SIERRA POPOLUCA SPEECH—FOSTER AND FOSTER 7 
-?V, or -?VC are added to stems ending in a 
consonant, the final consonant becomes the first 
phoneme of a new syllable. In the case of those 
morphemes with glottal initial, the glottal either 
metathesizes (4.23) or disappears (4.25). 
hA°.8i thought, idea (*ha’s think + -i nom. suf.) 
had.ka piece (*hak break + -a nom. suf.) 
kip.sa measuring stick (*kips measure + -a nom. suf.) 
hé.mum just there (hem there + -um enc.) 
?a.ku.ti?.adp I am becoming lazy (ku.tin lazy + -?a° 
verb. suf. + -p ince. suf.) 
hfp.say fire brand (*hips burn + -an nom. suf.) 
4.3. Palatalization. One of the outstanding 
phonological characteristics of Popoluca is the 
marked palatalizing effect of i and y when bearing 
certain relationships within the word to the alve- 
olars t, ¢,s, andn. As a general rule these alve- 
olars assimilate to the palato-alveolar forms f, é, 8, 
and n under the following conditions: (1) when 
preceded or followed by i; (2) when preceded by 
1?; (3) when preceded by y. 
(1) ?anmati word (*?anmadt speak + -i nom. suf.) 
?itxk his house (?i- pos. p. pref. + tak house) 
?iéX'mi his load (?i- + ¢X‘mi load) 
hA-Si thought (*ha:s think + -i nom. suf.) 
?786?t he fried it (7i- t. p. pref. + *se?t fry) 
mifd‘spa you pass (mi- i. p. pref. + *na‘s pass + 
-pa ine. suf.) 
(2) ?anci?ta?mpa you (pl.) give it to me (?an- t. p. 
pref. + *éi? give + -ta?m pl. suf. + -pa) 
?anci?né? I have given it to him (?an- t. p. pref. + 
*Gi? + -ne? perf. suf.) 
(3) ktiytam avocado (kuy tree + tam fruit) 
hayé<-Si boy (hay- comb. form of hiya male + 
¢X°Si child) 
¢dySak string bean (¢ay vine + sak bean) 
?i:Skuyn? tear (?f-Skuy eye + na? water) 
4.4, Limitations to the palatalization rule. 
When n would be in syllable final position, but 
because of metathesis becomes initial in the follow- 
ing syllable preceding i, it does not palatalize. 
?arnfSpa I see (him, her, it) (?an- t. p. pref. + 
*?i-S see + -pa inc. suf.) 
wa?ap ta?nit we are able to live (*wa?a: be able + -p ine. 
suf. + tan-t. p. pref. + *?it be, live.) 
When n falls between two i’s it does not palat- 
alize. Furthermore, when fi falls between two i’s 
it assimilates to the alveolar form. These patterns 
have been observed only in the case of construc- 
tions involving the comitative (6.7), causative 
(6.6), and benefactive (6.5) verbal prefixes, and 
the simulative noun prefix (10.5). Also, the second 
1 in these constructions does not palatalize alveo- 
lars which may follow. Additional data on these 
morphemes are given in 4.21, 
?inintikpa he brings it (?i- t.p.pref. + na- com. pref. + 
*nuk arrive + -pa ine. suf.) 
?inisé-tum he has just returned with him (or it) (?i- + 
na- + *se-t return + -um enc. just) 
?inikki?mpa you pull him up (?if- t.p.pref. + ?ak- 
caus. pref. + *ki?m go wp + -pa) 
?ininmat you spoke with him (?im- + ?an- ben. pref. 
+ mat stem of *?anmdt speak with) 
4.5. A palato-alveolar preceding an alveolar 
usually causes palatalization of the alveolar. 
When fi is a part of the cluster its palatalization 
often is weakened, sometimes to the point of 
entirely disappearing. 
?<étam we (?aé J + -tam pl. suf.) 
*pinduks pinch lightly (*pin touch lightly + *¢uks pinch) 
*int<k your house (?if-pos. p. pref. + tak house) 
4.6. Consonant change. The phoneme fi be- 
comes 7 before k. But n changes to 7 before k 
only when the syllable contains a vowel other than 
aoru. When the syllabic is a or u, the following 
n (or ?n cluster) remains unchanged before k. In 
this latter case there is a tendency to pronounce 
the indefinite shwa vowel between the two con- 
sonants. This is a part of the rule governing rela- 
tionships between consonants with dissimilar 
points of articulation (2.10). 
?ink6mpa you will fill it (?in- t. p. pref. + *kom fill + 
-pa ine. suf.) 
?ankXpi my firewood (?an- pos. p. pref. + kA:pi fire- 
wood) 
But 
k&nka? neck is pronounced [kAnaka?] 
tX?nkuy branding iron is pronounced [tA?nakuy] 
ku?nki squirrel is pronounced [kt?naki?] 
4.7. Before m or p, the nasals n and fi of the 
pronominal prefixes of nouns and verbs become m. 
?ammoya my flower (?an- Ist. per. pos. p. pref. + 
méya jlower) 
?immanak your child (?if- pos. p. pref. + mdnak child) 
?ampat I found it (?an- t. p. pref. + *pat find) 
?impXk you took it (?in- t. p. pref. + *pak take, get) 
4.8. Before y and n the voiceless stops t and ¢ 
become h. . 
wahna htyi many words (wat- comb. form of wati many 
+ na-en. suf. + h&yi word) 
se‘hydhpa they return (*sét return, -yah pl. suf.) 
?ihydh there are (*?it be, + -yah) 
se‘hné? he has returned (*se't return + -ne? perf. suf.) 
anwahné? I have done it (*wat do) 
