Chamorro Vowel Harmony

Abstract

5. Conclusion This paper describes the system of vowel harmony in Chamorro,' the existence of which has received passing attention in previous studies, but which until now has not been examined carefully for its determining features. Chamorro shows two distinct types of what can generally be termed vowel harmony. The first of these involves fronting at three different vowel heights; the second involves vowel height within the macrosegment, where syllabic structure and primary stress make possible a specific phoneme assignment of an unstressed neutralized vowel. In addition to describing the vowel harmony system, I present evidence which suggests that the Chamorro vowel system was expanded from four to six vowels through the introduction of Spanish high vowels in closed syllables. Two studies of Chamorro phonology have been made in recent years (Mathiot, 1955 and Seiden, 1960). Of these, only Seiden's has appeared in published form. However, Garvin (1964) gives a brief outline of Chamorro phonology which is based on Mathiot's thesis. The phonemic notation used in the present study is shown in Chart I. Except for necessary changes, it