Last Updated: 2019-12-05
SLIGHTLY COMPROMISED: some ambiguity pertaining to whether a digraph represents one phoneme or two depending on syllable structure
Background
Language Family: Tacanan / Araona-Tacana / Cavinena-Tacana / Cavinena
- Cavineña is spoken Bolivia.
Phonology
Consonants
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Place of Articulation
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Manner of Articulation
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Labial
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Alveolar
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Alveopalatal
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Palatal
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Velar
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Glottal
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Stops
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p b
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t d
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c ɟ
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k kʷ
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Affricates
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ts
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tɕ
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Fricatives
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s
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ɕ
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|
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h
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Nasals
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m
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n
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ɲ
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|
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Flaps
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ɺ
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Approximants
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w
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|
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j ʎ
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Note: For phonemes that share a cell, those on the left are voiceless and those on the right are voiced. Both velar stops are voiceless, but the one on the right is labialized. Both palatal approximants are voiced, but the one on the right is lateral.
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Vowels
- Although like-vowel sequences occur in Cavineña, vowel length is not considered to be contrastive (Guillaume 2008, 28, 34; Key 1968 as cited in Hayes (1994), p. 202).
- Rather, adjacent vowels are interpreted as being part of distinct syllables (Guillaume 2008, 35–36).
- /e/ and /u/ are sometimes realized as [ɛ] and [ʊ], respectively (Guillaume 2008, 29).
- Cavineña is said to have a pitch-accent system (high and mid) (Guillaume 2008, 42); however, it’s not contrastive. Thus, accented vowels, denoting pitch accent, will be transcribed to their plain counterparts.
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Front
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Central
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Back
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High
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i
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u
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Mid
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e
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Low
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a
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Alphabet
- There seem to be four different writing systems laid out by Guillaume (2008) (p. 48).
- Crúbadán appears to follow Camp and Liccardi (1989; as cited in Guillaume 2008, 47–48), so I have based my transcription on that source.
- /l/ is said to appear only in Spanish loanwords (Guillaume 2008, 47).
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Grapheme
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Phoneme
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a
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/a/
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b
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/b/
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c
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/k/
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d
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/d/
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e
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/e/
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i
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/i/
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j
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/h/
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m
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/m/
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n
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/n/
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ñ
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/ɲ/
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p
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/p/
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r
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/ɺ/
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s
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/s/
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t
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/t/
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u
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/u/
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y
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/j/
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Digraph
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cu
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/kʷ/
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ch
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/tɕ/
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dy
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/ɟ/
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ll
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/ʎ/
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sh
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/ɕ/
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ts
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/ts/
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ty
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/c/
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hu
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/w/
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qu
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/k/
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Syllable Structure
- Syllables in Cavineña follow the order of (C)V (Guillaume 2008, 30).
- Guillaume (2008) explains that this isn’t problematic in terms of the complex consonants as they ALWAYS fall within a single syllable (Guillaume 2008, 36). However, Camp and Liccardi (1989) explain that this is problematic (for the ⟨cu⟩ digraph at least) (p. xi). Depending on the syllable structure, it is said to be realized as either a complex consonant (/kʷ/) or a sequence of phonemes (/ku/). Thus, the language may be compromised to some extent.
Misc. Rules
- /w/ becomes [β] preceding front vowels (Guillaume 2008, 47).
- A glottal stop is sometimes epenthesized between vowels (Guillaume 2008, 47).
- With the exception of the fortition process with /w/ becoming [β], Guillaume (2008) explains that phonological processes are virtually obsolete within the language, hence the lack of lenition rules (p. 24).
References
Camp, Elizabeth L., and Millicent R. Liccardi. 1989. Diccionario Cavineña-Castellano, Castellano-Cavineña, Con Bosquejo de La Gramática Cavineña. Dallas: SIL.
Key, Mary R. 1968. Comparative Tacanan Phonology. The Hague: Mouton.