Tongue Root Harmony in Nata

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joash J. Gambarage ◽  
Douglas Pulleyblank
Keyword(s):  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
High Vowels ◽  
Initial Root

An examination of vowel harmony in Nata (Bantu, E45), reveals a fairly straightforward pattern of harmony in tongue root values for adjacent mid vowels. A problem arises, however, when we look at the behavior of harmony in prefixes. In some nouns, the class prefixes are retracted when the initial root vowel is retracted and advanced when the initial root vowel is advanced. Problematic, however, are other forms in which roots with initial retracted vowels condition the appearance of high vowels in the noun class prefixes. In earlier work, Gambarage argued that to account for the distinction between cases where mid vowels retract and cases where mid vowels raise to high, it is necessary to invoke two distinct co-phonologies. It is argued that the two patterns observed in Nata are readily accounted for within an “allomorphy account,” without the need to invoke multiple co-phonologies. The integration of general phonotactics governing vowel harmony with allomorphy appropriate for particular roots derives the two patterns in a unified fashion.

Aperture harmony

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry van der Hulst
Keyword(s):  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Common Element ◽  
Binary Features ◽  
High Vowels

This chapter analyzes a number of vowel harmony systems which have been described or analyzed in terms of aperture (lowering or raising, including complete harmony). This takes us into areas where the literature on vowel harmony discusses cases involving the following binary features: [± high], [± low], [± ATR], and [± RTR]. Raising has been thought of as problematic for unary ‘IUA’ systems as these systems lack a common element for high vowels. This chapter suggests that raising can be attributed to ATR-harmony. The chapter also discusses typological generalizations and analyzes metaphony in Romance languages.

Moro vowel harmony: implications for transparency and representations

Phonology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Ritchart ◽  
Sharon Rose
Keyword(s):  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
The Other ◽  
Height System ◽  
High Vowels

This paper describes and analyses the vowel-harmony system of the Kordofanian language Moro. Moro has a cross-height dominant-recessive raising harmony system in which high vowels and a central mid vowel trigger harmony, while peripheral mid vowels and a central low vowel are harmony targets. Schwas can co-occur with any of the vowels, appearing inert to harmony. Yet when schwas occur alone in a morpheme, some trigger harmony and some do not. We suggest that an original ATR-harmony system shifted to a height system via merger and centralisation, producing two distinct central vowels, rather than a single schwa. One vowel patterns with the higher vowels in triggering harmony, and the other patterns with the lower vowels. We also propose that a particle-based representation offers the best characterisation of the groupings of target and trigger vowels in the language.

scholarly journals Bondu-so vowel harmony: A descriptive analysis with theoretical implications

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-26
Author(s):  
Abie Hantgan ◽  
Stuart Davis
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Language Data ◽  
High Vowels ◽  
The Relationship

This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the [ATR] vowel harmony system of Bondu-so (Dogon, Mali), a previously undocumented language. Data come from fieldwork and have not yet been published. While Bondu-so has seven surface vowels, namely, two [+ATR, +high] vowels ([i], [u]), a [–ATR +low] vowel [a] and a [±ATR] contrast in the mid vowels with front [e]/[ɛ] and back [o]/[ɔ], there is evidence for a more abstract vowel system phonologically consisting of ten vowels with [±ATR] contrasts with all vowel heights. Further, the language shows a three-way contrast with respect to the feature [ATR] on suffixal vowels: some suffixal vowels act as [+ATR] dominant, spreading their [+ATR] feature onto the root; other suffixes act as [–ATR] dominant, spreading [–ATR] onto the root, and still other suffixes have vowels unspecified for [ATR] receiving their [±ATR] feature by rightward spreading of the [±ATR] value of the root vowel. We offer an autosegmental analysis and then discuss the theoretical implications of such an analysis. These implications include the ternary use of [ATR], the issue of phonological versus morphological harmony, the relationship between vowel inventories and [ATR] harmony systems, and the question of abstractness in phonology.

scholarly journals Vowel harmony and vowel merger in Agoi

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15
Author(s):  
Shirley Yul-Ifode
Keyword(s):  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Language Data ◽  
High Vowels ◽  
Cross Language

This paper describes the vowel harmony system and patterns of vowel merger in Agoi, an Upper Cross language. Data indicate that a once fully operative system of vowel harmony has now been generally restricted to the non-high vowels, with a few residual instances of II u/-determined harmony. The evolution of this change is described.

scholarly journals Noun Class System in Ikhin, an Edoid Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-785
Author(s):  
Olaide Oladimeji ◽  
Opoola Bolanle T.
Keyword(s):  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Class System ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
The Way

This paper examines the noun class system in Ikhin, an Edoid language in South-South, Nigeria. Unlike other related Edoid languages examined and investigated by various scholars, nothing has been said on the noun class system in Ikhin. The paper establishes noun prefixes and concord prefixes in modifiers such as demonstrative and possessive pronouns. Although inherited, this paper confirms that majority of the nouns are inflected for number by means of prefix vowel alternation. The study also confirms that the language maintains most of the noun class distinctions in Edoid languages. The paper examines morphological alternations and their implications for phonology. It is argued that vestiges of vowel harmony appear in the patterning of vowels in nouns and in the way vowels alternate in prefixes. Vestigial evidence of concord which is normally the hallmark of a noun class system in Edoid languages was discovered in modifiers such as demonstrative and possessive pronouns.

scholarly journals ATR Vowel Harmony: new patterns and diagnostics

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Rose
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Perceptual Distance ◽  
Perceptual Difficulty ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
High Vowels

This paper presents a large-scale typological study of over 500 Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo vowel inventories, both with and without ATR harmony. The survey reveals: i) ATR contrasts in high vowels correlate with a strong likelihood of ATR harmony; ii) the vowel system /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/ (termed 1IU in Casali 2008) does not correlate well with ATR harmony. In Nilo-Saharan, such systems do not show ATR harmony, and in Niger-Congo, the majority of such systems also do not have harmony. The survey results are interpreted in terms of perceptual distance, driven by inventory contrast. High vowel ATR contrasts are perceptually more difficult than mid contrasts and activate harmony. In languages that lack mid vowel contrasts, [+ATR] harmony derives allophonic [e o] from /ɛ ɔ/. In languages that lack high vowel contrasts, mid vowel contrasts do not present enough of a perceptual difficulty to reliably activate harmony. If harmony is present, it tends to operate only between mid vowels and does not generate allophonic high vowels. 

scholarly journals Phonological processes in the noun class system of lama.

1989 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-178
Author(s):  
Meterwa A. Ourso
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Class System ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
Noun Class

The purpose of this paper is to account for the phonological processes taking place within noun classes and across noun classes in Lama, particularly when some class suffixes are attached to noun stems. This study is therefore an overview of the noun class phonology. After an introduction to the phonology and to the noun class system, we will examine specific phonological problems. It will be shown that when some root final sounds are in contact with some suffixes, they undergo structural changes, namely, assimilation, vowel truncation, and root controlled vowel harmony.

scholarly journals Lexical strata and vowel (dis)harmony: the Turkish transformation of a Balkan hypocoristic

Linguistica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Walter
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Front Vowel ◽  
Lexical Variation ◽  
High Vowels ◽  
Indexed Constraints ◽  
Constraints Model

In this study I explore the phonological behavior of the hypocoristic suffix /-oʃ/-/iʃ/ in Turkish. Such a suffix is common to many of the Balkan languages. Turkish differs in its introduction of the front vowel variant of the suffix, presumably to satisfy the vowel harmony requirements in Turkish for backness and rounding in high vowels. However, in spite of the potentially alternating suffix allomorphs, collection of naturalistic data as well as of elicited survey data reveals that the majority of nickname outputs are disharmonic. I conclude that the Turkish data provides further evidence for Ito and Mester’s (2009) key insight that different strata of the lexicon may operate according to different rules/constraint rankings. However, the Turkish data is not consistent with their specific faithfulness-based approach. The hypocoristic lexical stratum exhibits a greater number of vowel harmony violations, but not due to more faithfulness to vowel inputs/underlying forms. Rather, the harmony violations in this stratum are gratuitous – I argue, precisely in order to distinguish this stratum from the lexicon at large. An approach such as Pater’s (2010) indexed constraints model better accommodates this type of lexical variation.

scholarly journals Avatime noun classes and concord

1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-150
Author(s):  
Russell G. Schuh
Keyword(s):  
Head Noun ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Active Systems ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Low Tone

Avatime is one of 14 "Central-Togo" (or "Togo Remnant") languages, spoken in Ghana, Togo, and Benin. These languages differ from their nearest Kwa group relatives in that they have active systems of noun classes and concord. Avatime has 13 noun classes, each with a distinct nominal prefix. Prefixes (as well as most other affixes) agree in [ATR] vowel harmony with the host noun root. Some classes impose invariable low tone on the prefix while prefix tone of other classes may be any of three lexically determined tones. Definiteness is marked by a set of suffixes. The ultimate segmental shapes and tones of these suffixes depend on the interaction of the respective class prefix shapes and coalescence phenomena with stem final vowels. There are correlations between noun class and nominal semantics, and nominal derivation is done in part through class choice. A number of attributive modifiers show class concord with the head noun. In the variety of Avatime studied here, such concord is only though vocalic prefixes on attributive modifiers, not by full CV prefixes as is typical of Bantu languages. Some attributives also have "tonal concord", which is not class concord per se, but refers to the tone of the head noun's prefix. Not all attributive modifiers have overt concord marking.

Waja

2020 ◽  
pp. 506-520
Author(s):  
Ulrich Kleinewillinghöfer
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Verbal Nouns ◽  
Basic Word ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Genetic Unit ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Basic Motion

Waja is spoken in Southern Gombe State, NE Nigeria. It is the largest language of the Tula-Waja group. Waja is one of the few “Adamawa” noun class languages and also one of the key languages validating the notion of an “Adamawa-Gur” genetic unit. In Waja, noun class markers are suffixed to the nouns, while the basic pattern of concord marking is bilateral affixation/cliticization. Verbs have three basic forms: two contrasting aspectual verb forms, “definite” and “indefinite”, and verbal nouns. Productive verb extensions are pluractional, altrilocal-ventive, passive/intransitive, applicative, directional, and benefactive. Basic motion and posture verbs form their own verb class, and they require copy pronouns. The basic word order in clauses is SVO; the head noun generally precedes modifiers. Notable phonological features of Waja are ATR vowel harmony with twelve phonetic and nine phonemic vowels, and prenasalized and labialized stops.

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