Editing Tzeltal language (section)

== Phonology ==
The [[phonology]] of Tzeltal is quite straightforward with a common vowel inventory and a typical consonant inventory for Mayan languages. Some phonological processes do occur, however, including [[assimilation (linguistics)|assimilation]], [[epenthesis]], [[lenition]] and [[reduplication]].

=== Vowels ===
Tzeltal has 5 [[vowel]]s:

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|a}}
|}

Whether [[vowel length]] is phonemic in Tzeltal is debatable.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Shklovsky |first=Kirill |title=Person Marking in Petalcingo Tzeltal |date=May 2005 |degree=BA |publisher=[[Reed College]] |url=http://linguistics.kirill.org/KS-thesis-large.pdf |page=11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230093729/http://linguistics.kirill.org:80/KS-thesis-large.pdf |archive-date=2008-12-30}}</ref>

=== Consonants ===
Tzeltal has 21 [[consonant]]s, including the [[glottal stop]]. Though Tzeltal does not have a standardized [[orthography]], the bracketed letters in the chart below represent one orthography heavily derivative of [[Spanish orthography|Spanish]]:

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
! rowspan="1" colspan="3" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="3" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{grapheme|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}} {{grapheme|n}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]
! colspan="2" | <small>plain</small>
| {{IPA link|p}} {{grapheme|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{grapheme|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}} {{grapheme|k}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{grapheme|'}}
|-
! colspan="2" | <small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
| {{IPA link|pʼ}} {{grapheme|pʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tʼ}} {{grapheme|tʼ}}
|
| {{IPA link|kʼ}} {{grapheme|kʼ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate]]
! colspan="2" | <small>plain</small>
|
| {{IPA link|t͡s}} {{grapheme|tz}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{grapheme|ch}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | <small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
|
| {{IPA link|t͡sʼ}} {{grapheme|tzʼ}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}} {{grapheme|chʼ}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="3" | [[Fricative]]
| ({{IPA link|β}} {{grapheme|w}})
| {{IPA link|s}} {{grapheme|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{grapheme|x}}
| {{IPA link|x}} {{grapheme|j}}
| {{IPA link|h}} {{grapheme|h}}
|-
! colspan="3" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}} {{grapheme|r}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="3" | [[Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{grapheme|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|y}}
| {{IPA link|w}} {{grapheme|w}}
|
|}

{{IPAslink|pʼ}} has three [[allophone]]s:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gerdel |first=Florence |url=http://www.sil.org/mexico/workpapers/scans/WS001i-WS012i-WorkpaperScans.htm |title=Tzeltal (Maya) Phonemes |year=1955}}</ref>
* {{IPAblink|pʼ}} at the end of a word: {{lang|tzh|sapʼ}} {{IPA|[sapʼ]}} {{gloss|early}}
* [{{IPA link|ʔ}}{{IPA link|b}}] between vowels: {{lang|tzh|tzopʼol}} {{IPA|[t͡sʰoʔbol]}} {{gloss|many}}
* {{IPAblink|b}} everywhere else: {{lang|tzh|pʼe}} {{IPA|[be]}} {{gloss|road}}
However, in the [[Oxchuc]] (central) dialect, the [[Ejective consonant|ejective]] {{IPAblink|pʼ}} does not exist, having been replaced by the [[phone (phonetics)|phone]] {{IPAblink|b}}. Phonemic charts representing this dialect would include {{IPAblink|b}} but not {{IPAblink|pʼ}}. In this dialect, suffixes carrying {{angbr|b}} often may be realized as {{IPAblink|m}}. In the initial position of a suffix following a consonant, it is realized as the true stop {{IPAblink|b}}, but in the postvocalic position it is preceded by a glottal stop, such that {{lang|tzh|chabek}} {{gloss|wax}} sounds like {{lang|tzh|chaʼbek}}. When {{angbr|ʼb}} is found in the final position, it can be pronounced as {{angbr|ʼm}}, or even disappear completely; thus {{lang|tzh|cheb}} {{gloss|two}} could sound like {{lang|tzh|cheʼb}}, {{lang|tzh|cheʼm}}, or even {{lang|tzh|cheʼ}}.<ref name="tzeltal.org"/>

{{IPAslink|w}} has two [[allophones]]:
* {{IPAblink|β}} when it is the first member of a CC-[[consonant cluster]],
: or if it is at the end of a word: {{lang|tzh|awlil}} {{IPA|[ʔaβlil]}} {{gloss|seed}}
* {{IPAblink|w}} everywhere else: {{lang|tzh|ziwon}} {{IPA|[siwon]}} {{gloss|I feared}}
Note, however, that it can be interchangeably {{IPAblink|w}} or {{IPAblink|β}} in the beginning of a word, as in {{lang|tzh|wix}} {{IPA|[wiʃ] ~ [βiʃ]}} {{gloss|older sister}}

===Phonological processes===

When a vowel is found in the context [_ʔC], the vowel is pronounced with [[creaky voice]].{{sfn|Polian|2006|p=18}}

[[Syncope (phonetics)|Contraction]] may occur with consecutive identical phonemes, either at a word- or morpheme-boundary.  For example, the word /ta aʼtel/ ("at work") may be pronounced [taʼtel], the two [a] phonemes having been pronounced as one.<ref name="Monod-Becquelin 1997 65">{{Cite book |last=Monod-Becquelin |first=Aurore |title=Parlons Tzeltal: Une langue Maya du Mexique |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=1997 |isbn=9782738457998 |location=Paris |pages=65}}</ref>

The [[phoneme]] [h] may undergo a number of [[phonological process|processes]] depending on context and [[dialect]].  In most dialects, most notably that of Bachajón, word-final [h] is very light and in rapid speech often disappears entirely if not protected by some other element.  For example, in the Bachajón dialect, the nominal root ''bah'' ("corncob/field mouse") in isolation would lose the final [h] and sound like ''ba'', but if the root takes the particle -''e'', the word will be pronounced [bahe].  This process does not hold true for word-final [j].  All dialects retain [h] before [[voiceless consonants]].  Similarly, medial [h] has disappeared from the Oxchuc dialect but not from the Bachajón dialect, such that ''yahl'' ("below") and ''chʼahil'' ("smoke") in Bachajón would be said ''yal'' and ''chʼail'' in [[Oxchuc]].<ref name="tzeltal.org">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Joshua Hinmán |url=http://www.tzeltal.org/cgi-bin/stuart/tzeltal/static_page.cgi?page=download |title=Manual of Spoken Tzeltal |date=1999-04-27 |editor-last=Bertens |editor-first=Madelief |translator-last=Robinson |translator-first=Stuart P. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927153139/http://www.tzeltal.org/cgi-bin/stuart/tzeltal/static_page.cgi?page=download |archive-date=2006-09-27 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>  Further, in the Oxchuc dialect, an [h] preceding a plain consonant will change the consonant into an [[ejective]] stop; thus ''baht''' ("he/she went") in Oxchuc corresponds to ''baht'' in other dialects.<ref name="tzeltal.org" />

In the majority of cases, root-initial [[glottal stop]] is pronounced, though it is often omitted in [[orthography]]. [ʼ] is only lost when the root is closely related to the preceding word.  For example, the glottal stop in the particle -''ʼix'' ("already") will never be pronounced, because the [[particle (linguistics)|particle]] always attaches to the preceding word.  The [[prefix]] ''ʼa-'' ("you/your") sometimes retains the [[glottal stop]], but not when it occurs in a [[verb]] form.  Similarly, the [[glottal stop]] in the particle ''maʼ'' has been lost in verbal forms.  Thus, words beginning or ending with a vowel and not a glottal stop should be pronounced together with the word preceding or following it.  For example, ''tal ix'' ("he already came") would sound like [talix].<ref name="tzeltal.org" />

===Root syllable structure and stress===

The following is a general list of common root shapes in Tzeltal.  For further examples and detail, see section 3.3 below.

*VC (including [[glottalized consonant]]s and [[Semivowel|glides]])
*CV
*CVC (including CVʼ, CVh, CVw, and CVy)
*CV''h''C
*CVʼC 
*CCVC (in which the initial consonants are limited to ''s, x,'' and ''j'').

Common bisyllabic roots include:
*CVCV
*CVCVC
*CV''h''CVC
*CVʼCVC
These final three bisyllabic root constructions result almost always from the combination of two roots, and are always [[noun|nominal]] roots.<ref name="Monod-Becquelin 1997 65" /><ref name="tzeltal.org"/>
 
[[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]] always falls on the last syllable of a word. If a root takes a [[suffix]] or if it follows a [[Particle (linguistics)|particle]], the accent falls on the latter.  Many Spanish [[loanword]]s retain penultimate [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] in the Spanish style.<ref name="tzeltal.org" />

===Minimal pairs===
Kaufman provides the following list of [[minimal pair]]s from "dialects other than that of Aguacatenango,"<ref name="tzeltal.org" /> though recall that, for example, [pʼ] is a [[phoneme]] in some dialects and does not exist in others.

{| class="wikitable"
! /p/≠/pʼ/
| /hpís/ ("one stone") and /hpʼís/ ("I measure)
|-
! /p/≠/b/
| /spók/ ("he washes") and /sbók/ ("his vegetable")
|-
! /pʼ/≠/b/
| /hpʼál/ ("one word") and /hbál/ ("my brother-in-law")
|-
! /b/≠/w/
| /bá/ ("gopher") and /wá/ ("tortilla")
|-
! /t/≠/tʼ/
| /htúl/ ("one man") and /htʼúl/ ("one drop")
|-
! /ts/≠/tsʼ/
| /stsák/ ("he grabs") and /stsʼák/ ("he mends")
|-
! /tʃ/≠/tʃʼ/
| /tʃín/ ("pimple") and /tʃʼín/ ("small")
|-
! /k/≠/kʼ/
| /kúʃ/ ("he woke up") and /kʼùʃ/ ("painful")
|-
! /ts/≠/tʃ/
| /tsám/ ("nice") and /tʃám/ ("he died")
|-
! /s/≠/ʃ/
| /súl/ ("fish-scale") and /ʃul/ ("he arrives")
|-
! /t/≠/ts/
| /tám/ ("it was picked up) /tsám/ ("nice")
|-
! /t/≠/tʃ/
| /tám/ ("it was picked up") and /tʃám/ ("he died")
|-
! /k/≠/tʃ/
| /kól/ ("he escaped") and /tʃól/ ("it was lined up")
|-
! /k/≠/ʔ/
| /sík/ ("cold") and /síʔ/ ("firewood")
|-
! /kʼ/≠/ʔ/
| /hákʼ/ ("I answer") and /háʔ/ ("water")
|-
! /h/≠/ʔ/
| /hám/ ("it opened") and /ʔám/ ("spider")
|-
! /m/≠/n/
| /stám/ ("he picks it up") and /stán/ ("his ashes")
|-
! /l/≠/r/
| /ʃpululét/ ("bubbling") and /ʃpururét/ ("fluttering")
|-
! /i/≠/e/
| /wilél/ ("flying") and /welél/ ("fanning")
|-
! /e/≠/a/
| /htén/ ("one level") and /htán/ ("my ashes")
|-
! /a/≠/o/
| /tán/ ("ashes") and /tón/ ("stone")
|-
! /o/≠/u/
| /kót/ ("my tortilla") and /kút/ ("I say")
|-
! /u/≠/i/
| /yútʃʼ/ ("he drinks") and /yítʃʼ/ ("he takes")
|-
! /w/≠/u/
| /haláw/("agouti") and /snàu/ ("he spins thread") [subminimal]
|-
! /j/≠/i/
| /ʔáj/ ("there is") and /ʔai/ ("particle") [subminimal]
|}