January 5, 2003
SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
2003
MLA Annual Meeting
Session on Diachronic Poetics
December 28, 2002
Tohono O'odham
Metrical Consistency in Two Poetic
Genres of Tohono O'odham
• Tohono O'odham (or Papago) is a Native American
language from the Uto-Aztecan language family
spoken in southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.
• The language has a significant oral tradition, much of
which has been published in O'odham, as well as in
English translations
Colleen M. Fitzgerald
Texas Tech University
[email protected]
http://english.ttu.edu/fitzgerald
1
Oral Literature in Tohono O'odham
2
The Relevant Genres
• O'odham oral literature includes:
– Traditional songs (Densmore 1929, Herzog 1936, Chesky
1941, Haefer 1977, 1980, 1981, Bahr 1980, 1979, Bahr et.
Al 1979, Wallace 1981, Bahr and Haefer 1978, Underhilll
1993)
– Myths and Creation Stories (Saxton and Saxton 1973, Bahr
2001)
– Autobiography (Mathiot 1991, Underhill 1985, Manuel and
Neff 2001)
– Ritual speeches (Bahr 1975, Bahr et. al 1974, Underhill et. al
1979)
– Contemporary poetry (Zepeda 1995, 1997)
– Also significant storytelling collections (coyote tales) Mathiot
n.d., Saxton and Saxton 1973, Bahr 2002)
3
• This paper compares the metrical consistency of
two genres, traditional songs and modern poetry.
• The meter of traditional O'odham songs are
strictly trochaic, although line length is
unregulated (Fitzgerald 1998).
• More recently, contemporary poetry has been
written by Ofelia Zepeda, a native speaker of
O'odham who is also bilingual in English (Zepeda
1995, 1997).
• The comparison shows that while both genres
are trochaic, traditional songs display more
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trochaic elements than contemporary poetry.
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
2003
Differences in the Two Genres
• Contrast in genre type:
– songs versus poems.
• Contrast temporally:
– songs are traditional and the poetry is modern.
• Contrast in mode of delivery:
– the songs represent oral literature, while
contemporary poetry is written
• Contrast in the linguistic mode:
– the songs are monolingual in O'odham and the
poetry is bilingual O'odham and English.
5
Verse Change without Linguistic Change
• For the Tohono O'odham language,
traditional songs are more conventionalized
than modern poetry; the meter of traditional
songs is more rigid and more trochaic.
• The two verse forms in Tohono O'odham are
relatively similar, although song language
does have certain properties not found in
normal speech.
• The songs are performed today; the
language is similar in song and poetry. This
is different from a comparison across different
time spans in English (i.e., Beowulf,
7
Shakespeare)
Relevance for Diachronic Poetics
• The two genres vary in at least four different
ways, so we cannot determine whether
temporal change alone necessarily results in
a weakening of rhythmic effects.
• The metrical differences, and the metrical
consistency between these two literary forms
suggests one trajectory of historical change
for the verse systems of a particular
language.
• Even with change, I will argue that these two
different genres display an evident metrical
consistency in their meters.
6
The Idea: Metrical Consistency
• Metrical consistency: the degree to which a
meter or rhythm type is replicated across
genres; the comparison can hold at a surface
level, or at an underlying level of scansion
• Classical Greek: metrically inconsistent at a
surface level (dactylic hexameter, iambic
trimeter, etc.)
• Japanese: metrically consistent across poetic
genres, as well as in the language's nonpoetic prosody; these forms all count moras,
with lines of either 5 or 7 moras each (haiku,
tanka, chooka, sedooka, katauta,
8
bussokuseikika)
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
2003
Metrical Consistency in O'odham
• The argument here:
Rhythmic Patterns in Words
• Lexical rhythm manifests itself most strongly
in terms of stressed and unstressed syllables
• Particularly salient is the main stressed
syllable, which is the initial syllable of the
prosodic word
• Tohono O'odham words are trochaic
The two genres are metrically consistent,
although the songs display a stronger
trochaic rhythm than the poetry.
• A trochaic foot is maintained in both genres,
but the distributional properties of the trochee
differ in songs and poetry.
• There is an extremely strong preference for a
stressed syllable (strong) to be followed by an
unstressed syllable (weak) (Fitzgerald 1997a,b, 2001a, 2002b)
9
10
Trochaic Rhythm in the Lexicon
Alternating Rhythm in Words
pa¤˘do
• Stressed syllables at the beginning of words
• Alternating strong-weak rhythm
• Unstressed syllables in second position
(stressed syllables in second position typify
an iambic rhythm)
'duck'
pa¤pado$
'ducks' (reduplication - copied syllable - indicates plural)
pa¤pado$ga
'owning ducks'
• Strong-weak is the key organizing principle in
Tohono O'odham (Fitzgerald 2002a, 2002b)
pa¤˘doga$kam
'one who owns ducks'
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12
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
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Trochaic Foot
Traditional Songs
• Trochee (trochaic foot):
S
– Song forms are very different from
forms that would appear in speech
– Native speakers may have difficulty
identifying what speech forms
correspond with song forms.
W
13
14
First Celkona Song
Features of Songs
hu¤du¯iN ta¤hNio g ¯ˆ¤¯ˆi ka¤inagimˆ
•
•
•
•
•
Repetition of lines and entire verses.
Heavy nasalization
Short verse length
Instruments used
Extra syllables and vowels compared to
spoken language
At dusk, before the songs resounding
hu@du¯iN ta¤hNio g ¯ˆ¤¯ˆi ka¤inagimˆ
At dusk, before the songs resounding
kuc& ame wo?i wa kame ¯ˆ¤inac&uNa
And I arrive there and watch
hu@du¯ i wˆ¤Niumhim am
Dusk, being pulled along
ˆna si wa ham ka¤inada.
Inside, arriving there to be heard.
•
15
(Text, Haefer 1977; Translation, Fitzgerald 1993)
16
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
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O'odham Song Meter
Reduplication
• Lines begin with only two types of
sequences
– Strong-weak or weak-weak
• Lines never begin with iambic sequences
• Two stressed syllables are never adjacent
• Everywhere in song lines, a strong is
always followed by a weak, even if this
means an extra syllable is added
• Morphology "fixes" bad feet by adding a
syllable
17
Reduplication in the Meter
na
ßo¤ßo
ku¤˘ku˘Nˆ
• Speech : oi
na
ßo¤n
ku¤˘g
•
soon perhaps the beginning
the end
• "soon perhaps the beginning, the end,"
ß go¤gs 'dog' versus go¤-gogs 'dogs'
ß pa¤˘do 'duck' versus pa¤-pado$ 'ducks'
ß da¤ikuÍ 'chair' versus da¤-daiku$Í 'chairs'
18
Making Perfect Feet
• The morphology of the language
ensures the rhythmic pattern is invariant
(unlike English iambic pentameter)
• Speech forms (ordinary language)
versus song forms (song language)
• Song: oi
• English morphology creates plurals by adding
the -s suffix
• O'odham morphology creates plurals by
copying the first consonant and vowel of the
word
• Reduplication marks plural in O'odham
19
• Extra copied syllables appear wherever a
strong syllable would NOT be followed by a
weak syllable
– Imperfect trochaic feet in speech lines
– Perfect trochaic feet in song lines
• Reduplication in the morphology: the way
that O'odham indicates plural
• Reduplication in song meter: the way that
O'odham creates trochaic feet
• The morphology makes the trochaic effects
stronger by allowing a weak to follow every
strong
20
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
2003
Feet in Songs and Speech
Summary of Rhythmic Effects
• Evidence for trochaic rhythm
Song
s
oi
s
oi
w
na
w
na
s w
s`o-@ s`o
s
s`o@n
– Beginnings of lines: only 2 of the four possible
patterns (no weak-strong or strong-strong)
– Within lines, reduplication creates a trochaic
rhythm (no strong-strong line-internally)
– Lines never end with a stressed syllable
s w
ku@:-ku:-Ne
s
ku@g
Speech soon perhaps beginning end
"Soon, perhaps, the beginning, the end."
21
Rhythm of Traditional Songs
• Lines allow weak-weak sequences
freely, but restrict weak-strong and
never allow strong-strong.
• Reduplication can always provide a
weak to follow a strong
22
Contemporary Poetry
• Strict trochaic meter
• Strong trochaic effects are found in a variety
of places (line-initially, line-internally, in the
morphology using reduplication)
• Complex, interesting meter (Fitzgerald 1998)
• Strong-weak predominates in traditional
songs
23
• Ofelia Zepeda, an O'odham poet who is also
bilingual in English (Zepeda 1995, 1997)
• An examination of 165 line-initial sequences
in the poetic meter (Fitzgerald To appear, 2002b)
• Lines vary in their length so that there does
not seem to be a consistent length
• The poetry exists written, although there are
also recordings of some of the poetry
24
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
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Ka¤c&im ßu¤dagi8 by Ofelia Zepeda
Features of Modern Poetry
• Zepeda varies the language of the poetry;
poems are written in O'odham only, English
only, or alternates different language by lines
• The unit of line generally serves as a strong
demarcation between the two languages.
• The language used in poetry basically the
same language used in normal spoken
contexts, although it is organized more
rhythmically.
S-wˆ¤gima ?am ka¤˘c& g ha¤?ic&u hio¤sig
S-cˆ¤˘daghim?am ka¤˘ c& g ha¤?ic&u hio¤sig
S-i¤˘bhaghim ?am ka¤˘c& g ha¤?ic&u hio¤sig
?Am ka¤˘c& hˆg da¤˘ m gˆ¤? ˆ ka¤˘c& im ßu¤˘dagi8
Hˆg wu¤i ?att ?i-u¤‰ g s-kˆ¤˘g ha¤?ic&u c&ˆg
¤ i8todag
Hˆg wu¤i ?att ?i-u¤‰ g s-?a¤p ta¤˘hadag
Hˆg wu¤i ?att ?i-u¤‰ g ?i¤˘ mdag
?Am ?att ta¤˘t g gˆ¤?ˆ ka¤˘c&im ßu¤˘ dagi8
k ?amj&ˆ d ?am ?aß ?i-da¤gi8to
25
26
Rhythm in Modern Poetry
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Red-colored blossoms
Green-colored blossoms
Purple-colored blossoms
All float above the laying water
Toward it we extend only good thoughts
Toward it we extend only good feelings
Toward it we extend kinship
We touched this laying water
And then we left it alone
•
"Ka:cim s`u:dagi)" by Ofelia Zepeda (from Zepeda 1997)
• There is a tendency towards trochaic
rhythm, less so than in poetry
• Line-initial patterns show trochaic
tendencies (but less so than songs)
• Syntactic rules are used to reinforce the
trochaic rhythm.
27
28
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
2003
Phonological classification of
line-initial sequences in poetry
Distribution of Patterns
• Line-initially:
– All four possible sequences can begin poetry lines
– A strong avoidance of initial sequences of two
stressed syllables (but can occur)
– A igh occurrence of non-final sequences of an
iambic sequence, weak strong (but occurs often)
• Also see a strong tendency for lines to begin
with a strong-weak sequence
• However:
– poetry can also end with a stressed syllable (never in
songs) or allow line-internal adjacent stresses (never in
songs)
Initial phonological sequence
weak-weak
strong-weak
weak-strong
strong-strong
Total
# of lines
78
64
20
3
165
% of lines
47.3%
38.8%
12.1%
1.8%
100%
29
Syntactic Distribution
• Tohono O'odham also shows syntactic effects
of rhythm, in and out of verse (Fitzgerald 1994, To
appear)
• The g-determiner marks all otherwise
unmarked nouns; it is an unstressed element
that precedes the noun without contributing
any syntactic or semantic notion of
definiteness or specificity
• The g-determiner is never found utteranceinitially (Zepeda 1983: 13)
• The behavior of the g-determiner
demonstrates a dispreference to begin an
utterance with an initial weak-strong
31
sequence
30
No initial G-determiners
S
W
S W S W S W
ba@n ?o
hu@hu?i$d g c&u˘@ wi8.
coyote 3aux chasing det jackrabbit
'The coyote is/was chasing the jackrabbit.'
ß The initial noun, bán, is bare while the
noninitial noun is preceded by the g
determiner
ß Compare when both nouns are noninitial:
S W S
hu@hu?i$d
W W S W S W
?o g ba@n g c&u˘@ wi8.
32
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January 5, 2003
SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
2003
Distribution of the Determiner
ß
ß
ß
ß
ß
Rhythm and Syntax
S W W S W S W S
ba@n ?o g c&u˘@ wi8 hu@hu?i$d.
S W W S WS W S
c&u˘@ wi8 ?o hu@hu?i$d g ba@n.
SW S W W S W W S
hu@hu?i$d ?o g c&u˘@ wi8 g ba@n.
S W W W S SW S
c&u˘@ wi8 ?o g ba@n hu@hu?i$d.
W
*g
S W W W S SW S
c&u˘@ wi8 ?o g ba@n hu@hu?i$d.
(construct)
33
• Twice as many lines begin with a trochaic
sequence as with an iambic sequence
• Tendency to begin with trochees
ß Zepeda's poetry shows that there are no
cases with initial g-determiners
ß Ba:ban ganhu ge c&i>pia
– Avoid iambs
– Avoid adjacent stressed syllables
"coyotes moving along over there"
Wa nt o m-n(ˆ?i g j&u>ki8 n(ˆ?i
• Nearly half of these lines begin with a weakweak sequence
• Trochaic meter, but could be "more trochaic"
"I would sing for you rain songs"
ß Syntactic effects help make the poetry more
trochaic, although there are no other
additional devices (like reduplication)
ß Rhythmic constraints rule out this type of
configuration and serve to structure the syntax34
The Meter of Modern Poetry
Syntax in Zepeda's Poetry
ß
ß The equivalent meaning of the different word
orders shows that the determiner contributes
nothing semantically
• The unstressed determiner followed by a noun
with initial stress constitutes an iambic
sequence (disfavored by Trochee constraint)
ß Phonologically, the distribution of the determiner
is predictable: utterances are not allowed to
begin with iambs where the semantics will not
be affected
35
36
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January 5, 2003
SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
2003
Constraints on the Rhythm
Variable Constraint Ranking
• No Clash
– No adjacent strong beats on the grid.
– (Avoid strong-strong)
• These constraints vary in terms of the
strength they have in affecting rhythmic
patterns;
• Trochee
• All three are very strong in words;
• The first two (*Clash, Trochee) are very strong
in songs
ß Trochee is getting ready to retire
– Feet have initial prominence
– (Prefer strong-weak groupings)
• No Lapse
– No adjacent weak beats on the grid
– (Avoid weak-weak)
ß Same constraints in the meter, just
applying at different priorities (strengths)
according to different genres
37
Gradient Rhythmic Effects
• My research on rhythm in other domains in
O'odham shows that all genres show at least
some manifestation of trochaic rhythm
• A preference for stressed syllables as the first
syllable in words, sentences, discourse units,
and poetic lines.
• An avoidance of stressed syllables as the
second syllable in words, sentences,
discourse units and poetic lines.
• Different degrees of "trochaicity" across
genres: songs are more trochaic than poetry,
which is more trochaic than narratives
39
38
Metrical Consistency in O'odham
• This paper has argued that verse forms can
be characterized in terms of metrical
consistency
• I have shown that the trochaic foot
characterizes two different rhythmic genres in
Tohono O'odham: traditional songs and
contemporary poetry
• Furthermore, traditional songs display a more
rigid application of trochaic meter than
contemporary poetry does.
• We can use ranked constraints to model this.
• Metrical consistency allows the reiteration of
a rhythmic motif across the temporal plane. 40
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SSILA 2003/LSA Annual MeetingJanuary 5,
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