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Phonology

Contents

Editor’s introduction

Castrén’s phonology, or as he himself calls it, “letterology” (bokstavslära) describes the use of letters rather than the phonological system of the language. It is today of little value, and has therefore here been included only in its main sense, omitting the many deletions and rewritings, as well as the version of GSL. Castrén’s false phonological conclusions are not commented on everywhere.

The manuscript is found in the second volume, pages 15–56, with the beginning rewritten on pages 1–13. The Tundra dialects are mentioned in the beginning (still on p. 29), but usually the text deals only with N, MO, Č, K, NP.

Text in black is Castrén’s (original or translated into English, sometimes both, separated by a slash), text in grey is the editor’s.

Letters

1 In cultivated languages the sounds have through their use in writing gradually gained stability and independence in pronunciation, such that almost all sounds follow the well known orthographic rule “it can be written as it is spoken”. The application of this rule is in uncultivated languages met with insurmountable difficulties, while most sounds, at least in the vowel series, have alternate pronunciations. If such minor deviations are disregarded, the Samoyedic sound system in this dialect [i.e. in the Selkup language] can be designated by the following letters:

Vowels: a, e, ê, i, î, o, u, y, ä, ö.

Consonants: b, d, dj, g, ǥ, ng, f, h, x, j, k, k͔, l, lj, m, n, nj, p, r, s, z (з), š, ʒ, ǯ, c, č, t, tj, w.

f and x appear only quite rarely in the Narym dialect, where they have established themselves through Russian influence, and they also have arisen in native words through the consonant compounds ph and kh (k͔h).

2 Equally rare are the composite sounds ds (ʒ) and ts (c), which only the Ket dialect has developed instead of the corresponding sounds of the other dialects dš (ǯ) and tš (č). Furthermore, the Narym dialect lacks the composite sounds dj och tj, which presumably have been forced upon the southern dialects under the influence of the Tatar language.

15 Also з is a rare sound and one that appears only dialectally, and alternates with s.

2 The listed vowels are present in all dialects, although in Čulym ä and ê often merge.

Vowels

2 The divergent pronunciation of the vowels is due to many circumstances, in particular the length and accent of the syllables. In accentuated syllables, by their nature long (here designated á, é, í etc.) the vowels usually have a clean and deep sound. In short, unaccented syllables, however, the sound is often obscure, unclear and fickle. Of a highly changing nature are in particular the so-called schewata [schwas], which in the dialect in question [Selkup] have little importance, yet in individual cases not be completely overlooked [sic]. According to their long, short, and schewatic nature, and the difference in pronunciation due to this, 3 then, according to my observations of different languages, each vowel should be designated with three different characters, but in this dialect [Selkup], this means of notation cannot be used, while 1) schewata here mostly already have disappeared, and 2) the vowels in short syllables have begun to take the same clean sound as in the long syllables. Thus, as an exact notation of the distinct vowel modifications would only generate confusion in the grammatical system, in this work only the clean vowels, i.e. those that can occur in accented syllables have been designated, and the pronunciation of the others will, as far as possible, be determined by common rules in the following paragraphs.

Letter a

4 The pronunciation of the vowel a in long, accented syllables are of the same clean, but deep, guttural nature, as in most languages, e.g. German háben, náhm, Swedish tága, láf, Russian ма́ло, ра́з, Finnish haapa, vaara. The long a has in its pronunciation a certain relationship with o, due to which also this dialect [the Selkup language, in contrast to the Northern Samoyed languages] after deletion of the accent and reduction of the syllable, sometimes let a change to o, e.g. ámdak I sit, omták I sat down (cf. German nahm and genommen, war and worden) [false phonetics. Note that Castrén does not have in mind here the labialization of ā in the northern dialects].

The modification of a, close to an obscure o, which appears in several Finnish [Finno-Ugric] and Samoyedic languages, 5 is never heard in this dialect in the word stem, but in the suffixes an a schewatum can take such a sound, if the preceding accented syllable contains an o or u, e.g. tuldjo chest: ablative tuldjóǥan or -gon, u willow grouse: úǥan or úgon.

15 a can sometimes undergo an even deeper modification, close to o, something which appears also in other languages. This modification is however in Samoyedic [Selkup] less common, and I at any rate have not observed it in all dialects, but only exceptionally in K, where it sometimes is heard in both accented and unaccented syllables (deleted: also after č), e.g. cámdʒe frog [The word is čāmčä, Castrén seems to say that the long ā is labialized in K only].

Vowel e̮

5 This dialect has however in the word stem another modification of a, close to ä, e, that more numerously appear in the other languages ​​of the same family [Castrén means the vowel e̮, Castrén’s ê, and its commonness in Nenets]. This modification appears here more as a dialect idiosyncrasy, alternating with a or ä (ê) and it never occurs naturally in long, but either in short, or position long syllables, especially after a preceding k or w, e.g. 6 [NP] kaptì currant, [NP?] kanza pipe, [NP] kaijè or kajje [soup], [N] kap ([K] kam, [Taz] kêm) blood, (cf. [N] kā́p tinder and [N] kap sail (NB. [N] kaεp blood, kaap tinder, k͔ap sail)), [N] čat or [N] can ([Č] čän, [K] cên) sinew, [K] tjatcau ([N] tjäčap) to shoot, [NP?] pannàm ([Č] pännam) I put, [NP] wattjè meat, [NP] watčàm I lifted, [NP] wattэ road, [NP] wandì [face], [NP?] wasʃang I rose etc. Dialectally the clean, by nature long a can by the movement of the accent and the addition of position take the modified sound, e.g. káp or kappэ̀ tinder [sic, false]. This modification occurs in particular in the NP dialect. The other dialects take in its place either a or ê. That a in unaccented, schewatic syllables often sounds like an ê, will be dealt with below.

15 Very common is however a weaker sound, approaching and often becoming, ä (ê), e.g. [N] čat or [K] can, cän, [Č] čen sinew, [K] kam or [Č] käm blood, [K] tassung or [N] täsek it is cold, [K] tjatcau, [N] tjäcap to shoot.

From e there is a deeper modification ê, which has a broad sound, approaching the Russian ы, and which dialectally alternates with ä. It can appear in both accented and especially in unaccented syllables, e.g. [MO?] k͔ếpteng or k͔ä́pteng cheaply, [N] k͔ếtap or kätap to hit [these two words have a different phoneme ǟ], pế or [Č] pîé [sic, ɔ: pîê] bark, [N] kêl or [Č] käl pit, [N] kêr or [Č?] kär wound, [N] lếr song, [N] lêmb eagle. This character we have sometimes used, not without doubt, to denote one dark, muddled schwa sound, that is heard in the unaccented suffixes. It is heard to be pronounced mostly as ê and it alternates dialectally with ä, and it seems to have developed from an accented a, but at times it is heard as a half o, e.g. [Č] toob [foot]: genitive toobên, toobon, tooban, especially when an o occurs in the preceding syllable. In the Č dialect there comes instead of this sound beside ä also ö in unaccented syllables. Thus, the character ê contains in suffixes a multitude of sounds, that are dialectally still heard, but that have been replaced by ê, so that they cannot be expressed with their proper characters.

16 It is among the peculiarities of the Samoyedic language that an unaccented final vowel becomes either completely eluded, or at least it is not pronounced with its full sound, but so vague and muddled, that one hesitates whether the sound in question should be a, ä, e, ê, or o. When such an indecision has arisen, the sound seems to come closest to the dark ê. The Č dialect, which prefers a ‹leaner?› pronunciation, has in the corresponding places an ä or ê, with which sound ê actually has the closest relationship. After sibilants comes a darker ê, very seldom an a, which in this language rarely appears in unaccented suffixes, but never e, which sound in the Č dialect in accented syllables always transforms into ä.

Letter e

7 In long and accented syllables e (é) sounds (approximately) like the deep e (e fermé) in several European languages, e.g. German léhren, Swedish mete, but in short unaccented syllables its sound is clearly darker, corresponding to e aperta in other languages, like Swedish lemna, but Russian этот. Apart from these the language has yet a third modification, which already due to its strange pronunciation must be specially designated. This letter is pronounced with a very broad and emphatic sound, and is related to e just as î or the Russian ы is to i. Without doubt both î and ê have often evolved from the obscure modifications to é and í (sometimes they seem to have evolved also from ö and y, e.g. [Č] pöngelang or [K] pêngelang [I fell]), and therefore exist mostly in unaccented syllables. (The vowel ы is frequently heard also in the unaccented syllables, but a long, accented ế is more rare and seems to have developed through compounds of äe, ye, e.g. [N] k͔ếttap (k͔äettap) [I hit], [N] k͔ếdeldšak [I approached] ([K] kyedeldšang [I met, different word]). As the sound can, however, occur also in accented syllables it should also for that reason obtain a specific designation. Moreover, both ê and î have the same etymological weight as the hard vowels a, o, u, while e and i are counted identical as the weak ä, ö, y, e.g. [N] kêl pit: 8 dative [false] kêlond, pêl bridge: dative pêlond: ênd bow: dative [false] êndond, lêmb eagle: dative [false] lêmbond, [K] éd village: dative êdond (in Narym dialect éd: dative edend), [N] îl bottom: dative îlond, kîl breast: dative kîlond, but čél day: dative čélen[d], él step: dative élend, teb man: dative tebend (tebep my man), tib peg: dative tibend etc. Thus, as these ê and î both through their sound and their properties are justifiable for inclusion in the language, there have nonetheless been great difficulties with notating them, because a precise boundary between ê and e, and between î and i does not exist. However, it should not much deviate from the real pronunciation, if the long e is pronounced as e ferme, the short e as e aperta, ê with the same emphasis as î, this as the Russian ы. Here however onbe must consider the following facts:

a) 9 The consonants č and dš have the property of making the sound of the following vowel significantly darker. The vowels e and i are pronounced in short syllables after these consonants often just as ê and î, yet the sound is not always and not in all dialects so emphatic, that it could be designated with these letters.

b) In the beginning of words the short e has the tendency to sound like ê, and has thus been designated.

c) A short, schewatic e take at the end of words an unusual sound, which in the Čulym dialects often becomes ä. If the preceding syllable is long by nature, the following schewatic e takes, both in suffixes and inside the word a modification by the long vowel.

d) After a preceding j, e is assimilated to a half i.

16 The vowel e corresponds fully to the sound in Swedish and German designated by the same letter. It has an open sound and is found mainly in accented syllables, and if it is short, it changes dialectally to i, e.g. [MO] elang or [K] ilang to live, [MO] eppang or [K] ippang to lie.

Letters i and î

10 The vowel i has here the same sound as in other languages, and is pronounced usually also in unaccented syllables with its clean sound. However, there is also from i a darker modification, which has been designated î, and in accordance with the previous paragraphs mainly appears in unaccented syllables, but also often and much more frequently than ê also in accented syllables. That i after dš and č tends to become î, is mentioned above, but here must be added that a short unaccented i at the end of words sounds like an obscure e, e.g. [K] kogedi or kogede [deaf], while on the other hand an accented e at the end of words takes the sound of i, especially [ɔ: only] in the NP dialect.

17 The vowel i is the same as in most European languages, and is pronounced the same in both accented and unaccented syllables, long and short. It should be clearly distinguished from:

The modification î, which is a broader, darker sound and is pronounced exactly as the Russian ы. Also this sound can appear in both accented and unaccented syllables, but it is mostly found in the latter, and alternates then with e (ê, ä), e.g. kî or ke, kê river, lî, le, lä bone. Etymologically ê and î have the same properties as the hard vowels [i.e. they take suffixes for back vowels].

Letter o

11 The vowel o is usually pronounced in both accented and unaccented, long and short, syllables as the Swedish å or the Finnish or Russian o. However, also this sound has a rare dark modification, which should especially be noted in monosyllabic words ending in -o, e.g. po year, tree, to lake, mo branch, k͔o wave [false] from k͔o‹c› [?], komb [wave].

This sound transforms in some dialects to uo, in others [only NP] to ê, and reveals through these transformations its strange, diffuse nature. The sound should not be confused with the dark modification of u, with which it bears a resemblance (see the following paragraph).

17 By o is here denoted the sound that in Finnish and Russian is expressed with the same letter, but in Swedish with å. In unaccented syllables this sound sometimes alternates with u (see the following notes). Also a (ê) can in some dialects in suffixes take the sound of o after the gutturals g, ǥ, k, k͔, when in the preceding syllable there is an accented e or u [ɔ: o], e.g. kundógan or kundógan far away [sic!, the first (only) changed to kuacógan and then translated ‘from the town’. Of course it is meant here that the locative ending is -gan or -gon], togon or togan [in the lake], kógodi or kogedi deaf.

Letter u

11 The sound denoted with u corresponds to the deep Finnish u or the Russian y and the Swedish o. From this sound there appears often in unaccented syllables a darker modification 12 that at times becomes a clean o, but usually is pronounced with an unclear sound between u and o, e.g. Num [false] (Nom) God, k͔um (k͔om) person, kud (kod) [who] etc. After č and dš in a position long syllable and dialectally also in some other cases the short u gets a strained sound, which nearly resembles the Swedish u, e.g. kundš зипун, kund долго, kulè [raven] [obviously Castrén here means the palatalized versions like Č kyndjö, Taz kylä].

17 The letter u corresponds fully to the Finnish or Russian u and is a deep, guttural sound. In unaccented syllables u becomes sometimes an o or is heard as an unclear sound between o and u,, e.g. Nom God: 18 genitive Nuun, [N] kop person: genitive kuun, kod or kud which, kur or kor ermine, ud or od hand.

Schwa

12 As has been stated above, in this dialect [Selkup] schewata often merge with the dark vowels, and could appropriately be denoted by means of them. In general all schewata in this language like to take the nature of the dark e, 13 but one hears in some dialects, and especially in Č, also other schewatic sounds, especially a, u (o), ä and ö. They never occur in the word stem, but if a word ends in a consonant, a schewatic secondary sound is added to the stem. In suffixes they are quite frequent and they will be pointed out each on their place in this work.

Letters ö and y

18 The vowels y and ö are pronounced in accented syllables like in Swedish and Finnish, but if the syllable is unaccented, y takes a secondary sound of ö, and is often changed to the latter, e.g. [N] yt or öt water, yr or ör fettma, yng or öng weir, [MO?] örmbáng or yrmbáng to linger.

Both y and ö appear mostly in unaccented syllables, and can never end a word if the syllable is accented. [This clause is marked with a question mark]

Letter ä

The vowel ä has the same sound as in Swedish and German, e.g. [N] äwegu stepmother, häbernap to tear. It appears mostly in unaccented syllables and alternates then with e and ê, e.g. [N] njenja or [Č] njänja sister, [Č] pätä or [N?] pedä горшок.

Vowel preaspiration

In the northern dialect of Samoyedic [Nenets] all initial vowels take before them a kind of aspiration, consisting of a nasal ng. This aspiration does not exist in this dialect [Selkup], but also here few words begin with a vowel, and a comparison between the both dialects [languages] shows that instead of an aspiration many words in the Tomsk dialect [Selkup] have received before the initial vowel any of the consonants [not written, the passage is marked to be moved to another place. Probably *w and *j are meant].

Diphthongs

[By “diphthong” Castrén means any two vowel letters written one after the other. The list consists of combinations with the consonants j and w, preaspirations before k͔, and cases of hiatus]

19 In the formation of diphthongs most Finnish [Finno-Ugric] languages follow the rule that hard and weak vowels can not join and form a diphthong. In Samoyedic however this distinction, even if it exists, is less rigidly observed, thus the number of diphthongs is to the same degree greater. In the different dialects I have noted the following diphthongs:

au, eu, êu, iu, îu, ou, öy, yu, äu (and öu?) (deleted example: [Č] Px1S sejöu, Px2 sejöl [eye])

ai, aî, ei, ‹ê›i?, oi, ui, yi, äi, öi

ea, êa, ia, îa, oa, ua, ya, öa

ae, ie, îe, oe?, ue, ye, äe, öe (ue (ûe) = ê = î [meaning the real diphthong uə])

ao, eo, uo, yö, öo

eä, iä

yö, ye

Additional, with the help of i and u the language forms some triphthongs as:

aei, iei, uei, aoi?

aeu, ieu, ueu, uou, oeu, îeu

Even four vowels can in some dialects follow after each other, although constituting two different syllables, e.g. njuouam (njuowam?).

The pronunciation of diphthongs and triphthongs follow fully the above given definitions for the single vowels.

Consonants

Among the consonants b, d, g, f, h, j, l, m, n, r, d, t have the same sound as in the Germanic languages. The following notes concern the pronunciation of the others:

Letter z

a) The sibilant z is the Russian з or the German weak s, as in Sonne sun. This consonant appears only rarely after weak consonants and long vowels ([Č] lobзe with the glove, pulзai knee), and alternates then dialectally with s.

Letters c, ʒ

b) The sibilants ʒ and c are pronounced as ds and ts (Russian ц), respectively.

20 These sounds are missing in the lower dialect and mostly also in the upper dialect, and are there replaced by dš and č, and with dj and tj, e.g. cacap, čačap, tjačam бросил, omdeldšau or omdeldsau to set, koldša or koldja debt. [sic, incomprehensible. c and ʒ appear only in K and Nm] [GSL23: In Ostyak-Samoyed c appears only in the Ket dialect instead of č]

Letters č, ǯ

20 c) The sibilants ǯ and č are pronounced (usually in the lower Ob [= Ob?] and the Narym dialect) as dsch (Russian дш [sic!]) and tsch (Russian ч), e.g. [N] čanǯak вышел, čäldšennap [I trample]. The weak sibilant is at times close to dj, with which it is also confused in some dialects, e.g. ([N] peǯ or pedshj, pedj [axe, replaced with:]) [N] kweǯer, kwedzjer, Č kwedjer sledge runner. The hard č is also dialectally pronounced as tsj (Russian ць) and tj, e.g. [N] čof, [MO?] cjops, tjops cradle. In the K dialect these sounds are lacking completely (they have developed from the dj, ds and tj, ts frequent in this dialect). And in the Taz dialect they are so faltering, that the same person pronounces it alternately as d and t, alternately as dš and č, e.g. pändang or pändšang to float, kît or kîč̢ moss.

Letter š

d) The sibilant š corresponds fully to the Russian ш (sch), e.g. [N] šy snake, šorš shame. This sound is frequent in the NO dialect [= N in contrast to Nm?], where it word initially replaces s, but in the other dialects [the southern dialects] the sound is more or less rare, and it is completely lacking in the K dialect.

Letters k͔, ǥ

e) By the characters k͔ and ǥ are denoted aspirated k (kh) and g (gh, gr). As they do not originally belong to the language, but are imported from Tataric, they are often confused with k and g. In their pronunciation they agree with the Arabic and Turkic sounds ق and ‹غ›. At the end of words ǥ often sounds like x, especially in the Taz dialect, e.g. ‹wa›porǥ [coat], lok͔aǥ [two foxes].

GSL13 Among the consonants k has in the northern Samoyedic languages the same sound as in German, Swedish and other Indo-Germanic languages. Similarly it is pronounced also in Ostyak-Samoyed before the weak [front] vowels (also e and i), but before the hard [back] vowels it often takes a deeper, more guttural sound, identical with the sound of the Turkic ق, as I have heard it pronounced in several Siberian Turkic dialects. Exceptionally, probably sometimes in Ostyak-Samoyed the deeper sound of k can be disregarded before hard vowels, and inversely it can appear before weak vowels (e.g. k͔ö [side]). In general however the two kinds of k are not independent, but they are sound nuances dependent on the hard or weak nature of the vowel, and I have for this reason not represented them with separate characters.

The guttural sound g behaves approximately like the corresponding hard k. In the northern Samoyedic languages it is pronounced as in German, and the same pronunciation appears also in the southern Samoyedic languages when g is followed by weak vowels. But if it is followed by hard vowels it takes a deeper, aspirated sound as is designated in Turkic, Mongolic and other languages with a specific letter غ, ح etc. In Samoyedic this g does not require, any more than the hard k, a separate character, as the following vowel announces its presence. [Here Castrén is of the opinion that k͔ and k are not distinct phonemes. The claim that he would not use the characters k͔ and ǥ is not true: in the grammar of GSL k͔ and k are still distinguished.]

Letter x

20 f) The aspirated x corresponds to the Russian х, but appears very rarely. 21 In most cases it has [in N] developed from the combination kh, e.g. [N] kanaxe with the dog, from *kanakhe or [other dialects] kanakse, [N] axe with the mouth, for *akhé or [other dialects] akse. (Deleted: In the same way ǥ is often formed from gh [false] and f from ph [in N]). At the end of words this sound often alternates with ǥ.

GSL14 I know however only of a single dialect, the Narym dialect, where the sound x is common.

Letter w

20 g) The letter w is pronounced as if a v should be followed by a half u. This sound w has especially in the Čulym dialect, while in the Narym dialect the Russian sound of v is already more common.

In some dialects also the labials m and p take on a similar secondary sound, which gives the following vowel a broader emphatic secondary sound.

Letter ng

h) ng has the same nasal sound as in Lappish and many other languages. [Note that nothing is mentioned about the fact that ng stands for both ŋ and ŋg]

Initial consonants

Among the large amount of consonants in the language, only the following can appear word initially: h, k, k͔ l, lj, m, n, p, š (s), c, c [sic, ɔ: č], t, tj, w. That the weak consonants b, g, d, dj, z, ds, dš cannot begin a word is a common characteristic of the whole Finnish [Uralic] language family. Similarly, a common linguistic feature (for the Samoyedic languages) is that r cannot appear initially, and in borrowed words it is preferably changed to l, e.g. [Nenets] luuca Russian, for luuc̢a [sic]. Among the peculiarities of the Tomsk dialect [Selkup] is the fact that j never begins a word, and s can begin a word only dialectally [!, in all dialects other than N!].

Vowel properties and transformations

Vowel harmony

22 The difference between hard and weak [back and front] vowels, which in the Finnish [Finno-Ugric] languages is of greatest importance, emerges also in Samoyedic, although in a less intrusive and emphatic way, than at least in Finnish itself. The general rule in Finnish — that hard and weak vowels cannot both appear in the same word, does not exist in Samoyedic, but clearly the hard or weak nature of the vowels of the stem has an influence on the suffixes. Due to this influence the vowels are divided into the following two classes:

1. Hard [back]: a, ê, î, o, u

2. Weak [front]: ä, e, i, ö, y

(of which in the Čulym dialect however ö always is counted as a hard letter. 23 ö has in the Čulym dialect almost always the property of a hard vowel.)

Nevertheless the division of vowels into hard and weak has its principal application in the suffixes of words, as can be seen already from the following examples (the words take suffixes according to the property of the vowel in the stem, either hard or weak vowels):

[SD, mainly meant to be Č]

lab oar: labou my oar: labógan from the oar: labond [into the oar]

kîl pit: [false:] kêlou: kêlógan: kêlond: kêlla

kîl breast: kîlou: kîlógan: kîlond: kîlla

teb man: tebeu: tebeagan: tebend

päl thigh: päleu: päleägan: pälend: plural [collective] pällä

tib peg: tibeu: tibeagan: tibend: tibelä

27 kob skin: kobou: kobond: kobógan: kobela

mun finger: munou: munond: munógan : munla

(tös lizard: töseu: tösend)

ög hat: ögeu: ögend: ögeagan: ögelä

yn strap: yneu: ynend: yneagan: ynlä

24 In Finnish there is between the hard and weak vowels a middle class consisting of e and i, which can be combined with both hard and weak sounds. Also in Samoyedic these vowels have the ability to more easily join with the hard vowels. It is also a common trait for both languages, that in stems containing both hard and weak vowels, the vowels of the suffixes depend on the hard.

(Deleted portion: 23 Among the vowels of the weak class e and i have the property of being able to join with also hard vowels. The same disposition have in some cases also y and ö, in the Čulym dialect these even usually count as hard vowels. 1) Words with hard vowels in unaccented syllables can take weak vowels, 2) words with weak vowels in accented syllables can take hard (vowels) sounds. Thereto it should be noted that Samoyedic due to Russian influence strives as much as possible to take fixed vowels in suffixes.)

24 The rule of vowel harmony (vocal-följden) has in Samoyedic a major restriction in that 1) words containing hard vowels can easily take in unaccented syllables weak vowels, and 2) words with weak vowels in accented syllables can tolerate hard vowels, e.g. cámdä [sic] horn, pyógan from the stone, tyógan from the fire. The latter restriction particularly finds its application in the Čulym (and Taz) dialect, but the former is valid for all dialects.

Also peculiar in the case of vowel harmony is the fact that in a short unaccented syllable 25 that is preceded by an accented syllable , the following short vowel strives to form itself after the preceding, although its sound is not always is clear enough to be able to denote it in writing, e.g. [no examples given].

Also a following accented syllable can sometimes influence the preceding vowel, if that syllable is unaccented, e.g. tjaadêgu, read: tjaadugu. This happens mostly in the Čulym dialect, e.g. utjöláksä I will work, utjeléndes you will work, útjylỳs he will work, utjylysy we two will work, utjelélesi you two will work.

[From GSL:] The vowel harmony in Ostyak-Samoyed

GSL77-83 Also in this language the laws for vowel harmony are vanishing and are active only in a restricted amount of affixes, of which however several are of the composition that they in some dialects adapt to the requirements of vowel harmony, but in other dialects take particular vowels (except for the own vowels of the affixes, in this language also the so called connecting vowel alternates in different ways). When a vowel alternation appears, usually also in this, as in most related languages, only two vowels, a hard and a weak [back and front] alternate with one another. The hard vowel can be a (ā) as well as o (ō). To the hard vowels a, o (when they are short) corresponds the weak e. The long vowel ō alternates with the diphthong ea, which despite its hard element a, is valid as a weak sound. Rarely, and only in some dialects, the hard vowel a alternates with the weak ä.

[Concerning schwa:] Sometimes in Ostyak-Samoyed a fourfold vowel alternation can also take place. In this case the hard vowels a, o alternate with the weak e, ö. During this process  of alternation the vowel of the affix is dependent on the vowel in the preceding syllable. If it keeps [sic] any of the hard vowels a, o, u, ы, the affix takes a (ā) and o (ō), but if it has any of the weak vowels e, i, ü [sic], ö, there follows in the affix e, ö, ea. Often however both e and ö are followed by hard vowels in the affix.

[Concerning the shift stem:] Those vowels that most commonly alternate in the affixes are o and e. This alternation I have noticed in the following cases:

1) in the dative singular in inanimate nouns on consonant of the first declension [schwa stems], e.g. [N] lab oar: dative singular labond, kob skin: kobond, mun finger: munond, kыl breast: kыlond, (deleted: pel bridge: pelond), ēd village: edend, tib peg: tibend, yn strap: ynend, ög hat: ögend.

2) in the nominative, genitive, accusative and instructive [comitative] before possessive affixes for the first and second person, and the first person dual and plural, e.g. nominative singular (deleted: [MO?] udou my hand: udol your hand) [MO?] labou my oar: labol your oar: labowi our (two) oar: labout our (many) oar: genitive labon of my oar: labond of your oar etc., tibeu my peg: tibel your peg: tibewi our (two) peg: tibeut our (man) peg: tiben of my peg: tibend of your peg. Dialectally [in the Tundra dialect (and Tym)] the hard vowel o is heard in the said cases before all possessive affixes.

3) in the same kind of nouns before the plural affix ni, e.g. [N] udonim my hands, labonim my oars, (deleted: kobonim my skins), čyndenim my horses, tibenim my pegs. [Here it is the question of schwa, not the shift stem]

4) in nouns on consonant of the first declension [schwa stems] in the prosecutive singular, e.g. [N] ud hand: prosecutive udout, tob foot: tobout, ēd village: ēdeut, čynd horse: čyndeut.

The alternation between ō and ea I have noticed in the ablative and locative singular, and in the marker for the dual in nouns on consonant of the first declension [schwa stems], e.g. [N] und beard: locative and ablative undōgon: dual undōg, čel day: čeleagan: čeleag. The base vowels are also in this case o and e, but according to the rules, before a following g [ɔ: ǥ] the vowel o is lengthened and because of this o is changed to ō, e to ea [Castrén means that k͔ takes a preaspiration, a feature which Castrén almost consistently writes with a vowel].

[Concerning schwa:] Alternation between the four vowels a, o, e, ö is rather rare, and appears only in single dialects. It is something which I have noticed before the case affixes n and p in the genitive and accusative singular, respectively, (and the nominative plural [collective] affix -la) in nouns on consonant of the first declension [schwa stems].

Among the said vowels follow:

1) a after an a in the preceding syllable: marg bush: genitive margan: accusative margap: plural nominative (deleted: [N] margat or) [SD] margala (deleted: lab oar: laban: labap)

2) o after o, u, (and ы?): [N] tob foot: tobon: tobop: tobola, pulb boil: pulbon: pulbop: pulbola.

3) e after e, i, (ä): tib peg: tiben: tibep: tibela, čeld sun: čelden [sic!]: čeldep [sic!] (deleted: : čeldela).

4) ö after y, ö: yg or ög hat: ygön, ögön: ygöp, ögöp.

These determinations are only valid in the Narym dialect, and also there both o and especially ö give way to e as the connecting vowel. In the other dialects nouns of this kind already in the stem or nominative singular end in a vowel, and this same vowel is then used as a connecting vowel.

Vowel alternations

As in other uncultivated languages, the vowels in Samoyedic are subject to many transformations and alternations, of which some are simply random dialectal peculiarities, independent of any rule. Others, however, are due to certain more or less general rules and determinations. In particular the accent has a great influence on the alternations of the vowels, in this language just as in the related Finnish languages.

This causes:

1) vowel lengthenings

2) vowel simplifications

3) vowel elision

Vowel lengthenings

That the vowels in accented syllables can be lengthened is a property which Samoyed shares with Lappish, Ostyak, Cheremis and other Finnish languages. This lengthening consists usually only in a longer sustaining of the simple vowel, e.g. ĭláng I live, ílend‹e› he lives [latentive], but also sometimes the vowel of the accented syllable 26 is changed to a diphthong. This is particularly quite common in the Čulym dialect. Thus are changed:

[Note: In no case is it the question of vowel alternations, but the list below consists of interdialectal correspondences, preaspirations before k͔, and false comparisons]

a to oa or ua ([OO] êa, ea), e.g. [SD] árma, [Č] oarba barley, [SD] mát or [Č] muat [house], [SD] párannang or [Č] puarannang [I returned], [SD] ámd or [Č] oamdä horn, [N] haag or [Č] seaga black.

e to ié, eä , ea, e.g. [SD] see, [Č] sie tongue, [SD] né or [Č] nie [daughter], [SD] mèndam or [Č] miéndam to do, [SD] lem or [Č] liem board, [Č] nägendie writing, [SD] kulé or [Č] kuléä ворон, [SD] kuré or [Č] kuréä [sic] ворона, instructive [comitative] [SD] kulese, kuerese or [Č] kuleseä, kuereseä, ablative kuléagan, kueréagan.

ê to îe, e.g. [Č] pîe bark, [K] êds or [Č] îeče word, [K] ếd or [Č] ietä village etc.

i to ie, e.g. [N] mirnap I scratch (Č miernam), [N] miegassap строгнул, Č miegassam, [K] ira husband, Č iérà.

î to îî, e.g. [TD] tîngam браню, infinitive tîeko.

i and î are usually only lengthened, sometimes however i is changed to iè.

o to uo (ua, ue), e.g. [K] loos, Č luoso idol, [SD] k͔o, Č kuo ear, [SD] po, Č puo year, [SD] kopt or [Č] kuopt bed, [N] korg, [Č] kuerga, [K] kuaraga bear.

u to uo, ua, (ue), e.g. [N] humék calmly, huoma calm, [SD] tuak to row, third person tuk, [SD] čú clay, [SD] cueč earth, [N] cuehek narrow, čuheka?

y to yö, yu, e.g. [SD] kyu rapid place, kýngdi (kyngdí) [rapid].

NB: In K dialect the syllables are lengthened by position [consonant gradation], see below.

Vowel simplifications

29 The simplification of vowels in unaccented syllables is also a phenomenon apparent in several Finnish languages. Samoyedic might prefer to keep the vowels in originally long syllables, regardless of the influence of the accent, but if the accent has caused the length of the syllable, it disappears with the accent. Due to this, the diphthongs in the last paragraph are changed to the corresponding simple vowels: oa, ua ([OO] eä, ea) to a, ie to e etc.

If the lengthening is due only to a more stretched pronunciation of a single vowel, the syllable will be shortened in the usual way, but the short vowel takes usually any of the sound nuances mentioned above. Also the vowels in short syllables become dialectally shortened in the following way:

[Note: as with the previous list, this also consists mainly of interdialectal correspondences]

a to ä, ê, e, sometimes o, e.g. [N] aramo, [K] äremo, eremo ice-hole, [N] adáp to wait, [Taz] êtam, Č äčang, 30 [N] kuedak бранился: kuedêmbak, [SD] čan, [K] cän, [Taz] čên sinew, [N] nank͔a, nänk͔a, nenka mosquito, [SD] apa sister, [K, different word, Px1S] oppou, [SD] aamdang I sit, omdang сел.

e to i, e.g. [SD] elang or [K] ilang живу, [SD] enne or [K] inne up, [N] medap or [K] mittau to reach.

ê to î, e.g. [N] êdáp or [K] îttau, [Č] îčam to hang, [SD] ênd or [Č] îndše bow.

u to o, e.g. [N] Nop, [SD] Nom or [false] Nup, Num [God], genitive Nuun, [N] kop, [SD] kom or [N] kup, [SD] kum [person], genitive kuun.

y to ö, e.g. [SD] yt or öt water, [SD] yrmbang or örmbang to linger.

Vowel elisions

Vowel elision can happen both word internally and word finally. In both cases the syllable is accented [sic!, ɔ: unaccented] and the vowel is short. Preferably is omitted the unaccented e, and this elision happens also in other dialects, but particularly in the Čulym dialect. Numerous examples, e.g. [TD] tjaadesam or [Č] tjaatsam to burn, [TD] ilesang or [Č] ilsang [I live], [Č] apstam for [Jel.] aabestam to feed.

(Deleted portion: 31 The elision of final vowels is in Samoyedic an important fact, and it gives also information about the Finnish languages. In them it seems that a word stem originally has ended in a vowel. In Finnish can among the consonants only n, l, r, s, t, h (k) end a word. In Samoyedic the most consonants can end a word, like l, m, n, r, k, p, t, ng, s and other sibilants, but often is heard after the final consonant, both in the upper and lower dialect an [_])

In the end of words each unaccented vowel usually is either fully elided or pronounced with such a vague and unclear sound, that it cannot accurately be denoted. Only in the Čulym dialect the final vowel has mostly been preserved. [Note: “only Čulym” means not N or MO. The Ket dialects are not considered due to the gemination by gradation, and this is written before the study of the Tundra dialects]

32 The sound mentioned is always elided before a following word or syllable that begins with a vowel. Before a consonant it usually returns, but keeping its indeterminate character. Is the syllable accented, the obscure vowel takes an open nature, and hereby ê, ä, a often becomes o, ö in the Čulym dialect.

NB. This unclear sound, that is heard in the end of words is properly ‹__›. As its vague character shows, the sound is originally only a euphonic addition, caused by the common trait in Finnish and Samoyedic languages; that a word preferably does not end in a consonant.

[Note: although Castrén here seems to say that the schwa is not phonematic, each of the grammars clearly separate consonant stems from schwa stems.]

Properties and alternations of consonants

33 The consonants are, like the vowels, divided in two classes:

Hard [unvoiced]: k, k͔, x, h?, p, f, t, tj, s, š, c, č

Weak [voiced]: g, ǥ, ng, b, d, dj, j, w, l, lj, m, n, nj, r, s [sic], з, ds, dš

On the hard or weak property of the consonant depends the rule, common to several Finnish languages, that among litterae mutae and sibilants the hard consonants after a weak consonant become weakened, but the weak after all hard consonants become hardened. Thus alternate according to the property of the preceding consonant:

k and g, ng

k [ɔ: k͔] and ǥ, ng

p and b

t and d

tj and dj

s and з, dš [sic]

c and ds

č and dš

34 In addition to this rule the language has another, more original and partly contradictory rule, which states that a syllable cannot begin or end with any of the weak vowels b, d, dj, g, ǥ, ng, ds, dš, з. These rules lead to the following further determinations:

1. A word can never begin on those consonants mentioned, if it is [not] combined with or at least preceded by a word that ends on a vowel or a weak consonant.

2. At the end of words sometimes a weak consonant can appear, if the syllable is long or if before the final consonant stands another weak consonant.

3. Word internally hard consonants on hard consonants preferably follow, and weak on weak.

4. 35 Liquidae can follow both weak and hard consonants, and among the consonants liquidae prefer to be followed by hard tenues and sibilants, especially in accented syllables.

5. After a vowel in accented syllables hard tenues and sibilants preferably follow, but weak ones if the preceding syllable is long.

6. Sometimes a hard or weak consonant causes hardening or weakening of the preceding consonant, e.g. kanang dog: instructive [comitative] kanakse, [Č] otjengnam [I buried]: preterite otjeksam, wark͔ kum from warga k͔um a big person.

The rules above concerning hard and weak consonants Samoyedic has in common with several Finnish languages. In purer dialects of Samoyedic there is also the rule for all Finnish languages that two consonants cannot begin or end a syllable. From this rule however should be excepted liquidae and sibilants, which sometimes are found in compounds 36 with other consonants in the same syllable, e.g. rk, rg, rǥ, rt, gl, ngm, nm, sn, ln, bm [sic?], bl, ldš. (Deleted: In words also quite often comes a double tt etc. When such compounds clash at the end of words, there is always heard after them half a vowel, which usually disappears when the following word begins with a vowel)

Final n and t

In the northern dialect of Samoyedic [Nenets] often in the end of words a double aspiration is heard, which before the next word or syllable is replaced with, for the hard one — the consonant t, and for the weak one — n. This aspiration has in the Tomsk dialect [Selkup] disappeared and everywhere been replaced with the said letters t and n, e.g. [Nenets] meaʼ tent — Tomsk mát, jiʼ water — yt, hoʼ cough — kot, genitive singular meadʼ, jidʼ, hodʼ — meaden [sic!], jiden [sic!], hoden [sic!], nominative plural meadʼ, jidʼ, hodʼ — meadet [sic!], jidet [sic!], hodet [sic!] etc.

37 However, these letters have not yet found stability in the language, but alternate with each other. Thus is t changed to n, if a vowel or a weak consonant follows in the same or next word, e.g. mat house: manm my house, and yt water: ynmen along the water, man‿alcîk the house fell. On the other hand n is changed to t before a hard following consonant: loga fox: logan ol the fox’s head: logat še the fox’s tongue (deleted: k͔ai what: kaitk͔o why). (NB. ng (k) replaces a long vowel in the nominative, but is omitted in other cases, e.g. kanang, genitive kanan.) These transformations are valid mainly for the lower dialect [N]. In the upper dialect [MO, Č, K, NP] t and n remain themselves unchanged, but they cause the same weakening and hardening of the following consonant, as all other consonants, e.g. k͔ai what: genitive kainǥo (Narym kaitk͔o), [Č] muat house: muatma my house etc.

38 In the previous paragraph was mentioned that the weak aspiration in the Tomsk dialect is replaced with an n. This applies particularly to the suffixes the words are given through flexion and derivation. But when in the northern dialect the final syllable of the stem has the weak aspiration, the southern dialect gets an addition ng or k, e.g. [no examples given. The following paragraph is deleted:] In the inflection this sound disappears before a following vowel, so that it is assimilated by the following vowel, e.g. kanak or kanang: genitive kanan, prop. *kanangan, *kanaʼan, *kanán (?and following consonant except for t: kanak, genitive kanan, for *-kn, dative kanakt. Possibly a contraction).

Final m and p

39 If the stem ends in m or the hereto corresponding hard p, these letters change in both the northern [N] and southern dialect [MO, Č, K, NP] in inflection to u [= w], when they are followed by a consonant in the same syllable, e.g. Nom or Nop God: genitive nuun, lieu [sic, ɔ: liem] or lep board: genitive lieun. At the end of words and syllables the three letters p (b), m, u often replace each other in different dialects, e.g. [Č] amnam, [N] amnap, [K] amnau I ate, [N] čačap, [K] tjaattau, [Č] tjoacam I burned. Otherwise regarding the letters m and p it should be noted that they in many cases follow the same rules of hardening and weakening as have been give for litterae mutae and sibilants in the previous paragraphs, e.g. lem (lep) board: dative [N] lept, lemn or [K] lemd, nem (nep) name: [N] nepkadal or nemgadal nameless, amnam I ate: plusquamperfect apsam: future [false] aplebe, [N] ablebe etc.

Final k, k͔ and ŋ

40 As t alternates with n, p with m, alternates in different dialects very often the hard sounds k and k͔ alternate with the weak ng and nǥ, e.g. elang [sic, ɔ: N elak] or ilang I live, [N] kok or [Č, K] kong master, [N] ak or [Č, K] ang mouth, [N] pok͔ or [Č, K] ponǥ, ponǥo net, [N] sok͔ or [Č, K] sonǥo ice sludge. The hard consonant is usually found in the lower [N], the weak consonant in the lower dialects [ɔ: upper, = MO, Č, K, NP]. That these consonants often switch even in the same dialect has been stated earlier.

Final ľ

In different dialects also the letters l and i (j) quite often switch, when the latter is preceded by a vowel. This transformation is sometimes valid in the same dialect, if after i (j) there follows a t (d) or l, e.g. [K] syi [navel]: dative syldje, [K] aoi [chin]: dative aoldje, [K] kuei soul: dative kueldje, njai bread: njalj (prop. njallj) your bread, [Č] ujei slippery, ujel‿liem slippery board, ujel‿duettä slippery place. 41 It is probable, that l or j in the stem has been omitted due to two consonants coinciding at the end of the syllable (e.g. ujel or ujei, prop. *ujelj). In the upper [ɔ: lower = N] dialect there are as well aolj for aoj, šölj for söj, and also in the lower [ɔ: upper] dialect appears during inflection beside the letter l the consonant j, e.g. njai (for *njalj): dative njaldje (for *njaljde).

s and h

At the beginning of words and syllables often [sic] the letters h and s alternate, of which in the upper dialect the former, and in the lower dialect [N] the latter never begins words or syllables, e.g. [N] hîr or [Č, K] sîr cow, [N] hai or [K] sai eye, [N] hoj or [K] soi throat.

š and s

For the same reason the lower dialect [N] prefers š in stead of the s of the upper dialect, e.g. [N] šyy, [K] syy snake, [N] šapak or [K] seppa pocket, [N] šorš for [K] sors [shame], [N] šoršagumdšap for [false K] sorsagumdsak to shame (almost everywhere the upper dialect takes s instead of the š of the lower dialect).

č and c

Further switch the č of the upper [ɔ: lower = N] dialect with c, tj, t, k of the lower [ɔ: upper], and with dš the weak sounds ds, dj, d, e.g. [N] čamdše frog, K camdse, [Č] tamdeä, 42 [N] čuu or [Č, K] tjuu clay, [N] čyr, [K] cyr, [Č] tyr staff, [N] kundšet pi or [K?] kyndjen pi cloth, [N] cönd, [MO] könd, [Č] kyndö horse.

Palatalization

Also common in some dialects is the alternation of the letters t (d) and tj (dj), n and nj, i (j) and lj, e.g. tu [sic, ɔ: ty] or [Č] tju fire, [MO] nem and [Č] njem name, [K?] aoj or [N] aolj [chin].

n and l

Also switch in some places the liquidae l and n, e.g. [OO] leruang and [Č] neruang I fear, nengam [sic, -m] and [Č] lengam I stand, Nom and [Č] Lom God, [Č?] malčam and [false N, different word] mandsam [I finished]; r, n, l, e.g. [N] čerm or [K?] čenm or [Nm] čelm rope, [Nm] njeur-gueh or [N] njulgueh, [K] njeun-gues leaf.

The spelling of the sound w

Alternation of the letters ö, y, u with w also belongs to some dialects, e.g. [N] čwe [actually meaning ‘pine’] and [Č] tjye birch bark, [N] kwe, [Č, K] koe [ɔ: k͔öe] birch, [N] tweg, [K] töökko, [Č] työgo goose, [N] hwa, [Č] suo, [K] soo good.

nt and mt

nd and md: [MO?] umd, [N] und beard.

t and č

Both in the same dialect as well as between different dialects d can change after l and n to ǯ (ds), e.g. [N] and or [Č] andše boat, [N] ênd or [Č] îndše bow, [MO] kend or [Č] kändše bow string, kel pit: dative keldš or [K] kelds, [N] man onek my own: [N] tau ondš his own, [N] helpk͔annap [sic, -lp-] I hid 43 (for *hepk͔alnap): imperative hepkaldš. This change is found in the upper dialect [ɔ: Č] in syllables that end in a vowel, but if the syllable ends in an consonant, the original consonant returns, e.g. [Č] andše boat: dative [K] andónd or [Č] annond, though not in all places where it could occur, e.g. [Č] pand put it, [Č] ormand you grow etc.

Queue reduction

Liquidae m and n can assimilate following m or n [sic, ɔ: b or d], e.g. [K] timband for [N] timmand [you fly], [false] alčemband, [N] alčemmand, alčemand you fell, konnand for [K] kondand you sleep, [N] pannap for [false, latentive form] pandap клал.

Assimilations

If of two clashing consonants the latter is composed of liquidae l and n and the sibilant s, they will often be assimilated to a preceding n, l, t in the following way:

nl > ll, e.g. logan-li or logal-li [fox’s bone], [Č] kal-lom [thunder] from *kang lom, [Č] kesen snare: plural [collective] kesella for *kesenla, mall for *manl your house.

ln > nn, e.g. [N] hepkannap I hid, for *hepkalnap.

tn > nn, e.g. [Nm] cinnap [I pressed] for *citnap.

tl (= nl) > ll, e.g. [Nm] cillebe [I will press] for citlebe.

45 ns > ss, e.g. passap [I put] for *pansap, ls > ss, e.g. *elalsak > elassak I stepped, *hêpkalsap > hêpkassap [I hid].

ts (ns) > ss, e.g. *pötsak > pössak to get warm, *matse (*mathe), *manse > masse, mase with the house.

ps and ks in N

If the spirant h precedes any of the consonants k, g, p, the clashing consonants are assimilated to a single sound in the upper [ɔ: lower = N] dialect:

ph to f, e.g. Nop God, instructive [comitative] Nofé for *Nophé (in the upper dialect Nopse), njef tit for *nieph (in the upper dialect nieps), cof cradle (in the upper dialect tjopsa), tifi comb (in the upper dialect tipsen).

kh to x, e.g. ak mouth, instructive axe for *akhe (in the upper dialect akse), kanak dog, instructive kanaxe for *kanakhe, *kanahe.

(Deleted: gh to ǥ. (e.g. tabeag [they two], second person dual future [Castrén means the suffix -lak͔əsi, in N e.g. álčeláǥé (-gh)])

Consonant elisions

In each dialect numerous consonant deletions occurs, both word internally and finally. 45 Here belongs:

1) the elision of h between two vowels, e.g. [N] aha > aa, á not.

2) deletion when several consonants come together at the end of words and syllables, e.g. [Č] kanagla för [false] kanangla dogs,

3) simplification of a double consonant, e.g. [N] alčemand for alčemmand you fell, mase for masse [with the house, or: with me], kundókan for kundók͔k͔an [far away].

4) elision of a final consonant

a) if the next word begins with the same consonant, e.g. [N] ar‿kaatar for ark kaatar another side, [N] čuumal ‹s›e > čuumas-se, čuuma‿se Ostyak language.

b) in special cases, e.g. [K] ok or oker one, [in compound numerals:] muk or muktet six, seldj or se seven.

Consonant additions

On the other hand, consonants can be added both word initially, internally and finally. Instead of the lost aspiration ng [in Nenets] this dialect takes sometimes before the first vowel of the word any of the consonants h, k, k͔, w, n, e.g. [N] aakuap or haakuap to taste, ko [island] for [Nenets] o, [N] k͔apče or [K] appe [later], warǥ for [Nenets] arkka big, 46 noba for [Nenets] ˜óba glove.

The above mentioned rule that j in the Tomsk dialect never begins a word is due to an added letter t at the beginning of words, e.g. [Nenets] jangu, [K] tjangu, [N] čangu non est, [Nenets] ja, [K] tju, [N] ču earth, clay, [Nenets] jepts, [K] tjops, [N] cof cradle, [Nenets] jaaleä, [K] tjel, [N] čel day, [Nenets] ji, [N] (tjö), čö, [K] ky [belt], [Nenets] jineä, [N] (tjend), čend, [MO] kend bowstring etc.

Word internally w or g (ǥ) is often added to separate two vowels, e.g. njowam for njoam to hunt, tu‹u›am for tuam to row, peǥam for peam to seek, meǥam for meam [I gave]. At the end of words the Čulym dialect quite often takes an n after e, while the latter vowel cannot end a word, e.g. [no examples given].

Thereto dialectally the sound ng sometimes appears as a euphonic addition, e.g. [K] kyu or [Č] kyung brain.

Semivowels

47 If i and u are preceded by a vowel, i.e. being the latter part of a diphthong, they change before a following vowel to j and w, e.g. [N] tawap to but: preterite tauhap, future taulebe, [N] kajap to cover: kaihap, kailebe. This change appears also in the Finnish language family, which  likes triphthongs even less than the Samoyedic.

r and ǥ

While ǥ in pronunciation is close to r, it happens sometimes, that these sounds change into each other, e.g. [N] mirnap to plane, mieǥasſap [false conclusion].

Consonant gradation

Previously it was mentioned that in the Tomsk language [Selkup] in general weak vowels [ɔ: consonants] at the beginning of accented syllables are hardened. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the Ket dialect is the fact that this hardening is achieved by doubling the consonant. 48 Usually they are hardened as well, but if they are preceded by a liquida or other weak consonants, only doubling, not hardening occurs. Thus is changed:

d to tt or dd

g to kk or gg

ǥ to k͔k͔ or ǥǥ

b to pp or bb

dj to ttj or ddj

ds to tts or dds

The same kind of transformations occur also at the end of words, by which always after the last consonant a schwa sound is heard.

It follows by itself that this doubling during inflection disappears, due to the change of accent and addition of new syllables, e.g. uttà hand: genitive udèn: dative uttónd: ablative uttógan‹n?›. Should the consonant muta be followed by an unaccented syllable and this by an accented syllable, sometimes doubling occurs also in this case, e.g. instructive uttêsé, plural [collective] uttêlá (uttalá).

Consonant gradation in K grammar, pages 239–241

[Note: Despite being familiar with gradation from Finnish and Saami, Castrén does not understand its rules, and tries to explain it with the accent]

Consonant changes and softenings

1. Subject to strengthening or sharpening (gemination) and softening or simplification are in the Ket dialect tenues and mediae, and the sounds containing t, d: tj, dj, ts, ds, tč, dš. They are (usually) strengthened so, that a media, as in Lappish, is changed to a double tenuis, but mediae that follow after weak consonants are only doubled (amdda [horn], anddu [boat], talddš [tail]). Thus is changed:

g to kk or gg

ǥ to k͔k͔ or ǥǥ?

d to tt or dd

dj to ttj or ddj

ds to tts or dds

dš to tč or ddš

Thereto sometimes also other letters (l, s, j) (but sk, sp, st are not softened).

2. The strengthened or doubled consonants can on the other hand be softened or simplified according to the table above.

3. The consonants are preferably strengthened at the beginning [sic] of accented syllables, but if the accent for some reason or another is softened, the weak consonants enter. (Deleted: Thus is the consonant in the genitive weak, while the accent here lies on the first syllable)

4. Peculiar is the fact that in the nominative the consonant is often strengthened after (not before) the accented syllable, e.g. toppa foot (*toob), lappo oar (*laab) etc. However, it should be noted, that the presence of an accent in this case is barely noticed, they can therefore be regarded as accentless, and the rule is thus that the consonants are strengthened both before an accented syllable as well as after an unaccented syllable.

(Deleted: 5. If the accent in the genitive is on the first syllable, here enters...)

6. Some words, as póod icehole, éed village, tiib peg (toob brim, njaab duck, kaab tinder etc.) keep the accent, and therefore do not strengthen the consonant in the nominative (nor in the genitive, which usually has the accent on a previous syllable), but indeed in the other cases, e.g. [locative] ettógan, pottógan, tippeagan etc.

7. As the accent is on the connecting vowel only in the dative, locative-ablative and prosecutive, the consonants become strengthened in these cases. NB. The plural nominative acts like the singular, and strengthens [sic] the consonant even though the accent is not on the connecting vowel. [With question mark:] The instructive [comitative] is indeterminate.

8. A peculiarity is found among in many nouns that end in the liquids l [added question mark], r and n. As these often omit the connecting vowel, two consonants will coincide in the genitive (and accusative) singular. In such cases the accent will be drawn back to the ultima [sic], to ease pronunciation, and the strengthening of the consonant occurs contrary to the common rules in the genitive (e.g. čóber berry: cobérn, cesen boot lace: česʃen; náger writing: nakkern etc.).

9. The consonant softening in question does not normally occur in nouns on vowel [ɔ: full vowel] (e.g. lokka fox: lokkan or logan [sic]).

(NB. All words with -ttj- as the character take in the genitive -dj-: puttje nose, mattje forest, mottje heel: genitive -djen)

Accent and quantity

49 The principles of length and emphasis (quantity and accent) of syllables is the most difficult and complicated part of Samoyed etymology as a whole. The indeterminate nature of the quantity, the peculiar nature of the accent, its faltering position and confusion with quantity, all these cause difficulties, which the present knowledge of the language is hardly able to completely eliminate. However, as this subject is of an important nature, we will try to provide some determinations for the investigation of Samoyed prosody.

As for syllable accent and quantity, a syllable can in Samoyedic be 1) long and accented, 2) short and accented, 3) short and unaccented. This difference is also visible in most other languages, such as Swedish tḗn [rod], tĕn [tin], vattĕn [water], Finnish tūlen I blow, tŭlen I come, tulŭwa flood. Added to these three kinds of syllables Finnish also has long unstressed syllables, which Samoyedic completely lacks.

50 In the long and accented syllables the length is either original, whether by nature or caused by position, or what the accent has generated. The former maintain in some dialects preferably their length and stress in inflection and derivation, the latter, however, can easily be shortened and lose their stress (in particular if the vowel is followed by position), e.g. ámdak I sit, omdak I sat down. In each case, however, the length and the stress is the same to the ear and should not be separated by different characters, although the language strives to completely fuse quantity with accent.

Each kind of length occurs preferably in the first syllable. Sometimes it is also heard word internally (e.g. kundóǥan far away), but the last syllable sounds always as short, unless it contains a diphthong or has position. Monosyllabic words are often only through their different length distinguished from one another.

51 Finnish, Lappish and other languages of this stem have two accents: 1) a sharp accentus tonicus (´), and 2) a weak or euphonicus (`). The former always rest on the word’s first syllable, the latter falls generally over the third, fifth, and other odd syllables, sometimes also of the fourth, sixth and all even syllables. Each accent is also found in Samoyedic and they rest in this language mostly on the odd syllables, so that accented and unaccented alternate. However, the Samoyedic accent offers many peculiarities both to its location and its other characteristics, as the following paragraphs shall describe.

Among the Samoyedic language’s peculiarities is that disyllabic words often take a double accent: on the first syllable tonicus and on the latter euphonicus. The syllable accented with tonicus can sound both as long and short, 52 as in the Finnish words tū́len [I blow] and túlen [I come], kū́len [I hear] and kŭ́len [I go (kuljen)], kāri [bow] and kări [skerry]. A syllable stressed with euphonic accent is pronounced with the same peculiar raising of the voice, as in Swedish [here Swedish of Sweden seems to be meant] in the later syllables of the words: stúgàn [the hut], hú-set [the house], vín-nà [to win], li-tèn [little] (deleted: Samoyed máčàm). This kind of accent is obviously heard in all dialects of Tomsk Samoyedic, but it especially remarkable in the Čulym dialect. (Deleted: It should be noted, to avoid misunderstanding, that this double stress does not exist in every disyllabic word, although it exists in the language)

Now, if the first syllable is short, and the second is accented, the accent tonicus of the first syllable is usually either completely overridden; or, if it is preserved, it lengthens the vowel of the syllable. Thus is pronounced the word tuldjo [chest] in the Narym dialect [Č!] tuldjò, [N] tulgò or [Nm] tylgò, in K dialect tuuldjò; the word loǥă fox sound in the Narym dialect lóǥà or lŏ́ǥà, genitive lóǥan (read: loógan) (deleted: but in the K dialect lok͔k͔à, where the consonant gemination is caused by the following accent, genitive lóǥan [sic, false]. 53 Considering the etymological weight of each accent, without regard to the pronunciation, is the unrestricted law that the first (short) initial syllable is unaccented, but the latter is accented. For this reason, the faltering accent in the first, short syllable can be left without attention, as the language is evidently striving to completely extinguish it.

As in disyllabic words, also in multisyllabic words tonicus mostly rests on the first, but euphonicus always falls on the last syllable of the word.

Both the tonic and the euphonic accent have the property of extending the syllable, but Samoyedic does not let the syllable be lengthened in the usual manner, i.e. by sustaining the simple vowel. Therefore in some dialects the final vowel is either changed into a diphthong, or lengthened by position, if the word ends in a consonant, e.g. [N] ämnè сноха, Č ämneä, ablative [elative] [N] ämnenán, Č ämnenánn(a) (deleted: ämnennàn). In monosyllabic words the final syllable is, however, often heard as long, and is then designated according to the above with the tonic accent, although in some dialects also then shortening occurs.

In most dialects the euphorically accented syllable sounds as short, but with its own emphasis, as described above. 54 When in multisyllabic words a syllable inside the word is accented, it sounds always as long.

From the previous paragraph it is clear, that accent and quantity in Samoyedic can merge. However it is necessary to distinguish between long and stressed, and short and stressed syllables. The former is denoted in this work by tonicus (´), the latter by euphonicus (`). Every syllable that does not have an accent mark, is to be considered to be short and unaccented.

Bisyllabic words, where the first syllable is long and has a tonic accent, and the second has a euphonic, are quite common, e.g. [no examples given]. However, stem words are rarely accented this way. In them the first syllable is long and stressed, the second short and unstressed. In the latter case the unaccented final vowel tends to be completely omitted, which happens especially in the Ob dialect, or be changed to a half vowel [a schwa].

55 In derived words the language likes to stress only the last syllable, whereby the preceding is often shortened and loses its accent. However, each dialect has many disyllabic words that have the aforementioned double accent. Only through the help of this [the double accent] are many otherwise incomprehensible vowel transformations in the language explained, e.g. taáčàm, taačàd, taáčed [?, these verb forms are probably Č taačang ‘I go’ falsely conjugated objectively] etc. [Castrén means that full vowels have the secondary stress, schwas do not]

What has been said about the disyllabic words concerns also the multisyllabic. They have preferably tonicus on the first syllable. Preferably the language likes to stress every third [sic] syllable and leave the intermediate syllable [sic, singular] unstressed, but also the two last syllables can be stressed as in disyllabic words (changed to: on each third syllable, except on the last, which is either unaccented or stressed with euphonicus). However, also in these words the first syllable can be unstressed and all syllables except the last [sic] take the tonic or lengthening [changed to unreadable word] accent. Two successive syllables can be stressed only at the end of words, the first with tonicus, the latter with euphonicus.

(Deleted: In monosyllabic words the syllable can be either short and unstressed or long and stressed)

56 [Labeled ‘Aspiration’:] In the phonology (bokstavsläran) is already shown how the accent affects both vowels and consonants, among which the first are lengthened and the later hardened or doubled due to the influence of the accent.

Phonetic and phonotactic notes in the original grammars

Narym

Characters:

a (‹â?›), e, ê, i, î, o (ô, u), u (ụ, û = o), ä, ö (y), y.

b, p, d, t, g, ǥ, h, x, j, k, k͔, l, m, n, r, s, š, (c) č, dš, w. 3

éma or emá mother [sic, ɔ: woman]. Usually the accent is on the ultima. 147

Accent: karà village, logà fox ([NP?] k͔ume person (no accent [on the e])). 150

kuunák or kunák убежал. An accented syllable in the end of words does not sound as long, and the accent is not noticed [?, ‘märkes ej’] there: kulé, košár etc. 6

háadšap окусил: hăčéjap and hačedšap [momentanes]. NB. The accent causes 1. shortening of the preceding vowel, 2. strengthening of the first vowel in the stem [?]. 4, háadšap окусил: hăčéjap or hăčédšap. NB. 1. aa to a, 2. dš to č, 3. the accent on the second syllable. 6

Vowels

After the emphatic consonants come obscure vowels. 3 NB. k͔ (guttural) ‹lowers› always the following [sic] vowel. 6

au mother, áau another. NB. accentless and unaccented [sic!] words. 6

ô: k͔oč earring, k͔omb wave. 3 k͔ô ear, closed ô, k͔ômb wave, with ô 5 NB. pu or puo tree, year. 3 NB. o takes a glide u, e.g. hoi or huoi throat. 5

u is at the beginning of words the clean Finnish u. 3

uu is identical with the Finnish long u, but the short u adheres (‘stöter till’) o, e.g. ud or od hand, gup or gop person. 147

û is often 1) short: kûndš [frieze], kûnd [for long], ûd [hand], tû [lake?] 2) is caused by dš, č, 3) is heard in the end of an unaccented syllable. 149 û: k͔umbak [I have died] 5

NB. Genitive ket river, from kî, e.g. ket-par. 5

A short unaccented e becomes also at the beginning of words ê or ä (see lexicon). An unaccented i becomes î, a short u easily becomes o, a short y becomes ö. 6

An unaccented ö becomes y, e.g. ö́g hat: ygép my hat: ögöli your (plural) hat. 3 y and ö, short and long. 149

An unaccented e becomes ä (se possessive suffixes). 3

pii ‘night’: Px1S pem. A long accented i becomes e. [But:] pĭ aspen: Px1S pim. 6

ee sounds broad, like ê; ii sounds broad, like î. 147

Vowels in late syllables

NB. (tweg (-k) goose:) Tenues at the end are inbetween tenues and media. Often one hears between them [sic] a vowel at the end that softens the pronunciation. 5 warǥ big: warga‿pagî big knife, warga‿gup big person. 7 NB. The half vowel in the end of words is heard after two consonants and after a long vowel, e.g. takk(a) downstream, ond(a) beard, njáb(a) [sic] duck. 147

The unaccented ê often takes the sound of the preceding long vowel, e.g. hookêornak I crept. 3

lērák I sing: léredäl, lerbäl. NB. In unaccented syllables it seems that the rule of hard and weak syllables is valid. 147

The diphthong ai often sounds like ae, e.g. hai eye, kai what. 147

káa’i frost. If the accent falls on the first vowel of the diphthong, it is detached from the following. 6

Consonants

Hard consonants: k, p, t, h, s, š, č, f.

Weak consonants: b, g, d, l, m, n, r, j, w, dš. 3

NB. (tweg (-k) goose:) Tenues at the end are inbetween tenues and media. NB. Usually the tenues are weaker than in other languages. The sibilants are too, and thus š often sounds close to ž, dš like dž, č like ǯ etc. 3 dš is weak at the end of words: šidš charcoal, pedš axe. 3

h often sounds like a guttural x. 3

gh often appears in the dual, and is close to x (e.g. kuellaghe). 3

g is aspirated, especially at the end. In the dual it sounds usually as an aspirated h. 3

kh in the dual becomes k͔. 3

ph in the instructive [comitative] becomes f. 3

kh = x, gh = ǥ, ph = f. 3

logadehe [with the foxes] is contracted to -dé. 6

haakuap or aakuap I tasted, heptap or ê̄ptap [I felled], haaru or áru: šed aaru [twenty]. 4

ts (ц) does not exist, therefore th transforms to s (ss), e.g. *mathe > masé (-sse?) [with the house]. 3

c (ц) comes instead of č above Narym [dialect Nm], e.g. acap for adšap [I guard], örcap for örčap [I lost it]. 4 Nm often takes c (ts) for č, ds or s for dš. NB. ds sounds weak, approximately like dz. Nm has also č, e.g. koč [much]. 6 ds (dz) often appears in Nm. 3

čumal Ostyakish: čuma‿še Ostyak language. NB. l before sibilants can disappear. čumal‿and [Selkup boat], ‿holak [spoon], ‿kala [bowl], ‿k͔up or ‿gup [person], ‿l lêr [song] [Also written: mat, wat, nedek, pöu, še, čö, top, but it is unclear what form Castrén means the adjective should have before these]. 3

r does not begin words. 5

n before hard vowels [ɔ: consonants] becomes t.

t before weak vowels [ɔ: consonants] becomes n.

n before t becomes t. 3

tn to nn. 6

m at the end of words changes always to p. 6

orblage for *ormlage, ablebe for *amlebe. 6

konnad [sic, ɔ: konnand] [you sleep] for *kondand, timmand [you fly] för *timband. 6

nd to ndš after l, n: keldš for *kelnd [into the pit], see possessive suffixes. 3

nj to ji, see possessive suffixes in the plural [these are actually different suffixes]. 3

MO

seaǥa‿pa black knife, seaǥa‿njaab black duck, seak͔‿k͔uerǥ black bear, seak‿kynd black horse, seaǥ‿adedje black reindeer. NB.

a) before a vowel a is lost.

b) before a consonant a is preserved.

c) before k a is lost and ǥ becomes k. 281

kuor [ermine], NB. uo, yo. A short e = ê. A short a = a͑. A short o = u. 281

kuandau for kuendau I carried. 281

kamčau to pour (*dš, *ds) NB. The consonants b, g, d, ds are usually hardened in this dialect. 281

mok͔ (N moǥ) back. NB: Narym has weak consonant, MO has hard consonant, K has double consonant. 281

з: kor‿зir [bull]. 281

Čulym

[short a:] pánannám (aa or a). 339

[long ā:] oa (or ua) = [other dialects] aa 284 OO êa, îa for [Č] oa, [K] a [ɔ: aa] (OO êatje, [Č] oatjeä, K aate reindeer). 339

[short o:] oo or o: óorannám or orannam, óoralbám. 339

[long ō:] uo = oo, e.g. [MO] loos = [Č] luosö. 284

[long ū:] u is the Finnish guttural u, e.g. uu willow grouse, uugo to swim, uurnang I swim, uude on foot: uudeä koandang [I will go on foot]. 284

[short ü:] yo = y = [N] ö. 284

ie = i. 284

Vowels in late syllables

An accented final e becomes eä. An unaccented final e becomes ä. In general accented final vowels are changed to diphthongs. 284 NB. If a final e is accented it becomes eä. 292

The OO dialect has at the end of unaccented words the vowel o instead of ö and ä. 339

ê and e are sounds that constantly change in suffixes. In an unaccented syllable ê often sounds like e, but not vice versa. Accuracy in notation is here not possible, if distinguishing them is not determined by common laws, without respect to the arbitrariness of the language.

[N!] tänuhu͑l, [Č?] suuru͑m u
oogo͑n [?] o
э, e
y and ä in Č

Here consequence is impossible, while the sound is inconsequent. The e  which developed from a we had thought to write with э, but this sound however sounds like an a, ä, ö, y, even o and y. In other words, this vowel takes an imaginary sound that represents all these sounds. y and ä are in the Č dialect never accented unless with `. ê is in the Č dialect replaced with ä, ö. 341

e comes after j and č instead of ê; ê after dš for e. 341

Č íllä [gerund from īlə- to lift?], cf. illá [optative 3S from īlə- to lift or ilə- to live??], that is, in the former case the stem keeps its accent (along with the quantity), and the suffix takes the weak [front] vowel ä. In the latter case the quantity is replaced by position, the accent is brought forward and the suffix takes a, while an accented syllable prefers hard [back] vowels. (NB. Position is a replacement for the lengthening caused by the accent) [note: What Castrén has in mind is unclear] 286

[Č or NP?] The accent is always at the end, although inaudible? [sic]. 286

The suffix ds, č [of the desiderative] appears rarely in verbs, it is replaced by d, t. 284 îndše for înde bow, andše for and boat etc. [Castrén means that č usually > t] 284

NB. The second person imperative [subjective or objective conjugation?] has an aspiration. 340 Note the accent in the second person imperative (cf. [N!] aabэk (-êk) [lid], tädэk [Siberian pine]). 341

ng to ǥ before a consonant in the same syllable: kanagn for *kanangn. 340

NB. Before an accented syllable ǥ becomes g, and the other way around: g to ǥ in unaccented. [sic] 340

[Palatalization before front vowels:] OO d and dj: yydjymba [it is evening] 339 OO NB. The suffix -di becomes -dji, e.g. tieǥandi or -dji [to you two]. 340 śyöʃang [I spat] [ś- here denoting palatalized s], [s < *ś:] paśko floor, śośka pig. 339

*ls > ss. 341

md: mn: lamdi low: adverb lamneng 339

Ket

NB. There are two modifications of a: aε and â. The first [vowel e̮] is often caused by its shortness and position, the latter [labialized å] is caused by the sibilants dš, č and by its own length. 149

ua and ue alternate (ua tends to become ue): k͔uannang [I went], kuagan [sturgeon]. 228 A short u sounds like the Swedish u (e.g. kule [raven]), a long u sounds like the Finnish u. 228 A short u becomes ụ e.g. kụlé (NB. [N] kŭr or kor [ermine]). 230 [Castrén means the palatalization in the word kulä only]

ä is a broad sound, even when short. The same with e. 228

Unaccented vowels take a muddled sound, accented vowels in contrast a clear and explicit, deep, guttural sound. However aa becomes ââ [labialized å̄], ee becomes êê, îî. But this guttural character belongs to the nature of the sounds, and should not be confused with the obscure, muddled sound in the short vowels. 229

A short a = aε, ä, e. An accented e becomes broad = ê. An unaccented e = i. A short e = ê. 230 tji kettle: genitive tjin: dative tjind. NB. i at the end is close to e. 229

In unaccented syllables the vowel order [‘vocal-följden’, vowel harmony?] is observed fairly well, but not in accented syllables. 230

dš and tš (č) are lacking in the Ket dialect, replaced by ds, ts or dj, tj. 230

dz appears in lokkandze with your fox. 230

NP

î and ê are in NP (often) inseparable. 286

In NP there is without doubt a double a: â [= a] and aε [= e̮] [below is a list: ô – o, û – u, î – i, ê – e] (û especially after č, dš, k͔). 286 After č and dš all vowels take a broader sound ô, û, ê, î, â. 286

In the NP dialect weak syllables often take an unaccented â at the end of words, but in inflected forms i. 149

[As schwa] after j is always heard e: oije, kaije, puttje, mottje. 291 After j comes always e, never ê. 286

ae for ai. 285

In this dialect u appears for o word finally. NB. Final û is between u and o (kuačû [исток], koočû [earring], lappû [oar]). 285

A word preferably does not end in an accented -e, but this changes in NP to -i, as in OO and Č to -eä. 286 Nouns on -é, accented on the ultima, change e to i with a few exceptions. 289

omdáldšang посидил, êtáldšang жду, êwáldšang забыл: NB. The accent is drawn to the second syllable, and thus becomes: a — o, ê [?]. 285 NB. An unaccented vowel never influences a following. 286

NB. A t before n remains unchanged, but before l and s it is assimilated: k͔otnang I cough, mootnam [I hit], kuetnam I killed it: preterite -ssam, kätnam I said it: future källipsi I will say it. 285

NB. v is sharp: ävvê mother: Px1S ävvém (Px3S äwát), tevvam I bought, čevva glue. 285

Eloguj

Note: v tends to become m, a becomes ê, e becomes i ([N] teu tooth > tim). 359

Baiha

A long aa always takes an accent (brytning) to ââ [labialized å̄] and often sounds as ua: kââldš куря, k͔âât forehead. 361

ue = ûe, e.g. kûei spirit, kûedš исток, note that û resembles ы: kueš half. 361 ue / ua (ûe) here sounds nearly as êê or îî: keetje, kuatj [wrist] etc. 361

Note that o is between u and o. 361 In this dialect u lies in the middle of o and u, e.g. túb brim. 361

Note that nop God and nope (-э) glove are distinguished only by э. 361

[Initial uə-:] In this dialect w becomes m also initially, but changes to w after all letters in the preceding word except for m, e.g. man‿wuettjam I lifted it, but liem‿muettjam I lifted the board. 362 After m the following vowel takes the same secondary sound as after w in other dialects. 361

[Final stops and nasals:] Final t is heard weakly, often as tn: kööt or köötn 10, yt or ytn water. Neither k is heard clearly, often as ng. Also p often as pm = m. 361 kuuk or -kng князь. Some say -ng, others -k (-kn), kyyk or -kng [black grouse]. 362 tyymen(-t)‿paar top of the larch, timet‿paar end of the tooth, timon‿ug id. [ɔ: end of my tooth]. The following vowel [sic, ?ɔ: consonant] gives character to the preceding schwa-like sound. 362

tj and č alternate. 361 Final tj [i.e. tj before apocopated schwa] sounds mostly as c , but in the genitive the tj returns. 362 NB. In nouns on -tj, tj usually sounds like č, but tj returns in the genitive. 368

Note that there are no words on u with a preceding vowel [i.e. -wə], while u (w) in this case becomes m, e.g. šíim’e ashes, tĭmэ tooth. 365

Initial s is (often) weak, e.g. syys spittle. 361

ľ sounds often weak as lj, e.g. ilma or iljma son, ilgal = iljgal the lower. Final l sounds in this dialect often as lj (e.g. the adjective suffix). 361

NB. l is not assimilated in this dialect, but t and nd are, e.g. aorist pöönnang: preterite pössang: future pöllaks: imperative pöötäšeng!; pinnam I put it: imperative pind! (Deleted: NB. Sometimes also l is assimilated: tjeld‹je›nnam [I trample, /će̮lćət-/, not the l-stem /će̮lćol-/]) 384

Taz

A clear e never begins a word in the Taz dialect, but instead is changed to ä. Word-initially is e = ê. E469 A final e in the Taz dialect usually becomes ä, e.g. [N] kule raven > Taz kylä, [Č] ämneä son-in-law > Taz ämnä, [K] aate reindeer > Taz aatä, [N] kwe birch > Taz kwä. 404 An unaccented e becomes word finally ä. E469

After č come obscure vowels. After m and v similarly. After p sometimes. After k͔ obscure vowels. E469

(Taz TK) After k͔ (ǥ) e sounds like ae: šääk͔k͔ei or -k͔k͔ae мы двое ночевали / we two stayed the night. 391

(Taz TK) -ng (-k) (in aang (-k) mouth) is heard indistinctly. The sound is engulfed by the long vowel. 391 t word finally sounds like tn and is after a short vowel usually transformed to n. 391

(Taz TK) In the Taz dialect appear both tj and č, dj and dš, often used beside each other. 392

(Taz TK) Often alternate t and č, d and dš; t and n (at the end of words). 392

Samoyedic has a hard l and a soft (lj). After the latter the vowels take a weak sound. E469 The same concerns n and nj. E469

-mbang changes b to m or delete b, e.g. apsetemändšam from apsetam [ɔ: from apsetembam], ittemmändšam from ittembam. E478 NB. ndš becomes nn; mb becomes mm, m; nb becomes nm. E478

Karasino

The accent is often on every third [sic] syllable, e.g. utógannán [from the two hands] lokágannán [from the two foxes]. 395

kîît for [Jel.] kueč step. NB ue becomes here ê (ue (ûe) > (êê,) î́î). 394

ы shortened becomes e = ê. 394

yy and öö merge in this dialect, e.g. tyy fire, tyy or töö fire [sic, ɔ: birch bark]: genitive töön. 395 [Similarly:] ee and ii, e.g. teet and tiit [four]. 395 [Similarly:] a and o. 395

[Final stops and nasals:] General observation: in words like maat, k͔aat etc. t is preserved when the vowel is long, but if it is short it is changed to n, e.g. čen, ilepsan. 394

dš is in the Karasino dialect such a weak sound that it is hardly heard, and usually sounds like d, e.g. indšelj nose. 394 NB. In the northernmost and the southernmost dialect [Č] comes t for č, d for dš. 394

NB. c (ts) in keca sister, kanca pipe. 394