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UDC 81'344.3
Вестник СПбГУ Востоковедение и африканистика. 2024. Т. 16. Вып. 1
Interior Vowels in Complete [ATR] Systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt
N. V. Makeeva
Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1, Bolshoi Kislovskii per., Moscow, 125009, Russian Federation
For citation: Makeeva N. V. Interior Vowels in Complete [ATR] Systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 2024, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 134-160. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2024.109
The paper presents a typological overview of interior vowels in complete [ATR] systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt. Interior vowels are defined as vowel qualities within the interior regions of the vowel space and include front rounded vowels, all non-low central vowels and unrounded non-low back vowels. Complete [ATR] systems are defined as those systems where there is a cross-height contrast for the feature [ATR] (advanced tongue root) for non-low peripheral vowels and cross-height harmony both in static patterns (vowel co-occurence restrictions within morphemes) and dynamic patterns (restrictions within phonological domains comprising several morphemes). The study based on the sample of 35 languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt revealed three main types of interiority — allophonic, phonemic and epenthetic. These types are not sporadically distributed in terms of genetic affiliation and areal spreading of the languages. At least three clusters may be identified in the sample: (1) the Eastern Kru languages spoken in the Ivory Coast with numerous phonemic interior vowels specified for [ATR], (2) the Talodi languages of Sudan with one neutral interior vowel and (3) the North Guang languages with centralised allophones of front vowels appearing in interconsonantal position. The territory of Ghana and Togo occupied by North Guang languages also includes a number of languages from the sample which belong to other families and exhibit different types of interiority. This region appears to be particularly rich both in languages showing the co-occurrence of complete [ATR] systems with interior vowels and in interiority types. Keywords: Macro-Sudan Belt, advanced tongue root, vowel harmony, complete [ATR] systems, central vowels, interior vowels.
Introduction
The [ATR] contrast and the presence of interior vowels were claimed to be two antagonistic vowel patterns in the languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt [1]. Interior vowels are defined in [1] as vowel qualities within the interior regions of the vowel space. These include front rounded vowels [y y 0 re], all non-low central vowels [i 1 u a e a 3 s b], and unrounded non-low back vowels [ra y v a]. Other vowels are treated as peripheral [1, p. 139].
The study [1] considers different types of interiority and [ATR] systems. Among [ATR] systems the main distinction is drawn between complete [ATR] systems and incomplete [ATR] systems. Complete [ATR] systems are those systems where there is a cross-height [ATR] contrast for non-low peripheral vowels /i, 1, e, e, u, u, o, 0/ (the type of vowel inventory labeled as 2IU-2EO in [2] based on the [ATR] typology proposed in
© St. Petersburg State University, 2024
[3; 4]) and cross-height [ATR] harmony both in static patterns (vowel co-occurence restrictions within morphemes) and dynamic patterns (restrictions within phonological domains comprising several morphemes and resulting in allomorphy). Complete [ATR] systems also include those vowel systems which lack the phonemic [ATR] contrast but exhibit allophonic variation in [ATR] in mid or high vowels. These are vowel systems where the non-low peripheral vowel inventory is /i, i, e, u, u, 0/ (2IU-1EO) and [e] and [o] function as positional allophones of /e/ and /0/ in the proximity of [+ATR] vowels and the vowel systems with the non-low peripheral vowel inventory /i, e, e, u, o, 0 / (1IU-2EO) and high [-ATR] vowels [i] and [u] appearing as positional allophones of /i/ and /u/ in the environment of [-ATR] vowels. Contrary to complete [ATR] systems, incomplete [ATR] systems do not demonstrate dynamic cross-height harmony, these are attested in most of the /1IU-2EO/ languages. The three types of complete [ATR] systems are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Types of complete [ATR] systems
Backness Height & 2IU-2EO 2IU-1EO 1IU-2EO
Front Central Back Front Central Back Front Central Back
High +ATR i u i u i u
-ATR I и I и
Mid +ATR e (э) o (э) e (э) o
-ATR e 0 e 0 e 0
Low a a a
Among interiority types the difference is drawn between the languages with phonemic interior vowels, non-phonemic interior vowels and those cases where the only interior vowel is a [+ATR] correlate of /a/. In all complete [ATR] systems, there is a low vowel /a/ which is often classified as [-ATR] or behaves as phonologically neutral with respect to the [ATR] feature. The systems of the first type may also include a [+ATR] correlate of /a/, which can be low or mid. Phonologically neutral /a/ may also be phonetically neutral and realised as low or mid central [+ATR] vowel in the environement of [+ATR] vowels. Mid [+ATR] vowels functioning as [+ATR] correlates of /a/ with phonemic or allophonic status are not so rarely attested in the languages with [ATR] systems and present a trivial case.
Though results of statistical tests suggest that the presence of [ATR] harmony and the presence of interior vowels are not independent regardless of how they are defined — strictly (comprising only complete [ATR] systems, only phonemic interior vowels) or liberally (comprising both complete and incomplete [ATR] systems, both phonemic and allophonic interior vowels as well as the cases where the only interior vowel is the [+ATR] counterpart to the [-ATR] low vowel /a/) our study will focus on the rare subtype of systems which manifest the co-occurrence of interior vowels (excluding mid [+ATR] correlate of /a/) with complete [ATR] systems. These constitute about 6 % of the sample examined in [1].
No typological study on the quality of interior vowels occurring in complete [ATR] systems has been carried out so far. In this paper, we present an overview of different interiority types attested in the languages with complete [ATR] systems and attempt to highlight the main patterns of their geographical and genetic distribution.
Survey languages
Our survey included 35 languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt which manifest the cooccurrence of complete [ATR] systems with any kinds of interior vowels except for the mid [+ATR] correlate of /a/. The basis of our sample is presented by the languages of the corresponding subsample considered in [1]. The choice of languages from this subsample was limited only by the availability of data, and they made up two-thirds of our sample. In addition, our sample was replenished with other languages known to us that demonstrate these two patterns. A list of the languages considered in the study and descriptive sources for each language are given in the Appendix.
Overwhelming majority of interior vowels attested in the languages of our sample are qualified as central. A few exceptions include the vowel /y/ in Abron [5], back unrounded long vowels of Kabiye [6], and unrounded allophones of back vowels attested in Izi [7]. Central vowels of Bete Guiberoua are also reported to manifest back unrounded variants after /w/ and before labialised vowels [8, p. 64-66].
Several types of interior vowels have been attested in the languages of our sample. We will distinguish between allophonic, phonemic, and epenthetic interior vowels. Allophonic interior vowels usually function as positional variants of front and — more rarely — back vowels. Among phonemic interior vowels, the further division is made between the vowels which can be undoubtedly included in one of the [ATR] sets and neutral interior vowels. Epenthetic vowels are determined based on their phonological function as vowels inserted in strings of segments which are disallowed in a language due to its phonotactic constraints as a sort of 'regularisation procedure' [9, p. 195]. Epenthetic vowel occurs phonetically at an empty slot of phonological representation, and this function can be fulfilled by a vowel which is either present or absent from the phonemic inventory of a language [9, p. 205-206].
In order to make a cross-linguistic comparison of interiority types, we adopted a unified vowel notation system presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Vowel notation system
Backness Height +ATR vs. -ATR Neutral
Front Central Back Front Central Back
High i-I i-I u-Ö i i u
Mid e — e Э-3 o-0 e э 0
Low a — a a
The symbols /a/ and /a/ are also used to represent a low [-ATR] vowel and a mid [+ATR] vowel forming an [ATR] pair of non-high vowels.
Types of interior vowels in complete [ATR] systems
Allophonic interior vowels
The first type of interior vowels attested in complete [ATR] systems includes centralised allophones of front and — more rarely — back vowels. Usually central vowels occur as allophones of high vowels, as is the case in Waja, an Adamawa language of Nigeria [10; 11]. Waja has a nine-vowel inventory of 2IU-2EO type /i, i, e, e, a, u, u, o, 0/ and two central vowels [i] and [i] opposed by [ATR]. These two vowels occur in interconsonantal position as allophones of the high front /i, 1/ and back /u, u/ vowels of different sets respectively.
Centralisation of short front vowels in interconsonantal position is relatively widespread among North Guang languages (Kwa). It is attested in Nawuri [12], Chumburung [13, p. 13], Gonja [14, p. 86]1, Ginyanga [17]. As many other North Guang languages, Nawuri has a nine-vowel inventory /i, i, e, e, a, u, u, o, 0/, where word-medial and wordfinal short front vowels centralise in interconsonantal position (both in closed and open syllables). Vowel [3] also occurs as a result of the raising of /a/ in the same environment2.
(1) Nawuri (Kwa)
/i/ ^ [i] /biti/ /1/ + [ï] /е/ ^ [э] /é/ ^ [з] /а/ ^ [3]
/ti)/
/ dekereke/ /tjeminee/
/da)/ /osulapu/
[biti] [tii)] ^ ^ [dé кэ ré ké]
[tj3mïnéé?3]
^
[os6l3 pÔ ]
to want' to cut' chameleon' friend' to grow'
'person who carries' [12, p. 6].
The process of centralisation is reconstructed for the Proto-Guang vowel system in root-medial position [13, p. 11] and in prefixes of CV- type [18, p. 40]. However, it remains an open question whether central vowels could be a North Guang innovation (see [18, p. 32]). Centralisation of /1/ and raising of /a/ in prefixes is also attested in Animere, a language with nine-vowel inventory of 2IU-2EO type classified in the Ka-Togo group within the Kwa family [19; 20].
Similarly, in the Camus dialect of Maa — an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Kenya with a ten-vowel inventory /i, i, e, e, a, a, u, u, o, 0/, — front vowels are reported to be realised as centralised when preceded and followed by voiceless consonants, while /u/ is also centralised before /e/ [21, p. 102].
1 At the same time, Nelson et al. [15] note that front short vowels of Gonja in the first syllable of CVCV sequences are subject to remarkable durational shortening rather than qualitative reduction. Shortening may be the reason of an auditory effect of centralisation in at least some cases, and it is most prominent between voiceless stops [15, p. 129]. Optional durational shortening of high front vowels is also attested in Nkonya, another North Guang language, between a voiceless and a voiced alveolar consonant [16, p. 27].
2 Due to the neutralisation between /е/ and /a/ in inter-consonantal position, sometimes it is impossible to restore the underlying vowel in word-medial position. In these ambiguous cases, [з] is represented as /a/ [12, p. 7].
3 In pre-pausal position long vowels (represented as double vowels) are realised with glottal stop [12,p. 5].
A non-phonemic vowel [i] is attested in Dazaga, a Saharan language of eastern Niger and northern Chad, which has the same nine-vowel inventory of 2IU-2EO type as in the North Guang languages [22]. In Dazaga, [i] has a limited distribution and occurs only before sonorant consonants both in open and closed syllables. It is analysed as a free al-lophonic variant of peripheral vowels in the aforementioned environment, although in a number of cases it is difficult to restore the underlying full vowel [22, p. 27-28].
Onitsha Igbo, an Igboid language of Nigeria, has an eight-vowel inventory /i, i, e, a, u, u, o, o/ which lacks the front mid [-ATR] vowel /e/4. The vowel /e/ seems to be phonologi-cally and phonetically neutral: it occurs with vowels of both [ATR] sets, realising as [e] in the neighborhood of the [+ATR] vowels /i, u, o/ and as [i] in other cases [24, p. X].
In Tampulma, a Gur language of Ghana with a full 2IU-2EO nine-vowel inventory, high vowels of the [-ATR] set are claimed to have central allophones of indistinct quality. Vowel /1/ is centralised between voiced consonants and is realised as [i] in other cases:
(2) Tampulma (Gur)
bina [bina] 'year' zagim [zagim] 'leper'
tsim [cim] 'to meet' hil [hil] 'witch' [25, p. 25].
Vowel / u/ is centralised after voiceless consonants and before voiced consonants except for /l/, and is realised as [u] in other cases:
(3) Tampulma (Gur)
for [fir] 'to pierce' kan [kin] 'thing'
dam [dum] 'to bite' [25, p. 26].
Finally, in Izi, an Igboid language of Nigeria with the same vowel inventory, back vowels and /a/ are reported to have unrounded and rounded allophones. The latter occur under labialisation, which spreads onto the entire syllable [7, p. 83]. Unrounded allophone [ra] of /u/ also occurs after velar fricatives in the utterance-final position before a pause [7, p. 82].
Phonemic interior vowels
Interior vowels specified for the [ATR] feature
A. Complete [ATR] systems with one interior vowel.
In complete [ATR] systems, the high central [-ATR] vowel /i/ is commonly attested as the only interior vowel. This is the case in the three languages of our sample. The Bassila dialect of Anii, a Kwa language spoken on the border between Togo and Benin, has an eleven-vowel inventory with three central vowels, as shown in Table 3.
4 Such gaps do not change the type of system proposed in [23] since they usually do not affect common properties of the functioning of an [ATR]-based harmony. Igbo vowel system is classified in the 2IU-2EO type [23, p. 309].
^s. Backness Height & Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR I I и
Mid +ATR e э o
-ATR e 0
Low -ATR a
Vowels /a/ and /a/ constitute an [ATR] pair, whereas /i/ is a non-participatory vowel of [-ATR] set. In [26, p. 76] it is argued that the high central vowel /i/ has acquired its phonemic status recently as a result of a phonemic split of the high front [-ATR] vowel /i/. The latter originally had an allophone [i] before nasals and liquids. In the present-day Bassila Anii, there are minimal or near-minimal pairs with /i/ vs. /i/:
(4) Bassila Anii (Kwa)
tfi 'to wash' vs. tji 'to build'
ti 'to put down' vs. ti 'FUT' [26, p. 76].
The recent phonological status of /i/ is confirmed by the traces of complementary distribution between /i/ and /i/. First, in monosyllabic words of a C1VC2 type (where C2 is liquid or nasal), V can be represented by all the vowels of Bassila Anii, except for /i/. Second, in polysyllabic words, /i/ almost always occurs in the sequences /iCa/, where C is represented by l, r or a nasal: gidompila 'slavery', asina 'dog', gakima 'back', atsira 'bushrat'. Third, in some words of Bassila Anii, /i/ corresponds to /i/ in other Anii dialects.
Another interesting case is represented by Dagbani, a Gur language of Ghana, where the high front [-ATR] vowel /i/ has been replaced by /i/. Dagbani has a six-vowel inventory /i, i, e, a, u, 0/ (see Table 4) with [+ATR] allophones [e, u, o, a ] for /e, u, 0, a/, respectively [27].
Table 4. Dagbani vowel system
Backness Height & Front Central Back
High +ATR i
-ATR I и
Mid +ATR
-ATR e 0
Low a
The phonetic nature of /i/ is supported by the fact that all the front vowels of Dagbani cause a palatalisation of a preceding consonant, whereas /i/ does not:
(5) Dagbani (Gur)
bihim [bHhim] 'milk' ftlim [f^ilim] 'to belittle' nir-a [njir-a] 'person'
be [b^e] 'bad' fe [f^e] 'to finger' ne: [nje:] 'awake'
behim [b^him] 'doubt' fehi [f%hi] 'to blow nose' nem [njem] 'to grind'
bilim [bilim] 'to roll' firla [firla] 'lantern' niy [nil]] 'to do' [27, p. 52-53].
In the [ATR] harmony system of Dagbani, /i/ functions as a [-ATR] counterpart of the high front [+ATR] vowel /i/ in non-root morphemes and is replaced by /i/ as a result of a rightward [+ATR] spreading from the root:
(6) Dagbani (Gur)
bin-i 'thing-SG' pin-i gift-SG'
be-hi 'shin-PL' bi-hi 'child-PL' [27, p. 52].
Another case worth of interest is presented by a Tivoid language Iceve-Maci spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria. This language has an eight-vowel inventory /i, e, i, a, u, u, o, o/ which lacks front [-ATR] phonemes [28] (see Table 5). The allophones [i, e] only occur in affixes vocalised in /i, e/ respectively when harmonizing with [-ATR] root vowels. Similarly, /a/ has a [+ATR] allophone [a] which occurs in affix variants harmonising with [+ATR] root vowels5.
Table 5. Iceve-Maci vowel system
Backness Height & ATR^-^^ Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR i и
Mid +ATR e o
-ATR o
Low a
Affixes vocalised in /i/ have two possible realisations when harmonising with [-ATR] root vowels. First, it can realise as front high [-ATR] allophone [i], which is only attested in affixes.
(7) Iceve-Maci (Tivoid) i-dzime [idjime] CL9-back 'back'
i-kowu [ikowu]
CL9-spoon
'spoon'
i-tsinbi [itsimb]
CL9-navel
'navel'
i-sb [iso] CL9-elephant 'elephant' [28, p. 34].
5 Vowel /a/ has another [+ATR] counterpart in harmonising affixes, which is /e/. The exact conditions which determine the choice between [e] and [a] are not entirely clear. Still, [a] seems to occur in prefixes in the neighborhood of velar consonants and back vowels, whereas /e/ occurs in other contexts. It is worth mentioning that in some contexts diphthongs [ae] and [aa] are also used by some speakers [28].
This alternation is attested in a number of noun class prefixes and in the corresponding verb subject prefixes. At the same time, in a number of consonant-initial prefixes, it is a high central vowel iii which functions as the [-ATR] counterpart of /i/.
(8) Iceve-Maci (Tivoid)
mi-dzif-e mi-dzind-a
lSG-weed-IPFV lSG-chase-IPFV
'I am weeding' 'I am chasing'
mi-tem-e mi-kaf-a
lSG-shell-IPFV lSG-hoe-IPFV
'I am shelling' 'I am hoeing' [28, p. 36].
There is also a number of morphemes with four allomorphs which, due to the [ATR] and roundness harmony rules, contain one of the following vowels specified for height: ii, i, u, ui. One of these morphemes is an extension -V [high] added to CVC verbal roots. In this rule, it is also the high central vowel iii that appears as a [-ATR] correlate of the high front iii. In addition, all the four high vowels including iii are subject to final vowel deletion. The latter is only applied to final high vowels bearing low tone, as in the following imperative verbal forms:
(9) Iceve-Maci (Tivoid) tJYli [tjil] 'know' tami [tam] 'chew' gbofu [gbof] 'bark' falb [ful] 'shave' [28].
Mid central vowels occur in complete [ATR] systems with one interior vowel as well. Kanembu, a Saharan language of Niger and Chad, has an eleven-vowel inventory ii, i, e, e, 3, a, a, u, u, o, oi with one interior vowel i3i [29, p. 88-89], as shown in Table 6.
Table 6. Kanembu vowel system
Backness Height & Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR i и
Mid +ATR e o
-ATR e 3 0
Low +ATR a
-ATR a
The [ATR] system seems very unusual since iai is claimed to function as a [+ATR] correlate of both central [-ATR] vowels. For example, completive and incompletive verbal forms are only distinguished by the [ATR] value of the verbal root, and [+ATR] feature is interpreted as the floating aspect marker [29, p. 88]. As can be seen from examples in
(10) in verbal roots, /a/ occurs as a [+ATR] correlate of /a/. At the same time, in personal subject markers (-H3ki/-nqki '1SG', -n3mi/-nqmi '2SG', -i/-i '3SG', -ysif-yei '3PL'), which harmonise with the root in the [ATR] feature of their vowels, /a/ occurs as a [+ATR] correlate of /3/:
(10) Kanembu (Saharan)
'gbn3ki 'dall3ki fai 'garctl 'darr3mi
I took' 'I got up' 'he woke up' 'they encircled' 'you strolled'
'gdnaki 'dallaki 'fai 'garcei 'darrami
'I am taking' 'I am getting up' 'he is waking up' 'they are encircling' 'you are strolling' [29, p. 88-89].
An unusual situation is observed in Sekpele, a Kwa language of Ghana, which has ten-vowel inventory of the 2IU-2EO type /i, e, 1, e, 3, a, u, o, u, 0/ with one interior vowel /3/ [30]:
Table 7. Sekpele vowel system
Backness Height & ATR\. Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR i и
Mid +ATR e э o
-ATR e 0
Low +ATR a
Central vowels /3/ and /a/ do not constitute an [ATR] pair in this language. According to the static harmony rules, /a/ behaves as phonologically neutral co-occuring with the peripheral vowels of both [ATR] sets. In harmonising prefixes, /a/ is claimed to be both phonologically and phonetically neutral occurring as [a] or [a] depending on the [ATR] value of the initial root vowel:
(11) Sekpele (Kwa)
a-te [a-te]
2SG.PST-sell
'You sold'
a-te [a-te]
2SG.PST-allow
'You allowed'
a-to [a-to]
2SG.PST-build
'You built'
a-tb [a-to]
2SG.PST-ask
'You asked' [30, p. 73].
The [ATR]-based harmony system in Sekpele is accompanied by the height harmony triggered by the high [+ATR] vowels /i/ and /u/ and by the mid central vowel /3/. According to the harmony rules, every harmonising prefix has three allomorphs containing vowels which are only marked for the backness feature and which depend on the vowel of the stem. The prefix vowel is /e, e, i/ if it is a front vowel, /0, o, u/ in case of a back vowel, and
[a], [a], ia ~ ei in case of a central vowel. An allomorph with the first vowel of every set is chosen when the first vowel of the stem is [-ATR], an allomorph with the second vowel is chosen if the first vowel of the stem is a mid [+ATR] vowel or iai, whereas an allomorph with the third vowel is chosen when the first vowel of the stem is high [+ATR] vowel or iai. In the latter case, if an allomorph is vocalised with a central vowel both iai and iei can be used, the variant iei being mostly attested among younger speakers [30, p. 71-77]. In the following examples, the prefix kV[back]- of the noun class 7 has three allomorphs ko-/ ko-/ku- whereas the prefix of its plural correlate — the noun class 8 — is V [central] - and has three allomorphs a-/ 3- ~ e-.
(12) Sekpele (Kwa)
CL7 CL8
kô-kpà â-kpà [j-kpa] 'leg'
ko-to à-tô [j-to] 'eariears'
k5 -bé à-bé [j-bé] 'palmtree'
kd -tini à-tini [j-tini] 'mountain'
ku-di é-di 'grave'
kù-ss à-ss 'song'
kù-sù è-sû 'road' [30, p. 95]
As it can be seen from the dynamic harmony rules and examples in (12), iai and iai as harmony triggers behave exactly like mid and high vowels of the [+ATR] set respectively and thus should be considered as contrasting only for height.
Finally, in Abron, a Kwa language spoken in the Ivory Coast, a ten-vowel inventory of the 2IU-2EO type includes a high front labialised vowel iyi. The latter is classified in the [+ATR] set as it is a non-labialised counterpart of iii [5].
B. Complete [ATR] systems with several interior vowels.
Rich subsystems of interior vowels are characteristic of Eastern Kru languages — Western Bete languages (Daloa Bete, Guiberoua Bete, Godie dialects including Koyo), Eastern (Gagnoa) Bete [31] and Bakwe [32]. These varieties manifest three types of subsystems of interior vowels which include two, three and four vowels respectively:
Table 8. Kru subsystems of central vowels
Guiberoua Bete, Godie, Bakwe Daloa Bete, Koyo Gagnoa Bete
Backness Height & ATR^^ Front Central Back Front Central Back Front Central Back
High +ATR i i u i i u i u
-ATR i ï и i ï и i и
Mid +ATR e Э o e э o e э o
-ATR é 3 0 é 0 é 3 0
Low a a a
In these vowel systems, the interior vowels constitute [ATR] pairs and fully participate in the [ATR] harmony rules exactly like the peripheral vowels. According to the static harmony rule, the central vowels of different [ATR] sets cannot co-occur root-internally (/a/ being neutral), but they freely co-occur with peripheral vowels of the same set:
(13) Daloa Bete (Kru) stbt 'to clear' ybmi 'to sleep'
vile 'to insult' [33, p. 59].
According to the dynamic harmony rules, suffix vowels harmonise in [ATR] to the root vowels. This can be exemplified by the rules of nominal plural marking in Daloa Bete [33, p. 82-86]. In plural forms, the final vowel of the root is replaced by a suffix -V[high], where V — is one of the five high vowels /i, i, i, i, u/ chosen according to the following rules. High back vowels /u, u/ undergo fronting and are replaced by high front vowels /i, i/ respectively, mid [+ATR] vowels and /e/ undergo raising and are replaced by high [+ATR] vowels and /i/ respectively, and non-high central and back [-ATR] vowels undergo both fronting and raising and are replaced by the front high [-ATR] /i/. In a number of nouns, /a/ undergoes only raising and is replaced by /i/ (14). High central vowels have not been attested in singular nominal forms. In all the rules the suffix vowel belongs to the same [ATR] set as the root vowel.
(14) Daloa Bete (Kru)
v [high] ^ i / u, e budu 'house' ^ budi 'houses'
kple 'foot' ^ kpli 'feet' i / 3 k§p9 'wing' ^ k3pt 'wings'
u / o yo mouth' ^ yu mouths'
i / u, e, o, a kps 'leaf' ^ kpi 'leaves' leje: 'bag' ^ leji 'bags' y5yo 'woman' ^ yoyi' 'women' gbla 'fork' ^ gbli 'forks' i / a kTima 'tam-tam' ^ klimi'tam-tams' [33, p. 82-86].
Since non-low central vowels are absent from all the Western Kru languages and from a number of Eastern Kru languages, such as Dida, Neyo and Kouya, their presence can be considered as an innovation [32, p. 730]. The study by Zogbo [32] shows that the most plausible pathway for the development of central vowels in Kru languages is provided by the rightward assimilation. The latter affects V2 in C1V1C2V2 syllable structures where C2 is a liquid or nasal with the subsequent weakening (centralising/raising) and elision of V1: C1V1C2V2 ^ C1V1C2V2 ^ C1V1C2V1 ^ C1C2V1. This weakening of V1 is due to its proximity to liquids and nasals; another factor might be the presence of a morpheme boundary immediately right to the V2 [32, p. 740]. It remains an open question whether central vowels appeared in Western Bete languages before their split into the present-day idioms or due to the contact whithin Eastern Kru languages.
A rich set of interior vowels is also found in Kabiye, a Gur language of Togo, with contrastive vowel length. Inventory of short vowels of Kabiye consists of nine vowels /i, e, i, e, a, u, o, u, 0/ whereas the subsystem of long vowels is enlarged by five additional non-labialised back vowels which also contrast for [ATR] [6], as shown in Table 9.
Backness Height & Front Back Front Back non-labialised Back labialised
High +ATR i u i: ш: u:
-ATR I u i: ¥: u:
Mid +ATR e o e: r: o:
-ATR e 0 e: л: o:
Low +ATR a a: a:
A Kordofanian language Tima has a twelve-vowel inventory with two high vowels opposed by [ATR] [34], as shown in Table 10.
Table 10. Tima vowel system
Backness Height & Front Central Back
High +ATR i i u
-ATR I I u
Mid +ATR e o
-ATR e 0
Low +ATR a
-ATR a
As in the Eastern Kru languages, interior vowels form an [ATR] pair and participate in the [ATR]-based harmony. According to the static harmony rule, the vowels of different [ATR] sets never co-occur root-internally. Since a root may contain vowels that differ in height and backness, non-low central vowels freely co-occur root-internally with peripheral vowels. Tima has a root-controlled [ATR]-based harmony system, where iii and iii occur in allomorphs of harmonising affixes that differ in [ATR] value.
(15) Tima (Kordofanian) kt-ht ki-pe
CL.SG-place CL.SG-mouth 'place' 'mouth'
kt-mamii ki-dek
CL.SG-nose CL.SG-neck
'nose' 'neck' [34, p. 273-274].
Lama, a Gur language of Togo, is claimed to have an eleven-vowel inventory of 2IU-2EO type which is very similar to the one attested in Gagnoa Bete [35], as shown in Table 11.
^^^^^^^ Backness Height & ATR^-^^ Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR í и
Mid +ATR e э o
-ATR £ з 0
Low a
The low central vowel iai behaves as phonologically and phonetically neutral. It is realised as [a] in the neighborhood of high [+ATR] vowels and iai (both within roots and in affixes harmonising with [+ATR] roots) and as [a] in other cases:
(16) Lama (Gur)
sau [saa u] 'rich person'
apu [aa pu] 'head louse'
aluku [aa luku] 'chicken coop'
ci-na [cinaa ] 'fathers'
ram-na [remnáa ] 'iroko trees'
nun-na [nunnaa ] 'aunts' [35, p. 116, 118]
rí-na [rínái ] 'pythons' тзш-nä [remnaa ] 'snakes'
Non-low central vowels form an [ATR] pair. According to the static harmony rule, they freely co-occur with peripheral vowels of the same set within roots and also appear in allomorphs of harmonising affixes (for example, in causative suffix -sa/-s3 in (17)) as predicted by the rules of root-controlled harmony pattern:
(17) Lama (Gur)
lit3 'to tease' luta 'to stir up'
lit3 'to write badly' lat3 'to intermingle' [35, p. 114-115]
wur-s9 'to blacken' ta-s9 'to bring down'
ta 'to eat' ta-s3 'to feed someone'
tel 'to escape' tel-s3 'to save someone's life' [35, p. 117].
lata 'to skin an animal' ¡3t3 'to get loose'
wúr 'to become black' taw 'to come down'
Table 12. Katla vowel system
^^^^^^^ Backness Height & ^^^ Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR í и
Mid +ATR e э o
-ATR £ з 0
Low +ATR a
Two rather unusual cases are presented by Katla, a Kordofanian language of Sudan, and Akebu, a Kwa language spoken in Togo. Katla has an eleven-vowel inventory which lacks low [-ATR] /a/ [36] (Table 12).
According to the root-controlled [ATR]-based harmony system, in allomorphs of harmonising affixes /3/ alternates with /a/ or /o/. In addition, both variants with /a/ and /o/ are possible in a number of affix allomorphs harmonising with [+ATR] root vowels, while /3/ and /0/ are possible with those variants which harmonise with [-ATR] root vowels:
(18) Katla (Kordofanian)
[-ATR] [+ATR]
рз- ро- 1SG.S
-зкз -okó Iterative
-зу -а у Goal
-кз -ка Causative
-зпз ~ -эпэ -ana ~ -onó Habitual
-з к -ак ~ -ok Activity [36, p. 240-241]
Description of the Akebu vowel system is based on my field data collected during two field trips in 2012 and 2019 to the village of Djon in the prefecture of Akebu (see also [37]). Akebu has an eleven-vowel inventory which seems to be largely asymmetric since the three central vowels are qualified as [-ATR] and opposed only by height (Table 13).
Table 13. Akebu vowel system
Backness Height & Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR i I и
Mid +ATR e o
-ATR e 3 0
Low -ATR a
According to the static harmony rules, the vowels of different [ATR] sets are not able to co-occur root-internally. In addition, the two non-low central vowels can only combine with each other, and with /a/. These co-occurence patterns are exemplified in (19) with nominal forms where prefixes and suffixes mark one of the seven noun classes:
(19) Akebu (Kwa)
peripheral [+ATR] e-kpe(i-y3 'cassavas', o-kolu-y3 'ropes', fu[i-y3 'bird' vowels
peripheral [-ATR] cikee-y3 'dog', mddfd-kpS 'rice', sika-y$ 'money', ki-cdma-k3 'job'
vowels
central vowels 3-s$ti-y3 'eggs, ki-kpafik 'foot'
Dynamic patterns are rather unusual since they include two harmony rules based on the two features — backness and [ATR]. According to the first rule, the [ATR] and the backness value of the first (or single) vowel of the root spreads leftwards to the target vowel, which can be only non-high. This rule applies to harmonising prefixes and proclitics and is exemplified in (20) with habitual verb forms of 3SG (a ty noun class). The habitual meaning is marked by a prefix IVV-, the ty class is marked by a null prefix which is omitted in the examples.
(20) v [non-high] ^ e / e, i o / o, u з / 3, 1
a / a, e, э, i, и
её 'to cut' ^ lee-сё, fii 'to enter' ^ lee-fii
ко 'to go' ^ loo-ko, [u 'to rise' ^ loo-[u
крзз 'to whistle' ^ Ыз-крзз, pi 'to ask' ^ Ш-pi
ca a 'to roll' ^ la a -ca a,
kpe 'to sleep' ^ la a-kpe, yl 'to steal' ^ la a -yi,
so 'to pound' ^ laa-so, [a 'to sow' ^ laa-[a
According to the second rule, the [ATR] and the backness value of the verbal root spreads bidirectionally to the high target vowel. It is exemplified in (21) by the partial reduplication of the verb stem that serves to derive verbal nouns.
(21) v [high] ^ i / e, i u / o, u i / a, з, i
и / э, и i / e, i
fii 'to enter, to suit' > fifii-w3 'smth which suits', ce 'to cut' > cice-w3 'smth that should be cut' kpoopu 'to be big' > kpukpdopu-w3 'smth big', quq 'to drink' > yuyuy-w3 'smth drinkable' kpaa 'to recover' > kpikpaa-y3 'smb healthy', J33h- 'to be fast' > fif33li-y3 'smb fast, fi 'to take' > fifi-w>3 'smth that should be taken' koi) 'to combat' > k8kori-y3 'warrior', fa 'to take a piece' > ftifa-w3 'smth taken' ceeli 'to sweep' > ciceeli-w3 'smth sweeped, cll 'to be dirty' > cicll-w3 'smth dirty'
According to the rule (20), the front and back vowels of the [+ATR] set, as well as the non-low central vowels form three groups basing on the feature of backness whereas the low central iai and the peripheral vowels of the [-ATR] set are grouped together basing on the [ATR] feature. According to the rule (21), the front and back vowels form four groups based on both harmony features, whereas the three central vowels are grouped together. Thus the [-ATR] value of the vowel iai established via the rule (20) may be assigned to all the central vowels grouped by the rule (21).
Interior vowels, neutral with respect to the [ATR] feature
As was mentioned above, we do not consider those cases where the only non-low central vowel is a [+ATR] counterpart of the vowel iai which is qualified as [-ATR]. Nevertheless, there are vowel systems where the only non-low central vowel does not function as a [+ATR] counterpart of iai. Among these languages there are several Talodi languages within the Kordofanian family with an eight-vowel inventory of 2IU-1EO type ii, i, e, a, a, u, u, oi (Table 14) — Acheron [38], Lumun [39], Dagik [40]. These languages have a complete [ATR] harmony system since mid vowels have allophones [e, o] occurring in the environment of high [+ATR] vowels.
Backness Height & ATR^^^^^ Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR I и
Mid +ATR э
-ATR e 0
Low a
In these languages, central vowels /a/ and /a/ do not contrast in [ATR] and are opposed only by height. First, they freely co-occur within a word, in either order:
(22) Acheron (Kordofanian)
a-a gadda 'leaf', papak 'light'
3-3 gsdsk 'door', g3Z3y 'feather'
a-3 gadd3r 'road, wab3k 'meat'
3-a Z3gar 'sesame seed', b3lla 'cat' [38, p. 203-204].
Second, both central vowels behave as phonologically neutral in static harmony patterns since there are no restrictions on the co-occurrence of central vowels with peripheral vowels of both sets within roots. In Acheron and Dagik, both central vowels have also [+ATR] allophones occuring in the neighborhood of [+ATR] high vowels /i/ and /u/. Therefore, they can be analysed as both phonologically and phonetically neutral exactly like mid vowels:
(23) Acheron (Kordofanian) g3b3k [g3b3k] 'pieces of meat'
d3bok [d3buk] 'year' d3buk [dabuk] 'colleague'
y3ni [q3ni] 'what?' b3di [badi] 'butter'
gamal [gamal] 'old man'
zacol [zacul] 'one-eyed man' ya^u [ja^u] 'lion'
bassik [bassik] 'snake' massiy [massiq] 'yesterday' [38, p. 205, 208].
The mid central vowel has a number of properties. First, it has a limited distribution. In Acheron, Lumun and Dagik /a/ does not occur word-finally, in Acheron and Lumun it is also absent from monosyllabic (monomoraic) words.
Second, /a/ is reported to have a shortened realisation. For example, in Lumun the duration of /a/ is reported to vary from ultra-short to normal. The longest duration comparable to the duration of the full vowel is attested in closed final syllables, especially in those cases when the final consonant is an obstruent:
(24) Lumun (Kordofanian) car3k [carak1] 'belly, stomach' cak31 [ca^af ] 'toe'
Pr3k [top^] 'rope' [39, p. 65, 68].
In initial position it is short but is still clearly audible:
(25) Lumun (Kordofanian)
apo [a^a] 'large bowl for preparing beer' a^an [3^an] 'names' [39, p. 65, 67].
In other cases /a/ is realised as ultra-short, so that often consonants surrounding it seem to form a cluster6:
(26) Lumun (Kordofanian) palla [pal:a ~ pl:a] 'cat' karet [k3ref ~ kreef ] 'cloth' kamel [kamel] 'hunting party' opako [oif^o] 'to eat'
moramor [moramor ~ mormor] 'eight' [39, p. 61-62].
In these near clusters one of the consonants is always rhotic, lateral, or nasal, which can optionally take over the moraicity of /a/ [39, p. 67].
Third, the quality of /a/ also widely varies due to the assimilation to the vowels of adjacent syllables. For example, in Dagik /a/ is optionally assimilated to the high or mid vowel of the preceding or the following syllable progressive assimilation having priority over the regressive one in conflict cases:
(27) Dagik (Kordofanian)
magop [m3gup ~ mugup] 'fruits (sp)' kol:aba [kol:3ba ~ kol:3ba] 'hoe (sp)' dolaye [3uteq£ ~ 3uluqe] 'tongue' [40, p. 15].
In Baka, a Central Sudanic language of Sudan with an eleven-vowel inventory (Table 15), the high central vowel /i/ is reported to be phonetically [-ATR] but phonologically neutral with respect to the [ATR] feature, as it freely co-occurs with vowels of both [ATR] sets within a phonological word [41, p. 69].
Table 15. Baka vowel system
^^^^^^^ Backness Height & ATR~~—^^^ Front Central Back
High +ATR i ï u
-ATR I и
Mid +ATR e э o
-ATR e 0
Low -ATR a
Vowel / ï/ has a limited distribution and is linked to the unstressed positions: it appears in prefixes and proclitics and in antepenultimate syllables of stems which contain more than two syllables:
6 There are also cases where /a/ functions as epenthetic vowel breaking disallowed consonant clusters.
(28) Baka (Central Sudanic) hi- lama ADJ-beauty 'good'
hilondd granfather' misi'di 'road'
mimhe'de 'liver' [41, p. 72-73]
In Boni, a Cushitic language of Kenya and Somalia with an eleven-vowel inventory presented in Table 16, the central vowel /a/ is reported to be neutral with respect to the [ATR] feature, much shorter than other vowels and undergoing devoicing, deletion and assimilation to the surrounding vowels [42, cited in 26].
Table 16. Boni vowel system
mi- tono
NMLZ-begin
'beginning'
Backness Height & Front Central Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR I и
Mid +ATR e э o
-ATR e 0
Low +ATR a
-ATR a
Heine [43, p. 21] argues that this vowel corresponds to different short vowels both in other Sam languages — Rendille and Somali — and in Proto-Sam.
Epenthetic interior vowels
As was mentioned above an epenthetic function can be fulfilled by a vowel which is either present or absent from the phonemic inventory of a language. Both cases are presented among the languages of our sample. In Koromfe, a Gur language of BurkinaFaso with a ten-vowel inventory /i, i, e, e, a, a, u, u, o, o/, there is an epenthetic mid central vowel [a] which optionally occurs morpheme-finally (word-finally or word-medially) except for the following positions: a) between geminates, b) in homorganic sequences of a nasal and a voiced stop, c) before a voiceless consonant [44, p. 413]. Vowel [a] never occurs phrase-finally and it only appears in slower, careful speech [44, p. 410]. It cannot be long and does not take part in [ATR]-based harmony [44, p. 417].
(29) Koromfe (Gur)
domb-ga [dumbaga]
small.piece-CLga
'small piece'
nib-ga [nibaga]
grandchild-CLga
'grandchild'
wal-ga [walaga]
mouse-CLga
'mouse'
wuf-ga [wufaga]
hedgehog-CLga 'hedgehog' [44, p. 223].
In Balanta-Ganja, an Atlantic language spoken in Senegal and Guinea Bissau with a nine-vowel inventory /i, i, e, e, a, u, u, o, o/, high vowels occur at the juncture between two words pronounced without pause or between a word and a clitic. This phenomenon is described by Creissels [45; 46] as 'liason'. If the second word of a sequence begins with a consonant, a high vowel occurs at the juncture and if the first word ends with a vowel, the latter is omitted. The high vowel appearing at the juncture is ultra-short and more or less centralised. It assimilates to the preceding vowel in [ATR] and optionally in roundness producing the following phonetic variants: [i], [«], [i], [s] [45, p. 22, 38]. The exact conditions under which this phenomenon occurs in Balanta-Ganja have not been established yet.
(30) Balanta-Ganja (Atlantic)
(a) b-diin b-sum-e CLb-milk CLb-be.good-RES 'good milk'
(b) f-ndela f-joole CLf-wind CLf-cool 'cool wind' [46, p. 6]
(c) gi-lOont bi-doolo CLgi-bird(sp) CLbi-little 'little birds aluunt [45, p. 38].
^ bdi:nipsùmè
^ vndéli fco:lè
[bdI:ni psumè]
[vndéli fco :le]
^ gd-lôontô bd-ddolô [gù-lûunté bù-dùulû]
The high [-ATR] central vowel of Dagbani also performs an epenthetic function [47]. It is replaced by its [+ATR] counterpart [i] when the root vowel is /i/, except for those cases when it is preceded by one of the coronals /l, r, s/. An epenthetic vowel occurs in verbal, nominal and adjectival roots having CVC and CVCC structure. In singular nominal forms appearance of an epenthetic vowel breaks the sequence of three consonants:
(31) Dagbani (Gur)
sàbs-â sàbs-gù
gecko-CL gecko-CL 'geckoes' 'gecko'
gbi?m-â lion-CL 'lions'
gbi?m-li lion-CL 'lion' [47, p. 18].
[sàbsigu]
[gbï?inlï]
In verbal roots, an epenthetic vowel appears in citation forms and is absent when a verb is followed by a clitic of the CV structure:
(32) Dagbani (Gur)
pfl [pili] pil li [pïl lï, *pïlï lï]
start start 3SG. O
'to start' 'start it'
fè b [febi] fè b ti [feb tï, *febï tï]
whip whip 1PL. O
'to whip' 'whip us' [47, p. 17-18].
Both non-low central vowels of Lama are also claimed to have an epenthetic function [48], and the choice between /a/ and /3/ is determined by the [ATR] harmony patterns. Epenthetic vowels occur in order to break onset and coda clusters as well as to repair palatal and obstruent codas both in the native phonology and in adapted loanwords:
(33) Lama (Gur)
Fr. sport [spor] > s3poor 'sport' Eng. school [skul] > sskûl 'school' Fr. carte [kart] > kàrt3 'card' Fr. film [film] > ftlSm 'film' Eng. watch [watf] > wâc3 'watch' Fr. Espagne [espap] > es3pap3 'Spain' Fr. fête [fet] > fèt3 'party'
Fr. cube [kyb] > kips 'stock cube' [48, p. 428-433].
Summary of survey results
Table 17 summarises the vowel inventories of the survey languages. Both peripheral and interior vowels are classified with respect to the [ATR] feature as [+ATR], [-ATR] or neutral. Note that the same vowel can behave both as a member of one of the [ATR] sets and as neutral, depending on the rule (static vs. dynamic) and its role in this rule (trigger vs. target). This behavior is typical for the vowel /a/. Epenthetic function which may be fulfilled by a vowel which is either present or absent from the phonemic inventory of a language is placed in a separate column of the table. Since the study is focused on interior vowels, peripheral vowels are given in less detail in the table. In particular, allophones of peripheral vowels are not presented here, unless they are interior.
Table 17. Types of peripheral and interior vowels in the survey languages
Peripheral vowels Interior vowels
Language All/ Interior [+ATR] [-ATR] Neutral Epenthetic [+ATR] [-ATR] Neutral Epenthetic
1 2 3 4 5 б 7 s 9 10
Waja 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, и, о/ /a/ /a/ - [i] И - -
Nawuri 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, и, о/ /a/ /a/ - [i] И и [з] - -
Chumburung 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, и, о/ /a/ /a/ - [i] И и [з] - -
Gonja 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, и, о/ /a/ /a/ - [i] И и [з] - -
Ginyanga 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, и, о/ /a/ - [i] и - -
Animere 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, и, о/ /a/ /a/ - - и [з] - -
Continuation of Table 17
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Maa (Camus) 10/0 /i, e, u, o/ /a/ /i, e, u, о/ ¥ - - [i, «] M И [з] - -
Dazaga 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ /а/ - - - [i] -
Igbo (Onitsha) 8/0 /i, u, o/ /i, u, о/ /e, а/ - - И - -
Tampulma 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ - - и - -
Izi 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ /а/ - [ш] M [¥] [л] - -
Anii (Bassila) 11/2 /i, e, u, o/ /э/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ - - - /i/ - -
Dagbani 6/1 /i/ /e, u, о, а/ [i] /i/ - И
Iceve-Maci 8/1 /i, u, o/ /и, о/ /i, e, а/ - - /i/ - -
Kanembu 11/1 /i, e, u, o/ /а/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ - - - /з/ - -
Sekpele 9/1 /i, e, u, o/ /а/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ - /э/ - - -
Abron 10/1 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ - /Y/ - - -
Guiberoua Bete 13/4 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ Ы /а/ - /i, э/ /i, з/ - -
Godie 13/4 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ /а/ - /i, э/ /i, з/ - -
Bakwe 13/4 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ /а/ - /i, э/ /i, з/ - -
Daloa Bete 12/3 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ /а/ - /i/ /э/ /i/ - -
Koyo 12/3 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ Ы /а/ - /i/ /э/ /i/ - -
Gagnoa Bete 11/2 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ /а/ - /э/ /з/ - -
Kabiye 9/0 short 13/4 long /i, e, u, o/ /i:, e:, u:, o:/ /il, a:, a:/ /i, e, u, о/ /i:, e:, u:, о:/ - - /ш:, т:/ /¥:, л:/ - -
Tima 12/2 /i, e, u, o/ ¥ /i, e, u, о/ ¥ - - /i/ /i/ - -
Lama 11/2 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ - /э/ /з/ [э, з]
Katla 11/2 /i, e, u, o/ ¥ /i, e, u, о/ - - /э/ /з/ - -
Akebu 11/2 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /а/ - - - /i, з/ - -
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Acheron 8/1 /i, u/ /i, u/ /e, о, a/ - - - /э/ -
Dagik 8/1 /i, u/ /i, u/ /e, о, a/ - - - /э/ -
Lumun 8/1 /i, u/ /i, u/ /e, о, a/ - - - /э/ -
Baka 11/1 /i, e, u, o/ /э/ /i, e, u, о/ /a/ - - - - /i/ -
Boni 11/1 /i, e, u, o/ /a/ /i, e, u, о/ /a/ - - - - /э/ -
Balanta-Ganja 9/0 /i, e, u, o/ /i, e, u, о/ /a/ /a/ [i, u, i, u] - - - [i, «, i, ц]
Koromfe 10/0 /i, e, u, o/ /a/ /i, e, u, о/ /a/ - - - - - [э]
Discussion
Typological survey presented above revealed a number of interiority types found in the languages with complete [ATR] systems. Three main types of interior vowels — allo-phonic, phonemic and epenthetic — can be found in the languages of our sample. Among phonemic interior vowels, the further division may be drawn between the vowels specified for the [ATR] feature and neutral vowels. The main difference between these two types concerns the status of interior vowels with respect to the [ATR] feature. Neutral interior vowels are not affected by the compatibility restrictions applying in static and dynamic harmony patterns, whereas interior vowels specified for [ATR] are fully involved in harmony processes. Another distinguishing feature of neutral interior vowels is their limited distribution and phonetic instability — a tendency to quantitative shortening and qualitative assimilation to the vowels of adjacent syllables.
Among the languages with phonemic interior vowels specified for the [ATR] feature the languages with one interior vowel may be considered as a separate subtype. Most often the only interior vowel is the high central [-ATR] vowel hi which may be non-participatory as in Bassila Anii or function as a [-ATR] correlate of iii as in Iceve-Maci and Dag-bani. This appears to be due to a more prominent tendency for high vowels to have centralised allophones compared to non-high vowels among the languages of our sample. The same trend seems to be true for [-ATR] vowels compared to the vowels of the [+ATR] set.
Finally, in the languages that have more than one phonemic interior vowel specified for [ATR], at least two of them form an [ATR] pair (Ii-ii, ia-3i in Guiberoua Bete, Godie and Bakwe; ii-ii in Daloa Bete, Koyo and Tima; Ia-3i in Gagnoa Bete and Lama; Ira:-¥:I, !t:-a:I in Kabiye). In our sample there are two instances of an unexpected pattern with an interior vowel functioning as a [-ATR] counterpart of a low [+ATR] vowel: I3I [-ATR] vs. iai [+ATR] in Kanembu and Katla. Finally, a typologically rare case is presented by Akebu. It is the only language in our sample that has more than one interior vowel, both of which cannot be considered phonologically neutral, nor are they opposed by [ATR].
In contrast to the phonemisation process, the interior vowels of both sets can equally perform an epenthetic function. In other words, in those languages where the epenthetic function is performed by vowel phonemes, the latter take into account the [ATR] value of
the context: [i, i] in Dagbani, [a, 3] in Lama, [i, u, 1, u] and their centralised variants [i, u, i, s] in Balanta-Ganja. On the contrary, in Koromfe, where the epenthetic function is performed by a vowel that is absent from the phonemic inventory of the language, this vowel is neutral with respect to the [ATR] feature.
Another issue worth discussing is the genetic affiliation of the languages with complete [ATR] systems and interior vowels and their geographical location within the Macro-Sudan Belt. As can be seen from Appendix, our sample of languages is not balanced for genetic affiliation, and the distribution of interiority types among the languages and geographic areas is not sporadic as well. At least three clusters of languages may be found in our sample. These are the Eastern Kru languages spoken in the Ivory Coast with numerous phonemic interior vowels specified for [ATR], the Talodi languages spoken in Sudan with one neutral interior vowel of unstable character and limited distribution and the North Guang languages spoken in Ghana and Togo with centralised allophones of front vowels occurring in interconsonantal position. It remains an open question whether the presence of interior vowels in a group of languages should be considered a common innovation or a result of areal spreading (see [32]). The first two clusters seem to be more or less homogeneous in terms of both genetic affiliation and areal spreading (see nonetheless [32; 49] for the discussion of the Upper-Guinean Coast Sprachband and the emergence of central vowels in the Dan idioms under the influence of Kru languages). At the same time the territory of Ghana and Togo occupied by North Guang languages also includes a number of languages from the sample which belong to other Kwa branches — Animere, Akebu, Sekpele, Anii, as well as four languages of the Gur family — Dagbani, Tampulma, Lama and Kabiye. Ghana and Togo seem to form a region where languages with complete [ATR] systems and interior vowels are most widely represented. Moreover, it includes all major types of interiority attested in our survey.
Conclusion
This paper provides a typological overview of interiority types in 35 languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt with complete [ATR] systems. The study revealed three major types of interiority — allophonic, phonemic and epenthetic — which are not sporadically distributed among the languages of the sample. Some genetic and areal patterns in the emergence of interior vowels have been found. At the same time the question of whether the interior vowels are the result of innovation or language contact, in each such case requires a detailed study.
Abbreviations
K, KP, P, X, W, Y — noun class markers
1, 2, 3 — 1st, 2nd, 3rd person
FCT — factative
FUT — future
CL — noun class
SG — singular
PL — plural
IPFV — imperfective ADJ — adjectiviser NMLZ — nominaliser S — subject O — object RES — resultative PST — past
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Received: July 21, 2022 Accepted: January 9, 2024
Author's information:
Nadezhda V. Makeeva — PhD in Philology; [email protected]
Непериферийные гласные в языках макросуданского пояса с полными системами [ATR]
Н. В. Макеева Институт языкознания РАН,
Российская Федерация, 125009, Москва, Большой Кисловский пер., 1
Для цитирования: Makeeva N. V. Interior Vowels in Complete [ATR] Systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Востоковедение и африканистика. 2024. Т. 16. Вып. 1. С. 134-160. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2024.109
Статья представляет собой типологический обзор непериферийных гласных в языках макросуданского пояса с полными системами [ATR]. Под непериферийными понимаются такие гласные, которые занимают внутреннюю область формантной картины, а именно: передние огубленные, ненижние центральные и задние ненижние неогубленные гласные. Под полными системами [ATR] понимаются такие системы гласных, где противопоставление по признаку продвинутости корня языка, или [ATR] (advanced tongue root), отмечено для периферийных гласных верхнего и среднего подъема и имеется гармония гласных по этому признаку, реализующаяся как в статических правилах, ограничивающих сочетаемость гласных внутри морфемы, так и в динамических правилах, действующих в пределах фонологического домена, включающего несколько морфем. Исследование основано на выборке из 35 языков макросуданского пояса. В результате исследования удалось выявить три типа непериферийных гласных — ал-лофонический, фонематический и эпентетический. Оказалось, что эти типы не распределены между языками выборки произвольным образом. Удалось выявить как минимум три кластера языков: (1) восточные языки кру Кот-д'Ивуара с несколькими центральными гласными, противопоставленными по признаку [ATR], (2) языки группы талоди, распространенные на территории Судана и включающие один нейтральный непериферийный гласный, и (3) северные языки гуанг, где передние гласные имеют центральные аллофоны в позиции между двумя согласными. Территория Ганы и Того, занимаемая северными языками гуанг, включает также ряд других языков выборки, относящихся к разным семьям и имеющих различные типы непериферийных гласных. Этот регион кажется наиболее богатым как по числу языков, демонстрирующих наличие непериферийных гласных наравне с полными системами [ATR], так и по числу типов непериферийности.
Ключевые слова: макросуданский пояс, продвинутость корня языка, гармония гласных, полные системы [ATR], центральные гласные, непериферийные гласные.
Статья поступила в редакцию 21 июля 2022 г., рекомендована к печати 9 января 2024 г.
Контактная информация:
Макеева Надежда Владимировна — канд. филол. наук; [email protected]
Appendix: Sample of languages and descriptive sources
Language iso Family Country Sources
Dagbani dag Gur Ghana Hudu 2010, 2013
Koromfe kfz Gur Burkina-Faso Rennison 1997
Tampulma tpm Gur Ghana Bergman et al. 1969
Lama las Gur Togo Ourso 1988
Kabiye kbp Gur Togo Roberts 2008
Waja wja Adamawa Nigeria Kleinewillinghöfer 1990, 2020
Balanta-Ganja bjt Atlantic Senegal, Guinea Bissau Creissels, Biaye 2016; Creissels 2020
Guiberoua Bete bet Kru Ivory Coast Werle, Gbalehi 1976; Marchese 1983
Daloa Bete bev Kru Ivory Coast Marchese 1983; Zogbo 1981
Gagnoa Bete btg Kru Ivory Coast Marchese 1983
Godie god Kru Ivory Coast Marchese 1983
Koyo god Kru Ivory Coast Marchese 1983
Bakwé bjw Kru Ivory Coast Zogbo 2019
Abron abr Kwa Ivory Coast Timyan-Ravenhill 1983
Anii (Bassila) blo Kwa Togo, Benin Morton 2012
Animere anf Kwa Ghana Casali 2006, 2008
Akebu keu Kwa Togo Makeeva, Kuznetsova 2022
Nawuri naw Kwa Ghana Casali 2002
Chumburung ncu Kwa Ghana Snider 1990
Gonja gjn Kwa Ghana Painter 1970, Nelson et al. 2016
Ginyanga ayg Kwa Togo Mamonova 2020
Sekpele lip Kwa Ghana Delalorm 2016
Izi izi Igboid Nigeria Meier et al. 1975
Igbo (Onitsha) ibo Igboid Nigeria Williamson 2013
Iceve-Maci bec Tivoid Cameroon, Nigeria Cox 2012
Tima tms Kordofanian Sudan Bashir 2013
Lumun lmd Kordofanian Sudan Smits 2017
Acheron acz Kordofanian Sudan Norton 2013
Dagik dec Kordofanian Sudan Vanderelst 2015
Katla kcr Kordofanian Sudan Hellwig 2013
Baka bdh Central Sudanic Sudan Parker 1985
Maa (Camus) mas Eastern Sudanic Kenya Heine 1980
Dazaga dzg Saharan Niger, Chad Walters 2015
Kanembu kbl Saharan Niger, Chad Roberts 1994
Boni bob Cushitic Kenya, Somalia Heine 1978, Morton 2012, Heine 1982
