Tone

Tones in Ígálâ

Seven types of tones, among which five are lexical, are recognized in the language as illustrated in Table 1.1 (Èjèbá 49). Note that a “downstepped high” refers to the lowering of a syllable that is usually high-toned.

Table 1.1 Tones of Ígálâ

Tone	Example	Meaning	Comment
Extra high (EH)	(w)ɔ̋làdʒa̋	Greeting for someone returning from market	Grammatical: “on subject clitics to mark sentential negation” (Èjèbá 49)
High (H)	ɔ́dʒɔ́	day	Lexical
Downstepped high (HS)	ɔ́gbá ꜜúgúnú	in front of vulture	Grammatical, at high tone juncture of word boundaries.
Mid (M)	ɔ̀tákídā	book	Lexical
Low (L)	ɔ̀bàlà	cat	Lexical
Rising (LH)	ǒkâ	one	Lexical, contour
Falling (HL)	ígálâ	Ígálâ	Lexical, contour

Tonal interactions at hiatus

Noun-noun boundary (Ejeba)

Table 2.1 Chart showing tone modification in Noun + Noun Structures (Èjèbá 71).

T2 (Initial syllable of Word 2)
		H	L	LH
	H	HS/H	H	H
	M	M	ML	MH
	L	M	L	LH
	LH	LH	LH	-
	HL	HM/M	H	H

Examples:

(1)

Hiatus of H and H
ɔ́gbá	ꜜúgʷúnú
ɔ́gbá	úgʷúnú
front	vulture
‘in front of vulture.’

Note that here “ꜜ” refers to downstep of the succeeding syllable. 

(2)

Hiatus of H and L
ɔ̋gb(a)	a̋ːbùtá
ɔ́gbá	àbùtá
front	lizard
‘in front of lizard’

(3)

	Hiatus of L and H
	ùbì	ākótō
	ùbì	ákótō
	back	rabbit
	‘behind rabbit’

2.2 Verb-noun boundary (Ejeba)

Table 2.2 Chart showing tone modification in Verb + Noun Structures (Èjèbá 71)

	T2 (Initial syllable of Word 2)
T1 (Final syllable of Word 1)		H	L	LH
	H	H	H	H
	M	M	L	LH
	L	M	L	LH
	LH	LH	LH	LH
	HL	HM/M	H	H

Examples:

(1)

Hiatus of H and H
ù	n(ɛ)	ꜜúgʷúnú
ù	nɛ́	úgʷúnú
I	have	vulture
‘I have (a) vulture(s).’

(2)

Hiatus of M and L
ù	kp(a)	òdùdɛ̀
ù	kpā	òdùdɛ̀.
I	kill	bat
‘I kill (a) bat(s).’

(3)

Hiatus of L and H
ù	f(a)	ōkʷūnɔ̄
ù	fà	ókūnɔ̄
I	pull	cow
‘I pull (a) cow(s).’

Beyond hiatusː words with different surface tones

Tonal changes of words involving contour

The falling contour in a word can be lowered when the syllable on its left has a lower tone due to hiatus.

ɛ́hʲâ -> ɛ̄hʲa᷆ in sentence. In (7), the tone of ɛ is M according to hiatus of M and H. As a result of the lower tone, the contour on the second syllable of ɛhʲa changes from a HL to ML.

(7)

àbùta̋	tʃ	ɛ̄hʲa᷆		ì	nɛ̄
àbùtá	tʃē	ɛ́hʲâ		ì	nɛ̄
lizard	be	star.apple	it	have
‘It was star apple that lizard had.’

(8)

ɛ̋hʲa41		ì	nɛ̄	í
ɛ́hʲâ		ì	nɛ̄	í
Star.apple	he	have	EMPH
‘It’s star apple that he has.’

Similarly: ɔ́jâ  ɔ̄ja᷆ in sentence; éːdʒô  ēːdʒo᷆ in sentence.

(9)

àm(a)	ēːdʒo᷆
àmā	éːdʒô
PL	snake
‘snakes’

(10)

ēːdʒòː	lɛ́	/ éːdʒóː	lɛ̀
éːdʒô	lɛ́	/ éːdʒô	lɛ́
snake	DET	snake	DET
‘the snake’

Unknown reason

ɔ̀dūmû -> ɔ̀dūmú in sentence.

(11)

ꜛɔ̀ꜛdūmu41	ì	nɛ̄	(í)
ɔ̀dūmû		ì	nɛ̄	í
Sweet.potato	she	have	EMPH
‘He has sweet potato.’

(12)

ìpèrû	tʃ	ɔ̀dūmú		ì	nɛ̄
ìpèrû	tʃē	ɔ̀dūmû		ì	nɛ̄
Peru	be	sweet.potato	it	have
‘Peru has sweet potatoes (as a resource).’