Download Analysis of basic Phonemic, Phonological, and Synactic

Shantell Colebrooke
LING 459
Field Methods
Senoufo: Analysis of basic
Phonemic, Phonological, and Syntactic Properties
1. Introductions:
This paper is an exploration and analysis of Nafaara, ([nafãːra]), a variety specific to the
Senoufo language family, spoken in Cote d’Ivoire. All data was collected from language
consultant Aminata Coulibaly, who is a native of Cote d’Ivoire and well versed in several
varieties of Senoufo. The initial part of this paper attempts to identify and discuss the phonemic
inventory of Nafaara, followed by examining the basic syntactic, grammatical, and phonological
properties of present in data thus far.
2. Phonemic Inventory: Consonants
Bilabial
Plosive
p
Nasal
LabioDental
b
m
Dental
t
Alveolar
k
r
ɸ
β
s
z
Approximant
ʃ
ʒ
tʃ
dʒ
j
l
Velar
ɡ
ɲ
n
ɱ
Affricate
Lateral
approximant
Palatal
d
Trill
Fricative
Postalveolar
Glottal
ʔ
ŋ
2.1. Plosives
Based of the data collected thus far, there appear to be seven plosives present in Nafaara’s
phonemic inventory. They are as follows, [p, b, t, d, k, g,ʔ]. In some cases, the plosive, [d],
appears to take on a dental quality and is pronounced as [d̪]. These phonemes may be found in
word initially, medially, and word finally. In the following words, we see examples of plosives
in the word initial position.
1) ‘girl’
[pɪpɛn]
2) ‘banana’
[bard̪əәu]
3) ‘leg’
[tɔg]
4) ‘floor’
[d̪ an̩]
5) ‘well’ 6) ‘chicken’
[kɔlu̹]
[gou]
Here are some examples of plosives in medial word position.
7) ‘to walk’
[bitaʔa]
8) ‘to break’
[bika]
9) ‘to like’
[bidɛn]
10) ‘doctor’
[lɔtɔru]
Here are examples of plosives in word final position.
11) ‘arm’
[kɔɡ]
12) ‘head’
[ɲuŋk]
2.2. Nasals
There appear to be five nasals present in the phonemic inventory of Nafaara. According to the
data thus far, they are as follows, [m, ɱ, n, ɲ, ŋ]. The nasals can be found at the beginning of a
word, in the middle of a word as well as at the end of a word. Here are examples that can be
found word-initially.
13) ‘head’
[ɲuŋk]
14) ‘eye’
[napin]
15) ‘sky’
[ŋɪɛn]
16) ‘slept’
[məәŋɔn]
Here are some examples in the medial position.
17) ‘to sleep’
[biŋɔn]
18) ‘to see’
[biɲa]
Here are some examples in the word-final position.
19) ‘mango’
[lon̩]
20) ‘chair’
[katɛŋ]
21) ‘sky’
[ŋɪɛn],
2.3. Trills
There seems to be only one trill found in the data collection thus far. It is the voiced alveolar trill
[r]. The trill appears in the medial and word final positions only. The examples listed below
express the conditions in which it can be found.
22) ‘banana’
[bard̪əәu]
23) ‘number 3’
[tar]
24) ‘doctor’
[lɔtɔru]
25) ‘cooking pot’
[nɛrdau]
2.4. Fricatives
The data confirms the presence of six fricatives in the phonemic inventory thus far. They are [s,
z, ʃ, ʒ, ɸ,β ]. It is worth noting that the labio-dental voiced and voiceless fricatives, [f] and
[v], do not occur in Nafaara as previously thought. Initially, there was some discrepancy as to
whether the labio-dental fricatives were being said, however it became clear that Nafaara prefers
the bilabial voiced and voiceless fricatives, [ɸ] and [β] as phonemes. The fricatives can be seen
word-initially and medially. Examples of where these particular fricative occur can be seen
below.
26) ‘father’
[toɸo]
27) ‘herder’
[ɸlaʊ]
28) ’sweet potato’
[bosɔlm̩]
29) ‘house’
[salɡ]
30) ‘rain’
[zəәɡ̚]
31) ‘to buy’
[biʃɔ]
32) ‘number 2’
[ʃĩ]
33) ‘sibling’
[tʃɔnɔŋ]
34) ‘cloud’
[βãβãŋ]
35) ‘nose’
[ɸəәnnan]
2.5. Affricates
There are two affricates present in the data. They include the voiceless post-alveolar, [tʃ] as
well as the voiced post-alveolar, [ dʒ]. Examples of where the above phonemes occur can be
seen below.
36) ‘clay pot’
[ku dʒʌŋ],
37) ‘sun’
[tʃ ɛŋɡ]
38) ‘woman’
[tʃ ɔʊ]
39) ‘nice’
[ dʒɛn]
2.6. Approximates
Nafaara appears to have only one approximate in its phonemic inventory. It is the voiced palatal
approximate, [j]. According to the data, it presents either word initially, or medially. Examples
of the two environments in which [j] occurs can be seen in the following words.
40) ‘moon’
[jɪɡ]
41) ‘you’
[je]
42) ‘sibling’
[jɛβo]
43) ‘or’
[ubjĩ]
2.7. Laterals
There was only one lateral observed in the data. It is the voiced alveolar approximant [l]. It can
be found word-initially, medially, and word-finally. Below is a list of the environments in which
voiced alveolar lateral can be found.
47) ‘children’
[pibɛl]
Elicited by: VC on 1/22
48) ‘men’
[nãbɛl]
Elicited by: VC on 1/22
49) ‘farmer’
[seβalu]
Elicited by: VC on 1/22
50) ‘bed’
[liu]
3. Phonemic Inventory: Vowels
Front
ɪ
Central
Back
ɨ
w
Close
i
Close-mid
e
Open-mid
ɛ
ɔ
Open
a
ɑ
əә
u
o
3.1 Front Vowels
Thus far, the data presents with five front vowels in Nafaara’s phonemic inventory. They are as
follows [ i, ɪ, e, ɛ, a]. They are all tense with the exception of the lax close unrounded, [I]. In
fact all of the front vowels are minus rounding. In terms of morphology, vowels can be found
medially as well as word finally, however they have yet to appear in the data in the word initial
position. Here are some examples of front vowels in the afore mentioned positions.
51) ‘to eat’
[bɪli]
Elicited by: VC on 2/3
52) ‘to buy’
[biʃɔ]
Elicited by: VC on 2/3
53) ‘mountain’
[nabəәɡ]
Elicited by: SC on 1/22
54) ‘sky
[ɲɪ ʔɛn]
Elicited by: SC on 1/22
55) ‘you guys’
[je]
Elicited by: VC on 2/3
3.2 Central Vowels
According to the data, there appears to be only two central vowels present in Nafaara. They are
the central close, [ɨ] and the central, close-mid, schwa [əә]. They present themselves in the
following environments and conditions listed below.
56) ‘cat’
[d̪əәkau]
Elicited by: Tugi on 2/12
57) ‘newborn’
[pəәbəәnaɲɛŋ]
Elicited by: Tugi on 2/12
58) ‘cattle herder’
[nəәnaʔau]
Elicited by: VC on 2/12
59) ‘goat meat’
[sɨkkakar]
Elicited by: BB
3.3 Back Vowels
There are five back vowels present in the data thus far. They are as follows: [w, u , o, ɔ, ɑ]. All
of the back vowels are rounded and range from open to mid to close in terms of placement in the
mouth. Morphologically, the back vowels can be found medially and word finally, though they
have yet to appear in the data word initially. Examples of where these back vowels occur in the
data can be seen as follows:
60) ‘chicken’
[go]
Elicited by: BB
61) ‘fell’
[mɑto]
Elicited by: SC on 2/3
62) ‘water’
[[lɔɡ]
Elicited by: SC
63) ‘rice’
[mãnu]
Elicited by: BB
64) ‘she/he’
[wu]
Elicited by: VC on 2/3
65) ‘black’
[wɔn]
66) ‘we’
[wo]
4. Syntactic/Grammatical Properties
Based on the data, Nafaara’s basic sentence structure presents as Subject, (auxiliary), Object,
Verb, or (S (aux) OV). The data below will present the basic structure of verb tense markers
noun and pronoun markers, as well as the formation of plurals.
4.1 Verb Tense Markers
Verb
ŋɔ́n ‘sleep’
Infinitive
bəә̀ ŋɔ́n ‘to sleep’
ɲáh ‘see’
bəә̀ ɲáh ‘to see’ lí ‘eat’
bəә̀ lí ‘to eat’
to
bəә̀ tó ‘to fall’
‘fall’
Present ŋɔ́n ‘sleep’
ɲáh ‘see’
lí ‘eat’
to
‘fall’
Past
mà ŋɔ́n ‘slept’
məә̀ ɲáh ‘saw’
mà lí ‘ate’
mà tó ‘fell’ Future
dà ŋɔ́n/dá bà ŋɔ́n
‘will sleep’
dà ɲáh/ dá bà ɲáh
‘will see’
dà lí /dá bà lí
‘will eat’
dà tó /dá bà tó ‘will fall’
4.1(a) Verbs Tense Markers
In Nafaara, it appears that verbs have a base present tense form, in which affixes are added to
distinguish between the infinitive, past and future tense markers. The tense markers are as
follows, infinitive [bəә̀ ], past tense [ma] or [mɘ̀], and future tense [da] or [dá bà]. The past and
future tenses can be said in two ways. The future tense in particular becomes a disyllabic marker
with tri-syllabic words. All of the tenses appear to have tonal distinction as well.
4.2 Nouns
[n]
(1)
napa + n
[ŋ]’
‘bull’
sɔ + ŋ
[g]
‘horse’
tʃɪ + g
[u]
‘tree’
go + u
‘chicken’
(2)
(3)
kaba + n
ɲɔ + ŋ
‘finger’
‘mouth’
kapo + n
ɲn + ŋ
‘head’
za + g
‘rain’
na + u
‘man’
tɔ + g
‘foot’
pi + u
‘baby’
pã + u
‘dog’
‘forest’
(4)
pie + n
me ŋ
‘name’
kɔr + g
‘door’
‘rabbit’
(5)
(6)
lɔ + n
wɔ + g
‘mango’
‘snake’
pipi + n
‘girl’
bɔɸa + g
‘bag’
4.2(a) Nouns
The data shows that nouns end in four distinct morphemes. They are [n, ŋ, g, u]. The formation
of nouns begins with a base morphological structure in which either of the previously mentioned
suffixes is added. For example, in the words for ‘girl’ [pipi + n], ‘door’ [kɔr + g], and ‘mouth’
[ɲɔ + ŋ], the data clearly shows affixes being added to a base form.
4.3 Pronoun Markers
Subject
Pronouns
Object
Pronouns
1st person
2nd
person
‘I’ / [m]
‘me’ /[mɪ]/[mi]
‘you’ / [m]/[m̩ ́]
‘you’ / [mu]
3rd person
(male)
‘he’ / [wu]/[wú]
‘him’/ [wu]
3rd person
(female) ‘She’ / [wu]/[wú]
‘her’ / [wu]
3rd person
1st person
(plural)
Possessive
Pronouns
Reflexive
Pronouns
‘my’/[mej]
‘mine’/
[mi owu]
‘myself’/[miməә]
‘your’/
‘yours’/
‘yourself’/
[muməә]
‘his’/[wej]
‘his’/
[wej owu]
‘her’/[wej]
‘it’ / [ka]
‘it’ /
‘we’ / [wol]/[wo]
‘us’ /
[wol/wo]
2nd
person
‘you’ / [jɛ]/[jel] (plural)
3rd person
(plural)
‘they’ / [pa]/[pəә]
Possessive
Adjectives
‘hers’/
[wej owu]
‘its’
‘itself’/
‘our’/ [wol]
‘ours’/
[wol owo]
‘ourselves’/
[weɪməә]
‘your’
‘yours’
‘yourselves’/
[jeeməә́]
‘their’/[pəәj]
‘theirs’/
[pəәj owu]
‘themselves’/
[peɪməә]
‘you’ / [jɛ]/[jel] ‘them’ /
[be]/[bɛ̃n] ‘himse[lf’/
[weɪməә]
‘herself’/
[weɪməә]
4.3 (a) Pronoun Markers
Above is a list of pronoun markers present in the data thus far. It consist if subject, object,
possessive, and reflexive pronouns. Each of the pronoun markers are a variation of the subject
and object forms. Consider for example the third person subject markers, He and She. In
Nafaara, the subject form for male and female are the same. They are represented as [wu], both
in the subject and object position. The subsequent possessive and reflexive pronouns are a
variation of the subject and object forms, such that they are represented as follows: his/her [wej],
his/hers [wej owu], and himself/herself [weɪməә].
4.4 Plural Formation:
Translation
Singular
Plural
Plural
Marker
‘head’ / ‘heads’
ɲuŋg
ɲui
-i
‘arm’ / ‘arms’
kɔg
kɔi
-i
‘mouth’ / ‘mouths’
ɲɔŋg
ɲɔi
-i
‘star’ / ‘countless stars’
ŋɔrpin
ŋɔrpir
-r
‘tree’ / ‘countless trees’
tʃɪg
tʃir
-r
kutʃig
kutʃir
ɲɪʔɛn
ɲɪʔɛŋɡɛl
-gel
‘girl’ / ‘girls’
pɪpɪn
pɪpɪgɛl
-gel
‘eye’ / ‘eyes
napin
napigɛl
-gel
‘chicken’ / ‘chicken’
go /gokar
gobɛl
-bel
‘woman’ / ‘women’
tʃɔu
tofɔ
tʃabɛl
-bel
tofɔbɛl
-bel
‘shoulder’ / ‘countless
shoulders’
‘sky’ / ‘skys’
‘father’ / ‘fathers’
-r
4.3(a) Plural Formation
Nafaara presents with four different sets of plural markers. They are as follows: -i, -r, -gel, -bel.
The above chart offers a sample of where and when the differing plural markers tend to occur. It
appears that all of the plural markers seem to occur as a suffix at the end of a word. For
example, in the word for “heads,’ [ɲui], the plural marker -i- occurs at the end of the word.
Similarly, in the words for ‘trees,’ [tʃir], ‘girl,’ [pɪpɪgɛl], ‘women,’ [tʃabɛl], the subsequent
plural makers also occur word finally. It is worth noting that in some instances the plural
markers appear to be interchangeable, such that for particular words, the interlocutor has a choice
of which plural form to select. The choice selection seems to be between two forms at a time,
rather than between all of the various plural markers in total. For example, the word for
‘shoulders’ can be represented as [kutʃii] or [kutʃir]. Thus, the choice is between the [ii], and
[r] plural forms. In the word for ‘eyes,’ [napii] or [napigɛl], we can that interlocutors have a
choice between the [gɛl], and [ii] plural markers. This lexical phenomenon in which some of
plural forms as interchangeable, is likely due to the type of semantic meaning being conveyed.
Interestingly, the data thus far suggest that there are no plural markers for words relating to meat,
or types of meat, except with the word for ‘chicken,’ [go] /[gokar]. It appears that the singular
and plural forms for words relating to meat are the same or there is something interesting
occurring in the morphology of these particular category of words. For example, in the words
meaning ‘meat,’ [kar] ‘beef,’[nəәəәkar] ‘mutton,’[bakar] ‘goat meat,’[sɨkkakar], we have not
encountered expected plural markers, except in the case of the word meaning ‘alive chickens,’
[gobɛl]. It is likely that compounding may be affecting the morphology in some way, however
more data and analysis is required.
5. Phonological Processes
While more data is needed to draw any concrete conclusions, the current data does indicate a few
examples of phonological processes thus far. There appears to be a process of nasalization of
certain vowels, particularly when they are preceded by a nasal or when they are found between
two nasal sounds. The data also presents examples of tonality, where high, mid and low tones
are contrastive in morphological comparisons. Finally, a general statement can be made about
the phonological process occurring in the data with the formation of plurals.
5.1(a) Nasalization
In the data some vowels appear to undergo a nasalization process. This seems to occur in the
environments where some vowels are preceded by a nasal or when some are found between two
nasal sounds. Here are some examples of this process.
67) ‘clay cooking pot’
[koʤɔ̃n]
68) ‘men’
[nãbɛl]
Furthermore, vowels seem to be in free variation such that it matters not which vowel is selected,
given that vowel quality can vary.
5.1(b) Tonality
The data suggests presence of tone in which high, mid, and low tones are contrastive in certain
environments. The examples of tonality seem to occur mainly at the syntactic and morphological
levels. Some examples of this can be seen below.
69) ‘you slept’
70) ‘I slept’ [ḿ məәəәŋɔn]
[m̄ məәəәŋɔn] Elicited by: VC on 2/3
Elicited by: VC on 2/3 Numbers 69 and 70 are tonal minimal pairs, such that ‘you’ and ‘I’ are represented by the same
word; however they are contrastive in meaning. [ḿ ] with a high tone means ‘you’ where as [m̄]
mid tone means ‘I’.
5.1(c) Plurals
A general statement can be made about the phonological process occurring with plurals in the
data. It appears that when the root noun ends in [+vowel], the plural marker is represented as
[bel]. As such, a general rule may appear as, [+vowel] > -bel / Ø___#. Furthermore, when the
root noun ends in the voiced alveolar nasal, [n], the plural marker is represented as [gel].
Therefore and general rule or statement may appear as follows, [n] > -gel / Ø ___#.
6. Conclusion
This paper was an initial attempt to identify and discuss the phonemic inventory of Nafaara,
followed by examining the basic syntactic, grammatical, and phonological properties of present
indicated in the data at present. In terms of the phonological processes, more data and further
analysis is needed.