Convergence of prosody under contact: two African case studies

• Research on the effect of language contact on tonal systems gives a contradictory picture of the expected outcomes. On the one hand, work like Mataras (2009) claims that tonal prosody is one of the features most likely to be borrowed under contact. In contrast, work like Salmons (1992) and Trudgill (2011) suggests that tone will be eliminated under contact, as tone is a complex systemic feaeture and contact should lead to systemic simplification. This paper presents two case studies showing that language contact can lead to complexification of the prosodic system. Contact with Kru languages has led to greater tonal complexity in South Mande languages. Contact with Somali has given Chimiini a more complex grammatical tone system.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Studier av enskilda språk (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Languages (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Jämförande språkvetenskap och allmän lingvistik (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- General Language Studies and Linguistics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

prosody contact linguistics Chimiini

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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