nOClJMENTATION AND GRAMMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF GOFA Ily: Selln~if Chern llirooro Supcorvisor; Dinyam SiSilY (phD) A Dis~rlation Submlned 10 the Sfhool or Graduate StudiH. College of Humanities. Language Stndin. Jonrnalism and Philology l:kplrlmenl of Linguistics Ind Philology l'rHtnted in .·ulfillmenl$ of tbt Rtquirtments for the Dtgru of ~Ior of Philosophy in Documentary Linguisliell and Culture Addis Ababa Uohuslty June 20lS ... <Ioth. ,' .... b. I 61. • .,11) TN" ", ..rur, ,....... d ............ ~<".,t<I.,. S.lluol<l_ .... ~ .... ~I"-' o....n..""al '¥'n,.... oro.r. ..bmo"""", obr ~ or l,.p""'" ~ I'bilolup-;. ,..,...1 ru.foI_ 0("" r T •• '".1«""'0.,...",0......011'101-..101. Do<-, , ...._.""'~, ..1 '11 ..........., ... ' __ 011 .......-..1...,_ ............. • 1 ..... _ .... S I,'Y""''''''' • I. \Ilc "rl(ic"ign«l, d«lare \hal \hi. Ji~nmi<)n hcreb) SUOOllUOO for 1M dt8/ff nf Philooopby In Doc"""1IIaI) Lln~Ut$IIC' and Culture at Add;$ AhabII Uni"''fSlly il my ""n "O<k lind lias fI()\ brm P"" iousl) MibnIll\C'd 10 an) otlla llni'..nil) for any Ik~ To It.. but of m) ~""" IMgt. ;1 COIIt.;nRS "" "",":rIal pKnoosly published or ... nutn by anulh<-r pofJQn. "''';~pI ,,110,.., d"" refc,..,,..~ II.u been rna..k in 1110 \e<1 NarrIO oflllO cMclidatc: Sdlassic Chef\! 'Q\L 0+ ,. 201b • Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF MAPS AND FIGURE .........................................................................................................................IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS .....................................................................................................X ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ XIV ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. XV 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. THE GOFA PEOPLE AND THE LANGUAGE ................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1. The Gofa People ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2. The Gofa Language .................................................................................................................... 3 1.2. THE REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES ................................................................................................... 5 1.3. THE PRESENT STUDY ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.3.1. The Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................................ 9 1.3.1.1. General Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 9 1.3.1.2. Specific Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 9 1.3.2. The Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 10 1.4. METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................ 10 1.4.1. Basic Linguistic Theory ............................................................................................................. 10 1.4.2. Language Documentation ........................................................................................................ 11 1.4.2.1. Data Collection ............................................................................................................................... 11 1.4.2.2. Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 13 1.4.2.2.1. Software Used for the Transcription ......................................................................................... 13 1.4.2.2.2. Interpretation of Data ............................................................................................................... 14 1.4.2.2.3. Transcription and Glosses ......................................................................................................... 14 1.5. THE SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 16 1.5.1. The Organization of the Study .................................................................................................. 16 1.5.2. The Scope and Limitation of the Study ..................................................................................... 17 2. THE SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY OF GOFA .......................................................................................... 19 2.1. CONSONANT PHONEME INVENTORY ...................................................................................................... 19 2.1.1. Obstruent Consonant Phonemes .............................................................................................. 19 2.1.1.1. Pulmonic Consonant Segments ...................................................................................................... 20 2.1.1.2. Glottalic Consonant Phonemes ...................................................................................................... 25 2.1.2. Sonorant Consonant Phonemes ............................................................................................... 27 2.1.2.1. Nasals ............................................................................................................................................. 27 2.1.2.2. Liquids ............................................................................................................................................ 28 2.1.2.3. Glides ............................................................................................................................................. 29 i 2.2. VOWEL PHONEME INVENTORY .............................................................................................................. 30 2.2.1. Short Vowel Phonemes ............................................................................................................. 31 2.2.2. Diphthongs ............................................................................................................................... 33 2.3. CONSONANT GEMINATION .................................................................................................................. 36 2.3.1. Simple Consonant Gemination ................................................................................................. 36 2.3.2. Complex Consonant Gemination .............................................................................................. 37 2.4. VOWEL LENGTHENING ........................................................................................................................ 42 2.5. SYLLABLE STRUCTURE ......................................................................................................................... 43 2.5.1. Types of Canonical Syllable Pattern.......................................................................................... 43 2.5.2. Types of Syllable Structure ....................................................................................................... 45 2.5.3. Syllable Weight ......................................................................................................................... 45 2.5.3.1. Light Syllable .................................................................................................................................. 45 2.5.3.2. Heavy Syllable ................................................................................................................................ 46 2.6. PHONOTACTICS .................................................................................................................................. 47 2.6.1. Onset Constraint ....................................................................................................................... 47 2.6.2. Restrictions of Coda Co-occurrences ........................................................................................ 49 2.6.3. Restrictions of Vowel Co- occurrences ...................................................................................... 52 3. MORPHOPHONEMIC PROCESSES AND RULES ................................................................................... 55 3.1. PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND RULES ................................................................................................. 55 3.1.1. Free variation ........................................................................................................................... 56 3.1.2. Spirantization of labial segments ............................................................................................ 58 3.1.3. Allomorphic variations of plural marking morphemes. ............................................................ 60 3.1.4. Fortition or devoicing rules. .....................................................................................................