Floating quantity in Shilluk

Bert Remijsen, Otto Gwado Ayoker

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

It is well known that floating tones can associate both within a word and across a word boundary. In relation to floating quantity, however, there is extensive evidence for association within a word, but not across a word boundary. The present paper presents evidence for the latter configuration in Shilluk, a West Nilotic language. Shilluk noun forms may end in floating quantity, and this quantity is realized only on following vocalic prefixes, that is, across a word boundary. The investigation includes a descriptive analysis of the phenomenon and a production study based on data from ten Shilluk speakers.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e135-e156
Number of pages22
JournalLanguage
Volume96
Issue number3
Early online date30 Sep 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2020

Keywords

  • floating quantity
  • prosody
  • fusional morphology
  • compensatory lengthening
  • phonological weight
  • mora
  • Nilo-Saharan

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  • RemijsenAyokerL2020FloatingQuantityInShilluk

    Final published version, 4.07 MB

    Embargo ends: 30/09/21

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