Some Phonological Constraints in Tagalog



Some Phonological Constraints in Tagalog

Lorraine Joy Lavaro

Dept. of Linguistics

UP Diliman

09065052570

jaslavraine@

Abstract

This paper discusses three (3) sound patterns observed in the Tagalog language. These are:    a) the prohibition of the occurrence of glottal sounds [(] and [h] in non-final coda position;   b) overwhelming bias for the [u] and [o] sequence, and c) metathesis phenomena.   These patterns are accounted for by the following interacting factors:   a) the sonority hierarchy, where phonemes that are less sonorous always come first before the more sonorous sounds; b) diminished perceptual salience which motivates improvement of the acoustic and auditory cues in identifying the sound or sound sequence; and c) speaker’s knowledge of the language and usage, where the preference is on more practiced articulatory routines.   The phonetic and written data for this study was taken from surveys, personal interviews, and examples from earlier studies.   Phonetic data analysis was undertaken through PRAAT and Speech Analyzer programs.

1. Introduction

1.1 Rationale

Since the Spanish period, descriptions of Tagalog have been made and rules have been constructed to account for its linguistic structures. Along with this, changes more notably loan words have been added in the language making some of the rules no longer applicable.

1.2 Methods

The researcher conducted personal interviews and surveys wherein words having the phonemes in question were articulated by the speakers. A total of twenty respondents joined the interview while fifty cooperated in the survey. They are of varying ages and are fluent in speaking Tagalog- Metro Manila. These words were analyzed through PRAAT and Speech Analyzer programs.

The words used were taken from McFarland’s Frequency Count of Filipino. Earlier studies and papers were also consulted as a support to this study.

1.3 Objective, scope and limitation

Three of the constraints that have long been discussed in earlier works will be taken up in this paper, namely: a) the prohibition of the occurrence of glottal sounds [(] and [h] in non-final coda position;   b) overwhelming bias for the [u] and [o] sequence, and c) metathesis phenomena This study aims to come out with a unified explanation of these constraints.

1.4 Review of Related Literature

This section will discuss previous works done on the issues being raised in this paper.

a. U and O sequence

Harrison [3] and Zuraw [7] have observed that whenever the sounds “o” and “u” occur in a word, the preferred pattern seem to be [u] and [o], and not [o] and [u]. This is exemplified by the words: [b(.to] `bone’ and [((.lo] ‘head’. The preferred pattern therefore is for rising sonority ant not for lowering sonority [3]. Rarely do we find words with an “o” then a “u” sequence, like in the word “bonus”.

b. Syllable restriction on glottal sounds

Schachter and Otanes [6] and then French [2] proposed a normal and equal distribution for the two glottal sounds in Tagalog, namely [(] and [h]. The two said that their distribution showed these two sounds not occurring at the end of a non-final syllable but that they can occur in word final position. She argued that that words which seem to end with vowels actually have an [h] in word-final position.

Ex. [(anyayah] ‘invite’

[kantah] ‘song’

This last observation may have been derived from Lope K. Santos who expressed affirmation on the occurrence of word-final h [1].

“Ang mga salitang malumay at mabilis, kung nagtatapos ng patinig ay madaling makilala dahil sa pagbigkas dito nang may-kasariwaan at luwag sa lalamunan, na anaki baga’y naaanghangan nang bahagya sa lalamunan ang bumibigkas...”

c. Metathesis phenomenon

In the Balarila, Lope K. Santos [1] described the alternation of phonemes as motivated by ease of articulation. Examples of metathesis phenomenon are: [kan. lu.ran] whose full form is [ka- lunod –an]. Here the “o” gets dropped and “d” becomes “r” before “n” and “l” switch places. The pattern seems to be “n” first before “l”, and not “l” first before “n”

2. Discussion

The overwhelming bias for the [u]-[o] sequence, restriction of [h] and [(] and metathesis phenomena have been treated separately in earlier works. This paper will attempt venture a unified explanation of the same.

2.1 Sonority Hierarchy

The Sonority hierarchy is the ranking of sounds based on their resonance.

Plosives: p, b, d, k, t, g, (

Fricatives: s, h

Nasals: m, n, ng

Liquids: l, r,

Semi vowels: w, y

High vowels: i, u

Low vowels: e, o, a

Plosives are the least sonorant sounds followed by fricatives, nasal, liquids and semi vowels, respectively. Low vowels on the other hand tend to be more sonorous than high vowels.

Philippine languages were observed to exhibit rising sonority [3]. This means that phonemes that are less sonorous tend to appear after the more sonorous sounds.

i. [u] and [o] sequence

The sequence u and o is the preferred series in native Tagalog words; having u in the non-final syllables and o in the final syllables. Since the language observes a rising sonority, the high vowel u, which is less sonorous than the low vowel o always appear first. However, when a suffix is added to the base having o in the final syllable, articulation is lowered and consequently the o turns into a u because it is no longer in the final syllable [7].

tulog + an ( tulugan

busog + in ( busugin

hulog + an ( hulugan

durog + in ( durugin

Since the case for [u] and [o] might not be effectively studied through spelling, PRAAT and Speech Analyzer programs were used to measure these phonemes and differentiated through Minitab15. The following words were uttered by twenty respondents and were run through the said programs.

Table 1. u-o sequence in lone words

| |F1 p-value |F2 p-value |

| |(probable |(probable |

| |value) |value) |

|durog |.000 |.000 |

|dinurog |.001 |.774 |

|durugin |.579 |.000 |

|durug-durog |.017 |.314 |

The table above shows the difference between the F1 and F2 of the vowels u and o. The F1 and F2 refers to the highness or lowness and frontness or backness of vowels. In the Minitab15 program, when the p-value is equal or less than 0.05, the values will be insignificant which will mean that the values compared are the same. Notice that accounts for o in final syllable make a significant difference with u which is seen in the non-final syllable. This means that there is a direct difference between u and o. On the contrary, there is no direct contrast between the u and o in suffixed and reduplicated words.

As expected, when u-o sequenced words were added with suffixes, they will exhibit insignificant values which mean that both sounds might be the same. On the other hand, when these words lose their suffixes and are alone, they exhibit significant difference which means that they are different vowels. However, when these words are within a sentence or phrase, they will show same results as with words with suffixes.

Table 2. u-o sequence in words within a phrase

| |F1 p-value (probable|F2 p-value (probable|

| |value) |value) |

|durog na |.778 |.003 |

|dinurog niya |.936 |.052 |

|tulog na |.080 |.004 |

|tinulog na lang niya |.805 |.053 |

Although this alternation occurs in Tagalog, conventional spelling does not show this change [6].

ii. Metathesis

As defined by Hume, metathesis is the change of ordering of sounds under certain conditions wherein the expected sequence of sounds is altered or reversed.

Following the sonority hierarchy, Tagalog shows a lower to higher order of articulation of the back vowels. The back vowel with lower sonority always comes first before the more sonorous sound vowel. Falling sonority is dispreferred in the language, and metathesis is one way of repairing the sequence by creating a series that is more acceptable in Tagalog.

li.naw + in ( ni.li.naw (sonority hierarchy + metathesis) ( ni.li.naw

re.to.ke + in ( ri.ne.to.ke (sonority hierarchy + metathesis) ( ni.re.to.ke

ya.kap +in ( yi.na.kap (sonority hierarchy +metathesis) ( ni.ya.kap

(i. (a.lay + in ( (i. (i.na.lay (sonority hierarchy + metathesis) ( (i.ni. (a.lay

2.2 Diminished Perceptual Salience

In identifying a speech sound, the presence of phonetic cues is important. When the cue is in a position that is better recognized, the speaker can easily identify it[4]. However, there are certain instances when these cues are not easily identified by the speaker.

i. Word- final restriction for [h]

In the inventory of Tagalog consonants, two glottal sounds are attested [(] and [h]; the former is the voiceless glottal stop while the latter is the voiceless glottal fricative. Although [(] is not represented in conventional spelling, both phonemes can be found in the beginning and middle position of words.

aso [ˈ(aː.so] ‘dog’ saan [sa. (an] ‘where’

ilaw [ˈ(ɪː.law] ‘light’ buod [b(. (od] ‘summary’

hipon [ˈhɪː.pon] ‘shrimp’ baha [ba.ˈha(] ‘flood’

hangin [ˈhaː.ŋɪn] ‘wind’ liham [ˈlɪː.ham] ‘letter (mail)’

While the Balarila claims that there is an [h] in word-final position, the phonetic data reveals otherwise.

Since word-initial and word-final h is established in the language, the Speech Analyzer 3.0 and Praat programs were used to clearly illustrate the acoustic features shown by the thickness of the bands in the spectrogram and the level of dynamic movement in the raw waveforms for the segment comprising [h].

[pic]Figure 1. [ˈhaː.baʔ] ‘length’

As shown in Figure 1, h is still noticeable despite its minimal prominence.

[pic]

Figure 2. [ba.ˈhaʔ] ‘flood’

In word-medial position, h is more obvious and prominent as shown above.

[pic]

Figure 3. ['ʔa.ga] ‘early’

Notice that h is not prominent and indistinguishable in the spectrogram in word-final position. This is not the case with the spectrograms for the h in word-initial and word-medial position. The French’s[2] and Santos’[1] claim for the existence of h in the final position is therefore contradicted by the evidence as the data shows that there is no acoustic phonetic reality for h in word-final position.

The explanation for this is because having [h] in word-final position makes this phoneme unidentifiable by the speaker. Having [h] in word-initial and word-medial position increases its perceptual salience as shown by more prominent and distinguishable bands in the spectrogram.

ii. Adjacent sound restriction

When two sounds that are acoustically and auditorily similar are adjacent, the possibility for confusing one for the other also rises.. This is because sounds with these similarities will have the effect of diminishing the degree of distinctiveness (salience) of the sounds, thus making them and their order less easily identifiable [4].

Tagalog abhors two adjacent glottals and therefore disallows the asterisked forms below.

(iasa + -in- ( *(i. (i.na.sa > (i.ni. (a.sa

(iulat + -in- ( *(i. (i.nu.lat > (i.ni. (u.lat

(ihain + -in- ( *(i.hi.na.in > (i.ni.ha.in

Apparently, metathesis cures the indistinguishability of neighboring glottals and improves the series of sounds in terms of identifiability.

2.3 Indeterminacy and Attestation

Indeterminacy of order refers to a state wherein there is insufficient information concerning the arrangement of the elements involved. When a listener is faced with indeterminacy, he/she will choose a sequence that is attested in the language. This is a function of two factors; (a) the nature of the sounds involved and (b) the influence of existing patterns in the language [4].

i. Nature of the sounds involved

As mentioned earlier, loan words have introduced patterns which are not attested in the language. For instance, words beginning in r are extremely rare in the native vocabulary. The language allows these loans words beginning with r to be expressed in their unaltered state. When these words undergo the affixation process, they are however subjected to the same distribution rules governing native words.. This is illustrated in the following examples:

li.naw + in ( ni.li.naw (sonority hierarchy + metathesis) ( ni.li.naw

re.to.ke + in ( ri.ne.to.ke (sonority hierarchy + metathesis) ( ni.re.to.ke

ya.kap +in ( yi.na.kap (sonority hierarchy +metathesis) ( ni.ya.kap

(i.(a.lay + in ( (i.(i.na.lay (sonority hierarchy + metathesis) ( (i.ni. (a.lay

It has been shown that cross-linguistically metathesis phenomena usually involve the same sounds like glottals (h, (), liquids (l, r) and glides (w, y). Hume attributes this to their relatively long duration or ‘stretched out’ features. While these sounds were likely to extend over an area which may include neighboring sounds, their stretched out feature might overlap with other important phonetic cues [4]. When sounds with potentially weak phonetic cues appear in a context where they might be coincided, metathesis will take place positioning them in a place where they can be more resonant.

ii. Influence of the existing patterns in the language

Indeterminacy makes the speaker rely on language experience to analyze the signal. He/she will make use of his/her knowledge of native-language patterns to simplify the identification of the order of sounds. When the ordering is not attested in the existing pattern in the language, the speaker will favor the one that is consistent with the pattern.

The overwhelming bias for the preference of u-o sequence reveals that this is the attested sequence in Tagalog. Although loan words have introduced sequences for the o-u series, speakers still prefer the sequence that is consistent to the existing language patterns.

Since two adjacent glottals are not consistent with the patterns in Tagalog, the speaker will break this to create a sequence that is attested in the language, this will be done through metathesis. This will enable the speaker to replace the uncommon structure with common ones.

6. Summary and Conclusion

The case of the u-o sequence, , restriction of [h] and [(] and metathesis phenomena can be explained through sonority hierarchy, diminished perceptual salience and indeterminacy and attestation.

Tagalog follows a lower to higher sonority which means that less sonorous sounds always appear first before the more sonorous sounds. This could explain why the u-o sequence is preferred in the language since [u] is less sonorous than the vowel [o]. Metathesis is one way of repairing a series which exhibits a falling sonority.

A phonetic cue that is in a position that is unidentifiable by the speaker will be unrecognizable. Since [h] in the final position shows no acoustic phonetic reality, placing it in the word-final position will make it unidentifiable. On the other hand, when two acoustically and auditorily similar sounds are adjacent, they will be subject to confusion. Two adjacent glottals are similar and will be unrecognizable. Metathesis will break the series to create a sequence that is more preferable in the language.

When a speaker is faced with indeterminacy, he/she will tend to break the sequence and choose the series that is attested in his/her language. This is a function of (a) nature of the sounds involved and (b) influence of the existing patterns in the language.

7. References

[1] 1944 Balarila ng Wikang Pambansa. Kawanihan ng Palimbagan

[2] French, K. 1988. Insights to Tagalog: reduplication, infixation, and stress from nonlinear phonology. Arlington: SIL and University of Texas at Arlington.

[3] Harrison, K. David, Katharine Merow and Rachel Shorey. 2006. Sonority contour preferences in Philippine languages. Tenth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, 17-20 January 2006.

[4] Hume, Elizabeth. Language Vol.80, Number2: The Indeterminacy/ Attestation model of Metathesis. 2004

[5] MacFarland, Curtis D. 1989 A Frequency Count of Filipino: Linguistic Society of the Philippines

[6] Schachter, P. and Otanes, F. 1972. Tagalog Reference Grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.

[7] Zuraw, Kie. Proceedings from the Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society Vol.43, Number 2: Frequency Influences on rule application within and across words. 2007.

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