us s ed , in the past one c h o i c e or an­

ot her has been made , but it is b e c oming mor e and more evident t hat t h e future of wri t i ng the minori t y language s l i e s wi t h a Thai s y st em except p o s s ib ly where there i s another s y st em a lr eady d e e p ly e s t ab li shed .

In

t he d i scus sions whi c h follow we wil l as sume the s e le c t ion of a Thai sys­ t em for writing t h e

languag e s with whi c h w e a r e dealing , a n d i n

the various chapters w e w i l l d e s cr ibe h o w we l l t h e propo s ed Thai s y s t em of wr iting fit s the language . The remainder o f t he

chap t er wi l l deal with some o f the

pri ncip l e s and prob l ems inv o lved i n deve lop ing a well-de s i gned writ ing It will take up , by way of e xamp l e , s ome of the underlying que s t i ons whi c h mus t b e answered in det ermining t h e s ound s y s t em o f the language t o b e wri t t e n , and summari s e what i s involved i n r e pr e sent ing . 2 s u c h a s y s t em in Thai C��te��a 6 o � a g o o d w��t�ng 6 Y6 tem The factors ent ering int o the preparat ion of a good wri ti ng s y s t em are both l ingui s t i c a nd cultura l .

The y c an b e summari s ed as f o l lows , in

most notable exception . of cour se . is the Chinese system. which uses an entirelY different basis than the sound system. principles involved in this task and their application to languages outside of Thailand are taken up at greater length in Smalley et al. 196 3 . from which parts of thi s chapter are adapted . See also Berry 1958; Pike 1947 ; Sj oberg 1966; Tauli 196 8 : 127-33 ; Venezkv 1970 ; Walker 1969.

28

W . A . SMALLEY

approximate order of practi c al importance ( Smal ley 1 9 5 9 ) : 1 .

Maximum motivation for the learner , and acceptance by h i s soci ety

and control l i ng groups such as the governmen t .

O c ca s iona l ly maximum

motivati on for t h e learner c o nfli c t s with gov ernment ac ceptanc e , but u sually the learner want s mo st what is c onsidered s t andard in t h e area . 2.

Optimum representa tion of l anguage .

The ful l e s t , mos t adequat e

repr e s e ntat i on of t h e ac tual spoken language i s , by and larg e , an id eal . There ar e s ome maj or p oint s of e x c ep t i on here , and t h e s e w i l l b e dealt with lat e r . 3.

Maximum ease of learning .

Many wr i t i ng s y stems have failed b e ­

c aus e t h e y were e s s ent i a l ly t o o c ompl i cat ed for a learner , s hort of spend i ng y ears i n s chool . 4.

Optimum transfer .

Here we refer to the fact t hat certain letters

o f the a lphabet o r ot her wri t t e n s ymbo l s wil l , when learned , b e app l i ­ c ab le to t h e more rapid l e arning of t he nat i o na l , t rade or i nte rnat ional language s in the are a .

Thus , if a new reader l earns a pronunciation

a s s o c iated with a c ertain s ymbol in his own nat ive language , and i f he c an use that s ame pronunc iat i on for the s ame symb o l in Thai , t h i s i s a c a s e of t rans fer .

If , however , the s ame s ymbo l i s u s e d with di fferent

value in the two s y s t ems , or two d ifferent s ymb o ls are u s ed for the s ame sound value , that trans fer cannot be made . 5.

Maximum ease of reproduction .

Typ ing and printing f a c i l i t i e s

a r e a c on s iderat i o n of c on s i derab l e importanc e .

Maximum motivati o n When I was prepar i ng a wr it ing s y s t em for the Khmu ' language o f Northern Lao s , my Khmu ' fri e nd s with whom I was working , and others in the v i llage s , had enormous inter e s t in the tas k .

In the s t ages whe n I

was do ing the l i ngu i s t i c inv e s t igation I used a phone t i c s cript based on the Roman alphab e t for my own not e s , and the Khmu ' were rather i ntrigued by my ab i lity to r ead their language from th e s e exot i c l e t t er s .

More

than onc e , howeve r , they asked me rather anxious ly if it were not p o s ­ s ib l e a l s o t o wri t e Khmu ' in L a o s cript . was the direc t ion of their ident ifi cation . minority had learned to read Lao .

Lao , the nat i o na l languag e , A very sma l l but r e sp e c ted

It s eemed very much more appropriate

to them that Khmu ' b e wr i t t e n with Lao chara c t er s , and t hey a lways br ightened up when I t o ld t h em that t h i s was what we wou ld try t o do wh en we prepared mat e r i al for them to read . In one area among the Hmong Daw ( White Me o ) of Nor thern Tha i l and there had b ee n l i tt le int er e s t in lear ning a Roman i s ed s cript t aken over

29

BASES FOR POPULAR WRITING SYSTEMS

from Lao s , but when a Th ai-b a s ed s cript wa s t r i ed out and primers pre­ par ed in it , suddenly the int er e s t of adu l t s and chi ldren ali ke markedly increased ( Chapter 4 ) . Th ere ar e , on the other hand , i n s t ance s wher e di fferent s e gment s of the language group have d iffer ent attitud e s whi ch govern their motiva­ t i on t oward r e adi ng different kinds of s cript .

Among the Mien ( Yao )

people in North Thai land there has b e en us e of a Romani s ed s cr ipt , par t i cularly in the Mae Chan ( Chi ang Rai ) ar e a .

That are a i s inhab i t e d

b y M i e n who a r e r elat ive ly recent comer s t o Tha i l and and many o f them wi l l not hear of us ing a Thai-bas ed s cr ipt .

In Chiang Kham , however ,

where the Mien have l ived l onger , there h a s b e en no part icular enthu­ s iasm over l e arning to read t h i s Romani s e d wri t i ng , but wh en initial exp eriment s in t h e u s e of a Thai-ba s e d s cr ipt were made , there wa s more int er e s t shown .

It i s t o o ear ly to know what the r e su l t s w i l l b e , but

in a cas e like t h i s it s e ems more likely t hat in the future th e Tha i ­ b a s ed orthography wi l l win out , o t h e r things b e ing equ a l ( Chap t er 8 ) . The Kuy ar e a people with a long h i s t ory of l i f e in Thailand .

Al­

though ant edating t h e Thai in the North east ern province s where they l ive , t hey are a people who are a s s imi l at ing to Thai way s in much of their cu lture .

The ident i f i cat ion with Thai l i f e is so s t rong that

there is no qu e s t i o n but that a Tha i -b a s e d wri t ing s y s t em has h igher mot ivat ional value than a Romani sed one would have ( Chapter 10 ) . The principle of mot ivat i on has t o b e t e sted t hrough u s e in var i o u s s ituat i ons .

Other var iab l e s di ffer from p lace to p lace , b u t those who

have the r e s p o n s i b i l ity o f preparing a wr it ing s y s t em for any language , or of changing a wr i t ing sy stem for any reason , should adapt that writing sy s t em as much as p o s s i b l e to the cultural t r ends , t o the pr e s ­ t i ge , educat i on , and p o l it ical goals which are likely to win out .

Th i s ,

I fee l , i s the mo s t important con sidera t i o n i n a pract i ca l orthography . Without i t we w i l l have very f ew minor i t y language people who w i l l want to learn .

Wit hout it p e o p l e may in time turn aga i n s t a wr i t i ng sy s t em

as they b e come mor e aware of the culture patterns around them .

We turn now to an emphas i S o n the importance o f accuracy i n the co r­ r e spond ence b etween a wr i ting system and the language it r ep r es e nt s .

At

30

W.A . SMALLEY

thi s p oint we enter a more t e chnical f i e ld to mi sunderstanding by many pe op le .

l

and one whi ch i s mor e subj ect

Thi s i s very clear from t h e kind s of

argument s and react ions whi ch one o ft en s ee s concerning a wri t i ng s y s t em . The princi p l e involved i s thi s . number of s o und d i s t inct ions .

Any spoken language has a limited

An o b s erver from the out s i d e , however ,

can hear a very much larger numb er of a ctual s o und s than t here are s ound

di� �natio n� .

A phonemic wr it ing s y s t em i s a technical one that repre­

s ent s with a s ingle s ymb o l or an unamb i guous comb inat ion o f s ymbo l s each of the s tructurally different d i s ti nct ive s ound s in a given langua ge . It d o e s not di fferent iate the nondi s t i nct ive difference s of s ound with individual symb ol s , but account s for them by r u le s .

The princi p le

further involv e s some of the larger grammat i ca l context of whi ch the sound s y st em is a part .

Th e degr e e of modi f i cati on or variat i on i n

s ound represented b y each symb ol var i e s according t o t h e structur e s o f di fferent languag es (Vene zky 1 9 7 0 : 2 6 3 ) . To give an examp le , in Eng l i s h t h e di s ti nct ion be tween a [ � ]

2

made

up in the centra l part of the mouth , a s in the word ki l l , and a [ � ] made farther back in the mout h , as in aa l l , i s nond i s t i nct i ve .

The p o s i t i o n

o f t h e / k/ i s aut omat i ca l ly cond i t i oned by t h e vowel that i s a s s ociat ed with it .

( F e e l the d i fference in t o ngue p o s i t i o n between pronunci ati ons

of the two words . )

The s e diff erent kinds of / k/ in Eng l i s h should not

be di fferent iat ed in phonemic wri t

, but inst ead a ru le points out

that / k/ before vowe l s made in t h e fro nt of the mouth is [ � ] and b e fore vowe l s made i n the back of the mout h is [ � ] . In a language such a s Hmong , however , t h e s e two var i e t i e s of [ k ] are d i s t i nct ive and s hould be wri t te n .

In Hmong Nj ua ( Gr e e n/Blue Me o ) t h e

3 word / ka b/ wit h a [ � ] l ike i n Engl i s h k i l l means 'mark e t ' .

However ,

�or

t reatment of this technical field , called phonemias , see the following : Gleason 1961 : 257-85 . A lucid exposition , highly recommended . Hockett 195 5 . The m ost complete discussion and comparison of the different phonemic systems of many languages . Hockett 1958 : 15-11 9 . An extensive discussion of phonemes and phonemic analysis with considerable emphasis on the English phonemic system . Nida 1961 :100-29 . This chapter is essentially a discussion of phonemic principles oriented in t he direction of t heir implications for writing systems . Pike 1947 . A basic text. There are other , more recent . treatments of the sound structure of language which have a very different orientation . Important as these are for t he light they have shed on the question of how languages work , they are not as helpful for orthography preparat ion as a part of language planning as are the above . 2 In citing linguistic transcriptions , slant lines / / represent phonemic writing and square brackets [ ] represent t he details of sounds . < > enclose the written sym bols used in the writing system . 3

The

/ b/ is a tone marker ( high tone ) and not the symb ol for a consonant ( Chapter 4 ) .

BASES FOR POPULAR WRITING SYSTEMS

31

the word I q a b l with a [ k ] more like the Engli s h [ � ] in ca l l means ' chicken ' .

What is no t phonemi cally d i s t inct in Engli sh is phonemi c a l ly

di s t inct in Hmong .

What should not be d i s t ingui shed by different s ym­

b o ls in Eng l i s h wr it ing should be wr i t t en with di fferent symb o ls in Hmong . This means t hat a language whi ch i s wr itten phonemi cally repres ent s those s ound dist inct ions whi ch can b e s hown t o c ontra s t .

They are in

mo s t c a s e s a l s o psychologi c ally s igni f i c ant t o the nat ive speaker .

Su ch

dis tinct ions ar e wri t t e n whether the foreigner f e e l s them e s s ential or not .

The for eigner ' s fee ling i s b a s ed on h i s own language hab its from

his own mother t ongue .

A trained lingu i s t knows how t o d i s c over the

d i s t inct ions in any language i n a r e lat ively limi t ed period of t ime ranging from a week t o s evera l mont h s , depending on t he comp lexity of t he languag e .

Untrained p e o p l e have fr equ ent ly been ab l e by a pr o c e s s

o f trial and error t o f ind what d i s t i n c t i o ns really mat t er in t h e s p e e c h of the p e op le . An examp le of this phenomenon c an be s e en in Khmu ' and in severa l languages report ed in t h i s vo lume .

Khmu ' l e i and I n l are di s t inctive .

But at the end o f a s y l lab l e , f inal l e i and I n l ar e heard phone t i ca l ly as e y e ] and [ yn ] .

The [ y ] in t h i s p o s it i o n i s automat i c , c o ndi t i oned

by t he f i nal p o s i t i on of Ie n l , and s o is determined by rul e s and s hould l

not be wr i t t e n .

The phonemi c pr incip le therefore is t hi s : t hat. every d i s ti nct ive s ound ( every phoneme ) i s repr e s ented by one s ymb o l or unamb iguous c om­ b inat ion of symb o l s , and only one , in the wr it ing s y s t em . 2 vas t ly ove r s implifi e d , but the p o i nt i nvolved is b a s i c .

Thi s is

The phonemi c princip le , however , i s only a b a s i s , t hough an imp ortant one , for d e t ermining the opt imum repr e s entation of s p ee c h .

Stri ct ly

p honemic wri t i ng d o e s not usually make the b e s t popular or t hography . In fact one lingu i s t , Archibald Hil l , i s quo t e d as saying t hat " a good a lphabet should give j u s t enough hint s ( no more and no l e s s ) for the native r eader t o r ead e a s i ly and without amb igui t y " ( Key 1 9 6 6 : 9 0 ) .

With

this I would agree , but the t e c hn i c al prob lem of making the many ind i ­ vidual d e c i s ions involved in arr iving at this p o i nt i s no sma l l one . Furthermor e , t he numb er of "hint s " needed var i e s with t he s k i l l of the

l Smalley 1963 : 193 ; Smalley 1961 : 3 . See treatment of this same problem in some of the articles below. 2Some linguists have called the phonemic principle into question . Many of the stric­ tures of these critics are justified . In their terms a modified morphophonemic tran­ scription i s more nearly what we are concerned with for popular orthographies than i s a strictly phonemic one , but part of the difference is terminological .

32

W.A. SMALLEY

r eader , h i s

w i t h t he sub j e c t mat ter , and many o ther fa c t o r s ,

whereas the orthography ha s t o b e s tandar di s ed . One of t h e many l ingu i s t i c c omp l i cat ions whi ch have a b earing on t h e app li cat i on of t h e phonemic princ i p l e i s one we c a n call t he principle of functi ona l load .

Thi s i s re lat ed t o t h e fact t hat i n every language

t h e r e are c ertain phonemi c d i s t inct i ons , c ertain s ignificant s ound s , whi ch are extreme ly imp or t a nt f or c ommuni c at i o n , whi l e s om e t im e s t here are o t hers whi ch are o f a lm o s t n o imp ortance t o communi c a t i o n .

I t is

d i ff i c u lt to i llus tra t e thi s p o i nt from English b ecaus e the s ounds of l it t le importance are generally excluded from our t em .

wri t ing s y s -

But t o t ake an over s imp lified e xamp l e of one ins tance of funct ional

load from the Hmong Daw ( Wh i t e Meo ) language , there is one phoneme ,

words

101

a cl early d i s t inct ive s ound i n i ni t i a l p o s i t ion i n only one or two ( C hapter 4 ) .

Obvious ly , i f t hat phoneme i s not wri t t e n f or s ome

r e a s o n , it is not

to be anywhere nearly as s erious as if a phoneme

whi ch o c cur s i n twenty-five percent o f the words is e liminat ed .

The

r ar e phoneme , we say , has a low funct i onal load and t h e c ommon phoneme a high one .

That this s am e phoneme i n Thai has a h i gh func t i onal load

ha s no bearing on the Hmong p r ob l em .

Functional l o ad l i e s in the im­ l portance of the phoneme in making c ommunication inte l ligib l e . One imp l i cat i o n of t h e phonemi c pri n c ip l e , the c ons i s t ent u s e of fina l cons onant s ymb ols , make s t h e wri t ing of minor ity language s some­ what different from Thai . s ent the s ound I n / . p endix 2 ) .

In Thai , for examp l e , < -u

And < - �

-�

-5

-�

- � > all repre­

-�> all repr e s ent t he s ound It I

( Ap­

Somet imes the minor i t y language s have more spoken fina l

consonant s t han d o e s spoken Thai .

F or e xamp l e , i n Northern Khmer , M a l

( Thin ) , Kuy , and s ome o f t h e other minor ity language s t h e s ound I c l o c ­ cur s in f i n a l p o s i t ion .

It i s t h e s am e s ound t ha t o c curs i n Thai at t he

b e g i nning of a s y l lab le , repre s ent e d b y < q > .

The � o und o c curs in Thai

only at t h e beginning of a s y l lab le , but the � ym b o l is s ometime s wri t t e n at t h e end o f a s y l lable as a spe l l i ng for I t l , as i n t h e Thai word L � �q .

I n Mal ( Thin ) t he s ymb o l < q > , however , has t o b e u s ed f or t h e I c l

� o u nd even a t the end o f t he s y llable , and this make s t h e reading o f Mal s l igh t ly d i fferent from Thai ( Chapt er 9 ) . I f e e l t hat s ome of t h e s e minor differ enc e s from Thai wri ti ng c o nven­ t i ons cannot be avoid ed in t h e wri t i ng s y s t ems for the minority languages b e c au s e the s t ru c t ur e s of t h e languages are different . same order as the

They are on the

s Whi c h have been required f o r adapt i ng t h e

We s t er n alphabet , o r Arab i c a lphab et , or Devanagari a lphabet t o one

�arity is not the only reason for low functional load , but it is shown as one kind of example .

BASES

FOR POPULAR

WRITING SYSTEMS

33

language after anot her , a s de scrib ed i n the previous chap t er .

We hav e ,

however , done everything we can to a c c ommodate t o the Thai s o und

o ft en at the expens e of s ome featur e s of the minority s y s t em , but a lway s t r y i ng to b alance t he factor of maximum

t io n of s p e e c h against the importance of b eing ab le t o c arry over t h e h ab i t s into the Thai language . Dia le c t prob lems a l s o come i nt o t h e ques ti o n of t he o p t imum repre­ s enta t i o n o f s p ee c h .

The s p e e c h o f two different c ommunit i e s or areas

in t he same language may d i ff e r s omewhat in s ound structur e , and it may be imp o s s ib l e t o have a s ingle phonemic t r ans cription whi c h wi l l b e i d e a l f or bot h . l et

Somet ime s it i s b e s t s imply t o wri t e o n e d i a l e c t and

in other di a le c t s make an adj us tment in l e arni ng t o r ead .

At other t im e s mod i f i c at i ons are p o s s i b l e to make for good 1 tion of s p e e c h for a wider r ange of d ialec t s . In Mal ( Thin ) , f o r examp le , whereas one di a l e c t has I e n l in f i na l p o s i t i on i n s y l l ab le s , anot her has I t n l ins te ad .

Thus I m � e l

' to s e e '

wit h

in one diale c t i s I m a t l in the o ther , and t he same patt ern other word s ( Chapt er 9 ) .

are

Unl e s s s l i gh t l y different wri t i ng

t o b e prepar ed for both the s e diale c t s , one or the o ther c annot hav e maximum repres entat ion of i t s s p e e c h at t h i s po int .

By wri

the

dia l e c t o f gre at e r comp lexity ( the one which pre serves t h e c o nt r a s t r a t h e r t han the one whi ch do e s n o t have it ) b o t h dial e c t s can b e r ead unambiguous ly .

In one d i a l e c t p eo p l e learn to r ead the s ymbo ls < - � - � >

a s I e n l and in t he other a s I t n l , even t hough different s ymbo l s ar e u s ed for I t n l in initial p o s i t ion , and even t h ough < - q � � > repres ent I e nl in initial p o s i t ion .

This l a t t er dialect si tuation i s , of c our s e ,

c l o s er t o the Thai patt er n . The t a s k of the p e r s o n who i s c o n c erned with orthography p l anning t he n b e c omes a t a s k of b a lanc e and j udgment .

t h e fa c t o r s

He mus t

of maximum mot ivat i o n , maximum eas e o f l e arning , e t c .

A s he makes the s e

d e c i si ons a t e a c h p o i nt h e mus t r ememb e r s everal f a c t s .

O n e i s that

there i s no i nt r i n s i c a l ly s uperior s hape of letter or c ho i c e o f s ymbo l as i t is a p ar t o f a s y s t em which r ef l e c t s an o p timum t i on of speech .

Alphabets are primar i ly mat t e r s of u sage and t radi t i o n .

The c l o ser h e can c onform t o u s age and t radi t ion without

dis-

t

the r e pr e s entation o f s p e e c h , t h e b e t t e r the r e s ul t i s

to be .

Howev er , t h e more d i f f er ent phonemic featur e s of

func t ional

load whi c h are e liminat ed b y a writ ing s y s t em as read by

of o ne

d i a l e c t or another , t he great er t he c ompoundi ng o f the r e ader 1 s d i f f i ­ cult i e s , and t he increa s e d danger o f f a i l ure for t h e

problems are discussed at length in Smalley et al. 1963 .

W.A. SMALLEY

34

M axImum e.at; e. 06 £. e.a!r.. n Ing The

a s p e c t of our prob lem has b e e n r e f erred t o r epeat e dly

so f ar , but here I want t o d i s cus s l earning factors exclus ive of mot iva­ We are concerne d wit h t h e b a s i c educat ional probl ems i nv o lved i n

t io n .

l earning t o r ead . Whe n I was making an inv e s t igation of t he orthographic problem o f o f C o ngo ( now Zair e ) , we were

t he G i pe nd e

the ab i l ity

of s ch o o l chi ldren to r ead t h e s y st e m i n use at the t ime ( Smal ley 1 9 5 8 ) . To do so , a l i s t of s ente n c e s c o nt aining the sounds cru c i a l t o our i nv e s t igat ion had been prepare d , and we as ked the childr e n , s e l e c t e d from e ar ly us .

on t hrough upper grad e s , to r ead t h e s e s ent enc e s t o

The r e s ult s were mo s t int er e s t i ng from t h e s t andp oint of the e f ­

f e ct iv e n e s s of t he wr it ing s y s tem f o r var i ou s levels of l earning . Up­ per grade s t udent s could r ead all of the mat erial with very lit t l e d i f­ f i cu lt y .

Anyone who s t ay e d in s chool for four or five or s i x years

could learn to r ead Gipend e as it was wri tt e n at the t im e . Student s in the midd l e grades and e xtra b right students in the l ower grades would often read in a very r ev ea l i ng manne r . however . would s t art out r eading me chani cally and o f t e n mi spronouncing the cru­ cial words unt il they had read enough of the s ente nc e to c at ch t he dr ift of t h e cont e xt , and t he n they would go b a ck and r e -r ead . p r o noun­ c ing the words c or r e ct ly .

This was due to the fact t hat s ome of t he

phonem i c d i s t in c t i ons o f high fun c t ional load were not r epre sented in t he wri t i ng s y s t em and t hat therefore t h e s e s tudent s did no t know how to pro nounc e a word when t h ey s aw it .

It was not unt i l t hey had full

grasp of t h e sentence that t h ey wer e ab le t o r ead .

Thi s meant t hat

r eading for t h e s e t ypi cal s tu d ent s wa s a mat t er o f going backwards and forwards , constant ly c orr e c t i ng what t hey had r e ad befor e . S tudent s in the ear l i er grades r e ad mechanically and under s t o o d nothing .

When w e heard t hem misread a s ent ence we would a s k t hem what

the s entence meant and they would be unable to t e l l u s .

Th en we would

s e l e c t the word which had been mo s t seriously mi s re ad and would define it by s ituat ion .

for t h e word that c over s t h e s i tuation .

wou l d reply with the c or r e c t pronunciat ion .

They

We wou l d then turn them

back t o r ead the s entence again and they would at t h i s p o int , having b e e n r eminded of t he c orr e c t word . read t he s ent e n c e corr e c t ly and immed i at ely unde r s tand the

Contrast t h i s with s om e langu age s

where , after t hr e e or four weeks o f s t udy , a brigh t child can read any­ t hi ng wh i ch is put before him , whe th er t h e vo c ab ulary is b eyond h i s age or not . The reason we can

along wit h five vowel s ymbo l s i n Eng l i s h for

our c omp lex vowe l s y s t em is that we can c ompe l chi ldren to s tay in

BASES FOR POPULAR WRITING SYSTEMS

35

s chool long enough t o for c e t hem t o memo r i s e t he s p e l li ng o f hundr eds of words which have only a part i a l ly c ons i s tent corr espondence b e tween symb ol and s ound . Cons i s t ency in the hand ling of simi lar problems within a wri t i ng s y s t em is mo s t imp ort ant for maximum eas e of learning .

Unfortunat e ly ,

such c o ns i s t ency i s imp o s s ib l e t o maint ain fully with the Thai s y s tem of c las s e s of cons onant s and s ome o t her f eatures ( App endix 2 ) .

The

Thai s y s t em is basi cally a more difficult s y s t em to learn than mo s t . We u s e it b e caus e the principle of maximum mot i va t i on i s mor e p owerful than t hat of ease of learning , and b e caus e of transfer value .

However ,

within the Thai s y s t em as much c ons i s t ency as p o s s i b l e s hould be main­ tained .

If each s ignifi cant s ound difference c an be repres ent ed by a

s ingl e symb o l , as agai nst us ing combinat ions of two and three symb ols for a s ingle s ound , t hat cons i s tency is helpfu l .

I f c omb inat ions have

to be used , it i s h e lpful if they c an b e used f or the same t yp e s of prob lems rather t han in a hit or miss fashion . Of cours e , in the mat t er o f eas e o f learning , a gr eat deal has t o do with factors other than the orth ography i t s elf .

A primary one i s t he

programme of literacy edu cation whi ch is c arri ed o n .

With proper

prime r s , carefully graded mate rials , and i nt ere s t ing reading mat t er , eas e of learning is cons iderab ly enhanc ed , i nd ependently of the d i f­ 1 f i cult i e s wh ich may be invo lved in the wr iting s y s t em . However , even the m o s t ideal programme of enc ouraging lit eracy cannot r e a l ly withstand an opp o s i t e trend in mot ivat ion or a poor repr e s ent a t i on of the s p e e c h in t h e writ ing s y stem .

The next principle i s t hat the ab ility t o r ead his nat ive language should enab le the learner t o read Thai a l s o wi th as li t t l e difficulty as p o s s i b l e .

I t i s not enough s imply to s e le c t the Thai symb o l s whi ch

corr e s p ond in value to the pronunciation of the minor ity language , but it i s e s s ent ial to u s e the .Thai sy stem of wri t i ng with its c omp le x i t i e s and e v e n s ome of its inc ons i s t e n c i e s , as c l o s e ly as p o s s i b l e .

W e have

already ment ioned ( Chap t e r 1 ) some ear ly at t empt s ( s everal decades ago ) t o wr i t e minori ty languages in Thai without cons i s t ently ab iding by the 2 Thi s was o f l i t t l e rul e s for p o s i t i oning vowe ls in the Thai s y s t em . o r no t r ansfer value and def eat e d much of t h e value of u s ing t h e Thai symb o l s in the first place .

I See such books as Gudschinsky 1962 ; Gray 1956 ; Neij s 1961 ; Laubach and Laubach 1960 . 2 See Samples 7 and 8 in Chapter 1 , together with the discussion there .

36

W. A . SMALLEY

Some of the author s of t h i s vo lume in the ear ly days of t h e ir work tried to s imp lify the Thai s y s tem for the minor ity languages by elimi ­ nat ing t he Thai high-clas s cons onant s .

They did this in order t o avo id

the difficulty wh ich e x i s t s in Tha i , t hat some consonant s o unds have to be wri t t e n with two different con s o nant s ymb ols i n order to accommodat e difference s of t one wh i ch in Thai are hand led by spelling the initial consonant different l y .

F or examp le . in Thai ,

and < n > represent the

same consonant I t h l but govern a d i ff ere nt set of tone s ( Appendix 2 ) .

By e liminating one of t h e s e they f e lt it wou ld make the wr i t i ng s y s t em eas ier f or the minor ity p e op l e . Where the minori t y language had no t one d i s t i nct ions , li t t l e problem was created .

However , for the tone languages t h e s e orthography p lan­

ners immedi at e ly ran into t h e negative react i on of every person in the minority group who already knew h ow t o read and wr i t e Thai . t h a t the s imp li fi e d s y stem j us t was not r i ght .

The y f e l t

A r i s ing tone cannot b e

repr e s en t ed b y a low-clas s cons onant in Thai , and i t s e emed u t t erly in­ correct to do so in the m i nor ity language .

For t hat reason a l l of t h e

s y s t ems which have t one s as part of the s p e e ch patt ern have shifted over t o u sing the f u l l thre e-cla s s co ns onant s y s t em even though it takes l onger to t each , b e ca u s e it repr e s ent s Thai better , and very importantly b ecause i t mak e s the r e lat ionship and trans f er value b e tween the minor­ ity language and Thai more s a t i s factory . Another cas e where trans fer cons iderations we i gh heavily can be s ee n in t h e mi nority language s where there i s n o contrast between long vowe ls and s hort vowel s s u ch as there i s in Tha i , like Thai ' compre s s ' vs .

l ike LavUa '

I ? aa t l

'may, m ig h t ' .

I ? a t l

I n s ome minority language s

( Lawa , Lua ' ) or Hmong (Meo ) vowe l s may b e pronounced s hort

or long under certa i n condit i o ns , but the difference of long and short is not a phonemi c di s t inct i on in the s ound s t ructure of t h e language . They do not " contra s t " , ar e not d i s t i nctively di f ferent , a s in the Thai e xamp le above .

In

The differ ence b etween them can be s t a t e d by ru l e .

s ome o f t h e s e cas e s it has neverth e l e s s b een nece s s ary t o wr i t e both long and short Thai vowel symb o ls b ecau s e of the nece s s i t i e s of re­ pres ent ing s ome of the tones o f the language . and b ecau s e i n certain p o s i t ions t h e one Thai s ymbol better repre sent s what the vowe l of the minority language s o unds l ike to nat ive s peakers l i t erate i n Thai .

For

examp l e , in Mien ( Ya o ) t here is no s i gnificant contr a s t b e tween long and shor t vowe ls . but t he vowe l 1 0 1 b etwe en cons onant s s ounds more l ike Thai short 10/ . and is wr i t t e n as in Thai without a vowel s ymb o l ' squirre l ' ,

« �� >

' j ung l e ' ) , wh ereas in final p o s i t i on i t s ounds mor e

l i k e Thai long 1001 and i s wr i t t en

.

In t h i s pro b l em of maximum transfer . however , there are alway s

37

BASES FOR POPULAR WRITING SYSTEMS

difficu l t i e s b ecaus e of the fact that n o two langua g e s ar e r ea l ly alike i n their sound s y stems .

Some are s uf f i ci ent ly alike for the difficu l ti e s

to be mar ginal a n d minima l , but in many cas e s t h e one language h a s many more phonemes than the other , or p r e sents a type of s e quence of s ound s Some of

whi ch i s d i f f i cult t o r ep r e s ent in the other wr i t i ng s y s t em .

the languages d e s cribed b e l ow , like Lavua 1 ( Lawa , Lua ' ) , differ from Thai by having no tone s ; other s , like Hmong ( Me o ) , by having more t o nes t han Thai .

Some , like Kuy , have mor e vowe ls t han Thai , or others mor e

cons onan t s ( a s i n Hmong ) .

The adaptat i ons which are made i n the Thai

wri ting s y s tem s h ould b e made so as to d e s t r oy as l i t t l e of the transfer value a s p o s s i b l e .

Th e s e prob lems are di scus s e d i n each chap t er whi ch

fol lows , and a t abulation of many of t h e s o luti ons adop ted can b e s e en in Appendix 1 .

Thi s i s theor eti cally the least important principle with whi ch we have to deal , but in our mechan i s ed age when print i ng co s t s are enormous it certainly has to be tak en into s erious con s iderat i on .

By and large ,

when the cons iderations l i s t e d above have been sati s f i e d , that way o f print ing , that choice of symb ol s , which i s t h e e a s i e s t t o t y p e and p r i nt l i s the b e s t . There have b e e n s ome unfortunat e mi s tak es made along t h i s l ine i n other count ri e s .

In Vietnam there i s a tribal group whi ch has certain

vow els which are not wri t t e n in Eng l i s h but which do exist ( and which are wr i t t en as i n s p i t e of the

pot ent ial amb igu i ty with t he pronunciat ion / p h e e l / , b e caus e this is t he Thai way of writing t h i s kind of s e qu enc e .

However , where the c lu s ter

d o e s not o c cur in Thai , nat ive s peaker s fluct uat e .

< tt ' / s r e e / ' p i a e ­

fie Zd ' c ould b e r ead a s / s e e r / , leading to a preference for t h e s p e l ­

l i ng .

For examp l e ,

< ��� 1 � > , / ka n t yy l / ' s we Z ­

However , s y l l ab l e s c lo s e d with / r / ( li k e

' ao u n tpy ' or / t a rc � � c /

' eap ' ) w e r e preferred wri t t e n a s

'

The / I a / , however , i s a pre s y l l ab l e .

The s equen c e / m e e n t e e n /

' tp u e ' i s s omet ime s pronounc ed s o t hat the fir s t s y l lable s ounds l i ke a

pre s y l l ab l e , but i t turns about to be t h e above wh en s lowed down , or

THE PROBLEM OF VOWEL S : NORTHERN

51

It should t herefore b e writ t e n < L � � L �� > .

said more deliberat e ly . A word like [ c i k e e ]

KHMER

' dog '

( a s it i s act ually pronounc ed ) we a s s ume ,

under t his hypothe s i s , to be phonemi c a l ly / c a k e e/ , with a r egular pre­ s y l lab l e , whi c h s hould b e wr i t t en < 'l LL n > or < 'l � IL n > based on the pri nc ip les above . Thi s hypot he s i s may t ur n out t o be fals e .

It may b e t hat t here i s

s ome s ignif i c ant vowel differenc e i n presyllab l e s . of s ome words may have t o be a lt e r ed .

If s o , t h e s p e l li ng

The deci s io n s hould be b a s ed

part ly on l ingu i s t i c conS iderat ions , and part ly o n t h e r ea c ti ons of b i ­ l ingual s . Because my knowledge of Northern Khmer is not very

I have

doubt l e s s b e en incon s i s t ent in t h e s p e l li ng of presyllab l e s in t h i s pap er , b u t t he s e spe llings f ollow react i ons of nat iv e s p eaker s so far as presyl lab l e s are concerned .

The incons i st en c i e s are inherent in t h e

Thai s y s t em , and gre at c a r e wi ll b e needed i n d eveloping t h i s a s p e c t o f t he s p e l ling s o t hat s ome measure of s t a nd ardisation emerg e s . Sinc e t h i s i s a di fficult part o f t he Northern Khmer phonology t o i n Thai s cr ipt , s ome furth e r ob s ervat i ons o n nat ive s peaker preferan c e s may b e u s e fu l .

Not e , for examp l e , t hat t he nat ive s peaker

preferred t o s p e l l word s l ik e / ka d e c / ' ah i ld ' a s < n L �� > .

' p i n a h off ' a s < L n M 'l > , but / ka m een/

I n the o ne c a s e the vowel i s placed b e fo r e both t he

p r e s y l lable and the initi a l cons onant o f t he main syllab l e , and " in t he other c a s e it i s placed b etween t h e m .

The r e a s o n is t hat b e c aus e the

short vowel has < !! > t o mark the init ial c o nsonant of t he ma in s y l l ab l e , the s p e ll ing < L n M 'l > i s unamb iguous .

But b e c au s e the

f e el d o e s not

have an a c c ompanying < !! > , t o have s p e l l e d / ka m e e n / as < L n � � > would have b e e n amb iguous , as it wou l d b e p o s s i b l e t o r ead it as / keemon / . ot her hand , f or / sa m A A /

On t he

' smo o t h ' , t h e nat ive s p eaker at o ne s t age pre­

f erred < ��� � > , whic h could eas i ly b e r ead a s / s e em o o / , doub t l e s s b e c au s e o f t h e c ognat e word ( word wit h s imi lar s ou nd and s ame L �� � , whi ch is also amb iguous as to i t s s p e l l ing .

) i n Thai

Lat e r he was not s o

sur e , a sking for < � � � � > .

Figure 2 s hows final consonant s oc curr ing in Northern Khmer s y l lab le s . The Thai s ymb ols give t he normal s ugge s t ed s p e l li ng .

As in Thai , h ow­

ever , s ome special symb o l s are u s e d for certain c ombinat ions of vowel and f inal c ons onant .

The s e are handled under !f Other Thai s p e l l i ng c o n­

v e nt ions !! lat er on in t hi s chapt er .

Figure 2 overleaf

W . A . SMALLEY

52

P

'U

t

j;J

e

'1

k/ ?

n/z

m

!.J

n

'W

n

ty

I)

�

h

!l

fI

r w

� y

'l

F igure 2 .

tJ

Northern Khmer f inal consonants

It mus t be empha s i s ed here t hat alt hough s ome of t he Thai consonant symb o l s u s ed in wr i t ing Northern Khmer final c onsonant s wi l l be read as t hey are in Thai , o t hers wi ll not ! < '1 > wi l l be r ead as / e / , not as / t / : < '1 � ��'1 > / e a r b a e / or / e ra b a e / , squeeze ' < !l > wil l be read with an audib l e / h/ :

< �!l > / e a h /

' o ld '

< fI > will be read as / 1 / , not as / n / : < n'W 'l fl > / ka n a a l / < � > wi l l b e read as / r/ , not as / n / : < n 'l � > / k a a r/ < ty > will be read as / n / , not as / n / : / b a n /

'midd l e '

' work '

' s ho o t '

The reason for t h e s e differ e n c e s from the Thai s y s tem i s t hat Thai does not have the s e ,6 o u nd,6 / e n h I

r/ i n final p o s i t i o n , but Northern Khmer

d o e s , and mus t have symb o l s for repres ent ing them . The differences from Thai will not bother a Nort hern-Khmer - s p eaking p e r s on for l ong , as he knows how to pronounce t h e words , and soon wi l l g e t u s e d t o the fact that the s p e l l i ng in Nor thern Khmer i s mor e con­ s i s t ent t han in Thai .

Words like < n 'l � >

' wo r k , a c t ' wi l l be s p e l led the

same way in Thai and Nort hern Khmer , although pr onounced wit h a f i na l

/ n / in Thai and / r/ in Northern Khmer .

However , s ome other words may

c au s e s ome confu s i o n , as t hey wi l l not work out s o neat ly .

S e e the

s e c t i on on Thai s p e l l ing pre s sur e s lat er i n t h i s chapt er . As the wr it ing s y s t em wa s b e i ng developed in Pha s e I , t he r e a c t i o n of t he nat ive speaker t o t h e s e fina l c onsonant symb o ls u s e d wit h dif­ fer ent valu e s t han in Thai wa s very int er e sting . s eemed t o bother him not a t all . get u s e d t o .

The u s e of fina l < fI � >

< !l > / h / t ook him a li t t le whi le t o

< '1 > / e / and < ty > / n / he r e j ect ed when t hey were f i r s t sug­

g e s t ed , sub s t itut ing < n > ( Thai / k/ ) and < � > ( Thai / 1) / ) .

I made ab s o ­

lut e ly n o effort t o di s suade him, thinking at t he t ime t hat perhap s t h e d i s t r ibut i on o f t h e s e consonant s might make it p o s s i b l e t o wr i t e t hem as he sugge s t e d , but once he had an hour or t wo of experience in wr i ti ng Northern Khmer in Thai s cript he changed all of t h e s e finals back t o < '1 > and < ty > , and w a s qui t e emphat i c t hat thi s wa s what t h e y wer e !

53

THE PROBLEM OF VOWELS : NOTHERN KHMER

Final [ k ] and [ ? ] do not c o ntr a s t in f i na l p o s i t ion so far a s my data go .

[ ? ] c omes after l a a + + 00 �� i a ya u a wa w a A 0 0 �/ .

c omes after a c ompl e t e ly differ ent s e t of vowe l s , l aa A A u u There i s ind i c ation

UU

[ k]

00 + u/ .

s ome di ffer e n c e s b e tween speakers on t hi s .

Both

of these sounds should be spe l l ed a s c lo s e ly as p o s s i b l e to the Thai , however , wh i c h means t hat they should be

in a vari ety of way s .

When the vowe l in t h e syl lab le i s short t he final I ? I c a n b e spe lled as in Thai , somet ime s with < z > , and s omet ime s without any s ymb o l , a s hort vowel symbo l such a s < � > or < . > ind i c at ing u s ua l ly a final I ? I ( b ut not always , so that it i s ambiguou s ) . has [ ? ] after l ong vowels .

However , unlike Thai , Northern Khmer

At t h i s point the lack of c ontrast in fina l

p o s it ion between [ k ] and [ ? ] b e c omes us efu l , a s [ ? ] aft er long vowe ls c an be wr itten wi th < n > ( Thai I k/ ) . wr i tten < � o n > .

Thus I d n�? 1

'pu l l o u t ' can be

However , t h ere has be en s ome tendency in Phase I I t o

s p e l l with < z > even after a long vowe l , a s in < � o z > .

V o w ei.6 Like Thai , Northern Khmer has a dist i n c t i on b etween l ong and short 1 We will take the long vowe ls first to i l lustrate the problem

vowe l s .

of the differ enc e s between the two language s in t h e ir vowel s y s t ems . In Figur e 3 the Thai l ong vowe l s are organis ed acc ord ing to the i r phonetic charac t er i s ti c s , f o llowed by t h e Northern Khmer l o ng v owe l s organ i s ed i n par a l l e l fashion . i llustrat e s the prob lem .

A c ompari son of t h e two s e t s of vowels

In thi s first Nort hern Khmer vowel c hart ,

Thai symb o l s are indi cated only for those sound s for whi c h there i s a r eadily avai lab l e Thai s p e ll ing .

The r emainder pre s e nt the I!pr ob lem " .

Examp les of words s h owing a l l vowe ls o f Nort hern Khmer wil l be found l i st ed s y stemati c al ly later in the c hapter .

Figure :3 overleaf

l Standard Khmer like many other Mon-Khmer languages has been analys ed as registers of consonant s which have a modifying effect on vowel pronunciation Hender son 1952 and Pinnow 1957 ) . It is possible that further study would indicate that the description of Northern Khmer vowels would be s impler with such an analysi s . However , I would like t o mention here for the record that I found no evidence of any breathines s , 1aryngia1i sation , fauca1i sation , pitch or any of the other phonetic characteri stics normally a s sociated with register in Mon-Khmer languages , and my impression was confirmed by Beulah Johnston , who is a fluent speaker of Kuy (Chapter 10 ) , a neighbouring and related language where register distinctions clearly do occur .

W.A. SMALLEY

54

I i

�

++

�/� .

The nat ive sp eakers of No rthern Khmer at fir s t f i nd thi s comb inat ion very s t r ange , but s oon p i c k i t up and u s e i t c o n s i s tently , exc ept in wor d s c ognate wit h Thai where they s ometimes t end to us e Thai s p e l l ings . Kuy had a s o lution for / aa / as well , but we c h o s e not to u s e i t as it is potent ially mor e amb iguou s t han the s o lut i o n we ad opt ed . Thi s l e av e s us with four long vowe ls for whi c h we do not y e t hav e a tran script ion : / L L a a uu aa/ .

Here we mus t di s t inguish b etween

Pha s e I ( t he originally pr oposed ort hography for Nor t h ern Khmer ) and Ph a s e II ( t hat wh i c h r e sulted after experimentat i on and s everal y e ars of u se ) .

Bo t h Pha s e I and Phas e I I solut i ons wer e nov e l , not exi s t ing

in normal Thai wri t ing c onventions , but it is inter e s t ing to s ee that Pha s e II is mor e a c c eptab l e to Northern Khmer s p eakers be cau s e i t b e t t er fit s i n with the total Thai s y s t em . In the Ph a s e I s o lu t i o n (which was later rej e c t e d ) we work ed from the fac t that Thai has a s ymb ol < �> whi c h is u s ed t o i nd i c a t e that a c on s o nant at t h e end of a syllable d o e s not c or r e spond to any sound in the pr onunc iat i on of t he word .

The c on s onant is " s ilent l! .

in trans l i t erat ing borr owe d word s .

I t i s u s ed

We t herefore sugg e s t e d the f o l l ow i ng

trans c r i p t i on for t he four vowe l s :

Here ar e some examp l e s of what s ome words with the s e vowel s looked like : < M u> / k L L /

'he ',

/cee/

< :1 1> / c u u /

' b'e li e v e ' ,

/ t h a ma a /

< M � u> / k L L r /

' ev i l ' ,

' s t o n e ' , < ��O t ;> / t a saar/

' f l i c k off,

soratch off ' ,

< ilil I1l 1> / I a p u u t /

' p os t ' .

' g uava ' ,

< � ;> , whi ch is not commonly u s e d in Thai with

t h e s e c ombinat i ons of s ymb o l s , but is normally u s ed on the symb o ls for

I e el to repres ent shortne s s .

We have ext ended its u s e here i n Northern

Khmer a s the Thai s y s t em 1 s amb iguous b etween l ong and s hort vowels at thi s p o i nt .

V o w el e o m binal:i o n.o I n thi s s ect i on we are not d e a li ng with c ombinat i ons of vow e l p l u s f inal

I w y / , whi ch a r e s omet ime s t hought of as vowe ls i n Thai , b u t

r a t h e r w i t h t h e Northern Khmer s ounds of the type o f Thai I t a l < 1 �U > ,

58

W.A. SMALLEY

I f a l < t � v > , l u a l < - 1 -/�1 > .

ya F igure 7 .

The s e are summar i s ed in Figure 7 .

�

< L �V / L : V � > Northern Khmer long and short gl ides

Phonet i c a l ly , I hear [ I a u a ] , wh i ch are very mu ch like Thai and whi c h are written < L �V , - 1 -/�1 > .

I a l s o hear an [ f a ] wh i ch s ounds very much

like Thai I f a l ( but shorter ) .

It , however , has b e en anal y s e d above as

b e l onging to the s ame phoneme as I f f l i n Northern Khmer .

[ f a ] is the

pronunciation of I f f l when fol l owed by a c ons onant in t h e s ame s y l l ab l e . I have therefore l i s t e d it under I f f l in the char t s of examp l e s .

The

reason for my thinking i s t h at I do not have any words with I f f l fol­ l owed by a cons onant , nor any i n wh i c h I f a l is not f o l l owed by a c on­ s onant .

Addi t i onal dat a c ould pr ove t h e hypothes i s f al s e . �

c a s e the Thai symb o l i s at i on of < L � � > I + a l should b e u s e d .

But in any The nat ive

s peakers ins i s t e d on < : > as wel l , although it i s not nec e s s ary here from the linguis t i c s t andp oint . Two add i t i onal s e quen c e s are a very short [ u a ] or [ w a ] and [ i a ] or [ ya ] .

The vowel in Northern Khmer [ p a n l u a ? ]

very much like t h e c orr e s ponding Thai l u a / . < R1 � > [ I w a ? ] ' s Z e ep ' , is much short er .

' spro u t ' s ounds

However , Northern Khmer

In t h i s l at t er group of words

( s e e C olumns Q, R) the p e ak of the s y l lab le is on the l a l when the s y l ­ lab l e i s c lo s ed by I n Q I but o n the I w l in t h e other examp le s .

The

s y s tem of wr it ing t akes c ar e of the problem for us , with [ ? ] s p e lled with < n > ( Thai I k / ) after t h e l ong vowe l , and wi th < z > after the short . < : > i s u s e d for the short vowe l with other final s , as indi cated ab ove . C o lumns 0 and P s how t h e paral l e l s i tuat ion for l ong and short I i a y a / .

V o w el� b e 6 o� e I e R I A word l i ke I k h l a a e l

'fear ' , or I s a d e e n l

aUd i b l e b etween the vowel and the I e R / . [ s a d e e yR ) .

The words s ound l ik e [ k h l a a y e ] ,

This [ y ] i s c le ar ly audib l e b e fore the s e c ons onants with

all vowe l s exc ept I i ing degr e e s .

I I

t

L L I where it may or may not b e heard to vary­

Thi s [ y ] does not have to be writ ten .

conditioned by t he pre s ence of final I n e / . and < � � � � > . later on .

' s how ' , h a s a phone t i c [ y ]

It i s automat i c a l l y

W e t herefore wr i t e < � � 1 q >

Many more examp l e s will b e found i n the l i s t s and t ext

59

THE PROBLEM OF VOWELS : NORTHERN KHMER

O�he4 Tha� 6 p eii�ng eo n v e n�� o n6 In addi t i on to the Thai -based spe l lings above , there ar e other r e gu­ lar s p e l lings u s e d in Thai for c ertain c ombinat i ons of vowe ls and c on­ s onant s .

The ones whi c h are used in Northern Khmer are those which are

extremely common , and the ignoring o f whi ch would s e em unnatural from a Thai s p e l ling standp oint .

Wh ere Thai h a s alternat ive s p e l ling s whi ch

are not s o c ommon , the l e s s

s p e l l i ng doe s not need to be u s e d .

< -''»

i s u s ed ins t e ad of < �� > f or l a m / .

i s used inst e ad of < �U > for l a y / , but not for l a a y/ .

< L - ,» < L -U >

i s u s e d f o r l a w/ .

i s u s ed inste ad of < � : u > for I y y y / , and ( by analogy ) < � - u > i s

used ins tead of < � : u > for I A A y / .

An add i t i onal very prac t i c al problem which ar i s e s be cause of the react ion of b i l ingua ls who can read and wr ite Thai , i s to b e found in the words which are ident i c al or nearly i dent i c a l in Northern Khmer and Thai , but wh ere f o llowing the Northern Khmer s p e l l i ng rul e s c ons i s t ently b rings a s p e l ling d i ff erent from the Th ai s p e ll ing of the s ame word s . Thi s difference i s c au s ed by many factors inc lud ing the Thai to nal s y s t em whi c h requi r e s a var i e ty of cons onant symb o l s for the s ame c on­ s o nant s ound , the fact that many Thai words are s p e l l e d in the way they were formerly pronounc e d rather than i n t h e way they are pronounced now , that others are s p e lled in imit at ion of t h e way they are s p e l l e d i n lan­ guage s from wh i ch they are borrowed rather than the way they ar e pro­ nounce d in Thai . Here are s ome examp l e s of the differenc e : Engl i s h

Thai

Northern Khmer

I neenl I ha�ml

9 'IJ 1:l '1 :J.l

I n � � nl

' fOI'bid '

D 'HY '1 'f

/?a ha a n l

' fo o d '

D I:l 'l 'f

I ? a ha a rl

'I1 ' D

I rHI

' OI' '

'D

I rHI

L n lll

I keet I

' b e b O I' n '

LL n III

I kAAt I

I r e am l

'begin '

d '�

I ryy m l I ra.a. p l I c h a. a. n l

L !1i 'f v

'WHI

L

1�

' appI' e n t i a e i n w a t '

'f D'U

I rO o p l

' aI'ound '

y D\!

�D 'IJ

I c ho o n l

' sp o o n '

'il D 'IJ

niH

I ko o l) l

' p i l e , gI'OUp

I

t;t D 'I

I h a am l

I ka.il I) I

There ar e l i t erally hundr eds of s u c h word s , inc luding b orrowed word s , proper name s , e t c .

Here we hav e a de fini t e pro b l em of c onfl i c t of

60

W . A . SMALLEY

principle s .

We want t he writ ing s y s t em t o repres ent what people s ay as

s imp ly as pos s ib l e .

Lit eracy will b e very mu ch more difficult if t here

are a lot of irregular s p e l lings from the Northern Khmer language s t and­ poi nt .

We want , also , to provide a b ri dge to Thai , and this is what the

Nort hern Khmer sp eakers want , t oo .

Having the s ame spelli ng for words

whi ch s ound the s ame in the two languages ( or near ly the s ame ) is a kind of bridge .

D e c i s i ons in this area are very d e li cat e , but for the mo s t

part cons i s t ency of spelling Nor t hern Khmer i s winning out .

V-i.a..e. e. c.:t There are s ome pronunc iation differences over the Nort hern Khmer­ s p e aking ar ea of Thai land .

So far as wr i t i ng Northern Khmer in Thai

s cript is concerned , and as a bas e for t h e prepara t i on of Nort hern Khmer lit eratur e , the Surin dialect is f o llowed .

The reas ons ar e larg e ly cul­

t ural and geograph i c , having t o do wit h population dis tribut ion , rather t han b e ing lingui s t i c .

Surin i s the only provincial cent r e in the

s o lid-core Northern Khmer area , and t h e most important one in t he t o t a l Northern Khmer area .

Polit i c a l , e c onomi c , ge ographi cal , and population

considerat ions outweigh any contrary lingu i s t i c one s which we might not have not i ced .

Exa.m p.e.e.� .e.-i.� :te.d b y v o we..e. q ua..e.-i.:t y In the proc e s s of making the ab ove analy s i s in Surin I made s ome l i s t s of words whi ch s eemed to have the same vowe l , one l i s t for each vowe l .

The s e by no means inc lude all t h e words in my dat a , but are re­

p r e s entative and ar e h e lpful to ident i fy t he quality a s s o ciat ed with each sugge s t e d t r an s cr ip t i o n .

The li s t s may a l s o be u s e d t o s e e at a

glance j us t what kinds of di stribut ions of vowe l s with f inal c ons onant s have b e e n r e c orded so far , and as furt her work progr e s s e s s ome of t he mi s s ing contra s t s c an be f i l l e d i n .

There are s ome incons i s t enci e s in

the spe l ling of Northern Khmer pre syllab le s , and s ome ot her d i s crep­ anc i e s i n the l i s t s as has b e en indicated above . FRONT VOWELS - LONG Column A : / i r / sr r

pat r i ci iC rr ic

� 'lHI

eat spinach

� 'l

dig

\' 'l

swe l l

THE PROBLEM OF VOWELS : NORTHERN KHMER

Column A :

1i

r I 1 ii ma. t I a I I pI Ir kac i i r Column B :

ii

i ii

f ty

dry

fJ�HHH:lh!! \i �

a l l gone

ll !!l �

mint

"

he

two

/L LI

ku t an l L L I L LP krL L P bL Lt t L Lt mtLC t a rc L L C t rL Lm 5 t Lm nL L n pwahw L L n ph l L Ln c S l) k L L n mam L L h p a rt L L h ?LL I kant L L I hL L r kL L r kh L L W mt LW Column C :

(aont. )

1Ii'\J �

s ea

,'I)

s wa l l o w

II

gr i t ty

f 'U

1;1 �

near

� @1

more

1;1 '1 lJI � Ij � 'l

s ky

lJI�l-I �l-I

'!l\J ..

e ar prepare Thai app r e n t i a e i n w a t

'I.I n ' \J

intes tine

.w�ty ;� " I!!

rain

l-I1;1fl

hair

'I.I � " � il

a o u ntry

O fil /f\J � i'l

b e b a s hfu l

�� ,, �

lamp

mat ov erf l o w f l i a k o ff

� 'J

green

g 'J

aat

1 9. 9 1

tee papee ceep ke e p t heet ka keet ceec deec meen meen teen c h ween

L

�

'I.I L 'I.I

no goat

L 'l'U

suak

L ll'U

m o u s e trap

L 'Yl 1ll

aloth

n L ll @l

rub aga i n s t

L "l 'l

b anana

L � 'l

l i e down

L :l.I \J

true

L :l.I\J L lJI\J

tru l y

L

l eft s id e

t h ty

61

62

W . A . SMALLEY

Column C :

leel

kameen t aceeh cee h dee r t aseer l e ew heew Column D :

n l l-J!;J! � I "l ll! L "l ll! L I1l 'ii" � L '21'ii" L fl 1 l il ')

k h l aa ra n a a taa sa l a a p kaa p baat ? a n naat

ahi ld s t ubbol'n t hNtad sew wl'i t e b ut to n ahasm

leel

s n:e khEE cakee ?aO kEEp ka?eep ca?eet heet deec beec t h e em p a ? e Em ? Ee n seen sadEEn paseen pa rheeh seeh hEE l bo.o.n d e e l ceer khamEE r keew ceew Co lumn E :

(aont. )

'21LL 'ii" LL I'l ' BL n .r4 ILn'U n u, J

aome

ka,n o o p

n 'i: u'U

g r a s s hopp e r

ma hoop

� 'i: l:l 'U

food e a t e n w i t h r i a e

c a root

'l 'i: � 61

harv e s t r i a e

hoot

hllfl

khooc

draw s o m e t hing o u t of s o m e ­ t h i ng to b e sp o i 'l e d

THE PROBLEM OF VOWELS : NORTHERN KHMER

Column L :

67

/00/ (cont. )

k ro o c

n 't � "

c i tru s fru i t

koo?

't n n

ca l l out loudly

s a noo?

'y

ifH l \;l O 'l

abdome n s hr>unk b ea au s e o f hunger>

0'1 bb 'l.l I'l 'l 0·1'l.l \;1 0 'l

f l i m s y , n o b o dy

? a m p l e e c ? a m p l o.o.c sam o.o.? do.o.?

'li:l,;l o n

bar>k

� !J n

pu H ou t

k ra h o.o.m

n � t: \i O ll.l

r> e d

p I o.o.m bo.o.n c ho.o.n bo.o.Q ko.o.Q ? o.o. r

'l.l \;l !J :I.J

a o u n t er>fe i t

V 0 '1
oup

i} !J � JI � O �

post

happy

t a so. o. r ko.o.y

f) O U

de 'l i a a a i e s e a t e n w h e n dr> i n k i ng

l a Qo.o.y l a Qo.o.y

i H' 1 !J u '1

s l i g h t mo v em e n t

GLIDES Column 0:

/ I a/

raQ l a cia wia

� L !\' U

a o 'ld

L ll u

good

L '1 U

they

r i ap t iap kat i at n l at r l ac [ ey J l a Q l ac [ ey ] n l a? p t a? c h l am y i am m l an I I an

b \' U'U

8mo o th

b � U'l.l

'low

n b �u�

b ou n a e off

L fij U I'l

r>e 'l a t i v e 8

d ' u 'l

r> ei g n

i H :'!/ U 'l

e v e n i ng

L 'fl u n

naga

b \l u n

wor>d

d ) u ll.l

b lo o d

d :l u ll.l

guar>d

d :! u 'l
d , t hr> e s h ing f 'l o o r>

L � tJI,y

pu H

t l an [ ey J

THE PROBLEM OF VOWELS : NORTHERN KHMER

Column 0 : / I a /

(aont. )

p am p h l i a n [ e y ] I I a !) n l a !) wiah ram I a h pria I t ia l I law m f a n ra !) i a w

'I1a.H 'I'l l'i U 'l!

des troy

� �U4

wash

� t:1 !J �

gir l

t ' !J [l

aut open

'it L fl !J [l

r h i no a e r o s

t 'tl h fil

jute

t 1!\ !J �

du U

t nU 1

Lao

t � i) 'j.a t � !J 1

r o o s t e r arows

� 'I1 \!1 !J I:'

fa U

Column P : / y a /

t ha l ya? t ya ?

t 1!\ !J �

to t r ap

t !'l !J 4

aramp e d

L lI !J 4

m o r e t ha n

n t !J\ !J [l

fry ing p a n

pua yua rua kru a p ka n t u a p l uat papua? pan l ua? l am u am k a t u am

'tI 1

h o l d i n arms

I n

take

n :l 91 1 :l-l

s h a a k i n fi e ld

muan p u a !) r u a !)

!,I 'HJ

m u l berry

k y a !) c y a !) kat ya h

.. ..

..

Column Q : / u a /

chuar !) u a r

'it 1

l o o k for

n 'il 1 'U

aover

�'IHI 1 'U

rags

� 1 f1

a type o f de s s er t

'tI :l 'tl 1 n

a lo u d

'tIll fl 1 n

s p ro u t

� a.l 1 a.l

enough

'I.h 4

egg

'il 1 4

garden b e d

t h 'il

s tand

4 1 'it

bend

Column R : / w a /

l a l wa t sampwat I wa ? l am w a ? p ra p wa n t h a !) wa n

f1 � 'l fl

e x t i ng u i s h

'21'1't1 1 fI

s ki r t

i!f'l l:'

s le ep

..

lil�'l :l 'tI 'iI 'I1 f 1 ll

dus t 'l 'I-J

wife weight

69

70

W . A . SMALLEY

Column R : I w a l

p r w a I) l a l) w a l) pwa h c hamwa h t wa l kwa l

(cant. )

'lI W 'l 4 fl � 'l 4 co

ho l e s tupid

'lI 'J jj

s na k e

tlil'J jj

name

� h fl

lay h e ad on p i l low

I h fl

s tump of tr e e

FRONT VOWELS - SHORT Co lumn S : I i i

ki p cit

nu

hair cur l er

� Ol

near

it I Ic t ic ka t l m

� Ol

dar k

!!I "I

sink

� "I

s ti ng

.J'J.,I � :I-I :I-I ' !!!

para l l e l , a lo ng s i de

!!I jj

ride

il jj

this

n ll fl

lazy

' fl

g o around

I)

sant l m maw i n t in cth nih kac i I wi I

n � :I-I

� !!!

o ni o n come back buy

Column T : I L l

WLC phi Lc t ham L n

wrap up forg e t tooth

Column U : l e i

hep

d r'll

c o n tai ner for b e te l i n g r e di e n t s

ka l e p l a?et s a w et ka d ec cha l ec mem ? a n c em sa ren sen

n d �u

a U i n order

fl L ii Ol

fi n e

'11 L 'f Ol

dri ed o u t

n d f "l

pinch

tl d � "1

s qu e e z e ( a s a l emo n )

L il:l-l

dri n k from b r e a s t

il''J.,I L !f:l-l

r a i s e , rear

'11 L W'J.,I

Bu r i n

co

L '11 'J.,1

c e n ti m e t e r

THE PROBLEM OF VOWELS : NORTHERN KHMER

Column U : / e/

den t a nen we h rat eh ra?e l ?ame l krew hew p re y rampey

(oont . ) know

b �'lJ

IIl d llJ!

ask

b If f)

mov e as ide

'ib

il1 f)

'ib

!:f il

s l ipp ery

. n

3j il

saZt

oxoar t

n d ' ';)

o omm o t i o n

dh

hungry

\.JL

Wu ..

for e s t

�·' H 1.l u

Lu Uaby

tee ? � � l ee p e?

bb M "I

sma L L

� bI, fi "l

toward t h e w e s t

bb1.l tl

tran s p L a n t

pap re?

1.l tl u1.l f "

s urfa o e par t l y w e t w i t h water

m a p l em

l-l " bb 1.l fi 3J

o ome for a m om e n t

e u u n e en eeh p he h bey wey

!}'1H b !f'lJ

s e nd someone

Column V : / e/

c:

bb !f Il

know

bb*1l

ashes

u {f u

three

u lf u

s tr i ke , spank

IY'U

a Lmo s t

Column W : / a /

hap c ha p sat s a l) a t ka n a e ea rbac ea? da? e h a n am p ram ka n man kh l an ban kh I a h eah

�

tI'U

hur:t'y

'2Iil

anima L

'2I .ffl

qui e t

n'l1'''1

a s p e o i e s o f t e rm i t e

��'l1"1

squeeze

"I "

pieroe

il "

p La oe

tI'It1

y ear

1.l �·1

fiv e

Ifu

h o L d i n hand

:«u

no t

I'l Ii'i'IJ!

gr eas e

'l11J!

I'l li'i'll -!If)

shoot p Lu r a L o Ld

71

72

W . A . SMALLEY

Column W : l a l

da l t a ba l cat a r haw kadaw t h a f) a y day

(aont . ) box. punah (ri a e ) mo r tar s harp til

'1

oa Z Z hot sun hand

CENTRAL VOWELS - S HORT Column X : I f I

t ra kf p ka n t r f p taat +t kft Uk p rH s a f) k h f m p a l fm r a w+ n I fn rf f) s a H f) manfh

IwndhJ

s nap o Zo s ed

11'u �\''U

indented

?dau l /

I h mo l

2

' White Meo '

ntlua l l B:

t o Hmong Le es , and pre ferred by t hem" ) ; H: < h mo o b

l ee s D ��

L 'IT � � > I h m5 1

' Green Meo '

( " o f t en given

' Green or Blue Meo '

l a 5 1 ' Striped Meo '

( II They prefer t h e name ' h m o o b n t s u a b ' " [ B ] ; " Another name for Green or B lue Me o " [ H ] ; 3 "A sub­ group i ng of Hmong Nj ua , rather t han an equivale nt t erm" [ W ] ) < h m o o b q u a s n p a b D �� n �1 N� � > I h mo l

qua5 npa 1 1

' Armband Meo '

( " A s ub­

grouping of Hmong Daw" [ W ] ) < h moo b v a j D �� � � > I h mo l < h m o o b t om n ra s D �� < h moo b d u b rl��

;>

�O;

vall

'IT� ; 1 > I h m o l

I hm 5 1 ? d u 1 1

< h m o o b s i b rl�� 'l1f> I h mo l < h m o o b yo b t s h u a b rl ��

(B)

I

VI

to7

nra 5 1

' Black Meo '

(B)

(B)

( B ) ( " A subgroup ing o f Hmong Nj ua" [ w ] )

UO r1 J'l > I h mo 1 yo l t I h u a 1 I ( "F l owery Meo [ or

Miao ] as known from China " [ H ] ) ,

< h m o o b p w s .,��

J>

I hm 5 1

p u s l e " A sub grouping of Hmong Nj ualf [W] )

Hmong in Thai land are s c at t ered in small pockets of s et t l ement s in the mount ains of Nan , Phrae , Chiang Ra i , Chiang Mai , P i t s anu 1ok , 4 In Lao s t h e ir maj or c onc entra­ Phe t c hab un , Loe i , and Tak provinc e s . t i ons ar e in Xieng Khouang and Luang Prabang provinc e s and northward ( LeBar et ai . 1 9 6 4 : map ) . The regular sound corr e s ponden c e s b etween Hmong Daw and Hmong Nj ua are uncomp l i cat ed ( Purne l l 1 9 7 0 ) .

Int erc ommuni c at i on between t he s e

diale c t s i s c ommo n , and there i s n o doubt of their mut ual int e l ligib i l­ it y .

For t he s e rea sons I hand le them as a s ingl e language and des cribe

1

1 am deeply indebted to Doris M . Whitelock for her invaluable help in the preparation of this chapter . She has been primarily responsible for the preparation and revision of the Thai orthography for Hmong ( as well as for a Lao orthography used in Laos ) , has helped as a research assi stant in checking problem points , doubled as proofreader and critic for several drafts . provided the sample text , and conduct ed the practical te sting of the parallel orthography in Laos . 2

The first of the three transcriptions of each example is one in the dictionaries . I have supplied the others . The relation between the transcriptions is described later . 3 Moody reports that the t erm Imo 1 l e51 ( Hmong Njua pronunci ation ) i s used very little by Hmong Njua of themselves in Tak Province , Thailand . These Hmong Njua are of the subgroup Hmong Sib , according to Whitelock ' s information . 4

Young 1962 : 37 . The dialects which Purnell 1970 refers to as "Petchabun" and "Tak" are Hmong Daw and Hmong Njua respectively. [ Historical and demographic statament s in thi s paper are now (1976 ) drastically changed by political/military developments in T,j:J.f"\�

£l'nn

+.nj:!.

; n f"" ",y

('\ 1'

+:nr'\' l co: � n n c:t

(Vp

Hmf'l'nO' 1"j:l.f�l1t'r�,:':');Q

; n+, f"\

fT'thA ; ' /;:lnr1

1

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

them

in this pap e r .

87

I would prop o s e to writ e them ident i c a l ly ,

but it i s not at a l l c lear t hat t h i s proposal w i l l ever b e a c c eptable t o a l l Hmong Nj ua , a s will be di s cu s s e d b e low .

Pho nological analy�i� and o �thog�aphy p� epa�atio n The phonological analys i s i n this paper i s based p rimari ly o n the work of Barney and Sma lley in Xieng Khouang , Lao s ( Barney and Smalley l 1 9 5 2 , 1 9 5 3 ) . Barney undertook the analy s i s of Hmong Leng < hmoo b l ee s > ( Striped Me o ) , whic h a c cording t o Whi t e l o c k i s a subgrouping within Hmong Nj ua ( Gr e en/Blue Me a ) , and made s ome c ompar i s o n with Hmong Daw ( Wh i t e Me o ) as we l l .

Sma l l e y wa s in Laos at the t ime working on the

analy s i s of another l anguage ( Smalley 1 9 6 1 ) and had t he opp ortunit y t o check Barney ' s work and help i n i t s organi sat i on and i n t he int erpreta­ tion of the dat a .

Sma l l ey wrot e the r ep ort s based upon t he i r j oint ef­

forts . In the meant ime , Father Yves Bertr a i s -Charri e r was learning Hmong Daw ( White Meo ) in the Luang Prabang area , and was beginning to make t entat i ve exp e riment s with an orthography for i t .

I n 1 9 5 3 Smalley was

ab l e t o c larify s ome t echni cal points o f phonology for Bertrai s .

He

drew up a sugge s t ed orthography i n c onsultat i on with both Barney and Bertrai s whi ch wa s adopted by bot h .

Thi s orthography i s the Roman l e t t er

one trans cribed within < > in t h i s paper . Bertrai s ha s c ont inued translati ng and

in this ort hography

in the years s ince , and s everal hundred Hmong u s e r s are t o be found in Lao s .

Bertrai s '

( 19 6 4 ) di c t i onary is a maj or work U S ing t h i s s y s t em .

A di s cus s i on o f t h i s and o t he r wri t i ng s y stems for Hmong in China and Lao s is t o be f ound in Lemoine 1 9 7 2 . Miss ionar i e s c oming into Thai land t o work among the Hmong gro up s at about the t ime t he ort hography was worked out in Lao s adop t e d i t for Hmong Daw ( White Me o ) and Hmong Nj ua ( Gre en/Blue Meo ) in Thai land . used the Barney-Sma l l ey reports on Me o to ori entat ion t o t h e l anguage .

They

t hem an i nt r oduc t or y

The orthogr aphy from Laos turned out t o b e

ful ly app l i c a b l e t o Hmong Daw i n Thai land , and was r eported t o b e s o for Hmong Nj ua a s we l l .

However , more r e c ent ly Moody r e port s t hat a s et o f

c ontr as t s which i s found in the dialect on whi ch the orthography i s b a s ed i s very weak or does n o t o c cur among h i s informant s in Thailand .

The

details of t h i s prob l em will b e pOinted out later in the app ropriat e p l ac e .

lAt least , that i s what we understood at the time . The dialect may have been Hmong Sib , or there may have been informants from both these dialects .

88

W.A. SMALLEY

The numb er of Hmong l i t erates in Th ai land who can u s e this Roman orthography is smal l , under one hundr ed i n all .

Unlike Lao s , ther e has

b e en l i t t l e int ere s t on the part of Hmong t o l earn it .

The amount of

l i t erature prepared is likewi s e small , wi th vari ous portions o f the Bib l e , hymn books , e t c .

Heimbac h ' s ( 1 9 6 6 , 1 9 6 9 ) d i c t ionary in thi s l orthography i s , h owever , a work of maj or imp or t ance . From t ime to t ime there have b e en mi s s i onar i e s working among the

Hmong who have felt that the Hmong language in Thai land s hould have a Thai - b a s ed s c r ipt .

In 1 9 5 8 an expe riment was und ertak e n to s e e what

would be inv o lved in the preparat ion of such a s cript . prepared .

One primer was

Th e experiment and the primer , however , were not s at i s fa c tory ,

as the prob lems of trans cription had not b e en s uffi c i ent ly thought out . In 1 9 6 5 the mat ter came up again and there was a r e c ons iderati o n of the whole qu e s t i on of a Th ai-based s cr ipt for the Me o .

The result ing pro­ 2

p o s als , modif i ed after t e s t ing and after par a l l e l e xperi ence i n Lao s , are incorporated in t h e Thai - l e t t e r tran s c ription s o f Hmong in this chapter .

In t h e one vi llage in Thai land where the Thai orthogr aphy for Hmong was s er i ous ly introdu c ed , it r ec e ived a much more e nthusi a s t i c r e c ept i o n from t h e Hmong than d i d t h e Roman s cript .

Several experimental primers

were prepared by White lock and her Hmong Daw a s s i s t ant s and u s ed ther e . Some of the Hmong lit erature previously t rans cribed in Roman s cript was ret rans cribed in the Thai s cript . However , there i s no widespread intere s t i n learning to read among Hmong in Thai land whi c h has ever b e en tapped by either Romani s e d or Thai­ based orth ography .

Doris Whi t e l o c k tran s f erred t o Lao s , where the

1

Lyman 1970 and 1974 are Emong NJua dictionaries with somewhat different transcrip­ tions . Neither were a result of language planning but designed for the use of non­ Hmong laymen in the first case , and lingui sts in the second. They are not discussed here . The orthography of Lyman 1974 was used in Lyman ' s earlier works (1962 , 1968 , 1969 ) . A l i st ing of the correspondence s betwe en Lyman ' s symbols ( except his 1970 work ) and those of the romani sed system reported in thi s chapter is given in Hermsdorf 1969 . A compari son of hi s 1970 symbols with those used in hi s other works mentioned may be found in Lyman 1970 : 128 . development of the Lao-based and Thai-based orthographie s for Hmong have been kept completely parallel . Experience gained in the one was applied to the other . The Lao system i s not quite as rich as the Thai in symbols which could be used for Emong sounds which do not occur in Thai or Lao , nec e s s it ating some minor difference s between the two . The Lao-based orthography , however , i s much more widely used than the corresponding Thai-based orthography . There are many more Emong Chri stians in Lao s , and a much stronger motivation for learning t o read . The Lao government has endor s ed Hmong primers in Lao script for use in schools . and the New Testsment is being translated , along with other reading materials . A second Lao-based orthography for Emong i s in use by the Hmong branch of the Pathet Lao .

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS

int e r e s t d o e s e x i s t .

AND

TONE

89

Effor t s continue i n Thailand . but s o far have not

arous ed more t han very local i nt er e s t . In writ i ng t h i s c hapter I am hand i c apped by t he fact t hat I have not had first-hand i nt ens ive c o nt a ct with Hmong in r e c ent y e ars . t ion t o the original

In addi -

, however , I have benefited from the l and from the unpub lished obs erva­

Bertra i s and Heimbach d i c t i o nari e s ,

t i ons of the fo llowing mis s ionar i e s who have learned one or the other of the Hmong d i a l e ct s in que s t ion : Dona ld E . Ruli s o n , Erne s t E . Heim­ 2 b ach , Doris M . Whit e l o c k , Wal t er R . Moody , Garland M . Bar e , and G i l l i an Orp i n .

I am c o nfident that t h e phonologi cal ana l y s i s i s adequate f o r

orthographic pur p o s e s be caus e p e o p l e who - have u s ed it have b e e n s a t i s ­ f i e d w i t h t h e f i t b et ween orthography and s ound s y s t em , except f o r t h e p r ob l em r ai s ed by Moody a s ment i oned earlier , a n d o n e or t wo unres olved prob lems of int onat ion and j uncture whi ch will b e d e s cribed . C o M 0 na.n.tl.>

.-1 .-1 ol ol 1-1 .,... ..... ,c 1'l III 'sow with broadcast motion '

[k]

I k e 3 1 < ke v L �>

' ro a d '

Iqu l l

' o ld '

[e tJ

[ �]

l e e 6 1 < e e g L q;>

' carry o n t h e b a c k ' ' l eg '

l

The phoneme symboli sation i s arbitrar ily taken from the normalisation which follows

Hmong Njua pronunciation in cases where the pronunciations differ . 2

Hmong Daw pronunciation i s indi cated only' where this differs significantly from Hmong

Njua .

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

111 Iphl Ip l hl I t hi It l hl

[ 1] [ ph] [ ] [ th ] [ t:bh ]

[ ?t h J

1 1 i 1 1 < i b !S >. ' o ne ' I p h e 7 1 < p hem L � �> ' ev i �, bad ' I p l h u � 1 < p l h u � � > ' aheek ' I t h e 7 1 < t hem L fi �> 'pay ' HN I t l he 3 1 HD l ? t h a 3 1 < d h e e v L n � 4 > ,

It shl Irhl

sudde n � y ,

I t s h i 3 1 < t x h i v n � > ' r e d e em , I r h a w 3 1 < r h a wv L n i 1 > ' tank,

[ t sh ] [ th ]

urn ,

Ichl It Shl I kh l Iqhl I np l I np l l I nt i Int l l

[ch] [ tS h ] [ kh] [ �h ] [ mb ] [ mb I ] [ nd J [ nd I ]

I n t sl I n ri Incl I n t sl I n kl Inql

[ n.d z ] [ n ' wa 8 h ' I n ro 2 1 < n roj ,. i � > ' v e g e ta t i o n , w e e d8 ' I n c e 2 1 < n cej L ,. oi'> ' po 8 t, p i � �ar ' I n t se 2 1 < n t s e j L � �> ' e ar ' I n ka w 2 1 < n ka wj L 4 M 1 > ' wa 8 p , h o r n e t ' I n q e 1 1 < n qe e b L � � 4 > ' t ha t ah , g r a s 8 for t ha t a h '

Inphl I n p l hl I nt h l Intshl I n r hl

[ mp h ] [ mp :b ] [ nt h ] [ nt sh ] [ ti t h ]

I n p h a u � 1 < n p h a u 1 �� 1 > ' turbu � e n t ' I n p l h a l 1 1 < n p l ha i b 1��a> ' finger r i ng ' I n t h u a 3 1 < n t h u a v Y «1 > ' op e n ' I n t s ha i S I < n t x h a l s I Y n � > ' daug h t er ' I n r ho � 1 < n r ho ,.n � � > ' aomp � e t e �y ,

I nc h l

[ rIc h ]

I n c h u a 3 1 < n c h u a v "�1 >

Int Shl I n kh l I nq hl

[ nt sh ] [ I) k h ] [ g �h ]

I n t s ha i l < n t s h a i lyn v > ' fear ' I n kh a u 5 1 < n kh a u s 1 4 � 1 > ' tw i 8 t e d , 2 3 HN I n q h u a ( ? ) I ( t one u n c er t a i n ) 'to dry , HD I n q h u a 1 1 < n q h u a b 4 �1 > ' dr i e d up '

fi na � �y ,

' tu r n o v e r, pour

out '

INote Heimbach correction on p . 62 of the appendix of the 1966 edition . and my page references are all based on that earlier edition. 2Barney f s .notes show tone 1 6 / . 3Moody has not encountered this word .

This analysis

94

W . A . SMALLEY

Iml Im l l

I m e 'l l < m e m L � �> ' in k ' HN I m l o � 1 < n l o � S D > ' poug h (poadJ ' 1 HD I m l o 7 I < n l om . m l om � � D � > ' s ta tu e ' I n u 3 1 < n u v MV> ' to c a t c h w i t h a h o o k '

E m] [ml ]

�

Inl

En] [ I ] [ n] d o e s not o c cur

[ M]

I I e 3 1 < l ev L M� > 'ma t ' I n 0 1 I < n yo b �D > ' b e a t ' 2 l o u 5 I < g u s M � > 'goos e ' I hm a � 1 < hm a � � � > 'wo lf. w i ld dog '

I hm l l

d o e s not o c cup

[ Mm l ]

I hm i o S I < h n l o s , hm l o s 3 �� � D > ' de n ted.

Ihnl

d o e s not o c c ur

[N]

I h n a l / < h n a b � u� > ' bag , s a c k '

Ihl / I hi'i /

[ 1:, ] d o e s not o c cur

I h l i � 1 < h l i � I!l > 'moon ' / h n y a 3 1 < h n ya v ��9 > ' he a v y '

If I

[n

I f i 7 1 < f i m �;> ' to b e acquai n t e d

III I' n / 1 01 I hm l

[ oJ

I

inde n te d '

with ,

l si I S! Ixl I hi Ivl IV /y/

[5] [5] [ -e ]

[h] [vJ OJ

[y jJ

4

1 50 3 1 < x o v � D > ' to fence ' 1 50 1 1 < x y o o b � ;� > ' bamboo ' I x i 7 1 < s i m � � ;> ' tpy , t es t ' I h u � 1 < h u tJ > ' ca U ' HN I va 2 1 < v a a j 7 1 > 'garde n ' HD / va 2 1 < v a j 1 � > 'garde n ' I ze 2 z 0 5 1 < z e j z o s L �Vi � D > ' v i l la g e ' I Yo o / < yog V D�> ' to b e tpue '

F U4th e4 eo n� o nanta£ e044e� p o nd e ne e� b etwe e n t h e dia£ ee� In add i t i on to the c opre s pondence s between the cons onant s of Hmong Daw and Hmong Nj ua already d e s cribed , there are others whi c h are l e s s s y s t emat i c ( at t h e p r e s ent s t a t e o f knowledge ) or more l imited i n d i s ­ tribut i on .

Moody h a s supplied the fol lowing examp l e s from hi s compari s on

of his Hmong Nj ua f i l e s with t h e Heimbach d i c t i onary .

Thi s is not a

comp l e t e s e t , nor have I checked it my s e l f .

1 Second spelling i s used by Bertrai s .

2Reported by Heimbach and Moody but not by Bertrai s or Barney . Only one other word beginning with 1 01 is recorded by Heimbach : h i o l - 'the sound of tigeps fighting ' . Moody does not recognise thi s . 3

Second spelling i s used by Bertrais .

4 Data from Whitelock.

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

The mo st

such c orre sponden c e i s HD/ h /

95

=

HN/ f / , and in five

out o f the s ix cases supp lied b y Moody the c orre spondence oc curs b efore / ti / :

l

HD / h ti 2 / < h w j 8 > HN/ t t F / < f w j >

'bottle '

HD / h ti 7 / < h w m Ihl > HN/ f ti 7 / < f wm > 5 HD/ h ti / < h w s � > HN/ f ti 5 / < f w s> I

3 HD/ h ti / < h w v � > 3 HN/ f ti / < f w v >

' to r e s p e a t '

' p e r sp i rat i o n '

' b e a n aurd '

HD/ p0 3 h ti 7 / < po v h wm J u � ; > HN/ po 3 f ti 7 / < po v f w m > HD/ h u a 1 / < h u a b l 1 > HN/ f u a 1 / < f u a b >

' to pro t e a t '

' a loud '

The other c a s e s are more s p oradi c : HD / t s / = HN/ t s h / 1 HD/ t s u 2 k u / < t x u j k u m � Q ;> 1 2 HN/t s h o k u / < t x ho o k u m >

�

HD/ t h / = HN/t s h � h / HD/ t h i a 2 / < t h i a j

I

L�U>

' ho w '

' ao n s e q u e n t l y '

5 HN/t s h a 5 - h a / < t x h a s - h a s > HD/ t s h /

HN/ s / l HD/ t s h o / < t x h o b n J u > l HN/ sO / < xo b > =

' do n ' t '

V owe.l-6 u

ti

e

0

HN/ e / = HD / a / HN/ a /

HN/ a J = HD / a /

ua

HD/ i a / ai

(Whitelock ) .

au

a ti

( ::; )

( fl) Table 2 .

l In Thailand many Hmong Daw say

a

.

Vowe l s

In Laos Hmong Daw and Hmorig Njua say

< hoob>

W.A. SMALLEY

96

In the comp o s it e chart of Tab l e 2 , i t ems in p ar e nt h e s e s oc cur only i n Heimb a c h in our data , and with only one word for each .

I have heard

and there is no doubt of their o c currenc e , in spite of their extra­ natur e .

1 3 1 i s parti cularly unusual i n that i t i s p hone t i c -

a nasal i s e d vowe l without a fo llowing [ Q ] o r a p r e c ed i ng nasal c on s onant .

Bot h l U I and

are final part ic les .

I hU3 1 IhU3 1 Ihu 31 I h5 � 1 I ho l l

1 5 1 fo l low I h l o nly .

Both o ccur in words whi ch

Not e the f o llowing s e t o f Hmong Daw c o ntras t s :

< hwwv � � > ' in t e n s i v e fi na l p a r t i c l e ' < hw v � > ' gr a z e on s tu b b l e ' < hu v �> ' a l l together ' < ho o � � > ' r e d- b e l li e d s qu irre l ' < ho o b i� > ' b omb, g r e nade ' I h 3 5 1 < ho n s � O � > ' fina l p a r ti c l e ' I h o 5 1 < ho s � o > ' in i t i a l par t i c l e '

There i s a regular set of vowel correspond e n c e s betwe e n Hmong Nj ua ( Green Meo ) and Hmong Daw ( Wh i t e Meo ) : HN e a

a

HD =

a ia

=

=

Pictured another way , the left -hand phoneme of each e quat i on i n the f o l ­ lowing s er i e s i s Hmong Nj ua and t h e r i ght-hand phoneme i s Hmong Daw : HN

e

a

Ia

HD

I IT I i s front - c entral , s l i ghtly rounded , in Hmo ng Nj ua , s omewhat farther b ack in Hmong Daw, although b o t h range in front-to-back p o s i t i o n s omewhat .

l e i i s [ e y ] , wit h t he degr e e o f t ongue movement greater o n 101 i s [ 0 ] . The approxima t e value s o f the vowe l gli d e s r u e ] , la l l r a y ] , laUI [ Ie ] , lual [ reu ] in Hmong Nj ua , rounded [ � ± ] in Hmong Daw , l a u l = [ o w ] .

t one s . are I i a l and a

=

=

=

=

Nasa l i s e d vowe ls di ffer s omewhat i n t h e ir pronunci at i on i n the two d i al e c t s .

In Hmong Daw , with the except ion of

1 5 1 already d i s c us s e d ,

t h e s e vowe ls are b o t h nasa l i s e d and f o ll owed b y [ Q ] .

The ve lar nas a l

1 21 1 in Hmong Nj u a . Voc a l i c quali t i e s a l s o d i ffer In Hmong Nj ua 1 0 1 i s [ ow ] , b ut i n Hmong Daw it i s [ oQ ] . All

f eature o c c urs only o n

vowe ls are non-phonemic ally nas ali s ed without final [ Q] after nas a l c o ns onant s a n d prena s a l i s ed c on s onant s i n Hmong Daw .

I d o not have

r e c ord of such nasali s at i on in Hmong Nj ua , but c annot be sure t hat it d o e s not oc cur . In s ome d i a l e c t s of Hmong Nj ua the mo s t obvious a l lophoni c differ­ enc e s in any vowe l ar e in

III.

I n one diale ct [ +] o c curs after

It s n t s

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS

AND

TONE

97

t s h n t s h 5 t � � n t � / , wh i le [ i ] o c c urs els ewhere . In another diale ct , [ i ' ] ( s light ly backed ) o c c ur s after this l i s t of c ons onant s when the t one is / 1 2 3 4 / , while [ � ] o c c ur s with the remaining t ones after t h e s e s ame cons onant s . [ i ] o c curs with other c o n s o nant s . Mo ody has called to my at t ent ion still ano ther dialect in wh ich [ �] occur s after I t s n t s t s h n t s h 5 / , [ �J ( with frict ion ) after / r t � t � h n t � n t � h � / , and [ i ] els ewh ere .

+

Exam ple� 0 6 v o wel p h o n em e� Phoneme

Hmong Nj ua pronun .

Hmong Daw pronun .

Example

/i/ /u/ /u/ / e/ /0/ /a i a a a/

[ i � ] etc . [u] [u] [ ey ] [0] [a]

[i] [±]

/ t i l / < t i b � > ' p i l e up ' / t u 7 / < t wm � �> ' buffa lo ' / t u 1 / < t u b I!» ' s o n ' / t e 1 / 'fie ld ' / t 0 2 / < t o j �o > ' hi l l ' HN / t a 1 / l ' s ki r t ' HD / t i a 1 / < t i a b \ � u > ' s kir t ' HN / p a 1 / < p a a b � 1 > ' h e lp ' HD / p a 1 / < p a b � 1 > ' h e lp ' HN / t � a l / < t s e e b \ � � � > ' tr u l y , c l ear l y HD /t �a l / < t s e e b \ � � � > ' tr u l y , c l ear ly HD / h U 3 / < h wwv � � > ' i n t e n s i v e fi na l

r ia] [a]

r ay ] /u/

d o e s not oc cur

/0/ /5/

[ ow ]

/ua/ fa i l /au/ /au/

r ue ] ray ] [ mu ] [ ow ]

does not oc cur

' '

par t i c l e '

/ p O I / < p o o b � � > ' fa l l ' / h 5 5 / < h o n s �O � > ' fi na l

parti c le '

/ t u a 2 / < t u a j Jh > ' come ' / t s a i 2 / < t x a i j 1 � 0 > ' v arico l o ur e d ' / t a U l / < t a w b \ i h > ' bas k e t ' / t a u 4 / < t a u 'i � 1 > ' b e a b l e '

E x e epti o n� to v o wel eo�� e� p o nd ene e� A s i s t o b e expect ed , there are s ome exceptions t o the vowe l corre­ s p onden c e s b etween Hmong Daw and Hmong Nj ua in the prec eding di s c u s s ion . Moody has checked every o c currenc e of

HD/ a a i a / i n the Heimbach

l For reasons which will be discussed later , the Thai script transcription for both dialects follows Hmong Daw pronunciation when there are automatic sound correspond­ ences .

98

W.A. SMALLEY

d i ct ionary against h i s own Hmong Nj ua r i le s , and rinds only the fol lowing s hort l i s t or except i on s to the s e corresp ondence s ;

l HO / i a l HN/ e a l HD/ k i a 2 k i a 7 1 < k i a j k l am L �V L M v ;> HN/ k e 7 ka 1 1 < ke m ka m > =

HD/ i a l HN/ a l HD/ p h i a 1 1 < p h l a b L �V > HN/ p h a 1 1 < p h a a b>

' b oundary '

=

'basin '

HD/ i a l = HN/ e l HD/ t s h l a 4 / < t x h i a b L ��V> HN/ t x h e 1 1 < t x h e e b> HD/ l a / HN/ u a / HO/t s h l a 4 1 < t x h l a L �� V > HN/ t s h ua 4 / < t x h u a >

' th ousand '

=

'all '

HD/ q ho 3 t s h l a 4 c ha U 4 / < q h o v t x h i a c h a w ��u L �� V L � � > HN/ h o 3 t s h u a 4 c ha U 4 / < ho v t x h u a c h a w>

' th i ng s '

HD/ q h o 3 t s h i a 4 q ho 3 c h a U 4 / < q ho v t x h i a q ho v c h a w ��u L ��V��u L � � > HN/ h o 3 t s h u a 4 ho 3 c ha U 4 / < ho v t x h u a h o v c h a w > HD/ a l HN/ a / HD/ n p l a 7 1 < n p l eem L �U � � ;> HN/ n p l a 7 1 < n p l a a m>

' ev erywher e '

=

' to s li p '

In addi t i on , t here are c a s e s where the vowe l s in the two d i a l e c t s would b e exp e c t e d to b e the s ame a c cording t o t h e c omp o s i t e charts ab ove , but they are not .

Moody has not made a rull l i s t o f such c a s e s , but has

suppl i e d me with the foll owing s amp ling :

HO/ a l = HN/ e l HD/ c a 2 t l a 1 / < c a j d a b �1 � 1 > HN/ ce 2 ? d a 1 1 < c e j d a a b >

'neak '

�oody also reports [ a ] in four frequently occurring Hmong Njua words , which I have not had an opportunity to check . The fact that they all occur with the s ame tone might be indicative that the vowel difference is not contrastive . HD/m i a �? l a 51 'goat ' HN[me5?a5 ] HD/?a 5/ 'final partiale ' HN[ ?ffi5 ] HD/ l a 51 < l as �� 1 > 'aompZetive partiale ' HN[l a 5 ] HN[ ta5 ] 'aonneative partiale '

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

HD / a i /

=

99

HN / a / .

HD/ h a i 5 / < h a i s ��>

' to speak '

HN/ h a 5 / < ha s > HD / a u /

=

HN/ u /

HD/ t s h a u 3 / < t x h a u v t n � � >

'mi Z Z e t '

HN/t s h u 3 / < t x h u v > HD/ o /

=

HN/ u /

HD / t s o 5 / < t x o s

�

� � > ' firep Z a a e '

HN/t s u 6 / < t x u g > HD/ o/

=

HN/ U /

HD/ ko � t U � / < ko t w n � m >

' t ai Z '

HN/ k u � t u 4 / < kw t w> HD/o/

HN/ u a /

=

HD/ k o 7 / < kom n � M>

' t o aau s e ;

HN/ k u a 5 / < ku a s > HD/ i /

HN/ u /

=

t fi 1 M� > ' p r e v i o u s Z y '

HD / t h a u 7 ? i 4 / < t h a u m - i HN/ t h a u 4 ? u 4 / < t h a u - u > HD/ i /

HN/ e /

=

HD/ f i 7 / < f i m � M>

' to meet '

HN/ f e 7 / < f e rn> HD/ u /

HN/ oo/

=

HD/ m u s / < m u s ��>

' t o go '

HN/mo 6 / < mo o g > HD/ U /

HN/ i /

=

.I'

HD/ su 1 k u a 1 / < x w b k u a b .yif� >

' g ourd '

HN/ s i l ku a 1 / < x i b k u a b> HD/ u a /

=

HN/ u /

HD/ n t l u a s p h 5/ < n t s u a s p ho o � 1 � " 4 > HN/ n t l u 6 p h o 2 / < n t s u g p h o o j >

' a Zoak '

T o 11.e.� The approxima t e value s of t h e t ones i n f inal s tr e s s ed p o s i t i on are sh own i n Tab l e 3 , over leaf .

100

W . A . SMALLEY

1

2

3

4

Tabl e 3 .

5

6

Tones

The s e cond form of t o ne 7 is r e c orded as a s eparate phoneme b y b o t h Bertrais a n d Heimbach , a n d they b o t h indicate its marginal c harac t e r . Heimbach ( 1 9 6 6 : 1 4 - 1 6 ) giv e s about two page s of des cript ion of morpho­ phonemic alternat ion b etwee n the two contours , bas ed on s y nt ac t i c c o ndi­ t i o ns .

He c onc lude s , h owever , t hat not a lway s can he a c c ount f o r the

c o nd i t i oning fac t or s , and li s t s a total of 16 words with t h i s " e ighth tone " in hi s dict ionary .

A l l o f t h em have c ounterpar t s with h i s tone 7 .

I n Heimbac h ' s d i c t i onary the tone with t h e next sma l l e s t numbe r o f o c ­ curr e n c e s is t one 6 , w i t h 2 3 9 o c currenc e s . paper I would

F or t h e purp o s e s of t h i s

to a c c ount for this addit ional phonet i c c ont our by

morphophonemic rul e s and even the p o s tu l a t i on of a j un c tur e , and do not inc lude it as a separate phoneme . Heimbach al s o l i s t s two words i n his d i c t i o nary with a pitch feature whi ch he writes with < x > .

He calls this p i t c h a " sp e c ial intonation"

( 19 6 6 : 1 3 - 1 4 ; app e ndix : 1- 2 ) , and de scrib e s i t as an i nt o nati onal featur e , changing the b a s i c tone of the final word o f a phra s e , with a me aning of wonder or awe .

F or o ne of the two words l i s t e d with this " t one " i n

the d i c t i onary He imba c h giv e s an alt ernat ive with tone 5 : < l ox > ( 1 3 0 ) . F or the other h e was presumab ly n ot able t o det ermine a b as i c t one : < y u ax>

' aomp t e ti v e p ar t i a t e ' .

not r e c ognise the word .

Whi t e l o c k r ep ort s that h e r informan t s do

It was doubt l e s s obtained by He imbach in t ext

where the intonat ion was a feature .

We will a s s ume here that this p i t c h

i s b e s t handled as intonat i on in s p it e o f t h i s examp l e . The f o l lowing phone t i c d e s cript ions of the tones ar e bas ed on final s t re s s ed p o s i t i on .

Two of the tones are marked by other s tr ong featur e s

in add i t i o n t o pit c h .

/6 / i s " breathy " , c au s ed by an e n larged laryngeal

c avity and doubt l e s s a s p e c i a l configurat ion o f the vocal c ords .

/7/ is

t erminat e d by a glot tal s t op [ ? ] , and is c hara c t er i s ed b y shor t ened

vowel l engt h ,

under the morphophonemic c ondi t i on s d e s cr i b ed b y

Heimb a c h ( and p erhaps pre c ed i ng a p os t u l at e d phonemic j uncture ) . of t h e s e are in a low p i t c h range . in Tab l e 3 .

Both

The i r r e lat ive p o s i tions c a n b e s ee n

The p i t c h i s level or s l i ght ly

, t h e falling prob-

ab ly due t o j unctural c ondit i oning . The r emaining t one s ar e more pure ly chara c t e ri s ed b y p i t c h d i s t inc­ t ions alone s o far as my ears c an t e l l .

/1 3 5/ are level ( or s light ly

101

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

falling , perhap s b e c au s e o f j uncture ) high , mid , and low . from a high p o s i t i o n .

; 2 1 falls

I � I ri s e s from a p o s i t i o n s l ightly b e l ow mid .

The s e c ond contour for 1 ' 1 r i s e s from a low pos i t i on .

Exam p i e¢ 0 6 to ne p h o n em e¢ Ph oneme

Pronun .

Example HN/ p a 1 / < p a a b HD/ p a 1 / < p a b

�

HD / p O l / < p o b

HD/ p a 2 / < p a j HD / p 0 2 / < p o j HN/ p a 3 / < p a a v HD/ p a 3 / < p a y

HD/ p a 4 / < p a HD/ p 0 4 / < p o

/ '/

HD/ p a 5 / < p as

' to t i e ' ' to t i e ' ' to t hr>ow '

.

'rod ' ' ro d ' ' thorn '

� � -H> ' exp a n s e � iJ-H> ' p a t e rna l

I..,..

HN/ p a 6 / < p a a g

L?

HN/ p a ' / < p a a m

HD/ p 0 6 / < p o g

HD/ p 0 7 / < p orn

J�> ��> Jo > .

HD / p 0 5 / < p o s /6/

' to h e l p ' ' lump, b a Z Z - l i k e '

� � > ' br e a t h ' �� > ' br e a t h ' � iJ > 'panarea s ' 1

HN/ p a 5 / < p a a s

I--

J� > J� > � iJ > .

HD/ p 0 3 / < p o v

' t o h e lp '

J� > ' f lower> ' U � > ' f lower> ' JiJ > ' fema l e '

HN/ p a 2 / < p a a j

HN/ p a � / < p a a

��> � �> � iJ > �

of water ' grandm o t h e r '

� � I'i'> ' f e a s t ' � iJ f'1> ' to s e e '

T o n e eo�� e¢ p o nd e n e e6 b etw e e n diai eet¢ As imp lied in t h e above des cription , norma l ly c ognat e words in Hmong Daw and Hmong Nj ua have the s ame t one .

However , c o rre sp onden c e s are

c ons iderably more irregular in t h e tones than in the c o ns onants or vowe l s .

Mo ody has suppl i e d s ome examp l e s of a vari ety of such c orre­

s pondenc e s .

The l i s t is not c omplet e , nor have I checked it pers onally .

The mos t frequent correspo ndence when two different tones are in­ volved is HD/ 5 1

=

HN/ 6 / .

Furt hermore , thr e e out of the twelve corre­

s p ondenc es s upplied by Moody involve HN/ 6 1 , and two of t h em HD/ 6 / . l

Heimbach has 'spleen ' , but Whitelock agrees that the meaning i s panareas .

10 2

W.A.

SMALLEY

Three of the correspondences involve HD/ 5 / , and three HN/ 5 /.

/ 5 0/ ,

therefore , are involved in all but two of the twelve sets. HD/ 7 / is in­ 7 volved in two sets , and HN/ / in one. Here are examples of each of the correspondences supplied by Moody :

HD/ S I

=

HN/ 6 1

HD/ z e 5 1 < z e s t � ; >

'nest '

HNI Z e 6 1 < z e g > HD/ m u S I < m u s � � >

' to g o '

HN/mo o l < moog > HD/ l a s l < l ee s L � �� >

' to a dmi t '

HN/ l e 6 1 < I e e g > HDj 1 I

=

HN/ 6 I

HD / c a 2 n t s ij 7 1 < c a j n t s w m �1 � � ;>

' nos e r i dg e '

HN/ c a 2 n t s ij 6 1 < c a a j n t s w g > HD/ � I

=

HN/ o l

HD/ n p h o � 1 < n p h oo �� � >

' j o s t � e ( i n a orowd) ,

HN/ n p ho 6 1 < n p ho o g > HD/ 6 I

=

HN/ 9 I

HD/ n t s u a 6 1 < n t x u a g �J1;>

' m e a t or v e g e ta b � e s e a t e n with ri c e '

HN/ nt s u a 3 1 < n t x u a v > HD / 6 1

=

HN / 2 1

HD/t l j l p a 6 1 < d i b p a g �� 1 ;> 'me �on ' HN/ ?d i l p a 2 1 < d i b p a a j > HD/ 7 1

=

HN / s I

HD/ ko 7 1 < korn n o ;> ' to caus e ' HN/ k u a s l < ku a s > HD / 1 I HN/ s I HD/ s i 1 1 < s i b � ;> (pr e v e r b a � of r ec iproca l a o t i o n ) =

HN / s i s l < s i s > HD/ � I

=

HN / s I

HD / n t a � 1 < n t a � � 1 >

' m i dd Z e fing e r '

HN / n t a S I < n t a a s > HN / 7 1 HD/ l o s s i s l < I o s s i s � A O � ' >

HD / 5 1

=

,

'

' v ery '

HN/ l o S s j 7 1 < I o s s i m > " HN; I

HD / n p l o S I < n p l o s �u � o > HN/ n p l h o 4 1 < n p l h o >

' to s ti c k '

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS

HD/ 2 /

HN/ 4 / HD/ q e 2 / < q e J L n n> HN/ q e 4 / < q e>

AND

10 3

TONE

=

' gar li c '

HD/ p ho 4 / < p ho o � 4 > HN/ p ho 2 / < p ho o j >

' lo c k '

The typical Hmong s y l lable cons i s t s of two p art s , an onset and a p e ak .

Ons e t s may be nul ( ze ro ) , simple , or c omp l e x .

of a syllabic and a tone .

P eak s c o ns i s t

The s yllab i c may be s imple or c omp lex .

We

are here avoiding the p roblem of whe ther or not t h e phonet i c ally c omp lex c ons onant s and vowe ls d e s cribed in Tab l e s 1 and 2 are s ingl e phoneme s or c luster s , b e c aus e t h i s theoret i cal prob lem has no r e l evance for our purpos e s .

In the Thai orthography we have to wri t e them in the manner

c l o s e s t to the Thai s y s t em .

Tones may b e s imp l e o r c omp l ex .

St at ements on limit a t i ons . of distribut i on whi c h fo llow apply t o Hmong Daw ( White M e o ) only , as I d i d not have a suffi c i ent vo lume of l ac curate data when this paper was written t o make such statement s for Hmong Nj ua .

They are b a s e d on the Heimbach and Bertra i s d i c t ionari e s .

Syllables with zero onset are rare , and b e long t o a s p e c i a l sub c l a s s of final part i c le s .

Heimbach r e cords t h em with an initial < I > , which

i n his trans crip t i o n means that there i s no ini t ial c ons onant . only six such entri e s .

Bertrai s does not make the d i s t i nct i on .

He has Very

p o s s ib ly zer o ons e t s wou ld b e b et t e r analy s ed as cond iti oned by a j unc­ ture .

In both d i c t i onar i e s words recorded wit hout an initial consonant

have an ini t i a l glot t a l s t op .

S imp le and c omp lex ons e t s are r e corded

i n Tabl e 1 . Comp le x onset s are created by asp irat i o n , prenas a l i s at i o n , or b ot h . Or , they are created b y lateral o r affricated r e l e as e .

Comp lexity

caused by asp irat i o n , nas al i s at i on or lateral r e le a s e is i ndicated in the s ymb o l i s at i o n .

Affri c at i on i s not alway s so indicat ed .

/ r / , for

examp l e , has an affricated r e l e as e . Comp lex s y l l ab i c s r e sult from vowel glide or from na s a l i s at ion , as may be s e e n i n Tabl e 2 and t h e phonet i c d e s cript i on whi c h fo l l ows i t . C omplex t on e s are a c ombinat i o n o f p it c h with b re athine s s or with glottal i s at i on .

l

Lyman 1970 and 1974 had not yet appeared , and the dictionary files of Moody and Rulison were not readily available to me .

104

W.A. SMALLEY

I n general , any o ns e t may o c cur with any syllab i c . to this ar e t ho s e cases where the ons e t s are very rar e . examp l e s are zero o n s e t and

1 0/ .

The exceptions Two import ant

In Heimb ac h ' s d i c t ionary zero onset

l a u 0 1 . His total inve ntory of entr i e s with zero on­ l a u 1 1 < ' a u b 1 0 1 > ' fi na l exa lama to�y pa� t i a l e ' , l a u 2 1 < ' a u j 1 01 > ' fi na l empha t i a p a � ti a l e ' , l a u 3 1 < I a u v 1 01 > ' fi na l empha t i a p a � ti a l e ' , 10 2 1 < ' oj 00 > ' fi na l qu e s ti o n p a� t i a l e ' , 1 0 5 1 < ' o s D O > ' fi na l emp h a t i a pa� t i a l e ' , 1 0 3 1 < I O V 00 > ' fi na l emp ha t i a p a� t i a l e ' . 1 01 i s likewi s e a marginal p henomenon , as we have already s e e n . Where a s neither zero o n s e t nor 1 01 i s r e c orded by Bertrai s , there o c cur s only wit h

s et i s as fol lows :

are s ome o ns e t s r e c orded by b ot h d i c t i onar i e s whi c h are likewi s e s o rare that the onset d o e s not o c cur wit h all s yllab i cs .

Here i s a li s t of a l l

s u c h other onset s f o llowed b y t h e s y l lab i c s with whi c h t hey do n o t o c cur in e it her d i c t ionary .

The order is alphab et i cal by ons et .

I ? t h l i s not followed by l a ! 5 1 , I f I by l u i , I h l l by l a l , I hm l b y l a i a u a u a e i l a u a u l , I hm l l by l a i a u e i i a 5 u a u l , I h n l b y l a i a u a u i u a ITI , I h n l by l a ! a u i ITI , I m l b y l a u u l , Im l l b y l a ! a u a u a e i a ul , I n l b y l a u l , I n c h l b y l a e u l , I n kl b y l e i , I n kh l by l a i e i a u u a ul , I n p h l by la ! a e i a u / , I n p l l by l u ul , I n p l hl by l a a u a e i a u u a IT I , I n q l by I i 5 1 . I nq h l by l a i a u a u a e i a u l , I n r h l b y I e u a u l , I n t h l b y l a i a u i a / , I nt s h l by I e 5 IT I , I n t s h l b y l a u / , I p l l b y I IT I , I p l h l by l a a i a i a 5 1 . I q h l b y l a l or l si b y l a l l a / . I n Hmong Daw

l

limi t at i o n s on d i s tribut i on of t o n e s with o n s e t s s how

one c le ar p at t er n and s ome strong t endenci e s .

The c l e ar patt ern is in

/ 6 / . whi c h d o e s not o c cur with any o ns e t whi ch in Tabl e 1 i s trans cribed with an I h l s ymb ol as any part of t h e s e ­ 2 It do e s oc cur with a l l the others . Thi s quen c e , or w i t h If s s x l . the d i s t ri but i o n of tone

s ymmet r i c a l diVis ion of the cons onant s may be s e e n i n T ab le 4 .

I n­

c luded a l s o in Tab l e 4 , under the symb o l s f o r the onset s , i s a not ation of the t one s other than s et .

/6/ whi ch do not o c c ur wit h any p ar t i cular on­

The s e other limitat i ons o n d i stribut i o n s how another pattern whic h

i s n o t qui t e s o c on s i s t e nt , namely that aspirated nasals and aspirat e d

/7 2 / , s ometime s with In fact , for I n t h / , in n e ither , s omet ime s only with one or the other . i n the t he Heimb ach d i c t ionary / 7/ i s mi s s ing , whereas / 2 / is

prenasali s e d s t o p s t end not t o o c cur w i t h t o n e s

Bertrai s d i ct ionary .

�oOdy ' s dictionary file of Hmong Njua shows some difference s of distributional pat­ tern from the following statements. , which will warrant checking. 2 The one exception in the Heimbach dictionary is IOQ hu 61 '�es�iated post-ve�baZ intensifie� ' , which Whitelock has not been able to identify .

THE

p

pI

t

np

np l

nt

m

ml

n

?d

ts

r

c

tS

k

q

nt s

nr

nc

nt5

nk

nq

t Sh

kh

qh

v

Z

o n.6 e;t.&

pl h

?

n

v

ph

105

PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

th

?t h

y

whi.c.h o c.c.u.1l. w-L:th / 6 / t sh

rh

nt sh / 7/

nrh /7/

ch

/1/ nph 2 7/ / hm /2 7/

np l h /7/ hm l 7/

/1

f

nt h / 2 -7/

nc h 1 / 2 7/

hn

hI

hny

/2/

/7/

j1/

5

s o n.6

Table 4.

ntsh / 7/

nkh 2 7/ /

nqh 2 / a 7/

h

x

e.:t.6 wh-Lc.h do n o :t o c. c.u.1l. wi:th / 6 /

Other restric tions in occurrence of tones with onsets s hown under the i ndividual consonant s

The d i s t ribut i onal fa c t s repre s ented i n Tab le 4 lend cons iderab le we ight t o i nt erp reting all of the s ounds in the upper ha lf o f the tab l e as phonemi c a l ly b a s ed o n vo i c ed norms , and a l l of t h o s e in t h e lower half as phonem i c a l ly bas ed on aspirated norms .

In f ac t , in the upper

half all are phone t ic a l ly v o i c ed except the f i r s t line , and in the l ower half al l ar e phone t ic a l ly a spirated except the last line .

Thu s , our

/ p / wou ld be int erpre ted as / b / , / p h / as / b h / , / f / as / v h / , etc .

I sus­ 1

p e c t that such an analy s i s would be of intere st in h i s t or i c a l s tudi e s

and woul d g ive a s imp ler d e s cription for pres ent a t i o n in t erms of d i s ­ t inct ive f e atur e s or other current sy s t em s of phono logical analy s i s , but for our orthographi c o b j e c t ives here it would draw us farther from the phone t i c actuali s a t i o n and would be le s s u s e fu l . A l l s y l labi c s e x c e p t t h o s e within parent h e s e s in Tab le 2 o c cur with all t one s .

l

See Purnell 1970 ; Haudricourt 1954 : 555-76; Chang 1953 ; Downer 1967 .

W . A . SMALLEY

106

F�eq u ency 0 6 p h o n em e� The gaps in comb inat i ons of o n s e t s with s y l la b i c s in the structure are r e lated to over a l l frequen c i e s of di stribution of the r e s p e c t ive items . He imb a ch d i c t ionary

Tab le 5 give s the li st frequency of each onset in the l in the first line of figur e s under each onset , and

t ext frequency in twelve fools cap p age s of t e xt in the s e c ond line o f f igur e s .

2

Tab l e 6 give s t h e l i s t frequenc i e s for vowe ls i n the He imbach d i c ­ t ionary , and Tab l e 7 t h e list and t ext frequency ( b a s ed on the same t ext as for the o n s e t s ) for t o ne s .

In s ome c a s e s the li s t frequency

indi cat e s a mor e limit e d distribution than is det a i l ed above in the li s t of limitat ions o n c omb inations of ons e t s with s y l lab i c s .

This i s due

to t h e fact that the frequenc i e s are b a s ed on H e imba c h alone , but the l imitations of di stribut ion were a comp o s i t e li s t i ng from t h e two d i c ­ t i onar i e s . As i s to be exp e c t e d , the l e s s frequent o n s e t s ar e the ones with the gre at er limitations of distribut i on with s y l labi c s .

The r e lat i on of

ons et s to t ones i s limit ed more s t r uc t ur a l ly than stat i s t i c a l ly , but

/ 1 t h n c h / s how lack of c o- o c currence whi ch may b e due

rare o n s e t s like

s imply t o the rar i t y of the onset . Z er o onset

6 0

p

pi

t

?d

ts

69 113

41 5

88 625

57 114

70 155

ph

plh

th

?t h

41 11

13 2

51 179

11 3

np

np l

nt

37 10

28 3

59 180

r

c

tS

k 71 310

67 28

t Sh

kh

qh

49 6

50 12

28 62

76 305

?

q

47 154

68 90

t sh

rh

ch

50 27

20 1

29 8

nt s

nr

nc

nt S

nk

nq

41 20

52 17

42 16

60 49

35 11

23 10

8

nph

npl h

nt h

ntsh

nrh

nch

nt Sh

n kh

nqh

11 0

5 0

16 0

20 0

12 20

9 1

16 9

9 1

5 6

Table

5 -

continued

l

The Heimbach dictionary lists every phonemic syllable only onc e , and then enumerates different meanings under this single entry . The c ount therefore i s not a c ount of morphemes , but of syllables . 2

.

The text was recorded from informants in Khao Khat ( L V1 �1 � ) , Lomsak , known to the Meo themselves as /koka/ ( Cawca ) , one of the c ommunities where Heimbach worked . Counts were made by Gillian Orpin.

107

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

m

ml

n

I

n

43 268

5 1

47 31 4

I)

81 515

37 25

3 0

hm

hm l

hn

hi

hn

10 7

1 0

13 24

35 27

7 0

f

s

29 8

51 54

v

58 154

v

Z

39 45

56 52

55 292

25 17

y

v

Table 5 ,

h

x

s

64 334

Consonants

The first line of figure s s hows l i s t frequency based on Heimbach , and the s e cond l i ne s hows frequency bas ed o n twe lve pages of t ext .

ti

u

174

137

155

e

a

0

135

220

233

a

(5

137

156

I

a

ua

159 a

205

i

98 �

e

1

Vowe l s .

a u

179

( ti )

(5)

1

1

6 Table 6 .

aw

166

Showing l i s t frequency b a s e d on Heimbac h .

1

2

3

4

351 704

295 649

354 714

312 927

Table 7 .

Tone s .

5 339 1156

6

7

239 397

277 456

Showing l i s t and t e xt frequency .

records six words as alternating freely between / 1 / and lei . therefore recorded them separately.

We have

108

W . A . SMALLEY

Stre s s , j unctur e , intonati on and other p o s s ib l e phono logi cal feature s have no t b e e n adequat e ly analy s ed , and are not further reported here . Heimbach di s c us s e s one int onat i o na l patt ern ( Heimba c h 1 9 6 6 : 1 3 , 1 4 ) , and hint s of j unctural p o s s ib i l i t i e s have b e e n mad e above .

Lac k of t h i s

inf ormation i s probab ly n o s e rious l o s s f o r t h e popular ort hography , wh i c h s e ems to operat e per fect ly well wi thout r e f l e ct ing a ful l range of such d i s t i n c t i ons , as do mo s t ort ho graphi e s .

As d e s cribed near the begi nning of t h i s c hapter , the Roman letter ort hography u s e d in the two di c t i onar i e s has b e en in u s e among the Hmong in Laos for twenty year s , alt hough it is known by le s s than one hundred Hmo ng in Tha i land .

In this s e c t ion t h e Roman letter orthography will b e

d i s cu s s ed briefly .

Fo llowing that , t h e sugge s t i o n s for a Thai-ba s ed

ort hography w i l l b e taken up in d e t a i l . In Tab le 8 I rep eat the cont ent s of Tab l e s 1-3 with the orthograph i c convent i ons of the Romani s ed s y s t em i n < > where t h e s e di ffer from the phonemic trans cript ion u s e d i n t h i s paper .

Where no symb o l i n < > i s

t o b e found , the symb o l u s e d i n the c hart t o repres ent the phoneme i s u s ed for the p opular orthography a l s o . Tone s are marked by letters at the end o f the s y l lab l e . t o n e in I p O l l .

Thu s , t h e

' fa Z Z ' i s wri t t e n w i t h < b > at t h e end of t h e s y l labl e :

Tone 4 i s unmarke d .

In t h e f i r s t s y l lab le of a c ompound , i f

there i s confus ion wi th the f o llowing ini t i a l c ons onant s ymb o l , Tone 4 may b e marked with < - > inst ead . The u s e of < x > for l s I re sulted from a c omprom i s e b etween what Barney and Smal ley were sugg e s t ing for orthography and what Bertra i s was already us ing .

Hi s usage here was patt erned after Vie t nam e s e .

The b a s i c principle fol lowed in the Roman l e t t e r s y s t em for wr it ing the d i fferenc e s between Hmong Daw ( Wh i t e Meo ) and Hmong Nj ua ( Gre en/Blue Me o ) was to wri t e the sounds of the two languages the s ame way wh en they were pronoun c ed the s ame , or s omet ime s when there was a c or r e s p on­ dence s u c h that all o c curr enc e s in the one c orres ponded with a n equival­ ent s et of o c currenc e s in the other .

Thu s , I p l was wr itten < p > in b oth

b e cause it s ounds the same in both , and HN/ t 1 1 and HD/ ? d l were wr i t t e n < d > in b o t h be cau s e a l l oc currenc e s of HN/ t 1 1 c orres pond w i t h a l l o c ­ curr enc e s of HD/ ? d l ( e xc ept f o r t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of a few words whi c h ar e c omp l e t e ly unr e lated ) .

For such c orres p ondenc e s as HN/ m l

=

HD / h m l

the two were wr itt en d ifferent ly in t h e two diale c t s , < m > and < h m > r e s p e ct ively , because the c orrespondence HN / m l

=

HD/ m l a l s o o c curred .

109

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

p

pi

t

t I (?d )

ts

ph

plh

th

np

np l

nt

t l h ( ?t h )

ch

tsh

nr

nc

nt s

< ntx>

nt h

ml

nt sh

nrh

( hm )

nch

nt sh

f

2

(hn)

nk

nq

n kh

nq h

[ ( I) ) ]

n

3

< n y>

( hm l )

qh

hi

( hn )

s

s

< s>

Z

y

v

h

x

C O M O nct ntl.> u

U

e

0

a

HN! e /

HD/ a /

5

HN/ a /





au

au

HD/ i a /

ua

ai

< a w>

( fr ) 3

(3 )3



Vowe.ll.>

r 1

l' 2

V 3

l-

t-

�

4

5

6

< >



L? I

V 7 ...

""3

·

----

---

To n.e.1.> Table 8. 1

2 3

1 < >

n

2

kh

?



m

q

nt s

np l h

rh

« nt l ) )

k

< t s>

t sh

nph

tS

c

r

No symbol is used for /?/ .

Roman orthography

Zero onset is marked by < ' > in Heimbach .

Spelling used by Heimbach , but not by Bertr ai s , who uses . 0ccurs in Heimbach, but not in Bertrais .

110

W . A . SMALLEY

It had not yet o c curred t o me that by wr i t ing HN/ ml HD/ h ml words as < h m > in both diale c t s the wr i t ing s y s t ems c ould be brought even c lo s er =

t oget her , and it wo uld b e e a s ier for e a c h dialect to r ead mat er i a l wr i t t en in the o t h e r dialec t .

U s ing the princ i p l e of wri t ing the dia­

lect of great e s t diver s i t y , t her e need be no difference o f s p e l ling b e ­ tween t he dialect s . The principle of wr i t i ng the great e s t diver s i ty ( Sma lley 1 9 5 8 ) i s bas ed on t he a s s ump t i on t hat w e should s trive f o r readi ng eas e above s p e lling eas e .

If , in t h e s e two di alect s , all HN/ ml

wr i t t e n , and all HN/ml

=

HD /ml words ar e HD/ h ml word s are wri t t en < hm> the reading =

w i l l b e unamb iguous for both d i a l ec t s , but the s p e l li ng w i l l be over­ different iated f or Hmong Njua ( a s Hmong Nj ua w i l l have two s p e l l i ng s f o r t he Iml s ound in that d i a l e c t ) . Tab l e 9 l i s t s the automa t i c c o rr e s p onden c e s in c ons onant s and vowels where the s e are not the s ame in the two d i a l ec t s , and the spell ings which might have b e en app lied to them to make for a uni form Roman i s e d s p e ll ing for t he two . s p e l l i ngs .

A l l of the s ugg e s t e d s p e l li ng s are Hmong Daw

Thi s means t hat every thing would be s p e l le d in the Hmong

Daw pronunc iat i on , and Hmong Nj ua primers would be constructed to t each th e s e c onv ent i ons .

Wi t h w e l l - c o ns t ructed primers they should cau s e no

d i fficulty . Of cour s e , both dialect s have irr egu l ar c orrespondence s , as have b een di s cu s s ed under each of the he adings of c ons onant , vow e l , and t one . There are , in addi t i on , word s which do not c orrespond phono log i c a l ly wi t h the word of the s ame meaning i n the other dial e c t , words whi c h are not c ogna t e at a l l .

Thi s r emains a prob lem for c ommon lit eratur e .

On

the s impler leve l s o f l e arning , the lit erature would have t o be adapted a s to vocabulary from one d i al e c t t o the other .

Since the Hmong p e o p l e

int ercommun i c at e on t he o r a l leve l , however , any ski lful r e ader s hou ld b e able t o read mat e r i al in t he voc abulary o f t he other d i a l e c t s p e l led by the s y s t em we are advo cat ing in this princ i p le . In one instance in Tab le 9 we have violated t h i s princ iple of wri t i ng t he greate s t divers ity . Hmong Daw I nt i .

It i s in the c a s e o f Hmong Nj ua I n t l l < n d >

I n t i , and by our I nt i in both dialec t s . If

There i s a l s o a correspondenc e I n t i

princ i p l e we should wr i t e < n d > for I n t l l

=

=

=

the corr es p ond ence was a fr equent one and c arr i e d a high func t i onal load i t would b e b e t t er t o fol low the princ i p l e here al s o , but by aban­ doning it at thi s point we can s p e l l a l l words directly as they ar e in Hmong Daw , and not have to have a l i s t of t he s e word s to keep in mind . In other words , t he d iver s i t y i s overwhe lmingly on the Hmong Daw s ide , whi ch r equire s t hat a lmo s t everyt hing be wr i t t e n in the Hmong Daw way . In the c a s e of the HN/ n t l 1

=

HD/ nt l corr e s p ondenc e , I b el ieve i t wou l d

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS

AND TONE

111

be l e s s troub l e s ome a l l around t o wa sh out t h e c ontra st f o r Hmong Nj ua . However , the di s t i nc t i o n should be kept in early r eading materi a l s pre­ pared s p e c i fical ly t o help Hmo ng Nj ua new readers b e fore they are r eady for t h e s tandard i s ed ma t erials .

HN

HD

Suggested Compos it e Spelling

nt

nt

n t I < nd>

nt

m

m

m

hm

< hm>

ml

ml

ml

hm l

< hm l >

n

n

n

hn

fi < n y > n < n y>

fi < n y> h n < h n y>

< n y>

e < se >

a

< ee >

a

=

=

a Table 9 .

< hny>

a

I a < i a>

< Ia>

Spe l l ing of automat ic correspondenc es of consonants and vowe l s between Hmong Daw and Hmong Nj ua when the dialects differ

As has been alre ady shown , tone corr e s pondenc e s between Hmo ng Daw and Hmong Nj ua are predominantly c o ns i st ent , but show more random var i a­ t ion t han do the cons onant or vowe l s y s t ems .

For a comp o s i t e trans c r i p ­

t i o n , when a wor d differs in t one b e t w e e n t h e two i t s h o u l d be wr i t t e n in t h e Hmong Daw waY , s imp ly t o maintain a c o ns i s t ent b a s e o r s tandard for t h e s p e l l i ng .

Unlike some of t h e other d e c i s ions in favour of

Hmong Daw above , t h i s one has no b a s i s in the l ingu i s t i c fac t s as I s e e them , b ut only a pra c t i c a l bas e . In c a s e s o f words which are not cognat e b etween the two dialec t s ( t hat i s , where there i s not a c or r e spondenc e o f both form and meaning but where the two have e ntirely di ffer ent words for the same meani ng ) , the word should b e u s e d Whic h i s appropriat e t o t h e dialect b e i ng wri t t en .

Our sugg e s t ions are for a unified s p el ling , not for the e l im­

inat i on of lexi c a l or synt a c t i c f eatur e s of eit her dialect from wr i t t e n mat eri a l .

The f a c t t hat there i s l i k e ly t o b e more lit eratur e in Hmong

Daw than Hmong Nj ua may bring about the dominanc e of Hmong Daw words and patt erns in wr i t t e n mat erials and in t ime make it the s t andard f o r

112

W.A. SMALLEY

wr it ing Hmong , but if that c omes about it should come about through u s ag e and not through the for c ing of an art if i c i a l s t y l e on Hmong Nj ua wr i t i ng , even if it were pos s ib le to do s o . A c ommon s p e l l ing wi l l , o f c our s e , a l s o create prob l ems with s ome words where two di�ferent meanings are pr onounced and wri t t e n alike i n Hmong Daw , but pronounc ed differ ent ly i n Hmong Njua .

In such c a s e s there

may be amb iguity for the Hmong Nj ua re ader if the cont ext i s not s trong enough to e s tabli sh the differenc e .

HD/ ko 7 / < korn n � ;> ' to a a a us e , HN/ k0 7 / < korn> bu t

l

Thus

HD/ k0 7 / < korn n � ;> ' to aau s e ' HN/ ku a 5 / < k u a s >

The c o nver s e ( Hmong Daw pronunc i a t i o n and wr i t i ng differ , but Hmong Nj ua does not ) creat e s no amb iguity for the Hmong Nj ua r eader , but he w i l l have s p e l l i ng prob l ems .

F or examp le

HD/ t u 1 / < t u b V > ' s o n ' HN/t u 1 / < t u b > bu t

HD/ t U 1 / < t w b � > ' a l r eady ' HN/t u 1 / < t u b> N

Whether or not the above prop o s a l s f or a c ommon s p e l l i ng for the two dial e c t s are p o s sible w i l l have to be t e st ed , of cour s e , t e s t ed on t he Hmo ng Nj ua on whom the burden o f adaptation from their phonemic pat t erns falls .

Moody has s tr ong doubt s that s u c h a common s p e l l i ng i s f e a s i b l e ,

or that it wou ld be a c c eptab l e t o the Hmong Nj ua for reasons of c u ltural pride .

On the other hand , the Hmong Nj ua are muc h mor e likely to have

mat erial to read if t hey are part of a larger s pe l li ng c ommunity than if they ar e a l one .

Only t ime and expe riment at ion can d e c i d e , and so

long a s there co nti nu e s t o b e little widespread i nt e r e s t i n l i t e ra c y , 2

r e sult s are inconclus ive .

The Hmong Nj ua wi l l mo s t c ertainly need lit eracy mat erials whi ch are des igned e s p e c ially for their diale c t , and whi c h not only t e ach t h e norma l b a s i c r eading s k i l l s , b u t a l s o the s k i l l s of adap t i ng wh en t h e 1

Examples from Moody .

2 In the years since this chapter was written the people involved with actual litera­ ture programme s among the Hmong Njua both in Thaiiand and in Laos have become con­ vinced that the dialects should be written differently with respect to HN/a/ HD/a/ and HN/a/ HD/ i a/ ( Table 2 ) . This is the difference which causes the maj or diffi­ culty in transfer to Thai . Whitelock feels that HN/a/ should be written as < �4 > (whereas in thi s chapter it is written following HD/a / ) ; she also feels that HN/a/ should be written as (whereas in this chapter it is written following =

=

HD/ i a/ ) .

113

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

s p e l lings do no t corre s p ond w i t h t h e i r phonemi c s y s t em . n e e d e a s y trans i t ional

They wil l a l s o

mat e rial whic h i s c o nt r o lled to keep

these problems t o a minimum , i f they are t o u s e such an orthography . It i s with t h e s e princ i p l e s in mind that we go o n t o dicus s the wri t i ng o f Hmong in Thai s cript , sugg e s t i ng the s ame s p e l l ing s y s t em for b o t h dialec t s alt hough Hmong Daw is the only one in whi ch experimen­ t at ion has t aken place .

Such a s y s t em has b e en us ed t hroughout this

paper in all the examp l e s give n .

C o m pa�i� o n 0 6 Hm o ng a n d T hai p ho n o io g y When the Hmong and Thai phonemic s y st ems are c ompared as s y s t ems t hey immediat e ly s how up as extremely di fferent .

Hmong has mor e t ones , and

they are of d i fferent phone t i c values to a cons iderab l e degr e e .

Thai

has many more vowel c ontras t s , inc luding long and s hort varie t i e s , a d i s t inct ion whic h Hmong d o e s not have .

Unlike Thai , Hmong has nasa l i s ed

vowe ls as phonemic ally di s t inc t from oral one s , and has a much great er t endency to vowel glide s .

The phone t i c qualit i e s of the vowe ls i n the

two language s t end t o be quite differ e nt .

Hmo ng has no s y l lable-final

c ons onant s except as f e atures o f t one or nas a l i s ation , whereas Thai d o e s . The n , s t anding out above everything e l s e whi c h i s diff erent b etween the two , Hmong has sixty-one ons e t s ( Tab l e 1 plus z e r o ons e t ) , whereas Thai l has thirty-two , as ana ly s ed by Nos s . A f ew add i t i onal ones exi s t in Thai i n b orrowings from oth er language s .

Not only d o e s Hmong have about

twi c e as many onsets as Thai , but t he s e onsets form an e ntirely differ­ ent t yp e of s y s t em from t h e Thai s ys t em , with p oi nt s of art iculat i o n and manners of arti cu lati o n whi c h are not a part of Thai .

C ompare Tab le 1

with Tab l e 1 0 , whi ch give s t h e Thai ons e t s l i s t e d b y No s s .

P ph w f

pi phi

pr phr r

t th

tr t hr

s

m

n

b

d Table 1 0 .

c ch y

k kh

kl kh l

kr khr

kw khw

?

h I)

Chart o f Thai onsets

Whe n the Hmong and Thai phono logical s y st ems are c ompared n o t from the s tandpoint of their s tructural s imilari t i e s and d ifferenc es , but

I

Nos s 1964 : 5 . Noss omits examples o f Iw fl here , but rightly includes them i n his chart on page 8. /rl as an onset is margin8J. , although taught in the schools .

114

W . A . SMALLEY

from the phone t i c features whi c h t h ey share , the differenc e i s not quite as great .

Hmong , for examp l e , has no s t ruc tural final cons onant s ,

but it does have phone t i c f i nal

[ o J as the actualisation of nas a li sation

( with s ome except ions in Hmong Njua , d e s cribed above ) . In other words , Hmong d o e s not differ from Thai from the s tandpo i nt of f eatures of pronunc iat ion quit e as muc h as it d o e s from the s tand­ p oint of phonemi c s tructur e , although there is s t i l l cons iderable dif­ Such fac t s s omewhat s imp lify the prob l em of trans crib ing Hmong

ferenc e .

in Thai s cript , although they c ertainly do not e liminate all of the dif­ ficultie s .

In Tab l e 1 1 we present the s y s t em of writ ing the Hmong vowels and tones .

For purp o s e s of illus tration we u s e a minima l number of conso­

nant ons e t s t o show how t h e s y s t em works and the p lac ement of the s ym­ b o l s in orbit around the c on s o nant . Hmong t ones / 1 2 3 4 5 / ar e e nough like Thai tones so that they c an be wri t t e n in the same way .

Thu s , the combination of the c la s s of the

cons onant and the tone mark or lack of it in tho s e five co lumns fo llows Tones / 6 7/ do not have any c ount erpart in t h e

the Thai s y s t em exa c t ly .

Thai t o n e s y s t em , s o w e have improvi s e d . / 6 / is a low , breathy t one . At an ear lier s t age we wro t e it as a low tone i n the Thai symb o lisation and added an unpro nounc ed symb o l

to di st ingu i s h it from tone / 5 / , whi ch i s a l s o wr i t t e n as a low tone by .

I m i 6 1 was wri t t e n , the be ing r equired for the low t one , and the b e i ng r equired to dist ingu i s h t h i s low tone 1 6 1 from l S I , whi ch would b e trans cribed I m i 5 1 .

Thai convent ions .

At that stage

.

However , it wa s found that there was c onsiderable di fficulty since the symb o li s ation of the t one wa s overly redundant .

At the p r e s e nt t ime

u s e r s of the para l l e l s y s t em in Laos ar e hap p i er with a sys tem whi ch s imp ly marks / 6 / b y , without Thai low tone markings as we l l . F or t one / 7 / , likewi s e , aft er a period of more c omp lex s o lutions whi ch we felt at the t ime were c l o s er to Thai c onventions , exp erience s howed t hat a s imp ler s o lut i o n was bett er . / 7 / is therefore s ymb o li s ed 6 by < �> in the same way that / / is symb o l i s e d by .

l This system differs in some details from the incomplete proposals in Smalley et al. 1963 : 91-2 , 96-7 . It has been prepared through a long proc ess of consultation between Whitelock and myself , with the reactions of Ying (a Hmong Daw) , with some ideas from Somj itr Sroi suriya of the Ministry of Education in Chiang Mai , and with the benefit of intensive use of a parallel system in Lao script by Whitelock .

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

1

2

3

r b MCC

Iii l iil

i'i

luI

..

i'i

s

·

·

·

+

·

Q ·

·

L n

"

·

n 'l

Ln n 'l

·

·

·

·

�

..

n 'l f'l

d'H

·

n4

n4

·

Ll'I!J

..

n 'l 'Vi

no

L l'i 4

101 =

·

n 'l

·

no LrH

m

i'i

Q

n 'l

9

i'i

i'i

101

HNl a l HDI l a l

v

·

leI

HN/ al HDl a l

7

L?

M

"

Q

HNl a l HDl a l

6

5

� j

�l

4

115

·

L nU

dIu

lual

I

rl ':!

la i I

1n

1n

laUI

1n ·

L n ':!

laul LCC/ HCC

Iii l ii l

1'1

luI

·

"

leI HNl a l HDl a l

l

I

L 'YI

'Yl 'l

'Yl 'l

'Yl tl

•

·

L \1

L 'YI

L \1

\1 '1

'YI 'l

\1 '1

'YI tl

\1 0

·

rm

·

·

..

L 'Yl 'VI

..

'YI 'l 'Vi

..

'Yl 'l fl

..

'YI tl 'Vi

=

101 HNl a l HDl i a l

il

L 'Yl

"

101 HN/ al HDl a l

·

'lJ

·

'Yl 4

\1 4 ·

=

d Iu

Table 1 1 - continued

Hmong spelling here does not follow Thai conventions exactly . Thai 1++1 is spelled in open syllables , with the completely redundant . Other languages represented in this book have usually followed. the Thai pattern , as was done in the earlier days of experimentation with Hmong . However , in t ime the redundant was dropped for Hmong .

1 16

W . A . SMALLEY

lual la i l

1n

laul laul LCC

·

Iii

31

lUI

tI

lui

lJ

lei

L�

HN/ a l HD/ a l 101

·

·

.

�1

·

Wl

·

�o

.

L VI� .

Vl W l

.

VI � O

HN /al HD/ a l 161 HN/ a l HD/ i a l

I

L !l U

I

L VI !:! U

lual la i l lawl laul Table 1 1 .

Chart o f Hmong vowel and tone transcr iption

MCC , HCC and LCC refer to mid c l as s , high c l a s s , and

low c la s s cons onan t s in the Thai wri ti ng s y s t em , re­ s p e c t iv e ly .

Na s a 1 i s e d vowel s are repre s ented a s the near e s t Thai vowel s ound fol lowed by what would in Thai be f in a l I Q/ .

Other vowe l s f o l l ow t h e

near e s t T h a i equ ivalent to their most preva lent a llophone .

F or examp l e ,

Hmong I i i i s wri t t e n with the symbol for Thai I l i l cons i s te nt ly , al­ though there are differences of pronunci at io n of t h i s Hmong vowe l , a s d e s cribed e ar l i er .

Thi s a l l ophonic variation in Hmong i s not c on s i s t e nt

enough t o b e ab l e t o repres ent the al lophonic var iety in Thai s c r ip t , and the near e s t Thai symb o l t o some of the a l lophone s would have b e e n the s ym b o l whi ch i s needed for Hmong lu/ . The c omp li c at e d Thai consonant c l a s s s y s t em for wri ting t on e s ha s t o b e maintained for Hmong i n order t o wr i t e Hmong t o n e s in such a way as to p r e s erve a high tran s f er value to Thai .

Tabl e 11 , therefor e ,

117

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

shows the vowel and t on e int e r s e c t ions in thr e e group s , built around a mid c lass consonant ( M C C ) , a comb i nation of low and high c l a s s conso­ nants ( LC C/HCC ) , and a l ow c la s s c ons onant ( LC C ) with and wi thout pre­ c eding high clas s

to change its tone c las s .

In Tab l e 1 2 , where t h e Thai t rans crip t i on o f the o n s e t s i s pre s e nt ed , t h e cons onant s ymb o l s are s ometime s given in pairs .

For mid c la s s c on­

s onant s there is no c or r e s p onding high c la s s form , but for every low c la s s cons onant symbo l t h e re i s .

Some lines c ontain b o t h mid c l a s s and

l ow c la s s c ons onant s , d i s t i nguished by the fact t hat the mid c l a s s c on­ s o nants have no high c l a s s c ounterpar t , and t h e low c la s s c ons onant s do .

p

pi

t

t I (?d )

HCC MCC/ LCC

ts m\ iii

ph

pi h

th

t l h ( ?t h )

r

c

'11

t sh

k

q

n

nn

rh

ch

t Sh

kh

qh

nr

nc

ntS

nk

nq

nrh

nch

ntsh

nkh

nqh

?

HCC LCC

'Yl

np

np l

nt

nph

np l h

nt h

« nt l ) )

HCC MCC/ LCC

ntsh

HCC MCC/ LCC

'W 'Yl

m

ml

n

hm

hm I

hn

I)

M4

HCC LCC

HCC

'I1'W

LCC

hi

h il 'VI I!! o

Illy

s

x

HCC LCC

v

y

'l

tJ

HCC LCC

Table 1 2 .

Transcription of Hmong onsets in Thai script

h

118

W.A. SMALLEY

Needl e s s t o say , the c la s s conventi ons fo llow Thai u s age and have not hing to do with Hmong phonemi c s tructur e or phonemi c h i s t ory .

They

are simply app lied to Hmong to bring the great e s t trans fer value to Thai us age . As anyone who knows the Thai writ ing s y s t em wi l l s e e , Tab le 1 2 pre­ s ent s s ome problems , al l s t emming from the large difference b etwee n Hmong and Thai phonemic s y s t ems , as d e s cribed earlier .

The s e prob lems may be

c las s ified i n s everal c at egori e s . 1 . Some cons onant s have been wri t t e n a l lophoni c a l ly i n Hmong s o as t o increase t h e transfer value t o Thai .

From a phono logic a l s t andp o i nt ,

I n p l could have b ee n writ t e n s impl y ( Thai I b / ) or I n l + I p / ) i n s t e ad o f ( Thai I m l + I b / ) . The latter was c h o s e n ,

for ( Thai

b ec aus e it i s c l o s e r t o the pronunciation o f the i ndividual Eve n with the choi c e we have mad e , however , there are unr e s o lved prob­ l ems i n tran s f er , b ec au s e in Thai t h e s e two c o n s o nant s ymb o l s would a l­ ways b e r e ad with an int ervening vowe l , whic h t hey do not have i n Hmong . Allophoni c wri t i ng app l i e s t o all of the prena s a l i s e d unaspirated s er i e s . 2 . S everal o f the s ymbo ls ar e u s ed i n way s differ e nt from their Thai values simp ly be cause Hmong has so many more c o ntras t s than Thai , where­ as Thai has many exc e s s s ymb o l s from a phonological s t andpoint . ar e varying degr e e s of departure from Thai u s age . pres ent s Hmong D a w

I ? d / , Hmong Nj ua I t l / .

There

< � > ( Thai I d / ) r e ­

The Hmong Daw pronunc iat i on

is only s lightly differ e nt from Thai , and will c au s e no c ompl i cat i o ns . Thi s d epartur e , therefor e , i s only a minor one for Hmo ng Daw , greater for

Nj ua .

A much of < � > for few words .

er departure from Thai c an be s e e n in a case like the u s e

Iq h / .

It is a s ymb o l for

I k h l i n Thai , us ed i n very

There is no etymo logi cal excuse or p at t er n of trans litera­

t io n in b orrowing to fall back on for this choi c e . e t i c s imilari t y , but

There i s s ome p hon­

I k h q h l are phonemi c a l ly s eparate i n

3 . A nother k i nd of departure from t h e Thai s y s t em i s to b e s e e n i n a s equence like < �� > and < �� > f o r Hmong

I hm / .

The c i r c l e ove r the f i r s t

c ons onant i n < �� > ind i c a t e s a contrast with < �� > . high c las s

T h e lat t er marks the

Iml i n the usual Thai manne r , whi l e t h e former ( wi t h t h e

c i r c le ) ind i c a t e s t h a t t h e onset i s voic e l e s s a s wel l a s h i g h c la s s . It thus marks t h e high c la s s

I hm / .

4 . In order t o make up enough symb o l s for t h e large

inventory

we filled out with digraphs ( doub le le tt er s ) , s ome of whi ch f o l low the values o f the Hmong r ea s o nab ly we l l ( li k e < � a / �� > for and others of whi c h are comp l et e ly arb itrary .

It s/ ) ,

The s e inc lude the doub led

119

THE PROBLEMS OF CONSONANTS AND TONE

letters < � � > for I t s l , < n n > for I q / , etc .

In a n ear l i er s o lu t i on s ome

of t h e s e latter were wri t t e n wit h Thai symb o l s for Sanskr it and Pa li borrowings , s u c h as < {J II ,3 > , but t h e s e pr oved troub l e s ome b e cause of the imp o s s i b i lity of printing a < -:; > l u i under t h em s inc e t h e symb o l s c on­

tai ned t a i l s whi c h o c cupied t h e p o s i t i on for < -:; > .

There was no transfer

va lue to Thai i n the use of t he s e s ymb ols , and it was found be tter t o drop them and adopt the c onventi o n of doub le letters inst ead . 5.

On a sequence of Thai - s cript symb o l s we have tried as mu c h a s p o s ­

s ib l e t o f o llow t h e Thai c onvent ion of having t h e first c o ns onant in the s e quenc e govern the c o n s o nant c la s s of the s equenc e .

F or examp l e , in

Thai the high c l a s s of the first c onsonant in n�� I t ha n o n l ' ro a d ' governs the c l a s s of the whol e s e quenc e .

Th ere are s ome Hmong exc eptions

to t h i s princ iple , again with the i nt ention of s e emi ng more like Thai than b eing b l indly c on s i st ent .

The mo s t not ab le exc e p t i on i s in the

prena s a l i s e d cons onant s , whi ch ( with the exceptions to be ment i oned in a moment ) f o l l ow the c l a s s of t h e c on s onant imme diately following t h e sym­ b o l for prenas a l i sation . not of .

Thus Hmong fo l low the c la s s of ,

A further problem o cc ur s in t h e case of s equenc e s < � �

��

� � �� > r e ­

p r e sent ing high and m i d c l a s s I t s n t s / ; two of t h e s e c ontain high c l a s s c o ns onant s in fi nal p o s i tion in t h e digraph , and in thes e c a s e s t h e high c la s s final c o n s onant s o f t h e s equence s govern the cons onant c la s s . 6 . In the Thai s c ript the c ontrast b e tween z ero onset and 1 1 1 o n s e t i s washed out , f o r Thai h a s no way o f showing z ero ons e t . I n mak ing t h e s e adaptations from Thai we have tried t o cause as lit t l e interference in moving b etween the two language s as p o s s ib l e . Wherever the languages have c l o s e phone t i c s imilar i t i e s t hey ar e wri t t e n t h e same way .

Where we have adap t e d a Thai c on sonant s ymbol t o a u s e

o t h e r than that whi c h it h a s in Thai w e have t r i e d to have some a s s oc ia­ t ion , and the more di stant the adj u s tment , the rarer the cons onant s ym­ bol we have u s ed whenever p o s s i b l e .

In some c a s e s the adaptations are

for cons onant s wh ich are very rare in Hmong al s o , as c an b e s e en b y c om­ p aring Tab le 1 2 with Tab le 5 .

Overa l l , the trans fer value i s qui t e

high i n s p i t e o f the great difference b e tween the phonemic s y s t em s . Unqu e s t i onab ly there s t i l l remai n s ome very un-Thai - lo oking sy l lab l e s . l So far we have found no better s o lution for them .

l

Lemoine 1972 , which is a generally good survey of the various Hmong orthographie s (indigenous and foreign , developed in China and Laos ) , is rather sharply criti cal o f the Lao-based system parallel t o the Thai-based system described here. He i s , o n the other hand , quite favourably inclined to the western letter system described her e . A close reading o f his article will show that h e operates from some different (continued overLeaf)

120

W . A . SMALLEY

Sa.mple. .te.x.t The fo llowing t ext i n Hmong Daw ( Wh i t e Meo ) wi l l i l lu s t r a t e t he s y s t em .

The line s

, r e s p e c t ively : phonemi c t rans crip t i on , romani sed l

Thai s cr ip t , literal t rans l at i o n , and free t rans lat ion .

ntalF

ha i 5

nt awm

no

L 'Il Bi ';) 1'l

hepe

t sa 3

ha i 5

hais

mu s

hais

'IlEl

1";

VI),!

1 ";

this

say

o nwapd

s ay

I

•

PI

+

' wa r t ' ,

[h]

vI . nas a l i sed breathy vocoid s imi lar to

VI

as in "; 'l � , wh en

It i s a l s o c ommon b e fore la al but ther e

o c curring b e fore I i u w u y/ .

are o c c a s ion s when there i,s free f luctuation with the non-na s a li sed form I h i l [ hI s ] < 5 >

be fore t h e s e two vowe l s . Iml E m ] in � .

' ho u s e ' .

vd . bila b . nasal continuant s imilar t o m as in m e , or � a s

Im i l [ m i g ]

Inl e n ]

' ta s t y ' .

vd . tip-alv . na sal continuant , simi lar to n as i n no , or �

as in �1 .

I n al [ nE l ] < . VlJ>

101 [ 0 ]

' spirit ' .

vd . dorso-vel . nasal continuant , s im i l ar to ng a s in s i ng

or � a s i n 4 1 . III [ I ]

I Qa m a l [ Q a s ma g ] < � 1 � 1 >

' b anana ' .

vd . t ip-alv . lat . cont inuant , similar t o 'l a s in 'laugh o r

�

I i a l [ l a g J < A 1 > ' aome ' .

as i n � 4 .

Of the foregoing initials , 1 m n 0 1 o ccur a s s y l lab i c c ons onant s a s wel l .

I n ya m p h wu l [ n a g - 4 m l p h f u l ] +

[ b a l � l t v U g ] < U 1 '11J � 2 > , 'la s t e v e n i ng I .

r

' hornb i 'l 'l ' ; I b a n t w u l

' ah i n ' ; l a m e i) k h � 1 C a l mE s ? l k h y d < Q 1 ' �'I1 � L V Iil >

In rapid s p e e ch there i s e l i si o n of the voc oids in unst r e s s ed s y l ­ lab l e s having fr i ca t ive o r cont inuant initial s .

Where t h e s y llab le c on­

s i s t s of a s y l l ab i c nasal , this may l o s e its s y l labi c i t y in r ap id spe e ch and be art i culated as a nasal final t o the previous s y llab l e .

129

LISU

Final � a n� a nant pho n em e� Nasals oc cur as syl lab le finals in a sma l l c l a s s of words , most of whi ch are onomat ap o e i a and adverb s . < n ?,1 U ; 1i1 >

' B ou nd of

a

/ k wa n t a l a / [ k� a n a t a s

r i a e pounder ' ; / ku Q / [ ku Q a ] < U 4 >

'

las ]

t y p e of o� t

a

s p i ri t ' .

The s e nasal finals f luctuate freely with nas a l i sation of the

vocoids .

Thus / k u O / [ k u Q a - k G ] .

V owel p h o n em e� Front High Mid

Central

Back

+

u

e

o

a

Low

A l l vowe l s t end t o go higher i n vowel qualit y in unre s t r i c t e d hi gh­ t one s y l l ab l e s , and to go lower in low-t one and larynge a l i s e d high-tone l s y l lab le s . All vowe ls are na s al i s ed in s y l lab l e s with init ial / m n Q ? / . The phonemes / i u w u / are n a s a l i sed in s y l lab l e s with initial / h / . Front vowel s are ret rac ted s li ghtly in laryngea l i s e d s y l l ab l e s . /i/ [ i ]

Very high , very front unrounded vocoid , s ometimes s o

and front that t here i s fri c t i on , s imilar t o ( but higher than ) e e a s in

l

The phonetic notation of vowels is based on the following modifications of the Daniel Jones vocoids chart ( symbols around the frames represent cardinal vowels ) : +

�

� w

w

w

y

u

u

U

U

0

0

0

0

0

0

D

D

w

y

y

y

y A

a

' y

A

a a

a Unrounded

u

0

0

D

a w Rounded

The symbol > after a vocoid symbol indicates that the vocoid i s articulated in the posterior section of the area represented by the symbol on the chart .

130

E . R. HOPE

s e e k ( but ungl ided ) , or

�

a s in m .

O ccurs aft er / p p h b m / and in free

/bl /

fluctuation with [ I ] aft er / t t h d n/ i n s tr e s sed s yllab l e s .

[ b 1 3 ] ' be au t ifu l ' . [ I ] or [ e ]

Mid-high to high-mid very front unrounded vocoid

I h / and t h e / t i / [ t e a ] < � > ' equa l ' ; / d i / [ d l a ] ' to g r o w ( o f

s imi lar t o i as in i l l . forms o f t h e s e .

O c curs aft e r /t t h d n

tumourB a n d tubers ) ' .

/ e / [ E ] or [ e ] Mid to low-mid front unrounded vocoid , simi l ar t o e as in e gg , or b- a s in b TI . / be b e / [ bE a b E s J < t � L � > ' p e nd u l ou s ' . Iffi/ [ ffi ]

Low front unrounded vocoid , similar t o a as in o a t or

in bLal ( but lower ) .

/+/ [ + J

/ bffi v u /

Ib - as

[ bffi 3 !l0 l ] < bb� ',d > ' a type of t r e e ' .

Very high front-central unrounded vocoid , s o

mo s t a t ip-alveo lar fr i c at ive .

O c c ur s aft er / s

z

i t i s a l­

� � h f/ .

/ s+ / [ s+ s ]

'poke into ' . [+>J

Very high central un rounded vocoid , so high it i s almo s t

a t ip-alveo-palatal fr i c at ive .

O c c ur s a f t e r palat a l i s ed form s of / s

i i h j / ( s e e examp l e s in s e c t ion on palatalisation ) . [�J

High back-central unrounded vocoid , s imi lar t o

O c curs aft er lab iali s a t i on phoneme / - w - / .

/ a / [ yJ Mid-high back unrounded vocoid . [ kh y s ] < L A O > ' sp l i t (fi r e w o o d ) ' .

�

z

•

as in � o .

/ m w +/ [ mv� .. ] ' a lf . parct e l ' .

/a/ [ a > ] or -'1 as in

Central-back low unrounded vocoid s imilar t o a a s in fa t h e r , 'I'l '1

( bu t more "back!! ) .

/ b a / [ b a > s ] saoop i n t o a p i l e ' .

'to

132

E . R . HOPE

The feature of l aryngeali sation i s treated a s a s epara t e phoneme 1 + 1 , s ince it oc curs with a l l vowe l s . An a lternative analy s i s would treat this as a non-phonemic f eature of thr e e addi t i onal t ones , as the f eature affect s the actual pitch of the s y l l ab le .

I have a c c ep t ed the pho neme

1+ 1 ( even though this comp l i c at e s t h e analy s i s of s y l lab le structure ) The 1 + 1

mainly b e cau s e e c onomy i s achieved i n the numb er o f phoneme s .

phoneme i s something of a c over- s ymbol , affe c t i ng the economy ment ioned , but having the f o llowing s omewhat diver s e phone t i c manife s ta t i ons : (a)

All front vowe ls are s light ly r etracted ( b acked ) i n s y l la b l e s

with 1 1 . +

I b V [ bl > " ] ' fu Z Z ' .

In low t one s y l lab le s with 1 1 the vowel i s larynge a li s ed ( gl ot­ (b ) + t a l i s ed ) , and the p i t ch change s from a low [ 1 ] to a l ow f a l l [ 2 - 1 ] ' When the sy l lab l e o c c ur s fina l ly in a s t re s s gr oup , the s y l lab le ends in a glot t al s t op .

I t hll [ t h � 2 - 1 ] < g � > ' to s h i e l d ' .

In mid-t one syl lab l e s with 1 1 the vowe l o c curs v ery tens e , but

(c)

not g l ot t a l i s ed .

[ 3 ] to nearly [ ,, ] .

+

There i s a l s o a very s l i ght hei ght ening of pitch from Wh en the s y l lable o ccurs finally in a s tr e s s group ,

I g w !:f. 1 [ g � .. J < Q� > ' t o p o i n t ' ,

the s y llab le ends i n a g l o t t al s top ,

I n high-t one sy l lab l e s with 1 1 t h e vowel i s l owered , and the

(d)

+

high t one [ 51 b e c ome s a mid-r i s e [ a - s J . (iii)

I t ! 1 [ te 3 - S ] < i> ' t o s o a k ' .

Labial i sa tion

This feature of L i su phonology is very generali s ed , oc curr ing with every ini t i a l cons onant phoneme except I�/ , and with every vowel except

lei .

The labial i s ation phoneme I w i ha s the fo l l owing s omewhat diver s e

allophoni c varia t i ons :

[ !:! ]

Mid-high b ack rounded vowel glide , with o nly light v o i c i ng after

aspir at e s .

Occurs aft er all f r i cat ive s and affr i c at e s , velar s t o p s and

I Q / , when the vowel following I w l i s any vowel other than 1+1 or l u i . I hel [ f !:!E s J < L'I'l 1> ' a lf . fo r p or t i o ns ' ; I sw ! J/ [ s!:! a s J < '21 1'1 > 'poor ' ; I z w a l [ z !.la 3 ] < !!I 'd '1 > ' 1;) e a k ' ; l i w a l [ t"s!:!a a J < 01'21 'd '1 > ' to a la1;) ' ; / i h wa l [ tsh !:!a s J ' v i s i t ' ; Ijwa l [ �z !:! a 3 ] < � '21 'd '1 > ' p e ne tra t e ' ; I kwal [ k!:!a s ] ' fur '

' en t e r ' ; I d w u l [ d VU l ] < � i >

'a

mine ' .

[f]

This i s the c ounterpart of [ v ] above , but o c curs after all a s ­

p irated s t ops when l u i follows , and a f t e r I p h l a n d I t h l when 1 + 1 fo l lo w s . It r e su l t s in all aspirated s t o p s b e c oming asp irated affricate s . [ p h t h ¢ h k h ] b e c ome [ pf h tf h

f i c at i on i s as for ( c ) above . It h w+1 [ {fh V� 3 ]

{;f h kf h ] r e s p e c t ively . ,..;

I t h w u l [ t f h v U 3 ]

The vowel modi-

'make a fena e ' ;

' a finge r span ' .

[ Lip -rounding ]

Th i s o c curs with t h e vowel l e i when the init ial c on­

s o nant is I p p h b t t h d m n i l . [ m � s ] < � � 1>

,,-..

Thus

I p w e l [ p � g ] < � tI � >

' dregs ' ; I m w e l

' so n - i n - tauJ ' .

From the above it can b e s e en that the dura t i o n of the " long c omp o­ nent lt I w l var i e s from the short glide- l i ke o c curr enc e whi ch we c an symbo l i s e as C w V , thro ugh t h e longer oc curr enc e C V w in whi ch only t h e vowel i s affec ted , t o the long o c currenc e whi c h affects t h e who le s y l ­ lab le and w h i c h we c a n s ymb o l i s e as { C V ) w . With C w V t h e labia l i s ation only minima l ly affects t h e consonant ( lip­ protru s i on ) and the vowe l .

I k w a l [ k �a s J < n � 1 >

' to hang up ' .

With C V W the cons onant i s minima lly affected ( l ip-protru s ion or lab io­ dental mod i f i c at i on ) but the vowe l is rounded or art i culated with labio­ dental friction I kw o l [ kvu s ] < n 2 >

' to hire ' .

With ( C V ) W both cons onant s ( s tops b e c ome affr i c at e s ) and vowe l s ( l ab-dent fri ct i o n ) a r e affec ted I k h w u l [ Kfh vu s ] < � 2 > ' to aa t t ' .

Labiatised aonsonants and Labia tised VQ!lJets - see List

overleaf .

l

Thi s word was represented as Imw+1 earlier in this chapter .

Both forms occur .

134

E . R . HOPE

Labia l i sed consonants

pw phw bw fw vw mw

tw t hw dw sw zw nw Iw

tw ¢hw :t w

kw khw gw xw

Labialised vowel s

?w

wi we

w+

Wail

wu wa

hw

I) W

For exampl e s s e e t ext , above . Lab i a l i s at i on a l s o o c c ur s finally . ( iv )

/ s ya w/ [ s.a )! a J < '21tJ 'l 'l > ' s a l tp e tr e ' .

Palata l isation

In e i ther of t he two

we s ha l l p r e s e n t ly d i s c us s , a l l b i -

labi a l s and / h / o c cur palatali s e d , and t h i s palatali sat ion c an b e a b ­ stracted as a s epar a t e phoneme / y / , for the mo s t e conomi cal s o lut i o n . Thus / p y � / [ p y� ] ' d e s tr o y ' ; / b y a / [ b ya d ' ho n e y ' ; / m y a / [ mya d < �j.Hj 'l > 'many ' ; / h y a / [ ii y a d

' s er o w g o a t ' ,

SoZution I.

This p o s i t s a s er i e s of p alatali s ed a lve olar c ons onant s ,

aft er t he patt ern of / p y p h y b y m y / ment ioned above . open t o two variat ions .

Thi s solut ion i s

The fir s t p o si t s the fo l lowing chart of palat­

a l i s ed phoneme s :

py phy by

ty t hy dy sy zy ny Iy

my

hy

In the s e c ond variat i o n of So lut ion I the arrangement i s :

py phy by

my

ty t hy :t V sy zy ny Iy

hy

There i s a prob lem o f where t o as sign the

s e d a lv e o lar s t op

phone s , and this problem i s incapable of non-arb itrary s o lution . at the al lophoni cs of the s i tuat i o n wi l l show why .

A look

If the p hone s are

135

LISU

a s s igned to t h e stop phoneme s , w e hav e : I t y l [ c� ]

[c]

�

Voi c e l e s s una spirated p o s t e rior-b lade p a latal af­

fr icate with s l i t fri cat ive r e le a s e , f luc tuati ng freely with voi c e l e s s Thi s allophone oc cur s with

una spirat ed p o st erior-blade palatal s t op .

It yal [ c� a s ]

a l l vowe ls exc ept 1 + 1 , and with l w eI . It yw'l [ C �U 5 J

[ cUs ] < , q�>

�

[ts]

�

[ ca s ] < q� �

' to m e e t (a! riv ers ) ' .

Voi c e le s s unaspirated t ip alveo-palatal affr i c at e with

grooved fri c ative releas e , s imilar to ch as in mu nch , or Oc curs with 1 + w+ w u wa / . Ii

�

[ ch ]

as in q 1 � .

' c lo s e (a doo r ) ' ; I t y w 6 1 [ t S v u s J < q � >

ho l low o u t ' ; I t y f l [ t s i s ] I t h y l [ c� h J

q

It flu ctuat e s freely with [ c� ] and [ c ] b e fore

I t y41 [ t S+ s ] < � ;»

u/.

' co o k ' ;

�

[ C� 1 5 J

�

[ c i s J

' to

' tran s p Zant ' .

A s pirat ed p o s t erior-b lad e palat a l affri cate with

s li t fricat ive releas e , fluctuat ing freely with asp irat e d p o s t erior­ b lade p a latal s t op . < \ ��>

O c curs wi th Ie m a w e I .

I t h y w e l [ C� h U 3 J

�

[ c hU s J

' s tr e tch o u t ( Z im b ) ' . [ t sh J

Aspirat ed t i p-alveo-palatal affr i c at e with grooved af­

fricate relea s e .

Simi lar to c h a s in c h e e k , or � as i n � 1 .

O c curs

with I i + u wu wal and is in free f luctuation with [ c� h J and [ c h ] b e fore I t h y e l [ c � h E d � [ c h E d � [ t S h E t J < , '; >

Ie m a l .

[ t s h + s J < ti D > I d yl [ fj J

' i nv i te ' ; I t h yf l

' b a r k ing d e e r ' ; I t h y w u l [ t S h V U 3 ] < v � >

�

[f]

' pi nch ' .

Voic ed p o s t erior-b lade palatal affri cat e with s l i t

fri cative r e l e as e , fluctuating f r e e l y with voi c e d p o s t e r i or-bl ade pal­ atal s top .

Occurs with I i m a w e I .

( l i q u i d ) ' ; I d y w e l [ fY ¢ 3 ] [ dz J

r e le as e .

�

I d y a l [ fj a 5 ]

[ t ¢ 3 J < L m1 >

�

[ f a s ] < �1 >

Voiced t i p alveo-palatal affri cate with grooved fricative

Simi lar t o j a s i n judge .

O c c ur s with I e + u w u w a l and

f luc tuat e s freely with [ j j J and [ f J with following I i w e I . [ d z + > s J

< 1 m>

' a drop

' t o s e l l on c r e di t ' .

'be lieve ' ; I d y w u l [ d ZVU 3 ]

'go ' ; I d yw�1 [ jj ¢ s ]

�

I d y+1

' t o parody ' ; I d y e l [ d z E s J

[ f ¢ s J � [ d z ¢ s ] < , rn {>

From the above the prob lem b e c ome s apparent .

' y o nder ' .

In the analy s i s of non­

palatali s ed consonant s it was n e c e s s ary to set up two cont r a s t i ng alveo lar s er i e s - stop s v s . affr i c at e s .

Now in the above treatment o f

palat al i s a t i on we have affr i c ate a l lophones of s t op phoneme s .

Conv e r s e ly

if the palat al i s e d phone s are as c r i b ed t o t h e affr i c a t e phoneme s , the prob lem remain s , i n t hat there ar e then s t op allophone s of affr i c a t e phoneme s .

There a r e only arb i trary and a d hoc way s o f d e c iding wh i c h

int erpretation t o make .

If a s cribed t o t he affr i ca t e s e r i e s , the s e ­

quen c e s r e s ult l i y i h y f y I , and the a l l op ho ni c di stribut i on i s as for I t y t h y d y l r e s p e c t ively , as above .

136

E . R. HOPE

The remaining palat a l i s e d c o ns onant s are :

Isyl [ s ]

Voi c e l e s s t ip a lveo-palatal gro oved fricat ive , s imilar t o

s h a s i n s he ep .

F luct uat e s freely with voic eles s b lade-palata l s li t

[ 9 ] with f o l lowing I re a / . I s y+1 [ S+ ' 8 ] < �� D > ' g o l d ' ; I s yred a l [ sre 3 d a a ] 'V [ 9al 3 d a s ] < bb�tJ 61 '1 > ' j o s s s ti c k s ' , I z yl [ j ] Vo i c ed b l ade-palat a l s li t fri cative , similar t o y as in y o u , or tJ as in tJ'1 b ut with fric t ion . O c c ur s with fol lowing l we i , and fluctuat e s with vow e l glide initial [ I ] with a l l nonlab i a l i s ed vowe l s . I z y we l [ j ¢ l ] < L D tJ 1 > ' u s e ' ; I z y�1 [ j � � ] 'V [ 1 � � ] < L tJ � > fric at ive

' do ' .

I n yl [ n ] Blade palatal nas a l c onti nuant s imilar t o I n yil [ na a - s ]

' co o l

I y / phoneme rai s e s t h e h e i ght of vowe l s , inc luding lab ialis ed vowe l s . I p h y w �1 [ p h Y Y 2 - 1 ] < L � tJ 1 � > ' su c c e e d i n ' . The

I y+ / i s art i culated a lmost as h igh a s the v o i c e d b lade palatal grooved fricat ive [ z ] . / s y+1 [ S+ · 3 ] almo s t [ S � 3 ] < �� D > ' d i e ' . The s equence

Thus

I y l is a long-component t o o , affect ing s y l lab le s in way s whi ch

c an be r ep r e s ented as C Y V and ( C V ) Y .

Wit h C Y V t h e consonant i s affe c t ed

I s y r / [ s 1 s ] ' s ho c k e d ' . Wit h ( C V ) Y both c onsonant and vowel are aff e c t ed . / s y+ / [ sf ' s ] 'V [ S � 3 ] but t he vowel only minima l ly ( he ight ening ) .

' di e ' ,

The advantage s o f t h i s who l e s olut i o n are : a ) The chart p a t t e rn' o f c ons onant +

I y l i s carr i e d on t hrough t h e

alveolars as we l l as through t he b i l ab i al s . b ) By

up one phoneme

I y l inst e ad o f a new palatal consonant

s er i e s a marked e conomy is achieved .

In all there i s a t o t a l of 2 4 ini­

t ia l cons onant s plus 2 s emi-vowe l s , as against 3 1 init ials p lu s 2 s emi­ vowel s in S olut i on I I . c ) The fol lowing genera l i s e d dis tribut ion o f

Yi ye y re

y+

/ y / + v owe l r e s u l t s :

yu yo ya

The main di sadvant age o f t h i s s o lu t i on i s the theor e t i c al unac c ep t ­ ab i l i t y of the ad h o c treatment of the s top/affri cat e prob lem . So l u t i o n II .

In t h i s solut i o n a ful l palat al s e r i e s of c o ns o nant

phoneme s is sugg e s t ed and th e full c hart is given as :

137

L18U

p ph b f

t th d s

v

m

i ih t

c ch

k kh

j

9

s v

x

z

y

!f

n

n

I)

?

h

I To this s hould probably b e added a s e r i e s

py p hy by

hy

my This s o lu t i on avo ids t h e t heoretical problem o f Solution I , a s a r egular d i s t inc t i o n i s mai nt ained b etween alve o lar s t op s , a lveo lar af­ fri c a t e s and palatal s . t ur e is s imp l i fi e d .

In addi t i o n , the d e s cr i p t i o n of s y llable s truc­

The al lophoni c d e s cr i p t i on of the palatal series

is the s ame as for S o lut i on I , t h e palatal phonemes b eing wri t t e n as unit phoneme s i n s te ad of phoneme s equenc es of consonant -plus - / y / . In either s o lu t i on I y l a l s o oc curs fina lly . tival ' .

I p b y l [ p o l l ] �J� u > ' f e s ­

T o n e..!. I sugg e s t an analys i s o f Lisu whi ch has t hr e e t o ne s .

1 ' 1 [ 5 ] High level pitc h . I s y� 1 [ 1+ > 5 ] ' tw i s t ' .

O c curs in non- laryngealised s y l lable s .

[ a - 5 ] Mid pitch r i s ing to high . lable s . I s y i l [ 1+ > a - 5 ] < ' O � > ' sw e e p ' . /unmarked/ [ a ]

lab les .

Mid level p i tc h .

Oc curs in laryngeali s e d s y l ­

Oc cur s i n non-laryngealised s yl­

I s y+ 1 [ I+ > a ] g J 1 ] ' new ' ,

O c c ur s i n < laryngeal i s e d

13 8

E . R . HOPE

The f o llowing chart c ompare s the L i s u t one s , as

b y my s e l f ,

wit h the chart of S t andard Tha i t o ne s , t aken from Abramson ( 1 9 6 2 ) .

Both

chart s are for t one s on syllab le s in f i nal p o s i t io n . LISU

High

5

Mid

4 3

---, "

2 Low

THAI

....!!.

1

In Lisu other

and falling t ones o c c ur ,

from t h e con-

t r a ct i o n o f two s y l lab l e s int o one , a c cording t o the pro c e s s e s menti oned previou s ly .

In such c a s e s t he t ones o f b o t h s y l l ab le s are kept , and t h e

phon et i c r e sult i s a r i s e or f a l l i n p i t ch .

Thus i t i s b e t t er t o t r e a t

t h i s phenomenon a s a t one c lu s t er on t he one s y l lab l e rather t han a s a falling t one .

I n such c a s e s the form c an be interpre t e d as having t wo

vowe ls , whi c h i s usually t h e ful l form o f the ut t eranc e anyway .

Two

morphemes are usually involve d , the s e cond one often only repres ent ed b y Thus forms l i ke [ 5 + 3 - 1 ] and [ nffi S - s ] are b e s t wri t t e n / s y++/ and / n�ffi/ . Thi s treatment i s mor e a morphophonemi c one t han a phonemi c

the t on e .

one , and also invo lves s ome conj e c t ur e , as t h e ful l doub l e - s y l lab l e form do e s n o t always oc cur .

If i t i s not a c c ept e d , then at least t hre e

more t onemes mus t be sugge s t ed , namely , a high to low fa l l , a mid t o low fall and a low t o mid r i s e , to t ake care o f such forms as [ p h a s S+ >� 5 - 2 ] ' as s o o n as h e h a d t�i s te d i t ' ; [ p h a s S Y + >� 3 - 1 ] ' a s s o o n as he had d i e d ' ; would t r e at [ S Y± > � 2 - 4 ] ' i t i s ne� ' . The s o lution t hat I have '" I" t he s e as / p ha s Y T a / , / p ha s y+ a'\ / , and / s y+\ a / < � V � > r e ++

s p e c t ively .

The most imp or t ant intonational d i f f erenc e s i n L i s u are t h o s e c onc erning p o s i t ive s t at ement s and p o s it iv e

< \ OI � > The

' h e i s g o i ng ' , [ d z Ea s - t J < \ OI � ? >

' is h e g o i ng ? ' .

s olution to the prob l em is t o t r e at t h e pos i t ive s t a t e -

ment final as / � / and t he que s t i on f i n a l as / a / . Other int onat i onal f eatures ar e : (i)

Subordinat e c lau s e s and noun phr a s e s have fal ling int onati on

when f o l lowed by a p au s e .

/xa/ .

Thi s often involves t h e markers / n y a / and

Thi s intonation can c onveni ently b e marked with a comma .

13 9

LISU

( ii )

For emp ha s i s there is marked h e ight eni ng of p i t c h on eit her a

part i c ular morpheme , or a longer s equence within whic h re lative t one d i s t i nct ions are maintained .

Thus

l a k h a l < � � l ;� >

' v er y ' wit h normal

p i t c h of [ 3 5 ] may b e come [ 5 7 ] ; or I m a d y e�1 ' I ' m n o t g o i ng ' If ne c e s s ary t h e s e with normal p i t c h of [ 1 3 - � ] may b e come [ 3 5 - 6 ] . f eature s may b e marked by underlining . In p o l y s y l la b i c words the final s y l lab le is stre s s ed . ' wh a t ' ;

l e s w i t h e l < I ��� L ;>

' r a i ny s e a s o n ' .

There are

A l l other s t r e s s is d e t ermined b y grammat i c a l c o ns traint s .

b a s i c a l ly four degr e e s of stre s s , wit h head words i n a phras e t aking pr imary str e s s , markers ( part i c le s ) b ei ng uns t r e s s e d and the re s t in b et we en .

In addition the main verb phra s e carr i e s heavier s t re s s than

noun phra s e s or subordinate verb phras e s .

Thu s s t re s s i s pred i c t ab l e .

Tone and s t re s s oc cur with every s y l l ab le .

The

are t h e

p o s sible c ombinat ions o f c ons onant s , vowe ls and mo difi cationa l f e atures :

C V CV CVy CVw CVn C y V ( So l . I ) II Cy V w If CyVn II CywV c y w V y !l CwV CwV y CwVn

Iml lal I i al I t u yl / ka wl !zanl It yaJ I s y a wl It y i nl I d yw u l I t h ywa y l I kwa l I f w e y /l I kw a n l I kwa n h � l a l

·

�:l-I

' no t '

"1 1

' qu e s t i o n fina l '

il �

' come '

tl U

' to guarant e e '

.

n � 'l

' bas i s '

t5'IJ

'jade '

>l � �tI � 'l

' co o k ' ' sa l tp e tr e '

� 'IJ

' adv erb mark e r '

�J " 'l � tI n 'l � I V'l .jtI · � � n 'J � 'lJ IIl�.il '1

' pa ro dy '

I

�

·

' to punch ' ' t o hang up ( s tr ip s ) , 'portio n ' ' s ound of r i a e pounder '

In addition , any of t he above , e x cept t h o s e whi ch end in t he f o rm

C , may o c cur with 1 + 1 .

The maj orit y of

are mono s y l lab l e s , but a very s igni f i c ant

number of b isyl labic morphemes a l s o o c cur .

l

I n l or have

Mo s t verb s and marke r s are

This word was represented as If weI earlier in this chapter .

Both forms occur .

140

E . R . HOPE

mono s y l lab i c , but mo s t nouns are b i syllab i c .

Compound words may c ont ain

, l a na - I a t h ywa - b y a - b e l e -ma l ( do g - tongue - b e e -w o o l ly ­

up to e ight

t hi ng ) < o 1 �J 1 � a 1 L � �u u 1 . J . � R� 1 > t a w o o l ly - dog - tongu e - b e e t •

Apart from

t h o s e whi c h apply to all Lisu s y l l ab le s , there are no strict limi t a t i ons on the structure of t h e initial s y l lab l e of b i - s y l labic morphemes . However , only l a

e

I I o c cur a s i ni t i a l vowe l s i n polysyl lab i c morpheme s .

OlLt h o g lLa. p h y I n the l i s t s b e l ow * marks a symb o l whic h h a s a different value from what it d o e s in Thai .

Th e wor d s (mid )

( high )

( low ) refer t o t he con­

sonant c la s s e s o f Tha i . Thai symbol

Thai value

n

( mid )

!I

( high )

Lisu value

k kh kh x*

PI

( low )

'J.I

( low )

k kh kh kh

"'I

( low )

I)

I)

..

(mid )

t y/c t hy/ch t hy / c h

!I

( low )

c ch ch

'21

( low )

5

5

I'll

( low )

ch

dy/j*

!!J

( low )

\l

( mid )

Y d d

z* g* d

)

IN

61

( mid )

61 �

( hi gh )

61 '21

( low )

III

( mid )

III �

( high )

111 '21

( low )

n

( high )

'Yl

( low )

'Yl a

( high )

'Yl'21

( low )

[dz] :t [ d.z ] t t/; [ t s ] j

t

th th

t [ts] th th t h [ t sh ] t/; h / t s h

u

( low ) ( mid )

n b

n

'U

tJ

b

( mid )

P

P

�

( hi gh )

e.J

ph

( high )

'I'l

( low )

f ph

ph f ph

LISU

Thai symbo l

Thai value

Lisu value

yJ

( low )

f

f

l.J

( low )

m

m

U

( low )

t]

y rf

y/zy

( low )

@*

fI

( low )

1

( low )

w

I v l and I - w - I

�

( high )

5

5

'\Ii

( h igh )

h

h

0

( mid )

glot t a l s t op

g lo t t a l s t o p

il

( low )

h

h

Th e symb o l s .1J .:i

'11

001

!II

S

�

I'i

II

a aa

Z 1

:.

'1>1

f,1

are not u t i l i s e d for Lisu .

� a

i

:!

+

.

i i f +iu uu

b -Z

e

b-

ee

bb - Z

E:

bb

E: E:

aJ

b -1 Z

0

�

0

00

0

a aa

� a

:! :!

";"

L -O Z b -O

The symb o l s L -1

141

l a w/ ;

�

f f

+

¥ u

� e

f

l i a / , b :! O I f a / , �1 l u a / , L :' l a l , ° 1 l a m / , 1001 ; � - Z 1 0 1 ; � l a i / ; 1 l a i ; are not ut i l i s e d b :! U

in Lisu . The fol lowing chart r epre s ents t h e s y s t em o f wr i t ing t one . pur p o s e of this chart

Z

repres ent s any short vowe l symb o l , and

( F or the 1

re­

pre s ent s any long vowe l . )

( see chart overleaf )

142

E . R . HOPE

mid class Unrestricted vowels :

1 '1 I I

Laryngealised vowels :

low / high classes �

Ill 'l

'YI 'l

Ill 'l

'YI 'l

1' 1

Ill 'l

.'VI"' 'l

1:1 'l

1 +' 1 1 +1 1 +' 1

Ill 'l

'VI "' 'l

1:1 'l

Ill "

"' "

Ill "

'VI "' ''

,

,

.

.

1:1 "

C o mm ent� o n T ha� o4thog4ap h y A s c a n b e s ee n in t he l i s t of consonant s marked by * t here are five Thai consonant symb o l s whi c h have s igni f i c ant ly d ifferent phone t i c value in L i s u from what t h e y do in Thai . 'J.I I k h l !!! I y l il I d l QJ I c h l t"J I r + 1

The symb o l

'1

in Thai b e c ome s I x l in Lisu . i n Thai b e c ome s I z l in Li s u . in Thai b e c omes

1 9 1 in Lisu .

in Thai b e c ome s I d y l or I J I i n Li su . i n Thai b e come s

1 '3 1 in Lisu .

I w l i n Thai represent s I v l ( one of the al lophones of

whi c h is simi lar to Thai I w / ) and the labiali s a t i o n phoneme I w l in Li su , s ince these Lisu phoneme s do not involve c ontras t s . The Li su affr i c at e s I t t h j l will b e repres ent ed by < 1ll � / 1ll � 'YI � /'YI�

tl1 � / tl1 � > .

The s e c lust ers do n o t o c c ur in Thai , but t hey r e f l e c t fairly

c l o s e ly t he phone t i c value of the Lisu p honeme s , and s hould not pr es ent t oo mu ch difficulty .

The t one of t h e sy llab le i s governed by the � e e o n d

cons onant in the c lu s t e r i n s t e ad of the 6 �4� t one .

The lat t er i s what

might be expe ct ed by ana logy with Tha i c lu s t e r s such as the choi c e of s ymb ols for I x

Ill �

It r/ .

In

9 '3 z l I c h o s e < 'J.I il t"J > b e c au s e t h e s e ar e

rare consonant s in Thai , and < !!! > b e cau s e Lisu o f t en pronounc e Thai I y l as [ z ] .

.

Wherever Thai symb o ls have b e e n taken over and the phone t i c

value changed , the s e s ymb o l s s t i l l b e l o ng t o the same consonant c las s as they did in Thai .

Wher e high and low c las s s ymb ols exist for t he

same Tha i phoneme , b oth have b e e n u s ed in wri t i ng the corr e sp onding Li su p honeme .

Thi s enab l e s Lisu t o b e wr i t t e n us ing the regular Thai

t one s y s t em . Lisu cons onant chart in Thai orthography is a s fol lows :

143

LISU

J;)'� / wll 'l1 � /'l1£1 � � / � £1

'U

Pa lat alisat i on and lab ialisat i on i s the area where the corresp ondence By the very nature of

between Li su and Thai phonemes is mo s t lacking .

Li su phonology writ ing the language with Thai symb o l s results in s e­ quenc es which do not o c cur in Thai . Palat a li sation i s u s ually i ndicat ed by < u > . fo llowing re sult and a r e unlike Thai : < � U 1 >

Sequenc e s such as t h e

I s y�1

U

' fix ' , < � � 1 >

Imyal

' many ' .

The r epre s entat ion of palat a l i sation i s in part from So lut ion I and

I p y p h y b y m y s y n y I y h y l are writt en with The palat a l s I t y t h y dy z y l ( or Ie eh j y / ) are re­

in part from Solut ion I I . consonant p lu s < u > .

presented as the unit symb o l s < � � / �

�

u>

r e sp e ct ively .

The Thai value

of t h e s e symb o l s i s fair ly c lo s e t o the Li s u , apart from < � > whi c h is

· / e h l in Thai , and Ij l i n Lisu , but whi c h i s int r oduced to c omp l e t e a uniform s e r i e s of unit symb o l s for the palatal s t o p s . Sequenc es unlike Thai usage a l s o oc cur with labiali sation whi c h i s repres ent ed t hroughout by < 1 > .

In Thai phono logy only t he

l a a l vowe l

o c c ur s aft e r medial lab iali sat i on , so t hat the f o l lowing s ingle syl­ lab l e s i n Li su do not o c cur as such i n Thai ( al t hough s ome s imilar se­ quenc e s might oc cur as two s y l lab le s ) : < n 2 > ' r e c ko n ' , < � ;g >

' c hange ' , < m 1 g >

I l w+ 1

I j wS I

I kw 6 1

' ab Z e ' , < £1 1 1 >

Iswal

' down t h e r e ' .

I - w e i , which i s I - e w l rather t han I -w e i but s ince final I - wi i s infreque nt in Li su any amb i gu i t y b etween I - wei and 1 7 e w l i s ins ignificant . The s equenc e I - ywel i s wri t t e n < L - U 1 > I s yw e l < L £1 u 1 > A problem ari s e s with t h e writ i ng of t h e s equenc e

< L -1 > .

In Thai this would be read

' to u c h ' .

The full consonant phoneme chart inc luding p a latal i s at i on and labial­ i s at ion is overl eaf .

I h y a l ' s er o w I y a p u l ' kero s e ne t i n ' . A di s­ t i n c t i on c ould be p r e s erved by wri ting I y a - I as in Thai g U 1 . The t hree nas a l fina l s 1 m n Q I will b e wr i t t e n in the Thai ortho­ There i s p o s s ib l e amb iguity in t he r epr e s ent i ng of

g o a t ' and the s y l lab le

graphy as final < �

�

4>

I ya - I

as in

resp ect ively .

144

E . R . HOPE

AND

FULL CONSONANT PHONEME CHART INCLUDING PALATALISATION

LABIALISATION

P

py

pw

pyw

t

ty

tw

t yw

t.

t. w

k

kw

\.I

\.I u

\.1 1

\.I U 1

111

, and s ince 1 9 6 8 i n Huai Chang / x o s a / q � � 1 > east of D o i 2 Chang in Chiang R a i D i s t r i c t .

migration began after the research reported in Ranks et aZ . 196 4 , 1965 was com­ pleted , but with the exception of a few families migrating from Burma , it concerns people from villages whic h are included in the above report . my contacts with Akha have been on a monolingual basi s . I have used six main informants : , /?aj O/ was born in 1948 in / I odtn/ village on the border between Thai� " land and Burm�. Hi s father came from /me�/ < b�O��> village . He belongs to the / ce m T / < L tl0'l'l110 > family group . ( There are more than two dozen such family groups , and new ones are still being formed . ) /?ason/ was born in 1930 in the border village of /xopi/ . Hi s ,father moved ,there around 1918 from /ceqkaq/ < b �o =n = > village . He belongs to the /cemT/ ' < b tlo'l'l110 > family group , and was the informant used by Smalley (1964b ) while checking on some phonological problems . / bo soq/ was headman / b a s4/ of Kayeh New Village , before he moved to Mae Suai . His grandfather brought the family to Thailand around 1920. At first they lived in the village of /fll8l, bt/ . They moved t o Kayeh /iclyffi/ i n 1929 (continued on page 1 51 ) 'll

•

•

AKHA

151

The phonological s tru cture of Akha may b e s t be under s t o od in terms of the syllab l e and i t s component s .

Each sy llab le is comp o s e d of an

initial cons onant C , f o l lowed by a vowe l V .

The latt er i s a c c ompanied

by simultaneous t one t, regi s t er r and an opt ional nas a li ty e n ) . Because of the extremely s t rong b e aring whi ch regis t er has in modi­ fying t he s egmental features o f t he Akha s y l lab le in vari ous way s , i n des cribing t h e phonological s t ru c t ure w e shall follow the di agram i n Chart 1 , beginning with r e g i s t e r .

The arrows i ndi cate t h e maj or phon­

ological condi t ioning e nvironments , with the t a i l of the arrows pOint ing t o the environment and t h e head t oward t he part of the s y llab le i n whi c h a variety of r e a l i sat ions i s p o s s i b l e .

Chart 1 .

Sy l l able s tructure

Register in Akha oc curs on two levels whi c h are reali s ed by differe nt vowe l , t one , and c o ns onant al lophones .

Phone t i c al ly , regis t er differ­

enc e s are produ ced by mu s c le movement s of the pharyngeal and faucal (continued from previous page)

where he was born in 19 3 5 . He belongs to the family group of the /mayeq/ . /buse/ . Before marriage her family group was / ?a n i / - . /moxa/ . Their locations before 1943 were /mfBb'f/ ( see also informant / boso q/ . /budo/ in 1966 . She belonged to the family group of the / I akeq/ . The Akha cycle o f twelve years has been used t o reconstruct some historic.al facts about migration and geographical dialect s . These were used in preparing the bio­ graphies of the informant s . In addition to what I owe my Akha friends , I am indebted to William A . Smalley , Norman A. Mundhenk and E . R . Hope , who have given me advice and encouragement in T.T'I""; + -i 't"'i f"f' + 'h ';

t"'I

.."oyo+ 4

..... 1

t:'\

152

P . WY S S

apparatus ( Smal l ey 1 9 6 4b ) . Low regi ster results from a r e laxed pharyngeal and fau c a l apparat us , expanding the entrance to t h e throat into an open pharyng e a l cavi t y . The acous t i c effect i s that of a " ho l l ow" or " s oft " vowel quality a c ­ compani ed by a f r e e f l o w of pharyng e a l air i n varying degr e e s of "breathi­ nes s " , depending on the pos iti on and configurat ion o f the vowel ar ti cu­ lator s . regi s t er results from a c ontra c t i on and t ight ening o f the faucal p i l la r s and pharyngeal wal l s , reducing the vo lume of r e s o nance in the narrowed pharyng eal c avity .

Thi s r e s u l t s in a tens e , r e s trained and

" c hoked " acous t i c e f fe c t . A non-phonemi c final glotta l st op a l way s oc curs with h i gh regi s t e r in pre-p aus a l p o s it i o n , but may or may not o c c ur on low regi s t er . thi s pape r , high

i s i ndi cated by the c onvent ion

low regi s t er by the ab sence of the s e s ymb o ls .

In

l -q / [ -y J . and

It mu s t be remembered

however . that r e g i s t er is a supr a s e gmental feature oc curring s imul ta­ neously with the vowel a l though it i s wri t t e n in p o s t -vowe l p o s i t i on .

I sol I so q l I t �1 Ihql I dml I d req l

[ � ho2 J O� ? l J [ t ha 5 ] [ t �? � ] [ d (lj 9 ] It [ d,? 7 ]

' to b e p u r e '

< L .J'1 � >

' to fig u r e o u t '

< 1.1.'11 >

' to c h as e '

< tL 6i ,, >

' to hammer '

,

< LL IiI >

' to h i t '

< LL IiI ,, >

' to be a l i v e '

Tone

Low register (oral)

Pitch

High

1 '1

Mid

I I

Low

1' 1

2

3

....

5

�

".

6

�� Chart 2.

High register (faucalised)

1 --"

4 ---'"

7 .--..

Phonetic pitch

AKHA

[lJ FJ eJ ["J The

153

[5] [6J [7] [8J

extra h igh high-mid mid-high

mid low-mid

=

low extra low

phone t i c p i t c h e s shown in Chart 2 are reali sati ons of t hr e e

[1 4 7J

phonemic t ones .

[2 3 5 6 8]

o c c ur w i t h high r egist er , whi l e

[2 3] , [6 8]

oc cur with low regis t e r .

r e spect ively are in comp l ementary

d i s tribut ion i n e nvironment s c o n s i s t ing of s equenc e s of t he s ame phon­ emi c t one on the s ame regi s t er , as wil l be d e s cribed more s p e cifi c a lly b elow .

[ 1 ],

A l l phone t i c t o ne s , e x c e p t t one

o c cur frequent ly .

The

p honemi c c ontra s t s in t on e and r egi s t er may be demons trat e d as f o llows .

/jol I j ol Ijol

' to U v e '

< !"!I 0 > ' t o o p e n ( o ne ' s e y e s ) ' ; mea t ' .

e re ] IEEI

low , front , unrounded , s imi lar to t h e vowel i n ha t , or Thai

u- as in u � � .

O c curs e l s ewher e .

I bre q l [ bql? 4 ] < LLU " >

create ' ;

I brel [ bre S ] < u u > "

' t o kick ' .

' to b e g i n,

l u i [ u ] high , front , rounded , but l e s s t han in German [ � h U 3 I u 2 ] < � .. i.. > ' bamboo f l u t e ' .

Tlir .

Ic� I �1

101 [ 0 ] mid , front , rounded , but l e s s than in German Mohre . I t ol e t ho S ] < L � " > 'pronoun c l i ti c ' ; I t o q l [ t Q ? 4 ] < L � " " > ' c la s s ifier for sma l l packages ' .

la l [ a ]

lowe r - lo w , c e ntra l , unrounded , s imi l ar t o the vowel in the

Bri t i s h pronun c i a t i on of p a t h , or Thai

l a a l -1 as in

�1 .

I x a l [ ha S ]

< � 1 > ' to we lcome ' ; I x a q l [ Xq ? 4 ] < � ,, > ' t o b e s tr o ng ' .

Iii [ i ]

high , back , unrounded , s imilar t o Thai

�ut in a more back p o s i t i on and s ligh t ly higher .

I f f l = v as in � v , A chara c t eri s t i c fea­

ture of this vowe l i s a tight ening o f the fau c a l p i l lars and a v i s i b l e l i ft ing of s ome of the t hroat mu s c les .

In s p i t e of the fa c t that this

featur e is very s imi lar to the faucal i s ed vowel quality on high r e g i s t er , this vowe l oc cur s on both low and high regi s t er and other features of regi s t e r are i n c ontras t . N

[ dT ? 4 ] < � > lei [ e ]

Idil [ di S ]

' t o imm e r s e ' .

' v erb i n t e n s ifier ' ;

Idiql

mi d , back , unrounded , s imilar to the vowe l in the Bri t i s h

laal L -v as in L � v , b u t s li ght ly mor e I t el [ t h e S ] < L � v > ' t h a t ' ; I t e q l [ t� ? 4 ] < L 6I v.,, > ' to t o s s , twi s t ' .

pronunc i a t i on of hur t , or Thai back .

"

156

P . WYSS

l u i [ u] high , back , r ou nded , simi lar to the vowel i n po o l , or Thai l u u l � as in V Y . I p t l [ p h u 8 J < � > ' to s we l l ' ; I p � q l [ PU ? ' J < � > ' to s o a k ' . 101 [ o J

mid , b a c k , rounde d , s imilar t o the vowe l in o - o h !

t i o n of di smay ) , or Thai

I fJ o q l [ fJ9 ? ' J

1001 1 - as in

1M.

!t ;30 1 [ ijO S J < 'L a>

( exc lama­

' to c h e w ' ;

' r e turn I .

1 0 1 [ 0. 1 low , b ack , rounded , s imilar t o the vowel i n dog , or Thai 1 0 0 1 -� as in R� . I � o l [ ijo s J < a � > ' to s epara te ' ; I ?a � o q l [ ?a s fJ � ? ' J

< '; 'll {l'1 � >

' a needle I .

The t wo g l ided vowe l s in Akha have c ome int o t he language through r e cent borrowings . under two d o z en .

The t ot a l numbe r of word s whi ch cont a i n t h em i s Th e s e vowe l s o c cur , however , in e a s i ly and fu l ly a s ­

similated b orrowed words , and mus t b e i n c luded in t h e s ynchronic p i c t ur e . G lided vowel s oc cur only o n l ow regi s te r ( s o far ) , but can be found on all t hr e e t one s .

Their a c ou s t i c durat i o n is

to medium, like oral

vowels o n low r e gi s t er .

l a yl [ a i J

glide from lower-l ow , c entra l , unrounded t o high , front ,

unrounded , s imi l ar t o t h e

I yo x e y l [ r, 0 5 h a i 8 J < tJ � 1-M>

ment '

l a i l 1 - as in 1 � . I l a y l [ l a i s J < 1 ' s quare m e a s ur e ­

i n b y , or Thai ' badJ

evi l ';

•

lawl [ ao J

glide from l ower- low, c entra l , unrounded to mid , b ac k ,

rounded , s imilar t o t h e

[ !lb a o S ] < \ J '1 >

'power ' ;

in now , or Thai

I l a w l [ l a o s J < \ fl '1 >

l a o l \ -'1 as in t � '1 .

I be wl

' Lao s ' ,

The very common feature of nasality i n Akha s t ructure o c curs in three contras t i ng forms , t wo o f whi ch are o ld , and t h e t hird due to r e c ent b orrowings .

Phoneti

t he s e are a nasali s ed vowel

[ 5 J , a sy llab i c

[ m, J , and a s equence [ a m ] . The na sali s e d vowel [ 5 ] o c c ur s only o n low Syllab i c [ � J i s mai nly found o n low r e gi s t e r , but i n a few Only one rare i ns t anc e s on h i gh regi s t er f o l lowing consonant I n / . c ontrast is r e c o rded . [ a m ] occurs only on low r eg i s t er ( s o far ) . Though nasality i s wr it t en phonemi cally by the convent ion I - n l i n s y l lab l e final p o s it ion , it mus t b e r ememb ered that s ome o f t h e feat ure s o f nasalit y are not t o b e interpreted a s a s eque n c e of vowe l plus final nasal c o ns onant , but rather as o c curring s imul t an e ou s ly wit h t h e vowe l . In

[ o o J and [ am J it i s reali s ed , o f cour s e , a s a s equence of vowel e mI ] as a s yllabic nas a l .

nasal consonant , and in

lo nl [ 5 ]

lOW , b ac k , rounded , na sali s e d .

It may be heard a s

r a J particularly wi t h prec eding cons onant s in lab ial

and alveolar p o s i t ions . final c o n s o nant

Ha s very high frequency .

[ oJ,

May a l s o s p or ad i c a lly b e found reali s e d with a

I J 6 ko n i [ l o 2 k h5 8 ] or [ l o 2 k ho 0 8 ] < R� � 0 4 >

' sp i r i t

AKHA

gate ' ;

I d o n l [ d5 5 ] o r [ dIf a S ] < � HJ4 > 11

157

' to hav e t i m e ' ;

1 ? 6 n l [ ?5 2 J < O il:P

' to p o s s e s s ' .

l i n I [ m, ]

voi c ed , b i labial , s y l labic nasa l , whi ch may b e reali s ed

[ r J or [ u ] followed by consonant Im/ . [ r ] [ u ] with low t one . I d i n l f [ " rr S ] ' to wear a Zo t h e s ' ; I ? n l [ ? T 2 ] o r [ ?tw2 ] < gu> ' to work ' ; l ? u § T n l [ ? u 6 jj UW 8 ] o r [ ? u 6 jj T 8 J < � �a.! > ' p i L Z o w ' ; I y o n i n l [ yo 5 �T S ] < !J oila.! > It ' m i Z d e w ' ; I yo n i q n l [ yo S n'(m 4 J < !J Dll�> ' p owder ' , as a lower-high , back vowe l

may b e real i s ed when o c c urring with h i gh tone ,

"

l a n l [ am J i s reali s ed as a s equence of a lowe r - low , c entral , un­ r ounded vowe l followed by consonant I m / . I ? a y a n l [ ?a 2 y a m1f 8 J < D 'l 'HU''l> If ' ti m e . s e a s o n ' ; I l a n l [ l a m S ] < R� > ' a Z a s s ifi e r for m i Z Z i on ' ; I c a n l [ c. h a m 2 ] II " ' a ar o s s b eam on A k ha hou s e ' . C 0 n,f, 0 na. n..t,f,

Bilabial

Labiopalatal

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

voiaeZess

p

py

t

c

k

?

voiaed

b

by

d

j

9

m

my

n

Stops

Nasals

Q

Fricatives voiaeZess

s

voiaed

y Chart 5 .

x

Consonant phonemes

There are no phonemic consonant c lu s t ers in Akha , nor do any con­ sonant s o c c ur in s y l lab l e final p o s i t i o n .

Akha consonant phoneme s have

different r e a l i s at ions when o ccurr i ng wit h d ifferent r e g i s t ers , as may be s ee n in Chart 6 ( overleaf ) . The voi c e le s s s to p s are aspirat e d when t hey o c c ur with low r e gi s t er . A s e t o f unasp irate d s t op s o c curs in c ompl ementary d i stribution on high r e gi s t er .

Unaspirated s t op s , h owever , may oc cur i n free fluctuati on

wit h aspirated s t op s on low regis t e r ,

The condit ion of t heir mo s t

likely oc curr ence is reali s e d wit h h i g h vowe ls on high t one .

Thi s fea­

t ur e o f fluctuation is p aral l e l to that whi ch o c curs with other v o i c e ­ l e s s c onso nant s notably t h o s e in p alat a l and velar p o s i t ions ( s e e Char t s

158

P . WYSS

7 and 8 ) .

The vowe l , howev er , whi c h o c cur s with such una s p irated stops

i s that o f low r e gi ster qua lity .

Aspirated stops never o c cur with h igh

regi st e r .

�

register

Low register Stops

voiaeless

aspirated

[h]

unaspirated

voiaed

forti s

[ ] 0

lenis

forti s

[ ] 0

lenis

voiaeless

aspirated

[h)

unaspirated

voiaed

forti s

[ n]

lenis

Nasals Frica tives

Chart 6 .

Consonant reali sations conditioned by register

The vo i c ed stops o c c ur a s fort i s on low r e g i s t er and lenis on high r e g i s t er .

The nasals show very much the s ame kinds of a l l ophone s a s

v o i c e d s t ops , but their di s t i nc t ion betwe e n fort i s and l e n i s i s c on­ siderab ly weaker .

The fr i c ative s , voi c e le s s and voiced , are mo difi ed

i n their intensity of fri ct i o n , fort i s on low register and lenis on h igh regi s t e r .

In addit i on , the vo i c e le s s fri c at i ve s are a c c ompani ed by

asp irat i on on low r e gi s t e r , which is a b s ent on high regi s t er , par a l l e l to t h e s y s t em o f aspirat ion with v o i c e l e s s s t op s . The se c ons onant al lophone s are again inf luen ced by the tongue p o s i­ t i on for the vowe l with whi c h they o c cur as shown in Chart 4 .

Fe atur e s

s u c h a s a s p irat i on , v O i c i ng , for t i s or leni s qua lity , int e n s i t y o f fr i ct i on , e t c . , tend to b e lighter or heavier on t h e s ame s c a le a s breat hine s s s h own i n Chart 4 .

c omparing C hart 5 and 6 , it i s qui t e

obv i ou s that the s e var iat ions of c ons onant quali t i e s take o n extr eme proport ions where two d i s tinct quali t i e s , a s pirat ion or v o i c e d art i cu la­ t i on p lus fri c tion , over lap in one s i ngle phoneme .

Thi s happens with

consonants in labio-palat a l , palatal and par t i a l ly also in ve lar p o s i­ t io n . Th e paiata l i s e d consonant s are interpre t e d as s ingle unit s in Akha , not a s c lu s t er s , alt hough t h os e in labio-pa latal p o s i t i on are wr i t t e n as di graph s , for conveni enc e , in phonemic wr it ing / p y b y m y / . /p/ [ ph ]

vOi cele s s , a spirated , b ilab i a l s t op , s imi lar to t he ini­

t i a l cons onant in pair or Thai / p h / � as in � O . regi s t er . [ PJ

/ p u / [ phu S ]

O c cur s o n ly with low

' to s we l l ' ; / p a / [ p h a 2 ]

' t o ahang e ' .

vOice le s s , una s p irated , bi lab ial s t op , s imilar t o p as in

s p i d e r or Thai / p / � a s i n � .

Oc cur s a lways with h igh regi s t e r .

O c c ur s

AKBA

[ ph ]

also i n free fluctuat i on with

I p u q l [ p y ? 7 ] high vowe l s . I p u ka l [ p h u 5 kha 5 ] or [ p u 5 k ha 5 ]

159

o n low regi s t er s p e ci f i c ally b e fore

' to b o i l ' ;

I p a q l [ P9 ? " ]

I m o q l [ m� ? 7 ]

' to d e s i r e . �ant ' .

v o i c e le s s , aspirat ed , lab io-palata l

init ial c ons onant in p ur e .

< � J 1 > ' to hav e a fev e r ' ;

[ pY]

I mml [ mm S] I!

Oc c ur s with low

O c curs wit h l o w r eg i s t er .

l ? u p y� 1 [ ? u 6 p h Y a 8 ]

, s imilar t o t h e

I p ya l [ p h Ya B ]

< � � J 1 > ' a branch ' .

vo i c e le s s , una s p irat e d , lab io -palat a l s t op , s imilar t o

I p ya q l [ p y� ? 7 ]

< u u :: >

A r ar e non-phonemic variation may s p orad i ca l ly b e heard as

[ ph i ]

the p in dispu t e . carv e ' ;

Oc curs with high regi s t er .

I n T q p y a q l [ nT " p y� ? 4 ]

with low regi s t er and

[pi ]

' s oy b e a n ' .

with high regi s t er .

s imi lar t o the Thai c lu s t e r s

' to

Iph l l

The s e a l lophones are

�� as in � � 1 4 and

Ip l l

u � a s in

U�1 .

More frequent o c c urren c e s of t h i s kind are reported from areas East and l Nor t h-East of Kengtung S t a t e i n Burma .

Ibyl [ R Y ]

v O i c ed , f or t i s , lab i o -palata l s t op , s imilar to t h e ini t i al

s ound in beauty .

I b yol [ R Yo 5 ] [ bY]

Occurs with low r e g i s t e r .

'bee ' ;

< t U U 1 > ' to burro� ' . v o i c ed , lenis., l ab i o-palatal s t op , s imi lar t o the ab ove .

Oc cur s with high regis ter .

[ b Yq ? 4 ]

I b y a l [ � Ya 8 ]

I b y� q l [ b y� ? 7 ]

< u u ::: > ' to b e s tr i p e d ' ;

I b yoql

< 1 u � ::: > ' to d i s appear ' .

A rare non-phonemi c var i at i o n r e gi s t er para lle l to t h e

[ bI ! l ]

and

[bl ]

oc cur s with low and high

as ment ioned above under the voi c e l e s s

labio-palatal s t op .

his earlier work Paul Lewis m'ote all forms : Northern Akha

I m y o l [ mn Yo S ]

I m ya l [ mY aS] !l

' to b e s lo w ' ;

< �� v � >

Imybql

' to l i e ' ,

< L �� !) 'l ll >

A rare non-phonemic v ar i at i o n o c cur s sporad i c a l ly and i s parallel to the s y s t em as mentioned a b ov e .

It I [ t h ]

v o i c e l e s s , a s pirat e d , a lv e o l ar s t op , s imilar t o t a s i n

t o o l , o r Thai

[ t hm 5 J

< tL n >

[t ]

It hl

as i n n 'l � .

n

< ti � >

I t ol e t h o S ]

' to cha s e ' ;

Itml

O c c ur s on low r e g i s t e r only . ' to l oad ' ,

voi c e le s s , unaspirate d , alv eolar s t op , s imi l ar t o the t i n

s ty l e , or Thai

It I

as in � 'l ,

�

and i s

O c curs always w i t h high

[ t h ] on low r e g i s t e r and p arti cu larly b e fore high vowe ls on h i gh t on e . I t m q l [ t �? � ] < tt � ll > ' to hamme r ' ; I t o q l [ t �? 7 ] < t � H > ' to p o ur ( s o U ds ) ' ; I p o t u l [ p h o S t h u 2 ] or [ p h o S t u 2 ] < � � Ii' > ' a type of bas k e t ' ; l y o t , 1 [ yo 5 t i 2 ] or [ yo 5 t h i 2 ] < v � �> ' t i ny ' . i n free f lu c t uation with

II

Idl [ A ]

vo i c e d , forti s , alv e o lar s t op , s imilar to the initial con­

s onant in day , or Thai

Idol [ Ho S ] Cd]

< �� >

�

as in L � n .

Occurs with low

/ ? a d a l [ ?a s H a 5 ]

< '; 'l � 'l >

' fa t h er ' .

vOi c ed , leni s , alveo lar stop , s imilar t o the above .

with high regi s t e r . ' ax e ' .

Inl [ n J no , or Thai I

< � M'\.I >

v o i c ed , forti s , alveo lar nas a l , similar to the c on sonant in

I nl

'\.I

as in

en]

' a s e e d,

III [ I ]

,

�

I nT g b l [ n T 2 ft o S ]

,

< a � M� � >

I n?:BI [ nm a ] ' a s to o l ' .

I n� q l [ nm ? 7 ]

< � �'\.I � >

' g h os t ' ;

Oc curs

1 ? ' n Tq l [ ?a 2 n T ? ' ]

k er ne l ' .

voi c ed , a lveo lar lateral , s imi lar t o the initial cons onant

in l o op , or Tha i

[ lm5 ]

Oc cur s with l ow r egis t er .

vOi c ed , lenis , alveo lar nasal , similar t o above .

wit h high regi s t er . < D 'l G >

'\.1'1 .

' t hreads i n weav ing l o om ' ;

III

�

as in � � .

' to form a b a l l ' ;

Oc curs wit h b o t h

I l mq l [ I � ? " ]

< tL � Il >

I l ml

' to take o ff ' ,

The c ons onan t s in p alat a l p o si t i on with t h e exception of the nasal

I n l are real i s e d in a wide range of different a l lophone s whi c h inc lude v ery s ub t le to v e ry obvious d i s t i nc t ions .

With the affr i c a t e d s t o p s

Icl and I j l t h e t o ngue p o si tion i s r e ali s ed i n t h e c l o s ur e of the s t op by various degr e e s o f t ip t o b lade releas e , thus with I c l r e s u l t i ng i n phone t i c valu e s ranging from [ x] t o [ � h ] and wit h I j l from [ � Y ] t o [ J ] . II A s imi l ar f eature o c curs with the fricat ive s l sI and I y l where the

161

AKHA

grooved c onfigurat i on of t h e t ongue may have var i ous degr e e s o f front ed to b a c ked p o s i t ions . re sulting with l s i i n phone t i c qua li t i e s from [ � ] to [ � h ] and with I y l from a sporad i c [ z] to [ V ] . ;f

Chart 7 indi cat e s vari ou s mo difications on consonant s in p alatal pos ition in a mo st general and re lat ive way . e x ce p t I n / .

Modifications

c aused b y p i t c h are not indicated . but generally c ons onant quali t i e s s u c h a s asp irat i on . vo i c e d art i culation a n d fri c t i on tend t o be li ght er on high t o ne and heavier on low tone .

The s quare s with the unc onne c t ed

c r o s s lines ind i c ate ar eas o f f luctuation under the condi t i ons shown in the chart .

Of t h e four a l l ophone s shown i n one s quare with unc onne c t e d

line s , f luctuat i on w i t h the t w o adj oini ng of one part i cular allop hone may oc cur , but o c cur s mo s t unlikely wi t h the o ne opp o s i t e of that parti c u lar allophone , e . g . [ � h ] fluctuat e s likely with adj oining [ � h ] and [ � h ] . but fluctua t e s most unli ke ly wi t h opp o s i t e [ x h ] .

Allophones

shown in parenthe s e s may o c cur sporadi c a l ly .

High register

Low register Affri c . stop

Consonant position Vowel position

unr .

rd .

high

S(h

�h

Affric . stop

Fricatives

unr .

rd .

unr .

rd .

unr .

�h

�h

);; (t V )

�

�

I--

voiceless

low high voiced

low

�h

�h

�h

�

�

X(z)

J

X

I

Ic

j

tI

It

�

Chart 7 .

Fricatives

v

� II

I

�h

y If

If

II

Ma j or al lophones of

II

y "

s y/ .

�

�

�

)I v

' dew ' ,

[ x ] to [ 9 ]

v o i c e l e s s , unaspi r at e d , alveo lar to alveo-palat a l

162

P . WYSS

affri cat ed s t op , s imi l ar t o the f i nal s ound in s i t s , or Tha i in 1 � .

Oc curs with high regi s t er .

I c l � as

O c c ur s s poradically in fluctuation

[ x h ] on low regi s t e r , par t i c u lar ly before high vowe ls and b e fore I c i q l [ x l ? 4 ] < I > ' to pu l l (fea thers ) ' ; I c � q l [ �i? 7 ] < b � 8 � > ' a s nipe ' ; I c f ! [ � h i 2 ] or [ x i 2 ] < � > ' o i l , lard ' ; ! ? a c O ! [ ? a 3 �o 2 ] or [ ? a 3 � ho 2 ] < � 1 t J> ' p er s o na l name ' .

wit h

high t one .

I j l [ j ] to [ J ] f1

I!

v o i c ed , fort i s , a lv e o lar t o alveo-palatal affri cated

s t o p , s imi lar t o the ini t i a l consonant in j ai l . i s t er .

I j u l [ J u 8 ]

' to b e wrink l e d ' ;

I!

l s i [ � h ] to [ � h ]

voicel e s s , aspirat e d , grooved , alveo lar to a lveo­

palatal fr i cat ive , s imilar to the ini t ial cons onant s ound in s hy , or

l s i � as in t J . O c cur s with l ow r e g i s t er . I s � 1 [ � h � 2 ] < � 8 > pur e , grey ' ; I sa m � 1 [ � h e 3 m � 2 ] < bb'1f;J ' l ou s e ' . . I!

Thai be

[ � ] to [ � ]

vO i c el e s s , unaspirat e d , grooved , alveolar to alveo­

palatal fr i c a t iv e , s imilar t o t he above .

I s� q l [ � 9 ? 1 ] < b '1f1 � > Iyl [ X ] t o [ Y ] "

"

' to figure o u t ' ;

Oc curs with high regi s t er .

Is) ql [ � 1 ? 7 ]

I y a l [ ya 8 ] < 'VI U 1 > t,

'rain ' .

[z]

' numb e r s ev en ' .

vOiced , fort i s , a lveo-palatal fri cative , s imilar t o

t h e init ial cons onant sound in y e ar , or Thai with l ow regi s ter .

Iyl

u

as in U 1 .

' to s a cr i fi c e ' ;

Oc cur s

I ? u ya l [ ? u 8 x e 2 ] "

v O i c ed , alveo lar f r i c a t ive , s imi lar to the init i al conso­

nant in z o o .

[ X ] to [ y ] on I y r l f � i 2 ] o� [ z i 2 ]

O c c urs in sporad i c free fluctuation with

low r egi s ter .

I y g l [ � g 2 ] or [ z g 2 ] < b �8 >

' to buy ' ;

< � > ' a g e nera t i o n ' .

[ x ] to [ y ]

voi c ed , leni s , alveo-palatal fr i c at ive , s imi lar to

the i n i t i al c ons onant in y o u , b ut with less f r i c t i o n and vo i c ing . c u r s w i t h h igh regi s t e r .

[ yq 4 p h Yo 2 ] < U �'V'l �8 > I n l [ nI! ]

I ya q l [ yq ? 7 ] < 'VI U � >

' to camp ' ;

Oc­

l y a q p y� 1

' a broom ' .

voi ced , fort i s , palatal nas a l , s imi lar t o t he init i a l sound

I n / . O c curs wi t h low r e g i s ter . ! ? a no l [ ?a 6 nI! o 8 ] < � 1 t 'VI � > ' buffa l o ' .

in n e w , or Northern Thai

< bb lJ/ > ' to f l u t t e r ' ;

[n]

' to

Inrel [ I!nre S ]

vo i c ed , leni s , palatal nasa l , simi lar to the above .

wi t h high regi st er .

I nre q l [ fi e ? 4 ] < U lJ/ � >

' t o b la z e ' ;

Oc cur s

I ? a no q l [ ?a 2 n 9? 4 ]

AKHA

I kl [ k h ]

163

v o i c e l e s s , a s p irat ed , ve lar s t op , s imilar t o the init ial

I k h l � a s in �U . Oc cur s wi t h low regi s t er . p la n t ' ; l ? a k T I [ ?a 6 k h i 8 ] < '; 'l � o > ' dog ' .

c onsonant in k i ng , or Thai

I ka l [ k h a S ] < � 'l > [ k]

' to

v O i c e l e s s , unaspirat ed , velar stop , s imilar t o the cons onant

k in the init ial c lu s t e r in s k i l l , or Thai

I kl

as in u n � .

n

O c cur s with

[ k h ] on low regi s t er , part i c u lar ly on 4 high t one . I ka q l [ k� ? ] < � z > ' cr o s s b ow ' ; I kb q l [ k9 ? 7 ] < ' n � > ' s ix ' ; I ka p yo l [ k h a 3 p h Yo 2 ] or [ ka 3 p h Y o 2 ] < "j'l � Jo > ' wa U ' . high regi s t er and flu c t uat e s with

Igl [ g ]

voi c e d , fort i s , velar s t op , s imi lar t o the init ial conso­

I!

nant in g o o d .

O c curs with low regi s t er .

I x o g u l [ h o 8 g u 2 ] < � o W> I!

[g]

I g a l [ g a 8 ] < � � 'l > I!

' du c k ' .

' to hear ' ;

voiced , leni s , velar s t op , s imilar to the above .

I g a q l [ g � ? 7 ]

with high regi s t e r .

' to trade ' ;

O c cur s

I g u q l [ g y ? 4 ] < �>

' t o be afra i d ' .

101 [ 0 ] I!

voiced , f ort i s , ve lar , na sal , s imi lar t o fina l s ound in

Oc cur s with low regi s t er . s ing , or Thai 1 0 1 � as in � . < LL � �' > ' to s p e a k ' ; l o B I [ 00 2 ] < L .;'';l > ' to c r y > w e e p ' . I!

[0]

vo i c e d , leni s , velar nas a l , s imilar to the above .

l o� q l [ 0�? 7 ] < u� � � >

with high regi s t er .

' to be emp ty ' ;

Oc cur s

1 0� q l [ 09 ? 7 ]

< , �� � > ' t o c o c k a cros s b ow ' . The v o i c e le s s , ve lar fri cative

I x l wh i c h has one of the highe st

frequenc e s in Akha is r e a l i s e d i n as wide a range of a l lophones as the c onsonant s in palatal p o s i t ion .

[ h ] which A l l ophones [ x h ]

One of t he s e al lophone s i s

i s very s imilar t o the c onsonant in h e , or Tha i � , � .

[ � h ] ar e similar t o Northern Thai l x i , whi c h corr e s p ond s t o Central I k h l � , � . As can b e s een fr om Chart 8 the d i s t i nct allophonic differen c e s o c c ur with low and high regi st er . On low r e g i s t er I x l and

Thai

r anges from plain velar t o glottal p o s i t ion .

The a llophones in ve lar

p o s i t i on are r e l e a s ed with a f low of air s imilar to asp irat i o n with stops .

On high register

I x l d o e s not oc cur with high vowels . Low register

Vowel position

unrounded

rounded

unrounded

rounded

h

h

-

-

h '" xh

h '" �h

x

�

High Mid> low

High register

Chart 8 .

Maj or allophones of

Ixl

P . WYSS

164

Ixl [ x h ]

vO i c e le s s , asp irated , rele a s e d , p lain ve lar fri cativ e .

Ixrel [ x hre 8 ]

O c curs with unrounded non-high vowe l s on low r egi s t er .

< �� > ' a l a s s ifier for doors ' ; I x �1 [ xh6 8 ] < b � O > ' t o l e av e v aaant ' .

[ �h ]

voi c e l e s s , asp irated , r e l e a s ed , backed velar fri cative .

O c c ur s with rounded non-high vowe ls on low regi st e r . ' to spr e ad out ' ;

[ h]

I x o l [ � h0 8 ]

Ixal [ � h a 2 ] < i� > ' t o s pi l l ' .

vo ic e l e s s , glot tal fricative .

O c c urs alway s with

vowels and fluctua t e s with [ x h ] or [ � h ] pre ced i ng mid and low vowe l s on l ow regi s t e r .

Fluct ua tion i s s tronge s t on low p i t c h .

s omewhat be tween [ � h ] and [ h ] i s alway s a c c epted ,

A pronunc iation

I?axul [ ?a 2 h u 5 ]

' t h e p a s t ' ; I d ax f l [ d a 3 h i 2 ] < � 1 i> ' a er emoni a l bamboo k n ife ' ; S ] or Ixo l o l [ X, h0 2 I o 8 ] o r [ h o 2 I o 8 ] < iO� A O > ' troug h ' ; I x a mrel [ x h a 8 mre If [ h a 8wre S ] ' m o u t h ' . •

[ li ] vOic e l e s s , nas a l i s ed glottal fri cativ e . Fluctua t e s with [ h ] or [ � h ] pre c eding nas a l i s ed vowel l o n l on low register , Im l x o n l [ mIf i 2 x h 5 8 ] o r [ mIt I 2 h5 8 ] o r [ m I 2li5 8 ] ' aoun try ' . n

•

[ M ] vOi c e l e s s , b i lab i a l na sal . F luctuat e s with [ h ] preceding ] < o 1 i� > s y l lab i c E mI ] l i n l on low regi s ter . I ? a x f n l [ ?a 3 h mf 2 ] or [ ?a 3 Mm2 I 'mus hroom ' .

[x]

voi c e le s s , una spirat ed , plain v e lar fricative .

unrounded vowe ls on high regi s t er .

[ X�? 7 ] < \ V O � > ' t o dig w i th finger ' . [�]

Oc curs wi th

Ixreql [ X� ? 7 ] < U V � > ' t o b r ea k ' ; I x �ql

vOic e l e s s , una spirate d , b a c ked , velar fricati v e ,

O c cur s

I x o q l ( �� ? 7 ] < L V 1 Z > ' to draw I ba q xoql [ b � 4�9 ? 4 ] ' s ki n ' .

with rounded vowe l s on high regi ster . water ' ;

I � I [ � ] voi c e d , forti s , velar fri c at ive . Oc curs with low I � o l [ �o Y ] q U > ' to a h ew ' ; 1 � 6 1 [ �e 5 ] < q J o > ' t o p u l l ' . n

n

[ � ] vO i c ed , lenis , v elar fricat ive . O c curs with high regi s t er . I�oq l [ � 9 ? 7 ] < t u z > ' r e turn ' ; I sre�oql [ l h e B � � ? 4 ] < � � \ �1 � > ' temporary s h e l te r ' .

I?I [ ? ]

glottal s t op , s imi lar to t h e Thai cons onant I ? I o .

Oc cur s

I ?a n i q l [ ?a 2 n T ? 4 ] < ii 1 1l > ' s e e d ' ; ! ? u c ) q l [ ? U 8� t ? 7 ] < � � > ' ev e n i ng ' ; ! ?a ? T I [ ? a 6 ? j 8 ] < � 1 d o > ' p a t e r na l u n a l e ' ; I y o ? o q l [ y o 5 ? �? 7 ] < U O L 0 1 � > ' t o b e r i p e ' .

wi th both

st ers in s y llable ini tial p o s i t i on .

I!

[ z ero ]

o c curs initially in s y l la b l e s whi c h are enc li t ic ( a s p e c t

part i c le s and gramma t i c a l markers ) . f i n a l p o s i t i on .

Enc li t i c s always o c cur in phr a s e

In phonemic wr i t i ng a l l enc l it i c s are co nne cted to the

phra s e to Whi ch they be long with a hyphen .

Stri ngs of encli t i c s are

AKHA

165

writ t en t oge t her and only t he first s yllab l e i n the str ing i s c onne c t ed

l y o kiS - ?.a [ yo 5 k h o 3 a 2 ] � < u m �8 - � � > ' qu i c k Zy ' ; I b i q - ? mal [ �ij ' i 8 �If a 5 J < , 0 8.� - ' � m u N > i h e s h � t i t ' ; , l yomT-m f ? a l ... [ yn o .5 mIf T a mtr i a 2'] < u 8�� � -� 8 ' > ' i t s ou nds g o o d to m e ' ; 1 1 d ki q , ? o nml [ l a 2 k'i/ ' o 2 na 5 ] < f! ' L n m.t: - m � wu > ' af t er arr i v ing t h e r e . . . ' .

wi th a hyphen t o t he p r e c e di ng p art of t he phra s e . I

...

"

rII

....

"'"

There are s ome o c c urren c e s Whi c h contrast only b y [ ? ] and [ ze ro ] .

l ? d J f y o ? � 1 [ ?a 3 J I 2 y o 5 ?a 8 ] < 5 , j U 8 � � > ' th e bird [ ? a 3 J" I, 2 y o 8 ] < m..u ,nQ" o" m - m , > ' th e bird f Z e w away ' . fl

i s we t ' ;

I

I ? ' J ( yo

•

if

In normal s pe e ch smo o t h t rans i t i on o c curs b e t we e n s y llab les o t he r than enc li t i c s .

In b ot h c as e s , however , the vowe l s o f t h e t w o adj a cent or

are fus ed and may be h e ard a s vowe l glide s , t one s , if t he t one s of the two syllab le s are d ifferent .

[ � o 2 Sl g a i g l e ]

' Wh e r e a r e y o u g o i ng ? '

I niS ? � g d ? I - l el

( li t . y o u - w h e r e - g o ) .

It may s e em b e st not t o wri t e t h e g l o t t a l s t o p i n s y l lab le s with smooth tran s it ion , thus making a ls o the hyphen superfluou s .

Thi s , how­

eve r , would r e sult in amb iguit i e s b e cau s e of t e chnic a l reasons .

In a

I d o n a l one would not know the borders o f I d o n a l or I d o na / , s i n c e na s a l i t y i s wri t t e n w i t h a f inal c onsonant I - n / . Thus it is wri t t e n as I d o n - ? � I [ dI ! 3 5 a 8 ] < � � 4 - � ' > ' hav e time ' .

c ombinat i on like

Th i s s o lut i on also has a pra c t i c a l app l i c at i on in t h e Thai orthography for Akha .

In Akha phonological struc ture , s tr e s s o p er a t e s pr imari ly on the word level and is governed by the tona l s y stem, wh ereas i nt onation and j uncture

primarily on a phras e leve l .

All syllab l e s have ei ther

weak or normal word - str e s s , governed by the tonal s y s t em . of a

The nuc leus

i s a c c ompanied by a phras e s tr e s s and other adj ac ent s y l-

l ab l e s have weak or normal s tre s s . Mono s y llab i c words r e c e iv e normal s t re s s .

' b e Z Zows ' ;

Ix�1 < � t»

I p y u l

' s i Zv er ' ;

I bol

' co o k ed r i c e ' .

In b i sy llab i c words whi c h are general ly nouns , the s t r e s s f o l lows t he t onal patt ern .

The syl lab l e whi c h has the higher phonemi c t one c ar­

ries the word- s t re s s .

Thi s may b e demonstrated i n t h e f o llowing group s

of A.

Both s y l lab l e s r e ceive normal word- s t r e s s .

O n h igh and l ow t one ,

however , the s tr e s s o f the f i r s t s y l lab l e may b e s li gh t ly weaker t han t hat of the s e cond s y l lab l e .

This is due t o the di ffer ent phone t i c

t ones in s equen c e s of syl lab le s with t h e s ame phonemi c tone , whi c h h a s

166

P . WYSS

b e e n di s cu s s e d under t o ne in t h i s p aper . I c 4 k f n l < �J�� > ' unhus k e d . " ' � r � a e , ; I ga b �q I < 4 1 �� . > ' banana ' ; I x a g e I < H 1 ' GD> ' aharaoa .,. ' . I

B.

The fir s t s y l lab l e r e ceives normal word - s t r e s s and the s e cond

s y l la b l e r e c e iv e s weak s tr e s s . ' bu t te rf Ly ' ; I � �x o n l C.

I

< ��WD 4 >

I m f x o n l ' ao u ntry ' ; / ? a l u l < iJ 1 ij >

' p Lay ground ' .

The first sy llab le r e c e i v e s weak s t r e s s and the s ec ond s y l lab le

I ? � ma l � �, � � > 'mo t h e r ' ; I m l c ' l < � � J> ' kn ife ' ; I I � q n B I < H � � ' �1 > ' inde x f i ng e r ' .

the normal word s tr e s s .

Words wi t h more t han two s y l lab l e s f o l low t h e s ame pattern as b i s y l ­ l a b i c words .

T h e s y l lab le whi c h c ar r i e s a higher phonemic tone t han

the o t he r s y l lab l e s in t h e wor d , r e c eives t h e normal w ord-s tre s s .

Other

s y llab les in the word have weak s tr e s s .

I t I [ phra s e s t re s s ] ac c ompani e s t h e nuc leus o f a phra s e .

It i s

indi cated by t he symb o l I t I and i s wri t t e n aft er t h e syl lab l e whi c h c arri e s t h e phra s e s t re s s .

O t he r s yllab l e s in t h e phrase have weak or

normal s t re s s in a c c ordance with the patt ern of the word - s t r e s s whi c h i s governed by the t onal s y s t em .

In a phras e wi t h more than one nuc leus

the las t nucleus in the s equence c arr i e s t h e p hrase s tr e s s .

Im� p a goq l e ' - ? a l

I b i j e l a ' -?el I b i j e ' l a - ?e l

' to aau s e

( s omeo ne ) t o aome and s if t '

' to aau s e ( s o m e o ne ) to pu t ( some t h i ng ) a s ide '

1 " 1 [ emphat i c s t r e s s ] affe c t s the nuc leus of the phras e and i s c har­ a c t e r i s e d by lengt hening o f t he c ons onant or vowe l , and r e sul t s a l s o in loss of t onal c ontras t . ri s e s t o a s t e e p

The inhere nt t one of the s y l lab le in que sti on

whi c h i s higher than normal high pitch and falls

back t o the normal pitch of the f o l lowing s y llab l e . 8

..;"\....

'6

a

2

I t ) g� II _ ? 1 m� j o l

[ t h l ga l W' a J o ] < � D1 -D H� ' � D > ' no t o ne s ing L e p e r s o n i s h er e ! ' . n it

•

•

•

I

...

Int onat i o n a ff e c t s the l a s t s y l lab le of a p hr a s e or s entenc e . most cases t h e s e syllables are enc l i t i c s .

In

There are at l e a s t two d i s ­

t inct t y p e s of int onat ion . lunmarkedl [ emphat i c p i t c h intonat ion] c oi n c id e s c l o s ely with the three t onal p i t c h levels and o c curs with

o n low and high

AKHA

regi s t er .

167

The inherent t one of t h e syl lab le in que stion is ext ended

by a superimp o s e d intonat i onal s tr e s s whi ch is reali s ed on mid and high t ones as a s l ightly pro longed r i s ing lift in p i t c h and a slightly pro­

/ ? f k5 n - ? 5 n / < i ;� 4 -��� > ' i n , t h e hou s e ' ; / y �mT m a s i / < u �� � � �� 1 � > ' do n ' t know w h e t h e r i t ' s g o o d or no t ' ; / ? � y� q S� q ? r - ? 6 n re / < � � L � U 1 Z t � � i �; ��u > ' w h e n he had l e ft ' ; / D � -x � q

longed lower ing of the p i t ch on low tone . '

\.

I

I

'

I

? r - m a / < 4u1 - L ti H 5 -� 1 > ' I t o o w i l l g o ' ; /S � p � q j � - l e / < �m. h ��1 - L " > ' ea t v eg e tab l e s ! ' ; /s�q l e - d e / < t � z L R- L Ii1 > ' go bac k ! ' . 1+1 [ falling intonat ion] affe c t s the tones of syllab les whi ch o c c ur on low register on phonemi c mid and high t ones .

The inherent t one of

the syllable i n que s t i on is charac t er i s e d by an emphas i s ed drop in pitch

/ ?� j e j � - I e + / < � 1 L �rn �rn1 - L " > ' w h a t s ha l l I e a t ? ' ; /s�q l e -ma d e + / < t � z L R- � 1 L Ii1 > ' I am g o i ng bac k ! ' ; / x 3 - n� + / < L i1 -.w1 > ' t h e n . . . ' ; / ? � I i - ? o + / < � 1 � - t � > ' So n ! ' .

whi ch may b e heard a s a short fall ing t one .

Juncture and intonat ion are c l o s ely int er-r elated in Akha , operat i ng on a phrase leve l .

Maj or phonol ogical and synt a c t i cal divi sions c o ­

inc ide in the struc ture of Akha .

Signific ant divisions a r e marked on a

synta c t i cal b a s i s by enc l i t i c s whi c h o c cur in phrase final p o s i tion . In this paper all enc l i t i c s ar e c o nne c t e d with a hyphen to the phras e wi t h which they o c c ur .

Thus the hyphen indi c a t e s that the fol lowing

s y l lable or syllab l e s ar e enc l i t i c and as s u c h c arry int o nat ion .

In a

s equence of s y l lab l e s whi c h are e n c l it i c s , int onation o c curs primari ly on the last syllab l e , though the . prec eding syllables may a l s o b e s l i gh t ly affected b y intonati on .

The hyphen a l s o i nd i c a t es smo o t h

trans i t i on b e tween enc l i t i c syllables w i t h init i al g l o t t a l s t op .

In a

sequence of enc liti c s , though only the firs t is marked with a hyphen , syl labl e s with initial glottal s t op in the s equences of enc l i t i c s a l s o have smo ot h transiti on .

Syllab l e s fol lowing the hyphen mark the e nd

of p hras e s , c lau ses or sentenc es and t hu s the b e ginning of an impor t ant j uncture . There are at least four maj or t ypes of j uncture . lunmarkedl [ s yllable j unctur e ] i ndi c a t e s normal trans i t io n b etween syllables within words and phra s e s . / n Tma - ? 6 n / < � � � 1 - �� 4 >

_y , , / c � x a ya' / < t1 � � 1 � U 1 > 'mankind ' . I

I

'in the h e ar t ' ;

-

Ispacel [ phra s e j uncture ] marks a short break or h e s i t a t i on b e tw e en

/ ? � y � q - ? 5 n y � k6 - ? � b l q ' n � - ? � / < � 1 L � U 1 z - � Q4 u� ;� -u � D u� J - � � . >

phra s e s .

' g i v e i t q u i c k ly to him ' .

1 , 1 [ c lau se j uncture] is marked by a c omma and ind i c a t es a pause whi ch is a j uncture of a sl ight ly longer durati o n t han t h e phra s e j unc" " " l. , , f .'· " , t ur e . / x � y e ma b a q c o-m l nre , p a�oq I a - ? �' nre , ? a c � - ? � n p a" sa ' - ? !-.emre . / < � � L U � '

,

u

u

168

P . WYSS

M J 1 U Z L J 1 - iu u , �1 ' � Z �1 - 5 o uu , � 1 � o - 5 0 4 �1 J1 - L � O U � . > ' Becau s e he cou Zd not carry t h e h o u s e p o s t s ,

he cam e back and begged his fr i e nds to com e . '

1 . 1 [ s ent enc e j unctur e ] i s marked by a period and indi c at e s a s e n­ t en c e final j uncture .

/ ?a d a - ? a ? u c l q c l q ? f ' - n a ?a + , �oq l e ' - ? emre . /

< � H 1 1 -� 1 Q 'l 'l 8'-M-U 1 5 1 , ' � Z L �- L o o u M J . > ' H e , t h e fa t h er, w h e n e v e n i ng had i ? a b o - ? o + , j o -ma l o + . / < � 1 u o -, 5 , rno - � 1 , A . > com e , h e came b a c k home . ' ' Grandfa t h e r !

A r e y o u hom e ? ' .

" Nolt.:th e.Jl. Yl " A k ha. In learning Akha , and in ear lier s t age s of my at t empt s to unde r s t and its sound system, I profited by the u s e of extens ive word l i s t s and c ons iderab l e lit erature prepar e d in Pangwai , Burma , by Paul Lewi s .

This

work , wh ich is referred t o in this p aper as Northern Akha , i s tran s c ribed in a Roman letter wri t ing s y st em adap t e d from the convent i ons u s ed in Lahu in the same area of Burma . Becau s e of the importan c e of Lewi s ' l work , points of differen c e between the phonol ogy of Northern and Sout hern Akha , and prob lems created by the r e s p e c t ive wri t i ng s y s t ems are not ed later .

I will touch only on differenc e s b etwe en his transcrip­

t i on of Akha and my analy s i s , ind i c at ing where they s eem t o b e d i a l e c t problems and wh ere they are d u e t o o t h e r reasons . It s hould be borne in mind that Lewi s prepared his transcription in order t o promote p opular literacy among the Akha in Burma , j us t as our Thai-ba s e d trans crip t i on t o be d e s c ri b e d b e low is prepared for t hat pur p o s e in Thai land .

The nat ural mode l for him t o use wa s that of the

exist ing Lahu trans cript ion , whi ch was the orthography of pre s t ige among the Akha Chr i s t i ans with whom Lewi s was work ing .

A body of educat ed

and mot ivat ed Akha Chr i s t ians , wh o knew the Lahu scrip t , were involved i n its wr it ing , in trans lation programme s , e t c . , and br ought t heir Lahu­ oriented j udgment s to b ear on d e c i s ions .

Furt hermore , they r epr e s ented

a variety of dial e ct s , and c ompromi s e s had t o b e made . This means that any di s c u s s i on here of lack of " f i t " at any points between Akha phonology and the Akha wri t i ng sy s t em u s ed in Burma s hould b e t aken as simp ly repor t ing the fac t s , and not as imp lying t hat t h e "Northern " writ ing sy s t em should b e di fferent at t h e s e p o i nt s . The " Northern" orthography i s r epr e s ented in Chart s 9 - 1 1 .

l

It i s Paul Lewis ' analysis of Akha , for example , which Robbins Burling uses (1967 ) . Extensive literature is available in Lewis ' transcription , including a New Testament , and his dictionary ( Lewis 1968b ) .

AKHA

169

Alveolar

Bilabial

Alveopalatal

Velar

Glottal

zero [ ? ]

Stop voiae le88

p [ ph p ]

t [tn t ]

k [ kh k ]

voiaed

b

d

9

Affricate voiaele88

t s [tsn t s]

e [en eJ

voiaed

dz

j [j jVJ

Fricative voiaele88

s [ sh s J

s h [ �h 5 ]

k' [xh x ]

voiaed

z

y

g'

[ El ]

ng

[ !) J

m

Nasal

n

h

Lateral Palatalised voiaeZe88

py

voiaed

by

na8al

my

Chart 9 .

ny

"Northern" consonants i n Akha romanised orthography

developed by Lewi s .

F i r s t a l lophone o c curs with low

and s e c ond a l l ophone wi t h high r e g i s t e r .

C ompare C hart 5 .

A c ompar i s on o f Chart 9 wit h Char t 5 wil l qui c kly s how t hat Northern Akha has more c on s onant s than Southern Akha .

From Lewi s ' reports in

per s ona l c ommuni c at i on this is unque s t i onably true . Northern

It s

e l are t ogether e quivalent t o Southern l e I .

t ra s t in Nort he rn < t s a w A - e u >

' to p i er a e , s ta b ' , and

< e a w A -e u >

r u i n e d, d e s troy e d ' , a r e r e a l i s e d in S outhern Akha as l e o q - ? e l ' t o s ta b , p i er a e ' ; l e o q ? ( - ? e l b e ruined ' .

i n b oth word s

< L �"l ::: 5- L � � >

The c on­ ' to b e

< L �"l ::: - U H J >

' fo r s om e t h i ng t o g o bad, t o

The pronunciat i on o f t he consonant l e I i n Southern Akha i s of one [ � ] , and f luc t uat e s wit h [ � ] and [ � ] i n the The c ontr a s t in Northern < t s a w > ' wa t erfa l l ' , and

and t he same per s o n .

v

v

' a fr i end ' , are b ot h l e o l in S outhern Akha with a pronun c iation

whi c h i s u s ually

[�h].

[ � h ] , but fluctuat e s with phone t i c valu e s of [ � h ] and

The word f o r ' fr i e nd ' is u sually unders t ood by t he context .

170

P . WYSS

I l) a - ? e e O l

' o n e fr i e nd '

' w a t erfa l l ' i s u sually b i s y llab i c

'wat erfa l l ' , unl e s s it i s under s to od otherwi s e b y t he

The two word s may be h e ard as mono s y l labic words , thus o c cur­

r ing a s homonyms .

However , here again the c ont ext would make the

meaning c lear a s c an b e s ee n from t h e f o l lowing examp le .

< '; 0 vr� '1 � D >

' th e r e i s n o fri end ' ;

l e o ma j a q l < Q D vr� '1 rn � >

leo m a b o l

' t here i s n o

wa t erfa l l ( inanimat e ) ' .

I d z j l are e qulva lent t o Southern I j / . Northern < d z a - e u > ' to e a t ' , and < j a - e u > ' to oa l l v v Nor t hern

The c ontra s t in an anima l ' , ar e both

[�]

t o b e found i n Southern Akha with pronunciati ons r anging between

[J].

and

!f

speaker .

Di fferent pronUnciations may b e heard wit h one and the s �me The word for ' to o a l l an anima l ' , however , is used with a

I - x o q l as ' a b ound form . Northern < a y k U i d z a - e u > ' to y y t h e dog ' , and < e y k u i j a - e u > ' to o a l l t h e dog ' . Southern i ? a k i v v J a -? e l < O 'l � O vrrn'l - L O O > ' to eat t h e dog ' , and l ? a k T j a x o q - ? e l < � '1 d o Mrn'l � V � - L D O > ' to oa l l t h e dog b a o k ' .

p o s t -v erb a l

eat

,

I s s h l are equivalent t o Southern l s i . The cont r a s t in < s hm v > ' iron ' , and < s m v > ' th r e e ' , ar e t o b e found i n S ou t he rn } between [ � h ] Akha as I s i nl with pronunc iations for both word s Northern

Nort hern

and

[ �h ] ,

s p e aker .

whi ch c an b e heard i n fluctuation with one and t h e s ame The word for ' t hre e l e g s ' , whi ch would b e expe c t e d t o c o nt r a s t

w i t h the c ompound noun f o r ' a trip o d, o o o king s tand ' ( li t . iron- l eg ) ,

I s T n l ' th r e e ' , on :: low t one . Northern < s h m v ku i v > equ a l s S ou thern I s i n k i l ' oo o ki ng ' \. ... I s tand ' . Northern < sm y k u l v > equals Southern I s i n kT I < a � � D > ' t hr e e l e g s ' . Northern I z yl are equivalent t o Southern I y / . The Northern con­ trast < z a - e u > ' t o h ide ' , and < ye A - e u > ' to oamp OV ernigh t ' , are real­ A i s ed in Southern as l e re q y a q - ? e / < � � �vr U � - L O D > ' to h ide ' ( li t . r u n - h i d e ) , and / j 6 y a q - ? e / ' to aamp ' ( lit . s ta y - oamp ) . The Northern c ontrast < z a > ' a h i ld ' , and < y a y > ' wi l d g o a t ' , o c curs in Southern as v / y a l < M U '1 > or / b6 c o n y a l ' o h i ldren ' , or is made otherwi s e c le ar t hrough the c on­ I l)a - ? e y a l ' my a h i l d ' . In Northern Akha Northern I k t h i are equiva l ent t o Southern / x / . / k ' i [ x h ] d o e s not o ccur wit h vowe l s . I h/ oc curs only on low

t ext as i n

r e gi s t er with oral vowe l s , but o c curs with high vowe l s . Akha there is fluctuat ion b etween the phone t i c values

[ h],

a s d e s cribed e ar l i er i n the p aper .

In s ou thern

[ xh ] , [ � h ]

and

The Akha i n this are a , even

t h e older generat ion , s imp ly cannot h e ar t h e differen c e s b e twee n t h e s e a l l ophon e s .

A pronunc iation s omewhere between t h e s e a l lophones i s

171

always ac cepted b y t h e Akha .

Northern

< k ' awy>

' a s e c t i o n of bambo o

b e a t e n after s u c c e s sfu l hunt i ng ' , c ontra s t s with

< ha w y >

' cooked rioe ' .

I x o l < � o > ' co o k ed r i c e ' , i s freque nt ly p r onounced a s [ h o B ] , s ometimes a s [ x h o 8 ] , b u t i s usually pronounc ed s omewhere between

In Southern Akha

the two phone t i c value s .

The word for ' a bamboo s e o ti o n b e a t e n . , . ' has

I X6 d 1 1 , the ini t i a l

b e c ome a b i sy llab i c word in Southern Akha .

c o nsonant having t he s ame allophonic p ronounc iat i ons a s in the word for ' oo o k e d r i o e ' .

Lewis has pointed out t hat on s everal o c c a s i ons he has met Akhas part i cularly from we s t e rn and s outhern p ar t s of Kengtung s ta t e who of

s e emed to have a great deal of fluctuation b etween t h e s e f iv e Northern consonant p honeme s .

Thi s would s ugge s t that there are geo­

graphical b oundar i e s of dial e c t s with a more expanded phonemi c s y s t em in the Northern are a s o f Akha d i s per s ion and a redu c ed phonemi c s y s t em in Southern and We s t e r n areas .

More r e c ent ly I had c ont a c t with Akhas

in Muong Mugne in Northern Lao s , who had j u s t arrived from t h e Muong are a on the China Border .

Th e i r s p e e ch pat t ern refle c t e d very much

t hat of " Northern " Akha as d e s c r i b ed by Lewis , t h ough even there differ­ ent s pe akers showed diffe rent pronunc iat ions with the five c ons onant c

I t s c l , I d z J / , I s s h l , I z y l and I k ' h I .

pairs of Northern Akha

unrounded

unrounded

rounded

U

High Higher-mid

e

Lower-mid

e

Low

-m Chart 1 0 .

Back

Central

Front

o



u

e

o

r

a

o

� Northern vowels .

rounded



C ompare C hart 3 .

l e I a s not o c c urring wi t h laryngeali s ed quality and ment i o n s one o c c urrence a s an exc eption < b i A l e A - e u > ' to g i v e ( do w n ) ' . However , in Southern Akha , I l e q - ?e l < L � � � - L u u > ' come down ( to wa r ds Lewis l i s t s the vowe l

s p e a k er ) ' o c c ur s usually as a b ound form in a numbe r o f c ompound wor d s

I J 6 I e q - ? e l < �u L � a � - L u u > ' oo m e d o w n to l i v e ' , Another c ommon word is I ?a b ye q l < � 1 L U U � > ' bamboo s ho o ts ' , which Lewi s a l s o l i s t s i n hi s

as in

d i c t ionary . Paul Lewis has a l s o r e c orded laryngeal i s ed o c c urrenc e s with s y l lab i c

I - m I . a l l i n s y llables f o llowing t h e nasal I n / .

H e a l s o r ec o r d s a

contrast b etwe e n oral and laryngeali s ed vowe l q ua l i t y o c c urring wi t h

172

P . WY S S

s y l l ab i c I-m/ , North ern < J Y nm A >

' brain ' and
' a type of tr e e ' .

' brai n ' d o e s oc cur with a high regi s t e r

vowe l qua l i t y I ? f ni q n l < � vr.ihJ > , whereas the par t i c ular type of tree s e ems ,

to b e unknown . < u oGu>

'mi ldew ' ;

_

.

....

The only contrast found in Southern Akha i s I y o n i n l

I yo ni q n l < u ott�> ' p owder ' .

Lewi s l i s t s three diphthong s .

Northern l a o l and la l l o ccur in

Sout hern Akha in very much the same way , except t hat they do not oc cur

with a high regi s t er vowel qua l i t y . I x a wl [ >s h a o 8 ] < t � 'l > i d e v e l o p i ng o n wood ' ; I ba y l [ Ra 2 ] ' pape r money ' .

' b l a a k fungu s

Northern diphthong l a m l a s a s equence of l a l and syllab i c I -ml o c cur a l s o in Souther n Akha .

Lewi s , however , l i s t s occurrenc e s of the diph­

t hong l a m / , wh ich in Southern Akha are the r e s u lt of morp ho-phonemic fus i o n of s y l lab l e s .

In Southern Akha t h e b ound morpheme l - xY n l

' la w ­

fu l � a a aording to a u s tom ' , may f u s e w i t h t h e pre c eding sy llab le which

must oc cur with the vowe l l a l on low p i t c h .

In t h e pro c e s s of fus io n

the vowel / a / o f the prec eding s y l lab le i s ret ained , wh ereas the c o n­ sonant I x l of the b ound s y l l ab l e l -x T n l i s l o s t and the syl labi c [ � ] b e c ome s the final c o n s o nant /m/ o f the fused s y l lab l e . Northern

< d a m y - e u > ' to giv e some thing a s an offeri ng ' , is realis ed in Southern Akha as / d a x T n - ? e / [ da 6 hm 8 g 5 ] or [ d a m 8 e 5 ] < � 'l fi� - t o o > ' t o m a k e a n offer" " I i ng a a ao r di n g to law ' , whic h i s comp r i s e d of the verb nuc l ei / d a / < � 'l > ' t o offer ' ( Northern < d a - e u > ' to offer s om e t hi ng ' ) , fOl lowed by t h e v b ound form l - x T n / < - ri� > ' aaaording to law ' . Thi s morphop honemi c f u s i o n .

of s y l lab l e s fac i l it a t e s t h e e a s y ab sorp t i o n of loan words a s reali sed in the nasality s equ ence / -a n / of the vowel l a / fol lowed by the conso­ nant Im/ , which i s di s cu s sed e ar li er . Low register

High register

High tone Mid tone

ba

ba A

Low tone

Chart 1 1 .

Northern tones and reg i s ter

In Northern phonemic s y stem , h i gh t one on r e c o rded .

regis t er is not

It i s apparent ly even rarer in Northern Akha than in Southern

( Lewi s 197 3 ) , and the Lahu s y s t em for repr e s ent i ng tones on whi ch the Akha orthography was b a s ed does not lend i t s e l f to

a s ixth t one .

The lack of such a symbo l p re s ent s no p ra c t i c a l diffi cu lt i es .

In

Sout hern Akha t here are a number of o c curr e n c e s on high regi s t er with tone apart from t ho s e ment i oned abov e ; t h e ir t o t a l numbe r i s

AKHA

17 3

Nort hern < j a w Y ba Y b a Y - e u >

probab ly not more t han a d o z en .

' fo� a

p e � s o n to b o s s o t he�s a�ound ' , oc c urs in Southern as I j o b a q b a q - ? e l

' t o b o s s o t h e � s a�ound ' .

Northern < d z a w " - e u >

wo� t hy ' , corresponds t o Sout hern I j o q l e - ? e l < 1 �1 Z I ;- l g g > co�ding t o , fi t t i ng a s co l ou � s ,

' to b e

'wo�thy, ac­

e tc . ' .

Northern Akha is wr i t t e n mono s y l la b i c a lly .

This re sult s in count­

l e s s amb igu i t i e s leaving a sp eaker of t he Southern Akha who is r ead ing the Roman i s e d Script b a s e d on Northern Akha gue s s ing about what s y l l ab les b e long t ogether .

After fi nding out t h e right meaning of an utt eranc e ,

he would repeat hims e lf , putt ing s t r e s s and int onat ion in its proper plac e s .

The fol lowing example may show the ext ent of amb igu i t i e s , as

s e e n from the s t andpoint of the s outhern r eader .

In t h e s equence of

four syllab l e s five different meanings may be under s t ood .

Nor thern

< g a Y rna sa y p a Y > may be under s t o od as < g a Y > ' c l a s s ifie� fo� p la c e ' ( al s o a synt a c t i c al marker ) , < g a Y rn a > ' p a t h ' , < rn a sa y > ' comm o n k i nd of bamboo ' , < sa y p a Y >

' c loth ' , < p a Y >

' ag a i n '

( pr e-verbal ) .

The fol lowing

sentence would be ext r emely difficult to und er s t and for a r eader of Sout hern Akha .

Northern < ya Y rn Y - e u g a Y rn a sa y p a Y j a " - e u > c ould hav e

two ent i r e ly different meaning s .

Southern I y a ? T n - ? e g a rn a s a p a j a q - ? e l

< ;1 5 � - l g g �1 � 1 � 1;1 rn Z - l g g > ' t h e � e i s a c l o th o n t h e p a t h to t h e fie lds '

( lit . fi e ld-ma k i ng - p a t h c lo th i s ) .

Southern I y a ? T n - ? e g a ,

rn a sa p a j a q - ? e l < ;1 � U- I g g �1 , � 1 � 1 ;� rn z - I g g > ' th e�e i s bamboo again i n t h e fie ld '

( lit . fi e ld-ma k e -p lace bamboo aga i n h a s ) .

The f o llowing

p hr a s e shows again the ext ent of ambiguiti e s , Nor thern < n g a y - e u g a Y rna > whi c h c ou l d be read in Sout hern a s < Q a - ? e g a rn a > < M � 1 - l g g �1 � 1 > or as < Q a - ? e g a - rn a > < M � 1 - l g g �1 -�1 >

' my p a t h ' ,

'my affai� ' .

Furt her difference s b etween Nor t hern Akha as d e s c r ibed by Paul Lewi s and Sout hern Akha as spoken in Thailand , as well as further featur e s of Akha phono logy , have b e en pointed out b y David D e l linger ( 1 9 6 8 , 1 9 6 9 , 1 9 7 2 ; Dellinger and Wy s s 1 9 6 9 ) .

O R T H O G RA P H Y

I n adap t i ng Thai s cript t o Akha two ma in princ i p l e s were t aken into c ons iderat i o n .

1 . It i s e s s ential to r e tain a maximum of transfer value

from the s cr ipt for Akha to the actual wri t i ng of Thai , k e eping at the same t ime to s imp l i c ity as far as p o s s ib l e .

2 . It i s e s s ent ial t o avoid

i f p o s s i b l e any introduc t i on of s ymb o l s and c omb inat ions whi c h go against the Thai writ ing s y s t em , or create typing and print i ng prob l ems . The prac t i cal imp l i c a t i ons of the s e princ i p l e s are di s c u s s ed b e l ow .

17 4

P . WYSS

The f o l l owing list shows the Thai con sonant s with their phonetic values and class di s t i n c t i o n , and how they are used in

Akha .

If their u s e i s r e s tr ic t e d in pitch or r e g i s ter it wi l l be ment i oned . Otherwi s e their func tion is like that o f Thai .

Under problems of phon­

etic corresp ondence the s ymb o l + ind i c a t e s that the par t i cular consonant has non-phonemic variations in Akha of whi ch s ome ar e s lightly different from the Thai value .

The symbol * indicates t hat the consonant as used

in Akha has a comple t e ly di fferent phone t i c value from its u s e in Thai , b e caus e t h e s ound d o e s not exi s t in Tha i .

Since Akha regi s t er i s indi­

cated by two different s e t s o f Thai vowe l s , short and long , c ertain consonant s ymb o l s oc cur o n ly with short or long vowe l s r e s p e c tively . M H

midd l e c las s c on sonant in the Thai orthographic c la s s e s of c on sonant . =

high c l a s s consonant ; L

Thai symbol

n

Class

Thai value

M

L

Ikl Ikhl Ikhl I khl

L

1 01

H L

M H L L L L M M M H L L

'\J

M M H L L

u

L L

lei Ichl Ichl lsi Ichl Iy/ ( � ) Idl Idl It! It hl It hl I nl Ibl Ipl Iphl Iphl Iml Iyl III

=

l ow c la s s c onsonant .

Problems in phonetic cor­ respondence

*

Akha value phonemic

Ikl Ikl low pitch Ikl mid+high pitch Igl 1 01

+ + + + * + *

+

Icl Icl Icl lsi Ijl I�I I�I Idl It I It! It I I nl Ibl Ipl Ipl Ipl Iml Iyl III

Akha value phonetic

[ k] high regi ster [ kh ] ( kh ] (g] ( 0] ( c_c ] high regi ster

low pitch

( ch-c h ] low register mid+high pitch [ s-sh ] [ d Y-] ] [�] [ .J [d] [ t ] high register [ t h ] low regi ster low pitch mid+high pitch ( t h ] low register [nJ [ b] [ P J high regi ster [ ph ] low register low pitch mid+high pitch [ ph ] low regi ster [m] [ z-y J [ I] mid+high pitch

175

Thai symbol

Class

A VI

H

i)

M

tl

L

H

Thai value

Problems in phonetic correspondence +

lsi Ihl /?I Ihl

lsi Ixl /?I Ixl

+ +

Bilabial

Akha value phonemic

Labio­ palatal

Akha value phonetic

[ s�sh ] [ xh�h ] low ( initial ) [ ?] mid+high pitch [ xh-h ] low register low pitch

low pitch

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

S tops unaspi!'ated

voiceLess aspi1:'Clted

voiced

Nasals

[p] \J

[pY] \Ju

[t]

Ipl

Ipyl

It I

[ ph ] "lilt.!

[ ph Y ] "Iiu/t.!u

[th] TIl"

Ibl

Ibyl

Idl

Ijl

[ b]

[ bY] 'lJU

Cd]

'IJ

[dY - JJ (OI/VlOl)

Iml

Imyl

. Inl

[m] I.J/VlI.J

[mY] l.Ju/'lJij.JU

[c - �] n

Iil

Icl [ ch - � h J

I kl

/?I

[ kh ]

[?J

191 [9] ('J.I/VI'IIJ )

Inl

e n] 'W/Vi'IJ

Fricatives

lsi

voiceLess

[ 5 - sh ] iliA voiced

Chart 12 .

III

Iyl

[I]

[z - yJ ub,ttl

Orthography for consonants .

Ixl [ xh - h ] fJ/VI

Pa!'ent h e s e s indi c a t e

Thai symb o l s which a r e u s e d in Akha f o r value s v e r y differ ent from t heir Thai values .

Symb ols b e fore t he I are u s ed on mid

and high p i t c h and tho s e after on l ow p i t ch .

Chart 1 2 likewise s hows the full invent ory of Akha c ons onant phonemes with thei!' !' e s p e c t iv e Thai s ymb o l s and maj o!'

valu e s .

176

P . WYSS

The set of unaspirat ed voi c e l e s s s t op s < u u v � � n > whi c h are var i ations

I p p y t c k l r e sp e ctively , i s introdu c ed in order to

o f t he p honemes

r e t ain as muc h t rans fer valu e as p o s s ib l e .

Cons e quently this set of

Thai s ymb o l s o c c ur s only wit h short vowe l symb o l s i n Akha , b e c au s e their phone t i c value i s that of high regi ster c ons onant s .

Thu s with the v o i c e ­

l e s s stops high r egi s t e r i s ind i c a t ed b y short vowe ls a s we l l a s the un­ a spirated consonant , whi c h is r edundant . The c ons onant s in labio-palatal p o s it i on are wri t t en as graphic c lu s t er s < u v � v �v � v �v �� v > .

Though this c lu st er i s ab sent in Thai ,

other clusters such as d o o c cur there . The s e t o f c ons onant s in p a latal p o s it i on , b e c au s e t hey inc lude a wid e range o f a l lophone s , c r e a t e some difficulty in wr it i ng Akha wit h Thai l e t t er s .

The u s e o f < � > has b e en di s c u s s e d ab ove .

with s hort vowe l symb ols on high r e gi s t e r .

It o c curs only

The p h onet i c value of Akha

[ c ] does not o c c ur in Thai . The s ymb ols < v / � > are u s ed in Akha t o c ov er phone t i c valu e s from [ c h ] whi c h d o e s not o c c ur in Thai to [ c h J whi c h i s c lo s e t o t h e value of t h e s e s ymbo l s in Thai .

The s e consonant s ymb o l s

o c cur w i t h Thai l o ng vowe ls on l o w regi s t e r only .

Thai

I c h l is

u s e d f o r I j l i n Akha . In b o t h languages t h e y repres ent an affri c a t ed ' s t op in palatal p o s i t i on , differi ng only in v oi c e l e s s and v oi c ed art i c­ ulat i o n .

[ d V ] wit h Thai s hort [ j ] and [ J J with Thai long vowe l

In Akha t h e p honet i c value ranges from

vow e l s ymb o l s on high

ster t o

s ymb o l s on low r e gi s te r .

In Thai o c cur s only i n a v ery f ew word s ,

and no o c currence with a prec ed ing < � > t o indi c a t e low or r i s i ng t one wi t h low c l a s s c onsonant s is r e c orded .

In wri t i ng Akha , h owever , this

new c omb inat ion is n e c e s sary t o indi cate low tone on b o t h regi s t ers , The s ymbol < � > whi ch i n Thai i s

I yl , but pronounc ed in Northern Thai as E n ] , c ommends i t s e l f in wri t i ng I n l i n Akha . < � / � > are u s e d t o wri t e Akha l si , whi c h has again a numbe r of s li ght var i at ions ranging from [ s ] whi ch i s the valu e of these two s ymb o ls in Tha i , to [ s h J whic h though similar is not p ar t of Thai phonology . The s ymb o l < v > i s u s e d t o indi c a t e the p honeme I y l in Akha . A lthough [ z ] can sporadi c a lly be h e ard , the mai n a ll ophone is [ V ] whi c h i . e . wi th long and short vowe l s .

is very s imilar t o t h e Thai value of < v > . In velar p o s it i o n Thai < � > c r e a t es no prob lem i n wr i t ing Akha .

Thai , howe ve r , d o e s n o t have a v o i c ed v e lar s t op .

i s u s ed for Akha

Ig/ .

< � > Thai

In Akha the c omb i na t i on

< �� > i s introduc ed t o wri t e low tone on b oth r egi s t ers .

I g l i n Akha .

< � > Thai

Idl

This s ymb o l i s rare in Thai t hu s

s hould n o t create serious prob lems t o an Akha l e ar ning Thai . no Akha

I khl

In Tha i this symb ol has no o c curre n c e wi th a

p r e c eding < � > t o ind i c a t e low or r i s ing t one . i s arbitrarily u s ed for

I Q I in

There i s

I g u / , whi ch would pre sent prob lems i n printing , wit h t h e tail

AKHA

of the cons onant

177

b e low t h e l ine and otherwi s e int erfering with

the placement o f the Thai symb o l for j u l . Symb o l i s at i on for the voi c e l e s s phoneme s

/ k/ and / x / creat e s s ome

prob l ems .

To retain as much t ransfer value as , Nort hern Tha i , o f which many Akha have a good c onvers a t ional knowledge , wa s t aken i nt o c onsid erat ion t oo . Chart 1 3 shows the five Thai symbo ls whi c h i n one way or anoth er r e fl e c t the phonet i c valu e s of Akha / k/ and / x / , in either Thai or Northern Thai , and i ndi cate how they are used for Akha orthography .

Thai symbols

Thai phonetic value

Phonetic values and orthography of Akha consonant phonemes

Northern Thai phonetic value

/ k/ Zow reg.

I

n

k

fIl/'PJ

kh

x

1;l/'I1

h

h

/x/ high reg.

k

Chart 13 .

Zow reg.

high reg .

k � x

xh h with phone t i c value [ k h ] are very much the same as the Akha a l lophone [ k h ] of the phoneme / k/ o c c urring with low register . In Northern Thai , Thai words writ t e n with < f1 / 'PJ > s ymbols are Thai

high

pronounced with a phonet i c va lue c l o s e t o a ve lar fr i c ative , whi c h is

[ x ] and [ � ] of the phoneme / x / on < fIl / 'PJ > are b o t h u s e d in Akha for two different phonemes . This is only p o s s ib l e b e c a u s e Akha / k/ on high regi s t er i s wri t t e n with < n > . Thus < f1 / 'PJ > wri t t e n with Thai long vowel symb o ls re­ p r e s ent Akha / k/ on low regist er and i f wri t t e n with Thai short vowe l There are no amb iguit i es the Akha /x/ o n high s ymb o l s

very s imilar to t he Akha allophones high r e gi s t e r .

Thus

as a r e sult of t h i s choice of s ymb o l i s at i on .

For t h e Akha v e lar f r i c ­

/ x / on l o w regi s t er , whi ch h a s variat ions ranging from phone t i c value [ x h ] t o [ h ] i n glot t al p o s i t i on , < 1;l /'I1> , Thai [ h] . have b e e n chos en to retain t rans fer value . Their use for Akha / x / on high regi s t er would not have any transfer value , since the allophone [ h ] of the phoneme / x / at ive

178

P . WYSS

in Akha never o c c urs on high regi s t er . I

/ k/

/x/

/ ka - ? e / / ka q - ? e / / ka - ? e / / ka q - ? e /

[ kha S e S ] [ kq 4 e 5 ] [ kha 8 e S ] [ kq 7e 5 ]

/xo-?e/ /xoq l a -?e/ / x o - ? e/ /xoq-?e/

[ h.o 5 e 5 ] [ �y 4 I a 2e S ] [ � ho 8 e S ] [ �9 7 e S ]

< fl 'l - L � � >

' to p lant '

< ;; :: - L � � >

' to rake '

< tl 'l - L � � >

' to cov er '

< n :: - L � � >

'to tie '

< I:l � - L � � >

' to l o o k '

< L fl 'l :: il'l - L � � >

' to grow o ld '

< "; � - L � � >

' to spread o u t '

< L I') 'l :: - L � � >

' to draw water '

V o we.{.6 The wr it ing of Akha vowe l s with Tha i s ymb ols creates no s erious prob lems ( C hart 1 4 ) .

Front unrounded

High

Mi d

Low

rounded

unrounded

i

u

=/ ( Thai l e w/ ) i s However , < \ - � > u s e d for 1 0 1 i n c orreponding fashion t o t h e above l u i . is a

vowe l form , and a short vowel form i s needed in Akha t o wri t e

h igh

on all three phonemi c t o ne s .

The

Thai o c c ur s only on Thai m i d t one and i s wri t t en < \ �1 > .

short form i n Thi s c ombina­

t ion , however , creat e s prob l ems in the placement of t one marks in print ing .

Therefore a s hor t vowe l form < \ - 1 � > i s introduced for Akha

wh i c h although non- e x i s t ent in Thai , follows neverthe l e s s t he Thai pat­ t er n of wri t ing many s hort vowe l forms . A l l s imple vowe l s in Akha are re lat ively s hort c ompared wit h Thai vowe ls .

Vowels on high register in Akha are s hort er t han a s hort vowel

i n Thai and vowe ls on l ow r egi s t e r are short er t han The featur e s of h igh regi s t e r vowe ls in Akha are not

vowe l s in Thai . with Thai

short vowe l s . The two rar e ly u s ed glided vowe ls in Akha are wri t t e n with < 1 -> for l a y l , and < 1 -1 > for l a w l , whi c h are c l o s e to the phonet i c values o f their Thai c ounterpar t s .

So far o c currenc e s are r e c orded o n ly on low

(aontinued from previous page)

which occur with other informants as Ixl on high register are consistently changed to I kl on high register . The following examples show the contrast between Ikl and Ixl on high register . , 1?� 1 5 koq-?el 'the snake bites '; 1? lcuq xoq-?el ' to draw water ' . The two contrasts above , according to this informant ' s speech , would be written as follows , the second example changing to a compound verb to thus eliminate ambiguity . l?e l 5 koq�?el ' the snake bites '; I? fcuq koq? f-?el ' to go and draw water ' .

180

P . WYSS

Nasality in i t s three forms is indi cated with fina l nasal c onsonants .

I - r n l the sy l labic e m, ] i s wri t t e n as < �� > , wh i c h r e s emb l e s very c lo s e ly i t s phone t i c value in Akha . Since s y l labic e m] i s alway s acoust i c al ly , short , the short vowe l form < �u> i s u s e d to i nd i c ate low as well as high regi ster vowel qua lity .

Only a f ew o ccurrenc e s on high regi s t er are If nec e s s ary this c on­

rec orded and only one is i n ident i c a l contra s t .

trast may be shown by s ome other c onvention such as adding to the syl lable with h igh regi s t e r faucali s ed vowel qua l i ty .

I -a n I i s wri t t e n

w i t h the Thai symbol < -'1> l a m l , and corre s ponds v ery c l o s ely to the

phone t i c value in Akha of the s equence l a l fo l lowed by a final nasal

Im/ .

I - o n l the nas a li sed vowel [ 5 ] whi ch may sporad i ca l ly b e heard as a

final 1 0 1 i s wr i t t e n with the Thai s ymbol s < - � 4 > .

Thi s nasali s ed vowel

o c curs only on l ow r e g i s t er ; thus no short vowe l form is needed .

T o n e.

Pitch

Akha tones

low register ,.,

High

-

long vowels

� .......

Mid

Chart 15 .

short vowels

from the Hot D i strict p lains ar ea , and Ma� ? Khan < � �� ::: � 1 4 > and Pai? Che < 1 � ::: � � D > from the mountain ar e a to the west of Hot .

The pres ent des c ript i on app l i e s

mainly to t h e subdialect of Phlong spoken o n the plains o f Hot D i s tri c t , but o c c a s ionally data from the nearby mounta i n dialect are inc luded . The di fference betwe en the two dialects i s mi nimal . The t erm Phl ong i s u s ed t o des ignate an ethnic group and a language whi c h has been various ly referred to in the lit erature as P ' wo , Pwo , or Pho Karen ( n : q � i tJ H � 1 t 'll -n .

All the s e variant forms of the term "Pwolt

are actually derived f r om the name u s ed for the s e people by a s i st e r trib e , the Paganyaw I p a �a n o l ( Sgaw Kare n , n n Wi tJ 4 L J1 � ::: n � ) .

187

The people

1 88

J . R . COOKE , J . E . HUDSPITH, J . A . MORRIS

thems elves use the term Phlong Shu / p h l o n s y a /

< t'YiA"'I m � > or simply

Phlong , whi ch wi l l be u s ed throughout t h i s paper . The Phlong ( Pwo Kar e n ) constitut e a subgr oup of the larger fami ly of Karen people s .

Most Karen l iv e in Lower Burma , where Jones ( 19 6 1 : 5 )

us ing the 1 9 3 1 c e n s u s figur e s , e s t imat ed b etween one and a half t o two mil l i on p e op l e . numerous .

In Thai land , a s i n Burma , Paganyaw are t h e mos t

Kare n i n Thai land a r e to be found in t h e c entral plains

region but mo st of them are in the nort hern and we st e rn hi l l ar eas .

1

The d i s tribut i on of Ph long ( Pwo Kar e n ) in Thai land i s summar i s ed in Fig . 1 .

D i fferences of l o c at i o n of Ph long groups c o incide with dialectal

var i ation .

Groups are l i s t e d in decreasi ng order of fami liarity t o the wri t e r s of t h i s art i c l e in 1 9 6 8 .

LOCATION

P:toovince

District

Chiang Mai n

It

"

tI

}

Hot (plains) n

(mountains)

Omkoy Mae Sariang (south)

Mae Hong Son -- ----- -- ------ --- --

" JI

150

13 , 000

-- - -- ------ -- --- --- ---- --------------

- -- --- --- ------ -------

-

-

?

Li

4 , 000

Ban Hong

1 , 500

(Beginning of new migration)

15 8

750 (7)

Lampang (N) �-------------------

�--

--------- -- - - - ----------

-

Phrae (N) Tak

Umphang

Kanchanaburi

Sangkhla Buri

?

c

8

13

d 10 , 000 (reported ) 3 7 , 000

TOTAL

D i s tr ibution of Phlong

Est imated by Cooke , 19 5 7 ;

c

--- - --- --- ------ -- --- ------ -- -- -- -

750 ( ? ) c 3 . 000 (reported )

Chiang Rai (N)

C

20 plus

4 , 500

Mae Tha

Lamphun

F ig . 1 .

NUMBER OF VILLAGES

POPULATION

d

(Pwo Karen )

?

200 plus

in Thailand

(1968 ) .

Est imat ed by Paul Dodge of Sangkhla

Bur i , 1 9 6 7 ; o t h er e s t imat e s by Huds p ith and Morr i s , 1 9 6 3 .

Ac cord­

ing to Hud s p i t h , t h e s e p opulation figur e s can be doub led without exaggerat ion ( 1 9 7 3 ) .

I Jones (1961 ) does not include the language being described in this paper , however . ( ArI"YJ+"''* "Ynu:u1

"')'1

1"1

1R 0 )

189

PHLONG

The Phlong o f Hot Di s t r i c t know nothing ab out t he Phlong s cr ipt u s e d in Burma ( Stern 1 9 6 8 ) , but many of the mount ain Phlong i n a n d near Hot D i s t r i c t do know s omet hing of the Paganyaw ( Sgaw Karen ) s c r ipt ( Chap t e r 1 ) - e nough t o b e ab l e t o wri t e out Paganyaw s ongs ( which t he Phlong l thems e lve s u s e ) and a l s o t o be ab l e t o ident i fy individual le t t er s of the alphab e t . rudimentary .

However , Phlong expo sure t o Paganyaw s cr ipt i s at b e s t Tona l marks are large ly los t , and u s e of s ymb o l s has b e e n - a l an-

primarily i f not ent ire ly as s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e Paganyaw

guage whi c h is unint elligible t o the vas t maj ority of Phlong in Thai l and . There has b e en no u s e of the s cr i p t for r e ad ing or wri t i ng Phlong t h er e .

2. 2.1

P H L O N G P HO N O L OG Y

T H E S Y L LA B L E The phonologi c a l sy stem o f Phlong i s here analy s ed i n t erms o f t h e Ea c h

of the s y llab l e , a c l early defined u n i t in the

i s comp o s e d of an opti onal ( bu t near ly alway s pres ent ) init ial c ons onant al s e gment having one or two c o n s onants , plus a f inal v o c a l i c compri s ing a vowe l or d iphthong , an ac c ompanying t on e , and op t ional nas a l i s at i on or g l o t t al i s at i on .

of the

The p ermi s s ib le

t ( / lab l e may be summari s e d by t h e formula ( C l ) ( C 2 ) V n ? ) , where

C

consonant , V

i s at i o n .

=

vowe l , t = t one , n

=

na salisat i o n , and ?

Eleme nt s in parent he s e s are optional .

t

=

gl o t t al­

All p o s sible c omb ina­

t i ons imp l i ed by the formula o c cur except V n , although there are re­ stri c t ions ( t o b e di s c u s s ed lat e r ) as t o what vowe l s , c ons onant s , t one s , e t c . , may o c c ur t o gether .

The following examp l e s illustrate the r ange

of p o s s i b i li t ie s : -

vt t V ? t cv t CV ? t CV n t CCV t CCV ? t CCV n

I -S I I -S ?I 1 1S 1 I l a ?1 I l a nl I b l el I b l s?1 I k l S nl

< - 51 >

< 51 >

< �v a > < lV�z> < n �1 4 >

' (q u e s ti o n par t i a le ) ' ' him,

her , i t '

( o b j e a t i v e for m )

' di r t y ' ' u ndernea t h ' ' to d e s c e nd ' ' to r e co v er ' ' powde r e d ' ' t o s la s h '

(aontinued from previous page)

Although the Karen groups of Burma have been described to varying degrees , there i s very little anthropological o r linguistic material about the Phlong group i n Thailand . See Young 196 2 : 75-7 ; Hamilton 1963 ,196 5 . On the Fwo Karen in Burma see Marshall 1922 . l All but one or two of the Phlong repertoire of songs are in the Paganyaw dialect - a fact that i s true even for the plains Phlong who have little contact with Paganyaw speech.

190

J . R. COOKE , J . E . HUDSPITH , J . A . MORRIS

Bas i ca l ly there are two kinds of s y llab le s , preposed and norma l , different iated f r om each other b y stre s s and limi t at ions o n p o s s ib i l i t i e s o f c o o c c urrence o f various features o f t he vo c a l ic

o f the syl lab l e .

Pre p o s e d s yllables are alway s u n s t re s s ed , unna s a li s e d , and undifferen­ t iated from each other as t o vowe l ( a lways l e i ) and tone ( always mid t one ) .

A

They may o c cur s ingly or in s e quence ( us ua l ly not more than two

preposed s yllable s in suc c e s s ion ) , but t hey n ever o c c ur ut teran c e fi nal . That i s , in any given u t t erance where one or more such s y l lab l e s oc c ur , there mus t b e at leas t one normal s y l lab le following t hem .

Norma l s yl­

lab l e s are a lway s a c companied b y s tronger s tr e s s than pre p o s ed s y l lab le s , and t he y are not so l imi t e d a s t o c o o c c urrence of var ious feat ure s of the v o c a l i c s egment such as vowe l s , diphthong s , t one s , and nasali sation . Phlong s y l lab l e s di ffer from Thai in t he fol lowing r e s p e c t s : Phlong vowe ls and diphthongs may be phonemi cally nas ali sed , whereas Thai may not .

Howeve r , a feat ure of Phlong nas a l i s at ion i s the o c c urre nc e of

[ - o J wi t h many nasal i s e d vowe l s .

Thi s is phonet i c a lly but not s y s t emic­

a lly s imilar to Thai final 1 01 < � > .

Al s o , Ph long vowe l s and d iphthongs ,

unlike Tha i , lack c ontra s t b et we en long and short vo calic s egment s . l And again , Phlong s yl lab l e s have no final c onsonant , where a s Thai s y l ­ lab l e s have a var i e t y of s t op a n d nas a l finals .

Finally , t h e Phlong

s yllab l e a l lows f orms in whi c h there is no ini t i al c ons onant , while in Thai - at l e a s t in t he wri t t en language and a l s o in deliberate s p e e c h all s y llables mu st have at least one ini t i a l c onsonant in at leas t one of the alternat e forms of a word . 2.2

T H E C O NS O NA NTA L S EGM ENT O F T H E S YL LA B L E Phlong s y l lab l e s without initi al c ons onant s always appear i n c onj unc­

t i on with s ome p r e ce ding s y l lab l e .

The y are pronounc ed with an unb r oken

g li d e from t h e vowe l o f the p r e c eding s y llab le ; and if the p r e c eding s y l lab l e i s glot t a li sed , t h e u sua l t e rminal glottal c lo sure i s reduc ed to glot tal fri c t i on r ather t han c omp l e t e c l o sure . Syllab l e s with zero init ial c ons onant c ontra s t with s y l l ab l e s hav i ng ini t i a l g l o t t a l s t op ; c omp are I b e - a l < �U -51 >

I b e 1a l < �U 51 >

' to b e dip ty ' .

' i s ( t h a t ) aopps a t ? ' and

without initial cons onant are

trans cribed phonemi c a l ly here wit h an init ial hyphen i n order t o avoid amb igui t y a s to s y l lab l e divi s ion .

I

Syllables may be terminated by a phonetic glottal stop or velar nasal , as described elsewhere . The se are handled throughout this paper as prosodic or suprasegmental features called glottalisation and nasali sation, although transcribed phonemically by means of the symbols 11 nl imme diately following the vowel with which they occur .

PHLONG

191

The invent ory of Phlong cons onant s i s char t e d in Fig . 2 . All i t ems l o c cur as s ingle init ial c ons onants . Further det ails of pronunciati on , and examp l e s of each phoneme are given lat er in this s e c t i on .

Bilabial

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Stops Voice less unaspipated Voiceless aspipated Voiced implosive

p ph b [' b]

t th

f [ fw]

s [ � / ;i ]

d

c [c] ch [ch]

k kh

?

sy [ 5 ]

x [ xr ]

h

[,d]

Spirants Voiceless Voiced

�

Resonants Semivowels

w [ vw ]

Nasals

m

n

y n y [ n]

I)

Lateral Trill

I"

F ig . 2 .

Inventory of Phlong (Pwo Karen) consonants .

Symb ols

in [ ] indi cate phon e t i c a l ly the maj or details of pronuncia­ t ion when t he se are not obvious from the phonemi c symb o l .

I I" I oc cur s in the Mount ain dial e c t only .

There are approximat e Thai equivalent s of all Ph long cons onant phoneme s except I s y n y x � / .

In Fig . 3 Ph long c ons onant s are char t e d

us ing the Thai symb o l s when there i s a fairly c l o s e equivalenc e .

l

The segments Isyl [ 5 ] and I nyl e n ] are here listed as unitary phonemes . It would be possible to analyse these , along with the other palatal consonants Icl and Ich/ , as clusters consisting of an alveolar plus Iy/ . This alternative solution has been rej ected partly because there is no real phonetic reason for adopting it , and partly because it s acceptanc e would result in the unique triple initial consonant clusters It ywl and It hyw/ . ( There would be no comparable cluster Isywl or I nyw/ , but in the latter case , this may be only because the segment e n ] is so rar e . I n other dialects of Phlong , the combinat ion [ nw ] does occur . ) In representing Isyl and Inyl in Thai orthography , however , it proves to be sati sfactory to treat these segments as ortho­ graphic sequences .

192

J . R. COOKE, J . E . HUDSPITH, J . A . MORRIS

Bilabial Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Stops Voiae Zess unaspirated Voiae Zess aspirated Voiaed impZosive

\l

eJ/'I'l

Iil

'l

n in

:w !tl

( 'U )

( WI )

( e.J /'I'J )

( ' p Za a e ' . l e a l < ' e Z 4e s t c h i Z d ' I k e l « t n > ' di fficu l t ' . I ko ? ! < 'i n !! '> ' ' to aa Z Z ' I ? o l < 0 0 > ' to hav e . to b e Z o a a t ed ' I p ha i ? 1 ' s ki n ' I t ha i l < 1 � > ' to r e turn ' I k h e l < U Fl > ' b i t t e r '

PHLONG

[ ,b] [ ,d]

Ibl Idl

An implo sive s t op An implo s ive stop

193

I b a i ? 1 ' to s q u e e z e ' I d a i ? 1 < l � z > ' s ti Z Z, y e t ' , I d S I

< ;� > ' knife ' S p-tfl.a. nt-6

IfI [ fw]

A vo i c e l e s s labiodental spirant , pronounc ed with lip round­

ing and s l i ght v o i c e l e s s-to-vo i c e d bi labial r e l e a s e ( i . e . with a s light

[ w ] offglide ) .

The labiodental fri c t i on i s produ c ed with the lower lip

h e ld well up and in fr ont of the upper t e eth .

This phoneme is rare and

o c curs c h i e f ly in words borrowed from Myang ( Northern Thai ) : I t ho n f a n l

< t ri � �1 � > ' (p Zace name ) ' ( cf . Myang I h u a y f a a l) / , Thai ';'HH.h � , from I f aYa l) 1 < � 1 � > , the name of a kind of tree ) ; I t a n f a ? 1 < � 1 � � z > ' no n - irriga t e d fie Zds '

( c f . Thai ���1 I t a l) f a a l lit .

lsi [ 5/8 ] A

' exp o s e d t o t h e heav e n s ' ) .

A voi c e le s s alveo lar spirant pronounced by s ome sp eaker s ,

•

e s p e c i ally from t he plains , as a front ed gr ooved sp irant [ � ] , and by other s , e sp e c ially from the mount ains , as a f lat front ed alveolar or back dental spirant [ � ] : I s o n l

I syl [ 5 ]

' to t e a c h ' .

A voi c e l e s s palatal spirant pronounced with the b l ad e or

mid part of the tongue , the tip of the t o ngue b e ing down b ehind the

I s yo n l < � U � � > ' to g e t h er ' , I s y � 1 < u � J > ' o Zd (of p er s o n s ) ' .

lower t e eth .

I x l [ x r ] A voi c e l e s s velar fr i c at ive with slight [ r ] offglide : I xo ? 1 < t � z > ' r i g h t (opp o s i te of Z e ft ) ' ; I x a i l < 1 �> ' dr y ' . Ihl [ h ]

Rare , o c c urring c hi efly in words borrowed from Myang

( Nort hern Thai ) : I h a i ? 1

�b ox '

( fr om Myang I h l i p / , Thai au

' b ox ' ) ;

I h e l < tt [J > ' ch o Z era ' ( fr om Myang I h a a / , Thai -H 1 ' i nfe c t i o u s d i s e a s e , c h o Z era ' ) .

I�I [ V ]

I�o ? p h a n l < t � z � 1 � > ' fr i e nd ' ; I � e l < t �> ' to come ' .

S em -

' hu s band ' ;

I w a ? t h o ? 1 < 1 z t n z > ' t o trem b Z e ' ;

I kw e ? 1 < t n 1 z > ' to wr i t e ' . Iyl [ y ]

In i nit ial p o s i t i orr pronounc e d as a v o i c e d palatal s onorant ,

usually a c c ompani ed by not i c e ab l e palatal fr i c t i o n ; a l s o o c curs as the se c ond member of a c ons onant c lu s t er and i s there usually pronounced with little or no a c c ompanying fr i c t i o n : I y e l < tt v >

' I, m e ' ; I y a n d e n l

194

J . R . COOKE , J . E . HUDSP ITH J . A . MORRIS ,

Iml E m ]

I m A I < u � > ' to mak e � d o '

I nl E n ]

I n A I < u J > ' ni g h t ' ; I n 8 n l < l J 4 > ' hopn '

I n y l E n ] Rar e , but not to be a c c ounted for in t erms of Myang bor­ r owings : I n y:5 n k h wa l ? 1 < ", uil 4 1 � 1 tJ > ' to thpow away ' ; I n y� n l Iy

Iw

/ I w e ; < L ,, 1> , emp l o y e r '

/ ka t r a + ? 1

' do g '

' s ev en '

/ p o l y a u / / c h w i / / yw e / < � U � >

cw c hw yw

' to araw l ' ' arab ' ' to f l o w '

C lu s t e r s with in i t i a l v e l a r s

( kw )

(kl )

( kr )

ky

/ kw e ? / < L n � ::.> ' to wr i te ' ; / k l e / < L n �> ' road ' ; / k rS ? / < n ; �> a lf . for aigar e t te l i g h t e r s ; / ky o / < n uo > ' s l o w ' Fig .

4

-

continued overleaf

196

J . R . COOKE . J . E . HUDSPITH. J .A. MORRIS

( kh w )

(kh I )

( kh r )

khy

/ khwfn/

< fl �� > ' n ine ' ;

s p e a k ' ; / k h ra f ? k h ra f ? /

< 1 F1 '; > ' to < L � i � � > ' of t e n ' ;

/ kh U l i /

/ khyu/

' a c o rd o f wood ' ( f r om Myang

/ kh i w/

' arrang e d i n rows ' ) .

' to b u y '

xw

/XW I /

I) W

/ I) w l n l) w a t ? /

..

< � 1 � � 1 � > ' so u nd of a p ig '

C lu s t e r s w i t h ini t i a l g l o t t a l s

?w

/ ?w i n /

hw

hy

< � � � > ' de l i c i ou s '

< � � � �� > p l a c e name ( from Thai ' hog a r e e k ' ) ; / h y U < bL � U:> ' s oa t t er e d ' ( from Myang / h T a / ) ; / h y u / < � i>

/ h w l nmu n /

1-i1!,J'I-IlJ / h O a y m uYu / ' t hi r s t y ' F ig .

4.

( fr om Myang / h T w / , Thai � 1 )

Karen consonant clusters .

It ems in parent h e s e s c or ­

r e s p ond t o Thai c lust e r s .

2.3

THE V O CA L I C S EGM ENT O F T H E S Y L LA B L E Th is portion o f t he syllable c ompr i s e s a vowe l o r diphthong a c ­

c ompanied b y o n e of four tones and al s o , optiona l ly , by nas a l i s at ion or glottali sat i on .

The vowels and diphth ongs are l i s t e d in Fig . 5 and

are c ompared with t he i nventory o f Thai vo c a l i c nuc le i .

It will b e

obs erved t hat b o t h Kare n and Thai have a nine vowel s y s t em ; a n d as a matt e r of f ac t , t h e phone t i c value s of the vowe l s in t he two language s ( ignoring f or t h e moment Phlong nas a l i s e d and glot t a l i s e d vowels ) are qui t e s imilar .

One minor d i ff er enc e exi s t s i n c onne c t i on with the vowe l

/ 0 / , wh ich in Phlong has a s l ight [ w ] o ffglide , but in Thai d o e s not .

The mo s t obvious difference b e twe e n the two

here l i e s i n t h e

fact that Thai d i ff er entiat e s l o ng and short vowe l s , whi l e Phlong d o e s not .

However , Phlong s imp le vowel s ar e o f t en c omparable in length t o

Thai long vowe l s , and Phlong glottali s e d vowels are s omet ime s comp arable in length t o Thai short vowe l s . In the c a s e of d iphthongs , Phlong c ombinations are true high vowel offglide s , wh i l e the Thai are bas i ca lly double vowel c omb inat i ons , u sually wi th s l i gh t ly more emp has i s on the f i r s t vowel than t h e s e c ond , and gliding l ower and t oward c e ntral t o ngue p o s i t i on .

On t h e other hand ,

Ph long diphthong s are rather l ike Thai c omb inati o ns in whi c h t he v owe l / a / or / a a / i s f ol lowed by / y / or / w / ; but Karen diphthongs may b e

g l o t t al i s ed ( / a + / always i s ) , whereas c omparable Thai c ombi nat ions may not be pronounc e d with g l o t t a l s t o p in the same way that Thai

PHLONG

w i t h final s hort vow e l s c an .

197

Al s o , t here i s no Thai c o unterpart for

Phlo ng l a + l .

Phlong F:t'ont

Thai

Cent:t'al

High

Baak

F:t'ont

Central

Baak

+

u

High

1 ,

i i

+, ++

u,

u u

Mid

e

e

0

Mid

e , ee

e, ee

0 , 00

Low

e

a

0

Low

e, ee

a, aa

0, 00

Diphthongs

ai

af

au

Diphthongs

I

a

fa

ua

( also various long and short vowel offglides ending in I wl and I V/ ) . Fig . 5 .

Phlong and Thai vowel s and diphthongs

Another difference b et ween the vowe ls and diphthongs of the two language s , not r evealed in

. 5 , is the f a c t that Phlong vowe ls and

diphthong s , with a few exceptions , may be nas al i s e d , whereas Thai may not .

Al s o , Phlong vowe ls and d iphthongs have very d i s t i nc t ive variant

pronunc iations when o c c urr ing nas a l i s e d or glott ali s e d .

2.3.1

V o we l s a n d d i p h t h o n g s

Vowe ls and diphthongs c o n s t i tute the mai n e lement i n the vo c a li c s e gment of the s y l l ab l e .

Nearly all of the vowe ls and d ip hthongs have

variant pronunc iat ions depending on whether the s y l lab l e is glot t al i s e d , nasali s e d , o r p lain ( i . e . ne ither glot t a li s ed n o r na s a l i s ed ) .

The

phone t i c values of vowe l s and diphthong s are s umma r i s ed in Fi g . 6 . Small rai s e d wedges point i n the dire c t i o n of the t o ngue p o s i ti on a s against the t ongue p o s i ti o n u s ually a s s umed f o r t he vowe l s ymb ols u s ed .

[ A J under a vowe l here indi c a t e s a non- s y l labi c o ffgli d e . A smal l s ub ­ s cript hook [ ,J again r ep r e s ent s nasa l i s at i o n . A d a s h indi cat e s c om­ b inat i on s whi c h do not o c c ur . A s may b e s een from

. 6 , a l l Ph long

pronounced without a t e rminal offglid e .

vowe ls exc ep t 1 01 are And all p lain diphthongs b egin

from low c e ntral t ongue p o s i t i o n , t ermina t i ng r e s p e ct i v e ly in high front , mid , and b a c k vowel offglid e s . A l l nasa l i s e d vowe l s e x cept l e n l and l o n l b egin a t approxima t e ly the same t o ngue and l ip p o s i t ions as t he ir p l a i n unna s a l i s e d c ounterpar t s but a r e t e rminated by nonphonemic higher vowe l offglides .

The vowe l s

of l e n l and l o n l , however , begin wit h not i ceably c entred vowels be fore t ermina t i ng i n higher offglide s .

The t ermi na l rai s i ng of the mid vowels

198

J . R. COOKE, J . E . HUDSPITH. J . A . MORRIS

i s usually more obvious t han that of ot her na s al i s ed vowe l s .

Als o , in

the mountain d i a le c t , high n a s a li s ed vowe ls are in their entirety pro­ nounce d extra high , and without c lear na s al i s at i o n ( Sec t i on 2 . 3 . 3 ) . Front

C entral

IiI

High

Back

I f- I

luI

lal a"

101

Plain Nasal Glotta lised

leI e"

Mid

Plain

1 -

Nasal

o�� " 2" �

Glottalised

o"u?

I - Oj

A

leI

Low

la l a.

Plain Nasal

2-t V a.?

Glottalised

la i l a. i v

Diphthongs

Plain

la+1

tt - -l t - Oj

101 �'�v o'?

-'H I -' H

laul

1-

A

Nasal GlottaZised Fig .

6.

0.';-

i "?

1 - :;

A

Phonetic values of Phlong plain , na s a lised and

glotta lised vowe l s .

Thai symb o l s l i s t e d on the chart are

tho s e used for repre s ent ing e ach of the Phl ong vo calic c omb inat ions that o c c ur , and are inc luded here for later r eferenc e .

G l ottali s ed non-diphthongs have approxima t e ly the s ame tongue and lip p o s i t ions as the ir plain c ount erpart s , e x c ept that l e ? 1 and 1 0 ? 1 are t erminat ed in t h e p lains dial ect ( t hough not in the mount ain dialect ) with h igher vowe l offglides .

All g l ot tali s ed diphthongs ar e pronoun c ed

with the la l in higher tongue pos ition than i s charac t er i s t i c of t h i s vowe l e l s ewhere .

In addit ion , the l a l of l a i ? 1 i s u sually front ed ,

whereas that of l a u ? 1 i s b acked .

However , i f la i ? 1 i s pr ec eded by an

initial doub le c ons onant c lu s t e r with I wl as the s e c ond memb er o f the c lu s ter , then the l a l is rai s ed and backed , a s in I x w a i ? 1 [ x wo� l V ? ]

< 1 ��1 :; >

' in t e s t i ne s ' .

Also , i f la u ? 1 i s pre c eded by Iml , or s omet ime s

with some sp eaker s , if it i s prec eded by other na s al s , the l a l i s rai s e d and backed further t han i s usua l ly the c a s e for t h e checked diphthong

199

PHLONG

l a u ? l ; for examp l e , I m a u ? s e l [ m S A � V ? s e ] < dh ��'Il> 'guava ' ( from t h e l o c a l form of Myang I m a ? m u t / ) ; but I k a u ? 1 [ kQ.?'� ? ] < � ff 1 > ' t o coug h ' . The weak- stres sed vowel I � I of pr eposed s y llab les ( s e e S e c t i o n 2 . 1 ) usually has the s ame vowel quali t y as the open or checked vowe l l e i and Unlike the lat t er , however ,

may be c ons idered to be the same phoneme .

it has a lower vowe l pronunc i at i o n when it o c c ur s following the con­ s onant I ? I .

Thus I c �m u l [ c � V m u V ] < � -� � >

'my mo t h er ' , but I ? � m u l

[ ? � A m u V ] o r [ ? � m u V ] < o -�� > ' ( h i s ) m o t her ' .

The weak-stre s s ed vowel

never shows c ontra stive p i t c h . Examp l e s of permi s s i b l e vo c a l i c s e gments ar e li s t e d b e l ow by envir on­ ment for each vowel and diphthong .

Phonet i c valu e s , if not speci fied

her e , may b e determined by reference t o Fig . 6 .

Environments are

ident ified by number or l e t t er a c cording to the fol lowing s cheme . 1.

O c c urren c e in p lain ( i . e . unna s a li s ed , unglo t tali s ed ) s y l lab l e s

2.

O c c urrence i n nasalis ed s y l lab le s

3. 4.

Oc currence in glotta l i s e d s y l lab les Oc curr ence as first memb er :

nas ali s ed dipht hong , 5.

6.

( b ) of a

( c ) of a g l o t t a l i s e d diphthong

Oc curr ence as s e c ond member :

na sali s ed diphthong ,

( a ) of a plain diphthong , ( a ) of a plain diphthong ,

( b ) of a

( c ) of a g l o t t ali s ed dipht hong

Oc curr ence with weak stre s s ( i . e . i n pre p o s ed s y l lab l e s )

Other environment s than t h o s e s p e c ified ab ove ar e ident ified where they app ly .

Subphonemi c nas al i s at i o n of vo calic s egme nt s fo l lowing na s al

cons onant s i s ignored ( s e e 2 . 3 . 3 ) .

When t here are no perceptible

phone t i C differences of the s ame phoneme in d i ff erent environments , t ho s e environment s are gr ouped toge ther . H.ig h v o wei.6 ,

5a . f o llowing I ? / : Iii 1 . I l i l < !'l > ' t o g o ' . 2 . I l i n l < !'l 4 > ' wind ' . 5c . [ I V ] I ? a i l < 1 0 > ' to b i t e ' ; e l s ewhere : [ I V ] I c a i l < 1 � > ' t o wa � k ' . I sa i ? 1 < 1 R Z > ' w h i s ky ' . ,

•

Ifl back ) ' ,

1 . I p h f l

' to b e short ' .

2 . I p h f n l ' to carry ( o n t h e

I b f n l ' ri c e p � ant ' .

1 . l y O I < � > ' Nor t h ern Tha i p e r s on ' , I p h u l ' ch i �d, offspr i ng ' . lui 2 . l y O n l < � 4 > ' t o f�Y ' . 5a . I m y a u l < � � U 1 > ' ferm e n t e d t ea ' . 5c . Idau?1 < � � 1 > ' ho u s e ' . M.id v ow ei.6

l e ll l

1 . I l e l < � R > i n t erroga t i v e part i c � e ,

I ke l < � n > ' t o b e ' .

Some mountain dialect speakers pronounce all words having plain vowel lei as lei ,

(continued on p . 200)

200

J . R . COOKE , J . E . HUDSPITH, J . A . MORRIS

2 . I l e n l < t � 4 > ' t o twine ' .

3 . I khe?1

< L I'I " >

' i n s t ead of ' .

lal 1 , 3 . I t h � 1 < t � g > ' t h i ng ' , I kA ? 1 < L � �" > prediaa t e p a r ti a l e , I d A ? 1 < L �g ,, > empha t i a parti a l e . 2 . I t h a n l < t n4 > ' to b e p erp endiau lar ' . 6 . f o l lowing I ? / : [ Q' ] or [ A ] I ? a m + n l < g -� 4 > ' woman ' ; e ls ewher e : C a Y ] I k� c h a n l < n J1 4 > ' e l ephan t ' . 1\

.

1 , 3 . Iyol

< nt � ,, >

' v eg e tab l e ' ,

1\

1\

1\

' thi s ' , I ?o l < t 5> ' t h e r e , y o nder ' , I t h � d o ? 1 l yo ? 1 < t u ,, > ' to aarry (wi t h a aarry i ng p o l e ) ' .

2 . I l o n l < t � 4 > 'maggo t ' . L o w v o we.L�

lei

1 . after I h / :

e m ' ] I I U < LL � >

[I'

m ' ] I h @ 1 < u � > ' w ha t ? , huh ? < LLtJ., > ' to dodg e ' .

' ; e l s ewhere :

I l a ? 1 ' flas h l ig h t ' . 2 . I l a n l < �1 4 > ' to d e s a e nd ' . 4a . fol lowing I ? / : [ � ] I ? a i l < l g > ' to b i t e ' ; e l s ewhere : [ Q ] I ka i l ' to b e aro o k ed ' , I p � l ya u l ' emp l o y e r ' . 4 c . in diphthong l a i l after c onsonant plus I w / : [ o�] Ixwa i ? 1 ' to be dar k ' . 4 c . in diphthong l a u l after na sal c onsonant s by s ome speaker s : [ o � V ] Ima u ? s e l < L iJ1 LL'1l> ' guava ' ; e l s ewhere : [ Q'?' � V ] I d a u ? 1 lal

< dh >

1,3. I i al

' house ' .

�

3 . Ipe?1

'mon t h ' .

' t o b e warm ' ,

4 c . i n diphthong l a + / :

[ Q' ]

or

[ A ] Ima + ? 1 < t �i h >

' to b e

we l l ' .

101

< g g > ' to hav e ' , 1 1 0 1 < � g > 2 . I l o n l < � g 4 > ' to b e s traig h t ' .

1 , 3 . I?ol

' ag a i n ' .

' to te l l ' ,

/do?l

< L �H >

V' 'guava ' ; I ka u ? 1 < L ff1 > ' to aough ' .

3 . aft er na s a l s by s ome e l s ewher e :

[ o?"� V ] I d a u ? 1

' ho u s e ' ,

(aontinued from previous page)

so that contrast between lei and lei in plain syllables is lost . For example , the question word I l ei < L �> is pronounced I I V , homonymous with I I V 'moon ' . l Some mount ain dialect speakers pronounce all words having plain vowel 101 as 101 , so that contrast between 101 and 101 in plain syllables is lost ; for example , Ikyol 'slow ' instead of Ikyol , I?ol ' to drink ' instead of I?ol . Words having plain vowel 101 are rare , however , so homonymy rarely results from the lo ss of phonemic contrast in this instance .

PlIT.ONG

2.3.2

201

Tones

All vocali c s egments o f s y l lab l e s are acc ompani ed b y one o f four p o s ­ s i b l e tone s .

Featur e s of p i t c h and c omparat ive lengt h for Phlong and

Thai t ones are chart e d in Fig . 7 . In normal p lain and na s a l i s e d syl lab l e s ( i . e . in syl lab les o t h e r t han prepo s e d one s or g l o t t a li s ed ) , Phlong tones are usually pronounc ed with medium to l ong durat i o n ; however , t h e high t one t e nds to b e a l i t t l e s h o r t e r t han t h e other s , a n d t o f a l l o f f i n vo lume t owards the e n d whe n it o c c ur s i n u t te rance -fina l p o s i t ion . A ll t ones in normal open

may be pronounc ed with either of l Rai s e d int ona­ t yp e s of int onat i on : rai s e d , and r i s ing .

two

t i o n is c har a c t e ri s ed by extra high , level p i t c h ( s e e dotted line s in Fig . 7 ) , whi l e ris ing int onat ion ha s low-t o-high r i s ing lines ) .

ch ( broken

When e ither type of intonat ion o c cur s , c ontr a s t b etween one

t one and anoth er is e ntire ly lo s t .

In glott ali s ed sy l lab l e s mid and

t ones have s p e c ial var i ant s , as marked in s eparat e c o l umns o f t h e c hart .

The s e glo t t a l i s e d variants a r e u s ua l ly pronounc e d wit h s ome­

what s hort e r duration t han t h e ir open s y l lab l e c ount erpart s , a lthough under c e r t ain prosodic c ondit ions they may b e pronounc e d in a long , 2 drawn-out fashion . Features o f p i t c h o f the four Phl ong open s y l la b l e t ones are q ui t e s imi lar t o t h o s e of their Thai c o unterpar t s , e sp ecia lly when pronounced in s yl lab les in u t t eranc e non-final p o s i t i on ( s e e dott e d lines on Thai port ion of chart ) .

However , in u tt eran c e final p o s i t ion , Tha i mid and

high t on e s have s p e c i a l contour feature s whi c h the c or r e s p onding Phl ong tones do not .

Then , of c our s e , Thai has a r i s ing t one whi c h has no

Phlong c ounterpar t . C omparis ons c an a l s o b e made b et we e n t he two languag e s wit h t o t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f c o o c curr e n c e o f tone with other f e at ure s o f the

The s e are s ummaris ed in Fig . 8 . A c ompar i s on of t he two p art s o f

•

8 r eveals a rather important

s imi larit y between Phlong and Thai : the fa c t that o p e n s y l lab le s o c c ur fre e ly wi th all t ones in b ot h languages , whereas c l o s e d s y l lables i n T h a i ( i . e . t h o s e syl lab les ending in a stop consonant o r a short vowel ) and glo t tali s ed s y l lab l e s in t ion ( Appendix 2 ) .

are r e s t r ic t ed a s t o tonal varia-

Ph long glottali s e d s y l lab l e s are r e s t r i c t ed to two

is possible that tones in glottalised syllables also may have raised or rising intonation, but data are insufficient for adequate analysis of this phenomenon . 2 It would be possible to consider these glottalised variants of mid and falling tones as two additional tonemes r ather than as allotones of already existing tones , but see 2 . 3 . 4 and footnote .

20 2

J . R . COOKE , J . E . HUDSPITH, J . A . MORRIS

�

Mid

Tones

Pitch

Plain or nasaZised

GZottaZised

.....

High

I

Low

/

"

/

/

I

1' 1

/'1

.....

.....

/

---L

,

,

I /

L--

� Tones

Pitch

Falling PZain or nasaZised

I-V

(no symbo Z)

Mid

Low

GZottaZised

1 '1

/'V

. .. . .

I

�

:>\

./

I

.I

,

I I

Mid

Low

Falling

High

Ris ing

(no symboZ)

1' 1

/'1

1'1

rl

�

)

High

- -- --

Mid

\

'\

---

Low F ig . 7 .

High

Features of pitch and length in Phlong and Thai tone s .

PHLONG SYLLABLES AND TONES

THAI SYLLABLES AND TONES

Cooccurring Tones

Types of Syllable Mid

Low

FaZZing

High

+

+

+

+

PZain or nasaZised

Syllab le

Mid

Low

FaZZing

High

Rising

+

+

+

+

+

*

+

(+ )

+

-

Short vowel stop

*

+

-

+

-

Long vowel stop

-

+

+

(+)

-

Open CZosed

GZottaZised

+

-

+

-

Final short vowel +

+

Fig . 8 .

Cooccurring Tones

Types of

Phlong and Thai tones with various syllable type s .

+ and - show c o o c currence and lack of c o o c currenc e ,

*

indi c a t e s

that the c o o c c urrence o c c urs in s p e e c h , but is not r e f l e c t e d i n writ ing . ely rare .

Parenthe s e s ind i c at e t hat the c o o c c urrenc e is re lat iv­

203

PHLONG

t ones .

A s ignifi cant difference b e tween the two languages may be ob ­

served in the fact t hat the t ones of Phlong glott ali s ed s y llab l e s ar e pronounced s omewhat different ly from the s ame tones in open sy llab l e s ( F i g . 7 ) , whereas Th ai t one s on c lo s ed s y l lab le s t end t o b e rather like tones on corresponding open s y llab l e s . 2.3.3

Nasa l i sa t i on

All s imp le vowe ls in Phlong except l E I may be nas ali sed ; never ar e .

l

diphthongs

Phone t i c a lly , nas a li sat i on is marked by both nasali sation

and vowe l quality .

Na salis ation , except after na s a l c ons onant s , b egins

s lightly after the inception of the arti c ulat ion of the vowe l .

This

delay i s only very s l igh t ly d i s cernib l e wit h low vowe l s , i s s light ly mor e not i ceable with mid vowe l s , and is s l i ght ly more evident s t i l l with high vowe l s .

After na sal consonant s nasalisat i on is not delayed .

All phonemi cally na s a l i s e d vowe ls are char a c t er i s ed a l s o b y a ter­ minal non- s y llab i c rais ing of the t o ngue p o s i ti o n .

Th is t erminal rai sing

i s very c l ear after mid vowe ls , but rather br i e f and much l e s s obvi ous aft er high vowel s and l a / .

After

1 0 1 the rais ing is qui t e c l e ar with

s ome sp e ak er s , espe c i ally s ome from mount ain are a s , but it is l e s s c l e ar with others . vowe ls

Ijn,

Syllab les whi ch in plains Phlong have high nasali s ed +n,

u n l are pronounc ed in the mountain dia l e c t wit hout c lear

nasali sat i o n , and t erminal rais ing of the t o ngue is l e s s obvious than in p lains Phlong .

Instead , t h e s e vowe ls are pronounced with extra high

t ongue p o s i t i on throughout the durat i on of the vowe l - even t o the p oint of slight fr i c t ion b e twe e n the t ongue and the r o of of the mouth . Terminal rais ing of the t ongue along wi t h delayed na sali sat i on s erves to di s t ingui sh phonemi c nasalisat i on from a non-phonemic nasali sation wh ich t ake s p l a c e after all nasal c ons onant s .

The f o llowing are s ome

examp l e s of c ontra s t ing nasal i s ed vowe ls and c orres p ond ing vowels whi c h a r e phonemic a l ly unna s a li s ed .

I l a nl I na n l I I t nl Im tnl

[ I � tV ] [n �r ] [ l f.. V ,j ' ] [ m ,t V ,j ' ]

< R 'l 4 > . < U 'l 4 > .I < .1 4 > " < l:!4 >

' to d e s c e nd ' ' s ome ' ' w i nd ' ' to s l e ep '

l Nasali sation i s here treated as a supra segmental or pro,sodic modifi cation of the vocalic segment of the syllable , but for convenience it i s transcribed in phonemic script as a final consonant In/ . Actually , it would be possible to interpret this phenomenon as a phonemic final consonant 10/', for nasalised vowels are , in fact , some­ times pronounced with a terminal lenis velar nasal . Nasalisation of the preceding vowel could then be considered as an allophonic feature conditioned by the presence of syllable final 10/ . Such a handling of nasali sation would reflect the actual historical development of thi s phenomenon from earlier syllable-final nasal consonant s . We have , however , preferred the more traditional suprasegmental analysis .

204

J . R . COOKE, J . E . HUDSPITH, J . A . MORRIS

I I �d Inal I I tI Im i l

[ I d. ] [ n� ] [ l tV] [ m IIi V ]

< � '1 >

' to be wapm

' b i t t8P ' � I ? e l [ ? e V ] < lI iJ > 'many ' . �

l a i l i s a lway s phone t i c al ly nasali s e d fol lowing I ? / : I ? a i l [ ? � i V ] < 1 iJ > ' to b i t e ' . I ba n ?a i I [ bH V ? �l V ] ' I ' l l go (me I llJi l l go ) ' ; I n � p h u ' ? o ' -£ I ' Do y o u hav e a ny c h i ldr en ? ( y o u c h i ldr e n h av e huh ? ) ' . 3 . Paus e j unctur e ( indi c a t ed by a comma ) i s charac t er i s ed by a s l ightly longer and more obvious b reak or pau s e t han o c curs wi th s p a c e "

. ...1/ , 1 � � 8 y e ? l n I 1 ' c e n tipede ' , / I a n ke t h a ? / < �1 � n tl " > ' v u l tur e ' , / m e I E k l ft / < � u � u n �> 'for e s t ' , / m e n E h o ? / < � u u ' ; ,, > ' h e l l ' ( from Myang / m 3 o

p ha n t ' ,

n a � c5 k/ ' h e l l ' ) , / p h ( n d o n k h ft! < � ; ;' H bb � > ' ogr e ' , / n c l i k E / < bb u i'i bb n > ' c l o c k , wa t c h ' ( from Myang / n a a I I kava / , Thai u � ?ln 1 / n a a I i k a a / ' wa t c h ' ) .

There i s l i t t l e morphophonemic alt ernation when morphemes are j uxta­ posed in normal speech .

Such alt ernat ion as d o e s o c c ur i s u sually a s ­

s o c i at e d w i t h par t i c u lar morphemes o r c ombinat ions of morpheme s . A lternations are of two kinds , redu c t i o n and c o ntract ion . In the case of c ertain morpheme s , normal syllab l e s may b e r educ ed t o preposed s y l lab le s .

Apart from t h e examp l e s li s t ed b e low, thi s phenom­

enon is comparat ively rar e : .

/ b l /

�

.

/ b � / 'manner ' , as in / b l n o /

�

/ b � n o /

Thi s alt e rnat i o n i s optional i n mo s t o c c urrenc e s of t h e

' li k e t h a t ' .

morpheme / b l / . .

/phl/

�

The form / p h � / < � - > a lway s appears

/ p h�/ 'place ' .

prec eding the que s t ion part i c l e / I e/ < b � > , as in / p he l e/ A

•

the form / p h l / < � > usually o c c ur s e l s ewher e .

/ t h a / < b n � > � / t h e / ' t h i nnv ' . A

' wh e re ? ' ;

The form / t h e / appears in A

rapid s p eech when t h i s morpheme i s u s ed as a derivat ional noun marke r , a s i n / t h �� t / < � - � >

' go o dne s s '

( fr om / � t / < � >

'good ' ) ; /t ha/ < b n � >

u s ually oc curs e l s ewhere .

3.

ORTHOGRAPHY

The Thai symb o l s u s e d repres ent ing Phlong phoneme s are l i s t e d alpha­ b e t ic a l ly from t op t o b ot tom in Figs .

9 , 1 0 , and 1 1 .

I n t h e s e chart s ,

i t ems enc losed in parent h e se s are t ho s e whi c h have b e e n e s p e c i a l ly adapt e d for u s e in Phl ong , and are u s ed with unexp e c t e d valu e s or in unexpect ed combinat ions .

In Fig . 9 , the l e t t ers M , H , and L ident ify

the cons onants in que s t i on as b e longing to mi ddl e , high , and low c la s s e s r e s p e c t ively ( c l a s s i fi c a t ion b eing made on t h e same b a s i s as in t he Thai s y s t em of writ ing [ App endix 2 J ) .

The Thai alphab eti cal ordering o f

c o nsonant symb o l s has b een ret ained , b u t s ome adaptation in t h e vowel order has b een made in favour of a more s y s t emat i c pre s ent ation .

In

Figs . 10 and 1 1 , spac e s in the char t s marked by a dash indicate comb ina­ t i ons whi ch do not o c c ur in Phlong .

In Fig . 1 0 , a l l examp l e s o f forms

with final consonant invo lve < � > , the symb o l u s ed for r epres ent i ng na sali s ation of the prec eding vowe l .

The s e are inc luded in the chart

208

J . R . COOKE , J . E . HUDSPITH , J . A . MORRIS

b e cause ( a s in Thai writ ing ) final c ons onants o c c a s i ona l ly n e c e s s itate special considerat i on in s p e l ling and a lphab et i s at i on .

Fig . 1 2 s p e l l s

o u t t h e theoreti cal range of vowe l , tone , and c ons onant c la s s comb inat i ons in detai l .

Initial Consonants Consonant

Phonemic value

Class

Phonemic value

n

M

M

H

'll

M

P

1'1

L

k kh kh

1..1

tJ

�

H

""I

L

I)

y.j

L

ph ph

'I

M

e.J

H

f

Q

H

'Yl

L

f

v

L

c ch ch s

:!.J

L

m

u

L

Y

L

r

Consonant

Class

'11

L

( I"ll )

L

�

r

( 'lJ )

L

A

L

01

M

'd

L

j;]

M

i\

H

t1

H

'VI

H

'YI

L

x d t th th

'U

L

n

b

�

L

w s h h

[)

M

?

( - [) )

M

Digraphs

sy sy

i\ u '11 u

n

Final Consonant nasalisation

Consonant Clusters nu

nr

nA

n 'd

ky

kr

kI

kw

tJ A 1'1 A

tJ 'd 1'I 'd

khy

khr

kh l

khw

'I 'd

cw

Q 'd V 'd

chw

'11 'd i\ 'd

sw

'lJ 'd

xw

0I 'd Ill 'd

tr

dw tw Fig . 9 - continued on next page

PIU.ONG

11 'l Yl 'l

t hw

U 'l 'll u �u

'll ..� ..-

'll a

'll 'l

py

pr

pi

nw pw

phy

phr

phi

phw

mr

ml

mw yw Iw hw ?w

YW

'1'1 "-

'1'1 a

�a

� 'l 'I'I 'l

�u

� ..-

�a

� 'l U 'l

my

au

a 'l

'VI U

'VI 'l

Iy hy

O 'l F ig . 9 .

Symbol without final consonant

Symbol with final consonant

zero

Phlong consonant symbol s

Phonemic value

a a a A

1

A

A

-0 -" -1 -1 4

on a? a an in 11- n u un a

L -0 L -O " L-" L -1 L -1 "

209

an a an a? a? au au? o?

EXAMPLES

I k�c h a n l < n " � 1 4 > I k� l li n l Ic�1 < "1 - >

I sa l

l i li n i

I I tI < �4 > Is ( n l

I p h 1- 1

l e a i ?1

' to say '

< II'I-T:I-.I :: >

< t il � >

Middle class consonants n'1

I ka l

--

Glottalised

n ::

I ka ? 1

\:J "

,

.

Ikal

n '1

\:J '1

.

'l-T R '1

v

N

Glottalised

--

Open

fl '1

v

Glottali sed

--

Open

�

Glottalised

fl "

'horn ' . ' to

call '

'bite '

/ ka l I ka ? 1

N

f'1 1

I kha l

I kha?1 I l a?1

f'1 "

I k ha ?1

I kha l I ial

f'1 '1

.

--

--

--

1'1 '1

--

--

--

--

v

I khal

I kh a l

--

--

Orthography for representing Phlong tones

a IiI l i nl Ifl IfnI luI lunl leI lenl leI lenl

I ka l

fl '1 .

F ig . l I .

MCC

'goat '

· Low class consonants

High class consonants

Open

Open

' to make '

Phlong vowel symbols

Vi R " I

' aomfortable '

,

a

,

a

a

I

v

n

n

n

n�

n�

n�

fl O

no

no

no

fl �

n�

n�

n�

·

v

·

·

I;)

I;) �

·

1;) 4

Ln

L n4

L n4

Li'i 4

v

lJ

Ln

L no

v

lJ 4 ·

·

·

Lno ·

di4

a?

Ln"

Ln"

L fl O "

L

n

v

I;)

·

a?

fl �

I;)

v

v

lJ �

Ln

Ln

L fl 4

Ln4

L no

L no

. 11 4

L n -l ·

Fig .

12 -

N

n o."

N

continued on next page

PIIT..ONG

a Mee

Heel Lee

101 lonl lei lenl lal lanl 101 I :> n l la i f la+1 laul III l i nl 1+1 I+nl lui l u nl lei lenl lei lanl 101 lonl lei lal la nl 101 lonl la i l l a +1 laul iii l i nl 1+1 I+nl lui lunl lei lenl

,

a

211 ,

a A

a

a?

a?

'i n :::

'i n ".

'i n

'i n

'i n

'i n

'i n -l

'i ri �

'i n�

'i n 4

u. n

bI n

bb n

u. n

bb n "

u. n ".

n '1

n '1 '

n '1

�

n"

n ".

n '1 �

I

n '1 "l

n '1 -l

n '1.�

n il

n il

I

n il

n il.

I n '1 "

I n '1."

n ll �

fl ll �

n ll �

�

1n

1n

1n

1n

1n"

1 n :::_

Ln"

L n :::·

I n '1 fi

I

..

..

I

·

·

I fl '1 .:

.. ..

..

I n '1 ·

�

-

n '1.

n

l1

"14

;4

rl ll

1.1 1l

l1 0

l1 0

· �

.:

'1'14

ti �

l1 �

'YH

'I'J

I

\l

'I'J

·

'I'J ..

I

tl �

i,H

t) �

I 'll

I�

1 11

'Q � L l1

L 'YI 4

I ��

L l1 4

L l1 �

I 'YI O

1 11 0

L l1 0

1 11 0

I

·

,

,

·

·

..

l'ii 4

L il "l

di�

Lfh

'i l1

'i ii

'i ri

'i .n

'i 'l1 4

'i � �

'i ,; �

'i .n�

LL'YI

LL 11

'11 '1

·

·

1 1.1 ::

1 l1 ::

1 11 1l "

L 'I1 0 :::

'i 11 ::

'i l1 "

..

Lll1

1i.l1

LI � "

LI

·

'YI '1

l1 '1

In :::

'1H

·

·

In '1

..

In '1 4

'YI '1 4

'YI '1 "l

'11 0

I1 Il

l1 1l

l1 1l

'1HH

11 11 4

l1 1l 4

l1 . H

1'Y1

1n

1 ';

I'll

I

·

·

·

·

b

..

1 l1 '1

1 � '1

i'l

Vi ii

d

l'l �

Vl l'l �

�

i'l 0

Vl R Il

R4

Vl R 4

tI

�4 Ia L R4

I

·

1 l1 '1 ·

· N

l'l

.:

.: ·

I

1 l1 '1

1 '1'l "

Ii:: ..

1 11 '1

Iii " ..

b Vi ll "

I !'!:'

L 'YI '1

d

· d

i'l 4

.:

i'l 4

:

l'l 0

RO

l'l 4

i'l 4

.: I

:

Iii , \} 4

\}

I Vi ll

L .tI

· I ll

I Vl ll �

I ll �

I

1 11 '1 :::

l'l

VI ii! , VI \} 4 I

11 '1 :::

1 11 " I

�

'YI :::

·

'11'1 4

-

'"

L n '1-

:

d

I

-

L n '1

..

�

·

-

d

.:

·

'"

�

L fl '1 .

n4

.:

�

n ll �

.:

�

-

, ·

..

\} 4

..

I R�

Fig .

12

- continued overleaf

212

J . R. COOKE , J . E . HUDSPITH, J .A . MORRIS

Heel Lee

lal lanl 101 lonl lei lenl lal lanl 101 lonl la i f la+1 laul

F ig . 1 2 .

,

a

a

H Hl

1 ", .Hl

,

a

a ·

·

1 iii 0

·

a?

a?

. ", 1iI 0 1:l

L IiI O I:l

'i: ", liI t

'i: 1iI :;

.L IiI

U.", liI t

LL " �

iii 1

HIiI �

1iI �

l ", il 1 :;

I ,, '] t

1 ", liI t

1 1i1 �

�

1 iii 0

·

I ��

. ", iii �

l iii �

I R�

'iii!

'i: "' �

'i: �

'i: ;

'i: 1iI �

'i: H � �

'i: � �

'i: ; �

·

U lil

IL ", 1iI

iii "

", 1iI 1

IiI ' H

", 1iI '] 4

,, 0

"' liI il

·

·

U. 1iI

·

iii 1

·

iii '] �

·

lil a

·

�

·

,, 1 �

·

lil a

·

�

iHH

", liI il 4

liI il 4

lil a 4

1 f!

1", iii ·

1�

1;

·

·

•

iii 1

. ", IiI 'l

•

iii 1

L il ']

iii "

I ", iii t

•

. ", i'l

dh

Chart of theoretically poss ible vow e l and tone

combinations with middle , high , and low c l a s s consonants

3.1

PRO B L EMS O F AVA PT I NG THA I S C R I PT TO P H L ONG Four b a s i c cons iderat ions unde r l i e t he proposed adaptation of t he

Thai s cript for use in trans cribing Phlong .

The s e are : 1 ) t he prin-

c i p l e of maximum transferab i l ity from t he prop o s ed s

to actual Thai

wri t ing ; 2 ) the need f or as muc h c o n s i s t ency and s imp li c ity as is c om­ mensurat e with maximum transferab i l ity ; 3 ) t he avo idance of soluti ons whi c h s tr o ngly go against Thai ort hogr ap h i c patt erns wherever t h i s i s p o s s ib l e ; 4 ) t he avail ab i l i t y of s ymb o l s on a s tandard Thai typewr i t er . T h e c o n� o na n�� < � > I � I a n d < � > I x l The s ymb o l s < � � > have b e e n cho s e n t o repres ent the phonemes I �I and I x l r e s p e c t iv e ly .

Since t h e s e phoneme s d o not o c c ur i n Thai , i t i s

ne c e s sary t o t ak e s ome l i t t l e -u s ed Thai s ymbol and

i t a new valu e .

( usually u s ed t o repres ent Thai I c h k h/ ) were arbi t rarily c h o s e n

t o repres ent t h e s e n e w phoneme s b e c au s e their arti culati on w a s s omewhere near the

sound s .

However , these s ymb o l s

low c la s s

cons onant s whi c h d o not t ake a p r e c eding < H > f o r changing t onal r u l e s in Thai , although t h e y have b e e n mad e t o d o s o i n vowe ls and before glotta l i s e d mid vowe ls .

b e fore l ow t one

Thus a Thai orthographic

PHLONG

21 3

p rinciple has b e e n ext ended t o s ymb o l s with whi c h it i s not u s e d i n l Thai . T h e e o n� o n anx < � > I r l The phoneme I r l exi s t s only in a few words in t he Phlong mountain d i alect .

In such word s , s pe akers of the plains diale ct pronounc e 1 1 1

for I r/ .

It is here propo s ed that all such word s b e spelled with < � > .

s ince plains Ph long would have no diffi culty learning to read I I I f or b oth < � > and < � > .

The opp o s i t e procedure of le arning to wri t e < � > for

I I I in c ertain word s would p erhap s be more diffi cult , but would c on­ s t i tu t e no maj or prob lem , s i n c e mountain Phlong I r l words are i n any c a s e rather rare , and wou l d probably b e known t o mo s t p lains p eople as mount ain Phl ong I r l words ( th ough not so pronoun c ed by p lains sp eaker s ) , for there is c ont inual c ommun i c a t ion b e t we e n the two diale ct s . Z en o - i nixial eo n� o nanx Since t he Thai wr it ing s y s tem demand s t hat a l l s y l lab le s b egin with a cons onant s ymb o l , this ab s enc e o f a phoneme i s repres ent ed by a hyphe n plus t h e symbo l < il > ; f or examp le , < - 0 :: > I -a ?! t i c Z e ) ; < - , 50 > I - a l

( v o c a ti v e p ar ti c Z e ) .

' him ' ; < - •• 5 > 1 - 8 1

(a par­

Not e that in s y l lab l e s such

a s the las t two e xamp l e s ab ove , t h e hyphen is

at the very begin-

ning of the s y l lab l e , not b e twe e n the v owe l and < il > .

This is done t o

avo id such odd- looking comb inat i ons a s < .. - 5 > , < , - 50 > , e t c . , which g o t o o m u c h against t h e normal pat terns of Thai orthography . C o n� o nanx elu� xen� C lu s t ers are much mor e numerous in Phlong than in Thai , whe r e c lu s t er s wi t h I yl as s e c ond member a r e entire ly l a c ki ng , and c lu s t ers wi t h I r l ,

I w / , and I I I are much mor e limit e d t han in Ph long ( Se ct i o n 2 . 2 ) .

How­

ever , Thai provides a prec edent for r e c ording c lusters s imp ly by j uxta­ p o s ing t h e two consonant s in que s t i on , and treating the two as a unit when wri t i ng vowels and tones whi c h cooc cur with them .

Thi s pre cedent

i s here expanded t o inc lude the gre at er vari ety of Phlong c lu s t ers . The p o s s ib i li ty of writ ing c l u s t er s with I y l as if the I y l were c om­ p arab l e t o Thai diphthongs in whi c h I i I is followed by l a l or I w l wa s at one t ime c ons idered .

Thus I m y a u l < ' � V 1 >

'ferm e n t e d t e a ' ( fr om Myang

I�I and Ixl often occur preceding low tone vowels , at one point we considered using which are middle class consonants in Thai and therefore do not present this problem. The transfer value would have been higher . However , these consonants present a particular difficulty in that because they extend below the line , they inter­ fere with the printing of < -> Phlong luI , when it would occur with them, and would . cause considerable inconvie�c e .

J . R . COOKE , J . E . HUDSPITH, J.A. MORRIS

214

I m i a Q I ' fermented t e a ' ) might , for examp l e , be wri t t e n < L � U 1 > ( i . e . I m i a wl from a Thai reader ' s point of view ) ; and Isyew i l el < u � u � u � > ' t o wa s t e time ' ( from Myang I s Y a w e e l a a / , Thai L � U L 1 � 1 'was t e t im e ' ) mi ght b e wr i tt en < L ; U � U � > ( i . e . Is i a w i i l eel i n Thai ) ; and I k h y u l < � y > ' cord­ wood '

( from Myang I k h i w l

I k h i w l in Thai ) .

' arrang ed i n rows ' ) could b e spelled < � 1 > ( i . e .

However , this exp ed i ent introdu c e s s everal anomali e s

into t h e orthography , and a c commo dat e s only a few words c o ntai ning I y l c lu s t ers .

It also encourages a trans fer b etwe en Phlong and Thai wh ich ,

t hough p erfectly natural and a c c eptab l e when Thai words ar e borrowed into Phlong , would be una c c eptable if carr ied over int o the r eading of It s e ems b e s t , therefor e , to wri t e Kar en I y l c lu s t ers l like ot her c lu s t ers mer ely by j uxtapo s ing ini t i a l cons o nant and < u > . actual Thai words .

T h e d�g�aph� and < � u / � u > Th e s e combinat ions are u s ed t o r epr e s e nt the phoneme s I n y l and I s y l r e sp e c t ively .

It woul d , of c o ur s e , be p o s s ible to cho o s e rare unit ary

symb o l s to repres ent t h e s e phoneme s ( a s wa s done in the c a s e of I � I and I x / ) , but thi s would d e c r e a s e transfer value , b e sides r a i s i ng t h e prob lem of how t o repres ent the s e consonants when they o c c ur preceding all four p o s s i b le tone s .

By wr i t i ng the s e phoneme s as c l us t er s are

wr i t t e n , b ot h prob lems ar e avoided without lo s s o f phonemic c o ntras t . V owel� and d�ph� h o ng � I n gener a l , plain vowe ls are represented i n the orthography b y t he symb o ls for corr e sp onding Thai long vowe l s ; na s a li s ed vowe ls ar e re­ pres ent ed by long vowe l p lu s the consonant symb o l < 4 > i n syl lab lefinal p o s i t ion , and glott ali s ed vowe ls are trans cribed by means of the symb o ls for corre sponding Thai s hor t vowe ls .

In the c a s e of g l o t t a li s ed

vowe l s , s ince t h e s e o c c ur o n only t wo t o ne s , i t s eems simp le , natura l , and unamb iguous t o transcribe falli ng- tone glot t a l i s e d vowels a s i f they were Thai high-tone short vowe l s , and mid-tone as if they were Thai l ow­ t one short vowe ls . Na� a�� ed v owe� The s e are repres ent ed by the f inal c o ns onant symb o l < 4 > I Q / .

l

It

One development which will doubtless bring complications both t o the vowel system and to the consonant cluster system in time comes from rapidly accelerating borrow­ ings from Northern Thai which are not now as fully assimilated as old borrowings were . Four Northern. Thai words in IC i a QI (C consonant ) were borrowed into Phlong as ICyaw/ , giving the only Phlong words of that combination so far recorded . Now, how­ ever , Northern Thai words in IC i awl are being used by Phlong speakers in the areas of Thai contact , thus beginning a Phlong pattern IC i awl which , if it spreads will give a new diphthong . =

215

PHLONG

s e ems b e s t t o u s e a nas al co nsonant s ymb ol t o repres ent nasali sat ion , s i n c e other p o s s ib l e symb o l s ( su c h as u nu s ed vowel o r sup ers cript s i gns ) have minimal t rans fer value ; and of the t hr e e Thai na s a l c onso­ nants < 4 U � > , < 4 > is art i c ulat e d mo s t nearly like Phlong nasali s ed vowe ls .

Al s o the consonant < 4 > i s t h e s ymbo l least likely to l e ad t o

c o nfusion concerning s y llab l e d ivi s i o n , for I Q I i s rare i n Phlong , and s e ldom o c curs as the f i r s t memb e r of a c o ns o nant c lu s te r . pta.in a.nd g i.. a :t:ta.i..L!. ed diph:tha ng -t. The s e pre s ent a more d i ff i c u lt prob lem than s impl e vowe ls .

In the

, the Phl ong glot t a li s ed diphthongs l e l ?1 and l e u ? 1 cannot

first

be r e pr e s ented s imply by the corresponding Thai symb o l s < 1 > or < � > and < . -1 >

without l o s s of transfer valu e .

Th is is s o b e caus e the Thai

s ymb o l s follow op en- syl lab l e t one rules , whereas t he Phlong s egment s sed )

ar e " c lo s e d " from a Thai point of v i ew ( b e caus e t hey are and t herefore need t o f o l low c lo s ed- s y l lable t one rul e s .

The s imp l e s t

s o lut ion s e ems t o b e t o add a s p e c i a l short -vowel i ndicator t o the Thai symb ols , u s ing < 1 - � > t o repres ent l a i ? l , and < 1 �1 > t o

lau?l,

b ot h c ombinat ions b e i ng treated a s c l o s e d s yl lab les with t onal ru l e s ident i c a l t o thos e of s imple Tha i s h o r t c l o s ed vowe l s .

Then , in order by t he

to achieve maximum s imp l i c it y , p l ai n diphthongs are

symb ols < 1 > and < . - 1 > rather than by t h e long vowe l s equen c e s < - 1 V > and < -1 1 > .

This expe d i ent avoids t he introduction of t h e addi t i onal final

c ons onant s ymb ols < v > and < 1 > . d iphthongs

s ed

I t als o l inks p lain and

in a logi c a l way b y us ing c ompara b l e s ymb o l s for

each , and i t provide s a t r e atment t hat is c o ns i s tent with the handling o f other p lain v . g l o t t a li s ed s e gmen t s . dipht hong l a + ? 1 pre s ents an addit i onal

The Ph long

l em b e cause Thai has no c omp arable combinat ion ; i t therefore b e c omes n e c e s s ary e it he r to

s ome exi s t ing symb o l or c ombinat ion of symbols

a new value , or t o create a new combinat ion whi ch does not exi s t in the Thai orthography . ,

One s o lu t i on might have b e e n t o u s e < � - z > , b e cause

l e y l i n pre se nt -day Thai , former ly repres ent ed

which

l a + l , a s it s t i l l does in Tay Yay ( Shan ) and s ome diale ct s o f La o . Because the symb o l i s s o c ommon in Thai , howeve r , t h i s u s age would have c au s ed conside rab l e int erference in t rans f er s i t u at i ons . have prop o s ed us

t he comb inat ion < L � Z > .

Inst ead , we

Thi s app ears ideal in t hat

it pres ent s no t rans fer prob lem , for t h i s c omb inat i on does not e x i s t in t h e Thai ort hography ;

t h e propos ed trans cription is suffi c i ent ly

l ike the Thai comb inati o n < t � > l e e l or < t - � � > l e ? 1 to s ugges t a s ound not far removed from the actual phonet i c value of Phl ong l a + ? I .

216

J . R . COOKE, J . E . HUDSPITH, J . A . MORRIS

U nl> .tJr.. e.,o" e.d v o w e..t

I � I was d e s c r i b ed in d e t a i l in s e ct i o n

2.3.1.

It i s comparab le in

s ome ways to the Thai short unstre s s e d syl lab l e-final vowel l a l Thai writ i ng s p e l led < z > , o r left unwri t t e n ) .

(in

Both are short and un­

stre s s e d ; both have much t h e s ame vowe l quali ty ; and both occur on a non- contrastive "mid " tone , Thai ( spoken language ) very oft e n , and Phlong invariab ly .

However , Thai l a l d i ffers from Phlong I � I in that

the Thai vowel may a l s o be p ronounc ed with various tones ( al b e it with pe culiar l imitations and alt ernat i ons ) .

In add i t i on to the non-con­

trastive mid tone it a l s o oc curs with low and high t ones ( c hiefly , but not entirely a s reading or citation var iant s of s p oken mid tone forms , and usually , but not alway s , pronounc ed with f inal glottal s t op ) , and , much more rarely , w i th falling tone .

In fact , unl e s s t o nes are other­

wise mark ed , the writ ing s y s t em imp l i e s theor e t i cal low or high t one . A l s o , the Thai l a / , unlike Phlong I �/ , stands in c ontrast t o o ther s hort vowe l s ( c hiefly I i i and l u i ) wh ich may be s imilarly uns t r e s s e d and may oc cur with s im i l ar di s t i n c ti v e tonal vari at i ons and r e s tr i ct ions . The Thai wr it ing s y s t em f o r Phl ong here fol lows the Thai a s c lo s e ly as pos s ib l e .

When I � I occurs as the presyllab l e o f a morpheme , and ha s

no ind e pendent morphem i c status i t s e lf , it is t rans cribed i n one of two ways , as in Thai .

No vowel i s wri t t en at all i f t h e re sulting ortho­

graphic c lu s t er wi l l not be confus ed wi th an ac tually o cc urring phonemic consonant c l u s t e r , as in Thai < � U 1 U > I s a ba a y l

' c omfo r tab l e ' .

If the

lack of a symb o l for I�I mak e s for a p o s s ib i l ity o f confus ion w i t h a phonemic consonant c lu s t e r , i t i s r e c orded with < z > as in Thai < n � � 1 >

I ka l aa l ' c o co n u t s he l l ' , ThUS , I p � n e l ' buffa lo ' i s trans cribed as but I ka l P:, n l ' p y t ho n ' i s t rans cribed < n z � 1 "'1 > in order t o contra s t with I k l P:, n l < n 5 � "'I > ' t o s Za s h ' , In pre c li t i c morpheme s uns tre s s ed I � I i s wri t t e n with the hyphen < - > after the cons onant . The word s I c � 1 < � - > ' I ' � I k h � 1 < � - > ' w e ' � I ? � I < D - > ' i t ' , I n� 1 < � - > ' y o u ' , I I � I < � - > ' o n e ' , I m � 1 ' wi l l ' are spr inkled a l l t hrough t he text . l

l

Originally these words wer� written as individual consonants separated from the following word by space . When the words are run together with normal Thai spacing this creates problems in addition to the fact that it i s un-Thai . Non-Thai combinations are created like for Icecol 'my o �er brother ' , or the combination may be ambiguous like

' ou t s ide ' .

A few d efinit ely Mi en forms

/ ka s i a / < n " b �u > ' s toma c h ' , / ka n ) a /

MIEN (YAO)

227

Only two thr e e s y l lable words have b e e n r e corded .

< 1 � � � � > ' radio ' i s d e fi nit ely a borrowing from Thai . .

Iw i d t han u?1 I t o n o n t l < �oJo � >

' j a a kfru i t ' i s o f unknown origin .

O R T H O G RA P H Y

Two wri t i ng s y s t em s have b e e n devi s ed for t h e M i e n i n Thai land , one b a s ed on the Thai s y s t em of wri ti ng , and one

the l e t t e r s o f the

We s t ern alphab e t , but i n many c a s e s not u s ing them in conventi ona l way s . Our i nterest i n t h i s p ap e r i s in t h e Thai orthography , which wi l l b e d e s cribed i n d e t ai l , but the s y s t em u s ing Eng l i s h l e t t ers i s included also for the r e c ord . Phoneme

I kl I khl

Symbol fl

Ig l ( fi na l )

fl

1 01 Icl Ichl iJ

/jl lsi

OJ

2

/r'1/

Idzl I t sl Idl It! Ithl 'Yl

It shl I nl

s

2

Example

I ko o l I kh a o l I kh j y l I m a g j l)l I p hO k l 1 1) 0 1) 1 I c o l) l I c h a l) l ICha?! I j o l) l Isyenl 1 5 0 1) 1 Inool I d z o l) l I bat sool Idool I t::> 0 1 Ithw i l It hOi It s h i a l It s h wO t ! I no m l

Meaning I

fl O -l

IHl tJ w

Orthography using English letters l

'bottl e '

k

kxvg

' to dry o v er fire '

K

Kaavj

' h ead '

G

mGxvq

' p ox '

k

Pokq

' to s qua t '

v

vxvb

' horn '

J

Jxv

, opportuni ty ,

Q

Qavj

Kxiq

' s ea '

Qaa ' q

' s tr e ng th ' ' tau t '

F

Fxvb

' to b e l i e v e '

s

syenj s xv

' fros t ' ' to a:r>aw l '

E

Exv

' to argue '

R

Rxv

' n os e '

z

Ba ' zxv

'muddy '

D

Dxvb

' to b e fin i s hed '

t

txv

' to r e turn '

T

Twij Toq

' t o a s k for ' ' m a a h i ne '

Z

Zwr t q

' to ex i t ' ' th i ng '

Zia

n

nxm

the system whi c h use s Engli sh letter s , tone is indicated by final consonant sym­ Tone 1 i s unmarked, the remaining tone s , in order , are shown by .

2 Svmbols which do not have the same value i n the Mien orthography a s they have i n

228

L . AND C . W . CALLAWAY

Phoneme Symbol

Ibl Ipl Iphl

Example

I b e b o l) l I po 1) 1 I p ha y l I p heol I f � 1) 1 l f o l) l Im3 1) 1 I s i n yoml 1 1 0 1) 1 Iwetl I h em l I hO I / ? o nl Ito?!

'U

U f.J '1'1

If I

�

W

Iml Iyl III Iwl Ihl

3-l U i'l

'l 'H (l

17-1 I-?/

[)

1

Meaning

Orthography using English let ters

'U :I 'U .HI

' ma l le t '

B

Ba ' Bxv

U i:H

'assist '

p

pxv

W1 U

' to a u t '

P

Paa i j

�.!j

' gu e s t b e d '

P

Pavb

J.!j

' p i a ture '

f

favj

W i) -II

' arro", '

'H3-l 0 -ll

' to op e n '

m

.

fxv mxvj

' g oo s e pimp l e s '

y

s i n y omb

'pro trusio n '

I

lxvb

L 'l Oi

' t o dig '

w

wetq

L 'H3-l

' to s a o l d '

h

hemj

;r'U V 3-l .

R i) -II �

�

huq

' r o t te n '

�

xn

[) [) 'U

'raak '

N

' to b e a b l e '

f!l

?

tu ' q

As will be not i ced above , some o f the a s p irated c onsonant s have been wr itten with unit s ymb o l s in the Thai manner : f.J

W

Iph/,

n

TI

It h / , s It s h / ,

g

ti

Ich/,

�

�

I kh / .

All t h e s e consonant s fol low their us age i n Thai , except for wh i c h has no count erpart in Thai .

A unit s ymbol < s > was cho s en for t h i s

s ince i t fits the p a t t e r n of a s p i r a t e s t ops .

M i e n lit erate in T h a i s e em

quite happy with t h i s choice . They s e em j us t as happy with the cho i c e of writ ing the aspi rat e c o n­ t i nuant s as a s e quence of two s ymbo l s .

Imhl /nhl / I hl /nh/ I l) h / Iwhl Iyhl

(l 3-l (l'U (l i'l

(l ty (l .!j (l 'l i'l U

/m hel I n h a l)l I l ha l l ii h a l)l I l) ha ? ! Iwh i/ / y het l

L (l3-l

I

l ar d '

M

Me

'1nm 1 -11

I

aooked riae '

N

Naavj

'H (l R 1

' mo o n '

L

Laaj

'H (lty 1 .!j

'y ear '

H

Haavj

(l .!j 1 ::
. Mwavq

I m h wl

1:l 3-l 'l

I m h we o /

i'l 3-l 1'.!j

l ow l I p wl

-II 'l

/ k u l) waa / I p w6 n /

fJ 'I-H 'l 1

'Baby '

kub vwaad

U 'l'\,!

' s h oo t '

pwrnq

l

U 'l

�

¥

,

a

la s s if i eX' for h o u s e h o l d m e m b er s '

The glott� stop in Ie? E? o? i e? ua?/ is symbolised by final . Since /a?1 [ a ' ? ] i s found in Mien but not in Thai , the i s extended to that use also . For the glot-

MIEN (YAO)

229

Palat a l i s at ion i s writ t en as < u > plus vowe l b e fore a l l vowe ls except lei .

In the c a s e of I y el or l i e l ( b etwe en whi c h there i s cons iderabl e

f lu c t uat ion ) the palatali s ation i s wri t t en as < L :!tJ > .

I m h yl I p yl

IHW

'tl u

Im h y e n l Ipyal I p yo r) 1 I ba p y e y l

L ll il tJ'I,I

'faae '

Mye n

'li tJ '1

' fi v e '

pyaa

'tlUD 'I 'U � L 'tl tJ U

' fo r e he a d '

pyxvb

'hair '

Ba ' pyei

The same fluctuat i on oc cur s b e tween l w e i and l u el caus ing the same prob­ lem .

< �� > i s u s ed in t he orthography as in < J � >

' to te l l ' while < � > i s

u s e d f o r I wol or l u o l p lus a c ons onant a s in I bw o n l < 'U � 'I,I >

' p owder ' .

< f> + c o n sonant i ndi cat e s l w e i or l u a l whi le < 1 > alone s tands for I wo l . This probl em i s s t i l l be ing i nv e s t igat ed . In final p o s i t ion 1 m n o w y l are transcribed by as in

The final glott a l 1 1 / will be di s cus s ed under vowels since Thai

handl e s it in c onne ct ion with its vowel s ymb o l s .

kl [ -m 1 - n 1 - 0 1 ] are symb o l i s ed by , [ mI l om m y u J

One syllabic aspirated na sal has been recorded .

< � :I;I >

. 'ca t '

[ � g o o J ' h ead '

< :I;I i'I :lJ :il '1 > .

[ hm J .

It i s wri t t e n

,

' ordina l fiv e ' .

Writ ing of Mien t one s in Thai script f o l lows the Thai s y s t em as c l o s e ly as p o s s i b l e ( Chart 3 ) .

Mid class consonants

:lJ 'W -1

V+

\J V+

tJ

'1

1

n

:lJ V+

-1 tJ '1

:lJ 'W

\J

'W

"

-

I I

Iil

Low class consonants

High class consonants

V+

Iil

V+

n

tJ

1 L LL +

'1

'i:

-1

"

-

\J

0

-

Iil

n

\J

d

-

Iil

+

.

1 V+

No mark

---

---

---

No mark . 'VI-

n

---

---

'VI-

'VI-

"

2

, -

No mark

, -

No mark

3

-

---

---

---

. -

No mark

---

-

-

No mark

I' I rl

�

4

�

�

-

---

---

-

5

. -

---

No mark

---

'VI-

---

---

6

-

---

---

---

-

---

---

1 '1 ; VI rl

�

Chart 3 .

Symbo l i sation o f Mien tones .

bered down the l e ft margin .

�

�

�

Th e t on e s are num­

A t one i s indicated in the

wr iting s y s t em a c cording t o the c la s s of the consonant and

MIEN (YAO)

233

Examp l e s of trans criptions o f the various tone s fol low .

Tone I

2

3

4

5

6

Example

/bn/ / I ey/

6I iil 'W

( mi d c l a s s cons onant )

' s on '

( low c l a s s consonant )

' v e g e tab l e '

( mi d c la s s c ons onant )

' bo t t le '

/ k?> l) / /t o p / / s ?:J t / /ms l)/ / d zo p /

'wn'll

/nH/

'YIil �

( low c la s s cons onant )

' a ohise l '

( mid c la s s c o ns onant )

'mu ddy '

/ d S I)/ / l u l) / / I S?I

6I'll

.

L fI 'l �

/ b O I) / / d6 p / / t h6/ / se k/ /f�?/ / k5 / / ho w / / g O/ / t U 1) / / p 5 1) / /ma / / p h€ l) /

"'

'll iil -ll

( mi d c l a s s c ons onant )

' be a ns '

( high c l a s s c onsonant )

, s orap i ng s ou nd '

( low c l a s s consonant )

' to l o o k '

( lo w c la s s c onsonant )

' to a li gh t '

( low c la s s c ons onant )

' s ky '

( low c la s s consonant )

' qu e s t i o n par t i c l e '

( mid c la s s cons onant )

' b o ne '

( mid c l a s s c o nsonant )

' skin '

( low c la s s c onsonant )

' a s k for '

( l ow c la s s c onsonant )

I qui e tly I

( low c la s s consonant )

I s hr e dd e d '

( mid c la s s consonant )

' o l der> br>o t h er> '

( h igh c la s s consonant )

' tr o u s ers '

( low c la s s consonant )

' h u sband '

( mid c la s s consonant )

' p ig '

( mid c l a s s c o ns onant )

' to b loUJ '

( low c l a s s consonant )

' ho r>s e '

( low c las s c ons onant )

' Bo u nd of a s ho t '

There i s some comp l i cation in t h e mat t er o f t one marking o n syl lab l e s ending with a s t o p .

Purn e l l ( 19 6 5 ) li s t s only five oc curren c e s of t one 1

/ t a ? / and / ma ? / are contrac­ t i ons of /t S y / < ;1 U > I come ' and / m S y / ' hav e ' , r e s p e c t i v e ly . / I o ?/ ( mid leve l ) o c c urring in such s y l lab le s . ( qu e s t i on part i c le )

p o s s i b ly be e xp lained b y int onat ion , as c ould

/ ? 9 ? / ( te n s e marker ) p erhap s . c at e d ) .

For the t ime

This leaves / m h e ? / ( me aning not i ndi -

t hi s t one i s b e i ng ignored in the ortho-

graphy . Int onation patt erns are marked a s follows : 1.

End of ordinary s t at ement

2.

Sus t ai ned ( another word , phrase or clau s e f o l l ows )

234

L . AND C . W . CALLAWAY

4.

Cont ent que s t i o n

?

5.

Exaggerated exclamat ion

!

6.

Ordinary exc lamation

7.

Contrastive

No mark

E V A L UAT I O N OF T H E O R T H O G R A P H Y

The relat ively easy adaptation of t h e Thai orthography t o t he Mien language has been arr ived at through cons iderable experimentat i o n and help from Mien lit erat e in Thai t hrough government schools in Pulanga Pong District of Chiang Rai Pr ovinc e and in c ertain Thai vi llage l s c hools . The fact t hat the tonal s y s t em o f Mien i s so much like the five wri t t en tones of Thai c ertainly s imp l i f i e s the tone markings .

The only �

adap t a t i on r equired was the addition of t he ext r a tone marker < - > � whi ch wa s cho s e n aft er experimentation with var i ous other s ymb ols . The vowel s y s t em fit s the Thai s c r ip t quite well also with the u s e of both long and s hort vowel symb o l s in the orthography .

Thi s makes lit er­

at e Mien happier t han a mor e str i c t ly p honemic trans cription and pro­ vides a smo other c arry-over t o Thai . The / a ? / whi ch never oc curs in Thai i s eas ily t aken c are of by the analogy of < t - z L - Z > , and i s wri t t e n < - 1 Z > . The que s t i on of s tr e s s on phone t i c s y l l ab l e s s ometimes caus e s an uneasy fee ling conc erning the s p e l ling of such words as : / I y a o / [ I y a o ' ] ' fi e Zd ' whi c h in Thai would b e [ I T ' e o ] , and / d y a o / [ d y a o ' ]

< L �� U � > < L �U � >

' tr e e ' whi ch in Thai would b e [ d r ' e o ] ( [ ' ] repres ents s tre s s

placement ) . In the cons onant invent ory only I t s d z t s h j g / are complet e ly out of range of the Thai ort hography . were arb itrarily cho s en for I t s d z t s h / and for / j g /

r e s p e c t ively because the s e symb o l s ar e rar e i n Thai , and the change of value in the Mien orthography would cau s e l e s s difficulty when people transferred t o reading Thai than would symb o l s found more frequent ly in Thai .

Yet they are s t i l l not so r are as to have d i s appeared from the

st andard typewri t er keyboard .

Furthermor e , t hey c an b e printed , whereas

i f we made up new symb ols these could not b e printed in r egul ar print ing pre s s e s .

The p o int of art iculation in e a c h c a s e is c lo s e to t hat of the

Mien sound .

l

Valuable help on the part of William A . Smalley , Beulah Johnston , Niyom Riengchandra (of Prasarn Mitr Univer sity ) , and Ua Manurat (Principal of the Chiang Kham High School ) must be acknowledged .

MIEN (YAO)

235

The I n l was qui t e naturally r e p r e s ent e d b y < � > whi c h i s pronoun c e d a s Inl in Myang ( Northern Thai ) , the t r ade language o f t he M i e n peop le . Thus we add five c ons onant s ymb o l s and adapt one from Myang , add one t one symbol , and add t he new comb i nat ion of < -, � > . The ort hography u s ing West ern lett e r s was devi sed b efore the Thai orthography , and ha s b e e n u s ed ext ensively in the Mae Chan area . Some of t h e le s s refined features o f t hi s orthography c o u ld have b e e n smo othed o u t i f a mor e c omp l e t e phonemic analy s i s h a d b een c omp l e ted b efore t he demand for an orthography for ced it int o u s e .

For examp l e ,

< b d g> were u s e d in final p o s i t i on for t o ne symb o l s b e f or e it was d i s ­ covered t hat t h e y were needed init ially .

Hence < B D G> were intro duc ed

a s initia l s . F urther difficulty ar i s e s i n the vowe l s y s t em in the We s t ern ortho­ graphy for obvi ous ly d o not t ake care of a l l the need s . Henc e the i ntroduct ion o f < x > f or 1 0 1 and < c > for l e i . The Thai orthography for t h e Mien was i ntroduced by different s e t s o f pr imer s whi c h have b e e n u s e d i n t he Chi ang Kham and Chi ang Sa e n areas o f C hi ang Rai Province and i n the Pua ar e a of Nan Provinc e . Lit erat ure now avai lable in Thai-ort hography Mien includes a hymn­ b o ok wi t h ab out 1 0 0 hymns , a chorus b ook , various b ooks of s e l e c t i on s from t he B i b l e i nc luding the Life o f C hr i s t , and a rather c omp l e t e c o l l e c t i o n of O l d T e s t ament s t or i e s , " c omi c s " et c .

b o oks of p arab l e s ,

There i s a l s o an alphabe t b o o k wit h all the init ial c o nsonant s

along wit h p i cture s .

The symb o l s t hat have a different value in Mien

from what t hey have in Thai ar e printed on differ ent co lour e d p ages s o t h i s b o o k i s o f valu e t o t h o s e who a r e making the t ransfer e i t h e r from Thai l i t eracy to Mien or Mien l i t eracy to Thai .

I t also inc lud e s i n­

f ormat ion on cons onant c la s s e s , c o ns onant c lu s t er s and u s e o f t on e mar k s . A s far as adult lit eracy i s c o ncerne d , the romani s e d orthography has b e e n more widely u s ed , altho ugh it ha s met with a c c eptance only by C hr i s t ians i n Mae Chan and Ngao areas of Chiang Rai and Lampang Prov­ inc e s . An a ccura t e e s t imat e of t ho s e Mien lit erate in Thai i s hard t o make , b ut it i s l i k e ly we l l o ver a thous and , and i nc r e a s ing rapi dly a s now in add i t ion to government s c hoo ls for c h i ldren t h e government i s devel oping an adult educ a ti o n for the h i l l t r i be s . c omp leted t enth grade in this p rogr amme .

A few adu l t s have already Mot ivation for l i teracy i s

j u s t b eginning t o s t ir among Mi en m en . Mien mat eri a l s have b e e n di s t r i b ut ed i n many v i l lages where t here are Mien literat e in Thai , and s ome instruction has b ee n given to about

6

L . AND C . W. CALLAWAY

e ffort t o read t h e s e mat erials i s unknown , but interest i s increas ing and many make the transfer eas ily with no help . The numb er of tho s e l i t e rat e in romani s ed s c ript is b etween two and four hundred .

S AM P L E T E X T

yie

,

we

bue

we

(p l )

may t o ?

.

...

1a.J

n 1'-1

9,1

t hrow- away n o t a b l e ,

n o !)

+

L UU

. 'l-tU -1 I

,

t s h am

.

:r$.l

'111 \,1 4

t a k e many

no !)

gow ,

no !)

tay,

L il '1.

'111 '1,1 4

'i 'VI'J.f 1

'111\,1 4

ill '1 tJ

...

v

,

t aw

k W 9 !)

t se y

'VI '1 tJ

L ill '1

n14

L row

�

,

n o !)

tay,

ill '1 tJ

'VIOOl z L 1'14

'111'1,1 -1

il Z

'111'1,1 4 ·

lII '1 tJ

v

I

(dire c t io na l ) r ea l ly ,

n h a !) ,

n o !)

m a, y p e n

kaw

.

ta k e

1 a.J

,

...

n ::> ,

+

�

(pas t - te n s e ) ta k e (dir e c ti o na l ) ,

n a, y

we

t su?

rh

'VI�

v

'VI l:1 lY '1 4

'111 '1,1 4

y ea r s

t a k e once not p r op e r t hu s t hi s - way tha t t i m e

L n '1

v

\,I il

L UU

U'1 tJ

k W 9 !)

t Sla

t aw

, ma y may

t aw

n 1--1

L 'l-tCiltJ

L 111 '1

$.I '1 tJ

L 111 1

1a.J

�

t s ) a p p a"

t aw

t s h l !) t a y k w e !)

n 1v-1

L 'l-tCil tJlJ ,)'1

L ill 1

'I-t � 4

t h r o w- away t e n

v

�

,

or-so

( c lf . )

t ey fan

no !)

$.I 1 tJ

3-I '1 tJ

L ill tJ �\.!

'VI \.! 4

hav e

h a v e few car e l e s s l y t a k e adj . -par t .

.

tay

t he w

1>1 1 tJ

L

n o !)

Ui)

'VI \.! 4

.

(par t . ) Z i k e t h i s t hu s g o o d

...

I yu .

or Wl

t h a t - way fini s h e d

MIEN (YAO)

y i e m y e n t sow ko O k ho w .

nen .

t sa?

l y eO

tay,

fi e ld n o t a b l e a b l e

oy

t su ? g�y .

i;JillJ

'1-1,

.

. .

'InJ '1

eat

to?

o y t s u ? t s e ? l ye O . may n o y

Yao do work heavy w a n t mu s t a l ear

I

237

a l ear fi e l d hav i ng , a l s o w a n t mu s t au t - t r e e s aut - tr e e s

ya,

oy

.

. 'HJ!J

'VI tl '1

t su ? t s u e n l n gay U i y . •

J 'IJ'IJ

rJh

'VI �

IIJ 'ltl

a h o wan t mu s t wa i t i t ,

tay

pua

01

�

Iil 'l tl

,

�

1lI '1 tl

dry (dir . )

oy

t su?

pyu .

'VI tI 'l

il iil tl

'VI,

.0 "

v

.

,

oy

t su?

pue .

'VI tI '1

il il tl

'VI,

01

.

.

a l s o want mu s t burn

,

ya

.

,

ya

burn (dir . ) a l s o wa n t m u s t ga t h e r

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE , JUNE 1976 : More r e cent 2 5 , 000 . more the

e s t imate s

of the Mien population in Tha i land are about

Inc l ud ing r e fuge e s

in the border areas , road from Ngao t o Mae

from Lao s

but the Chan .

there

are

probably

still

5 000 or

heavi e s t concen tration i s now along

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

CHAPTER N I NE

MAL (THIN ) DAV I D F I L B E C K

Mal i s an Aus tr o a s i at i c language of t h e Mon-Khmer group c l o s ely related to Khmu ' , Lawa , e t c .

The Ma l people are located in Pua D i s t ri c t ,

Chi ang Klang D i stri c t , and Thung Chang Di s t r i c t of Nan Provinc e ( LeBar

et �l . 1 9 6 4 : 1 2 8- 9 ; Young 1 9 6 2 : 61 - 4 ; F i lb e ck 1 9 7 4 ? ) . There has been confu s ion about the name of t h i s ethni c group .

In

Engli s h it has been c a ll e d T i n , vari ous ly s p e l l e d a s < Thin T ' in Ht i n> . The s e spe lling s ar e no doubt an att empt to r e f l e c t the Thai high c la s s c on s onant < n > /t h / . In Thai wr itings , Tin has b e en s p e l l e d as < n � > / t h Y n / b y Boon Chuey Sr i savadi ( 19 6 3b : 22 9 ) . wr ote < ��> /t h 1 n / .

Kra i s r i Nimmanahaeminda ( 1 9 6 3 : fol lowing p . 1 8 3 )

In Nan Provi nce , this tribe i s somet imes c a l l ed

/t h 1 n / but never n� / t h Y n / .

Myang ( Northern Thai ) in Nan .

The name mos t u s ed b y the Thai i n Pua

Chiang Klang and Thung Chang Dis t ri c t s i s R� � / I U a ? / . name by which the Lavua ' l Chiang Mai .

�u

However , t h i s name i s rar e ly u s ed by the Th i s is the s ame

( Lawa ) people ar e c a l led by the Thai around

Ye t neither T ' in nor Lua ' i s the indi genous name of thi s trib e .

In

fact , there is no s ingle ethnonym b y whi ch the p e op l e of t h i s hill t r i b e c a l l t hems e lve s .

Instead , the T ' in are divided int o two s e c t i ons , with

each s ec t i o n having a d i fferent ethnonym . call them s e lv e s / p h ya m m a a l /

The p e op le of one s e c t i o n

' T h e Ma Z Peop Z e ' , and tho s e o f t h e other

l

See Chapter 11. It has been the writer ' s impre s sion that the Thai outside of Nan Province are unaware of another "Lua I " group in Nan ; and that the Thai in Nan are un­ aware of another "Lua t It group outside of Nan . The Laviia I and Mai languages are mutually unintelligible , though related .

239

240

D . FILBECK

s e c t ion call t hems elves I k h ra m p ra yl

(For an ex­

' T h e Pray Peop Z e ' .

t ende d d i s c us s i on of t h e s e two ethnonyms , s e e F i l b e ck 1 9 7 1 a and 1 9 7 1b ) . There are s everal dial e c t s of T ' in , ranging from s light and regular differences to a lmost c omp l e t e mutual unintel ligibility ( c f . F i lb ec k 1971b ) .

The d ial e ct report ed in this paper i s a Mal dial e ct and r e ­

pre s ents a population of a b o u t 3 0 0 0 pe ople ( cf . Fi lb eck 1 9 7 2 ) .

More

s p e c ifically , it is a r e port on the dat a col l e c t e d from t hr e e vi l lages : Ban Huai Put

(v,�

;� U � � ) and Ban Toei

(v,�

D i s t r i c t , Nan Province ; and Ban Pha Nam Yoi

l �U ) , b ot h of Pua , Pua

(u,�

�,

�,

UQ u ) ,

in Chiang

Klang D i s tr i c t , Nan Pr ovin c e . Principal informan t s were Mul Chitrar i , formerly o f Ban Huai Put , and Tip Inpa , formerly of Ban Toei .

Mul Chitrari , half Mal half Thai ,

lived in Ban Huai Put while a child unt i l about twenty y ears o f age . Tip Inp a , a Mal t r i b e sman , was born in Ban Toei .

For the p a s t few y e ars

b o t h o f these men have lived in t h e Thai v i l lage Ban Huai Thang , Vi l­ lage No . 5 in Sathan , Pua Di s t r i c t , Nan Provinc e . ever , died in 1 97 0 .

Mu l Chi trari , how­

B o t h men s erved as i nformant s from Augus t 1 9 6 2 t o

May 1 9 6 3 . From Augu s t 1 9 6 3 unt i l May 1 9 6 4 ( when this p ap e r was com­ l Plet ed ) r e s ear ch wa s c arried on in Ban Pha Nam Yoi where the wri t er t hen lived .

In a l l , t here are about fift een v i l lages that speak t h i s

dialect .

C O N S O NA N T P H O N E M E S

The c ons onant phonemes o f t h e Ban Pha Nam Yoi -Ban Toei 3 Ma1 are as fo llows :

p

t

b

d

m

n

c

s w

k

2

d i a le c t o f

?

h y

All c ons onant s except I i I can o c c ur at the b e ginning o f a maj or

l

Since this paper was originally written , other Filbeck references in the biblio­ graphy have been completed .

�he two villages of Ban Toei and Ban Huai Put were at one time one village . Several years ago a number of people left Ban Toei to cut out new rice fields further west . They established Ban Huai Put . Natives of both villages have the same last name ( Inpa ) .

241

MAL (THIN)

syllab l e .

l

I n t h e Ban Toe i d i a l e c t a l l cons onan t s except I b d s l can I n the Ban Pha Nam Yo i dial e c t

o c c ur a t the end of a maj or s y l lab l e .

a l l c ons onant s except I e b d n sl c a n o c cur in thi s f i n a l p o s i t ion . Where I e n l oc cur in the final p o s ition in the Ban Toei dialect , I t n l o c cur i n the Ban Pha Nam Yoi dialect : I m a e l < b � � > v . I ma t l < b � � > s e e ' ; I ? a n l < b O !J! > v .

' to

I ? a n l < L !:l 'W > ' I ' .

Some consonant phonemes have more t ha n one pronunci a t i o n ( al l ophone ) . A d e s cription of the pronunc i at i on ( s ) o f each consonant with examp l e s f o l l ows .

l p l [ bp ]

vo i c e l e s s b i lab i a l s t o p with v o i c e d s top onset , s imilar t o

Thai U i n final p o s it i o n ; o c c ur s in final p o s it i on only : I p o p l [ po b p ] < \J u >

' to me e t ' ; I nt u u p l [ nt u . b p ] < 'W tJu >

[ bp h ]

2

' l ean- to ' ,

vo i ce le s s r e l ea s ed b ilab i a l s t op with voi c e d s t o p onset ;

f luc tuat es fr e e ly wit h [ b p ] b e fore paus e :

I n a p l [ na b p )'v[ n a b p h ] < b iYU >

' t o aatah ' .

[p]

voi c e l e s s b il ab i a l stop very s imilar t o Thai \J ; oc curs

e ls ewher e : I p a y h l

I t l E dt ]

' t o f l e e ' ; I p h a t l

' to s qu e e z e ' .

voi c e l e s s alveolar s t op with v o i c e d s t op ons e t , s imilar t o

Thai � i n final p o s i t i o n ; o ccur s in f i nal p o s i t i o n only : I k u u t l [ ku . d t ]

' to e n t e r ' ; I ? J J t l [ 1J . d t ] < 5 � >

[ dt h ]

2

' hards h i p ' .

voi c e l e s s r e l ea s ed a lv e o l ar s t op with v o i c e d s t op ons et ;

fluctuat e s fre e ly with E d t ] b efor e paus e : / ? a t ! [ ?1j! d t }v[ ?

'be

lo aa t e d ' .

[ t ] vo i c e le s s a lveolar s t o p very s imi l ar to Thai where : It a a l < � 1 > ' p la a e ' ; I n t h u u t l

' to

'mediaine ' .

[ bp h dt h g kh ] were not included in Filbeck 196 5 because of the conclusion that these

MAL (THIN)

243

[ bm J voiced b ilab ia l nas al with v o i c e d s t op ons e t ; o c c ur s e l s e­ where : I p a a ml [ p a . b m J < U 1 � > ' th e y (dua l ) ' ; I l h o m i [ l ho bm J < �� � > ' ab l e ' . Inl [ n J

v o i c ed a lveo lar nas a l s imil ar t o Thai

i n i ni t ia l p o s i -

u

and i n final p o s i t ion fo llowing phon e t i c a lly

t ion ; o c c urs

nasal i s ed vowe l s only ( no examp l e s of [ n ] f o l l owing [ m hV- n hV- J have b e en recorded ) : I n t o ? 1

Infnl [ ntn ]

' ti m e ' ; I ? o o n l [ ?i . n ]

voi c ed alveolar na s a l simi lar t o Thai

o c curs e l s ewhere : I t h oo n l [ t h o . d n J < t 'l"l 'IJ >

' to aomfor t ' ;

' to offer ' .

< ��>

[ dn ]

< t TI � >

u

in fina l p o s it i o n ;

' to buy ' ; I p h o o n l [ p h o . d n J

' fo u r ' .

Inl [ n J

voi c e d palatal nas a l s imilar t o Nor thern Thai

�

and t o

Eng l i s h - ny - as in aany o n ; o c cur s init ially only ( no examp l e s of [ n J f o llowing phonet i cally nas a li s ed vowels have b e e n rec orded ) : I n o o n l

' b eaaus e ' ; I n a a w l

[ dn ]

' to was h ' .

voic ed p alatal nas al with vo i c e d s t op ons et ; oc curs e l s e ­

where ( Ban T o e i di alec t ) : I l o o n i [ l o . y d n J

,

' to t e l l ' .

< � o�>

I n l in f i na l posit i o n pres ent s the s ame kind of prob l em whi c h I c l presents i n pronunciat ion .

I t s t o ngue p o s i t i o n i s like I c / .

Whe n I n l

o c c ur s a t the end o f a maj or s yl lab l e , i t has an automati c [ y J

I p h a n l [ p h a yd n J 101 [ o J

< L ��>

' to s h o o t ' .

voi c e d ve lar nas a l s imilar t o Thai

�

and Engli s h ng ; oc curs

initially and i n f inal p os it i o n f o llowing p honeti cally nas al i s ed vowel s only ( no examp le s of [ o J f o llowing [ m hV- n hV- ] have b e e n r e c orded ) :

1 10 0 0 1 [ ? � · o J [goJ 4

' hu s ba nd ' ; l oe e o l [ OB ' O J

' to h ear ' .

v o i c e d ve lar nas a l wit h voi c e d stop ons e t , s imilar t o Thai

i n fina l p o s i t i o n ; o c c ur s e l s ewhere : I s e e o l [ se . g o ]

I k i 0I [ k i g o] III [dl ]

< i'i 'I >

< L �4 >

' to s e i n e ' ;

' to s ew ' .

voiced alveolar lateral prec e d e d by voi c e d alveolar s t op ,

s imilar 't o Eng l i s h - d l e as in t h e word midd l e when s p oken rapidly ; oc curs in final p os i t ion only : I k i a l l [ k i a d l J

[ I] to Thai < �� >

�

< L nU�>

' ni g h t ' .

v o i c e d a lveolar lat eral o c c urring e l s ewhere ; very s imilar in i ni t ial p o s it i on and i n init ial c o ns onant c lu s t ers : I l u h l

' wr ong ' ; I k h l l h l [ kh l I I ]

l si [ t sh ]

< � �� >

' to fa l l down ' .

v o i c e l e s s palatal asp irat e d affr i c at e , s imilar t o t h e

Eng l i s h a h - a s i n a ha ng e and t o Thai i ; f luc tuat e s freely wit h [ 5 ] :

I s e e l [ se . ]�[ t s h e . J s tr e t ah o u t hand ' .

< �� >

' fi e ld ' ; I n s u y l [ n s u y ] �[ nt s h u y ]

< 'IJ � u >

' to

D . FILBECK

244

fluct uat e s with [ t s h ] : / s e h / < t �� >

/h/ [ + ]

' la z y ' ; / sw a a / < � � 1 >

'monkey ' .

v o i c e le s s alveolar lat er a l f luctuat ing fre ely with [ h ] i n

t h e consonant c lu s t e r / I h - / ( in s ome s p eaker s ) : / I h + +m / [ I + + . bm ]�[ I h f . bm ]

< ��� > ' to r a i n s t e a di ly ' ; / I h o p / [ 1 +o b p ]�[ l ho b p ]

< a �u >

' r e turn ' .

[ +]

i s pronounce d b y b lowing the air over the s id e of the t o ngue .

[ h]

voic e l e s s g l o t t a l fricative s imilar t o Thai

e ls ewhere : / ho ? / < t � � >

' b e t t e r ' ; / kh o o / < t � >

�

o c curri ng

' tired ' .

l

[ h ] in final p o s i t i o n i s a voi c e l e s s vo coid o f t h e s ame forma­ t i on as the p r e ceding v o i c e d v o c o i d : / s i h / [ s i I ] ' to p la a e ' ; / ? a y h/ [ ?e yI ] < 'U � > ' sw o Z l en ' ; / ? i a h / [ ? i aA ] < t � U� > ' wife ' ; / m o h / [ m�O ] < , � � > ' no s e ' , e t c .

I t amounts t o a p uff of a ir b l own out at the end of a

maj or

wit h t ongue and l ip s r ema ining in the same p o s ition t hat

produced t he s ound of the pre c eding vocoid .

/w/ [ w]

vo i c e l e s s b i labial vo c oid o c curr i ng fol lowing voi c e l e s s

cons onant s /t h e e h k k h sf : / e w e e o / [ eWe . g o ] < U � � 4 > ' aorner ' ; / kw e h /

[ kWeE ]

< l n1�>

[w]

name o f v i l lag e ; / k h wa a y / [ k hWa . y ] < � 1 1 U >

voiced bilabial vocoid o c c urring e l s ewhere :

' y ear ' ; / h wa y/ < � 1 u >

'pay homag e ' ;

' swe e t p o ta t o ' .

/ wa a o / < 1 1 4 >

/ ? a w / < 1 0 1 > ' fa th er ' .

/ y / [ I ] voi c e l e s s palatal vo c oi d o c c urring f o llowing voi c e le s s con­ s onant s / p p h k k h / : / p ya a / [ p I a . ] 'mache t e ' ; / p h ya m / [ p hl a b m ] ' p e r s o n ' ; / k y a a / [ kl a . ] < n U 1 > ' th i n ' ; / k h y + + t / [ k h I + . d t ] < � u � > 'glue ' .

[v]

v o i c e d palatal vocoid o c curring e l s ewhere : / m o o y / < t � u >

' one ' ; / h y u O/ < � � 4 >

/ i/

voi c ed velar v o c o i d int erp r e t e d as c ons onant ; o c c ur s in f i n a l

p o s it ion only : / oa i/ The

' bo i l ed r i a e ' .

< �t >

'aold ' ; /t h a a i /

' r op e ' .

/ i/ is evident ly a unique development in the Ban Pha Nam

Yoi-Ban Toei dialect of M a l .

In at least one other di alect i t c orre­

s p onds t o / r / i n final p o s it i on .

I t i s a high , b ac k , unrounde d v o c o i d ,

pronoun c e d further b a c k i n the mouth t han Eng l i sh l u i , muc h like the

Thai � / u u / only with unrounded l ip s .

The c orre ct t o ngue p o s it i o n t o

produce / i / can b e p i np oi nt ed b y p ra c t i ci ng t hr e e words .

In / s u i /

' b e r o t te n ' , the t ongue , b e ing i n p o s i t i o n already t o pronounce t h e / u /

d o e s not glide i nt o any o t her p o s i t i o n . r ounded , qui ckly b e come unround e d .

However , t h e l ip s , b e i ng

I n / n t h + i/

' b a t ' , the tongue

l A vocoid · i s a non-phonemic classification of a sound which is often traditionally called a vowel . Certain vocoids can be interpreted as either vowels or consonants

245

MAL (THIN)

make s a perceptual glide b ackward .

The lips , b e ing unrounded i n order

t o produ c e the vowe l 1 + 1 , r emain unrounded .

In I ko i l < n r >

' to a law ' ,

there is a tongue glide upward into an l u i p o s i t ion and the lips b e come unrounded .

I i i o c cur s as a glide with every vowe l except l e i : I i i ei

+ i a i a i ui o i o i l . I i i i s int erpret ed as a consonant b e cau s e of i t s dis tribution only at the end of a maj or syllab le .

In I n t h + i l [ n t h + i J < ufl r >

' b a t ' one can

not i c e t hat the prominent or c r e s t part of the s y l labl e is the vocoid

[+J.

Aft er the crest i s reached in this vocoid , t here i s a le s s ening

of prominenc e .

For this re ason I i i i s cons idered a cons onant paral lel­

ing I w y / . Up t o t hree c ons onants may o c c ur at the beginning of a maj or s y l lab le in Ma l .

Initial c o nsonant c lu s ters are :

pi py tw ph phi phy phw

cw

th

kh kh l khy khw

t hw

mp mp l mpy

nt

mp h

nt h

mh

nh

kl ky kw

ri c

I) k I) k I

I) k y I) k h ri h

ns

hy hw

sw

Ih Mal has two c lu s t e r s o f two c ons onant s t hat can o c cur i n final p o s i ­ t ion : I y h l I n a a y hl [ na . yY J < U 1 U � > -

' aomb ' ; and I - w h l Ic i a w h l [ c i a wW J

< L '1 U 1 � > ' to sp l i t ( bamb oo ) ' .

VOWE LS

Vowels are s imi lar t o t h o s e i n Thai .

Th ev o c c ur lon� ( doub led ) and

246

D . FILBECK

+

u

e

o a

Iii

h i gh , front , unrounded vo coid similar to Thai

' to s e hl ' ; I ? i l m l < � � > l ei

lei

1+1

� -�

� - :

I i s h l < L �� >

�� - ..

LI - :

Imp y e h l

' t o t a ke aa·l'e of ' .

high , c entra l , unrounded v o c o id s imilar to Thai

�

� :

I k l +?1

' h eal' t ' .

·

lal

mid , c entra l , unrounded vocoid s imil ar t o Thai l -D � L - D : I ka p l ' t o b o i l ' ; I d a a l < L Wl D >

lal

' o l d ' ; I s e e m l < ll'll� >

' h ea d ' ; I n + + m l < �� >

< I n \! >

I k i OI

' t hat ' .

low , front , unrounded voc oid s imi lar to Thai

< Ll�'tl " '» >

� :

' be fu l l ' .

mid , front , unrounded vo coid similar to Thai

' ou t ' ; I ? e e n l < L DU >

�

'at all ' .

l ow , c e ntra l , unrounded voco id s imilar t o Thai - � - 1 : I m a i l

' s na k e ' ; I k h a a l < � 1 >

' fi s h ' .

l a l has an addit i onal allophone : [ A ]

mid , c e ntra l , ope n , unrounded

vocoid s imilar to Engl i sh l a l as in a n o t h e r ; o c curs fol lowing [ i ] in the vowel c luster I - I a l b e f or e [ - k ] only : ' hla s h on e s e lf b y rubbing ' .

I n t h l a k l [ n ' t h i A k ] < I UTI U n >

[ - k ] f o l l owing [ A ] i s not prec eded b y a

v o i c ed s t op [ g ] onset : I ? i a kl [ ? i A k ] < L � u n > lui

high , back , rounded v o c oid s imi l ar t o Thai

' s h i p t ' ; I ? u u t l < i/ WI > 101

I b u t / < V Wl >

' s ta p ' .

mid , back , rounded voc oid s imilar t o Thai 1 - � 1 - : I ? o h l < 1 D � >

' to s t eam ' ; I�I

' t o defe aate ' .

I n oo l < 1 u >

' i s n ' t t ha t p i g h t ' .

low , back , rounded vo coid s imi lar to Thai 1 - 1 � - D : I ? � h l < D D � >

' h o t ' ; Im�� 1 1

' s taip ' .

A l l vowels have nas a l i s ed a l lophone s o c curring when fol lowing a pre­ cedi ng na s a l or nas al p lus I h / : I n a m l [ n � m ] < �� >

' he ' ; I n h l I m l [ n h i · m ]

' hl e dg e ' ; 1 0 e ? 1 r O t ? ] < L 4 Z > ' s un ' , e t c . Be s id e s the above co ndi t i on s , the low vowe ls I e a � I have na sali s ed

allophone s o ccurring a l s o when fol lowing a g l o t t a l s t op : I ? e e l [ ? t ' ] < LI D > ' hl e ( i n a l u s i v e ) ' ; I ? a h l [ ? ilA ] < if'» > ' t h e y ' ; I ? � h l [ ? 2 J ] < D D � > ' ho t ' . I?ayh-I

' su ns h i ne ' in I ? a y h ? a a kl [ ? � y y f ? � . g k ] < I D U � D 1 n >

' s uns h i n e ' i s

a l s o nasali s ed , sometimes probab ly due to antic ipation of the nasa li s ed [ � ] in the stres s ed maj or syllab le . I i i is na s a li s ed after I h / :

I h i n l [ h ! n ] < '\:Iu >

' i n a l i t t l e hl h i l e ' .

Other vowel s may oc cur nas a l i s e d after I h l when they o c cur in a l lo -

MAL (THIN)

247

/ n h +e y/ [ n h t� y ] or [ h t � y ] < L U� � U > ' b e bored � i t h ' . The s e vowe l s . when o c c urring a lone , pres ent no difficu l t i e s in p ronunc iation for the average Thai s p eaker .

But when they oc cur in a

numbe r of c lu s t e r s and glides , there ari s e s everal difficult i e s .

There

are four "pur e " vowe l c lu s t ers :

ie la ua +a

? l eh ? i eh ?ue I h+a

< L � UVI >

' to unti e '

< L O U VI >

' �ife '

< fh >

' b efo r e '

< L �l'I � >

'more t h a n '

The s e c lu s t e r s c o ntrast with s equence s

-ye-

p hyeew p ye a k h wa a I

-ya-wa-

< U,'!'W 'J >

' to r e aa h '

< 1.l u 1 >

' ma a h e t e '

< f1 'J 1 " >

' to prepal' e '

Vowe l length c al'r i e s a ligh t e r func t ional l oad than i t d o e s in Thai ; t o d i s t i ngui sh mean-

that i s . not as many words dep end o n vowe l

vowel length is

F or that reason , the c r i t e ri a for not as s t r ong in Mal as in Thai .

But t he vowel c lu s t e r s o f / i e ue + a /

are suffi c i ent t o allow u s t o int erpret l o ng vowels a s s equenc e s o f t wo short vowe l s .

kih

< n Vl >

t e l) seh sH

< L �H >

' t o aau s e '

< LL�VI >

' ao o Z '

'famine '

ke a t

'give birth '

we y su?

< -lu >

' hurry '

wa a y cuu soap y o o l)

' ti g er '

'"

' to s ar a t a h '

' bad s m e Z Z i ng '

so ?

' hu r t '

n O I)

' to s tand '

No long v owe l s oc cur before / ? / . b efore / h / .

' to s e t fir e to ' ' to s e i ne ' ' f i e Zd ' ' di r t y '

' de s a e nt ' ' to b eg '

< u � .,. >

'pa t h '

No long vowe ls except / e / o c cur

Only two exampl e s o f / - e € h / have b een heard , / n € e h / < �u V/ >

' a Z e an ' ; / I) kye e h/ < LL 4 n uV/ > ' Z ands Z i de ' . ' ao o Z '

The s e c ontra s t with / s e h/ < ��VI >

•

There i s a s eeming exception t o t he above s t a t ement , that no long vowels oc cur b efore / ?/ . and that no long vowe ls except / e / o ccur b efore

/h/.

Thi s i s due t o " extra lengt h " . an intona t i ona l f eature whi ch may

b e adde d to sentence s .

Thi s may be s ymb o li s e d 1 + 1 .

1

Words having short

or long vowe l s can o c c ur with a phoneme extra lengt h : / I e h +/ equals

[ l e . E ] < L �v/ > ' ou t ' . l

Extra l ength oc curs at the end of an intonational

See Smalley 1961 : 3 , to which I

am

indebted for the symbo1i sation .

In Fi1beck 1965

248

D . FILBECK

There is a difference in meaning

contour where sentence stress occurs.

/ e a k/ < �n >

when /+/ occurs :

' I 'm go ing ' ,

/ e a k+/

' Y e s , I ' m going ' .

When

/+/ occurs with words with long vowels it is heard as a high rising pitch in the last word of an intonational contour :

I 1.Ui l Z e n t er ' .

/ k u u t + / < lJ L'l >

'Yes,

When / +/ occurs with words which have a cluster o f two

vowels , the first vowel is lengthened :

/ 1 i a k+ / equals [ I i . a k ] < . m u n >

, Ye s , afraid ' .

TONES There is an emergence of tones i n this dialect o f Mal which is an interesting but incomplete development . rising and level.

There are two tone phonemes ,

The rising tone in this dialect appears to be an

innovation used to assimilate loanwords from other languages .

The level

tone , then , is nothing more than the various intonational patterns found in the dialect. There are a number of " minimal contrasts " , i. e. words that differ in

/ p o o / < t J> ' to aonv e r s e ' , / p o o / < t ti > ' k ero­ / k a a n / < n 1 � > ' b e def e a t e d ' , / ka a n / < n1 � > ' 1.U o r k ' ; / e a y / < �u > . / e a y / < �u > p e rs o na l nam e; / c a a Q I < � 1 4 > ' to h i r e ' , / c a a Q /

meaning due to tone only .

s en e aan ' ; ' to use ',

< ';1 4 >

' ab l e ' .

There are also a number of words that contrast in meaning due to tone and one or two other elements .

' a b amboo h i ng e ' ;

/ k ye Q / < n �4 >

/ khoo/ < t � >

/ n a e / < ty 1 > p ers ona l nam e,

' so l i d ' ,

/ k a a Q / < n1 4 >

' b e t i r ed ' ,

/ n a a k / < �1 n >

�

/ k w § e t / < u n iL'l >

' to m a k e a baa kfi r e ' ;

/ p a n / < J� > p e r s o na l nam e; / n a e m / < !!i1 � >

< � �c >

' do a tor ' ;

/ c o o y / < ';c u >

' d iffi au l t ' ;

'middl e ' .

Other words that carry the riS ing tones include :

' l o n e ly

/ k h o o / < ;� >

' h e lp ' ;

/ Q o o m / < 4� � >

/ Qa e y /

' ea s y ' ;

' a typ e o f gl'a s s hopper ' ;

/ s a n a e t / < w = J� L'l >

/mhoo/

' r if l e ' .

Another interesting development is the extra-systemic borrowing of a few Myang (Northern Thai ) words intact with their Myang tone phonemes. This is most apparent in numerals . four.

Non-Thai numerals go only up to

Starting with five , Myang numerals are used.

1

The Myang tones

of the numerals from five to ten are [ h e . 2 ] [ h o k 1 ] [ c e t l ] [ p E E t � ] [ k e w 2 ]

[sipl ].

These tones are incorporated into the stream of Mal speech

I Phonetically , there are seven tones in the Nan dialect of Myang : very high [ 1 ] , high level [ 2 ] , high falling [ 2-4 ] , mid ( often with a sl ight rise ) [ 3 ] , mid falling [ 3-4 ] , low [ 4 ] , and low rising [ 4-3 ] . However , phonemically tone [ 1 ] , or very high, can be in complementary distribution with either tone [ 3 ] or tone [ 4 ] , thus making s ix tones on the phonemic level. But for our purpose of illustrating Myang tones of numerals in Mal speech, it will be less complicated to consider them on the phonetic level of

MAL (THIN)

me lody , e . g . I ? e e e a k S i p 1

249

1 0 1) 1 < bb £l -In £Iv A £l 4 > ' We w e n t t e n p e op Ze ' .

A c c ording to Mal intonat i onal contour , one would expect [ S i p 1 ] t o take on a low pi t c h , e . g . I ? e e ca k p ho o n 1 0 1) 1

' We g o fou r

' fo u r ' has l o w p i t c h b erore 1 1 0 1)1 < �il 4 >

' p e op Z e ' , whi ch carr i e s a higher p i t c h due t o s e ntence s t re s s .

F or

more di s cus s ion or tone and i nt o na t i o n in this Mal diale ct , s e e F i lb e ck

1972 . Myang [ sa . w 3 ]

' tw e n ty ' i s as s imi lat ed two way s into Mal .

When t h e

numb er i s exa ct ly t went y , i t carr i e s t h e norma l Mal i nt o national p i t ch e s , e . g . I m o o y s a a w .... 1 < '1: :lJ U '21'1 1 > ' (o n e ) twe nty ' .

But in numerals rrom

twent y - one to twenty-nine , it carri e s a r i s ing t o ne : I s a a w ? e t l < J'1 �

a w s� o l) l

' we

( i n c Zus i v e ) many

p e op Z e go ' , the s t r e s s mark / , / s igni f i e s the c r e s t of the cont our .

The last word of th e s ent ence i s louder than the p r e c e di ng words and i s higher p i t c h ed . There are thr e e s ent e n c e s tr e s s e s with a c c ompanying p i t c he s in Ma l : / 1/ / 2 / / 3 / .

Primary s t r e s s / 1 / , o r s entence s t r e s s , i s more prominent

t han s e c ondary s t r e s s / 2/ and t er t i ary or weak s t r e s s / 3 / . S e c o ndary l stre s s is more prominent than t er t i ary s tre s s . . Both s e c o ndary str e s s and t ert i ary s t r e s s oc cur b erore primary stre s s , their numb er of o c­ curre nces b e i ng limited t o the number of words o c c urring b e fo r e fina l sent enc e s t re s s .

The var ious p a t t erns o f s e condary and t er t i ary s t re s s e s

in a n intonat i onal c ontour have not b ee n fully ana ly s ed .

The thr e e

sentence stre s s e s c a n b e i l lustrated i n t h e s entence 1 2 ? a n 3 ? a y m o o p O I) 1 saal

< d h y D U :IJ£l 'lJ 4 '21 '1 > ' I have n o t y e t eate n . '

After s ent ence str e s s t h ere may oc cur a s e c ondary str e s s ( ques t ion ) ,

1 2 m a h 3 p O l) s a a l ? ae 2 yo o l < �M 'lJ 4 '21'1 l

L fJ �

'1: u > ' Ha v e y o u e a t e n a Zr eady ? ' ;

The reason for choosing numerals instead of the traditional stress marks i s to avoid ambiguity between word level analysi s of word stres s ( where the traditional marks are used ) and sentence level analysis of sentence stress . Since word stress ( of which there are two ) often coalesce with sentence stress in an intonation contour , it seems more useful to maintain some type of differentiating symboli sation so that there will be no confusion which level i s being analysed . Also , since sentence stress carries a "redundant" feature of pitch which often occurs over sequences of two or more words ( i . e . two or more words in a sequence carry the same stress as well as the same level of pitch ) , it seems more useful to use a symboli sation that would

250

D . FILBECK

or a t ertiary stre s s with a c c ompanying l ow p i t ch ( emphat ic ) : / 2 ka y h p + ?

l ?e e 3 p a?! < r\'tJ'I'I \) .L ;j L tI () � > ' T ha t ' s t h e way i t i s . ' .

Primary and s e c o ndary str e s s e s each have two varying p i t ches acc ord­ l ing to the structure of the s Y l l ab le . If the s y l lab le is open ( that i s , having no final consonant but ending in a long vowel or vowel cluster ) , or i f the s y llable ends in a voiced continuant ( a final voiced cons onant where the a i r s tream is not impeded or cut off ) , the pitch is a fal ling p i t c h : / 2 p e e,\3 e a k t a l n a a'\/

< wu >in 11l'l 'h! 'l > ' Wh e r e are y o u ( p l . ) go i ng ? ' ; 2 I1l 'l L M tJ � > ' T h e y w e n t home ' . If the s y llab le ends in a s t op or / h / , the p i t c h i s lev e l , mid l ev e l f o r s e c ondary s tr e s s a n d high l ev e l for primary stre s s : / 2 ? ; h 3 k h a y 1 1 u h f < �'I'I 1'f!J � 'I'I > ' T h e y ' re l y i ng . ' / 2 p a a m e u u 3 s e ? 2m+a Q l ? ae / < \ h � � ��� L � () 4 L � � > ' Th e y ( du a l ) hav e gone down to t h e Thai v i l lag e s a lr e a dy . ' / 2 ? a h s e a k t a l k i a Q'/ < �'I'I

�n

Whenever a r i s ing tone o c c ur s with primary or s e c ondary stre s s , there i s no a c c ompanying p i t ch var iant a c c ording to s y l l ab l e s truc ture :

/ 2 ?afi 3 ?a y 2c&a Q l ? e m / < L � � �'l 4 � () � > ' I ' m u na b l e t o do i t . ' / 2 ? a h y a ? t a 1 ? e e n / < �'I'I !J � l1l 'l t ;j'j,! > ' Th ey p la c e d ( i t ) t h e r e . ' Two intonati onal contour s can c ome to gether i n a c ompound s entenc e . Each part or c l aus e of the c ompound s entenc e carr i e s the s ame type of contour , i . e . there i s not a different c ontour for "dependent clau s e s " and another type for "main c l au s e s " .

However , when two c ontour s c ome

together in a c ompound s entenc e , or when two s entenc e s come to gether t o make a c ompound s ent enc e , there i s a half-pause between the two .

Thi s

i s usually symb o l i s ed b y a c omma 1 , / : / 2 p O Q s a a 1 ? ac , 2 ? e e 3 ko c a k

t a 1 S e e /

' ( Wh e n w e ) hav e e a t e n ,

we wi l l g o

t o t h e fie l d . '

Thr e e s entenc e s can c ome to get her to mak e one s ent enc e , two " depen­ dent c laus e s " and one " ma i n c laus e " .

However , they are very rare and

t h e ir c laus e c on struc t ions s e em t o be qui t e r e s t r i c t e d .

Not enough

data has been c o l le c t e d t o pres ent a c l ear p i ctur e of the c lau s e c o n­ struct ion and i nto nat ional c ontour s .

l Where the tone system is incompletely developed , as it is in this dialect of Mal , there i s bound to be s ome confusion between pitch and tone . In thi s paper pitch i s used t o denote the relative pitch that a word has i n relation t o surrounding words in an overall intonational contour . Tone is used to denote a pitch which signals a difference in meaning regardless of surrounding words or intonation . 2 Examples in thi s paragraph and the following are transcribed with phonetic pitch superimpo sed on an otherwi se phonemic transcription .

MAL (THIN)

S Y L LA B L E

251

STRUCTURE

Maj or syl lab les c ons i s t o f o n e o r t w o vowe ls prec eded b y one , two , or three consonant s and fol lowed by z ero , one or two consonant s : C ( C [C ] ) V ( V )

( C [C ] ) . CVC ccvc

CCCVC C VVC CCVVC CCC VVC cvv

CCVV CCCVV cvcc

CCVCC · C C C V CC C V VCC CC V V C C CCCV VCC

A l i s t of p o s s i b l e s y l l ab le construc ti ons fol lows .

leakl

< oi'n >

'go '

Ip I 1 01

' be a r' '

I k l u a kl

< n fl 'l n >

'whi t e '

I khyaa kl

< fl f.J 1 n >

' b uffa l o '

I na a l

' w h er' e ? '

I kha a l

< fl 1 >

' fi s h '

Impyaal

' to sneeze '

I l a a yh l

< 1iI 1 f.JVI >

' p 0r'a h '

< -I n U 1 U \'! >

' fi ng er s '

( n o examp l e s ) l o k ya a y h i

In add i t i on t o maj or s y l l ab l e s , minor syl lab l e s al s o o c cur . are syllab l e s that o c c ur only with weak s t r e s s .

The s e

Minor syl lab les wi l l

have one vowe l preceded by one , two or three cons onants f o l l owe d by zero or one cons onant : CVCCVccc v c vcccvccccvc-

(C)C(C) V (C) .

Ipa-I

I kh a y - I

< flf.J >

' s u bj u n a t i v e '

Imp h u o-I

< ;.1'1\1 4 >

' gr' av e '

' b u i l di ng '

W O R D ST R U CT U R E

Word s tructur e c ons i s t s of one maj or s y l lab l e with o r without one ( or s ometime s two ) prec eding minor s y l lable s .

B e c au s e words contain

only one maj or s y l l ab l e , all words , regard l e s s of numb er of s y l lab le s , are c haracter i s ed by a s ingl e stre s s : I p a t h i a ? 1 [ p a ' t h i a ? J < 'lJ 1 1 'Yl f1z >

J

' ev e n ing ' ; I t a b a p a n l [ ta b a ' p a n J < 1il '1 'U "l tJ >

' to Nr Pan ' .

Two mono s y l lab i c words , each a maj or s y l lab le e l s ewh er e , can come together to make a c ompound word .

Whe n this happens the fir s t s yl lab le i

..

252

D . FILBECK

' s ky ' , whi c h i s made up o f I m p h u o l [ m ' p h u g o ] [ ' wa . g o ]

' y ear ' .

'gra v e ' and I wa a o l

A word that o c cur s with a l ong vowel i n i s o l a­

t i on takes a s hor t vowe l in a minor s y l lab l e of a compound word : I n t h u ? u a o l [ n t h u ' ? u a g o ]

' Ze af ' and I ? u a o l [ ' ? u a g o ] < 8 1 4 >

' v eg e tab Z e ' . from I n t h u u l [ n ' t h u . ] '�ood ' .

Certain Thai words whe n in­

c orp orat ed into Ma l s p e ec h take on thi s modi f i c a t i on : 1 1 0 0 1 i a n l [ J 0 9 0 ' 1 i a d n ] < 't � H i1 U Y >

' s aho o Z ' . from 't 'ii H i u'IJ I ro o Q r i a n / .

Word s tre s s and s ent ence s t r e s s ( wi t h a c c ompanying p i t c h ) pre s ent a difficulty in analy s i s .

Stre s s l e s s minor s y l l ab l e s are lower p i t ched

than stre s s ed maj or s y l la b le s : I p a t h a kl [ p a ' t h a g k ] < tl 1 �n >

' fo r ev e r ' ;

I p a m u a l l [ p a ' m u a d l ] ' s ti a k for p Za n t i ng r i a e ' . Sentence s t re s s 3 Whenever a minor s y l ­ / / , o r tertiary stre s s . a l s o h as a l ow p i t c h .

lab � e o c c ur s i n the c ou r s e o f an intonat i on c ont our i t fal ls i n the t er t i ar y s ente n c e s t re s s / 3 / p o s it i o n : 1 2 n a m 3 ? a t t a 1 Q u a i l < �� �� � 1 4 1 � > ' He ' s i n t h e v i Z Zage . '

Thi s a l s o means that maj or s y l lab les oc curr i ng

i n t h i s s ame tert iary s entenc e s t re s s p o s i t io n take on characteri s t i c s of a minor syl lab le . s t re s s l e s s and c l o s e ly b ound t o the next f o llowing h eavier s tr e s s ed word ( e ither s ec ondary or pr imary ) . 3 ? a y e a k l s e e\ 1 < bl. D 1 2? e e s ounds l ike 1 2 ? e e 3 ? a y e a k 1 s e e / .

Th e s e nten ce

' We a r e n ' t g o i ng t o t h e fie Z d . '

The c r it erion for writ i ng s p a c e b etween I ? a y l <

' fi e Z d ' i s t hat th e s e words c a n o c cur i n i s o la t i o n

( hence with primar y stre s s ) .

The criteri o n for not wri t i ng s p a c e be­

t we e n I t a -I < � 1 >

' a t ' and I Q u a 1 1 < 4 1 � > ' v i Z Z a g e ' in the above s ent enc e 3 1 2 1 nam ? a t t a Q u a i l i s that I t a - I i s not a p o t entially fre e unit or

morpheme in that form ( i . e . it does not o c cur in i s o lation ) . but mus t a lways o c cur bound to a maj or s y l l ab l e .

In such a c a s e . word s t re s s

and s entence s t re s s c oa le s c e into one int onational featur e .

A THAI

O R T H O G RA P H Y FOR M A L

F or t h e m o s t p art , Mal phonemes f i t v e r y w e l l w i t h Th ai s ymb o l s . The cons onant s c a n be wri t t e n a s (next page)

MAL (THIN)

For Ip t / ,

253

I kl

n

Ibl

'U

Ikhl

I'l

Ipl

tI /'U

1 01

4

I phl

'V'I

Icl

'l

Im l

!-l

lsi

'lI

Iyl

1I

Inl

!l/

I iI

..-

Idl

i'!

III

Sl

It I

fil i i'!

Iwl

'J

I t hl

'Yl

I hl

�

I nl

'U

/?I

finally , in Thai fashion .

The cons onant s I p t k l plus I h l are t echni c a l ly a s equence o f two phonemes .

However , i f we are to wri t e Mal with Thai s ymb o l s , we will

make a few adaptations such as t o wri t e the c lu s t ers I k h t h p h i as s ingle symb o l s . The change from Thai reading hab i t s r equired above are in pronounci ng f inal < ..- > as I i i , < !l/ > as I n / , final < Sl > as [ d l ] , and f inal < � > as l e i . < I!! > has a h i s t or i c al b a s i s s ince i t was pronoun c e d as a palatal nasal in

C e ntral Thai at one t ime .

In Northern Thai there is a I n l phoneme i n

init ial p o s ition and many Thai words wri t t e n w i t h < I!! > are pronoun c ed with I n l in Northern Thai . Consonant c lu s t e rs in Thai s ymb o l s ar e !-l'll ll

'll fl

Impyl

Ipyl

'll ll

Imhl

!-l�

Iph l l

'V'I fl

Int i

'U fil

I p h yl

'V'I U

Inthl

'U'Yl

I p hw l

'V'I 'l

Inhl

'U�

It hwl

'Yl 'l

I n sl

'U'lI

Ihl

fII 'l

Incl

!l/ 'l

lewl

'l 'l

l fi h l

l)!VI

Ik l l

n fl

lOki

4n

I ky l

n ll

10k i i

4 n fl

Ikwl

n 'l

10 kyi

4 n ll

Ikh l l

I'l fl

10khi

4 1'l

I khyl

Fl U

I l hl

fI �

I khwl

Fl 'l

I sw l

'lI 'l

Impl

!-l'll

Ihyl

Vl lI

Imphl

!-l'V'l

Ihwl

� 'l

Imp l l

m J fI

Ip l l

254

D . FILBECK

Iii

lal

Ii il

laal

lei

lui

l eel

luul

lei

101

( no s ymb ol i s u s e d a s i n Thai whe n o c c urring in c lo s ed s y l lab le s , otherwis e < t - � > is u sed for l - o ? 1 and < t -� > for I - o h l t o look like Thai )

1001 101 1001

'i -

leel

1+1 IHI lal laal

-0

Dipht hongs are I ial

L ::! V

l u yl

-; v

I l wl

:::.

l u uy l

;; v

'.)

l i a wl

L ::! U 'J

lual

�'.) / o '.) -

l e e wl

L - '.)

luayl

- '.) V

I+al

L ::! O

loyl

i+ayl

L ::! O U

« 'i - v > i s u s ed s ince I - o y - I only oc curs prec e ding I h / )

lo o y l

'i - u

loyl

« - o u > i s u s ed s i n c e I - o y - I only oc curs prec eding I h J )

looyl

-ov

l a yl

L -U

l a yl

1-

laayl

- '1 V

Sugg e s t ed orthography for d iphthongs unique t o M a l i s l i ll

:::.

l a l/

L :::. ...

l i el

L :::' V

l a il

�...

I i al/

L ::! U ...

l a a l/

- '1 '"

l u il

; ...

leel/

L - '"

/ 0 1/

'i - ...

IHI

::!. ...

...

10011

- 0 '"

Sinc e a numbe r of Thai vowe ls and diphthongs ar e wri t t e n i n an " orb i t " c ir c ling t h e c ons onant ( s ) , s y l lab l e s who s e ini t i a l cons onant c lu s t e r s b egin w i t h a nas a l 1 m n n Q I pres ent s ome di fficulti e s i n wri t i ng .

F or

t h e s e s y l l ab l e s we first exp eriment ed wri t i ng such vow e l s and diphthongs in orb i t around the s e c ond c onsonant , or s ec ond and t hird c on s o nant i f t here was one , e . g . I m p l i a h l orb it and I p l l

< � L u a v�>

within it .

' f Zo o p '

with I m l

out s ide t he

Reac t ion to this method has b e e n mixed .

Some of t h o s e who can r e ad Thai have said words writ te n i n this manner are r e c ognisab l e , but others have crit i c i s e d it by say i ng that vowel

MAL (THIN)

I m p l a !) 1

\ :!-lil u -l

' sp U t b ambo o '

Imp l i a hl

L "I'I.Ji!i U VI

'floor '

255

Impyeel

LL :!-I'll U

'rat '

Imp heil

\ "I'I'h

' t o t hrow a fi s h ne t '

I m h i a !) 1

\ "I\1t H

' t ea '

I nt i et l

L H � U 01

' to t hr e s h '

I nt ho?1

't '\..l 'Y) :;

' so u nd '

I n s eil

L H ��

'wa l l '

l i'ic o o p l

't ty '!tJ

' s hade '

I Qk e h l

LL -l ftVl

' typ e of fro g '

I Q k h a y hl

1 -lf'lvt

' s ne e z e '

The cons onant c lu s t ers I l h h y h w l may b e wr i t t e n the s ame way . < L � M � -l >

' y e l low ' , I h w a y l

I l hfaQI

' to p ay homage ' .

Ris ing t one may s impl y b e wr itten with the < �> , I l a a m i < R1 :!-1 >

'mes­

s eng e r ' , o r i t may b e b e s t t o ignore i t i n the wr i ting s y s tem b e c au s e

of i t s marginal nature and low func tional load .

It i s wr i t t e n in t h i s

paper . Another pract ical problem l i e s in the writ ing of the s equence Inu

•

.

.

.

1 because lu u u l are wr i t t e n below the l ine in Thai s c r ipt ,

and I n l already h a s an e l ement b e low the l i ne . n u um seekl

Thus , I Q u a ? ? u u y

'Rice has big pod (s ) ' c omes out as < f1 :; � U W"I L �n > . :;

Further exp erimentation with a Thai orthography i s b e ing carr i ed on . Ear ly reaction s i nd i c at ed that re aders with s ome education in Thai preferred the u s e of < R > over .

However , i n actual l i t eracy work ,

< R > has been c onfus ed with < � > and < '! > by non- l iterat es .

For this

reason is chosen to wri t e l s i , along with the fact that i n Thai it is a low c l as s c ons onant and is r ead with mid t one , i n keeping with the Mal s y st em of tone as st r i c t ly a marginal phenomenon .

< R > , however ,

i s more c ommon in Thai , and' s ome r eader s s eem t o prefer it for that r e a s on . No l it erature i s yet extant for this dial e c t or any other dialect of Ma l . lag e s .

There i s a lr e ady a p o t ent i a l reading aud i e n c e in three v i l ­ Howev er , these three vi llages repres ent thr e e different but

mut ua l ly underst andab le dialec t s .

To pre par e reading mat erial for

the s e , one would p o s s ibly have to wr ite the mat er i al in each of the three diale c t s .

In the vil lage of Ban Pha Nam Yoi there are s everal

s chool children who c an r ead Thai .

In other d i al e c t s east of us s c hools

have b ee� e s tab l i shed longer and no doubt there ar e a greater numb er of r eaders but again , dialec tal d i fferenc e s of a mor e s erious na tur e prevent them from us ing mat erial wr i t t e n in other d i a l e ct s .

256

D . FILBECK

first line i s phonemic s cript , the s e cond Thai s cript , and t hird a 1 t rans 1at ion .

2 h a ? I n u a ? 2 m p h u a l) I ? E E 2 c a k s o o m I S E E

I.

'I-I �

:lJ'Vl 'l 'l

'\.!'i'�

Il il

'

' to hur t '

Four of t h e s e s t o p s I p t c k l have a � lig h�ly a s p irated al lophone , vow e l s ( s e e b e low ) :

whi c h oc curs b efore

I p u l) / I t ��1 len I I I ka I I

[ p h u l) ] [ t h�� ] [ c hi l l ] [ kha t ]

I

' a b dome n '

< t tl >

' no '

< � I'l >

, fer t i U z e r '

< t1'I'l >

' tl'e e '

I

A l l f ive of the vo i c e le s s unasp irated stops a l s o o c c ur s y l la b l e final :

/ ka p l I ka t /

[ ka p ] [ ka t ]

< rl'� >

' to bite '

< rl'i1l >

' to s ti c k (as o f frui t t o a t r e e ) '

KUY

/ ka e / [ ka ye ] < 0 '1 > / I �� k / [ 1 1� k J < � o 1 n > / b i i ? / [ b. i i ? ]

261

' to harv e s t (ric e ) ' ' cocoo n ' ' li t t l e bit '

Vowe ls prec eding final / e / are pro nounc ed wi t h an intervening [ y ] :

/ n uue / [ n uuye J < �0 1 '1 > ' sma l l - wa i s t e d ' . Voi c e l e s s asp irat e d s t op s / p h t h e h k h / are similar t o Thai � � v Like Thai , they o c c ur in ini t i a l p o s i t i on . c ons onant s .

� .

We int erpret them as s ingle

Aspira t i on is heavier t han that of / p t e k/ b efore breathy

vowe ls ( above ) :

/ p hoom/ [ p h oom ] / t h ee / [ t h ee J

l

< t� � > < L �>

' to b e fragran t ' ' t o b e t hi c k (as hair ) or crowded (as fo r e s t ) '

/ehu u h/ [ e h u uU ] / kha 1 / [ kha ! ]

< 'il � > < �H >

' t o p l ane ' ' w a t e r - d ipper '

The v o i c e l e s s fric atives / f u s e d only in loan words . )

5

h / are similar t o Thai � � � .

( / f / is

They o c c ur in initial p os i t ion :

/ f a y f a a / [ f a y f a a ] ' e l e c t r i c i ty ' / so ? /

[ so ? J ' v i l lage ' / ha a / [ ha a ]

' to o p e n (mo u t h ) ' In addit i o n , / h / , unlike i t s Thai count erpart , oc curs in s y l lable­ f i nal posit i on : / b u h / [ b u U J ' to burn ' . The phoneme / h / has s everal allophone s ; one s e t o c c ur s s y l lab l e fina l and h a s t h e vo i c e l e s s quality of the prec eding v o i c e d vowe l :

/?uh/ [ ?uU ]

'fire ' /w) h/ [ w) I ]

' to turn ' h l a h / [ p h l aA ]

' s awe d- off, r u n t i s h '

I p h o o m l [ p hoom ] < '\ Y'13-I >

' to be fragran t '

I p eenl

[ p h e e n ] < \ � 'W >

' noon '

Ipanl

[ p a yn ]

< Jty >

' to shoo t '

1 5 £ £ 1) 1

[ 5 £ £ 1) ]

< \\ '11 "'1 >

' to go down '

Vowe ls prec eding final I n l ar e pronounced with an int ervening [ y] : I m p l � � n l [ ? m p l � � y n ] < � � R � ty >

The non-phonemic pre-gl o t t a l i s a­

' to r u n ' .

t i o n t o be s een in s ome of the above examp l e s is des cribed b e low . It has two a ll ophone s : [ j ] i s

Lat eral I I I i s s imi lar to Thai R .

ref lexed and o c curs sy l lable final where Thai h a s n o c ount erpar t .

[ I ]

i s at t he alveo lar point o f art i cu l at i on and oc curs e l s ewhere : I d a a l l [ d a a j ] < j;1 1 R >

' m u a h , many '

I I uul

' t o bay,

[ I uu]

< \'I >

Tri l l I r l i s s imilar to Thai

ho w Z ' � ,

b o t h in pronunciat i o n , and in the

weakne s s of c ontrast with I I I .

Unlike Thai , it oc curs in final as w e l l l as init ial p os i t i on in the d i a l e c t o f the "puri s t s ,, : I ra c l

[ ra yc ]

< �q >

' to a u t (wi t h a knife ) '

I ka m � � r l [ ka m � � r ] < n � � � R >

'y oung Z a dy '

Semi-vowe ls I w y l are s imi lar t o Thai 1 u , and like their Thai c ount erpar t s o c c ur in init ial and final p o s i t i ons : < 'lI', >

Iw) hi

[ w) I ]

I na a wl

[ ? na a w ]

'he, she,

I Y /.. t I

[ Y At ]

' t o arah ( b ow ) ,

< d j � j;1 >

I ka p a y l [ k a p a y ] < n " J u >

' t o turn ' t h ey '

' woman '

In addit ion t o the above , the consonant s o c c ur in c lu s t e r s in the fol lowing patt erns ( next p age ) :

�any people use

[ I J and [ r J interchangeably in initial position and in clusters with bilabial and velar consonant s . In such cases , [ r J is always used in clusters with alveolar stop s ; [ I J is always used in clusters with Inl and in final position. Many other people use [ I J exclusively , except in clusters with alveolar stops . The occasional "purist " has two di stinct phonemes in initial and final position , and in clusters with bilabial and velar consonants .

KUY

b,

l

br p' pr

kl tr

kr

ph I

kh l

mb

nd

nj

mp

nt

ne

I) k

mph

nt h

neh

IJ k h

ml

nl

mr

nn

1) 1

ns

IJ h IJ W

hm

hn

hn

hi hw

hy

mb I mp I mpr

IJ k I nt r

IJ k r

mph l mphr hm l

St op + continuant : I b l E E l) 1

[ b I E E I) ]

< tt'U f

I b r E E lJ 1

[ b r E E IJ ]

< U'U I'H >

H

>

' arm ' ' s h:r>i v e Z Z e d3 d:r>y '

I p l aa l

[ p I aa ]

< U !'l '1 >

' s harp - edge d I

I p ra ? l

[ pra? ]

< 'lJi:u, >

' s i l v e:r>3 m o n e y I

I p h l a hl

[ p h I aA ]

' to s o a k '

I k l a a hl

[ k I aaA ]

< fl R '1 il >

' a omb '

I k r e e lJ l

[ k r e e l) ]

< t fl R -'I >

' to b e ma tu:r>e (f:r>u i t

< t' f'I !'l -ll >

' ki t e '

I k h l E E 1) 1 [ k h I E E I) ]

01'

p e op l e ) I

Na sal + s t o p : In a l l combi nations of na sal plus one or mor e other c ons onant s , there is a pre-glot tali s a t i on whi ch is comp l e t e ly predi c ­ table .

I

Imbee l l

[ ?m b e e l ]

< l :l..l 'U a >

' aomb of a h i a k en '

I m pa y l

[ ?m p a y ]

,fleas '

On all clusters with I I rl see footnote on previous page .

B.M. JOHNSTON

264

/mp h u u n / [ ?m p h u u n ] / n d a a w/

[ ? ndaa w ]

/ntaa?/

[ ?ntaa? ]

/ n t ha a h / [ ? n t haaA ] /nj a h/

[ ? nj aA ]

/ n c E:E: 1) /

[ ? n c E E I) ]

/ n c h E E I) / [ ? n c h E E I) ] / I) ka t /

[ ? I) ka t ]

/ I) k h a.a. n / [ ? I) k h a.a. n ] [ ? I) ? a m ]

/ I) ? a m /

Nasal

+

< :I-J�'I.I > 1 1 '1-1>

< -II oi':I-J >

< :l-J R 1 > < 'I.I � ;) fI >

/m l a a w/ [ ?m l aa w ] [ ? m ra a ]

/ n l a. h /

[ ? n l a. a]

/ n sa a ? / [ ? n sa a ? ] / I) h a a y / [ ? I) ha a y ] / I) wa a ? / [ ? I) wa a ? ]

/ h no h / [ ? nNnoO ] / hn e e / [ ? nNnee ]

+

[ L l aa ]

/ h l aa/

[ Yya y ]

/ h ya y /

Nas a l

< t ll :I-J > < Il 'l.l fl > < t il !!! ;»

+

s t op

+

< Il R 1 > < fl 1 !l > < fI !1U >

' t o s h ine l i g h t ' ' fa t , o i l (anima l ) , ' t o pre s s ' ' to b e ab o u t t o

(do some t h i ng ) '

' warm '

' s haman ' ' e as t ' ' to name a c h i l d ' ' far ' ' va l l ey '

< t 'l.lflu -II > I

' sun '

' to s t eam ( trans i t iv e ) ' 'nes t ' ' t o w a k e up

( i ntran s i ti v e ) '

/mp roon/ [ ?m p roo y n ] / m p l � � ? / [ ?m p h l � � ? ] / mp h I E E / [ ?m p h I E E ] / m p h r a c / [ ? m p h ra y c ] / n t r u u n / [ ? nt ru u n ] / l) k I E I) /

[ ? l) k I E I) ]

/ I) k r a a l) / [ ? I) k ra a l) ] m

/ hm l /

' l e av e s ' ' ni c k ed ( di s h e s , g la s s e s , e t c . ) ' ' v i Hage c h i ef '

cont inuant :

/ m b l i a l / [ ?m b l i a ! ]

+

' to s t ep '

other cont inuant :

/ h w i i h / [ Ww i i I ]

h

' tray fo r food '

nasal :

/ h m e e / [ ? mMm e e ]

h

' t o ngue '

' to hand o v e r '

Doub l e n : / n n 1 a l) / [ ? n n 1 a l) ]

+

' s hadow '

other continuant :

/mraa/

h

' some k i nd of w i l d anima l '

< t :I-J'U i'l U R >

< U :I-J � �'I-I> < U :I-J" R >

< u -II n R -II > < -II n R 1 -11 >

' to "p i c k " a t fo o d ' ' to r u n ' ' a carr y i ng po l e ' ' to b e s im i lar i n s ound ' ' l a s t c h i l d i n fami l y ' ' to s ha k e , ag i ta t e ' ' l i t t l e b e l l - ornam e n t on lo om ' ' to carry

(by two

+ I: / h m l i i l) / [ ? mMm l i i l) ]

< fI :l-J i'i -ll >

' t o wh e t '

01'

more p e op l e ) '

KUY

265

VOWELS

Front unrounded

Back unrounded

Back rounded

1-

u

High Mid

e

a

0

Mid-ZoU)

e

II

0

LoU)

a F ig . 2 .

0.

Char t of vowel positions

( high regi ster )

As c an be s e e n f r om t h e chart abov e , there are two more vow e l t ions in Kuy than ther e are i n Thai . is v ery

higher than Thai

vowe l 1 111 is cons iderab ly lower .

L -g ,

The mid back unrounded vowel l al whi l e the mid- low back unrounded

Similarly , the mid-low back rounded

vowe l 1 0 1 in Kuy is s li ght ly higher than the c o rr e s ponding Thai

-� .

whi l e the low back r ounded vowe l 1 0.1 i s c onsiderably lowe r . This full range o f p o s i t ions i s u s e d only in the long vowe l s . whic h are here

a s s equenc e s o f ident i c a l vowe ls :

/? i i l

[?i i J

< i;i >

' to hurt '

I t eel

[ t ee J

< L Ii! >

' hand '

I b l e e QI

[ b l ee Q J

< LL'U Ii H >

' arm '

Ihaal

[ haa J

< 1:1 '1 >

' to o p e n mo u t h '

I bHnl

[ bHn ]

< \hi >

' can, be ab Z e , p a s t t e n s e '

I h naal

[ ? n Nn a a ]

< L l:l ty g >

' to U)a k e up ( i n tr a ns i t i v e ) '

I k ll ll t l

[ k ll ll t J

< 11 1'i 1il >

' to b e , t o hav e ,

I kuul

[ kuu J

' to be 'l o c a t e d '

I m p r o o n l [ ?m p r o o y ii J

< l-IU lil g l!l >

' to run '

I Q k h o.o. n l [ ? Q k h o.o. n J

< -II f'I � '1 \J >

' to b e abou t ( to do s om e t h i ng ) '

to be b o r n '

Short vowe l s , s ymb o l i s ed by s i ngle vowel symbo ls , do not show this ful l r ange of c ontrast s .

Neutr a l i s a t i o n t ak e s p la c e b e tween [ e e J t o

produc e what we will wri t e w i t h l e i , and [ a II J t o produc e 1 11/ .

[0 o J

are likewi s e neutral i s e d except b efore I ? I . I j i hl

[j iIJ




' to s eU) '

e e

IQkl eQI [ ?Qk l eQ ]

a

Icawl

[ ca w J

< L 'l '1 >

' to c om e '

1-

I m + ?i l

[ m+ n J

d 1 1!l >

'pointed '

a II

I Y llt /

[ Y il t ]

< L £ W Iil >

' t o arc h ( boU) } '

u

Ibuhl

[ buU J

' to burn '

0

I so ? 1

[ so? ]

< 'hl � >

' v i Z Zage '

0

I so ? 1

[ so ? ]

< L '211 � >

' hair '

0.

I so. ? 1

[ So.? J

< 11'211 � >

' to tou c h '

'"

< IL -II n . H >

' ru bber, gum '

' aob), ox '

•

< � �O Wl >

'meas Z e s '

Single nasal consonant s f o l l owed by a breathy vowel b e c ome s lightly preglot t ali sed .

m

I m a a l l [ ?m a a l J

< '-l '1 � >

' t hi ng '

n n Q

I na a wl [ ? n a a w ] Inat l [ ?nat ] I Q u a e l [ ? Q u a ye ]

' he, s h e '

·

•

·

< �� >

' to s tuff '

·

< '1 1 "1 >

' to dr i n k '

vowels so far r e c orded show t he same neutra li s a-

Low

t ions as for t h e high regi s t er s y s t em d e s cribed above , exc ept t hat t h e neutral i sa ti on o f [ 0 o J i s c omp le t e .

W e repres ent the neutral i s ed pair

by 10/ :

€I e

a � e A u l

I e 1 ml I l ehl I k�1 I I I I �QI I I Ayl I ?a n u ?!

[eh1m] [ l e E. ] [ kha I ] [ I �Q ] [ I Xy J [ '?a n u ? ]

I

< i� :l-l > .

'aZZ '

< �d fi:J >

' to di e '

< !l IN >

' tr e e '

' fa t h er '

Shorto ( 1962 ) , for exwnp1e , records two register s . Henderson (1952 ) describes a regi ster di stinction in one of her Khmer i nformants , but from her description the phenomenon might seem to be a precise "reading pronunciation" . Certainly a register system does seem to be indicated for an older stage of Khmer on which the writing system i s based .

KUY

,

,

o ;:)

I ka m o h l [ ka m o :) ] I I a. h l [ I a. a]

267

' d o n o t pay a t t e nt i o n ' ' ( to g o ) out '

The s e t of low regi s t er doub le vowe ls is comp l e t e :

Im) ) nl It eel Imp l H ?1 I n a a wl IpHti I p ee?1 I t AAnl I m u u yl I pooml Impootl I l a.a. k l

[ mn n ] [ t h ee ] [ ?m p h I H ? ] [ ?naa w ] [ p hHt ] [ p h aa? ] [ t hAAn ] [ ?m u u y ] [ p hoom ] [ ?m p h o o t ] [ I a.a. k ]

,

' agai n '

' one '

' l' i b s ' I b l i a yl [ b l i e y ] < L U � U U > ' t o b e l i g h t - comp l ex i o n ed ' [ i o ] o c c ur s b efore I w/ : I h uut d i a wl [ h uut d i o w ] < � nam e of b i l'd [ i a ] oc curs e l s ewher e , as in : I m b l i a l l [ ?m b l i a ! ] < L :!-IU � U i'l > ' t o "p i c k " at fo o d ' On low register a para l l e l dis tribut i o n of al lophone s o c c ur s :

I I ) a el I I Hnl I n ) a yl I I ) a wl ImH nl

[ I ) e ye ] [ I ) e yn ] [ ? n ) ey ] [ I )ow] [ ?m) a n ]

,

< L i'1 U "l > ' p l a i n ' ,

< L lI u ty >

' to m e l t '

< L fl u u >

'ma s t el' '

< d lu1>

' t o wa s h '

< L tl U 'hl >

' to mo l d '

,

,

,

l u a l and l u a l are likewi s e parallel ins ofar as we have data . 2 C u e ] and [ u e ] o c c ur b efore Ie y / : I I u a e l [ I u ey e ] < � 1 "I > ' i n te s t i n e s ' ( b u a y l [ b u e y ] ' t o l o o k fol" I r u a y l C r u e y ] < � 1 U > ' hu ndl' e d ' l

We have no example o f l i ae/ , but pre sumably i f i t occurred i t would follow the same pattern . See the low regi ster parallel described in the next paragraph .

2

/uael does not occur in our data . follow this pattern if they did.

Neither do luan uan/ , which presumably would

268

B . M . JOHNSTON

[ u a ] and [ ua ] o c c ur e l s ewhere , a s i n I b u a ?1 [ b u a ? ] ' hlh i t e ' I l u a ? ! [ I u a ? ] < ;H > ' pr e t ty '

S Y LL A B L E STR U C T U R E

Syl lab les i n Kuy are of two principal types - maj or s y l lable s , whi ch may c arry fu l l sentence s t re s s , and minor s y l lab l e s , whi ch may not . Minor syllab le s are oft en the p r e s y l lab l e s o f polysyl lab i c word s , but may also const i t u t e inde p e ndent morphemes t h emselves when t he s e mor­ pheme s are not s t re s s ed . Maj or s yllab l e s c o ns i s t of any initi a l c onsonant or consonant c lu s t er f ol l owed b y one or two vowe l s , and with or without a f inal c ons onant . I f t here i s no final c o nsonant the s y l lab l e must e nd with two vowe l s , not one .

The p e rmi t t e d final cons onant s are I p t e k ? m n n Q I

cvv eevv eee v v cvve ee v ve eee v v e e ve ceve eeevc

I ku ul Ip l aa l I nt ruul I ka.a.n l I b l l a QI I nt r u u yl I ka pl Inea l l IQk l eQI

[ kuu ] [ p l aa ] [ ? nt h r u u ] [ ka.a.n ] [bl laQ] [ ?nt hruuy] [ ka p ] [ ?nc h a ! ] [ ?Q k l e Q ]

' t o b e loaat ed '

< 'll i'l 'l >

' s harp '

< u tl i >

' de ep '

h

w

< O O 'l U >

' ah i Z d '

< L 'U ihJ 4 >

' t o b e "light '

< u fl i u >

I ahiaken '

< n'U >

Ito bite '

< i!! .ril >

' ne a r I

< .. 4 0 1'1" 4 >

' "li t t l e b e Z l o rnam e n t o n

i

y/ .

Zoom '

Minor syllables b egin with s ing l e c o n s onant s only , not with c lu s t e r s . Wit h very few exceptions , polysyllabic words c o ns i s t of a minor s y llab l e c o n S i s t ing o f I k t s ? I + l a l fol lowed by a maj or s y l lab l e .

In s ome

dial e c t s the ini t i al c o nsonant may als o b e l e i .

I ka ? a.a.p l I t a Qa yl I sa ka ac l I ?a b i a l I c a ?a.a.p l

[ ka ?a.a.p ] [ ta Qa y ] [ sa ka a c ] [ ?a b i a ] [ ca ?a.a.p ]

< o e o o 'l 'U >

I to b e fun,

< � t: .(U >

' day '

< 'Zl ::r O 'l S! >

' s a nd '

aomfor tab Z e , hle l l '

< O t: L � U >

' thlo l

< s! � O O 'l 'U >

' to b e fun , e t a . '

A f ew poly s y l labic words ' begin with two minor

s.

I sa l a b i a t l [ sa l a b i a t ] < 'Zl ::r i'l � L � U � > ' ah � ef of demons ' Minor syllab le s whi c h are i ndepend ent morphemes may have the fo llowing forms :

ev evv

I bl Ipaal

[ b] [ paa ]

ff

( c laus e - l inking

< !'l' >

Thai

' a t ' as in a t hom e ,

' a l o ng '

Ie )

KUY

eve cv v e

/c i Q/ [ c i Q ] /paay/ [ pa a y J

'wil l '

< 'lh u >

' s ay i ng,

269

t h a t ' ( Thai ,)" 1 )

S P E L L I N G K U Y W I T H T H A I C H A RA C T E R S

The f o l l owing s y s t em o f repr e s e nting Kuy p honemes with Thai wri t t e n s ymb o l s h a s b e e n adop t e d . C O M 0 nan.t.6 n ·

!I FI

4

'l ·

"

'11

'l1 III \l iii !/1 ·

&l iii

f'I

/ k/ + / k/ + / kh/ /Q/ /c/ + /c/ + /ch/ / s/ In/ /j/ /d/ /t ! + /t! + /t / /t h /

high regi s t e r vowe l

'iJ

low register vowe l

'U

'll

.

eJ high register vowel

'U

low r e gi st e r vowe l

't'I

'V'l 3.l

u

t h i gh regist e r vowel low register vowe l f inal

') �

'H

V o w ell, l - D t:

e e

It !! -

a

\ - '1 �

4

/1/ /w/ l / 7/ final after long vowe l init ial /?/ / h/

�

il

::.

- t:

b orrowed names only

0

S hOJt.t ( SLngl e )

tt - t:

/ n/ /b/ / p / + high regi ster vowe l / p / + low r e g i s t e r vowe l final /p/ / p h/ /f/ /m/ /y/ / r / after / t t h / and i n

fol lowe d by / 7 /

t :: tJ

e l s ewhere

I

fol lowed by / V

a

A

f ol lowed by / ?/ f o l l owed by / y / e l s ewhere

:: D u

.

followed by / w /

'i: - I:

0

f o l lowed by / 7 /

e l s ewhere

b - '1 �

;)

fo l lowed by / ? /

+

0 tt - '1

t:

;)

0.

'::0 -

/7/ final after a short vowel see the list of vowels below .

e l s ewhere f o l lowed b y / ?/ e l s ewhere

270

B . M . JOENSTON

V owel C lu.6 t e.Jt.6 :!

i i

t-

aa

't -

oo

tt -

EE

- iJ

- '1

aa

- is p l a c e d

Where the low

over the cons onant without changing t h e cons o nant symb o l . The or thography corres p onds n i c e ly with Thai ,

for t h e follow-

i ng problems : Ijl

There is no voiced alveopa lat a l s t op in Thai , s o we have bor­

rowed the lit t l e-us ed symb o l for I d l < n > . Inl

There i s no alveopalatal nas a l in Thai , but t he Northeastern

Lao pronounce s as I n l many o f t h e Thai words whi c h are s p e l l e d with a �

( e . g . �� � , ��� e t c . ) . The glot t a l s t o p d o e s not o ccur in Thai aft er a long vowe l .

nec e s sary t o invent a symb o l .

It was

We chos e < M> .

The symbo l for 1 11 111 was i nvented b y analogy .

Since l e e l i s writ ten

as t - in Thai , and l e e l i s wri t t en as u - ; and since l a a l i s written as L - O ( open syllab le ) and t �- ( cl o s e d s y llab l e ) , we write 1 11 11 1 as < U - iJ >

and < tt �- > . invent ed for 1 0.. , 0..0.. 1 are comp le t e l y arbitrary ,

The

s o und s approximat e ly " between" 1 0 , 0 0 1 and l a , a a / , t hat i s , b e tween - ' a mud ho l e ' . / b r o Q / ' a hor s e ' . / g r o / < '1l r � > ' i ns tead o f ' . / p h l k h l p h r k h r k h w / are similar to Thai � � � � � r � r � 1 : / p h l u k/ ' i v ory ' . / k h l f a k / < L � � � n > ' to l i a k ' . / p h r u ? / ' a b la n k e t ' . / k h r a k/ < � {n > ' wa t er buffa lo ' . / k h w 8 n / < LL � 1 '1,1 > ' di s tr i a t offi a er ' . Cons onant phoneme s in f inal p o s i tion are limi t e d i n our pres ent anal y s i s to / p t c k ? m n n Q h i .

There are no clus ters in final p o s i ­

/ ka t / < n � > ' t horn ' . / c h i c / < � � > 'paddy fi e l d ' . / ka k/ < nn > ' limb . brana h ' . / ka ? / < n :: > ' fi s h ' . / ka m / < n� > ' bran ' . / ka n / < �'I,I > ' wor k ' . / c h i n / < � � > ' t o s ew ' . / ka Q / < �� > ' to b e a o nfu s e d ' . / ka h /

tion : / ka p / < �u >

< n� > ' t o unt i e ' .

' ahin ' .

276

D . SCHLATTER

VO W E L

PHON E M E S

Simple vowe ls are as f o l l ow s :

e

e

o

e

a

o

The s e ar e s imilar t o Thai long vowe l s ,

:!

d

L - L - O '1 - LI - - ')

•

except

-0 ,

when preceding / ? / , when they have mor e the approximat e quality o f Tha i short vowe ls , / p i ? / / t u / < v>

:!

:!

L - z L -O Z '1 - � LI - z - z

7

/t f/

/goat ' ,

' to b e s h a l low ' ,

/ so ? / < '1 � z >

' to burn ' ,

/me?/ < t� o z > /50/

' sp l end id, magnifice n t ' ,

' p a n t s ' , / y e ? / < L\ U Z >

/t e ? / < L � � >

' t o p lunder ' ,

' t o b e tired ' ,

' b anana bud ' , / 50 / < '1 � >

' to be s i c k ' , / v e / < L\ 1 >

mo ther ' , / t e / < L � > t i o n word ' ,

' a l l ' , / k h + ? / /t u ? / < �>

/ p i /

L -') z .

' c ommand word ' ,

' w i l dca t ' , / s o ? / < ' � ') Z >

' g r ea t grand­

/me/ < t �o>

' ha n d ' ,

/ h a / < � '»

' t o wa t er ' , ' qu e s ­

'p lague ' , / h a ? / < 0 Z >

' dog ' .

In addit i on , there i s a var i e t y of vowel c lu s t er s , c ons i s ting phon­ The s e may be divided into three

e t i c a l ly usua l ly of vowe l glide s . groups .

The first group cons i s t s of t h o s e vowel c lu s t er s which may

oc cur before c onsonant s , with mi nor limitat ions : Ie

ue

fe

ei

a!

oj

eo

e+

ao

a+

/ i e + e u e/ ar e s imi lar t o Thai L � U

L :! O �1 .

/ i e + e / may occur

finally in a syllable or b e fore a l l fina l consonant s except the palatal c ons onants / e 0 / : / 1 i a / < , � u > / e h i a n / < , �UY> / k+aQ/ < L no � >

' h eavy ' , 'rat ' .

l e a k ' , / ? u e ? / < 51 z >

' w ire ' ,

/ I f e / < L i� o >

/?o l a? /

' to b e bo l d ' ,

/o+a?/ < L &o z >

/ u e/ does not o c cur b e fore / h / .

' t o try to vomi t ' , / t u a k / < � 1 n >

/ a i o ! a o / are s imi lar to Thai 1 - -o u

final p o s i t i on .

' s ma l l (amoun t ) ' ,

L - ,) .

' hou s e ' ,

/ b u a /

' to

' r i c e tray ' .

Ea ch may oc cur i n s y l lab le

Unlike Thai , / a o / may be followed by a l l final c ons o­

nant s except / e n / , and / a i o i l may be f o llowed by / p e ? m n h i : / h a i /

' to recover ' ,

sweep ' ,

/ha i ?/

/ ? m o ! /

'axe ' ,

' t o b e disorder ly ' ,

/ ? Q o i ?/ < � ou z >

' t o b e tame ' , " / s o ! h / < � O U 0 >

/ k a o ? / < n '1 1 z >

' c en t r e , b e g i n� i ng ' , / h a o n / < � '1 1 � >

le i

/ p e o ? / < '1 � 1 Z >

' do v e ' ,

' c ha r c o a l ' ,

e o e + a + / have no Thai counterpar t s :

' to b l am e ' ,

/ re i m/ < L '� >

' t o w a k e up ' ,

/ l e Q a f ? / < fl H t:! >

/ ka o / < n '1 1 >

' ten ' ,

' e dib l e ro o t ' ,

/ t e ! / < , �>

' te rmi te ' ,

/ p eo h / < '1 � 1 � >

' s tu p i d ' ,

'to

' s ound made by buffa lo ' ,

/ ho i n / < 00 U�>

/t e l ?/ < L � >

/ p a i h / < 1� 0 >

' t o l ig h t ( lamp ) ' ,

/ p e o / < '1 � 1 >

' to dis card ' ,

' t o fly ',

/ kef/ < , n o >

/ s e f p / < , �5 � > " ' to b ec o m e w o r s e ' ,

/t a f/

277

LAvUA '

< � 1 > ' fi e Z d hou s e ' , It a � ? 1 < � 1 > 'probab Z y ' , 1 ? l a � n l < s � u > ' p Zaee d e nuded of trees ' .

patterns a s vowe l

Whereas the fir s t group , p r e sented above , c

c lu s t er , the o t her p hone t i c glid e s pre s en t more o f a problem, with c o n­ f l i c t ing p r e s s ur e s .

Group two i n c l ud e s phone t i c [ u l 0 1 ] , s imil ar in

pronun c i at io n to Thai � v t - v . ( e . g . Chap t e r s 3 , b e f or e Ic n / .

As in s ome other language s of t h i s area

9, 1 0 ) [ u l o i ] often c ome either in final p o s i t i on or

However i n the Lavlia ' ca s e , they c ome b e fore I hl a l s o .

l u 0 u e l do not o c c ur b e for e I n c / , but c o ntra s t b efore I h l as in I ko h l < t n � > ' t o r i s e ' , I ko i h l < t n v � > ' to eo o k ' , I p h r u h l ' to mu Z tip Zy ' , I p u i h l < v v � > ' to carry ' . Of the various interpretations p o s s i b l e we cho o s e t o cons ider t h e s e s equenc e s to b e l u i o i l wherever t hey oc cur . in Thai scrip t , and

This c ertainly makes the gre at e st s e n s e for

in the li ght of the ana l ogi es of vowe l c lu s t er s in the f i r s t group s e ems

Ipu i l I p u i c l < v v � > ' th e top o f a tr e e ' , I g o l l < t �v > I to b e s i Z e n t ' , I ko i hl < t n u a > I to c o o k ' . It In this group a l s o i s [ uffi i ] whi ch i s even more probl ema t i c a l . o c curs only b efore I c n hi a n d in f i na l p o s i t i on , where a s l u e l a s a permi s s i b l e , t hough p o s s i b ly not ideal , phonemi c s olut i on . 'person ' ,

de fined never oc curs b e fore t h e s e c o n s onant s .

It i s t empt ing t o inter­

pre t [ u ffi i ] a s l u e y l in f inal p o s i t i on and l u e l b e fore Ie n / .

However ,

t h i s would c o n s t i tut e the only o c curre n c e of final I y l i n this analy s i s . It is phone t i c al ly simi lar t o Thai - � v .

For the purpo s e s o f this

analy s i s we t herefore i nt erpret [ u ffi i ] i n all po s i t i ons as I U E/ : I m u E I

< � 1 V > ' w i Z d ox ' , I f u ee l ' to fi n i s h ' . The t hird group of vowe l c lu s ters c o n s i s t s o f [ I u e o ffiO ] ( s imi lar t o

Tha i .::. � L - 'l LL - 1 ) whi c h d o not o c cur b e fo r e final cons onant s , except for

[ ffiO ] whi c h

oc curs before I ? I .

T h e pre s sur es therefore are very

strong to c o nsider t h e s e to be l i w ew e w l r e s p e c t

F or o u r pur-

p o s e s here we prefer , h owever , to treat the s e a s vowe l c lu s t e r s by analogy wit h group one , and to avoid the i ntrodu c t i o n o f a I w l i n f inal p o s it io n for t h e s e t hr e e vowe l s . thi s analy s i s : I p h i u l

There i s no I y l i n t hat p o s it i on by

' to evapora te ' ,

I m E o l < U.� 1 > ' ca t ' , I t e o ? 1 < LU I 1 t: > ' Zi t t Z e ' .

I ke o l < L n 1 > ' to b e c o n e e r n e d ' ,

Vowe l l e ngth and t one ar e not phonemi c a l ly c o nt r a s t iv e i n Lavlia ' . Int onat i on patt erns have not b e e n extensiv e ly

S Y L LA B L E A N D W O R D S T R U C T U R E

Maj or in the

( those c apab le of carrying s t r e s s ) are construct ed patt erns :

278

D . SCHLATTER

ev evv ve vve eve evve eev ee v v eeve ee v v e eeev eeev v eeeve e ee v v e

/sa/ / t a f/ / E k/ / a ot l / sa k / /ka i p/ /h l o/ / k I ao/ / k 1 0 1) / / b ro i c / / p h re/ / k h ra o / / p h r a l) / / p h ra o p /

< '

' to s Z i c e '

< 1;) 1 >

' fi e Zd hou s e '

< \L o n >

' al"O S S bom '

< 0 '1 1 1;»

' to b e l o a a t e d '

< .;in >

' to b e fu Z Z ( of foo d ) '

< 1 m'!>

' to p i n c h '

< il i1 0 >

' p l" o t l"ude '

< 't n i1 1 >

'unc l eal" s p e e a h '

< 't n i1 -1 >

' s tl"eam '

< 't 'U 'nJ

' chi l lies '

< t ", -r >

'bl"o t h e l" I

< f'l -r '1 1 >

' a gl"anary '

< "' ; -1 >

' l"oof '

< ", -r '1 1 'll >

' q u ic k '

When morpheme s are not mono s y l labic the ini t i a l s y l lable i s made up of an unstre s s ed minor s y l lable which i s almo s t always / s a p a ka ra

l a/

/ sa p i a/ < � L � U > ' l i g h t ' � / p a k h re i h / / ka ? ao t / < n 0 '1 1 1;» ' p l a c e of l" e s idenc e ' � / ra s 8 p / < -r LL �'ll > Some c ommo n e x c ep t i ons t o thi s ' to m h i 8 p e r ' � / I a p i ? / < i1 � > ' s h i r t ' . stat ement are / a I 8 h / < O '1 \L i1 il > ' s ev en ' . / so ? ko ? / < 't � � 't n � > ' to t a k e c a l" e

except in borr owed words . ' u nmarr i e d g i r l ' .

of ' .

Tri sy l la b i c words a r e v e r y rare , a n d are u sually c ompounds :

/ pa r a p ao n /

u s ed for

A third « 1Jl > for I ft / ) i s

' to g o ' ' th a t

•

•

•

'

Main syllab l e s have been rec orded ending wi t h the c ons onan t s I p t e

k ? s h m n Q I w y l ( s e c t i o n 2 . 4 . 2 ) . In open s y l lab l e s the vowels la i ul predominat e wi t h limi t e d oc currences o f the other vowe ls ( s e c ­ t i on 3 . 3 . 1 ) . In c lo s e d syllab l e s , all the vow e l s except 1 +1 oc c ur , wit h the vowels l a i u l pred ominat ing ( s e c t i o n 3 . 3 . 1 ) . 1 .1 .2

M i n o r sy l l a b l e s

A word may have one o r t wo minor syllab l e s b e fore the ma in s y llable . The s e minor s y l lab l e s may have t h e fol lowing structur e : ev eve

I ka n a w l < n 1 � �1 > I wa ? t u l < � � e >

' 2nd p e r s o n pronoun ' ' t im e '

In the open s y l l ab le s the vowels l a i u + 1 predominat e wit h only a

URAK LAWOI '

few o c c urrenc es o f I e 0 1 ( s e c t i o n 3 . 3 . 2 ) .

285

It i s diffi c u lt t o b e s ur e

whether a non-main s y l lab l e with [ + ] i s a minor syllable o r a pre­ s y l lab l e .

The difference l i e s in the p o t ential for a s t r e s s on a minor

s y l lable : I p � m + l a w l < � O � L � 1 >

'word ' .

The c lo s e d s y l lable patt ern e v e i s rar e in minor syllab l e s .

The

only final consonant s o c c urr ing in such a s y l lab l e are a na sal 1 m n Q I I k ?I

or the

( s ec t ion 2 . 4 . 2 ) .

Ther e are not s uff i c i ent oc cur-

rences of this syllable patt ern t o enab le any c onclU s i ons as to the vowe ls which may appear in i t . 1 .1 .3

Pre-syl l a bl es

A word may have one or p o s sibly two pre- s y ll ab l e s b efore t h e main syllab l e .

The pre- s y l lab le d o e s not hav e a contra s t ive vowel but may

or may not have a non- c o nt ras t ing vocali c t r ans i t i o n t o the f o l lowing s yl lab l e .

For t h e pract i ca l pur p o s e s of thi s paper t h i s trans i ti on , or

its pot ent ia l , i s s ymb o l i s e d i n a rough approximation of its usual pronunciation i n i t s various enVironments , a s fo l l ows : ( 1 ) No

when t h e init ial c ons onant o f the p r e - s y l lable s ounds

like a consonant clus t e r wit h a f o l l owing I r / : ' bo a t ' I c r + m e n l < � ' D L �Y >

'glaB B '

( 2 ) u in words in whi c h t h e trans i t i o n s ounds li ke [ u ] b e fore I wl when they o c cur in phras e- final p o s i t io n : I ? Yya l

' li t t le girl '

( 3 ) 1 in words in whi c h t he t rans i t i on s o unds like [ I ] b efore I y l when they o ccur i n phra s e - final pos iti o n : I s + m l ya l < �� U 1 >

I ma n l

( 4 ) + e ls ewhere : I s + na Q I

Ib+ 1 i l

- [ ? a d a p +m l a w b a n a ? ] - [ ?a d a p +m+ l a w ]

1 .2 1 .2.1

' ha B m a ny wordB ' ' ha B a word '

WORV S TR U C T U R E N o rma l w o r d s t r u c tu r e

' Un le s s redup l i c at i on o r c ompounding ( patterns o f whi ch are not fully

286

D . W. HOGAN

c lear ) should create e xc

, word s have one , two or three s yllabl e s .

word mus t have o ne mai n s y l lab l e and may o p ti o na l ly have one or two s y l lables p r e c e di ng t he main s yllab le , whi c h may b e e ither minor A l i s t o f typ i c a l

le s or pre-syl lable s , in varyi ng c ombina ti ons . words fol lows . Main syllable only Minor + Main Pre-syl lable + Main Minor + Pre- + Main Pre- + Pre- + Main Pre- + Minor + Main Minor 1 .2.2

+

+

Minor

Main

I ca ? ! Ima so ? 1 Im+ l a wl I p +m + l a w l I m + b t- I e h l IH l a g a l I ra d a r a l

< '1 ::: >

' th a t . . . '

' speaks '

' s h e l l ' , I s + bo e l [ s+ b wo i ? ] < �t ij � > ' to u t t e r ' . The voic e le s s una s p irate d s t o p s contras t s y l lab le-ini t i a l ly and f i nally :

Ipl It I leI I kl I?I

I p a ?! It a ?! lea ? 1 I ka ? 1 I ?a k e ? !

' l ift '

Ida l a pl I j a l at ! I l l hael I h i I a kl lera ?!

The voi c ed s t o p s c ontra s t s y l lab le-ini t i a l ly :

Ibl Idl Ijl Igl

I b u mo l l < � fiil il > I d + n i y a l < �� U 'l > I j a l a t l

' do c t or ' ' w or ld ' ' p a t h , way ' ' i n p la c e o f '

< fl 1 �'U >

' d e ep '

' a k i nd o f fi s h ' / b h h o I I < {] ff iiJ iiJ > ' fr o n t room '

I b -¥ e h i l ' ha t e ' Ikhrul < I'l' ! > ' tea c h er '

I p hi It hi le h l I khl

Other c ontrast s b e twe e n t h e s t op s are as fo l lows :

Ip It Ie Ik Ik Ie 11 2.3.2

bl dl jl gl 11 yl -I

I t -¥ p a e l Ipa l al I t a l a pl It et / lea re?! Icueul IIaki I ls i yakl I s u ra e l /?a ke11

< WlJ ,, >

' p l ac e '

' h ea d '

< j;] '1 Iilv >

' sink '

< L �j;] >

' no t '

< " '1 L $" ::< >

' te l l '

< :1 :1 >

' grands o n '

< iN 'l fl >

' hu s band '

< ;j Ufl >

' da y l i g h t '

< 'i i' " >

' boo k '

< iiJ 'l L fl :l >

' l ift '

It + be ? ! I ba I i ? ! Ida l ap l Ide?! Ijad i l Ijugal I I ag i f I s i ya 1 1 I s u ra y l I ka k i I

< �iiH V � >

' a s cend '

< V '1 ii >

' co m e b a c k '

< J1l '1 .!u >

' de ep '

< L fn � >

' a t� i n '

< 1Jl 'l � >

' b e c om e '

< Ql�'l >

'also '

< iN '1 f1 >

'mo r e '

d

< 'Il v " >

' p r ep ar e '

< 'i '; v >

' comb '

< fl '1 f1 >

' foo t '

Fricatives

O f the two voi c e le s s fricat ive s , I h l o c curs b oth s y ll ab l e-initia lly and finally , whi l e l si has t he a l lophone [ 5 J s y l lab le-init i a l ly and the al lophone [ i h J s y llable- fina l ly ( s e c t i o n 2 . 2 . 6 ) :

lsi Ihl 2.3.3

I s a p a l < '111'th > ' w ho ? ' I h a p a l < � '1 � '1 > ' a n y t h i ng '

1 1 a t a 5 1 < iiJ '1 .J'Il> 'upon ' I p a t a h l ' b r e a k '

Nasa l s

The nas a l s 1 m n n f) 1 all o c c ur s y l l ab l e-ini t i a lly , but only 1 m n f) 1 o c c ur s y l labl e-finally :

Iml Inl Inl 1 f) 1 2.3.4

Ima t i l I nat l l Inawal I f) a f) a l

' di e '

' gap i ng o p e n '

I naml I j a f) a n l

' six '

I s -¥ na f) 1 < ;�4 >

' co n t e n t e d '

' do n ' t '

L a t e r a l s a n d s em i - v o w e l s

I w y l o c c ur b o t h s y llab le-init ially and fina l ly ( s ec t i o n 2 . 2 . 7 ) . The c haract eri s t i c s of I I I are di s c u s s e d in s e c t i on 2 . 2 . 4 .

I r l var i e s

from a retroflexed voc oid t o a s light flap .

Iwl Iyl III

I n a wa l < � 1 ';l 1 > ' body ' I ka y a l < fl 1 V 1 > ' ri c h ' I i a l u l < iN '1 ij > ' p a s s '

I n i ma wl ' co n s t r u c t ' I l a ma y l < iN 1 31'U > ' b e c k o n ' I I i h e I I < � d i iiJ > ' ne c k ' ' do c tor ' I b u mo l l < \I�hH»

292

D . W . HOGAN

/r/

2.4

/g u ru /

' t e a c h er '

V I STR I BUT I O N O F C O NS O NA NTS

2.4. 1

Syl l a b l e- i n i t i a l

s i ng l e c o n s o n ants

I n mai n s y l la b l e s a l l the cons onant s occur s y l lable-ini t i a l ly exc ept

/ph/.

A s further v o c ab u l ary is acqui r e d probab ly main

com-

mencing wit h / p h / wi l l be found . In minor

all t he c on s o nants o c c ur sy l lab le-ini ti a l ly ex-

c ep t /t h c h k h / .

A l arger invent ory may f i l l t h e s e gap s t o o .

In pre- s y l lab l e s t he only ini t i a l c on s o nant s s o far r e corded are

/ p t c k b d j m n 5 h I r/ . 2.4.2

Syl l a b l e- f i n a l

s i ngl e cons onants

Main s y l lab l e s have b e e n r e c orded e nd i ng wit h the s t op s / p t c k ? / , the fri cat ives / 5 h / , t h e nasals / m n 0 / and the lat eral and s emi ­ v owe l s / 1 w y / . Only a few minor s y l lab l e s hav e b e en rec orded a s endi ng with a c o n­ s o nant .

The nasals / m n 0/ o c c ur s y llab l e - f inally b e f or e a main s y l ­

lab l e c ommen c i ng wit h a s t op at t he s ame p o i n t o f art i c ulati o n .

The

s t op s / k ?/ oc cur s y l lable-fina l ly before a mai n s y l lab l e c ommencing with a s t op or / 5/ :

/ na m bf / /naQkri / /t o k k h a / / ba k sa / / wa ? t u /

' numbe r '

' co u ntry '

' ra c e . p e op l e '

' t im e '

No pre-syl lab l e s end with a c o ns onant . 2.4.3

C o n s o n a n t c l u s te r s

In t e rms o f the d e s c r i p t i o n o f Urak Lawo i ' i n t h i s paper there ar e no t rue c ons onant c lu s t ers .

Phonet i c c lu s t ers of the form C r , and ot her

phone t i c c lu s t er s s omet imes o c curr i ng , are c a s e s o f p r e- s y l lab l e s ( s e c ­ t ion 1 . 1 . 3 ) ,

3. 3.1

VOWE LS

V O W E L PHONEMES Urak Lawo i ' has

vowe l p honeme s as s et o u t i n F igure 2 .

vowel s t e nd t o b e s hort i n c lo s e d o r una c c ented o p e n

Thes e with

2 93

URAl< LAWOI '

some of them having a di s t i nct allo phone i n c l o s e d s y l lab l e s ( s e c t ion 3.2).

Front

Central

Unrounded

Back Rounded

u

High

e

Mid

F ig . 2 .

3.2

o

a

e

Low

Urak Lawa i ' vowe l phonemes

V O W E L V ES C R I PT I 0 NS A NV C O NTRASTS

3.2.1

F r o n t v o we l s

Iii [ i ]

a high c l o s e front unrounded vocoid , appearing in open s y l­

labl e s : I t a l i l < � 1 a >

[ L]

' ro p e ' .

a high open front unrounded vocoi d , appe ar i ng i n c lo s e d

s y l lab l e s : I b a l i l [ ba l L ? J < � 1 � >

lei [ L ]

' r e turn ' .

a mid c l o s e front unrounded vocoid , appe aring i n open s y l­

lab les ( o nly one examp le in the data ) : I ? a y e l [ a Y L J < 0 1 L V >

[e]

' wa t er ' ,

a mid open front unro unded vo coi d , appe aring in c l o s e d

s y l lab le s : I ku l e ? 1 < Q L � � >

' s ki n ' .

l e i [ e ] a low c l o s e front unrounded vocoid : I c e l < bL q > ' grandfa t h e r ' ; Ic i c e ? 1 < �ll q � > ' t o rn ' . 3.2.2

C e n t ra l v o we l s

1+1 [ + ]

a high c l o s e c entr a l unrounded vo coid , appearing i n o p e n

s yl la b l e s only : I g + 1

lal [ A ]

' in terroga ti v e ' ,

a mid open back- c e ntral unrounded v o c o id ,

c lo s ed syllab le s : I ra wa k l [ r a w A k ] < r 1 1n >

[a]

a l o w open b a c k - c entral unrounded v o c o id , appearing i n

open syllab le s : I ra g a l < r 1 � 1 > 3 . 2.3

in

' sp a c e ' .

' ba s ke t ' ,

B a c k v o we l s

lui [ u ]

a high c l o s e back vocoid , s light ly rounded : I p r u c l < U t � >

' s ca t t e r ' ; I l a l u l

101 [ u ]

< � 1 ij > ' p a s s ' .

a high o p e n back voc o i d , s li ght ly rounded , appeari ng i n

c lo s ed syllab le s : I p ro c l [ p r u c ] < l u f q >

' s t omach ' ,

294

D . W . HOGAN

101 [ 0 ]

a mid c lo s e back vo c o i d , s l ight ly rounded , app earing in

open s y l l ab l e s : I n o r i l < t u f >

a low c l o s e back vo c o i d , s l ightly rounde d : I b u d o l < � � � >

101 [ 0 ]

' s tu p i d ' ; I r o e l < fD � >

3.3

' l orry ' .

'reach ' .

V I STR I B UT I 0 N O F V OW E LS

3.3.1

V o we l s

i n ma i n s y l l a b l e s

A l l the vowe l s o c cur i n open main s y l labl e s , but there i s a heavy preponder anc e of l a

' ey e ' ,

' wa t er ' , < \I (iJ D >

i

u l and a limited oc currence of I e e + 0 0 / : I ma t a l

I m a t i l < :lJ 1 Wi >

leel

'die ',

' gr andfa t her ' ,

I h a t u l < 1'l "l 'IJ > 1 9 + 1 < �D >

' a spiri t ' , I ? a y e l < � 1 L tJ > I budol

' in t erroga t iv e ' ,

' s tu p id ' .

A l l the vowe l s except I f I o c cur in c lo s e d main syl lab l e s with the vowe l s la

i 0 1 predominat ing : I ? u r a k l < � ;n >

o v e r ' , I t u l o kl < tJ '\ � n > ' s ky ' .

I r o e l < fD � >

3.3.2

V o we l s

' h e lp ' .

'man ' , l u i i kl < � m n >

I ku l e ? 1 < C)l Ii'l :l >

' s kin '.

' reach ' .

i n mi nor

syl l a b l es

u f/ :

The maj ority of open minor s yl lab l e s have the vowe ls l a i I ma n i l < :IJ "l � >

' wa s h ' ,

I k r f j a l < n � Drn 1 >

' turn

I l a !) s ? 1 < t'l 1 LL � :l >

I m i t a l < � I1I "l >

' a s k for ' .

I r u p a l < tU 1 >

' l ikene s s ',

'work ' .

C lo s e d mi nor s y l lab l e s hav e the vowe ls l a 0/ : I n a m b + 1 ' number ' ,

4.

I t o k k h a l < l1I n � 1 >

MO R P H O P H O N E M I C

' name for town o f Phuke t ' .

CHANGE

When the prefixes I m � - I < � >

' a c t i v e p r efix ' or I p + - I

' no m i n a Z i s er '

ar e prefixed to a verb , if the first c o ns onant of the verb i s a voi c e ­ l e s s s to p it c hanges to a n a s a l at the same p o int of arti culation; if it i s l s i or I y l it chang e s to I n / .

The i ni t i al glot tal s t op I ? I i s not

c ounted a s a voi c e l e s s s t op for this purpos e . I p u k a e l < 'lJ n� >

' a ne t '

I m + m u k a c l dh.;J n � >

'fi s he s w i t h n e t '

I t u l o kl < �;t'i: iin >

' he lp '

I m + n u l o kl < �u '\ �n >

' he lps '

Icare?!

' a k i nd of fi s h '

< 'i fi fl >

' a bag '

' t o ha t e '

< f'I 'I; >

' t eaahel' '

< ;j >

'go '

< � 'JJ 1 >

' t hl' ee '

< "1 1 >

'

< 1'1 1;1 1 >

' li1 e '

< El 1 L n ::: >

' to l i f t '

' li1ife '

< � il 1 >

'li1here '

' aa t a h '

< fl 1 \»

' li1o o d '

Syl lable - initial consonants

Inl

Urak Lawoi ' has a nasal I n l whi c h d o e s not oc cur a s a Thai phoneme ( s ect ion 2 . 2 . 3 ) , but whi c h is r epre sented by t he Thai l e t t er had t his pronunc iat ion in an e ar l i er form o f Tha i .

< ty >

whi ch

In Thai this l e t t e r

I y l s y l l ab l e-initially and I n l syl lab l e - fi na l ly . It i s < � tyty 1 01 > I w i n - ya a n / , wh ere

now

u s ed i n t he middl e o f s ome Thai words such as

it s fir s t o c curr enc e i s syl lable-fina l I n l and its s ec ond is as l ab l e-init ial / y / . The digraph

alt ernat ive to u s i ng t he let t er < � !.l > .

< ty >

would b e to u s e the

Thi s i s not a s tandard Thai c ombi nat i o n and would t end

to be read with a t r an s i t ion vowe l b e tween t he I n l and the I y / fore the Thai Lawo i ' i t

< ty >

has b e en ado p t ed for t h i s Urak Lawo i ' I n / .

.

There­

In Urak

appears syllable-init i a l ly and s ingly s o can e a s i ly b e

different iat ed from i t s Thai us e .

URAl{ LAWOI '

5. 2

297

S Y L L A B L E - F I NA L C O NS O NANTS

A l i s t o f the Urak Lawo i l consonant phonemes o c c urri ng s y l lab le­ fi nally i s given in F igure 4 , s howing t h e Thai l e tters u s ed for each phoneme and typica l word s . Phoneme

Orthography

p

'\)

/ ka l a p / < n '1 /K'\»

' p e nai L '

t

Ol

/ t u h a t / < I!) 1l'0l >

' g o d, owner

t

c

"I

/ s u r a c /

' b o o k , w r i t i ng '

k

n

/ b a r a k /

' aripp L e d '

e?

LL - ",

/ I a l) e ? / < R '1 1.L 4 " >

' s ky '

a7

- '"

/ ka ? /

'to '

u?

';'

/ I H u ?/

' b L i s t er '

07

t - ::

/ I i ko ? / < n t n u >

' a o v e r up '

07

L

s

- '1 ::

«I

< n Il >

/ 1 i b 7 / < ! h n '1 :: >

' b e nd, aurv e '

/ ? a t a s / < 0 '1 11'1'«1 >

' up o n '

h

;:J

/ b + l e h /

' aan; g e t '

m

.3.l

/nam/

' s ix '

n

'Il

/ j a l) a n /

' k i n d o f s hark '

ay

.!:'!J

/ ra m a y / < t 'l �!J>

' fu n '

oy

- O !J

/ ho y /

' ha v e no t '

F ig . 4 .

5.2. 1

Example

Stops

/p t

< ;:J

Syllable-final consonants

k/

The symb o l s u s e d for s y llable-fina l s t o p s / p t initial / b d k/ .

k / are tho s e u s e d for

In Thai the s e are the mo st commo n letters u s ed s y l­

lable- fina l ly to repres ent the unr el e a s ed s t o p s /p t k / . 5.2.2

The

s to p / c /

Thi s s t op u s e s the s ame s ymb o l whether occurring syl lab le- ini t i a l ly or fina lly .

When thi s symbol oc curs syl labl e - f ina l ly in Thai i t is

pronounc ed / t / , while in Urak Lawo i l it has the phone t i c value of [ - i ? J .

298

D . W . HOGAN

5.2.3

The g l ottal

s top

171

Thai repr e s ent s the final glottal s t o p i n various forms i n re lat i o n t o the short form of the various vowe ls syllab l e-fina l ly .

Thi s s y s t em

is us ed for the various Urak Lawo i ' vowe ls whi ch oc cur wi t h a final glottal , as shown abov e , but t h i s has mad e it ne c e s s ary to li s t the s p e c i f i c combi nat ion for each vowe l . 5.2.4

The fri cati ve

l si

In Thai the sound l s i never oc curs syllab le-fina lly and any words wri t t e n wi t h a final s ymb ol otherwi s e u s ed for l s i are pronounc ed as ending wit h I t / .

In Urak Lawoi ' t h e phoneme l s i o c c urs s y l la b l e­

finally in the allophone [ i h J .

l si

,

Thi s i s repr e s ented by the Thai let t er

whi ch will need s p e c i a l inst ruct ion so t hat it i s not pro­

nounced I t / . 5.2.5

The fri c a t i v e I h l

I h l oc curs s y l lab le-f i nally i n Urak Lawoi ' but never does s o i n Thai . The Thai symbol I h l 5.2.6

Nasal s

1m

n

c an b e u s ed here without any c o nfus ion .

QI

The s e cause n o problem as t h ey oc cur s y l lab l e - fina l ly in b o th Thai and Urak Lawoi ' .

Thai ha s two alt ernat ives for s y l lab l e s ending i n l a m l

whi ch may b e wri t t en e i ther

< �� >

or

< _·1 > .

In Urak Lawoi ' t he fi r s t of

t h e s e has b e en adop t ed as requiring one l e s s symb o l t o be learned . 5.2.7

T h e l a ter a l

III

This f inal cons onant c o u ld b e wri t t en with t h e Thai consonant I I I ,

but t h i s is read as I n l when o c c urring s y l lab le-fina l ly , and un­

like s ome of the change s from Thai pra c t i c e above , exp erience has s hown t hat t h i s would creat e r e s i s tance whi ch would be diff i c u l t to overcome . Urak Lawoi ' final I I I i s phoneti cally c lo s e to t h e Urak Lawoi ' vowe l

1 + 1 , whi ch is wr i t t en with the digraph The s ec ond part of t h i s digraph

�o

in Thai s yl l ab l e-finally .

has b een ado p t ed as the symb ol for

f i nal I I I and has proved qui t e sati sfac t ory when taught .

In Thai i t

never oc curs syllab le-finally pr e c eded by a short vowe l , s o i t s u s e in t h i s way in Urak Lawoi ' is quite di s t i nc t and easy to r e cogni s e . 5.2.8

S em i - v o we l s

Iw yl

For t h e s e the symb o l s u s ed are t ho s e norma l ly u s ed i n Thai for a short vowe l followed by I w y / .

As t h e s e s ymb ols are not entirely

299

URAK LAWOI '

consist ent a spe c imen i s given i n F i g .

4 of each combinati on whi c h has

b een recorded .

5.3

V OW E LS Not only are there fewer vowel phonemes in Urak Lawoi ' from what

o c c ur in st andard Thai , but s ome of t h e s e have rather different quali­ ties .

It i s l i k e ly t hat the s e differences are mor e in t h e dir e c t i on of

Pak Tai ( Sout hern Thai ) , but no s y s t emati c compari s on has been made . Especial ly

ar e / e / and / 0 / whi ch are o ft e n higher than cor-

r e s p onding Thai s ound s , and phoneti cal ly c lo s e r to t h e phoneme s / i u / than i s t h e c a s e wi th the Thai phonemes . The wri t i ng o f the vowe l s o f c o ur s e has t o c onform in important mea­ sure to the r e a c t i o n of Urak Lawoi ' s peakers to Thai orthography , as med iated t hrough their knowledge of Pak Tai , and therefore is not as straightf orward a c orr e s p o ndenc e to Urak Lawo i ' phonemes as would otherwi se be d e s irabl e . The ei ght Urak Lawo i ' vowe ls / i e e f

a

u 0 0 / a l l oc cur in open

main syllab l e s wit h a sound ana logous to that of the corresp onding Thai All these

long vowe l , but a l i t t l e short er , and in s ome c a s e s

vowels e x c e p t / f / a l s o o c cur i n c lo s ed s y l lab l e s , where their s ound t ends more in the di r e c t i on of the short Thai vowe ls .

In minor syl­

lab l e s al s o , t he Urak Lawo i ' vowel t e nds i n the dire c t i o n of t he short Thai vowe l , but not as mu c h as in c l o s ed s y l lab le s . Length i s not phonemi c i n Urak Lawo i ' s o that the form o f t h e Thai l ong vowe l could be u s ed in every c as e , except where it i s n e c e s s ary t o u s e the Thai s hort vow e l s y l la b le-finally t o indicate a f inal g lot t a l . I n view of the need t o u s e the form whi c h wi l l a s s i s t t h e Urak Lawoi ' p e o p l e to progr e s s t o reading Thai , it i s considered t hat t h e s hort Thai vowe l s should be used i n Urak Lawoi ' c lo s ed sy l lab le s . The repre s entat ion o f the trans it ion o c curring i n p r e - s y l lab l e s i s t reat ed in s e c t ion 5 . 3 . 3 . 5.3.1

Vowe l s i n o p e n syl l a b l es

I n Figur e 5 ( overleaf ) t h e Urak Lawoi ' vowels are l i s t ed a s they appear i n open

300

D . W. HOGAN

Phoneme

Orthography :!

! ? i n i I < 1.'1'11 >

' t hi s '

e

t -

I ? a y e l < iJ 1 L U >

' wa t er '

e

LL -

feel

< 1.1. '1 >

' gr a ndfa t he r '

I g +1

' i n t e rrog a t i v e '

+

:! iJ

a

- '1

I ra g a l < 'r '1 'ill 1 >

' b a s ke t '

u

�

I t u !) u l < t1 � >

' wa i t , w a t c h '

0

't -

I no r i l < 't 'W � >

' lorry '

::>

- iJ

I b ::> y a l

' b o a t ' s s t emp i e c e '

F ig . 5 .

5.3.2

Example

V o we l s

Urak Lawoi ' vowe ls in open syl lables

i n c l o s ed

syl l a bl e s

In Figur e 6 the Urak Lawo i ' vowe ls are shown a s t hey ap pear i n c l o s e d s y l l ab l e s .

There are s eparate c ol umns t o d i s t ingu i s h c l osed

s y l lable s endi ng wi t h a glottal from t ho s e endi ng with other co ns onant s , as there are differenc e s in the Thai s ymb o l s for syl lab l e s ending with a ( s ect ion 5 . 2 . 3 ) , Phoneme

Normal syllables

Orthography �

e

L

I b a j i ? 1 l e a p e ? 1 < 'l '1 L U ::: > I l a !) e ?1 < il 1 1.1. � ::: >

LL - ll

a

:1

I h i t ap l

u

I ka ? I

< n ::: >

I I +ku?1

-;-

' to ' 'hund:l'ed '

I r a t u s l < 'r 1 � '2I >

-;

'sky ' 'black '

< 11 il'U >

- :::

'crippled ' ' type of shark '

I b H e w l

!!:

L - :::

e

'other '

I ? a s i k l < iJ 1 0 n >

:.

Meaning

Syllables end ing with a glottal

'blister '

(before Ip t k m n !)! )

0

I h + l o t / < i5 l'l I1l > I p rocl

's tomach '

< t u W 'l >

I I I k o ? I < il\ t n ::: >

t - :::

I l i ko ? 1 < i !h n 1 ::: >

L - 1 :::

6.

'cover up ' 'doctor '

I b u m o l l < \j il tl tl >

!!: iJ

F ig .

'front '

(before Ie s h I w y/ )

't 2:

'bend, curve '

Urak Lawo i ' vowel s in c losed syllables

URAK LAWOI '

301

The envir onment al r e s t r i c t ions o f Fig . 6 are due t o normal Thai convent i ons . ' maytaykhuu '

In ac cordance with Thai pra c t i c e t he vowel short ening

< = > is u s e d wit h < t -

bb -

1-

- u > to s how t he vowels Ie

E

0

�I

i n c l o s ed sy llab l e s . 5.3.3

W r i t i n g o f p r e - sy l l a b l e s

The " vowe l " of a pre-syllab l e i s non-contras t ive , marking open trans i t ion ( s e c t ion 1 . 1 . 3 ) .

In the Thai wr it ing sys t em for Urak Lawo i '

it has been symb o l i s ed for conv eni enc e in a rough approximati on of i t s pronunc iation i n d i ffer ent environment s as d e s cribed ear lier : Pronunc iation

Orthography

zero

lui / II I t- I

:; =

I p ra h u l I h u wa c l I? lyal I S + n a l) l

o f s everal o t her language s .

For accurat e details c onsult t he

r e s p e ct ive chap t er s in each ca s e . Furthermore , t h i s l i s t i ng i s not ana ly t i c a l in any way .

The order

i s t hat o f t he Thai alphab e t , with modified s ymb o ls fit t e d i n aft er the symb o l s they mo st nearly r e s emb le .

No di s t in c t i o n of consonant clas s

i s made , nor are o ther c omp l i c ations i n t he Thai wri t ing for .

Such fac t or s are d e s cr i b ed in the r e sp e c t ive art i c l e s .

ac count ed Here we

are s imp ly comparing roughly how t h e Thai s ymb o l s are u s e d in t h e dif­ ferent language s . In a few cas e s the inf ormat i o n i s not c omp le t e .

Thi s i s p ar t i cularly

true in Tab le 4 , as s ome of the pap e r s do not list all o f t he consonant clusters whi c h o c cur .

Furthermo r e , in s ome extreme c a s e s t he i nforma­

t i on has not b e en l i s t ed b e c a u s e of t he d i sparit y b et we e n t he Thai s y s t em and t he way i t i s u s ed i n a par t icu lar language .

ThUS , f o r examp le , in

Lavila ' preglo t t al i s ed cons onan t s 1 1m 1 b/ , e t c . , are not li s t ed under the

303

304

W . A . SMALLEY

consonant c lu s t e r s b e c aus e they are repr e s ente d i n Lavua ' with a com­ bination of what is in Thai a consonant s ymb o l with a t one symbol . However , for anyone s t udying the u s e of Thai s cript for wri t i ng a numbe r of languages with vary ing p honemi c s t ructur e s , the t ab l e s are us eful in laying out the prob l ems in a comparat ive way .

For more t han

a general overview , t h e var ious chapters wi l l have t o b e consulted . Thai phonemic value s ar e given for compari so n .

Whe r e there i s a

blank in any co lumn i t means t ha t the parti cular Thai- b a s e d symbo l form d o e s not oc cur in that language ( or that informat i o n about it was not comp l ete in t h e chapter ) . than one Thai symbo l .

The s ame p honeme is oft en repres ent ed by more

Most frequ ent ly t h i s is due to the r equi rements

of the wri t i ng of t o ne , a s de s cr i b e d in App endix 2 and in the various chapt er s .

Sometimes it is b e c au s e Thai has mor e t han one symb o l for

the s ame value .

Sometime s it is b ec au s e the phoneme i s pronounc ed in

mor e than one way in the par t i cu lar language b e ing wri t t en , and t h e wr iting s y s t em reflect s the way i t i s pr onoun c e d i n dif ferent p o s i t i ons for reas ons of tran s fer value to Thai .

Symbol f1 !J 1'1 ':J1

Thai

No Khmer

Hmong Daw

Lisu

Akha

k kh kh kh

k

k

kh

kh kh qh

k kh kh

k k k

x

9

.

Phlong

Mien

Mal

Kuy

k kh kh

k kh kh

k

k k kh

x

9

kh

Lawa '

Urak Lawoi I

k

k

kh

kh

9

9

4

I)

I)

I)

I)

I)

I)

I)

I)

I)

I)

I)

..

c

c ch ch s

ty t hy t hy s j

c

c ch ch s �

c ch ch s

c

c

c

c

IiIl

c ch ch s ch y d t th th th

til

n

(;l

d t

s

d t th th th

'IJ 'U

tJ

�

!J ';I

� !;:l

� ..

C')

�

j

�

H CJ)

Hee pairs with

th

?d t th th

d t th th

d t t t

n

n

n

n

b

b

b

P

P

P

P

'11

Lee pairs with :i

dz ts

P

� '"d

d t th th

d t th th tsh

d t

d t

d t

th

d t t th

th

th

n

n

b

b

n

n

n

n

n

b

b

b

b

b

P

P

P

P

P

P

�

0 "'.1 0

� S

� ::d

H t;>;I CJ)

Tabte 1

-

continued overteaf

w 0 U1

Symbol

Thai

No. Khmer

Hmong Daw

Lisu

Akha

P

tl

ph

ph

ph

�

f

f

f

'Y'l

ph

ph

ph

f

f

ph

P

Phlong

Mien

ph

ph

f

f

ph

ph

f

f

Mal

Kuy

Lavua '

Urak Lawoi '

P ph

ph

ph

f

f

m

m

ph

v.J

f

11

ph

:IJ

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

!.l

y

Y

Y

zy

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

r

r

z

Y i

Y

'i'

r

r

r

'I

ry

fI

I

11

I y

'l

W

'"

S

'"

S

y

r

w 0 0'\

NOTES HC C p a i r s with

'Y'l

LCC

t.l

with

� �

> W

V

w

v

w

w

w

w

W

rn

� t"' ttl >-4

�

S

S

S

S

S

S

'VI

h

h

h

x

h

h

h

lit Ii)

I ?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

f)

h

h

h

h

x

h

h

Table 1 .

?

?

?

h

h

h

Syllable-initial s ingle consonant symbo l s

Symbol

Thai

n

k

No .

Khmer

Hmong Daw

Lisu

k/ ?

4

IJ

IJ

"I

t

c

IJ

Akha

Phlong

Mien

Mal

Kuy

9

k

k

IJ

Lavua '

Urak Lawai '

k

k

IJ

IJ

I)

I)

c

c

c

c

'l1

tl!

NOTES

nasali s a t i o n

5

n

n

n

n

n

r.; '"d

t

�

§

In

t

t

d

t

t

'W 't.i

n p

n

n

n

n

P m

P m

b m

P m

P m

y

y

y

y

y

y

For l a y a a y i a l s e e vowels

n n W

r

W

w

F or l a w l see vowe l s

'U j.J

u

� fl 'J

t

n

nasalis a t i o n

p

W

m

W

W h

a1

- '1 '1'1

�

aa1

- 'I

a +1

- "I

a+ am

am

� >

�

a.

7Q

-''1

0:>

ua

- iil U �

�

w 0

NOTES

Urak Lawoi '

ue

-ou

-

Lavua '

wa

U-

-.. 0

Akha

am

Tab�e 3

-

aontinued

Symbol e.

Thai i

(?)

No . Khmer

Hwong Daw

i (? )

Lisu

.j.

e. 'l :: :!

ii

:! :!

�D

;u -;- U ·

·

!

+(?) ++ ++ u (? ) uu

·

Mien

i (? )

�.

Mal

i (?)

Kuy

i (?)

Lawa '

i?

NOTES

Urak Lawoi '

I (?) S e e a l s o f inal

U

r (?) i i + (? ) ee

U

i +

·

ee e aay

T ,

T aa u (? ) uu u (? )

�

u

u

ii

i i

i i

+ (? ) ++ ++

+(?) ++ ++

+? ++

u (?)

u(7)

u? ui uu

ee e

+ u(?)

u ,

u

u

u

uu

uu

� '"d

¥-

§H � 0

+

z t%J

u (? )

C1

S e e als o f i na l

U

�

� H

CJ)

0

Z

0

u u

a

L -U L '"- U L -1 L -1 � L :1 L -D L �il L - 0 :::

Phlong

1 I

-

LL �-

Akha

e

e

,

e

I"%j

e

e ey

yyy ,

�.

ee

ee

0

e e

�

i:d 0 Q

!:: '"d

aay Ay

i:d

H

t%J CJ)

eo eo ?

ew

0 0 au

ee e ay

aa

yy

a

e

a

aa

a?

y?

.'f.

e

a?

a?

aa A A?

a a? TabZe 3

-

aontinued overZeaf

w 0 \.0

Symbol

Thai

No . Khmer

Hmong Daw

Lisu

Akha

Phlong

Mien

Mal

Kuy

1 -5

ef? ef e?

I - ::l

1 - :::

e?

e?

aw

aw

o?

o? a.? yy

�

e

I � :::

1 -1

aw

1 =1 1 - 1 :::

1 :- 1 ::: I �

e(e)

�

0

e? af? au au? o?

e?

e?

ew o?

e

ia

ia

i a?

ya i a?

fa

ya ? ++

I :!. U �

�

I :! U :::

ia

i e/ i £ / ie

o?

o?

o?

e(e)

ee

ei?

ia

u=II - U

ia

ei ia

ia?

ia?

fa

££ £

££ £ li ll y

re

re ,

£

£

££ £

££ £ li ll y

fa fa ? ££

U - 1 :::

o?

Ul

� I:'"' t>l 0
'I

"I

tl

i1

k �

? Fl

'JJ

I)

Y

Non-basic consonant symbo l s .

The s e ar e the symb o l s

who s e reali s at ions are the s ame as the bas i c one s , but whi c h a r e u s ed t o transliterate b orrowed words .

329

330

W.A.

ev

!:=:

eV?

!:=:

Other e v e

SMALLEY

ii

+

++

::!

u

uu

!!

!!! o

-

.

-

::!

..

--

d

e

ee

ev

t -"

,

ev?

b -"

e

-

Other e v e

ev

t

-0

t

- t!

--

.-

ee

0 i - ::

t - t!

t :! -

, --

e

ee

a

aa

IJ, - "

tb -

-"

- '1

ev * * eV?

IJ, - "

evw

u. :: 1

00 t-

t - o ::

evy

�

';'

--*

t !:=: -

t --

0

00

- i)

- / - ::

- to

Ib - 1

eVy eVm

tt ::3.1

tb -3.I

Other e v e

tt :: -

bt - -

t

- '1 ::

b - '1

- '1 1

1 /'1

- '1 t!

- o t!

-' '1

- '13.1

- i) 3.I

-1-

- i) -

�

ia

+a

ua

t :! tI

t :! i)

.:/1

ev?

b :! tI ::

t :! oj z

�1

Other e v e

, ::! tI -

t :! i) -

-1-

ev

Chart 8 .

Regular vowel symbol s .

When a Thai symb ol is

p la c e d b etwe e n t he long a nd s hort vow e l columns this indi c a t e s t hat the c o ntrast i s not repres e nt ed i n the wr iting s y s t e m .

�

Us ually t h e longer form i s the mor e

frequent , at least i n c i tation forms . - indi cat e s the p o s i ti on of consonant s ymb o l s . -- indi c at e s t hat the comb inat ion d o e s not o c c ur . * / 0 / in syl lab l e medial p o s i t i o n has no s ymb o l b ut

i s rec ogni s ed by t h e ab s ence of a s ymbo l . * * Unst r e s sed / a / i n t he

s yllab i c word may have no symb o l .

of a mult i -

331

APPENDIX TWO : OUTLINE OF THE THAI WRITING SYSTEM

No tone diacritic Mee eV ( V l L

mid

eV ( V l D

(' )

Re c eV { V ) L

v

eV ( V l D

(' )

eV { V l L

mid

eV { D l

(,)

A

Lee

eVVD

Chart 9 .

Tone reading char t .

Tone phoneme s to be read with

var i ous c ombi nat ions of syllable typ e s , c ons onant c la s s , and tone diacriti c .

L

=

" l iv e " and D

=

" d ead " .

For the way the

s y s t em wor k s s e e t h e di s c u s s i on ear li er in this Appendix .

( ) enc l o s ing a tone mark r efers t o t h e fact that in many co ntext s t h e di s t i n c t i ve tone is l o s t , b e coming an und i f­ ferentiated tone ap prox imat ely t h e same as mid tone .

Mid

eV { V l L

M

Low

M

H/ VIL

ii / VI I.

.

�

H / VIL

eV eDl

Chart 10 .

M

M

�

H / vr L �

-

L/L M

M

M

(H)

H / vrL

H

Tone wri t ing chart .

H / vrL

L (M) (L )

M

L

L

M

•

L

L

Consonant c l a s s and t o ne

di acri t i c t o b e s e l e c t e d for various t o ne s in re lat i on t o I t ems i n ( ) are for neutral i s ed unsyl lable structur e . str e s s ed s y llab le s .

RisirI{J

�

•

M

High

M

M

L eVVD

FaUirI{J

M

RE F E REN CE S

R E F ER ENC ES

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V� ent�an e New¢

( May

28 ) ,