91泡芙

Title

Predictability of vowel retraction in Secwepemcts铆n local retraction contexts

Date and time

1:00pm to 4:00pm on November 25, 2024

Location

RCB 6152, Burnaby campus

Zoom link

Please request the link from the Graduate Program Secretary.

Abstract

Secwepemcts铆n (Shuswap) retracted vowels surface in a variety of contexts, some of which are predictable based on previously documented harmony processes, and some which are less predictable. Prior analyses disagree on the underlying status of retracted vowels, with one account arguing that they are underlyingly present (Kuipers 1974), and another account arguing that retracted vowels are fully predictable through derived harmony processes鈥攊ncluding a harmony process with a floating feature trigger鈥攁nd thus, retracted vowels are not underlyingly present (Bessell 1992). Additionally, the phonological status of local retraction is unclear, as it could be attributed to either harmony or coarticulation. This thesis examines the predictability of vowel retraction in local retraction contexts with the goal of determining the phonological status of both the local harmony process and of retracted vowels themselves. Novel data is presented in which vowels in local harmony contexts whose underlying retraction contrast is neutralized are deneutralized using infixing reduplication to either insert or remove a segmental retraction trigger. Vowel realization in neutralized鈥揹eneutralized paradigms are then compared to determine whether retraction is predictable. Findings demonstrate that Secwepemcts铆n local retraction is harmonic, and should be divided into two separate harmony processes on the basis of cyclicity and directionality: (1) bidirectional retraction harmony with pharyngeal triggers, and (2) regressive retraction harmony with uvular triggers. Findings also indicate that there are differences between dialects in which vowels are targeted for local pharyngeal and local uvular harmony. Surface vowel retraction is not predictable in some deneutralized contexts, however, interspeaker variation in vowel realization necessitates further research to determine the underlying status of retracted vowels.

Exam Committee

Marianne Ignace, Supervisor and Distinguished SFU Professor
John Alderete, Committee Member and SFU Professor
Ewa Czaykowska-Higgens, External Examiner and UVIC Professor
Henny Yeung, Graduate Program Chair