Polarity in a four-level tone language

Tone features in Tenyidie

Bibliographic Data

ID20399264
AuthorsSavio M Meyase (0000-0002-1712-1883, Leipzig University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume38
Issue1
Pages123-146
Publication date2021-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhonology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0952-6757 • E-ISSN: 1469-8188
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0952675721000063
OpenAlexW3185321900
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited23

This paper reports a new kind of tone polarity, where the phenomenon is seen in a language with four level tones, Tenyidie (also known as Angami). I show that the polarity is in the features of the tones, i.e. at a subtonal level. The data also provide evidence that tones themselves can be broken down into smaller features. Furthermore, I demonstrate that the polarity pattern observed in the language is an epiphenomenon, a reflex of the Obligatory Contour Principle, not a phonological process in its own right. I show this with the help of a new type of tonal representation. Theoretical discussions of tone polarity have so far been almost entirely restricted to African tone systems, and to languages with just two tones. This paper brings into the discussion a Tibeto-Burman language with four tones

Biology · Linguistics · Communication · Linguistic Studies and Language Acquisition · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Psychology

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