Optimizing structure: The case of the ‘CrV’ syllable of Akan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/gjl.v2i1.36Keywords:
Akan, economy (of speech), syllable structure, vowel harmony, vowel heightAbstract
This paper sets out to look into the ‘CCV’ syllable structure of Akan, specifically ‘CrV’, as to whether or not the seeming consonant cluster is phonological in the language. Following Dolphyne (1988), we attempt to discuss the issue with the claim that the ‘CrV’ structure of Akan is only a phonetic/surface realization through economy of expression (e.g. Bresnan 2001) motivation. In terms of Optimality Theoretic analysis (e.g. Prince and Smolensky 1993), an output-based approach to grammar, where the heart of the phonology consists of a hierarchy of ranked and violable universal constraints therefore, it is argued that where ‘CrV’ seems to have been realized, it is only so because of an application of an economy-motivated process of vowel elision that results in a syllable reduction and its subsequent fusion into a preceding one. The ensuing ‘CrV’ should thus be analyzed into ‘CV.CV’. Three factors; occurrence of /r/, attainment of vowel harmony and the specification of the feature high, are discussed as accounting for the realization of ‘CCV’.References
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Berry, Jack, 1957. Vowel harmony in Twi. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Africa Studies 19.1: 124 –30.
Bodomo, Adams and Charles Marfo, 2006. The morphophonology of noun classes in Dagaare and Akan. Studi Linguistici e Filologici Online 4.2: 205-244.
Bresnan, Joan, 2001. Lexical-Functional Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell.
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Dolphyne, Florence A., 1988. The Akan (Twi-Fante) Language: Its Sound System and Tonal Structure. Accra: Ghana Universities Press.
Engstrand, Olle and Diana Krull, 2001. Segment and syllable reduction: preliminary observations, Working Papers in Linguistics 49: 26–29. Lund University.
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Kaye, Jonathan D., 1985. On the syllable structure of certain West African languages. In D. L. Goyvaerts (ed.) African Linguistics: Essays in memory of M.W.K. Semikenke, pp. 285-307. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
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McCarthy, John and Alan Prince, 1995. Faithfulness and reduplicative identity. University of Massachusetts Occasional Papers 18: 249-384.
Marfo, Charles, 2009. Aspects of Akan Grammar and the Phonology-Syntax Interface. Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing.
Marfo, Charles and Solace Yankson, 2008. The structure of the ‘CCV’ syllable of Akan. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 34.2: 85-100.
Pilote, Doris, 1982. Quelques processus tonals en agni. Ms. Montreal: UQAM.
Prince, Alan and Paul Smolensky, 1993. Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Technical Report RuCCS #2, Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University. Mass: MIT Press.
Stewart, John M., 1982. Akan vowel harmony: The word structure conditions. GLOT 5.3: 321- 342.
van der Hulst, Harry and Jeroen van de Weijer, 1995. Vowel harmonies. In John Goldsmith (ed.) The Handbook of Phonological Theory, pp. 495–534. Oxford: Blackwell.
Welmers, William, 1973. African Language Structures. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Berry, Jack, 1957. Vowel harmony in Twi. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Africa Studies 19.1: 124 –30.
Bodomo, Adams and Charles Marfo, 2006. The morphophonology of noun classes in Dagaare and Akan. Studi Linguistici e Filologici Online 4.2: 205-244.
Bresnan, Joan, 2001. Lexical-Functional Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell.
Clements, George N., 1985. Akan vowel harmony: A nonlinear analysis. In D. L. Goyvaerts (ed.) African Linguistics: Essays in Honor of W. M. K. Semikenke, pp. 55–98. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Dolphyne, Florence A., 1988. The Akan (Twi-Fante) Language: Its Sound System and Tonal Structure. Accra: Ghana Universities Press.
Engstrand, Olle and Diana Krull, 2001. Segment and syllable reduction: preliminary observations, Working Papers in Linguistics 49: 26–29. Lund University.
Gut, Ulrike et al., 2001. Rhythm in West African tone languages: a study of Ibibio, Anyi and Ega. Proceedings of the Typology of African Prosodic Systems Workshop pp. 1-7. Bielefeld University, Germany.
Howe, Darin and Douglas Pulleyblank, 2004. Harmonic scales as faithfulness. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 49:1-49.
Kager, Rene, 1997. Rhythmic vowel deletion in optimality theory. In Iggy Roca (ed.) Derivations and Constraints in Phonology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Kaye, Jonathan D., 1985. On the syllable structure of certain West African languages. In D. L. Goyvaerts (ed.) African Linguistics: Essays in memory of M.W.K. Semikenke, pp. 285-307. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Kent, Ray D. and Charles Read, 2002. The Acoustic Analysis of Speech. 2nd Ed. Albany: Thomson Learning.
McCarthy, John and Alan Prince, 1995. Faithfulness and reduplicative identity. University of Massachusetts Occasional Papers 18: 249-384.
Marfo, Charles, 2009. Aspects of Akan Grammar and the Phonology-Syntax Interface. Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing.
Marfo, Charles and Solace Yankson, 2008. The structure of the ‘CCV’ syllable of Akan. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 34.2: 85-100.
Pilote, Doris, 1982. Quelques processus tonals en agni. Ms. Montreal: UQAM.
Prince, Alan and Paul Smolensky, 1993. Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Technical Report RuCCS #2, Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University. Mass: MIT Press.
Stewart, John M., 1982. Akan vowel harmony: The word structure conditions. GLOT 5.3: 321- 342.
van der Hulst, Harry and Jeroen van de Weijer, 1995. Vowel harmonies. In John Goldsmith (ed.) The Handbook of Phonological Theory, pp. 495–534. Oxford: Blackwell.
Welmers, William, 1973. African Language Structures. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
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Published
07/01/2013
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Marfo, C. O. (2013). Optimizing structure: The case of the ‘CrV’ syllable of Akan. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 2(1), 63–78. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjl.v2i1.36
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