Velar Palatalization in Wichi (Mataguayan)

Abstract

Wichí palatalization is a morpho-phonological process triggered by tautosyllabic front vowels /e/ and /i/. It applies within the word, specifically, between morphemes when the target segment occupies the final coda of the stem, and the following suffix (or enclitic) is vowel-initial or h-initial. At the same time, this process is prosaically conditioned since outcome segments must occupy the onset position of the following suffix or enclitic. According to Bateman (2007) this process presents typologically frequent characteristics: 1) velar consonants, /k/ and /x/, are typical palatalization targets; 2) front vowels, /i/ and /e/, are common triggers; and 3) palatal outcomes of target velars are also typical. As for González (2014), palatalization is a distinctive feature for the phonology of indigenous languages spoken in The Chaco region. In fact, she mentions that velar consonants as targets is one of the marked features for matagauayan languages palatalization. This paper is an attempt to provide an analysis of palatalization within Stratal Optimality approach (Kiparsky, 2000;Orgun, 1996).