Abstract

MARLETT, Stephen A.. On the phonology and origin of the labialized dorsal consonants in Seri. Cuad. Lingüíst. Col. Méx. [online]. 2025, vol.12, e348.  Epub Oct 20, 2025. ISSN 2007-736X.  https://doi.org/10.24201/clecm.v12.348.

This study examines the phonology and historical development of the labialized dorsal consonants in Seri (Cmiique Iitom), a language of northwestern Mexico. This language has a rare contrast between velar and uvular fricatives, each with labialized counterparts, forming six voiceless dorsal phonemes. It is shown that labialized consonants originated historically through the loss of round vowels in three main contexts: posttonic syllable, the third person indirect object prefix, and the emphatic realis prefix. Phonetic phenomena such as anticipatory labialization and postlexical spread are presented in detail. The study also discusses the Seri orthography, which preserves distinctions critical to the language’s structure.

Keywords : dorsal consonants; uvular fricative; labialized consonants; historical development; internal reconstruction.

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