The Margi vowel system and labiocoronals

Bibliographic Data

ID10793317
AuthorsIan Maddieson (0000-0002-0775-0555, corresponding author)
Year1987
Volume18
Issue3
Pages327-356
Publication date1987-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in African Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0039-3533 • E-ISSN: 2154-428X
PublisherUniversity of Florida George A Smathers Libraries (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.32473/sal.v18i3.107471
OpenAlexW3195834950
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited4

The vowel system of Margi, described by Hoffman [1963] as containing three high vowels and one low vowel, is reinterpreted as a two-vowel system with underlying contrast only of high versus low. A pervasive contrast of secondary articulations on consonants spreads features of rounding and backness to contiguous vowels, giving rise to the different high vowel qualities recognized by Hoffman. A morphological role for the secondary articulations can be identified. Given this new understanding of the vowel system, the claim that "labio-coronal" elements in Margi are single complex segments requires reevaluation. Arguments advanced by Sagey [1986] are shown to proceed from a wrong interpretation of a syncope process and an assumed underlying contrast between high vowels. Phonetic data and the absence of phonological arguments to the contrary suggest that the labiocoronal elements are consonant sequences. 1

Consonant · Contrast (vision · Formant · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Mid vowel · Phonology · Relative articulation · Rounding · Vowel · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Mathematics · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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