Tone in Bantu

Stevick, Earl W.

doi:10.1086/465078

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…As in other Bantu languages [Stevick, 1969;Myers, 1998;Odden, 1998], there is evidence that this is best represented as a privative contrast between the presence of high tone and the absence of tone. Low tone is phonologically inert in Kinyarwanda, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…According to this view, the shifted high tone would be associated with the penultimate syllable, and that syllable therefore should be the best predictor of the timing of the f 0 peak realizing that tone. A prohibition of phrase-final high tones is a common phonological pattern, exemplified in such languages as Kikuyu [Clements, 1984], Rimi [Olson, 1964], Chasu [Stevick, 1969], Makua [Cheng and Kisseberth, 1979], Kukuya [Hyman, 1986], Chichewa [Kanerva, 1989;Myers, 1999], Haya [Hyman and Byarushengo, 1984], Ndanda Yao [Odden, 1998], and Kinyambo [Bickmore, 1989]. In Chichewa, Kinyambo and Ndanda Yao, phrase-final high tones are avoided by shifting the tone to the penultimate syllable.…”

Section: Linear Regression Models Of the Timing Of The F 0 Peakmentioning

confidence: 99%

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F₀ Timing in Kinyarwanda

Myers¹

2003

Phonetica

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In Kinyarwanda (Bantu, Rwanda), a high tone can occur on either the first or the second mora of a syllable. A study of f₀ timing in the language was undertaken to determine how such a contrast is realized phonetically, and how this realization is affected by phrase position, word position, and distance from a following high tone. The study also aimed to explore a reported effect of ‘tone anticipation’ (raising of pitch in a syllable before a high tone) in the language. The study found significant effects of the position of a tone within the syllable, its position within the phrase, and its position with respect to following high tones. Models of f₀ timing in Kinyarwanda are proposed, demonstrating the role of moras in phonetic implementation of tone. These models clarify issues regarding the phonological representation of tones in Kinyarwanda, and the division between phonetic patterns and phonological ones.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Linear Regression Models Of the Timing Of The F 0 Peakmentioning

confidence: 99%

F₀ Timing in Kinyarwanda

Myers¹

2003

Phonetica

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“…15) The question remains of whether PB should be reconstructed with *H, *L, as found in the NW, or with a privative *H contrasting with zero (Stevick 1969), as is more prevalent outside the MSB. The general assumption is that the /H/ vs. Ø systems are innovative.…”

Section: Atr Vowel Harmony and Nasalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Macro-Sudan Belt and Niger-Congo Reconstruction

Hyman¹

2011

Lang Dyn Change

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Basing himself largely on areal and typological arguments, Güldemann (2010) claims that neither Proto-Niger-Congo nor Proto-Bantu had more than a "moderate" system of derivational verb suffixes ("extensions"), and that both proto-languages lacked inflectional verb prefixes. Although drawing largely on the same materials as Hyman (2004, 2007a, b), he arrives at the opposite conclusion that Niger-Congo languages which have such morphology, in particular Bantu and Atlantic, would have had to innovate multiple suffixation and prefixation. However, such hypotheses are weakened by two serious problems: (i) These proto-languages, which possibly reach back as far as 10,000–12,000 bp, have clearly had enough time for their morphosyntax to have cycled more than once. (ii) The areal properties of Güldemann's Macro-Sudan Belt most likely represent more recent innovations which have diffused after the Niger-Congo break-up. In this paper, I present further evidence that multiple suffixation and prefixation must have existed even in languages which have lost them. The general conclusion is that current areal distributions are largely irrelevant for long-range linguistic reconstruction.

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“…Some western Bantu languages (Ntumu, Kombe, Bafia) have a contrast between pre-pausal falling L versus non-falling L (arising from final L vs. rise), and Swati has developed an "extralow" from pitch-depression effects induced by preceding voiced consonants (which has become phonologized and now exists where there was no consonantal cause). It has been been recognised at least since Stevick (1969) that there is a behavioral asymmetry between surface H and L in Bantu, which frequently leads to an analysis of the system in terms of a privative H-Ø opposition rather than H-L. See for critical discussion of arguments for privativity. For example, the location of H is frequently quite restricted but the location of L is free; tense-inflection is typically characterized by addition of H, and almost never by the addition of L. The sequence /HH/ is often dissimilated to [HL] Long-distance tone shift is found in Zigua (Kenstowicz & Kisseberth 1990, Kisseberth 1992.…”

Section: Tonementioning

confidence: 99%

Bantu Phonology

Odden¹

2015

Oxford Handbook Topics in Linguistics

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This chapter surveys the main phonological phenomena found in Bantu languages. One such phenomenon is vowel harmony, where suffixes typically alternate in height depending on the preceding vowel. Combinations of nasal plus consonant are also frequently subject to various modifications, and such clusters also play an important role in the debates over syllable structure, since Bantu language seem to exhibit the peculiarity that the only onset clusters of consonantals is composed of nasal followed by obstruent, reversing the more general tendency for sonority to rise in the syllable onset. The tone systems of Bantu languages are especially well-known for their complex systems of alternations in the form of spreading, dissimilation and grammatically-conditioned melodic alternation. A key feature of interest in the study of Bantu phonology is the considerable variability in the exact details of operation in a highly similar set of rules.

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Tone in Bantu

Cited by 27 publications

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F₀ Timing in Kinyarwanda

F₀ Timing in Kinyarwanda

The Macro-Sudan Belt and Niger-Congo Reconstruction

Bantu Phonology

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