Shuswap phonology

## Vowels

The Shuswap language has five full vowels, /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, and one reduced vowel, /ə/.

Main phonetic values of the Shuswap vowels

An additional vowel, /ʌ/, is rare and often replaced by /e/ or /a/. Its description is ambiguous. Kuipers gave its phonetic value as [ʌ], indicating a mid unrounded back vowel, but described it in words as a mid central vowel.

There are restrictions on the distribution of vowels. The vowel /ə/ is restricted to unstressed syllables. The vowels /a/ and /o/ also occur in unstressed syllables, but only in a few words. Vowels /i/ and /u/ are restricted to stressed syllables.

### Automatic vowel darkening

The previous table shows the normal pronunciation of the vowels. Three of the full vowels, /e/, /i/, and /u/, are subject to an automatic process called darkening, which changes how these vowels are pronounced. Automatic darkening is predictable; it occurs before uvular obstruents and before or after uvularized sonorants. It is not reflected in the Kuipers spelling system.

Example: *e* [ɛ] in ‘he shoots it’ *qemns* [ˈqɛmənʃ], but *e* [a] in ‘I shoot it’ *qeqmn* [ˈqaqmən]

## Consonants

Consonants are divided into two classes, obstruents and sonorants. In the tables which follow, pronunciations are given in square brackets in IPA transcription. The notation is the same as that of Kuipers (1974).

### Obstruents

* Plain plosives are usually unaspirated, and can be voiced in some environments.
* The pronunciation of the dental-palatal obstruents c, c', and s ranges to [ts], [tsʼ] and [s].
* Glottalized dental-lateral plosive t’ [tɬʼ] can also be pronounced as a glottalized dental plosive [tʼ].

### Sonorants

 Plain

* The sonorants are voiced. Since they can be consonantal or vocalic, a pair of pronunciations is given for each in the table. Vocalic variants occur only in unstressed syllables.

* Consonantal forms of glottalized sonorants occur only after vowels.
* The plain sonorants when vocalic have a different pronunciation at the beginning of a word: [mə], [nə], [lə], [jə], [ɰə], [ʕə], [ʕʷə], and [wə].
* The long vowels representing plain vocalic sonorants are variable in length and may be short.
* There is no glottalized plain uvular sonorant \*ʕˀ. Where this ought to occur due to phonological processes, what occurs instead is ʔ when a consonantal form is required, and (unstressed) aʔ when a vocalic form is required.

#### Consonantal-vocalic variation of sonorants

The variation of sonorants between consonantal and vocalic pronunciations is automatic, and is not indicated in the Kuipers’ spelling system. The rule for determining this as follows:

* To start, all sonorants in a word are to be considered vocalic.
* Then, beginning from the right hand side of the word, a sonorant in any one of the following situations is changed to consonantal:

* a vowel on its right side;
* a vocalic sonorant on its right side; or
* a vowel on its left side.

Example 1: l [l], m [m] and m [əm] in variants of ‘go ahead!’ x̌ílme [ˈχilmɛ] and x̌ílmxe [ˈχiləmxɛ]
Example 2: w [wə] in ‘downstream’ wtemtk [wəˈtɛmtk]
Example 3: l [l] and ɣ [əː] in ‘waterfall’ k’°əλlɣʔép [kʷʼəɬləːˈʔɛp]
Example 4: l [l], w [u], y [j] and n [ən] in ‘I catch something in a trap’ lélwyn-kn [ˈlɛlujəŋkən]
## Writing system

Kuipers (1974) uses the alphabet shown in the Phonology section. The Shuswap Language Department uses a different alphabet:

* a
* c
* cw
* e
* g
* gw
* g̓w
* h
* i
* k
* kw
* k̓
* k̓w
* l
* l̓
* ll
* m
* m̓
* n
* n̓
* o
* p
* p̓
* q
* qw
* q̓
* q̓w
* r
* r̓
* s
* t
* ts
* ts̓
* t̓
* u
* w
* w̓
* x
* xw
* y
* y̓
* 7

## Syllable structure

A Shuswap word consists of a stem, to which can be added various affixes. Very few words contain two roots. Any stressed root can have an unstressed alternative, where the vowel is replaced by [ə].

Most roots have the form CVC or CC (the latter only if unstressed). Other roots are CVCC or CCVC.

Suffixes begin either with a stressed vowel (dropped in forms where the root is stressed) or a consonant. Prefixes generally have the form C- or CC-.

## Stress

Stress in Shuswap is not very prominent, and occurs only in longer words. Since [u] and [i] are always stressed and [ə] never is, stress is usually fairly simple to predict.

## Phonological processes

Although Kuipers (1974) does not specify, in many cases the glottalized or rounded version of a consonant seems to represent an allophonic variation. For example, consonants which have a rounded form are rounded before and after [u]. However, glottalization can be contrastive (the root q’e**y**-, "set up a structure," versus q’e**y’**-, "write") or allophonic (the root q’e**y**- appears with a glottalized final consonant in s-t-q‘e**y’**-qn, "shed"). Consonant reduplication can also have an effect on glottalization.

There are a number of ways in which sounds are affected by their environments. Resonants in the vocalic position are preceded by an automatic schwa, for example the word /stʼmkelt/ ("daughter"), pronounced [stɬʼ**ə**mkelt]. The darkening of vowels, as described below, is another case.

The distribution of vowels is quite complex. The vowels have the following main variants:

* i = [i~e]
* u = [u~o]
* o = [ɔ]
* e = [ɛ].

/a/ and /ʌ/ are unchanged. The environment around uvulars and velars produces a different set of variants, including occasional slight diphthongs. Additionally, some roots cause darkened vowels to appear in suffixes; one example is the prefix -**e**kst ("hand, arm"), which is darkened in x°əl’-**a**kst. The darkened vowels are as follows:

* e = [a]
* u = [o]
* i = [e].