The Segmental and Suprasegmental Phonology of Fataluku

Abstract

This dissertation describes the segmental and prosodic phonology of Fataluku (IPA [fataluku], ISO 639-3 ddg), a highly underdocumented Papuan language in East Timor (island Southeast Asia). Fataluku is classified as a member of the Timor-Alor-Pantar language (TAP) family, which currently includes approximately 25 members spread across Timor and nearby islands (Klamer, 2014; Schapper et al., 2014). Topics discussed include Fataluku’s phoneme inventory, its segmental and prosodic phonological substitutions, its prosodic structure, its word-level prosody and its sentence-level intonation. A grammar overview, wordlist and glossed text are also included. Fataluku has SOV word order and makes extensive use of verb serialization and switch reference. The phoneme inventory includes 5 vowels and 15 consonants, in addition to three loan phonemes (the voiced stops /b/, /d/ and /g/). Surface long vowels and diphthongs also occur, though both are represented underlyingly as vowel sequences (identical in the case of long vowels, nonidentical in the case of diphthongs). As for prosody, I find no convincing evidence for stress in Fataluku, although bimoraic feet play an important role in several aspects of the phonology. Prosody at the word level is governed by accentual phrases (APs), prosodic units containing a single word or a few syntactically close words. APs are organized into intonational phrases (IPs), prosodic units which bear a complete intonational contour and which can occur bounded by silence. This dissertation has implications for historical-comparative work in the region, as well as for the study of prosodic theory and typology more generally. This work also contributes to the Timorese Ministry of Education’s vision to establish mother tongue literacy among the Fataluku people and each of the country’s other indigenous linguistic groups.