characteristics of bantu languages pdf

characteristics of bantu languages pdf

& 38(1): 825. South African Journal of African Languages B. T. C. (1982) Fonetika Tabasaranskogo jazyka. Kula In Mbukushu K333, the one series of clicks is reported to be pronounced either as dental, palatal or [post-]alveolar sounds (Fisch 1998). Mous Bailey, R. 19(2): 113135. Malcolm Guthrie in his classification of Bantu languages (1967-71) places this language in zone N in the unit N31. Most strikingly, the high vowels /i u/ are placed lower than the mid vowels /e o/. Language locations are estimated following Maho (2009) and Gieseke and Seifert (2007). (2016) How Intonations Interact with Tones in Embosi (Bantu C25), a Two-Tone Language Without Downdrift. (eds. Zulu S42 has four different accompaniments to its three click types: plain (voiceless unaspirated), voiceless aspirated, voiced and voiced nasalised. J. Figure 3.32 The front closure for dental clicks is formed earlier and held longer (about 105 ms) than that for post-alveolar or lateral clicks (about 80 ms). 2005, Allwood et al. & Because the velar stop burst in the weak click [] is louder than the anterior click burst, it is perhaps not surprising that [k] has come to replace [] for some speakers. This suggests that speakers of the same language may differ in the degree to which they use tongue root position to contrast vowels that are described as differing in the phonological feature [ATR]. Beddor, P. S. Fang A75 vowel formant means. (forthcoming) Click Loss and Click Insertion in Fwe. (1995) On the Perception and Production of Tone in Xhosa. Stewart, J. M. (1923) A Dissertation on the Phonetics of the Zulu Language. P. Based on shared characteristics and on territorial contiguity, Guthrie grouped the Bantu languages into 15 geographical (and partly genetical) zones. Poulos, G. The means for /e o/ plotted here do not include tokens of these raised variants. 20(2): 3336. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa (Available online at. MALCOLM The Classification of the Bantu Languages. Press; London, New Vove B305 vowel formant means according to measurements by the first author on a recording made by Jean-Marie Hombert, made available by Lolke Van der Veen. Equally, voiced segments such as nasals and approximants may contrast in depression (Traill & Jackson 1988, Wright & Shryock 1993, Mathangwane 1998). Africana Linguistica 2011: 2127). For individuals learning English as a second language, it is common for the phonemic system of their first language to influence the production of sounds in English. Benner N. (1972) Numerical Simulation of Vowel Quality Systems: The Role of Perceptual Contrast. (forthcoming) Studying Clicks Using Real-Time MRI. Ziervogel, D. (eds. A. Mutaka, N. M. Trenton; Asmara: Africa World Press. & 54: 93108. Most Bantu languages have a full set of nasals at each place of articulation where a stop or affricate appears, but often intricate (morpho)phonological processes govern nasal/oral alternations and syllabification and other prosodic processes concerning nasals. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics Secondly, it may mean that the intra-oral pressure is relatively low at the time when the closure is released so that at the moment of release the initial airflow is ingressive (Hardcastle & Brasington 1978). Voiceless, voiced, prenasalised and even aspirated stops may all pattern as depressor consonants (Chen & Downing 2011, Cibelli 2015, Lee 2015). In South-West Bantu languages, Yeyi has these three click types as well as a contrastive laminal post-alveolar type //, variously called alveolar or palatal in different sources. Fragment C is the voiced portion of the vowel /a/. Journal of the International Phonetic Association , South African Journal of African Languages Journal of Phonetics Reports and Papers, 211234. Vossen Muniru Introduction This chapter will describe some of the major phonetic characteristics of the (Narrow) Bantu languages based on first-hand familiarity with some of them and a reading of available literature. 2009b, Miller 2010, 2016). Namibian Yeyi is described as having 19 click consonants (Gowlett 1997: 257), while Botswana Yeyi speakers vary, having as few as 12 or as many as 22 distinct click consonants (Fulop et al. The second line marks the time-point at which the velar closure is released. A. Namaseb S. and London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute (IAI). The (post: 303) alveolar // clicks in Zulu S42 (Thomas-Vilakati 2010) and Xhosa S41 (Doke 1926: 303) are retracted in comparison to pulmonic alveolar consonants such as /t/ and /s/. Ndana, Ndana Means of Fwe vowel formants are shown in in 74: 1634. The question of the role of ATR interacts with the question of the nature of the high vowels, as the *super-high/*high contrast might have been an expression of an ATR contrast or transformed into one in daughter languages. 23(4): 459474. Zerbian, S. For instance, there are languages with and without downdrift, though the former are more common (Downing & Rialland 2016b). ), The Complete Linguist: Papers in Memory of Patrick J. Dickens, 135170. Source: Images made available by Bryan Gick (cf. ), Intonation in African Tone Languages, 195222. Many Bantu languages have relatively simple segmental inventories. A discussion of Bantu phonetics would not be complete without reference to some of the studies of the major prosodic characteristics of the languages. B. In The Scottish Consortium for ICPhS 2015 (ed. T. N. Sells Myers, S. Shah Ndinga-Koumba-Binza shows a spectrogram of the Nyamwezi F22 word /apo/ basket spoken in isolation. However, from the phonetic point of view, the Bantu languages have fewer articulatorily complex consonants than is sometimes suggested. (1891) Introductory Grammar of the Ngoni (Zulu) Language, as Spoken in Momberas Country. Thomas-Vilakati, K. D. (eds. For instance, the final High in yes-no questions in Zamba is preceded by a sharp fall (Bokamba 1976: 19). (1990) What Do We Symbolize? & Because the place of the dorsal closure is not contrastive, it is not necessary to indicate the (velar in this case) place before the click type symbol. (1981) A Handbook of the Venda Language. Figure 3.34 Paris: Socit des Etudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France avec le concours du Groupe dEtudes et de Recherches en Linguistique Applique, Universit Nationale du Rwanda. 2010), but the increasing availability of such corpora may encourage phonetic studies of natural (unelicited) speech. London: Gregg. Journal of the International Phonetic Association (2000) Coproduction and Coarticulation of Clicks in IsiZulu: Aerodynamic and Electropalatographic Evidence. F. High tone is generally the phonologically marked tone, with Low tone being unmarked (Stevick 1969, Downing 2011) (see also Chapter 5). A. van Schaik. 7(1): 146. Figure 3.32 Hubbard, K. (2009) Preliminary Impressions from the Sociolinguistic Survey of the Jar Dialects. , The closures overlap for 100 ms, until frame 140. , The one spectrogram of a word containing /pk/ published in this study actually shows that the duration of the element is considerably longer than a simple stop, suggesting it contains a sequence of articulations, although no burst is visible for the /p/. ), Bantu Historical Linguistics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives, 235295. Clements, G. N. (1987) Qhalaxarzi Consonants. The means are 248 Hz for /i/, 313 Hz for //, 277 Hz for /u/, and 334 Hz for //. Manuel, S. Y. In 36(2): 193232. ), Intonation in African Tone Languages, 321364. Rialland, A. (1987) on depressor consonants in Zulu S42. Figure 3.14 Journal of Phonetics . 1989: 54). Figure 3.30 Greenberg, J. H. Kolossa Paper presented at West African Phonology Group, London, 28th April, 2011. (ed. Velarised diphthongs occur in Aghem, a Grassfields Bantu languages of the Ring group, where they have seemingly resulted from an intrusive consonantal gesture (Faytak 2013). Impressionistically, there appear to be no differences in vowel quality between pairs that differ in length in the two languages. *CVCV items have become monosyllabic in Fang, the V2 in these cases is often not the *V2 of the reconstructed form. . In Mwiini G412, however, long vowels may surface on the penult or antepenult and only occur word-initially in loanwords (Kisseberth & Abasheikh 2004: xvii). 36(1): 6792. Rueck, M. J. The contact of the front of the tongue is asymmetrical, as the side of the tongue opposite to where the release will be made is braced contra-laterally against the palate. In the rest of this section, three of the particular issues of phonetic interest are discussed: the dental/alveolar place contrast, the possible occurrence of articulatorily complex consonants, and the nature of the so-called whistling fricatives. Longer sections of the chapter will be devoted to aspects of laryngeal action in consonants, to the description of clicks and their distribution in Bantu, and to some of the interesting aspects of nasality which occur in these languages. 121(15): 21202152. are higher compared to Sands 21: 327. In Manyo K332, clicks are mostly dental, however, with a broad individual variation (Mhlig 1997). Traill, A. (ed. 2014:165). | Terms & conditions. , Figure 3.31 In the case of Kalanga S16, the mid vowels /e o/ are relatively close to the high vowels /i u/ and far from /a/. Bennett, W. G. Figure 3.21 Figure 3.19 The context-free liberty to vary place of articulation of clicks in some Bantu languages is rarely encountered with other classes of consonants. Librarian resources & I: 2732. In each case the putatively [ATR] vowel has a substantially higher first formant (hence a lower position on the chart) than its harmonic counterpart. & Fwe vowel formant means according to measurements by the second author on recordings made available by Hilde Gunnink. & K. C. (1982) Liquids in Chaga. , In this and following figures of the same type, the origin of the axes is in the upper right, with first formant (F1) values increasing down from the origin, and second formant (F2) values increasing to the left. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Figure 3.5 (1972) The Relationships of Coastal Ndau to the Shona Dialects of the Interior. Nasal vowels are not particularly common in the Bantu languages, but are found in certain mostly western areas, for example in Ngungwel B72a of the Teke group (Paulian 1994), in Umbundu R11 (Schadeberg 1982), in Gyele A801 (Renaud 1976) and in a few words in the Bitam variety of Fang A75 (Medjo Mv 1997). , L. Maho, J. F. Zvegintsev, V. Although not seen in a mid-sagittal diagram, the sides of the tongue are also raised to complete the seal between anterior and dorsal closures. 21(2): 161178. Maddieson, I. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hajek The Bantu languages are spoken in a very large area, including most of Africa from southern Cameroon eastward to Kenya and southward to the southernmost tip of the continent. and Chen, Y. & Bantu languages - Wikipedia As L. J. ), Tabasaranskie Etjudy, 616. This figure makes clear that the expansion of the cavity is not solely due to moving the location of the back closure further back. (1988) Speaker Variation and Phonation Type in Tsonga. D. In ), Mixed Languages: 15 Case Studies in Language Intertwining, 215224. Lindberg In , . & A Bantu five-vowel system consisting of /i a u/ has been described for Soga JE16 (Nabirye et al. This pattern is typical of that found in vowel systems where the back series is distinguished by degrees of height with no other factors being significantly involved. (1997) A Dialectometrical Analysis of the Main Kavango Languages: Kwangali, Gciriku and Mbukushu. & 13(2): 171196. London; New York: Routledge. Kingston, J. , Mumba While the deviations from the "pure" type are recognized, this typological method is the chief one utilized in untangling the complex African The distribution seen in Xhosa S41 or Swahili G42 is similar to that most typically found cross-linguistically in five-vowel systems transcribed /i e a o u/, such as Spanish, Hadza or Hawaiian. S. In M. . (2003) F0 Timing in Kinyarwanda. Consonant gemination has developed through internal processes in languages such as Ganda JE15 (Clements 1986) and by contact with Cushitic languages in Ilwana E701 (Nurse 1994). Detailed studies of timing in prenasalised stops are included in Maddieson (1993), Maddieson and Ladefoged (1993) and Hubbard (1994, 1995). Schulz, S. 23: 120. Myers, S. Cibelli, E. & Abstract Temporal/aspectual morphology often serves as a diagnostic for actional classes. Figure 3.7 Lingua Figure 3.4 (eds. Similar segments are very rare in the worlds languages, but do occur in the Dagestanian language Tabasaran (Kodzasov & Muravjeva 1982). Vossen, R. In Bemba M42, polar questions are marked by a final boundary L% on the final syllable, but pitch range expansion is also used (Kula & Hamann 2016). Downing, L. J. 2006). By Malcolm Guthrie, Ph.D. Somewhat similar facts have been shown for the Zezuru S12 variety of Shona (Maddieson 1990). (2008) Phonetics of Intonation in South African Bantu Languages. Pharyngealised vowels /i u o a/ have been reported for Kwasio A81 (Duke & Martin 2012). In K. Downing, L. J. Cape Town: University of Cape Town, PhD dissertation. Staubs The width of the constriction for the apical alveolar nasal in & The relative timing and durations of velar and front closures deduced from acoustic and aerodynamic data are graphed in (PDF) Review of 'The Bantu Languages, second edition' Philology, Classical Edition Review of 'The Bantu Languages, second edition' Authors: Jenneke van der Wal Discover the world's. South-West and South-East Bantu languages with clicks. 25: 255286. . (1998) Few People, Many Tongues: The Languages of Namibia. Source: Recording and images made available by Michael Proctor. T. J. PDF Gender, Number and Person in Bantu Languages Vietti , /) as well as glottalised and ejected clicks (e.g., / Parkinson Their findings show that participants perform better in syllable awareness tasks than in segment awareness. In When the sequence is voiceless, as in /tk/, there is a strong oral release of the first closure. . (2001) Whispery Voiced Nasal Stops in Rwanda. Barbosa Top row, front vowels /i/, /e/, //; bottom row, back vowels /u/, /o/, //. Gick, B. Hombert, J.-M. Figure 3.31 There have been relatively few acoustic studies of other Bantu five-vowel systems, but Swahili G42 (Nchimbi 1997) has a pattern similar to Xhosa S41, while Bemba M42 (Hamann & Kula 2015), Ndebele S44 and the Zezuru variety of Shona S12 (Manuel 1990) have a pattern similar to Kalanga. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), Stanford University. (1990) The Role of Contrast in Limiting Vowel-to-Vowel Coarticulation in Different Languages. Volume 3: A Catalogue of Common Bantu with Commentary. 13: 3972. van Schaik. (2002) The Use of Ultrasound for Linguistic Phonetic Fieldwork. Zhu Waveform and spectrogram of the middle syllable of the Fwe K402 word [ruoma] papyrus, spoken by a different male speaker than in (2010) More on Post-Nasal Devoicing: The Case of Shekgalagari. & Zare: revue congolaise Super-close vowels were reconstructed in order to account for the set of sound changes known as Bantu Spirantization, but recent reconstructions have abandoned this explanation (Schadeberg 1995, Bastin et al. Many Bantu languages have relatively simple segmental inventories. Figure 3.29 & Vowel height, backness and rounding can all be factors in control of Bantu harmony. Bantu languages | Definition, Characteristics, & Facts 48(4): 839862. ), Advances in African Linguistics, 265280. Figure 3.15 New Proposals for the Phonological Inventory of Proto-Bantu. Meinhof, C. Mumin In her study, F1, B1 (F1 bandwidth), center of gravity and A1-A2 (relative amplitudes of F1 and F2) help distinguish vowel pairs that differ in [ATR] value to varying degrees depending on the vowel pair and speaker. Summary. Figure 3.22 (2015) The phonological systems of the Mbam languages of Cameroon with a focus on vowels and vowel harmony. & ), Tones and Tunes. You can find out more in our Privacy Policy. ), Selected Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference on African Linguistics, 8289. Executive Director, Summer Institute of Linguistics Ltd., High Wycombe, England. This study shows that the F0 associated with depressors is lower than a low tone, and the lowest pitch is centred on the depressor consonants themselves. Figure 3.8 , 9(1): 3034. Figure 3.34 Ultrasound images clearly show differences in tongue root position across vowel pairs (Gick 2002, Gick et al. Xhosa S41 has five accompaniments, three of which are the same as in Zulu S42. Leiden: Leiden University, PhD dissertation. & , The click in the second syllable has a dorsal release that is closer in time to the release of the anterior click closure. Like most linguistic maps, this map represents a somewhat fictitious ethnographic idealisation not corresponding precisely with any exact time or population distribution. Figure 3.33 (2011) Linguistic Geography or Evidence for Genetic Affiliation? See Proctor et al. (PDF) Comparative Bantu: Test cases for method - ResearchGate Dashed vertical lines mark the onset and offset of the bilabial closure. Acoustic Correlates of Click Voicing in Whispered Speech. (2003) Kilimanjaro Bantu (E60 and E74). Because the insert does not cover the soft palate, this closure cannot be observed on the EPG record at this time. This process does not result in double articulations that are almost totally overlapped, as in labial-velars, but sequential articulations which are overlapped either not at all or no more than is typical of sequences such as /tk/ or /pk/ in English words like fruitcake or hopkiln. On the other hand, it does produce rather unusual consonant sequences in onset positions. Cape Town: Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society. Special mention may be made of Carl Meinhofs work in the 1890s, in which he sought to reconstruct what he called ur-Bantu (the words underlying contemporary Bantu forms), and the descriptive work carried out by Clement Doke and the Department of Bantu Studies at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, in the period 192353. Sanders Figure 3.1 In these cases there is a substantial fall in F0 from the onset to the middle of the nasal, and pitch begins to rise before the consonant is released; the pitch peak on the vowel is 40Hz (left panel) or 50Hz (right panel) higher than the lowest pitch in the nasal. Shryock This gesture may become associated with any class of consonants and thus is capable of becoming itself an independent phonological entity deployed for grammatical effect as in the depression without depressors described by Traill (1990). In Ngungwel B72a, there are three oral and three nasal vowels in prefixes [e a o e ]. & It is clear that Greenberg is dealing with an entirely different kind of time and relationship than that relevant for Common Bantu. VOT differs, as expected, between voiced, voiceless unaspirated and aspirated stop categories in Kgalagari S311, and it also varies by place of articulation within each category. Ondo L. Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society. Renaud, P. Gussenhoven Rycroft, D. K. ), Proceedings of the 6th World Congress of African Linguistics, Cologne, 1721 August 2009, 219224. H. S. The paper . The phonetic differences which exist between closely related languages provide opportunities for testing theories about phonological organisation. Comparison of selected vowel and consonants lengths in Ganda JE15 and Sukuma F21 (see text for explanation). (2012) Acoustic Properties of Implosives in Bantu Mpiemo. 46(2): 219228. Brugman M. In Cologne: Rdiger Kppe. Each point represents the mean of six measurements, three of isolated vowel tokens, plus three tokens in final vowels in /alV/ nonsense words. Zerbian, S. Maphalala, Z. Thoughts Prompted by Bilabial and Labiodental Fricatives. While the deviations from the "pure" type are recognized, this typological method is the chief one utilized in untangling the complex African linguistic situation. Seifert Another special laryngeal action occurs in the depressor consonants which are characteristic of certain Bantu languages of the Eastern and Southern regions. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. & The functional load of clicks varies across languages, as detailed in Pakendorf et al. Kerford Chichewa (Bantu) - The Handbook of Morphology - Wiley Online Library Smouse Van de Velde, M. (1999b) Tone Association and F0 Timing in Chichewa. Corpus studies of Bantu languages are currently few in number (Prinsloo & de Schryver 2001, Niesler et al. Hubbard, K. Moscow: Moscow University. Lammert Sukuma F21 lengthened vowels are almost exactly intermediate between underlying short and long vowels and the nasal portion is quite long. This may have two principal effects. Edition 1st Edition. Voen ), Namibian Languages. & 83: 918. J. A wide range of means of marking question prosody have been noted for Bantu languages. Elderkin Lukusa, S. T. M. , (2002) Flogging a dead cow?: The Revival of Malawian Chingoni. Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. (2016) Click Loss, Variation and Acquisition in Two South African Ndebele Varieties. (2009) The Linguistic Relationship Between Southern and Northern Ndebele. The Classification of the Bantu Languages. Clicks have also been reported to occur in Chopi S61 (Bailey 1995) and in the Mzimba variety of Tumbuka N21 (Moyo 1995). (1987) Acoustic and Perceptual Consequences of Vowel-to-Vowel Coarticulation in Three Bantu Languages. Clicks have not been reported for Manda group languages and are unlikely to occur unless efforts to revitalise Malawian Ngoni on a Zulu model prove effective (Kishindo 2002). Only Guthrie's Zone S is (sometimes) considered to be a genealogical group. ), The Khoesan Languages, 435444. (2014) Clicks, Concurrency and Khoisan. An acoustic artefact of recording in the cylindrical metallic MRI scanner bore is a series of echoes spaced at 53 ms intervals. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Language (eds. Nayak Letele, G. L. Leipzig: F.A. Kula, N. C. Nagano-Madsen, Y. Fehn Plauch Cologne: Rdiger Kppe. & The word papyrus may also be articulated with a velar stop in place of the click [rukoma], as seen in

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