PHONOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF VOWEL HARMONY IN TÈÈ ON CONSONANT, VOWEL AND TONE SYSTEMS
CONSONANT,
VOWEL AND TONE SYSTEMS
3.1 The Consonant System in Tèè
Consonants are sounds produced with an
obstruction of the air stream in the vocal tract. Crystal (1991:74) defined
consonants in both phonetic and phonological terms. He says that “phonetically
they are sounds made by a closure or narrowing in the vocal tract so that the
air flow is either completely blocked, or so restricted that audible friction
is produced”. From a phonological point of view consonants are those units
which function at the margins of syllables, either singly or in a cluster.
In speech representation, there are
two kinds of representation. These are:
(a)
The phonetic representation
(b)
The phonemic representation.
Phonetic
transcriptions are shown in square brackets [ ], while phonemic representations
are written within slant lines //.
3.1.1 Classification of Consonants
In classifying
consonants, five major criteria are employed, namely:
(a) Place of articulation
(b) Manner of articulation
(c) State of the glottis
(d) Position of the velum
(e) Air-stream mechanism
3.1.2 Place of Articulation
The place of articulation is about the
organs of speech responsible for the production of sounds, and the particular
point of their articulation. It is the place where the organs of speech (active
and passive articulators) meet to make an articulation, which results in sound
production. E.g. labio-dental sounds:
The articulators involved are the
lower lip and the upper teeth coming together to make an articulation, for
example [f, v]. For bilabial sounds, the articulators involved are the upper
lip and the lower lip coming together. E.g. [b, p, m]. Example in Tèè:
[bEr?E]? ‘bag’
[mĩ̀ĩ@] ‘wine’
[péé]
3.1.3 Manner of Articulation
The manner of articulation has to do
with the kind of obstruction that the outgoing air encounters. According to
Abercrombie (1967:47). It “means primarily the type of stricture which the
articulators are making to produce the segment”. Example – plosives.
Plosive sounds are produced when the
two articulators move against each other so as to form a closure. When this
closure has been formed, the air will be compressed behind it, and later
released. The noise made during this release is called plosion. Example [p, b,
t, d]. Examples in Tèè:
[pĩ@ĩ̀] ‘penis’
[bí] ‘faeces’
[tO@] ‘right’
[dÒ?Ò]? ‘wide’
[kwO]? ‘stir’
[kE?E]? ‘week’
3.1.4 State of the Glottis
The opening or space between the two
lips of the vocal cords is called the glottis. Abercrombie (1967:26) said that
“the vocal cords can by their action bring about a number of different states
of the glottis, and the state of the glottis at any given moment during the
speech produced by the pulmonic air stream mechanism is of the greatest
importance”.
The glottis can assume four basic
shapes during the production of speech sounds.
(a)
Open glottis
(b)
Closed glottis
(c)
Narrowed glottis
(d)
Glottis in vibration
We
are going to look into the above states one after the other.
3.1.5 Open Glottis
This occurs when the vocal cords are
drawn wide apart for there to be normal breathing. The resultant sounds of this
state of the glottis are voiceless sounds. Examples of some of the voiceless
sounds produced in Tèè are as follows: [p, t, k, s]
[pÈ?E?@] ‘jump’
[tẽẽrà] ‘run’
[kágà] ‘dry’
[sOg?O]? ‘vegetable’
3.1.6 Closed Glottis
Abercrombie (1967:28) said that we
have a closed glottis when “the vocal cords are brought together with
sufficient firmness to prevent the air from forcing them apart”.
Thus, we have a closed glottis when
the vocal cords are lightly pressed together so that air cannot pass between
them. Example of a sound produced with this state of glottis in Tèè is [/].
Examples:
[/òbà] ‘return’
[/ú] ‘die’
[/O@rO]? ‘crayfish’
[/]?ò: ‘five’
3.1.7 Narrowed Glottis
Abercrombie (1967:27) said that for
the narrowed glottis “the vocal cords are brought close together, but not so
close that they are set into vibration”. The type of sound produced with this
state of the glottis is whisper. It does not occur in Tèè.
3.1.8 Glottis in Vibration
The vocal cords are said to be in
vibration when the vocal cords are partially touching each other. As a result
air is allowed to pass though the glottis which causes vibration.
Abercrombie (1967:26) puts it this
way: “the vocal cords are alternately brought into contact and blown apart by
the force of the pulmonic air stream (ingressive or egressive) flowing through
the glottis”. Sounds produced when the vocal cords are vibrating are called
voiced sounds. Examples of voiced sounds in Tèè are: [b, d, g, z, l, w] as in:
[bO?O]? ‘fear’
[déẽ] ‘right’
[NÉ]? ‘knife’
[li] ‘bury’
[zím] ‘extinguish’
[wã] ‘wife’
Table
3.1: The Phonetic Consonant Chart in Tèè
  Place
Manner
|
Bilabial
|
Labiodental
|
Alveolar
|
Palatal
|
Velar
|
Labialized Velar
|
Glottal
|
Labialized glottal
|
Labial-
velar
|
|
Plosive
|
p
b
|
|
t d
|
|
k
g
|
kw g w
|
/
|
|
kp
gb
|
|
Nasal
|
m
|
|
N n
|
S
|
N
|
NW
|
|
|
|
|
Trill
|
|
|
r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oral
|
|
f
|
S z
|
|
¯
|
|
h
|
hw
|
|
 Nasalized |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lateral
|
|
|
l9 l
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Central
|
|
|
|
j
|
|
|
|
|
W
|
|
Nazalized
|
|
|
|
?j
|
|
|
|
|
?w
|
3.1.9 Air-Stream Mechanism
This is an air-stream set in motion by
an initiator. The air stream mechanism tells us where the air used in a
particular sound is initiated and where the air passes on its way in or out.
There are three main types of air, stream mechanisms. These are the pulmonic,
glottalic and velaric air, stream mechanisms. Examples of pulmonic sounds are
given: /p, b, d, m, n/ as in:
[pã] ‘crocodile’
[bĩ́O]? ‘nose’
[dúú] ‘dust’
[ní] ‘elephant’
[mbE?E]? ‘two’
3.1.10 Phonetic Description of Tèè Consonants
Words showing Tèè consonants are
listed below.
STOP
[p] Voiceless
bilabial plosive
[péé] ‘goat’
[pE?E]? ‘jump’
[b] Voiced
bilabial plosive
[bé] ‘fight’
[búí] ‘hat’
[t] Voiceless
alveolar plosive
[tẽẽrã] ‘run’
[tũb ‘twenty’
[
] Voiced alveolar plosive
[dúá] ‘weed’
[dÓm]? ‘husband’
[
] Voiceless velar plosive
[kÉ?É]? ‘week’
[kágá] ‘dry’
[
] Voiced velar plosive
[gÉ]? ‘knife’
[gó] ‘name-sake’
[
] Voiceless labial-velar stop
[k¡para] ‘poverty’
[k¡pE]? ‘pay’
[
] Voiced labial-velar stop
[g¡bE]? ‘hare’
[g¡bá] ‘sew’
[
] Voiceless labialized velar
plosive
[kwO]? ‘stir’
[ákwã́] ‘hawk’
[
] Voiced labialized velar stop
[gwìì] ‘electric fish’
[/] Glottal stop
[/Or?O]? ‘crayfish’
[/ũ] ‘die’
NASALS
[m] Bilabial
nasal
[mã́ã́] ‘blood’
[mĩ̀ĩ@] ‘wine’
[n9] Devoiced alveolar nasal
[nÓ]? ‘war’
[n] Alveolar
nasal
[nE?Ej?O]? ‘doctor (native)’
[nĩ́] ‘elephant’
[] Palatal nasal
[O?O]? ‘tall’ (of person)
[ìà
típ] ‘eighty’
[NW] Labialized velar nasal
[wĩĩ] ‘child’
[N] Velar nasal
[mã̀Nã̀] ‘laugh’
̀?[jÉNÉn?E?@] ‘ant’
TRILL
[r] Voiced
alveolar trill
[tẽẽrã] ‘run’
[sááró] ‘son’
[f] Voiceless
labiodental fricative
[ófínímã́ã́] ‘shark’
[¯] Voiced oral fricative
sàl?[nO?¯Ol?O?¯O]? ‘stink’
[s] Voiceless
alveolar fricative
[sā] ‘choose’
[sO@gO@] ‘vegetable’
[z] Voiced
alveolar fricative
[zīā] ‘hair’
[ázĩ̀ĩ̀] ‘rope’
[h] Glottal
fricative
[hó] ‘plant’
[áhOb]? ‘wind’
[hw] Voiceless labialized glottal fricative
[hwĩ̀nĩ̀] ‘monkey’
[hwE]? ‘ill’
LATERAL APPROXIMANT
[l] Voiced
lateral approximant
[álóló] ‘bottle’
[tī] ‘root’
[l9] Devoiced alveolar lateral approximant
[hl9òp] ‘ten’
[j] Voiced
palatal central approximant
[júú] ‘thorn’
[jīb] ‘steal’
[w] Voiced
labialized velar central approximant
[wá] ‘wife’
[wó] ‘so’
[j] Voiced
labialized palatal central approximant
[ ] ‘ant’
Allophones
Whenever one phoneme is substituted
for the other there is a difference in the sound which results in a difference
in meaning.
As Crystal (1991:167) clearly states,
the notion of the phoneme allowed linguists to group together sets of
phonetically similar phones as variants or members’ of the same underlying
unit. The phones were said to be realizations of the same phoneme.
A phoneme may have more than one form
of realization phonetically and this is called its allophonic variant. An
allophone then is the variant of a phoneme, since it is not distinctive. We use
square brackets [ ] to enclose it,
while we use slanting lines / / for
phonemes.
Sounds which do not contrast in the
language are not found in the phonemic chart. Hence they are not included in
the phonemic chart. They are allophones of the same phoneme with some of the
ones represented.
Table
3.2: The Phonetic Consonant Chart in Tèè
|
Place
Manner
|
Bilabial
|
Alveolar
|
Palatal
|
Velar
|
Labialized Velar
|
Glottal
|
Labialized glottal
|
Labial-
velar
|
|
Plosive
|
p
b
|
t d
|
|
k
g
|
kw g w
|
/
|
|
k¡p g¡b
|
|
Nasal
|
m
|
N n
|
S
|
N
|
NW
|
|
|
|
|
Trill
|
|
r
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oral
|
|
s z
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nasalized
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lateral
|
|
l
|
|
|
|
h
|
hw
|
|
|
Central
|
|
|
j
|
|
w
|
|
|
|
3.1.11
Phonemic Contrasts
|
p/b
|
péé
béē
|
‘goat’
‘name’
|
|
d/b
|
dÈr?È?
bÈr?È?
|
‘vulture’
‘bag’
|
|
b//
|
bO@b
/O@b
|
‘tie’
‘buru’
|
|
m/n
|
mE?@E?@
nE
|
‘necle’
‘person’
|
|
d/n
|
dÒ?Ò?
nÓ?O?@
|
‘divide’
‘oil’
|
|
t/b
|
tO?O?
bO?O?
|
‘cold’
‘fear’
|
|
k/b
|
kōó
bòō
|
‘horn’
‘rain’
|
|
s/z
|
síá
zĩ́ã́
|
‘aerial yam’ (upyam)
‘food’
|
|
kp/gb
|
kpó
gbó
|
‘mountain’
‘dog’
|
|
gb/kp
|
kpE@
gbE?
|
‘pay’
‘hare’
|
3.2 Tone System in Tèè
One of the striking features of West
African languages is that they make use of tone. Thus, Tèè, one of the West
African languages, makes use of tones. Linguists have given some definitions of
tonal languages. Katamba (1989:186) states that in tone languages pitch can be
used to distinguish word meanings or to convey grammatical distinctions.
In defining tone, Ladefoged (1981:227)
says that pitch variations that affect the meaning of a word are called tones.
A tonal language can either have a level (Register) tone system, or a contour
tone system. A level or register tone remains the same from the beginning to
the end of a syllable. While a contour tone changes from the beginning to the
end.
Tèè is a register or level tone
language. In Tèè the meaning of a word does not depend solely on the vowels and
consonants of which the word is made up, but also on the relative pitch on
which each syllable of the word is pronounced. In Tèè, there are three basic
tones, namely:
High tone [ ? ]
Mid tone [ @ ]
Low tone [ ? ]
Example
of the tones in Tèè
High tone [ ? ]
[bé] ‘fight’
[hó] ‘plant’
[péé] ‘goat’
[tO?O]? ‘cold’
[kíé] ‘left side’
Mid tone [ @ ]
[sī] ‘fly’
[lōb] ‘wash’
[g¡bā] ‘sew’
[lī] ‘root’
[g¡bā] ‘sew’
Low tone [ ? ]
[gE]? ‘knife’
[lè] ‘right’
[bO?O]? ‘fear’
[tE?E]? ‘father’
[àpà] ‘large spoon’
3.2.1 Tonal Contrasts
The tones found in Tèè are phonemic
because when they are substituted for one another they make meaning contrasts
in similar words. The tones in Tèè have both lexical and grammatical functions
in the language. Examples of contrastive tones in Tèè words:
[júú] ‘thorn’
[jūū] ‘house’
[gbā] ‘sew’
[gbá] ‘nud’
[bòō] ‘rain’
[bóó] ‘four
hundred’
[sĩ́] ‘go’
(to return)
[sĩ@] ‘fly’
3.2.2 Tonal Patterns
In Tèè high tones can occur in a
sequence. Examples:
[tÓ?Ó]? ‘cold’
[péé] ‘goat’
[álóló] ‘bottle’
[ázĩ́ĩ́] ‘rope’
Low
tones can occur in a sequence. Examples:
[bÒ?Ò]? ‘fear’
[dÒ?Ò]? ‘divide’
[kÒ?Ò]? ‘fowl’
[dÈ?È]? ‘climb’
In Tèè syllabic nasals can occur
together with high and low tones. Syllabic nasals are nasals that can stand on
their own as a syllable. Examples:
[Nk?É?É]? ‘cloth’
d?[nE]? ‘cocoyam’
[nĩ́kpúrú] ‘short’ (of person)
Low
tone and high tone can also occur together in a word. Examples:
[àbé] ‘swell’
[nùló] ‘smell’
[álò] ‘refuse’
[ágà] ‘hard’
Example
of high tone in mono-syllabic words:
[bé] ‘fight’
[hó] ‘plant’
[té] ‘tree’
[ní] ‘elephant’
[gó] ‘name-sake’
Examples of mid tone in
a monosyllabic words:
[sī] ‘fly’
[lī] ‘root’
[/ú] ‘die’
[g¡bá] ‘sew’
Example of low tone in
a monosyllabic words:
[gE]? ‘knife’
[kà] ‘mother’
[tE]? ‘father’
[lè] ‘right’
[lì] ‘bury’
3.2.3 Distinctive Features of Tone
Hyman (1975:219) states that before producing features of
any kind, one must establish the realm of possibilities of tonal contrasts. He
maintains that the contrast between different vowel high and low tone in a
two-tone language is captured by calling the first [+ High] and the second [-
High]. But, for a language with three tonal contrasts, between high, mid, and
low like Tèè, it is possible to use the feature High and Mid as proposed by
Wang (1967:97).
Using Wang’s system mid is closed with low since mid and
low share a [- High] specification, while High and Mid share no feature in
common. I will adopt Wang’s view in analyzing distinctive features for tone in
Tèè.
Table 3.3: Distinctive
Feature Matrix for Tone
|
|
H
|
M
|
L
|
|
High
|
+
|
-
|
-
|
|
Mid
|
-
|
+
|
-
|
3.3 Vowel Systems
3.3.1 Definition of Vowel
Vowels are sounds in which there is no
obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips. Vowels
are difficult to describe, unlike consonants. Consonants can be adequately
described in terms of place and manner of articulation in their production,
while vowels do not have a precise place of articulation in their production.
Hawkins (1984:38) says “vowels, however, do not have a ‘place’ of articulation
specifiable by division of the oral cavity, and their manner of articulation is
identical for all of them”.
In the production of vowels, if the
air escapes solely through the mouth, the vowels are said to be oral, if some
air is simultaneously released through the nose, the vowels are nasalized.
3.3.2 Classification of Vowels
The vowels of a language can be
classified by using five parameters and they are:
1.
Position
of the tongue
2.
Part
of the tongue
3.
Shape
of the lips
4.
Shape
of the pharynx
5.
Position
of the velum
Position
of the Tongue
In producing vowel sounds, the tongue
takes on different positions. The position of the tongue could be high, thereby
giving rise to close vowels, or low, when we have open vowels.
Part
of the Tongue
In producing vowel sounds, different
parts of the tongue are involved. The part of the tongue could be front,
central, or back.
Shape
of the Lips
The shape the lips take in pronouncing
vowels is also important. The lips take only two shapes in the pronunciation of
vowels and they are; rounded and unrounded. Examples of rounded vowels:
[o O u]
Examples
of unrounded vowels:
[E i e]
Shape
of the Pharynx
The shape of the pharynx decides
whether a vowel is wide or narrow. The wide vowels are produced when the
pharynx expands and narrow ones are produced with a narrowed pharynx.
Position
of the Velum
The velum is also very important in
the production of vowel sounds and it can only take two positions. It can
either be raised or lowered. When the velum is lowered, air escapes through the
nose to produce nasal sounds; when it is raised, air escapes only through the
mouth to produce oral sounds.
3.3.3 Vowel System in Tèè
Tèè is a language with twelve phonetic
vowels. The vowels in Tèè are classified into two groups; Oral and Nasalized.
There are seven oral vowels and five nasalized vowels in Tèè.
Table
3.4: The Phonetic Vowel Chart of Tèè
Front Central Back
|
|
|
|
|
|
Open-md
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
Open
3.3.4 Oral Vowels
In Tèè the oral vowels have no
allophones, they are all distinctive. The phonetic description of Tèè oral
vowels is shown below:
[i]
Close front unrounded oral vowel, examples:
[jíb] ‘steal’
[lí] ‘root’
[sí] ‘fly’
[zíp] ‘beat’
(person)
[hwìì] ‘split’ (V.I.)
[mzìì] ‘one’
[e]
Close-mid front unrounded oral vowel, examples:
[béé] ‘name’
[té] ‘tree’
[péé] ‘goat’
[jéb] ‘dance’
[déé] ‘day’
(light)
[ègèrè] ‘road’
[pééré] ‘lose’ (something)
[èbéré] ‘forget’
[bé] ‘fight’
(n)
[E]
Open-mid front unrounded oral vowel, examples:
[jE@E@] ‘buy’
[kE@E@] ‘week’
[hwE@] ‘kill’
[zE?E]? ‘white’
[lE?E]? ‘pull’
[k¡pE?E]? ‘sweep’
[bE]? ‘burn’ (v)
[pE?E]? ‘jump’
[tE?E]? ‘pass’ (by)
[gbEn?E]? ‘big’ (great, large)
[a]
Open central unrounded oral vowel, examples:
[kà] ‘mother’
[dàā] ‘tooth’
[bá] ‘hand’
[táá] ‘three’
[g¡bá] ‘sew’
[dá] ‘lick’
[ágà] ‘hard’
[k¡pá] ‘bamboo palm’
[ ] Open-mid back rounded vowel, examples:
[kwO]? ‘stir’
[jO]? ‘fetish’
[/O@b] ‘burn’
[bO@b] ‘tie’
[bO?O]? ‘fear’
[tO?O]? ‘cold’
[kO@rO]? ‘okoro’
[kpO]? ‘vomit’
[AO]? ‘fall’ (v)
[kO]? ‘say’
[o]
Close-mid back rounded vowel, examples:
[ló] ‘salt’
[tòg] ‘load’
[wó] ‘so’
[/òò] ‘five’
[lōó] ‘story’
[hó] ‘plant’
[tótó] ‘crying’
[bóó] ‘four
hundred’
[kòò] ‘horn’
[g¡bò] ‘community’
[kpórógó] ‘manilla’
[u]
Close back rounded oral vowel, examples:
[sú] ‘take’
[júú] ‘thorn’
[/ú] ‘die’
[lūū] ‘louse’
[bú] ‘stomach’
[dù] ‘market’
[lú] ‘death’
3.3.5 Nasalized Vowels
The nasalized vowels contrast with the
oral vowels in Tèè. The phonetic description of Tèè nasal vowels is shown
below:
[l]
Close front unrounded nasalized vowel, examples:
[sĩ@] ‘fly’
[bīĩ̀] ‘penis’
[kĩ@ĩ̀] ‘refuse’
ĩ́ĩ́]?[w ‘child’
[E]
Open-mid front unrounded nasalized? vowel, examples:
[mÉn?É]? ‘chief’
[mE?@E?@] ‘neck’
[nÉ?É]? ‘person’
[gÈ]? ‘knife’
[dÈ?È]? ‘eye’
[nÈ]? ‘give’
[zÉ?È]? ‘musk shrew smelly rat’
[NkÉ?È]? ‘cloth’
[ã]
Open central unrounded nasalized vowel, examples:
[dã@nã̀] ‘carry’
ã?[w@ã@] ‘woman’
[mã@ã@] ‘water’
[/ã@ã@] ‘new’
[mã́] ‘breast’
[tã́ã@] ‘witch’
[O]
Open-mid back rounded nasalized? vowel, examples:
[tÓ]? ‘ear’
[kÒ?Ò]? ‘fowl’
[dÒ?Ò]? ‘divide’
[dÓm]? ‘husband’
[nÓ]? ‘war’
[kÒ]? ‘spear’ (war)
[ũ]
Close back rounded nasalized vowel, examples:
[kũ̀̀ũ̀] ‘basket’
[bũ@ũ@] ‘break’
[bũ̀] ‘door’
[dũ̀] ‘tail’
3.4 Vowel Contrast
Vowels contrast when they can be used
to distinguish word meanings in a particular languages. This is when a contrast
in the vowels brings about a difference in the meaning. According to Katamba
(1989:22), sounds contrast in identical environment if either sound can occur
in a given context and the choice of one or the other alters the meaning of a
word. Sounds contrast in analogous environment if they occur in phonetically
very similar, though not identical, environments, provided that the differences
between them cannot be reasonably attributed to the influence of neighbouring
sounds.
3.4.1 Contrast Between Oral Vowels
i/u [bí] ‘faeces’
[bú] ‘stomach’
o/e [ló] ‘salt’
[lé] ‘good’
i/a [bìì] ‘wring’
[báá] ‘fear’
a/o [gbá] ‘mud’
[gbò] ‘community’
e/e [péé] ‘goat’
[pE?E]? ‘jump’
o/u [dO]? ‘dig’
[dò] ‘do’
3.4.2 Contrast Between Nasalized
Vowels
O/ũ? [kÒ?Ò]? ‘fowl’
[kũ̀ũ̀] ‘basket’
ĩ/E? [mE?@E?@] ‘neck’
[mĩ̀ĩ@] ‘wine’
ũ/ã [dṹ] ‘kneel’
[dã́] ‘heart’
ĩ/ã [wĩ́ĩ́] ‘child’
[wã@ã@] ‘woman’
3.4.3 Contrast Between Oral and Nasalized Vowels
E/E? [bE?E@] ‘jaw rack’
[bÈ?E?@] ‘kitchen’
a/ã [bá] ‘hand’
[bã́] ‘cooking
pot’
O/O? [tO]? ‘house’
[tÓ]? ‘ear’
u/ũ [bú] ‘stomach’
[bṹ] ‘bow’
(weapon)
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