Open AccessCharacteristics of Omotic tone Shinasha Borna
Author(s) -
Tesfaye Abebe,
Klaus Wedekind
Publication year - 1990
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.v21i3.107432
Subject(s) - tone (literature) , linguistics , vowel , syntax , realisation , computer science , psychology , physics , philosophy , quantum mechanics
The article provides some phonological background and outlines the tonal system of Shinasha (Borna), an isolated North Omotic language of Ethiopia. There are two contrasting tones. Their behaviour shows characteristics which have also been observed for other Omotic languages: stability of lexical tone, limited use of tone in the syntax, and absence of sandhi. The article provides new evidence that vowel quality can have a strong influence on the tonetic realisation: Shinasha is not the only Omotic language where high vowel quality is associated with extra high pitch.