On the Distribution of Homorganic Final Consonants -m/-p, -n/t, -ŋ/-k in Selkup Dialects

This article describes the distribution of the nasal and stop consonants -m / -p, -n / -t, ŋ / -k in the auslaut independent and phonetically determined positions in the Southern, Central, and Northern dialects of the Selkup language. The Ivankino subdialect of the central Ob dialect is also distinguished as a transition zone between the southern and central areas. The study is carried out using corpus data based on written sources. In phonetically independent positions – in isolated use of word forms and before pauses (before dots and commas) - the distribution of homorganic nasal and stop consonants in the auslaut is meant as a dialect feature: Southern -m, -n, -ŋ; Central -p, -t, -k; Northern -m/-p (~Ø), -n/-t (~Ø), -ŋ/-k (~Ø); transition zone -m / -p, -n / -t, -ŋ / -k (depending on the speaker’s idiolect). In phonetically determined positions – continuous pronunciation that does not imply a pause in speech - the following distribution of consonants applies: Central: -p, -t, -k + noise consonant ~ -m, -n, -ŋ + sonorant consonant / -m, -n, -ŋ + vowel; Northern (based on the Taz dialect): -m, -n, -ŋ + vowel, -m, -n, -ŋ (~ Ø) + nasal consonant, -p, -t, -k (~ Ø) + noise consonant, -m / -p (~Ø), -n / -t (~Ø), -ŋ /-k (~Ø) + non-nasal sonorant consonant. In the Southern dialects, the rules of the phonetic environment do not work; the consonants -m, -n, -ŋ are always used. In the transitional Ivankino subdialect of the Middle Ob dialect, the distribution in contextual positions does not always work due to the Southern dialectal characteristics of the individual speakers. The combinatorial phenomena considered in the Selkup dialects represent a general trend rather than a strict rule.

homorganic consonants, auslaut, combinatorial phenomena, corpus data, Selkup language