VIKTOR EL·ÍK

University of Manchester & Charles University, Prague

The synchrony and diachrony of vowel length in ·óka Romani

Austria

Czechia

Ukr

aine

Poland

Hungary

·óka Romani

Austria

Czechia

Ukr

aine

Poland

Hungary

·óka Romani

SCSC

NCNC

RR

R

R

R

R

R

VV

V

V

V

V

RR

R

R

R

R

R

VV

V

V

V

V

SlovakHungarian

Vowel system

u+ú

o+ó

á

i+í

e+é

ò+è

ü+ı

ö+Œ

a

u+ú

o+ó

á

i+í

e+é

ò+è

ü+ı

ö+Œ

a

·óka Romani Sók Hungarian

Vowel length

• correlation: 5 core pairs & 3 marginal pairs• length also in consonants: geminates• quality difference: a = central unrounded, á = back rounded

• Phonemics

Vowel length

• correlation: 5 core pairs & 3 marginal pairs• length also in consonants: geminates• quality difference: a = central unrounded, á = back rounded

• Phonemics

• independent of (the always initial) stress position• independent of position within word• restrictions on codas: some fricatives, almost no plosives, few clusters

• Phonotactics

Vowel length in loans

• Hungarian

tégla ‘brick’ < H tégla

ãúfnòvo ‘nickname’ < H csúfnév

Vowel length in loans

• Hungarian

tégla ‘brick’ < H tégla

ãúfnòvo ‘nickname’ < H csúfnév csúfnòv-ò

Vowel length in loans

• Hungarian

tégla ‘brick’ < H tégla

ãúfnòvo ‘nickname’ < H csúfnév csúfnòv-ò

Pojáko ‘Vlax Rom’ < C Po´ljÇk ‘Pole’

• Croatian

Vowel length in loans

• Hungarian

tégla ‘brick’ < H tégla

ãúfnòvo ‘nickname’ < H csúfnév csúfnòv-ò

Pojáko ‘Vlax Rom’ < C Po´ljÇk ‘Pole’

prósto ‘non-Rom’ < *prosto < C pro´st ‘simple’perníca ‘pillow’ < *pernica < C pï´rnica ‘blanket’

• Croatian

Vowel length in loans

• Hungarian

tégla ‘brick’ < H tégla

ãúfnòvo ‘nickname’ < H csúfnév csúfnòv-ò

Pojáko ‘Vlax Rom’ < *Poljako < C Po´ljÇk ‘Pole’

prósto ‘non-Rom’ < *prosto < C pro´st ‘simple’perníca ‘pillow’ < *pernica < C pï´rnica ‘blanket’

• Croatian

Lengthening

• Substitutive • in polysyllables in pretonic position

bokhálo ‘hungry’ < *bokhálobokhalíle ‘they got hungry’ < *bokhalíle

• in monosyllables (in tonic position)

béng ‘devil’ < *bengkáj ‘where’ < *kaj

Lengthening

• Substitutive • in polysyllables in pretonic position

bokhálo ‘hungry’ < *bokhálobokhalíle ‘they got hungry’ < *bokhalíle

• Compensatory • through contraction: V(V).vV > VV

-á 1SG.FUT < *-avadí ‘day’ < díve < *dives

sú ‘needle’ < *suvkólo ‘soft’ < *kovlo

• through monophthongization: V(V)v. > VV

• in monosyllables (in tonic position)

béng ‘devil’ < *bengkáj ‘where’ < *kaj

Polysyllables

• a) disyllables: no coda

• párno ‘white’, térno ‘young’, sásto ‘healthy’

• báro ‘big’, lólo ‘red’, sáno ‘thin’, névo ‘new’, ‰úÏo ‘clean’, láãho ‘good’, ‰úko ‘dry’

• gullo ‘sweet’, harno ‘short’, tikno ‘small’• koro ‘blind’ < *korro < *koRo

Polysyllables

• a) disyllables: no coda

• párno ‘white’, térno ‘young’, sásto ‘healthy’

• b) polysyllables (>2): no coda & nucleus a

• báro ‘big’, lólo ‘red’, sáno ‘thin’, névo ‘new’, ‰úÏo ‘clean’, láãho ‘good’, ‰úko ‘dry’

• gullo ‘sweet’, harno ‘short’, tikno ‘small’• koro ‘blind’ < *korro < *koRo

• barválo ‘rich’, bokh-ál-o ‘hungry’, guruv-án-o ‘beef’, am-ár-o ‘our’, gadÏ-ikán-o ‘non-Rom’

• dilino ‘silly’, ka‰uko ‘deaf’, ka‰t-un-o ‘wooden’

Polysyllables: cross-dialect

• pharo ‘heavy’ + + + + ++

• phuro ‘old’ + + – + ++

• ãoRo ‘poor’ – ± – + ±+

• kalo ‘black’ + + + + ++

• ãalo ‘replete’ + 0 – + + +

• laãho ‘good’ + + – – +–

• terno ‘young’ + – + – ±–

• bango ‘crooked’ – + – – – –• -al- + + – – ––

• -un- – + 0 – ––

• ‰uko ‘dry’ + + – – 0–

• ka‰uko ‘deaf’ – – – (–) 0–

·óka Lovari Welsh Finnish Sinti Latvian

• nevo ‘new’ + + + + ++

Polysyllables: cross-dialect

• pharo ‘heavy’ + + + + ++

• phuro ‘old’ + + – + ++

• ãoRo ‘poor’ – ± – + ±+

• kalo ‘black’ + + + + ++

• ãalo ‘replete’ + 0 – + + +

• laãho ‘good’ + + – – +–

• terno ‘young’ + – + – ±–

• bango ‘crooked’ – + – – – –• -al- + + – – ––

• -un- – + 0 – ––

• ‰uko ‘dry’ + + – – 0–

• ka‰uko ‘deaf’ – – – (–) 0–

·óka Lovari Welsh Finnish Sinti Latvian

• nevo ‘new’ + + + + ++

Polysyllables: cross-dialect

• pharo ‘heavy’ + + + + ++

• phuro ‘old’ + + – + ++

• ãoRo ‘poor’ – ± – + ±+

• kalo ‘black’ + + + + ++

• ãalo ‘replete’ + 0 – + + +

• laãho ‘good’ + + – – +–

• terno ‘young’ + – + – ±–

• bango ‘crooked’ – + – – – –• -al- + + – – ––

• -un- – + 0 – ––

• ‰uko ‘dry’ + + – – 0–

• ka‰uko ‘deaf’ – – – (–) 0–

·óka Lovari Welsh Finnish Sinti Latvian

• nevo ‘new’ + + + + ++

Polysyllables: cross-dialect

• pharo ‘heavy’ + + + + ++

• phuro ‘old’ + + – + ++

• ãoRo ‘poor’ – ± – + ±+

• kalo ‘black’ + + + + ++

• ãalo ‘replete’ + 0 – + + +

• laãho ‘good’ + + – – +–

• terno ‘young’ + – + – ±–

• bango ‘crooked’ – + – – – –• -al- + + – – ––

• -un- – + 0 – ––

• ‰uko ‘dry’ + + – – 0–

• ka‰uko ‘deaf’ – – – (–) 0–

·óka Lovari Welsh Finnish Sinti Latvian

• nevo ‘new’ + + + + ++

Monosyllables

• a) rhotic coda: lengthening

• kher ‘house’

• –

• bár ‘garden’, ãór ‘thief’, dár ‘fear’, gér ‘scab’, pór ‘feather’, sír ‘garlic’, zár ‘body hair’, zór ‘power’

• bár ‘stone’ < *baR, pér ‘abdomen’ < *peR

Monosyllables

• a) rhotic coda: lengthening

• kher ‘house’

• –

• b) other codas: no lengthening

• bár ‘garden’, ãór ‘thief’, dár ‘fear’, gér ‘scab’, pór ‘feather’, sír ‘garlic’, zár ‘body hair’, zór ‘power’

• bár ‘stone’ < *baR, pér ‘abdomen’ < *peR

• –• –• gój ‘intestine’• hév ‘hole’• vé‰ ‘forest’• béng ‘devil’

• mol ‘wine’, pral ‘brother’, Èhil ‘butter’ etc.• ãhon ‘moon’, lon ‘salt’, men ‘neck’ etc.• baj ‘sleeve’, muj ‘mouth’, roj ‘spoon’ etc.• dÏuv ‘louse’, gav ‘village’, jiv ‘snow’ etc.• mas ‘meat’, phus ‘straw’ etc.• bast ‘luck’, dand ‘tooth’ etc.

Monosyllables: cross-dialect

• kan ‘ear’ – – – + ––

• phen ‘sister’ – – – + ––

• bar ‘garden’ + + + + 0+

• baR ‘stone’ + – + – +–

• kher ‘house’ – + + + –+

• zor ‘power’ + + – + +–

·óka Lovari Welsh Finnish Sinti Latvian

• mol ‘wine’ – – – + +–

• khul ‘excrement’ – ± – + – +

• ber‰ ‘year’ – – + – ––

• beng ‘devil’ + – – – ––

• jag ‘fire’ – – – – –+

• jakh ‘eye’ – ± – – +–

• nakh ‘nose’ – + – – ––

Monosyllables: cross-dialect

• kan ‘ear’ – – – + ––

• phen ‘sister’ – – – + ––

• bar ‘garden’ + + + + 0+

• baR ‘stone’ + – + – +–

• kher ‘house’ – + + + –+

• zor ‘power’ + + – + +–

·óka Lovari Welsh Finnish Sinti Latvian

• mol ‘wine’ – – – + +–

• khul ‘excrement’ – ± – + – +

• ber‰ ‘year’ – – + – ––

• beng ‘devil’ + – – – ––

• jag ‘fire’ – – – – –+

• jakh ‘eye’ – ± – – +–

• nakh ‘nose’ – + – – ––

Monosyllables: cross-dialect

• kan ‘ear’ – – – + ––

• phen ‘sister’ – – – + ––

• bar ‘garden’ + + + + 0+

• baR ‘stone’ + – + – +–

• kher ‘house’ – + + + –+

• zor ‘power’ + + – + +–

·óka Lovari Welsh Finnish Sinti Latvian

• mol ‘wine’ – – – + +–

• khul ‘excrement’ – ± – + – +

• ber‰ ‘year’ – – + – ––

• beng ‘devil’ + – – – ––

• jag ‘fire’ – – – – –+

• jakh ‘eye’ – ± – – +–

• nakh ‘nose’ – + – – ––

Hierarchies

• coda or following onset sonorant > obstruent > clusterrhotic > liquid > nasaldental, velar > labialvoiced > voiceless

• nucleus vowel quality low > other• number of syllables disyllabic > polysyllabic

• Phonetic

Hierarchies

• Phonetic

• function words: ój ‘s/he’, ón ‘they’, káj ‘where’• numerals: jék ‘one’, dúj ‘two’, trín ‘three’, pándÏ ‘five’

• Extraphonetic

• lexical frequency frequent > less frequent

• coda or following onset sonorant > obstruent > clusterrhotic > liquid > nasaldental, velar > labialvoiced > voiceless

• nucleus vowel quality low > other • number of syllables disyllabic > polysyllabic

Lexicalization

gada ‘shirts’ gáda ‘clothes’anglal ‘from the front of’ ánglal ‘in/to the front’

• Lexical split

‰úÏo ‘clean’ > ‰úÏ-ón-e ‘cleanly’dél ‘God’ > déll-ór-o ‘Jesus’ > déll-ór-ikán-o ‘Jesus-like’báro ‘big’ > bárì-íl-e ‘they grew’

Lexicalization

• Hypoanalysis

gada ‘shirts’ gáda ‘clothes’anglal ‘from the front of’ ánglal ‘in/to the front’

• Lexical split

bokhálo ‘hungry’ > bokhal-íl-e ‘they got hungry’

Iconicity

• Adverbs

and-i ‘in, into’ angl-i ‘in front of’ tal ‘under’

and-ar ‘out of’ angl-al ‘from the front of’ tal-al ‘from under’

• Related prepositions

ánd-e ‘(to) inside’

ángl-altú ‘from the front’

tél-e ‘downwards’

tél-altú ‘from down’ándr-altú ‘from inside’

ándr-al ‘inside’ tél-al ‘down’

ángl-e ‘fore-’

ángl-al ‘in/to the front’

Morphologization

ha- ‘eat’ há-l-pi- ‘drink’ pí-l-mer- ‘die’ mú-l-per- ‘fall’ pé-l-dÏa- ‘go’ gé-l-prav- ‘open’ prá-d-av- ‘come’ á-l-ov- ‘be, become, bear’ ú-l-rov- ‘weep’ rú-n-sov- ‘sleep’ sú-t-

phír- ‘walk’ phír-d-merav- ‘cause to die’ mera-d-

• Perfective lengthening

“Syntacticization”

• Head • Modifiero rom hi phúro ‘the man is old’i zumi má tádi hi ‘the soup is already cooked’odna khera sne amáre ‘the houses were ours’

phuro rom ‘old man’tadi zumi ‘cooked soup’amare khera ‘our houses’

“Syntacticization”

• Head • Modifiero rom hi phúro ‘the man is old’i zumi má tádi hi ‘the soup is already cooked’odna khera sne amáre ‘the houses were ours’

phuro rom ‘old man’tadi zumi ‘cooked soup’amare khera ‘our houses’

mri daj somorúni ssa ‘my mum was sad’o rom hi térno ‘the man is young’

somorúni daj ‘sad mum’térno rom ‘young man’

“Syntacticization”

• Head • Modifiero rom hi phúro ‘the man is old’i zumi má tádi hi ‘the soup is already cooked’odna khera sne amáre ‘the houses were ours’

phuro rom ‘old man’tadi zumi ‘cooked soup’amare khera ‘our houses’

mri daj somorúni ssa ‘my mum was sad’o rom hi térno ‘the man is young’

somorúni daj ‘sad mum’térno rom ‘young man’

• phúro < *phúro < *phuro < *phuro• phuro rom < *phuro rom < *phuro rom < *phuro rom

phurÿ gjas o m�r‰ ‘the man grew old’ phurÿ m�r‰ ‘old man’

• Split stress > split length

Summary

*·óka

Hungarian

·óka

phonemicsword-level phonotactics

morphologization

phonological lengthening

lexicalization

universals