A reanalysis of abstract contrasts and opacity in Bondu-so tongue root harmony
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22130333 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jade Jørgen Sandstedt (0000-0003-3433-5274, University of Oslo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2020-09-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Glossa a journal of general linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2397-1835 • E-ISSN: 2397-1835 |
| Publisher | Open Library of the Humanities (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5334/gjgl.1126 |
| OpenAlex | W3085979339 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 21 |
This paper explores a number of controversial consequences of previous abstract analyses of Bondu-so (Dogon) vowels and vowel harmony, particularly for the explanation of phonological opacity. Bondu-so has been characterised as displaying asymmetrically-patterning bidirectional harmony, a four-way [ATR] contrast on mid-vowel suffixes, and abstract [±ATR] contrasts on high and low vowels which display distinct phonological behaviours but which never surface, being absolutely neutralised (Hantgan & Davis 2012). I show that each of these unusual generalisations stems from the crucial mischaracterisation of underlying vowel contrasts and the direction of harmony in surface-ambiguous data. With a re-classification of the data, Bondu-so harmony patterns are characterisable as regular, derivationally transparent leftwards [RTR]-harmony with harmonically neutral non-contrastive high and low vowels – requiring no abstract contrasts, directional harmony asymmetries, or opacity of any kind. Following this non-abstract reanalysis, Bondu-so is revealed to be typologically and theoretically fully consistent with other harmony languages. This review of Bondu-so vowel patterns represents therefore an important contribution to the “abstractness controversy” – revealing important analytical and methodological issues in abstract approaches to phonological opacity
Art · Linguistics · Opacity · Physics · Vowel · Vowel harmony · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Psychology · Speech Recognition and Synthesis
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The Handbook of Phonological Theory
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[ATR] Harmony In Turkana
ATR harmony in Turkana
Bondu-so vowel harmony
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |