A phonetic study of word-final phenomena in Northern East Cree

O'Neill, Katharine (2014) A phonetic study of word-final phenomena in Northern East Cree. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Northern East Cree has several /+h/ morphemes, which, when sufxed onto a word add meanings such as inanimate plurality or animate obviation. Literature on these /+h/ morphemes captures their historical origins and the grammatical contexts in which they appear. What current literature has yet to describe, however, is the impressionistic accent shift, lengthening, and voice quality of word-fnal phenomena that accompany /+h/ sufxation on to a word. Deviations from predictable accent placement and uncharacteristically long aspiration are just some of the phenomena noted by both researchers and speakers. This thesis is an attempt at addressing such impressionistic observations and related statements regarding the /+h/ morpheme. More specifcally, I explore the precise phonetic phenomena that occur word-fnally when a /+h/ morpheme is sufxed to a word, and the relation of the /+h/ morpheme to shifts in accent placement. The data from this study ofer a number of intriguing observations. For example, the results suggest that previous analyses of the /+h/ morphemes' properties are incomplete. I propose that the /+h/ morphemes may have both segmental and prosodic efects on the productions of the words that carry these sufxes. Further, I suggest that a full characterization of this morpheme should involve attention to detail concerning dialectal variation.

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