Editing Koasati language (section)

==Phonology==

===Vowels===
Koasati has three vowels, all of which occur as short and long and can be nasalized. The following chart is based on Kimball's work. Kimball describes what is normally the close-mid back vowel /o/ as "high back" vowel, hence its placement in the chart below.<ref>Geoffrey Kimball. 1991. Koasati Grammar. Reprinted in 1994 in: Koasati Grammar. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 23.</ref> He notes that /o/ sometimes has the allophone [u] and is raised to [ʊ] in closed word-final syllables.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=2 |
! colspan=3 | &nbsp;[[Vowel length|Short]]&nbsp;
! colspan=3 | &nbsp;[[Vowel length|Long]]&nbsp;
|-
! &nbsp;[[Front vowel|Front]]&nbsp;
! &nbsp;[[Central vowel|Central]]&nbsp;
! &nbsp;[[Back vowel|Back]]&nbsp;
! &nbsp;[[Front vowel|Front]]&nbsp;
! &nbsp;[[Central vowel|Central]]&nbsp;
! &nbsp;[[Back vowel|Back]]&nbsp;
|-
! align=center | &nbsp;'''[[High vowel|High]] (close)'''&nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA link|i}}
| align=center | 
| align=center | {{IPA link|o}}
| align=center | {{IPA link|iː}}
| align=center | 
| align=center | {{IPA link|oː}}
|-
! align=center | &nbsp;'''[[Low vowel|Low]] (open)'''&nbsp;
| align=center | 
| align=center | {{IPA link|a}}
| align=center | 
| align=center | 
| align=center | {{IPA link|aː}}
| align=center | 
|}

In 2007, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana developed and approved its own [[Orthography|orthographic]] system.<ref>The Coushatta Alphabet. {{cite web |url=http://web.wm.edu/linguistics/coushatta/alphabet.php |title=The Coushatta Alphabet &#124; |access-date=2010-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719110321/http://web.wm.edu/linguistics/coushatta/alphabet.php |archive-date=2010-07-19 }}</ref> In this system, long vowels are written by doubling the vowel (e.g., [aː] as ''aa''), and nasalized vowels are underlined (e.g., [õ] or [ǫ] as ''o̱'').

Vowel length in Koasati can be contrastive. For example, vowel length distinguishes meaning for ''palana'' "bean" and ''palaana'' "plate", as well as ''choba'' "big" and ''chooba'' "horse". Vowel nasalization most often occurs word-finally as a phrase-terminal marker. In Koasati, the end of a phrase is basically marked by either deletion of the final unaccented vowel or the nasalization of the final vowel when deleting it would eliminate phonological information relevant to the phrase's meaning. For example, the final vowel in ''hopoonilaho̱'' "he/she will cook it" is nasalized instead of deleted, and therefore is distinguished from the more emphatic ''hopoonilaha̱'', where the [[irrealis mood|irrealis]] future suffix -''laha''- indicates that the action will certainly occur, whereas the irrealis future suffix -''laho''- does not provide such certainty.

===Consonants===
Koasati has the consonants given in the table below, based on Geoffrey Kimball's work.<ref>Geoffrey Kimball.  1991.  ''Koasati Grammar''.  Reprinted in 1994 in:  ''Koasati Grammar''.  Nebraska:  University of Nebraska Press.</ref> [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] transcriptions occur in brackets when different from the orthography provided by Kimball.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2 |
! align="center"|[[Bilabial consonant|Labial]]
! align="center"|[[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! align="center"|[[Postalveolar consonant|Palato-alveolar]]
! align="center"|[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! align="center"|[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! <small>[[Voiceless consonant|plain]]</small>
| align=center | '''p''' {{IPAblink|pʰ}}
| align=center | '''t''' {{IPAblink|tʰ}}
| align=center | '''c''' {{IPAblink|t͡ʃʰ}}
| align=center | '''k''' {{IPAblink|kʰ}}
| align=center | '''ʼ''' {{IPAblink|ʔ}}
|-
! <small>[[Voiced consonant|voiced]]</small>
| align=center | '''b'''
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan=2 |[[Fricative]]
! <small>[[Voiceless consonant|plain]]</small>
| align=center|'''f''' {{IPAblink|ɸ}}
| align=center|'''th''' {{IPAblink|ɬ}}
| align=center|'''s'''
|
| align=center|'''h''' {{IPAblink|h}}
|-
! <small>[[Voiced consonant|voiced]]</small>
|
|
|
|
| align=center|'''h''' {{IPAblink|ɦ}}
|-
! colspan="2" align="center" |[[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| align=center|'''m'''
| align=center|'''n'''
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" align="center" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
| 
| align=center|'''l'''
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" align="center" |[[Glide consonant|Glide]]
| align=center|'''w'''
|
| align=center|'''y''' {{IPAblink|j}}
| 
| 
|}

Not included in this chart is a glottal glide (marked ''꞉'') that Kimball uses in his own consonant chart, presumably to represent the lengthened vowel sounds of Koasati. In the Tribe's official orthography, the {{IPAblink|ɬ}} is represented by {{angle bracket|th}} and the {{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}} is represented by {{angle bracket|ch}}, with no distinction for aspiration. Additionally, Kimball notes that {{IPA|/p/, /t/,}} and {{IPA|/k/}} are aspirated in initial and medial positions. However, the website for the Koasati Language Project explicitly states that these consonants are never aspirated.<ref>More on the alphabet. {{cite web |url=http://web.wm.edu/linguistics/coushatta/alphabet2.php |title=More on the alphabet &#124; |access-date=2010-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719105458/http://web.wm.edu/linguistics/coushatta/alphabet2.php |archive-date=2010-07-19 }}</ref> The {{IPAblink|ɦ}} occurs most often before {{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}, as in {{IPA|[haɦt͡ʃí]}} "river", spelled {{angle bracket|hahchi}} in the official orthography, thereby distinguished from {{angle bracket|hachi}} "tail".

===Syllable structure===
Koasati has both light (CV, VC, V) and heavy (CVC) [[Syllable weight|syllables]]. Consonant clusters occur across syllables but not within. All monomorphemic Koasati words end in light syllables, while the penultimate syllable can be light but is usually heavy, and it is usually preceded by one or more light syllables, as with the construction CV.CVC.CV as in the word ''holihtá'' "fence". Other shapes, in which one or more heavy syllables precede a heavy penultimate syllable (e.g. CV.CVC.CVC.CV as in ''hacokpalpá'' "butterfly"), or alternate heavy and light syllables (e.g. CVC.CV.CVC.CV. as in ''pa꞉piyá꞉ka'' "bridge"), are usually the result of the compounding of two words or a once-productive rule of [[Syncope (phonetics)|syncope]] in which the vowel of every second syllable except the final syllable was deleted. Vowel clusters occur in Koasati, unlike in other Muskogean languages where such clusters are made impossible by [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]] and vowel deletion. These clusters occur in Koasati due to the use of locative prefixes that end in a vowel and class 1A negative transitive verbs since these do not undergo the processes of metathesis and vowel deletion. Clusters beginning with /a꞉/ and /i꞉/ are most frequent, and all clusters are generally spoken with a glottal stop between vowels.

===Tone===
Koasati has low [ ` ], high [ ´ ], and high rising–falling [ ˇ ] [[pitch accent]]s, as well as a fourth unmarked mid-level tone. All noun roots must have one high-pitch accented syllable. The location of the accent depends on the properties of the penultimate syllable. With a few exceptions, the accent falls on the final syllable unless the penultimate syllable contains a long vowel. These pitch accents can be contrastive, as with ''sakihpǫ́'' 'It is a mink.' and ''sakíhpǫ'' 'It is not air-dried.'. Pitch placement on verbs is motivated by morphology. Most indicative verbs take the high accent, though a few take the low accent. Intensive verbs take the high rising–falling accent.

===Phonological processes===
*/c/ in Kimball's orthography, or /ch/ in the official Tribe orthography, is sometimes realized as [ts] before resonants: cf. ''awó yáhci'' "it is just like grandpa" is realized as [awó yahtsi].
*In rare cases, /k/ is labialized to [kʷ] before /o/: cf. ''akkó'' "that" → [akkʷó]
*/s/ has the palatal allophone [š] word-initially before /o/ and intervocalically: cf. ''sopátlit'' "she cleaned it" → [šopátlit]
*When /s/ occurs both before and after a vowel, the allophone of the first /s/ harmonizes with that of the second. For example, ''sóslit'' ('he skinned them') is not pronounced [šoslit] but [sóslit].
*Rarely, /s/ can have the allophone [r] when it occurs word-finally: cf. ''o꞉támmo꞉s'' "it is just sunset" → [o꞉támmo꞉r]
*In the word-final position, /h/ becomes a voiceless continuation of the vowel it follows. This can also occur following vowels in other positions. For example, ''iltóhnot'' "she worked" becomes [iltóónot].
*/h/ can be voiced to [ɦ], usually before c, as discussed above with [haɦchi].
*/l/ is sometimes realized as /n/, as with ''intolihná'' "work" → [iltolihná]. Rarely, it is realized as [r] intervocalically.
*The vowel /i/ shifts to [ɪ] in all closed syllables, and /o/ shifts to [ʊ] when it occurs in closed word-final syllables: cf. ''hókfit'' "she put it on" → [hókfɪt]; ''íkbot'' "he did not kill it" → [íkbʊt]
*The vowels /i/ and /o/ also rarely have the allophones [ɛ] and [u] respectively, though the underlying reason is unclear: cf. ''yilahá'' "orange (fruit)" → [yɛlahá]; ''solitá꞉wa'' "soldier" → [sulitá꞉wa]