Interior Vowels in Complete [ATR] Systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2024.109

Abstract

The paper presents a typological overview of interior vowels in complete [ATR] systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt. Interior vowels are defined as vowel qualities within the interior regions of the vowel space and include front rounded vowels, all non-low central vowels and unrounded non-low back vowels. Complete [ATR] systems are defined as those systems where there is a cross-height contrast for the feature [ATR] (advanced tongue root) for non-low peripheral vowels and cross-height harmony both in static patterns (vowel co-occurence restrictions within morphemes) and dynamic patterns (restrictions within phonological domains comprising several morphemes). The study based on the sample of 35 languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt revealed three main types of interiority — allophonic, phonemic and epenthetic. These types are not sporadically distributed in terms of genetic affiliation and areal spreading of the languages. At least three clusters may be identified in the sample: (1) the Eastern Kru languages spoken in the Ivory Coast with numerous phonemic interior vowels specified for [ATR], (2) the Talodi languages of Sudan with one neutral interior vowel and (3) the North Guang languages with centralised allophones of front vowels appearing in inter-consonantal position. The territory of Ghana and Togo occupied by North Guang languages also includes a number of languages from the sample which belong to other families and exhibit different types of interiority. This region appears to be particularly rich both in languages showing the co-occurrence of complete [ATR] systems with interior vowels and in interiority types. 

Keywords:

Macro-Sudan Belt, advanced tongue root, vowel harmony, complete [ATR] systems, central vowels, interior vowels

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Published

2024-09-21

How to Cite

Makeeva, N. V. (2024). Interior Vowels in Complete [ATR] Systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 16(1), 134–160. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2024.109

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2024): Вестник СПбГУ. Востоковедение и африканистика

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Linguistics

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Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.