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Article published In: What’s so standard about standards? Variationist principles and debates
Edited by Jonathan R. Kasstan
[Asia-Pacific Language Variation 8:2] 2022
► pp. 150–173

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Kawa and the variable stopping of obstruents in Ende

 | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
 | Boston University
 | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Published online: 1 December 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.21003.str
Abstract
This paper details a study investigating sociophonetic variation in Ende, a language spoken in Papua New Guinea. The study examines speech produced by 30 individuals, investigating what social and linguistic factors are linked with the variable alternation between stopped and affricated realizations of Ende retroflex obstruents [ʈ͡ʂ~ʈ] and [ɖ͡ʐ~ɖ].
Our analysis provides evidence that the obstruents in question are more likely to be realized as stops when they are voiced and when the speakers are orators. Orators are people who practice kawa, a long-standing practice whereby select individuals perform regular public orations. Among orators, the speaker’s age also appears to play a role in retroflex stopping. The link between the stop variant and social factors can be understood within the context of the distribution of power in the community, even in the absence of any explicit standard.
Abstract (Ende)
Ge peba da Ende ekong llayaba eka kutt eka tän pallall dan. Ngämi mermerae intngemenyamalla 30 Ende Llimoll att llayaba eka panynenatt de, umllang ede ada ngaseka oba eka panynen ngallen a ttongdae dan o ddone. Ede ngämi eka däntamenyaemnalla eka tän komlla dändär ede, ge <tt> a <dd> alle darbnenang a o ttaemang a erag. Ge eka kutt ngallen a ttatta wa ddaddu eke kutt me dag. Ddob eka panynenang lla da ddone buddobuddog ttaem amallo ge eka kutt de (pällämpälläm eka walle: stop) be ddobagabi ge eka kutt eka tän de buddobuddog (llällam peyang) ttaem amallo (pällämpälläm eka walle: affricate).
Ngämi umllang gogmam ada eka panynenang lla da ami kawawang dag ttängäm makäp me ede ubi eka kutt eka tän de ddone buddobuddog dänttaemaemneyo. Kawawang llabatt lla da ge eka kutt eka tän de ddone buddobuddog (llällam peyang) dänttaemaemneyo. Eka kutt eka tän <dd> da ddone budddog (llällam peyang) ttaemang dan ge <tt> da alla. Ngämi mit de däblleya ada llabatt a kawawang a eka kutt eka tän de ddone buddobuddog (llällam peyang) ttaem amallo ge sisor lla da wa kawameny lla da alla, adawatta kawawang a wa llabatt lla da ttängäm me nyamnenma lla dag.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Ende
    • 2.1Language background
    • 2.2Gender among the Ende tän mit
    • 2.3Kawa public oration
    • 2.4Retroflex obstruents in Ende
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Data
    • 3.2Speakers
    • 3.3Extraction and auditory analysis
    • 3.4Linguistic factors
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Quantitative patterns
    • 4.2Voice, stops, and affricates
  • 5.General discussion
    • 5.1Group patterns
    • 5.2Individual patterns
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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