sign in sign up
<<
Home , Assimilation (phonology), Dissimilation, Epenthesis, Labialization, Maale language, Metathesis (linguistics)

Journal of and Culture Vol. 3(6), pp. 117-125, December 2012 Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/JLC DOI: 10.5897/JLC12.037 ISSN 2141-6540 ©2012 Academic Journals

Full Research Paper

Phonology of Yem: Phonological processes

Eba Teresa Garoma

Department of and Literature, CSSL, Jimma University, . E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +251 911 74 23 70.

Accepted 12 November, 2012

This study attempted to analyze phonological processes in Yem, the language under Western Proto- Omotic. It was a descriptive analysis which focused on the specific points of the phonological processes including some descriptions of the segmental . Hence, the central theme of the study was to provide a descriptive explanation of properties of the phonemes in the target language. The data used in the study were gathered both in library work and informant selection for elicitation. Using elicitation, phonemic inventory was done both for and sounds of the language. The linguistic items used to identify the phonological processes were obtained through elicitation. Here, there have been some phonological processes undergone either in a or across : , , spirantization, voicing or devoicing, palatalization, , deletion and . Generally, the study identified some very peculiar phonological features in the language, which could be unique to it.

Key words: Phonological processes, of Yem, assimilation, labialization, spirantization, palatalization, epenthesis, deletion and dissimilation.

INTRODUCTION

Ethiopia is a country with more than 80 . The Omotic includes Ari, Dime, Banna-Hamer, Benchnon, languages are categorized under Semitic, Cushitic, Maji, Sheko, Mao and Yem, as well as the Ometo Omotic and Nilo-Saharan language families. Semitic, clusters. The are found only in Cushitic and Omotic are subgroups of the super Ethiopia (Bender and Fleming, 1976). known as Afro-Asiatic. Nilo-Saharan is Yem is one of the Omotic languages which are found another super-family found in most parts of Western under Western subgroup. It is spoken in the SNNPRS Ethiopia (Bender and Fleming, 1976). Since the focus of (Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region), the study is the language that belongs to Omotic particularly around Fofa area and Saja (small villages subgroup, it is important to proceed to the linguistic found in SNNPRS). The area is located between Addis information of the target language. Ababa and Jimma town. This language is bounded by Omotic as a whole represents about twenty eight Oromia in North and Northwest, by the Gurage Zone in “minority” languages, most of which have not been Northeast, and by Hadiya Zone in South. On the other documented hand, the language has speakers who live outside (http://www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/pages/language.htm SNNPRS, like Jimma town, Sokoru, Dedo and Sak’a ). This language family has a very vast variety within itself (Hirut, 1993; Derib, 2004; Teshome, 2007). The language in Ethiopia. Most languages in this family are spoken in has three varieties or categorized by social the surroundings of the Omo River system from which the structures. The first variety is that of Royal families, the name is derived. Two regional sub-families of the Omotic second is of ordinary, and the third is of informal type. family are the Eastern and the Western Proto-Omotic. From these three variants, the present study focuses on The Eastern Proto-Omotic includes Welayta, Gamo, the ordinary language used by many people in the Fofa Gofa, Malo, Zala, Dawuro, Konta, Zayse, Dorze, Koyra, area. The language has different names which are Gidicho, Kachamo, Basketo, etc. The Western Proto- derogatory; hence, they are avoided in this study.

118 J. Lang. Cult.

So far, a considerable amount of studies have been hand in that they are all conducted on Yem, particularly conducted in different structures and aspects of the Yem syntax and . Yet, there are considerable gaps language. These works focus dominantly on morphology to be filled on the area of phonology. The present study in and syntax. Almost none of them seem to have part is, thus, an attempt to fill the gaps by focusing on addressed the issue of phonology as their main concern. phonological processes. I have tried to review many of the works hereunder in An important aspect of the general characteristics of accordance with time sequence. From the various studies language is the notion which is concerned with the fact conducted on Yem by Bender and Fleming (1976), that all languages continually get their own rules and Fissaha (1984), Girma (1986), Hirut (1993), Derib (2004) principles to govern the patterns and distributions of and Teshome (2007) are the main ones. sounds. All human languages handle richly and readily Bender and Fleming (1976) tried to compare languages with the speech sounds by having several ways of of Cushitic and Omotic families under the title “Cushitic comprising the systematic and functional properties to and Omotic”. They categorized the [Yem] (this replaces express them. derogatory word) language under the western Proto- The scientific study of language which deals with such Omotic subgroups, and included it in their comparison, rules and principles in the production of speech sound is but they did not treat the language independently by Phonology. Phonology seeks to discover those systematic identifying the linguistic structures. properties in the domain of sound structure, and finds the Another work in similar area is that of Fissaha (1984) regularities and principles behind it, both for individual “Noun morphology of Yamsa” which was presented to the languages and for language in general (Wiese, 2006). Department as a partial fulfillment for the BA Here, it is the science that recognizes the patterns and degree. Under this title, Fissaha discussed some functions of segments or individual speech sounds to in nouns in terms of gender, determiners, make in particular language meaningful numbers, case, and so forth. He has touched up on some (Catford, 1988). derivations of nouns, and a few notions on Sound patterns are “the set of sounds which occur in a morphophonemic changes which involve noun language, permissible arrangement of the sounds in and derivation. words or the processes for adding, deleting or changing Girma’s (1986) BA thesis, “Yemsa Verb Morphology” is sounds” (Sloat, 1978). Even if all languages share another study on the Yem language. This study is universal properties like, having and , concerned with presenting some of the neglected aspects some that begin with consonants and end with as verb inflections and deriving verb systems of the vowels, and unrounded front vowels and rounded back language. Girma dealt with some predominantly vowels, it is highly unlikely that any two languages have prevailing morphophonemic changes and conditions. He exactly the same sound pattern. Sound patterns can be also tried to identify three forms of vocabulary items described in three behaviors, one of which is which have the same or similar meanings and concepts dissimilarities of sound inventories, the second way is the in the society. These are ‘royal’, ‘respect’ and ‘informal’. different sound orders, and the last is related with the At MA level, we find Hirut’s (1993) thesis, conducted on rules or processes affecting the sounds (Wardhaugh, the word formation processes in Yem. Hirut has made a 1977; Sloat, 1978; Hammond, 2006). All these concepts conceptual analysis by using affixation, compounding, are treated under the discipline of phonology. and reduplication. She treated morphological, syntactic Phonemes (both consonants and vowels) are the as well as phonological properties of the word formation invariant categories identified in phonology. Consonants processes. Her thesis was named as “Word formation in minimal pairs are different phonemes if they occur in processes in Yem”. the same environment, and make meaning change Derib (2004) has also conducted a study on the Yem among the pairs (Mulugeta, 2008). Hence, they are the language. His work is a syntactic analysis of noun phrase smallest units of speech sound which exist in contrast, in the language by considering principles and parameters and cause meaning difference among words. “A unit of theory. He, even, showed the analysis of noun phrase sound is a if it functions to distinguish lexical structure in line with the DP hypothesis. The title of items from each other in terms of meaning, and if it Derib’s MA thesis is “The structure of Noun phrase in cannot be broken up any further in a way that other Yem”. lexical units emerge” (Wardhaugh, 1977). Phonemes are In addition to the above works, there is also an MA abstract forms: they occur in the forms of phones which thesis on the language by Teshome (2007). Teshome, are the physical representations. And these phones, under “The Syntax of Simple Verbal and Nominal based on the environments of the phonemes, may exist Clauses of Yem”, identified simple verbal and nominal in different realizations which are known as clauses of Yem through Minimalist Approach of (Lass, 1984; Wiese, 2006). Chomsky. He focused on the derivation of simple verbal Speech sounds in language are patterned in a and nominal affirmative clause structures. successive sequence and form a higher unit to convey The studies reviewed above are related to the study at meaning. Individual sounds within words or across words

Garoma 119

interact and affect one another. In fact, not all sounds segments easier to articulate and distinguish. Thus, undergo such process with the neighborhood sounds, dissimilation is sometimes used as an alternative to except those which are dominant over the others in point deletion. or manner of articulations. Thus, phonemes and their Common in many languages is the process of realizations can be described by means of different rules . Speakers may reverse the actual order of in which way they are modified under specific adjacent segments that are derived from non-actual circumstances, such as the influence from right or left forms for various reasons. This reordering of sequential neighbors (Sloat, 1978; Wiese, 2006). segments or phones to make articulation easier can be There are several phonological processes which bring termed as metathesis. This process is common in the about segmental changes in natural languages, typically speech of children and the adults who cannot properly in a or through morpheme chains, among articulate some words. The process of can which assimilation, labialization, Spirantization, voicing or vary in degree of naturalness in the language; that is, their devoicing, palatalization, epenthesis, deletion, occurrences depend on the frequencies of the successive dissimilation, and metathesis are the common ones in sequence of sound. most languages of the world (Sloat, 1978; Lass, 1984; Yem is the language of Omotic family which is found ’Grady et al., 1997). near the centre of Ethiopia, and bounded by languages of Assimilation is a phonological or an articulatory process Cushitic family (usually, Hadiya and Afan Oromo). There occurring on neighboring sounds, which results from a are no enough or hardly any research works done on its sound becoming more like another nearby sound in terms phonology. The study, then, tries to investigate the of one or more phonetic properties. In the influence a phonology of Yem, and in doing so, attempts are made to sound arrives on the preceding nearby answer the following questions: (phoneme), that is, on the left-hand of the sound, the resulting assimilation is regressive or anticipatory while 1) What are the consonant and vowel phonemes of the influence arrives on the following or right-hand the language? segment in progressive (Lass, 1984). Palatalization is the 2) What are the common phonological processes process of superimposing a palatal articulation on non- found in the language? palatal consonants which are followed by a or glide, and labialization superimposes labial on The main objective of this study is to look into non-labial consonants while voicing and devoicing are phonological processes in Yem, and to explain the changing voiceless sound to voiced or the vice versa due phonemes in the contexts under this general objective, to the influence of neighboring sound. Spirantization is the study specifically tries to: the process of changing non- to fricative. Some languages do not allow three consonant clusters i) Identify the consonant and vowel phonemes of in a successive sequence. Thus, they use the process of Yem; epenthesis to keep their phonotactic constraints. ii) Examine phonological processes in the language. Epenthesis is the technique of inserting syllabic or non- syllabic segment within an existing chain of segments. The study is delimited to the analysis of phonology in The segment to be inserted can be vowel or consonant Yem. The primary concern of the study is to highlight the even if the vowel /i/ is the most common to be inserted as phonological processes. It focuses only on segmental epenthetic vowel in many languages. The epenthesis phonemes, and phonological processes. Here, it does not process functionally facilitates by breaking deal with detail , phonological distributions up the impermissible sequences of consonants. If a and structures. Though the language is tonal, the segment (especially, vowel segment) is inserted between study does not include analysis of the language and two consonants, it is said to be anaptyxis, but if it is other suprasegmental features except assigning the inserted at the beginning of morpheme, it is prosthesis tones of the syllables. (Lass, 1984). A segment, which occurs either in a morpheme or across the boundaries of , can be removed METHODOLOGY from certain phonetic contexts when they are fixed together. This is done because some languages do not This study is conducted through library research and fieldwork. allow diphthongization (succession of two different Library research is used, according to Goldstein (1965), as a pre- vowels). This removal or reduction of segment is said to field work preparation. Goldstein stresses this idea by saying be deletion. “Systematic fieldwork usually begins at desk, in the library and the There is another phonological process which is archives” (ibid). It involves assessing studies conducted previously on phonology, and Yem phonology in particular. The data for this opposite to assimilation, dissimilation. Two segments study are obtained dominantly through fieldwork by using elicitation, become less alike in articulation which might be resulted wordlist paradigm and storytelling. The words are collected from the from successive sequence. This can be to make the native speakers of the target language.

120 J. Lang. Cult.

Eight native speakers of the language are selected. The phonemes / ʔ/ and /j/. Thus, it can be said that Yem has informants were preferred for the very reason that they are labiodental alveolar fricative /f/, // and /j/, monolingual speakers. Convenient sampling technique is employed in addition to the twenty three consonants mentioned by in selecting key informants among the residents of the area depending on their language accuracy. The data gathered are previous researchers. cross-checked with secondary sources written on the language. For The situation lies on some ejective sounds like /t’/, /c’/, the purpose of obtaining the desired data, two instruments are and /k’/. These sounds have no or hardly any employed. These are interview and survey of written literatures . minimal/suspicious pairs which may make them loan words because they are found in borrowed words. These words are borrowed either from or Afan Oromo RESULT AND DISCUSSION as shown below:

There are various phonological universals among world languages of which the existences of consonant and Borrowed words Gloss vowel phonemes are the two features. Yem is one of those which have different consonant and vowel phonemes. This section identifies and describes the 4) /t’/- /k’urt’ummii/ ‘fish’ (Afan Oromo) segments, and analyzes some phonological processes in -/sat’inii/ ‘box’ (Amharic) Yem. /k’/- /bok’k’ollo/ ‘corn’ (Afan Oromo or Amharic) -/k’urt’ummii/ ‘fish’ (Afan Oromo) /c’/- /c’amma/ ‘shoe’ (Amharic) Segmental phonemes in Yem As shown above, the words /k’urt’ummii/ ‘fish’, /sat’inii/ Every language has its own segments which are ‘box’, /bok’k’ollo/ ‘corn’ and others are borrowed from the categorized under consonant and vowel phonemes. neighboring languages, Amharic and Afan Oromo. Likewise, Yem has both consonants and vowels as Therefore, the idea of whether ejective sounds are the indicated in Table 1. phonemes of Yem or not is inconclusive.

Vowel phonemes Consonant phonemes

Previous studies on the Yem language, except Fissaha Like any other language, vowels make the nucleus of a (1984), describes that the language has twenty three syllable in Yem. Hence, they are compulsory for the consonant phonemes. On the contrary, the author found construction of any morpheme or word. The following that the consonants are twenty six which include /f/, /w/, chart shows the vowel phonemes of the language (Figure and /j/ in addition to the indicated number. These 1). Yem, like many Omotic languages for instance (Azeb, additional phonemes can be shown by using either 2001), has five vowel phonemes with their long minimal or suspicious pairs as follows: counterparts. is indicated by using colon

after the phonemic/phonetic symbol. Here, vowel length

makes meaning difference among words. Example: Minimal pairs Gloss

1) /f/- /fas/ ‘annoy’ /e/ /keja/ ‘house’ /e:/ /ke:ja/ ‘move’ /k/-/kad/ ‘cut’ 1 /i/ /fizo / ‘goat’ 1 2) /w/-/ʔe:wa/ ‘inset’ /i:/ /fi:zo / ‘sleeping’ /s/- /ʔe:sa/ ‘honey’ As shown in the above two minimal pairs, short and 3) /ʔ/- /ke ʔa/ ‘knee’ long vowels occur in the same position in the words /keja/ /j/- /keja/ ‘house’ ‘house’ and /ke:ja/ ‘move’, and /fizo 1/ ‘goat’ and /fi:zo 1/ ‘sleeping’ (the superscript 1 indicates high tone). The In number 1 above, the near minimal/suspicious pairs couple of vowels bring about meaning difference between show the contrast between /f/ and /k/ phonemes. The the words they occur in. Thus, one can say vowel length phonemes occupy the same position, and bring about is phonemic in Yem. meaning difference among the two words. In the same pairs, /s/ and /d/ are suspicious pairs because they are pairs are easy to identify the phonemes /s/ and /w/, which Phonological processes bring meaning change between / ʔe:sa/ and / ʔe:wa/. The last minimal pairs are also clear enough to identify the Phonological processes occur in Yem in and/or across

Garoma 121

Table 1. The consonant phonemes of Yem.

Types of consonant Labial Labiodental Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar Glottal Voiced b d g Stops Voiceless p t k ʔ

Voiced Ejectives Voiceless p’ t’ c’ k’

Voiced m n ň ŋ Nasals Voiceless

Voiced j Voiceless č

Voiced z Voiceless f s š h

Voiced j w Approximants/ glide Voiceless

Voiced r Liquids Voiceless

Voiced l Laterals Voiceless

High Front Central Back i (i:) u (u:) Unrounded Rounded

e (e:) o (o:) Mid

a (a:) Low

Figure 1. The vowel phonemes chart.

both a word and morpheme boundaries. These common hood than the others in distant environment. The processes are assimilation, seen as phoneme may be changed completely (complete labialization/rounding, spirantization/fricativization, devoicing, assimilation) or partially (partial assimilation) to seem its voicing and palatalization, epenthesis, deletion and dissimilation. neighbor. The following are such processes in the Yem language. Complete assimilation can occur due to labial sounds Assimilation appearing after non-labial sounds and changing the preceding sounds to labials. The following data indicate As discussed in theoretical framework, assimilation is the such instance: prominent and most common phonological process, which is observed in many languages. It is the situation 5) /mettan-ba 1/ ‘sick-ness’ ————> [mettamba 1] where some phonemes are more alike their neighbor- ‘sickness’

122 J. Lang. Cult.

6) /zuttanba 1se/ ‘all’ ————> [ z wuttamba 1se] /u/ and /o/ which round lips when articulated. The ‘all’ [w] indicates that the segment on which the symbol is 7) /fizo 1-nba 1/ ‘goat-her’ ————> [fiz wo1mba 1] ‘her labialized. goat’ 8) /han-fizo 1/ ‘this-goat’ ————> [hamfiz wo1] ‘this goat’ Spirantization/fricativization Rule 1: Non-Labial ————> Labial/—Labial or Labio- dental Spirantization/fricativization is the process where non- fricative sounds are changed to fricative due to the /n/————> [m]/ — /b/ or [ɱ]/ — /f/ influence of the fricative sounds they precede in their environment. This process probably is unique feature of Rule 1 above indicates the change of phoneme /n/ to Yem. [m] and [ ɱ] due to its occurrence with the labial /b/ and labio-dental /f/. Thus, it can be generalized that non-labial 16) /jep-sa 1/ ‘two-card.’ ————> [jeøsa 1] ‘second’ consonant phonemes can be labialized partially or 17) /ʔačeč-sa 1/ ‘four-card.’ ————> [ʔačessa 1] ‘fourth’ completely due to their existence with rounded vowels 18) /kej-š/ ‘kill-cause’————> [kess-] ‘cause to kill’ and/or labial and labio-dental consonants. The process of 19) /ga č-š-/ ‘apen-cause’————> [gass-] ‘cause to open’ partial assimilation rarely occurs in the Yem language. 20) /bidzi/ ‘single’ ————> [bizzi] ‘one (single)’ Here, alveolar /n/ is changed to velar [ ŋ] if it appears before velar voiced stop /g/. Rule 4: Non-Fricative ————> fricative/—fricative

9) /ma 2ngu 3/ ‘bad’ ————> [ma 2ŋgwu3] ‘bad’ /p/, / č/, ljl and /d/————> [ø], [s], [š] and [z] /— Isl, I š l 10) /ʔangu 3te 1t/ ‘men’ ————> [ ʔaŋgwu3tet 1] ‘men’ and /z/

Rule 2: Alveolar nasal ————> velar/—velar The above transcription indicates that when non-fricative consonant appears before a fricative one, it is completely /n/————> [ ŋ]/ — /g/ changed to fricative. Hence, /p/, / č/, /j/, and /d/ are changed to [ø], [s], [š] and [z] respectively. However, there are In this rule, the nasal consonant occurs very seldom stops/ which are changed to fricative when they before voiceless , so that it seems occur between two vowels, especially, /a/ and lol in impermissible phonotactic constraint for the phoneme /n/ different sequences as follows: to precede the consonant /k/. 1 2 2 1 2 2 21) /ka ra ba / ‘blackness’————> [ka ra βa ] ‘blackness’ Labialization/rounding 22) /ʔa2pota 1/ ‘grandfather’ ————> [ʔa2øota 1] ‘grandfather’ In labialization/rounding, the phonemes in a morpheme or 23) /ʔabata/ ‘my father’ ————> [ʔaβata] ‘my father’ across morphemes are affected by rounded vowel segments found in their nearby, especially preceding Rule 5: Stop ————> fricative/ vowel—vowel them. The labialization can be shown as follows: /b/ and /p/ ————> [β] and [ø] / /a/ — /a/ or lol

1 w w 1 11) /šup’o / ‘thin’ ————> [š up’ o ] ‘thin’ Rule 5 shows change of phoneme /b/ to [ β] due to its 2 1 2 w 1 12) /fo ro / ‘white’ ————> [fo r o ] ‘white’ occurrence between two similar low central unrounded 13) /ʔatu 3/ ‘body’ ————> [ ʔat wu3] ‘body’ short vowel, /a/. In similar instance, the phoneme /p/ is 14) /suta 1/ ‘nape of neck’ ————> [s wuta 1] ‘nape of changed to [ø] due to its existence between low central neck’ unrounded short vowels, /a/ and mid back unrounded 15) /soma 1/ ‘hair’ ————> [s woma 1] ‘hair’ short vowel, lol.

Rule 3: Non-Labial ————> labialized/—rounded vowel Devoicing

/š/, /r/, /t/ and /s/————> [š w], [r w], [t w] and [s w] / — Voiced consonants in Yem are devoiced if they occur in /u/ or/o/ the environment of voiceless sounds which can be at word boundaries. The followings illustrate such process: As shown above, the non-labial consonants like /š/, /r/,/t/ and /s/ are partially changed to labial consonants due to 24) /kez-sa 1/ ‘three-card’————> [k jessa 1] ‘third’ the vowel phonemes following them. These vowels are 25) /wag-te 2/ ‘buy-perf’ ————> [wakte 2] ‘bought’

Garoma 123

26) /difna 2/ ‘finger nail’————> [dif ņa2] ‘finger nail’ consonant phoneme. 27) /telfa/ ‘calf of leg’ ————> [te ļfa] ‘calf of leg’ 28) /kez-fizo 1/ ‘three-goat’ ————> [k jesfiz wo1] ‘three goat’ Epenthesis

Rule 6: Voiced/Voiceless————> — Epenthesis refers to the insertion of a segment Voiceless/Voiceless— (syllabic/non-syllabic) between consonants to break up /z/, /g/ and /l/————> [s], [k] and [ ļ] / — /s/, /t/ and /f/ the impermissible sequence of consonants or the /n/ ————> [ ņ] / /f/ — insertion of segment between two components of a compound to join them together in a language. In Yem, We can observe from the above data that the phonemes the epenthetic vowel /i/ is inserted to break three /z/, /g/, /n/ and /l/ are converted to fricatives either consonant clusters to keep the phonotactic constraint. following or preceding the voiceless phonemes. The diacritic [ j] shows palatalized segment which will be 38) /nanrn/ ‘eight’ ————> [nanrin] ‘eight’ 39) /nto/ ‘mother’ ————> [ ʔint wo] ‘mother’ discussed later under palatalization. Besides, the liquid /r/ 1 1 phoneme is devoiced when it appears at the end of the 40) /tdma / ‘lake’ ————> [tidma ] ‘lake’ words like the following: Rule 9: CCC ————> CCiC or ʔiCC

29) /ʔinno 1r/ ————> [ ʔinn wo1ŗ] ‘our’ 1 w 1 /nrn/ and /nt/————> [nrin] and [ ʔint] 30) /nitto r/ ————> [nitt o ŗ] ‘your’ 1 w 1 31) /basso r/ ————> [bass o ŗ] ‘their’ Rule 9 above reveals that the vowel /i/ is inserted between three consonants to avoid the impermissible sequence at the end of a word. Besides keeping Voicing consonant sequence, the vowel /i/ is inserted with the / ʔ/ to keep the phonotactic constraint which Some voiced consonants can cause voiceless describes that word initial in Yem is always consonant consonants to be voiced in Yem. The following can cluster. However, epenthesis also occurs across exemplify this concept. morpheme boundaries during compounding. In compounding, two or more independent elements 32) /kad-t/ ‘annoy- be’ ————> [kadd] ‘be annoyed’ are composed to form new item. Here, the components j 33) /kid-t/ ‘break-be’ ————> [k idd] ‘be broken’ may need a connector like the following.

Rule 7: Voiceless ————> Voiced/ Voiced— 41) /jem/ + /ebo/ ————> [jemnebo] ‘February’ /t/————> [d]/ /d/— 42) /foro/ + /aka 1/ ————> [for wonaka 1] ‘Ocean’ 43) /wag/ + /ebo/ ————> [wagnebo] ‘March’ As indicated above, the phoneme /t/, when it comes after 44) /tuš/ + /aba/ ————> [t wušnaba] ‘Step father’ /d/, is realized as [d] and makes germination at word final. As shown above in the , the This process is less frequent than any other processes consonant /n/ is epenthesized to join the two components in the Yem language. together. Hence, /i/ serves as an epenthetic vowel to break up the impermissible sequence of clusters at different places (initial, medial and final) in a word while Palatalization /n/ functions to connect the components of compounds.

In Yem, palatalization comes into being when velar stops /k/ and /g/ precede the front vowel phonemes /i/ and /e/. Deletion This is exemplified below: Deletion is a process of removing or reducing a segment 34) /keja/ ‘house’ ————> [k jeja] ‘house’ (vowel and/or consonant) when an is attached to a 35) /geešo/ ‘back’ ————> [g jeeš wo] ‘back’ root or when a compound is formed by joining two 36) /kezsa 1/ ‘third’ ————> [k jessa 1] ‘third’ components. This process happens in the words of Yem. 37) /kidt/ ‘be broken’————> [k jidd] ‘be broken’ 45) /fizo 1-innos/ ‘goat- our’ ————> [fiz wo1nn wos] ‘our Rule 8: Non-Palatal ————> palatalized/front high or goat’ — /k/ and /g/————> [k j] and [j] / /e/ and /i/ — 46) / ʔalid-a/ ‘left handed-ness’ ————> [ ʔalda] ‘left The above process is partial palatalization. It is marked handedness’ by the glide [j] as superscript above the palatalized 47) /ba 1r-sakito/ ‘he-pl’ ————> [ba 1sak jit wo] ‘they’

124 J. Lang. Cult.

In the above three illustrations, the vowel /i/ and the Here, we can take a singular noun /muko/ ‘pig’, and consonant /r/ are deleted as observed from the phonetic then change it to the plural /muko-ski ʔo/ ‘pigs’. Assuming transcription. In the first illustration, it is done to avoid that we are talking about male pigs, we can definitely diphthongization while in the second and third, there is no change the form into /muki-s-a-ki ʔo/ instead of /muko-s- tangible evidence for deletion except prediction. The a-ki ʔo/. Hence, we can conclude that there is a process phonemes might be deleted due to their low articulation of dissimilation in the above descriptions. unlike /d/ and /s/ phonemes. Deletion is also common in compounding the words of the Yem language. Conclusion 48) /ganda/ + /a 1su 3/ ————> [ganda 1swu3] ‘a failure’ 49) /maška/ + /a 1su 3/ ————> [maška 1swu3] woman’ The main objective of this study was to investigate and 50) /wisi/ + /kušu/ ————> [wisk wus wu] ‘foreigner’ indicate the phonological processes of Yem, one of the 51) /kiti/ + /a 1su 3/ ————> [k jita 1swu3] ‘the dead man’ languages of the Omotic family. In this language, there 52) /ʔarki/ + /etna 1/ ————> [ ʔark jenna 1] ‘my elder sister’ are different phonological processes: assimilation, 53) /ʔeesa/ + /boto/ ————> [ ʔeesnib wot wo] ‘bee hive’ labialization, spirantization, devoicing, voicing, 54) /meja/ + /boto/ ————> [meenib wot wo] palatalization, epenthesis, deletion and dissimilation. ‘graincontainer’ Yem, with respect to the phonological processes, is the language which undergoes such processes either in the As can be seen above, there are deletions of vowels /a/ words or across word boundaries. There are two (48 and 49), and /i/ (50, 51 and 52) to avoid sequence of directions of the above assimilation processes in the vowels. However, there is deletion of segment and/or language, on the regressive or anticipatory (left-hand), syllable and replacement in 53 and 54. The deleted and if the influence arrives on the following or right-hand segments and/or syllables are /a/ and /ja/ while the segment, it is progressive. replaced syllables are /ni/ and /eni/ respectively. These There are also some points to be suggested with syllables can be taken as epenthetic elements. regard to this language. It is mentioned in the introduction that some studies were conducted in the form of comparative, and on morphology and syntax of the Dissimilation language. Hence, it did not get the chance to be assessed alone in detail concerning phonological aspects. Therefore, attention should be given in the As explained in the previous discussions, most analysis of this language considering modern theoretical phonological processes including dissimilation in Yem aspects of phonology. occur across morphemes or in word boundaries. The following examples indicate inflections of nouns for gender cases. REFERENCES

55) /mija-ski ʔo/ ‘cow-pl’ —> [miji-s-a-ki ʔwo]‘ox-pl-masc- Azeb A (2001). The . Leiden: Universteit Leiden. j w Bender ML, Fleming H (1976). ‘Cushitic and Omotic’. In M. Bender pl’—> [mijisak iʔ o] ‘oxen’ (ed.) . London: Oxford University Press, w 56) /kana-ski ʔo/‘dog-pl’—>[kani-s-a-ki ʔ o]‘dog-pl-masc-pl’ http://www.hum.Leidenuniv.nl/tca/onderzoek/bijzonder). pp. 32-67. —> [kanisak jiʔwo] ‘male dogs’ Catford J (1988). A Practical Introduction to . New York: 57) /faza-ski ʔo/‘horse-pl’—>[fazi-s-a-ki ʔo]‘horse-pl-masc- Oxford University Press. j w Derib A (2004). ‘The structure of noun phrase in Yem’. Unpublished MA pl’—>[fazisak iʔ o] ‘male horses’ Thesis, Department of Linguistics, AAU. Fissaha H (1984). ‘Noun Morphology in Yemsa’. Unpublished BA The above process illustrates dissimilation. For Thesis, Department of Linguistics, AAU. Girma M (1986). ‘Yemsa Verb Morphology: Some Inflections and instance, when we change /mija-ski ʔo/ ‘cow-pl’ to Derivations’. Unpublished MA Thesis, Department of Linguistics, masculine plural, we would expect the form /mija-s-a- AAU. ki ʔo/ instead of /miji-s-a-ki ʔo/, but according to the Goldstein (1965). A Guide for Field Workers in Folklore. Hatboro: dissimilation rule, the /-a/ of /mija/ is changed into /-i/ in Folklore Associates, Inc. Hammond M (2006). ‘Phonological Universals’. In Keith Brown (ed.) order to dissimilate with the masculine marker /-a-/ which Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2 nd ed). 9:525-530. is infixed in the plural marker itself. Here, we can prove Hirut W (1993). ‘Word Formation in Yem’. Unpublished MA Thesis, that /-a-/ is the masculine indicator by taking the Department of Linguistics, AAU. following: “Language” Retrieved from (http://www.ethiopiantreasures. co.uk/pages/language.htm) Lass R (1984). Phonology: An Introduction to Basic Concepts. 58) /muko-ski ʔo/ ‘pig-pl’—>[muk ji-s-a-kjiʔwo] ‘pig-pl-masc- Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pl’ —> [muk jisak jiʔwo] ‘male pigs’ Mulugeta S (2008). The of Dime. Netherlands: LOT. j w O'Grady W, Michael D, Francis K (1997). Contemporary Linguistics: An 59) /fantu-ski ʔo/‘sheep-pl’—>[fanti-s-a-kiʔ o]‘sheep-pl- st j w Introduction (1 ed). London: Longman. masc-pl’ —>[fantisak iʔ o] ‘male sheep (pl)’ Sloat C (1978). Introduction to Phonology. USA: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Garoma 125

Teshome B (2007). ‘The Syntax of Simple Verbal and Nominal Clauses of Yem’. Unpublished MA Thesis, Department of Linguistics, AAU. Wardhaugh R (1977). Introduction to Linguistics (2 nd ed). New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. Wiese R (2006). ‘Phonology’. In Keith Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2 nd ed). V 9:562-564.