Editing Nuxalk language (section)

== Syllables ==
The notion of [[syllable]] is challenged by the Nuxalk language, in that the language includes long strings of [[consonants]] without any intervening vowel or other [[sonorant]]. [[Salishan languages]], and especially Nuxalk, are famous for this. For instance, the following word contains only [[obstruent]]s:

{{interlinear|indent=2|abbreviations=OBJ:object
|top= {{lang|blc|clhp'xwlhtlhplhhskwts}}<br/>
{{IPA|[xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ]}}
| {{lang|blc|clh-}} {{lang|blc|p'xwlht-}} {{lang|blc|lhp-}} {{lang|blc|lhh-}} {{lang|blc|s{{=}}}} {{lang|blc|kwts}}
| possess- bunchberry- plant- PAST.PERF- 3SG.SUB/3SG.OBJ{{=}} then
| 'then he had had in his possession a [[Cornus suecica|bunchberry]] plant.'
<ref>{{harvtxt|Nater|1984}} cited in {{harvtxt|Bagemihl|1991a|p=16}}</ref>
}}

Other examples are:

* {{lang|blc|ps}} {{IPA|[pʰs]}} 'shape, mold'
* {{lang|blc|p’s}} {{IPA|[pʼs]}} 'bend'
* {{lang|blc|p’xwlht}} {{IPA|[pʼχʷɬtʰ]}} 'bunchberry'
* {{lang|blc|tsktskwts}} {{IPA|[t͡sʰkʰtʰskʷʰt͡sʰ]}} 'he arrived'
* {{lang|blc|tts}} {{IPA|[tʰt͡sʰ]}} 'little boy'
* {{lang|blc|skwp}} {{IPA|[skʷʰpʰ]}} 'saliva'
* {{lang|blc|sps}} {{IPA|[spʰs]}} 'northeast wind'
* {{lang|blc|tlh’p}} {{IPA|[tɬʼpʰ]}} 'cut with scissors'
* {{lang|blc|sts’q}} {{IPA|[st͡sʼqʰ]}} 'animal fat'
* {{lang|blc|sts’qtstc}} {{IPA|[st͡sʼqʰt͡sʰtʰx]}} 'that's my animal fat over there'
* {{lang|blc|scs}} {{IPA|[sxs]}} 'seal fat'
* {{lang|blc|tlh}} {{IPA|[tʰɬ]}} 'strong'
* {{lang|blc|q’t}} {{IPA|[qʼtʰ]}} 'go to shore'
* {{lang|blc|qwt}} {{IPA|[qʷʰtʰ]}} 'crooked'
* {{lang|blc|k’clhhtscwslhxwtlhhts}} {{IPA|[kʼxɬːtʰsxʷ.sɬχʷtʰɬːt͡s]}} 'you had seen that I had gone through a passage'{{sfn|Nater|1984|p=5}}

There has been some dispute as to how to count the syllables in such words, what, if anything, constitutes the [[syllable nucleus|nuclei]] of those syllables, and if the concept of 'syllable' is even applicable to Nuxalk. However, when recordings are available, the syllable structure can be clearly audible, and speakers have clear conceptions as to how many syllables a word contains. In general, a syllable may be {{IPA|C̩}}, {{IPA|CF̩}} (where F is a fricative), {{IPA|CV}}, or {{IPA|CVC}}. When C is a stop, CF syllables are always composed of a plain voiceless stop (''{{IPA|pʰ, tʰ, t͡sʰ, kʰ, kʷ, qʰ, qʷ}}'') plus a fricative (''{{IPA|s, ɬ, x, xʷ, χ, χʷ}}''). For example, ''{{IPA|płt}}'' 'thick' is two syllables, ''{{IPA|pʰɬ.t}}'', with a syllabic fricative, while in ''{{IPA|tʼχtʰ}}'' 'stone', ''{{IPA|stʼs}}'' 'salt', ''{{IPA|qʷtʰ}}'' 'crooked', ''{{IPA|k̓ʰx}}'' 'to see' and ''{{IPA|ɬqʰ}}'' 'wet' each consonant is a separate syllable. Stop-fricative sequences can also be disyllabic, however, as in ''{{IPA|tɬ}}'' 'strong' (two syllables, at least in the cited recording) and ''{{IPA|kʷs}}'' 'rough' (one syllable or two). Syllabification of stop-fricative sequences may therefore be lexicalized or a prosodic tendency. Fricative-fricative sequences also have a tendency toward syllabicity, e.g. with ''{{IPA|sx}}'' 'bad' being one syllable or two, and ''{{IPA|sχs}}'' 'seal fat' being two syllables (''{{IPA|sχ.s}}'') or three. Speech rate plays a role, with e.g. ''{{IPA|ɬxʷtʰɬt͡sʰxʷ}}'' 'you spat on me' consisting of all syllabic consonants in citation form (''{{IPA|ɬ.xʷ.tʰ.ɬ.t͡sʰ.xʷ}}'') but condensed to stop-fricative syllables (''{{IPA|ɬxʷ.tɬ.t͡sʰxʷ}}'') at fast conversational speed.{{sfn|Hoard|1978|pp=67–68}}
This syllabic structure may be compared with [[Miyako language#Phonology|that of Miyako]].

The linguist Hank Nater has postulated the existence of a phonemic contrast between [[syllabic consonant|syllabic]] and non-syllabic [[sonorants]]: {{IPA|/m̩, n̩, l̩/}}, spelled ''ṃ, ṇ, ḷ''. (The vowel phonemes {{IPA|/i, u/}} would then be the syllabic counterparts of {{IPA|/j, w/}}.){{sfn|Nater|1984|p=3}} Words claimed to have unpredictable syllables include {{lang|blc|sṃnṃnṃuuc}} 'mute', {{lang|blc|smṇmṇcaw}} '(the fact) that they are children'.{{sfn|Nater|1984|p=14}}