Abstract
This chapter examines vowel harmony (VH) in non-Bantu Niger-Congo phonology, focusing on advanced tongue root (ATR) harmony, whereby vowels (all being either [+ATR] or [-ATR]) harmonize for tongue-root position. One subtype is cross-height ATR harmony, which has constraints like */i... ε/ or */ω ...o/ banning mixed ATR values across distinct heights. This is compared with mid-height ATR harmony, where only the mid series participates in ATR harmony (as there is no [-ATR] high series), having constraints such as */e...ε/ or /c...o/. Other types of VH, such as rounding, height, and identical-vowel harmony, occur less frequently in non-Bantu Niger-Congo than ATR harmony. This chapter highlights issues raised by these data, including directionality of harmony, ATR dominance, the domain of VH, and ATR's antagonistic relationship with interior vowels.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Pages | 633-642 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780191865718 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780198826804 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 22 2024 |
| Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Arts and Humanities
- General Social Sciences
Keywords
- Africa
- ATR harmony
- Directionality
- Dominance
- Interior vowel
- Niger-Congo
- Tongue root
- Vowel inventory