Mam phonology

## Vowels

Mam has 10 vowels, 5 short and 5 long:

* The Mid-central vowel is an allophone of short a, e and u that can occur in the syllable following a stressed long vowel.

Like in many other Mayan languages, vowel length is contrastive, and short and long vowels have different phonemic values and are treated as separate vowels. The long versions of the back vowels, /o/, /u/, /ɑ/ vowels, transcribed as **[oo]**, **[uu]**, and **[aa]** are slightly compressed and pronounced as /o͍ː/, /u͍ː/, and /ɑ͍ː/ respectively, being partially rounded.

In the Todos Santos dialect the vowel structure is somewhat different. While /o/, /a/, and /u/ remain the same as in other varieties, short /e/ has become the diphthong /ɛi/, an audio example of this can be heard here:

In the Todos Santos dialect, the long vowels (distinguished by the doubling of the letter) have evolved into separate sounds altogether. Long /aː/ has become /ɒ/, long /oː/ has become /øː/ and long /uː/ has become /yː/.

In some dialects vowels interrupted by a stop have evolved into individual phonemes themselves, for example in Todos Santos dialect
/oʔ/ (spelled oʼ) has evolved into /ɵʏˀ/ and /oʔo/ (spelled oʼo) has evolved into /ɵʼʉ/.

## Consonants

Mam has 27 consonants, including the glottal stop:

* Todos Santos Mam has an extended amount of affricate consonants being apical palato-alveolar /t̺͡ʃ̺ʰ, t̺͡ʃ̺ʼ, ʃ̺/.

/ɓ/ is realized as [βʼ] word-finally and when part of a consonant cluster in many dialects. In the Todos Santos dialect it is pronounced as [v] as part of a consonant cluster and as [βv̻] word finally.

Examples: **tzebʼ** [tsɛβʼ] *goat*, **kbon** [kβʼɤŋ] *small table*. In the Todos Santos dialect, **tsebʼ** is [tsɛiβv̻] and **kbon** is [kvoŋ] *small table*.
/p/ is realized as [pʰ] word-finally and word initially, [p] elsewhere, [ɸ] in a consonant cluster and before short i, o, and u. It is pronounced as [ɸʰ] word finally in certain dialects. [f] is an interchangeable pronunciation of [ɸ].

Examples: **piich** [pʰiːt͡ʃ] *bird*, **txkup** [ʈ͡ʂkʰɯpʰ] or [ʈ͡ʂkʰɯɸʰ] *animal*, **ptzʼan** [pʰt͡sʼaŋ] or [ɸʰt͡sʼaŋ] *sugarcane*.
/ch/ has evolved from /tʃ/ to /sʃ/ in most Mexican dialects and some northern Guatemalan dialects. Sometimes the /t/ sound is still lightly pronounced before the stressed /sʃ/ sound.

Example: **choot** [tʃʰoːtʰ] *weeds* has evolved into [sʃøːtʰ] or [tsʃoːtʰ]
/t/ is realized as [tʰ] word-finally and before another consonant, [t] elsewhere.

Examples: **taʼl** [taʔl̥] *juice, soup*, **chʼit** [t͡ʃʼɪtʰ] *bird*, **qʼootj** [ʛoːtʰχ] *dough*
/k/ is realized as [kʰ] word-finally and before another consonant, [k] elsewhere.

Examples: **paakiʼl** [pɑːkɪʔl̥] *butterfly*, **xtook** [ʂtʰoːkʰ] *staff*, **kjoʼn** [kʰχɤʔŋ] *cornfield*
/w/ can be pronounced [ʋ], [v], [v̥] or [β] word initially, [w], [ʍ] [ʋ] following a consonant, and [ʋ], [v], [v̻ʰ] or [fʰ] word finally. It is freely variable between [w] [v] [ʋ] [v̥] in all other positions with [ʋ] being the most common pronunciation. In the Todos Santos dialect, /w/ is realized as either [v] or [ʋ] word-initially or between vowels and before another consonant, as [ʍ] following a consonant and as [v̥] word finally.

Examples: **waaj** [ʋɑːχ], [vɑːχ], [v̥ɑːχ], or [βɑːχ] *tortilla*, **twon** [twɤŋ], [tʍɤŋ], [tʋɤŋ] *introversion*, **lew** [lɛʋ], [lɛv] [lɛv̥ʰ] [lɛfʰ] *care*.
/q/ is realized as [qʰ] word-finally and before another consonant, [q] elsewhere.

Examples: **muuqin** [muːqɪŋ] *tortilla*, **aaq** [ɑːqʰ] *honeycomb*, **qloolj** [qʰɺoːlχ] *obscurity*
/tʼ/ is realized interchangeably as [tʼ] and [ɗ] word-initially and -finally, after a vowel or before [l].

Examples: **tʼrikpuul** [tʼɾɪkʰɸuːl̥] ~ [ɗɾɪkʰpuːl̥] *to jump*, **chʼuut** [t͡ʃʼuːtʼ] ~ [t͡ʃʼuːɗ] *something sharp-pointed*
Examples: **tʼutʼan** [tʼɯtʼaŋ] ~ [ɗɯɗaŋ] *wet*, **witʼli** [vɪtʼli] ~ [vɪɗli] *seated squatting*
/n/ is realized as [ŋ] before velar- and uvular consonants and word-finally,
as [ɲ] before [j] and as [m] before /ɓ/ and /p/, [n] elsewhere.

Examples: **nim** [nɪm] *much*, **juun** [χuːŋ] *one*, **qʼankyoq** [ʛaŋkʲɤqʰ] *thunder*
Examples: **saajel** [sɑːŋχel̥] *sent*, **nyuxh** [ɲɯʃ] *my godfather*
Examples: **qanbʼax** [qamɓaʂ] *foot*, **npwaaqe** [mpwɑːqɛ] *my money*
/l/ is realized as [l̥] word-finally, [ɺ] before short vowels and after plosives, bilabial, aveolar and retroflex consonants and [l] elsewhere.

Examples: **luux** [luːʂ] *cricket*, **loʼl** [ɺoʔl̥] *to eat fruits*, **wlat** [vɺatʰ] *stiff*.
/ky/ is realized as [kɕʲ] in front of another consonant and kɕʰ word finally. It is pronounced as kʲ in all other instances.

Examples: **kyjaʼtzan** [kɕʲχaʲʔtsʰaŋ], **kyokleen** [kʲɤkleːŋ]
/ ʼ / is realized as [ʲʔ] following /a/, /aa/, /e/, /ee/, /i/, /u/, /uu/ and /oo/. The standard pronunciation is simply [ʔ] after all vowels however in spoken speech [ʲʔ] is the common pronunciation. A similar trend can be seen in other Eastern Mayan languages. After /o/ it is pronounced as [ʉʔ] and after /ii/ it is pronounced simply as [ʔ]. Following consonants / ʼ / modifies each individual consonant differently as explained in the section above. In the Mam language every word must start with a consonant. In the current orthography initial / ʼ / is not written but if a word ever begins with a vowel, the word is treated as if it begin with a / ʼ /. The initial / ʼ / may be pronounced as either [ʔ] or [ʡ] in free variation.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/enggra.html A Grammar of Mam, A Mayan Language, Nora C. England, University of Texas Press, page 33