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VOWEL HARMONY FOR RUSSIAN LOANWORDS INTO YAKUT

LENA VASILYEVA

California State University, Fresno

Yakut abounds in Russian loanwords. The interesting observation which occurs in a closer look at Russian loanwords is that all of them undergo vowel harmony. This is not surprising, since vowel harmony in Yakut is strictly consistent compared to the other Turkic languages. In this paper I will make an attempt to view and classify the process of vowel harmony in Russian loanwords. I observe how Russian vowels transform to the certain vowels in Yakut, thus following the vowel harmony constraint. It is evident that Russian does not feature vowel harmony and the vowel inventory both in Russian and in Yakut is not identical.

1. INTRODUCTION. Russian loanwords began to be intensively borrowed into Yakut with the

integration of the Russian culture and the language. Basically this process began after the

establishment of the Soviet Union beginning from the early 1900s. Consequently, after a brief

analysis of Russian loanwords in Yakut I conclude that the whole lexicon of loanwords represent

the notions that had been unfamiliar to the Yakut before the substantial “russification” of the

area. These Russian loanwords automatically underwent backness and rounding vowel harmony

into Yakut. Regarding the vowel harmony in Yakut, Finch notes, “It is particularly common in

Uralic and Altaic languages, where it generally takes the form of a progressive spread of the

features [back] and [round].” (1985:1). Krueger emphasizes, “There are, consequently,

restrictions on the vowels in non-first syllables, conditioned by the type in the first syllable.”

(1962:48-9). If this tendency is consistent, it will evidence the principles according to which the

vowel harmony constraint is retained for Russian loanwords.

In this paper I will analyze the Russian loanword vowel harmony into Yakut with the

application of Optimality Theory (OT) (Prince & Smolensky 1993). I give an outline of the

paper. After briefly reviewing the phonology of Yakut with the parallel to Russian in section 2

and the syllable structures in section 3, I turn to loanword data in section 4 where I show that

Yakut stressed vowels are lengthened that comes from the Russian input of the stressed vowel.

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This reveals the fact that Yakut is a language obeyed by Prokosch’s Law which means that long

vowels in Yakut are stressed and form a trimoraic syllable. Yakut retains the stress from the

Russian input in loanwords. In section 4.1 I extend the discussion in the framework of

Prokosch’s Law about lengthening of stressed vowels in the form of diphthongization. In section

5 I demonstrate the rounding harmony and its tendency of spreading roundness. In section 6 I

introduce the highest-ranked constraint backness harmony. In section 4 I present the data of

vowels and consonant clusters, where I discuss about the insertion patterns of vowels either at

the edge or internally in the cluster. Finally, section 8 contains a conclusion of the paper. The

analysis of the data is done with the application of OT which will shed light on some principles

according to which vowel harmony is followed for Russian loanwords in Yakut.

2. A SKETCH ON YAKUT VOCALISM. Krueger (1962) states that there are eight long and

eight short vowels, opposing front to back, rounded to unrounded, and high to low in a three-

dimensional system in Yakut. There are four diphthongs in Yakut, and Krueger (1962) proposes

to treat them as unit phonemes. Jansen (2005) generated the Yakut vowel inventory based on the

collected data by Kaun (1995) and Krueger (1962).

(1) YAKUT VOWEL INVENTORY:

Front Central Back

High i iː y yː ɯ ɯː u uː

Mid e eː ø o oː

Low a aː

Falling diphthongs ie yø ɯa uo

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Krueger (1962) defines the four diphthongs as falling which presumably means falling from

higher vowel to lower vowel. As far as the sonority of vowels is concerned, the four Yakut

diphthongs are all rising sonority type and appear as rising sonority diphthongs.

Once borrowed into Yakut, all Russian loanwords fit in within this vowel paradigm in Yakut.

In comparison, Russian has five vowel phonemes and they are rich in peculiar allophones.

(2) RUSSIAN VOWEL INVENTORY:

Front Central Back

High i (ɨ) u

Mid e (ə) o

Low a

It is well-known that the Russian allophonic system is closely dependent on the onset and the

coda qualities, and on the stress and palatalization. In Russian [ɨ] emerges as the allophone of [i],

and the mid central vowel [ə] is considered to be the allophone of [e]. There are no diphthongs in

Russian.

3. SYLLABLE STRUCTURE IN YAKUT AND IN RUSSIAN. Krueger (1962) distinguishes three

basic syllable types in Yakut:

1. Open, CV or CVV

2. Type CVC or CVVC;

3. Type VC or VVC (Krueger 1962:55)

4. Type CVCC or CVVCC

However, the Yakut syllable structure does not limit itself to the three assigned types. I have

found that in one-syllable words, like tyørt ‘four’, or bult ‘hunting’, the falling/flat sonority coda

clusters make up the fourth type of the syllable structure in Yakut (type 4). Another syllable type

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that is not identified by Krueger (1962) is V or VV structure. In native Yakut words, like

aa.rɯ.ma ‘huge’ the first syllable will be the long initial vowel /aa/. A short vowel can also be a

syllable, thus featuring Type V, for example in a borrowed word a.laa.ʝɯ ‘pancake’, the initial

vowel represents the assigned V syllable type.

Russian syllable structure is characterized as follows:

1. Open, CV

2. Closed, VC

3. Type CVC

4. Type V

Whenever it comes to consonant clusters in the onset position, we encounter this type:

Type CCVC or CCV

Another syllable type which is also overlooked is that similar to Yakut, Russian has also Type

V. This short vowel syllable type is found in the word o.la.dʲi ‘pancakes’, which once borrowed

into Yakut retains the identical syllable split of the initial vowel.

As Ostapenko (2005) discovered Russian has more variety of consonant cluster combinations

in the onset position. Similarly, in one-syllable words with both falling/flat and rising sonority

clusters in the coda we reveal the additional type of the Russian syllable structure:

Type CVCC

Considering the syllable structures of Russian loanwords into Yakut will help to account for

the process of the lengthening of vowels when they are borrowed in Yakut.

4. PROKOSCH’S LAW. In this paper I will focus on Russian loanwords which have become the

part of the Yakut lexicon and are already perceived as Yakut words with the Russian origin.

Russian is a stress-timed language, and the data of the Russian loanwords show that Russian

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stress in the input comes out as lengthened vowels and diphthongs (consisting of two morae) in

the Yakut output. Finch states, “Long vowels may either be original or they may arise from

secondary developments; in loanwords from Russian they generally represent a

transphonemicization of Russian stressed vowels.” (1985:3). Furthermore, the data leads to the

important observation that Yakut obeys Prokosch’s Law. Auer defines languages that obey

Prokosch’s Law, “The canonical stressed syllable of a language obeying Prokosch’s Law consists

of a long vowel or a short vowel plus a single consonant.” (1989:1081). In Yakut the Russian

stressed syllable is bimoraic or trimoraic and features CVV or CVVC type of syllables. There is

evidence that long vowels in Yakut are always stressed whereas short vowels are given the equal

weight of stress. This statement forms the assumption that Yakut words that do not have long

vowels have no stressed syllable. Consequently, if Yakut preserves the stress from the Russian

input, the stressed vowel in the output will always come out bimoraic according to Prokosch’s

Law. To achieve this rule, the stressed vowel of the input is lengthened and diphthongized in the

output which is the same as lengthening and should be treated equally as they form both VV type

thus making a stressed syllable at least consisting of two morae. In the following data (3) I would

like to illustrate the lengthening in the example of the Russian stressed vowel [a].

(3) aa<ˈaRussian Yakut ˈpa.pa paa.pa ‘papa’ˈma.ska maas.ka ‘mask’ˈmar.ka maar.ka ‘stamp’ˈpar.ta paar.ta ’school desk’ˈmaj.ka maaj.ka ‘sleeveless undershirt’ˈva.ta baa.ta ‘absorbent cotton’ˈlam.pa laam.pa ‘light bulb’ˈpap.ka paap.ka ‘folder’ˈbak baaχ ‘water tank’ˈçaj çaaj ‘tea’sa.ˈlaz.ka sa.laas.ka ‘sledge’ pa.ˈlat.ka ba.laak.ka ‘tent’

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xa.ˈlat χa.laat ‘robe’sa.ra.ˈfan sa.ra.paan ‘jumper dress’ta.ˈbak ta.baaχ ‘tobacco’ka.ran.ˈdaʃ χa.ran.daas ‘pencil’ˈsa.xar saa.χar ‘sugar’ˈçaj.nik çaaɲ.ɲɯk ‘teapot’ˈgal.stuk χaal.tɯs ‘necktie’ˈkar.toç.ka χaar.tɯs.ka ‘a photo picture’kaˈla.çik χa.laa.çɯk ‘cottage loaf’ka.len.ˈdarʲ χa.lan.daar ‘calendar’bu.ˈma.ga ku.maa.χɯ ‘a sheet of paper’bu.ˈmaʐ.nik ku.maa.hɯɲ.ɲɯk ‘wallet’sol.ˈdat sal.laat ‘soldier’to.ˈvar ta.baar ‘goods’po.ˈʐar ba.haar ‘fire (disaster)’ ʃo.ko.ˈlad sa.ka.laat ‘chocolate’çə.mo.ˈdan çɯ.ma.daan ‘suitcase’di.ˈvan ʝɯ.baan ‘coach’vos.pi.ˈta.təlʲ bas.pɯ.taa.tal ‘teacher (in kindergarten)’to.ˈva.riȿ ta.baa.rɯs ‘comrade’tsəl.loˈfan sa.la.paan ‘cellophane’də.pu.ˈtat ʝo.ku.taat ‘deputy’

The data shows that the stressed vowel [a] in the Russian input comes out as bimoraic in

the Yakut output and becomes long. Here are the constraints that I propose in the tableau, and

show how they interact.

(4) CONSTRAINTS DETERMINING PROKOSCH’S LAW:Backness Harmony: After back vowel, only back vowel (adopted from Krueger 1962).Prokosch’s Law: The stressed syllable is bimoraic or trimoraic.*jn: No [jn] cluster.IDENT-PLACE: Preserve place features from input segments.

The constraint ranking determines that backness harmony is the highest-ranked

constraint. The backness harmony spreads rightwards in the Yakut output, and it is strictly

consistent in loanwords. Prokosch’s Law constraint is ranked below backness harmony, and it

works for loanwords, especially from stressed-timed languages, like Russian. Stressed syllables

of the input emerge as trimoraic in the Yakut output. Clearly, IDENT-PLACE is a low-ranked

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constraint in the language, basically due to the consonant inventory that is not similar to Russian

consonants. Yakut generally allows replacement of many consonants in the output.

(5) çaaɲɲɯk<ˈçaj.nik/ˈçaj.nik / Backness

HarmonyProkosch’s Law

*jn IDENT-PLACE

a. çaaj.nik *! *b. çaj.nɯk *! * *c. çaaj.nɯk *!d. ça.ɲik *! * **e. çaaɲ.ɲik *! **f. çaaɲ.ɲɯk☞ **

Tableau (5) shows that in Russian if a vowel is stressed in the input, it becomes a long

vowel in the output according to Prokosch’s Law. In Yakut the vowel is lengthened and it retains

the original stress from the input. In this tableau the most faithful candidate çaj.nɯk loses

because the stressed vowel in the input is not lengthened in the output. Besides, Yakut does not

allow /jn/ cluster. This is avoided by the fifth candidate çaaɲ.ɲik, however, it violates the

backness harmony constraint, which is the highest-ranked in Yakut. The final candidate violates

lower-ranked IDENT-PLACE, but this is the best solution given the grammar of the language.

Clearly, according to Prokosch’s Law, all stressed vowels of the Russian input become

bimoraic. I would like to illustrate this tendency in the example of several vowels when they

become long in Yakut. These classifications according to the type of vowels are not consistent in

Yakut, in other words, not necessarily given Russian stressed vowels become the particular

bimoraic vowels in the output.

(6) ee<ˈa pər.ˈçat.ka ber.çeek.ki ‘glove’ pə.ˈçatʲ be.çeet ‘seal’

tət.ˈradʲ te.te.reet ‘notebook’

(7) uu<ˈu ˈsum.ka suum.ka ‘bag’ ˈbul.ka buul.ka ‘roll’

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ˈluk luuk ‘onion’ ˈkulʲ kuul ‘sack’ ˈku.ri.tsa kuu.rus.sa ‘hen’

(8) ɯɯ<ˈu ka.ˈpus.ta χap.pɯɯs.ta ‘cabbage’

(9) ɯ<ˈɨ ça.ˈsɨ ça.hɯɯ ‘clock/watch’ bu.ˈtɨl.ka bɯ.tɯɯl.ka ‘bottle’

(10) ii<ˈi ˈvil.ka biil.ke ‘fork’

ˈsi.təts sii.tes ‘print cotton’ ˈpi.vo pii.be ‘beer’ ˈmis.ka miis.ke ‘bowl’

I note that the listed data reflects the lengthening of the stressed vowel. Considering

Prokosch’s Law, I assume long vowels and diphthongs in this case should be considered as the

same regularity. However, I would like to distinguish within the long vowels in Yakut lengthened

vowels and diphthongs. The Russian stressed vowel becomes bimoraic, i.e. it becomes a long

vowel or a diphthong in Yakut.

4.1. LENGTHENING IN THE FORM OF DIPHTHONGIZATION. There are two basic distinctions of

both Yakut and Russian vowels according to their height: high/low vowels and mid-high vowels.

The data shows that stressed high-mid vowels of the input undergo diphthongization into Yakut

and high/low stressed short vowels of the input become the long vowel.

(11) HIGH/LOW STRESSED VOWELS LENGTHEN:

ˈban.tik baan.çɯk ‘ribbon’ pə.ˈçatʲ be.çeet ‘seal’ˈsum.ka suum.ka ‘bag’ ka.ˈpus.ta χap.pɯɯs.ta ‘cabbage’ˈmɨ.lo mɯɯ.la ‘soap’ˈvil.ka biil.ke ‘fork’ çər.ˈni.la çe.re.nii.le ‘ink’ kar.ˈti.na χar.tɯɯ.na ‘painting’ˈklʲuç ky.lyys ‘key’

ma.ˈʃi.na mas.sɯɯ.na ‘car’

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ma.ga.ˈzin ma.ʁa.hɯɯn ‘store’ko.man.ˈdir χa.man.dɯɯr ‘commander’

kas.ˈtrʲu.lʲa køs.tø.ryy.le ‘pot’ u.ˈtʲug ø.tyyk ‘iron (for clothes)’ ˈtʲulʲ tyyl ‘tulle’ ˈʲub.ka ʝuup.pa ‘skirt’ ˈʲU.rij ʝuu.ruj ‘Yuriy (male name)’

ˈʲab.lo.ko ʝaa.bɯ.la.ka ‘apple’ ˈʲas.li ʝaa.hɯ.la ‘crèche’ ˈʲa.ma ʝaa.ma ‘pit’ ˈʲa.korʲ ʝaa.kɯr ‘anchor’

(12) HIGH-MID VOWELS DIPTHONGIZE:

ˈpo.rox buo.raχ ‘gunpowder’ˈdos.ka duos.ka ‘blackboard’vin.ˈtov.ka bin.tiep.ke ‘rifle’bi.ˈdon bø.dyøn ‘churn’bi.ˈlət bi.liet ‘ticket’o.ˈrəx e.rie.χe ‘nut’pro.ˈtsənt bɯ.rɯ.hɯan ‘percent’lə.pˈʲoʃ.ka lep.pies.ke ‘flat bread’ko.ˈvʲor kø.byør ‘carpet’

It is evident that the diphthong is the long vowel and it is stressed in Yakut. In fact, all long

vowels are stressed in Yakut thus featuring a stressed syllable which consists of at least two

morae. Auer states, “The optimal stressed syllable is bimoric, the optimal unstressed syllable is

unimoric.” (1989:1081). In Yakut there are four diphthongs /uo/, /ie/, /ɯa/, and /yø/. Russian

stressed high-mid vowels diphthongize in Yakut loanwords. The examples (13) show the data

from the Russian stressed high-mid stressed vowels [o], [ʲo], and [ə].

(13) DIPHTHONG <ˈo: gaˈlo.ʃa χo.luo.ha ‘galosh’ karˈtoʃ.ka χor.tuos.ka ‘potato’ subˈbo.ta su.buo.ta ‘Saturday’ uˈrok u.ruok ‘lesson’ ˈkof.ta kuop.ta ‘blouse’ ˈkoʃ.ka kuos.ka ‘cat’ ˈloʐ.ka luos.ka ‘spoon’ ˈdos.ka duos.ka ‘blackboard’ ko.ˈmod χo.muot ‘chest of drawers’ o.go.ˈrod o.ʁu.ruot ‘kitchen garden’

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po.ˈrog bo.ruok ‘threshold’ ˈgo.rod kuo.rat ‘city’ moˈtor mo.tuor ‘engine’ po.to.ˈlok bo.to.luok ‘ceiling’ po.ro.ˈʃok bo.ro.huok ‘powder’ ˈpo.rox buo.raχ ‘gunpowder’

vin.ˈtov.ka bin.tiep.ke ‘rifle’ pi.ˈrog bø.ryøk ‘pie’ bi.ˈdon bø.dyøn ‘churn’

(14) DIPHTHONG <ˈə ˈtsə.mənt sie.men ‘cement’ ˈvə.çər bie.çer ‘evening (party)’ ˈnə.məts nie.mes ‘German’ ˈpə.rəts bie.res ‘pepper’ kon.ˈtsərt ken.siert ‘concert’ ot.ˈvət ep.piet ‘answer’ o.ˈbəd e.biet ‘lunch’ ˈlən.ta lien.te ‘ribbon’ ˈtəs.to ties.te ‘dough’ ˈzər.ka.lo sier.ki.le ‘mirror’ di.ˈrək.tor di.riek.ter ‘director’ bi.ˈlət bi.liet ‘ticket’ pis.to.ˈlət bes.ti.liet ‘pistol’ ˈxləb ki.liep ‘bread’ pə.ˈçə.nʲə be.çieɲ.ɲe ‘cookie’ mo.lo.ˈdəts ma.la.ʝɯas ‘well done!’ xo.lo.ˈdəts χa.la.ʝɯas ‘meat in aspic’ dvo.ˈrəts dɯ.ba.rɯas ‘palace’ kon.ˈfə.ta χam.pɯat ‘candy’ pro.ˈtəst bɯ.ra.çɯas ‘protest’

The palatalized allophone of [o] is the front rounded [ʲo] in Russian. The important

phonological feature of the allophone [ʲo] is that it always appears stressed in Russian, this

constraint is inviolable. Consequently, [ʲo] occurs as the front diphthongs /ie/ or /yø/ in Yakut. In

examples (15) the word ber.ti.liet ‘helicopter’ can also be used as bør.ty.lyøt, so they are

interchangeable. The word lep.pies.ke is an exception from the rounding harmony rule which

will be discussed later.

(15) DIPHTHONG <ˈʲo

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ver.to.ˈlʲot ber.ti.liet ‘helicopter’lə.ˈpʲoʃ.ka lep.pies.ke ‘flat breadsa.moˈlʲot sø.mø.lyøt ‘airplane’pə.ˈlʲon.ka bø.lyøn.ke ‘swaddling clothes’ko.ˈvʲor kø.byør ‘carpet’ˈmʲod myøt ‘honey’

Generally, I find that according to Prokosch’s Law Yakut stressed vowels are lengthened

from the Russian input. Within lengthening of stressed syllable there are variations that Russian

high-mid stressed vowels diphthongize and high or low stressed vowels become long vowels in

Yakut, thus forming two morae. Note that lengthening and diphthongization are the same process

within Prokosch’s Law. However, the data shows the clear distinctions of the specific heights of

stressed vowels that diphthongize and become long in Yakut.

5. ROUNDING HARMONY. Yakut features rounding harmony. Krueger defines Yakut rounding

harmony as, “After unrounded, only unrounded (in other words, never rounded after unrounded);

after rounded, only rounded (except that unrounded [a] or [e] may occur after [u] or [y]

respectively.” (1962: 49). Russian loanwords undergo rounding harmony, on condition that the

stressed vowel in the input is rounded. The rounded vowel becomes bimoraic in Yakut, according

to Prokosch’s Law, and then it spreads roundness leftwards.

(16) RUSSIAN STRESSED ROUNDED VOWEL SPREADS ROUNDING LEFTWARDS: ga.ˈlo.ʃa χo.luo.ha ‘galosh’ stək.ˈlo øs.tyø.ky.le ‘glass’ kar.ˈtoʃ.ka χor.tuos.ka ‘potato’ pi.ˈrog bø.ryøk ‘pie’

kas.ˈtrʲu.lʲa køs.tø.ryy.le ‘pot’ pə.ˈro bø.ryø ‘feather’ tə.lə.ˈfon tø.lø.pyøn ‘telephone’ bi.ˈdon bø.dyøn ‘watering can’ mə.ˈʃo.çək mø.hyøç.çyk ‘pouch’ pat.ˈron bo.tu.ruon ‘bullet’

sa.moˈlʲot sø.mø.lyøt ‘airplane’ pə.ˈlʲon.ka bø.lyøn.ke ‘swaddling clothes’ ko.ˈvʲor kø.byør ‘carpet’ vər.to.ˈlʲot bør.tø.lyøt ‘helicopter’

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pə.ˈtux bø.tyyk ‘rooster’ kar.ˈtuz χor.tuus ‘cap’ Mi.ˈron Mø.ryøn ‘male name’ za.ˈvod so.buot ‘factory’ pa.ro.ˈxod bo.ro.kuot ‘steamship’ kab.ˈluk χo.bu.luk ‘heel’ ma.ka.ˈron mo.ku.ruon ‘macaroni’

My general point is that the stressed long rounded vowel triggers leftward spreading of

roundness in the Yakut output. This is an interesting observation that is very consistent to

account for the rounding harmony constraint in Yakut. However, I find exceptions from the data

(16). In (17) the stressed vowel of the input is stressed, nevertheless, it does not spread roundness

leftwards.

(17) EXCEPTIONS: ka.ˈpus.ta χap.pɯɯs.ta ‘cabbage’ ki.ˈno kii.ne ‘movie’ lə.pˈʲoʃ.ka lep.pies.ke ‘flat bread’ vin.ˈtov.ka bin.tiep.ke ‘rifle’ vər.to.ˈlʲot ber.ti.liet ‘helicopter’

The word ber.ti.liet ‘helicopter’(15) is used interchangeably with bør.tø.lyøt as in (16). Other

than these minor exceptions, Russian loanwords undergo leftward spreading of roundness from

the stressed rounded vowel of the input.

(18) CONSTRAINTS DETERMINING ROUNDING HARMONY:

Rounding Harmony: Long rounded vowel spreads rounding leftwards.High-midV→Diph: Russian stressed high-mid vowels diphthongize.*ka: No word-initial [ka].*ʃ: No [ʃ] consonant.

(19) χortuoska< kar.ˈtoʃ.ka /kar.ˈtoʃ.ka/ Rounding

HarmonyProkosch’sLaw

High-midV→Diph

*ka *ʃ IDENT-PLACE

a. kar.tuoʃ.ka *! * *b. χar.tos.ka *! * **c. kar.tuos.ka *! * *d. χor.tooʃ.ka *! * *e. ☞χor.tuos.ka **

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The tableau shows that the stressed high-mid vowel [o] becomes the diphthong /uo/ and

consequently spreads roundness from the second syllable to the initial syllable (leftwards). There

is no initial /ka/ as proves the example in tableau (19) and it is replaced by the uvular [χ]. There

is no way to retain /χa/ word initially, as the rounding spreads leftwards which is the rounding

harmony constraint. Finally, there is no [ʃ] in the Yakut consonant inventory.

Here I do not consider words that have a stressed rounded vowel in the first syllable or

already have a rounded vowel preceding the rounded stressed vowel. In these mentioned cases

rounding feature is retained in its position. The point of this section is to show leftward spreading

of roundness in Yakut of the Russian stressed rounded vowel.

6. BACKNESS HARMONY. Backness harmony is the highest-ranked constraint which is never

violated. In the output the vowel of the initial syllable is either front or back, and the vowel of

the first syllable spreads backness. Finch defines the informal statement of the vowel harmony

rules in Yakut, “All vowels in a word must agree in backness: a vowel following a [+back] vowel

must be [+back] and a vowel following a [-back] vowel must be [-back].” (1985:7). The

definition of the Yakut vowel harmony by Krueger is similar, and very precise:

1. after front V, only front V

2. after back V, only back V. (Krueger 1962: 49)

Krueger (1962) assumed about the restrictions that vowels in non-first syllables undergo

which are dependent on the type of the first syllable. Consequently, all Russian loanwords

undergo Backness harmony once borrowed in Yakut. Clearly, Russian does not have backness

harmony constraint. In (20) and (21) there are two groups of words that come out either

harmonized with the back vowel of the initial syllable, and the second groups of words that

represent front vowels spread from the initial front vowel. Whereas, the Russian input possesses

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a combination of both back and front vowels in a single word, being a non-vowel harmony

language.

(20) YAKUT BACK VOWEL HARMONY FROM THE INITIAL SYLLABLE: di.ˈvan ʝɯ.baan ‘coach’ˈku.ri.tsa kuu.rus.sa ‘hen’ o.ˈla.dʲi a.laa.ʝɯ ‘drop scone’ ka.ˈla.çik χa.laa.çɯk ‘cottage loaf’

ma.ˈʃi.na mas.sɯɯ.na ‘car’ ma.ga.ˈzin ma.ʁa.hɯɯn ‘store’ ko.man.ˈdir χa.man.dɯɯr ‘commander’

(17) YAKUT FRONT VOWEL HARMONY FROM THE INITIAL SYLLABLE:ˈvil.ka biil.ke ‘fork’ bi.ˈlət bi.liet ‘ticket’ pe.ˈro bø.ryø ‘feather’

ˈkni.ga ki.ni.ge ‘book’ ot.ˈvət ep.piet ‘answer’ u.ˈtʲug ø.tyyk ‘iron (for clothes)’ ˈpi.vo pii.be ‘beer’

The question according to which principles certain words of the Russian input harmonize

with the initial back vowel or front vowel thus undergoing backness harmony constraint, remains

a mystery. It seems like there is no defined tendency to account for the underlying process of

harmonization between the input and the output. In the output we clearly see backness harmony,

conditioned by the initial vowel of the first syllable. To say that the first Russian vowel

determines backness is not consistent, as, for, example (17), with ep.piet ‘answer’ from ot.ˈvət,

where the Russian vowel of the initial syllable [o] is back. Neither explains a Backness harmony

principle the backness of the stressed vowel of the Russian input, like (17) ø.tyyk ‘iron (for

clothes)’ which comes out from u.ˈtʲug with the back stressed [ʲu], or the stressed Russian front

[i] of ma.ˈʃi.na ‘car’ becomes mas.sɯɯ.na featuring back vowels in the Yakut output. I have no

explanation for a principle why Russian words are borrowed with either back vowels or front

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vowels respectively, thus always following obligatory Backness harmony. Perhaps more detailed

linguistic research will shed some light on this in the future.

Tableau (18) demonstrates the process of Backness harmonization of the input ka.ˈla.çik

‘cottage loaf’. Clearly, the Russian word has both back and front vowels; however, in the output

all the vowels are back.

(18) χalaaçɯk< ka.ˈla.çik / ka.ˈla.çik / Backness

HarmonyProkosch’s Law

*ka IDENT-PLACE

a. ka.laa.çik *! *b. χa.la.çik *! * *c. ka.laa.çɯk *!d. ☞ χa.laa.çɯk *e. χa.laaçik *! *

Backness harmony is the highest-ranked constraint in Yakut which is inviolable. The

candidates (a.) and (b.) lose as they do not feature the backness harmony. According to

Prokosch’s Law stressed vowel of the input becomes bimoraic. IDENT-PLACE is low-ranked in

Yakut as the consonant inventory in both languages is different and whenever the Russian input’s

consonant is not compatible with the Yakut consonant inventory, it will be replaced. The

candidate χalaaçɯk wins, as it follows the backness harmony constraint. The first vowel [a] of

the initial syllable spreads backness rightwards in the output. In the input the word initial is /ka/

which does not occur in Yakut since [χ] and [k] are in complementary distribution.

My general point is that Russian loanwords undergo backness harmony. The Yakut output

without any exceptions, clearly shows that when borrowed, a word’s first vowel in the initial

syllable spreads backness rightwards.

7. VOWELS AND CONSONANT CLUSTERS. Yakut does not allow consonant clusters in onset-

position. Therefore when a Russian word with complex onsets are borrowed into Yakut the

vowel will be inserted either before the cluster or between the two consonants of the onset.

16

Summing up all the consonant clusters in loanwords I may conclude that it depends on the type

of sonority of clusters, whether it is rising or falling. Gouskova (2001) analyzed Russian

loanwords into Kirgiz, which is another closely related to Yakut a Turkic language. The study

claims that Russian has a wide variety of falling and flat sonority clusters, which are repaired by

peripheral epenthesis in falling and flat sonority onsets, and by internal epenthesis in rising

sonority onsets. Following Gouskova (2001), I find that the same rule applies to Russian

loanwords into Yakut.

(19) THE COMPLEX ONSETS’ PATTERNS:

examples: st, sk, ʃt, sp, ʃk pl, kn, bl, tr, pr, kr, kl, xl, sm, sv, br, vr, dv, fl, gr, xrsonority: Falling/flat RisingEpenthesis Edge Internal

(20) FALLING/FLAT SONORITY: EDGE EPENTHESIS: ˈstol os.tuol ‘table’ʃta.ˈnɨ ɯs.taan ‘pants’ˈspi.tsɨ is.piis.se ‘knitting needles’ˈska.tərtʲ ɯs.kaa.çar ‘tablecloth’ˈʃkaf ɯs.kaap ‘closet’ˈspi.sok is.pii.hek ‘list’ˈʃko.la os.kuo.la ‘school’ˈstul us.tuul ‘chair’ˈʃtu.ka us.tuu.ka ‘item’

(21) RISING SONORITY: INTERNAL EPENTHESIS:ˈpla.tʲə bɯ.laaç.ça ‘dress’ˈkni.ga ki.ni.ge ‘book’kru.ˈpa ku.ruup.pa ‘grain’ˈxləb ki.liep ‘bread’ˈvraç bɯ.raas ‘doctor’ˈsvi.tər si.bii.te.re ‘sweater’ˈklad kɯ.laat ‘treasure’ˈgrab.li kɯ.raa.bɯl ‘rake’ kvar.ˈtira kɯ.bar.tɯɯ.ra ‘apartment’ kra.ˈsa.vi.tsa kɯ.ra.saa.bɯs.sa ‘female cutie’

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We see that a vowel that will be inserted at the edge position or internally between the

consonant clusters of onset is always a high vowel. My general point is that a high vowel is

inserted at the edge position for falling/flat sonority consonant clusters and internally in rising

sonority type of clusters. Then the phonology turns it into either a back or front vowel insertion.

Furthermore, it is obvious that the role of the Russian first-syllable vowel should not be

neglected in terms of the edge and internal vowel epenthesis in consonant clusters. The general

pattern is that the first vowel in a word of the input determines backness of an inserted high

vowel. Consequently, a high vowel either back or front depending on the backness of the Russian

word-initial vowel will emerge either in edge position or internally in a consonant cluster

conditioned by the sonority type of the cluster.

(22) FRONT VOWEL EPENTHESIS: də.ˈrəv.nʲa de.rie.bi.ne ‘village’ çər.ˈni.la çe.re.nii.le ‘ink’

ˈspi.sok is.pii.hek ‘list’ˈkrəs.lo ki.rie.hi.le ‘armchair’bri.ga.ˈdir bi.ri.ge.ʝiir ‘brigadier’ˈvrə.mʲa bi.rie.me ‘time’ˈkni.ga ki.ni.ge ‘book’

çər.ˈni.la çe.re.nii.le ‘ink’ˈSvə.ta Si.bie.te ‘female diminutive name’stə.ˈna is.tie.ne ‘wall’

As far as back vowels are concerned, similarly, here they also decide whether a back

vowel will be inserted in a consonant cluster, as the word-initial front vowels of the input

determine (22). Below (23) are the examples of words with both rising and falling sonority

clusters, and which have both front and back vowels in the input. The back vowel in the first

syllable causes the epenthesis of a back vowel on the consonant cluster.

(23) BACK VOWEL EPENTHESIS:ˈʲas.li ʝaa.hɯ.la ‘crèche’Stə.ˈpan ɯs.ta.paan ‘male name’ska.ˈməj.ka ɯs.ka.mɯaj.ka ‘bench’

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kvar.ˈti.ra kɯ.bar.tɯɯ.ra ‘apartment’ ˈgrab.li kɯ.raa.bɯl ‘rake’

kra.ˈsa.vi.tsa kɯ.ra.saa.bɯs.sa ‘female cutie’

Apart from this general pattern, there are minor exceptions, where backness of the word-

initial vowel does not affect the epenthesis of the front/back vowel in the consonant cluster. For

example, in a word ke.ti.liet ‘chop’ from kot.ˈlə.ta, with the back vowel [o] in the first syllable.

The same applies to çɯɯ.hɯ.la ‘number (date)’ from the input çis.ˈlo where the word-initial

vowel /i/ is front, yet, it does not cause a front vowel epenthesis in the cluster.

Rounded vowels behave very powerfully when it comes to an epenthesis of vowels in

consonant clusters of rising and falling/flat sonority types. We already know about the leftward

spreading of roundness from the stressed rounded vowel. Apparently, the stressed rounded

vowels spread roundness leftwards, and simultaneously insert a rounded vowel in the cluster.

Unstressed rounded vowels in a word also cause the epenthesis of a rounded vowel to the

preceding or following consonant cluster. Examples (24), us.tu.ruu.na ‘string’ from the input

stru.ˈna, and us.tu.ʝuon ‘student’ from stu.ˈdənt show the leftward spreading of a rounded vowel

insertion from the following the cluster unstressed rounded vowel. In the word su.ru.naal

‘magazine’ the rising consonant cluster /rn/ from the Russian word ʐur.ˈnal undergoes the

internal epenthesis of /u/ from the unstressed rounded vowel preceding the cluster, thus featuring

a leftward spreading of the rounded vowel insertion. For these reasons I stipulate, there will

always be an insertion of a rounded vowel either at the edge position or internally in consonant

clusters depending on their rising and falling/flat sonority type in a word where rounded vowels,

regardless stressed or unstressed, precede or follow the cluster.

(24) ROUNDED VOWEL EPENTHESIS:ˈstol os.tuol ‘table’ˈʃko.la os.kuo.la ‘school’

ˈstul us.tuul ‘chair’

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ˈʃtu.ka us.tuu.ka ‘item’ˈsto.roʐ os.tuo.ras ‘watchman’ stru.ˈna us.tu.ruu.na ‘string’ suk.ˈno su.ku.na ‘cloth’ ˈsluʐ.ba su.luus.pa ‘service’ stu.ˈdənt us.tu.ʝuon ‘student’

kas.ˈtrʲu.lʲa køs.tø.ryy.le ‘pot’ ˈkud.ri kuu.du.ra ‘curls’ ˈkux.nʲa kuu.ku.na ‘kitchen’ ʐur.ˈnal su.ru.naal ‘magazine’ ˈbuk.va buu.ku.ba ‘letter (character)’ ˈkuk.la kuu.ku.la ‘doll’ kab.ˈluk χo.bu.luk ‘heel’ vop.ˈros bop.pu.ruos ‘question’ ˈboç.ka buo.çu.ka ‘barrell’

Below (25) the constraints that determine edge epenthesis in falling/flat and rising

sonority consonant clusters (27) are defined. Many constraints come from the specific consonant

inventory of Yakut, basically, the absence of certain consonants and the restrictions concerning

the combinations of onset and coda in the language.

(25) CONSTRAINTS DETERMINING EDGE EPENTHESIS IN FALLING SONORITY CONSONANT CLUSTERS:*COMP-ONS: Avoid consonant cluster on onset.

*f: No [f] consonant.SYLLABLE CONTACT: Sonority must not rise across a syllable boundary. (Davis 1998, Hooper 1976, Murray and Vennemann 1983, Rose to appear, Vennemann 1988) (adopted from Gouskova 2001).CONTIGUITY: elements adjacent in the input must be adjacent in the output (Gouskova 2001).DEP: No insertion.

(26) Falling sonority input:edge epenthesis: ɯskaap<ˈʃkaf /ˈʃkaf/ *COMP-

ONS*f *ʃ Prokosch’s Law SYLL-CON CONTIGUITY DEP

a. ʃkaf *! * * *b. ɯs.kaf *! * *c. ɯs.kaaf *! *d. sɯ.kaap *! *e. ☞ɯs.kaap *

Following the constraint rankings generated by Gouskova (2001), SYLLABLE CONTACT is

high-ranked in Kirgiz. She claims that CONTIGUITY ensures edge epenthesis when SYLLABLE

20

CONTACT is not at stake. Accordingly, SYLLABLE CONTACT determines the site of epenthesis

when no other constraints can make the decision. In other words, the constraint does not allow

rising sonority across a syllable boundary. The tableau presents losing candidates as they contain

consonants that do not exist in Yakut. The cluster [sk] is falling sonority so it does not violate

SYLLABLE CONTACT constraint which is ranked higher than CONTIGUITY. Furthermore,

*COMPS-ONS is high-ranked in Yakut as there is no complex onset in the language, so candidate

(a.) loses immediately. Besides, there are no [f] and [ʃ] phonemes in the Yakut consonant

inventory. Prokosch’s Law is the constraint that infers to the stressed vowels that become

bimoraic in Yakut output. Finally, it turns out that DEP is a low- ranked constraint, according to

the candidate that wins which shows that Yakut allows insertion.

Tableau (28) shows the instance of the internal epenthesis between the rising sonority

consonant cluster /vr/ in the input.

(27) *v: No [v] consonant. *ç final: Avoid [ç] on word-final coda.

(28) Rising sonority input: internal epenthesis: bɯraas<ˈvraç/ˈvraç / *COMPS-

ONS*v *Çfinal Prokosch’s

LawSYLL-CON CONTIGUITY DEP

a. vraaç *! * * * *b. braç *! * * * *c. braas *! * * *d. vɯ.raas *! * *e. ☞bɯ.raas * *c. ɯv.raas *! * *

In Yakut there is no complex onset regardless its rising or falling sonority features.

Nevertheless, SYLLABLE CONTACT constraint emerges as a determining factor on which site to

insert a vowel so that to get rid of complex onsets. In tableau (30) we see that falling sonority is

accepted in the language, although to block a complex onset the edge epenthesis is applied. As in

21

Kirgiz, SYLLABLE CONTACT is high-ranked in Yakut. The internal epenthesis proves to be the

major solution to avoid rising sonority clusters in Yakut. Candidates (a.), (b.), (d.), (c.) lose

because they have [v] which is not in the Yakut consonant inventory. Although [ç] exists in Yakut

consonant inventory, the consonant [ç] never occurs word finally.

Russian has both falling/flat sonority and rising sonority codas in a number of words. I have

found that Yakut constrains the occurrence of a coda besides the falling sonority coda clusters /rt/

and /lt/. Krueger (1962) emphasizes that final consonant clusters in Yakut are limited to /rt/,

/lt/, /ηk/, /mp/. Therefore, when a Russian word has a coda cluster it will undergo the epenthesis

of a vowel in the final position when it is a falling/flat sonority cluster. In contrast, the rising

sonority coda clusters will evidence the internal epenthesis of a vowel as it follows. The inserted

vowel either in the final position or internally depends on the backness and rounding features of

a word.

(29) CODA FALLING/FLAT SONORITY: ˈpark paar.ka ‘park’ ˈkistʲ kiis.te ‘brush’ ˈbint biin.te ‘bandage’ ˈsərp sier.pe ‘sickle’ ˈʃʲolk sol.ko ‘silk’

(30) CODA RISING SONORITY: ˈmətr mie.tir ‘meter’ ˈkadr kaa.dɯr ‘employer’

The consistent feature is observed regarding Russian loanwords that begin with the trilled

sonant [r]. Krueger (1962) confirms that [r] does not occur at the beginning of native Yakut

words. Consequently, in Russian words with a word-initial [r] will have a vowel inserted, in

other words, they undergo the edge epenthesis.

(31) EDGE VOWEL EPENTHESIS BEFORE [r] WORD-INITIAL: rə.ˈzi.na e.re.hii.ne ‘rubber’ ˈra.ma a.raa.ma ‘frame’

22

ˈrɨ.nok ɯ.rɯɯ.nak ‘market’ ˈruç.ka u.ruu.çu.ka ‘pen’ ˈrʲum.ka y.ryym.ke ‘shot (glass)’ ra.ˈbo.çij o.ro.buo.çaj ‘worker’ ru.ˈba.xa ɯr.baa.χɯ ‘shirt’ rɨ.ˈçag ɯ.rɯ.çaak ‘lever’

(32) *ONS/R Word init: No [r] on word initial onset. NO-TRIPH: Avoid triphthongs.

(33) a.raa.ma<ˈra.ma/ˈra.ma/ Backness

Harmony*ONS/R Word Init

Prokosch’s Law

NO-TRIPHDEP

a. raa.ma *! *b. e. ra.ma *! * *c. rɯaa.ma *! * **d. ɯ.ra.ma * *e. ☞a.raa.ma **

Yakut never allows [r] in the onset position word initially, so the first and the third

candidates lose right away. e.ra.ma violates two high-ranked constraints, first, there is no

backness vowel harmony and the stressed [a] of the input which is emerges as long in the output

according to Prokosch’s Law is also not followed. The third candidate shows two unacceptable

forms, like the epenthesis of a vowel before the long vowel thus making it a triphthong, which

Yakut does not have. Finally, the candidate a.raa.ma wins as it violates DEP, which is low-

ranked in Yakut.

8. CONCLUSION. I have shown that Russian loanwords undergo the backness and rounding

vowel harmony into Yakut. Russian stressed vowels become long in the Yakut output, which

proves the fact that Yakut obeys Prokosch’s Law. Following Prokosch’s Law, the stressed vowels

of the output become bimoraic in Yakut. In the framework of lengthening I confirm that high-

mid vowels of the input become diphthongs and high vowels including the low vowel [a]

become long vowels in Yakut. Next, the rounding harmony is followed in Russian loanwords. I

find that the stressed rounded vowel spreads roundness leftwards. Furthermore, the loanword

23

data shows that the backness harmony is the highest-ranked constraint in the language. In the

output the first vowel of the initial syllable triggers rightward backness harmonization. Another

clear finding is connected to the vowel epenthesis in consonant clusters. The evidence from

Yakut shows that the edge versus internal epenthesis of vowels in clusters depends on the rising

and falling sonority values of clusters. Falling/flat sonority consonant clusters insert a vowel at

the edge position, in turn; rising sonority consonant clusters feature the internal vowel

epenthesis. Here I see the exact parallel with Gouskova’s (2001) study on Russian loanwords

into Kirgiz. In addition, I have found that there is an evident tendency to insert a high vowel in

the consonant clusters. Backness harmony for an inserted vowel is conditioned by the first vowel

of the initial syllable, thus triggering rightward spreading of backness. Inserted rounded vowels

emerge due to the rounded vowel which precedes or follows the consonant cluster of either rising

or falling/flat sonority.

This paper showed that all Russian words once borrowed into Yakut undergo vowel harmony.

I have found consistent patterns that would account for some of the principles of the vowel

harmonization of Russian loanwords. However, more linguistic research is needed to reveal

underlying factors that trigger the highest-ranked backness harmony, given the fact that Russian

is not a vowel harmony language. The use of OT proves to be the best approach to investigate

this particular area, although perhaps other constraint-based models would also attribute to the

study in more details.

24

REFERENCES

AUER, PETER. 1989. Some ways to count morae: Prokosch’s Law, Streitberg’s Law, Pfalz’s Law, and other rhythmic regularities. Linguistics 27. 1071-1102.

BARLOW, JESSICA A. and GIERUT, JUDITH A. 1999. Optimality theory in phonological acquisition. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 42. 1482-1498.

FINCH, ROGER. 1985. Vowel harmony in Yakut. Sophia Linguistica 18. 1-17.

GOUSKOVA, MARIA. 2001. Falling sonority onsets, loanwords, and Syllable Contact. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, ms.

JANSEN, WOUTER. 2005. Advanced phonological theory B – lecture 6: Explaining vowel harmony. Retrieved November 26, 2008, from: http://wouter.jansen.kuvik.net

KRUEGER, JOHN R. 1962. Yakut Manual. Bloomington: Indiana University Publications.

OSTAPENKO, OLESYA. 2005. The optimal L2 Russian syllable onset. Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin, ms.