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KENYANG SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY

Tanyi Eyong Mbuagbaw

Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL)

B.P. 1299 Yaounddæ+ Cameroon 2000

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ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

ADJ Adjective AM Associative Marker ANT Anterior C Coda CONS Consonant CONT Continuant COR Coronal DEL REL Delayed Release DET Determiner FUT Future INF Infinitive LAB Labial LAT Lateral N Syllabic Nasal NAS Nasal NC Noun Class NP Noun Phrase O Onset P Past Tense P1 Present Imperfective PL Plural PP Present Perfective R Rhyme S Sentence SF Suffix SG Singular STRID Strident UF Underlying Form V Vowel V0 Nasalised Vowel VP Verb Phrase 1S First Person Singular 2S Second Person Singular 3S Third Person Singular 1P First Person Plural 2P Second Person Plural 3P Third Person Plural

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[ ] Phonetic Data / / Phonemic Data σ Syllabic Node # Morpheme boundary 1, 2, 3, etc. Noun Class (for interlinear morpheme definitions)

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This phonology was first written in 1994 as a request from the Department of Linguistics, SIL International,

(Cameroon branch). I was again asked this year to upgrade the phonology. Those who have encouraged me

are Dr. Keith Snider, who has returned to Canada, and Dr. Steve Anderson who personally looked for a

laptop for me so that I can write up this phonology. Without him, this phonology would not have been

greatly delayed.

I am also grateful to him for accepting to supervise this work. Without him, this phonology would have not

become a reality.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 7

1.1 Classification........................................................................................................................................ 7

1.2 Language Situation ............................................................................................................................. 8 1.2.1 Bilingualism .................................................................................................................................. 9

1.3 Review of Literature ........................................................................................................................... 9

1.4 The orientation of this study ............................................................................................................ 10

1.5 Overview of Grammar...................................................................................................................... 11 1.5.1 Syntactic Structures ................................................................................................................... 11 1.5.2 Relative Clause ........................................................................................................................... 12 1.5.2 Adjectives .................................................................................................................................... 13 1.5.3 Verb Phrase ................................................................................................................................ 13 1.5.4 Serial Verbs ................................................................................................................................ 14

1.6 Nouns.................................................................................................................................................. 15 1.6.1 Derived Nouns ............................................................................................................................ 17 1.6,2 Pronouns ..................................................................................................................................... 18

2 VOWELS ......................................................................................................... 19

2.1 The Realisation of Vowels ............................................................................................................... 19

2.2 Descriptive Statement of Vocalic Allophones ................................................................................. 19

2.3 Distinctive Features for Vowels ....................................................................................................... 21

2.4 The Phonemic Contrast of Vowels................................................................................................... 22

2.5 Vowel Nasalisation ............................................................................................................................ 24

3 CONSONANT SYSTEM.................................................................................. 25

3.1 Kenyang Phonetic Consonant Chart ............................................................................................... 26

3.2 Descriptive Statement of the Consonant Phones ............................................................................ 26

3.3 Evidence for Phonemic contrast ...................................................................................................... 29

3.4 Distinctive Feature Matrix for Sonorants ....................................................................................... 37

3.5 Distinctive Feature Matrix for Obstruents ..................................................................................... 37

3.6 Nasal Assimilation............................................................................................................................. 37

3.7 Distribution of Consonant as Onset................................................................................................. 39

3.9 Distribution of Consonants Phonemes in Different Positions of the Morpheme ......................... 40

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4 SYLLABLE STRUCTURE………………………………………………………….46

4.1Specific Syllable Types…………………………………………………………………………… 48

4.2 Interpretation Problems……………………………………………………………………… …52 4.2.1 Affricates………………………………………………………………………………………52

4.3 Semi-Vowels……………………………………………………………………………………….53

4.4 Historical Development of Kenyang Syllable Structure………………………………………..54

5 PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES…………………………………………………56

5.1 Lexical Rules………………………………………………………………………………………57 5.1.1 Free Variation…………………………………………………………………………………57 5.1.2 Consonant Alternation………………………………………………………………………..57

5.2 Postlexical…………………………………………………………………………………………58 5.2.1 Nasal Assimilation……………………………………………………………………………59 5.2.2 Vowel Elision…………………………………………………………………………………59 5.2.3 Glide Formation………………………………………………………………………………62 5.2.4 Diphthongisation……………………………………………………………………………..63 5.2.5 Consonant Weakening………………………………………………………………………..64 5.2.6 Vowel Insertion (Epenthesis)…………………………………………………………………65 5.2.7 Desyllabification………………………………………………………………………………66 5.2.8 Vowel Nasalisation……………………………………………………………………………67

References……………………………………………………………………………………………… 68 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………………….70

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1.0 INTRODUCTION Kenyang is a language spoken in Manyu Division, South West Province, Republic of Cameroon. The

speakers of the language are called the Banyangi, Banyang or Bayang. The native speakers call themselves

Manyang. The 1987 statistics from the Mamfe Rural Council office gives the population to be 60.628. They

occupy 53 villages in Mamfe Central Sub-Division and Upper Banyang Sub-Division. Ten more kenyang

speaking villages are found in Nguti Sub-Division. Those living in other urban areas of the country are quite

many.

The majority of the people are subsistence farmers. They grow cash crops such as coffee and cocoa. They

also grow other food stuff such as cocoyam, rice, cassava, plantain, yams, melon, beans, and vegetables. A

lot of oranges, melon, water fufu, palm oil, and garri are exported to other urban centres of the country. This

has been the main source of income to the farmers.

1.1 Classification Jacquot and Richardson (1956) noted that it is very difficult to classify Kenyang. Consequently, they adhered

to Guthrie (1948:11- 12) and regarded Kenyang as Bantoid because it has both Bantu and Non-Bantu

features.

Williamson (1971) classified Kenyang as Bantu because at this period it was proved that both the noun class

prefixes and concord systems are those of Bantu. She further argued that Guthrie’s classification was based

on typological and not on genetic considerations.

Voorhoeve (1980) showed in detail the noun class and concord system as it relates to a more general

problem for establishing criteria for classifying a language as Bantu or Non-Bantu. According to him,

Kenyang is at an intermediate stage between Proto-Benue Congo and Pro-Bantu.

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Watters (1989) and Watters and Leroy (1989) classified Kenyang as Southern Bantoid, one of the members

of which is the large (Narrow) Bantu family. In my analysis, I adopt the classification of Williamson (1971)

who classifies Kenyang as Bantu.

1.2 Language Situation Tyhurst and Tyhurst (1983) discussed the dialect situation in detail. They noted that Kenyang is made up of

two major dialects, ‘Upper Kenyang’ and ‘Lower Kenyang’. Lower Kenyang is centred at Mamfe and is

spoken in the Western half of the language area. While ‘Upper Kenyang’ is centred at Tali and is spoken in

the eastern half of the area. Most Lower Kenyang speakers claim that the geographical boundary between

the two dialects are between Mbinjong and Mfainchang which are the most easterly villages of Lower

Kenyang. On the other hand, speakers who live east of Tinto are the westermost villages of Upper Kenyang.

This lives us with villages from Eyang, Bakebe and Ntenbang. These villages forming a triangle claim to

‘Central Kenyang speakers’. This is because there are minor differences in pronunciation as well as lexical

differences. This was tested by Tyhurst (1983) in the Linguistic Survey of the Nyang languages and was

found true. However, these minor differences are not enough to regard them as separate dialects. Thus, one

can classify this group as a sub-group of Upper Kenyang.

There is another group of speakers known as Batwii. Their language is known as Kitwii. This language is

close to Kenyang. However, Kenyang speakers complain that they find it difficult to understand Kitwii.

The Batwii people are located between Mbo and Bassossi people in Nguti Sub-Division. The relationship

between Kenyang and Kitwii is based on oral history which needs to be further investigated. Some people

say that the Batwii people were formerly Kenyang speakers who later migrated. However, Tyhurst claims

that they have a distinct culture though they are linguistically united. These issues are beyond the scope of

this paper. It remains a subject for further research.

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1.2.1 Bilingualism Many trade languages can be heard throughout the Banyang area. Government schools and Mission schools

teach in English and French. Kenyang has just been introduced in primary schools in recent years. Pidgin and

Kenyang are widely used for marketing and business purposes. As one starts moving to other neighbouring

language areas such as Ejagham, Denya, Mundani, and Ngwe, the local population becomes bilingual. They

speak the Kenyang language and the language of their neighbours.

Culturally, the Ejahams, Denya and Banyangi people are related. They generally call themselves the Mamfe

people. A lot of traditions, and cultural dances were borrowed from the Efiks from Nigeria.

1.3 Review of Literature Kenyang first appeared in Koelle’s (1854) Pollyglotta Africana. He refers to it as Ko@Ngu#aN (language

number X11.E.17 in his system. The wordlist was obtained from a freed slave in Sierre Leone who was

originally born in the village of ‘Biso @NawaN', present day BesongAbang in the lower Kenyang dialect area.)

During the German colonial era, Mansfeld (1908) presents an anthropological study of the area which is now

referred to as Manyu Division. It includes wordlist for seven of the languages including ‘Banjang’ (present

day Kenyang). Bufe, (1910/11) includes a comparative wordlist of ‘Banyangi’ and four other languages.

Itmann (1931/32) presents 41 folktales and their translation in German. He also published a collection of 702

proverbs (1932b). The German Basel Mission also did some translation work in Kenyang which resulted in

the publication of a song book.

Serious literacy work started in 1983 when James Tyhurst came to the area and started some preliminary

research in the Nyang languages (Kenyang, Denya, and Kendem). He worked on the Sociolinguistics Survey

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of Kenyang and Denya (1983), and in (1984), he came out with a preliminary phonology of Kenyang. In

1986, he obtained an MA in linguistics in which his thesis was based on the ‘Tone System of Kenyang Noun

Phrase’. In 1988, David Odden wrote on floating tones and contour tones in Kenyang. In 1990, Mbuagbaw

Tanyi Eyong and Denis Punches presented the first Kenyang orthography.

Since 1989, a centre has been created in Mamfe which has been incharge of promoting literacy in Kenyang,

Ejagham, and Denya. A number of publications have been produced in Kenyang which in include the

Kenyang Alphabet chart (1990), Kenyang Transitional Primer (1990), Kenyang folktales (1991), Kenyang

Primer 1 (1997), Kenyang Lexicon (1998), and a revision of the Kenyang orthography (1999). Today, about

40 teachers have been trained and are teaching about 4000 children in primary schools in the Kenyang

speaking area. There is a demand in other urban centres in the country where natives want to learn how to

read and write their language.

1.4 The orientation of this study This study is essentially descriptive in orientation, but theoretical discussion is pursued where the data seems

particularly relevant to a theoretical question or position. Of course even a description a language is not

possible without some theoretical orientation. The description of the phonology assumes that segmentation

of the speech continuum is possible and that these segments can characterised by a set of features which are

specified as being true or not true of the segment. It is also assumed that these segments stand in opposition

to one another, and that they are meaningfully understood only within the overall systematic sound structure

of the language.

The phonological study begins with the description of the vowels system in section 2 and consonant system

in section 3. Constraints on structure of the syllables are treated in section 4 and phonological processes in

section 5.

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1.5 Overview of Grammar The focus of the present study is the phonology of Kenyang. However, it is impossible to discuss the

phonology without referring to various syntactic and morphological structures. In this section, I therefore

extend my sketch of Kenyang grammar to include a brief description of relevant grammatical structures.

1.5.1 Syntactic Structures Kenyang is a noun class language with an SVO structure. Simple sentences are shown having subject, verb,

and object.

NP VP

Noun Verb NP

Noun

n$-si$ a$-ku$ ta$mbE$

S Tambe 3S-bought fish ‘Tambe bought a fish’ Figure 1: Simple Sentence Structure The noun phrase may consist of a noun, as head, followed by modifiers such as adjectives and/or

determiners. Some adjectives (that is those derived from verbs) are few in Kenyang. There are, however, true

(not derived from verbs) that occur in semantic fields such as colours and numbers. Noun phrases nay also

consist of NP-NP constructions in which the second NP ‘possesses’ the first NP. In Kenyang, when two

nouns are conjoined, there is often an associative marker (AM) between the two nouns. Typical noun phrases

are displayed as follows:

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Houses three

NP

Noun ADJ

bE%kE$d bE@ra@d

NP

Noun NP

Noun Noun

E$nç$g m$fç$ ç@ ‘three houses’ stick AM chief ‘Chief’s stick’ 1.5.2 Relative Clause There are two types relative clauses; restrictive and non-restrictive. According to Keenan (1985:142), a

restrictive relative clause may consist of a determiner, a common noun and restrictive clause. The common

noun determines the (semantic) domain of relativisation, and the restrictive clause identifies the sub-set of a

domain. For example, ‘The man who gave me the pen is in the office’ contains the common noun, man

which belongs to the domain human, adult, male. The domain is narrowed or restricted by the clause ‘who

gave the pen.’

A non-restrictive clause adds more information to a clause. It is mostly (but not often) used with a proper

noun or with noun phrases which are the sole members of a particular domain. An example in English of a

non-restrictive is as follows: ‘Tambe Ayuk who came here yesterday has travelled.’ Tambe Ayuk, being a

proper noun, is the sole member of its domain. Therefore the clause ‘who came here yesterday’, does not

narrow the domain. It simply gives additional information to Tambe Ayuk.

In Kenyang, relative clauses are restrictive in nature. So far, no example of a non-restrictive clause has been

discovered. The relative clause is defined by a relative pronoun. The relative pronoun follows the head noun

and precedes the relative clause. Here are some examples below:

( 1 ) N-gç$rE^ a$nE$ a@-twç@ fa^ a&-me$. 1-woman who 3S-came here 3S-sick ‘The woman who came here is sick.’

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( 2 ) ü ¶ -ka@ti$ E$nE@ N@-ku@ tSi@ E$ya^. 7-book which 1S-bought Focus mine ‘The book which I bought is mine.’ ( 3 ) ü ¶ -kE$d E$nE@ @-tSwe@ tSi@ E$-kEd M$-fç$.

7-house which 1S-entered Focus 7-house 1-chief ‘The house which I entered is the chief’s palace.’

( 4 ) @¶ -ku$ m$-m $g E$nE@ E@-tSi@ kE@kwç@d E$-kE$d E$ya^. 3S-bought 5-plot which 3S-Focus besides 7-house mine ‘He bought the plot which is near mine.’

1.5.2 Adjectives Adjectives that are derived from verbs consist of a root to which the Noun Class prefix E$- or bE@- for classes 7

and 8 are adjoined. The suffix -ti@ is also adjoined to the root. They do not agree with any noun that follows

them. Here are some examples below:

(5) E$-rˆ@-ti@ 7-beautiful

E$-kE$d 7-house

‘a beautiful house’

E$-ta$N-ti@ 7-strong

sE$-nç$N 19-iron

‘a strong iron’

E$-bE@p-ti@ 7-bad

N$-gç$rE 1-woman

‘a bad woman’

E$-sa$p-ti@ 7-long

a$-kpa@ka@k 3-chair

‘a long chair

1.5.3 Verb Phrase In Kenyang, the free form of the verb is the imperative. The imperative is thus taken as the citation form of

the verb. The verb in Kenyang does not have a prefix or a suffix in its citation or basic form. The verb root in

Kenyang is either monosyllabic, disyllabic, or trisyllabic.

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Kenyang distinguishes four tenses namely; near past, far past, future certain, future uncertain, and four aspect

markers namely; present perfective, present imperfective, present habitual, and the progressive.

The verb kç$ ‘walk’ is used to illustrate the tense system. The various tenses are used for illustration as seen

below:

(6) Near past a$-kç$ m@õbω@ 3S-walked (a few minutes ago)

‘He walked (a few minutes ago.)

Far past

a$-kç$ ¯a@ka@ 3S-walked (a long time ago.)

‘He walked (a long time ago.)

Future (certainty)

a&-tSç$N kç$ 3S-FUT walk

‘He will walk’

Future (uncertainty)

a$-ma$y kç$ 3-FUT walk

‘He may walk’

1.5.4 Serial Verbs

Over the past decade or so, attempts have been focused on the study of serial verbs. Serial verbs have been

defined by Wingered (1977:452) in Awoyale (1985:144) ‘as agglutinations, verbal juxtaposition, splitting

verbs and co-verbs, subsuming the functional roles of preposition, case markers, adverbial, comparative,

conjunction, and including labels such as “verbid” and modifying verbs.’ In a serial verb construction, ‘verbs

stand to each other without being connected’ Westerman 1930:126). Below are examples of serial verb

constructions in Kenyang:

(7) @¶ -sç$d Ta$mbE bE@-õrç@N ka@ka$ M$-fç$. 3S-take Tambe INF-go greet 1-chief ‘He took Tambe to go and greet the chief.’

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(8) L∞bu$ a&-õya@N Bo$ nE$mç$. Mbu 3S-wants start exams ‘Mbu wants to start exams.’ (9) Ba@-rç$N bE@-ku^ nE$-¯E@. 3P-go INF-buy 5-food ‘They have gone to buy food.’ (10) @¶ -na@ mE$-¯a$ka$ mE@-õ¯E@. 3S-cook 8-yam INF-eat ‘He cooked yams to eat.’

The examples above show that these constructions are genuinely serial verb constructions because there is no

connector between the first and subsequent verbs.

1.6 Nouns Nouns in Kenyang consists of a noun stem, which may be simple or compound to which is adjoined any one

of a number of noun class prefixes. There are also nouns which are derived from verbs – nominalised verbs

which function somewhat like English gerunds.

Kenyang has 12 noun classes. Each noun belongs to a particular class which can be distinguished from other

classes by the different prefixes it takes. Singular classes are usually odd numbered. Pairs of singular and

plural classes are called genders (which has nothing to do with the notion of masculine and feminine nouns

found in languages such as French and German).

There is a morphophonemic alternation between the stop /b/ and the nasal /m/. When prefixes having the

form /ba-/ or /bE-/ precede a morpheme that begins with a nasal consonant, a stop completely assimilates to

the nasal. This is true for noun class prefixes 2, 6. 6a, and 8. Consider the following examples:

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/b/

(11) /ba$-wE$d/ ‘oil’ (CL 6a)

/ ba$-tˆ$/ ‘friends’ (CL 6)

/bE$-syE@/ ‘markets (CL 8)

/m/

(12) /ma$-¯e@/ ‘ a case’ (CL 6)

/ma$-no$N/ ‘blood’ (CL 6a)

/mE$-¯E$/ ‘stomach’ (CL 8)

The Noun Class System

(13) Class Prefix Example Gloss

SG 1. N- m$-fç$ n$-nç$

‘chief’ ‘mother’

PL 2.

ba$-

ba$-fç$ ma$-nç$

‘chiefs’ ‘mothers’

SG 3

a$-

a$-na$ a$-tu@

‘thigh’ ‘ear’

SG 5

nE$- n$-

nE$-pE@m n$-ta$y

‘life’ ‘stone’

PL 6

ba$-

ba$-pE@m ba$-ta$y

‘lives’ ‘stones’

-- 6a

ma$-

ma$-¯E$b ma$-no$N

‘water’ ‘blood’

SG 7

E$-

E$-nç$ E$-te$

‘hoe’ ‘pot’

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PL 8 bE$- mE$-

bE$-te$ mE$-nç$

‘pots’ ‘hoes’

SG 9

N-

N$-kç$g ¯$-¯o$N

‘fowl’ ‘crocodile’

PL 10

N-

N$-kç$g ¯$-¯o$N

‘fowl’ ‘crocodile’

SG 19

sE$-

sE$-kwç$b sE$-nç$N

‘spoon’ ‘iron’

PL 13

kE$-

kE$-kwç$b kE$-nç$N

‘spoons’ ‘irons’

1.6.1 Derived Nouns Derivational prefixes are limited in Kenyang. The formation of a gerund-type verbal noun from a verb,

transitive or intransitive, takes the prefix nE$-, which is always low toned. Thus, we derive forms such as the

following:

(14) Verb Gloss Nominal Gloss

twç@ ‘come’ nE$-twç@ ‘coming’

tSwe$ ‘enter’ nE$-tSwe$ ‘entering’

sˆN ‘write’ nE$-sˆN ‘writing’

to@ ‘send’ nE$-to@ ‘sending’

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1.6,2 Pronouns

Independent pronouns also exist in Kenyang. These may stand alone independently to questions such as

‘who?’ or ‘what?’. The following chart sets these out:

(15) SG PL

1st m$mE$ bE$sE@

2nd wç$ bE$ka

3rd yi@/yç@ bç@

In the pronominal system, the pronouns take different classes of the noun. The third person singular pronoun

distinguishes between human and non-human. This completes our quick overview of Kenyang grammar.

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2 VOWELS

2.1 The Realisation of Vowels

The phonetic vowels of Kenyang are shown in the table below. The vowels are distinguished between front,

central, and back.

(15) FRONT Spread

CENTRAL Spread

BACK Spread

Rounded

Closed i i0 ˆ ˆ0 ω ω0 u u0 Half-close e e0 ´ 0 o o0 Half-open E E0 ç ç0 Open a a0

TABLE 1: Phonetic Vowels in Kenyang

2.2 Descriptive Statement of Vocalic Allophones The surface vowels of Kenyang are described phonetically in the environment in which they occur:

/i/ is realised as:

[ i0] close front nasalised unrounded vowel after nasal consonant,

[ni0$si@] [mE@0ni0@]

‘to refuse’ ‘how many’

[ i ] a close front unrounded vowel elsewhere. [ti@]

[yi$] ‘to sell’ ‘what’

/e/

is realised as:

[ e0 ] half-close front nasalised unrounded vowel after a nasal consonant,

[ne$0] [nE$0me0$]

‘to feed’ ‘sickness’

[e] closed front unrounded vowel elsewhere. [pe@]

[te@] ‘to cross’ ‘to burst’

/E/ is realised as: [´] half-close central unrounded vowel in closed

syllables, [p´t'] ‘to return’

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t´t'] ‘to wipe’ [ 0 ] half-close central nasalised unrounded vowel

occurs between a nasal consonant and another consonant,

[n @0m] [m$m $0m]

‘to bite’ ‘wine’

[ E0 ] half-close front nasalised unrounded vowel after a nasal consonant,

[¯E@0] [m$mE$0]

‘to eat’ ‘me’

[ E ] half-close front unrounded vowel elsewhere. [n$tE$]

[kE$] ‘age-mate’ ‘but’

/a/ is realised as: [ a0 ] open-back nasalised unrounded vowel after nasal

consonants, [na@0]

[na$0N] ‘to cook’ ‘to gossip’

[ a ] open-back unrounded vowel elsewhere. [n$ta$]

[ta@k'] ‘hat’ ‘to scatter’

/u/ is realised as: [u0] close back nasalised rounded vowel after nasal

consonants, [nu0$]

[m$mu0@] ‘to fight’ ‘dog’

[ u ] close back rounded vowel elsewhere. [ku$]

[su$] ‘to buy’ ‘to drag’

/ω/ is realised as: [ ω0 ] close back nasalised unrounded vowel occurs

after a nasal consonant, [E$mω0@] ‘palmnuts’ [ ω ] close back unrounded vowel elsewhere. [sE$pω$]

[E$kpω$rE$] ‘camwood’ ‘native dish’

/o/ is realised as: [ o0 ] half-close back nasalised rounded vowel after

nasal consonants, [n$no0k']

$ o$0k'] ‘soup’ ‘porcupine’

[ o ] half-close back rounded vowel elsewhere. [n$so$] ‘bush deer’

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[to@] ‘to send’

/ç/ is realised as: [ ç0 ] half-open nasalised back rounded vowel after

nasal consonants, [tç@0N]

[E$kç0$N] ‘to show’ ‘love’

[ ç ] half-open back rounded vowel elsewhere. [kç$]

[E$dZç$] ‘to walk’ ‘water pot’

/ˆ/ is realised as: [ 0 ] close central nasalised unrounded vowel after a

nasal consonant, [E$m 0$]

[n$n 0$k'] ‘neck’ ‘rope’

[ ˆ ] close central unrounded vowel elsewhere. [t $k']

[t @] ‘to remember’ ‘to clear’

2.3 Distinctive Features for Vowels

i e E ˆ a ç o u ω

High + - - + - - - + +

Low - - - - + - - - -

Back - - - - - + + + +

Syllabic + + + + + + + + +

Round - - - - - + + + -

Tense + + - - - - - + +

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2.4 The Phonemic Contrast of Vowels

Contrastive pairs of words will be given as evidence for the phonemic contrast. Mbuagbaw (1994) illustrates

many examples which will be used here. In cases where minimal pairs are not found, contrast in analagous

environment is used.

/i / and / ˆ/

/m$bi$/ [m$bi$] ‘road’ /m$bˆ$/ [m$b $] ‘chalk’ /ba$ti@/ [ba$ti@] ‘heads’ /ba$tˆ$/ ba$t $] ‘friends’ /bE$ti$/ bE$ti$] ‘night’ /bE$tˆ/ [bE$ti$] ‘calabashes’ /i/ and /u/ /ti@/ [ti@] ‘to sell’ /tu@/ [tu@] ‘to pound’ /n$ti@/ [n$ti@] ‘head’ /n$tu$/ [n$tu$] ‘load’ /m$bi@/ [m$bi@] ‘name’ /m$bu$/ [m$bu$] ‘name’ /i/ and /e/ /ti@/ [ti@] ‘to sell’ /te@/ [te@] ‘to burst’ /bi$/ [bi$] ‘bush pepper’ /m$be$/ [m$be$] ‘ribs’ /m$pi$/ [m$pi$] ‘nail’ /m$pe$/ [m$pe$] ‘day dawn’ /e/ and /E/ /ne$/ [ne0$] ‘to feed’ /nE@m/ [nE@0m] ‘to bite’ /ta$mbe$/ [ta$mbe$] ‘rib’ /ta$mbE$/ [ta$mbE$] ‘name’ /tSwe$/ [tSwe$] ‘to enter’ /tSwE@/ tSwE@] ‘to scrape’ /a/ and /ç/ /N$ga$g/ [N$gak'] ‘knife’ /N$gç$g/ [N$gç$k'] ‘termite’ /ta@N/ [ta@0N] ‘to argue’ /tç@N/ [tç$0N] ‘to argue’ /ka&/ [ka&] ‘to accept’ /kç$/ [kç$] ‘to walk’ /ç/ and /o/ /n$sç$g/ [n$sçk'] ‘an insult’ /n$so$g/ [n$so$k'] ‘elephant’ /E$nç$g/ [E$nç0k'] ‘stick’ /E$no@g/ [E$no@0k'] ‘wooden drum’ /N$gç@/ [N$gç@] ‘tail’ /N$go@/ [N$go@] ‘gun’

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/a/ and /o/ / $ a@g/ [ $ a@0k'] ‘cheek’ / $ o$g/ [ $ o0$k'] ‘porcupine’ /n$na$g/ [n$na$0k'] ‘in-law’ /n$no$g/ [n$no0$k'] ‘soup’ /ta@g/ [ta@k'] ‘to scatter’ /to@g/ [to@k'] ‘to fetch water’ /a/ and /ˆ/ /E$Ba$/ [E$Ba$] ‘bag’ /E$Bˆ$/ [E$B $] ‘bush’ /n$ta$/ [n$ta$] ‘hat’ /n$tˆ$/ [n$t $] ‘heart’ /N$ka$/ [N$ka$] ‘mark’ /N$kˆ$/ [N$kˆ] ‘farm’ /ˆ/ and /u/ /pˆ$/ [p $] ‘to plant’ /pu@/ [pu@] ‘to leave early’ /E$tˆ/ [E$t ^] ‘calabash’ /E$tu$/ [E$tu$] ‘jug’ /kˆ@/ [k @] ‘to cut’ /ku$/ [ku$] ‘to buy’ /ˆ/ and /o/ /n$n $g/ [n$n 0$k'] ‘rope’ /n$no$g/ [n$no0k'] ‘soup’ /kˆ@/ [k @] ‘to cut’ /ko@/ [ko@] ‘to climb’ /n$s $g/ [nsˆk'] ‘monkey’ /n$so$/ [n$so$] ‘bush deer’ /ˆ/ and /ω/ /N$kˆ$/ [N$k $] ‘farm’ /N$kω$/ [N$kω$0] ‘lion’ /E$mˆ$/ [E$m 0] ‘neck’ /E$mω@/ [E$mω@0] ‘palmnuts’ /kˆ@/ [k @] ‘to cut’ /kω$/ [kω$] ‘to do’ /i/ and /ω/ /sE$pi$/ [sE$pi] ‘whistle’ /sE$pω$/ [sE$pω$] ‘camwood’ /o/ and /ω/ /ko$/ [ko] ‘to pour in’ /kω$/ [kω$] ‘do’ /ç/ and /ω/ /nE$mç$/ [nE$0mç$0] ‘exam’ /E$mω@/ [E$mω@0] ‘palm nuts’ /kç$/ [kç$] ‘to walk’ /kω$/ [kω$] ‘to do’

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2.5 Vowel Nasalisation

Vowels in Kenyang become phonetically nasalised when they are adjacent a nasal consonant. Some

examples are illustrated below:

(16) [m$mE@0n] ‘goat’ [Na@0] ‘to chew’

[na@0] ‘to cook’ [ne$0] ‘to feed’

[ $ o$0N] ‘crocodile’ [ $ u0$] ‘mouth’

[mE$0n] ‘swallow’ [nE@0m] ‘to bite’

[NE@0m] ‘to refuse’ [ $ a0$] ‘meat’

(17) V → [+nas]/N__

The rule above states that all vowels in Kenyang are phonetically nasalised when they occur after a nasal

consonant. This is a progressive nasal assimilation rule.

(18) V → [+nas]/ - N

The rule in (18) states that a vowel becomes phonetically nasalised when it occurs before a nasal consonant.

This rule is a regressive nasal assimilation rule.

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3 CONSONANT SYSTEM

The consonants of Kenyang are represented at two levels: the phonetic and the phonemic. They are displayed

and classified according to the place and manner of articulation, the state of the vocal cords, whether

vibrating or not. In the production of consonant phones in Kenyang, all sounds have egressive lung air.

The consonant phones are displayed below in vertical columns according to their points of articulation.

Moving from left to right, one finds the columns representing bilabial, labio-dental, interdental/dental,

alveolar, alveopalatal, velar, and labio-velar points of articulation. The full arrange of allophonic variations

are discussed below.

Before we look at the chart, a few comments are in order pertaining to symbols used and references to

sections where relevant discussion takes place out of this chapter.

c8 indicates an interdental/dental consonant phone

c’ indicates an unreleased consonant phone

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3.1 Kenyang Phonetic Consonant Chart

BL LD DA AL AP PA VL LV

Voiceless plosive p t8 t k kp

Voiceless unreleased plosive Pí tí kí

Voiced plosive b d8 D g gb

Nasal m M n N

Voiceless fricative f s

Voiced fricative B ƒ

Voiceless affricate tS

Voiced affricate dZ

Flap R

Approximant y w

3.2 Descriptive Statement of the Consonant Phones /p/ is realised as: [p'] voice unreleased bilabial plosive occurs at the end

of words, [s $p']

[n 0@p'] ‘to descend’ ‘to fold’

[p] voiceless bilabial plosive elsewhere. [pç$kç@]

[pe@] ‘to carry’ to cross’

/t/ is realised as: [ t8 ] voiceless dental (freely varying to interdental)

plosive, occurs preceeding front vowels, [ t8i@]

[ t8e@] ‘to sell’ ‘to burst’

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[t'] voiceless unreleased alveolar plosive occurs at the end of words,

[t $t'] [n$n 0$t']

‘to wipe’ ‘bottom’

[t] voiceless alveolar plosive elsewhere. [ta@k']

[te@] ‘to scatter’ ‘to burst’

/k/ is realised as: [k'] voiceless unreleased velar plosive, [kç$k']

[sç@k'] ‘to grind’ ‘to abuse’

[k] voiceless velar plosive elsewhere. [ko@]

[kwç$] ‘to climb’ ‘to share’

/kp/ is realised as: [kp] voiceless labio-velar plosive occurs at the

beginning of morphemes. [kpç@k']

kpa$0N] ‘to gaze’ ‘to suspend’

/b/ is realised as: [b] voiced bilabial plosive. [bu@]

bo@k'] ‘to cure’ ‘to chase’

/d/ is realised as: [d8] voiced dental (freely varying to interdental)

alveolar plosive occurs preceeding front vowels, [d8i$]

[n$dE@] ‘to cry’ ‘coat’

[d] voiced alveolar plosive elsewhere. [du$rE@]

[do@k'] ‘to light’ ‘to jump’

/g/ is realised as: [g] voiced velar plosive elsewhere. [gwç$]

[go@] ‘to vomit’ ‘to grow’

/gb/ is realised as: [gb] voiced labio-velar plosive elsewhere. [gb $0nE0$]

[gbç@k'] ‘grub’ ‘to beckon’

/m/ is realised as:

27

28

[M] voiced labio-dental nasal occurs before a voiceless labio-dental fricative,

[M$fo$k'] [M$fo0@N]

‘dust’ ‘buffalo’

[m] voiced bilabial nasal elsewhere. [m$m 0$m]

[ma0$ka@] ‘wine’ ‘to add’

/n/ is realised as: [n] voiced alveolar nasal elsewhere. [no0$N]

[na$0k'] ‘to wait’ ‘to invite’

/N/ is realised as: [N] voiced velar nasal elsewhere. [Na0@]

[N @0m] ‘to chew’ ‘to refuse’

/f/ is realised as: [f] voiceless labio-dental fricative elsewhere. [fe$]

[fu@] ‘to lock’ ‘to go out’

/s/ is realised as: [s] voiceless alveolar fricative elsewhere. [s 0$n]

[su$] ‘to burst’ ‘to hang’

/B/ is realised as: [B] voiced bilabial fricative elsewhere. [B 0@n]

[Bo$] ‘to dance’ ‘to start’

/ƒ/ is realised as: [ƒ] voiced velar plosive elsewhere. [ƒç@]

[ƒo@k'] ‘see’ ‘hear’

/tS/ is realised as: [tS] .voiceless alveo-palatal affricate elsewhere. [tSu$]

[tSo@k'] ‘red’ ‘to block’

/dZ/ is realised as: [dZ] voiced alveo-palatal affricate elsewhere. [E$dZç$]

[dZi$] ‘water pot’ ‘to excrete’

/r/ is realised as: [r] voiced alveolar trill elsewhere. [re$]

[r 0$m] ‘to fly’ ‘to say’

/y/ is realised as: [y] voiced palatal approximant elswhere. [y 0$m]

[yi$] ‘to pierce’ ‘what’

/w/ is realised as: [w] voiced labio-velar approximant elsewhere. [wç$]

wa@k'] ‘you’ ‘to despise’

3.3 Evidence for Phonemic contrast

Contrastive pairs of consonant sounds are given below as evidence of phonemic contrast. In cases where

minimal pairs are not found, contrast in analagous environment is used.

/p/ and /b/

/m$-po$g/ [m$po$k'] ‘time’ /m$-bo$g/ [m$bo$k'] ‘hole’ /pu@/ [pu@] ‘leave early’ /bu@/ [bu@] ‘to cure’ /po@g/ [po@k'] ‘to bail out water’ /bo@g/ [bo@k'] ‘to chase’ /p/ and /f/ /pe@/ [pe@] ‘to cross’ /fe$/ [fe$] ‘to lock’ /pE$n/ [pE$0n] ‘to warp’ /fE@n/ [fE@0n] ‘to chase’ /pa@g/ [pa@k'] ‘to comb’ /fa$g/ [fa$k'] ‘to share’ /p/ and /m/ /m$-po$g/ [m$po$k'] ‘time’ /m$-mo$g/ [m$mo$k'] ‘sun’ /pç$kç@/ [pç$kç@] ‘to carry’ /mç$kç@/ [mç0$kç@] ‘to pluck’ /pwç$/ [pwç$] ‘to borrow’ /mwç$/ [mwç$] ‘to swell’ /b/ and /f/ /bu@/ [bu@] ‘to cure’ /fu@/ [fu@] ‘to go out’ /bo@g/ [bo@k'] ‘to chase’ /fo$g/ [fo$k'] ‘to fan’ /m$-bo@g/ [m$bo@k'] ‘deaf’ /m$-fo$g/ [M$fo$k'] ‘dust’

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/b/ and /B/ /bE$-be$/ [bE$be$] ‘pains’ /nE$-Be$/ [nE$0Be$] ‘delivery’ /kE$-bo$N/ [kE$bo$0N] ‘brain’ /E$-Bo@g/ [E$Bo@k'] ‘headscarf’ /bo$N/ [bo$0N] ‘to stir’ /Bo$/ [Bo$] ‘to start’ /b/ and /m/ /m$-bo$g/ [m$bo$k'] ‘hole’ /m$-mo$g/ [m$mok'] ‘sun’ /m$-bç$N/ [m$bç$0N] ‘dragon’ /m$-mç$/ [m$mç$0] ‘child’ /m$-bu$/ [m$bu$] ‘name’ /m$-mu$/ [m$mu$0] ‘person’ /p/ and /t/ /pu@/ [pu@] ‘to leave early’ /tu@/ [tu@] ‘to pound’ /pç$/ [pç$] ‘to decay’ /tç$g/ [tç$k'] ‘to touch’ /m$-pi$/ [m$pi$] ‘nail’ /n$-ti@/ [n$t9i@] ‘head’ /p/ and /tS/ /po@g/ [po@k'] ‘to bail out water’ /tSo@g/ [tSo@k'] ‘to block’ /pe$/ [pe$] ‘to be ripe’ /tSe$/ [tSe$] ‘to peel’ /pa$y/ [pa$y] ‘to count’ /tSa$y/ [tSa$y] ‘to be damp’ /p/ and /k/ /pa@/ [pa@] ‘to spit’ /ka&/ [ka&] ‘to obey’ /pa$N/ [pa$$0N] ‘to hang’ /ka@N/ [ka@0N] ‘to prevent’ /pa$ka$/ [pa$ka$] ‘pride’ /ka$ka@/ [ka$ka@] ‘cocoa’ /p/ and /kp/ /pE$mE@/ [p $0mE@0] ‘to save’ /kpE$mE@/ [kp $0me@0] ‘to reinforce’ /E$-pa$/ [E$pa$] ‘feast’ /E$-kpa$/ [E$kpa$] ‘blanket’ /pa@y/ [pa@y] ‘to pluck’ /kpa@g/ [kpa@k'] ‘to be mute’ /b/ and /d/ /bo@g/ [bo@k' ‘to chase’ /do@g/ [do@k'] ‘to jump’ /b $g/ [b $k'] ‘to shout’ /d @g/ [d @k'] ‘to feed’ /ba@g/ [ba@k'] ‘to be sour’ /da$g/ [da$k'] ‘to tear’

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/b/ and /dZ/ /bwE@/ [bwE@] ‘to escape’ /dZwE@/ [dZwE@] ‘to detain’ /byç$b/ [byç$p'] ‘mushroom’ /pyç$/ [pyç$] ‘black’ /bwç@b/ [bwç@p'] ‘to pick’ /pwç$/ [pwç$] ‘to borrow’ /b/ and /g/ /m$-ba@g/ [m$ba$k'] ‘lame person’ /N$-ga$g/ [N$ga$g] ‘knife’ /ba$ti@/ [ba$t9i@] ‘to stick on the wall’ /ga$ti@/ [ga$t9i@] ‘to split’ /bo$N/ [bo0$N] ‘to stir’ /go@/ [go@] ‘to nail’ /b/ and /gb/ /bo@g/ [bo@k'] ‘to chase’ /gbo@g/ [gbo@k'] ‘to punch’ /bç@g/ [bç@k'] ‘to bake’ /gbç$g/ [gbç@k'] ‘to beckon’ /bE$sE$/ [b $sE$] ‘firewood’ (a type) /gbE$mE@/ [gb $0mE@0] ‘to meet’ /f/ and /s/ /fE@n/ [f @0n] ‘to send away’ /sE$n/ [s $0n] ‘to burst’ /m$-fo$g/ [M$fo$k'] ‘dust’ /n$-so$g/ [n$sok'] ‘elephant’ /fE@b/ [f @p'] ‘to tend a fire’ /sE$b/ [s $p'] ‘to descend’ /f/ and /B/ /fa@b/ [fa@p'] ‘to shell’ /Ba@b/ [Ba@p'] ‘to warm’ /fç$Nç@/ [fç$0Nç@0] ‘to seize’ /Bç@N/ [Bç@0N] ‘to own’ /E$-fe@/ [E$fe@] ‘viper’ /E$-Be@/ [E$Be@] ‘law’ /f/ and /m/ /fE$rE@/ [f $rE@] ‘to remove’ /mE$sE@/ [m $sE@] ‘to throw’ /nE$-fe$/ [n 0$fe$] ‘locking’ /nE$-me$/ [n $0me$0] ‘sickness’ /nE$-fa$N/ [n $0fa$0N] ‘malaria’ /nE$-ma$g/ [n $0ma0k'] ‘iguana’ /m/ and /n/ /m$-mE@n/ [m$m @0n] ‘goat’ /n$-nE@m/ [n$n @0m] ‘husband’ /mE$n/ [m $0n] ‘to swallow’ /nE@m/ [n @0m] ‘swallow’ /n$-nç$/ [n$nç$0] ‘mother’ /m$-mç$/ [m$mç$0] ‘child’

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/m/ and /¯/ /m$-mu$/ [m$mu0$] ‘person’ /¯$-¯u$/ [ $ u0$] ‘mouth’ /m$-mo$g/ [m$mo$k'] ‘sun’ /¯$-¯o$g/ [ $ o$k'] ‘porcupine’ /mç$/ [mç0$] ‘to tempt’ /¯ç$/ [¯ç0$] ‘to sweep’ /m/ and /N/ /mE$n/ [m $0n] ‘to swallow’ /NE@m/ [N @0m] ‘to refuse’ /ma$ka@/ [ma$0ka@] ‘to add’ /Na@g/ [Na@0k'] ‘to be happy’ /t/ and /d/ /ti$/ [t9i$] ‘to scrub’ /di$/ [di$] ‘to cry’ /ta@g/ [ta@k'] ‘to scatter’ /da$g/ [da$k'] ‘to tear’ /tE$b/ [t $p' ‘to prostrate’ /dE$b/ [d $p'] ‘to knock’ /t/ and /s/ /tç@N/ [tç0@N] ‘to show’ /sç@N/ [sç@0N] ‘to burn’ /n$-to$g/ [n$to$k'] ‘a play’ /n$-so$g/ [n$so$k'] ‘elephant’ /n$-te$/ [n$te$] ‘height’ /n$-se$/ [n$se$] ‘thorn’ /t/ and /n/ /tE@m/ [t @0m] ‘to shoot’ /nE@m/ [n @0m] ‘to bite’ /te@/ [te@] ‘to burst’ /ne$/ [ne$0] ‘to feed’ /ta@N/ [ta@0N] ‘to argue’ /na$N/ [na0$N] ‘to gossip’ /t/ and /r/ /te&/ [te&] ‘to stand’ /re&/ [Re&] ‘to fly’ /tç$g/ [tç$k'] ‘to touch’ /rç$g/ [Rç$k'] ‘to be tasteless’ /tE@n/ [t @0n] ‘to crack’ /rE$m/ [R $0m] ‘to say’ /t/ and /tS/ /n$-tu$/ [n$tu$] ‘load’ /¯$-tSu$/ [ $tSu$] ‘thatch’ /n$-ti@/ [n$t9i@] ‘head’ /tSi$/ [tSi$] ‘father’ /twç@/ [twç@] ‘to come’ /tSwç$b/ [tSwç$p'] ‘to arrive’

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/t/ and /k/ /tE@m/ ‘to shoot’ /kE@m/ [k @0m] /tu@/ [tu@] /ku$/ [ku$] ‘to buy’ /n$-ta$] [n$ta$] ‘cap’ [N$ka$] ‘a mark’

/t/ and /kp/ /n$-tç$N/ ‘teacher’ /N@-kpç^N/ [N@kpç0N] /E$-tç$g/ [$E$tç$k'] /E$-kpç$g/ [E$kpç$k'] ‘lump’ /tç$g/ [tç$k'] ‘to touch’ [kpç@t'] ‘to cut’

/d/ and /s/ /dE$b/ to hit’ /sE$b/ [s $p'] /dE@n/ [d @0n] /sE$n/ [s $0n] ‘to burst’ /da$g/ [da$k'] ‘to point’ [sa@] ‘to point’

/d/ and /n/ /d @g/ ‘to feed’ /n $g/ [n 0k'] /da$g/ [da$k'] /na$g/ [na0k'] ‘to invite’ /n$-dE$n/ [n$d $0n] ‘clothes’ [n$n @0m] ‘husband’

/d/ and /r/ /dç@g/ ‘to go’ /rç$g/ [Rç$k'] /d $N/ [d 0N] /E$r $N/

[t @0m] ‘to hold’ ‘to pound’

/N$-ka$/

[n$tç$0N] ‘vegetable’ ‘town’

/kpç@d/

[d $p'] ‘to descend’ ‘to beat’

/sa@/

[d @k'] ‘to beg’ ‘to tear’

/n$-nE@m/

[dç@k'] ‘tasteless’ ‘to pound’ [E$R $0N] ‘a sign’

/dyE@/ [dyE@] ‘to pour in’ /E$ryE$b/ [$E$Ry $p'] ‘odour’ /d/ and /dZ/ /di$/ [di$] ‘to cry’ /dZi$/ [dZi$] ‘to excrete’ /n$-da$/ [n$da$] ‘rubber’ /¯$-dZç$/ [ $dZç$] ‘talisman’ /dE@n/ [d @0n] ‘to beat’ [DZ @0n] to jostle’ /dZE@n/ /s/ and /n/ /su$/ [su$] ‘to pull’ /nu$/ [nu0$] ‘to fight’ /so$N/ [so0$N] ‘to put in’ /no$N/ [no0$N] ‘to wait’ /sE$b/ [s $p'] ‘to descend’ /nE@b/ [n @p'] ‘t wrap’

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/s/ and /r/ /sE$n/ [s $0n] ‘to burst’ /rE$m/ [R $0m] ‘to say’ /s @N/ [s @0N] ‘to write’ /rˆ$Nˆ@/ [R 0$N 0@] ‘to know’ /sç@g/ [sç@0k'] ‘to insult’ /rç$g/ [Rç$k'] ‘tasteless’ /tS/ and /dZ/ /¯$-tSwi$/ [¯tSwi$] ‘corn’ /¯$-dZwi$/ [ $dZwi$] ‘bush pig’ /tSe$/ [tSe$] ‘to urinate’ /dZe$/ [dZe$] ‘to tie’ /tSyE@d/ [tSy @t' ‘to obstruct’ /dZyE$d/ [dZy $t' ‘to run’ /tS/ and /¯/ /¯$-tSe$/ [ $tSe$] ‘basket’ (a type) /¯$-¯a$/ [ $ a$0] ‘animal’ /¯$-tSu$/ [ $tSu$] ‘thatch’ /¯$-¯u$/ [ $ u$0] ‘mouth’ /E@-tSˆg/ [E@tSˆk'] ‘to be big’ /¯ $g/ [¯ 0$k' ‘to shake’ /tS/ and /y/ /tSa$g/ [tSa$k'] ‘to be straight’ /ya$d/ [ya$t'] ‘to smash’ /tSE$n/ [tS $0n] ‘to refuse’ /yE$m/ [y $0m] ‘to pierce’ /tSç$kç@/ [tSç$kç@] ‘to mock’ /yç$kç@/ [yç$kç@] ‘to mock’ /tS/ and /k/ /tSo@g/ [tSo@g] ‘to block’ /ko@g/ ko@k'] ‘to shout’ /tSç$kç@/ [tSç$kç@] ‘to sit’ /kç$g/ [kç$k'] ‘to grind’ /tSa@y/ [tSa@y] ‘to fear’ /ka@N/ [ka@0N] ‘to prevent’ /tS/ and /kp/ /tSa@g/ [tSa@k'] ‘to spray’ /kpa@g/ [kpa@k'] to be quiet’ /E$-tSç$N/ [E$tSç$0N] ‘today’ /E$-kpç$g/ [E$kpç$k'] ‘lump’ /tSo@g/ [tSo@k'] ‘to block’ /kpç@d/ [kpç@t'] ‘to block’ /dZ/ and /g/ /¯$-dZç$/ [ $dZç$] ‘talisman’ /N$-gç@/ [N$gç@] ‘tail’ /E$-dZç$/ [E$dZç$] ‘water pot’ /E@-gu@/ [E#gu@] ‘carcass’ /dZwç$/ [dZwç$] ‘to miscarry’ /gwç$/ [gwç$] ‘to vomit’ /dZ/ and /gb/

34 /¯$-dZE$m/ [ $dZ $0m] ‘piercing iron’ /gbE$nE$/ [gb $0nE$0] ‘grubs’

/a$-dZa$/ [a$dZa$] ‘sea’ /a$-gbç$/ [a$gbç$] ‘name’ /dZ/ and /y/ Contrast between these two sounds are difficult to find. /dZE@n/ [dZ @0n] ‘to jostle’ /yE$m/ [y $0m] ‘to pierce’ /dZ/ and /d/ /dZi$/ [dZi$] ‘to excrete’ /di$/ [di$] ‘to cry’ /¯$-dZç$/ [¯dZç$] ‘talisman’ /n$-da$/ [n$da$] ‘rubber’ /dZE@n/ [dZ @0n] ‘to jostle’ /dE@n/ [d @0n] ‘to beat’ /g/ and /ƒ/ /ga$ti@/ [ga$ti@] ‘to split’ /ƒa$ti@/ [ƒa$ti@] ‘to tell’ /go@/ [go@] ‘to grow’ /ƒo@g/ [ƒo@k'] ‘to hear’ /kE$-go$/ [k $go$] ‘premature’ /kE$-ƒç$g/ [kE$ƒç$k'] ‘scabies’ /y/ and /¯/ /yE@d/ [y @t'] to bless’ /¯E@/ [¯ @0] ‘to eat’ /yo$N/ [yo0$N] ‘to carry’ /¯ $g/ [¯ $k'] ‘to shake’ /y/ and /w/ /yç@/ [yç@] ‘it’ /wç$/ [wç$] ‘you’ /yE$nti@/ [y $0nti@] ‘to measure’ /wE$nE@/ [w $0nE@0] ‘to hurry’ /ya@N/ [ya0N] ‘to look for’ /wa$y/ [wa$y] ‘to laugh’ /k/ and /kp/ /ka@N/ [ka@0N] ‘to prevent’ /kpa$N/ [kpa$0N] ‘to hang’ /kç$g/ [kç$k'] ‘to grind’ /kpç@g/ [kpç@k'] ‘to knock’ /E$-ka$g/ [E$ka$k'] ‘leg’ /E$-kpa$/ [E$kpa$] ‘blanket’ /k/ and /g/ /ku$/ [ku$] ‘to buy’ /gu@/ [gu@] ‘to die’ /ko@/ [ko@] ‘to climb’ /go@/ [go@] ‘to grow’ /ko$si@/ [ko$si@] ‘to sniff’ (tobacco) /go$ri@/ [go$ri@] ‘to be stiff’

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/k/ and /N/ /kE@m/ [k @0m] ‘to hold’ /NE@m/ [N @0m] ‘to refuse’ /ka$b/ [ka$p'] ‘to surround’ /Na@b/ [Na@p'] ‘to hold tight’ /ka$ti@/ [ka$t9i@] ‘to cut’ (with a cutlass’ /Na$ti@/ [Na$0t9i@] ‘to shrink’ /k/ and /w/ /ka@b'/ [ka@p'] ‘to defend’ /wa@y/ [wa@y] ‘to kill’ /ka$ti@/ [ka$t0i@] ‘to cut’ /wa$ti@/ [wa$t9i@] ‘to rub’ /ƒ/ and /B/ /ƒE@b/ [ƒ @p'] ‘to steal’ /BE@b/ [B @p'] ‘to ask’ /ƒa$y/ [ƒa$y] ‘to spread’ /Ba@y/ [Ba@y] ‘to marry’ /ƒo@g/ [ƒo@k'] ‘to hear’ /Bo$/ [Bo$] ‘to start’ /ƒ/ and /N/ /ƒa@d/ [ƒa@t'] ‘to operate’ /Na@g/ [Na@k'] ‘to be happy’ /ƒç@/ [ƒç@] ‘to see’ /Na@/ [Na@] ‘to chew’ /ƒE$m/ [ƒ 0$m] ‘to dig’ /NE@m/ [N @0m] ‘to refuse’ /kp/ and /gb/ /kpç@g/ [kpç@k'] ‘to gaze’ /gbç@g/ [gbç@k'] to beckon’ /E@-kpE@mE@/

[E@kp @0mE@0] ‘bottle’ /E$-gbE$nE$/ [E$gb $0nE$0] ‘grub’

/kp/ and /w/ /kpa$d/ [kpa$t'] ‘dismantle’ /wa$d/ [wa$t'] ‘to boil’ /N$-kpa@g/ [N$kpa@k'] ‘quietness’ /nE$-wa@g/ [n 0$wa@k'] ‘despising

’ /r/ and /y/ /rE$m/ [R $0m] ‘to say’ /yE$m/ [y $0m] ‘to pierce’ /rˆ$Nˆ@/ [R 0$N 0@] ‘to know’ /yˆ$Nˆ@/ [[y $0N @0] ‘to look at’ /r/ any /w/ /ra$g/ [Ra$k'] ‘to tear’ /wa@g/ [wa2k'] ‘to despise’ /rˆ$kˆ@/ [R $k @] ‘to float’ /w $k $r $g/ [w $k $r $k'] ‘to be easy’

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3.4 Distinctive Feature Matrix for Sonorants

m n N ¯ r y w Consonant + + + + + - - Continuant - - - - + + + Nasal + + + + - - - Labial + - - - - - + Anterior + + - - - - - Coronal - + - - + - - High - - + + - + + Back - - + - - - + 3.5 Distinctive Feature Matrix for Obstruents

p b t d k g kp gb tS dZ f s B ƒ Voice - + - + - + - + - + - - + + Continuant - - - - - - - - - - + + + + Strident - - - - - - - - + + + + - - Anterior + + + + - - - - + + + + - - Labial + + - - - - + + - - + - + - High - - - - + + + + + + - - - - Back - - - - + + + + - - - - - + DEL REL - - - - - - - - + + - - - -

3.6 Nasal Assimilation

In Kenyang just as in most African languages, a nasal consonant assimilates to the place of articulation of a

following obstruent. Homorganic nasal consonants occur as prefixes to both nouns and verbs. The first of

these prefixes symbolised as /N-/, denotes singular of noun classes 1, 5, 9, and 10. This nasal prefix is easily

distinguished by the speaker of the language because it is always attached to the nouns. This is illustrated in

(18).

(19) Underlying Form Phonetic Form Gloss /N-tSu$/ [ $tSu$] ‘thatch’ /N-¯o$g/ [ $ ok'] ‘porcupine’ /N-to$g/ [n$to$k'] ‘play’ /N-pç$N/ [m$pç$N] ‘cow’ /N-gç@/ [N$gç@] ‘tail’ /N-kç$g/ [Nkç$k'] ‘fowl’

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/N-fo$g/ [M$fo$k'] ‘dust’ /N-kpo^N/ [Nmkpo^N] ‘pumpkin leaves’

The second of these prefixes, also symbolised as /N-/, is also very common. It marks the first person singular

subject pronoun and it is usually attached to verbs. Like nasal noun class, it also assimilate to the place of

articulation to the following consonant (in the case the verb root). This is illustrated in example (19) below.

(20) Underlying Form Phonetic Form Gloss /N-kç$/ [N$kç$] ‘I walked’ /N-fu@/ [M$fu@] ‘I went out’ /N-tSo@g/ [ $tSok'] ‘I blocked’ /N-tç$g/ [n$tç$k'] ‘I touched’

To write the rules of examples (18) and (19), we need Greek letter variables like α alpha, β beta, γ gamma

and, ε delta which range over plus and minus values of a given feature. For example, if we say α anterior of

a nasal and α anterior of a nasal consonant, we mean that both the nasal and the consonant are either both

[+anterior] or both [-anterior]. [ε back] nasal [ε Back] consonant means that the nasal and consonant after it

are either both [+Back] or both [-Back]. [γ high] nasal and [γ high] means that both consonants can be

[+high] or both [-high]. Building on that we account for the homorganic nasal assimilation.

(21) [+Nas] → __

The rule says that any nasal consonant occurring before another consonant takes on the place value of the

features of the place of articulation as the following consonant.

β

ε

β

ε

α ant. cor.

γ high back

α ant. cor.

γ high back

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3.7 Distribution of Consonant as Onset

The table below shows consonants which fill the onset position of the CV and CVC syllables. A position in

the table is marked ‘+’ if there are examples of consonants followed by a particular vowel. It is marked ‘-‘ if

there are no such examples. For example for the row for the phoneme /gb/, there is a ‘+’ since ‘E’ follows it

and ‘-‘ since it never occurs after it. This table is used for marking consonants syllable-initially.

(22) i e E ˆ a ç o u ω p + + + + + + + + + b + + + + + + + + + f + + + + + + + + - B + + + + + + + - - m + + + + + + + + + t + + + + + + + + - d + - + + + + + + - s + + + + + + + + - n + + + + + + + + - r + + + + + + + + - tS + + + + + + + + - dZ + - + - - + - + - ¯ - - + + + + + - - y + + + + + + + + - k + - + + + + + + + g + - + - + + + + + ƒ - - + - + + + - - N - - + - + + + - + w - - + - + + - - + kp - - + + + - - + gb - - - + - - + - -

The chart shows that the consonants /m, b, p/ have wider distribution than the other consonants. From the

chart, we can also see that the vowel /ω/ has the least possible distribution followed by /e/. No reasons can be

given for these restrictions.

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3.8 Consonants in Syllable Final Position

The consonants which occur syllable-finally are very limited in Kenyang. They are the unrealeased

stops[p,t,k,]=/b,d,g/, the nasals/m, n, N/ and the semi-vowel /y/. The table below shows vowels in syllable

peak and consonants in syllable final positions.

(23) i e E ˆ a ç o u ω + - + + + + - - - b + - + + + + - - - d + - + + + + - - - g - - + - - - - - - m - + + + - - - - - n - - - + + + - - + N - - - + + - - - - y

Each of the above vowels can occur in closed syllables, but they are restricted with consonants at the coda

position. The vowels that are least distributed are /ˆ, ω, e/. The most distributed vowel is /ç/.

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3.9 Distribution of Consonants Phonemes in Different Positions of the Morpheme (24) ##- V#- N#- V-V -## p + + + + - b + + + + + f + + + + - B + + - + - m + + + + + t + + + + - d + + + + + s + + + + - n + + + + + r + + - + - tS + + + - - dZ + + + - - ¯ + + + - - y + + - - + k + + + + - g + + + + + ƒ + + - + - N + + + + + w + + - - - kp + + + - - gb + + + - - The first and second colums of the table show that all the consonants can occur morpheme-initially and after

the vowel prefix. Generally, there is a restriction of continuants except /s/ which does not occur after a

syllabic nasal. This is because there is a morphemic alternation with stops.

4 SYLLABLE STRUCTURE In chapters two and three, we treated the vowels and consonant systems. However, vowels and consonants

are not just put at random. They are organised into a higher order of phonological constituents such as the

syllable and the phonological word. The syllable level is the phonological level immediately above the

phonological segment. It is the structural unit into which segmental phonemes are distributed.

V = Vowel ## - =morpheme-initial -## = end of morpheme

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There are three basic roles for the syllable as a phonological unit:

(a) It is the most important domain of phonotactic restrictions, that is, a crucial domain for constraints on the

co-occurrence of segments. For instance, we cannot determine whether the consonant sequence /nt/ is well

formed without taking the domain of the syllable into account: the sequence /nt/ is impossible if it belongs to

one syllable, whereas it is possible if there is a syllable boundary between /n/ and /t/ (i.e. /nt/ is

heterosyllabic) as is seen the word /a$ntE$n/ ‘below’.

(b) The syllable functions as a domain of phonological rules. The classical example from Kenyang is the rule

of final devoicing that devoices obstruents at the end of a syllable which is usually formalised as follows:

(24) [-son] → [-voice] / - #

The effect of this rule is demonstrated by the following examples:

(25) [sç$t'] ‘to take

[tç$k'] ‘to touch’

[sE$p'] ‘to descend’

These unreleased consonants occur elsewhere as can be seen below:

(26) [kç$] ‘to walk’

[twç@] ‘to come’

[pu@] ‘to leave early’

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(c) The third role of the syllable in Kenyang is that it functions as the bearer of tone. This dealt with in the

Kenyang tone system.

Each syllable consists of an obligatory nucleus preceded by zero or more consonants (the onset) The nucleus

may be a vowel or a syllabic consonant. The syllable is traditionally assumed to be composed of three

constituents:

(a) the onset,

(b) the peak or nucleus.

(c) the coda.

Each syllable in Kenyang consists of an obligatory nucleus (either a vowel or a syllabic nasal), preceded by

zero or more consonants (the coda). Nucleus and coda form the rhyme. In sum, the internal structure of the

syllable is traditionally assumed to be as in (27).

(27) σ

O R

Peak (Coda)

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Figure 3: Syllable Structure

The syllable node (σ) consists of an optional onset (O) filled by a consonant. The rhyme (R) is made up of a

vowel or a syllabic nasal and an optional consonant in the coda (C) position.

4.1 Specific Syllable Types

The syllable in Kenyang is made up of segments such as: consonants (C), vowels (V), syllabic nasals (N),

semi-vowels (S) /y/ and /w/, and tone (H, L, LH, and HL). The segmental forms of lexical morphemes are

presented below under syllable types. There is a listing of the various syllable types and their skeletal tier

representations with an indepth analysis of the various syllables that completes this section.

CV

‘to buy’

σ

O R

k u$

Some examples of this syllable structure are represented as below:

(28) kç$ ‘to walk’

mç$ ‘to try’

ti@ ‘to try’

na@ ‘to cook’

te@ ‘to burst’

CSV is the second most common syllable structure. CSV is different from CVV for the following reasons:

(a) the semi-vowels do not carry a tone of their own,

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(b) the phonetic duration of semi-vowels in this position is not as long as regular short vowels. It is thus

heard phonetically as a modification or release of the onset consonants.

Semi-vowels are always [+high] in the examples below:

σ

O R

k w ç$

‘to share’

Further examples are as follows:

(29) twç@ ‘to come’

kwa$ ‘to snore’

tSwe$ ‘to enter’

dZwç$ ‘miscarriage’

pwç$ ‘to borrow’

CVC is the next most common syllable in Kenyang. CVC syllable structure is illustrated as below:

45

σ

O R

t ç$ g

‘to touch’

Here are some examples of the CVC syllable structure:

(30) ta$d ‘to stay long’

sE$b ‘to descend’

tç$g ‘to touch’

tE@m to shoot’

sE$n ‘to burst’

A single vowel syllable V occurs either as a subject marker on the verb or as a noun prefix as illustrated

below:

σ

R

a$

σ

O

t

R

u@

σ

R

a$

‘he’ ‘ear’

Some examples are shown below:

(31) ç$ ‘you’ (non-emphatic pronoun)

M¶ ‘I’ (non-emphatic pronoun)

a$-ta@ ‘cheek’

E$-Be@ ‘law’

a$-na$ ‘thigh’

46 CSVC. This syllable structure is quite common in Kenyang. It can be illustrated as seen below:

σ

O R

tS w ç$ b

‘to arrive’

(32) Nwa$d ‘to scratch’

tyE@b ‘to close’

kwa$g ‘to help’

kwa$N ‘to hoe’

syE@b ‘to break’

VN. This syllable structure is not common. It is only found in locatives in kenyang. Here are some examples

illustrated below:

(33) a$ntE$n ‘below’

a$mb $ ‘in front’

a$mfa$y ‘above’

a$nsE$m ‘behind’

σ

R

a$ n

σ

O

t E$

R

n

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‘below’ 4.2 Interpretation Problems

4.2.1 Affricates

The affricates /tS/ and /dZ/ should be treated as single phonemes /c/ and /j/ for the following reasons:

(a) There are no separate occurrences of [S] and [Z] They are always limited to [tS] and [dZ].

(b) These consonants never occur in a reversed position. That is [St] and [Zd] never occur. These affricates

could each be represented as one phoneme /tS/ and /dZ/. In considering all other consonants, we find that the

only other consonant clusters in a syllable are in the form [Cw] and [Cy]. Thus, the only other phonetic

consonant clusters occur with one consonant followed by a semi-vowel. Phonemically, there are no

unambiguous consonant clusters.

4.3 Semi-Vowels The semi-vowels /Y/ and /W/ occur syllable initially in Kenyang. The semi-vowel /Y/ occurs syllable finally.

In these positions, they can be analysed as consonant phonemes and are treated at the phonemic level. Some

examples are as follows:

(34) wç$ ‘you’ yi$ ‘what’

wa@g ‘to despise’ yi@ ‘him’

wE$nE@ ‘to hurry’ yE$m ‘to pierce’

a$wa$ ‘mine’ nE$ya$d ‘foot step’

When the above two semi-vowels occur between a consonant and a vowel, they are interpreted as off-glides

for the following reasons:

The phonetic duration of sem-ivowels in this position is not as long as that of a regular short vowel. It is thus

heard phonetically as an off glide of the preceding consonant.

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The semi-vowels in this position never carry a contrastive distinctive tone of their own. A study of contour

tones shows that they occur on words which do not have semi-vowels. Some examples of semi-vowels as

consonant off-glides are as follows:

(35) kwE@n ‘to fall’ kyE@b ‘to fold’

gwç$ ‘to vomit. E&syE@b ‘sand’

gwa$ ‘to argue’ tyE@b ‘to close’

tSwe$ ‘to enter’ tSyE& ‘to give’

4.4 Historical Development of Kenyang Syllable Structure

There has been a considerable disagreement among linguist as to whether Kenyang is a Bantu or Bantoid

language. One of the reasons some linguists argue that it is a Bantu language is because of the basic syllable

and word structure. Kenyang and Bantu word structure may appear different at first glance because of their

differences from Proto-Bantu. Proto-Bantu nouns are usually in the form of CV-CVCV (prefix-root), and

verbs are usually CV-CVC-V (prefix-root-suffix), thus placing a strong emphasis upon open syllables and

trisyllabic words. Kenyang on the other hand, is noted for the frequency of closed syllables. How can these

two characteristics be related?

They can be seen as shortened Proto-Bantu forms. The prefixes of Kenyang, for example, may retain Bantu-

like characteristics like /ba-/ and /kE-/ of noun classes 6 and 13 respectively, or they may have lost the vowel

resulting in the syllabic nasal prefixes of classes 1, 5, 9, and 10, or they may have lost the consonant

resulting in the /E-/ in class 7. Thus, the noun class prefix of Kenyang displays a whole range of variation

from typical Proto-Bantu forms to more evolved Kenyang forms.

49

One can find similar processes in the root of words. One finds in Kenyang Bantu-like forms such as the noun

/bE$-rç@Nç@/ ‘lamps’. There are also forms where the final vowels have dropped off such as the noun /sE$-nE$n/

‘bird’. There are cases where the final consonant and vowel have dropped off such as the noun /sE$-tˆ$/ ‘axe’.

Finally, the prefixes can drop out leaving a single syllable such as in the verb /kç$/ ‘to walk’.

With the creation of semi-vowels in Kenyang, words such as /swa@g/ ‘to lick’ and /byç$b/ ‘mushroom’, may

have developed as a result of vowels dropping off and the syllable structure was reduced from two to one.

The consonant instead of dropping off has changed to a semi-vowel.

Arguments for a historical connection with Bantu, come from the underlying tonal system and the need to

postulate floating tones which exist in Kenyang. As the syllables have been shortened and the vowels and

consonants have dropped out, the underlying tonal system can still be explained (as will be seen under the

Kenyang tone system).

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5 PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES In this chapter, the phonological processes and the rules that govern them are dealt with in Kenyang. The

term “rules” is used here in its broadest sense to refer to any significant generalisation which might be made

about the distribution of phonological features in Kenyang utterances.

The primary focus of this section is on providing an accurate description of the phonological processes.

Although theoretical assumptions cannot be avoided altogether, it is not my aim at present to provide a

rigorous formal account of these processes based on the categories of a particular phonological theory.

Nevertheless, in order to describe such a variety of qualitatively different processes within a coherent

organisational framework, I have found it useful to adopt the distinction made within the theory of lexical

phonology (cf. Pulleyblank 1983,Kaisse and Shaw 1985, Kiparsky 1985, and Mohanan 1986), among three

types of rules: lexical, post lexical, and phonetic (or “phonetic implementation”). This chapter covers these

rules. Each section begins with a brief overview of the distinguishing properties of the type of rule treated in

that section. This is not intended as an introduction to the central issues of lexical phonology, a theory whose

ramifications extend far beyond providing a taxonomy or rule types. For a thorough introduction to lexical

phonology, the interested reader should consult the sources listed in the preceding paragraph.

A number of phonological rules have already been discussed in connection with the aspects of Kenyang

phonology such as nasal assimilation and vowel nasalisation. This will not be treated again in detail, but will

instead be given a brief summary statement.

5.1 Lexical Rules Lexical rules have a number of distinguishing properties:

(a) They do not apply across word boundary but only within individual words.

(b) Only lexical rules may refer to morphological information.

(c) They are generally obligatory even in careful speech. 51

(d) They are blocked by pauses.

(e) Only lexical rules may have lexically conditioned exceptions (i.e. particular morphemes to which they

fail to apply).

(e) When a pair of segments is related by a lexical rule, native speakers generally have little difficulty

perceiving them as different.

5.1.1 Free Variation

Although I have analysed /d/ and /r/, /ƒ/ and /g/ as separate phonemes in section (3.3), there are cases in

Kenyang where the phonemes occur in free variation, i.e. the phonemes can can occur interchangeably

without leading to a change in meaning. The following examples illustrate this below:

(36) ra$g ~ da$g ‘to tear’

ƒa@d ~ ga@d ‘to split’

rç$g ~ dç$g ‘tasteless’

rç& ~ dç& ‘let go’

5.1.2 Consonant Alternation

Within the Kenyang lexicon, there is an alternation of certain phonemes when the word is changed from

singular to the plural in classes 1, 5, and 6. Examples are illustrated below:

(37) /n$da$/ ‘rubber’ /ba$ra$/ ‘rubbers’

/n$d @g/ ‘whiteman’ /ba$r @g/ ‘whitemen’

/n$dç@N/ ‘line’ /ba$rç@N/ ‘lines’

/n$da$g/ ‘problem’ /ba$ra$g/ ‘problems’

/N$gç$rE^/ ‘woman’ /ba$ƒç$rE/ ‘women’

52

/n$d $N/ ‘vein’ /ba$r $N/ ‘veins’

/N$gE@b/ ‘thief’ /ba$ƒE@b/ ‘thieves’

Based on the characteristics listed above, it is clear that the rules listed above must be lexical. It does not

apply across word boundaries. It makes reference to morphological information and has a number of

exceptions which must be marked in the lexicon. It is obligatory even in careful speech.

5.2 Postlexical

In contrast to lexical rules, postlexical rules apply across word boundaries. They may not refer to

morphological information. They apply in fast speech and may be blocked by pauses. Finally, changes

affected by postlexical rules are often imperceptible to native speakers with no special phonetic training.

Because there are quite a number of postlexical processes in Kenyang, I have subdivided this section into

several parts.

5.2.1 Nasal Assimilation

As stated in section (3.7), nasal consonants always assimilate to t he point of articulation of an immediately

following consonant. This is true within single words and when a word final consonant precedes a consonant

final word.

5.2.2 Vowel Elision

When a vowel immediately precedes another vowel across a word boundary, the second vowel is deleted.

Elision does not occur in Kenyang between words that are represented by a potential pause. One never

53

pauses where elision is possible. Potential elision and potential pause are mutually exclusive. Thus, elision

and potential pause are the two determining characteristics of a phonological phrase.

The phonological phrase corresponds quite closely to the grammatical phrase. Certain grammatical classes

are highly susceptible to elision. The most common are pronouns. Elision is also common with words that

end with open syllables and the following word beginning with a vowel. However, this is not a wide spread

phenomenon since some of them become diphthongs instead. One never finds elision between two verbs or

between two adjectives. Elision is common between verbs plus nouns, nouns plus nouns, and nouns plus

numerals. Thus, elision has both grammatical as well as phonological restrictions.

Phonologists however, do differ in their approach towards the process of vowel elision. Faraclas (1982:70-

72) proposes a syllabic strength hierarchy for dialects of Obolo such that in situations of coalescence, the

stronger segment is realised and the weaker one is deleted. Snider (1990:124) rejects the proposals as

postulated by Faraclas and claims ‘that the syllabic strength hierarchy is rather ad hoc in that it consists of

four rules ordered disjunctively, the last of which is not based on any inherent quality’.

Donwa-Ifode (1985:42) claims that for elision to take place, elision to take place, elision and assimilation

must take place. According to her, ‘those who prefer to account for elision alone, tacitly assume that it is

more economical to do so than postulate assimilation’.

Snider (1985) rejects Donwa-Ifode’s proposal and postulates that assimilation and elision are two

independent processes. This was proven by Masagbor (1989) working in Evie. She proved that in Evie (a

language spoken in Delta State of Nigeria) elision is a common process.

The process of elision is very common in Kenyang. The strong tendency of elision towards shortening the

speech is very interesting in the light of Proto-Bantu and Proto-Nyang forms. Consistently, Proto-Nyang 54

forms are shorter than Proto-Bantu forms. Some examples of the processes of elision occuring in Kenyang

are as follows:

Noun + Noun

(38) /a$ta@ a$Nwa/ → [a$ta@Nwa] jaw cat ‘cat’s jaw’ (39) /E$syE@ E$tç$g/ → [E$syE@tç$k'] market village ‘village market’ (40) /E$ye@ E$BE$b/ → [E$ye@B $p'] leaf dove ‘dove’s leaf’ (41) /E$Bo@ E@bω/ → [E$Bo@bω]

waist alligator ‘alligator’s waist’

(42) /E$dZç$ E$sç$b/ → [E$dZç$sç$p'] water pot frog ‘frog’s water pot’ Noun + Verb (43) /sa@ a$wç@/ → [sa@õwç@] point hand ‘point your hand’ (44) /tSwe$ E$kE$d/ → [tSe$k $t'] enter house ‘enter the house’ (45) /kwç$ E$tç$g/ → [kwç$tç$k'] pay village ‘pay the village’

(46) /¯E@ E$mω@/ → [¯E@õmω@] eat palm nuts ‘eat palm nuts’ 55

(47) /so& E$nç$/ → [so&nç$] wash hoe ‘wash the hoe’ Noun + Adjective (48) /n$ta$ a@pa^y/ caps two ‘two caps’ (49) /E$ye@ E@mç^d/ → [e@ye@mçt'] leaf one ‘one leaf’ (50) / $ a$ E@ra@d/ → [ $ a$ra@t'] animal three ‘three animals’ (51) /m$b $ a@nwi^/ → [m$bˆ$nwi^] chalk four ‘four pieces of chalk’ Pronouns Elision is very common among pronouns. When a pronoun follows a noun or verb, both the vowel and the

semi-vowel are deleted in fast speech. Some examples are illustrated below:

(52) /n$ta$ E$yi$/ → [n$ta$-i$] ‘his cap’

/a$tu@ E$ywi$/ → [a$tu@-wi$] ‘his ear’

/E$m $ E$ya^/ → [E$mˆ$-a] ‘my neck’

/E$ye@ E$yç$/ → [E$ye@-ç$] ‘that leaf’

/ $ a$ E$yE$sE@/ → [ $ a$-E$sE@] ‘our animal’

/n$so$ E$yE$ka^/ → [n$so$-E$ka] ‘your (pl) deer’

56

5.2.3 Glide Formation

Glide formation results in a major class change through the process of desyllabification. The glide formation

process occurs across word boundaries. In this context, its application is determined by the syntactic

relationship between the vowels on both sides of the boundary. Some examples are illustrated as follows:

(53) /n$ti@ a$Nwa^/ → [n$tya^Nwa^] head cat ‘cat’s head’ (54) /tu@ E$mω@/ → [twE@õmω@] pound palm nuts ‘pound the palm nuts’ (55) /ba$Bi$ a@ra@d/ → [ba$Bya@ra@t'] roads three three roads’ (56) /m$pi$ a@nwi^/ → [m$pya@nwi^] nails four ‘four nails’ (57) / $tSu$ a$mç$d/ → [ $tSwa$mç$0t'] thatch one ‘one thatch’ One will observe that in examples (53) to (57), glide formation takes place when the final vowel of the first

word has to be /i/ or /u/. Glide formation rule can be formalised as follows

(58) → [- syll ] C _ # V

+ syll +high

57

The rule above states that the high close vowels /i/ and /u/ become a glide when they occur between a

consonant followed by a morpheme boundary and another vowel.

5.2.4 Diphthongisation Some vowels occupy a position of strength when they are in juxtaposition at a morpheme boundary. When

two such vowels occur together, both can be regarded as having the same strength. When this occurs, they

form a diphthong. Some examples are illustrated below:

(59) /N$k $ a$ma$N/ → [N$k $a@ma$N] farm nuts ‘farm of nuts’ (60) /so& a$mç@/ → [so&a$mç@] wash hands ‘wash your hands’ (61) /¯E@ a@ya@g/ → [¯E@a@ya@k'] eat quick eat quickly’ (62) /mE$nç$ a@ko$/ → [mE$nç$a@ko$] hoes name ‘Ako’s hoes’ (63) /¯ç$ E$syE@/ → [¯ç$E$syE@] sweep market ‘sweep the market’ 5.2.5 Consonant Weakening This is a process that resembles assimilation as it is one that makes a consonant sound more like a vowel on

the stricture scale. In Kenyang, a word final stop is weakened to a fricative when they are followed by

another vowel in a phrase. Some examples are illustrated below:

(64) /E$ka$g a$ko@g/ → [E$ka$ƒa@õko@k'] leg pig ‘pig’s leg’ (65) /n$so$g E$sa$/ → [n$so$ƒE$sa$] elephants twemty ‘twenty elephants’

58

(66) /n@sç@b E$ta@/ → [n@sç@BE@ta@] soap father ‘father’s soap’ (67) /tSwç$b E$tç$g/ → [tSwç$BE$tçk'] arrive village ‘arrive in the village’ (68) /E$kE$d E$ya^/ → [E$k $r $ya] house my ‘my house’ (69) /sE$d n$n $g/ → [sE$r $r $nn $k'] tie rope ‘tie the rope’ A rule showing the process of consonant weakening can be formalised as follows: (70) [+Cons] → [+Cont] / V _ # V The above rule states that consonant stops become continuants between a vowel followed by a morpheme

boundary and another vowel.

5.2.6 Vowel Insertion (Epenthesis) Kenyang does not allow sequences of consonants when two consonants occur in a word boundary. In such

situations, a vowel is usually inserted. The inserted vowel vowel usually corresponds with the vowel that

precedes it. Some examples are illustrated as follows:

(71) /E$yç$N m$pç$N/ → [E$yç$Nç@mpç$N]

voice cow ‘cow’s voice’

(72) /n$tE@m m$fç$/ → [n$t @0m @mfç$] walking stick chief ‘chief’s walking stick’ (73) /ndE$n bç$/ → [n$d $0n 0@õbç@] clothes children ‘children’s clothes’

59

(74) /a$ma$N m$ma@/ → [a$ma$Na@mõma@] kernel mother ‘mother’s kernel’ (75) /sE$nE$n ta@õkç@/ → [s $0n $0n $0ta@õkç@] bird grass ‘bird’s grass’ (76) /m$bˆ$N m$mu$/ → [m$bˆ$Nˆ@mõmu@] short person ‘a short person’ A rule showing vowel insertion can be formalised as follows: (77) ∅ → [+syll ] / C _ # C The above rule states that a vowel is inserted when an word ends with a consonant and the following word

begins with a consonant after a morpheme boundary.

5.2.7 Desyllabification When a vowel and a syllabic nasal are in juxtaposition across word or morpheme boundaries, the syllabic

nasal is desyllabified and the syllabic nasal consonant associates to the first word or morpheme. This is

illustrated as seen below:

(78) / $ a$ m$fç$/ → [ $ a0$m.fç$] meat chief ‘chief’s meat’ (79) /E$te$ n$no$g/ → [E$te&n.no$k'] pot soup ‘a pot of soup’ (80) / $ u$ m$ba@g/ → [ $ u$m.ba@k'] mouth lame ‘lame’s mouth’ (81) /n$ta$ n$tç$N/ → [n$ta$n.tç$0N] cap teacher ‘teacher’s cap’

60

(82) /¯E@ $ a$/ → [¯E@ .¯a$] eat meat ‘eat meat’ (83) /ti@ m$ba$N/ → [[email protected]$N] sell horn ‘sell the horn’ (84) /nE$ m$mç$/ → [ne$m.mç$] feed child ‘feed the child’ The rule concerning syllabic nasal desyllabification can be formalised as follows: → [-syll] V_ + syll

The above rule states that a syllabic nasal becomes a nasal consonant when it follows a vowel. 5.2.8 Vowel Nasalisation A vowel becomes nasalised when it is contiguous to a nasal consonant (cf. 2.5)

N

61

References

Anderson, Stephen C. 1977. A phonology of Ngyemboon-Bamileke. SIL. Yaounde, Cameroon. Awoyale, Yiwola. 1985. On the semantic interpretation of serial verb constructions, in West African languages in education (ed.) Kay Williamson. Beltrage zur Afrikanistik. Band 27 Bufe. E. 1919/11. Die Dualasprache in ihrem verhaltnis zu den Dialekten des Nordgebiets der station bombe. Zeitschrift fur Xolonialsprachen, Band 1:25-36. Burquest, A. Donald. 1998. Phonological analysis. Summer Institute of Linguistics. Casali, R.F. 1993. An overview of Nawuri phonology. Institute of African studies. University of Ghana, Legon. Donwa-Ifode, Shirley. 1985. Elision, Assimilation, and Contraction: A reassessement. Evidence from Isoko. JWAL 15.2:41-55. Faraclas, Nicholas. 1982. Elision and other morpheme boundary phenomena in western Obolo. JWAL X11,2 Guthrie, Malcolm. 1948. The classification of Bantu languages. London. International African Institute. Jacquot, Andre and Irvine Richardson. 1956. Report of the western team. In daryl Forde (ed.). Linguistic survey of the western Bantu borderland, Vol. 1 London, Oxford. University Press for the Internation African Institute. Kaisse, Ellen M., and Patricia A. Shaw. 1985. On the theory of lexical phonology. Year book 2. 1-30. Keenan, Edward L. 1985. Relative clause, in language typology and syntactic description. Vol 11 (ed.) Timothy Shopen. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Kirparsky, Paul. 1982. From cyclic phonology to lexical phonology. The structure of phonological representation (¸art 1) ed. Harry van der Hulst and Norval Smith. 131-175. Dordrecht: Foris Publication. Mansfeld, Alfred. 1908. Urwald-Dokumente. Berlin: Deitrich Reimer (Ernest Vohsen). Masagbor, Grace. 1989. Glide formation and vowel elision in Evie (North Ebie) JWAL XIX 1:87-103 Mbuagbaw, Tanyi Eyong. 1994 Kenyang phonology ms. CABTAL, Cameroon. Mbuagbaw, Tanyi Eyong. 1998. Kenyang lexicon. CABTAL. Cameroon Mbuagbaw, Tanyi Eyong. 1999 Kenyang orthography guide. CABTAL. Cameroon. Mbuagbaw, Tanyi Eyong. 1999. Denya phonology. CABTAL ,Cameroon. Mohanan, K.P. 1986. The theory of lexical phonology (studies in natural languages and linguistic theory). Dordrecht: D. Teidel Publishing Company. Pulleyblank, Douglas. 1983. Tone in Lexical phonology. Ph.D dissertation. MIT. 62

Punches, Denis and Tanyi Eyong Mbuagbaw. 1990. Kenyang orthography ms. SIL, Cameroon. Snider, Keith. 1990. Vowel coalescence across word boundaries in Chumburung. Doctoral dissertation, University of Leiden. Tyhurst, James and Janis Tyhurst. 1983. Sociolinguistic survey of Kenyang and Denya. SIL, Cameroon. Tyhurst, James. 1983. A sociolinguistic survey of the Nyang languages. SIL, Cameroon. Tyhurst, James. 1984. Phonology of Kenyang. SIL, Cameroon. Voohoeve, Jan. 1980. Kenyang. In Larry Hymanand Jan Voohoeve (eds.) L’expansion Bantoue. Vol. 1 les classes nominales dans le Bantou des grassfields. Paris SELAF. 275-285. Watters, John R. 1989. Bantoid overview. In Bendor-Samuel. The Niger-Congo languages. University Press of America pp 401-429. Watters, John R and Jacqueline Leroy. 1989. Southern Bantoid. In Bendor-Samuel. The Niger-Congo languages. Williamson, Kay. 1971. The Benue-Congo languages and Ijo. In Thomas A. Seboek (ed.) Current trends in linguistics, Vol. 7. Linguistics in sub-saharan Africa. The Hague. Mouton pp 245-306. Yul-Ifode, Shirley. 1999. A course in phonology. Riverside communication. Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

63

Appendix The appendix contains a wordlist of about 800 words elicited from the Kenyang lexicon published in 1998.

In the data, it is the phonemic transcription that is used. This is essentially equivalent to the “lexical”

representation which results from the application of lexical rules only.

There is a separate column showing the various classes of nouns and the final column is the gloss.

a$byo$ 3 ‘collective hunting’

a@Bu^ 3 ‘cup’ (made from calabash’

a$tSa@g next

a@tSwi^ 3 ‘vehicle’

a$dE$b 3 ‘influenza’

a@fç@g 3 ‘blessing’

a$ƒE@b 3 ‘stealing’

a$dZa$ 3 ‘sea’

a$ka$b 3 ‘gift’

a$ko$ 3 ‘meeting group’

a$ko@g 3 ‘pig’

a$kwç$ 3 ‘payment’

a@kpu@ 3 ‘fufu’ (made from cassava)

a$ma$N 3 ‘kernel’

a$ma$Na@-nE$bu$ 3 ‘hail stone’

a$mb $ ‘before’

a$mE$m ‘inside’

a$mfa$y ‘above’

a@m ^ 3 ‘eczema’

a$na$ 3 ‘thigh’

a$Nwa 3 ‘cat’

64

a$pwç$ 3 ‘rent’

a@s ^ 3 ‘net for catching fish’

a$sç$rE$ 3 ‘clay pot’ (a type)

a$ta@ 3 ‘cheek’

a$tu@ 3 ‘ear’

a@wa@m 3 ‘hook’

a$mç@ 6 ‘hands’

a$wç@ 3 ‘hand’

a$wu$ ‘there’

a@yç@b 3 ‘hook’

ba$bω$ 6 ‘belch’

ba$Be@-ka$ka@ 6 ‘pesticides’

ba$BE$sE$ 6 ‘tears’

ba$tSe$ 6 ‘urine’

ba$tSi$-m$b $ 2 ‘ancestor’

ba$tSyE@-a@mE@n 6 ‘premolar’

ba$fç@ 6a ‘fat’

ba@ka@ti@ 6 ‘chisel’

ba$ka$y 6 ‘proverbs’

ba$ka$ysi$ 6 ‘thoughts’

ba$ki@ri@-E&ta@g 6 ‘soot’

ba$ko$ 6 ‘beans’

ba$ko@g-a@nwi^ 6 ‘square’

ba@ku@ 6 edge’

ba$kwa$b 6 ‘dirt’

ba@mba@y 6 ‘shade’

ba@N ‘to gallop’

ba$rE$m 6 ‘debt’

ba$rE@m 6 ‘ancestral spirits’

65

ba&ri@ ‘to groan’

ba$ri@ 6 ‘death cry’

ba$ru^ ‘few’

ba$ryE$b 6 ‘promise’

ba$sE@mE@ 6 ‘feelings’

ba@si@ 6 ‘marrow’

ba$so$ 6 ‘desert’

ba$ti$ ‘to be flat’

ba$tu$ 6 ‘cargo’

ba$twç@b 6 ‘ashes’

ba$tyE@ 6a ‘gland’

ba$wE$d 6a ‘oil’

ba$wE$r-a@tSwi^ 6 ‘petrol’

ba$wE$rE@-bE$tu$ 66a ‘honey’

ba$wE$rE@-õBi@ 6a ‘palm oil’

ba@ya@ 6 ‘pepper’

ba@ya@-ba@ya@ ‘full of pepper’

ba$yti@ ‘to kindle’

be$ku$ 8 ‘evening’

be&ti@ 8 ‘morning’

bE@ ‘that’

bE$bu$ri$ 8 ‘mist’

bE@Bo@ko$ 8 ‘porridge’

bE$tSa@y 8 ‘fear’

bE$tSE$n 8 ‘liver’

bE$tSç@kç@ 8 ‘society’

bE$di$ 8 beard’

bE@fo@g 8 ‘flu’

bE$ƒE$b 8 ‘skeleton’

66

bE$kç@g 8 ‘bed’

bE$kwE@nE@ 8 ‘guilt’

bE$kpE$m 8 ‘bush baby’

bE@pa^y 8 ‘two’

bE@ra@d 8 ‘three’

bE$r $ 8 ‘beauty’

bE@r ^ 8 ‘vegetable’

bE@rç@BE@ 8 ‘left overs’

bE$rç$N 8 ‘mangrove’

bE$rwç$ 8 ‘camouflage’

bE$sa$ bE@pa^y 8 ‘forty’

bE$sa$ bE@ta^y 8 one hundred’

bE$sa$ byo@ 8 ‘two hundred’

bE$si@ 8 ‘face’

bE$s $N $ 8 ‘ant’

bE$sç$g 8 ‘termite’

bE$sç$N 8 ‘bribe’

bE$syE$d 8 ‘bud’

bE$ta@Ba@ 8 ‘cunning’

bE@ta@nda^d 8 ‘six’

bE$ta$N 8 ‘power’

bE@ta^y 8 ‘five’

bE$tE@msi@ 8 ‘ingredients’

bE$wa@ka@ 8 ‘a visit’

bE$ya$ ‘plenty’

bi$ 5 ‘ginger’

bˆ$g ‘to scream’

bˆ$Nˆ@ ‘to call’

b $N $ri@ ‘to roll’

67

bo$ 2 ‘people’

bo$N ‘to stir

bo@N ‘to migrate’

bω$ ‘to belch’

bwE@ ‘to flee’

b $rE@ ‘ to store’

bya@g ‘to foresake’

bya@g a$mç@ ‘ to clap hands’

bya@ko$ 5 ‘bean leaf’

byo@ ‘ten’

byo@ bE$tˆg ‘to supervise’

byo@ nE$ a$mç$d ‘eleven’

byç$kç$ti@ ‘to erase’

byç$b 5 ‘mushroom’

Ba$Ba$ri@ ‘to guard’

Ba@g tSa$g ‘to be honest’

Ba@b ‘to smoke’

Ba@d ‘to recount’

Ba@y ‘to marry’

Be@ ‘to give birth’

Be$si@ ‘to appear’

BE$mE@ ‘to bury

BE$nE@ ‘to embrace’

BE@b ‘to ask’

BE$sE@ ‘to hide’

BE@sE@-BE@sE@ ‘to be hidden’

Bo$ ‘to start’

Bç@N ‘to own’

da$g ‘to tear’

68

dE@n ‘to beat’

dE$b ‘to hit’

dE$pti@ ‘to flog’

di$ ‘to cry’

dˆ@g ‘to feed’

dˆ$N ‘to pound fufu’

do@g ‘to jump’

do@ko@-tSwç$b ‘to pounce’

do$ko$ri@ ‘to be troublesome’

dç& ‘to let go’

dç$g ‘to be tasteless’

dç@g ‘to go’

du$rE@ ‘to kindle a fire’

dyE@ ‘to drain’

dZE@n ‘to jostle’

dZE$ti@ ‘to measure’

dZi$ ‘to excrete’

dZwE@ ‘to detain’

dZwi$ ‘to satisfy’

dZwç$ ‘miscarriage’

dZyE$d ‘to run’

E@õbe@ ‘to be painful’

E@bE$b o be bad’

E$bω@ 7 ‘womb’

E@bω 7 ‘alligator’

E$Ba$ 7 ‘bag’

E$Ba@ 7 ‘fence’

E$Ba@-ma$ e@ 7 ‘fence’

E$BE$b 7 ‘dove’

69

E$BE@b 7 ‘question’

E$B $ 7 ‘bush’

E$Bo@ 7 ‘waist’

E$Bo@ko@ri@ 7 ‘madness’

E$Bo@No@ 7 ‘pigeon’

E$Bç@g 7 ‘half’

E$Bç$kç$ 7 ‘eagle’

E$Bç@kç@ri@ 7 ‘something broken’

E$Bç$b 7 mole’

E@BwE^d 7 ‘cultivated land near the

river’

E@BwE@d 7 ‘swamp’

E@tSa^ 7 ‘squirrel’

E@tSa$g ‘to germinate’

E@tSa@g 7 ‘other’

E@tSa@ka@ 7 ‘caterpillar’

E@õtSa@b ‘to be sharp’

E$tSe$ 7 ‘bladder’

E@tS $g ‘to be big’

E$tSˆ$Nti$ ‘to be absurd’

E$tSç$N 7 ‘to day’

E@tSwa@ra@g 7 ‘cockscomb’

E$fa@g 7 ‘twin’

E$fa$b 7 ‘scale’

E&fa@b 7 ‘island’

E&fa@d 7 ‘shoulder blade’

E$fe$ ‘to faint’

E$fe@ 7 ‘viper’

E$fE$BE$ 7 ‘thickness’

70

E$fE$n 7 ‘foam’

E$f $N @ 7 ‘key’

E$fo$ko@ 7 ‘cultivated land’

E$fo@No@ 7 ‘soul, spirit’

E$fç$n 7 ‘round mortar’

E@fu@ku@yu^ 7 ‘umbrella’

EfwE$d 7 ‘sore’

E@go$ 7 ‘overgrown’

E$gu@ 7 ‘carcass’

E$ƒa@N 7 ‘guinea fowl’

E$ƒa$Na$ƒω@ 7 ‘rainbow lizard’

E$ƒa@rE@ 7 ‘gap’

E$ƒE$b 7 ‘bone’

E$ƒç@g 7 ‘temple part of head’

E&ƒç@g 7 ‘gills’

E$dZç$ 7 ‘water pot’

E$dZuri$ 7 ‘darkness’

E$ka$g 7 ‘leg’

E$ka$n 7 ‘society based on age group’

E$ka@ti$ 7 ‘book’

E$ka$y 7 ‘basket’

E$kE$d 7 ‘house’

E@ki@ri@ 7 ‘compound’

E$ki$ri$ka$g 7 ‘chimpanzee’

E$kç$ 7 ‘to be new’

E$kç$N 7 ‘love’

E@kç@Nç@ 7 ‘millipede’

E$ku@ti$ 7 ‘diaphragm’

E@õkwa@ 7 ‘plantain’

71

E$kwa$g 7 ‘thirst’

E$kwa@ka@ 7 ‘cough’

E$kwa$b 7 ‘pole of a house’

E@kwa$y ‘to be enough’

E@kwE$n 7 ‘to be cold’

E$kwE$sE$ 7 ‘maggot’

E$kwç$b 7 ‘peeling’

E&kwç@d 7 ‘fist’

E$kyE$BE@ 7 ‘box’

E$kpa$ 7 ‘blanket’

E$kpç$g 7 ‘lump’

E$kpω$rE$ 7 ‘native dish’

E&mbo@ 7 ‘mud bed’

E$mE$nE$ 7 ‘hair’

E$m $ 7 ‘neck’

E$m $k $ri$ 7 ‘dislocation’

E@mç^d 7 ‘one’

E$mω@ 7 ‘palm nut’

E$na$b 7 ‘den’

E&nda@N 7 ‘hernia’

E$nE$BE$ 7 ‘divination’

E$nE$m 7 ‘dry season’

E$n @ 7 ‘infection’

E$n $k $ 7 ‘infection’

E&nkE@m 7 ‘stump’

E$nç$ 7 ‘hoe’

E$nç$g 7 ‘stick’

E$nso$N 7 ‘sugar cane’

E$ntç$N 7 ‘to be half full’

72

E$nya$ka$ 7 ‘yam’

E$ $N 7 ‘thing’

E$¯ˆ$Nti$ 7 ‘to be sweet’

E@ ç@BE@ 7 ‘corruption’

E$ u$ 7 ‘form’

E$pa$ 7 ‘ceremony’

E$pa@g 7 ‘comb’

E$pE$m 7 ‘owl’

E$p $ 7 ‘sacrifice’

E$p $N 7 ‘attitude’

E$pω@ti@ 7 ‘argument’

E@rag 7 ‘cage’

E$rE$d 7 ‘hump’

E@ri@ka@N 7 ‘match’

E$ri@si^ 7 ‘rice’

E$r @ 7 ‘bat’

E@r $ ‘to be bad’

E$r $N 7 ‘pestle’

E$ro@N 7 ‘rodent’

E@rç@BE@ 7 ‘arrow’

E@ru^ 7 ‘vegetable’ (a type)

E$rwç@ 7 ‘stool’

E@rwç@b 7 ‘a mouse’

E$RyE$b 7 ‘odour’

E$sa$ 7 ‘twenty’

E&sa@g 7 ‘basket’

E$sa@N 7 ‘wand’

E@sa$b ‘to be far’

E@si@kç^N 7 ‘pipe’ (for smoking”

73

E&s @N 7 ‘termite hill’

E$s $N $ 7 ‘ a fight’

E$so$ 7 ‘rainy season’

E@õsç@N ‘to be hot’

E$sç$Nç$ri$ 7 ‘trouble’

E$sç$b 7 ‘jackal’

E$syE@ 7 ‘market’

E&syE@b 7 ‘sand’

E$syE$syE$ ‘to be long’

E@ta@ 7 ‘father’

E$ta$g 7 ‘libation’

E&ta@g 7 ‘drying shelter’

E@ta@mbç@N 7 ‘floor mat’

E$ta$ti$ 7 ‘coward’

E$te$ 7 ‘pot’

E@tE^m 7 ‘hut’

E$tE@msi@ 7 ‘ingredient’

E$t ^ 7 ‘calabash’

E$to$ 7 ‘bulb’

E$tç$ 7 ‘mane’

E$tç$g

E$wa$d

E$ya$y

7 ‘village’

E$tu@ri@ 7 ‘hoof’

E&wa@b 7 ‘armpit’

7 ‘cutlass’

E$wç@ 7 ‘cotton’

E$wu@ 7 ‘latrine’

7 ‘path’

E$ye@ 7 ‘leaf’

E@y@E@mE@ 7 ‘valley’

74

E$yo$N

E$yu$

E&yu@

fa@

fa$Na@

fe$

fo$No$ri@

7 ‘limb’

E$yç$g 7 ‘feather’

E$yç$N 7 ‘voice’

7 ‘private’

E$yu@ 7 ‘temper’

E@õyu@ 7 ‘yesterday’

7 ‘breath’

E@ywa^rˆg 7 ‘potato’

fa ‘here’

‘where’

fa& ‘to move’

fa$ka$ri@ ‘to happen’

‘to join’

fa@b ‘to shell’

fa$te@ ‘to get up’

‘to luck’

fE@n ‘to chase’

fE@b ‘to tend a fire’

fE$rE@ ‘to remove’

fE$rE@ m$bwE@b ‘to deflate’

f $N ‘to fling’

fo$g ‘to flap

fo$ko$ri$ ‘to embarrass’

fo$N ‘to wink’

‘to forgive’

fo$ri@ ‘to dudge’

fç$Nç@ ‘to seize’

fu@ ‘to emerge’

fwE@d ‘to surpass’

75

fyE@ ‘to put’

ga$ti@ ‘to split’

go@ ‘to grow’

gu@ ‘to die’

gwa$ ‘to quarrel’

gwç$ ‘to vomit’

gwç@d ‘to fasten’

gba@gba@g ‘sort of yam’

gbE$mE@ ‘to meet’

gbo@g ‘to punch’

gbç@g ‘to beckon’

ƒa@N ‘to fry’

ƒa$Na@ ‘to seal’

ƒa@b ‘to seal’

ƒa$si@ ‘to pass round’

ƒa@d ‘to split’

ƒa$ti@ ‘to tell’

ƒa$y ‘to spread’

ƒE$m ‘to dig up’

ƒE@b ‘to steal’

ƒo@g ‘to hear’

ƒo$ko@ ‘to repair’

ƒo$ko$ti@ ‘to taste’

ƒç@g ‘to learn’

ƒç$kç@ ‘to lean on’

ka& ‘to obey’

ka$g ‘to praise’

ka$ka@ ‘to greet’

ka$ka@ 5 ‘cocoa’

76

ka@N ‘to prevent’

‘to defend’

‘but’

13 ‘grey

kE$ƒo$g

kE@m

kE$nç@

kE$sa$g

ka$Na$ri@ ‘to loosen’

ka$b ‘to surround’

ka@b

ka$ti@ ‘to cut’ (with a cutlass)

ka$ysi@ ‘to think’

kE$

kE$bi@ ‘excrement’

kE$bo$N 13 ‘brain’

kE$bu$ hair’

kE$BE@ ‘to bend down’

kE$BE$ri@ ‘to bend down’

kE$Bç$ 13 ‘tear drop’

kE$fç$ 13 ‘royal’

kE$gwç$ ‘vomit’

13 ‘scabies’

kE$ka$N 13 ‘whiskers’

kE$ku@ri@ ‘to be different’

kE@kwç@d ‘near’

‘to hold’

kE$mE@ ‘to refund’

kE$Ngç$g 13 ‘termite’

kE$Ngwç@ 13 ‘drought’

kE$Nkç$ 1 ‘stranger’

kE@no@ko@ 13 ‘respect’

13 ‘dream’

kE$p $ 13 ‘speech’

13 ‘ a joke’

kE$tE$d 13 ‘pus’

77

kˆ$Nˆ@

ko&

ko$ko$ri@

ko$No@

kç$fi@

kç$N

‘to cross’

ko@ ‘to ascend’

‘to sniff’

ko@g ‘to shout’

‘to crawl’

ko@ko@ro@g ‘to be tight’

‘to follow’

kç$ ‘to walk’

5 ‘coffee’

kç$g ‘to grind’

‘to love’

kç@N ‘to preserve’

kç$rE@ ‘to distribute’

kç$d ‘to be shiny’

ku$ ‘to buy’

kω$

kwa$g

kwE$d

kpa@g

‘to reinforce’

kpç@g

‘to do’

‘to support’ (somebody)

kwa$N ‘to cultivate’

kwa@y ‘to sing’

kwE@n ‘to fall’

‘to knock’

kwç$ ‘to pay’

‘never’

kpa$N ‘to hook’

kpa$Na$ri@ ‘to hug’

kpa@tE$ ‘except’

kpE$mE@

kpo@No@ro@N 5 ‘light’

‘to gaze at” (something)

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kpç@kpç@g 5 ‘woodpecker’

kpç@d ‘to cut’

‘to add’

ma$ngwç$

6 ‘brother’

ma$ntç^N 6 ‘toad’

6a ‘water’

ma$¯ˆ$Nti$

‘wasp’

‘weather’

5 ‘road’

‘chalk’

‘to be alive’

kpu@su@d ‘to be tough’

ma$ka@

ma$ka$ti@ ‘to doubt’

ma$mbya$N ‘cankerworm’

ma$myE@ 6 ‘age’

ma$ndu^ ‘to be small’

6 ‘bribe’

ma$no$N 6a ‘blood’

ma$nç^

ma$nye@ 6 ‘case’

ma$ E$b

‘to be tasty’

ma$ u$ 6a ‘big river’

ma$Na@g 6 ‘happiness’

ma$Nç$g 6 ‘joint’

m$ba$ 5

m$ba@ 5 ‘trumpet’

m$ba$ka$nE$m 1 ‘male’

m$ba$N 5

m$bE@nti@ 1 ‘lame person’

m$bi$

m$b $ 5

m$bˆ$g

m$bˆ$N ‘to be short’

m$bo$bo$N 1 ‘albino’

mbo$g 5 ‘hole’

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m$bo@g

mbç$g

5 ‘rafter’

1 ‘deaf’

5 ‘residue’

m$bç$N 1 ‘owner’

m$bç@b

m$bω@

5 ‘rat’

m$bwE@b 5 ‘fever’

5

mE$mba$N 8 ‘cobra’

‘to

‘altogether’

‘stomach’

8 ‘dirt’

mE$NE@mE@

‘to throw’

5 ‘rust’

‘dust’

9 ‘buffalo’

m$ma@

6a ‘wine’

5 ‘bile’

m$bwE$b

m$bwç#@rE@ ‘tomorrow’

m@mya^y 5 ‘pumpkin leaves’

mE$n swallow’

mE$na$N 8 ‘gossip’

mE@ni@ ‘how many’

mE$nkE$m

mE@nwi^ 8 ‘four’

mE$nwç$b ‘to be heavy’

mE$ E$ 8

mE@ @N @

8 ‘selfishness’

mE$sE@

mE$d ‘to pinch’

m%fa$rE$ka$N

m%fo$g 5

m$fo@N

m$fç$ 1 ‘chief’

mˆ$kˆ$ri@ ‘to dislocate’

mˆ$mˆ$N ‘to be sweet’

1 ‘mother’

m$mE$m

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m$mE@n 9 ‘goat’

m$mˆ$g 5 ‘ground’

‘sun

1 Person’

‘to

mç$ti@

1 ‘saviour’

9 ‘cow’

‘to shave’

mya$ka$ti@

‘how’

m$mo$g 5

m$mç$ 1 ‘child’

m$mu$

m$mu@ 9 ‘dog’

m$myE@ 5 ‘year’

mç$ try’

mç$kç@ ‘to pick’ (coffee)

mç$mç$b ‘to be soft’

‘to grope’

m$pa$mpa$rE$ ‘grasshopper’

m$pa$b 5 ‘hatred’

m$pE$mE$

m$pi$ 5 ‘nail’

m$po$g 5 ‘time’

m$pç$N

mu$

mwç$d ‘to swell’

‘to sprinkle’

mya$mya$N 5 ‘lightning’

na

na@ ‘to cook’

na$g ‘to invite’

na$N ‘to confide’

na$Nti@ ‘to slander’

n$tSa@ka@ 9 ‘prawns’

@tSa@n 5 ‘enamel plate’

$tSa$N 5 ‘thatching grass’

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$tSE@b

5 ‘plant

$tSç@d

5 ‘corn’

5 ‘bamboo’

‘to feed’

‘witch’

‘outside’

‘error’

5 ‘poverty’

$tSo@g parasite’

5 ‘forest’

$tSu$ 5 ‘thatch’

$tSwi$

n$da$ 5 ‘rubber’

n$dE@ 5 ‘coat’

n$dE$n 5 ‘clothes’

n$dE$b 5 ‘hammer’

n$d $N 5 ‘vein’

n$dç$N

n$dç@N 5 ‘line’

n@õdç@N 9 ‘gigger’

n$dç$d 5 ‘sacrifice’

ne$

nE$bu$ 5 ‘sky’

nE$bu@ 5

nE$Ba@N 5 ‘harmattan’

nE$Ba$y 5 ‘marriage’

nE$Be$ 5 ‘birth’

nE$Be@ 5 ‘bald’

nE@B ^ 5 ‘breast’

nE$Bo@ 5 ‘ridge’

nE$BwE@d 5 ‘place’

nE$tSi$ 5 ‘egg’

nE$fa$N 5 ‘thunder’

nE$fi@ 5

nE$fo@ 5 ‘forehead’

nE$fwç$b 5

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nE$gwa@ 5 ‘file’

nE$ƒa$y 5 ‘crab’

nE$ka$y 5 ‘proverb’

nE$kE$b 5 ‘parcel’

nE$kog 5 ‘door’

nE$kç$ 5 ‘journey’

‘iguana’

‘knee’

nE@ E@n

nE$kç$N 5 ‘arrow’

nE$ku@ 5 ‘fifteen’

nE@ku@ 5 ‘caterpillar’

nE$kwa@y 5 ‘song’

nE@m ‘to bite’

nE$ma$g 5

nE$mbe$ 5 ‘star’

nE$me$ 5 ‘sickness’

nE$mE@ ‘to extinguish’

nE@ndç@b 5 ‘mud’

nE$nE@ ‘to open’

nE@nE@n 5

nE$Nk $ 5 ‘shoulder’

nE@õsa@N 5 ‘frog’

nE@ntE@b 5 ‘intestine’

nE@ntˆ@ ‘between’

nE$nu$ 5 ‘war’

nE@ a@y 5 ‘fingernail’

5 ‘tooth’

nE$ ç$d 5 ‘boils’

nE@b ‘to fold’

nE$pi$ 5 ‘pit’

nE$ra$N 5 ‘pineapple’

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nE$rE@ ‘to

5 ‘steps’

1 ‘a

‘gun’

‘throat’

N$go@si@

N$gwç$

‘to beg’

wet’

nE@r @ 5 ‘tongue’

nE$sE$m 5 ‘fox’

nE$tç@N 5 ‘navel’

nE$wE$n 5 ‘tortoise’

nE$wu@ 5 ‘death’

nE$ya$d

N$ga@ 5 ‘centipede’

N$ga$g 5 ‘knife’

N$ga@N 5 ‘salt’

N$ga@b 5 ‘water buck’

N$ga$ra$g 5 ‘okro’

N$ga@tç$g novice’

N$gE@b 1 ‘thief’

N$gE$m 9 ‘python’

N$gE@mõta@y 1 ‘crowd’

N$go@ 5

N$go%g 5 ‘parrot’

N$go$No$ 5

5 ‘afternoon’

N$gç@ 5 ‘tail’

N$gç$g 5 ‘termite’

N$gç$n 9 ‘hornbill’

N$gç$rE^ 1 ‘woman’

N$gç$sç^N 1 ‘girl’

9 ‘snail’

N$gba$d 5 ‘belt’

nˆ$g ‘to pleaed’

nˆ$Nˆ@

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¯$dZˆ$kˆ@si@ 5 ‘groundnuts’

$dZç$ 5 ‘talisman’

‘drum’

5 ‘root’

N$ka@b

‘coal’

‘beam’

N$ko@g

‘chameleon’

‘garment’

N$ku$Bu^

$dZwE$d 5 ‘diarrhoea’

$dZwi$ 9 ‘wild boa’

$dZyE$ 5 ‘hill’

N$ka$ 5

N$ka@ 5 ‘one thousand’

N$ka$N

5 ‘money’

N$kE$m 5 ‘raffia palm’

N$ki$Nki$ri$ 5 ‘fly’

N$ki@ri! 5

N$k $ 5 ‘farm’

N$k @N 5

5 ‘wall’

N$kç$g 9 ‘fowl’

N$kç@g 5 ‘ladder’

N@kç@Nç@ 9

N$kç$$Nç$rç$N 5 ‘vertebrae’

N$ku^ 1

9 ‘antelope’

N$kω$ 9 ‘lion’

N$kwa$ ç@N 5 ‘cocoyam’

N$kwa$y 5 ‘melon’

N$kwE$d 5 ‘bow’

N$kwç$ 9 ‘tiger’

N$kwç$b 5 ‘leather’

n$na$g 1 ‘in-law’

n$nE$m 5 ‘grave’

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n$nE@m 1 ‘husband’

n$nE$d 5 ‘bottom’

n$no$g 5 ‘soup’

n$nç$ 1 ‘mother’

$ a$ 9 ‘animal’

$ a@g 5 ‘chin’

$ a@y 5 ‘nest’

$ E@n 5 ‘stream’

$ E@sE@ 5 ‘eye’

$ o$g 9 ‘porcupine’

$ o$N 9 ‘crocodile’

$ ç@ 9 ‘snake’

$ u$ 5 ‘mouth’

$ wE@n 5 ‘nostrils’

$ wç$b 5 ‘time’

$ wç@b 5 ‘home’

no@g ‘to row’

no$ko@ ‘to believe’

no$N ‘to wait’

nç$kç@ ‘to imitate’

nsa$N 5 ‘gizzard’

n$sa@b 5 ‘slap’

n$sa$y 5 hunger’

n$sa@y 5 ‘profit’

n$se$ 5 ‘thorn’

n$se@ ‘thorn’

n$se@nsi@ 1 ‘elder’

nsE$m 5 ‘back’

n$si$ 9 ‘fish’

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n$s $g 9 ‘monkey’

n$so$ 9 ‘deer’

n$sç$g 5 ‘insult’

n$sç@g 5 ‘to sigh’

n@sç@b 5 ‘soap’

n$ta$ 5 ‘hat’

n$ta$N 5 moon’

n$ta@b 5 ‘branch’

n$ta$y 5 ‘stone’

n@te@ 5 ‘space’

n$tE@m 5 ‘walking stick’

n$tE@mai@ 5 ‘punishment’

n$ti@ 5 ‘head’

n$ti@õso@ 5 ‘mercy’

n$ti@õsyE@ 1 ‘witness’

n$tˆ$ 5 ‘heart’

n$to@ 5 ‘message’

n$to$g 5 ‘play’

n$tç$N 1 ‘teacher’

n$tç$b 5 ‘soil’

nu$ ‘to fight’

¯E@ ‘to eat’

¯E$rE@ ‘to force’

¯ˆ$kˆ$si@ ‘to shake’

¯o$ko$ri@ ‘to twist’

¯o$ko$ti@ ‘to gather’

¯o$Nti@ ‘to tickle’

¯ç$ ‘to sweep’

¯ç$rE@ ‘to iron’

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¯u@ ‘to drink’

Na@ ‘to chew’

Na@b ‘to hold tight’

Na$ti@ ‘to shrink’

NE$mE@ ‘to awaken’

Nwa$d ‘to scratch’

pa@ ‘to plot’

pa@g ‘to comb’

pa$ka$ 5 ‘pride’

pa$ka$ri@ ‘to clean up’ (something)

pa$N ‘to cling’

pa@d ‘to urge’

pa$y ‘to count’

pa@y ‘to pluck’

pE$mE@ ‘to redeem’

pE$n ‘to warp’

pE@pE@b White’

pE$ti$ ‘slowly’

pi@ ‘to whistle’

pi$ti@ ‘to fill’

p $ ‘to plant’

pç$ ‘to decay’

pç$kç@ ‘to carry’

pç$b ‘to be tired’

pu@ ‘to leave early’

pu$ri@ ‘to push’

pwç$ ‘to lend’

pyç$ ‘blank’

ra$ka$ti@ ‘to tear’

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ra$Nsi@ ‘to level’

ra@Nsi@ ‘to be flat’

re& ‘to fly’

rE$m ‘to say’

rE$mti@ ‘steam’

rE$sE@ ‘to glide’

r $k @ ‘to float’

r $N @ ‘to know’

rç& ‘to abandon’

rwç$ti@ ‘to deceive’

sa@ ‘to point’

sa@y ‘to yell’

sa$yri@ ‘to melt’

se@ ‘to lie’

sE$ka$N 19 ‘whisker’

sE$kç$g 19 ‘yellow’

sE$kwa$y 19 ‘patridge’

sE$kwç$b 19 ‘spoon’

sE$kyE@b 19 ‘hawk’

sE$n ‘to burst’

sE@nde@ 19 ‘palm oil tree’

sE$nE$n 19 ‘bird’

sE$nç$N 19 ‘iron’

sE@õ¯o@No@ 19 ‘worm’ (in the stomach)

sE@õ¯ç@rE@ 19 ‘earthworm’

sE$b ‘to descend’

sE$pE$m 19 ‘wart’

sE@pi^ 19 ‘tick’

sE$pti@ ‘to reduce’

89

sE$rç$g 19 ‘onion’

sE$rwç$ 19 ‘candle’

sE$sç$N 19 ‘hip bone’

sE$ta@ra@BE@ 19 ‘rock’

sE$t $ 19 ‘axe’

‘to

sE$t @N @ 19 ‘palm fronds’

sE$tyE@d 19 ‘hare’

sE$ywe$ 19 ‘firewood’

sˆ@N ‘to write’

so& ‘to wash’

sç@N ‘to burn’

sç$Nç$ri@ ‘to bother’

sç$d take’

su$ri@ ‘to hang’

syE@b O break’

ta$bi$ni$ 1b ‘louse’

ta@Ba@N 1b ‘termite hill’

ta@g ‘to scatter’

ta@õkç@ 1b ‘grass’

ta@õma@Na@ 1b ‘coconut’

ta$ma$rE$ 1b ‘chicken pox’

ta$mbe$ 1b ‘rib’

ta@õmω@ 1b ‘nut’

ta@N ‘to argue’

ta@NkE@b 1b ‘funnel’

ta$Na@ ‘to argue’

ta$tu$ 1b ‘bee’

ta@wo$ 1b ‘kite’

ta@õwç@ 1b ‘tobacco’

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te@ ‘to burst’

te& ‘to

‘to

stand’

tE@m ‘to shoot’

tE$mE$ri@ ‘to meet’

tE$msi@ ‘to punish’

tE@n ‘to crack’

tE$tE$b ‘long ago’

tE$b prostrate’

tE$sE@ ‘to wipe’

tE$tE$b ‘true’

ti@ ‘to sell’

tˆ@ ‘to clear’

tˆ$g ‘to remember’

tˆ@g ‘to escort’

tˆ$Nˆ@ ‘to endure’

to$ ‘to pour’

to@ ‘to send’

to$nto@ ‘many’

tç$g ‘to touch’

tç@N ‘to teach’

tSa@y ‘to fear’

tSe$ ‘to peel’

tSE$n ‘to refuse’

twç@ ‘to come’

tSi$ 1 ‘father’

tSo@g ‘to block’

tSç$kç@ ‘to sit’

tSu$ ‘red’

tSwe$ ‘to enter’

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tSyE& ‘to give’

tyE@ ‘to sting’

tyE@b ‘to close’

wa@g ‘to despise’

wa$ka$ri@ ‘to hurry’

wa$ti@ ‘to rub’

wa$y ‘to laugh’

wa@y ‘to kill’

wE$nE@ ‘to hurry’

wE$d ‘to shiver’

wˆ$kˆ$rˆg ‘to be easy’

wç@si@ ‘to be dry’

ya$ ‘to draw’

ya@N ‘to look for’

ya$b ‘to choose’

ya$d ‘to smash’

yˆ$Nˆ@ ‘to look at’

yo@g ‘to strip’

yo$N ‘to carry’

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KENYANG SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY are widely used for marketing and business purposes. As one starts...

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