A Grammar of Fongbe Volume 1 () || 2. Overview of the phonology

Chapter 2Overview of the phonology

This chapter presents an overview of the phonology. First, the segmental inventories(section 2.1) and the syllable structures (section 2.2) are discussed. Fongbe has fourteenvowels (seven oral and seven nasal) and twenty-seven consonants, twenty-one of whichhave a phonemic status. It has three types of syllable structures: V, CV and CCV. Thetonal system (section 2.3) is somewhat complex, with two lexical tones, high and low,which may be modified by means of tonal processes to derive three further phonetictones: rising low-high, falling high-low and mid. The phonological processes ofaffrication, rounding and nasalisation, which apply at the segmental level, are the topicof section 2.4, which also discusses a surface filter that constrains the phoneticrealisation of identical forms. Following a brief summary (section 2.5), theorthographic conventions adopted in the transcription of Fongbe examples throughoutthe book are presented (section 2.6).

2.1. Segmental inventories

The vowel system of Fongbe, shown in (1), consists of seven oral and seven nasalvowels, including two high nasal vowels (see Brillon—Brousseau 1986; Capo 1985b,1991).

(1) INVENTORY OF VOWELS IN FONGBEa. ORAL

Central Backuοο

ab. NASAL

Front Central BackHigh ΓMid-high (e) (δ)Mid-low έ 5Low

(adapted from Capo 1991)

According to Capo (1991: 26), the inventory in (1) is found in all F n, Phla-Pherand Aj lects; with the exception of /ε/, it represents the core phonemic system of theGbe lects.1 This inventory is both phonemic and phonetic, with the followingexceptions: the nasal vowels lei and /δ/ may be phonetically realised as such in only

HighMid-highMid-lowLow

Frontieε

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162. Overview of the phonology

three lects (two Vhe lects and one Gen lect). In all other Gbe lects, including Fongbe,the sole realisations for nasal mid vowels are [έ] and [δ]. On the basis of this dialectalvariation, and in line with the diachronic rules he adopts for the reconstruction of Proto-Gbe, Capo (1991: 69) concludes that lei and Ιοί are part of the phonemic inventory ofall Gbe lects, and that they are lowered to [έ] and [5] by means of a phonological rule.The lowering rule is obligatory in lects like Fongbe where [έ] and [5] are the onlyrealisations of nasal mid vowels; the lowering rule is optional in the three lects where/e/ and /δ/ are realised either as such, or as [έ] and [5]. Thus, synchronically, the heightdistinction in mid nasal vowels is always neutralised in Fongbe. In the inventory in(1), /e/ and lot are represented in parentheses to indicate this fact.

The inventory of consonants in Fongbe shown in (2) is based on the work ofBrillon—Brousseau (1986) and Capo (1991). Consonants shown in square brackets arecontextually determined phonetic variants. This inventory includes twenty-onephonemic and six phonetic consonants.

(2) INVENTORY OF CONSONANTS IN FONGBEBilabial Labio- Alveo- Alveo- Palatal Velar Labio-

dental dental palatal velarStop - voiceless [p] t k kpStop - voiced d g gbAffricate - voiceless cAffricate - voiced jFricative - voiceless f s χ xwFricative - voiced ν ζ γ ywSonorant b [m] q\ [n] |ji]Sonorant - liquid 1 [r]Sonorant - glide w y [y]

The most striking fact about the inventory of consonants in (2) is that it lacks aphonemic /p/. In Fongbe, [p] is found in very few lexical items. In his dictionary,Segurola (1963) lists only 16 words with an initial [p]. Examples are given in (3).2

(3) LOANWORDS IDEOPHONESpadli 'missionary' ρίράπ 'train'papa 'pope' ρέρέ/ρέρέρέ/ρέέ 'exactly'pil 'pillar'posu 'mail'p nt kotu 'Pentecost'p ki 'Easter'

As shown above, words with an initial [p] are either ideophones or words borrowedfrom French or Portuguese. Interestingly, in other loanwords, the /p/ of the sourcelanguage has been analysed as /f/, as illustrated in (4). This suggests that [p] does nothave a phonemic status in Fongbe.



Segmental inventories 17

(4) cofiikofu

'shop' (from English'shop')'glass' (from English 'cup')

As noted in Capo (1991: 80), there appears to be much variation with respect to thisconsonant in modern Gbe lects. While all Gen lects have a phonemic /p/, Aja and Vhelects follow the Fongbe pattern, showing a phonetic [p] in loanwords and ideophones.In Phla-Pherä lects, the consonant is not attested at all.

Since Fongbe lacks a phonemic /p/, it is not surprising that it also lacks a voicedbilabial stop. I believe that /b/ is best analysed as a sonorant in Fongbe, since it hasthe same distributional constraints as sonorants. Piggott (1992), Rice (1993) andRice—Avery (1989) argue for a similar analysis of voiced obstruents in otherlanguages. They show that consonants which are otherwise assumed to be voicedobstruents are in fact best analysed as sonorants, since they share properties with othersonorants in the language. As noted in Capo (1991: 42), /b/ and [m] are incomplementary distribution.3 In Fongbe, as in other Gbe lects, /b/ occurs before oralvowels and sonorants only (see (5a)) while [m] occurs before nasal segments only (see(5b)). Thus, while we find forms such as those in (5), forms such as those in (6) areunattested in the language.4

(5) a. ft/ 'all'bu 'to loosen/to untie'byo 'to ask'

(6) *ban, *bon, *bun, etc.*mi, *mu, *myo, etc.

b. manmanämänmun

'to see''negation''vegetable'

In this respect, /b/ follows the behaviour of other sonorants, where a nasal allophone isfound in the environment of a following nasal vowel. As the inventory in (2) shows,the implosive /d/ alternates with [n] (e.g. *[dj>], *[dji], but [no] 'habitually', [nä] 'togive'), while the glide /y/ alternates with [y] and [p].5 These last two nasal allophonesare in free variation in Fongbe, as the examples in (7) show.

(7) a.b.

[nä] ~ [yä]/yänü/

c. 16 jijäyi/

[y5nu][ u][6 j[ jijäjii]

'to wash''woman''woman''He fell.''He fell.'

The nasalisation of sonorants is also attested in Fongbe for /w/ and /!/ (creating [w]and [ ], respectively). The latter two have not been included in the inventory becausethey are the result of a very superficial process of nasalisation (see section 2.4.3). Thereason [y] is included in the inventory in (2) is that [y] appears in free variation with /n/in Fongbe (as well as in some Vhe lects; see Capo 1991). Capo (1991) reports that inall Gbe lects /w/ is realised as [q] in rapid speech, when in the environment of a



182. Overview of the phonology

following HI. Since this variant is also the result of a superficial phoneticphenomenon, it has been omitted from the inventory.

The last phonetic variant of the system to be discussed is [r]. It is an allophone of IIIthat occurs after a coronal consonant (alveo-dental or alveo-palatal). In this context, [r]is in free variation with the phonemic III. The examples in (8) show the distribution ofthe two variants, in native words (8a) and in loanwords (8b).

(8)*0g»blolbolomimäßöljöloblikäslgäläglädipädü

**kre*gö*brol*boro*hräl*häräjröl*jdro*brikä*slgärä*grädipädn

'to bathe''lemon*'field''to make''hyena''to want''lighter''cigarette''grade''missionary'

(from French bnquet)(from French cigarette)(from French grade)(from Portuguese padre)

According to Capo (1991), 19 of the 21 phonemic consonants in (2) are found in allGbe lects. The phonemes / / and /j/ are found in all lects but two: one Vhe lect andone Phla-Pherä lect. The consonant /xw/ is found in all Gbe lects except Vhe and Gen,in which the consonant corresponding to Fongbe /xw/ is realised as /p/ or as a bilabial[f]. The consonant /yw/ is found in all Gbe lects but Vhe, where it is realised as [v].According to Capo (1991) all Gbe lects have / / as a fricative; furthermore the sonorant[ ] occurs in Gen and Aja lects, as well as in all but one Vhe lect.6

2.2. Syllable structures

Like all Gbe lects, Fongbe has no closed syllables. Possible syllable structures,illustrated below in (9), are V, CV and QC2V where Ci can only be HI or lyl (see Ansre1961; Bole-Richard 1983; Brillon-Brousseau 1986; Capo 1991; Westennan 1930).

(9) V: ä 'you (singular)'all 'road'oku 'death'

CV: 2? 'to take'xo 'to buy'kpavi 'small'

CIV: klo 'to wash'wlf 'to catch'

CyV: byS 'to ask''axe'



klo *wli -xwle -byo *fyon -lyä -

- kolo- wüi-- biyo- fiyon- liyä

'to wash''to catch''to peel''to ask''to twist''to climb'

Syllable structures 19

In CiC2V syllables, consonant clusters are constrained by the co-occurrencerestrictions noted in (10) (see Capo 1991, sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2).

(10) CO-OCCURRENCE RESTRICTIONS ON CONSONANT CLUSTERSGI = any C except ^ and n when C2 = 1GI = any C except n, t, d, , j, ji, k, g, kp and gb when C2 = y

As shown in (10), /!/ may follow any consonant except the alveo-dental sonorant /dyand its allophone [n]. Consonant clusters are more constrained when C^ is the glide /y/:the first consonant may be any fricative but /xw/ and /yw/, or the sonorant /b/ or /dy.7

Note that a C^V syllable is sometimes realised as a disyllabic form in emphaticspeech and in oral literature. For instance, we find the alternate realisations in (11):

(11) a. CIV:

b. CyV:

Following Brillon—Brousseau (1986) and Capo (1991), I assume that the phonologicalrepresentations of forms such as the examples in (11) include a consonant cluster.8 Thedisyllabic forms are derived by means of epenthesis: a copy of the vowel is inserted tobreak the Cl cluster, while an I'll is inserted to break the Cy cluster (see Capo 1991,sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2).

This analysis is consistent with Fongbe's predilection for monosyllables. Indeed, anexamination of the vocabulary reveals that simple words are almost exclusivelymonosyllabic. Polysyllabic words are either loanwords or complex words derived bymeans of affixation, reduplication or compounding (see chapters 8 and 9).

Since Fongbe does not allow closed syllables, words borrowed from languages suchas English or French often need to undergo phonological adaptation in order to conformto the native syllable structures. This is illustrated below, with words borrowed fromFrench.

(12) FONGBE FRENCHa. Vepenthesis: [äyo] < [ay] 'garlic'

[maCini] < [majin] 'machine'b. C deletion: [posü] < [post] 'mail'

[dötoö] < [doktoer] 'doctor'

As the examples in (12) show, there are two strategies in Fongbe for adapting aloanword to its syllable structure: insertion of the epenthetic vowel /i/, or deletion ofthe syllable-final consonant.



20 2. Overview of the phonology

2.3. Tones

Fongbe is a lexical tone language (see Brillon—Brousseau 1986; Brousseau 1991,1993a; Brousseau—Brillon 1990; Wiesemann 1991). The phonological representationof lexical items includes a specification for one of two tones—low or high—and thereare numerous minimal pairs which can be distinguished only by tone, such as gb 'tobreak' and gb 'to build', xu 'sea' and xu 'bone', g n 'iron' and g n 'chief.Phonological tones may be modified lexically or postlexically, yielding three phonetictones: rising (LH), falling (HL), and mid (M). The rising LH tone is the realisation of ahigh tone following a voiced consonant. The falling tone HL is the realisation of a lowtone after spreading of a preceding high tone. Finally, the mid tone is a phonetic variantof the two complex tones (rising and falling) found in some lects (particularly, those ofOuidah and Porto-Novo).9

2.3.7. Phonological tones

At the lexical level, the following tonal patterns can be found in underived lexicalitems. Monosyllables are either L, H or LH (after a voiced consonant) and disyllables areeither L-L, H-H, L-H or L-LH (again, after a voiced consonant). These patterns areexemplified in (13).

(13) a. gb 'to break/to destroy' b. si 'wife'so 'to take' cici 'glasses'gb 'to build' linkon 'millet'

avun 'dog'

The same tone patterns are found in disyllabic nouns and adjectives derived by meansof reduplication. As we will see in section 8.3, since reduplication is a form ofprefixation, the tone of the first syllable of the reduplicated form depends on the tonesof the stem. Thus, reduplicated forms show the following patterns: L-L when the stembears a low tone (14a), H-H when the stem bears a high tone and has an initial voicelessconsonant (14b), and L-H when the stem bears a high tone and has an initial voicedconsonant (14c).

(14) a. gbigba < gb 'to break/to destroy'γϊγέη < γέη 'to hold'xixa < xa 'to read/to count'tieft < t 'to sift'

b. siso < so 'to take'χίχΐέ < χΐέ 'to show/to teach'

c. gbigb < gb 'to build'jiji < β 'to swell'



Tones 21

Given the two basic tones L and H, a fourth combination—H-L—is logically possiblein disyllables. The H-L pattern is never found in native words, but is systematicallyassigned to loanwords, as illustrated in (15). This may be a strategy used to identifywords of a foreign origin (see Brousseau 1991,1993a).

(15) biki 'pen' (from trademark Bic)sod 'bucket' (from French seau)padli 'missionnary' (from Portuguese padre)

Except for a few proper nouns, words of more than two syllables in Fongbe arecomplex words, usually compounds, and do not exhibit any particular tonal pattern.The lexical tones of words concatenated into compounds often undergo tonalmodifications, creating the phonetic tones LH, HL and M.

2.3.2. Derivation of the LH tone

Of the three phonetic tones, only the LH tone can occur in monosyllabic words inisolation. It is not a phonological tone, however, since its realisation is contextual, anddepends on an adjacent segment. The LH and H tones are found in complementarydistribution: the voiced quality of the preceding consonant determines the LH tone.10 Itappears after a voiced consonant or a sonorant (including the implosive /d/), but neverafter a voiceless consonant, as shown in the following examples.

(16) a. vl 'child' b. fa 'fresh''to build' kpe 'to meet''evil spell' äson 'fresh water crab''mashed yam' linkun 'millet'

wä 'to arrive'operator in relative clauses

c. *vL

Hypothetical forms such as those illustrated in (16c) and (16d) are not possible inFongbe. A simple H tone may not follow a voiced obstruent or a sonorant, and a risingLH tone may not follow a voiceless obstruent. This distribution can be explained if weconsider that the L tone in the LH contour has come from the preceding consonant.1'

Similarly, the complementary distribution of L and H tones on the first syllable ofreduplicated forms logically follows if we assume that voiced consonants bear somesort of a L tone. The tone on the prefix is the result of the spreading of the first tone ofthe stem. When the stem begins with a voiceless consonant, the vowel bears the firsttone, yielding a H-H or a L-L pattern as in (17a). When the stem begins with a voicedconsonant, the consonant bears the first tone (a L tone), yielding a L-H pattern or a L-Lpattern as in (17b).



kpikpo < kpotit < tgblgb < φαγίγέη < γέΛ

'to meet''to sift''to build''to hold'


(17) a.

b.

2.3.3. Postlexical tonal modification

Three processes modify lexical tones when they are concatenated into phrases orcompound words. They may be schematised as in (18).

(18) TONAL PROCESSESa. High tone spreading: High spreads to the right until the end of

the tonal domainb. High tone absorption: LH —» L / Hc. Low tone unlinking: LH -> H / H

All tonal processes operate within the boundaries of a tonal domain. Tonal domainscorrespond quite straightforwardly to morphological or syntactic domains. Thus, aderived word, either affixed or compounded, always constitutes a tonal domain. Withinsentences, tonal domains correspond to phrasal units such as [NPsubject-INFL-Verb],[N-DEF-PL], [NPcomplement-N], [NPcomplement-P].

The spreading of the H tone is the main process which modifies lexical tones whenwords are concatenated in a sentence or in a compound word. The H tone spreads fromleft to right until the end of its tonal domain.12 Where it stops spreading, it forms acontour HL tone with the L tone on the last syllable of the domain. As shown in (19), asequence formed by the subject NP, tense, mood and aspect markers, and the verbconstitutes such a tonal domain, while the NP object of the verb forms another domain.(The limits of domains are represented by braces in the example below.)

(19) a. {έ s } { son w£} -> {e s } { son w^}(s)he sell crab two'(S)he sold two crabs.'

b. {e kd xo} { son} -> {eko'xS} { son}(s)he ANT buy crab'(S)he bought some crab.'

c. { s -τηέ} -» { s -ητε}thigh-inside'groin'

d. {hw£vi-sa-to}fish-sell-AG'fishmonger*



Tones 23

Note that H tone spreading may lead to unlinking of an intervening L tone. This iswhat happens in the forms (19b) and (19d), where the unlinked L manifests itself as adownstep (shown by an apostrophe in the example). Phonetically, the effect of thedownstep is to lower all the following H tones in the tonal domain.

Tonal domains are right-dominant, that is, the last syllable occupies the strongposition in the domain. In Fongbe, the high tone is the strong tone of the system.High tone spreading (and the two other processes modifying lexical tones) must applyto ensure that the rightmost position of a tonal domain is occupied by a strong tone.As we have seen in (19), the object NP is normally outside the tonal domain whichends with the preceding verb. When this NP is a monosyllabic word bearing a low tone,though, it is incorporated into the preceding tonal domain. As a result of thisincorporation, the object bears a falling tone, after high tone spreading has applied tothe end of the domain:

(20) a. {ft so} {£} -» { sot }you mash yam'You mashed yams.'

b. {έ ίο s } {£} -* {e no s tB}(s)he HAB sell yam'(S)he usually sells yams.'

High tone spreading to the object is subject to the strict condition of NP monosylla-bicity. As proposed in Brousseau (1991), Fongbe has a constraint which stipulates thatevery tone must belong to a tonal domain. In the strings shown in (20), the domainending with the verb is extended in order to include the stray syllable of the N Pobject.13

The effect of the two other processes modifying tones (see (18b) and (18c)) is tosimplify a complex LH tone. They are strictly local processes, that is, the modificationis triggered by the tone adjacent to the LH tone.

The first process is what I call absorption of H. This process applies when Himmediately follows LH: the last tone of the complex LH is absorbed by the followingH. This is shown below.

(21) a. {# so}they take chief'They elected a chief.'

b. {e wli} {VE 6} -» {e wli} {νέο}(s)he catch varan DEF'(S)he caught the varan.'

The second process involves the unlinking of the first tone of the complex LH whenit is immediately preceded by an H. The L, which occurs between two H tones, isunlinked. As shown in (22), the output is a simple H tone.14




(22) a. {e gbä xwe} -»(s)he build house'(S)he built some houses.'

b. {nü-wlän-nify -> {nu-wlän- }thing-write-thing'writing case'

To sum up, while tones are lexical in Fongbe, they undergo changes that are imposedby their organisation into larger metrical units (Brousseau 1991; Brousseau—Brillon1990; Wiesemann 1991). As noted in Wiesemann (1991), these units are determined onthe basis of grammatical constructions and semantic considerations, just as accentstructures are in full-fledged intonation languages.

2.3.4. The mid tone

For some speakers, the M tone is an alternate realisation for a rising or falling tone.Thus, a HL resulting from H tone spreading may be levelled to M, particularly byspeakers of the Ouidah and Porto-Novo areas. For them, the forms in (19) arepronounced as in (23) (where the M tone is left unmarked).

(23) a. {e sä} {äsSn we}(s)he sell crab two'(S)he sold two crabs.'

b. {e ko XD} {äson}(s)he ANT buy crab'(S)he bought some crab.'

c. {äsä-me}thigh-inside'groin'

The M tone is also found in compounds as an alternate realisation of a LH tone, asshown in the following examples.

(24) äßnäku ~ äjinaku 'elephant'titigw&i ~ titigwetf 'swallow' (a kind of bird)ägbl-gö ~ agbi-go 'snail shell'

Finally, this alternate realisation occurs quite often with the pronoun of first and secondperson plural (see chapter 4), which appears either as ml or mi.

In summary, Fongbe has two phonological tones, high and low. Three other tonesoccur in the language, the two complex LH and HL, and the levelled mid. The latterthree tones are best analysed as phonetic realisations of L or H, since their occurrence istotally predictable and contextually determined.



Phonological processes 25

2.4. Phonological processes

Three phonological processes apply at the segmental level in Fongbe: affrication,vowel harmony (mainly rounding), and nasalisation. These will be discussed in turn.

2.4.1. Affrication

In Fongbe, affrication is a very superficial phenomenon, always optional, and occurringin rapid speech (see Brillon—Brousseau 1986).15 Affrication occurs when the alveo-dental stops /t/ and /d/ are followed by a front high vowel. Outputs vary across lects:place of articulaton may remain the same, yielding [ts] and [dz], or palatalisation mayoccur, yielding [δ] and []]. The two variants are shown in (25) and (26), respectively.

(25) a . i t -> ts | /__i

j d &\b. /6 no df/ -> [enodzl]

it HAB be.very.good'It is very good.'/ ti kl£/ -» [atslkl£]you squeeze lemon'You squeezed some lemons.'

(26) a . i t -> δ 1 /_iI d j J

b. /6 ηδ at -» [6nojf]it HAB be.very.good'It is very good.'/ ti k!6/ -» [aclklo]you squeeze lemon'You squeezed some lemons.'

2.4.2. Rounding and vowel harmony

There are two processes of vowel rounding in Fongbe; they involve rounding of thehigh vowel /i/. Both processes are restricted in their application, since they occur onlyin loanwords and in some affixes. The first process is what Capo (1991) calls labialattraction. The epenthetic vowel I'll is rounded to [u] when preceded by a labialconsonant. This process applies only to loanwords subject to phonologicaladaptation.16 This is illustrated below.

(27) /gomi/ —> [gom ] 'eraser' (from French gomme)/glevi/ -» [glevu] 'strike' (from French grove)




The second process of vowel rounding is the result of vowel harmony. Here again, itapplies to loanwords; the epenthetic I'll is rounded when a neighbouring vowel is round.

(28) /fosi/ -> [fos ] 'force' (from French force)/sikuTi/ -» [sukulu] 'school' (from English school)

The epenthetic HI in the reduplication prefix is also affected by vowel harmony. Thiscan vary across lects. As noted in Capo (1991: 132), in Maxi and Agbome lects, HI isrealised as [u] whenever the first vowel of the radical is round. In Gun lects, only thepresence of the round high vowel /u/ in the radical will trigger vowel harmony. Thesevariations are shown in (29).

(29) Radical (verb) Maxi Agbome Gunγ// 'to kill' γ#γ£ γ£γ# γ£γ//so 'to pound' suso suso sisoφ 'to say' φφ φφ φφs£ 'to hear' sls£ s!s£ sls£

Finally, vowel harmony applies to words derived by means of the diminutive suffix(see Brillon—Brousseau 1986). In this case, the vowel HI of the suffix is rounded to [u]when the preceding vowel is round, as shown below.

(30) a. /acu-vi/ -» [acuvu]rat-DIM'baby rat'

b. /t v -vi/ -> [t v vu]table-DIM'stool'

Vowel harmony can also occur when two vowels form a hiatus between a verb andits direct object. In this case, vowel harmony applies conjointly with a process ofvowel reduction. Two types of objects beginning with a vowel may be found in thiscontext, the third person singular pronoun έ, and nouns beginning with a-.

When a noun begins with -, the first vowel in hiatus (the final vowel of the verb) isdeleted, as shown in the examples below.

(31) /gbaaz5/ -> [gbaz5] 'to heal' [Lit.: calm disease]/do wu/ -» [dawu] 'to dress' [Lit.: put clothes]/j£ yi/ -> [j yl] 'to fall down' [Lit.: fall ground]

The reduction of the first vowel applies to all oral vowels except ill. This process isoptional in plain VPs, but obligatory when the hiatus is at the boundary of a light verband its inherent object.



Phonological processes 27

Vowel harmony at the boundary of the verb and the pronoun £ is a special case. Itmodifies the second vowel according to the various features of the first one, as shownbelow.

(32) a. /Asiba lie/ -» [Äsibä 111] 'Asiba ironed it.'b. /Asibä gäe/ -> [Asibä g£ ] 'Asiba sharpened it.'c. /Äsibä tue/ -» [Äsibä tu f] 'Asiba untied it.'

Traditional grammars of Fongbe give the form £ as the third person pronoun in objectposition. The form <? (with a high tone) appears in other positions. I prefer to assumethat the pronoun is phonologically underspecified (see also da Cruz—Avolonto 1993),i.e. it is marked with the feature [- back] only, and a low tone.17 To get a completephonetic interpretation, the pronoun must be adjoined to the preceding verb and acquirea full feature specification from the adjacent vowel. The various phonetic realisations ofthe pronoun are given below (where I represent the underspecified [- back] pronoun).

(33) i-I -> iie-I —> ee- —»

a-I —»u-I —> uio-I -» oeo-I -»

When the output of the process of harmony produces two homorganic and homotonalvowels, one of the vowels may be deleted. Thus, the forms in (32a) and (32b) abovehave the following alternative realisations.18

(34) a. [Äsibälii] ~ [Äsibä 11] 'Asiba ironed it.'v v v x v

b. [Asiba g£ ] ~ [Asiba g£] 'Asiba sharpened it.'

2.4.3. Nasalisation

The process of nasalisation applies to both consonants and vowels. As discussed insection 2.1, sonorants are systematically nasalised when followed by a nasal vowel.19

Thus, /b/, /dy, /y/, /w/, /!/ and its allophone [r] all undergo nasalisation, as shown inthe examples below.

(35) /b5/ -» [m5] 'to see'/(ja/ -> [nä] 'to give'/yi/ -» [yiv]or[ni] 'tobe'/wäläV -> [wMä] 'to write'/s!5/ -> [sf5] 'to imitate'




In theory, the fact that in a sonorant-vowel string, segments are either both nasal orboth oral, could alternatively be explained by a rule of nasalisation of the vowel,triggered by a preceding nasal sonorant (see Stahlke 1971). But Capo (1991) rejectssuch an analysis in favour of the one presented here, based on the fact that nasal vowelsalso appear after oral consonants (e.g. tiin 'to know', 'vase').

Nasalisation applies to vowels, but it is restricted to certain dependent morphemes.First, in reduplicated forms, the epenthetic vowel /i/ is nasalised when the vowel of thestem is nasal, as shown in (36).

(36) /fä//g!3//m5/

< [fifö]< [gtvgl5]< [mimö]

'climbing''mumbling''seeing'

Second, the vowel of the diminutive suffix -vi is nasalised when the stem includes anasal vowel:

(37) /äyu + vi/ -> [äyüyü] 'puppy'/da + vi/ -» [dävt] 'little snake'

Finally, the definite determiner 6 is nasalised when the preceding noun ends with a nasalvowel:

(38) /äyüo/ -» [äyü5] 'the dog'1 / -» [kali 5] 'the animal'

2.4.4. A surface constraint on adjacent forms

For most speakers of Fongbe, there is a surface constraint which prevents therealisation of two adjacent forms sharing the same segmental content. In other words,two forms which are identical at the segmental level cannot appear next to each other.Thus, for most speakers, the following sequences of morphemes would beungrammatical:

(39) *Suna (je-e äson _ 6_man OP-RES eat crab DBF DEF

(40) *Sunu 5 _ _ Bäyi äson oman DEF say COMP Bayi eat crab DEF

(41) *Sunu äson o ä_ ä_man DEF eat crab DEF Neg Q

As the above examples show, the surface constraint is not sensitive to other lexicalproperties of the adjacent forms. Two identical forms may not appear next to eachother, whether they are two distinct lexical items (e.g. (40) and (41)) or two instances



Orthographic conventions 29

of the same lexical item (e.g. (39)). Futhermore, as shown in (41), the two adjacentforms are considered as identical for the surface constraint, even if they have differenttone specifications. The surface constraint applies in a number of syntactic contexts, aswill be seen in various chapters of this book. It involves the definite determiner inrelative clauses (see section 3.7.3), some clause markers (see section 6.5.2) and thecomplementiser φ (see section 6.2.1).

It is worth noting that for some Fongbe speakers, the surface constraint is less strict.Hence, these speakers would allow the co-occurrence of the homophonous morphemesin (39) and (40). Variation among speakers with respect to this surface constraint willbe further discussed in sections 3.7.3, 6.2.1, 6.5.2 and 15.4.

2.5. Summary

The phonological inventory of Fongbe is comprised of fourteen vowels (seven oral andseven nasal), twenty-one consonants and two tones. Various phonological processesapply to these phonemes to derive further phonetic variants. At the segmental level, theprocesses are affrication, nasalisation and vowel harmony. At the tonal level, theprocesses are high tone and low tone spreading, high tone absorption and low toneunlinking. Fongbe has three types of syllable structures: V, CV and CCV (where thesecond C is either /!/ or /y/).

Capo (1991) provides the most extensive discussion of the phonology of Fongbe, aswell as many other Gbe lects. In addition, the segmental inventories of Fongbe may befound in Akoha (1980: 24-40, 1990: 36-44), Anonymous (1983: I, 1-7) andHounkpatin (1985: 16-18). Tones are discussed in Akoha (1980: 47-95, 1990: 44, 54-59), Anonymous (1983:1, 3-5, XIII, 7, XIII, 10) and Hounkpatin (1985: 19-20, 66-79). Syllable structures are presented in Akoha (1980: 40-47, 1990: 50-53) andHounkpatin (1985: 21—40), while phonological processes are discussed in Akoha(1980: 96-153, 1990: 44-50) and Hounkpatin (1985: 41-65). A discussion of thesegmental and tonal inventories of Gungbe is provided in Aboh (1998a: 36-48).

2.6. Orthographic conventions

In this book, Fongbe is transcribed in the official spelling as recommended by theBenin government. This alphabet is very close to the phonetic alphabet with theexception of the following four segments (see Fandohan 1985): h replaces [γ];c replaces [δ]; j replaces []]; ny replaces [n]. Nasal vowels are followed by an π (e.g. anstands for [ ]), except when they immediately follow a nasal consonant. Since the nasalquality of vowels is completely predictable in this context—vowels are alwaysnasalised following a nasal consonant—the nasal quality is not represented in theorthography (e.g. ma stands for [m ]). Similarly, the orthographic representation of thedeterminer is always o, although it is nasalised when the preceding noun ends with anasal vowel.




In Benin, it is customary to omit tones for orthographic representations: only thetones which may not be identified by the (native) reader are written. In order to facilitatethe reading of the examples by non-native speakers, we have chosen to systematicallyrepresent tones. Our conventions follow the tradition: the high tone is represented by anacute accent, the low tone by a grave accent, and the mid tone is left unrepresented. Inall the examples, lexical items are represented with their lexical tones. This conventionhas been adopted to render more clearly the forms of the lexical items given in theexamples. Thus, a given lexical item always appears in the same form, regardless of thetonal modifications it may undergo at the postlexical level. For example, consider theoperator φ in the sentence below. The first representation is the lexical one. Thelexical Η tone is modified to LH because of the voicing properties of the sonorant /<\l,yielding the second representation. The LH is then simplified to L, after the applicationof Η tone absorption, yielding the third representation.

(42) vf (je-e yi —» νϊ φ-e yi —» νϊ φ-έ yichild OP-RES leave'the child who has left'

Throughout the book, the operator will always be written as c[e, regardless of itsphonetic realisation ([dj6], [dj£] or [djfc]). Similarly, words with an LH tone derived fromthe L tone of a voiced consonant will be written with their phonological H tone: [n ] iswritten ηύ, [νϊ] is written vi, etc.

Note finally that, for compounds, lexical tones are those that manifest themselvesafter all tonal modifications required by the compounding process have applied at thelexical level. This reflects the fact that compounds are lexical structures. For instance,the derived representation on the right in (43) is the orthographic representation of thecompoundnuh'n'tfn 'idea'.

(43) ηύ-linlin -> ηύ-1ίη'1ίηthing-thought'idea/worry'

Notes to chapter 2

1. I follow Capo (1991) in adopting the term "lect" to refer to the mainsubdivisions of the Gbe dialect cluster. Capo subdivides the Gbe lects into five"sections": Vhe lects (i.e. Ewe), Gen lects, Aj lects, Fon lects, and Phla-Pherlects.

2. Throughout this chapter, examples are transcribed in orthography (italics), unlessthey appear between slashes (phonological form) or between square brackets(phonetic form). According to the orthographic conventions of section 2.6, nasalvowels are followed by an n, and the affricates /67 and /j/ are written c and/



Notes 31

3. Note that Capo analyses /b/ as a voiced stop, not as a sonorant.4. Nasal vowels are represented by a following π instead of a tilde (e.g. /a/ is

written an), according to the orthographic convention of section 2.6.5. According to the analysis in Brousseau (1993a), Aj/ is best analysed as a

sonorant, because it behaves like other sonorants such as /!/, [m] and [n] withrespect to tonological processes.

6. Other scholars state that in Ewe, /γ/ is realised either as a voiced fricative (Berry1951; Westerman 1930) or as a glide (Ansre 1961; Smith 1968). For Lafage(1985), the fricative and the glide are independent phonemes in the Eweinventory of consonants. See also Capo (1994) for a discussion of the velarsonorant in Gbe.

7. In theory, the CC cluster in Fongbe may be analysed as a branching onset (see(i)) or as a light diphthong, i.e. as a single point of skeleton attached to twosegments (see (ii)).

(i) Branching onset (ii) Light diphthongΟ Ν

Λ ΙX X Χ

Ι Λk l o k l ό

In Brousseau (in preparation), it is proposed that the two structures are bothfound in Fongbe. On the one hand, the co-occurrence constraints on C\C2clusters when €2 is a glide suggest a branching onset. On the other hand, the factthat CjC2 clusters are almost unconstrained when €2 is /!/ suggests that C2ispart of a light diphthong. The latter analysis is consistent with the behaviour ofreduplicated forms in Fongbe (see chapter 12). Words with ICyl strings undergo acomplete reduplication process: the entire syllable is copied to prefix position. Incontrast, words with /Cl/ strings undergo a kind of partial reduplication, whereonly the first consonant is spread to the prefix position. Thus, total reduplicationwould involve branching onsets, while partial reduplication would involve lightdiphthongs.

8. This epenthesis analysis is also assumed by Ansre (1961), Berry (1951), Bole-Richard (1976), and Westerman (1930). Gu6dou (1976) suggests instead that, inFongbe, the forms are basically disyllabic, but that they may be reduced to amonosyllable in rapid speech. See Capo (1991) for arguments in favour of theepenthesis analysis.

9. This section on tones is based mainly on the data and analyses in Brousseau(1991, 1993a), and Brousseau—Brillon (1990), which are compatible with Capo(1991). Except for a few details, the data presented here are also consistent withWiesemann (1991), who presents an analysis of tonal changes in whichintonational features are superimposed on the tonal system.




10. There is a sole exception to this: the yes-no question marker ä (see chapter 6),which bears a LH tone but is not preceded by any consonant. A reasonableexplanation for this exception is that the marker once was a CV form, with aninitial voiced consonant. As Bernard Comrie suggested (personalcommunication), another possible explanation is that the LH tone is thelexicalisation of a rising intonation pattern.

11. The derivation of LH tone is analysed in detail in Brousseau (1993a). FollowingHalle—Stevens (1975) and Kaye—Lowenstamm—Vergnaud (1985, 1990), thisanalysis proposes that voiced consonants in Fongbe are defined by the feature[+ slack vocal cords] and carry a low tone in their representation. The L elementof the consonant spreads to the vowel on the right, thus deriving the LH tone.This is shown in (i), with the derivation of the form [gbä] 'to build'. Thespreading is obligatory. This explains why forms containing a high tonepreceded by a voiced consonant are ruled out in Fongbe (e.g. *vi, *gba, etc.).

(i) L H L H

/gb a/ -» [gb ä]

12. Note that voiced obstruents, but not sonorants, block the spreading of the hightone. For instance, a form like e gbä '(s)he broke' is realised as such, and not ase gbä. The blocking effect of voiced obstruents is subject to dialectal variation.For instance, Wiesemann (1991) reports that high tone spreading is not blockedby voiced obstruents in the variety of Fongbe that she studied.

13. This extension of the domain may be viewed as an instance of the Stray SyllableAdjunction of Hayes (1980).

14. Note that unlinking of the L tone does not create a downstep. This is because, inthis context, L is not a phonological tone, but a phonetic tone derived throughspreading from the adjacent consonant.

15. This process is not discussed in Capo (1991), probably because it is a superficialone. Capo presents instead diachronic rules of affrication (palatalisation) toaccount for the consonant changes that applied in Proto-Gbe.

16. Capo (1991: 130) notes that, in Maxi, a Fongbe lect, labial attraction appliesalso to the epenthetic I'll that occurs in the prefix of reduplication. This processof rounding does not apply in other Fongbe lects, including those from whichmy data are drawn. For instance, the verb gble 'to spoil' reduplicates as gbugblein Maxi, but as gblgble in other lects.

17. This analysis also differs from Capo (1991), who states that the pronoun has alow tone but no segmental features. In order to make this low tonepronounceable, the epenthetic vowel /i/ is added.



Notes 33

18. Da Cruz—Avolonto (1993) do not take tonal specification into account since,according to their data, the tone on the syllable of the verb has no influence onthe derived phonetic realisation. In the course of field work with variousinformants, both in Benin and in Montreal, I collected the differing data shownin (34). Identity of tones between the two syllables is required for the reductionto apply.

19. Recall from section 2.1 that /b/ is analysed as a sonorant, which allows allconsonants subject to nasalisation to be grouped into a natural class. Since heanalyses /b/ as a stop, Capo (1991) proposes the feature [- paired] (i.e. not pairedwith a voiceless consonant, unlike the [+ paired] consonants such as III and /d/,/s/ and /z/, etc.) to characterise this class of consonants.





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A Grammar of Fongbe Volume 1 () || 2. Overview of the phonology