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 |
Beyond hiatusː words with different surface tones
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).’ |