Syllable structure The syllables in Puluwatese begin with either
consonants or
geminate consonants followed by a
vowel or geminate vowel and can be ended with either a consonant or a vowel. The various syllable structure types are as follows: • CV: 'we' • CVV: 'bone' • CVC: 'blow' • CVVC: 'kill-him' • CVVCC: 'wheel' • CVCC: 'boathouse' • CCV: 'sand' • CCVV: 'fingernails' • CCVC: 'in' • CCVVC: 'pepper' • CCVCC: 'steady' Note that here stands for a single consonant phoneme /mʷ/ and not a sequence of two separate consonants.
Consonants /tʃ, ɻ/ may also be heard as [ts, ɾ] in free variation among speakers. In the voicing of consonants, nasals, liquids, and glides are always voiced. Voiceless consonants consist of stops and fricatives and usually follow a pattern of being voiceless initially, weakly voiced medially, and voiceless at the end. Puluwatese consists of long consonants ccòwo (heavy) and short consonants ppel (light). Long consonants are considered more forceful and are often used to display an emotion such as fear. Such an example is the word for hide-and seek/ tow-the-ghost: likohhomà. In this case, the "hh" long consonant creates a heavy sound that is used to frighten children. An interesting pattern in consonant replacement occurs where /w-/ and /y-/ glides replace /k-/ in some words. Some of the most commonly heard forms are as follows: • kapong, yapong-i-y
to greet • kereker, yereker
rat • wo, ko
you (polite) • woow, koow
coconut fiber • yáát, káát
boy • ya-mwar, ka-mwar
to hold • yéé, kéé
fishhook Other consonant interchange patterns involve /c/ and /r/ which can be traced back to
Chuukese influence. Oftentimes, the Chuukese consonant /c/ and the Puluwat /r/ correspond such as in the words: • caw, raw
slow • céccén, réccén
wet • ceec, reec
to tremble /k/ and /kk/ may also be used interchangeably as follows: • kltekit
small, yátakkit
small • rak
only, mákk
write While
consonant clusters do not occur in Puluwatese, there are several instances of consonant combinations occurring. These consonant combinations are often interrupted by a vowel referred to as an Excrescent. Sometimes, the intersyllabic vowel is lost and a
consonant cluster can occur. The historically noted consonant combinations are as follows: • kf: yekiyekféngann
to think together • np: tayikonepék
fish species • nf: pwonféngann
to promise together • nm: yinekinmann
serious • nl: fanefanló
patient • nw: yóónwuur
canoe part • ngf: llónghamwol
termite • wp: liyawpenik
cormorant • wh: yiwowhungetá
to raise Vowels After sounds /pʷ, mʷ/, /a/ may be raised and fronted as [æ], and back vowels may be slightly centered as [ü, ö, ɔ̈]. /i/ can be heard as [ɪ] when in closed syllables. Vowel distribution is limited and occur finally. Vowels may present themselves as short or long and can change to a lower pitch when lengthened. While all syllables are stressed fairly evenly, stressed syllables are often denoted as capitals. The following are two rules that determine stressed syllables: • Final vowels in CVCV words are stressed such as in hanA
hibiscus, klyÒ
outrigger boom, ylfA?
where?, and ylwE
then • Syllables that follow the letter h are normally stressed: yapawahAalò
to dry out, pahAlò
to drift away, yekúhÚ rak
just a little Unstressed syllables often occur as excrescent vowels except for when they follow h- and are denoted by breves. Unstressed vowels occur in the following instances: • Vowels in between reduplicated words are often unstressed: • ngeŕ- ĕ -ngeŕ
to sew • ngeŕ- ĭ -ngeŕ
to gnaw • pwul- ă -pwul
red • yale- ĕ yái
young man • yál- ĭ -yel
retreat • Vowels between bases and suffixes (directional and first person plural exclusive pronoun suffix): • fanúw- ĕ -mám
our • mópw- ŭ -ló
to drown • nlike- ĕ -mem- ĕ -ló
attack us all • yállew- ŭ -ló
worse • Vowels following -n, the construct form suffix and the initial consonant: • n + p: lúkúnĭ paliyewowuh
beyond the outer side • n + k: máánĭ kiiiiló
hunger death • n + m: roonĭ maan
floating ripe coconuts • n + y: wòònĭ Yáley
on Yáley • Vowels in loan words that often contain consonant clusters: • s+t: Sĭtien
Steven • m+ s: Samĭson
Samson • f+k: Maŕĕkús
Markus • In words that follow the shape of C1V1C2V2C3V3 the V1 and V3 vowels are normally stressed while the V2 has a week stress: • TilĭmE
male name • yeŕŏmA
a tree == Pronouns ==