Akan vowel harmony

Date
2004
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
Type
Thesis (B.A.)
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
en_US
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Akan, a Ghanaian language in the Kwa subbranch of the Niger-Congo family~ exhibits a robust system of vmvel harmony for tongue root position. Much of the research on Akan has also posited the existence of a system for rounding harmony as well. In this thesis, I argue that both systems are well-attested and highly consistent. First, I demonstrate that it is possible to produce a coherent, consistent description of Akan vowel harmony. I then examine the pa tterns of harmony and demonstrate that it is easily understood when its different domains - stems, prefixes, and suffixes - are examined independently. Based on this information, it is possible to demonstrate that tongue root harmony applies universally, while rounding harmony occurs directional! y. After fully describing the harmony system, I take a preliminary look at an Optimality Theory account. I compare and contrast Stem Control and Agreement theory, as proposed by Bakovic (2003), andAligrunent theory, as modeled by Akinlabi (1997). On evaluation of the data, I demonstrate that Alignment explains a larger portion of the Akan data, but that Stem Control has some interesting implications for dealing with "irregular" forms. This thesis is organized as follows: In chapter 1, I give a general overview of work on Akan phonology and, on Akan orthography and vowels. In chapter 2, I give a systematic, organized description of the vowel harmony system based on the published literature. In chapter 3, I expand on this framework using data coLee ted from speakers, Chapter 4 prese; Optimality Theoretic approaches to VC)wel harmony, Chapter 5 evaluates the effe, the theories with respect to Akan data.
Description
Subjects
Citation
Collections