grammatical tone assignment answersː present pronounspossessive pronouns ò‘you...

Grammatical Tone Assignment Answersː

Present pronouns Possessive pronounso ‘you SG’ rɛ� ‘your’o ‘he’ rɛ� ‘his’

Other pronounsa ‘he (Future)’a ‘we (Present)’

The ratio of pronouns in tone minimal pairs to pronouns not in minimal pairs is maybe 1 in 5 (or 20%). This is a very high functional load for tone in this part of speech.

Grammatical Tone Review

Fill in the blanks

For each factor, the fewer the number of items, the ____________ the functional load on those items.

The fewer the items in non-tone factors, the _____________ the tone functional load.

Grammatical Tone Review

Fill in the blanks

For each factor, the fewer the number of items, the greater the functional load on those items.

The fewer the items in non-tone factors, the greater the tone functional load.

‘BELI has 10 vowel phonemes to hold up the meaning.

‘BELI/ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ, ʊ/ /i, e, ə, o, u/

Gaahmg has 6 vowel phonemes to hold up the meaning. So vowel phonemes in Gaahmg have a higher functional load than vowel phonemes in ‘Beli.

GAAHMG /ɛ, ɔ, a/ /i, u, ə/

Laarim has 4 syllable types and 10 word syllable patterns to hold up the meaning.

LAARIMkid3oori ‘lyre’

‘Beli has 1 syllable type and 2 word syllable patterns. It must rely more on tone to hold up the meaning. So, tone has a higher functional load in ‘Beli than in Laarim.

‘BELIki ‘stool’

Steps for finding how to write differences in meaning made by tone (3 of 3)

17. Study the Tone System A. Decide how many tone melodies there areB. Decide how many underlying level tone phonemes

(contrastive tone heights)C. Find the tone phoneme distributionD. Predict the environment for any tone neutralization

and tone allophonesE. Find how to predict tone changes across

morpheme and word boundariesF. Find differences in words and grammar

made only by toneG. Find the functional load of toneH. Decide if/how to write tone in the orthography.


17. Study the Tone System G. Decide if/how to write tone in the orthography.

1. Based on the functional load of tone, choose one of the following optionsː

A. No representation of tone in the orthography after testingB. Only represent tone on tone minimal pairs that are function

words (part of speech with few words)C. Only represent the grammatical differences made by tone with

diacritics or punctuationD. Represent the changes of tone produced by word rules

throughout the language

2. Test the orthography and revise accordingly.

Principles for Choosing Tone Representation in Orthographies

1. Don’t represent tone in the orthography any more than necessary.The fewer the symbols, the easier the orthography is to teach and to learn.

2. The greater the functional load of tone, the more likely the meaning differences made by tone need to be represented.Consider representing tone for moderate and high functional load of tone.

3. Tone does not always need to be represented with traditional acute (a), grave (a), and macron (a) diacritics. Sometimes, it is more acceptable and easier to use alternative diacritics or punctuation.

4. Test all tone representations with speakers.They must accept and be able to use the orthography.

A. No Representation of Tone in the Orthography

TENNET Sudan 21 consonant phonemes 2 tone phonemes (/H/, /L/)9 vowel phonemes 5 contrastive tone

melodies4 syllable types10 word syllable patterns About 1% tone minimal pairs in nounsAbout 2% tone minimal pairs between different parts of speechAbout 20% of nouns have no difference between subject and

object case except by toneAbout 20% of verbs have no difference between second person

singular ‘you’ and third person singular ‘he’

A. No Representation of Tone in the OrthographyTENNET Sudan 21 consonant phonemes 2 tone phonemes (/H/, /L/)9 vowel phonemes 5 contrastive tone melodies4 syllable types10 word syllable patterns About 1% tone minimal pairs in nounsAbout 2% tone minimal pairs between different parts of speechAbout 20% of nouns have no difference between subject and object

case except by toneAbout 20% of verbs have no difference between second person

singular ‘you’ and third person singular ‘he’(Lexical Tone has a Low Functional Load; Grammatical tone

has a Moderate Functional Load)Testing was done of several stories for reading fluency and

understanding. Readers had few noticeable difficulties reading texts with grammatical distinctions made only by tone.

DECISION: No representation of tone in the Tennet orthography

B. Only represent tone on tone minimal pairs that are function words (part of speech with few words)

Didinga Sudan 36 consonant phonemes 2 tone phonemes (/H/, /L/)9 vowel phonemes 5 contrastive tone

melodies4 syllable types10 word syllable patterns

About 2% tone minimal pairs in nounsAbout 4% tone minimal pairs between different parts of speechAbout 30% of sentences have either H,L hatɪA ‘in order to’ or L,L

hatɪA ‘will’.About 60% of sentences have either H hɪC ‘and, with, from’ or L

hɪA ‘as with’.

B. Only represent tone on tone minimal pairs that are function words (part of speech with few words)

Didinga Sudan 36 consonant phonemes2 tone phonemes (/H/, /L/)9 vowel phonemes 5 contrastive tone melodies4 syllable types10 word syllable patterns

About 2% tone minimal pairs in nounsAbout 4% tone minimal pairs between different parts of speechAbout 30% of sentences have either H,L hatɪA ‘in order to’ or L,L hatɪA ‘will’.About 60% of sentences have either H hɪC ‘and, with, from’ or L hɪA ‘as with’.(Lexical Tone has a Low Functional Load; Grammatical tone has a

High Functional Load)DECISION: Didinga only represent tone minimal pairs that are

function wordsː H,L hatɪ ‘in order to’ H hɪC ‘and, with, for, from’L,L hatɪ ‘will’ L hɪ ‘as with’

In such words, high tone is marked with acute accent C; Low tone is unmarked.

C. Only represent the grammatical differences made by tone with diacritics or punctuation

‘BELI SudanRoot Tone on noun Prepositional tone on noun

L dɔ � gɔ�mʊM ‘head of man’ M dɔ � gɔ�mʊM ‘on man’L kNpa � gɔ�mʊM ‘mouth of man’ M kNpa � gɔ�mʊM ‘at

man’L ɓɔ � gɔ�mʊM ‘footprint of man’ Mbɔ � gɔ�mʊM ‘for man’L kɔ � gɔ�mʊM ‘eye of man’ M kɔ � gɔ�mʊM ‘between

man’L ro � gɔ�mʊM ‘back of man’ M ro � gɔ�mʊM ‘ahead of

man’

In one ‘BELI story (narrative), there were 9 times in 17 sentences (50%) that one of these words occurred


‘BELI SudanDemonstrative Tone Relative Clause Conjunction ToneL na ‘this’ H na M ‘who, which’L bʊA ‘that’ H bʊC ‘who, which’L tɛC ‘that (mentioned before)’ H tɛC ‘who,

which’

Demonstrative Tone L Yikolu na � ka yi. ‘This person is coming.’ L Yikolu bʊA ka yi. ‘That person is coming.’L Yikolu tɛ� ka yi. ‘That person (mentioned before) is

coming.’Relative Clause Conjunction ToneH Yikolu na mbe ka yi. ‘Person who is brave is coming’H Yikolu bʊ M mbe ka yi. ‘Person who is brave is coming.’H Yikolu tɛC mbe ka yi. ‘Person who is brave is coming.’In one ‘Beli story, about 40% of sentences had one of these words used

as either a demonstrative or conjunction.


‘BELI Sudan 26 consonant phonemes 3 tone phonemes (/H/, /M/, /L/)10 vowel phonemes 7 contrastive tone


About 3% tone minimal pairs in nounsAbout 12% tone minimal pairs between different parts of

speech. Most of these minimal pairs are between nouns and verbs.

About 50% of sentences have either a noun such as L dɔA ‘head’ or its prepositional meaning such as M dɔE ‘on’.

About 40% of sentences have either a demonstrative such as L na ‘that’ or its relative conjunction H na ‘which, who’.


‘BELI Sudan 26 consonant phonemes 3 tone phonemes (/H/, /M/, /L/)10 vowel phonemes 7 contrastive tone


About 3% tone minimal pairs in nounsAbout 12% tone minimal pairs between different parts of speech.

Most of these minimal pairs are between nouns and verbs.About 50% of sentences have either a noun such as L dɔA ‘head’ or

its prepositional meaning such as M dɔE ‘on’.About 40% of sentences have either a demonstrative such as L na

‘that’ or its relative conjunction H na ‘which, who’. (Lexical and Grammatical Tone has a High Functional Load)


DECISION: ‘Beli only represent tone with diacritics or punctuation.

1) The first vowel of all verbs is underlined; Vowels with falling or rising tone are lengthened.

Sound Written Sound WrittenL-HL ɗo ’do ‘thigh’ ɗo ’doWo ‘put down (V)’H-HL ɗɔM ’dɔ ‘thing’ ɗɔY ’dɔWɔ ‘cultivate (V)’L-LM bi bi ‘hair’ bi \ bii ‘place’

2) All prepositions are connected with a hyphen to the following noun.

Root Tone on noun Prepositional tone on noun

L dɔ gɔmu ‘head of man’ M dɔ-gɔmu ‘on man’

L kNpa gɔmu ‘mouth of man’ M kNpa-gɔmu ‘at man’

L ’bɔ gɔmu ‘footprint of man’ Mbɔ-gɔmu ‘for man’

L kɔ gɔmu ‘eye of man’ M kɔ-gɔmu ‘between man’

L ro gɔmu ‘back of man’ M ro -gɔmu‘ahead of man’


DECISION: ‘Beli only represent tone with diacritics or punctuation.

3) A comma is placed before each conjunction and at the end of relative clauses.

Demonstrative Tone L Yikolu na kaW yi W. ‘This person is coming.’ L Yikolu bu kaW yi W. ‘That person is coming.’L Yikolu tɛ kaW yi W. ‘That person (mentioned before)

is coming.’

Relative Clause Conjunction ToneH Yikolu, na mbeW, kaW yi W. ‘Person, who is brave, is

coming’H Yikolu, bu mbeW, kaW yi W. ‘Person, who is brave, is

coming.’H Yikolu, tɛ mbeW, kaW yi W. ‘Person, who is brave, is coming.’

D. Represent the changes of tone produced by word rules throughout the language

CHUMBURUNG Ghana9 vowel phonemes Syllable types CV, CVŋ,

CVʔ4 contrastive tone melodies 2 tone phonemes

(/H/, /L/)

7 tone processes changing tone in predictable environments.(Lexical and Grammatical Tone have a High Functional

Load)

DECISION: Chumburung represents the differences of tone produced by word rules throughout the language

Word Rules (Lexical processes) produce sounds speakers are aware of; the sound differences (changes produced by the rule) should be written

a) If there are genuine exceptions to a process, it must be a word rule.

b) If a process does not have a phonetic reason (if the sound changes are not easier for the mouth to pronounce), it must be a word rule.

c) If the process is not found in roots but only across morpheme boundaries, it must be a word rule.

d) If speakers are aware of the sounds produced by a process, the process must be a word rule.

Phrase Rules (Postlexical processes) produce sounds speakers are not aware of; the sound differences (changes produced by the rule) should not be written.

a) If a sound produced by a process is an allophone, the process must be a phrase rule.

b) If a process occurs across a word boundary, it must be a phrase rule.

c) If a sound produced by a process is gradient (partially voiced, partially aspirated, etc.), the process must be a phrase rule.

d) If speakers are not aware of the sounds produced by a process, the process must be a phrase rule.


Exercise 1ː Is the following a word rule or phrase rule? How should we write the tone?

Low falling (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider) /L/ [L falling] at end of a word said by itself

[L] elsewhere L falling is never contrastive with L in Chumburung. Underlying Surface Orthography/ 2 2 / [2 a] keri keri ‘lizard’[4 2] [4 a] gNbaⁿd a gNbaⁿd a ‘cassava’



Low falling (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider) /L/ [L falling] at end of a word said by itself

[L] elsewhere L falling is never contrastive with L in Chumburung. Underlying Surface Orthography/ 2 2 / [2 a] keri keri keri ‘lizard’[4 2] [4 a] gNbaⁿd a gNbaⁿd a gNbaⁿd3a ‘cassava’Phrase rule indicator• Sound change (L [L falling]) is an allophoneDon’t write the sound changes produced by the rule



High Tone Dissimilation (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)

/H/ /L/ before + H or LH /H/ elsewhere

Underlying Surface Orthography /4 4 4/ [2 3 3]a-fʊrɪ afʊrɪ

‘PL-deer’/4 2 4 / [2 2 3] a-kɔtɪ akɔtɪ

‘PL-monkey’/4 2 2 / [4 4 p] ə-keri əkeri ‘PL-lizard’



High Tone Dissimilation (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)/H/ /L/ before + H or LH

/H/ elsewhere

Underlying Surface Orthography /4 4 4/ [2 3 3]a-fʊrɪ afʊrɪ afʊrɪ ‘PL-deer’/4 2 4 / [2 2 3] a-kɔtɪ akɔtɪ akɔtɪ ‘PL-

monkey’/4 2 2 / [4 4 p] ə-keri əkeri ə Mkeri ‘PL-lizard’

Word rule indicator• Changes do not occur in roots, but only across morpheme

boundaries.Write the sound changes produced by the rule



Automatic Downstep (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)/H/ [Lowered H] after L /L/ [Lowered L] after Lowered H

After High Dissimilation SurfaceOrthography

/ 2 4 / [2 3]in roots kɔtɪ kɔtɪ

‘monkey’ /2 4 4/ [2 3 3]

across morpheme a-fʊrɪ afʊrɪ ‘PL-deer’

boundaries/2 4/ / 4 2 / [2 3 3 1]

across word kɔti keri kɔti keri ‘monkey’s boundaries

lizard’



Automatic Downstep (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)/H/ [Lowered H] after L /L/ [Lowered L] after Lowered H

After High Dissimilation Surface Orthography/ 2 4 / [2 3]

in roots kɔtɪ kɔtɪ kɔ�tɪC ‘monkey’ /2 4 4/ [2 3 3]

across morpheme a-fʊrɪ afʊrɪ afʊMrɪC ‘PL-deer’ boundaries

/2 4/ / 4 2 / [2 3 3 1]across word kɔti keri kɔti keri kɔ�ti keri ‘monkey’s

boundaries lizard’Phrase rule indicators• Change occurs across word boundaries• Sound changes (H [M] and L [extra L]) are allophonesDon’t write the sound changes produced by the rule



High Tone Rightward Spreading (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)

/L/ /H/ after H

Underlying Surface Orthography

/4 4/ /2 2/ [4 4 4(2)a]dapu keri dapu keri ‘hawk’s

lizard’/H,H/ /L,L/ [H,H H,L falling]/4 4/ /2 4/ [4 4 4(2)3]fʊrʊ kɔtɪ fʊrʊ kɔꜜtɪ ‘deer’s

monkey’/H,H//L,H/ [H,H H,Lowered H]



High Tone Rightward Spreading (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)

/L/ /H/ after H


/4 4/ /2 2/ [4 4 4(2)a]dapu keri dapu keri dapu keri ‘hawk’s lizard’/H,H/ /L,L/ [H,H H,L falling]/4 4/ /2 4/ [4 4 4(2)3]fʊrʊ kɔtɪ fʊrʊ kɔꜜtɪ fʊMrʊM kɔA tɪ ‘deer’s

monkey’/H,H//L,H/ [H,H H,Lowered H]

Phrase rule indicator• Change occurs across word boundariesDon’t write the sound changes produced by the rule



Non-Automatic Downstep (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)

/H/ [Lowered H] after floating L

After High Spreading Surface Orthography

/4 4/ / 4(2) 4 / [4 4 4(2)3]fʊrʊ kɔtɪ fʊrʊ kɔꜜtɪ ‘deer’s

monkey’/H,H//H(L),H/ [H,H H,Lowered H]



Non-Automatic Downstep (CHUMBURUNG Ghana—Snider)

/H/ [Lowered H] after floating L

After High Spreading Surface Orthography

/4 4/ / 4(2) 4 / [4 4 4(2)3]fʊrʊ kɔtɪ fʊrʊ kɔꜜtɪ fʊMrʊM kɔMtɪ M ‘deer’s

monkey’/H,H//H(L),H/ [H,H H,Lowered H]

Phrase rule indicators• Change occurs across word boundaries• Sound changes (H [Lowered H]) is an allophoneDon’t write the sound changes produced by the rule


Tone Melodies in GAAHMG SudanCVVC nouns CVCVC nouns CVCVVC nounsH pɔMɔMr ‘boat’ basar ‘dried food’ wɛMraad3 ‘clan mem.’M baal ‘cave’ t 3ɛ�d3ɛ�l ‘bird type’ kalaad3 ‘tongue’L dɛ�ɛ�l ‘collar bone’ d3 irim ‘tree type’ sɛ�ŋaad3 ‘instrument’HL sɛMɛ�n ‘ruler’ fid3 in ‘perfume’HM ɲiid3 ‘tooth’ bɔMrɛ�d3 ‘eye matter’ML bɛ�ɛ�l ‘metal’ mɔ�sɔ�r ‘horse’ gə�muur‘dove’LH d3ɔ�ɔMr ‘fence’ mɔ�d3aal ‘hatred’LM d3ɛ�ɛ�r ‘leach’ gə�mə�l ‘forest’ barɔ�ɔ� l ‘cistern’MH buul ‘bread’ cɛ�yam ‘tobacco’ sɛ�wɛMɛMl ‘tree type’

• Speakers are aware of which melody is on which word, but not usually aware of which tone is on which syllable.

• So, in alphabet books and primers, make a page for each tone melody. (9 pages in Gaahmg) Don’t make a page for each underlying level tone phoneme (/H/, /M/, /L/).

• Readers will more easily learn to read tone because they will more easily be able to recognize the tone melody; more pages will give more practice reading tone.


Tone melodies in MENDE (From Leben 1978ː 186)CV CVCV CVCVCV

/H/ [4] [4 4] [4 4 4]kɔ ‘war’ pɛlɛ ‘house’ hawama ‘waistline’

/L/ [1] [1 1] [1 1 1]/kNpa ‘debt’ bɛlɛ ‘trousers’ kNpakali‘chair’

/HL/ [p] [4 1] [4 1 1]mNbu ‘owl’ nNgɪla ‘dog’ felama ‘junction’

/LH/ [P] [1 4] [1 4 4]mNba ‘rice’ fande ‘cotton’ nNdavula‘sling’

/LHL/[Pp] [1 p] [1 4 1]mNba ‘companion’ ɲaha ‘woman’ nikili‘groundnut’

• For alphabet books and primers in languages with fewer tone melodies, such as Chumburung and Mende, make 1 page for each tone melody in each syllable structure. (5 X 3=15 pages for Mende).


17. Study the Tone System G. Decide if/how to write tone in the orthography.

1. Based on the functional load of tone, choose one of the following optionsː

A. No representation of tone in the orthography after testingB. Only represent tone on tone minimal pairs that are function

words (part of speech with few words)C. Only represent the grammatical differences made by tone with

diacritics or punctuationD. Represent the changes of tone produced by word rules

throughout the language

2. Test the orthography and revise accordingly.

Class Assignmentː1. Decide if the following process is a word rule or

phrase rule. If the tonal changes produced by word rules are represented throughout the language, decide how the tone should be written in the orthography.

High Tone Lowering (GAAHMG Sudan)

/H/ [M] after L +


/ 2 43 / /2 33 /

aɔl-ɛɛg aɔl-ɛɛg ‘brother’

/L-HM/ /L-M/

/ 4 43 / / 4 43 /

luɲ-ɛɛg luɲ-ɛɛg ‘boomerang’

/H-HM/ /H-HM/

There are LM and LH root tone melodies as in barɔ�ɔ� l ‘cistern’, mɔ�d aal ‘hatred’

grammatical tone assignment answersː present pronounspossessive pronouns ò‘you...

Documents