We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
[ATR] reversal in Jumjum.
- Authors
Andersen, Torben
- Abstract
Jumjum, a Western Nilotic language, has an eight-vowel system divided into two sets by the feature [ATR] (Advanced Tongue Root), which is the basis of vowel harmony. A comparison with other Western Nilotic languages shows that (i) this vowel system goes back to a ten-vowel system in Proto-Western Nilotic (PWN), (ii) PWN high [−ATR] vowels have become high [+ATR] vowels in Jumjum, and (iii) conversely, PWN high [+ATR] vowels have become high [−ATR] vowels in Jumjum. The sequence of changes that resulted in this [ATR] reversal in Jumjum relative to PWN provides a historical explanation of synchronically odd, grammatically conditioned vowel-quality alternations in this language.
- Subjects
NILOTIC languages; VOWEL harmony; LANGUAGE &; languages; SOUNDS; VOWELS; MABAN language; AFRICAN languages; NIGER-Congo languages; PHONETICS
- Publication
Diachronica, 2006, Vol 23, Issue 1, p3
- ISSN
0176-4225
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1075/dia.23.1.03and