A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba

Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16

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A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba

Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 9, Issue 6)

Received: 22 November 2021 Accepted: 11 December 2021 Published: 24 December 2021

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Abstract

Some contentious/controversial issues in the Phonetics/Phonologies of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba, (all members of the Kwa group of languages) are examined in this paper. This includes the appropriateness or otherwise of the use of the term “coalescence” in phonology based on available data in Ẹdo and Yoruba. The data from the Ẹdo language, and the reanalyzed Yoruba data do not seem to support the continued use of the term “coalescence” without any overt phonetic motivation as a tool for defining/describing what is actually vowel assimilation, vowel elision, and tone shift as a set of phonologically ordered processes. The second issue examined in this paper is the generally held view of the total assimilation of V₂ by V₃ across word boundary in a V₁CV₂ # V₃CV₄ collocation in Igbo. It is a known fact in languages that a more plausible (natural) assimilatory process involves a left to right movement not a right to left movement. It is argued that the so-called (total) vowel assimilation in Igbo V₁CV₂ # V₃CV₄ collocation is simply the case of the elision of V₂, and the re-association of the tone thereon with V₃, i. e., the first vowel of the second word. The autosegmental perspective is employed to elucidate this fact. In the third issue examined, it is argued that mutual exclusivity, used as the defining characteristic of languages that manifest vowel harmony, effectively excludes the Ẹdo and other Ẹdoid languages, in which there is free co-occurrence of vowels in any position of the word from being characterized as languages that manifest vowel harmony. The fourth issue examined is the manifestation of the downdrift and downstep phenomena. It is argued that the phenomena are language specific: non-phonemic in Ẹdo, involving a set of phonologically ordered rules whereas it is phonemic in Igbo. It is demonstrated that the only condition for obtaining a downstepped tone in Ẹdo is the presence of a H # L tone pattern across word boundary. The donwnstepped High tone in Igbo is phonemic irrespective of the nature (voice or voiceless) of the intervocalic consonants in VCV words.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 9, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16
Page(s)	320-333
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Assimilation, Deletion, Coalescence, Process, Vowel Harmony, Mutual Exclusivity, Downdrift, Downstep

References

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[37]	Stahlke, H. (1976): Segment sequences and segmental fusion. Studies in African Linguistics 7: 41-63.
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[39]	Van der Hulst, H., & Smith, N. (eds), (1982): Autosegmental and Metrical Phonology. in Van der Hulst, H., & Smith, N. (eds). The Structure of Phonological Representations (Part I). 2-45. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.

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Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa. (2021). A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 9(6), 320-333. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16

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Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa. A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2021, 9(6), 320-333. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16

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AMA Style

Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa. A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba. Int J Lang Linguist. 2021;9(6):320-333. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16,
  author = {Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa},
  title = {A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {320-333},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20210906.16},
  abstract = {Some contentious/controversial issues in the Phonetics/Phonologies of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba, (all members of the Kwa group of languages) are examined in this paper. This includes the appropriateness or otherwise of the use of the term “coalescence” in phonology based on available data in Ẹdo and Yoruba. The data from the Ẹdo language, and the reanalyzed Yoruba data do not seem to support the continued use of the term “coalescence” without any overt phonetic motivation as a tool for defining/describing what is actually vowel assimilation, vowel elision, and tone shift as a set of phonologically ordered processes. The second issue examined in this paper is the generally held view of the total assimilation of V2 by V3 across word boundary in a V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation in Igbo. It is a known fact in languages that a more plausible (natural) assimilatory process involves a left to right movement not a right to left movement. It is argued that the so-called (total) vowel assimilation in Igbo V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation is simply the case of the elision of V2, and the re-association of the tone thereon with V3, i. e., the first vowel of the second word. The autosegmental perspective is employed to elucidate this fact. In the third issue examined, it is argued that mutual exclusivity, used as the defining characteristic of languages that manifest vowel harmony, effectively excludes the Ẹdo and other Ẹdoid languages, in which there is free co-occurrence of vowels in any position of the word from being characterized as languages that manifest vowel harmony. The fourth issue examined is the manifestation of the downdrift and downstep phenomena. It is argued that the phenomena are language specific: non-phonemic in Ẹdo, involving a set of phonologically ordered rules whereas it is phonemic in Igbo. It is demonstrated that the only condition for obtaining a downstepped tone in Ẹdo is the presence of a H # L tone pattern across word boundary. The donwnstepped High tone in Igbo is phonemic irrespective of the nature (voice or voiceless) of the intervocalic consonants in VCV words.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba
AU  - Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa
Y1  - 2021/12/24
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 320
EP  - 333
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16
AB  - Some contentious/controversial issues in the Phonetics/Phonologies of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba, (all members of the Kwa group of languages) are examined in this paper. This includes the appropriateness or otherwise of the use of the term “coalescence” in phonology based on available data in Ẹdo and Yoruba. The data from the Ẹdo language, and the reanalyzed Yoruba data do not seem to support the continued use of the term “coalescence” without any overt phonetic motivation as a tool for defining/describing what is actually vowel assimilation, vowel elision, and tone shift as a set of phonologically ordered processes. The second issue examined in this paper is the generally held view of the total assimilation of V2 by V3 across word boundary in a V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation in Igbo. It is a known fact in languages that a more plausible (natural) assimilatory process involves a left to right movement not a right to left movement. It is argued that the so-called (total) vowel assimilation in Igbo V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation is simply the case of the elision of V2, and the re-association of the tone thereon with V3, i. e., the first vowel of the second word. The autosegmental perspective is employed to elucidate this fact. In the third issue examined, it is argued that mutual exclusivity, used as the defining characteristic of languages that manifest vowel harmony, effectively excludes the Ẹdo and other Ẹdoid languages, in which there is free co-occurrence of vowels in any position of the word from being characterized as languages that manifest vowel harmony. The fourth issue examined is the manifestation of the downdrift and downstep phenomena. It is argued that the phenomena are language specific: non-phonemic in Ẹdo, involving a set of phonologically ordered rules whereas it is phonemic in Igbo. It is demonstrated that the only condition for obtaining a downstepped tone in Ẹdo is the presence of a H # L tone pattern across word boundary. The donwnstepped High tone in Igbo is phonemic irrespective of the nature (voice or voiceless) of the intervocalic consonants in VCV words.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa. (2021). A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 9(6), 320-333. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16

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Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa. A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2021, 9(6), 320-333. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16

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Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa. A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba. Int J Lang Linguist. 2021;9(6):320-333. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16,
  author = {Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa},
  title = {A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {320-333},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20210906.16},
  abstract = {Some contentious/controversial issues in the Phonetics/Phonologies of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba, (all members of the Kwa group of languages) are examined in this paper. This includes the appropriateness or otherwise of the use of the term “coalescence” in phonology based on available data in Ẹdo and Yoruba. The data from the Ẹdo language, and the reanalyzed Yoruba data do not seem to support the continued use of the term “coalescence” without any overt phonetic motivation as a tool for defining/describing what is actually vowel assimilation, vowel elision, and tone shift as a set of phonologically ordered processes. The second issue examined in this paper is the generally held view of the total assimilation of V2 by V3 across word boundary in a V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation in Igbo. It is a known fact in languages that a more plausible (natural) assimilatory process involves a left to right movement not a right to left movement. It is argued that the so-called (total) vowel assimilation in Igbo V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation is simply the case of the elision of V2, and the re-association of the tone thereon with V3, i. e., the first vowel of the second word. The autosegmental perspective is employed to elucidate this fact. In the third issue examined, it is argued that mutual exclusivity, used as the defining characteristic of languages that manifest vowel harmony, effectively excludes the Ẹdo and other Ẹdoid languages, in which there is free co-occurrence of vowels in any position of the word from being characterized as languages that manifest vowel harmony. The fourth issue examined is the manifestation of the downdrift and downstep phenomena. It is argued that the phenomena are language specific: non-phonemic in Ẹdo, involving a set of phonologically ordered rules whereas it is phonemic in Igbo. It is demonstrated that the only condition for obtaining a downstepped tone in Ẹdo is the presence of a H # L tone pattern across word boundary. The donwnstepped High tone in Igbo is phonemic irrespective of the nature (voice or voiceless) of the intervocalic consonants in VCV words.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba
AU  - Victor Ẹdosa Ọmọzuwa
Y1  - 2021/12/24
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 320
EP  - 333
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210906.16
AB  - Some contentious/controversial issues in the Phonetics/Phonologies of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba, (all members of the Kwa group of languages) are examined in this paper. This includes the appropriateness or otherwise of the use of the term “coalescence” in phonology based on available data in Ẹdo and Yoruba. The data from the Ẹdo language, and the reanalyzed Yoruba data do not seem to support the continued use of the term “coalescence” without any overt phonetic motivation as a tool for defining/describing what is actually vowel assimilation, vowel elision, and tone shift as a set of phonologically ordered processes. The second issue examined in this paper is the generally held view of the total assimilation of V2 by V3 across word boundary in a V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation in Igbo. It is a known fact in languages that a more plausible (natural) assimilatory process involves a left to right movement not a right to left movement. It is argued that the so-called (total) vowel assimilation in Igbo V1CV2 # V3CV4 collocation is simply the case of the elision of V2, and the re-association of the tone thereon with V3, i. e., the first vowel of the second word. The autosegmental perspective is employed to elucidate this fact. In the third issue examined, it is argued that mutual exclusivity, used as the defining characteristic of languages that manifest vowel harmony, effectively excludes the Ẹdo and other Ẹdoid languages, in which there is free co-occurrence of vowels in any position of the word from being characterized as languages that manifest vowel harmony. The fourth issue examined is the manifestation of the downdrift and downstep phenomena. It is argued that the phenomena are language specific: non-phonemic in Ẹdo, involving a set of phonologically ordered rules whereas it is phonemic in Igbo. It is demonstrated that the only condition for obtaining a downstepped tone in Ẹdo is the presence of a H # L tone pattern across word boundary. The donwnstepped High tone in Igbo is phonemic irrespective of the nature (voice or voiceless) of the intervocalic consonants in VCV words.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
ER  -

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