24.961 Problem Set Selayarese is an Austronesian language spoken by some 100,000 persons on the
island of Selayar, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.
[1] The following is a sample of data from this language. Make a table of the
consonants and vowels. Are there positional limitations on the distribution of the
consonants? What generalizations can be made about the gross prosodic (syllabic)
shape of the words? Stress (indicated by acute accent) and vowel length (indicated
by colon) are predictable. Formulate the rules to assign these features. Must they
be ordered? [Note: our transcriptions abstract away from rules nasalizing vowels
after a nasal consonant and the laxing of mid vowels; j is a voiced palatal
affricate; mb, nd, and Ng are prenasalized stops. ]
be@nte
ba@˘tu
ta@˘ma
¯a@˘maN
pi@˘so
bu@˘laN
/ande@Nka
sa@ssa/
ka/mu@˘ru
kaliha@˘ra
po@˘ke
go@˘lo/
se@/la
je@/ne/
bo@˘mbaN
ha@˘taN
popcorn
rock
come in
delicious
knife
moon, month
throw
lizard
nose
ant
spear
dagger
salt
water
wave
difficult
sa@˘po
tu@˘nu
Na@˘seN
pu@˘la
la@mpa
kati@ntiN
siku@˘ra
to@˘ndo/
piha@˘li
karu@˘a
ka@nre
pu@˘e/
sampu@˘lo
da@˘re/
bo@mbaN
ru@˘a
house
burn
all
island
go
thorn
how many/
fence
answer
eight
food
grandfather
ten
monkey
bamboo skin
two
[2] The stress of the following words is superficially anomalous.What other
generalizations can be made about these words compared to those in [1]? Does
this suggest a possible analysis to regularize their stress? Formulate any rules and
indicate any crucial ordering restrictions.
la@Nkasa
tall
mi@ntara
tomorrow
da@˘tala
ha@llasa
tu@˘lusu
ka@˘tala
la@mbere
pursue
suffer
go straight
itch
long
si@Nkulu
salu@˘ara
maNka@˘sara
kasi@ssili
be@˘rasa
elbow
pants
macassar
mosquito
rice
1
ra@mmasa
pa@/risi
dirty
painful
su@ssulu
burn
tu@˘lisi
ki@˘kiri
sa@˘Ngara
write
metal file
fry
[3] The following words contain the locative suffix –aN, the transitivizing –i and
the comparative –aN. How do these data bear on the analysis of the anomalous
stress?
la@mbere
lambe@˘raN
long
longer
cf.
lo˘@he
lohe˘@aN
many
more
lu˘@ara
lua˘@raN
wide
wider
cf.
pa@/ja
pa/ja@˘/aN
salty
saltier
ha@llasa
halla˘@si
suffer
make suffer
cf.
ru@ppa
ruppa@˘i
face, meet
confront
cf.
ti@nro
patinro@˘aN
sleep
bedroom
a/bo@˘toro
gamble
pa/boto@˘raN casino
[4] Selayarese has many loanwords from Bahasa Indonesian. What bearing do the
words below have on the analysis?
BI
bo@tol
a@rus
se@nter
k´la@s
b´ra@s
ka@bal
ki@kir
ki@pas
Sel
bo@˘tolo
a@˘rusu
se@ntere
ka@˘lasa
be@˘rasa
ka@˘bala
ki@˘kiri
ki@˘pasa
bottle
current
flashlight
class
rice
cable
metal file
fan
[5] What does your analysis predict for the stress in the following loanwords? If
necessary, revise your analysis. What is problematic about these data?
ka@rtu
su@rga
ba@kri
kara@˘tu
suru@˘ga
baka@˘ri
card
heaven
personal name
2
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24.961 Introduction to Phonology
Fall 2014
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