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The status of sibilant harmony in Diné Bizaad (Navajo)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 October 2021
Abstract
This article presentsan acoustic phonetic study of contemporary Diné Bizaad (Navajo) sibilant harmony, with a focus on the realization of /s/ and /ʃ/ in two verbal prefixes and one nominal prefix. Data come from wordlists and connected speech recorded in interviews with 50 Diné Bizaad–English bilinguals, aged 18–75 years. The frequency of harmony in each prefix is calculated for speakers of different ages, then acoustic measurements of spectral center of gravity are measured and statistically compared to those in sibilants occurring in harmony-triggering and non-harmony triggering conditions. Results show no significant intergenerational differences in the phonetic or phonological realization of sibilant harmony; speakers consistently and categorically harmonize the two verbal prefixes analyzed here, but rarely harmonize the nominal prefix. This study contributes new phonetic documentation of a typologically rare phonological process and suggests that, in contrast to findings from other studies on endangered languages, sibilant harmony is not undergoing attrition or contact-induced change.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Journal of the International Phonetic Association , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , August 2023 , pp. 404 - 422
- Copyright
- © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International Phonetic Association
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Palakurthy supplementary material
Palakurthy supplementary material
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