ON the high non-expanded vowels of Yoruboid

A current debate going on among Yoruba linguists is the existence and phonological status of the high non-expanded vowels. Indeed while Igala, Isekiri and many Yoruba dialects exhibit a seven-vowel system, other Yoruba dialects exhibit a ·nine-vowel system (including i and o), both types showing how...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Hounkpati B. Capo
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
FR
Publicado: LibraryPress@UF 1985
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/18fced1506c94862a44ce8654268db83
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Sumario:A current debate going on among Yoruba linguists is the existence and phonological status of the high non-expanded vowels. Indeed while Igala, Isekiri and many Yoruba dialects exhibit a seven-vowel system, other Yoruba dialects exhibit a ·nine-vowel system (including i and o), both types showing however interesting vowel co-occurrence restrictions. Given this situation, some scholars argue that proto-Yoruba and proto-Yorubold had a nine-vowel system with cross-height vowel harmony, while others claim that they had a seven-vowel system. The present paper reviews both positions and suggests another alternative; in particular it shows how cross-height vowel harmony came about in Yoruboid.