Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 103. kötet (2006)
Tanulmányok - Tamás Ildikó: The Lule Saami vocalism 7
due to the prolonged degree (III) of the consonant cluster. It is worth thinking in terms of syllables rather than a foot here and to break up the consonant clusters accordingly: [ha?jj-ka] vs. [he:j-kka]. In the case of the stronger (III) grade, the consonant in the first syllable is pronunced longer, or with a schwa, while the one in the second syllable is always short and schwa-less. In the weaker (II) grade, however, the length and intensity (taken away from the first syllable) are given to the onset of the second syllable. The vowels of the first and the second syllable behave accordingly. The length and intensity lost by the consonant during gradation is transferred to the central vowel. The marginal vowel's pronunciation, however, becomes predictably shorter due to the central vowel's lengthening. These statements are theoretical conclusions, drawn from an examination of the deep structure of the paradigmatic alternations. They will have to be made more precise with phonetic measurements and concrete numerical data, but due to the non-availabilty of the necessary equipment, this has yet to be done. The vowel alternations presented in this paper usually belong to a particular type, that is, they are either due to height harmony or to á-harmony or are quantitative changes. However, there may be cases where several effects are observable in the same root. For example, in fcerjjo - ferjujn 'ferry', there are both height and (grade III—II) quantity adjustments that have to be taken into account. On the other hand, á-harmony does not conspire with other types of harmony. I have mentioned in the introduction that the technical literature does not consider Saami as a language with vowel harmony (although what the term 'Saami' usually means in this connection is the Northern dialect). In this paper, I have attempted to prove that we have to take regressive horizontal harmony (albeit it has disappeared in Northern Saami) into account in both the diachronic and synchronic description of Lule Saami.26 a-harmony and quantitative vowel alternations are missing from the dialects east of Lule. I have found such phenomena in the neighbouring southern dialects (Pite, Urne, Southern), but these have yet to be studied further. Mapping possible parallels of quantitative vowel alternations in the neighbouring dialects and also in those further away from Lule Saami remains an aim for future research.27 26 A similar but more complex phenomenon might be observed in Pite and Southern Saami, where the regressive changes (umlaut, according to the Scandinavian terminology) are not only related to tongue height, but they also show palatovelar correspondences. However, this paper will not discuss this in detail. 27 The author is aware that this topic is in need of further research in several respects. The main goal here was to present a comprehensive introduction to the Lule Saami vocalism in a unified framework. Considering the lack of phonological description of the dialect, mere problem
