2. Phonetics and phonology

2.1 Segmental phonetics and phonemes

The consonant phonemes of Yawarana are shown in Table 2.1, vowel phonemes in Table 2.2.

2.1.1 Consonants

❕

2.1.1.1 /h/

• glottal fricative insertion after diphthongs
• glottal fricative insertion before occlusives
  • a Venezuelan trait?

2.1.2 Vowels

❕

• what about vowel length?
• variation between ë/o/e and ï/i/u
• dipththongs
  • /ai/, /aw/, /ei/... test combinations ❔

2.2 Morphophonological Processes

2.2.1 Syllable Reduction

2.2.1.1 Types

• V₁rV₂ to V₁ː
• nasal assimilation
• reduction to /j/ ❔

2.2.1.2 Contexts

• postpositions
• verbal suffixes
• non-alternating reduced syllables, e.g. wajto
• comparative note: no final nominal reduction

2.2.2 Vowel harmony

• progressive: -ru
• regressive: /ë/ > /o/ (e.g. o-)

2.2.3 Palatalization

• -chaj
• -che; -che
• -charë
  • not consistent

1. irë nwa chipëkë usamori uyïpï incharë

   irë irë 3ana.inan

   nwa nwa thus

   chipëkë chipëkë because

   u =samori u =samo -ri 1=cry-ipfv

   u =yïpï u =yïpï -∅ 1=mountain-pert

   incharë in -charë see-imn

   ‘That's why I'm crying seeing my hills.’ ()

2.3 Prosody

2.3.1 Lexical stress

2.3.2 Intonational Phrases

❔

2.3.3 Intonational Melodies

2.4 Historical Considerations