Article Title

Tonal instability: Tone as part of the feature geometry

Authors

Stephen P. Walker, SIL-UND

DOI

10.31356/silwp.vol33.06

Abstract

From the introduction: "In this paper I present an analysis of Kagate tone, within an autosegmental framework (Goldsmith 1976). The principal focus is the phenomenon of tonal instability, which occurs as the result of a compensatory lengthening process:

"In [figure] (1) the vowel of the suffix loses its melodic quality, and takes instead the melody of the previous vowel. Crucial to the topic of this paper, the tone of the suffix is simultaneously lost.

"[...] To account for both the tonal stability and the tonal instability facts, I propose that the location of tone within the overall geometry is subject to parametric variation. Otherwise, if tone must be directly associated to the skeleton, then we cannot elegantly account for the tonal instability facts.

"Therefore I conclude that tone in Kagate is associated to the Laryngeal node, as part of the Feature Geometry (Clements 1985). This is a natural assumption to make, since Kagate is among the languages where tone register is closely related to the laryngeal feature [+Spread Glottis]."

Recommended Citation

Walker, Stephen P. (1989) "Tonal instability: Tone as part of the feature geometry," Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session: Vol. 33, Article 6.
DOI: 10.31356/silwp.vol33.06
Available at: https://commons.und.edu/sil-work-papers/vol33/iss1/6