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Michael Cahill

SIL International, International Language Program Services, International Linguistics Coordinator

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Mike has been part of SIL and their work in language development, including Bible translation, since 1981. He and his wife Virginia spent several years in Ghana working with the Koma or Konni project, living in the rather remote village of Yikpabongo for much of that time.
Since being back in the USA, and receiving a Ph.D. in linguistics from The Ohio State University (dissertation on the phonology of Konni), Mike has served as SIL's International LInguistics Coordinator, and is now their Orthography Services Coordinator.
He is interested in most orthographic topics, and still keeps connected with his pet topics of tone and labial-velar obstruents.

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Willeke van der Kallen

Utrecht University

SIL International

University of Port Harcourt

Jenneke van der Wal

Leiden University

Francis Wepngong Ndi

Yaounde I

Patricia Schneider-Zioga

California State University, Fullerton

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Papers by Michael Cahill

Celebrating 50 years of ACAL: Selected papers from the 50th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

The papers in this volume were presented at the 50th Annual Conference on African Linguistics hel... more The papers in this volume were presented at the 50th Annual Conference on African Linguistics held at the University of British Columbia in 2019. The contributions span a range of theoretical topics as well as topics in descriptive and applied linguistics. The papers reflect the typological and genetic diversity of languages in Africa and also represent the breadth of the ACAL community, with papers from both students and more senior scholars, based in North America and beyond. They thus provide a snapshot on current research in African linguistics, from multiple perspectives. To mark the 50th anniversary of the conference, the volume editors reminisce, in the introductory chapter, about their memorable ACALs.

Letters to Language

Language, 2005

Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon eith... more Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon either material published previously in the journal or issues deemed of importance to the field. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as needed. Brief replies from relevant parties are included as warranted.

African linguistics across the disciplines: Selected papers from the 48th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

This article examines the syllable structure in Fròʔò, a dialect of Tagbana spoken in Côte d'Ivoi... more This article examines the syllable structure in Fròʔò, a dialect of Tagbana spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. In our analysis, the underlying syllable structure in Fròʔò is limited to C(C)V and V. Other surface syllable shapes, such as CVC, are the result of synchronic morphophonological processes. These processes include the formation of surface complex onsets through vowel deletion, the simplification of underlying complex onsets through liquid deletion, and the merger of bisyllabic CVCV sequences into monosyllables (CVC and CV). Evidence of these phonological process can also be found in loanwords, where syllable repairs take place. 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò Table 3: Overview of the nominal classes of Fròʔò and their class markers Class markers (CM) Examples of nouns of each class Class 1 (sg. of gender 1) hō−lō wótìɔ1 several CM, including ∅ elephant−cm1 python Class 2 (pl. of gender 1) hō−bēlē wótìɔ−hélé CM: [-hele], [-bele],-lV elephants−cm2 pythons−cm2 Class 3 (sg. of gender 2) lāː−lā kpē−lē CM: [-lV] belly−cm3 knife−cm3 Class 4 (pl. of gender 2) lā−ʔālā kpē−gēlē CM: [-ʔVlV,-gele] bellies−cm4 knives−cm4 Class 5 (sg. of gender 3) jē−gē āfɔ−ŋɔC M: [-gV]/[-ŋV]/[-ʔV] or ∅ month−cm5 newthing−cm5 Class 6 (pl. of gender 3) jēː−rē āfɔ:−rɔC M: [-rV] months−cm6 newthings−cm6 Class 7 (sg. of gender 4) ɲũ−mũ wɛ−bɛC M: [-mV] water−cm7 foliage−cm7 (4) [a]/[ã] in word-initial position a. ā.jlē-ʔè mirror-cm5 'mirror' b. ā.wrē-ʔē something itchy-cm5 'something itchy' c. à.plè3 'shade' d. ã.gù1 'traditional dance' e. ã.gō-lò mount-cm3 'mount' Word-medially, all vowels can be a nucleus, see two examples in (5), each of which contains a CM consisting only of a vowel. (5) Vowel at hiatus position a. pì-ɔc hild-cm1 'child' b. kā.fū-ō sweat-cm5 'sweat' 5 Yranahan Traoré & Caroline Féry Word-initially, before all vowels other than [a], [h] or another consonant is needed; see (6) for words starting with [h]. In loanwords starting with a vowel, [h] is inserted word-initially, see §5. (6) [h] initial words a. hēːrē 'to press' b. hɔʔɔ' to cook' c. hòʔó 'to stoop' d. hɛ̰ 'where' e. hí-ʔí feather-cm5 'feather' f. hú-ʔú thorn-cm5 'thorn' Syllables consisting of a nasal only are the subject of §2.4 2.2 CV syllable: onset + nucleus All consonants can occupy the word-initial onset position except for the glottal stop [ʔ] and [r], both of which do not occur in this position. In (7), monosyllabic words are used for illustration. (7) a. pũ1 'dog' b. bā7 'this' c. tō1 'father' d. díː 'so, that' e. cã' to fall' f. ɉɛ' to wake up' g. kā 'to break' h. gũ1 'tortoise' i. kpē 'to take' j. gbò1 'gnat' k. fã' to build' l. sɛ' produce' m. hɛ' where' n. mĩ' I, me' o. nũ̀1 'ox' p. ɲĩ 'to fill' q. ŋã' this one' r. jō 'to say' s. wī 'him' 6 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò Vowel lengthening is triggered by a following liquid, [r] or [l], as shown in (8). Liquids at the beginning of word final syllables often are the initial consonant of a class marker, but not always. The examples in (8) have a heteromorphemic liquid, except for (8f), in which the last syllable is part of the lexical root. (8) a. lōː-rō mango-cm6 'mangoes' b. kāː-lā problem-cm3' 'problem' c. pĩː-rĩt am-tam-cm6 'tam-tams' d. pũː-lũd og-cm2 'dogs' e. pìː-lì child-cm2 'children' f. ɉàː.rà1 'lion' Not all vowels lengthen before a liquid, as shown in (9). This happens when the vowel follows [ʔ]. In this case, it is deleted or pronounced as a short and weak vowel (see §3.2 for vowel deletion). Thus, the sequence [ʔVrV] blocks lengthening of the vowel following [r]. (9) a. fīʔī.rí 'to frighten' b. híʔí.rí 'to shiver' c. ɲɔʔɔ.rɔ' to move' d. hùʔù.rú 'to spin' Words initial complex onsets are illustrated in (11). (11) Complex word-initial onsets i. [pl]: plɔ.ʔɔb amboo-cm5 'bamboo' ii. [pr]: prò6 'chip' iii. [bl]: blɔ' plowed' iv. [br]: bré.ʔé 'to boil' v. [tr]: trá.ʔá 'to stick up' vi. [dr]: drè.ʔè shift-cm5 'shirt' vii. [cl]: clɛ.mũẁ oman-cm7 'womanhood' viii. [cr]: crɛ.ʔɛ' to expand' ix. [ɉl]: ɉlì.ʔí 'wise' x. [ɉr]: ɉrɛ.ʔɛ' to fly' xi. [kl]: klã.ʔãs eat-cm5 'seat' xii. [kr]: krɔ.ʔɔ car-cm5 'car' xiii. [km]: kmɔ' to beat' xiv. [gm]: gmɔ' beaten' xv. [gl]: glē.ʔè tamis-cm5 'tamise' xvi. [gr]: grā̰ 'dirty' 8 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò xvii. [kpl]: kplɛ.ʔɛf ormer-cm5 'former' xviii. [kpr]: kprā.ʔā sugar cane-cm5 'sugar cane' xix. [gbl]: gblɛːr 'beginning' xx. [gbr]: gbrè.ʔè 'unripe' xxi. [fl]: flĩ.ʔĩ furuncle-cm5 'furuncle' xxii. [fr]: frɔ.ʔɔ' to scrub' xxiii. [sr]: srɛ.ʔɛṕ rayer-cm5 'prayer' xxiv. [hl]: hlã-ʔãl eg-cm5 'leg' xxv. [hr]: hrō6 meal 'meals' xxvi. [ml]: mlã-ʔãfi ght-cm5 'fight' xxvii. [mr]: mrũ̀.ʔũc orosol-cm5 'corosol' xxviii. [nr]: nrɛr oot-cm6 'roots' xxix. [ɲl] ɲlɔ.ʔɔ' to write' xxx. [ɲr]: ɲrã.ʔã' to hook' xxxi. [ŋl]: ŋlɔ-ʔɔd ream-cm5 'dream' xxxii. [ŋr]: ŋrɔ.ʔɔ 'to push' xxxiii. [wl]: wlɛ-ʔɛd ay-cm5 xxxiv. [wr]: wrē.ʔē 'short' xxxv. [jl]: jlɛ.mɛc lean-cm7 'cleanliness' xxxvi. [jr]: jrā.ʔā thing-cm5 'thing' Only [k] and [g] can form an initial complex onset with [m], but the segment clusters [km] and [gm] are only attested in a few words. Herault & Mlanhoro (1973) analyze them as the nasal counterparts of [kp] and [gb] when the following vowel is nasal, see examples in (12). In other words, in their analysis [km] and [gm] are allophones of underlying /kp/ and /gb/. An alternative explanation is that the vowel following [km] and [gm] is subject to nasal harmony. That explains why the following vowel is always nasal. In fact, [kp] and [gb] can be followed by a nasal vowel, and this distributional fact speaks against the allophonic nature of [km] and [gm], see the examples in (12). Word-medial complex onsets are listed in (14). 9 Yranahan Traoré & Caroline Féry (12) a. kmɔ 'to hit' b. kmã-ʔã' nice' c. kmɔ.ʔɔ-lɔfi replace-cm3 'fireplace' d. lā.gmã.mũb elly-kind-cm7 'kindness' (13) a. kpɛ-mũd aylight-cm7 'daylight' b. kpãdàː-là funeral yard-cm3 'funeral yard' c. lāgbã-mũ anger-cm7 'anger' (14) Word-medial complex onsets i. [pl]: tī.plɔ-ʔɔḡ round-cm5 'ground' ii. [pr]: tì.prì-ʔì fresh-cm5 'freshness' iii. [bl]: à.blò-ʔò peanut-cm5 'peanut' iv. [br]: à.brà.ʔà 'to bargain' v. [tr]: kpà.trō-ʔō whip-cm5 'whip' vi. [dr]: kā.fĩ.n.drī-ʔī umbilical cord-cm5 'umbilical cord' vii. [cl]: kā.clē-ʔē bone-cm5 'bone' viii. [ɉl]: n.ɉlé.ʔè wall-cm5 'wall' ix. [ɉr]: kɔ.ɉrɛ.lɛḿ angoose-cm3 'mangoose' x. [kl]: tì.klɔ̰ .ʔɔ̰ 'long' xi. [kr]: kā.krā.ʔ junk-cm5 'junk' xii. [km]: a.kmɔː-rɔs trike-cm6 'the strikes' xiii. [gm]: la.gmã-m(ũ̀) belly-kind-cm7 'kindness' xiv. [gl]: hã.glā.ʔà bow-cm5 'bow' 10 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò xv. [gr]: bà.grà-ʔà hoe-cm5 'hoe' xvi. [gbl]: kã.gblò-ʔò cudgel-cm5 'cudgel' xvii. [gbr] ā.gbrē.ʔē unripe-cm5 'unripe' xviii. [fl]: tū.flɛ-ʔɛw ind-cm5

Polar Question Intonation in Kɔnni

Relatively few studies have been done on intonation in tone languages, in particular African lang... more Relatively few studies have been done on intonation in tone languages, in particular African languages. This is a preliminary presentation on the phonology of polar (“yes/no”) question intonation in Kɔnni ([kma], Gur, northern Ghana). Some languages indicate a polar question by a particular syntactic construction (“Is he going to the park?”), and some by a particular particle (somewhat like “He’s going to the park, right?”). Others use only a change in pitch (intonation) to change a statement to a question (“He’s going to the park?”) The last is what Kɔnni uses and is the focus of this paper. Non-tonal languages as diverse as English, French, Italian (Chapallez 1964), Huastec of Mexico (Larsen & Pike 1949), and Kunimaipa of Papua New Guinea (Pence 1964), have a pitch which rises utterance-finally to mark a polar question. Studies in tone languages are rarer, but exist. Chrau of Vietnam (Thomas 1966) raises the pitch of polar questions. Thai also raises pitch for yes/no questions (Lu...

SIL Electronic Working Papers 2008-001

sil.org

Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthogr... more Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthographies for such languages. This paper, based on SIL's decades-long corporate experience as well as literature studies, summarizes the major factors which must be considered when planning an orthography. Issues of acceptability and usability must be balanced with the obvious prerequisite of linguistic soundness. The linguistic issues include the choice of graphemes (” letters of the alphabet”), decisions on word breaks, level of ...

Perception of Yoruba word-initial [gb͡] and [b]

Selected proceedings of The 36th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Olaoba F. Arasanyin and Michael A. Pemberton (eds.), 2006

Labial-velar obstruents/g͡b/,/k͡p/,/ŋ͡m/occur in hundreds of African languages in sub-Saharan Afr... more Labial-velar obstruents/g͡b/,/k͡p/,/ŋ͡m/occur in hundreds of African languages in sub-Saharan Africa, dozens of languages of the Pacific (mostly in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu), and a handful of languages in South America (Cahill 1999 and references therein). To date 615 languages in my personal database have phonemic labial-velars, approximately 8.9% of the 6912 languages in the most recent Ethnologue (Gordon 2005), and I expect a more thorough count will increase this figure to approximately 10% of the ...

Factors in designing effective orthographies for unwritten languages

Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthogr... more Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthographies for such languages. This paper, based on SIL's decades-long corporate experience as well as literature studies, summarizes the major factors which must be considered when planning an orthography. Issues of acceptability and usability must be balanced with the obvious prerequisite of linguistic soundness. The linguistic issues include the choice of graphemes (” letters of the alphabet”), decisions on ...

Konni Vowel Feature Spread across Consonants

Selected Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference on African Linguistics: Linguistic Theory and African Language Documentation, 2009

In a-VCV-sequence in Konni,[dorsal] may spread from one high vowel to another high vowel across a... more In a-VCV-sequence in Konni,[dorsal] may spread from one high vowel to another high vowel across a consonant only when the consonant is also [dorsal]. In a similar yet distinct pattern,[coronal] may optionally spread from a [coronal] vowel to an input/a/only across a [coronal] consonant. The different conditions on these two agreements preclude merging these as a unified phenomenon, but both are consistent with Ní Chiosáin and Padgett's (1997) concept of allowing only local spreading. In terms of Feature Geometry, a ...

Tonal diversity in languages of Papua New Guinea

Tromsø Tone Symposium, University of Tromsø, Norway, Jun 1, 2000

Tone is well known in Asian and African languages, but less so in languages of Papua New Guinea (... more Tone is well known in Asian and African languages, but less so in languages of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The major survey of New Guinean tone systems is Donohue (1997). The present paper introduces published and original data that support several types of tone systems of PNG, distinct from pitch-accent systems. Tone languages of PNG operate on either the word level or syllable level. Word-level tone languages operate in one of two ways. The first is by a limited set of melodies that spread through syllables of the word via ...

Overliteralness and Mother-Tongue Translators

Journal of Translation, 2011

One barrier to quality in Bible translation is a tendency for translators to translate literally ... more One barrier to quality in Bible translation is a tendency for translators to translate literally from their primary source text. This is a hazard for any translator, but has particular relevance in the case of Mother-Tongue Translators (MTTs) with minimal training, who are bearing an increasingly larger role in new Bible translations around the globe. In this article, we first examine the problem of overliteralness, observing cases of RL structural adherence to the SL in direct speech, ungrammatical sentences, mistranslation of rhetorical questions, use of idioms, and neglect of discourse factors, etc. The problem of overliteralness extends to information and emotional impact implicit in the SL that is not made explicit in the RL. Reasons for overliteralness include the natural intuitiveness of translating literally, respect for the Word of God (they don’t want to change it), and MTTs’ unawareness of their own language patterns. Since translation consultants are not always familiar ...

An appeal regarding endangered languages

Información del artículo An appeal regarding endangered languages.

Kɔnni Intonation

Intonation in African Tone Languages, 2016

Tonal Polarity in Kɔnni Nouns: An Optimal Theoretical Account

Tonal polarity is a phenomenon in which a tone-bearing unit, often in an affix, shows a tonal val... more Tonal polarity is a phenomenon in which a tone-bearing unit, often in an affix, shows a tonal value opposite to that immediately adjacent to it. When the term "opposite" is used, of course, this assumes a binary contrast in tonal qualities, i.e. a contrast between only High and Low tones. Indeed, to my knowledge, the only cases in which tonal polarity has been discussed in the literature are two-tone systems. These include Margi (Hoffman 1963, Pulleyblank 1983, 1986), Bambara (Dwyer 1976, Creissels & Gregoire · 1993), Moore and Lama (Kenstowicz, Nikiema, & Ourso 1988), Dagbani (Hyman 1993), Dagaare (Antilla & Bodomo 1996, forthcoming), and Hausa (Newman 1995). Schuh (1978) also mentions Ngizim, Igbo, and Hausa examples of tonal polarity. Though Chumbow (1982) speaks of "polarization" in the three-tone system of Ogori, it is not clear that this is in fact tonal polarity rather than some other process. 1

The phonological spectrum

Language, 2005

This book is a revised version of Linda van Bergen's dissertation. Five chapters address the... more This book is a revised version of Linda van Bergen's dissertation. Five chapters address the issue of the classification of Old English (OE) impersonal man and of OE personal pronouns. Background knowledge of generative syntax is required. The book has two central claims: impersonal man in OE is a pronominal rather than a nominal element, and both personal pronouns and man need to be considered as clitics. B provides a detailed analysis in support of these two claims, mainly based on word order in OE as displayed in several ...

Labial-velars-a questionable diagnostic for a linguistic area

A “linguistic area” is defined by unusual features which cannot be explained by genetic relations... more A “linguistic area” is defined by unusual features which cannot be explained by genetic relationship or normal language development (Heine and Leyew 2008:16). These authors, as well as Güldemann (2008) and Clements and Rialland (2008), assert that the occurrence of labial-velars (k͡p, g͡b, ŋ͡m, hereafter “KP”) is one diagnostic to identify the “Sudanic Belt” of Africa as a linguistic area, since KPs are a) unusual and b) largely arise through language contact. I argue that both these sub-assertions are incorrect, and that the occurrence of labial-velars is less decisive for establishing a linguistic area than these authors, as well as older ones (e.g. Dalby 1970, Greenberg 1983) have assumed. Clements and Rialland (2008) state that labial-velars are “almost unique to Africa,” and in Maddieson (1984), only 6% of the languages sampled have KP, including only one outside Africa. However, a more extensive database of specific languages with KPs I have collected over several years shows ...

Positional Contrast and Labial-Velars

SIL bibliography listing for Positional contrast and labial-velars.

Tone Polarity in K?nni nouns

Studies in African Linguistics, Nov 10, 2010

Abstract Since Kenstowicz et at's analysis of Moore (1988), a widespread view is that tone p... more Abstract Since Kenstowicz et at's analysis of Moore (1988), a widespread view is that tone polarity does not exist; apparent polarity is actually dissimilation. This paper shows that an OCP-based dissimilation analysis cannot account for the full range of K: mni data, and presents a morpheme-specific POLAR constraint referring to the Noun Class 1 plural suffix. POLAR is satisfied in two or possibly three ways: the polar tone may be inserted, be already present in the input, or possibly spread from the definite suffix. The polar tone is not ...

Ogbronuagum (The Bukuma Language) (review)

Language, 2004

Ndebele (review)

Language, 2004

LANGUAGE, VOLUME80, NUMBER2 (2004) 338 pearedasanappendixtohisAtrampabroad (1880) andthathelpsexp... more LANGUAGE, VOLUME80, NUMBER2 (2004) 338 pearedasanappendixtohisAtrampabroad (1880) andthathelpsexplainthetypo (sieforSie) onp. 190.[JOHNM. JEEP, MiamiUniversity.] Ndebele. Ed. byCLAIREBOWERNandVICTORIA LOTRIDGE.(Languages of the world/Materials 416.) LINCOM Europa, 2002. Pp. iv, 93. ISBN 389586465X. $38. ThisvolumesketchesthestructureoftheZimba... dialect of Ndebele, an Nguni language (Bantu). Itisaproductofafieldmethodscourseat HarvardUniversity, wheretenstudentcontributors workedwithasinglespeaker. ...

Review of: The structure of Dagaare, by Adams Bodomo

SIL bibliography listing for Review of: The structure of Dagaare, by Adams Bodomo.

Celebrating 50 years of ACAL: Selected papers from the 50th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

The papers in this volume were presented at the 50th Annual Conference on African Linguistics hel... more The papers in this volume were presented at the 50th Annual Conference on African Linguistics held at the University of British Columbia in 2019. The contributions span a range of theoretical topics as well as topics in descriptive and applied linguistics. The papers reflect the typological and genetic diversity of languages in Africa and also represent the breadth of the ACAL community, with papers from both students and more senior scholars, based in North America and beyond. They thus provide a snapshot on current research in African linguistics, from multiple perspectives. To mark the 50th anniversary of the conference, the volume editors reminisce, in the introductory chapter, about their memorable ACALs.

Letters to Language

Language, 2005

Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon eith... more Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon either material published previously in the journal or issues deemed of importance to the field. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as needed. Brief replies from relevant parties are included as warranted.

African linguistics across the disciplines: Selected papers from the 48th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

This article examines the syllable structure in Fròʔò, a dialect of Tagbana spoken in Côte d'Ivoi... more This article examines the syllable structure in Fròʔò, a dialect of Tagbana spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. In our analysis, the underlying syllable structure in Fròʔò is limited to C(C)V and V. Other surface syllable shapes, such as CVC, are the result of synchronic morphophonological processes. These processes include the formation of surface complex onsets through vowel deletion, the simplification of underlying complex onsets through liquid deletion, and the merger of bisyllabic CVCV sequences into monosyllables (CVC and CV). Evidence of these phonological process can also be found in loanwords, where syllable repairs take place. 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò Table 3: Overview of the nominal classes of Fròʔò and their class markers Class markers (CM) Examples of nouns of each class Class 1 (sg. of gender 1) hō−lō wótìɔ1 several CM, including ∅ elephant−cm1 python Class 2 (pl. of gender 1) hō−bēlē wótìɔ−hélé CM: [-hele], [-bele],-lV elephants−cm2 pythons−cm2 Class 3 (sg. of gender 2) lāː−lā kpē−lē CM: [-lV] belly−cm3 knife−cm3 Class 4 (pl. of gender 2) lā−ʔālā kpē−gēlē CM: [-ʔVlV,-gele] bellies−cm4 knives−cm4 Class 5 (sg. of gender 3) jē−gē āfɔ−ŋɔC M: [-gV]/[-ŋV]/[-ʔV] or ∅ month−cm5 newthing−cm5 Class 6 (pl. of gender 3) jēː−rē āfɔ:−rɔC M: [-rV] months−cm6 newthings−cm6 Class 7 (sg. of gender 4) ɲũ−mũ wɛ−bɛC M: [-mV] water−cm7 foliage−cm7 (4) [a]/[ã] in word-initial position a. ā.jlē-ʔè mirror-cm5 'mirror' b. ā.wrē-ʔē something itchy-cm5 'something itchy' c. à.plè3 'shade' d. ã.gù1 'traditional dance' e. ã.gō-lò mount-cm3 'mount' Word-medially, all vowels can be a nucleus, see two examples in (5), each of which contains a CM consisting only of a vowel. (5) Vowel at hiatus position a. pì-ɔc hild-cm1 'child' b. kā.fū-ō sweat-cm5 'sweat' 5 Yranahan Traoré & Caroline Féry Word-initially, before all vowels other than [a], [h] or another consonant is needed; see (6) for words starting with [h]. In loanwords starting with a vowel, [h] is inserted word-initially, see §5. (6) [h] initial words a. hēːrē 'to press' b. hɔʔɔ' to cook' c. hòʔó 'to stoop' d. hɛ̰ 'where' e. hí-ʔí feather-cm5 'feather' f. hú-ʔú thorn-cm5 'thorn' Syllables consisting of a nasal only are the subject of §2.4 2.2 CV syllable: onset + nucleus All consonants can occupy the word-initial onset position except for the glottal stop [ʔ] and [r], both of which do not occur in this position. In (7), monosyllabic words are used for illustration. (7) a. pũ1 'dog' b. bā7 'this' c. tō1 'father' d. díː 'so, that' e. cã' to fall' f. ɉɛ' to wake up' g. kā 'to break' h. gũ1 'tortoise' i. kpē 'to take' j. gbò1 'gnat' k. fã' to build' l. sɛ' produce' m. hɛ' where' n. mĩ' I, me' o. nũ̀1 'ox' p. ɲĩ 'to fill' q. ŋã' this one' r. jō 'to say' s. wī 'him' 6 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò Vowel lengthening is triggered by a following liquid, [r] or [l], as shown in (8). Liquids at the beginning of word final syllables often are the initial consonant of a class marker, but not always. The examples in (8) have a heteromorphemic liquid, except for (8f), in which the last syllable is part of the lexical root. (8) a. lōː-rō mango-cm6 'mangoes' b. kāː-lā problem-cm3' 'problem' c. pĩː-rĩt am-tam-cm6 'tam-tams' d. pũː-lũd og-cm2 'dogs' e. pìː-lì child-cm2 'children' f. ɉàː.rà1 'lion' Not all vowels lengthen before a liquid, as shown in (9). This happens when the vowel follows [ʔ]. In this case, it is deleted or pronounced as a short and weak vowel (see §3.2 for vowel deletion). Thus, the sequence [ʔVrV] blocks lengthening of the vowel following [r]. (9) a. fīʔī.rí 'to frighten' b. híʔí.rí 'to shiver' c. ɲɔʔɔ.rɔ' to move' d. hùʔù.rú 'to spin' Words initial complex onsets are illustrated in (11). (11) Complex word-initial onsets i. [pl]: plɔ.ʔɔb amboo-cm5 'bamboo' ii. [pr]: prò6 'chip' iii. [bl]: blɔ' plowed' iv. [br]: bré.ʔé 'to boil' v. [tr]: trá.ʔá 'to stick up' vi. [dr]: drè.ʔè shift-cm5 'shirt' vii. [cl]: clɛ.mũẁ oman-cm7 'womanhood' viii. [cr]: crɛ.ʔɛ' to expand' ix. [ɉl]: ɉlì.ʔí 'wise' x. [ɉr]: ɉrɛ.ʔɛ' to fly' xi. [kl]: klã.ʔãs eat-cm5 'seat' xii. [kr]: krɔ.ʔɔ car-cm5 'car' xiii. [km]: kmɔ' to beat' xiv. [gm]: gmɔ' beaten' xv. [gl]: glē.ʔè tamis-cm5 'tamise' xvi. [gr]: grā̰ 'dirty' 8 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò xvii. [kpl]: kplɛ.ʔɛf ormer-cm5 'former' xviii. [kpr]: kprā.ʔā sugar cane-cm5 'sugar cane' xix. [gbl]: gblɛːr 'beginning' xx. [gbr]: gbrè.ʔè 'unripe' xxi. [fl]: flĩ.ʔĩ furuncle-cm5 'furuncle' xxii. [fr]: frɔ.ʔɔ' to scrub' xxiii. [sr]: srɛ.ʔɛṕ rayer-cm5 'prayer' xxiv. [hl]: hlã-ʔãl eg-cm5 'leg' xxv. [hr]: hrō6 meal 'meals' xxvi. [ml]: mlã-ʔãfi ght-cm5 'fight' xxvii. [mr]: mrũ̀.ʔũc orosol-cm5 'corosol' xxviii. [nr]: nrɛr oot-cm6 'roots' xxix. [ɲl] ɲlɔ.ʔɔ' to write' xxx. [ɲr]: ɲrã.ʔã' to hook' xxxi. [ŋl]: ŋlɔ-ʔɔd ream-cm5 'dream' xxxii. [ŋr]: ŋrɔ.ʔɔ 'to push' xxxiii. [wl]: wlɛ-ʔɛd ay-cm5 xxxiv. [wr]: wrē.ʔē 'short' xxxv. [jl]: jlɛ.mɛc lean-cm7 'cleanliness' xxxvi. [jr]: jrā.ʔā thing-cm5 'thing' Only [k] and [g] can form an initial complex onset with [m], but the segment clusters [km] and [gm] are only attested in a few words. Herault & Mlanhoro (1973) analyze them as the nasal counterparts of [kp] and [gb] when the following vowel is nasal, see examples in (12). In other words, in their analysis [km] and [gm] are allophones of underlying /kp/ and /gb/. An alternative explanation is that the vowel following [km] and [gm] is subject to nasal harmony. That explains why the following vowel is always nasal. In fact, [kp] and [gb] can be followed by a nasal vowel, and this distributional fact speaks against the allophonic nature of [km] and [gm], see the examples in (12). Word-medial complex onsets are listed in (14). 9 Yranahan Traoré & Caroline Féry (12) a. kmɔ 'to hit' b. kmã-ʔã' nice' c. kmɔ.ʔɔ-lɔfi replace-cm3 'fireplace' d. lā.gmã.mũb elly-kind-cm7 'kindness' (13) a. kpɛ-mũd aylight-cm7 'daylight' b. kpãdàː-là funeral yard-cm3 'funeral yard' c. lāgbã-mũ anger-cm7 'anger' (14) Word-medial complex onsets i. [pl]: tī.plɔ-ʔɔḡ round-cm5 'ground' ii. [pr]: tì.prì-ʔì fresh-cm5 'freshness' iii. [bl]: à.blò-ʔò peanut-cm5 'peanut' iv. [br]: à.brà.ʔà 'to bargain' v. [tr]: kpà.trō-ʔō whip-cm5 'whip' vi. [dr]: kā.fĩ.n.drī-ʔī umbilical cord-cm5 'umbilical cord' vii. [cl]: kā.clē-ʔē bone-cm5 'bone' viii. [ɉl]: n.ɉlé.ʔè wall-cm5 'wall' ix. [ɉr]: kɔ.ɉrɛ.lɛḿ angoose-cm3 'mangoose' x. [kl]: tì.klɔ̰ .ʔɔ̰ 'long' xi. [kr]: kā.krā.ʔ junk-cm5 'junk' xii. [km]: a.kmɔː-rɔs trike-cm6 'the strikes' xiii. [gm]: la.gmã-m(ũ̀) belly-kind-cm7 'kindness' xiv. [gl]: hã.glā.ʔà bow-cm5 'bow' 10 1 Syllable structure and loanword adaptation in Fròʔò xv. [gr]: bà.grà-ʔà hoe-cm5 'hoe' xvi. [gbl]: kã.gblò-ʔò cudgel-cm5 'cudgel' xvii. [gbr] ā.gbrē.ʔē unripe-cm5 'unripe' xviii. [fl]: tū.flɛ-ʔɛw ind-cm5

Polar Question Intonation in Kɔnni

Relatively few studies have been done on intonation in tone languages, in particular African lang... more Relatively few studies have been done on intonation in tone languages, in particular African languages. This is a preliminary presentation on the phonology of polar (“yes/no”) question intonation in Kɔnni ([kma], Gur, northern Ghana). Some languages indicate a polar question by a particular syntactic construction (“Is he going to the park?”), and some by a particular particle (somewhat like “He’s going to the park, right?”). Others use only a change in pitch (intonation) to change a statement to a question (“He’s going to the park?”) The last is what Kɔnni uses and is the focus of this paper. Non-tonal languages as diverse as English, French, Italian (Chapallez 1964), Huastec of Mexico (Larsen & Pike 1949), and Kunimaipa of Papua New Guinea (Pence 1964), have a pitch which rises utterance-finally to mark a polar question. Studies in tone languages are rarer, but exist. Chrau of Vietnam (Thomas 1966) raises the pitch of polar questions. Thai also raises pitch for yes/no questions (Lu...

SIL Electronic Working Papers 2008-001

sil.org

Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthogr... more Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthographies for such languages. This paper, based on SIL's decades-long corporate experience as well as literature studies, summarizes the major factors which must be considered when planning an orthography. Issues of acceptability and usability must be balanced with the obvious prerequisite of linguistic soundness. The linguistic issues include the choice of graphemes (” letters of the alphabet”), decisions on word breaks, level of ...

Perception of Yoruba word-initial [gb͡] and [b]

Selected proceedings of The 36th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Olaoba F. Arasanyin and Michael A. Pemberton (eds.), 2006

Labial-velar obstruents/g͡b/,/k͡p/,/ŋ͡m/occur in hundreds of African languages in sub-Saharan Afr... more Labial-velar obstruents/g͡b/,/k͡p/,/ŋ͡m/occur in hundreds of African languages in sub-Saharan Africa, dozens of languages of the Pacific (mostly in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu), and a handful of languages in South America (Cahill 1999 and references therein). To date 615 languages in my personal database have phonemic labial-velars, approximately 8.9% of the 6912 languages in the most recent Ethnologue (Gordon 2005), and I expect a more thorough count will increase this figure to approximately 10% of the ...

Factors in designing effective orthographies for unwritten languages

Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthogr... more Recent interest in preserving endangered languages has led to a corresponding interest in orthographies for such languages. This paper, based on SIL's decades-long corporate experience as well as literature studies, summarizes the major factors which must be considered when planning an orthography. Issues of acceptability and usability must be balanced with the obvious prerequisite of linguistic soundness. The linguistic issues include the choice of graphemes (” letters of the alphabet”), decisions on ...

Konni Vowel Feature Spread across Consonants

Selected Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference on African Linguistics: Linguistic Theory and African Language Documentation, 2009

In a-VCV-sequence in Konni,[dorsal] may spread from one high vowel to another high vowel across a... more In a-VCV-sequence in Konni,[dorsal] may spread from one high vowel to another high vowel across a consonant only when the consonant is also [dorsal]. In a similar yet distinct pattern,[coronal] may optionally spread from a [coronal] vowel to an input/a/only across a [coronal] consonant. The different conditions on these two agreements preclude merging these as a unified phenomenon, but both are consistent with Ní Chiosáin and Padgett's (1997) concept of allowing only local spreading. In terms of Feature Geometry, a ...

Tonal diversity in languages of Papua New Guinea

Tromsø Tone Symposium, University of Tromsø, Norway, Jun 1, 2000

Tone is well known in Asian and African languages, but less so in languages of Papua New Guinea (... more Tone is well known in Asian and African languages, but less so in languages of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The major survey of New Guinean tone systems is Donohue (1997). The present paper introduces published and original data that support several types of tone systems of PNG, distinct from pitch-accent systems. Tone languages of PNG operate on either the word level or syllable level. Word-level tone languages operate in one of two ways. The first is by a limited set of melodies that spread through syllables of the word via ...

Overliteralness and Mother-Tongue Translators

Journal of Translation, 2011

One barrier to quality in Bible translation is a tendency for translators to translate literally ... more One barrier to quality in Bible translation is a tendency for translators to translate literally from their primary source text. This is a hazard for any translator, but has particular relevance in the case of Mother-Tongue Translators (MTTs) with minimal training, who are bearing an increasingly larger role in new Bible translations around the globe. In this article, we first examine the problem of overliteralness, observing cases of RL structural adherence to the SL in direct speech, ungrammatical sentences, mistranslation of rhetorical questions, use of idioms, and neglect of discourse factors, etc. The problem of overliteralness extends to information and emotional impact implicit in the SL that is not made explicit in the RL. Reasons for overliteralness include the natural intuitiveness of translating literally, respect for the Word of God (they don’t want to change it), and MTTs’ unawareness of their own language patterns. Since translation consultants are not always familiar ...

An appeal regarding endangered languages

Información del artículo An appeal regarding endangered languages.

Kɔnni Intonation

Intonation in African Tone Languages, 2016

Tonal Polarity in Kɔnni Nouns: An Optimal Theoretical Account

Tonal polarity is a phenomenon in which a tone-bearing unit, often in an affix, shows a tonal val... more Tonal polarity is a phenomenon in which a tone-bearing unit, often in an affix, shows a tonal value opposite to that immediately adjacent to it. When the term "opposite" is used, of course, this assumes a binary contrast in tonal qualities, i.e. a contrast between only High and Low tones. Indeed, to my knowledge, the only cases in which tonal polarity has been discussed in the literature are two-tone systems. These include Margi (Hoffman 1963, Pulleyblank 1983, 1986), Bambara (Dwyer 1976, Creissels & Gregoire · 1993), Moore and Lama (Kenstowicz, Nikiema, & Ourso 1988), Dagbani (Hyman 1993), Dagaare (Antilla & Bodomo 1996, forthcoming), and Hausa (Newman 1995). Schuh (1978) also mentions Ngizim, Igbo, and Hausa examples of tonal polarity. Though Chumbow (1982) speaks of "polarization" in the three-tone system of Ogori, it is not clear that this is in fact tonal polarity rather than some other process. 1

The phonological spectrum

Language, 2005

This book is a revised version of Linda van Bergen's dissertation. Five chapters address the... more This book is a revised version of Linda van Bergen's dissertation. Five chapters address the issue of the classification of Old English (OE) impersonal man and of OE personal pronouns. Background knowledge of generative syntax is required. The book has two central claims: impersonal man in OE is a pronominal rather than a nominal element, and both personal pronouns and man need to be considered as clitics. B provides a detailed analysis in support of these two claims, mainly based on word order in OE as displayed in several ...

Labial-velars-a questionable diagnostic for a linguistic area

A “linguistic area” is defined by unusual features which cannot be explained by genetic relations... more A “linguistic area” is defined by unusual features which cannot be explained by genetic relationship or normal language development (Heine and Leyew 2008:16). These authors, as well as Güldemann (2008) and Clements and Rialland (2008), assert that the occurrence of labial-velars (k͡p, g͡b, ŋ͡m, hereafter “KP”) is one diagnostic to identify the “Sudanic Belt” of Africa as a linguistic area, since KPs are a) unusual and b) largely arise through language contact. I argue that both these sub-assertions are incorrect, and that the occurrence of labial-velars is less decisive for establishing a linguistic area than these authors, as well as older ones (e.g. Dalby 1970, Greenberg 1983) have assumed. Clements and Rialland (2008) state that labial-velars are “almost unique to Africa,” and in Maddieson (1984), only 6% of the languages sampled have KP, including only one outside Africa. However, a more extensive database of specific languages with KPs I have collected over several years shows ...

Positional Contrast and Labial-Velars

SIL bibliography listing for Positional contrast and labial-velars.

Tone Polarity in K?nni nouns

Studies in African Linguistics, Nov 10, 2010

Abstract Since Kenstowicz et at's analysis of Moore (1988), a widespread view is that tone p... more Abstract Since Kenstowicz et at's analysis of Moore (1988), a widespread view is that tone polarity does not exist; apparent polarity is actually dissimilation. This paper shows that an OCP-based dissimilation analysis cannot account for the full range of K: mni data, and presents a morpheme-specific POLAR constraint referring to the Noun Class 1 plural suffix. POLAR is satisfied in two or possibly three ways: the polar tone may be inserted, be already present in the input, or possibly spread from the definite suffix. The polar tone is not ...

Ogbronuagum (The Bukuma Language) (review)

Language, 2004

Ndebele (review)

Language, 2004

LANGUAGE, VOLUME80, NUMBER2 (2004) 338 pearedasanappendixtohisAtrampabroad (1880) andthathelpsexp... more LANGUAGE, VOLUME80, NUMBER2 (2004) 338 pearedasanappendixtohisAtrampabroad (1880) andthathelpsexplainthetypo (sieforSie) onp. 190.[JOHNM. JEEP, MiamiUniversity.] Ndebele. Ed. byCLAIREBOWERNandVICTORIA LOTRIDGE.(Languages of the world/Materials 416.) LINCOM Europa, 2002. Pp. iv, 93. ISBN 389586465X. $38. ThisvolumesketchesthestructureoftheZimba... dialect of Ndebele, an Nguni language (Bantu). Itisaproductofafieldmethodscourseat HarvardUniversity, wheretenstudentcontributors workedwithasinglespeaker. ...

Review of: The structure of Dagaare, by Adams Bodomo

SIL bibliography listing for Review of: The structure of Dagaare, by Adams Bodomo.