Consonants[]
Marshallese has a large consonant inventory, and each consonant has some type of secondary articulation (palatalization, velarization, or rounding).[1] The palatalized consonants are regarded as "light", and the velarized and rounded consonants are regarded as "heavy", with the rounded consonants being both velarized and labialized. (This contrast is similar to that between "slender" and "broad" consonants in Goidelic languages, or between "soft" and "hard" consonants in Russian.) The "light" consonants are considered more relaxed articulations.
The following are the consonant phonemes of Marshallese:
| Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palatalized | Velarized | Palatalized | Velarized | Rounded | (Velar) | Rounded | |
| Light | Heavy | Light | Heavy | Heavy | |||
| Stop | pʲ | pˠ | tʲ | tˠ | k | kʷ | |
| Nasal | mʲ | mˠ | nʲ | nˠ | nʷ | ŋ | ŋʷ |
| Rhotic | rʲ | rˠ | rʷ | ||||
| Lateral | lʲ | lˠ | lʷ | ||||
| Glide | j | (ɰ) | w | ||||
Marshallese has no voicing contrast in consonants. However, stops may be allophonically partially voiced ([p → b], [t → d], [k → ɡ]) when they are between vowels and not geminated. Final consonants are often unreleased.
Glides /j ɰ w/ vanish in many environments, with surrounding vowels assimilating their backness and roundedness. That is motivated by the limited surface distribution of these phonemes as well as other evidence that backness and roundedness are not specified phonemically for Marshallese vowels. In fact, the consonant /ɰ/ never surfaces phonetically but is used to explain the preceding phenomenon. (/j/ and /w/ may surface phonetically only in word-initial and word-final positions and, even then, not consistently.)
The consonant /tʲ/ may be phonetically realized as [tʲ], [tsʲ], [sʲ], [c], or [ç] (or any of their voiced variants [dʲ], [dzʲ], [zʲ], [ɟ], or [ʝ]), in free variation. Word-internally it usually assumes a voiced fricative articulation as [zʲ] (or [ʝ]) but not when geminated. /tʲ/ is used to adapt foreign sibilants into Marshallese.
Marshallese has no distinct /tʷ/ phoneme.
The dorsal consonants /k ŋ kʷ ŋʷ/ are usually velar but with the tongue a little farther back [k̠ ɡ̠ ŋ̠ k̠ʷ ɡ̠ʷ ŋ̠ʷ], making them somewhere between velar and uvular in articulation. All dorsal phonemes are "heavy" (velarized or rounded), and none are "light" (palatalized). As stated before, the palatal consonant articulations [c], [ɟ], [ç] and [ʝ] are treated as allophones of the palatalized coronal obstruent /tʲ/, even though palatal consonants are physically dorsal.
/nˠ/ and /nʷ/ are usually articulated as retroflex nasals [ɳˠ] and [ɳʷ].
Consonants /rʲ/, /rˠ/ and /rʷ/ are all coronal consonants and full trills. /rˠ/ is similar to Spanish rr with a trill position on the alveolar ridge, but /rʲ/ is a palatalized dental trill [r̪ʲ], articulated further forward behind the front teeth. The Marshallese–English Dictionary (MED) and Willson (2003) describe the rhotic consonants as "retroflex", but are not clear how this relates to their dental or alveolar trill positions. (See retroflex trill.)
The heavy lateral consonants /lˠ/ and /lʷ/ are dark l like in English feel, articulated [ɫ] and [ɫʷ] respectively.
The velarized consonants (and, by extension, the rounded consonants) may be velarized or pharyngealized like the emphatic consonants in Arabic or Mizrahi Hebrew.
Vowels[]
Marshallese has a vertical vowel system of just four vowel phonemes, each with several allophones depending on the surrounding consonants.
MED (1976), Choi (1992) and Willson (2003) notate some Marshallese vowels differently. Choi (1992) observes only three vowel phonemes but theorizes that there may be a historical process of reduction from four to three. This article uses the notation of the MED.
| Phoneme | Surface realizations | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MED | Choi | Willson | ||||||||
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |||||
| front | back | front | back | front | back | |||||
| Close | /ɨ/ | [i] | [ɯ] | [u] | [i] | [ɯ] | [u] | [i] | [ɯ] | [u] |
| Close-mid | /ɘ/ | [e] | [ɤ] | [o] | [e] | [ʌ] | [o] | [ɪ] | [ɤ] | [ʊ] |
| Open-mid | /ɜ/ | [ɛ] | [ʌ] | [ɔ] | [e] | [ʌ] | [o] | |||
| Open | /a/ | [æ] | [ɑ] | [ɒ] | [ɛ] | [a] | [ɔ] | [ɛ] | [a] | [ɔ] |
Superficially, 12 Marshallese vowel allophones appear in minimal pairs, a common test for phonemicity. For example, [mʲææ̯] (mā, 'breadfruit'), [mʲæ͡ɑɑ̯] (ma, 'but'), and [mʲæ͡ɒɒ̯] (mo̧, 'taboo') are separate Marshallese words. However, the uneven distribution of glide phonemes suggests that they underlyingly end with the glides (thus /mʲaj/, /mʲaɰ/, /mʲaw/). When glides are taken into account, it emerges that there are only 4 vowel phonemes.
When a vowel phoneme appears between consonants with different secondary articulations, the vowel surfaces as a smooth transition from one vowel allophone to the other. For example, jok 'shy', phonemically /tʲɜkʷ/, is realized phonetically as [tʲɛ͡ɔkʷ]. It follows that there are 24 possible diphthongs in Marshallese:
| Phoneme | ◌ʲ_◌ˠ | ◌ʲ_◌ʷ | ◌ˠ_◌ʲ | ◌ˠ_◌ʷ | ◌ʷ_◌ʲ | ◌ʷ_◌ˠ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /ɨ/ | [i͡ɯ] | [i͡u] | [ɯ͡i] | [ɯ͡u] | [u͡i] | [u͡ɯ] |
| /ɘ/ | [e͡ɤ] | [e͡o] | [ɤ͡e] | [ɤ͡o] | [o͡e] | [o͡ɤ] |
| /ɜ/ | [ɛ͡ʌ] | [ɛ͡ɔ] | [ʌ͡ɛ] | [ʌ͡ɔ] | [ɔ͡ɛ] | [ɔ͡ʌ] |
| /a/ | [æ͡ɑ] | [æ͡ɒ] | [ɑ͡æ] | [ɑ͡ɒ] | [ɒ͡æ] | [ɒ͡ɑ] |
Some syllables appear to contain long vowels: naaj 'future'. They are thought to contain an underlying glide (/j/, /ɰ/ or /w/), which is not present phonetically. For instance, the underlying form of naaj is /nʲaɰatʲ/. Although the medial glide is not realized phonetically, it affects vowel quality; in a word like /nʲaɰatʲ/, the vowel smoothly transitions from [æ] to [ɑ] and then back to [æ], as [nʲæ͡ɑː͡ætʲ].
Phonotactics[]
Syllables in Marshallese follow CV, CVC, and VC patterns. Marshallese words always underlyingly begin and end with consonants. Initial, final, and long vowels may be explained as the results of underlying glides not present on the phonetic level. Initial vowels are sometimes realized with an onglide [j] or [w] but not consistently:
- /jatʲ/ → [æ̯ætʲ ~ jætʲ] 'weave'
Only homorganic consonant sequences are allowed in Marshallese that includes geminate varieties of each consonant. Non-homorganic clusters are separated by vowel epenthesis even across word boundaries. Some homorganic clusters are also disallowed:
- Obstruent-obstruent, nasal-nasal, liquid-liquid, nasal-obstruent, and nasal-liquid clusters undergo assimilation of the secondary articulation except if the first consonant is a labialized coronal or a labialized dorsal. Then, the clusters undergo assimilation of the labialized articulation.
- †Obstruent-liquid and liquid-obstruent clusters besides /lʲtˠ/ and /lˠtˠ/ undergo epenthesis.
- Liquid-nasal clusters undergo nasal assimilation
- Obstruent-nasal clusters undergo epenthesis (if coronal) or nasal assimilation (if non-coronal)
The following assimilations are created, with empty combinations representing epenthesis.
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The vowel height of an epenthetic vowel is transitional between the two nearest vowels. Certain Westernized Marshallese placenames spell out the epenthetic vowels:
- Ebeye, from earlier Ebeje, from Epjā
- Erikub, from Ādkup
- Kwajalein, from Kuwajleen
- Majuro, from Mājro
- Namorik, from Nam̧dik
- Omelek, from Kom̧le ("Kom̧le, Kom̧le")
- Rongelap, from Ron̄ļap
- Rongerik, from Ron̄dik
- Ujelang, from Wūjlan̄
- Uliga, from Wūlka
- Utirik, from Utrōk
This article uses parentheses in IPA pronunciations to indicate epenthetic vowels in words, as they can be omitted without affecting the meaning such as in song or in enunciated syllable breaks.
Timing[]
The short vowel phonemes /a ɜ ɘ ɨ/ and the approximant phonemes /j ɰ w/ all occupy a roughly equal duration of time. Though they occupy time, the approximants are generally not articulated as glides, and Choi (1992) does not rule out a deeper level of representation. In particular, /V/ short vowels occupy one unit of time, and /VGV/ long vowels (for which /G/ is an approximant phoneme) are three times as long. For phonemic clarity, this article uses the IPA symbols [æ̯ ɛ̯ e̯ i̯] for /j/, [ɑ̯ ʌ̯ ɤ̯ ɯ̯] for /ɰ/ and [ɒ̯ ɔ̯ o̯ u̯] for /w/ if they occupy time as consonants at syllable boundaries.
As a matter of prosody, each /C/ consonant and /V/ vowel phonemic sequence carries one mora in length, with the exception of /C/ in /CV/ sequences where the vowel carries one mora for both phonemes. All morae are thus measured in /CV/ or shut /C/ sequences:
- /CVC/ is two morae: /CV-C/. It is also the shortest possible length of Marshallese word.
- /CVCVC/ is three morae: /CV-CV-C/. Since approximants are also consonants, long vowel sequences of /CVGVC/ are also three morae.
- /CVCCVC/ is four morae: /CV-C-CV-C/.
- Prefixes like ri- are /CV-/ sequences occupying only one mora but are attached to words rather than standing as words on their own.
- Suffixes like -in are /-VC/ sequences. The syllable itself occupies two morae but adds only one mora to the word because the vowel attaches itself to the last consonant phoneme in the word, changing /-C/ into /-C‿V-C/.
That makes Marshallese a mora-rhythmed language in a fashion similar to Finnish, Gilbertese, Hawaiian, and Japanese.
Historic sound changes[]
| Proto-Oceanic | *mp | *mp,ŋp | *p | *m | *m,ŋm | *k | *ŋk | *ŋ | *y | *w | *t | *s,nj | *ns,j | *j | *nt,nd | *d,R | *l | *n | *ɲ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Micronesian | *p | *pʷ | *f | *m | *mʷ | *k | *x | *ŋ | *y | *w | *t | *T | *s | *S | *Z | *c | *r | *l | *n | *ɲ |
| Marshallese | /pʲ/ | /pˠ/ | /j/ | /mʲ/ | /mˠ/ | /k, kʷ/ | ∅ | /ŋ, ŋʷ/ | /j/ | /w/ | /tʲ/ | /tʲ/ | /tˠ/ | /tˠ/ | ∅ | /rʲ/ | /rˠ, rʷ/ | /lʲ, lˠ, lʷ/ | /nʲ, nˠ, nʷ/ | /nʲ/ |
Marshallese consonants show splits conditioned by the surrounding Proto-Micronesian vowels. Proto-Micronesian *k *ŋ *r become rounded next to *o or next to *u except in bisyllables whose other vowel is unrounded. Default outcomes of *l and *n are palatalized; they become velarized or rounded before *a or sometimes *o if there is no high vowel in an adjacent syllable. Then, roundedness is determined by the same rule as above.
References[]
- ↑ Willson (2003:1)