Nasal Velarization in Changana: an Evidence of Obligatory Contour Principle in Bantu
Abstract
This paper examines the velarization of the bilabial nasal /m/, onset of the final word syllable, which becomes a nasal velar ([ŋʷ]) in compliance with the Obligatory Contour Principle (PCO), in the resolution of a hiatus, by the rounded vowel semivocalization, creating adjacency of segments with identical features. Thus, two of the contexts of action of this principle in Changana are described (derivation by diminutivization and localization) and the processes of semivocalization of the rounded vowel at the end of the word and the velarization of the bilabial nasal consonant, in the light of autosegmental phonology (LEBEN1973, 2006; GOLDSMITH 1976, 2004; ODDEN 1986), are analyzed, using data from three Changana native speakers, resident in Mandlakaze, collected from a linguistic questionnaire. In a qualitative approach, the velarization of the bilabial nasal is brought as an example of the strength of the PCO, collaborating with the authors who prove its validity and universality. The merit of this research, on the one hand, is in the fact that it is done in a Mozambican Bantu language of a linguistic group (S50, Tswa-Ronga) whose languages, most of which have not yet been studied with the application or testing of this principle. On the other hand, this article is yet another sample that, the PCO, formulated and widely applied to the study of tone, can be successfully applied to segmental phonology, based on the analysis of phonetic feature. For such, this text is organized into the following parts: Introduction; Theoretical framework; Materials and resources; Rules for resolving hiatus; Velarization of the bilabial nasal; Conclusions.
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