Nahuatl Digest, Vol 39, Issue 5

[magnus hansen]

Many modern dialects turn /n/ into /h/ wordfinally especially after /i/.
This has to count as a kind of devoicing.
magnus


>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Campbell, R Joe" <campbel at indiana.edu>
> To: Doug Barr <lingoman at mac.com>
> Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:04:09 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Nahuat-l] Pronunciation Questions
> Doug,
>
>   Put me down as one of the people on Nahuat-l who appreciates your
> questions and, who (I hope) has gained from your encouraging us to
> probe what we know and what we don't know.
>   Andrews' statement (p. 36) that /m/ becomes [n] (and *voiceless*)
> when "left exposed" at the end of a syllable or vocable is obviously at
> least partially correct.  Although /m/ and /n/ contrast before a vowel
> in the same word, they neutralize 1) in word final position (resulting
> in [n]) or 2) before a consonant:
>
>  1
>    tlami             it ends up
>   otlan              it ended up
>
>  2
>    tzontecomatl      head
>    tzonteconcocolli  headache
>
>   The "partially" refers to his claim that the [n] is voiceless.  He
> gives no reason that devoicing occurs, nor does he cite a source.  This
> isn't fatal, since he frequently makes claims about Nahuatl without the
> kind of evidence which most late 20th century linguists feel compelled
> to -- and then if one examines relevant data, he finds that the support
> is there for Andrews' claim!
>   However, I have searched and reflected at length and I have found no
> basis for this "devoicing" claim.  Further, I have difficulty in
> imagining it to be true. Now, while this may be due more to the limits
> on my imagination than to the facts of Nahuatl pronunciation, I doubt
> it.  Also, I know that we are discussing "classical" Nahuatl, but I
> believe that modern dialects are helpful in inferring what the older
> stages of the language were like.  And in spite of having familiarity
> with a number of modern dialects, I have never heard a final voiceless
> nasal.  (I have to concede that if they existed, they would be
> relatively hard to heard, but I *listen*!!)
>
>
> > 1. He talks about 'n' and 'w' becoming unvoiced at the end of
> > syllables, but not about 'l'. I've seen elsewhere (on the Net) a
> > statement that 'l' also becomes devoiced, which I gather would sound
> > like the release of 'tl,' i.e. an unvoiced lateral fricative. Is this
> > common? And I assume 'm' at the end of syllables in words like
> > *ipampa* would do the same?
>
> Iztayohmeh,
>
> Joe
>
>
>
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