30 Chapter 2 Phonology
items. Stevens (1968) estimates that 95% of all Madurese words make use of
these alternating vowels. Each pair consists of a high vowel and a non-high vo-
wel that match in backness and whose distribution is determined by the phono-
logical environment in which it occurs. The pairs are given in (20).
(20) Alternating vowels
ɛ ~ i
ɔ ~ u
a ~ ɤ
ə ~ ɨ
The conditioning environment is the preceding consonant: high vowels follow
the voiced and voiceless aspirated stops; the low counterparts occur elsewhere,
although there are systematic exceptions for [l], [r], , and [s] under specific
circumstances discussed below. The regular case is illustrated first with the ~ i
pair.
(21)ɛ ~ i
ɛ i
p pɛkkɛr ‘think’ p pikɤl ‘rob’
ɛki ‘tall’ b bilɤ ‘when’
ṭ ṭɛṭɛɛl ‘make anxious’ t tiɛl ‘shake’
c cɛ ‘very’ d dibɤsa ‘mature’
k kɛnɛ ‘small’ ṭ ṭicca ‘lame’
m mɛmpɛ ‘dream’ ḍ ḍijɤ ‘here’
n nɤmɔr ‘dry season’ c cirɤ ‘knot’
ɲ ɲɛjɔr ‘coconut’ ibut ‘corpulent’
ɛḍḍɤ ‘sleep soundly’ k ki ‘yet’
l lɛwa ‘pass’ g gigit ‘teeth’
r rɛbɤ ‘lap’
s sɛkɔ ‘I’
#___ ɛa’ ‘remember’
Consider first just the bilabial stops: [ɛ] follows [p] in [pɛkkɛr] ‘think’, but fol-
lowing [p] and [b], the high variant [i] occurs, as in [pikɤl] ‘rob’ and [bilɤ]
‘when’. The same is true for the other four series of stops. [ɛ] occurs following
all of the nasals as well as [l], [r], and [s], when the last three are in word-initial
position. [ɛ] also occurs in word-initial position. The overwhelming majority of
lexical items show this pattern. (Exceptions are discussed below.) While illu-
stration with word-initial consonants is highlighted here, the pattern obtains