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THE PHONOLOGY of BETSIMISARAKA MALAGASY By THE PHONOLOGY OF BETSIMISARAKA MALAGASY by Timothy O'Neill A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics Fall 2015 © Timothy O'Neill All Rights Reserved ProQuest Number: 10014799 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10014799 Published by ProQuest LLC (2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 THE PHONOLOGY OF BETSIMISARAKA MALAGASY by Timothy O'Neill Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Benjamin Bruening, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Linguistics & Cognitive Science Approved: ____________________________________________________________ George H. Watson, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Ann L. Ardis, Ph.D. Interim Vice Provost for Graduate & Professional Education I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: ______________________________________________________ Jeffrey Heinz, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: ____________________________________________________________ Peter Cole, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: ____________________________________________________________ Irene Vogel, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: ____________________________________________________________ Karthik Durvasula, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was funded by two grants: a University of Delaware Global Travel Award and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship #1123609. These institutions appreciated the genuine need for documentation of Betsimisaraka, and generously supported my project. I would never have secured either grant without the guidance of my advisor Jeffrey Heinz, but of course his role went far beyond consulting on grant applications. As my first (and second!) phonology instructor, he inspired my original passion for―and gave me a solid foundation in―this fascinating field. He supervised my progress in Madagascar from afar, suggesting approaches to elicitation and analysis. His greatest contribution, though, was comments on all drafts of this dissertation. His suggestions ranged from background reading to whole new analyses, and always how to write more clearly and concisely. All eight months in Madagascar, I had the companionship and invaluable guidance of my language assistant and friend Ludger Mamy. He taught my Betsimisaraka language lessons, aided in planning and executing the logistics of field trips, and consistently helped participants feel at ease and engaged. He worked through endless iv hours of transcription and sometimes-repetitive questions with a passion for language―and a smile. The second assistant, Precilla V., joined the project late, but was nevertheless able to jump right in and adapt. In Antananarivo, unofficial tour guides Merrill Baker and her husband Naunau Tata Midard led me through obtaining a visa extension and research permit―even taking care of later complications after I'd left the city. In Tamatave, the project would have been slow to start without Laura Tilghman and Ludo Razafindramazina, who found me lodging and consulted on how best to do fieldwork (and everything else!) in Madagascar. Ludo, a Betsimisaraka speaker, provided the initial recording of the language for me while I was still proposing this project. Along with Ludger, he continued to provide informal elicitation once I'd returned home. Also back home, Delaware's entire Linguistics Department was invaluable, especially administrative assistant Jane Creswell and the professors on my committee, which (aside from Jeff Heinz) consisted of Peter Cole, Irene Vogel, and Delaware alumnus Karthik Durvasula. Jane helped me organize a mountain of receipts, and generally seemed to know whatever I needed to do to keep the university and the NSF satisfied. Peter was my first and only Field Linguistics professor, occasionally consulted on techniques while I was in Madagascar, and made key suggestions on vastly expanding the literature review. Irene v taught me in Sounds of the Worlds Languages, the fascinating class where I did the Betsimisaraka pilot study with Ludo; during the writing stage, she ever pushed me toward more professional phrasings, especially guiding the methodology section. Karthik was both my most detail-oriented editor and essential supplier of knowledge, off the top of his head, of additional relevant language data or approaches I could cite for a more well-rounded analysis. Outside of Delaware, Ileana Paul, leader of the Malagasy- Canadian project to describe Malagasy linguistic diversity, included me in the project whenever possible and made connections for me in the Malagasy linguistics community. One of these connections was Jean- Lewis Botouhely, a dean at the University of Antsiranana and the official sponsor of this project in Madagascar. Preliminary analyses were presented at Manchester Phonology Meeting 2013, Phonology 2013 at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Dialectal Variation in Malagasy, the Malagasy-Canadian Project's culminating conference in Diego-Suarez, Madagascar in 2014. I am grateful to all colleague who attended my talks and post presentation, and whose questions suggested solutions to the trickiest problems. I also benefited from informal discussions with other colleagues, whether about fieldwork with Tim McKinnon, Malagasy linguistics with Eric Potsdam, Maria Polinsky, and Alexander Adelaar, or phonological analysis with Nadya Pincus, Gina Cooke, Joanna Zaleska, vi and Michael Dow. Having a son while writing my dissertation meant I always needed baby-sitters. Rachel Bristol, Mike Fink, Weipeng Wang, Sandy Abu Adas, Carolina and Pratyush Sharma, and of course all four grandparents: these fine people looked after the “Little Sir” while I either enjoyed responsibility-free time or, more often, while I worked. A not insignificant portion of this dissertation, in fact, was written over all-day sessions at the Sharma household while Carolina and her son Ishaan looked after mine. Speaking of those grandparents, my parents, Tom and Kate O'Neill, sent me to Madagascar on my original trip as an undergraduate and, years later, when I had doubts about proceeding to graduate school, they talked me back into it. They continued to encourage me throughout graduate school (indeed, throughout my entire education), and contributed to this specific project at each stage, from transportation to the airport (with dinner!), to making the long trip to Madagascar for a Christmas visit. They were even kind enough to provide me with the very first and very last necessary copy-edits of this work. My parents- and sister-in-law, James, Lynda, and Melissa Kelder also gave key support during the writing stage of the project. Last but not at all least, my wife KellyAnn O'Neill was there every step of the way. Thanks to the generosity of her aunt Marilyn Kelly, KellyAnn accompanied me for more than half my time in Madagascar, vii participating in language lessons, navigating the culture, and talking through the first versions of many of the ideas presented here. When we were both back at home and I was writing, she kept me consistently on task, doing everything from inquiring after my progress to reading drafts of chapters as they were written. Along with KellyAnn (although he did not provide much in the way of proofreading), I am also grateful to our son John Charles O'Neill II, who came into our lives at the midpoint of this project. Together and separately, no matter how busy I was, KellyAnn and John Charles consistently brought me much-needed laughter, warmth, and love. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................xii LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................xix ABSTRACT ............................................................................................xx Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION.......................................1 1.1 The Need for a Study of Betsimisaraka Phonology.....4 1.1.1 The Need for a Study of Malagasy Phonology...4 1.1.2 The Need for a Study of Malagasy Dialects.......7
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