Hopi, Survey of an Uto-Aztecan Language

2 Pages·1991·0.12 MB·English

by  Grune, Dick

Hcpi hassix Vbwels, 6ich either short 6tfong: a, e, i and o are pfx>-
iKMiDoed roughly as in Spanish or Italian, but 6 and u require some
explanation.
The 6 is like the Qfcrman d tnitVwitl^Jess lip rounding. It can be
produced by first prpoouncifig an .«b in 'met* and then without
changing UHigueand mouthjposttionsaythe 'u* as in 'bttt'. Ifymi try
thisby fifstsaying 'ehe' (with twice the *e* oi'mtC)andthen inodify
it10 'tthtt' (wtth twice the 'u' of'but') yougive ahit imitation ofthe
The Hopi u is an unrounded V. ^y the English word 'put'
while kaeping theHps flat ratherthan roundingthem. Thisgives you
anapproximation lothe Hopi wofdput »him/her.
Long vowels are written doubly: aa for a long a. They are shor-
tened automatically whenthey follow anotherioiq;vowel: kwaahu «
eagle but ' itMirl^^hu « qwr-<ag!U. (V^^ hyphen between
' it&£^ » Mfr% and -Icwahja ^ -eagle is used hereonly toshow the
structureoftheword; it isnotwritten in Hopi: ' itIULkwahu.)
The consonants h, k, 1, m, n» nq, p^ s, t» ta, w and y aip pro-
nounced roughly as in English; the ng and ta eachcpuntasone con-
sonant. Fourotherconsonantsrequire someexplanation:
* the 'glotui stop'. This is the 'break' in the middle ofthe English
exclamation 'Oh*oh!' and the German word 'Theater'; it is also
found in the London prbhunciationof'water' asvo*a. In Hopi it
is a normal consonant, at par with p, k, etc. It occurs as the first
sound ofwords that seem tostart with avowel; examples we have
seen are 'oho = tocough and * it&&-kwahu = our-eagle.
q a k-like sound made furtherback in the throat, but notsofar asthe
.5-
Arabic'qof . The k inthe English 'awkwiird' isclose,
r befofe a vbwel: a voiced 'sh', as in English 'measure'; elsewhere
(b^fbit consonants and at word end) just like s; never like the
EngNsh,American or Italianr.
V bilabial* as in Spanish; proog^noed with the same lip positions as
the Englishb.
The k, ng and to some e^Lteiat the q have the property that they
can be pr^no^pccd simultaneoii^y with a v (Mabialized^) or a y
^ing
Cpalatized'), rise tofive ite^consonants:
normal k ng q
ngv qw
labialized lew
palatized ky ngy
Agisin, each ofthese counts as a single consonant, in spite ofappear-
ances.
Hopi docs not distinguish bityyn voiced and voiceless con-
sonants: theie is nob; d, g,amn^dyUll^ v,them isno f. A
pattheb^ikmingof#mutA duMI^ttivi»HmmMdIt«fm^MOid:
poosi^i^smed^mtmy^U}'^t€n^ exMifrie, in•ItkUi'^TOnl
speach seed. Likeiwise, die vitll»end ofa woid ii pioaeMoad p
by manyspeakers: 'evor *ep»alir.
Stressis normallyonthefirstK^flW^ butmay^on thesecond if
there are mc^ than two syilabftik lii^^ when tile first vowel is
shoitand thesecoMistdhg: ' itii^klriihu ^ai#-i|2fe. When itis
onthefirstsyllable, thfestress isnot^icated inthistext.
Grune,Dick. 1991. Hopi, Surveyof anUto-Aztecan
Language.Wales: CyhoeddwrJosephBiddulph.