When we compare the vowels used amongst the world’s languages, we often come across an interesting pattern. There is almost always some distinction by vowel height, that is, the extent to which the tongue is raised or lowered when articulating a particular vowel. For example, /i/ and /u/ are referred to as “high” vowels, while vowels like /a/ are called “low” vowels. These are also referred to as “close” and “open” vowels respectively, distinguished by the distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth when articulating the vowel. In fact, it is recommended that the terms open and close be used for vowels, and so, this is the terminology we will use here on out.
In languages like Upper Arrernte and the Ndu languages, it is this axis upon which phonemic vowel sounds are distinguished. However, comparing these languages, also referred to as languages with a “vertical vowel system”, we would always come across some open vowel distinguished in this axis, usually occurring as /a/ or some similar sound. For example, the Ubykh language is famous for having the most number of phonemic consonant sounds in non-click languages, and only two vowel sounds /a/ and /ə/, with the latter a less open vowel than the /a/. This is also seen in languages with two phonemic vowels like Upper Arrernte.
This observation has led me to wonder, are there languages that lack the open vowel?
And it turns out that there are indeed some languages that lack open vowels, though this is an extremely rare occurrence. Today, we will cover one of the most well-known examples of languages lacking what could be amongst the most common vowel sounds, called the Arapaho language, or Hinónoʼeitíít.
Spoken in the states of Wyoming and Oklahoma, mainly the Wind River Indian Reservation, WY, by the Arapaho people, or the Hinono’eino, Hinónoʼeitíít is part of the Algonquian language branch in the Algic languages of North America. Its closest language cousins are the Atsina language (or Gros Ventre, or ʔɔʔɔɔɔniiih, ‘ɔ’ɔ́ɔ́ɔ́naakíit’ɔ) and the relatively poorly attested Nawathi’nehena language, with all of them being classified as the Arapahoan languages.
We do not really precisely know how many speakers of Arapaho there are today, and assessments for language vitality by the Endangered Languages Project suggest that the Arapaho language is severely endangered, with an estimated 1000 native speakers of the language, most of whom are older adults. While we know of the Arapaho people as consisting of the Northern Arapaho in Wyoming, and the Southern Arapaho in Oklahoma (who live with the Cheyenne people), there are three other Arapaho subgroups called the Nawathi’neha, Besawunenaa, and the Ha’anahawunena. The Northern and Southern Arapaho today speak the Northern variety of the language, while it is unclear if the other subgroups once spoke different varieties of the Arapaho language, or if they could be considered separate languages. This lack of clarity is due to the scarcity of evidence leading to their attestation, making classifying of these historical varieties difficult or next to impossible.
As previously mentioned, the Arapaho language does not have any open vowels such as /a/. Instead, it distinguishes between two vowel heights, which are the close and the open-mid vowels. This is complemented by the distinction between front and back vowels, giving us the vowel sound inventory that is more precisely transcribed as [ɪ ɛ ɔ ʊ] for the short vowels, and [iː ɛː ɔː uː] for the long vowels. There is also vowel harmony practiced, with front vowels tending to group together, and back vowels forming the other group. With this, there are also two phonemic tones, which are the high tone marked using an accent mark, and the unmarked tone, described as low or mid, much like how tones are marked in Navajo (Diné bizaad).
There are 12 consonants in Hinónoʼeitíít, with no voicing distinctions. Most of its consonant sounds are voiceless, with the only exceptions being the voiced alveolar nasal consonant /n/, the voiced labial plosive consonant /b/, and the glottal stop. However, the /b/ sound may be realised as a /p/ sound, its voiceless counterpart, when it occurs at the end of the word, or before other consonants in a word. Perhaps a special note to make is how the voiceless dental fricative /θ/ is written in Hinónoʼeitíít, which uses ‘3‘. as in see3 (pine), 3io’tox (nine), and hó3 (arrow).
In Arapaho phonotactics, words must begin with a consonant, and so, for words that seemingly begin with a vowel, a /h/ sound would precede this vowel. However, this is not the case for vowel clusters within words. When partitioning long sequences of vowels, like in níiinon (tepee), partitioning allows the formation of vowel-initial syllables, which patterns follow Hinónoʼeitíít‘s system of phonemic tones.
Like some other indigenous languages of North America, the most important part of a Hinónoʼeitíít sentence is the verb, with adjectives tending to be treated as verbs as well. For example, neniice’– technically translates to “to be grey”, taking on intransitive endings that conjugate based on number and animacy, for instance. There is a rich array of prefixes and suffixes that may be attached to the verb root to reflect various grammatical functions and nuances, and the simplest of all clauses would include a single verb.
Some of the more salient characteristics of Hinónoʼeitíít grammar include the grammatical distinction between animate and inanimate objects. Certain nouns may be both kinds of objects, though their treatment depends on whether or not they are in a certain form of animation (like motion, change of state, etc.). While every object that has life is an animate noun, not all animate nouns necessarily need to be alive; a ‘planet’ may also be considered an animate noun, despite not being alive. This leads to a categorisation of verbs by the animacy and transitivity of the arguments they take.
There does not seem to be a fixed word order in Arapaho. Instead, arguments that come first are given greater emphasis or prominence (saliency). However, putting the verb towards the end of the simple clause involving two noun phrases is rather uncommon. Saliency here would be determined by emphasis, introduction or reintroduction of a particular noun phrase of interest, and contrast, for instance. Thus, while the sentences hení’bebíistiit kohyóhoé and kohyóhoé hení’bebíistiit would both translate to (he is fixing it with glue), the second sentence gives more emphasis to what the person in question is fixing the object with.
This ordering of information by saliency or importance also leads to the use of the obviative third person (or ‘fourth person’) in the Arapaho language. This mainly pertains to animate nouns, and are inflected for number and obviation. Verbs would thus require agreement by animacy, number, obviation, and person. Verbs may also be prefixed by preverbs, which include manner, aspect, and even seasons. Additionally, Hinónoʼeitíít uses a decimal number system, with the numbers 1 to 10 being céésey, níís, nééso, yéin, yoo3ón, níítootox, níísootox, néésootox, 3í’otox, and béteetox.
Some of the most accessible Hinónoʼeitíít resources are available through the Arapaho Language Project led by the University of Colorado Boulder, which have served as the main resources I have referred to in writing this introduction. Contemporary Arapaho language grammars are written by linguists such as Dr. Andrew Cowell, with dictionaries produced with elders of the Northern Arapaho in Wyoming, as well as the Arapaho Immersion School. Thus, I highly implore you to check them out, and learn more should you be interested.
Further Reading
Arapaho Language Project, University of Colorado Boulder
https://verbs.colorado.edu/ArapahoLanguageProject/RMNP/language/language.html
https://verbs.colorado.edu/ArapahoLanguageProject/
Native Languages of the Americas, Arapaho Language (Arapahoe)
The Language Closet 