Introduction to the Sound System of Samala

8/10/2019 Introduction to the Sound System of Samala

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1 Introduction 1:16 3 Woodpecker and the Flood Sama la with nglish Translation 4:35 On this CD, you can hear Samala Chumash, to

get a better idea how the Samala words in the

dictionary sound. A language is more than alist of words, so the next track, Track 2, is thestory of Woodpecker and the Flood, where youcan hear how the language flows. Track 3includes a line-by-line translation of the story,with an English translation right after eachSamala line to give you an idea what you'rehearing. Track 4 talks about the name of theSamala language.

Ma timoloqina i Maqutikok na UlamThe story of Woodpecker and the Flood

timoloqi a anax a amne ne wa hini sple e a up.The old man tells of how it was when the

world perished.

malit k n a ku yila eki kawiliwa.This was all about the first people.

tini niuqe wa e a upThe world had not yet come to an endTracks 5 through 8 give you some conversa-

tional phrases in Samala. No one speaksSamala with native fluency today, so Track 9tells you how the knowledge of the languagewas preserved for us and then made accessible.Track 10 is an introduction to thepronunciation of Samala, and the remainingtracks are a comprehensive pronunciationguide. They tell you about the sounds thatSamala and English share, the Samala soundsthat dont occur in English, and thecombinations of Samala sounds that yourelikely to find challenging. I hope you find ituseful and rewarding.

hini t ini kuhku a alalqapa .when the animals were still people.

hini sple e a up, iyam a o.When this world perished, it was full of

water.

iyam a o e a up, amaqan a ku.This world was full of water, the people died.

hawal i maqutikok ka niaqan,only Woodpecker didnt die,

hawal i maqutikok ka skinakat.only Woodpecker survived.

sikumkumili ha iqci.The clouds were coming in.

tuhuy, tuhuy i nono, toyonoxin.It rained, it rained a lot, it rained hard.

selew a ulam.The flood came down.

tini tuhuy.

It was still raining.sxilumen e a up.

This world disappeared into the water.2 The Story of Woodpecker and theFlood Samala 2:26

insil a wololomol, insil a ku w.There were no mountains, there were no live

oaks.The transcription of Track 3 has a line-by-linetranslation of the Samala text.

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tinana pakas a pon alaqlaqlil,Finally one tree was all that was showing,

na s l k n a pon i maqutikok .and Woodpecker was sitting in the tree.

moq

e kice

a alaliwal k a po

n.Already little of the tree was sticking out.silkumili ha o a s l i maqutikok.

The water came up to Woodpeckers feet.

ax , na toxom, na sm x x n i nono.He was scared and cold and very hungry.

ma skuna a qsi hi maqutikok.Woodpecker was the nephew of the sun.

ka mi i maqutikok, sip ktata, ktata,tanikutiyit, tanikutiyitHe cried; he said Uncle, uncle, please see

me, please see me!

moqe kaqan a ktoxo m na km x x n.Im already dying of cold and Im hungry.

ka s ipus a paka s a ay a qsi, ho, ti s ip?One of the suns daughters said to him, Ho,

what did he say?

ka sitaq a anax , sip kume, kume The old man heard, he said, Poor thing,

poor thing!

ka aqu a anax , nuna n a sy y w.The old man started out, he took his torch.

ka salapay a sisyulokin na skilinapay a qsi,He raised his torch and the sun quickly came

out,

na ka sq w n a o,and the water went down,

na syulumon i maqutikok.

and Woodpecker warmed himself.insil a ku, yila amaqan.

There were no people; they all died.

hawal i maqutikok a sat k, hawal i kay.Only Woodpecker was alive, only he.

4 The Name of the Samala language 1:08

Samala is what the Chumash people in themiddle reaches of the Santa Ynez Valley

originally called themselves. Its also the nameof their language. After the Spanish foundedthe mission Santa Ynez in 1804, they called thelocal Indians by the Spanish term Inezeo.For decades the Samala language has beencalled Inezeo Chumash, just as the people ofthe Santa Barbara coast and their language arecalled Barbareo Chumash, and so on.

Native peoples all over California are reclaiming

their original names for themselves, ratherthan going by terms coined by outsiders. Forexample, the Diegeo are now callingthemselves Kumeyaay and the Gabrielino in LosAngeles County are calling themselves Tongva.In that same spirit, the members of the SantaYnez Band have begun using the ancestralname for their people and their language.Youll see the term Samala in the dictionaryand you'll hear it on this CD Samala.



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5 Some conversational phrases Part 1 3:24 Here are some conversational phrases inSamala. To give you a sense of how you could

use these phrases in a conversationalexchange, the lines that two people speakingwith each other might say are labeled A andB. Ill pause after each Samala phrase to giveyou a chance to repeat it.

Some useful words:yes he

true, thats true inu

no insil

good o or oho bad ax m k

cheers, enjoy! kumuye

all my relations yila a kiskon

An opening conversational exchange:A says, hello haku or A says, hello, friend haku, ant k B says, hello, hows it going?

haku tikali ? (literally hello, how [is it?])A replies, OK pa ki eki

(literally just like that)

and how are you? na tikal i pi ? B says, OK too, pa ki eki nani

(literally just like that too)

Here are some other possible answers to thequestion of how you are.

its going well for me ka s olit

its going very well for me ka olit i nono

its not going well for me inis olit

Ways to say thanks and youre welcomeThese phrases are here by popular demand asSamala equivalents of English expressions,even though they were not used this way in theold days.

A says, thanks ( literally Im grateful) kaqina

B says, youre welcome ( literally its just asmall thing) for example when someonethanks you for passing the salt or holding adoor open pa kice

or A says, youre welcome ( literally I takepleasure in it [doing this for you]), whenyou've gone out of your way for someone,such a finding a present you know theylllike kali o

kaqina pa kice kali o

Saying PleaseThe Samala equivalent of please is to add the

prefix tani- , which means a little bit, in frontof the command form of a verb:

come in! tap

please come in tanitap

sing! expe

please sing taniyexpe

Excusing yourself:excuse me, pardon me ( literally dont take

offense at me) inips k nit

6 Some conversational phrases Part 2 3:13 Most of the example phrases youll hear afterthis include elements called person markers.Theyre each just a single consonant, so youcant pronounce them by themselves:

I, my is a K k-

you, your is a P p-

he, she, it; his, her, its is an S s- You can hear these person markers as the firstpart of terms such as

kat k my heartpat k your heartsat k his heart, her heart



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Happy and unhappyThe Samala equivalent of happy is literally ones heart is good, which requires someperson marker with at k heart, emotional self:

Im happy (literally my heart is good) ka o ha kat k

he/she is happy ( literally his/her heart isgood) ka o ha sat k

To say unhappy you add ini- not in front ofthe verb o its good:

Im not happy ( literally my heart is notgood) inis o ha kat k

Asking someones name:

A asks, whats your name? suk a pt ? B answers, my name is ___ ma kt ka ___

whats your name? suk a pt hi pi? A says, my name is ___ ma kt ka ___

Welcoming someone to your home:A says, welcome ka o ha paktina

(its good that you come)

B replies, its good to be here ka o iti

Taking leaveA says, goodbye kiwanan

(literally Im going for a bit

B replies, take heart alitaxa n

or travel well tiwanana n a oho

Asking if someone understands:A asks, do you understand?

putanin e? B answers, yes, I understand

he, kutanin or I dont understand inikutanin

I dont know inik am n

repeat, say it again kimiyiy a pip

say it slowly wakapi ha p ip

or wakapi wakapi

A asks, whats the [Samala] word for ___? ti s ip a t ha ___? literally what doesone say as the name of ____?

B answers, its called ___ ___ ka t literally ___ is its name

7 Some conversational phrases Part 3 3:05 Some simple questionsIn the phrases below, you'll sometimes hearthat there are two ways to say something:using careful speech (such as that is a bear)and normal speech (such as thats a bear).

Asking what something isThe Samala words for this and that havedifferent forms depending on whether theycome at the beginning of the phrase. So at thebeginning of a phrase you say ke for this andkweki for that but anywhere else in thephrase its he for this and hek i for that.

at the beginning of the phrase, this ke

later in the phrase, this he

at the beginning of the phrase,

that kwek

i later in the phrase, that hek i

And here are some phrases using these words:

A asks, whats this? suk u he ? B answers, this is a ___ ke ka ___

e.g. this is a flower ke ka spe y A asks in careful speech,

whats that? suk u hek i?

or at normal speed suk eki? B answers, thats a ___ kweki ka ___

e.g. thats a bear kweki ka xus



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Asking what someone is doingA asks, what are you doing?

suk a palik?

B answers, Im waiting for my friend

k

uyamus a ki

ant k

or Im going to work kyatalawaxa

or Im learning Samala ka kpuxpuk a s amala

Asking where something isYou can use taka where to ask simplequestions about where something is. Theanswers include here iti and there kweki.Notice that kweki is the same word as forthat; this is a different meaning, but related.

A asks, wheres the ___? taka a __ in careful speech tak a __ at normal speed

B answers, heres the ___ iti ka ___ or there s the ___ kweki ka ___

Heres an example of this exchange with someword filled in:

A asks, wheres the dog? taka a hu u? in careful speech tak a hu u? at normal speed

B answers, heres the dog iti ka hu u or there s the dog kweki ka hu u

8 Some conversational phrases Part 4 5:35 The Samala equivalent of English haveSamala doesn't have an exact equivalent of

English have in the sense of I have a son orhe has a knife. You say there exists plusthe possessed form of the noun in question.

By itself there exists is s-wil . You can useswil in phrases such as:

theres news ( literally there exists what istold) swil a tiyepe

theres food swil a uwumu

Here are examples with possessed nouns,translated into colloquial English with have:

I have a son ( literally there exists my son) swil a kwop

he has a knife ( literally there exists his/herknife) swil a s w

The negative form of this construction usesinsil there is not, so youd say:

theres no news insil a tiyepe(literally there does not exist news)

I dont have a son insil a kwop (literally there does not exist my son)

they dont have a house insil a si ap (literally there does not exist their house)

To make a question with have, you can addthe question marker he right after the verb: he

A asks, is there news? swil e ha tiyepe?

B answers, yes, theres news he, swil a tiyepe

A asks, do you have a child? swil e ha pi t n?

B answers, yes, I have a child he, swil a ki t n

or I dont have a child insil a ki t n

Some phrases for mealtimes:A asks, is dinner ready?

salaqwa y e ha aq utapinimu ? B answers, its ready now

salaqwa y i k p

or its ready soon muc a y ti salaqwa y

A asks, whats for dinner? suk akiyaqutapin? (literally what are weeating [as] dinner?)

B answers, were eating fry-bread androast kiya n a pilila na io

A says, pass the salt ikit a tip(literally give me the salt)

B answers, heres the salt iti a tip



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A asks, would you like more? piliya niy e? (literally do you want toeat more?)

or ku ksutiy q e? (literally shall I servemore?)

B answers, yes, Id like more he, kiliya niy

or thats enough sutikumu the ___ tastes good tutom a ___ I like the ___ kaqni o ha ___ A says, finish your food

exen a uwumu B replies, Im full kaqt A asks, have you eaten?

moq e pa n e? B answers, Ive eaten already

moq e ka n or Im hungry ka km x x n

Some phrases for kids and parents:good boy, good girl o ha i i

wash your hands! uxmaniwon a p u

close the door! iqip a mit p n

dont slam the door! inipsutis q amit p n

be quiet! axitup

brush your teeth! tiolk om a psa

comb your hair! tikik

its time for bed ( literally go sleep) yawen

A few other expressionsA asks, where are you? taka i pi?

B says, here I am iti ka no Im not sleepy iniksiliwe

I want to go home ka ksiliyi

I want to go outside ka ksilikitwon

I want to go play ka kilitiiwil

I love you, am fond of you kaqiy kin

(but Im in love with you kicaqyalinin)

9 How the knowledge of Samalacomes to us 2:29 Most of what we know of the Chumashlanguages is due to John P. Harrington, a native

of Boston born in 1884. Harrington worked forthe Bureau of American Ethnology researchingand recording native languages and cultures allover western North America.

Harrington had a special passion for Chumash.When he died in 1961, he left over a hundredthousand pages of notes on the Chumashpeople on language, of course, but alsotales, customs, beliefs, and material culture.

Harringtons main Samala consultant was tribalmatriarch Mara Solares, who was in her 70swhen he worked with her between about 1912and 1919. Maria Solares was born in 1842 anddied in 1923. Her fathers parents were fromKalawaaq, the second largest village inSamala territory. Maria's mother was bornamong the Hometwoli Yokuts.

Most of what we know about the Samalalanguage and a great deal of what we know ofthe culture has been preserved because of

Maria Solares willingness to share herknowledge with Harrington.

Fast forward 50 years to 1969. A few dozenboxes of Harringtons Chumash manuscriptswere in storage in Dwinelle Hall at UC Berkeley.I was a graduate student in Linguistics at thetime and started going through the sevenboxes of Samala material.

It was like filling in the squares of a giantcrossword puzzle. Before I knew it I was inlove with the language and ended up writing adictionary and a full-scale description ofSamala grammar.

My graduate advisor was Dr. Madison Beeler;he had worked with the last fluent speaker ofBarbareo Chumash, Mary Yee, who died in1965. Dr. Beeler had tapes of Mary Yeespeaking Barbareo, so I knew what Barbareo



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12 Consonant sounds that Englishand Samala share 2:59 Consonants are sounds like t, s, m, or y. Theyall involve blocking the stream of breath to

some degree. You either stop it completely fora moment or else narrow it down and createfriction, with a buzzing or humming sound.

The consonants of Samala are divided intothree sets, depending on how they repronounced. Youll hear more about thesesame three sets later on when we talk aboutwhat s called glottalized consonants, sincethese three types of consonants all behavedifferently.

Hard consonantsThere s a set of sounds where you completelyclose off the flow of air for a moment, eitherwith your lips or tongue or vocal cords. Youcould call these hard consonants, like thehard C in English cat or cup. The technicalterm is stop because you stop the flow of airwhen you pronounce these sounds.

Hard consonants or stops like p, t, and k arepronounced as in Spanish rather than English.These sounds usually have an explosive puff ofbreath at the beginning of a word in English,but not in Spanish or Samala.

The sound p Heres the Samala word for hand pu

the word for salt tip

The consonant t Heres the Samala word for go in tap

to run alpat

The consonant k person ku

comb tikik

Liquid consonants:The consonant sounds that you pronounce withno friction are called liquids. The technicalterm liquid refers to this flowing quality of nofriction.

Here are some examples of the liquidconsonants in Samala:

The consonant y the Samala word for bluebird yol to trade wayap

The consonant w Heres the Samala word for exist wil to stand nowon

The consonant m the Samala word for owl muhu to bring nukum

The consonant n grandfather nono let go of niwon

The consonant l the word for bat (the animal) makal

the word for to be straight, go straight lukumel Notice that the L in Samala words sounds morelike the L of Spanish, especially at the end of aword. Listen to the Samala word mol to toastand the English word mole, which doesn'tsound much like it at all mol / mole.

13 Friction sounds and three specialsymbols 2:26

So far we

ve looked at hard consonants like p and k and the liquid consonants like m and l.There s a third class of sounds; the technicalterm for them is fricative.

With fricatives are sounds where you don tcompletely cut off the flow of air the way youdo with stops, but you close things downenough that there s some turbulence orfriction, say with S.



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The consonant h the Samala word for hello haku

the word for rain tuhuy

The sound s

the word for tooth sa

the word for heel osos

The S-wedge symbol Now we come to the first of the specialphonetic symbols written as an S with alittle V-shaped wedge over it. The S-wedgesymbol stands for SH, which English spellslots of different ways, as in shake, motion,machine, Fischer, and so on. You can callthis symbol S wedge when you need a namefor it.

Here are example of Samala words with :

the word for earth, land up

to cry mi

Caution: Be sure to pay attention to thewedge over the symbol so that you can tell itapart from plain s.

The symbol c This is the second of the special phoneticsymbols. The symbol c stands for TS, as inEnglish cats, and it can occur anywhere in theword, including at the beginning.

Heres the sound of a kiss cu

to point icumu

to prune (a tree) wicpun

This combination of t and s occurs in English allthe time, but it almost always comes aboutwhen different words or parts of words cometogether, such as cats or not so fast.

In Samala the TS sound of the symbol c is asingle unit.

The C-wedge symbolThe symbol stands for the CH sound, as inEnglish church or watch. In Samala is asingle unit.

Here are examples of Samala words with .the word for oriole (the bird) aka ak

to be fast towi

Remember to pay attention to the wedge overthe symbol so that you can tell it apart fromplain c.

There s a neat pattern to the symbols with theraised wedge. The wedge over a C makes itinto a CH sound, and the wedge over an S

makes it into an SH sound. This comes inhandy as you learn more about the soundpattern of Samala, since these sounds c and , s and behave alike in certain ways.

Caution: Whatever you do, don t pronounceeither of the C symbols in Samala like thehard C sound of cat or nick, or like the softC sound of cereal or nice.

14 Samala sounds that English lacks

3:19 In this section you ll learn about four soundsthat English either doesn t have or doesn t useto distinguish one word from another.

Glottal stopGlottal stop is a catch in the throat, a soundthat you make way down at the level of yourvocal cords. The technical term glottal stoprefers to closing the glottis the vocal cords

since you make a glottal stop by temporarilyclosing the vocal cords.

The phonetic symbol here for glottal stop is asingle close-quote or an apostrophe with itshook open to the left.

Glottal stop occurs all the time in English, butwe don t use it to distinguish one word from



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another. Here are some of the environmentswhere you'll hear a glottal stop in English:

in emphatic speech, words that start withvowels may have a glottal stop even whentheres another word in front of them. It seasy to hear the difference between theapple pronounced with a glottal stop and the apple pronounced without. Listenfor it in go away and youre out.

another place where glottal stop shows upin English is between the vowels ofexclamations like oh-oh (expressingapprehension or an error) or uh-uh (forno)

for many speakers of American English, Tbecomes an glottal stop when it comesright before certain other sounds, especiallyan N, in words like lightning or kittenor got none. T is also a glottal stop in acasual pronunciation of let me see or waitnearby.

You already know how to make a glottal stop,so it should be easy to hear and pronounce inSamala words. Glottal stop is very common inSamala.

It s much easier to hear that a Samala wordstarts with a glottal stop when there s someword in front of it. Listen to these pairs andnotice how the glottal stop jumps out at outyou when theres something in front of it.

heres the word for house ap

and here is it with a word in front of it thehouse ma ap

the word for here iti

and here it is with a word in front of it right here pa iti

Glottal stop is very common at the end ofSamala words. Here are examples of pairs ofwords where the only difference is whether ornot they end with glottal stop.

heres the word for the ma

jackrabbit ma ma / ma

Heres yes he

this one he he / he

Caution: People often ignore glottal stop atthe beginning of a word, since it seems to be

automatic anyway. Thats OK for now, butplease dont ignore glottal stop at the end of aword; theres a good chance that leaving it outit could make a difference in the meaning.

15 BarredI 4:07 This sound is called barred I because it swritten as an I with a bar through it.

Here are some Samala words with :

the word for name t

namethe word for find it the word for now k p

OK, you can hear it, but how do you produce ityourself? Barred I is pronounced halfwaybetween i (English ee) and u (English oo).

But the easiest way to say barred I is to say theEnglish vowel sequence ah uh and thenbarred I. This helps you raise your tongue instages to approximate . Here are some trios ofwords, two English words and one Samalawords, that do just this:

mock muck m k the Samala wordfor far mock muck m k

hot hut h t the Samala word forscalp hot hut h t

If all else fails, just think of the sound youmight make if you stepped on a slug barefoot

More seriously, if you have trouble putting yourtongue and lips in the right configuration topronounce barred I as , you can make areasonable substitution with the oo sound ofEnglish words like took, look, or put.

Notice how English took sounds a lot likeSamala t k point took / t k Its not ideal,but it works took/: t k.



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x Raspy HThis sound is a lot like H in English, but raspy,with more friction. It s like the J in Spanishbaja or the CH in German Bach. Here are

some examples inSamala:the word for bear xus

to be hungry m x x n

to sing expe

Caution: Whatever you do, don t pronounceSamala x like either of the Xs in EnglishXerox.

q deep K

The sound written with the phonetic symbol q is pronounced like a K but further back in themouth. Say the letter K and pay close attentionto what happens as you do it. Notice how theback of your tongue rises up and touches theroof of your mouth k.

Say K again and try moving the point ofcontact about an inch further back, so that theback of your tongue touches back, closer toyour tonsils. If you can t hear the difference or

can

t reproduce it, it

s OK to substitute regulark for q, but remember that there is a difference.

This sound occurs in many other languagestoo, such as Arabic. That s why Iraq is writtenwith a Q, because Arabic speakers say iraq .

Here are some Samala words with q:

the word for leaf, feather qap

the word for to hear, listen itaq

to die aqan

Caution: Whatever you do, don t pronounce

Samala q like the Q in English quick orequal.

Of course Samala q does sound a lot likeEnglish Q in Samala words that have a w afterthe q,

for example the Samala word for to makeeqwel.

16 Glottalized consonants 0:57 So far you ve come across glottal stop whichis written here with an apostrophe as at thebeginning and end of words and in the middle

between vowels:in the beginning in a word like house ap

in the middle the house ma ap

and at the end arrow ya

Samala also has sequences of a glottal stoppronounced along with some other consonant;the technical term for this is glottalization. Itshows up in words like aya path and suk u what. Glottalization is one of the moststriking features of the Samala sound system,and its one of the more challenging things tolearn, so we ll devote a lot of space to it in thisintroduction.

17 Glottal stop with liquidconsonants 2:39 The easiest place to start with glottalizedconsonants is with the liquid consonants m,n, l, y, and w these are all consonants with aflowing sound that can be drawn out.

Pronouncing glottalized liquids is easy forspeakers of English, at least in the middle ofthe word. In American English, T oftenbecomes a glottal stop before liquids in casualspeech. In other words, you already know tomake glottalized liquids.

If you wrote English words as if they wereSamala, some glottalized liquids might be:

motley mali

he got me higa miwe got you wigayu

Glottalized liquids occur only in the middle andends of words in Samala. Here are someexamples with glottal stop and liquids in themiddle of the word. These should be easy tosay.



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the word for too, also na ni

to take hold of uli

hollow mamu

winter swayin

Notice that you hear the glottal stop before theliquid consonant.

Here are some examples of glottalized liquidsat the end of the word.

the word for go na n

two (the number) ikom

cricket klol

Pronouncing glottalized liquids at the endof the wordIt sounds like youre choking off the end of theword here, which is exactly whats going on.When you say ikom two, youre starting toclose your vocal cords to make the glottal stopat the same time that youre closing your lips tomake the m sound.

Heres a trick that might help you pronouncethis combination of glottal stop and liquidconsonant at the end of the word. Say a wordlike na ni also which is easy to say becausetheres a vowel after the glottalized consonant.Then try saying it without the vowel at the end:na n. This gives you the Samala word nan togo.

Lets try that with ikom two, when it has avowel after it in a phrase like two dogsikom a hu u. Leave off the hu u part to sayikom a and then leave off the a; you getikom.

18 Glottal stop with hard consonants 1:59 Glottal stop also shows up with the hardconsonants p, t, k and q, plus c and where it makes a popping sound.

Here are some words with glottalizedconsonants at the beginning:

the word for rattle ciwis

the word for trail aya to break kot the word for abalone taya

Here are some words that have a glottalized

consonant in the middle:the word for younger sibling icis to be sour iton to sit, stay l k n already moq e

Here are some words that have a glottalizedconsonant at the end:

the word for bird wic mother t k

fawn piq chief wot

Here are some pairs of words that differ just byglottalization at the beginning:

the word for skin pax

your bow pax pax / pax

the word for brother-in-law to

the word for mussel (the shellfish) to to / to

Heres a pair that differs just by glottalization inthe middle:

hello haku

either/or hak u haku / hak u

Herea pair that differs just by glottalization atthe end:

tip, point t k

mother t k

19 Some tips on producting aglottalized consonant 2:19 Its easier to hear a glottalized consonant thanto produce one. Its also easier to produce aglottalized consonant at the beginning of theword at least for the stop consonants thatweve been talking about.



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Here are three different ways you could do it.Well start with a Samala syllable like ku, with aglottalized k.

First way: Close off your air as if youre aboutto lift something heavy. Pronounce theconsonant sound as if youre whispering k.Then resume breathing out as you say thevowel that comes after the consonant u.There will automatically be a glottal stop infront of the vowel.

Say k u. Say it faster and run the consonantand glottal stop together into ku.

Second way: Stick an extra vowel between theconsonant and the glottal stop, then say the

word while you make the extra vowel weakerand weaker until the consonant and glottal stoprun together.

Say kuu, then kau, k u and finally ku. Do thisquickly enough and the consonant and glottalstop run together.

Third way: If theres a glottalized stop in themiddle of the word, say the portion of the wordup to the stop consonant, then the glottal stopand the vowel. A word to work on is suk u

what.Say suk u. Do this quickly enough and theconsonant and glottal stop run together.

Notice the difference between suk u whenthe k and the glottal stop are simply side byside and suk u, where the two sounds arerun together and make a crisp popping sound.

When the stop consonant and the glottal stopare really run together, youre actuallyproducing the consonant at almost the sametime that youre producing the glottal stop.This is what gives a glottalized stop thatsatisfying pop in a word like abalone taya.

20 Glottal stop with fricativeconsonants 2:41 The fricative consonants of Samala are s, , h and x; they all involve some friction or air

turbulence between the tongue and the roof ofthe mouth or in the throat, in words like

xus bearexpe he/she sings

All the fricatives except h can be glottalized.Glottalized fricatives dont show up toofrequently at the beginning of words, but hereare a few examples:

the word for heron xox

he says sip

These arent easy to say, but in actual speechtheres usually some element in front on thesewords, so that in effect the glottalized fricativeis in the middle of the word:

the heron ma x ox

he will say nos ip

These sounds are more common at the middleand ends of Samala words. Here are someexamples of glottalized fricatives in the middleof the word:

to dry something as ay

to spill something out, make an offering u ak

elder, old man anax

With a glottalized fricative at the end of a word,you hear the glottal stop right before thefricative, so the glottal stop is written before.Here are some examples:

the word for one paka s

the word for roof ixt

the word for river texe x

Pronouncing glottalized fricativesMaking a glottalized fricative in the middle of aword like u ak make an offering is likemaking a glottalized stop in the middle of theword. Start with the part of the word before theglottal stop, then say the rest of it from theglottal stop on: u ak. Say this faster andfaster until they run together: u ak, u ak.



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Producing a glottalized fricative at the end of aword is a bit different. Lets practice on theword for roof, ixt . Say the part of the wordup to the glottal stop: ixt , which happens tomean to roof a house, and then add the partalmost as an afterthough: ixt , then say itfaster so that the runs right into the glottalstop: ixt , ixt .

21 Vowels plus y and w Part I Introduction 2:53 You've already heard some words that have y orw between vowels:

the word for abalone t aya the word for eight malawa

Here are a couple of Samala words that end with a vowel plus y:

circle tokoy to rain tuhuy

Technically, the y in these words is called anoffglide, because it glides off from a full voweli to a sound that s closer to a consonant than avowel in the sequences oy and uy.The liquid sound w also works this way; it s

part of the offglide from a full vowel u to a w sound in words like

hot (in terms of weather) iaw make a mistake ackaw

Are you wondering about the phonetic spellingaw here in iaw? Just think of malawa eight,where it seems perfectly logical to use a w afterthe a . Try saying malawa and then drop off thelast vowel. You get malaw, which sounds justlike the end of iaw hot.

Whispering y and w In Samala y and w have a slightly whisperedquality at the end of the word. Listen for it asyou hear these words again:

the word for circle tokoy

the word for rain tuhuy

Whispered y sounds a little like SH, but dontexaggerate so much that you actually saytokoy instead of tokoy . Listen for whispered w as you hear these words again:

hot (in terms of weather) iaw make a mistake ackaw

Whispered w sounds a little like F, but dontexaggerate so much that you actually say iawf instead of iaw.To be more precise, y and w are whispered atthe end of the word unless theres a word thatstarts with a vowel right afterward. Here s anexample with the verb tuhuy to rain. Whenthe y is the last sound in the phrase, it swhispered; when a vowel follows, y ispronounced like the ordinary y in the middle ofa word like taya abalone.

its raining tuhuy but its raining a lot tuhuy a nono

22 Vowels plus y and w Part 2 Familiar combinations 2:37 The combination oy This is the easiestcombination: it s just like the OY in English

toy or the OI in English coin.the word for Jimson weed, Datura

momoy

The combination uy This is an u soundfollowed by i (English ee) as the offlglide y.English uses a sequence very close to this inwords like Louie and chop suey.

Heres the word for throw something away ukuy

The sequences oy and uy are easy because theymore or less match English spelling

The combination ay This is the usual ahsound of Samala a followed by i (English ee)as the offlglide y. When you break thissequence down into ah and i, you may seewhy it s written AY. This is how it shows upwhen there s another vowel after it, in a wordlike taya abalone.



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Here are some Samala words that end with thesound ay:

up above alapay to put away sinay

Remember to whisper the y unless a vowelfollows it:to put away sinay I put away the food ksinay alama n

Caution: Don t pronounce Samala ay likeEnglish AY in a word like pay.

The combination aw This is an ah soundfollowed by u (English oo) written as theoffglide w. English spells it as in cow orpound, or AU in some foreign words likeMaui. Here are some Samala examples:

the word for bedazzled itaw the word for ten iyaw

Remember to whisper the w unless a vowelfollows it:

ten iyaw ten days iyaw a qsi

Caution: Don t pronounce Samala aw likeEnglish AW in a word like claw.

23 Vowels plus y and w Part 3Glottalization with vowels plus y and w 1:56

You ve already seen that just about anyconsonant can be glottalized, including y and w in the middle of words like swayin winter andkawa left hand.This is also true of y and w at the end of the

word; they can be glottalized too. Thewhispered quality of y and w at the end of theword is much more noticeable after glottalstop.

Here are the glottalized versions of the fourcombinations of vowel plus y or w that arefamiliar from English:

aw coyote xuxa w ay moon away oy hoof toy uy chest, front usu y

Remember, the glottalized y or w is whisperedunless there s a following vowel:

Heres the word for its hoof to y

the deers hoof to y a w

How to pronounce the glottalized versionsof these combinationsHow do you learn to pronounce a word liketo y? Try pronouncing a word with a plainvowel that ends in glottal stop, such as to

brother-in-law. If youre able to say to witha glottal stop at the end, then just change to totoy and keep the glottal stop at the end. Theglottal stop automatically clamps down on the y part of toy to produce to y.

Remember to whisper the y as you release theglottal stop as long as theres no vowel after it.

24 Vowels plus y and w Part 4Combinations that English lacks 2:10 So far youve heard about combinations ofvowels with y and w that show up in bothSamala and English ay, aw, oy and uy.

This is four combinations. But all six of thevowels of Samala can show up with either y orw at the end of a word. That makes 12possible combinations of the six vowels plusthe y and w offglides, so there are eightcombinations that English lacks.

These combinations can be a bit tricky, becausethey re unfamiliar and English sometimes usesthe same letters with a different pronunciation.

Actually, theyre only tricky when they come atthe end of the word. In the middle of a wordtheyre easy enough. For example, thecombination ew shows up in the middle of theword for starfish, elewese , and this rolls rightoff your tongue. Drop the last three letters and



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you get the word for tongue, elew. Thecombination ew is harder to hear and topronounce in elew than in elewese .

Or take the combination y in the middle of theword for master, owner, k y . Compare this tothe same combination at the end of the wordfor wasp, y. All weve done is drop the firstand last letters here, but y is harder to saythan k y .

When a combination of a vowel plus theoffglide y or w comes at the end of a word, they or w is whispered, unless the next word startswith a vowel. This for this in the words fortongue elew, and wasp y.

The bad news is that whispering makes thingsmore complicated, since it s one more way thatSamala is different from English. The goodnews is that it also makes the differencebetween these various unfamiliar vowelcombinations easier to hear.

25 Vowels plus y and w Part 5y combinations that English lacks 3:51 The Y combinations that you've seen so far are

ay to forget ta may oy go around olkoy uy throw away ukuy

Here are the others:

The combination ey This is eh plus i (ee) as the offglide y,exaggerating the final i sound. Whisperinghelps you hear the difference between Samalaey and plain e, as in

to stick to pey versus yes/no he

Notice that except for the whispering, pey sounds a lot like English pay.

Here are other words that end in ey:the word for tarweed swey cousin alixey

Heres ey with glottal stop:the word for flower spe y the word for close, nearby mute y

Heres a pair where you hear the difference

between ey and plain e with glottal stop.the word for this one he the word for flower spe y

Caution: As far as spelling goes, don tpronounce Samala ey like English EY in wordslike key or Meyer.

As far as pronunciation goes, be careful tomake a distinction between ey and plain e. Thewhispering at the end of the word helps youwith this.

The combination iy This is i plus i (ee) as the offglide y.Whispering is the only thing that helps you hearthe difference between Samala iy and plain i atthe end of a word, as in

to twist string miy versus to repeat kimi

Here are other words that end in iy:the word for sticky piliy to revive, come to at kiy

Heres iy with glottal stop:the word for hook kiy

Caution: As far as pronunciation goes, becareful to make a distinction between iy andplain i. The main clue is the whispering at theend of a word like miy.

The combination y This is barred I plus i (ee) as the offglide y.There s no English equivalent, but rememberthe whispering:

the word for wasp y

fox kn y

Heres y with glottal stop:

the word for man, male h y



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26 Vowels plus y and w Part 6w combinations with English lacks 4:43 There are four combinations of vowel plus w which English does not have. Here s a trick tohelp with learning them. Try imitating a two-year-old or the cartoon character Elmer Fudd who can t say L and substitutes W for it.This makes these sequences surprisingly easy!

The combination ew This an eh sound followed by u (English oo)as the offglide w. It s a lot like Samala aw (likeEnglish cow) as in iaw hot (of weather) butwith an eh sound. Think of Elmer Fudd or the

two-year-old substituting W for L. When youpronounce it this way, English hell comes outas Samala hew pelican provided that youwhisper the w at the end of the word hew.

the word for go down elew

Heres ew with glottal stop:

barn owl e w

Caution: Don t pronounce Samala ew likeEnglish EW in sew or few.

The combination iw This is an ih sound followed by u (Englishoo) as the offglide w. Just as with ew, theeasiest way to pronounce this is to imitateElmer Fudd or the two-year-old trying to sayill. Saying English chill as iw is a closeapproximation of Samala iw animals paw.Remember to whisper the w unless a vowelfollows iw.

to cost piw The combination w This is barred I plus u (English oo) as theoffglide w.

the word for gut, ream out aq w

Here it is with glottal stop:

the word for word, language aql w

The combination ow This is oh plus u (English oo) as the offglidew. Whispering helps you hear the differencebetween Samala ow and plain o at the end of

the word:tobacco ow

versus the word for flying squirrel oo

To fall back on Elmer Fudd or the two-year-oldagain, try imitating them as you say Englishshoal and you have the Samala words ow tobacco, as long as you whisper the w ow.Heres ow with glottal stop:

the word for eagle slow

Caution: As far as spelling goes, don t

pronounce Samala ow like English OW in cow.As far as pronunciation goes, be careful tomake a distinction between ow and plain o.The whispering at the end of the word helpsyou with this.

The combination uw This is u (English oo) plus u as the offglide w.Whispering is the only that helps you hear the

difference between Samala uw and plain u atthe end of the word, as in

beach, south muhuw

versus the word for owl muhu Here are other words that end with uw:

to eat uw

fish alilimuw

Heres uw with glottal stop:

the word for right, right hand kuyuw

Caution: Be careful to make a distinctionbetween uw and plain u. The whispering at theend of the word helps you with this.



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27 Aspirated consonants Consonants with a puff of breath afterthem 2:43 If youve looked through the Samala dictionary

or the list of conversational phrases in theintroduction, you may have noticed some wordsspelled with little raised Hs after someconsonants, such as

the word for village apan

to be able to nitoy

Inezeo, member of the Santa Ynez band samala

These words probably dont sound the way you

might expect. The p + in apan isnt the PHin English phone; its a p followed by an h sound, just like English uphill.

The technical term for this is aspiration, whichliterally means breathing. Before we talkabout aspiration in Samala, lets talk about it inEnglish.

Try holding your hand two inches from yourmouth and say the words pit and spit.Notice that you feel a puff of breath with pit

but not with spit. The difference is that the Pin pit is aspirated it has a puff of breathafter it while the P in spit is a plain P; itsnot aspirated.

In Samala, all of the hard consonants thesounds p, t, c, , k and q, and the fricatives s and can be aspirated. A raised H after theconsonant is the phonetic symbol foraspiration; this helps remind you that a soundlike p in Samala is p plus h, like English uphill

or uphold.The flip side of this is that when you see theseSamala consonants written without a raised H,theyre not aspirated. They have no puff ofbreath after them, even in places where aspeaker of English would automatically add it.So in all of the Samala words you ve heard untilnow, the hard consonants are plain, without

aspiration. You may notice this if you listen tothe earlier tracks again.

Listen to the Samala pronunciation of a wordwith a plain consonant, versus how you'd say itwith an aspirated consonant if you werespeaking with an American English accent.Heres the boat with a plain T in ma tomoland ma t omol , with an American accent:ma tomol / ma t omol .

Aspiration isn t easy for a speaker of Englisheither to hear or to learn to turn on or off atwill, but to be fair to Samala you should at leastknow about it.

28 Aspirated consonants How

aspiration show up in Samala 2:24 Samala uses aspiration to distinguish one wordfrom another. Here is a pair of words thatdiffer only in aspiration:

to dip up, fish with a net p

to play the walnut dice game p

It s much easier to hear aspiration when theaspirated sound is in the middle of the word, solets try adding the prefix si- they to the verbs

here. You getthey fish with a net sip

they play walnut dice sip

Heres another pair with plain k and aspiratedk in the middle of the word:

one who looks akuti

and I look na k uti

Here are the aspirated consonants of Samala.Notice that when the last syllable of a wordbegins with an aspirated consonant, you accentthat syllable:

p to smile ipoy

t be able to nitoy

c hush, be quiet ci be good o

islander, island Chumash uma



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k wind, the wind is blowing saxtak t

q thank, be grateful aqina

s Inezeo, member of the Santa Ynezband samala

the plant yerba santa wiap

29 Conclusion 0:29 Congratulations! Youve made it to the end.Theres a lot more I could have said, includingtelling another story, but theres only so muchroom on a CD. I hope you find the informationhelpful and that it gives you a greater sense ofconfidence in pronouncing the Samala wordsthat you see in the pages of the dictionary.

Ill close with a traditional Samala phrase forgoodbye, kiwanan, Im going now kiwanan.


Introduction to the Sound System of Samala

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Transcript of Introduction to the Sound System of Samala