Keresan has between 42 and 45 consonant sounds, and around 40 vowel sounds, adding up to a total of about 95 phonemes, depending on the analysis and the language variety. Based on the classification in the World Atlas of Language Structures, Keres is a language with a large consonant inventory.
The great number of consonants relates to the three-way distinction between voiceless, aspirated and ejective consonants (e.g. /t tʰ tʼ/), and to the larger than average number of fricatives (i.e. /s sʼ ʂ ʂʼ ʃ ʃʼ h/) and affricates, the latter also showing the three-way distinction found in stops.
The large number of vowels derives from a distinction made between long and short vowels (e.g. /e eː/), as well as from the presence of tones and voicelessness. Thus, a single vowel quality may occur with seven distinct realizations: / é è e̥ éː èː êː ěː /, all of which are used to distinguish words in the language.
Consonants[]
The chart below contains the consonants of the proto-Keresan (or pre-Keresan) from Miller & Davis (1963) based on a comparison of Acoma, Santa Ana, and Santo Domingo, as well as other features of the dialects combined from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964), Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987), and The Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and the Grammar of Laguna Keres (2005).
Labial Alveolar Palatal Retroflex Postalveolar Velar Glottal Plosive voiceless p t c k ʔ aspirated pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ palatalized tʲ, tʲʰ, tʼʲ ejective pʼ tʼ cʼ kʼ Fricative voiceless s ʂ ʃ h ejective sʼ ʂʼ ʃʼ Affricate voiceless ts tʂ tʃ aspirated tsʰ tʂʰ tʃʰ ejective tsʼ tʂʼ tʃʼ Approximant voiced w ɽ j glottalized wˀ ɽˀ jˀ Nasal voiced m n ɲ glottalized mˀ nˀ ɲˀ
Vowels[]
Keresan vowels have a phonemic distinction in duration: all vowels can be long or short. Additionally, short vowels can also be voiceless. The vowel chart below contains the vowel phonemes and allophones from the information of the Keresan languages combined from The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo (1964), The Phonemes of Keresan (1946), and Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics (1987).
| Long | Short | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phonemic | Phonetic | Phonemic | Phonetic | Voiceless | |
| Close | / iː / | [ i ] | / i / | [ i ɪ ] | [ ɪ̥ ] |
| Mid-front | / eː / | [ eː ] | / e / | [e ɛ æ ] | [ e̥ ] |
| Mid-central | / ɨː / | [ əː ɨː ] | / ɨ / | [ ə ɨ ɤ ] | [ ɨ̥ ] |
| Open | / ɑː / | [ aː ɑː ] | / ɑ / | [ a ɑ ] | [ ḁ ] |
| Back-close | / oː / | [ oː ] | / o / | [ o ] | [ o̥ ] |
| / uː / | [ uː ] | / u / | [ u ʊ o ] | [ ʊ̥ ] | |
Notes:
- Western Keres does not have phonemic /oː/ or /o/, though both vowels may occur phonetically. Eastern Keres words containing /o/ show /au/ in Western Keres.
- Kotyit Keres: [ ʂóːkʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥ ] - I see you
- Kʼawaika Keres: [ ʂɑ̌ukʰɑ̥tʃʰɑ̥ ] - I see you
Voiceless vowels[]
All Keresan short vowels may be devoiced in certain positions. The phonemic status of these vowels is controversial. Maring (1967) considers them to be phonemes of Áákʼu Keres, whereas other authors disagree. There are phonetic grounds for vowel devoicing based on the environment they occur, for instance word-finally, but there are also exceptions. Vowels in final position are nearly always voiceless and medial vowels occurring between voiced consonants, after nasals and ejectives are nearly always voiced.
- Word-final devoicing: [ pɑ̌ːkʊ̥ ] because
- Word-medial devoicing: [ ʔìpʰi̥ʃɑ́ ] white paint
Tones[]
Acoma Keres has four lexical tones: high, low, falling and rising. Falling and rising tones only occur in long vowels and voiceless vowels bear no tones:
| Tones | examples | translation |
|---|---|---|
| High | [tɨ́j] , [áwáʔáwá] | here, matrilineal uncle |
| Low | [mùːtètsá] | young boy |
| Rising | [pɑ̌ːkʊ̥] | because |
| Falling | [ʔêː] , [hêːk'a] | and, whole part |
Syllable structure[]
Most Keresan syllables take a CV(V) shape. The maximal syllable structure is CCVVC and the minimal syllable is CV. In native Keresan words, only a glottal stop /ʔ/ ⟨ʼ⟩ can close a syllable, but some loanwords from Spanish have syllables that end in a consonant, mostly a nasal (i.e. /m n/ but words containing these sequences are rare in the language.
| Syllable type | examples | translation |
|---|---|---|
| CV | [sʼà], [ʔɪ]shv́v | I have it, left |
| CVV | [mùː]dedza , a[táù]shi | young boy, cooking pot |
| CCV | [ʃkʰí]srátsʼa | I'm not fat |
| CCVV | [ʃtùː]sra | bluejay |
| CVC | í[miʔ], [kùm]banêeru | expression of fear, workmate (Spanish "compañero") |
Due to extensive vowel devoicing, several Keresan words may be perceived as ending in consonants or even containing consonant clusters.
- Word-internal cluster: yʼâakạ srûunị 'stomach' /jˀɑ̂ːkḁʂûːni/ > [jɑ̂ːkḁʂûːni] ~ [jɑ̂ːkʂûːni]
- Word-final coda: úwàakạ 'baby'; /úwɑ̀ːkḁ/ > [úwɑ̀ːkʰḁ] ~ [úwɑ̀ːkʰ]'
Phonotactics[]
The only sequence of consonants (i.e. consonant cluster) that occurs in native Keresan words is a sequence of a fricative /ʃ ʂ/ and a stop or affricate. Clusters are restricted to beginnings of syllables (i.e. the syllable onset). When the alveolo-palatal consonant /ʃ/ occurs as C1, it combines with alveolar and palatal C2, whereas the retroflex alveolar /ʂ/ precedes bilabial and velar C2s, which suggest a complementary distribution. Consonant clusters may occur both word-initially and word-medially.
| C1 / C2 | Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Postalveolar | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| / p / | / pʰ / | / pʼ / | / t / | / tʰ / | / tʼ / | / k / | / kʰ / | / kʼ / | / tʃ / | / tʃʰ / | / tʃʼ / | |
| / ʃ / | /ʃtáʊ̯rákʊ̥/
shdáurákụ 'frog, toad' |
/ʃtʰéràʃtʼíká/
shtérashtʼígá 'cricket' |
/ʃtʼìcɑ̀ːtʰɪ̥ʃɪ̥/
shtʼidyàatịshị 'plot of land' |
/ʃtʃɨ/
shjv 'upward' |
/ʃtʃʰúmúná/
shchúmúmá 'wasp' |
/ʃtʃʼísḁ/
shchʼísạ
'six'
| ||||||
| / ʂ / | /ʂpúːná/
srbúuná 'water jug' |
/ʂpʰɑ̀ːtʼi/
srpàat'i 'mockingbird' |
/ʂpʼeruru/
srpʼeruru 'it's full'
|
/ʂkɑ́ʂkɑ́ʊ̯kʼa/
srgásrgáukʼa 'quail' |
/ʂkʰɨ́tútsʰɪ̥/
srkv́dútsị 'mound, hill' |
/ʂkʼàpɪ́hɪ́/
srkʼabíhí 'female in-law' |
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