Yoruba vowel deletion involves compensatory lengthening: evidence from phonetics

  • Nick Danis Rutgers University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5842/60-0-753
Keywords: yoruba, phonetics, phonology

Abstract

A phonetic study of Yoruba vowel deletion shows that the vowel that remains after deletion is slightly but significantly longer than a short vowel in non-deletional contexts (p<0.001). The experiment controlled for inherent vowel duration and voicing/manner of articulation of the surrounding consonants. Previous phonological accounts (e.g. Akinlabi & Oyebade 1987, Ola Orie & Pulleyblank 2002) analyze this process as full vowel deletion, this account is revised and the process is treated as a type of compensatory lengthening. This also relates to a similar result with Yoruba tone (Ajiboye et al. 2011) in the same syntactic configuration.
Published
2020-06-29
How to Cite
Danis, N. (2020). Yoruba vowel deletion involves compensatory lengthening: evidence from phonetics. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 60, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5842/60-0-753
Issue
Vol. 60 (2020): A festchrift to honour Prof. Akinbiyi Akinlabi on the occasion of his 60th birthday
Section
Articles

Copyright (c) 2020 Nick Danis

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