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Aspects of Tone and Voice in Phuthi

Descriptive

Genre (authority = marcgt)
thesis
Language
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO639-2); (type = code)
eng
PhysicalDescription
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
Extent
1189 p.
TypeOfResource
Text
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = funding)
(1) A grant that contributed towards the data collection in 1994-1995 from the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois;
(2) A two-year Prestige Scholarship from the then Centre for Science Development (now National Research Foundation), in Pretoria, grant number 15/1/2/4/00435G;
TitleInfo
Title
Aspects of Tone and Voice in Phuthi
Identifier (type = ROA)
1060
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Linguistics
Subject (authority = optimality_area)
Topic
Morphology
Subject (authority = optimality_area)
Topic
Phonology
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
bantu
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
Nguni
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
phonology
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
tone
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
domain
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
optimal domains theory
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
parse
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
downstep
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
express
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
anti-expression
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
breathy voice
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
phonation
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
depression
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
masking
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
locality
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
align
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
fusion
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
cophonology
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
overlap
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
foot
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
minimality
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
mora
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
shift
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
block
Abstract (type = abstract)
This dissertation seeks to explore the architecture of tonal structures in a formal phonological analysis of the tone patterns found in Phuthi, a Bantu language. The focus of the work is the phonological presence of high tone (H) in Phuthi, the interaction of this H with potentially polysyllabic tonal 'depression domains', triggered (often, but not always) by phonologically breathy voiced segments that condition low tone within the lexical phonology. Both theoretical and empirical claims are made. Within a general Optimality Theory framework, the Phuthi data requires a distinction between the planning and execution of a H tone within a tonal domain, modeled here with distinct PARSE and EXPRESS constraints in the tone grammar, as there are frequently found to be very significant mismatches between H tone domains--established by lexical tone placement--and domains of tonal depression (consonant-triggered, or morphologically imposed). The morphology that chiefly instantiates these tone phenomena is the wide range of extremely productive verb paradigms present in the language (though productive noun paradigms are explored too). A strong case is made for the presence of tonal low (L) domains, which can be nested--even multiply--within a single H domain. In such instances, the single H tone is argued not to fission into two separate tone domains, nor in any way to instantiate violation of locality. Phuthi does instantiate, however, a wide range of L- and H-domain edge conflicts. When these conflicts coincide with a tone domain-head (a notion developed in the work), the language attempts to force tone shift, a phenomenon widely commented on for Nguni languages. Phuthi displays a number of unprecedented variations on tone shift and tone block, arising from a cline of tone-depression interactions not observed in other languages. Phuthi is shown to be a language that prohibits or severely restricts the coincidence of H and L tone domains over the same interval. And yet the grammar seems often to conspire with the lexicon to assign both H and L features to syllabic nuclei in head positions of phonological domains. The simultaneous assignment of H and L tones introduces a feature conflict that is resolved in a striking variety of ways across verbal and nominal paradigms. Optimal Domains Theory (ODT) is argued to be a theoretical framework capable of sufficiently expressing this range of voice and tone data, in contrast to any type of optimal constraint model that lacks the augmented domains architecture.
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Donnelly
NamePart (type = given)
Simon Scurr
Role
RoleTerm (authority = marcrelator); (type = text)
Author
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Role
RoleTerm (authority = marcrelator); (type = text)
Degree grantor
OriginInfo
DateCreated (encoding = w3cdtf); (keyDate = yes); (qualifier = exact)
2007
Identifier (type = hdl)
http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore00000002165.ETD.000064826
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers Optimality Archive
Identifier (type = local)
rucore00000002165
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
NjNbRU
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3NZ86JB
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Rights

RightsDeclaration (AUTHORITY = GS); (ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
RightsHolder (type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Donnelly
GivenName
Simon Scurr
Role
Copyright holder
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Technical

ContentModel
ETD
MimeType (TYPE = file)
application/pdf
MimeType (TYPE = container)
application/x-tar
FileSize (UNIT = bytes)
5324800
Checksum (METHOD = SHA1)
0b1b7386d9bd7c870b105d6abe0a910e4898f413
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