It is clear that in recording Wailaki words Merriam followed the same
principles that guided him in his published works on other Californian
languages. In transcribing the Achomawi language he said (1928, p. vi),
"All Indian words are written in simple phonetic English, the vowels
having their normal alphabetic sounds." For a more precise determination
I have made a comparison of words recorded by both Merriam and Goddard.
The values of the symbols used by Goddard are taken from a list he
gives in his Wailaki Texts (1923_b_, p. 77) together with Phonetic
Transcription of American Indian Languages (Amer. Anthro. Assoc., 1916),
a report which Goddard helped prepare.
A total of twenty-eight words recorded by both Merriam and Goddard were
found. Although the discrepancies seem great, this is because Merriam
used Webster's English orthography whereas Goddard used a technical one
modified from the old Smithsonian system. Whatever the limitations of
Merriam's orthography for considerations of grammar (which he did not
try to obtain), his recordings consistently check Goddard's independent
information and serve as complete identifications of places and
ethnographic facts.
_Goddard's Wailaki Phonology_
-------------+--------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------
| | Labial | Apical | Frontal| Dorsal
-------------+--------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------
| fully voiced | g
| +-----------------------------------
| medium voiced | b d G
+--------------------+-----------------------------------
Stops | voiceless |
| non-glottalized | t k
| +-----------------------------------
| voiceless |
| glottalized | t' k'
-------------+--------------------+-----------------------------------
| non-glottalized | ts tc
Affricates +--------------------+-----------------------------------
| glottalized | ts' tc'
-------------+--------------------+-----------------------------------
| voiceless | s c
Spirants +--------------------+-----------------------------------
| voiced |
-------------+--------------------+-----------------------------------
Nasals | | n ñ
-------------+--------------------+-----------------------------------
Semivowels | | w y
-------------+--------------------+-----------------------------------
| voiced | l
Laterals +--------------------+-----------------------------------
| voiceless | [-l]
-------------+--------------------+-----------------------------------
Goddard gives the following vowels.
i as in pique (written with an iota by Goddard)
e as a in fate
E as in met (written with an epsilon by Goddard)
a as in father
A as u in but (written with an alpha by Goddard)
o as in note
Following is a rough correspondence between Goddard's and Merriam's
orthographies.
_Comparison of Orthographies_
_Goddard_ _Merriam_
a ah (occasionally a or e)
A ah, e, u, i (in order of frequency)
ai a, i
Ai i
b b
c s (once sh)
d d, t
e e
E e, [=a]
g [-l]g written as sk
G does not occur
h h
i [=e], [)e] (oi written i)
I i, u
k k (ky written ch)
k' k
l does not occur
[-l] kl, often not recorded at all ([-l] written sk)
m n (Goddard says n sometimes becomes m by assimilation.
Evidently it is n phonemically)
n n (occasionally ng, once not recorded at all)
ñ ng (occasionally n, twice not recorded at all)
o o (occasionally u)
s s
t t
t' does not occur
tc ch (once tch)
tc' does not occur
ts does not occur
ts' does not occur
u does not occur
w does not occur
y y, ky written ch, kiyah always written ke-ah or ka-ah