Lexical and post-lexical tone in Choguita Rarámuri

This study proposes a model of the intonation of Choguita Rarámuri (Tarahumara), a Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Chihuahua, Mexico. Tonal patterns of utterances were examined by varying the length of a word and a phrase, the location of lexical stress-tone, and sentence types. The only attested prosodic unit above the prosodic word is the Intonational Phrase (IP), which is usually marked by a high boundary tone. Additionally, there are optional tonal targets before lexical tones, which we term “lead tones”. These do not seem to be demarcative tones, as they are variable in their location. Interestingly, the lead tones are either high or low, depending on the following lexical tone. Thus, we suggest that lead tones occur optionally for rhythmic purposes and/or to enhance the targets of lexical tones.