web viewfigures 8 through 10 show the hertz levels and the transcriptions of these conjugations....

Discoveries in the Formation of the Future Paradigm in the Verbal System of Chicahuaxtla Triqui

Aaron Lansford

The University of Texas at Arlington

Abstract

The Triqui people inhabit in the northwestern part of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Its language is part of the Mixteca Otomongan family with three different dialects, one from each town in which Triqui is spoken: San Juan Copala, San Martín Itunyoso, and San Andrés Chicahuaxtla. Many people consider these dialects to be separate languages due to the percentage of intelligibility between them. This study looks at Chicahuaxtla Triqui, which is 87% intelligible with Itunyoso Triqui and only 56% intelligible with Copala Triqui (sil.org). These percentages are significant because higher intelligibility exists between many of the romance languages than between Chicahuaxtla Triqui and Copala Triqui. Each of these varieties of Triqui is a tonal language with at least five different tones capable of distinguishing meaning. Copala Triqui has been studied and documented fairly extensively, whereas the Itunyoso and Chicahuaxtla varieties have been studied considerably less. Perhaps the keystone work of Chicahuaxtla Triqui published to date is a Triqui-Spanish, Spanish-Triqui dictionary produced by Claude Good in 1978 in which he documented hundreds of Triqui words and phrases, the Triqui alphabet, and explains the verbal system, nouns, pronouns, and compound words. Good explains that Triqui only uses three verb tenses or paradigms, past, present, and future, and that the contrast between the three is typically made through the addition of morphemes in the form of a prefix and tonal changes. According to Good, the past tense is formed by adding a prefix to the verb while the tones remain unchanged from the present tense. In order to form the future paradigm, the same prefix used to form the past tense is added to the verb and the initial tone lowers one tone. The present study looks at the verbal system described by Good and hypothesizes that there is a rise in tone to form the past tense instead of there being a tonal drop for the future tense. The purpose of the study is to analyze the tones in the past, present and future, specifically to further detail the formation of the future. The researcher found that Good’s description of the future tense is at least partly accurate but may be incomplete. After the study, it is evident that the formation of the future involves a drop in the initial tone of the verb with very few exceptions. However, based on the findings of the study, the researcher discusses the possibility of verb groups or categories in which some verbs follow the pattern set forth by Good, another group in which all tones in the verb lower, and a group of monosyllabic verbs to which a prefix is not added and experience a more drastic tonal change of two levels to form the future.

Previous Research

Copala Triqui is the dialect most researched and documented, whose principle researcher is Dr. Barbara Elaine Hollenbach. She carried out much of her research in the 1970s and 1980s and published a popular grammar in 2005 (sil.org). Very little research has been conducted about the Itunyoso dialect, whose main researcher is Christian DiCanio of the University of California at Berkeley. DiCanio has produced and presented a few articles about tones, phonetics and phonology, and laryngeal contrasts in Itunyoso Triqui. His research began in 2004 and the majority of his publications from 2008 to the present (Berkeley.edu).

The Chicahuaxtla dialect of the current study has been the subject of various publications. In 1897, Belmar published the first small dictionary of this dialect. Further investigations of Chicahuaxtla Triqui did not continue until the 1940s when Robert Longacre of the University of Texas at Arlington began his research of Triqui. Dr. Longacre has published various articles about the structure of syllables, the morphology of tones, Mixtecan phonology, clauses and phrases, as well as various other publications about the culture of this people, their language, and of other Mixtecan languages. Most of these articles were published in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, a missionary named Claude Good published a more extensive dictionary in 1978 which has already been mentioned. Very few investigations of this dialect were carried out during nearly three decades. Since 2000, Kosuke Matsukawa of the University of Albany has begun to study the three Triqui dialects and has published articles about possessive nouns, the reconstruction of phonemes, and the alteration of tones for the potential of aspect in the verbal system. Ruth Scipione of the same university also studies this language and in 2010 published an article about the phonology of borrowed words from Spanish. In addition to these studies, Dr. A. Raymond Elliott of the University of Texas at Arlington has begun and research study program of Chicahuaxtla Triqui in order to be able to understand and better document how this dialect functions. Currently, he is collaborating with native speakers of Triqui to create and publish a popular grammar book for the people similar to that which Hollenbach made of Copala Triqui.

Methodology

In order to analyze the verbal system of Chicahuaxtla Triqui, native speakers were recorded using version 1.3 of the Audacity software. These recording were made in the town of San Andrés de Chicahuaxtla in 2009 and 2010, and in 2011 interviews were recorded with a native speaker at the Spanish Language Institute in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Segments of the interviews and recordings were isolates with Audacity 1.3 in order to analyze the language. In order to examine the segments created from the interviews, Praat software was used to measure the hertz to analyze the tones in the different verb tenses and paradigms.

This study focuses on the verbal system and the files examined in this study were recorded in the series of interviews at the language institute in 2011 in Cuernavaca. The method of solicitation was the following: the interviewer says a pronoun and verb in Spanish, for example, yo hablo ‘I speak’. The speaker of Triqui then responds repeating the phrase in Triqui three times. This process is repeated with all the subject pronouns of Spanish, yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellas y ustedes, and in the present, preterit, and future forms of the verb. That is to say that after soliciting the forms of hablar ‘to speak’ in the present tense with all of the mentioned subject pronouns, the process is repeated soliciting the phrases yo hablé ‘I spoke’ and yo hablaré ‘I will speak’ for all the pronouns also. Since the Triqui verbal system only employs these three tenses and paradigms, it was not necessary to solicit other tenses, aspects and paradigms such as the imperfect, present perfect, etc. The speaker repeats each phrase three times and generally the second repetition is utilized for the analysis. Each phrase that was solicited was isolated with Audacity 1.3 and examined with Praat to analyze the tones by measuring the hertz. The researcher made a phonetic transcription for each phrase with the recordings listened to with the Praat software. Later, these transcriptions were compared in order to prove or not the hypothesis of a rise in tone in the past instead of a lowering in tone in the future.

Preliminary Information about the Orthography and Pronunciation of Chicahuaxtla Triqui

As for general orthography, Triqui did not have its own alphabet before the Spanish arrived; therefore, they use the Spanish alphabet. The apostrophe represents a glottal stop. Some changes have occurred since the last dictionary was published by Claude Good in 1978. Previously, tones were indicated with numbers. Currently, tones are marked with diacritics; however, in order to facilitate comprehension, tones will be marked with numbers in this paper. Furthermore, the lowest tone used to be marked with the number 5 and the most acute, or highest, tone by the number 1. There has been an inverse in the current system and 1 is now used to mark the lowest tone and 5 to mark the highest. Additionally, the orthographic x indicated the phoneme /ʒ/ before and is now indicated with the written y. The written y used to represent the phoneme /j/, which is now indicate with hi. Normally, orthographic d /d/ and g /g/

are prenasalized, indicated in the phonetic transcriptions as n and ŋ respectively.

Description of the Verbal System of Chicahuaxtla Triqui1

In Triqui, the verbs are divided into two main categories, actions that everyone can do and actions that only some can do, actions of animals, and actions of inanimate things. Each category has a common form of the verb, or in other words, a more natural or more general form. The common form of actions that all can do is in the first person plural (we) inclusive of the

future, and the common form of the other category is the third person singular masculine (he) of the present.

The most basic form of verbs in many languages is the infinitive form, for example, hablar ‘to speak’. In this form there is no subject, tense, person, mood, or voice, and it is from this most basic form that verb conjugations are based. Chicahuaxtla Triqui also has a most basic form of the verb, which differs from the common form, but it is not completely equivalent to infinitives in Spanish, for example. The most basic form of verbs in Triqui is the third person singular masculine of the present tense, and it is from this from that verb conjugation is based. This form has possible endings of a glottal stop, aspiration, a vowel, or a nasalized vowel in any of the five tones that exist.

As previously mentioned, Triqui only employs three verb tenses or paradigms. The present is used for habitual actions, the present progressive (actions in progress at the moment in the present), an action that lasted a long time in the past (the Spanish imperfect), and to identify who said something (Hollenbach). The present is formed from the basic form of the verb. Many of the conjugations in the present these employ the same tone of the basic form and only add the subject pronoun to make distinction. In this way it is somewhat similar to English; I talk, you talk, we talk, etc. However, there are some conjugations that apply tonal changes; the first person singular (I), third person singular feminine (she), first person plural inclusive (we), and sometimes second person singular formal and informal (you). It is supposed that it is not necessary or obligatory to include the subject pronoun with the tonal changes, but they still almost always include it.

For the conjugations of the present tense, this study will only focus on the changes that are found in Figures 1 and 2 (below). The following changes are required in order to conjugate verbs in the present tense according to the ending of the basic form. Any endings that are not cited do no suffer changes:

Figure 1 – Changes to the basic form to compose the first person singular (I), first person plural (we), and third person singular feminine (she)

Note that the endings in Figures 1 and 2 have the old numbering for the tones. Therefore, tone 5 in these tables is equivalent to tone 1 currently and is the lowest tone, and tone 1 in these tables is represent as tone 5 in today’s system and is the highest tone, etcetera.

Figure 2 – Changes to the basic form to compose the second person singular formal and informal (you)

Table 1 – Conjugation example according to Figures 1 and 2 (conjugations that involve changes)

Basic form in Good’s system: a’ui’35 ‘dar, ofrecer’Basic form in current system: a’huì’ (31)

Pronoun Good’s System Current System Phonetic Transcription

I a’ui1 a’huí (5) [aʔwi5]

you (singular, informal) a’ui’2 so’5 a’huî’ (4) sò’ (1) [aʔwiʔ4 soʔ1]

you (singular, formal) a’ui’2 re’5 a’huî’ (4) rè’ (1) [aʔwiʔ4 reʔ1]

she a’uij3 a’huij (3) [aʔwih3]

we (inclusive) a’ui’2 a’huî’ (4) [aʔwiʔ4]

Table 2 – Example of the conjugations of the same verb that do not experience tonal changes


he a’ui’35 sij3 a’huì’ (31) sij (3) [aʔwiʔ31 sih3]

you (plural, informal) a’ui’35 nej3 soj3 a’huì’ (31) nej soj (3,3) [aʔwiʔ31 neh3 soh3]

you (plural, formal) a’ui’345nej3e re’5 a’huì’ (31) nejerè’ (1) [aʔwiʔ31nehereʔ1]

they (masculine) a’ui’35 nej3 sij3 a’huì’ (31) nej sij (3,3) [aʔwiʔ31 neh3 sih3]

they (feminine) a’ui’35 nij3 a’huì’ (31) nij (3) [aʔwiʔ31 nih3]

The past tense is used for actions or processes already finished (Spanish preterit and imperfect), after subordinate conjunctions (such as cuando ‘when’, which would dictate the present subjunctive in Spanish), future actions subordinate to another action, conditional phrases that express the contrary to what happened, and after the adverb aj1 ‘ya’ or auxiliary verb síj5 ‘to achieve, reach, obtain, accomplish’ (functions as the Spanish pluperfect) (Hollenbach). Generally, the past tense is formed by adding a prefix to the radical, the beginning, of the verb without any tonal changes. The possible prefixes are: g-, ga-, gu-, and gui-, but one of these prefixes is not always applied; there are some verbs in which a prefix is not added. Therefore, the present and past tense forms are equal in some cases. To date the reason for which a prefix is not added in some cases is unknown. Below the conjugations of the verb a’huì’ ‘to give, offer’ shown above are detailed in their past tense forms.

Tabla 3 – Conjugation example of the past tense based on the conjugations of the present tense

Basic form in Good’s system: a’ui’35 ‘dar, ofrecer’Basic form in current system: a’huì’ (31)


I ga’ui1 ga’huí (5) [ŋgaʔwi5ŋ]

you (singular, informal) ga’ui’2 so’5 ga’huî’ (4) sò’ (1) [ŋgaʔwiʔ4 soʔ1]

you (singular, formal) ga’ui’2 re’5 ga’huî’ (4) rè’ (1) [ŋgaʔwiʔ4 reʔ1]

she ga’uij3 ga’huij (3) ô’ (4) [ŋgaʔwih3 oʔ4]

we (inclusive) ga’ui’2 ga’huî’ (4) nê’ (4) [ŋgaʔwiʔ4 neʔ4]

he ga’ui’35 sij3 ga’huì’ (31) sij (3) [ŋgaʔwiʔ31 sih3]

you (plural, informal) ga’ui’35 nej3 soj3 ga’huì’ (31) nej soj (3,3) [ŋgaʔwiʔ31 neh3 soh3]

you (plural, formal) ga’ui’345nej3e re’5 ga’huì’ (31) nejerè’ (1) [ŋgaʔwiʔ31nehereʔ1]

they (masculine) ga’ui’35 nej3 sij3 ga’huì’ (31) nej sij (3,3) [ŋgaʔwiʔ31 neh3 sih3]

they (feminine) ga’ui’35 nij3 ga’huì’ (31) nij (3) [ŋgaʔwiʔ31 nih3]

The future covers the uses of actions that have yet to begin, the conditional, commands (generally with persuasive particle), a desired action (where an infinitive is used in Spanish (el muchacho quiere ir irá ‘the boy wants to go he will go’, and the subjunctive mood (el muchacho quiere que venga a Oaxaca vendrá ‘the boy wants that he come to Oaxaca he will come’). The future forms by adding the same prefix as in the past tense and by applying a one-level drop in tone of the radical of the verb while the other tones maintain the same. In the future paradigm, the third person plural masculine (they) can also suffer other changes under certain tonal criteria of the verb’s basic form (third person singular masculine of the present - he) and of the verb’s common form (first person plural inclusive of the future - we). These changes are described below. Note that the hyphenated numbers indicate changes in the first syllable and the last syllable. The numbering system in the table is also that of Good; therefore, tone 5 in the table is currently numbered as 1 (the lowest), tone 1 is now represented with 5 (the highest), and so forth.

Figure 3 – Criteria to change the third person plural masculine in the future

Below the conjugations of the future paradigm of the verb a’huì’ ‘to give, offer’ are specified, which those of the present and past tenses have already been presented.

Table 4 – Example of future paradigm conjugations based on the conjugations of the past tense

Basic form of Good’s system: a’ui’35 ‘dar, ofrecer’Basic form of current system: a’huì’ (31)


I ga4’ui1 ga’huí (2-5) [ŋga2ʔwi5]you (singular, informal) ga4’ui’2 so’5 ga’huî’ (2-4) sò’ (1) [ŋga2ʔwiʔ4 soʔ1]you (singular, formal) ga4’ui’2 re’5 ga’huî’ (2-4) rè’ (1) [ŋga2ʔwiʔ4 reʔ1]

she ga4’uij3 o’2 ga’huij (2-3) ô’ (4) [ŋga2ʔwih3 oʔ4]

we (inclusive) ga’ui’5 ga’huí’ (3-5) nê’ (4) [ŋgaʔwiʔ5 neʔ4]

he ga2’ui’35 sij3 ga’huì’ (2-31) sij (3) [ŋga2ʔwiʔ31 sih3]you (plural, informal) ga2’ui’35 nej3 soj3 ga’huì’ (2-31) nej soj (3,3) [ŋga2ʔwiʔ31 neh3 soh3]you (plural, formal) ga2’ui’345nej3e re’5 ga’huì’ (2-31) nejerè’ (1) [ŋga2ʔwiʔ31nehereʔ1]

they (masculine) ga’ui’5 nej3 sij3 ga’huì’ (1) nej sij (3,3) [ŋgaʔwiʔ1 neh3 sih3]

they (feminine) ga2’ui’35 nij3 ga’huì’ (2-31) nij (3) [ŋga2ʔwiʔ31 nih3]

This brief description of the Triqui verbal system makes one understand that, despite only having three verb tenses, the system is still very complicated. More studies should be carried out to better describe and further detail this system.

The Informant

The informal that was interviewed in the summer of 2011 in Cuernavaca, Mexico is a male of approximately 40 years of age. He actively and frequently collaborates in the documentation and preservation of Chicahuaxtla Triqui, which is in decline and in danger of extinction. He is part of the town’s council that works to conserve their language and to decide the changes in the orthographic system. In addition, he has also written and published a book of legends from his town in Triqui and Spanish.

As to his speech, the informant frequently nasalizes vowels and aspirates the end of words that do not include aspiration in standard Triqui speech. Also, according to Good, it is not necessary to employ the subject pronoun when there is a change in tone, but the informant almost always utilizes them. The only exception to this is in the yo ‘I’ form in the past and future. Additionally, this speaker uses the subject pronoun o’4 instead of yunj4 for ‘she’. He many times pronounces soj as [suh], and sometimes the /s/ is pronounced [z] and /g/ manifested as [x] o [ɣ]. It is possible that these different pronunciations are found in free variation in other speakers of Triqui of this town as well, but further investigation would need to be effected to verify.

Analysis of the Verbal System

The hypothesis that the researcher proposes is that there is a rise of the tone of the radical of the verb in the past tense rather than being a drop in tone in the radical in the future tense. This hypothesis stems from his analysis of the verb a’mi32 ‘to speak’ from the interviews with the informant done in the summer of 2011. Upon analyzing that verb, the hypothesis seemed to be the case. Since tones can be difficult to decipher and due to how complicated the verbal system is, it seemed to the researcher that this error in the previous general description given by Good could be possible. In addition, the tools that exist today to analyze sounds are far greater than the tools and equipment available to Good in 1970s when he created his dictionary and his explanation of the verbal system. The following analyzes the verb a’mi32 ‘to speak’ in the present, past, and future.

Table 5 – The present tense of a’mi32 ‘to speak’

Pronoun Good’s Enumeration Current Enumeration Informant’s Pronunciation

I aʔ mi23 aʔ mi43 [ʝõ1 haʔ mĩ43]

you (sing, inf) soʔ5 aʔ mi34 soʔ1 aʔ mi32 [soʔ1 aʔ mĩ32]

you (sing, for) reʔ5 aʔ mi34 reʔ1 aʔ mi32 [reʔ1 aʔ mĩ32]

he (soʔ2) aʔ mi34 (soʔ4) aʔ mi32 [soʔ4 aʔ mĩ32]

she aʔ mi3 aʔ mi3 [oʔ4 aʔ mĩ32]

we aʔ miʔ34 aʔ miʔ32 [neʔ4 aʔ mĩ32]

you (plu, inf) nej3 soj3 aʔ mi34 nej3 soj3 aʔ mi32 [ne3 su3 haʔ mĩ32]

you (plu, for) nej3 e reʔ5 aʔ mi34 nej3 e reʔ1 aʔ mi32 [aʔ mi32 nejereʔ1]

they (masc) nej3 sij3 aʔ mi34 nej3 sij3 aʔ mi32 [aʔ mi32 ne3 sih3]

they (fem) nij3 aʔ mi34 nij3 aʔ mi32 [aʔ mi32 nih3]

Other than the nasalization of the vowels and the other general variations already mentioned of the informant’s speech, the informant conjugates the verb in the present tense exactly how Good describes in the dictionary.

Table 6 – The past tense of a’mi32 ‘to speak’


I gaʔ mi23 gaʔ mi43 [gaʔ mi h4]

you (sing, inf) soʔ5 gaʔ mi34 soʔ1 gaʔ mi32 [soʔ1 ŋgaʔ mĩ32]

you (sing, for) reʔ5 gaʔ mi34 reʔ1 gaʔ mi32 [reʔ1 ŋgaʔ mĩ32]

he (soʔ2) gaʔ mi34 (soʔ4) gaʔ mi32 [soʔ4 ŋgaʔ4 mĩ32]

she gaʔ mi34 oʔ gaʔ mi32 [oʔ4 ŋgaʔ4 mĩ32]

we gaʔ miʔ34 gaʔ miʔ32 [ne4ʔ ŋgaʔ4 mĩ32]

you (plu, inf) nej3 soj3 gaʔ mi34 nej3 soj3 gaʔ mi32 [ne3 suh3 gaʔ mĩ32]

you (plu, for) nej3 e reʔ5 gaʔ mi34 nej3 e reʔ1 gaʔ mi32 [nehe3reʔ1 ŋgaʔ mĩ32]

they (masc) nej3 sij3 gaʔ mi34 nej3 sij3 gaʔ mi32 [neh3 sih3 xaʔ mĩ32]

they (fem) nij3 gaʔ mi34 nij3 gaʔ mi32 [nih3 ɣaʔ mĩ32]

Table 7 – The future paradigm of a’mi32 ‘to speak’


I gaʔ4 mi34 gaʔ2 mi32 [ŋgaʔ2 mĩ32]

you (sing, inf) soʔ5 gaʔ4 mi34 soʔ1 gaʔ2 mi32 [soʔ1 ŋgaʔ3 mĩ32]

you (sing, for) reʔ5 gaʔ4 mi34 reʔ1 gaʔ2 mi32 no grabación

he (soʔ2) gaʔ4 mi34 (soʔ4) gaʔ2 mi32 [soʔ4 ŋgaʔ3 mĩ32]

she gaʔ4 mi3 gaʔ2 mi3 [oʔ4 gaʔ3 mĩ32]

we nʔ2 gaʔ3 miʔ4 nʔ4 gaʔ3 miʔ2 [neʔ4 ŋgaʔ3 mĩ32]

you (plu, inf) nej3 soj3 gaʔ4 mi34 nej3 soj3 gaʔ2 mi32 [ne3 suh3 gaʔ2 mĩ32]

you (plu, for) nej3 e reʔ5 gaʔ4 mi34 nej3 e reʔ1 gaʔ2 mi32 [nehe3reʔ1 ŋgaʔ2 mĩ32]

they (masc) nej3 sij3 gaʔ4 mi34 nej3 sij3 gaʔ2 mi32 [neh3 sih3 ŋgaʔ2 mĩ32]

they (fem) nij3 gaʔ4 mi34 nij3 gaʔ2 mi32 no grabación

Here many differences from what Good describes are found in the conjugations of the past and the future. First, the past tense (preterit) will be analyzed. The following figures are images taken from the Praat software while measuring the hertz to evaluate the level of the tones.

Figure 4 – The hertz (tones) of so’4 ga’ mi32 ‘he spoke’

Informant’s Pronunciation: [soʔ4 ŋgaʔ4 mĩ32]

The crosshairs in this figure are located in the syllable ga. According to Good and the previous information available, this syllable in the past tense should have the same tone as it has in the present tense. Therefore, it should be tone 3, but one can see that it has the same tone as the pronoun so’4, which is tone 4. In addition, mi32 should start with tone 3 and contour to tone 2. It is easily notable that this informant pronounces mi in tones lower than ga. This evidence also indicates to the researcher that the informant raised the tone of the radical upon saying the past tense here instead of maintaining all the tones equal to those of the present tense. More examples follow below.

Figure 5 – The hertz (tones) of o’4 ga’ mi32 ‘she spoke’

Informant’s Pronunciation: [oʔ4 ŋgaʔ4 mĩ32]

Figure 6 – The hertz (tones) of ne’4 ga’ mi32 ‘we spoke’

Informant’s Pronunciation: [neʔ4 ŋgaʔ4 mĩ32]

It is noted that the tone of ga is higher than that of mi in these two conjugations as well. This finding can be explained two different ways. First, it could simply be that in the past tense the

tone of the radical must raise a tone. Another more probable explanation is that, in each of these three cases, the tone of the pronoun is 4, and there then could be influence or assimilation of the following tone, the first tone of the verb, to the higher tone of the pronoun that precedes it. The informant’s pronunciations of all of the conjugations of the past tense form of a’mi32 ‘to speak’ are found in Table 6, and only the three just mentioned raise to tone 4. All of the other cases follow the normal pattern set forth by Good and maintain the same tones that they have in the present tense. Hence, it seems more probable that there is assimilation to the tone of the pronouns so’4 ‘he’, o’4 ‘she’, and ne’4 ‘we’ rather than a general rule to raise the tone of the radical in the past tense. However, more examples must be seen to arrive at a conclusion.

The conjugation of the future is also important to analyze and, as will be seen, also has its peculiarities. In the future, the rule is that the tone of the radical of the verb lowers one tone, so ga would lower from tone 3 to tone 2. However, the figures that follow show something contrary, that in many of the conjugations the tone of the radical maintains a level 3 as it is in the present.

Figure 7 - The hertz (tones) of so’1 ga’2 mi32 ‘you will speak’ (informal/familiar)


Here it can be see that the tone of ga and the tone that begins mi are almost equal. For that reason both syllables are transcribed as tone 3, but the tone of ga es even a little higher than that of mi. This puts into question the possible explanation that was given about the conjugations of the past tense that were analyzed, that ga assimilated to the tone 4 of the pronouns previously

mentioned (so’4 ‘he, o’4 ‘she’, ne’4 ‘we’). If it were the case that these tones assimilated, one would suppose that there would also be assimilation to lower tones as well if the tone that precedes it is lower. Firstly, the tone of ga should already be tone 2 in the future tense if the rules that Good gives are accurate. Then, because the pronoun so’1 ‘you’ (singular, informal) is tone 1, one would expect that the tone of the radical at least be as low as a 2 because that it what it is supposed to be already and it is being preceded by a pronoun with tone 1. However, the tone 3 the informant pronounces in the radical is even a little higher than the tone 3 he pronounces at the beginning of the last part of the verb mi. Therefore, even though assimilation of sounds is common in language in general, and it is probable that it exists in this language also, this evidence of a lack of assimilation brings to question that assimilation was the reason the tones of the radical were higher in the past tense. At the same time, it cannot be completely ruled out and it would be necessary to obtain more evidence to prove either case. In this example, at least, there seems to be dissimilation rather than assimilation.

The conjugations of he, she, and we also have inconsistencies in the future like they had in the past. Figures 8 through 10 show the hertz levels and the transcriptions of these conjugations. Here the tone of ga should be 2, one tone lower than in the present tense, although it carries a tone of 3 (or 4) in all three cases. In all three cases this syllable falls between the tone 4 of the pronoun and the tone 3 which begins the end of the verb mi. To follow the descending pattern of the tones in the phrase, this intermediate tone has been transcribed as tone 3. There could possibly be assimilation in these cases as well, but if the tone is supposed to lower to form the future tense, it should theoretically be a high level 2 or a low level 3 even with assimilation, not between tones 3 and 4 as is manifested. This, along with the conjugation of so’1 ‘you’ that also manifested tone 3 in the radical, disputes that these are instances of assimilation and rather that perhaps the future maintains the tone of the present tense instead of lowering one as the rule indicates.

Figure 8 - The hertz (tones) of so’4 ga’2 mi32 ‘he will speak’


Figure 9 - The hertz (tones) of o’4 ga’2 mi32 ‘she will speak’


Figure 10 - The hertz (tones) of ne’4 ga’2 mi32 ‘we will speak’

Informant’s Pronunciation: [neʔ4 ŋgaʔ3 mĩ32]

A’mi32 ‘to speak’ was the first verb that was analyzed and the inconsistencies of its conjugations in the past in which the tone of the radical rose and of the future conjugations in which it did not lower created the base of the hypothesis of this study. Knowing that more evidence would be needed to prove or disprove the hypothesis, nine other verbs were also analyzed as a’mi32 was in the past, present, and future with all its pronouns. These nine verbs are the following: ane’34 ‘to bathe oneself’, ache5 ‘to walk’, xo’4 ‘to eat’, unanj4 ‘to run’, atoj32 ‘to sleep’, huaj34 ‘to go’, du’uej2 ‘to pay’, ruhua23 (ro’4) ‘to want’, and huuin3 ‘to be’.

The analysis of these verbs rendered a variety of results. None of them was conjugated in the three paradigms exactly as a’mi32 but several of them also showed deviance from the rules in the dictionary. Ruhua23 (ro'4) ‘to want’ is the one that most resembled a’mi32 in its conjugations. The uniformity between the future and the present was even more extensive for this verb as the tones were equivalent throughout all of the pronouns, not just the four previously mentioned during the evaluation of a’mi32. This is a tremendous finding and strongly supports the hypothesis. However, the past tense was not recorded for this verb and, consequently, it could not be completely analyzed. Without having recorded the past tense forms, it is impossible at this time to use it to support the other part of the hypothesis stating that there is a rise in tone to form the past tense and renders the findings somewhat insubstantial.

Table 8 – The conjugations of ruhua23 (ro’4) ‘to want’ (basic form of the current system)

Pronoun Present Past Future

I [ñũh1 rô3ah43] no grabación [ñũh1 rô3ah45]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 ru3ah43] no grabación [soʔ1 ro3ah43]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 ro3ah43] no grabación [reʔ1 ro2ah43]

he [soʔ4 ro3ah43] no grabación [soʔ4 ro3ah43]

she [oʔ4 rô3ah43] no grabación [oʔ4 ro2ah43]

we [neʔ4 ro3ah43] no grabación [neʔ4 ro3ah43]

you (plur, informal) [ne3 suh3 rô3ah43] no grabación [ne3 su3 rô3ah43]

you (plur, formal) [nehe3reʔ1 ro3ah43] no grabación [nehe3reʔ1 ro3ah43]

they (masculine) [ne3 sih3 rô3ah43] no grabación [ne3 sih3 rô3ah43]

they (feminine) [ne hoʔ4 ro3ah43] no grabación [ne3 hoʔ4 ro3ah43]

The eight verbs that remain can fit into two groups; first, those that follow the given rule in Good’s dictionary in which there is only a tonal drop in the radical of the verb and, second, those in which all the tones lower in the future, not just the tone of the radical. The researcher will expound the analysis on the second group first, which consists of ane’34 ‘to bathe oneself’, ache5 ‘to walk’, unanj4 ‘to run’ y huaj34 ‘to go’.

Table 9 – Conjugations of ane’34 ‘to bathe oneself’


I [ñũh1 hane32] [ñũh1 ŋganeh32] [ñũh1 ŋga2neh32]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 ane32] [soʔ1 ŋgane32] [soʔ1 ŋga2neh21]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 aneh32] [reʔ1 ŋgane32] [reʔ1 ŋga2ne32]

he [soʔ4 aneh32] [soʔ4 ŋgane32] [soʔ4 ŋga2ne21]

she [oʔ4 aneh32] [oʔ4 ŋganeh32] [oʔ4 ŋga2neh21]

we [neʔ4 aneh32] [neʔ4 ŋganeh32] [neʔ4 ŋga2ne21]

you (plur, informal) [ne3 su3 hane32] [ne3 suh3 ŋgane32] [ne3 suh3 xa2neh21]

you (plur, formal) [nehe3re1ʔ aneh32] [nehe3re1ʔ ŋganeh32] [nehe3re1ʔ ŋga2ne21]

they (masculine) [ne3 sihʔ4 hane32] [ne3 sih3 xane32] [ne3 sihʔ3 xa2ne21]

they (feminine) [ne3 hoʔ4 aneh32] [ne3 hoʔ4 ŋga3neh32] [ne3 hoʔ4 ŋga2neh21]

As seen in the table, all of the tones are lower in the future paradigm in almost all forms (except the yunj1 ‘I’ and so’1 ‘you’; singular, formal forms). Many linguists would argue that the lowering of the tone in the radical influences the following tones and results in them lowering some as well but that they are really the same tones that appear in the present and past. Nevertheless, the present researcher reasons that they are not the same and are, in fact, lower tones where indicated. The researcher will first look at one of the conjugations he transcribed with the verb ending in the same tones in the future as it did in the past and present.

Figure 11 – The hertz (tones) of yunj1 (hiunj1) ga2ne32 ‘I will bathe (myself)’

The researcher notes that there is a slight rise in the tone of the radical to the tone that begins the verb ending, ne, and for that reason has transcribed the tones of the verb with the sequence 232, notwithstanding it only being a very slight rise. Furthermore, this rise in tone occurs despite the influence that could exist from the tone 1 of the pronoun. Thus, some of the conjugations of the future forms of this verb did experience a small tonal rise after the radical. Conversely, there are several instances in which this minor rise does not occur, resulting in the transcribed tonal contour of 221. For example, Figure 12 displays the tones of the conjugation of the pronoun so’4 ‘he’, which pronoun carries tone 4 The one that follows the radical does not rise, rather it even falls a little lower regardless of any influence the high tone of the pronoun could have exercised on it.

Figure 12 – The hertz (tones) of so’4 ga2ne21 ‘he will bathe (himself)’

The verbs ache5 ‘to walk’, unanj4 ‘to run’ y huaj34 ‘to go’ also exhibit something similar but each has its nuances and differences. Huaj34 ‘to go’ is the one that acts the closest to ane’34 ‘to bathe (oneself)’. All of the tones in the verb lower in almost all of its future conjugations as well will few inconsistencies. The conjugations of this verb are exhibited Table 10.

Tabla 10 – Las conjugaciones de huaj34 ‘ir’


I [ñũh1 huah43] [ŋgaʔ4 ãh54] [ŋgãʔ2 ãh32 ãʔ4]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 wah43] [ŋgaʔ3 ãh32 soʔ1] [soʔ1 ŋgaʔ2 ə3haʔ4]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 wah43] [ŋgaʔ3 ah32 reʔ1] [reʔ1 ŋgaʔ2 a2haʔ3]

he [soʔ4 wah32] [ŋgaʔ3 ãh32 soʔ4] [ŋgaʔ2 ãh12 soʔ4]

she [oʔ4 wah32] [ŋgaʔ3 ãh32 hoʔ4] [ŋgaʔ2 ah21 hoʔ4]

we [wah32 neʔ4] [ŋgaʔ3 ah32 neʔ4] [ŋgaʔ2 ah32 neʔ4]

you (plur, informal) [wah32 ne3 suh3] [ŋgaʔ4 ah32 ne3 suh3] [ŋgaʔ2 ah21 ne3 suh3]

you (plur, formal) [wah32 nehe3reʔ1] [ŋgaʔ3 ah32 nehe3reʔ1] [ŋgaʔ2 ah21 nehe3reʔ1]

they (masculine) [wah32 ne3 sih3] [ŋgaʔ4 ah32 ne3 sih3 ] [ŋgaʔ2 ah21 ne3 sih3]

they (feminine) [wah32 nih3] [ŋgaʔ3 ah32 nih3 ] [ŋgaʔ2 ah32 ne3 hoʔ4]

All of the tones in the verb also lower in the future for ache5 ‘to walk’ and unanj4 ‘to run’ but require a little more analysis. Unanj4 ‘to run’ is a little more inconsistent than huaj34 ‘to go’. Table 11 notes that the second tone of the verb lowers in all cases except the re’1 ‘you’ (singular, formal) form. It is interesting to also observe that in all the forms except nehe3re’1 ‘you’ (plural, formal) the second tone of the verb lowers two tones, from tone 5 to tone 3 or from tone 4 to tone 2. The tones in the future paradigm of this verb are also very flat, the majority of them beginning with tone 2 in the radical and maintaining that same tone throughout the verb, as seen in Figure 13. This illustrates a tendency to lower all tones in the future paradigm and not only the first one.

Table 11 – Conjugations of unanj4 ‘to run’


I [ñũ1 hu3nãh5] [ñũ1 hu3nãh5] [ñũ1 gu2nãh3]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 u3nãh5] [soʔ1 gu3nãh5] [soʔ1 ŋgu2nãh3]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 u3nãh4] [reʔ1 hu3nãh4] [reʔ1 ŋgu2nãh4]

he [soʔ4 u3nãh4] [soʔ4 gu3nãh4] [zoʔ4 ŋgu2nãh2]

she [oʔ4 u3nãh5] [oʔ4 ɣu3nãh4] [oʔ4 ɣu2nãh2]

we [neʔ4 ŋɣu3nãh4] [neʔ4 ŋgu3nãh4] [neʔ4 ŋgu2nãh2]

you (plur, informal) [ne3 suh3 u3nãh4] n/a [ne3 suh3 ŋgu2nã2]

you (plur, formal) [ne3he2reʔ1 u3nãh4] n/a [ne3he3reʔ1 ŋgu2nãh3]

they (masculine) [ne3 sih3 u3nãh4] n/a [ne3 sih3 hu2nã2]

they (feminine) [ne3 hoʔ4 u3nãh4] n/a [ne3 hoʔ4 ŋgu2nãh2]

Figure 13 – The hertz (tones) of nej3 ho’4 gu2nanj2 ‘they (feminine) will run’

The last verb of this group in which all tones of the verb lower in the future is ache5 ‘to walk’, which also has very flat tones like unanj4 ‘to run’ but at the same time shows even more different characteristics. In the present and past, this verb has a rising tonal contour, for example 345 or 334. Nevertheless, the tonal contour drops in the future, 221 or 232. This discovery raises the question if increasing tone contours can exist in the future paradigm. More research needs to be executed to ascertain if this truly a characteristic of the future in this dialect.

Table 12 – Conjugations of ache5 ‘to walk’


I [ñũh1 ha3tʃe45] [ñũh1 xa3tʃeh45] [ñũh1 xa2tʃeh32]you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 a3tʃe45] [soʔ1 ŋga3tʃeh45] [soʔ1 ŋga2tʃeh32]you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 a3tʃeh45] [reʔ1 ŋga3tʃeh45] [reʔ1 ŋga2tʃe32]he [soʔ4 a3tʃe45] [soʔ4 ŋga3tʃe34] [soʔ4 ŋga2tʃe21]she [oʔ4 a3tʃeh45] [oʔ4 ŋga3tʃeh45] [oʔ4 ŋga2tʃeh21]we [neʔ4 a3tʃeh45] [neʔ4 ga3tʃeh34] [neʔ4 ŋga2tʃeh21]you (plur, informal) [ne3 so3a3 tʃeh45] [ne3 suh3 ha3tʃeh34] [ne3 suh3 ha2tʃeh21]you (plur, formal) [nehe3reʔ1 a3tʃeh34] [nehe3reʔ1 ŋga3tʃeh45] [nehe3reʔ1 ŋga2tʃeh21]they (masculine) [ne3 sih3 ha3tʃeh45] [ne3 sih3 ha3tʃeh34] [ne3 hoʔ4 ŋga2tʃeh21]they (feminine) [ne3 hoʔ4 atʃeh34] [ne3 huʔ4 ŋga3tʃeh34] [nehe3reʔ1 ŋga2tʃeh21]

Figure 14 – The hertz (tones) of nej3 sij3 a3che5 ‘they (masculine) walk’

Figure 15 – The hertz (tones) of nej3 sij3 ga3che5 ‘they (masculine) walked’

Figure 16 – The hertz (tones) of nej3 sij3 ga2che5 ‘they (masculine) will walk’

This concludes the analysis of the group of verbs in which all tones within the verb lowered and opens the breakdown of the verbs that more closely followed the conjugations rules set forth by Good. In these verbs in general, the tone of the radical lowers and the others maintain. This group consists of xo’4 ‘to eat’, atoj32 ‘to sleep’, du’uej2 ‘to pay’ and huuin3 ‘to be’. Of these, ‘to be’ and ‘to pay’ wholly follow the rule in Good’s dictionary without any inconsistency or variance.

Table 13 – Conjugations of huuin3 ‘to be’


I [ñũh1 mũĩh34] [ñũh1 hawĩh4] [ñũh1 ŋga2wĩh34]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 mũĩ3] [soʔ1 ŋgawĩh3] [soʔ1 ŋga2wĩh3]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 ũĩ3] [reʔ1 ŋgawĩh3] [reʔ1 ŋga2wĩh3]

he [soʔ4 mũĩ3] [soʔ4 ŋgawĩh3] [soʔ4 ŋga2wĩh3]

she [oʔ4 mũĩ3] [oʔ4 ŋgawĩh3] [oʔ4 ŋga2wĩh3]

we [neʔ4 mũĩ3] [neʔ4 ŋgawĩh3] [neʔ4 ŋga2wĩh3]

you (plur, informal) [ne3 suh3 mũĩ3] [ne3 suh3 ŋɣawĩ3] [ne3 suh3 ŋga2wĩh3]

you (plur, formal) [nehe3reʔ1 mũ2ĩ3] [nehe3reʔ1 ŋgawĩh3] [nehe3reʔ1 ŋga2wĩh3]

they (masculine) [ne3 sih3 mũĩ3] [ne3 sih3 hawĩ3] [ne3 sih3 ŋɣa2wĩh3]

they (feminine) [ne3 hoʔ4 mũĩ3] [ne3 hoʔ4 ŋgawĩ3] [neh3 hoʔ4 ŋga2wĩh3]

Table 14 – Conjugations of du’uej2 ‘to pay’


I [ñũh1 ruʔ3 we32] [ñũh1 huruʔ3 weh32] [ñũh1 guruʔ2 weh32]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 ruʔ3 weh32] [soʔ1 ŋguruʔ3 weh32] [soʔ1 ŋguruʔ2 weh32]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 ruʔ3 weh32] [reʔ1 ŋguruʔ3 weh32] [reʔ1 ŋgu2ruʔ3 weh32]

he [soʔ4 ruʔ3 weh32] [soʔ4 ŋguruʔ3 weh32] [soʔ4 ŋgu2ruʔ3 weh32]

she [oʔ4 ruʔ3 weh32] [oʔ4 ŋguruʔ3 weh32] [oʔ4 ŋgu2ruʔ3 weh32]

we [ruʔ3 we32 neʔ4] [neʔ4 ŋguruʔ3 weh32] [neʔ4 ŋguruʔ2 weh32]

you (plur, informal) [ndruʔ3 we32 ne3 suh3] [ne3 suh3 huruʔ3 weh32] [ne3 suh3 hu2ruʔ3 weh32]

you (plur, formal) [nehe3reʔ1 druʔ3 weh32] [nehe3reʔ1 ŋguruʔ3 weh32] no grabación

they (masculine) [ndruʔ3 we32 ne3 sih3] [ne3 sih3 huruʔ3 weh32] [ŋgu2ruʔ3 we32 ne3 sih3]

they (feminine) [ndruʔ3 we32 nih3] [ŋguruʔ3 we32 nih3] [ŋgu2ruʔ3 we32 nih3]

Table 15 – Conjugations of atoj32 ‘to sleep’


I [ñũh1 hã3 toh43] [ñũh1 ŋha4 toh43] [ñũh1 ha2 toh32]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 a3 toh32] [soʔ1 ŋga3 toh32] [soʔ1 ŋga2 toh32]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 a23 toh32] [reʔ1 ga3 toh32] [reʔ1 ŋga2 toh32]

he [soʔ4 a3 toh32] [zoʔ4 ŋga3 toh32] [soʔ4 ŋga2 toh32]

she [oʔ4 a3 toh32] [oʔ4 ŋga3 toh32] [oʔ4 ŋga2 toh21]

we [neʔ4 a3 toh32] [neʔ4 ŋga3 toh32] [neʔ4 ŋga2 toh21]

you (plur, informal) [ne3 su3 aʔ3 toh32] [ne3 suh2 ha3 toh32] [ne3 suh3 haʔ2 toh21]

you (plur, formal) [nehe3reʔ1 a3 toh32] [nehe3reʔ1 ŋgaʔ3 toh32] [ne3he3reʔ1 ŋgaʔ2 toh32]

they (masculine) [ne3 sih3 ha3 toh32] [ne3 sih3 xa3 toh32] [ne3 sih3 haʔ2 toh32]

they (feminine) [ne3 hoʔ4 a3 toh32] [ne3 hoʔ4 ŋga3 toh32] n/a

Atoj32 ‘to sleep’ is also almost completely normal in the degree to which it follows Good’s conjugations rule. Only in the conjugations of o’4 ‘she’, ne’4 ‘we’, and nej3 soj3 ‘you’ (plural, informal) do all of the tones of the verb lower in the future. While this verb mostly follows the rule, this does leave a little more evidence that there may be a group of verbs in which all tones are lowered in the future.

Figure 17 – The hertz (tones) of o’4 ga2toj21 ‘she will sleep’

The analysis of xo’4 ‘to eat’ will conclude this group. Firstly, it is important to observe that the informant did not pronounce the verb as it is written in the dictionary in none of the paradigms. Hence, there could exist different forms or different ways of saying ‘to eat’ in Triqui.

Secondly, it is important to note that this verb has two particular characteristics that the other verbs analyzed to not have. Xo’4 only has one syllable (pronounced by the informant in two tones), so it does not have a radical, neither is a prefix added to form the past or the future. Since no prefix is added, the present and past tenses are identical and must be distinguished through context. Keeping these unique characteristics in mind, the verb follows the conjugation rule but with some interesting variation; the tones still lower in the future paradigm but lower two tone levels instead of one, from a 43 contour in the present and past to a 21 contour in the future. The researcher hypothesis that the unique characteristics of the verb (monosyllabic and no prefix added) causes the speakers to lower the future two tones so the distinction is more clear from the other two tenses. This is the only verb with these characteristics that was recorded and more recordings need to be made so this type of verb can be further examined and a pattern, or rule, established if one exists.

Table 16 – Conjugations of xo’4 ‘to eat’


I [ñũh1 ʃãh43] [ñũh1 ʃãh43] [ñũh1 ʃãh21]

you (sing, informal) [soʔ1 ʒãh43] [soʔ1 ʒãh43] [soʔ1 ʒãh21]

you (sing, formal) [reʔ1 ʒãh43] [reʔ1 ʒãh43] [reʔ1 ʒãh21]

he [soʔ4 ʒãh43] [soʔ4 ʒãh43] [zoʔ4 ʒãh21]

she [oʔ4 ʒãh43] [oʔ4 ʒãh43] [oʔ4 ʒãh21]

we [neʔ4 ʒãh43] [neʔ4 ʒãh43] [neʔ4 ʒãh21]

you (plur, informal) [ne3 suh3 ʒãh43] [ne3 suh3 ʃãh43] [ne3 suh3 ʃãh21]

you (plur, formal) [ne3he2reʔ1 ʒãh43] [ne3he2reʔ1 ʒãh43] [nehe3reʔ1 ʒãh21]

they (masculine) [ne3 sih3 ʃãh43] [neh3 sih3 ʃãh43] [neh3 sih3 ʃãh21]

they (feminine) [ʒã43 neh hoʔ4] [nih3 ʃãh43] [tʃa32 nih21]

Figure 18 – The hertz (tones) of so’1 xa43 ‘you (singular, informal) eat’

Figure 19 – The hertz (tones) of so’1 xa43 ‘you (singular, informal) ate’

Figure 20 – The hertz (tones) of so’1 xa21 ‘you (singular, informal) will eat’

This informant pronounced the remaining forms of the future of this verb in the same way, with a two-tone drop. Another possible observation here is that the hertz of the verb in the past are higher than those of the present. At first glance it seems that this could be further evidence to support the hypothesis of using higher tones for the past tense. Upon examining the past and present tense more closely, the hertz (tone) of the subject pronoun is also higher in the past than it is in the present, so the starting point is higher and the difference between the hertz of the

pronoun and the verb is very similar in both tenses so that it negates supporting the hypothesis. In both cases the tone raises three levels from the pronoun to the beginning of the verb, so there is no true difference between them; it was just a slight variance in the informant’s voice. To summarize xo’4 ‘to eat’, this monosyllabic verb that does not use a prefix somewhat follows the rule documented by Good but drops two tone levels instead of one in the future, most likely so it is easier to distinguish from the other two tenses which are identical.

The researcher proposes that these four verbs create a group that follows the norms of verb formation described by Good. There is a little variation but overall they follow the rule.

Summary of Observations of the Triqui Verbal System

After studying the verbal system, it is apparent that the system is very complex, complicated, and volatile and consists of many inconsistencies. It also appears that the rules set forth by Good, at least in the formation of the future, remain incomplete. Upon beginning the analysis of the verb a’mi32 ‘to talk/speak’ there was a rise of one tone observed in a few forms of the past tense and also maintaining the same tones in the future paradigm as the present in a few forms. As this seems to be an anomaly, it could indicate a select group of verbs that experience these changes rather than the ones previously documented. The study also signaled a substantial group in which all tones are lowered in the future rather than only the tone of the radical. The evidence points to a noteworthy possibility that this group of verbs exists and that perhaps, due to a lack of available tools and technology to Good, he was not able to discover or discern it before. There also appears a significant group that very closely, almost perfectly, follows the conjugations rules in Good’s dictionary. This group includes, in this study, a monosyllabic verb without a prefix in its past and future forms that lowers two tone levels in the future instead of one. The last discovery in this study involves the only verb that has a rising tone contour in the present and past tenses and changes to a descending tone contour in the future suggesting that increasing tonal curves may not be possible in the future paradigm in Chicahuaxtla Triqui.

In conclusion, it is evident that the formation of the future involves a drop in tone in the radical of the verb with very few exceptions, but it seems that there remain more details of the verbal system to be discovered, especially in the formation of the future. This investigation of the Chicahuaxtla verbal system uncovered a few findings and can serve as a starting point for future studies. The research suggests that other native Triqui speakers be interviewed to compare the findings of this study with other speakers to discover if the different verb groups and characteristics proposed here exist and that what was found here is not limited to the idiolect of the informant; namely a group of verbs which follows the patterns documented by Good, another group in which all tones in the verb descend a tone and not only the radical, if increasing tonal contours can exist in the future like they can in the past and present, and if monosyllabic verbs experience a two-level descent in tone rather than lowering a single tone. The Chicahuaxtla

Triqui verbal system is complicated and complex. Many details have been discovered but many opportunities remain to continue discovering, documenting, and detailing the system in order to add to and complete the base that Claude Good and others have provided.

Bibliography

DiCanio, Christian. University Of California at Berkeley, n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2011. <http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~dicanio/>.

"Dr. Robert Longacre Honored by LACUS." SIL International Media Release. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Oct. 2007. Web. 3 Aug. 2011. <http://www.sil.org/sil/news/2007/longacre.htm>.

Erickson de Hollenbach, Elena. “Gramática popular del triqui de Copala.” Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. 2005.

Good, Claude. “Diccionario triqui de Chicahuaxtla.” Serie de vocabularios indígenas. Mariano Silva y Aceves. Vol. 20. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. México, D.F. 1979.

Institute for Teaching, Learning and Academic Leadership. University at Albany, n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2011. <http://www.albany.edu/teachingandlearning/about_us/staff/ruth.shtml>.

Summer Institute of Linguistics, n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2011. <http://www.sil.org/~hollenbachb/>.

web viewfigures 8 through 10 show the hertz levels and the transcriptions of these conjugations....

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