Knowledge base · Part III — Segmental Phonetics, Phonology, and Phonotactics · this topic as a network
18. /s/ and the s ~ š Palatalization Alternation
What conditions the alternation between [s] and [ʃ] for the single fricative /s/ in Hokkaido Ainu?
The single fricative and its positional variants
How does the pronunciation of the fricative /s/ vary with its position in the syllable?
The fricative /s/ in Ainu belongs to a single phoneme, with sh being a slightly palatalized variant of s (Kindaichi & Chiri 1936). It is realized as [ʃ] before [i] and in syllable-final position, and as [s] elsewhere (Shibatani 1990). More specifically, /s/ palatalizes to [ʃ] before /i/, and syllable-final /-s/ is often palatalized unless followed by a word beginning with [s] (Refsing 1986: 68). For Sakhalin Ainu, Murasaki states the distribution categorically: /s/ is pronounced [ʃ] in syllable-final position and in the syllable /si/, and [s] in all other positions (Murasaki 2025: 2).
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Onset realization
How is /s/ pronounced when it occurs at the onset of a syllable?
When /s/ occurs at the onset of a syllable before i, the sequence si is pronounced [ʃi], rendered in Japanese as 'シ', rather than [si], which would correspond to 'スィ' (Satō 2008: 11).
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Coda allophony: the /i/-conditioning
How does the nucleus vowel affect the pronunciation of a syllable-final /s/?
Syllable-final s resembles the initial sound of Japanese 'shi' ([ɕ]), though it can also be pronounced close to [s] (Satō 2008: 12). In Chitose Ainu, Bugaeva reports that /s/ is as a rule not palatalized unless it is preceded or followed by /i/ (Bugaeva 2012: 464–465).
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Coda /s/ before /w/: the override constraint
What happens to a syllable-final /s/ when immediately followed by /w/?
Ainu [ɕ] and Japanese /ɕ/: a phonetic note
How does the Ainu [ɕ] sound differ from the Japanese [ɕ]?
The pronunciation of si in Ainu is identical to Japanese [ɕi] ('shi') and is not a [si]-like sound (Nakagawa 2024: 45).
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