THE HADZA LANGUAGE: VITALITY, PHONETICS, AND PHONOLOGY

Abstract

Hadza is a language isolate spoken by approximately 1,500–2,000 people in the Lake Eyasi area of north-central Tanzania. Hadza is widely known for its robust inventory of typologically uncommon speech sounds, e.g., clicks, ejectives, and lateral obstruents. The linguistic literature on Hadza is marked by discrepancies on basic components of the sound inventory, including the number of phonemic consonants, the nature of phonological contrasts, and the role of tone. Based on primary linguistic data collected during nine months of fieldwork with Hadza speakers in Tanzania in 2022 and cutting-edge 3D/4D ultrasound data collected with a Hadza speaker in a speech laboratory in 2020, this dissertation offers a current, empirically-based description and analysis of aspects of the phonetics and phonology of Hadza. In particular, the temporal characteristics of laryngeal contrasts in obstruents (i.e., aspiration and glottalization) and a phonemic vowel length distinction are investigated with acoustic data. The description of Hadza vowels and select consonants (e.g., clicks) is augmented with articulatory information using ultrasound data. A systematic analysis of the tone system, including basic contrasts and interesting tonal processes, is also developed. This tone analysis highlights typologically unusual phenomena prevalent in the Hadza tone system. Additionally, this dissertation provides a contemporary assessment of Hadza language vitality based on ethnographic participant observation and unstructured interviews in numerous Hadza communities. This research addresses discrepancies which pervaded the literature, contributes to the typological literature on laryngeal systems and tonal phenomena, and calls attention to the endangered status of Hadza in contemporary Hadza communities.