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A Grammar of Hokkaido Ainu

Knowledge base · Part III — Segmental Phonetics, Phonology, and Phonotactics

18. /s/ and the s ~ š Palatalization Alternation

What conditions the alternation between [s] and [ʃ] for the single fricative /s/ in Hokkaido Ainu?

北海道アイヌ語の単一摩擦音 /s/ における [s] と [ʃ] の交替は何によって決まるのか？

The allophonic [s]~[ʃ] alternation before and after /i/ and word-finally (Saru sisam vs šišam), its conditioning, and its dialect distribution.

candidate topic from the first edition topic:phon/s-palatalization read this topic as text

8claims
15statements
12sources
1examples
7sections
50first-edition sentences

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The single fricative and its positional variants 4 claims ·7 sentences

How does the pronunciation of the fricative /s/ vary with its position in the syllable?

  1. The fricative /s/ palatalizes to [ʃ] before /i/, and syllable-final /-s/ is often palatalized unless followed by a word commencing with [s].
    摩擦音/s/は/i/の前で[ʃ]に口蓋化し、音節末の/-s/は[s]で始まる語が後続しない限りしばしば口蓋化する。
    alternation hokkaido often si
    asserts refsing1986
  2. s and sh belong to the same phoneme, sh being merely a slightly palatalized variant of s.
    s と sh も同一の音素であり、後者は前者が少し口蓋化した程度のものにすぎない。
    analysis ainu all ssh
    asserts kindaichi1936
  3. /s/ is pronounced [ʃ] syllable-finally and in the syllable /si/, and [s] elsewhere.
    音節末と /si/ における /s/ は [ʃ] であり、それ以外の位置では [s] である。
    alternation sakhalin all /s//si/
    asserts murasaki2025
  4. The fricative /s/ is realized as either [s] or [ʃ], occurring consistently as [ʃ] before [i] and in syllable-final position.
    摩擦音 /s/ は [s] または [ʃ] として現れ、[i] の前および音節末の位置では常に [ʃ] として生起する。
    distribution ainu generic s
    asserts shibatani1990

Onset realization 1 claims ·7 sentences

How is /s/ pronounced when it occurs at the onset of a syllable?

  1. The sequence si is pronounced [ʃi] ('シ') rather than [si] ('スィ').
    si は「スィ」ではなく，「シ」と発音される。
    other ainu all si
    asserts sato2008

Coda allophony: the /i/-conditioning 2 claims ·13 sentences

How does the nucleus vowel affect the pronunciation of a syllable-final /s/?

  1. In Chitose Ainu, /s/ is as a rule not palatalized, unless it is preceded or followed by /i/.
    千歳アイヌ語において、/s/は/i/に先行されるか後続されない限り、原則として口蓋化しない。
    distribution hokkaido/chitose usually /s//i/
    asserts bugaeva2012
  2. Syllable-final s resembles the initial sound of Japanese 'shi' ([ɕ]), but can also be pronounced close to [s].
    音節末の s は日本語の「し」の頭音に似ているが，[s]に近い発音されることもある。
    variation ainu generic s
    asserts sato2008

Coda /s/ before /w/: the override constraint 5 sentences· 1 examples

What happens to a syllable-final /s/ when immediately followed by /w/?

as wa
stand CONJ
‘standing (and then)’
aynucorporadiscord SAR

Ainu [ɕ] and Japanese /ɕ/: a phonetic note 1 claims ·5 sentences

How does the Ainu [ɕ] sound differ from the Japanese [ɕ]?

  1. The pronunciation of si in Ainu is identical to Japanese [ɕi] (shi), not [si].
    アイヌ語の si の発音は「スィ」のような音ではなく、日本語の「し」と同じである。
    form-function hokkaido all si
    asserts nakagawa2024

Speaker and dialect variation 6 sentences

How does the degree of palatalization of /s/ vary among speakers and dialects?

Progressive palatalization in sirsak 7 sentences

What sporadic progressive palatalization is observed in compounds such as sirsak?