Kristine Anne Taleon

Linguistics 165

Problems
The /ɨ/ appeared in the data. It should not be considered part of the phonemic inventory of
Tuwali because it does not appear in the related Ifugao languages and is not part of the natural
phonemic inventory of Tuwali native speakers and is therefore considered an idiolect.

[ulɨh] ‘coat’
Objectives
1. To create a comprehensive phonemic inventory of the vowels and consonant phonemes
of the Tuwali language.
2. To determine the morphophonological processes that are involved in the Tuwali
language.
3. To analyze and create orthographic conventions for the Tuwali language.
Sample Analysis
Tuwali contains the bilabial stops /p/ and /b/ as well as the alveolar stops /t/ and /d/, the velar /k/
and /g/ and the glottlal /ɂ/. It also has the glides /w/ and /j/, the nasals /m/ /n/ and /ng/ and the
fricative /h/. As well as the liquid /l/. The phonemes /s/ and /r/ will not be included in the
phonemic inventory because they only appear in loanwords derived from Ilokano and Tagalog.
The glottal fricative /h/ can be considered as a true fricative because it appears in initial, medial
and final environments:
[hɑʔ.kud] ‘horn’
[nɑʔ.pʰɔt] ‘wet’
[ʔuː.lɑh] ‘wash’
It is also used to account for /s/ in words borrowed from Ilokano or Tagalog. For example : the
Tagalog word ‘asawa’ in Tuwali is realized as:
[?ɑ.hɑː.wɑn] ‘husband/wife’
Tuwali contains the high front vowel /i/, the high back vowel /u/ the low-front vowel /ɛ/, low-
central vowel /a/ and low-back vowel /o/ which is similar to most Ifugao languages.
/ɨ/
The /ɨ/ appeared in the data. It should not be considered part of the phonemic inventory of
Tuwali because it does not appear in the related Ifugao languages and is not part of the natural
phonemic inventory of Tuwali native speakers and is therefore considered an idiolect.
[ulɨh] ‘coat’
Morphophonemic Rules
N > m / _ [labials b, p, m], e.g. muN- + buhug = mumbuhug N > ng / _ [velars g, k, ng, or w],
e.g. hiN + gamal = hinggamal N > n / _ [d, h, n, t, y, ‘ + vowel], e.g. hiN- + titlu = hintitlu N > l /
_ [l, n], e.g. iN- + luwag = inluwag or illuwag
For affixes ending in /n/ place assimilation can be observed. /m/ is used when it precedes
bilabials, /ng/ for velars, /n/ for velars, glides and vowels and /l/ for words that start with alveolar
nasal /n/ and alveolar liquid /l/ which can be gemminated and is interchangeable with the /-in/
counterpart. The meanings remain the same.
Methathesis
Metathesis is a morphological process whereby two or more phonemes in the root and an affix
interchange their position when they are joined together. Tuwali employs metathesis in some
verb roots and their affixes. Consider the example below.
[ʔubun ] ‘to sit’ + <ɪNm> [ʔɪnumbun] ‘sat’
From the limited data we can say that; (1) when infix iNm is inserted into syllable of a word
having a back vowel (u or o ), phoneme /m/ of the infix and the vowel of the root metathesized;
and (2) when the vowel from the root is the open-mid back rounded vowel, it is raised (changed
to high back unrounded vowel /u/) in a morphological process called assimilation to the point of
articulation of the preceding consonant /n/ (Kierulf, 2017).
Bibliography
Biligan, J. (2012). A comparison of the Filipino and Ifugao Languages. Benguet State
University, La Trinidad.
Hohulin, E.L., & Burquest D. (2011). The cross referencing system of Tuwali Ifugao: Form and
Function. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Manila.
Hohulin, E.L., & Hohulin R. (2014). Tuwali Ifugao Dictionary and Grammar Sketch. Linguistic
Society of the Philippines, Manila.
Kierulf, J. (2017). Grammar Sketch of the Central Ifugao Language. Last retrieved on 21 May
2018, from
https://doclegend.com/download/grammar-sketch-of-the-central-ifugao-language_5a18ac0cd
64ab28f8c994307_pdf#
Klimenko, Sergey B. (2012). Motion verbs in Tagalog, Ilokano and Tuwali Ifugao. Department
of Linguistics, University of the Philippines, Diliman.