module 21: types of phonological processes-i linguistics
TRANSCRIPT
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Module 21: Types of Phonological processes-I
Linguistics
Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology
Types of Phonological Processes-I
Principal Investigator Prof. Pramod Pandey Centre for Linguistics, SLL&CS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067
Paper Coordinator Prof. Pramod Pandey
Module ID & Name Lings_P2_M21; Types of Phonological Processes- I
Content Writer Pramod Pandey
Email id [email protected]
Phone 011-26741258, -9810979446
Objectives:
• To give a comprehensive account of the typology of phonological
processes
• To make students aware of the wide use of the processes in various fields
dealing with phonology
Contents:
Introduction
Types of phonological processes
Whole segment phonological processes
Co-occurrence Modification types of phonological processes
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Syllable-based phonological processes
Articulatory phonological processes: Strengthening and Weakening processes
Summary
21.1 Introduction
This module introduces the various types of phonological processes that are
found in world languages. These are presented with definitions and examples.
Although an attempt has been made to present the processes as
comprehensively as possible, they are by no means exhaustive. A full treatment
of the processes will take up more space than we have available in this course.
Besides, there is need to distinguish between individual phonological processes
and the classes of phonological processes. Many of the specific phonological
processes can be grouped into more than one class. Essentially then it is the
individual phonological processes that should be kept in mind.
21.2 Need for the study of phonological Processes
Why should we study phonological processes? The following are some of reasons
for the study of phonological processes:
• Each language has a unique phonological system that makes use of
phonological process that are specific to itself. The types of
processes, however, are finite. This explains the universality of the
processes and the phonological systems they give rise to.
• Many disciplines, such as psycho-neurolinguistics, historical
linguistics, language acquisition, etc. deal with phonology.
Although they differ in their approaches, the processes are
common to them. For a phonologist, it is thus necessary to know
them in order to describe them in those disciplines.
• In the study of the phonological system of a language, students are
expected to name the phonological processes that they discover in
the course of their study.
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• It is assumed that students are familiar with the types of
phonological processes that are discussed in phonological
grammars and studies.
21.3 Types of Phonological Processes
There are two main types of phonological processes- Whole Segment processes and
Modification type processes.
Whole segment processes are those processes that affect the segmental structure of
the word, by deleting, inserting or changing segments from one contrasting segment
type to another. These operate at the level of phonemes
21.4 Whole segment processes
The whole segment processes are the following:
• Insertion
• Deletion
• Syllabication
• Desyllabication
• Coalescence
• Metathesis
The whole-segment processes are discussed below.
21.4.1 Insertion
Insertion takes place when one or more segments are added to a morpheme or a
word. For example, /u/ insertion in Tamil.
[u] insertion in Tamil (Vasanthakumari 1989)
/u/ is inserted at the end of stems ending a consonant other than the palatal
approximant /j/. E.g.
(21/1)
a. /u:t/ [u:t u] ‘to blow’ /ko:r/ [ko:ru] ‘to collect’
/a:ɭ/ [a:ɭu] ‘to rule’ /ʋe:r/ [ʋe:ru] ‘root’
/tu:n/ [tu:nu] ‘pillar’ /e:ʋ/ [e:ʋu] ‘to send’
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b. /pa:l/ [pa:lu] ‘milk’ /pe:r/ [pe:ru] ‘name’
/self/ [selfu] ‘self’ /te:n/ [te:nu] ‘honey’
Stem-final vowel insertion is found in many languages, for example, Japanese and
Kannada.
Depending on where in the word a segment is inserted, we have three different
types of insertion
Insertion at the beginning of words is called Prothesis, , e.g. /i/ epenthesis in
Hindi dialects. Words beginning with a sC- cluster are pronounced with and
initial /i/ in many dialects of Hindi as well as in other languages. For example,
21/2
/sku:l/ [isku:l] ‘school’
/sma:rək/ [isma:rək] ‘memorial’
/stri:/ [istri:] ‘woman’
Insertion in the middle of words is called Epenthesis. More precisely, epenthesis
of vowels is called Anaptyxis, and epenthesis of consonants is called
Excrescence.
Examples of both are given below:
Anaptyxis in borrowed words in Punjabi
Borrowed words in Punjabi that have initial consonant clusters undergo /a/-
Anaptyxis, e. g.
21/3
/sku:l/ [səku:l] ‘school’
/sma:rak/ [səma:rak] ‘memorial’
/praka:sh/ [pərka:sh] ‘light’
Insertion at the end of words is called Paragoge. /u/- insertion in Tamil is an
example of paragoge.
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An example of excrescence is found in Gondi: /son + u:s/ →/sondu:s/‘tolose’.
21.4.2 Deletion or Elision
Deletion takes place when a segment is elided in a given context. For example, in
Hindi, a schwa is deleted when it is occurs in an unstressed open syllable and
flanked by syllables, of t which the preceding syllable is stressed, e.g.
21/4
/təbəla:/ [ˈtəbla:] ‘a percussion instrument’
/məŋɡəla:/ [ˈməŋɡla:] ‘(a name)’
/titəli:/ [ˈtitli:] ‘butterfly’
Depending on the position in the word where a segment is deleted, there are
three types of Deletion.
When a segment is deleted word-initially, we have aphesis oraphaeresis. This
process is commonly found in historical change. For example- amend >mend,
acute>cute, and alone>lone.
When a segment is deleted word-medially, we have syncope. Schwa deletion in
Hindi is an instance of syncope.
When a segment is deleted word-finally, we have apocope. For example, in the
present-day Hindi, the word-final schwa (kept in Sanskrit) is deleted:
21/5
/ra:ma/ [ra:m] ‘(a name)’
/kamala/ [kamal] ‘lotus’
/na:ma/ [na:m] ‘name, noun’
There are many example of apocope in British English. Two of them are Final
/ɡ/-Deletion and Medial /r/- Deletion. Thus, in words ending in /ŋɡ/, the final
/ɡ/ is elided: /sɪŋɡ/ > [sɪŋ], /brɪŋɡ/ > [brɪŋ], etc. And /r/ at the end of words is
deleted, e.g. /fa:r/ [fa:] ‘far’, /rɪvər/ [rɪvə] ‘river’, etc.
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The /r/-Deletion rule in English also takes place when /r/ is followed by a
consonant, as in bird, turning. What type of deletion is the /r/-Deletion rule in
this context?
21. 4.3 Syllabication
Syllabication is the process whereby a consonant comes to occupy the position of
the nucleus of a syllable. This typically happens when a vowel is deleted between
a sonorant consonant another consonant. The sonorant consonant then becomes
syllabic. A syllabic consonant istranscribedwithasubsript[ ] below the
consonant, as for example, in Chokri:
21/6
/məbo4/ [mbo4] ‘kiss’
/mədi4/[mdi4]>[ndi4] ‘to loose’
Englishhas/mnl /and/r/ (in American English) as syllabic consonants in
words such as button, bottom, bottle and butter, pronounced as /bɐtn/, /bɔtm/,
/bɔtll / and /bɑtr/, respectively. In second language varieties like those of Indian
English, there are no syllabic consonants. The syllabic consonants are
pronounced as non-syllabic consonants with a following vowel /ə/, as in Hindi
English /bəʈən/, /bɔ:ʈəm/, /bɔ:ʈəl/ and /bəʈər/.
21.4.4 Desyllabication
Desyllabication takes place when a vowel or a syllabic consonant becomes non-
syllabic. In many languages, that do not permit a sequence of two vowels, one of
the vowels becomes non-syllabic (andtranscibedwithasubscript[ ] or changes
to a semi-vowel, among other possible processes. Thus, in Bhili (Kulkarni 1976:
44), a stem-final /i/ changes to /j/ when followed by /a:/, e.g. kaʈhi + a/ [kaThja/
‘sticks’, /ʈopi + a/ [ʈopja] ‘caps’. In Ao, an/i/ changes to [j] after an /a/, e.g /pá +
i/ [páj/ ‘3PER-M-S-NOM’, i.e ‘he’/lá + i/ [láj] ‘3PER-F-S-NOM’ , i.e. ‘she’. Examples
of a syllabic consonant becoming non-syllabic in related words are commonly
found in English, as in [krɪpling] ‘crippling’ (< /krɪpl/ ‘cripple’), /smɐɡling/
‘smuggling’ (</smɐɡl,/ ‘smuggle’). The process applies optionally in these words
in many varieties of English, which means both the pronunciations, with syllabic
as well as non-syllabic sonorants, are found to exist.
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21.4.5 Coalescence
Coalescence takes place when two segments are fused to give rise to a third
segment. In a lot of languages, vowel coalescence takes place as a result of a
prohibition against the occurrence of a sequence of vowels, as one of the options
(deletion of one of the vowels or insertion of an approximant or glottal stop,
being other options). In these situations, the phenomenon is commonly known
as Vowel Sandhi, as in Sanskrit, for example, /ə +i/ > /e:/ , /a: +i/ > /e:/, /a: +i:/
> /e:/, /ə +u/ > /o:/, /a: +u/ > /o:/, /a: +u:/ > /o:/. E.g. /rəma: +i:sh/ >
/rame:sh/ ‘lord of Rama’, /məha: + utsəʋ/ /məho:tsəʋ/ ‘ a great celebration’.
In Paite, before any consonant except glottal stop /ʔ/ diphthongs /ua/ and /ia/ change to single vowels /o/ and /e/, respectively. This is an example of phonetic coalescence. 21/7 Paite vowel coalescence
Stem Derived Form /ɡua/ ‘bamboo’ /pʰel/ ‘(to) untie’ /ɡopʰel/ ‘catapult’ /vua/‘(to) beat’ /kəp/‘(to)cry’/vokəp/ ‘(to) beat to cry’ /kia/‘(to)fall’/suk/‘steep’/kesuk/ ‘(to) fall downwards’ /bia/‘(to)worship’/ta:/‘non–future’/bet a:/ ‘has worshipped’
A well-known example of the process of consonantal coalescence is found
Indonesian (Halle & Clements 1983: 125)
21/8 Indosian consonant coalscence
/məŋ-pilih/ →məmilih ‘to choose’
/məŋ-tulis/ →mənulis ‘to write’
/məŋ-kasih/ →məŋasih ‘to give’
Coalescence also takes place between tones in tonal languages. For example, in
Hausa (Leben 2009) , when a word ends in a falling tone and the following word
begins with a rising tone, although the first vowel is deleted, a new tone emerges,
as if to preserve the tones of the independent words. For example,
21/9 Hausa Contraction
taa baa ni taa ban ‘she gave (it) to me’
H H L H H L
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Whereas in the word /taa-baa-ni/, there are two tones H and L, in /taa-ban/, a
third tone, a contour tome H-L emerges.
21.4.6 Metathesis
Metathesis takes place when the order of segments changes. For example, in
Gondi (Kulkarni 1976: 45),
21/7 Gondi metathesis
/kabdur +aN/ > /kabudraN/ ‘pigeions’
/datVan +aN/ /dataVnaN/ ‘tooth cleaning sticks’
21.5 Modification Type Phonological Processes
In addition to the types of processes which add, delete, switch or give rise to new
segments, there are processes which modify segments in various ways. The
modification type processes lead to the increase of allophones in the phonemeic
system of a language. Listed below are the main modification types, according to
the following categories:
i. Co-occurrence
ii. Coarticulation
iii. Manner of Articulation
iv. Place of Articulation
v. Transitional
vi. Laryngeal types
vii. Syllable-Based
viii. Articulatory
Some of the processes described below overlap. For instance, voicing, a laryngeal
type process is also a co-occurrence process. However, whereas co-occurrence is
a class, voicing a specific type of process. A specific process can exemplify more
than one class.
21.5.1 Co-occurrence
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Co-occurrence modification processes take place on account of segments
occurring together. The main processes of co-occurrence are the following:
21.5.1.1 Assimilation
When a sound takes the features of a neighbouring sound, the process is known
as assimilation.
Figure 21-1: The assimilated negro
http://theassimilatednegro.blogspot.in/2009/03/love-that-german-egineering-
in.html
Assimilation is one of the major modification type processes. It subsumes
various processes that are classified on different parameters.
Two main parameters of classification are the following:
a. Phonetic features:
b. Direction of change
Assimilation types according to phonetic features
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The classification of assimilation processes according to phonetic features is
mainly in terms of the number of features it involves. Accordingly, it is grouped
as a single feature (e.g. voice), or partial (e.g the place) or total (i.e. all features of
a segment) assimilation. Examples of these are given below.
Sanskrit voicing as single feature assimilation
In Sanskrit, voiceless obstruents are voiced before voiced segments. E.g.
21/10
sət + bʱa:w→sədbʱa:w ‘good will’
wa:k + i:ʃ →wa:ɡi:ʃ ‘god of speech’
s1t + a:ʧa:r →səda:ʧa:r ‘truthful behaviour’
Hindi nasal assimilation as partial assimilation:
In Hindi, nasals assimilate to the following obstruent in place, as can be seen in
2/11: 21/11
ʧəmpa (a flower)’ ʧinta: ‘worry’ ɡʱəɳʈa: ‘hour
ʧəɲʧəl ‘naughty’ ʃəŋka: ‘doubt’ kʰəmbʱa: ‘pillar’
ɡəɲʤa: ‘bald- M-S’ ɡənda: ‘dirty-M-S’ ʈʰəɳɖa: ‘cold-M-S’
ɡəŋɡa: ‘(name of a river)’
In Hindi, a nasal has the same place of articulation as the following stop. The
nasal place assimilation in Hindi is a case of partial assimilation, as it involves
more than one place feature for the segments that are labial, dental, retroflex,
palatal and velar. The process changes a nasal to one of the following places-
labial, dental, retroflex, palatal and velar, before obstruents that are labial,
dental, retroflex, palatal and velar. In the case of Sanskrit, any voiceless
obstruent changes to voice. The process needs to mention that all obstruents
become voiced.
Partial and Total assimilation in English negative prefix
The nasal consonant /n/ in the English negative prefix shows both partial and
total assimilation:
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21/12
a. /in + possible/ impossible /in + balance/ imbalance
b. /in + regular/ irregular /in + legal/ ‘illegal’
The total assimilated consonant is finally a single consonant’ [irregular], [ili:ɡəl].
Assimilation types according to direction of assimilation
These are of two types mainly: Progressive and Regressive assimilation. If the
direction of assimilation is rightward, that is, the following sound acquires the
features of the preceding sound, the process is progressive assimilation, as in
Tulu (Bhat 1967). In Tulu, when a dental voiced stop or a dental lateral follows a
retroflex consonant, it becomes retroflex, e.g.
21/13
uɳ + de [uɳɖe] ‘I ate’ uɳ +la [uɳɭa:] ‘eat!’
kuɭ + la [kuɭɭa] ‘sit!’ paɖ ɨ + la [paɖɭa] ‘put!’
If the direction of assimilation is leftward, that is, the preceding sound acquires
the features of the following sound, the process is regressive or anticipatory
assimilation. For example, nasal assimilation in Hindi is regressive, as it takes the
place of the following stop consonant.
Vowel Harmony
A well-known type of assimilation is Vowel Harmony. It involves assimilation of
features between vowels at a distance. Various languages such as Bangla, Telugu
from India and Korean, Mongolian and Turkish, among others, have vowel
harmony. Examples of vowel harmony are abundantly found in Arabic dialects.
In Yemeni variety of Arabic, for example, verbs are classified as either a- type or
i- type, as shown below in 3rd person singular forms:
21/14
a- type ‘to write i- type ‘to drink’
a. katabat ʃiribit
b. katabah ʃiribih
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The data are taken from
http://individual.utoronto.ca/pmonahan/papers/Monahan_2009_EALL.pdf
As we can see, all the vowels in the a-type verbs are ‘a’ vowel, and all the vowels
in i-type verbs are ‘i’ vowel.
21.5.1.2 Dissimilation
Dissimilation takes place when a sound is modified so that it differs from a
neighbouring sound in some property.
In Chokri, a labial nasal [m] is realized as a labiodental [ɱ] before /u/, a rounded
(labial) vowel. In Greek, a voiceless velar stop becomes a fricative before another
stop. E.g. /epta/ [efta] ‘seven’, /ktizma/ [xtizma] ‘building’. (See
http://udel.edu/~koirala/phonology/day5.pdf).
In Paite (Moi 2015), when a verb stem ends in a coronal and a velarnasal/n,ŋ/
thederivedverbstemisdevoicedtoavoicelesscoronalplosive/t/beforea
nominaliser/na/:
Paite nasal dissimilation
21/15
Stem Derived Forms a) /ŋe:n/ ‘(to) ask/request’ /na:/ ‘nominalizer’ /ŋetna:/ ‘application’ b) /tsıŋ/ ‘kind’ /na:/ ‘nominalizer‘ /tsıtna:/ ‘kindness’ c) /doŋ / ‘(to) question’ /na:/ ‘nominalizer’ /dotna:/ ‘questioning’
Dissimilation in the above case is of the feature nasal. A nasal changes to a
plosive before a nasal.
Well-known cases of dissimilation are found in tonal languages. It has been
observed, that generally, identical tones are not permitted in tonal languages.
This principle has been given the name of Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP). In
some languages, if there are identical tones, they become dissimilar, as in Tianjin
(Yip 2009)
Tianjin tone dissimilation
21/16
LH.LH → H.LH /xiLH/ →[xiH.lianLH] ‘wash one’s face’
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HL.HL → L.HL /jingHL/ →[jingL.zhongHL] ‘net weight’ L.L → LH.L /feiL/ →[feiLH.jiL] ‘airplane’
21.5.2 Coarticulation
As discussed in Module 9, Coarticulation is one of the most interesting
phenomena in phonetics and phonology. Phonetically, coarticulation is “the
overlapping of adjacent articulations” (Ladefoged 1993: 55). Coarticulation is
also unplanned compared to Co-occurrence phenomena such as assimilation.
One of the intriguing and interesting issues in the study of coarticulation is how
given identical contexts, language varieties choose different ways of realizing
coarticulatory effects. We looked at the process of nasalization in Standard
English and in second language varieties of English, such as the varieties of
Indian English in the examples in 9/1.
Secondary articulation
Secondary articulations are the best known examples of the processes of
coarticulation. Secondary articulation takes place when sounds are modified to
add another articulatory feature to the main or primary articulator features.
These are in the main Labialization (the addition of lip rounding), Palatalization
(raising the front of the tongue), Velarization (raising the back of the tongue) and
Pharyngealization (the raising of the root of the tongue or the epiglottis). These
are discussed in detail in Module 9. We will not dwell on them further here. You
are advised to go back to module 9 to refresh your understanding of these
modification types.
Co-articulatory processes also include processes that involve change in the
place of articulation in the vocal tract, as described below.
Retraction. Retraction takes place when a sound is articulated with the tongue
moving inward in the vocal tract. For example, in Assamese, alveolar consonants
are retracted to and retroflexed before /r/: /sɑ:tro/ [sɑ:ʈro] ‘student’, /mitro/
[miʈro] ‘friend. In Malto, the alveolar trill /r/ is retracted to a uvular trill [ʀ]
before uvular plosives /q ɢ/: /orɢu/ [oʀɢu] ‘nail. In Kodagu, /a/ is retracted to
[ɑ] when preceded by velar and glottal consonants: /akka/ [ɐkkɑ] ‘then’, /maha/
[mɐhɑ] ‘big, famous’. (Note that [ɐ]< /a/ occurs non-finally.)
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Advancement. Advancement Retraction takes place when a sound is articulated
with the tongue moving outward in the vocal tract. For example, in Gondi, a
voiceless retroflex plosive changes to a voiceless alveolar plosive before front
vowels: /ka:nɖi:r/ [ka:ndi:r] ‘boys’.
Centralization. Centralization takes place when a sound is articulated with the
tongue moving towards the centre in the vocal tract. For example, in Oriya, the
non-low vowels /i u e o/ are centralized [ıueo] before retroflex stops: /piʈ/
[pıʈ] ‘to beat’, /uʈʰ/[uʈʰ] ‘to get up’, /beɭɔ/[beɭɔ] ‘a fruit’, /oʈo/[oʈo] ‘camel’.
Another major type of co-articulatory processes are those that involve a change
in the manner of articulation of a sound. The prominent once are described
below.
Affrication. When a plosive or a fricative changes to an affricate, the process is
called affrication. For example, in Lepcha, /s/ is affricated and aspirated [ʧʰ],
following an alveolar nasal /n/ or plosive /t/: ...
Approximantization. When a non-approximant consonant changes to an
approximant, the process is called approximantization. For example, in Limbu,
/b/ is optionally approximantized to [w] between two vowels or after the nasal
consonant /n/: /nuba/ [nuba] or [nuwa] ‘new’, /budʱəba:r/ [budʱəba:r] or
[budʱəwa:r] ‘Wednesday.’
Flapping. When the tip and the blade of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge or
the hard palate and returns without creating an obstruction in the oral passage.
Retroflex flapping is a common process in Indic languages. E. g. Hindi: /ɡʱo:ɖa:/
à [ɡʱo:ɽa:] ‘horse’.
Occlusion. Occlusion takes place when a consonant other than a plosive changes
to a plosive. For example, in Malayalam: /r/ à[tt]; /r/ à [d]: [a:ra] < /a:ri/
'cooled-intr', but [a:tti] < /a:rri/ 'cooled-tr'; [a:ra] 'river', but [a:ttil] < /a:rril/ 'in
the river’.
Prenasalization. When a consonant has a nasal onset for a non-nasal consonant,
it is said to be pre-nasalized. For example, in the Metwang variety of Rawang
(Morse 1988), voiceless and voiced bilabial, alveolar and velar plosives /b d ɡ/
freely vary with the prenasalized voiced counterparts [mb, nd, nɡ] as well as the
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voiceless plosive counterparts [p t k]. Thus /b/ may realized as [p], [b] or [mb]:
/ba/ ‘cloth’ [ba], [pa] or [mba].
Nasal release. When a non-nasal consonant is released nasally, the consonant is
said to have nasal release. For example, in Mundari, the voiced bilabial dental
plosives /b d/ have nasal release [bm dn] when they occur in the coda position in
a monosyllable. In that position, they are also pre-glottalized: [ˀbm, ˀdn]: /ub/
[uʔbm], but /udub/ [uduʔb], /rid/ ‘to grind’ [riʔdn], but /birid/ ‘to stand up’ [biriʔd]
Spirantization. Spirantization takes place when a plosive or an affricate change
to a fricative. For example, in Tamil ,the voiceless velar plosive /k/ is realized as
the voicelss velar fricative /x/: /pakal/ [pɐxəl] ‘day’, /makan/ [mɐxən] ‘son’.
Tapping. When the tongue makes a single and quick contact with the alveolar
ridge, there is tapping. In the Indo-Diu variety of Portuguese (Cardoso 2005), the
trill /r/ is realized as tap [ɾ] in a non-initial position in the word: /naris/ [naˈɾis]
‘nose’, /mora/ [ˈmoɾa] ‘backberry’, /komer/ [koˈmeɾ] ‘to eat’, but /russo/ [ˈrusso]
‘Russia’.
Trilling. When the tip of the tongue or the uvula makes several quick contacts
with the alveolar ridge or the velum respectively, we have trilling. E.g. In Tamil,
the voiceless alveolar lateral /l/ is produced as a trill [r] when it precedes a stop
in the following morpheme: /kal + kaɳʈu/ [karkaɳʈu] ‘rock candy’, /na:l + ka:li/
[na:rka:li] ‘chair’.