Echo vowel

 ( Orthography ) 

An echo vowel, also known as a synharmonic vowel, is a paragogic vowel that repeats the final vowel in a word in speech. For example, in Chumash language, when a word ends with a glottal stop and comes at the end of an intonation unit, the final vowel is repeated after the glottal stop but is whispered and faint, as in for "arrow" (written ya).

---

Languages In modern Sanskrit, echo vowels are often added in pronunciation to the visarga.

In Rukai language, an Austronesian language, vowels are pronounced as full vowels but are predictable and disappear when they are under reduplication or when a suffix beginning with /a/ is added to the word:

+Rukai echo vowels and phonemic vowels ! !! Agent focus !! suffix !! reduplication

don't drink

don't eat

Similarly, in the related Uneapa language, echo vowels are added after a Proto-Oceanic final consonant, such as *Rumaq "house" > rumaka.

The Makassaric languages also occurs the echo vowels with stems ending in final /r/, /l/ or /s/. E.g. /botol/ "bottle" is realized as bótolo in Selayar language and Coastal Konjo, and as bótoloʔ in Makassarese (the latter regularly adds a glottal stop to the echo vowel). This echo vowel is dropped if a suffix is added, but retained if followed by an enclitic.

+ !Language !stem !base !with suffix !with enclitic
Makassar	/lammor-/	lámmoroʔ 'cheap'	/lammor-/ + /-i/ lammóri 'cheapen'	/lammoroʔ/ + /=i/ lámmoroki 'it's cheap'
	/lambus-/	lámbusuʔ 'straight'	/lambus-/ + /-i/ lambúsi 'straighten up'	/lambusuʔ/ + /=i/ lámbusuki 'it's straight'
				/lambusuʔ/ + /=aʔ/ lámbusukaʔ 'i am straight'
Selayar	/lambus-/	lámbusu 'straight'	/lambus-/ + /-i/ lambúsi 'straighten up'	/lambusu/ + /=i/ lámbusui 'it's straight'
				/lambusu/ + /=a/ lámbusua 'i am straight'

Echo vowels have also been reconstructed for Proto-Macro-Jê.Nikulin, Andrey. 2020. Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo. Doctoral dissertation, University of Brasília.

---

Syllabaries Echo vowels are also found in writing, especially with syllabary. For example, a word kab may be written as if it were kaba, and keb would be written as if it were kebe. Such a system is found in Maya script, with complications depending on the quality of the preceding vowel. In Linear B, such final consonants were simply not written. However, consonant clusters were separated with echo vowels: the city of Knossos is written as if it were Konoso (Linear B: 𐀒𐀜𐀰, ko-no-so).

In Ainu, some writers write final /r/ with a subscript kana for ra, re, ri, ro or ru, depending on the preceding vowel, but others use a subscript ru in all cases.

---

See also

• Paragoge (paragogic vowel)

• Chumash Glossary

Post Comment