Читать книгу The morphology and phonology of the nominal domain in Tagbana - Yranahan Traoré - Страница 14
ОглавлениеThis chapter surveys the segments of Fròʔò, shedding light on the natural phonological classes and motivating the distinctive features necessary for the classification of the phonemes and allophones of this language. In Section 2.2 the consonants and the vowels of Fròʔò are introduced. Section 2.3 is a survey of the distinctive features used to make the necessary distinctions, and Section 2.4 proposes a feature-geometric analysis of the segments and their distinctive features. Section 2.5 sheds light on the main allophonic relationships. Finally, Section 2.6 briefly introduces the lexical tones of Fròʔò.
Fig. 1 shows the speech organs and the places of articulation that constitute the speech apparatus. The organs responsible for sound production can be classified in active and passive articulators. There are six active articulators: lips (labia), tongue blade (corona), tongue body (dorsum), tongue root, soft palate, and larynx (with the vocal cords). These articulators are located in the oral cavity, the nasal cavity, the pharyngeal cavity, or the larynx. The active articulators move towards the so-called passive organs, which remain in the same position during sound production. The ‘passive articulators’ are the teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard palate, the soft palate (velum), the uvula, and the pharynx. All articulators, except for the pharynx, are used in Fròʔò.
←31 | 32→
Fròʔò distinguishes 22 consonants with different places and manners of articulation; see Tab. 1. The obstruents are realized with an obstruction in the oral cavity. When they are stops, they are produced with a complete stricture in the oral tract. This is the case for 11 of the consonants. When they are fricatives, the stricture is only partial. This is the case for three consonants. Stops can be voiceless or voiced, but the fricatives are voiceless.
There are eight sonorants in Fròʔò, including four nasals [m];, [n], [ɲ], and [ŋ]; two glides [w] and [j]; one lateral [l]; and one rhotic [r].
The Fròʔò consonant system is close to that of some of the Gur languages, especially Koulango, Lohoron, Lomaka, and Nafanran, as described by Mensah and Tchagbale (1983), although some differences appear as well, as testified by the absence of voiced fricatives in Fròʔò. The laryngeals [h]; and [ʔ] are present ←32 | 33→in Fròʔò, but they are lacking in some of the Gur languages, like Fodonon and Dugubɛrɛ, among others (1983).
Fròʔò has seven vowels, which can be short or long. There are five [+ATR] vowels and two [-ATR] ones. Only the mid vowels can have both an advanced and a retracted tongue root; the high and the low ones are always [+ATR]. All vowels have additional nasal equivalents, except for [e]; and [o] as shown in (1). They can only be [-ATR].
The first subsection describes the consonants, their articulators, and their manner of articulation. It also proposes a feature system; see Kenstowicz (1994) and Gussenhoven and Jacobs (2013) for similar systems. Distinctive features were first introduced into phonology by Trubetzkoy (1890–1938) and Jacobson (1896–1982), and later developed by Chomsky and Halle (1968). Phonological segments are analysed with distinctive features that allow segments to form natural classes. Features are privative or binary (specified as + or -). They also may or may not appear in representation of the segment. The vowels will be the subject of investigation in Section 2.3.2.
Each speech sound is distinguished by several phonological features. First, the major class features classify segments into consonants, vowels, and glides: [±consonantal], [±vocalic], and [±sonorant] are the three major class features for this purpose.
Consonants are [+consonantal] and vowels are [-consonantal]. The feature [±consonantal] specifically addresses the question of whether there is any major constriction in the vocal tract. It groups together obstruents, nasals, liquids, and glides, which are [+consonantal], versus vowels, which are [-consonantal]. [+consonantal] indicates that sounds are produced with an obstruction or partial obstruction of air in the oral cavity. Note that vowels and glides have no obstruction in the vocal tract, or only a minimal one, compared to that formed by a fricative or a stop.
The feature [±vocalic] makes a further major distinction between consonants and vowels. Vowels and glides are [+vocalic]. The presence of this feature allows us to classify glides independently of both consonants and vowels.
A survey of the classification of the speech sounds by the three major class features appears in Tab. 2.
Tab. 2: Consonants vs. vowels vs. glides
| [consonantal] | [vocalic] | |
| Consonants | + | - |
| Vowels | - | + |
| Glides | + | + |
←33 | 34→
The third major class feature, [±sonorant], is responsible for the distinction between obstruents and sonorants. It characterizes the air pressure in the oral cavity: obstruents are [-sonorant] and sonorants are [+sonorant].
In oral stops, until the obstruction caused by the articulators is released, the air cannot flow through the vocal tract: oral stops are [-sonorant]. In fricatives, even though there is some airflow due to the imperfect obstruction, there is enough constriction for intra-oral air pressure to build up: fricatives are thus also [-sonorant]. In a vowel or glide, on the other hand, the vocal tract is only minimally constricted and air can flow without impedance: vowels and glides are ←34 | 35→[+sonorant]. Nasal consonants have a complete obstruction of airflow through the oral cavity, but nevertheless the nasal passage is open, which allows free flow of air through the nasal cavity. Air pressure does not build up during the production of nasals: nasals are [+sonorant]. In the liquids [l]; and [r], air flows freely over the sides of the tongue: the liquids are [+sonorant] (Tab. 3).
Tab. 3: Major class features for consonants
Turning now to manner features, the feature [±continuant] makes a distinction between stops and fricatives. Stops are [-cont] and fricatives are [+cont]. [+continuant] segments are such that air can flow continuously through the oral cavity. Note that nasals are [-continuant], even though they allow continuous airflow, because the air passes through the nose, not through the mouth. Vowels and glides are [+continuant] (Tab. 4).
Tab. 4: Major class features and [±continuant] for consonants
Consonants are distinguished by the active articulators that produce them. In Fròʔò there are three privative articulator features: [labial], [coronal], and [dorsal].
Labials
The bilabial consonants, [p];, [b], and [m], result from a constriction made by the lips. These consonants are all articulated with a complete oral closure and are thus [-continuant]; see Tab. 5. Labial consonants are distinguished by the contact between active and passive articulators: bilabial or labiodental; see (2) for examples from Fròʔò of labials in word-initial position. The labiodental [f] is a fricative; see (2)b. During its production, the lower lip and the upper teeth come into contact, but no closure takes place. There is no voiced counterpart of the voiceless labiodental fricative [f] in Fròʔò.
Tab. 5: Labials and their features
←35 | 36→
Coronals
There are two groups of coronal consonants distinguished by the feature [±anterior]. Anterior coronals are articulated with the anterior part of the tongue, the corona, which consists of the tip, and the blade of the tongue. Coronals include the alveolar consonants, articulated with the corona against the alveolar ridge.
The primary constriction of the [+anterior] segments is at or in front of the alveolar ridge (either at the lips, the teeth, or just behind the teeth) whereas other coronal consonants, articulated further back in the mouth, are [-anterior]; see the classification in Tab. 6.
There are two coronal stops in Fròʔò: the alveolar voiceless [t]; and the voiced [d]. There is only one sibilant (fricative), the voiceless [s]. Additionally, Fròʔò has a coronal alveolar nasal [n], a lateral [l], an alveolar approximant [j], and an alveolar trill or rhotic [r]. The voiceless and voiced alveolo-palatal sibilants [ʃ] and [ʒ] are absent in Fròʔò, while they are present in other Gur languages such as Nafaran of Supyre and Nafaran of Bondoukou, Kafiire, and Tenere, at least the sound [ʃ] is; see Mensah and Tchagbale (1983). All alveolar segments of Fròʔò appear in Tab. 6 with their respective features. They are attested in the examples in (3) except for [r], which always appears word-internally:
Tab. 6: [+anterior] coronals (alveolars) and their features
←36 | 37→
The second group of coronals are [-anterior]. They are articulated further back in the mouth. The mid part of the tongue is raised against the hard palate. They are the voiceless and voiced stops [c]; and [ɟ], the nasal [ɲ], and the approximant or glide [j] (used sometimes as a semi-vowel); see Tab. 7 followed by the examples in (4).
Tab. 7: [-anterior] coronals (palatals) and their features
Dorsals
Dorsal consonants are articulated by moving the body of the tongue, also known as the dorsum, to a passive articulator; see Ladefoged and Maddieson (1996). ←37 | 38→The dorsum of the tongue can contact a broad region of the roof of the mouth, from the hard palate to the uvula. Velar voiceless [k]; and voiced stop [g] plus the velar nasal [ŋ] are typical dorsals. In addition, labiovelars combine two places of articulation, [labial] and [dorsal], and can be voiceless [kp] or voiced [gb]; see the examples in (5) after Tab. 8 and Tab. 9, which show the dorsals and the labiovelar dorsals, respectively.
Tab. 8: Dorsals and their features
Tab. 9: Labiovelar dorsals and their features
Laryngeals
Fròʔò also has laryngeal consonants. The glottal stop [ʔ] and the fricative [h]; use the glottis/vocal folds as their first articulator, for which laryngeal distinctive features are needed: [spread glottis] ([s.g.]) and [constricted glottis] ([c.g.]). The glottal stop [ʔ] makes a constriction of the airflow during its production, drawing together the vocal cords. The aspirated [h], during the production of which the vocal cords are drawn together, is accounted for by [s.g.] (Tab. 10).
Tab. 10: Laryngeals and their features
←38 | 39→
Table 11 sums up the features of the consonantal segments of the language. It also shows which features are binary and which are privative. In the preceding tables, all features were indicated as binary for clarity of presentation, but in fact, many features do not need to be specified as binary. The vertical column on the left of the table gives the features, and the two first horizontal lines above the table show the segments themselves. The top line shows the [-voiced] consonants and the second line shows the [+voiced] ones. Only stops need to be specified for [±voiced]. Fricatives are always voiceless and all other consonants are sonorants and thus voiced. As an example, the feature [nasal] is privative; see Ewen and van der Hulst (2001:55) for discussion.
Tab. 11: Consonants of Fròʔò and their distinctive features
A list of all vowels of Fròʔò is provided in (1) above. As explained in Section 2.3.1, the primary distinction between vowels and consonants is achieved by the major class features [±consonantal] and [±vocalic]. All vowels are [-consonantal] and [+vocalic]. The feature [sonorant] is redundant for vowels, because [+vocalic] implies [+sonorant]. Further distinctions among vowels are achieved by additional features specialized for vowels.
A first feature specialized for vowels is [±high]. This feature and [±low] are responsible for distinctions along the vertical dimension. During the production of the [+high] segments, the dorsum is raised towards the roof of the mouth and the produced vowels are [i]; and [u]. These vowels contrast with [-high] vowels [e, o, ɛ, ɔ, a].
←39 | 40→
The feature [±low] distinguishes between [+low] and [-low] vowels. Only [a]; and its nasal counterpart are [+low]; all other vowels are [-low].
The feature [±back] is responsible for distinctions along the horizontal dimension, separating front from back vowels. The [-back] segments are [i];, [e], and [ɛ]; and the [+back] segments are [u], [o], [ɔ], and [a]. During the articulation of the [+back] vocalic segments, the body of the tongue is in the back of the oral cavity.
Vowels can also be produced with lowering of the velum. The position of the velum is responsible for the distinction between oral and nasal vowels. The distinction is accounted for with the feature [nasal], which specifies nasality. Oral vowels lack this feature. This implies that the feature [nasal] is privative.
The last feature needed in the vocalic system of Fròʔò is [±ATR] (or [±tense]). [+ATR] or ‘Advanced Tongue Root’ qualifies the position of the tongue root during the articulation of tense vowels. The other value, [-ATR] or ‘Retracted Tongue Root’, is used for lax vowels. This feature distinguishes the [+ATR] segments [i, u, e, o, a] from the [-ART] segments [ɛ, ɔ]. Note that the segment [a]; combines as well with the [-ATR] and the [+ATR] vowels. Tab. 12 gives a survey of all features used to distinguish vowels in Fròʔò, and some examples are provided in (6).
Tab. 12: Vowels of Fròʔò and their distinctive features
←40 | 41→
In Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) linear model for distinctive features, speech sounds are described as bundles of features listed in a feature matrix. But some questions arose around their model because of the intrinsic difficulty of feature matrices to account for the naturalness and simplicity of rules, or to show in a simple way the assimilation of features (see for instance Clements & Hume (1995), McCarthy (1988) and Gussenhoven & Jacobs (2013:185–197) for discussions).
This section proposes a feature-geometric organization of the distinctive features of the consonants and vowels of Fròʔò. The feature geometry framework represents distinctive features as a structured hierarchy rather than as a matrix. A segment is identified by a +/- dichotomy of a series of (binary) features. This theory has grown out of autosegmental phonology, a framework of phonological analysis first proposed by Goldsmith (1976). A central idea of autosegmental analysis is that a large part of phonological generalizations can be interpreted as a restructuring or reorganization of the autosegments in a representation. In autosegmental phonology, the phonological representations consist of linear sequences of segments where each linear sequence constitutes a separate tier. The autosegments of one tier are joined by association lines to another tier.
The autosegmental formalism deals with several separate linear sequences in such a way that a phonological representation is depicted on several distinct tiers, e.g. the segmental tier, the stress tier, or the tonal tier. Each of these tiers consists of different features.
2.4.1 Feature geometry for consonants
Fig. 2 displays how the relevant features for consonants are organized in the form of a feature-geometric tree.
Fig. 2: Feature geometry for consonants
←41 | 42→
Fig. 2 shows the different features used for the consonants that were listed in Section 2.3.1. McCarthy (1988) assumes that the grouping of features is based not so much on any similarity of articulatory or acoustic correlates as on the functional coherence of the feature groupings in phonological rule systems. Feature geometry gathers groups of features under a shared parent node or class node in a tree, and operations on the entire set can be encoded as operations on the class node. The tree in Fig. 2 contains a root node—the topmost node—which includes the binary major class features [±consonantal], [±vocalic], and [±sonorant]. The reason why these features constitute the root node is that none of them can spread separately, as is the case for most other features, like the feature [nasal], which can spread without spreading any other part of the tree; see Clements and Hume (1995). The distinctive features are grouped into categories with regard to the different natural classes of segments that they describe. These groups of categories are the major class features, laryngeal features, manner features, and place features.
From the root node in Fig. 2, there is a main division between the Laryngeal (L) and Supralaryngeal (SL) nodes. The L node comprises the features of the larynx. Features such as [nasal] and [continuant] are dependent on the SL node, which comprises the articulators [labial], [coronal], and [dorsal], which are grouped under the class node Articulators (Artic).
Segments are only specified by the relevant features that distinguish them from the other segments. Let us start with the L consonants. These consonants use the glottis as their first articulator. They have three distinctive features: [±voiced], indicating whether or not there is vibration of the vocal cords; [spread glottis] or [s.g.], indicating the aspiration of a segment with regard to the openness of ←42 | 43→the glottis; and [constricted glottis] or [c.g.], which denotes the degree of closure of the glottis. The feature [c.g.] is used to specify the glottal stop [ʔ] and the feature [s.g.] is used for the glottal fricative [h];. The feature tree for the glottal stop appears in Fig. 3. Only the L feature [c.g.] needs to be specified, but no SL feature. The same is true for [h]: only the feature [s.g.] is needed for this segment.
Fig. 3: Feature-geometric tree for the glottal stop [ʔ]
Turning next to the obstruents, it was shown above that the obstruents consist of stops and fricatives, distinguished by the feature [±continuant]: the stops are [-continuant] and the fricatives [+continuant]. They are all [+consonantal], [-vocalic], and [-sonorant]; and their articulators are [labial], [coronal], and [dorsal]. They can be voiced or voiceless.
Fig. 4 shows the feature-geometric representation for a voiceless labial stop [p];.
Fig. 4: Feature-geometric tree for [p];
Fig. 5 shows the features of the stops [t]; and [g].
Fig. 5: Feature-geometric tree for coronal [t]; and dorsal [g]
The labiovelar segments [kp] and [gb] combine two articulators, [labial] and [dorsal]; see Fig. 6.
Fig. 6: Feature-geometric tree for the labiovelar consonants
←43 | 44→
Fricatives are [f]; and [s]; see Fig. 7 for a tree-geometric representation of [f]. Recall that there is no dorsal fricative in Fròʔò.
Fig. 7: Fricative [f]; in a feature-geometric tree representation
Sonorant consonants are distinguished from obstruents with the feature [±sonorant] bearing the positive value [+sonorant].
Depending on whether the velum is lowered or raised, a nasal or oral segment is produced, respectively. The trees in Figs. 8 and 9 show the features for [m]; and [j]. Recall that nasals are [-continuant].
Fig. 8: Feature-geometric tree for [m];
Fig. 9: Feature-geometric tree for [j];
←44 | 45→
Both glides, [j]; and [w], are in some instances considered as [+cons], [+voc], thus entailed [+son] as it is shown in Fig. 10. But note that in my data the letter segments are performing consonantal function instead of vocalic function.
Fig. 10: Features for the glides [w]; and [j]
2.4.2 Feature geometry for vowels
Fig. 11 shows all vocalic features needed for Fròʔò. The root node contains the features [-consonantal], [+vocalic], and [+sonorant]. There are no L features for vowels, only SL ones. Vowel Specification (VS) is a class node dependent on the SL class node that regroups all vocalic features.
Fig. 11: Feature tree for the vowels of Fròʔò
←45 | 46→
The vocalic features [±high], [low], [±back], [±ATR], and [nasal] are the features needed to distinguish all vowels and make the necessary natural classes among them. Some examples appear in Fig. 12.
Fig. 12: Feature-geometric tree for [i];, [o], [ɛ], and [a]
←46 | 47→
This section addresses allophonic variations. First, stops can be phonemically voiced and voiceless. In some cases, however, the voicing difference is an allophonic realization; see Section 2.5.1. The second allophonic variation in Section 2.5.2 concerns [g]; and its nasal variant [ŋ]. Section 2.5.3 compares [g] and [ɣ] in Tagbana dialects and Mending, a neighbouring Gur language. Section 2.5.4 shows that [j] and [ɲ] stand in an allophonic relationship with each other, and Section 2.5.5 deals with the lengthening of vowels before liquids.
The usual test for the phonemic status of a speech sound is conducted with minimal pairs: two words contrast by virtue of having two different phonemes, everything else being equal. In English, cat and bat are different words with different meanings, because both [k]; and [b] are phonemes. Allophones, by contrast, do not distinguish words: they realize the same phoneme in two particular phonological environments. Whether [k] in cat is realized with aspiration or not ←47 | 48→does not change the meaning of the word. And the same is true when one or both of the stops in this word is glottalized. In these cases, there is allophonic variation. Allophonic sounds are phonetically similar. They are often mutually exclusive or in complementary distribution. Two sounds are said to be in complementary distribution if the distribution of sounds in their respective phonetic environments is such that one never appears in the same phonetic context as the other in the same grammatical category.1
This section deals with the distribution of the voiced and voiceless stops of Fròʔò. In nouns, the initial stop is either voiced or voiceless, and there is no minimal pair between voiced and voiceless stops. It is illustrated in (7) that if a word starts with a specific voiced or voiceless stop, there can be no identical word starting with the inverse value for [voice].
The [±voice] stops are mutually exclusive in the onset position. The same effect is also observed word-medially. Voiceless and voiced stops word-internally cannot create minimal pairs in the same grammatical category. This means that in a structure CV.XV where X is a voiceless stop [p, t, k…] a structure CV.XV cannot be found where X = a voiced stop [b, d, g…] and is in a minimal pair relation with the former structure. Since both voiceless and voiced stops may occur word-initially, no prediction can be made as to which appears in which word.
In verbs, stop voicing has a grammatical role. When in citation form, verb stop onsets are always voiceless. Their substitution with their voiced counterpart ←48 | 49→triggers a change of aspect, from infinitive to past or progressive. Some examples appear in (8), one of them in a sentence.
2.5.2 Allophonic relation between [g]; and [ŋ]
The dorsal stop [g]; can appear between a nasal and an oral vowel in either order; see (9)a–b. It can be found between two oral vowels as in (9)c. The voiced dorsal stop also appears word-initially before any vowel, nasal or oral; see (9)d–e. And it can also occasionally be part of a complex onset (9)f.
The segment [ŋ] can appear word-initially followed by a liquid [l]; or [r] and also by the velar oral [g]; see (10)a–d. It only appears in a nasal environment; and when it is followed by a vowel, the vowel is always nasal (e–f), except for in cases where the vowels do not have nasal equivalents, that is, the vowels [e] and [o] as in the examples in (10)g–i.
←49 | 50→
Both intervocalic distributions are summarized in Fig. 13, based on (9) and (10). Between the two mid vowels [e]; and [o], both the velar and the nasal velar are found, as shown above. The examples in (10)a–c show that nasality is subject to harmony and that it can spread across a segment.
Tab. 13 sums up the environments of the two segments [g]; and [ŋ].
Tab. 13: Environments of [g]; and [ŋ]
| Environments | [g]; | [ŋ] |
| V[+nas] _ V[-nas] | + | - |
| V[-nas] _ V[+nas] | + | - |
| V[+nas] _ V[+nas] | - | + |
| V[-nas] _ V[-nas] | + | - |
A possible analysis could take the phoneme [g]; as underlying. [g] is replaced by [ŋ] between identical nasal vowels.
2.5.3 Free variation of [g];, [ɣ], [ʔ], or [Ø] in some Senufo languages
This section gives a comparison of the use of [g]; and [ɣ] in some Gur languages, particularly Mending and Tafiré, as compared with Fròʔò. In Mending, which is widely spoken in Côte dʼ Ivoire, more especially in the Northern part of the country, where Fròʔò is spoken, [g] alternates with the voiced dorsal fricative [ɣ]. The segment [ɣ] is analysed as a lenized pronunciation of the dorsal velar [g] by Herault and Mlanhoro (1973).
←50 | 51→
| (11) | mɔ̀ɣɔ́ | ‘human man’ |
| sàɣá | ‘sheep’ | |
| nòɣó | ‘intestine’ | |
| tɔ́ɣɔ́ | ‘noun, name’ |
In Tafiré, another neighbouring dialect close to Fròʔò, the dorsal velar stop [g]; is used instead of the glottal stop [ʔ] as shown in (12). The glottal stop in Fròʔò raises a number of questions. In some languages and more especially in the Fròʔò dialect spoken in Katiola, there is a process of fusing and lengthening of identical vowels which are separated by a glottal stop, as in tīʔī ‘tree’ realized as tīː ‘tree’ in Katiola. In Fròʔò, the two morphemes, lexical root and class marker, are separated by a glottal stop that is the onset of the CM.
Where Fròʔò uses [Ɂ], Tafiré prefers [g];, Katiola deletes the segment, and Mending prefers [ɣ]. This variation may be the result of free variation.
2.5.4 Allophonic relation between the palatal glide [j]; and palatal nasal [ɲ]
Consider next the allophonic relation between the palatal glide [j]; and the palatal nasal [ɲ]. These two sounds are in complementary distribution. In (13), some examples with word-initial and word-medial glides are shown. The glide is realized as [j] before an oral vowel as in the examples in (13) and as [ɲ] when it appears before or after a nasal. This means that the position V[+nas] _ V[-nas] is not possible. Because if after a nasal vowel [j] becomes [ɲ], and if after [ɲ] an oral vowel is nasalized, then there is no way to find [j] or [ɲ] in the environment V[+nas] _ V[-nas] (Tab. 14
