In this section I briefly indicate the prosodic framework within which my analysis will be presented and reference is made to relevant studies made
in terms of prosodic theory. I also illustrate how the symbolisation and terms are used in the thesis. More detailed accounts of the theory are available in Robins (1957), Palmer (1970: Introduction) , and Waterson (1987:
Introduction).
The founder of the prosodic school of phonology was J.R. Firth. Much of his published work and that of his colleagues is available in Firth (1957a), Firth (1957b), and Palmer 1970. Firth (1948, 1970) did not claim that
prosodic analysis would make phonological problems appear easier or simpler, but he did suggest that it 'may make the highly complex patterns of language clearer' (in Palmer 1970:25). This may be seen to be true in the publications of Firth's colleagues. One may cite Palmer (1955) who deals with the complex problem of broken plurals in Tigrinya and is able to show a clear relationship between sets of singular and plural forms which had not been shown before.
Robins (1953) shows a patterning between grammatical and phonological levels in Sundanese where earlier descriptions had suggested an arbitrary substitution of letters. Waterson's (1956) elegant description of vowel harmony in TuvKi-S^
Y e \e J u .(r* .s u ^ P -ro U o co e \ S n & txsM S ,
Consists 1^ in contrast with previous accounts which involved a whole series of phonemic alternations. Furthermore, Waterson (1987) through her use of the theory, is able to bring interesting insights to the understanding of speech perception and the acquisition of phonology. The theory thus seems to have a real value for linguistic description, and using it as the theoretical basis for my thesis has enabled me to offer new and more economic analyses of
Telugu phonological systems. For instance, in dealing with the complex question of Sandhi which previous writers have described by as many as thirty-three
t-£ ,s 5 i V o - f H v e 5 i! s ^ ) )
rules^ I have been able to cover the whole problem by only six rules.
Firth (1948) makes explicit his aim to make a distinction between syntagmatic and paradigmatic features in phonological analysis. In the theory a distinction is made between 'structure', which in general terms refers to syntagmatic relations and units and involves prosodies, and
'system', which in general terms refers to paradigmatic functions and classes and involves phonematic units. Structure is represented in terms of C and V. Separate C systems and V systems are set up at different places in the structure. This type of description is one of the ways in which the theory is polysystemic. Another aspect in which the theory is polysystemic is in the treatment of loan words as belonging to a separate system from native words. This is clearly illustrated in Henderson (1951).
She shows, among other points of interest, how Sanskritic loans in Siamese and Cambodian differ phonologically from the native systems. Sanskrit loans in Telugu similarly are clearly marked from native words having
different syllable structures and consonant systems, and attention is drawn to this in the thesis.
Firthian philosophy emphasises the interdependence of the grammatical and phonological levels, that is to say, grammatical classes and boundaries are taken into account in the phonological analysis, so the importance of
morphological functions is also recognised in analysis. It will be seen that morphology is taken into account in this thesis when dealing with vowel harmony (see 5.3.0, and later) and Sandhi (6.2.0, and later).
Prosodies
The domain of prosodies may be units such as the syllable, word, phrase or sentence, or their parts. In this connection it is relevant to quote Robins (1957, 1970). He states that prosodies are, 'by definition, of more
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than one segment in scope or domain of relevance, and may in fact belong to structures of any length' ( in Palmer 1970:192). Henderson's (1949)
phonological analysis of Siamese is taken as an example by Robins to illustrate the abstract statement of prosodies:
Sentence prosody: Intonation;
Prosodies of sentence
pieces: Length, stress and tone relations between component syllables;
Syllable prosodies: Length, tone, stress, palatalization, labiovelarization;
Prosodies of syllable
parts: Aspiration, retroflexion, plosion, unexploded closure.
(Robins in Palmer 1970:192)).
Features which extend over more than one segment, or units like syllable, word or sentence, are abstracted as prosodies if they have contrastive
function or demarcative function (Waterson 1987:12). Syllable structure,
stress, rhythm, tone, length, and features such as nasalisation, palatalisation, retroflexion, lip-rounding, backness and frontness, have all been abstracted as prosodies by some linguists. For instance, Allen (1951) deals with
retroflexion and aspiration; Robins (1953) deals with nasalisation; features treated prosodically by Henderson (1949) have been quoted above; Waterson
(1956) deals with frontness, backness, lip-rounding and non-rounding; and Carnochan (1960) deals with frontness, backness,lip-rounding and non-rounding, as well as tongue-raising and -lowering.
Prosodies are generally represented by superscript symbols, for instance, the contrast of breathiness and non-breathiness at syllable onsets and endings may be represented by h and h, for example,^CVC— , that is, breathy syllable onset and non-breathy syllable ending.
The features of syllable structure are also treated as prosodic (Palmer 1970:xii), and are represented in terms of a sequence of C and V units as follows: V, CV, C V C , CVCC, VC. Word structures are represented similarly, and as a sequence of syllable structures, for example, CVCV, CVCVC, VCCV.
Phonematic Units
V systems and C systems and their terms come under this heading.
Sub-systems are set up at C and V places/ and henceforth these are referred to as systems in the thesis, for instance, sub-systems at C places are
referred to as P system, N system, L system, and so on. In order to account for differences within each sub-system, a contrast of terms may be described, as shown under the heading of C systems. V systems may be analysed in terms of grades of openness, for instance, there may be three V grades, viz., t(high), e (mid), and ot(low). The V systems may be described in relation to syllable features such as frontness, backness, and neutrality as to frontness and backness, abstracted as prosodies. These may be symbolised as y, w, and tS .
Presentation of Phonological Formulae in the Thesis
Adopting the method followed by Waterson (1987), only the features under discussion are presented in the prosodic formulae. This saves cluttering up the formulae with information not relevant to the particular point being discussed, and brings the particular features under analysis into focus.
For example, while discussing monomorpheaiic vowel harmony, where in a disyllabic word, the first syllable undergoes harmony, the representation does not include C systems but only V systems and prosodies, as a
consideration of C systems is not relevant. For example:
3 6 E
Educated Speech Uneducated Speech
•gai^i
CocW CC LY Cce7 CC lY
Here the stressed first syllable [ * ga1^] is w prosodic and the second syllable [^i] is y prosodic. In uneducated speech, the first syllable Igae^]
harmonises with the second syllable E^i] in the feature of frontness, and both are marked as y prosodic. Similarly, in suffix harmony only the relevant V systems and prosodies are indicated. The stressed first syllable does not take part in the harmony and what the V system of this syllable is, does not affect the harmony, so it is represented as V. The other V systems take part in harmony and are therefore specified:
1 ac^ugu + i --- — > 'a^igi 'having a s k e d 1 ' w w y y y
V Cl Cl + L V Cl Cl
In Telugu nominal forms, the stem induces harmony in the suffix. In the case of nominal suffixes, this is indicated by the absence of a prosody marker on the suffix, here -ni,
ko:c\i + ni 'hen' (accusative)
CVClY + Nl
and the suffixed form of the stem shows the prosody of the stem extended to the suffix. Thus we have,
ko:c^i + ni — — > ko:c\ini C V ClY + Nl CVClYNlY
In the case of verb roots, the suffix induces harmony, so the prosody of the suffix is marked, and the change of stem prosody is indicated.
Example with suffix -ina -lY CV : caduwu + ina---- > cadiwina 'read'
w w v v y
CVCl Cl + l CV C V Cl^ Cl CV
Harmony in monomorphemic forms involves vowel height raising and lowering and is treated as V grade harmony; for instance, tc may be raised to e; t may be lowered to cc. For examples, see p . 212. Harmony involving differences in vowel height are treated by Carnochan (I960, 1970) as prosodies of raising and lowering in vowel harmony in Igbo. It would similarly be possible to treat raising and lowering harmony prosodically in Telugu, and some/consider such treatment preferable.
The account that follows of the way the symbolisation and terms are used covers the descriptions of all the different phonological systems of Telugu discussed in the thesis.
Phonematic Units as Described in the Thesis
The C systems and their terms, and the V systems, constitute the phonematic u nits.
Telugu C Systems
Telugu has the following consonants: three nasals [m, n, r^3 ; two
laterals [1,^3; one roll [r]; one retroflex flap [ £ ] ; two glides [w, y ] ; three sibilants [s, s, g ] ; one non-sibilant fricative [f], and twenty plosives
(see plosive system b e l o w ) .
The C systems that need to be set up to describe the consonant system of Telugu are as follows: P (plosive), N (nasal), S (sibilant), L (liquid), G (glide), F (fricative) (see p . 392 onwards in this thesis). The terms of the C system are described under the heading of each system.
Plosive Systems
Telugu has the following plosives: [p, ph, b, bh, t, th, d, d h , £h, cjh, c, ch, j, jh, k, k h , g, gh] . These are described as belonging to the
36G
P system. In order to account for the five different places of closure, a system of five contrasting terms is set up: p (labial), t (apical),
tj. (retroflex), c palatal, k velar). The aspiration, non-aspiration, voicing and voicelessness are accounted for by syllable onset prosodies h, h^ and v, v
Sibilant System
There are three sibilants and the terms to account for the contrasts are t (apical), (retroflex), and c (palatal). Thus [s] is represented as S ,
[ S ] as S , and [s] as S .
^ ^ c
Glide System
There are two terms to account for contrasts under this system. They are p (labial) and c (palatal) . Itas M is represented As Gp and [y] as G ^
For examples, see p.400.
Fricative System’
There is only one term under this system, and it is p (labial). Thus [f] is represented as F . See p . 403 for examples.
Telugu V Systems
A three-grade vowel system is necessary to describe the vowel systems, v i z ., h i g h .- b, mid - e, and low - oc. The exponents are: b (closeness of
vowel); e (mid quality of vow e l ) , and or (openness of v o w e l ) . These co-occur with features of frontness or backness which are abstracted as syllable
prosodies y and w. Thus the following abstractions are made:
y
b exponent: close front vowel [i]
b w exponent: close back vowel [u]
£ y exponent: mid front vowel [e]
£ w exponent: mid back vowell [o]
exponent: open front vowel [.ae]
cc w exponent: open back vowel [a]
For examples, see pp.395-6
Telugu Prosodies
The domains of the prosodies in the thesis are:
I . Prosodies of the Word II. Prosodies of the Syllable III. Junction Prosodies.
I . Prosodies of the Word
i) Features of stress and rhythm are abstracted as prosodies and these are indicated by stress marks as below: the raised
apostrophe marks main stress and the lowered apostrophe marks the secondary stress. The relationship of stress marks the rhythm of the word.
'kudur(cu 'to arrange1
Vowel quantity is abstracted as length prosody. Long length is indicated by a length mark over the V unit of the relevant syllable; short length is left unmarked. For example,
vSiri: sampada: 'riches' may be represented in general terms as CVCVCVCCVCV, or more specifically, with the V systems marked,as CVCtCctCCaCa.
Frontness harmony and backness harmony in monomorphemic words are abstracted as y and w prosodies in a harmonic relationship.
An example is given below of harmony in uneducated speech which is not found in educated speech.
Educated Speech Uneducated Speech Gloss
ra:tri re:tri 'night'
-w y -y y
Ca CCu Cs C Cl
ippuc|u uppuc^u 'now"
In r a :tri (spelling pronunciation and educated speech) the
first syllable is w prosodic and the second syllable is y prosodic.
In ire:tri] (uneducated speech) both the syllables are y prosodic, the y prosody of the second syllable extends to the first
syllable, and there is vowel-raising from a to s. In the second example, ippuc^u >
syllable extends to the first syllable in uneducated speech, ii) Prosodies of Word Onset
Features at the onset of words - labial onglide and palatal onglide - are abstracted as prosodies represented by IT and j respectively. Breathy and non~breathy onsets are abstracted as h and prosodies. There are prosodies of word onset of V
initial words. V , j and h/h also represent junction prosodies marking word boundaries.
Examples:
V Prosody
wuc^ata VlWCVCV 1 squirrel' wokai^i V£WCVCV
j Prosody
yekki ^ju ^e^CCVCCV 'hiccough'
, 1 y nr
yekasakkew e CVCVCCV
[w] followed by front vowels and [y] followed by back
vowels pattern like consonants, and are treated as belonging to the G (glide) system.
h and h Prosody of V Onset Words
These prosodies mark the difference between educated and uneducated speech.
uppudu, w prosody of the second
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Educated Speech Uneducated Speech Gloss
haddu addu 'border, limit
iii) Word-final Prosodies n and r
These are restricted to loans from Sanskrit. The spelling pronunciation has a final N (nasal) system with the
p (labial) term, but in colloquial speech the structure is V ending, preserving the nasalisation and labialisation as n and r prosodies.
Spelling pronunciation: wigayam CVCVCVN 'subject'
„ . nr
Spoken form: wigayaw CVCVCV See p . 359 for other examples.
I I . Prosodies of the Syllable
i) Syllable prosodies y and w as listed for word prosodies. For
ii) Syllable parts prosodies: features of breath and voice at syllable onsets and endings are abstracted as h and h prosodies, and v and v prosodies respectively.
h and h Prosodies
Prosodies h and h account for the contrast of aspiration and
non-aspiration of the Telugu plosive system (as shown in the section on the plosive system), as well as for emphasis and absence of
emphasis in relation also to other systems, for instance L systems.
Unemphatic Spelling Pronunciation Emphatic Pronunciation Gloss
ba:ga ba:gha 'excessively1
example, musali Cl Cot Cw w yr* . *l
ga: li ga:Ihi 'wind'
CV LV
These prosodies, together with the length prosody, also take into account the difference between educated and uneducated speech where educated speech has medial [h] and uneducated speech has a long v o w e l .
Educated Speech Uneducated Speech Gloss
salaha sala; ’advice
CVCV V
Final h prosody in V-ending syllables is restricted to Sanskrit loans. For example:
Spelling Pronunciation Colloquial Speech Gloss
duhkham dukkaw grief
CVCCVnr v and v Prosodies
v and v prosodies account for the voicing and absence of voicing of the Telugu plosive system (see plosive systems in the earlier part of this section). They also mark the relationship of syllables
I I I . Junction Prosodies
These are treated under vowel harmony and Sandhi in the thesis and involve two or more structures. For instance, (i) stem and suffix, (ii) syllable and syllable, and (iii) word plus word.
i) Stem and suffix prosodies: voicing - v; non-voicing - v;
frontness - y; backness - w; retroflexion - R over the C symbol, C, or over the C system symbol, L; lateralisation - L over the C symbol,
L L
C/ or over the C system symbol, L . v and n Prosodies
These prosodies mark the junction of structures with p— final and P-initial systems.
v -v within the word. Example: ko:di — CV CV.
R
36M
munaga + ka:c|a > munakka:c^a 'drunstick'
c v c v v p v + ^pvcv cvcv^PPvcv (See 6.1.1 for other examples.) y and w Prosodies
In the case of vowel harmony of stem and suffix, the domain of the prosody is not restricted to the syllable but extends to the
syllables of the stem, excluding, however, the stressed syllable.
'kudurcu + ina ---- > 'kudircina 'something arranged'
w w w y w v y
CL CL CCL + L CV Cl Cl^ C Cl^CV
y prosody of the suffix -ina extends over the syllables of the stem 'kudurcu except for the first, stressed syllable (see 5.3.2 for other examples).
Retroflexion Prosody
poraba:^u + lu — — > poraba:1^|u 'mistakes' _ R
CVCVCVp L Ll cvcvcvp Ll
Retroflexion and Lateralisation Prosodies
u :ru + lu ■■ ■ - > u: (,(,u 'villages' VL L + Ll V L L-LRl
r
ii) Syllable and Syllable Prosodies
y and w prosodic harmony as above; gemination prosodies are noted here. Gemination prosody is marked by g over the CC symbols - C^.
Gemination Prosodies
There are two functions of gemination:
1) Gemination which marks the relation between spelling pronunciation and spoken forms (see p . 72), Example:
Spelling Pronunciation Spoken Form Gloss
karpu:ram kappu:raw 'camphor*
cvccvcvc cvobvcvrir
2) Gemination which governs the type of junction of noun stem
v and v Prosodies are as illustrated earlier under syllable prosodies.