Open AccessVowel harmony in Klao linear and nonlinear analyses
Author(s) -
John Victor Singler
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
studies in african linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.178
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2154-428X
pISSN - 0039-3533
DOI - 10.32473/sal.v14i1.107534
Subject(s) - vowel harmony , harmony (color) , vowel , linguistics , mid vowel , mathematics , philosophy , art , formant , visual arts
Klao, a Kru language spoken in Liberia, has a nine-vowel system. Like most other Kru languages, it displays harmony sensitive to pharyngeal constriction (tongue-root retraction). What gives the Klao vowel-harmony system special interest is the fact that a great deal of variation occurs, suggesting that vowel harmony is in some way optional. This provides a counter-example to the claim (made in Clements [1977l) that root-controlled vowel harmony is always obligatory. Given this optionality, the question arises as to which model best captures the facts of Klao vowel harmony. 'l,w frameworks are considered: one, along the lines of Anderson [1930], treats vowel harmony as one more assimilation rule, and the other, following the model found in Clements [1981] handles vowel harmony autosegmentally.