Tone

Tonal phenomena in Ígálâ

1 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

2 Tonal interactions at hiatus

2.1 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:

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. 

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

	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:

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

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

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