Linguistics

This article is concerned with two types of word-level asymmetries and their interaction: left-right asymmetries and stem-word asymmetries. Two left-right asymmetries are examined from a wide range of languages, one morphological (the predominance of su‰xation over prefixation), one pho-nological (the preference for anticipatory over perseverative phonology). Since phonological processes are often triggered by features which originate in roots, a second asymmetry is also addressed: the tendency for su‰xes to be more tightly bound to roots than prefixes. Asymmetries between stem-vs. word phonology are examined in Bantu, where su‰xes are incorporated into a derived stem domain, from which prefixes are typically excluded. This rootþsu‰x stem domain is shown to be the locus of phonological activity in Proto-Bantu and throughout the large Bantu family, which divides into two typological zones: (i) Northwest Bantu languages, which impose a maximal size condition and stringent consonant distribution constraints on stems; (ii) Central Bantu languages, which do not restrict the size or consonant distribution of stems, but frequently impose a minimal size condition on words. The study presents a number of generalizations concerning such asymmetries and identifies questions for future research.

In this paper I trace tonal correspondences between the widely accepted reconstructed tones of Proto-Bantu lexical morphemes (Meeussen 1980, Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3) outside of Narrow Bantu proper. From the reconstructions of Proto-Grassfields Bantu (Hyman 1979, Elias et al 1984) we know that that the tones of noun stems and verb roots largely correspond (but with some differences), and we suspect that this may be true in other subgroups within Bantoid. The question addressed here is: How far out from Bantu and Bantoid do these tones reliably correspond? I start by identifying a set of reconstructed Proto-Bantu noun and verb forms that are known to have widespread cognates elsewhere in Niger-Congo, e.g. from Mukarovsky’s (1966-7) Proto-Nigritic. I then compare these reconstructed tones with selected Bantoid languages and subgroups (Grassfields, Ekoid, Mambiloid, Tivoid etc.). As part of the introduction of the problem, I highlight methodological issues that arise, particularly in interpreting the data, which leads me to focus on verb tones, including the question of whether tone was contrastive on Proto-Niger-Congo verb extensions.

In this paper I examine and distinguish the different morphological and phonological relations that have been reported between a verb and its complement in Bantu. This includes different tonal and morphological effects on the verb as well as the presence/absence of the augment on a following nominal, tone cases, and phrasing.

In this paper I am concerned with the following three issues: (i) What is the inventory of morphological “contributors” to verb tone paradigms? (ii) What happens if the different contributors conflict? (iii) What does this say about how (tonal) morphology works in general? Examples are chosen from different parts of Africa, with particular attention on a reanalysis of Haya (Bantu, Tanzania).

In this paper, we trace the development of Proto-Bantu noun classes into Teke<br> (Bantu B71, Ewo dialect), showing that formal reflexes of classes 1, 2, 5–9, and 14<br> are detectable. We further show that animacy, abstractness, and number allow us<br> to determine the fate of classes 3, 4, 10, 11 and identify the following singular/plural<br> genders: 1/2 (animate <PB 1/2, some 9/10), 1/8 (inanimate, <PB 3/4), 14/8 (abstract,<br> <PB 14/8), 5/6 (<PB 5/6), 5/9 (<PB 11/10, with 10>9 merger), 7/8 (<PB 7/8), and 9/6 (<PB 9/6). Such reassignments provide a window into probing parallel noun class changes in other Northwest Bantu and Niger-Congo in general.

Adjectives in Basaá [ɓasaá](Bantu, A43: Cameroon) are morphologically nominal: they possess inherent noun class and distinguish singular and plural (Dimmendaal 1988, Hyman 2003). Additionally, adjectives in Basaá function as the head of the noun phrase in which they occur, in a sense to be made precise below. This challenges the standard assumption that noun phrases or DPs are projected (or headed) by nouns. 1 This paper provides an analysis of adjectives in Basaá which takes seriously the categorical status of adjectives ...

In this paper we discuss some rather interesting tonal facts from Hakha Lai, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Burma and Mizoram State, India, in which words are generally monosyllabic. In the first part of the paper, we show that a single conspiracy underlies all of the tonal alternations occurring in two-word se- quences, which can be elegantly captured within Optimality Theory. In the second part we show that this "elegance" appears to dissipate once sequences of three or more words are taken into consideration; in particular, a serious problem arises in predicting the right-to-left directionality of rule application, which produces opaque outputs violating the very conspiracy that motivates the tonal alternations in the language. In the last part of the paper we show how this problem is wholly dependent on the view one takes on how to represent the input-output relations in question.

Creole languages have generally not figured prominently in cross-linguistic studies of word-prosodic typology. In this paper, we present a phonological analysis of the prosodic system of Lung’Ie or Principense (ISO 639-3 code: pre), a Portuguese-lexifier creole language spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe. Lung’Ie has produced a unique result of the contact between the two different prosodic systems common in creolization: a stress-accent lexifier and tone language substrates. The language has a restrictive privative H/Ø tone system, in which the /H/ is culminative, but non-obligatory. Since rising and falling tones are contrastive on long vowels, the tone must be marked underlyingly. While it is clear that tonal indications are needed, Lung’Ie reveals two properties more expected of an accentual system: (i) there can only be one heavy syllable per word; (ii) this syllable must bear a H tone. This raises the question of whether syllables with a culminative H also have metrical prominenc...