Lai (Hakha)
CNH | Chin State, Burma; Mizoram State, India | Entry created by Larry Hyman | University of California, Berkeley
Representation of Tones:
- 3 underlying tones: /HL/, /LH/, /L/
- 4 surface tones: [HL], [LH], [L], [0]
- Tone bearing unit: syllable
- Underlying underspecification: short /CV/ proclitics are toneless
- Surface Underspecification: underlying and derived short [CV] syllables are toneless: they are pronounced [H] before /L/, otherwise interpolated as [L] or [M]by context
Tonal Rules and Alternations:
Spreading:
Whether Hakha Lai has tone spreading is a matter of interpretation (see Hyman & VanBik 2004) and the descriptive statement of the tone rules below.
added 2004-10-18 12:15:33 | edited 2004-10-18 12:15:33
Contour Simplification:
/HL/ is realized [L] after /HL/ or /L/.
added 2004-10-18 12:16:24 | edited 2004-10-18 12:20:40
/LH/ is realized [L] when followed by /L/.
added 2004-10-18 12:21:31 | edited 2004-10-18 12:21:31
Other Rules:
/LH/ is realized [HL] after another /LH/ or phrase-initially. /LH-LH-LH/ is realized LH-HL-HL (HL-HL-HL phrase-initially)
added 2004-10-18 12:18:17 | edited 2004-10-18 12:23:08
Tonal Domains:
Tonal Assignments in Compounds:
The same rules apply in noun+noun compounds as between words within the phrase.
added 2004-10-18 12:23:50 | edited 2004-10-18 12:23:50
Tone Interactions:
Intonation Interactions:
/LH/ is realized [HL] after pause, suggesting that there is an initial %H (or %LH) boundary tone
added 2004-10-18 12:31:20 | edited 2004-10-18 12:31:20
Syllable Structure Interactions:
Short stopped (CVT) syllables are restricted to /LH/ tone; long stopped (CVVT) syllables are restricted to /L/ tone, although some /LH/ CVVT syllables arise from verb stem2 tone assignment.
added 2004-10-18 12:33:08 | edited 2004-10-18 12:33:43
Other Notes:
Bibliography:
Tone and syllable structure of the Hakha (Lai-Chin) noun by Hyman, L.M. & VanBik, Kenneth - 2002
document type: article
journal: Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistic Society
number: 28
publisher: Berkeley Linguistic Society
address: Berkeley
document type: article
journal: Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistic Society
number: 28
publisher: Berkeley Linguistic Society
address: Berkeley
added 2004-10-18 12:09:11 | edited 2004-10-18 12:09:11
Directional rule application and output problems in Hakha Lai tone by Hyman, Larry M. & VanBik, Kenneth L. - 2004
document type: article
journal: Language and Linguistics (Special Issue on Phonetics and Phonology)
number: Vol. 5, No. 4
publisher: Academia Sinica
address: Taipei
document type: article
journal: Language and Linguistics (Special Issue on Phonetics and Phonology)
number: Vol. 5, No. 4
publisher: Academia Sinica
address: Taipei
added 2004-10-18 12:11:18 | edited 2004-10-18 12:11:18
Cite this page as:
XTone Database Article on Lai (Hakha). Accessed November 24, 2009 http://xtone.linguistics.berkeley.edu/display/index.php?languageid=107
XTone Database Article on Lai (Hakha). Accessed November 24, 2009 http://xtone.linguistics.berkeley.edu/display/index.php?languageid=107
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