Hakha Lai

Due: Tuesday April 28

Directions

According to Larry Hyman, Hakha Lai is “a Tibeto-Burman language of the Kuki-Chin subgroup spoken in Chin State, Burma, and parts of Mizoram State, India.” In this assignment, provide a phonological analysis of the tonal alternations in Hakha Lai. As always, this includes identifying underlying forms and processes.

For this assignment present an analysis of the tonal alternations in Hakha Lai. You are welcome to use constraints, rules, or a mix as you see fit. As usual, justify the linguistic generalizations and underlying forms. Make any assumptions and representational choices you make clear. Illustrate your formal analysis with well-chosen examples. Explain why your analysis is better than at least one alternative.

Notes

The data here are restricted to “smooth” syllables (with one exception), which can bear only three tones: low (à), rising (ǎ), and falling (â).
The only non-smooth syllable shown is the morpheme ka ‘my’, which is toneless (its pitch is determined by its environment). You don’t need to analyze this morpheme’s tone.
You may find it useful to refer to a phrase boundary. For instance, you could use the symbols _P[ and ]_P to refer to left and right phrase boundaries.

Data

		gloss			gloss
1.	kân	‘our’
2.	hmâː	‘wound’	3.	ka hmâː	‘my wound’
4.	zûː	‘beer’	5.	ka zûː	‘my beer’
6.	lûŋ	‘heart’	7.	ka lûŋ	‘my heart’
8.	lâw	‘field’	9.	ka lâw	‘my field’
10.	tlâːŋ	‘mountain’	11.	ka tlâːŋ	‘my mountain’
12.	râːl	‘enemy’	13.	ka râːl	‘my enemy’
14.	kêː	‘leg’	15.	ka kěː	‘my leg’
16.	ʔôː	‘voice’	17.	ka ʔǒː	‘my voice’
18.	hrôm	‘throat’	19.	ka hrǒm	‘my throat’
20.	tsâl	‘forehead’	21.	ka tsǎl	‘my forehead’
22.	kôːj	‘friend’	23.	ka kǒːj	‘my friend’
24.	thlâːn	‘grave’	25.	ka thlǎːn	‘my grave’
26.	tsâːn	‘time’	27.	ka tsǎːn	‘my time’
28.	zâːn	‘night’	29.	ka zǎːn	‘my night’
30.	sàː	‘animal’	31.	ka sàː	‘my animal’
32.	hnìː	‘skirt’	33.	ka hnìː	‘my skirt’
34.	ràŋ	‘horse’	35.	ka ràŋ	‘my horse’
36.	kàl	‘kidney’	37.	ka kàl	‘my kidney’
38.	kòːm	‘corn’	39.	ka kòːm	‘my corn’
40.	bòːr	‘bunch’	41.	ka bòːr	‘my bunch’

		gloss
42.	ka tlâːŋ zùː	‘my mountain beer’
43.	ka tlâːŋ tsǎːn	‘my mountain time’
44.	ka tlâːŋ sàː	‘my mountain animal’
45.	ka thlǎːn zûː	‘my grave beer’
46.	ka thlǎːn tsâːn	‘my grave time’
47.	ka thlàːn sàː	‘my grave animal’
48.	ka kòːm zùː	‘my corn beer’
49.	ka kòːm tsǎːn	‘my corn time’
50.	ka kòːm sàː	‘my corn animal’
51.	ka kòːj ràŋ	‘my friend’s horse’
52.	ka kǒːj zâːn ràŋ	‘my friend’s night horse’
53.	zâːn tsâːn	‘night time’
54.	kôːj zâːn tsâːn	‘friend’s night time’
55.	ka kǒːj zâːn tsâːn	‘my friend’s night time’
56.	ka kǒːj zâːn tsâːn ràŋ	‘my friend’s night-time horse’
57.	kôːj hrôm	‘friend’s throat’
58.	kân tlàːŋ zùː	‘our mountain beer’
59.	râːl làw hmàː	‘enemy field time’
60.	ka zǎːn tsâːn kôːj	‘my night-time friend’
61.	kôːj hmâː	‘friend’s wound’
62.	ka kǒːj hmâː	‘my friend’s wound’
63.	ka kǒːj kêːj hmâː	‘my friend’s leg wound’