-, .. THE UNIVERSl'TY OF YAOUNDE ~ , ~* a.;;x5,*.. -.__ .
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
PHONOLOGY OF ESIMBI
by FOINTEIN Jacenta NSANG B.A. (Hons.)
A Dissertation submitted in Partial fulfilment' of the requirements for a MAlTRISE ( POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA ) W LINGUISTICS
Supervised by Dr. Robert HEDINGER Dr CHIA Emmanuel
Yaounde, September 1986 1 f ii List of iibbrcviations and Symbools.
C C onsonant N Nasal S& . Singular
Pl D Pl ur a1 V vow el N Noun ik Verb
S Semi-vowel [....I Phonetic fiat?. /..../ Thonernic data
I I .... mglish gloss
- Becomes, is redized as
Tone symbols / or H high tone
2 or L 1oi'i t one - or ?:I mici tone A or HL high-low falling tone 'L/ or LH low-high rising tone. Tab12 of Contents
3~1C-'LfIOK . . . . .o...... D...... -...... i ii iii
~.~.. -. ...-. ~ , .. ..: GL.1: A-..idLO~O~2.~LOiY...... , . . . . . ~.. . .'.,. 1
1.1. Geographical Situatioa ...... ~.. . . 1 1.2. Historical Background . . . . ~...... 2 1 iIain Occ-pation , , D.. 1.3. . ~...... 6 1 i. Ssirbi and her Kei~hbaw:; 4...... 7
1.5. The Lail:us.ge D...... ~...... 7 Classification 1.5.1...... -.... 7 1.5.2. n.-;Iidects ....o...... 1 4 Trevious Linzuistlc ~.:2rks 1.5.3. . ~...... 15
1.6. ruirI3ose 2nd Yethod of ci-7 . . I . . , . . . 15 1.5.1. Purpose ...... *... 15 1.6.2. lFethodology ...... 16 1.7. The Data, - Sources .. . . , . ~...... , 17 1.8. Orzanisation of the ,.31-1;, ...... ~.. 18 -- r:T.-I L,LL-- .i -lLL ,*r'.;jQ: ZyLLaLz L.yJy"T"151, ~ -7 ;*,D' 2.
PR2i';?i'IOi.i EBOBL3iS ...... ~ ...... 19
2 .l. Syllable Strxture ...... *. . ~ ~ a. 19 2.2. Int erprctation Problezx ._...... e . 20 2.2.1. Diphthongs 28 2.2.2. Labialization ...o...... 22 2.2.3. Palatalization 24 2.2.4. Pre-nasalized ConsonL?ii-kr_ ...... *. .. 27 2.2.5. Africstes ...... 28 c7sTD TmEz: s~~~_~T~LFHOSOLOI;.Y ...... 29 3.1, Consonants ...... 29 3.1.1. Phonetic Realizntio;? ...... 29 3.1.2. Fhonezic Contrasts ...... 31 3.2. Vowels ...... 51
I. 3.2.1. Phonetic Realization I..: .. i,.-...... 51 3.2.2. €hoiiei;ic :ontrz!crts ...... 52 3 .3 . Fhoiieae Distribution iil. S.7112 bles .... 58 TmE ...... 63 4- .1. 1.Lorpiieie Structure ...... 63 4.2. 7orii Structure ...... 64 4.3. r’honeiaae 3i:$wibutioc ill :oG-~T-lorphene . 66 1. ..3 .1. Vowels ...... 66 4.3.2. Coilsoilants ...... 68 i$.4. Verb Xoots ...... 70 4.5. XOUl Flootr; ...... 71 4.6. TJovJel H:.rmcii;i ...... 72 cI:I ...... ~ ::-LL ;?-JTjx sgms;cL. .z.;lJLL E’>.;Ci .. CIA?::“t .. L ...... 73 5.1. Vowel LenJth ...... 73 5.2. Tones ...... 71 5.2 .1. Phonemic toile can-tr ~;...... 7: 5.2 .2 . Lexiczl Tme ...... 75 - ,.2. 3. Tionosgllabic fiouxl 300.-r...... 77 5.3. Verb Tones ...... 79 ...... 81 LJ.dJOG?ShT7-7- ...... a2
3 INTRODUCTION.
This "memoire" sets out to attempt a phonological description of Esimbi, a language spoken in the North !lest
.?rc-'--ze of the Republic of Cameroon by people of the same name. Because the language and its speakers are little knovn 53th in Cameroon anc? in the Scientific world, the firsc task here, in the guise of an introduction, will consisc i? situating first, the people geographically and historically and then the language in relation to its neiqhbourc. Finally the methodoly and organization of this work will be sketciyd.
1.1 -Geographical Situation
Esimbi is situated in Ilenchun Division of the
North ITest Province. It lies West of Wum, the capital of
Ifenchum Division. It is a forest rzgion with heavy rain- fall between the months of april and september. Due to the heavy rains, the only motorable road which links Esimbi to Scfang is seasonal. Befans is further linked to !-lum by wart of the rinq road which is motorable throuqhout year. The seasonal road which leads to Zsimbi terminates at Benakumap the capital. The climate of the region is relatively hot when compared with the rest of the Division, -2-
Benakuma, the capital, constitutes the seat of
*;h,-- '7~~-~.-.3i .. . peopl2. Settlement is along the Plenchum River, wkich rises from the Fundong highlands and flows through the region into Nigeria. Lake Benakuma is one of the inte- res-Linq geographical features to be found there. In gene- r&, Zsimbi is found at the Western borders of Cameroon
Idcching on Nigeria. The accompanying map locates Esimbi in the North :Jest Province.
- 4-
1.2 -Historical Background of Esimbi
The historical background of the Esimbi people presented here is based mziinly on interviews with SCXE of ?he natives. Mention has to be made of Mrs Ihims Jacob, a nati- er ve of Esimbi and one who has been particularly intnested in the history of his people. Some of the information found here was taken from an unpublished article which he wrote after a period of research. Nkwi and XJarnier (1982) was also consulted.
Following the views of those consulted the historical origin of the Esimbi people is somehow vaque and cor?trwersi;tl. Even thc elders display a short memory spanthrough oral tradition. ?he Drcsent clan head is able to name onlv four generations of cfiisfs that have ruled the clan. Some of the people hold that they have always lived at their present sit? from time immemorial. However there exists a scanty story with strong evidence that the
Esimbi people might have formed one of the earliest widi- kum aroups that moved towards the grassfields of Bamenda
Plateau,but stopped short of reaching the open grassland-
The historical link between the Esinbi and
Widikum people is not very overt as far as language is con- cerned-Studies so far carried out on the two lanquases show that they are not closely related, Socially, the link between the two grouEyis evident in the similarities in
..d.,;,.:;..*-. .. ..d.,;,.:;..*-. -5-
their nwsic 8nd styles of dancing, the drumming of messa-
ges and certain marks on the faces of women.
During the first half of the nineteenth Century when the Aghem (Wum) people settled at their present site, moving south from the Benue lands, they sought to consoli-
date their position in the Menchum aroe. The Esimbi people were one of the earliest people to suffer harassement from the Aghem due to this policy of consolidation of power,
Around 1850 they were harassed and brought under the con-
trol of some Aghem chiefs otherwise knwon as "batum" s Peace treaties after wars granted the Aghem chiefs the
right to sX,lct compulsory palm oil tribute from the Esirnhi people
In the nineteenth Century the Esimbi people tra. k- ded with ESU, exchanging oil,,hoes an2 matchets, As good
craftsmen the Zsimbi people produced fishing wts which
were bought by Ide people ir. exchange €or women captured from other groups.
Although Cameroon formally came under German con-.
trol in 1884 most of the country remained under the control
Of local chiefs until the beginnina of the twentieth centu-
ry. The first contact of the Esimbi with Europeans was in i i 1907. Their resistance to the foreigners led to several expeditions against them d uring the period of German I CalC iizati.cn of Cameroon. The first expedition was cz.rric3 out ucder the leadership sf the German army Cnmmacrler C-launing.
During the German war, they again faced *--n;ee expeditions, under the instigation of the Wun
;~e~gle,The last and most destructive of the expedi- tions took place when the people killed a Germar, Ser- geant nnc! a .rrhol? detachment. Thi.s expedition was so szveve tht they decided to dispersn from the origi- nal three nain villaqjes, Benaklinz3 Ijenahundu and
Bcnzgucii to a wider area. They had realized that it was risky.. living togetherD This led to the establish- ment of the hamlst pattern of settlement and the increase of villages from three to ten.
Basically the Esimbi peo21e are peasant farmers. Fzrrning here, is however subsistent. Crops which are grown includeoocoyamsi maize, cassavas, groundnuts and rice, Only surpl.usos are sold to neigh- bourincj towns like Wum and Bamenda.
Fishing is done on a local scale in the Menchum
river. Like fishing, hunting of wild animahoccupy
some of the Esimbi people especially during the dry sea- ses ?.TC nxketed. So far no cash crops are proddced tl.ere.
ml-liie population of Esixbi is estimated at
"''"ct ~wentyfive thousand. This figcre is actually only cli' estimate due to the fact that the tradition fxbirk head counts. For this reason accurate infor- natior? &out the number of people residing in this rcglon has not always been gotten during censuses.
Scrx of fler closest neiqh5ours inelude Iiudele
F'Lul:~::n, i3efa2.9, 3su ant2 Wum- It is however surprising to ::.;te that Esimbi has no linguistic iinks with these peopl-. Rather, she has moye lexical affinities with
Asunbo, one of the 1angua:es of Akwaya
1.5 The Lanauage
1.5.1. Classification
Stailcup (1980a) classifies Esinbi as one of the languages that make up the Tivoid branch which falls under the BantoidSu5,group of Benue-Congo langua- ges, There has however Seen a lot ofuncertainty as far as the classification of Bantoid languages is concerned. -8-
E rli r studi ; on Bantoid i < iges cla i .- fied, Tivoid languages as Mon-Bantu Bantoid whereas more recent studies classify them eitner under Narrow
Bantu or Bantu 1anuuageseGreenberg 41953) proposed the following hypothesis
Bantoid
Tiv Bitare Batu Ydoro ZFambiia Bute Bantu
The significant woint- of this pro9oszl is that Bantu is a cordinate branch with Tiv and other branches within Bantoid
?Jlillianson (1371) considered Tiv as part of the Non-Bant!; group in he’r classification. She divi- ded the Bantoid languages into Non-Bantu and wide Bantu
Bantoid i
1Non-Bantu-- Wide-Bantu f -9 -
The other gro~d-~ich L..s carried out a mre recent zLL$Y on Patoid lmquages classify Timid mder Narrow Bantu ac Santu languages*Bastin, Coupez and de Halleux (i993) ma-?e the following classificztion.
aantoid I
Bantu I I Fbzm Ilkan Marrow Emtu I Tivoid Equatorial
The most recent classification- is that of ALCAM (P 360)
According to .ALLXI Esixbi will be classified as fol- lows * - 10 -
BENUE - CONGO -ZL-
TIGOID I ESIHBI
Esimbi falls under Tivoid languages which are spoken both at the >Jestern borders of Cameroon and by some one Killion people in Nigeria, The Tivoic? ara as indicate6 on the following maps extends from the Nes- tern borsers of Cameroon into the Nigerian region aja- cent to It, T
0
- 13 -
The followinq are Tivoid languages spoken in
h- :?- <..~..-*-,%4 ::
-~ Kunshi - Otank - Emane - Icheve - Want -_ Bitanz - Abon - Satu,
According to krause (192s) in John El. b7atterS' article '"Bantoid Overview" Bantoid languages are langua- ges whic3 display certain relationships in vocabulary with Bantu but which grammatically represent a Pre-Bantu stage both typologically and historically.
Guthrie (1948 Jacquot and Richardson (19555 45d following hiinkhe term to refer to languages that have noun classes like those of Bantu languages but whose n3un prefixes, concordial elements and vocabulary,pre-
sumably 30 not show any r-ular~ relationship to the
Bantu languages.
Another attempt at differentiating Bantoid and Bantu languages was done by Johnston (1919 7 1922). He saw Bantoid languages as mixed languages resulting .. - 14 -
from the contact between Bantu languages and Sudanic non-class lanquages and therefore as not sharing a true genetic r2lationship with Bantu languages, If Esinbi is considered as a Eon-Bantu Eantoid language it is just loaical becanse of its uniqueness among neighbouring Santu languages,
1.5.2 Dialwts
Cistinction is often nade between the dialoct spoken around Benakuma otherwise known as upper Esimbi and the dialsct spoken nearer the borders known as lo-. wer Fsimbi, This distinction has been brought about by differences in a few Lexical items that differ in the two sections as follows,
These differences do not actually impede intelligibi- lity between the two sections. - 15 -
1 5 3 --P-::e-Jious Linguistic Works
So far known existing linguistic works on
Esiinbi sre few.
:;tailcup R.L. (1980a, 198Cb) is the only person who h.3~c.xried out linguistic stufiies on Zsimbi. His ar- ticles, "Xou-n classes in Esimbi" and "A. brief account of nominal. prefixes and vowel harnony in Esimbi" both published in 1950 ari3 the only zvailable works on
Esi:nbi
7 e 6 Pwpose and Method of Studv
1.6.1 7urpose Phonology is an important part of lin- guistics which deals with the sound systems of langua- ges. It is only throuqh a phonological study that the structure of any given language can be obtained. It is a wzll estahiished fact that not all sounds found in a languqs are distinctive or pertinent. It is only throqk a detaile", phonological stu3y that the perti- nent sounds of any language can be brought out. Although some work has already been cione on Esimbi noun classes, nominal prefixes and vowel harmony, it is still necessary to study the phonology because it constitu- tes the basis for most structural linguistic studies, - 16 -
P. description of the lancruzqe will provide a wider area for more studies on the language like the morphology and syntax. The ph~nolog.~.is also a pre- requisite Ecr the develcpment cE the writing system of this language. This h3s been tbe c?.=sireof the Fsinhi elite who have seen the increasing need for the development of National lanquages in Cameroon.
Th;s study will foclis oil the sound system of the laguaqe, the segmental ar?d piteh phonemes and the possible combination of sounds into syllables an? words. The structure of syllables, morphemes anc? words will also be &alf .with.
The structuralist approach to the analysis of phonemec \?ill be taken . Phor?emes are defined by their contrast with other phonemes, Some phonemes might consist of allophones with realization rules dictating the cho!.ce of a particular allophone for a given envirozment e
The unit of description in this study is the wordl defined by Weksters New World Dictionary as - 17 -
a speech sound, or a series of them ser- ving to communicate meming and consisting of at least one base morpheme with or whithont prefixes or suffixes...
“tis is ssrticularly important herause Esimbi is a langcage wilih unusually lengthy words and irregu ar prefixes
1 ., 7 Th2 Eats - Sources,
The study is based on a corpus of about 950 words collected through the help of 3 informants namely :
Unji John, G. native of Esinbi resident in Yaounde.
Azi Paul.,a University Student, native of Esimbi and resident in Yaounde.
Azi Lawrencer a nurse, native of Esimhi resident in
Etwal Dongri ttantung Division. These informants were re- quired to translate verbally, words from English to Esimbi. Some information about the history of Esimbi was acquired from ~r.Ihims Jacob, Principal of Government High School Mbengwi. 1.8 Organisation of the Work
This work has been organize6 in the follo- wino manner.
- In chapcer 2 the syllable structure and interpreta- tion problems will be treated. - Chaper 3 which is the core of the work shall be dea- ling with segmental phonology,
- Chapter 4 shall be concer:ied with the morpheme and word structure
The last chapter (chapter 5) shall be treating supraseg- mental phonology. There after will come the conclusion. - 19 - i
CHAPTEX? TWO.
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE AND INTERPRETATION PROBLEMS.
The phonetic transcription used in this work has been &ptea from the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages.
2.1 Syllable Structure.
There are basically five syllables patterns in Esimbi. The following words illustrate the various pat- terns.
Syllable pattern Example Gloss Word pattern V /Ap i '/ 'Cocoyam flower ' v .cv cv lkEt i '/ ' mountain' cvm ccv /yl I 5/ 'lick' ccv CVN /ply i '/ ' greet CVN .cv
csv /mbwi I Ag/ 'potatoes' csv .cvN
The final consonant in a closed syllable can only be the velar nasal[g] or the alveolar nasal In]. The fifth pattern, CSV results from labialization that is not predictable. In other words it is due to the pre-
sence of the Semi-vowel [wl after [mbl and [gl. The following word illustrates a case of non-predictable and - 20 -
It should be noted that the most oredopinant syllable pattern ip this lanrluare is the CV pattern. The absence ~f syl-
'I,GL~C L? nasals is also wortby of note.
?.? 1nte-m-etatiop Problcis
2.2.1 -niphthonas.
Diphthong can hardly be said to exist in Esinbi. Even- tho!@ one finds cases of tw vowels occurrinn tonether it is easy ix deduce the feason for their occurrence. One instance whe- re vowels occur toeether is in conpound words, frir example.
/k fh6;mh/ ' chimpanzee '
This word can be broken down into [kfhu'l and [;rnb?, Although it is rot easy to assign any individual meaninq to the two parts it is possible to judge that this is a case of two different morphe- mes thtt have been brought topether. - 2? -
In another instance two vowels occurring together is the result of the reduplication of morphemes
in certain words, for exanple.
/kjffdfi'/ :r.tyFe ~f hlrd'
/ky\kyl/ 'new'
/Enlfn i '/ 'new'
It is also possible to have two vowels occurb ring together due to the presence of suffixes in words. and when it is brought together with another morpheme The suffix is an individual morpheme/ending with a vowel, two vowels are bound to occur together. Example. /~Ctii;$n?d '.I~JP~' The morphene is a suffix used in the formation of adjectives, probably from nouns or verbs.
There are yet situations of two vowels accurring
together which dont fit into the above illustrations, for example. /$6/ 'Cnild' YEgfA/ 'if head' I h;tX/ p;' ti" Each of the two vowels bear tone. This gives us the fea- ling that each of them belongs to a different syllables. I It is therefore not far from the point if one concludes that there exists a consonant on the second syllable that has been omitted probably, in rapid speech. The conmnant
which is most likely to fit in at this position is the semi- 1 vowel [y] . In this case the words can be represen- as follows d - - 22 -
1 /Pi&/ build '
1 /egi'y$/ ahead' I r /;pi>&/ pit
This goes further to confirm the predominant Occurrence of the CV syllables pattern in the language.
2.2.2 Labialization
Labialization in Esimbi is a non-distinctive feature. Labialized consonants are in complementary dis- tribution with their non-labialized counterparts. Tha fdi- lowing consonants are labialized in final syllables of words when followed especially by the back high vowel [u]. They are LrqJ [kl [PI. The distribution is as -;
1 whistle I
1 lie ' 1 hand1e '
1 kiss' 1 frighten'
fk/ --...A , - 23 -
Examples
[ s&&] /sE&/ t mouse I
1. 1 [;kid] /A&/ money [ k I I [ &r<] /kiirG/ tie [ k6gyi ] /kogi]1 /' I fishing line 1 Examples [ k;pd 3 /Ap$ 1 musical instrument t t [ o/pwuJ1 /o$iy pain /phi/ t spend' (money) [ plhu 3 I/ 1 I [ puru 3 /&&/ open (door) The rule is only applicable to [gg) [k] and [p]. A general rule could be established to include the three sounds. There is a case of labialization that is not predictable as is the case here. This has already been discussed un- der syllable structure as CSV pattern. - 24 - Palatalization Like labialization, palatalization has a phonetic status in the language. The conditioning factor for all the palatalized consonants is the high front vowel [i]. Palatalized consonants are in complementary distribution with their non-palatalized counterparts. Consonants that undergo this conditioning are [k] [g] [iig] [t] [d] and [l]. The distribution can be represented as follws. /k/ --& E ky 1/-i I I [ k]/ elsewhere -Exail* [ s&kyi/] [ okyi 3 [ kyhyi'] [ kazu]// 1 .&d J ;kj&] /9/ -_q Examples I /k&g 1 /Qd/ egg - 25 - I I [ i(gyl] /Lgiy flY I [ Oga'] /&d/ calabash dish 1 I [ &&] /wig;;/ whi ternan I I [&mu] /gill?l;/ .pay /T]d -----3 [%iYl/-i [ isg] elsewhere /I/ d Ctyl/_i [ t] / elsewhere Examples /;it$/ I widen' (area) [pity$] I I [kktyi] /kit;/ type of bag I I [ tylniq /ti&/ dig I I [ AtG] /6tV stream I [ tdm;] /t&n+' send I I [ kkts] /k6 t s/ tree id/ -> [d~l/-i [d] / elsewhere .;. .;. - 26 - Ex amp 1e s I I [ j lndy? ] / j hi'/ urinate I [ gddyi/] /g &I:/ watch cunningly' I I [bbdyi] /'bbdi/ tears I [ t&d6] /tiundG/ pour ' I I [ &iG] /&E/ some type of war // I [ dz.da]// /dah/ good' /1/ -- . 11yV-i [ 1 ]/ elsewher e Examples . I I [ ilyi ] 61i nme 1 I [ kyhyf] kh rercain I I [ 9YllY~1 gh$ wring 1 I [ hsl a'] h6l d scrc?pe I [ dzhL] az;.1.; sigh' I I [ kulu]d-, /filii/ take In order to make it mone general the rule can be written as follows. /k, g9 qg, t, d, 1/+ [k& gY9 9gY9 ~YPdY9 lYl/ Y -i [k, 49 gg9 t9 a9 11 I el sewhere ' These sounds are palatalized when followed by [i] and remain same elsewhere. - 27 - 2.2 4 Pre-Nasalized Consonants A pre-nasalized consonant is a sequence of a nasal plus another consonant. It is necessary to deter- mine whether tnese constitute one sound or two different sounds, In some languages pre-nasalized consonants make up two distinctive sounds but in Esimbi they form a sin- gle sound, This conclusion has been arrived at after cer- tain considerations. First of all, it can be noticed that Esimbi words usually begin either with a vowel or a single conso- nant sound, Some of the pre-nasalized consonants like [m31 and [r~q] appear word initially. Following the general distribution of consonants, these sounds occur word ini- tially and intervocalically which are basically the two positions that consonants occupy in words of the language. Due to the fact that the nasals in question are non-syllabic, it provides more evidence for conside- ring the pre-nasalized consonants as single sounds. The following pre-nasali- zed consonants [50][gg] [nd] [ndz] [ggb] and [njl are considered single sounds and will be treated as such under segmental phonology. - 2F - 2.2,5 Affricates [ts] and. [az] can only be sinqle sounds to have [c] and [J] as allophones. [e] and [ J] is a conbination of alveobr stops [t] and [d] and the pre-nalatal fricatives [XI an6 [g]. Since [XI and [z] do not occur as separate seqments but rather as alhphones of /Si and /Z/ it is right to conclude that[e] and [J] are single units. Since [e] and [J] are only allophanes of /ts/ an6 /dz/ consequently they are sinqle units i - 29 - SEGiYENTAL PHONOLOGY 3 1 Consonants. The Esimbi language presents an inventory of thirty five consonant sounds including two glides. I 3 1 1 Phonetic Realization The following chart indicates all the consonant sounds found in Esimbi. It will be realized that some of the sounds constitute distinctive units in the language whereas others are simply allophones of other phonemes, in other words environmental variants of the same phonemes, It will be proved in the next section on phonemic contrasts that the following consonant sounds, [e], [j], [E], [XI, [ZJ] and [.a] are all environmental variants. In the chart that follows sounds are classified accordinq to the place and manner of articulations. - 30 - Phonetic Consonant Chart. - 31 - 3.1 2 PhonaLic contrasts There are 29 consonant phonemes grouped into stopsp affricates, fricatives, nasalsp laterals, vibrants and glides, Consonant contrast in Esimbi functions mainly at word initial position and intervocalically. It is very uncommon to find consonants at word final position, Since EsiLn3i is basically a multi-syllabic language, obtaininq minimal pairs, which are usually clear indicators of phoneme contrasts is difr'icult in some cases, However the few minim1 pairs which can be obtained will still serve the purpose, Where it is not easy to get minimal pairs, near minimal pairs and other arguments will be used. The following chart indicates the consonant phonemes in the language. - 32 - Phcnemic Consonant Chart. Table 2 . - 33 - The consonant phonemes which appear on the chart obove have been obtained through a careful analysics G: G: 211. the cansonant sounds found in the language. The proce6wc requires that sounds which constitute suspicious i>ili:c {sounds which are liable to be allphones) be contras- t-C. Zach sound is established as a phoneme on the basis of i':s contz3st with other sounds. IThe phorieme !P/. /P/ is always realized as the voiceless bilabial stop in my enviror,=lent. Its phonemic status is acquired through the fol- lowing .con-trasts /pat&/ [pet;] I mix' /pSti/ [jGt;] 1 spoil I " /P%/ [P~J I untie I /mu/ [nz] I mould' /Fdr6/ [pdrfi] I open I (door) /mud/ [murd] I swell \. 4 ./ I 'v.< 1 /Pi& [prsi] bendl/'tiltl /misi'/ [misi] plnnt (beans) /&n;/ [ plqni] I ask I /&pi/ [ rnil;n~] I rest I P- /KP /Pip /p?sl'/ [sisi'] I bend'/'tilt ' /kpisg/ [kp/i'Si] sweep - 34 - --P/mb Althrough there are no minimal pairs to illus- trate the contrast, the distribution of vowels in the envi- ronment of these sounds makes one conclude that they contrast. /opi// [;pi? I cocoym flower 1 /&\ernb'i/ [2.'embi] I storm I /kup6/ [kupwd] I musical instrument '/dmbd/'f'Ufu I stick The phoneme /b/ /b/ is realized as the voiced bilabial stop in all envi- ronments of occurrence. It contrasts with other bilabial I sounds as well as with stops with which it forms suswi- cious pairs. see P/b b/P _I -b /n ,ha&/ [barn] 1 corn mousse' /rnbhyi/ I type of dance I - 35 - The p:ionane /p/ 16 1 is realizec? as the voiced bLlalxia3- fricative-h where ver it appears. It contrasts witbf.l-o- bilabial sunds. as follows. see B/b see -b/P> 1 I I /ts'ipi/ [c'i~i] cross /timQ [timi'] dig' I 1 /pa'tay [pdtg] spoil' /I?iz/ [In;] moula' P.- /xb I 1 I /+6/ [$SI palm tree /5rn%S/ twin' I -I I /;PA/ [ep;] hut for w;i~od'/k@mb;\ Critrc eviay The phoneme /mb/ /mb/ is realized as the voiced pre-nasalizcd 'Jilabial stop. It is a single unit and is casilderec? as a phonnmr by its contrssts with other Silabi-2 sounds. - 35 - -mb/m Due to the lack of minimal pairs the vowels that follow the sounds shcll bo taken into consizleration. 1 I I /n&nb6/ [n I 1 /b&sumbu/ life plnnt' /%mu/ goitre' ' 1 I /y&nb8(/ [ yi'mb6] /cj&ng/ separzte (fighters) The phoneme /n/ /m/ remains the bilabial nasal in all environments of occurrence, It is always voiced. It contrasts with bila- bial sounds as well as nasal sounds. 1 I , I /mipi/ [mi&] rest /p I I 1 /misi7 [ m.i%<] plnnt (bezns) /jdm I. I I 1 /S-tlmZ/ [ +t5m5] jaw /t&i.Q collnt 1 1 / ,.:, I /&S/ [d&ma/] grom (animal) /ka-&396/ 'hamlet - 37 - The phonome $1 /f/ is rqized as the voicel?ss labio-dental fricative in all environnents. . . '/v When the suspicious pair f/v is considered one might be temptef! to conclude th?t they are allophones because [f] is almost always followed by the back vowel [u] and cen- tral vowels [t] and [a] for example: /dfQ [~ufu]/ ., I 1Jlow I (rire) /&u'inbG/ [ ~ftmb&] I rEt mole I /r4n$/ [f$n; J I isitate I [v] on the other hand is almost always followed by the front vowel ii I as follows : /vY/ [VYJ Ifly' 1 /vi'/ [vi'] wife' \r I 1 /tivi/ (tivi] mother I /vi j&i) behind There are howsver, some words that, make an exception to this assertion. Here [f] is followed by [i] an6 [v] by CUI. /bGf /k&f? / [k&? t /&E/ YOU' (sg) The only near minimal pair that can be obtained is I t ' /fM/ blow' (fine) /d6/ you (sg) - 38 - --The - pkGir<>l.le..-- _-__ /v/ /V/ remins the voiced lahio-dental fricative in all envi-- ronmxi"Ls, Its contrast with [f], [p] and [w] gives it its phonemic status. v(p see r/v --V! 0 r-I.ih?;p contrast betw3er these two sounds is also not very clear %emuse [v] hzs tke tendency of preceding front vo:rels whereas [p] also tends to precede non-front vowels, There arc a few cases of words in which B is followed by the front vowel [iJ. In this case the only possible near ninirn.31 n2ir will be: \\ /tivi/ [ti*$; ] I mother t /ekipi/ I antelope I v/w At first sight [VI and [w] seem to 5~2allophones of the same phonemes with [v] being followsd by the €ront vowel [i] and [w] by the back vowels [u] and [3]. as fol.lows, I I /ewu/ elephant grass 1 I /~.~bw&/ needle I 3 /tiiarnii/ remain In the case of [v] see examples under the phoneme /f/- with the presence of the word /urn/ you^ (sg) the two sounds can be said to contrast. t I I /6vu/ you' (sq) /ed/ clcphLmt grass - 39 - ?he phoneme /t/ /t/ is realized as the voiceless alveolar stop in all environ- ments. It is because of its contrast with other alveolar sounds that it is considered a phoneme. /ti/[tyi] 'feed' /df/ [dy:] 'look' /EdiT/ 'an element like -t/ts /td/ It&] ' abuse ' /ts;/ Its61 'pound' /ti/ [tyY 1 'feed' /tsi/ [ci] 'touck' /tb/ [tS] ' abandon /ts3 [tss] 'agair?' t/dz I_ /tX/ CtSl 'abandon /Jz6/ [dz;] 'steal' /tu'n;/ Et&;] 'deny' /dZL56/ 'itch' The Phonere /d/ /d/ is the voiced alveolar stop. Its phonmic status is esta- blished through the following contrasts : d/t see t/d - T_ - 40 - /di/ [dyf] 'look' /rf/ [ri ] 'eat' -d/nd /dz$df/ [dzLdf] 'spy' /hLndi/ [hjndyi ] 'cook' /di/ [dyf] ' look /hdndi/ [hiridyi] 'm' The Phoneme /ts/ /ts/ i;s realized as the voiceless pre-palatal africate when fol- tSfollowed by the central vowels [t] lowed by the front vowel [i]. I'hen [ts]/3nd 131, and the back vowel [u] it is realized as the voiceless alveolar affricate. This distribu- tion can be represented as follows: its/ - [cl / -v E+ front] [tsl /-v [- front 1 Exawles : cc:p:1 /tsl,?i/ ' cross ' 1. c fy ir I 3 /t s iwir i/ 'tickle' CtsLs41 /ts;s;/ 'uproot' EtsSl /ts9 'sift' [t5!b4] /tsbb$/ 'set up a scare crow - 41 - The Phonene /dz/ I /dz/ is realized as [ j I in certain enviroments and as [dz] I In others. [dz] becomes [ j 1 whrn it precedes tbe front vowel [ i 3 and [dzl when it precedes non-front vowels. This distribution can be re- presented thus : /dz/ --+ [jl /-v l'+front] [dz] /-v [- front] The following words illustrate this distribution. [ j imb ir i ] /dz imb fr I/ ' s tad' [ jlndyf] /dzlndf/ ' urinate [fjt] /fdzi/ 'aerial ym' [ dz) qos ] /dzbqgg/ 'mite' [ kddza] /kedz>/ 'elephant' [dz;l;] /dzhl6/ 'sigh' -dz/d see -d/dz dz/ts see ts/dz dz/ndz /dz>r;/ [dz>r$] 'travel' /&ndz$r$/ ' sheep' /$-d&nd?/ I spear grass' /&ndz;r>/ 'sheep' /$dzc/ [ $dzli] 'rlouth ' /I ndzbr;/ 'relative' The Phoneme /s/ /s/ is realized as the voiceless alveolar fricative [ s ] i n - 42 - sme enviromwts and as a voiceless pre-palatal fricative [ 5 ] in others. /s/ bocoms [5] &en it precedes front vuwels an6 it repains [ s 1 when it precedes non-front vowels. 'Ihe distribution is represented as folla5: / S/ , [Yi5] /-v [+ front I [SI /-v [- front 1 'scratch' / 'look after' 'descend ' 'bridge ' 'hoe' 'ring' 'descend ' 'kill' 'hoe The Phoneme /z/ /z/ is realized as the voicec! alveolar fricative [z] in some envirments and as a voiced pre-palatal fricative in otl-ers. /z/ be- cms [?] when it is followed by front vowels whereas it becmes [z] when it is followed by non-front vovrels. The distributicn is as follows: /z/ - [;I /-v E+ front1 [z] /-v [- front] - 43 - 'winnow' 'kill' 'nail' (finger) 'snake' lnd/ is an alveolar pre-nasalized stop realized as such in all envii-om-nts of occurrence. It is a single unit which contrasts with other s?l.nZs. Re Phoneme /ndz/ /ndz/ is the voiced pre-nasalized alveolar affricate which hecone; the pre-palatal pre-nasalized affricate when followed by the front vowel [i1 and ren-ains [ndz] wbne follmed by non-front vowels. I - 44 - %e following fOW13r represents the distribution. /ndz/ j[njl /-v [+ front] [ ndz 1 /-v [- front 3 The following examples illustrate this distributior.. [!njl] /indz!/ 'a type of juju' [kbnjfrf] /kbndzfrr/ 'a type of juju' [b~dzsr$]/&ndz;r$/ 'sheep' [! ndzbrh 1 /I ndzbrb/ 'relative ndz/nd see nd/ndz The Phonene /n/ /n/ is realize6 as the voiced alveolar nasal. It is established as a phoneme on the basis of its contrast with other nasal SOU&- -n/m see -rrJn -do /tM [tSnS] 'circumcise ' /t&6/ ' count ' /tttnf/ [jttn;] 'base' (of tree) [6cf~f] 'fear' - 45 - /P/ is realized as the voiced palatal rasal. It is known to c?~trcstwith other nasals even though no miniral pairs everge. The Phoneme /1/ /1/ is realize2 as the voiced alveolar lateral in all environ- ments. It is known to contrast with other sounds. see d/l -l/d " - -l/r /h6l6/ [h6l6] 'pack' /h&-6/ [h6r63 'divert' /'enad I 6/ 'clay' /Fqo6rti/ 'chin' /kfl f/ [kyflyf] 'remik' /kfrf/ [ kyiri] 'swear' /k6!6/ [k6\6] 'meet' 'tie' - 46 - Lh /I i/ [ Iyfl 'hide' /yr/ EyYl 'plant' (corn) /l6/ E I61 'go out' /yG/ Cy61 'roast' /r/ is the alveolar vibr'ant realized as such in all environments. 1: 1: jr voiced. rlr /riiht;/ [ r6hA] 'poison' fvb) /y;h;/ 'weed' /ri/ [rl] 'eat' /vi/ [yYl 'plant' (corn) -.r/d - /rf/ 'eit ' /di/ [dyf] 'look' /Y/ is realized as the voiced palatal glide or semi-vowel. It contrasts with alveolar sounds. Y/r see ~ Y!k see _Ir y/1 see & 'kill' i i 1 'winnow' - 47 - V-e Phoneme- /k/ /k/ is realized as the voiceless velar stop in all environments It contrasts with its voiced counterpart and the voiceless labio-velar stop. k/lcp /kfrf/ [kyfrf] ' swear ' /kpiri/ [kpfril 'burn' *"#, / k; k'i s; / [ k; k; 5; ] 'hoof ' /It\ kp f sT/ [ k; kp I s I 'maggot ' Re Phoneire /g/ /g/ is always realized as the voiced velar stop. It contrast with other velar as well as labio-velar sounds. gl.r /$+/ [3naI 'thing' (concrete) />w>/ [ ;$I tadpole /g;rnu'/ [ gtrnii] 'pay' /w;sii/ [w;sii] 'geminate' i ~ /gii I/ [qyfiyi] 'wring' /gb fr f/ [ gb frf 1 'whip' ~ /nArn2/ [ ?'am23 'separate' (fighters) /gbh-S/ 'Sew' - 48 - -Tine Phonepe /qo/ /qg/ is considered a single unit and is realized as the pre- nasnlizec! velar stop. It is always voiced. The Ph0nem.e /q/ /Q/ is realized as the voiced velar n2s2l in all environments. It contrasts with other velars as well as pre-nasalized sounds. - 49 - The Phoneme-. /kp/ /b/is realized as the voiceless labio-velar stop. It is recojyiized as a phorwe on the basis of its contrast with other sour&, with which it forms suspicious pairs. &/-k &/-k see I./lcp see p/lcy [kpfrf] 'burn' Skpb] 'to die' ??le Phonem /&/ /@/ is realized as tt.e voiced labio-velar stop. see kp/gh @ see gb/g see g/cb The Phonene /qrjS /qgt/ is considered as a single unit. It is realized as the pre-nasalize& labio-velar step. It is vciced. - 50 - The Phmeme /w/ /w/ is realized as the voiced labio-velar glide [w] in sow environwnts and in others it is realized as the voiced velar fricative [yl. [wl precedes only back vowels. [w] might be found to precede tk central vowel [a] in a few words. This situation is caused by the occurrence of [u] and [a] together post probably in tr compounc! word. The [ u] in this case is suppressed and what rerrains is [a 1. This is the case vith a word like [>wb-ak;rS] 'sugar cane' which is realized 31 [ &wbk&-s I. [ y 1 precedes non-hack vowels. Re distribution is as fOllO1iS. /w/ [ y] /-v [- back] [w] / -v [t back] lTe follwoing Iiords are illustretions o this distribution. [say; I /s>w;/ 'start' (vehicle) [;ya] /;w;/ tadpole ' [ cl y; ri] /t s(1wl rl/ tickle ' [BWL] /Lw'ul /BwL/ 'eleph,mt grass' [ w:mli I /w;mli/ 'remin' /wW [wZ] 'grind' /yLJ [y;] 'roast' - 51 - 3.2. Vmels 3.2.1. Pbonetic Realization Esimbi has nine vowels, three front vowels, three central and three back vowels. O?t of the nine vowels only eight of them are per- tinent or distinctive. The central unrounded high vowel [ iI is only an allophone of the high back rounded vowel /u/. Table 3 below shows all the vowel sounds in the language. I PHONETIC VOV.'EL CHART I , POSITION OF I FRONT CEm BACK TONGUE LI"I)EI, UNROINDEII ROUNDED T0N;UE HEIGHT OF TONGUE HIGH i i U MID e a 0 LW' E a 5 1 The vowels have a somewhat restricted distribution in words of the language with pore of the vowels oceurrinz in prefixes and a limited number occurring in roots. The root vowels are /I/, /u/, CUI, 4 1 and /a/. These vowels can also be found in prefixes with the exception of [+Iwhic5 occuis only in roots. - 52 - I 3.2.2. Phonemic contrasts. There. are eight vowel Fhcrews classified according to the iI positicn cf tongue and lips and alsc the height of the tonpue. Table 4 indicates the vcwel. rhonen!es in the languape. FI-iCNEi."IC VOkEL CHART The prohlem cf obtainin&minimal pairs in the case of vowels is reduced. "here are still a few cases where it is difficult to get minirral pairs. In this case the environment of occurrence of the vowels will be exmined and near minirral pairs will be used. "?-.e evidence for considering the vowels OR table 4 as phonerres is based on the following contrasts, The Phor.eme /i/ /i/ is realized as the high front unrounded vowel in all - 53 - enviromcnts. It contrasts with /e/, /a/ and /u/. /m5/ [mi31 ' mu1d /kers/ [k>r$] 'report' /kdt$/ 'tree ' / 6b sr 5 / 'wall' /zi/ [ill 'vimmi I /tsi/ [ci] 'touch' /si/ [s:] 'look after' / k f r f/ [ ky f r 1 'swear ' /mi/ [nr] swallow ' The Phonerre /e/ /e/ is always realized as the mid front unrounded vowel. It is a phonme on the basis of its contrast with other vowel sounds with which it constitutes suspicious pairs. Such sounds are [ i I [E] and [a]. -eli see -ile - 54 - -e/ a /Lr$/ [drs 1 'resemblance' /3r5/ ' resemble ' /kddz;/ [ k6dz;I 'elephant' /sdSQs/ 'hamle' GE Thephoneme /~f /E/ is realized as the mid front unrounded vowel It contrasts with other vowels as follows. /CtZ/ [(tal 'buttock' /stS/ [;tal 'buttocks' /klkpS/ [ kEkpS1 'scar' /k$kpS/ [ kskps] 'hut' , /kp&rnbu/ [kpFbiT] 'plum' /$p&mbiT/ 'plums' The Phoneme /a/ /a/ is realized as the law, central unrounded vowel. It contrasts with other vowels as follows. ;-55 - -a/ 5 /drnb8/ [ Amb8 1 'twins ' /jrnb6/ [ smba 1 'twin' /bdkd/ [ba'kw;] 'ladders' /bjk;/ [ bSkw61 'ladder' /a'dzY/ [Qdztl 'nouths' /;dzi?/ [;dzG] 'mouth' /Zw;mii/ [Zwurnut- 1 'animal / Sw u'mii/ ' animal track ' tracks ' -a/ a /ban\/ [ b5n; 1 'salt' /bsns/ [bsns] 'type of cane' /k;r&nd$/ 'type of bag' / karamba/ ' type of mushroom ' T!ie Phoneme /a/ /a/ is realized as the low, back rounded vowel. It is considered a phoneme on the basis of the foliowing contrasts. -5/0 /Stu/ [;tu] 'river' /6tu/ [dtul 'ear' /3ga/ [A,,] 'thing' (concrete) /&g&/ 'c3labash dish' / 5 t %nS/ [ 5 t SmS I ' j aw ' /EtSrnZ/ 'chest' /Sn;?rnZ/ [3nam5] 'tongues' /6nSmC/ ' tongue ' -s/a /b:re/ [ bjrg] 'soot' (ceiling) /bsra/ 'cover' (n) /b;mb%/ [b;mb%] 'wine' /bsns/' type of cane' - 56 - The Phoneme /o/ /o/ is realized as the mid, back rounded va.ic1, in all environments of occurrence. It contrasts with other vowels as follcws. The phoneme /u/ is realized as the high, back, rounded vowel [ul, in some contexts and as the high, central, un- round vowel. [ i 1, in others. /u/ is realized as [ i 1 only in disyllabic roots. When [ul is followed by a non-back vowel in the second syllable of the root it is realized as [$I. If CUI is followed by a back v5w-el it remains [ul and when it occurs in the prefix it remains [u]. The distribu- tion can be represented as follows. /u/ - [+I /-cv [- back] [Ul /-cv [+ back] . - 57 - Ex amp les : [hfndyf] /h;ndf/ 'run' [kfEl] /k6si/ ' c ou gh '. [ts'tbs] /ts\ub6/ 'set up scarecraw.' [h6l6] /h;lG/ 'pack' c ktsu' 1 /khs;/ ' buy ' [Z-ji] /t-dzl/ 'distance' The last word is an example of a word in which /u/ remains [ul because it occurs in the prefix. The only word which is 3 counter example is [bjff~g6]'marrow'. This is very likely to be a compound word. It$/ [tsl 'abandon' /&tu/ t6tuI 'ear' /6ta/ [btal 'spear' /bk;r>/ [bk;rbI 'stump on /&k$rL/ 'wheel' the face' The Phoneme J3/ The sound [a] is considered as a phoneme because it contrasts with the sounds [ i 1 and [u] in the same position, that is, one easily finds minimal pairs to contrast them. When put together with [o] and [e] the contrast is not very clear, because of the lack of minimal pairs. Perhaps more - 58 - studies on the noun classes could establish [a1 as an allo- P'iLne of [e]. In this case the distribution will be mor- pholofiically condit?oned. The following contrasts accounts fDr the phonological status of [a]. There are therefore eight distinctive vowel phonemes in Esimbi, 3.3. Phoneme Distribution in Syllables. There are five syllable structures, 3s has already been discussed in chapter 2. They are: 'V c v CVN where P! = 0, n. ccv csv From the structures listed ahove, it can be observed that there is a maximum of two consonant positions in the syllable. It can also be observed that, but for the CVN structure - 59 - which is closed all the syllables are open. The V syllable constitutes prefixes and the only vowels thzt can stand alone as syllables arc the following && /i, e, E, a, J, 0, u/. The central vowels [+]*is an allo- ~!irineof /u/, and [a] which is a phoneme on its own do not occupy this position. The CV syllable structure is tht,. ::lost predominant, ~ occurring in prefixes as well as in roots. The following tables show the possiblc: combinations of single consonants in syllable onset and vovels in syl- lable peak. Table 5. '+' indicates an attested combination. 9-1 indicates lack of such a combination. Table 6 indicates attested combinations which are prefixes. -60 - Roots i vowels in syllable P b I J+ +' + + + + + - +I I+ - - + + - - +I rl A3 ts m rli dz x ui33 +- - + + +. + - n d. I+ - - + + - - + I w +- - - + + - +I Table S - 61 - rcefixes vowels in syllable peak. i 0 E a a 3. 0 U b;+ + + + + + + + 1:+I + + + - - .- - + + + + + + + + ca,rk i Table 6 Table 5 shows that the most regular vowels which foliow zlmos-t all the consonants are /i, u, e/. We can deduce frcm t2.hlc 6 that the consonants which can combine with mxeis to form CV prefixes are somehow restricted. The following seven consonants are capable of forming pre- fixes /b, t, k, s, p, w, y/. Again certain correspondences between table 5 and 6 show that some combinations are attested in roots as well as in prefixes. These combina- tions are /ki, ka, k-3, ku, hi, ba, hu, pa, wu/. It hqs already been seen that the only closed syllable structure is CVH. It should be notzd that this structure can only be found at morpheme final position and .srh?:_-e there is a consonant cluster comprising a velar nzsal which is not homorganic with the following cor.sonant. The following are examples. - 62 - The CCV syllable nattern is one wit5 a restricted iistributional pattern. C1 position can only be occupied by the follgwing two consonants /qg/ and /k/. On the other hail2 C2 can only be /l/. So far the only vowels which have been found to occupy the vowel peak Tosition cr'e /a/ and /a/. This car: be a result of limited data. Examples af this distribution are 3s fallows. c1 c2 v 'iil. I. a rl9lj lick ' CCV E- k. Io 3 \E.kle 'place' V,CCV i- qg. 1. a i.qgiaks 'charcclals 'V.CCV.CV is The CSV pattern / quitc limited in occurrence. Thc position of the semi-vowel can only bz occuTied by /w/. There could potentially be a wide range of consonants that fit in at C, positi:in with a larger crjrpus, but with the corpus at hand only /mb/ and /g/ occupy this position. There are indications that vowels following the semi- volrel could only be the central vowel. /a! 03- the back VC~.&.S/O/ and /3/ as evident in the following xords. /nbw; I 'aq/ 'potatoes' /gw&Jit/ duck /gwbgwbt;/ 'swan' - 63 - 4.1. Morpheme Structure. In dealing with the morpherns attention will only be paid to roots snd prefixes. No attention has been paid to suffixes and deriv2tions in this study. Norpheme patterns which have been attested in the language are as f 011 ow s : The V morpheme structure is essentially made up of prefix vowels. The CV structure is found in prefixes as well d‘s in roots. The following are ev prefix morphemes: -Word Prefix root 1 1 kE-yina medicine cv-cv, cv 1 .. I k5-tfirnC jigger CV-GV. c-7 I I m.-vi6 gorilla C;;-CV Here are examples of‘ C~J root morphemes: 4.2. Word Structure. Words differ from morphenes in that they consist of roots, affixes and other corphological units, wherezs morphenes can be made up of only one of these word com- ponents Generally words are lz.rger than morphemes, The following patterns emerge from non-compound Lsimbi words: Cv vi CV C7.CV v. CCT v ccv cv. ccji ".CC?-.CV - 65 - CV.C~J.CTr . .~ v .SJ. C~V' c sv .cv C s-v. C7flT.J The following examples substantiate the various pattsms. A hyphen is used to differentiate the prefix from the root -Cii I. I /iJqa/ imitate 1 I /w/ tz.ke -ccv /qql5/ 1 lick' CV ~ CV /b3-r>/ I scot' (on pot) 'i ccv /'~-k13/ 1 place' 7.XV.CIT . I /i-qqlakZ/ charcoal ' cv * cv C'J 1 /ki-p&rG/ blister 1 I /s Smb Srs/ scatter - 66 - r. C7J. cv /k-jiim%/ I animal I /&hiirC/ change' (n) C: SV. CVPT /m.aw'l&-/ 1 pot atoe s I C S7. CV 1 I /gw3gC/ duck The most predominant patterns are the :w,v.:v, C:;.CyJ, iT v .L ~ - .a '1 G'iT. c ir .=y The rest of them are restrictzd in occurrence. 4.3. Phonene Distribution in root morphemes. 4.3 .I. Vowels. In monosyllabic roots of the form c?i there is 2 wide range of consonants occupying the C position but there is restriction on the vowels that follow. :Yith the exception of /ndz/ all the consonEnts c.an occupy this position. The voviels which occupy the vowel position are /i, a, u/. In the case of disyllabic roots of the form is usually a reduplication of In the CV1 CV2p Vx V1. same way as with monosyllabic roots the vowels that occupy these positions are restricted to /i, a, u/. There are however a few exceptional cases where VL could be a different vowel like /a/ OF [t] followed by /a/ or /i/. These are some of the exceptions: - 67 - 1 I /I-kak&/ grass used for mats 1 I /ki -y?xn&’ plantains I I . [tstbS] /tshb5/ set up scarecrow [ktki] /kGsi/ I cough‘ The following table indicates the co-occurrence of vowels in CVI.CV2 roots. i e v1 E a a 3 0 U Table 7. I1 + = attested combination I1 - = unattested combination. .+ .3 -2. Consonant Distribution Table 8 below deals with the distribution of consonants in Foot morphemes. The first column deals with consonants at morpheme initial position. - Column two indicatss consonznts that could follov: a prefix :vhich ends with a vowel. - Column three deals with consonants appearing inter-voc a1 i cally , - The last column deals with consonants that appear at final position of morphemes. Consonant Di s tribution P b t d +II +I+i- I I I IC 4 +I +I+I - kP 95 I I I ts dz 6 f v S Z h nb - 65 - -I -1+I +I +II -II +II -I + + + - Table a. From the table cne can draw the following conclusions about thc distribution of consonants in root morphemes. - /ndz/ and /iJqb./ have the most restricted position of occurrence, that is only morpheme initial position when preceded by a .vowel prefix. - Almost all the other consonants can appear morpheme initially, inter-vocalicallg and morpheme initially preceded by a vow51 prefix. - /n/ and /g/ are the only consoncants that end ‘NOPdS or morphemes in the language. - 70 - i?-.h,. Verb roots. ldost vmb roots are of the form CV, CCV, CVCV and CVCVCV. The only form which is limited in occurrence is the CCV with only one example in the corpus available. -c cv 1 /i]gl5/ lick‘ CVCVCV 1 /mi‘&bi’ri’) twist I I I /y& & a/ yawn ‘/, I /duvmru/ pick The verb roots are in the imperative form. 4- .5 .,-Noun Roots Noun roots have the same forms 2s ths verb Foots. The only exception is the CVCVCV verb form which is not present in noun roots. The following noun roots - 71 - occur CV, CCV, CVCV, and CCVCV. Thcsc forms will be presented together with their prefixes in order to faci- litate comprehension. -cv /&-flu/ 1 an element like candle I /~-vJ&/ I elephant griss I I 1 /k i -&/ time I I /k<-Z;/ CZl2WGOd -cvcv /&k&;/ f cluster of bananzs I /ki-hhrk/ 1 type of shrim' I /l'C-ping/ stor y ,> /e-bi~i/ 1 valley I ccvcv I 1 /i -gglkk3/ (I char coal The last syllable in this word is likely to be a suffix. This is because in the rest of the woords with thc CCV there is no following syllable. In other words the CCV sxllable syllable/cnds the word or morpheme. If the last syllable is thus considered as a suffix this form is then reduced to CCV noun root. Lack of more exmplzs has called for this proposition. It is possible that lack of examples is a result of limited data, or that this form does not exist at all. - 72 - 4.. G. Vowel Harmony According to Stallcup (1980: B) vowel hmmony once existed in Esimbi. He claims that if the vowel of the root is high the vowel of the prefix is also high, if mid, the vowel of the prcfix is mid znd if low the vowel of the prefix is also low. The voviels are thus classified 2s follows: High - /i/, [t], /u/ i1iH.d - /e/9 /a/9 /o/ Low - /E/, /E/* /a/. This cleans that it is not possible to get c? mixture of vowels from any of the three groups in one word, precisely root vowrel from one group and prefix vowel from another. Due to some historical ChmgeS this situation has changed. The prefixes of nouns are no longzr separable from the roots because of the trznsfer of vowel height information from the root to the prcfix,~ In the present state of the language the vowel hzrrnony situation has been eliminated. That is why one easily finds words in the lmguage with a combination of both high and low vowels in roots 3nd pref ixes. Examples : /&bdr ~g~:::--: This chaptcr will examine some important fsatwes like vowel length and tone. Esimbi like many other Africm 1anguu3geSis a tone lznguzgc, that is, a languag;: in which both segmental and pitch phonemes, otherwise known as tones, go into the composition of words. In tone languages words can bc d.istin&uished on the basis of scgments as well 23 (?n the basis of tones. 5.1. Vowel Length Vowel length in Zsinbi has both a phonological and phonetic status. An exmination of somi' of the words xith long vowels shows contrast with short ones, but in some cmes there is no contrast. The only vowels that show contrast between long mc! short vowels me /u/, /J/ and /3/. The following words indicate the contrmt. I /mu/ sit /a&&' I think '/'remember I I /td/ abuse I/ I sell I /t&4/ I dP2,w water I /m%/ 1 mould' /mas/ IGut' /;tu/ Iriver' /&tu/ 1 spoon I The following long vowels [eel [EE] [a.] can also be found in the language but they do not contrast with their short counterparts. These sounds are found in the f 011 owing words. - 74. - [ eembi ] I st orm I [&hi] 1 container made from barks of trees r [ k'i yjhna 1 I pl antsin I There ,?.re relatively few words in the 13nguogc with long vowcls. It becorncs difficult to fiefine the status of long vowels as pertinent or not. Therc are basically fivi: tones in Esimbi with three rcgistcr and two contour toms. These tones are pertinent in the lznguagc and the evidence for considering I them 2s such will be givrn uncler the section Phoneinic tone Contrast I . 5.2.1. Phonemic Tone Contrast. John Walters (lg&) assets th2t for Rzntoid languages in general most lexical items ccnnot be dis- tingu'i~'shedonly by tone from segmentally identical items. This is particularly true zs far as Esimbi is concerned because of the sczrcity of words that nrc distinguishable by tone elone. However few words can still bc found with contrast only at the level of tones. One possible expla- nation to this lack of contrast is the multi-syllabic nature of the words. The following tones exist in Esimbi, / high, \ low, -mid, nfalling LmdV rising, These tones can be justified by the following contrasts. - 75 - C --.. High/Lovi ontr ast /h&nd 1 I /&&r ~ow/M id Contrast An&/ I message I /Ai/ I hecl Hiah/Ri sinp: C ontr ast /ts$ I pound' /tsi;/ 1 rotten 1 1 I 1 /s& descend /si$ wnsh Rising/Fall ing Contrast I I I /kEkpj/ I.insect /kBkp5/ equa.1 Apxt from thcse contrasts at onc position only, there are othw words in which tcnes contrast st tTwo different positions in the same words. The following words ilrc examples: I I I /2z 5.2.2. Lexical Tone. Lexical tone is tone found on single lexical items, that is, words out of context. All the five tones appear on lexical items. Verbs which are all imperative - 76 - cmrg either high or rising tones on monosyllabic verbs, n sequence of high-high QP low-hizh on dissyllabic verbs, and a sequence of high-high-high or lovJ-1ow-high or low- high-high cn trisyll2.bic verbs. Examples: /tu/ I abuse 1 /tsti/ 1 rotten’ I I /k$l< / [k&lyi] end’ (v) /gum;/ pay‘ I I /tLivv?ri7 [ 2iyL-i’. 3 ticklc /y$mbi$iy I sharpen I- Lexical tone c?n nlsc be defined in tmms of difference between lexical ton3 2nd gr.xmnaticnl tone. Euck h2.s not been done in this pzpt-r on grrommatic,=l tone, therefore the fay exzmples given below zrc mzD.nt just to indic?.te hw lexicd. tone differs from gramnaticnl tone. f I I /bdni’mbi// nct /b‘onimbi/ ncts I 1 The low toncs on the plural form of nets /bonimbi/ 2.p~ not lexical tones ?>ut grammatical toner,. This is because the plural forrr. of the word is obtained only by. replacing the high tones by low ones. Ch.zLn&eof tons in the following words also changes the words from singular to plural. In a sense the lexical tone is ch‘anged to a grammatical tone. I 1 /&w$ elephant grass stem /&&/ I elephant grass stems I I /is;/ calabash‘ calabashes. - 77 - This phenomenon could be quite widcspread in the lnnguage I but this study dih t allow for a morc indepth investiga- tion in view of the time constraints. 5.2.3. Monosyllabic Noun Roots. Tone Combinations. The possible combinations of tones on prefixes &and roots of nonosyll?.bic nouns is quite restricted. Not a11 the possible combin-tions czn occur. With 2. lcw tone prefix the following cornbin?%tionscm be found. Low tone Fref ix - Low tone root - High tone root - Mid tone root. With c high tone prefix we ca? have the following root tones: High tone Frefix - Low tone root - High tone root - Falling tone root - Mid tone root. The following words are illustrations of the nbove men- ti oned c omb ina t i ons . Prefix-root I. I L-L /t A-&/ junc t i on I I /&-&/ hoe e-I-& 1 elephant grass I -L-H I I /&pi? cocoyam flour 1 /O-g$ calabash dish‘ I 1 /&-z&/ bee -L- FI I I /ki-kE/ [ kikwu] cap 1 /kj-gu/ hawk /Id-&/ I fight ’ Monosyll~!.3ic noun roots with high tone prefixes hzvc mope possible: combinationsthan the lov? tone prefix nouns. fiefix-roct -H-L I I /b&-su/ cat /iinG/ I message 1 I /g<-ru/ kolanut ‘ -H-H /&-s&/ 1 market I /j-nbd/ 1 twin /kj-zd/ I camwood‘ /kL-b$/ I potf I I /&rG/ type or raffia palm /A I /i”dzf/ [iji] aerial yam’ - 79 - H-At I /i-pz/ hole' /;-tu/ I river I / I /i-riti/ knee' There are no H-M contours or other contours with a M. tone. Most noun prefixes carry either 3 low tone or a high tone. In some exceptional cases noun prcf'ixes can be found to cnrry a mid tone or the falling nnd rising tones as f 011 ows : /k?-td/ 'iron metal I 1 /c)-s.S/ ripht to do something I /s3-rd/ type of fruit I /kS-y?i/ I smell' (n) 5.2.t.. Vzrb Tones. The distribution of tones on verbs is more regular and systernstic thm on nouns. It should be noted that the verbs used in this esmy are in the imperative form. It will be found that only two toncs occur on verbs namely: the high and low. On monosyllabic verbs only the high and rising tone occur. /t 1 1 1 /z It is possiblz to mgue that rncnosyllabic verbs have n low tone in the infinitive form nnd in the imperative a high tone is added to it such that it becomes a rising tone. Infinitive Imper-tive I I /rib/ + J' .. , ~ -. i /n&/ weave 1 /mi/ + ; .. . /m5/ moulel On the other hLmd verbs with high tones in the infinitive maintain thc high tone in the imper?.tive form. -Infini tive Imuerative I /&/ + /" .-..I ~ /EA/ sit' I I /t s;/ i i .- /tsQ polJn5 Tones on disjillabic verbs f'ollom the same pottern 8s on monosyllabic verbs. There are only two sequences of either HH or LH. I I I I /h&di// [hlndyi] run /gum$ pay /k[li? [kyilyi] I end' h]q;rg/ 1 kiss I Trisyllabic verbs still Show much regularity on their tonal patterns. Basically three tone patterns emerge on trisyllabic verbs. HHH, LLH, LHH. 1 /mi'rnbi$ i;/ twist ' I I /t&wiri/ [ ciyiri] tickle /yimb&i'/ f sharpen I (stick) Having trisyllabic verbs is an indication of the nulti- Syllabic nature of the language. - 81 - --__CONCLUSION. - BY 17J'i,?Yof its contribution to scholarship, this study has helped to open up more areas for studies in Esimbi. In this study an attenpt has been made to des- cribe the Esimbi lanmage, a language which is quite u-iique among neighbouring languages. In the description attention has been paid to sound caflysis, sound dis- tributim, sound combination and to prosody or supra- segmental phonology. It has b2en established that there xc, 21 consoncut phonemes ana 8 vowel phoncmes in the languagc. It has also been seen that there are 5 supra- segment31 phonemes or tones, 3 of which are level and the other 2 are contour. This study has derlt strictly with phonology. There are still various areas gf' the lmguage like mor- phology 2nd syntax which still need to be studied. However this present study constitutes a stepping stone to these aspects of the language yet to be Studied. After this study establishing an alphabet would not be a prob1 em. SO far no agreement has been rexhed on the classification of Esimbi. Various researchers have brought up various points on this issue. This ther&ore constitutes im irea for further research. Because of the restricted nature of this research, nothing has been done on suffixes which have been attested in the language. This might well fit within the - 82 - SELECTED BPELIOGRHPHY. en R. 1974. The Organ sation of Phonology, 111 3ifth Avenue, New York, Academic Press Inc. Gieu 'iiLc:lc1 et zl., 1983, ";.tli;s Linguistique du Lameroun (IILCM~)" in .+.tins Linguistioue de l'hfrique Centrale (,L,,C) l,CCT, CZ$~~OTCLA-~~G~?ST,Yaounde, Faris. Grimes r'. Bilrbira (ed.) 1984. Languages of the Jorld .ztknologue, Tenth Edition, dsllns ciexas, ;;ycliffe Bible Transhtors. Kedings-r, It. and 5. 2.997, Phonology of .kkhsz (Bakossi) S. I.L. Yaounde. Johnston Z.1:- 1919, 1922. .L Comparative Study of the 33ontu &nd Serni-Bontu Languages, Cxford, Clarendon 2ress. Jones Ganiel 1957. "The $+istoryand Keaning of the Term 'Fhonemes" in Fudge 2ric C. Fhcnology, Great 3ritai~,,IIazell t:ztson and Viney Ltd, Aesbury Bucks, pp. 17-32. Keir Iiansford, Bendor S. and 5tcnford i.on 1976. Studies iii Kigerian Languages. -XI Index of Nigericn Languiges. high idyCOmbf2, Bucks England , Sumc?er Institute of iinguis t ics. - a3 - J.F., 1982, Elements for a History of the lestern Grassfields, Yaounde, 3epartment of Sociology, University of Yaounde. Linguistique", 1976, in Luc Douquiaux et Jacqueline 1i.C. Thomas, (eds.), Lnquste et bescription des Langue5 2 Tradition Grcle, 2aris, LZLd, pp. 149-155. Sti:llc.~pLenneth L., l98o a "Noun Clzsses in Ksiinbi", in Lcrry hyman ii. (ed. ) Xow C1-.-sses in the GrL!ssfiald 3,ntu Eorderland. Los i-..ngeles, CGlifornia, Separtment of Linguistics, University of Southern Crlifornio, pp. 139-153. II ii I' 198C b Brief i-,ccount of Nominal Frefixes and Vowel Harmony in Esimbi", in Bouquiaux Luc (ed. 1, L' Exponsion Bantoue 2, Fcris, SELI,?, pp. 435-441. Tyhurst Jcmes z., 1984, Fhonology of Kenycng, S.I.L., F.B. 1299 Yaounde, C:;meroon. Ualters John %. , 1984, %G;r,toid Overview" S. I. L. Ci;.rteroori. c. 10 cp-pclr. I ~~ Wiesemann Ursula, Sjs.ndembouo Ztienne, et 'TddLdjeu Ikurice ,. 1983, Guide Zour le DQveloppement des Syst&es dlicriture des iingues dricoines, Yaoundk, Soci'etB InternLtional de Linguistique. kJilliamson i;. , (1971), "The Benue-Congo L'aguages and IjoS', in Sebeok r. Thomi.s (ed. Current Trends in Linguistics. Linguistics in Sub- Saharcn ;.frico, The Biague: I.Souton, pp. 245-306.