Votian/Transdialectal morpho-phonemic writing for Votic morphology

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Attribution: User Mikk created this resource and is actively using it. Please coordinate future development with this user if possible.


Transdialectal morpho-phonemic writing (2009.)[edit | edit source]

I use self-made morpho-phonemic system in this project to facilitate representing morphemes of this language, which has no oficial standard but a lot of dialectal alternatives [1] .


Priorities[edit | edit source]

  1. Each morpheme should have only one graphic representation.
    1. This goal could be easier achieved using Chinese logograms .
  2. Representation of a morpheme should correspond to it's morphophonemic qualities.
    1. Obstruents in the beginning of closed syllables with short vowels have been weakened due to the consonant gradation , but this is not easy to explain relying only on contemporary Votic examples, because a weak grade (of singular inessive : orgo-za ('in a valley')) opposed to a strong grade (of singular nominative: orko- ) may have preserved no visible reason of this opposition any more until we ask advise of phonological history and comparative linguistics . Even though there is a slight possibility, that Votic may have had an inessive morpheme different from other Finnic dialects [2], I have marked it by Proto-Finnic -ssa [3], which clearly explains the riddle above: orgo-za < * orkos-sa .
  3. Representation of a morpheme should base on it's most complete and least damaged allomorphs found in Votian like dialects.
    1. E.g. I have marked translative by Proto-Finnic -kse , because it may be pronounced either -s̄ , -ssi , -hsi or even -sse. [4].
  4. This writing system should not mark phonetic differences caused by phonetic context , if we don't want to emphasize a local or individual peculiarity.
    1. E.g. most of Votian morphemes have a front vowel and a back vowel alternative according to vowel harmony (I have preferred the one without diaeresis and other diacritic marks):
      1. uppot+ttu > upottu (" drowned ")
      2. hüppät+ttu > üpättü (" jumped ") [5]


Concordance with phonology [edit | edit source]

This writing system bases on the phonemic orthography used in Dictionary of Votic language by Elna Adler and Merle Leppik [6] with few exceptions:

  • Letters which mark lenis plosives like ʙ, ᴅ, ɢ are represented by their strong grade counterparts.
  • · which marks a stressed vowel, is usually ignored, because it has no morphophonemic significance.
    • Anything written down using this morpho-phonemic system should be pronounced according to the individual ( dialectal ) background (or free choice) of a reader.
  • ' may mark omitted phonemes (usually in the end of a word [7] [8] [9] [10]), if we want to emphasize a local or individual peculiarity . E.g. " saunast' " < " saunass " < " saunass' " [11], " 'p' òlĺu' 'an'í anńéttava " < " b õllu ani annõttava " < " 'B õllu ani annõttava " [12].
  1. Grave accent flags a letter, which in that particular phonetic context should not be pronounced the way as usual, if we want to emphasize a local or individual peculiarity. E.g. " ò " in " 'p' òlĺu' 'an'í anńéttava " < " b õllu ani annõttava " < " 'B õllu ani annõttava " [13]. Nevertheless it could be pronounced as usual o according to Kukkuzi dialect.
  2. Acute accent flags a letter, which should be pronounced the way as it's written discarding any phonetic context , if we want to emphasize a local or individual peculiarity. E.g. " ĺ " in " 'p' òlĺu' 'an'í anńéttava " < " b õllu ani annõttava " < " 'B õllu ani annõttava " [14]. Nevertheless we could write it: " 'p' òlǹu' 'an'í anńéttava " presuming, that the reader is familiar with Votian morphophonology. We could write it even: " epi olnut hanhe antattava " and leave readers completely free to choose how to pronounce it.
  • A buffering i , which follows a consonant stem may be omitted, because it is required there by phonetic context . E.g. " mer " < " mer/i " [15].
    • That kind of final i is represented by stem vowel e in a vowel stem . E.g. " í " in " 'an'í " < " b õllu ani annõttava " < " 'B õllu ani annõttava " [16] could be written: " epi olnut hanhe antattava ", because Votic (Finnic) phonotactics requires i < * e in such a position.


  • has been replaced by k . (It is a regular allophone preceding a front wovel.) E.g. " kive " < " tšivi " < " čivi ".
  • ĺ has been replaced by l etc. E.g. " päällen " < " pääĺie " < " pǟl̨ėe " [17].
  • ɑ, ɑ̈ have been replaced with a, ä .
  • õ has been replaced by the vowel, which occurs in that particular stem in Kukkuzi or any closest Finnic dialect [18]. I.e. it may be:
  1. o e.g. noistak ('to rise') < nõis/a [19].
  2. a e.g. palatak ('to burn') < põl/õa [20].
  3. u e.g. puippu ('chick') < põip/põ [21].
  4. e e.g. pelto ('field') < põl/to [22]. e and è may stand for õ, if there is not enough knowledge to choose another option.
  • has been replaced by ee. E.g. " veeras " < " vyõrɑZ " < " vė̮e̮rɑZ ".
  • y has been preserved. E.g. " gryba " < " grba ", " õnnõvɑd by " < " e̮nne̮vɑd  ̮ b ".
  • χ has been replaced by hh . E.g. " hhott " < " χott " < " χ˯ott ".
  • Ordinary lower case letters represent voiceless vowels as well (even in Kukkuzi dialect) . E.g. " siällä " < " siällÄ ".
  1. Upper case letters do not mark beginning of a sentence .
  2. Upper case letters may mark proper names and toponyms e.g. Kattila-lla on kaks külan ottsata < k a t t i л a - ллa on kahs tšülǟ e̮ttsā ('There are two (village-) ends in Kattila.') [23]
  3. Upper case letters may mark components of a compound morpheme (the first one excluded) like in Zulu language (Zulu: isiZulu) e.g. akkunAlla ~ akkun'Al'la < * akkunalu'sella < * akkuna(n) aluksella ('in the courtyard') [24]
    1. Morphemes may be separated by hyphen too, like in Hakka language (Hakka: Hak-kâ-fa) [25] e.g. akkun-alla ~ akkun'-al'la < * akkunalu'sella < * akkuna(n) aluksella ('in the courtyard') [26]



See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 3
  2. Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p. 103
  3. Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p. 103
  4. http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Votian_Translative#Pronunciation
  5. Agent and participles
  6. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.1. p.15(, 37 in Russian)
  7. Ahlqvist , A. 1856 , Wotisk grammatik jemte språkprof och ordförteckning , Helsingfors (Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae 5).
  8. Alava V. Vatjalaisia häätapoja. Häälauluja ja itkuja. — Helsinki, 1909. (Suomi IV)
  9. "E. N. Setälä" (E. N. Setälän vatjalaismuistiinpanot = Les notes d' E. N. Setälä sur la langue vote / painokuntoon toim. ja julk. Lauri Posti ja Seppo Suhonen, Suomalais-ugrilaisen seuran toimituksia ; 135,3 Helsinki 1964)
  10. Tsvetkov, Dmitri (Дмитри Цветков): Vadja keele grammatika. (Эсимэйн' ваддя чээлэ грамаатикк - Первая грамматика водьцкого языка) Tallinn, 2008/1922. (in Russian with Estonian translation)
  11. Alava V. Vatjalaisia häätapoja. Häälauluja ja itkuja. — Helsinki, 1909. (Suomi IV)
  12. Alava V. Vatjalaisia häätapoja. Häälauluja ja itkuja. — Helsinki, 1909. (Suomi IV)
  13. Alava V. Vatjalaisia häätapoja. Häälauluja ja itkuja. — Helsinki, 1909. (Suomi IV)
  14. Alava V. Vatjalaisia häätapoja. Häälauluja ja itkuja. — Helsinki, 1909. (Suomi IV)
  15. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.3. p.299
  16. Alava V. Vatjalaisia häätapoja. Häälauluja ja itkuja. — Helsinki, 1909. (Suomi IV)
  17. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.4. p.389
  18. Phonology
  19. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.4. p.75
  20. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.4. p.158, 370
  21. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.4. p.335, 365
  22. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.4. p.367
  23. External locative cases
  24. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.1. p.90
  25. The first few verses from John's Gospel in the Today's Taiwan Hakka Version.
  26. Словарь водского языка - Vadja keele sõnaraamat. v.1. p.90
Type classification: this is a lesson resource.
Completion status: Deliberately incomplete for educational purposes.