A descriptive analysis of vowel harmony in Efutu1

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Abstract

Efutu, also known as Simpa, a less-studied, minority language of Ghana, is found to exhibit vowel harmony. The goal of this paper is to use data from a documentation of Efutu to present a descriptive analysis of vowel harmony as it manifests in the language. ATR and Rounding harmony constitute the two types of vowel harmony found in the language, with ATR harmony being more prevalent. The phenomenon shows up in various domains of the grammar, including verbal affixation, possessive constructions, and locative constructions. In verbal affixation, vowels in verbal prefixes assimilate the ATR and rounding values of the verb stem's vowels. In possessive constructions, vowels in possessive pronouns assimilate the ATR and rounding values of the possessed noun's vowels. In locative constructions, the definite article's vowel assimilates the locative noun's vowels' qualities. Thus, there is a clearly delineated domain of harmony with clear restrictions on both triggers and targets. In Efutu, vowel harmony involves leftward spread in terms of directionality, a case of regressive assimilation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)59-76
Number of pages18
JournalSKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics
Volume17
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • ATR harmony
  • Efutu
  • Guan
  • Rounding harmony
  • Simpa
  • Verbal affixation
  • Vowel harmony

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