ATR harmony in Turkana
This paper analyzes the [ATR] harmony system of Turkana (Eastern Nilotic). The principal claim made in this paper is that Turkana provides evidence for an underlying ternary contrast in the feature [ATR]. This claim is based on the observation that some suffixes alternate in [ATR] in agreement with...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | article |
| Language: | EN FR |
| Published: |
LibraryPress@UF
1996
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doaj.org/article/542c1c76519244f29d826012ee81fe7d |
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| Summary: | This paper analyzes the [ATR] harmony system of Turkana (Eastern Nilotic). The principal claim made in this paper is that Turkana provides evidence for an underlying ternary contrast in the feature [ATR]. This claim is based on the observation that some suffixes alternate in [ATR] in agreement with a preceding root, while other sufflxes surface as either [+ATR] or [-ATR], regardless of the context in which they occur. The claim that non-alternating suffixes are specified for [ATR] is supported by the fact that they cause regressive assimilation: a [-ATR] root surfaces as [+ATR] if followed by a [+ATR] sufflx; a [+ATR] mid vowel root surfaces as [-ATR] if followed by a [-ATR] suffIX. Turkana thus provides evidence that the feature [ATR] is ternary with the three values [+ATR], [-ATR] and [()ATR]. |
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