VOWEL CONTRACTION AND VOWEL REDUCTION IN MANKON

Noun structures of Mban-Nkam languages are discussed with respect to analysis of tone. Based on internal reconstruction, Voorhoeve (See "Tonology of the Bamileke Noun" Journal of African Languages 10, 1971.) posits 3 floating tones. A comparison with the Mankon language spoken around Bamen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in African linguistics 1975-07, Vol.6 (2), p.125-149
Main Authors: Warnier, Jacqueline, Voorhoeve, Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Noun structures of Mban-Nkam languages are discussed with respect to analysis of tone. Based on internal reconstruction, Voorhoeve (See "Tonology of the Bamileke Noun" Journal of African Languages 10, 1971.) posits 3 floating tones. A comparison with the Mankon language spoken around Bamenda offers supportive evidence for this interpretation. A review of the essentials of Mankon phonology & the noun is presented to support the evidence for vowel contraction in Mankon. 6 phonological rules for noun contraction, which can also be applied to the verb system, are developed. It is demonstrated that the process of vowel reduction is active in comparable Mbam-Nkam languages. The features [tone] & [close] are the most resistant to total deletion. Vowel reduction is also traced in Proto-Bantu languages & is compared to Mankon. E. Hodnett
ISSN:0039-3533