Vowels and Vocables in Lower Tanana Athabascan

Abstract

This paper discusses differences between the vowel inventory of spoken Benhti Kenaga’ (Lower Tanana Athabascan, TAA, Minto dialect) and the inventory found in vocables in Minto songs. Phonetic, musical, and ethnographic factors are considered. While no one of these approaches appears to provide a full explanation for the difference, the combined factors all create a tendency toward a vocable inventory with more peripheral vowels than the spoken vowel inventory. High front vowels are associated with higher melodic points and non-high back vowels with lower points in melody.