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Phonetic and Phonemic Change in the Athapaskan Languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Harry Hoijer
Harry Hoijer*
Affiliation:
University of California at Los Angeles
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Extract

One of the principal criteria whereby the Apachean languages may be divided into two main sub-stocks is the development of Primitive Athapaskan *t. This sound is retained in Navaho, San Carlos, Chiricahua, and Mescalero, but becomes k in Jicarilla and Lipan (thus falling together with PA *k) and k (before the vowels a and o) or č (before the vowels e and i) in Kiowa-Apache. The purpose of this paper is to describe the phonetic circumstances attendant upon these shifts, circumstances which illustrate rather well the relationship between phonetic change—changes in sound-producing habits which do not alter the phonemic system of a language—and phonemic change. Changes in the pronunciation of PA *t have probably taken place in all the Apachean languages, but in only three of these languages (viz. Jicarilla, Lipan, and Kiowa-Apache) have the changes resulted in a disturbance of the phonemic system.

Information

Type
Miscellanea
Information
Language , Volume 18 , Issue 3: July-September , September 1942, pp. 218 - 220
Copyright
Copyright © 1942 Linguistic Society of America

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References

1 The Apachean languages are spoken today by Indians living on various reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Together they form the southernmost division of the Athapaskan stock. See H. Hoijer, The Southern Athapaskan Languages, American Anthropologist 40.75–87 (1938).

2 See L. Bloomfield, Language 369 (New York, 1933). [Cf. A. A. Hill, Phonetic and Phonemic Change, Lang. 12.15–22 (1936).]

3 The most frequently occurring variant. It may also be pointed out that in all four languages k occurs with approximately twice the frequency of t. The frequencies are obtained from connected text.

4 From Edward Sapir's unpublished Hupa data. See also P. E. Goddard, The Morphology of the Hupa Language, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 3.8 (1905); E. Sapir, Notes on Chasta Costa Phonology and Morphology, University of Pennsylvania Anthropological Publications 2.283 (1914).

5 P. E. Goddard, Elements of the Kato Language, Univ. of Calif. Publ. in Amer. Arch. 11.10–1 (1912).

6 Fang-Kuei Li, Mattole: An Athabaskan Language (Chicago, 1930).

7 Fang-Kuei Li, A List of Chipewyan Stems, International Journal of American Linguistics 7.122 (1933). The [x]-glide may also be found in Peaux de Lièvre and Loucheux. See Father E. Petitot, Dictionnaire de la Langue Dènè Dindjié xlviii (Paris, 1876). It is very likely, however, that these two languages are members of the same sub-stock as Chipewyan.

8 E. Sapir, Pitch Accent in Sarci, Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris 17.191 (1925).

9 From a careful examination of Sapir's original field-notes on Sarci.

10 A. G. Morice, The Carrier Language 1.5–6 (Vienna, 1932).

11 John W. Chapman, Ten'a Texts and Tales 208 (New York, 1914).

12 See, for example, Bloomfield, Language 376–8.