Did you know that the Hawaiian language doesn't have a t sound? This is incredibly odd. Weirder: It's related to Samoan and Tongan, and they both have t's. So does the ancestor language, Polynesian.
Also, Samoan doesn't have a k, but Hawaiian and Tongan do.
That is all.
Love, Dory
A "Tea" and then a "T." Love it!
ReplyDeleteThat IS curious. I wonder if it has something to do with a superstitious omission, like we talked about before? Are there words common to two or all three of the languages, or perhaps to Polynesian, where the omission of "t" or "k" can be traced? And if so, I wonder what sound, if any, would be substituted.
Also, why is it so strange not to have a "t" sound? Is there a particular reason why it's odd for a language to omit that sound?
ReplyDeletehaha, I was thinking about that too! meh!
ReplyDeleteIt can definitely be traced--this came up in my linguistics homework.
Here are some examples:
"forbidden"
Tongan: tapu
Samoan: tapu
Rarotongan: tapu
Hawaiian: kapu
"side"
Tongan: tafaʔaki
Samoan: tafa
Rarotongan: taʔa
Hawaiian: kaha
"sea"
Tongan: tahi
Samoan: tai
Rarotongan: tai
Hawaiian: kai
(sidenote: the symbol "ʔ" is called a glottal stop. We have it in English, too, though we don't think of it as that. Compare how you would say the "t" sound in the word "tile" versus how you pronounce it in "mitten." Most people don't actually make a t sound in "mitten"--you just stop the air in the back of your throat and then release it. That's a glottal stop.)
In these two words, and in about 10 other examples in the data set we got, what came out as a "t" in Tongan, Samoan, and Rarotongan, and consistently ended up a "k" in Hawaiian. I have no idea why.
Something of note, though is that Hawaiian has a really small amount of sounds in the language. Like less than 20, compared to the 40 or 50 English has. I haven't heard any explanation as to why. Think, though, about the location of the Hawaiian language. It is related linguistically to these other languages, but it is very far away and isolated geographically, explaining why its so different from them. I can't think of why that would explain their super small sound inventory, though.
There are only a few languages, of the thousands of languages in the world, that don't have a t. It's an easy sound to make, compared to something like a glottal stop or even an m or l, which is why most languages have it and keep it around.
ReplyDeleteMy first question would be, which language(s) are older? If the Hawaiian language is younger than Samoan and Tongen, I can think of one possible reason. Though it's not really an explanation, it could be along the right track...
ReplyDeleteSomething we talk about a lot in Anthropology is the ways in which people can effect their own evolution. We have the ability to stop or encourage child birth. We can choose who is allowed to reproduce. We create social mores and prejudices that effect genetic patterns in ways that just don't happen the rest of the animal kingdom.
This concept can apply to language as well. We've discussed before how certain words and sounds can be weeded out, whether by a conscious effort or simply because "the language doesn't like" them.
To omit a sound like "t," as well as a pretty good portion of other sounds that are common to both related languages and the ancestor language of all three, seems more along the lines of a conscious choice. I'm completely stumped on any hypothesis as to why they would do it, but that's where the anthropological study would come in...
... and to consistently substitute one sound for the omission of another particular sound, I'm not sure whether that would indicate a purposeful change, or a natural one. Kind of like the way native Chinese speakers will consistently substitute the English "l" for an "r."
ReplyDeletehmmm, I dunno. I can't seem to find any answer as to why Hawaiian has so few sounds. Everyone finds it odd, but no one takes it any further than that. And I don't know enough about Hawaiian culture or history to make any jusdgements myself...
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking the sound change isn't conscious, though. I don't think very many sound changes are--why would a group of speakers decide to weed out t's? It might have to do with environment, maybe even evolution and the shape of their vocal tracts.
Also, I don't know whether the l and r substitution is consistent or not. I think it just happens sometimes, and depends on how well the speaker knows English. The reason it happens is because one of the Chinese Languages (I don't remember if it's Mandarin or Cantonese, maybe both or maybe even other Asian languages) doesn't distinguish between l and r, and they think it's weird that we do, and have a hard time remembering which is which. Kind of like how English speakers don't distinguish between a t and a glottal stop.
Ooooh, I see. I ran through a series of thoughts concerning actual physical obstructions in the mouth that would make a "t" sound difficult and a "k" sound easier, but didn't come to any conclusions with that, haha. The teeth aren't used for either sound, nor are the lips. Both of which are things that might change language sounds if altered. For example, some Brazilian and West African tribes stretch their lower lips as a symbol of status, maturity, wealth, etc. I imagine those individuals who have lip plates have a hard time with sounds like "m," or "p," and might omit those sounds from their speech, or perhaps the language altogether.
ReplyDeleteOne sound I can think of that was consciously changed would be the French "r." That's my best example, and I got it from you, haha.
As for the "l" to "r" thing, I remember reading about the early 1900's when there were many Asian immigrants coming into the U.S. Immigrant parents often opted to have a surgery performed on their children, which would alter the shape of their tongue. There had been research done concerning whether tongue shape made it easier or harder to make the English sound. I'm not sure, however, whether any of that research was actually conclusive or if it was just a bunch of racially-motivated media hype.
hmm, well it could be something like assimilation, maybe. Assimilation is when a sound becomes more like the sounds around it. An example in English would be words with the prefix in-, which sometimes shows up as "im" instead.
ReplyDeleteinsufficient, inhospitable, etc.
vs
immature, impossible, etc.
It got changed to "im-" in those words because the of sound that comes right after. Notice that the sound "m" is bilabial (make with both lips) while the sound "n" is not. All the words that the im- prefix shows up in have a biliabial sound following that prefix. This is called assimilation--the following sounds were bilabial, so the sound before it became bilabial too.
A lot of sound changes can be attributed to processes like that--I wish I knew more about Hawaiian; maybe those words with the k sounds instead of the t went through something like assimilation? I dunno.
Definitely a possibility! I would be very interested to know more about them as well. I think this blog is going to be a good databank for our graduate theses 0_o
ReplyDeletehahahaha, I agree. All of our best ideas go here. :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should copyright! :P
ReplyDeletejust in case. :P
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I was wondering if we should. We could unofficially copyright and stick a © at the bottom of our bloggy blog. I have one on my other blog cuz of all the photos and such.
I'm game.
ReplyDeletemkay :)
ReplyDelete