SAFWA AS A RESTRICTED TONE SYSTEM

Linguists often operate with box-model typologies, based on an absolute distinction between tone languages (one prosodic distinction per syllable) and stress languages (one prosodic distinction per word). Languages like Safwa, a Bantu language, and all other languages which are designated as pitch a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in African linguistics 1973-03, Vol.4 (1), p.1-21
Main Author: Voorhoeve, Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Linguists often operate with box-model typologies, based on an absolute distinction between tone languages (one prosodic distinction per syllable) and stress languages (one prosodic distinction per word). Languages like Safwa, a Bantu language, and all other languages which are designated as pitch accent languages, create a problem because they are indeed based on one prosodic distinction per word, but they differ clearly from other stress languages such as Swahili, in which the prosodic distinction only signals word boundary. It is proposed that the typology be based not on definable boxes, but on a gradual transition between two definable extremes--tone and stress. Within this framework Safwa can be described as a restricted tone system. All prosodic distinctions in Safwa words have been neutralized, except the one in the last syllable or vowel. This proposal has been worked out in detail for Safwa. The diachronic implications are discussed in a final section. AA
ISSN:0039-3533