p		t		č	(k)	kʷ	q	qʷ
p̕	t̕θ	t̕	ƛ̕	č̕		k̕ʷ	q̕	q̕ʷ	ʔ
	θ	s	ɬ	š		xʷ	x̣	x̣ʷ	h
m		n	l	y		w	ŋ
m̕		n̕	l̕	y̕		w̕	ŋ̕

The phonemes /θ/ and /t̕^θ/ have arisen from Proto-Straits /c/ and /c̕/. Although these two sounds are not particularly rare in Saanich, they appear in only two other Salish languages, Halkomelem and Comox³.
The symbol in parentheses, /k/, is found only in a few relatively recent loans from English and French through Chinook Jargon. The following are the only words seen to bear this phoneme: /kúk/ ‘cook’, /ləklí/ ‘key’, /káa/ ‘car’, /ləkwín/ ‘crucifix’, /kəpú/ ‘coat’, /kúl/ ‘gold’, /kə́lənts/ ‘currant’, and /lisék/ ‘sack’. Native speakers readily recognize these as being of foreign origin.

1.1.1. Obstruents.
The obstruents are usually lenis but never voiced. The glottalized obstruents are ejective but weakly so. It is often difficult, especially in the anterior consonants, to perceive the contrast. Unlike the closely related Klallam language, Saanich obstruents are only rarely and weakly aspirated.

1.1.1.1. The labial, /p/ plain voiceless and /p̕/ glottalized, are always bilabial.
pek̕ʷ ‘smoke (hides, fish, etc.)’, p̕əkʷ ‘rise to the surface’; špáqʷəs ‘drop-off’, sp̕aq̕ʷəŋ ‘foam’; paxʷ ‘blow’, p̕əɬ ‘emerge’; θə́pxʷəŋ ‘brittle’, sx̣ə́p̕šən ‘fishtail’; q̕pət ‘gather it’, xʷq̕p̕ət ‘patch it’; ɬəp ‘blink’, ɬ;ap̕ ‘eat with a spoon’; ʔápən ‘ten’, ɬáp̕ən ‘spoon’.

1.1.1.2. The dentals, /t̕^θ/ and /θ/, are only rarely interdental. They are phonetically [t̕_s̪], a glottalized dental affricate, and [s̪], a grooved dental fricative, respectively. /t̕^θ/ is easy for the non-native to recognize when it occurs because there is nothing else like it. /θ/, on the other hand, is as difficult for the non-native speaker to distinguish from /s/ as /xʷ/ is from /x̣ʷ/ (see §1.1.1.6). /θ/ is unlike the fricative in English ‘thin’ in two ways: it is not interdental but articulated with the tip of the tongue behind and against the incisors and it is grooved rather than slit. Although /θ/ and /s/ are phonetically similar, there are a number of contrasting pairs⁴:
θə́k̕ʷsət ‘stretching’, sák̕ʷət ‘bathe it’, t̕^θák̕ʷiʔ ‘skunk cabbage’; θə́l̕qt ‘sharing it’, sə́l̕q̕əŋ ‘sagging’; θíɬəŋ ‘stand’, sáɬ ‘door’, t̕^θáɬəŋ ‘cold’; θéx̣əŋ ‘sour’, síx̣ʷəŋ ‘wade’; √ʔaθ ‘face, front’, √ʔis ‘paddle’, √ʔit̕^θ ‘get dressed’; méθəč ‘cormorant’, mə́sət ‘fold it’, mít̕^θət ‘crush it’.

1.1.1.3. The alveolars, /t/ a voiceless stop, /t̕/ its glottalized counterpart, and /s/, are produced with the tip of the tongue above the teeth on the forward part of the alveolar ridge. The distribution of the sounds is rather uneven; /s/ and /t/ are two of the most frequently occurring phonemes while /t̕/ is one of the rarest.
tíʔə ‘this’, t̕éʔət ‘try it’; téčəl ‘arrive here’, t̕ét̕^θəŋ ‘go sour’; takʷ ‘flame’, t̕ak̕ʷ ‘go home’; téŋ̕əs ‘crave a particular food’, t̕əŋ̕aʔəŋ̕ ‘swimming’, təŋáθən ‘left-over food’; tə́ŋəxʷ ‘earth, land’, t̕áŋən ‘wall’; təq ‘raid’, t̕aq ‘sharpen’; tə́qʷnəŋ ‘getting tightened’, t̕íq̕ʷnəŋ ‘get hit (by something moving)’; təs ‘near’, t̕əs ‘get broken’; č̕ə́təŋ ‘be crawling’, č̕át̕əʔ ‘clam stick’.

See §1.1.1.2 for /s/ in contrast to /θ/ and §1.1.1.5 for /s/ vs. /š/.

1.1.1.4. The laterals /ƛ̕/, a voiceless glottalized affricate, and /ɬ/, a voiceless fricative, are bilateral and articulated with the tip of the tongue against the forward part of the alveolar ridge. In comparison to Klallam the Saanich /ƛ̕/ is quite lenis while /ɬ/ is somewhat noisier. The /ɬ/ is slightly affricated occasionally in initial position.
Contrasts are found between /ɬ/ and /ƛ̕/:
ɬət̕^θél̕s ‘cut’, ƛ̕ət̕^θéčən ‘belt’; ɬeč ‘dark’, ƛ̕eč ‘deep’; ɬík̕ʷən ‘gaff, fishhook’, ƛ̕ík̕ʷən ‘sweet peas’; ɬáp̕ən ‘spoon’, ƛ̕ép̕ət ‘touch it’; ɬq̕éʔčəs ‘five’, ƛ̕qéqən ‘long feather’; xʷɬq̕ʷást ‘slap someone in the face’, ƛ̕k̕ʷə́təs ‘he turned it (a light) off’; ɬq̕ʷə́t ‘pry it off’, ƛ̕q̕ʷə́t ‘stick it on’; ɬáw̕ət ‘carry it out’, ƛ̕áwəŋ ‘howl (as a dog)’; sɬéwən ‘wall-mat’, sƛ̕ə́wən ‘earrings’; sp̕áɬəɬ ‘sober’, sp̕áƛ̕əŋ ‘smoke (from a fire)’; sx̣éɬəɬ ‘sick’, sx̣éƛ̕ ‘river trap’.

and between /ɬ/ and /l/ or /l̕/:
ɬət̕^θél̕s ‘cut’, lət̕^θə́t ‘fill it’; ɬə́lət ‘splash it’, lálət ‘invite someone on a hunting trip’; √ɬiqʷ ‘meat’, √liqʷ ‘loosen’; √x̣əɬ ‘feel bad’, x̣əl̕ ‘write, draw’; θə́ɬqʷt ‘piercing it’, θə́l̕qt ‘sharing it’; qʷə́ɬəs ‘smelts’, qʷə́l̕əs ‘boil’.

See §1.1.1.5 for contrasts between /ɬ;/ and /š/.

1.1.1.5. The alveopalatals /č/, a voiceless affricate, /č̕/, its glottalized counterpart, and /š/, a grooved fricative, are produced with the tip of the tongue just behind the alveolar ridge. /č/ and /š/ are similar to the obstruents in English ‘church’ and ‘she’. A number of forms of forms show contrast among /č/, /č̕/, and /tθ/.
čéʔət ‘vomit’, č̕ét̕^θət ‘sew it’, t̕^θéʔət ‘put it on top’; st̕éčəŋ ‘tide’, t̕ét̕^θəŋ ‘go sour’; ʔíčəɬ; ‘scoop up’, ʔéč̕ət ‘wipe it’, ʔít̕^θəŋ ‘get dressed’.

Contrasts are found between /s/ and /š/:
təs ‘near’, təš ‘comb’; šə́n̕šən̕ ‘alone’, sə̀msəmáy̕əʔ ‘bee’; sen ‘who?’, šem ‘dry’; saúp̕ət ‘sniff it’, šapt ‘whistle’; šəq ‘finish a job’, səq ‘be outside’.
and between /ɬ/ and /š/:
ɬəl ‘splash’, šəl ‘climb’; ɬə́ptən ‘eyelash’, šapt ‘whistle’; ɬə́qəs ‘edible seaweed’, šə́qtəs ‘he finished it up (a job).’

1.1.1.6. The labio-velars /kʷ/, a voiceless stop, /k̕ʷ/, its glottalized counterpart, and /xʷ/, a voiceless fricative, may also be called labialized pre-velars since they are articulated with the dorsum of the tongue placed far forward on the soft palate with concomitant rounding of the lips. Contrasts found between /kʷ/ and /k̕ʷ/:
kʷə́t̕^θət ‘loosen it’, sk̕ʷát̕^θəɬ ‘crooked’; kʷə́ləŋ ‘fly’, k̕ʷə́ləw̕ ‘skin’; kʷə́mkʷəm ‘drum’, k̕ʷámk̕ʷəm ‘strong’; kʷə́nət ‘take it’, k̕ʷə́nət ‘look at it’; √kʷin ‘fight’, √k̕ʷin ‘how many?’; kʷə́səs ‘deliver it’, k̕ʷə́səŋ ‘counting’; kʷey ‘announce’, k̕ʷey̕ ‘hungry’; √makʷ ‘curl up’, √mək̕ʷ ‘all’; q̕ékʷəŋ ‘knee’, q̕ík̕ʷət ‘bite it’; θákʷət ‘squeal on someone’, θə́k̕ʷət ‘stretching it’.

The difficulty in distinguishing /kʷ/ vs. /qʷ/, /k̕ʷ/ vs. /q̕ʷ/, and /xʷ/ vs. /x̣ʷ/ are well known to anyone who has studied a Salish language. Numerous forms show these contrasts:
kʷə́t̕^θət ‘loosen it’, sqʷət̕^θ ‘brown grouse’; kʷə́ləŋ ‘fly’, qʷəl ‘say’; qʷínəqən ‘beard’, kʷíntəl̕ ‘fight with someone’; skʷə́n̕kʷən̕ ‘carbuncle’, sqʷínqʷən ‘necklace’; kʷíx̣ʷtəl̕ ‘argue’, qʷíx̣ʷət ‘miss it (a shot)’; t̕^θə́kʷəʔíw̕s ‘left side’, st̕^θáqʷiʔ ‘spring salmon’; čákʷəs ‘use it’, čáqʷəɬ ‘fire’; slíkʷəl ‘calm’, líqʷət ‘loosen it’.
k̕ʷát̕^θəɬ ‘crooked’, q̕ʷə́t̕^θəŋ ‘root’; k̕ʷey̕ ‘hungry’, q̕ʷəy̕ ‘deceive’; ƛ̕k̕ʷət ‘extinguish’, ƛ̕q̕ʷət ‘stick something on’.
xʷítəŋ ‘jump’, x̣ʷát̕ət ‘prop up’, x̣ʷíqʷət ‘rub, buff’; x̣ʷəy ‘die, be lost’, xʷəy ‘wake up’; t̕^θíxʷəŋ ‘pity’, t̕^θə́x̣ʷən̕ ‘chokecherry’; √kʷəxʷ ‘knock’, √kʷix̣ʷ ‘argue’; ɬxʷéləʔ ‘three people’, ɬx̣ʷástəŋ ‘telling someone’ off’; sƛ̕əxʷ ‘he lost’, ƛ̕əx̣ʷ ‘hard’; məxʷísət ‘rock oneself’, mə́x̣ʷəyəʔ ‘navel’.

1.1.1.7. The uvulars /q/, a voiceless stop, /q̕/, its glottalized counterpart, and /x̣/, a voiceless fricative, are post-velars. They are articulated with the dorsum of the tongue on the back part of the soft palate. In Klallam the fortis articulation often gives these stops an affricate quality, but in Saanich they are so weakly articulated that they are sometimes difficult to distinguish from /ʔ/. Nevertheless, /q/, /q̕/, and /ʔ/ do contrast:
qə́čəʔ ‘catch’, q̕əč̕íʔ ‘moss’, ʔačə ‘request information’; qə́kʷəŋ ‘bake (bread)’, q̕ə́kʷəʔ ‘cane, walking stick’, ʔəkʷáʔ ‘show how’; qékʷəŋ ‘rest’, q̕ékʷəŋ ‘knee’; qəlíiməʔ ‘dirty, messy’, q̕əlísət ‘go around a corner’; qəm̕ ‘beg, borrow’, q̕əm̕ ‘cut in two’, ʔam ‘be fed up’; sqə́nəxʷ ‘greedy’, ʔə́nəxʷ ‘shut off’; t̕^θəqénəŋ ‘go up a hill’, t̕^θə́q̕əŋ ‘dripping’; ɬqit ‘clothes’, ɬq̕ət ‘wide’.

The fricatives /x̣/ and /h/ contrast:
x̣áʔqən ‘marten’, haʔ ‘if, when’; √x̣éʔ ‘sacred’, heeʔ ‘yes’; x̣it̕^θ ‘raw’, het̕^θ ‘breathe’; x̣ək̕ʷ ‘gnaw’, hek̕ʷ ‘remember’.

1.1.1.8. The labio-uvulars /qʷ/, a voiceless stop, /q̕ʷ/, its glottalized counterpart, and /x̣ʷ/ are labialized post-velars. The articulation of these is the same as the corresponding unlabialized uvulars but with lip rounding. See §1.1.1.6 for contrasts with labio-velars. Contrasts are found between /qʷ/ and /q̕ʷ/:
sqʷət̕^θ ‘brown grouse’, q̕ʷə́t̕^θəŋ ‘root’; sqʷáq̕ʷəɬ ‘sore’, sq̕ʷáq̕ʷiʔ ‘dead’; t̕^θáqʷiʔ ‘spring salmon’, t̕^θáq̕+əŋ ‘rotten’; čáqʷəɬ ‘fire’, čáq̕ʷəŋ ‘sweat’.

1.1.1.9. The laryngeals are /ʔ/, glottal stop, and /h/, a voiceless fricative. The former is the second most common consonant in Saanich; the latter is the second least common one. /ʔ/ occurs initially, finally, in consonant clusters, and intervocalically. /h/ occurs initially and occasionally appears intervocalically. The glottal stop forms an important grammatical morpheme in itself, the ‘actual’ aspect (see §2.3.5.1). Contrasts are found between /ʔ/ and /h/:
ʔíʔt̕^θəŋ ‘getting dressed’, héʔt̕^θəŋ ‘breathing’; ʔəléʔ ‘hear’, həlí ‘alive’; ʔis ‘paddle’, hiθ ‘long time’. nəhíimət ‘ancestral name’, sləhél ‘stick game’.

See §1.1.1.7 for contrasts between /ʔ/ and /q, q̕/ and between /h/ and /x̣/.

1.1.2. Resonants.
The resonants are always voiced. The glottalized resonants are usually realized phonetically as voiced resonants with accompanying laryngeal constriction, creaky voice. However, often in multisyllabic forms they are realized as a sequence of glottal stop and resonant: ʔR when following stress and Rʔ when preceding stress. The glottalized resonants never appear in root initial position.

1.1.2.1. Since underlying glottalized resonants are not common, their distribution in roots is limited, and they often appear as sequence of glottal stop and resonant, there is a question as to whether they should be considered unit phonemes at all.

1.1.2.1.1. Raffo (1972:12-15) argues against positing underlying glottalized resonants in Songish. Most of the arguments presented there are based on comparisons to other Coast Salish languages and therefore based on other synchronic analyses. The major synchronic arguments -- no minimal pairs are found and glottalized resonants do not function as a unit in reduplicative patterns -- do not hold for Saanich. Though minimal pairs of any kind are few and far between in a language with such a large phonemic inventory as Saanich, they are especially difficult to find for plain versus glottalized resonants since the latter never occurs root initially. Nevertheless there are a few such roots: √ʔam ‘fed up’, √ʔam̕ ‘wet’; √ʔen ‘obey’, √ʔen̕ ‘very, too’; √k̕ʷey ‘unable’, √k̕ʷey̕ ‘hungry’; √t̕m ‘guess’, √t̕m̕ ‘hit’. For many examples of reduplicated glottalized resonants see §2.3.1, §2.3.3.3, and §2.3.3.4.

1.1.2.1.2. Efrat (1978) argues for underlying glottalized resonants in Sooke and Saanich by showing that certain forms of the ‘actual’ aspect are best accounted for in terms of a basic glottalized/non-glottalized opposition in resonants. The analysis of the ‘actual’ presented here in §2.3.5 differs substantially from that given by Efrat. But, given the present analysis of the ‘actual’, much the same data provides somewhat different evidence for underlying glottalized resonants. Before presenting this evidence it will be useful to discuss some of the phonetic characteristics of glottalized resonants.

1.1.2.1.3. What are assumed here to be glottalized resonants are often perceived as a sequence, ʔR or Rʔ. As mentioned above, this decomposition is predictable and depends on the position of the stress: R̕ → ʔR / V́ _____ V and R̕ → Rʔ / V ______ V́. These are both optional, however, so that often R̕ is perceived as R̕ in these two environments as well as in others such as final position.
This decomposition does not occur with the glottalized obstruents because of the fundamental differences between obstruents and resonants. The perceived and distinguishing effect of the ejectives is necessarily provided by the simultaneous release of two otherwise independent articulations: oral and glottal. For the resonants, on the other hand, release is irrelevant. Simultaniety of oral and glottal articulations is an underlying target but not a surface necessity. Stress necessarily involves increased physiological tension in the laryngeal area due to increased pitch and pulmonic pressure. When a glottalized resonant follows a stressed vowel the laryngeal part of the articulation already has, in a manner of speaking, a head start. And when a glottalized resonant precedes a stressed vowel the laryngeal tension is carried beyond the oral articulation.

1.1.2.1.4. When underlying sequences of glottal stop and resonant do occur, the glottal stop sometimes tends to carry into the resonant producing a surface glottalized resonant. For example, the surface form /ʔəlén̕əxʷ/ ‘hear it’ is derived from two underlying morphemes: ∥√ʔəleʔ-naxʷ∥. Therefore, glottalized resonants and sequences of glottal stop and resonant are superficially indistinguishable. The underlying contrast does surface, however, in certain forms of the ‘actual’ aspect.

1.1.2.1.5. In §2.3.5 the rules for the placement of the ‘actual’ infix /ʔ/ are described. When this infix is inserted in the environment V́ _______ ʔ, a schwa is automatically inserted between the two glottal stops. In contrast,the insertion of the infix in the environment V́ ________ R̕ or V ________ R is never accompanied by the insertion of a schwa. These environments, then, show a surface effect of the underlying distinction between R̕ and ʔR. The ‘actual’ infix before the latter is accompanied by a following /ə/, with the former it is not. See §2.3.5 for examples, especially 135.

1.1.2.1.6. Since 1) minimal pairs of roots are found distinguishing R and R̕, 2) glottalized resonants do function as a unit in reduplication, 3) contrast can be demonstrated between R̕ and ʔR, and 4) the decomposition of R̕ is sporadic and phonetically justified, it is clear that an underlying glottalized resonant series must be posited for Saanich.

1.1.2.2. The labial resonants /m/ and /m̕/ are bilabial nasals. They contrast with /n/ and /n̕/:
smə́t̕^θqən ‘brains’, nə́t̕^θəʔ ‘one’; smə́čəʔ ‘lump on a tree’, nə́čəŋ ‘laugh’; míɬə ‘dance’, níɬ ‘it is’; məq̕ ‘full stomach’, nə́qəŋ ‘dive’; məqʷ ‘thick’, nəqʷ ‘sleep’; ʔam ‘fed up’, ʔen̕ ‘very’; ʔám̕ət ‘sleeping’, ʔín̕ət ‘say what’; st̕^θam̕ ‘bone’, t̕^θánəŋ ‘cold’; xʷčəm̕sə́kʷəl ‘meet someone going in opposite direction’, čən̕sə́n̕əŋ̕ ‘taking a step’.

and with /ŋ/ and /ŋ̕/:
st̕^θam̕ ‘bone’, čt̕^θəŋ̕ ‘catch’; xʷɬ;əŋəláʔ ‘clear (land)’, sɬə́məxʷ ‘rain’; smə́t̕^θqən ‘brains’, ŋə́t̕^θəɬ ‘pus’; méʔkʷəɬ ‘wound’, ŋékʷəɬ ‘chew it’; sménəš ‘tobacco’, sŋénət ‘stone’; məq̕ ‘full stomach’, ŋə́q̕ət ‘swallow it’; məsə́t ‘fold it’, ŋəséɬ; ‘four times’.

and with /w/ and /w̕/:
smákʷəɬ ‘curled up’, swákʷən ‘loon’; swə́ltən ‘net, web’, smə́l̕əq ‘forget’; míɬə ‘dance’, wéɬət ‘chase someone away’; məsə́t ‘fold it’, wəsél̕s ‘barking’; sx̣ə́m̕x̣əm̕ ‘horsetail’, sx̣ə́w q̕əm ‘steelhead’; səmə́y̕ ‘blanket’, səw̕éʔ ‘accompany’.

1.1.2.3. The alveolars /n/ and /n̕/ are articulated at the same position as the alveolar obstruents (§1.1.1.3.). They contrast with /l/ and /l̕/:
nə́t̕^θəʔ ‘one’, lət̕^θ ‘full’; nəhíimət ‘ancestral name’, sləhél ‘stick game’; nə́qəŋ ‘dive’, ləq ‘sold’; čəné ‘goodness!’, čəlél ‘soon’; sménəš ‘tobacco’, míləč ‘mix’.

and with /ŋ/ and /ŋ̕/:
nə́t̕^θəʔ ‘one’, ŋə́t̕^θəɬ ‘pus’; nə́qəŋ ‘dive’, ŋə́qsən ‘nose’; snas ‘fat, grease’, sŋass ‘fourth day’; ʔín̕ət ‘say what?’, ʔíŋəs ‘grandchild’; t̕^θánəŋ ‘cold’, t̕^θə́ŋ̕əɬ ‘chest’; qén̕ət ‘rob someone’, sqéŋ̕ət ‘south-east wind’.

See §1.1.2.2 for contrasts with /m/ and /m̕/.

1.1.2.4. The laterals /l/ and /l̕/ are always apico-alveolar. They contrast with /y/ and /y̕/:
leʔ ‘repair’, √yeʔ ‘go’; ləláʔθən ‘plates’, yəyásəŋ̕ ‘playing’; slə́wiʔ ‘cedar bark’, syə́wən ‘power song’; kʷə́l̕ət ‘pour it’, kʷəy̕əx̣t ‘stirring it’.

See §1.1.1.4 for contrasts with /ɬ;/ and §1.1.2.3 for contrasts with /n/ and /n̕/.

1.1.2.5. The palatals /y/ and /y̕/ are glides, much the same as the glides in English ‘yet’ and ‘toy’. See §1.1.2.4 for contrasts with /l/ and /l̕/, §1.5.9 on y ; č, and §1.5.7 on y ; i and y̕ ; iʔ.

1.1.2.6. The labio-velars /w/ and /w̕/ are glides much the same as the glides in English ‘wet’ and ‘cow’. See §1.1.2.2 for contrasts with /m/ and /m̕/ and §1.5.9 on w ; kʷ.

1.1.2.7. The uvulars /ŋ/ and /ŋ̕/ are post-velar, usually produced farther toward the back of the soft palate than the velar nasal in English ‘lung’. See §1.1.2.2 for contrasts with /m/ and /m̕/ and §1.1.2.3 for contrasts with /n/ and /n̕/.

1.2. Vowels.
Figure 2 shows the Saanich vowel system. It is an unusual symmetrical four vowel system in that there are no native rounded vowels⁵. The /u/ in parentheses in figure 2, like the /k/ in figure 1, occurs only in a few obvious loans. The following are the only roots recorded with this phoneme: kúk ‘cook’, kúl ‘gold’, kəpú ‘coat’, skʷúl ‘school’, músməs ‘cow, beef’, mətúliə ‘Victoria’, pús ‘cat’, pút ‘boat’, púyəkʷ ‘gun’, and šúkʷə ‘sugar’. These forms can undergo various morphological processes, occur in various aspects, be pluralized, appear in compounds, etc.

i	ə	(u)
e	a

1.2.1. /i/ is a high front vowel usually a tense cardinal [i]. It is often lax and somewhat lower and centralized preceding or following any of the uvular or labio-uvular consonants and preceding /ʔ/.

1.2.2. /e/ is a mid-front vowel approximating a tense cardinal [e]. It is often lax, lowered, and centralized in the environment of uvulars, labio-uvulars, and /ʔ/. It rarely appears as low as [ɛ], never as [æ]. Contiguous to a lateral, a palatal obstruent, or a velar resonant it is often quite high and difficult to distinguish from /i/.

1.2.3. /a/ is a low back vowel. It is usually tense [a] but ranges from low lax central before palatal resonants to back in the environment of uvulars, labio-uvulars, and /ʔ/.

1.2.4. /ə/ shows the greatest variation among the vowels. When stressed it is usually a mid-central [ə]. Stressed or unstressed, it is lower and back, approaching [a] when contiguous to a uvular, labio-uvular, or laryngeal. This lowering is particularly marked between two of these consonants. Otherwise, when unstressed its quality, though always lax and central, is largely determined by neighboring sounds. It varies from [ɨ] following palatals and before resonants, including /ŋ/ and /ŋ̕/ to [ʉ] before the labio-velar and labio-uvular obstruents.

1.2.5. The following list shows the vowels in contrast:
ʔíčəɬ ‘scoop up’, ʔačə ‘request information’; ʔíɬən ‘eat’, ʔéɬə ‘here, now’ , sʔáɬqəʔ ‘snake’; k̕ʷít̕^θət ‘butcher it’, sk̕ʷát̕^θəɬ ‘crooked’, kʷə́t̕^θət ‘unwind it’; čə́q ‘big’, číq ‘snow fell’; ɬíŋəstxʷ ‘put it (a pole) up’, ɬə́ŋət ‘weave it’, ɬáŋ̕ət ‘halibut’; ɬə́ptən ‘eyelash’, ɬáp̕ən ‘spoon’; ɬáw̕ət ‘removing the insides, hollowing it out’, ɬ;éw̕ ‘heal’; √ƛ̕iʔ ‘like, want’, √ƛ̕eʔ ‘also’, √ƛ̕aʔ ‘pacify, comfort’; mít̕^θət ‘crush it’, smét̕^θən̕ ‘proud’, smə́t̕^θqən ‘brains’; ŋás ‘four’, ŋə́sən̕ ‘louse’, ŋésən ‘scrotum’.

Contrast between /ə/ and /a/ and between /ə/ and /e/ forms an important aspectual distinction. See §2.3.6.2.

1.3. Canonical forms.

1.3.1. The following list contains some examples of the most common root shapes:
CV - ∥√se∥ ‘bid to do, send (someone)’
CC - ∥√x̣č∥ ‘figure out, know’; ∥√čq∥ ‘be big’; ∥√t̕m̕∥ ‘be hit’
CVC - ∥√k̕ʷən∥ ‘see’; ∥√ʔit̕^θ∥ ‘get undressed’; ∥√ʔəy̕∥ ‘be good’; ∥√čakʷ∥ ‘use’; ∥√t̕^θeʔ∥ ‘on, upon, high’
CVCC - ∥√məlqʷ∥ ‘salmon heart’; ∥√šapt∥ ‘whistle’; ∥√ʔaw̕k̕ʷ∥ ‘finished’;
CCVC - ∥√t̕^θɬək̕ʷ∥ ‘pinch’; ∥√tsas∥ ‘poor, low class’
CVCV - ∥√ʔən̕e∥ ‘come’; ∥√ʔəsə∥ ‘I’; ∥√nəkʷə∥ ‘you’

The only sequences of two vowels recorded have been geminate non-schwas. These are phonetically realized as long vowels. They are written here as two identical vowels since they function as two separate vowels with respect to the ‘actual’ infix, a /ʔ/ inserted after the stressed vowel.⁶ See §2.3.5.1 for details. Following are a few examples of VV in roots. See §2.2.10 for VV in suffixes.
ʔáaɬ ‘go aboard’, máay̕ ‘basket’, péeč̕ən ‘fishing rod’, sčéenəxʷ ‘salmon, fish’, q̕ʷíiləš ‘dance’, níinč ‘human corpse’.

A few borrowed words also show VV:
máal ‘sledge hammer, maul’, káa ‘car’, wíič ‘wedge’.

A few roots have been recorded with more than three consonants. Of these many are obvious borrowings:
ʔépəls ‘apple’, péstən ‘America’, kə́lənts ‘currant’, səplíl ‘bread’, číkmən ‘iron’, ʔátx̣əs ‘shovel-nose canoe’⁷ etc.

Of those that are not obviously borrowed most may actually involve as yet unidentified affixation⁸:
kʷəníŋət ‘run’, xʷənítəm ‘white person’, čənénxʷ ‘fishing on a big boat with a big net’, ɬníŋəɬ ‘we’, t̕^θáʔkʷəs ‘seven’, ʔéʔčəx̣ ‘crab’, ɬqéləč̕ ‘moon’, etc.
The predominant root shape is CVC; over sixty percent of all recorded roots have this form. Roots involving three consonants are also very common and account for another twenty-five percent. Three consonant roots with more than one non-schwa are very rare. In fact only one such root, ∥√ʔitat∥ ‘sleep’, has been recorded. This root is also exceptional in that it is the only root with three obstruents to appear on the surface with two vowels, schwa or non-schwa⁹: /ʔítət/ or /ʔətát/, depending on the absence or presence of a suffix (see §1.4.3). Aside from this root, all three consonant roots appearing on the surface with two vowels (i.e. CVCVC) involve at least one resonant. Three consonant roots having no resonants are either CVCC or CCVC.

1.3.2. When roots are extended by affixation, reduplication, etc. it is much more difficult to typify the shapes. Words with five or six affixes are not uncommon. The basic shapes of prefixes and suffixes exceed those of roots in variety, and the shape of a word can be drastically altered by one or more of the various radical morphological processes (see §2.3). Nevertheless, there are some restrictions on word shapes.
Tautosyllabic strings of contiguous consonants longer than two are not common in Saanich¹⁰. No strings of consonants occurring initially or finally have been found longer than three and those always include at least one fricative. Initially these clusters always include at least one prefix: sk̕ʷtaʔ ‘raven’, saʔsxʷ ‘dew’. Strings of up to four consonants have been found word internally but these always contain morpheme and syllable boundaries: ɬq̕əčsɬ;šéʔ ‘fifty’ ∥√ɬq̕-ə=čəs=ɬšeʔ∥, xʷƛ̕ə́qtnəč ‘cougar’ ∥xʷ√ƛ̕əq-t=nəč∥.¹¹

1.4. Stress.
Stress in Saanich is phonetically much like English stress: vocalic prominence based on a combination of increased loudness and higher pitch. Three levels with respect to stress can be recognized: primary (V́), secondary (V ‘), and unstressed (V). There is one primary stressed vowel per full word (see §2 for definition). Any non-schwa vowel and some schwas that do not carry primary stress carry secondary stress. Words with more than one non-schwa are not common. /i/ is the most frequently occurring non-schwa appearing without primary stress, usually representing the vocalization of /y/ or /y̕/ (see §1.5.7).
Stress placement in Saanich is a complicated matter. The system described in this section accounts for only the most common stem shapes.

1.4.1. Primary stress can fall on either the root or a suffix; prefixes are always unstressed. Three types of roots with respect to underlying stress properties can be recognized: strong, weak, and vowelless. Similarly there are four types of suffixes: strong, ambivalent, weak, and unstressed.
Strong roots tend to attract stress, losing it only to strong suffixes. For example, ∥√x̣əɬ∥ ‘feel bad’ is a strong root and ∥=iwəs∥ ‘body, skin’ is a strong suffix. So /x̣əɬíkʷəs/ ‘suffer’ is the stress assignment. The ‘habitual’ suffix ∥-nəq∥ has weak valence, so /x̣ə́ɬnəq∥ ‘habitually hurt (people’s feelings)’ is the stress assignment. With ∥=iqʷ∥ ‘head’, an ambivalent suffix the stress is on the strong root: /x̣ə́ɬ;əqʷ/ ‘headache’.
Weak roots lose stress to both strong and ambivalent suffixes. For example, ∥√ɬik̕ʷ∥ ‘get hooked, snagged’ is a weak root. With the ambivalent suffix ∥=iqʷ∥ ‘head’, mentioned above, stress is on the suffix: /ɬk̕ʷíqʷ/. With the weak suffix ∥=sən∥ ‘foot’, however, stress is on the root: /ɬík̕ʷsən/ ‘trip, get hooked on the foot’.
Weak suffixes are stressed only when following vowelless roots. See examples in §2.3.5.4, §2.5.2, and §2.5.4 for weak grammatical suffixes.
The fourth type of suffix is never stressed. Included in this group are ∥-əɬ∥ ‘durative’ and ∥-tən∥ ‘instrument’.¹²

1.4.2. Several factors complicate this system: 1) some suffixes have two vowels, and in some of these the vowels differ in valence. The ‘structured activity’ suffix /-əláʔ/, for instance, is a strong suffix stressed on the second vowel, the first is never stressed (see §2.5.4.1 for examples). The lexical suffix ∥=aθin∥ ‘mouth’, on the other hand, is an ambivalent suffix that can be stressed on either vowel depending upon which is penultimate (see §2.2.10.1.50 for examples). 2) There is a tendency to penultimate stress. Given a suffix with two vowels or two contiguous suffixes of equal valence, stress will be on the penultimate, even if the root is of greater valence than either of the two suffixes. The ‘mouth’ suffix mentioned above is an example of such a suffix with two vowels. The strong root ∥√x̣əɬ∥ ‘feel bad’ was mentioned in §1.4.1 above and was shown to take stress from either a weak or an ambivalent suffix. But when followed by two weak suffixes such as ∥-ət∥ ‘control transitive’ and ∥-əs∥ ‘third person subject’ stress moves on to the penultimate suffix: /x̣ɬə́təs/ ‘he hurt him.’ See also §1.4.3. 3) Vowelless roots with a resonant in C2 position¹³ are strengthened before stress assignment to the status of weak roots. The root ∥√t̕m̕∥ ‘hit’, for example, is vowelless but a rule that inserts /ə/ between an initial obstruent and a following resonant precedes stress assignment (see §2.3.5.4 for more on this rule). The root then acts as a weak root taking stress over a weak suffix: /xʷt̕ə́m̕əs/ ‘get hit in the face’ has the weak suffix ∥=as∥ ‘face’ (see other examples above). This strengthening happens, however, only with vowel initial suffixes. Weak consonant initial suffixes remain stressed: /t̕əm̕náxʷ/ ‘hit it (accidentally)’ contains the ‘non-control transitive’ ∥-naxʷ∥ which is stressed only following vowelless roots.
Because of these complicating factors and the number of different valences it is often difficult to determine the exact stress valence of a morpheme. In order to determine the valence of a root it must be observed with a variety of suffixes. And the stress properties of these suffixes need to have been seen in a number of different stems. Since stress valence of most roots has not yet been determined, underlying forms will not be prejudiced as to stress valence throughout this sketch. See §1.5.4 on reduction of unstressed vowels.

1.4.3. Given a form with a number of suffixes of equal valence, stress will fall on the penultimate vowel. Given any CVC root with two one-syllable suffixes, stress will fall on the first suffix unless it is weak and the second suffix is strong.
Penultimate stress placement is in some cases accompanied by metathesis of the root vowel and following obstruent. This metathesis occurs when the vowel of a strong root is a non-schwa and penultimate stress placement would otherwise cause stress to fall on a following /ə/-initial suffix. The following examples show a) a CVC root followed by one suffix and b) the same root followed by two suffixes:
1a. qʷíx̣ʷət ‘miss it (a shot)’
b. qʷx̣ʷítəs ‘he missed it’
2a. máčət ‘aim it’
b. məčátəŋ ‘it was aimed’
3a. ƛ̕ép̕ət ‘feel it’
b. ƛ̕p̕étəŋ ‘it was felt’
4a. k̕ʷésət ‘scald it’
b. k̕ʷsétəs ‘he scalded it’

When the penultimate syllable is a non-schwa the metathesis does not occur. Compare 5 to 4 above:
5. k̕ʷəsínəs ‘burn one’s chest (drinking something hot)’

In example 5 stress is placed on the penultimate vowel of ∥=inəs∥ ‘chest’ while the vowel of the root is reduced to /ə/.

1.5. Other processes.
This section describes a few of the most common and generally applicable phonologically conditioned alternations that are not described elsewhere. Phonological alternations that are specific to particular morphemes are treated under the respective morphemes in §2. C indicates any consonant; V is any vowel; R is any resonant; - indicates a morpheme boundary; # is a word boundary; %indicates a ‘mirror image’ environment, i. e. if the environment specified is X ________, the process also occurs in ________ X.

1.5.1. l → l̕ / ________ C̕
/l/ becomes glottalized preceding a glottalized cons onant. This typically occurs in certain ‘plural’ formations. See §2.3.3.3.
/t̕éləw̕/ ‘arm’ with ‘plural’ reduplication (§2.3.3.3): /t̕əl̕t̕éləw̕/; /st̕éləŋəxʷ/ ‘medicine’ with ‘plural’ reduplication: /st̕əl̕t̕éləŋəxʷ/; /p̕əɬ;/ ‘emerge, hatch’ with ‘actual’ (§2.3.5.2) and ‘plural’ (§2.3.3.4): /p̕ə́l̕p̕əɬ/ ‘hatch a bunch of eggs’.

1.5.2. h → ø /C ________ , where C is an obstruent but not /ʔ/.
This loss of /h/ includes in its environment the final obstruent of a preceding proclitic or enclitic. It is not limited to the word. This is an optional process.
/hay̕/ ‘finish’ or /hiθ/ ‘long time’ preceded by /kʷɬ/ ‘realized’ (§2.6.1.1): /kʷɬ ay̕/, /kʷɬ iθ/; /helə/ ‘second person pluralizer’ (§2.6.2.5.5) following /sxʷ/ ‘second person subject’ (§2.4.4): /sxʷ elə/; but /hay̕/ ‘finish’ following /ʔəw̕/ ‘contemporaneous’ (§2.6.1.4): /ʔəw̕ hay̕/; and /həy̕əw̕/ ‘sitting in the bow’ following /ʔiʔ/ ‘accompanying’ (§2.6.1.3): /ʔiʔ hə́y̕əw̕/.

1.5.3. ø → h / ə ________ V
A əV sequence is separated by /h/. See §1.5.11 for Və sequence.
/míɬə/ ‘dance’ with /=ew̕txʷ/ ‘house’: /miɬəhéw̕txʷ/ ‘dancehouse’; /télə/ ‘money’ followed by /=eləʔ/ ‘container’: /štələhéləʔ/ ‘purse’.

1.5.4. V (unstressed) → ə
An unstressed vowel is reduced to schwa. See §1.4 on stress assignment for examples. There is only one vowel with primary stress in a word and usually all other vowels are reduced to /ə/. There are cases, however, of non-schwas occurring without primary stress. /i/ is the most common example of this. Almost all of these represent vocalizations of /y/ or /y̕/. See §1.5.7.
Some suffixes, notably ∥-si∥ ‘indirective’ and ∥-i∥ ‘persistent, resist reduction even when a following suffix carries stress: /k̕ʷənitál̕xʷ/ ‘watch us; /x̣ətsitáŋəs/ ‘fix it for me’. There is a small group of suffixes that take stress from the root but leave the root vowel intact. /=éw̕txʷ/ ‘house’ is one of these suffixes. When following /√telə/ ‘money’: /tèləhéw̕txʷ/ ‘bank’. With other suffixes such as /=éləʔ/ ‘container’ the vowel of the root reduces: /tələhéləʔ/ ‘purse’. Other suffixes that do not cause reduction of the root vowel are /=iɬč/ ‘plant’, /-naŋət/ ‘non-control middle’ and /=sis/ ‘hand’.
The /i/ of one form of the reduplicated ‘plural’ (§2.3.3.1) never reduces. For example, /smə́yəθ/ ‘deer’ with /=aɬ/ ‘offspring’: /sməyəθáɬ/ ‘fawn’ and in the ‘ plural’ /sməmìyəθáɬ/ ‘some fawns’.
There are a few loan words that appear with a non-schwa that does not carry primary stress. These include: /lisék/ ‘sack’, /sə́nti/ ‘Sunday’, and /stíqiw/ ‘horse’.
There are a few words that do not obviously fall into one of these categories of exceptions. These include: /siʔém̕/ ‘rich, high class’, /piʔátəɬ/ ‘duck hunt’, /siʔétən/ ‘hair (on head)’, and /sx̣ʷiʔém̕/ ‘fairy tale’. The unstressed non-schwa in each of these may represent a vocalization of /y/ or /y̕/ but there is at present no other evidence for such an analysis.

1.5.5. ə → V % V́ʔ ________
Unstressed /ə/ assimilates to a stressed vowel opposite /ʔ/. Schwas affected by this rule often remain lax and unstressed and therefore remain in surface contrast with non-schwas. This process is optional.
/yeʔ/ ‘go’ with ‘first person subordinate subject’ /-ən/ (§2.4.4): yéʔen; /t̕eʔ/ ‘taste, try’ with /-ət/ ‘control transitive’ (§2.5.2.1): t̕éʔet; /ƛ̕iʔ/ ‘want, like’ followed by /ə/ ‘yes/no question marker’ (§2.6.2.1.1): ƛ̕íʔ i; /t̕^θəkʷəʔ/ ‘left’ with /=iw̕s/ ‘body’: t̕^θəkʷiʔíw̕s; /st̕éqəʔ/ ‘bruise’ with /=aləs/ ‘eye’: št̕əqaʔáləs ‘black eye’; /ƛ̕aʔ/ ‘comfort (someone)’ followed by /-ət/ ‘control transitive’: ƛ̕áʔ at.

1.5.6. ə (unstressed) → ø / ________ y or y̕
See §1.5.7 below for examples.

1.5.7. y → i / C ________ C or #
y̕ → iʔ / C ________
This process is also usually accompanied by loss of ∥ə∥ (see §1.5.6).
/ʔəy̕/ ‘good’ followed by a suffix that will take stress such as /=enkʷəs/ ‘stomach’ loses the /ə/: /ʔiʔénkʷəs/ ‘brave’; with /=iiməʔ/ ‘appearance’: /ʔiʔíiməʔ/ ‘neat, tidy’; /čey/ ‘work’ with ‘characteristic’ reduplicative pattern (§2.3.1): /čéyči/ ‘diligent’; /kʷə́y̕əx̣/ ‘move back and forth’ followed by the suffix /=sis/ ‘hand’: /kʷiʔx̣sísəŋ/ ‘knit’; /k̕ʷey/ ‘be hungry’ in the ‘actual’ (čV́+ with glottalization of the resonant): /k̕ʷek̕ʷiʔ/.

1.5.8. ø → ə / #C ________ C#
This environment applies only to vowelless roots occurring without suffixation. See §2.3.5.4. for discussion.

1.5.9. y → č and w → kʷ
The environments for these processes have not been, and perhaps cannot be, determined. These two alternations are not fully automatic; there are many cases of /y/ and /w/ in various environments that never alternate with obstruents, and there are many cases of /č/ and /kʷ/ that never alternate with resonants. Nevertheless, a few general observations can be made regarding those resonants that do alternate.
First, in the ‘actual’ aspect the resonant is always preserved by glottalization since all non-initial resonants in a word become glottalized in this aspect (see §2.3.5): /kʷíntəl/ ‘fight with someone’, /kʷíw̕ən̕təl̕/ ‘fighting’ (this latter form shows C1V́+ reduplication and indicates that the underlying form of the root is ∥√win∥); /čə́kʷəsət/ ‘show off’, /čéw̕sət/ ‘showing off’ (∥√čəw∥, the change of underlying root /ə/ to /e/ regularly accompanies the ‘actual’); /həqékʷəɬ/ ‘launch a canoe’, /həqéw̕əɬ/ ‘launching a canoe’; /nə́čəŋ/ ‘laugh’, /nə́y̕əŋ̕/ ‘laughing’; /čéčəs/ ‘pursue’, /čéʔis/ ‘pursuing’ (the latter shows subsequent decomposition and vocalization of /y̕/); /xʷə́čət/ ‘wake him’, /xʷə́y̕t/ ‘waking him’.
While cases of ‘non-actual’ intervocalic /y/ and /w/ are rare, there are a number of cases of /č/ and /kʷ/ preceding the /ʔ/ infix of the ‘actual’: /ʔíčəɬ/ ‘scoop’, /ʔíʔčəɬ/ ‘scooping’; /θákʷət/ ‘squeal on someone’, /θáʔkʷət/ ‘squealing on someone’. These must, therefore, represent underlying /č/ and /kʷ/, while those that alternate represent underlying /y/ and /w/¹⁴.
Second, in cases where /y/ (or /i/ from /y/) appears in other than root initial position and stress precedes it in the word, it remains a resonant. But when subsequent suffixation causes stress to shift so that it follows the resonant, it shifts to /č/. For example, in /čey/ ‘work’ and /čéyči/ ‘diligent’ stress precedes the resonant, but when /-él̕ŋən/ ‘desiderative’ takes stress from the root: /čəčél̕ŋən/ ‘want to work’; the underlying form of the root in /sɬéniʔ/ ‘woman’ must be ∥√ɬeny∥ and the /y/ surfaces as /č/ when stress follows: /sɬənəčáʔaɬ/ ‘girl’. No clear cases of this have been observed for /w/ ; /kʷ/.
One case of apparent free variation has been recorded for each of these alternations: /qə́wəŋ/ ; /qə́kʷəŋ/ ‘bake’ and /θə́yəŋ/; /θə́čəŋ/ ‘bleed’. In each of these two pairs native speakers feel no particular preference for either one; one is just as good as the other.

1.5.10. ø → ə / √C ________ CC
There are no occurrences of root initial strings of three consonants. For example, ∥t̕s∥ ‘break’ with /-ət/ ‘control transitive’: /t̕sə́t/ ‘break it’; but with /-naxʷ/ ‘non-control transitive’: /t̕əsnáxʷ/. The /ə/ breaks up the consonant cluster. Prefixes do not provide environment for the application of this process: /st̕sə́ts/ ‘his breaking it’.

1.5.11. ə → ø / V ________
Whereas a əV sequence is separated by an epenthetic /h/, a Və sequence is resolved by deletion of the /ə/. Many examples of this can be seen where the /-si/ ‘indirective’ or /-i/ ‘persistent’ precedes /-ət/ ‘control transitive’. See §2.2.1 and §2.5.3.1. Also, ∥√se∥ ‘bid to do, send’ followed by /-ət/ ‘control transitive’: /set/ ‘send him’; ∥√həlí∥ ‘be alive’ with /-ət/: /həlítəŋ/ ‘he was revived’.

Notes to §1.

1. Although labio-uvular is not, strictly speaking, a place of articulation different from uvular, it is, within Salish linguistics the traditional way of presenting the data.

2. Typical too of many languages of the Northwest. See Thompson (1979a).

3. /θ/ (but not /tθ/) also appears in Pentlatch (Kinkade, p.c.). See Thompson, Thompson, and Efrat (1974) for details on the phonological developments in the various Straits Salish dialects.

4. In my early transcriptions forms sometimes show /s/ and other times /θ/. This may reflect a certain amount of free variation, but I suspect that the variation is entirely in my non-Saanich ear. Informants coming to understand that I was interested in phonetic accuracy later insisted on one or the other phoneme. In my later transcriptions the variation is minimal.

5. One other Salish language, Tillamook, has such a system (Thompson and Thompson, 1966), but that language lacks labials entirely. Klallam cognates show /u/ for Saanich /a/ and /a/ for Saanich /e/. The Klallam vowels apparently reflect those of the Proto-Straits system. See Thompson, Thompson, and Efrat (1974) for details.

6. Historically, these geminate vowels have arisen from the loss of an intervening consonant. For example, Kl sčénənəxʷ : Ld sčədádxʷ (Hess, p.c.) : Sa sčéenəxʷ ‘salmon’; Kl muhúy̕ : Sg məháy̕ (Hess, p.c.) : Sa máay̕ ‘basket’.