Volume 31, 2020

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Open Access
Right-Edge Phonological Phenomena in Kaqchikel
(2020-11-19) Nelson, Brett C.
This paper examines a slew of phonological phenomena that occur at the right edge of the prosodic word in Kaqchikel (cak), a Mayan language of Guatemala spoken by about 400,000 people (Heaton & Xoyón, 2016). Based on previous phonological work by Brown, Maxwell, & Little (2006) and Bennett (2018), I first introduce the phonemic inventory (22 consonants, 10 vowels) and prosodic structure of Kaqchikel, with the latter being composed of primarily stress-final, recursive prosodic words, and intonational prominence on the right-edge of the phrase. This is followed by a review of Bennett’s (2016b) discussion of the Kaqchikel tense-lax distinction in vowels, which only surfaces in stressed (word-final) syllables. Thus, an underlying lax vowel { ɪ ɛ ǝ ɔ ʊ } surfaces as its corresponding tense vowel { i e a o u } in any unstressed syllable. I next discuss final aspiration of stops, and then spirantization of final sonorants, unifying them as a process of epenthesis of a [spread glottis] feature at the right edge of the word. Each phenomenon individually shows that the right-edge is a position of particular prominence in Kaqchikel; all together they demonstrate it is one ripe for future (and current) exploration into their acoustic correlates and their higher-level prosodic and morpho-syntactic implications.