Ling Field Methods, ALP @ AGS, 10Nov08-09Jan09 Friday, 20 November 2008 Researcher: Liza Guts LRP: Cin Khan

Vum (Vumpi) NOTES ON PHONOLOGY OF TEDIM LANGUAGE OF MYANMAR 1. Introduction The current study of Tedim language is done as an example of linguistic analysis of an unknown language. It is known that Tedim has a long established literary tradition, but for the current analysis only the data collected from the Language Resource Pesron will be used. All major conclusion and assumption will be made based on the analysis of this data.
According to the Phonetic website1, Tedim language has the following in its sound system:

26 segments Its Frequency index is The language has these sounds:

0.453692649 (average percentage of segments; 0.1: many very rare segments; 0.39: average; 0.7: many common segments) i E a u O p ph v m b t d th s z ts n l l* k g x N ? h w*

2. Chart of Phonemes proposed for Tedim language a) Consonant system The following Consonant phonemes have been identified in Tedim language, based on the available language data.
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal

p
Plosive

t ts t

k G k x

Nasal Fricative Approximant Lateral approximant

m v s

n z j l

h w

Chart 1 Suggested Consonant Phonemes of Tedim language

http://web.phonetik.uni-frankfurt.de/L/L2513.html, visited on November 10, 2008

b) Vowel system The following Consonant phonemes have been suggested in Tedim language, based on the available language data.
Front Close Mid Back

i i a

u u

Open-mid

a Chart 2 Suggested Vowel phonemes of Tedim language 3. Defining Phonemes One of the best ways to determine which phones of the language are significant phonemes of the language is to contrast similar phones that potentially can be allophones of the same phonemes. Contrast shown in identical or analogous environment can reveal such a difference. Time and data limitations did not allow us to do full analysis of phonemes. The following section demonstrates the pairs of phonemes that we were able to analyze so far. More data and further analysis is needed to demonstrate contrast between other similar phonemes. a) None of the minimal pairs of Consonants have been elicited from our LRP yet, due to the time constrains. The above proposed phoneme chart shows the consonants likely to be phonemes in Tedim, based on our background knowledge of Chin languages. Given more time for data elicitation and analysis, the following Consonant phones will need to be contrasted in identical or analogous environment, as shown in chart 3

Open

Bilabial

Labiodental

Alveolar

Retroflex

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

P
Plosive

t ts t

k k

Nasal Fricative Approximant Lateral approximant

m v s

n z j l x

h w

Chart 3 Similar Consonant phones of Tedim language b) The following minimal and near-minimal pairs of Vowels demonstrate the contrast between similar phones of the language and prove them to be separate phonemes / a / and /u/ are separate phonemes, as shown in the following near-minimal pair 1) [t a] n 2) [t a] n? children forgiveness

Given more time for data elicitation and analysis, the following Vowel phones will need to be contrasted in identical or analogous environment, as shown in chart 4
Front Close Mid Back

i i a

u u

Open-mid

a Chart 4 Similar Vowel phones of Tedim language 4. Syllable Structure The following syllable patterns have been identified in the available data, organized according to the frequency of their occurrence:

Open

1) CV, as shown in the following examples: [pa] [wi] [vasa] CV CV v n boil tin bird

CV/CV n

2) CVC, as shown in the following examples: [hik] [bahu] [ba] CVC CVC CVC/CVC n louse what when

3) V, as shown in the following examples: [aa] [nou] V/CVC CV/V pron other you (ambiguous data)

4) CCV, as demonstrated in the examples below: [hja] CCV CVCC/CV n that root [sigwi]

A number of ambiguous syllable patterns involve the interpretation of semi-vowels [w] and [j]. More data and in-depth analysis is needed to conclude the ways of interpreting those. The list of examples includes some of the ambiguous syllable patterns: CV/CVV or CV/CVC not [hihou] [au] CVV or CVC CVV or CVC CCV or CVV fat rope bamboo [kau]

[gwa]

5. Tone/Stress So far, 5 different tones have been identified in Tedim, namely: High () Mid () Low () Rising () Falling ()

The following minimal pairs have been elicited to support the assumption of significance of the tones in Tedim language. Rising, falling, and mid tones are different tonemes, as shown in the example below: 3) [pa] n 4) [pa] n 5) [pa] n 6) [wi] n 7) [wi] v father male tin dog boil

Rising and mid tones contrast in identical environment, as shown below 8) [sa] n 9) [sa] adj 10) [si] 11) [si] 12) [a] 13) [a] n 6. A Note on Orthography Tedim language has established written tradition. Roman scrip is used to write the language. n adj? meat hot blood dead other closed, drawer

References
1. http://www.myanmarbible.com/bible/Tedim/html/index.html, accessed on November 10, 2008 2. http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/ls/lang?id=318 , accessed on November 14, 2008 3. http://web.phonetik.uni-frankfurt.de/L/L2513.html, visited on November 10, 2008

Appendix 1
a) Consonant Phones used to describe the sound system of Tedim:
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal

p
Plosive

t ts t t t

k g k g k g

Nasal Fricative Approximant Lateral approximant

m v s

n z j l x

h w

a) Vowel Phones used to describe the sound system of Tedim:

Front Close Mid Back

i i e a a

u u o

Close-mid

Open-mid

Open

a a