Cyclicity in the Phrasal Phonology of KiVunjo Chaga
Brian McHugh
Temple University
This work is a pre-OT study of cyclicity and suprasegmentals in the phrasal (postlexical) phonology of KiVunjo Chaga, a Bantu language of Tanzania. In it, my primary aim is to lend support to Prosodic Hierarchy theory, with one controversial modification: cyclic application of phrasing- sensitive rules. My empirical base consists of the elaborate KiVunjo Chaga tone sandhi paradigm, which reflects not only a full range of lexical tone contrasts ("etymological tone", in Bantuist parlance), but also a variable, metrically assigned accent that attracts phrase-final boundary tone features, with the result that the underlying tonal inventory of high and low is enriched to include superhigh, downstepped high, and downstepped superhigh tones.
In addition, an across-the-board, phrase-level tone shift contributes to the complexity of this paradigm (and to the argument for cyclicity) by introducing contour tones in domain-final position. In analyzing the mechanics of phrasal tone-accent rules in KiVunjo Chaga, I also argue for (a) underspecification of tone features and (b) a hierarchical representation of tone and accent as daughters of a single suprasegmental root tier, which serves the dual function of providing tone-bearing units and bottom-line grid marks for accent and stress.
ISBN 9783895860423. LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 03. 240pp. 1999.
