MASON, TEPECANO, A PIMAN LANGUAGE OF MEXICO 315 



In many cases a rise in tone was also observed on certain syl- 

 lables. This appears on the whole to be more regular and standard 

 than stress accent. Thus a postposition suffixed to a noun generally 

 carries a higher accent than the nominal stem ; the verb stem when 

 in final position, particularly when in the preterit form, frequently 

 has a raised pitch, and certain verbal particles appear to carry the 

 pitch. The vowel before a glottal stop, particularly with certain 

 classes of nominal plurals, likewise often receives a higher tone. 

 This is indicated by an acute accent mark over the vowel. 14 



CON SON A NTJL S I ~S TEM 



The consonantal system of Tepecano is primarily simple, consisting 

 of the nasals m and ;?, the trill r, the spirants p, s, c and A, the 

 sonant stops 6, d and g, the surd stops p, t, k and the glottal stop '. 

 These simple sounds are further modified according to position. 13 



The semi-vowels y and ir are abnormal and of secondary develop- 

 ment. The former is often heard instead of an i diphthong, as 

 ya'puckar, ia'puckar, sweat-cloth; ka'cyo', ka'cio', fox. The latter is 

 often heard for an u diphthong, as sirf-max, surmaR, deer, or for 

 an initial vu as wi'vas, vtituas, face. 



The bilabial nasal m and the linguo-dental nasal n are purely 

 sonant in initial or intervocalic position, but when in final position 

 the latter part of the occlusion becomes clearly surd. This voiceless- 

 ness is most marked in the case of final »?, less so with final n. 

 To a lesser extent the same phenomenon is observed when a nasal 

 comes into contact with a surd stop or spirant. When evident 

 enough to be noted, surd quality is indicated by m and v, though 

 it is never more than a mixed quality, partially unvoiced rather 

 than clearly surd. The palatal nasal •/] has occasionally been ob- 

 served, always before a palatal stop, but it is not invariable in this 

 position and seems to be a secondary development. 



/• is a weak untrilled or weakly trilled linguo-alveolar. When 

 of a long quantity the trill is naturally more evident, but is never 

 strong. Like the nasals it appears to be normally sonant but in 

 final position is at least intermediately surd and is to some extent 



1 4 Both vocalic length and pitch accent were reported by my informant to be more 

 marked among the Southern Tepehuane than with the Tepecano. 



1 5 Sounds vary as sonant and surd according to position in Fapago (Dolores, op. cit.). 



