ASPECTS OF YESKWA PHONOLOGY

ALABI, RACHEAL IBIDUN 07/15CB035

A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, KWARA STATE.

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS.) IN LINGUISTICS

JUNE, 2011

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CERTIFICATION This essay has been read and approved as meeting the requirements for the award of a degree of Bachelor of Arts in the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.

DR. K.A. RAFIU Project Supervisor

DATE

PROF. A.S. ABDUSSALAM Head of Department

DATE

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

DATE

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DEDICATION My life and all that pertains to it is dedicated to God Who was, Who is and is to come, the Author and the Finisher of my faith.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Know Him in all your ways and He shall accomplish it. The Author and the finisher of my faith, Christ in me the hope of glory, You are my portion in the land of the living. I acknowledge you for the beginning and the completion of this course. All glory, honour, power, adoration and praise be to your Holy Name. Just as the water of the sea cannot be quantified, and the sand on the seashore cannot be numbered, so your loving kindness, care and responsibility over me sweet daddy; Most Senior Apostle (Dr.) M.S. Alabi. You are the best, one in a million. May you live long to eat the fruit of your labour. Not every woman is mother and not every mother is a good one; Most Senior Mother in Israel E.G. Alabi, you are really the one that deserves to be called a good mother. You are a woman who mothers and does it well. Thank you for your love, care and words of advice. I shall surely reward your care in Jesus Name. Dr. K.A. Rafiu, it will be an understatement to say you are just a supervisor to me because you have placed yourself on the level of a father, brother and a good lecturer. Thanks a lot, God bless you Sir. One love keep us together; Mrs Assa, Engr. Sam Alabi, the great linguist Taiyelolu Babalola, Mrs. Adeshina, Mrs. Akinnrun, Mrs Olansebe and Emmanuel Oluwaseun Alabi. Thanks for being there always. We shall make it to the top in Jesus Name. Boluwatife, Ayomide, Eniola, Adewale, and others you all have been wonderful and I surely know that the future is bright.
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Oluwakayode Daniel, my friend, my brother, my teacher Thanks for being there and thanks so much for the love that turns an accountant into a field researcher just for the success of this work. I will surely pay for good in Jesus name. To my lecturers in the department, and to the non teaching staff, I say a very big thank you to you all. I appreciate God for those unforgettable friends I met at each level and sphere of life. Titilope Olowa, Debby K, Bimbo, Peace, Opeyemi (Kamokazi), Tope Raman, Rasheedat, Busayo, Nike, Oluwasegun, Ilerioluwa, Mayor, Tosin, Dotun, Bosede and my wonderful room mates. You all have contributed to my life, thanks for being my friends. God will reward you immensely. I appreciate my co-project students; Toromade Abayomi, Alao Janet and others your success is sure. I appreciate myself for the courage to go through this degree programme. I give all the glory to God ALABI, RACHEAL IBIDUN JUNE 2011

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LIST OF SYMBOLS [] {} CV N / \ + Bracket Braces Consonant Vowel Nasal Alpha Beta High tone Low tone Mid Tone eFalling Ton Raising Tone Binary Arrow Position Environment of occurrence # kj gj Morpheme boundary Palatalization Null

CVV Consonant Vowel Vowel

kw gw Labialization

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TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGES Title page Certification Dedication Acknowledgements List of symbol Table of contents CHAPTER ONE 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 Introduction General Background Historical Background Sociocultural Background Genetic Classification Scope and organization Data Collection Data Analysis Review of Theoretical Framework The Structure of Generative Phonology Phonological Rules 7 7-8 8-9 9-10 1 1 1-2 2-4 4-5 6 6-7 i ii iii iv-v vi vii-ix

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CHAPTER TWO Basic Phonological Concepts 2.1 2.1 2.2 Introduction Basic Phonological Concepts Phonology and Phonetics 11 11-12 12-13 13 13-14 14 15-28 28-33 33-35 35-39

2.2.1 Phonemes and Allophones 2.2.2 The Phonemes and its realities 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Sound Inventory The Vowel system of Yeskwa Language Tone Inventory of Yeskwa Language The Distinctive Features 2.3.1 Yeskwa Consonant Sounds

CHAPTER THREE Phonological Processes in Yeskwa Language 3.1 3.2 Introduction Phonological Processes 40 40 40-41 41-42 42 43 44-46

3.2.1 Palatalization 3.2.2 Labialization 3.2.3 Nasalization 3.2.4 Insertion 3.2.5 Deletion

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CHAPTER FOUR Yeskwa Tone and Syllable Structure 4.1 4.2 Introduction The Definition of Tone 47 47 47-48 48-50 50-52 52-53 53-54 54-58 58-59 59-60

4.2.1 Types of Tone 4.2.2 Tone patterns in Yeskwa 4.2.3 Co-occurrence of Tone in Yeskwa 4.2.4 Functions of Tones 4.2.5 Tonological Processes 4.3 Syllable Structure 4.3.1 Types of Syllable 4.3.2 Syllable Structure Rules in Yeskwa CHAPTER FIVE Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Introduction Findings/Observation Recommendation Conclusion

61-62 62 62 63 64
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION x

REFERENCES

1.1.

General Background Language is the string that holds members of the society together and it also

serves as an object used by men for specific purposes. This project focuses on a branch of language and it also focuses on an aspect of the language which is phonology of Yeskwa language. Yeskwa is spoken in Panda and in the surrounding districts in the northwestern of Nassarawa State, Kefi Local Government and Kaduna. It is spoken by over 12,000 people. It is known as Nyankpa and Yasgua by the Speakers and the surrounding communities but the generally acceptable name by the speakers in Yeskwa. This Chapter introduces the language and its speakers. Also, we discussed the historical and geographical background of the area. The Sociocultural background and the genetic classification of the language are included. Scope and organization of the Study, theoretical framework, data collection and data analysis alongside with the brief review of the chosen framework also formed part of the study in this chapter. 1.2 Historical Background Yeskwa people were said to have migrated from Maiduguri. According to Oral tradition, they are today settled in Jemaa Local Government Area of Kaduna State and parts of Keffi Local Government in Nassarawa State. They are known as Nyankpa by the Hausa people, the people themselves are known as Angampa while the language is known as Nyakpa. Nyakpa is a conjunction of two native words which are string together to form a name. Ny means We branch and Anpa leaf the two formed Nyankpa which means we branch to settle in this bush. The official name of the language is Yeskwa therefore throughout this work it shall be referred to as Yeskwa.

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According to ethnologue record of Nigerian languages, this language had 13,000 speakers in 1973 and 32,000 speakers as at 2008. The dialects of the language according to ethnologue are Buzi, Bede, Panda, Tattara and Nyenkpa., alternative names are Ayankpa and Yasgua. Tattara is said to be the standard version and Bede is the most divergent dialect. 1.3 Sociocultural Background. The way of life of the Yeskwa people is not different from that of the neighboring communities. Some of the fascinating aspects of their life are: Occupation, Religion, Festival, Mode of dressing, Naming and Marriage Ceremonies. Occupation The major occupation of Yeskwa people is farming. They are known for planting crops like cassava, yam, okro, millet (Acha) among others. Farming is done by men and women. Religion The Yeskwa people are mostly Christians. Before the advent of missionaries in Nigeria, the people are known to be traditional worshippers but when missionaries came Islam and Christianity became the religion of the people. Although Christianity is the dominant religion with about 80% but there are still few Muslims and Traditional Worshipper in the Community. Festival Remembering the dead is one of the elaborate festivals of the Yeskwa people. This is usually done after several years of the death of the person and it is believed that xii

once that remembrance is done it will give the dead a smooth journey to heaven. During the remembrance, they usually have a dancing masquerade which is said to be the spirit of the dead person. After the dancing of the masquerade, all the people that are present will eat, drink and merry. The masquerade must be somebody from the family of the dead person. Marriage The method of marriage in Yeskwa is different from other communities because they usually betroth their children to one another. Two friends when their wives are pregnant would inform each other that if the child of one is a male and the other is female would marry each other in future but if other wise they would be friends. If the children are of opposite sex the dowry of the female child would be paid at birth. The dowry is usually paid with dried locust beans (because Yeskwa people do not eat fresh locust beans) which would be taken to the girls house and it would serve as soup ingredient in which they would use to cook for the mother of the girl for a number of years. From tender age, the girl would be taken to the grooms house till she is ripe for marriage so as to know and learn the ways of life of the grooms family. A man can marry up to twelve wives depending on the capability of the husband.

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Dressing Before now, the mode of dressing of the people was covering the body with leaves, later they used animal skin to cover their body. Presently the Yeskwa are known for a modernized and civilized dressing because their dressing is not different from that of others in the society. Burial The Yeskwa people bury their corpse immediately such death is confirmed. However, relevant members of the family will be contacted before final burial takes place. The burial takes processes; first it starts from bathing the dead body with a white cloth before burning the deceased. Yeskwa people believe that the body of the dead must not come in close contact with sand. So, after digging the grave they will cover the ground with some leaves and sticks before the body is buried. Naming Ceremony Yeskwa people usually use chicken and millet (Acha) for their naming ceremony. When a child is born, after seven days name will be given to the child after which everybody will eat and drink. The naming ceremony in Yeskwa is always a lively one filled with merriment. 1.4 Genetic Classification According to Greenberg (1966:8), African languages belong to various families and there are four main groups namely Niger Kordofanian, Nilo-Sahara, Afro-Asiantic

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and Khoisan. Genetic classification of a language can come in form of tree diagram showing the origin of the language and how it is genetically related to other languages. The essence of genetic classification is to make us know that African languages are related. The diagram below shows the genetic classification of Yeskwa language. NIGER KORDOFANIAN

NIGER CONGO

KORDOFANIAN

WEST

MANDE

BENUE CONGO

ADAMAWA

KWA

GUR

PLATOID

JUKUNOID

BANTOID

CROSS RIVER

TARKOID

BERONOID SOURTHERN ALUMIC

NDUNIC NINZIC

WEST

EAST

NORTH

YESKWA

GYONGIC

KORO

HYAMIC

TYAP

TRIGWE

Source: Blench (2006). xv

1.5

SCOPE AND ORGANISATION The scope of this research is mainly phonology. It aims at studying aspect of

Yeskwa phonology. It covers the general introduction to the study, the sound inventory of the language, the phonological processes, tones and tonal features attested in the language. This research work is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is the general background of the people, the historical, sociocultural background, genetic classification, scope and organization of the study. The chapter also gives a brief discussion of the theoretical framework and it explains the mode of data collection and data analysis. Chapter two deals with literature review which is based on phonology, the literature review which is based on the sound inventory, syllable structure and phonemes. The third chapter focuses on the phonological processes attested in the language. Chapter four addresses the tonal processes attested in the language. Chapter five accounts for the summary and conclusion of the research work and it also make some recommendation based on our findings. 1.6 Data Collection This research is made possible through the multilingual language helper. However, the Ibadan four hundred (400) word list is also used to extract necessary information from the language helper. This method is called the informant method. The collection of data was done through translation. The multilingual method is used because the informant speaks more than three languages which include: Hausa, Nupe, Yoruba and a bit of English. The language helper is a native speaker of Yeskwa language and the information collected about the language was done through oral interview. Below is the information about the language helper used in this research xvi

Name: Mr. Abdullah Aminu Age: 63yrs Religion: Islam Marital status: Married Years spent in Nassarawa: 25 yrs Occupation: Farming 1.7 Data Analysis The analysis of data is done by transcribing all the linguistics data collected in order to discover the sounds that are attested in the language and to know the distribution of the sounds that are attested in the language. The data is described using the generative phonology theory (GP) 1.8 Review of theoretical framework The theoretical framework used for this research is Generative Phonology propounded by Chomsky and Halle (1968). Generative Phonology came about as a result of the lapses found in the discovery procedures of the Taxonomic phonemics. Taxonomic phonemics is one of the theories of phonology. Generative phonology therefore can be traced to the 1960s following the work of Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle in 1968 on the sound pattern of English. In the book they adopted a generative approach for analyzing the phonology of English language. Their effort became what is now known as Generative Phonology.

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Hyman (1975:19) describes generative phonology as the description of how phonological rule can be converted into phonological representation and how to capture the distinctive sounds in contrast in a language. The basic goal of Generative phonology is to express the link between sounds and meaning (Chomsky 1965) GP explains how the mind perceives sound and how the sounds are produced with the interpretation of utterances. GP is interested in exploring the linguistic knowledge of a speaker which is referred to as competence. 1.9 The Structure of Generative phonology The framework of generative phonology recognizes two levels of representation which are: underlying representation (abstract representation) and phonetic representation (surface representation). The two levels are then linked by phonological rules (PR), it is illustrated below Underlying Representation (UR) Phonological Rules Phoenetic Representation (PR) According to Oyebade (1998:13), underlying representation is non-predictable, non-rule derived part of words. It is the basis of all utterances. The surface representation is called systematic level while underlying representation is the phonemic level. Rules are a set of conditions that define aspect of

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pronunciation of those phonemes. Phonological rules are directives which map underlying forms onto surface form (Oyebade 1998). 1.10 Phonological Rules According to Oyebade (1998:15), phonological rules are directives which map underlying forms on the surface form. The rules show derivational sequence or path of an item in its journey from the underlying level to the phonetic level. Examples of phonological rules are rules that change stops to voiced fricatives when it occurs intervocalically i.e. between two vowels. This rule is as follows b d g b d g / V V / V V / V V

Another example is the one that assimilate a nasal segment to the place of articulation of the following segment Examples of this is n n m / - b : [ +nas ] n / - t : [+ans ] + ant cor + ant + cor + ant cor + ant + cor

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/ - g : [+nas ]

+ ant + ant cor cor

All these rules can be captured by using a single rule which is + nas + ant cor + ant cor

The symbol [ and ] can mean + (plus) or (minus) Phonological rules are often postulated via notational devices. Notational devices are convections which make it possible to combine distinct but related phonological rules in a single statement rules may be collapsed in this way only if they involve the same process (Somerstein in Oyebade, 1998:36).

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CHAPTER TWO BASIC PHONOLOGICAL CONCEPTS 2.1 Introduction This chapter reviews some related literatures, highlights of this review are: Basic phonological concepts, sound inventory of Yeskwa language, their consonants and vowel sounds, how these sounds are distributed in the language. The chapter also identifies the features bundles of these sounds. 2.2 Basic Phonological Concepts What is Phonology? The Oxford concise dictionary of linguistics (1997:278) defines phonology as the system of individual language and of the nature of such system generally. Phonology is the branch of language that studies speech sounds i.e. it studies how sounds form systems and patterns in language (Yusuf 1992:35). According to Hawkins (1984:8), phonology is the study of sound patterns in languages. We can therefore say that phonology studies the speech sounds in languages. Further, Hawkins (1984:9) states that phonology is divided into two main components; these are segmented phonology which deals with the individual sounds i.e. segment of speech and their pattern. Segmental phonology which deals with the individual sounds i.e. segment of speech and their pattern. Segmental phonology has a higher domain of units connected speeches, words, phrases and sentences. According to him segmental phonology stands as the basic and universal aspect of the phonology of any language. This is as a result of the fact that it deals with each and every distinctive and constructive sound in any natural language. Supra segmented phonology or non-

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segmented phonology on the other hand deals with non-segmented features which includes stress, tones, intonation, etc, which differ from language to language. 2.2.1 Phonology and Phonetics Phonetics is the study of speech sounds; it is the study in the way in which speech sound can be adequately produced. Phonology tells how the sounds of the language are made and what the acoustic properties are. The phonetic study of a language provides an inventory and description of occurring phonetic segments. Phonology does a little more than this. It is phonology that illustrates the way in which these sounds of a language form patterns phonology therefore is the study of how speech sounds, structure and function i.e. it deals with the structure and of the phonetic study of the segments in the language. This is why it is generally said that phonetics gather raw materials, phonology cooks it. Davenport (1998:2) says that phonetics deals with speech sounds themselves, how they are made (Articulator phonetics), how they are perceived (Auditory phonetics). Phonology deals with how these speech sounds are organized into systems for each language. Katanba (1989:14) opines that in order to understand phonology. One must have a grasp of phonetics and its basic concepts. Phonetics deals with the study of the inventory of all (human) speech sounds which humans are capable of producing. He identifies three branches of phonetics which are a major importance to phonology. They are: i. Acoustic phonetics: this deals with the study of physical properties of speech sounds using laboratory instruments.

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ii. Auditory phonetics: it is the study of speech or sound perception i.e. how sounds are perceived. iii. Articulatory phonetics: this is the study of speech sounds and production i.e. how sounds are produced. 2.2.2 Phonemes and Allophones Phonemes are significant sounds that constitute change in meaning (Hyman 1975:4). The study of a particular language entails the knowledge of these significant sounds while allophones are variants of the same phonemes. According to Davenport (1998:115) we can distinguish between the surface sounds of a language, those that are spoken and the underlying system. For instance when talking about the sound /p/ in English language we can predict members of the group of phonetic /p/ sounds that will occur in a particular position. The abstract underlying units are known as phonemes while the predictable surface elements are known as allophones. 2.2.3 The Phoneme and Its Realities According to Gleason (1956:112), the phoneme under the generative phonology framework is viewed from three realities by three different schools of thought. These are: phoneme as a phonetic reality: a phoneme is described as a class of sounds which are phonetically related and it shows certain characteristics as patterns of distribution in the language or dialect under consideration. Jones (1956:78) also holds the view that the phoneme is only seen as a phonetic property of a sound. This school of thought is called the classical school of thought or structural approach.

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Phonemes as a phonological reality, this view is held by the Prague school of thought led by the Czech linguists, Trubeyzkoy (1939:39) defines a phoneme as the sum of the phonologically relevant properties of a sound. To him, phonemes are defined in terms of opposition in a psychological system. The Prague school is of the opinion that the phoneme cannot be satisfactorily defined as one based on psychological or phonetic nature, but purely and solely on the basis of its functions in the system of the language. Phonemes as a psychological reality Twaddle (1938:152) describes the phonemes as a mental reality as the intention the speaker has, as internalized image or picture of the sound, a target which he tries to picture. To the mentalist, a phoneme is a sound imagined or intended, opposed to the emitted sound as psycho phonetic phenomenon. 2.3 Sound Inventory Every human language has its own sound inventory which means languages do not have uniform sound system. There is no existing human language that does not have its own set of sounds. Sound inventory therefore has to do with the nature of sounds in terms of segments and supra segments in a language. Segments are sounds that written in lettered form. These sounds are divided into consonants and vowels. Supra segmental refers to non-linear or autosegment concentrated on the relationship between tones and other features Oyebade (1998). From the above discussion therefore we can admit that Yeskwa language like every other language attests both vowel sound and consonant sound at the segmented level and prosodic features at the supra segmented level. 2.3.1 Yeskwa Consonant Sounds xxiv

Consonants are sounds produced by obstructing the airflow totally or partially at some point in the tract (Yusuf, 1992). Consonant sounds may be voiced or voiceless, oral or nasal. If there is total obstruction in the air passage the sounds are then described as stops or plosive, however if the obstruction is only partial but produces friction they are fricatives or spirants. The major points of articulation as recognized by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are the lips, the teeth, velum, uvular, pharynx and the glottis. Yeskwa consonant sounds are distributed in the place of articulation as follows: bilabial, labiodental, alveolar, velar, labiovelar and glottal. The manners of articulation are: plosive, fricative, affricate, Nasal, Tap, lateral, and approximant. Bilabia Plossive Fricative Affricate Nasal Tag Lateral Approximant p b f v m Labio dentat t d s z N r l k g w Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio Velar kp gb h Glottal

The distribution and occurrence of Yeskwa consonant is given below. Stop/Plosive Voiceless bilabial stop /p/ Word initial position /peti/ /petsit/ /pan/ work kill hold xxv

Word medial position / zapit / / Opinu / / mapai / / gobarip / / kwefakop / / owafp / close Stink Carry hot hundrend toad

Word final position

Voiced bilabial stop / b / Word initial / barusofe / / babk / / bise / Word medial /Obam/ /bin/ /bbi/ Palm wine fish delecate Story touch break

Voiceless alveolar Stop / t / Word initial /tora/ /tost/ /tapni/ nine run agree

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Word medial /atiyin/ /peti/ /mantep/ Word final /fpasit/ /apit/ /frsit/ blow close pour fear work want

Voiced alveolar Stop / d / Word initial /dr/ /d/ /dketi/ plant send sew

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Word medial /tondat/ /adidama/ /id/ eight father knife

Voiceless velar Stop / k / Word initial /kobniyin/ /kukuri/ /kutk/ Word medial /mnk/ /panke/ /ynke/ Word final /Vuk/ /nuk/ /ogbak/ Voiced velar Stop / g / Word initial /gst/ /gap/ gbbg/ sell divide groundnut grind Spin cook get make choose eleven dry full

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Word medial /angwago/ /gor/ /gap/ Word final /ffng/ /mbang/ climb bush okro kolanut body

/abebanbaraaf ijimig/ mud Voiceless labio velar stop /kp/ Word initial /kpese/ /kpdji/ /kpusu/ Word medial /kp/ /amukp/ akpo/ morning dawn death forehead vein remember

Voiced labio velar stop /gb/ Word initial /gbegbe/ /gbipa/ Word midial /gbse/ head xxix groundnut pull

agbop/ /ngbabim/ ogburu/ vulture

chin water pot

Voiceless labiodental fricative / f / Word initial /fua/ /frsit/ /far/ Word midial /fafang/ /ff/ /nkufa/ climb fight new drink take off count

Voiced labiodental fricative /V/ Word initial /vve/ /vmp/ /vre/ say vomit weep

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Word midial /rsa/ /v/ /vt/ /v/ cassava guinea corn skin snake

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ Word initial /st/ /sp/ /sim/ Word midial /ogbuse/ /barusofe/ /ss/ head story good sit knee down dig

Voiced alveolar fricative /z/ Word initial /zssba/ /zk/ /zikpa/ Word medial /zt/ /zame/ beard inlaw bad come out boil

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/oza/

rope

Voiceless palate alveolar fricative/ / Word initial /o/ /oni/ /ak/ Word medial /an/ /at/ /oi/ urine root tail arrieve bitter filter

Voiced paloto alveolar fricative / / Word initial /aki/ /et/ Word medial // /n/ /a/ liver smoke charcoal/\ donkey dance

Voiceless glotal fricative /h/ Word medial /akpasheru/ jews mallow xxxii

/ayhan/ /wayshara/ /hn/

pierce black cow pig

Voiced palato alveolar affricate / / Word initial in/ /e/ /ariye/ Word medial /demsu/ /oriia/ /oriam/ push well boat build go walk

Voiceless palato alveolar affricate / / Word initial /krbi/ /imi/ /ts/ Word medial /onu/ /ottuu/ /uu/ room village mortar untie short put on

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Bilabial nasal /m/ Word initial /mmb/ /mate/ /mfan/ dog cat lader

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Word medial /ame/ /ma/ /mu/ Word final /num/ /alum/ /zm/ Alveolar nasal /n/ Word initial /natat/ /nzma/ /nadayama/ Word medial /arn/ /onatse/ /dubndn/ Word final /bn/ /eyan/ /kobniyin/ Velar nasal / / fish houses eleven stomach daughter black three name mothers brother day farm wifes sister water mother smile

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Word initial /kposo/ /am/ /yem/ /ko/ /tuam/ /nsaa/ Word final /se/ /ta/ Alveolar / r / Word medial /mr/ /rga/ /gbr/ Alveolar lateral / l / Word initial /ru/ /lchit/ /ln/ Word medial taste bite lick millet Cloth Vulture Swell Weave Word medial raphia sweet sleve gourd split yawn

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/alu/ /lat/ /lulu/

Knee ear cotton

Palatal approximant / j / Word initial /jawnj/ /jinnal/ /jutsaset/ Word medial /jj/ /ajama/ /osajama/ papper mother in law fly learn forget

Labiovelar Approximant / w / Word initial /wemma/ /wlsism/ /wesasi/ Word medial /angwago/ /wn/ /ow/ okro Salt Child Senior brother big Small

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2.4.

The Vowel System of Yeskwa Language Vowels are described (in articulatory terms) as voiced sound in the formation of

which the air passes through the pharynx and the mouth without obstruction by other articulatory organs (Lyons, 1968). Yeskwa has seven (7) oral vowels and they are; i, u, e, o, , , a Yeskwa Vowel Chart: high mid high mid low low front i e a mid back u o

The Distribution and the Occurrence of Yeskwa Vowel Sounds. Vowels can occur at word initial, medial or final position. The following are the distribution of Yeskwa vowels. Front high unrounded vowel / i / Word initial / ide / / imt/ / ivae / Knife cat bat

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Word medial /agran/ /lochit / / yinna/ Word final /f / /kkuri/ /bbi/ dry delecate fetish medicine bite call

Back high rounded vowel / u / Word initial /t/ /wtar/ /uchorok/ Word medial /nuk/ /fnsit/ /kdk/ Word final /lr/ /ogburu/ /faru/ taste vulture count spin cover rotten bow white hard

Front mid high unrounded vowel / e /

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Word initial /jt/ /f/ Word medial /tp/ /onpd/ Word final /obm/ /ans/ /lle/ quest urinate dream town road heart Vagina

Back mid-high rounded vowel / o / Word initial /obom/ /zp/ /va/ Word medial /moja/ /sopa/ /toset/ Word final /ap/ /v/ lie leg See kneel run sing soup Skin

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/mnk/

get

Front mid-low unrounded vowel / / Word initial /bin/ /vm/ /mara/ Word medial /yn/ /ovt/ /arn/ take steal stomach fish noise millet

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Word final /ki/ /vov/ /s/ fry say carve

Back mid low high vowel / / Word initial /bm/ /zap/ /mbang/ Word medial /kr/ /fp/ /atk/ Word final /ab ot/ /lal/ /dr/ neck sleep sew navel ashes nine palmwine hoe bush

Back low unrounded vowel / a / Word initial /zp/ /bem/ /awan/ salt xlii iron ground

Word medial /tp/ /mara/ /zp/ Word final /jaja/ /vsa/ /fl/ pepper cassava hat tobacco millet soup

2.5 Tone Inventory of Yeskwa Language Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical and grammatical meaning. Yeskwa language has three distinct registered tones which are: High (/) Low (\) Mid (-) not graphically marked. Yeskwa also has one contour which is rising tone (v). Contour tones are concatenation of level tones. Distribution of tones in Yeskwa language High tone (/) / s / / bin / fish / av / / n / / mr / guinea Corn beans millet eye

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Mid Tone ( - ) / vuk / / obe / / nkpa / / l / Low Tone ( \ ) / ddk / / m / / bir / / z / penis hoe thorn back ground grass leaf Today

Rising tone: rising tone appears to occur on some short vowels and they are not too common in the language. Example of rising tone can be found in words like; tt ns wf slaughter what Toad

2.6 The Distinctive Features Distinctive features are a set of (articulatory and acoustic) features sufficient to define and distinguish one from the other, the great majority of the speech sounds used in the language of the world (Halle and Clement in Oyebade 1998:24). In this section the distinctive features of Yeskwa consonants and vowels is briefly illustrated. The features must have functional relevance in the language. Such features are significant and exploit in the pattern of speech. It is assumed that a feature is either present or absent in a speech

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sound by the principle [+ or -]. The table below shows the distinctive feature of matrix for Yeskwa consonant h ts m n L + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

p cos son syll cor Ant lab cmt nas strd voiced lat

g kp gb + + + + +

y w + + +

+ + + + + +

+ + + + +

+ + +

+ +

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

+ + + + +

+ + +

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Distinctive feature matrix for Yeskwa vowels High Low Back Round ATR i + + u + + + + e + o + + + + + a + + -

REDUNDACY Redundancy is the principle that helps in predicting some feature from the presence of other features. Features that predict the features of others are said to be redundant (Hyman 1975:42). Yeskwa language attests a number of features that are completely predictable at all stages of derivation. The output of phonological component must specify all features in such a way that it indicate necessary features used in derivation. The following are the redundant features in Yeskwa language (1) If: [+ nas] Then cont Strid

+ voiced + cons + son + syll (2) If: [+ syll]

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Then + son + cons (3) If: [+ ant] Then + cons (4) If: [+cons] Then + voiced - strid (5) If: [- son] Then + cons - cont + strid

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(6)

If: [+ lab] Then + cons - cont + strid

(7)

If: [+ Strid] Then + cons - cont + strid

Segment Redundancy for Yeskwa Vowels (1) If: Then (2) If: Then + high - low + low - back - high - round

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(3) if: Then

- back - round

(4) If: Then

+ round + back - low

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CHAPTER THREE PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN YESKWA LANGUAGE 3.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the Yeskwa language phonological processes which are: Palatalisation, Nasalization, Labialization, Deletion and Insertion. 3.2 Phonological Processes Phonological processes are the processes that make pronunciation easy (Oyebade 2008:61), phonological processes are sound modification motivated by the need to maintain euphony in a language of an utterance. Sometimes, phonological processes came about so as to maintain the musical quality of utterance to make its production easy to release. The following are the phonological processes allowed in Yeskwa language 3.2.1 Palatisation Labialization Nasalization Insertion and Deletion Palatalisation This is a type of assimilation process. It is realized in Yeskwa language when a velar consonant is followed by a front vowel, (Katanba, 1989) says there occurs some slight anticipatory fronting of the part of the tongue that makes contact with the roof of the tongue. This fronting is indicated by a superscript (i) above the affected consonant. l

Examples of politicization in Yeskwa language include: Ojaki [ Oakji] Kigba [Kjigba] kie [k je] agiran [ajgirdn] donkey lose fry medicine

From the above, we can observe that the velar stops [k and g] are palatalized when they occur before vowels. We can therefore say that ant + son - syll - round + high 3.2.2 Labialization This is another process in which roundness feature of a vowel is transferred to the neighboring consonant. (Katamba 1989) explains that this process is observed when certain unrounded segment is produced with some degree of secondary lip rounding, anticipating the next segment which is round vowel, the speaker starts rounding the lips before the articulation of the segment is completed. Labialization is marked with the superscript (w). The following are examples of labialization in Yeskwa language: kukuri [kwukuri] kufue [kwfue] nkufa [nkwufd] dry old new + syll

- cor

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kuk [kwutok] kusem [kwusem]

full swell

Therefore we can say that the rule for labialization in Yeskwa is: -voice +cons +cor + cons + cor + lab - cons + high + back

3.2.3

Nasalization Nasalization is the super imposition of nasal features on a neighboring segment,

(Crystal 1991) describes nasalization as a process where by an oral segment acquire nasality from the neighboring nasal segment The following are example of nasalization in Yeskwa language.
ey [ej ] chose onelay [oneij] person

agir [gir] medicine niiy [ni:j] + syll one

+ cons + nas

- cons

- cons + nas

+ cons + nas

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3.2.4 Insertion Insertion is a phonological process whereby an extraneous element not present originally is introduced into the utterance usually to break up unwanted sequences. Insertion could be vowel insertion or consonant insertion. Consonant insertion is not common in languages but vowel insertion is a common occurrence (Oyebade, 1998:74). Insertion occurs in the noun plurals in Yeskwa language. Examples are: Singular Guest King Friend bkpe dw gae Plural a bkpe a dw a gae

From the above example, there is always insertion of back low vowel [a] at word initial virtually before consonants in forming plural in Yeskwa. singular or plural. Examples are; Singular Donkey Pigeon aki impat Plural naki pat a # Also, some nouns may have a nasal inserted after the vowel prefix in either

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3.2.5 Deletion Deletion is another common process in language. It involves the loss of a segment under some language specifically imposed conditions. Deletion could involve vowels or consonants. Deletion occurs in Yeskwa language via pronouns in forming subject and object. Examples are as follows:Subject You We I mi mbi ma Object mi mbi ma

From the above example, vowel [E] is deleted at the object position. Vowel is deleted before bilabial + syll - back - round +cons +ant +nas

Yeskwa language prefers that final syllables should be open. If a closed syllable occurs in final position, the process of consonant deletion is introduced to obliterate consonant and hence to open the syllable. This condition can be illustrated with the following examples from Yeskwa. Cons Deletion (Elision)

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nk cow nk cow nk Cow

nyi one tara white bara red

nanyi one cow

ntara white cow

nabara red cow

Consonant is deleted at word boundary before a vowel C + + vowel

We can see that the noun end in consonants. However, such consonants disappear when they occur in fast speech. Also discovered in Yeskwa language is a situation where both insertion and deletion occur. Examples of these can be seen below. zt Beard zt Beard shara black tara white = = zroshara black beard Ozorotara white beard

The first process is that there is insertion of ro in the process of combining Noun and Adjective. In fast speech, the combination of both noun and Adjective usually involves both insertion and deletion.

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There is insertion of CV i.e. ro zt Beard zt Beard language noun 1. UR zt Beard Insertion Deletion SF 2. UR zt Beard Insertion Deletion SF shara black ozot-ro-shara ozo-ro-shara ozoro shara tara white ozt-ro-tara z ro tara ozorotara. CHAPTER FOUR YESKWA TONE AND SYLLABLE STRUCTURE 4.1 Introduction This chapter is developed to give an insight into the features of tone and syllable in Yeskwa language. The tonal process comes before syllable process in the discussion. shara black tara white = zot-ro-tara = zot-ro-shara

Then the next thing is the deletion of consonant t after the vowel in Yeskwa

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4.2

The Definition of Tone Oxford concise dictionary of linguistics (1997) defines tone as a phonetic or

phonological unit belonging to set distinguished or primarily distinguished by levels of or by changes in pitch. In tone languages, pitch is used to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning of express emotional and paralinguistic information and to convey emphasis contrast. (Pike 1948:3) Tone as a prosodic feature or supra-segmental feature has been defined and justified by linguists to be under going modifications before reaching its actual phonetic manifestations. Welmer (1974:2) states that tone languages are languages in which both tone composition of the morpheme can be lexically constructed in a given phonological environment. Yeskwa like most Bantu languages is a tone language. In tone language, tones are phonemic, words may be monotonic where the same tone runs through the syllables of a word. 4.2.1 Types of Tone There are two types of tone namely: Register tones and contour tones: a language that operates a register tone system is called a register tone language, while a language that uses contour tone system is called contour tone language. A register tone languages uses level tone i.e. tones that have relatively steady pitches such as high (/), mid (-) and low (\). The mid level tone is not graphically marked but could be represented with the macron (-) where the need arises. The high and low tones are marked by an acute sign (/) and a grave accent (\).

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Contour tones are gliding tone i.e. tones which glide from one pitch level to another (Williamson, 1984). Contour tones are a concatenation of level tones In contour tone language, the distinguishing features of the tones are their shift in pitch. The two extremely steady states pitches high and low tones are combined to make contour tones. Contour tone is one of two types which are rising tone and falling tone. a rising tone and falling tone. A rising tone starts with a low tone and rises to the top of the speakers vocal range, while the falling tone starts with a high tone and falls to the bottom of the speakers vocal range. They are marked with then diacritics (v) for rising tone and () for the falling tone. 4.2.2 Tone Patterns in Yeskwa Yeskwa language attest all the three register tones which are high (/), mid (-) and low (\) and one contour tones which is the rising tone (v)

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Tone Chart High tone (/) Mid tone (-) Low tone (\) Rising tone (v) Below are examples of tone in Yeskwa language High Tone /s/ /n/ /fu/ /no/ /np/ High Tone /gn/ /j/ /b/ // Mid Tone / se/ /vk/ /ti/ /ie/ reply grind work swallow lix enter go come ask eye belly bone saliva bean

Below are single occurrences of tones in Yeskwa language

/gn/ Low Tone /nk/ /am/ /n/ /m/ 4.2.3

surpass

spin soak four finish

Co-occurrence of Tones in Yeskwa This is a situation where by tones select one another i.e. co-occur together in a

word in Yeskwa language. In Yeskwa language high tone can co-occur with high tone, high tone with low tone, high tone with mid tone, mid tone can co- occur with mid, high and low and the low tone can co-occur with low, with high and low with mid tone. Example of this can be seen below High Tone Co-occurring with High Tone /s/ /n/ /np/ /fp/ /ktk/ /bndr/ /bbi/ / ii/ eye belly beans bone full right delicate sleep

High Tone Co-occurring with Mid Tone

High Tone Co-occurring with Low Tone lx

/zp/ /j/ /nm/ /jm/ /b/ /hn/ /lm/ /eb/ /uvusa/ /eyan/ /tnk/ /ddk/ /fl/ /yn/ /v/ /w/ /m/ /z / /ov/ /ow/ rwer

smoke sun wicth breast house farm goat cassava house shoot thorn hat fear word war back lwer leg child lxi

Mid tone co-occurring with high

Mid Tone Co-occurring with Mid Tone

Low Tone Co-occurring with Low Tone

Mid Tone Co-occurring With Low Tone

Low Tone Co-occurring with High Tone

/okm/ /p/ /nf/

corpse die two

Low Tone Co-Occur With Mid Tone /bp/ /kpt/ /bin/ /zk/ 4.2.4 grass cutter giant rat fish guinea fowl

Functions of Tone Tones in Yeskwa language perform the function of plural and singular marker.

Tone performs the function of differentiating between singular and plural words. Examples are follows; Singular /p/ /fu/ /l/ // plural /p/ /efu/ /l/ // Gloss canarum tree silk cotton tree locust tree horn

Studies have also shown that the importance of tone in Yeskwa is also extended to the grammatical aspect. Aside the use of tone as singular and plural markers, many devices are employed in showing plural forms which can be regarded as grammatical importance of tone. Out of this devices are class markers especially those that are morphological based with the use of affixes that are prefixed to the root word. Examples are as follows: lxii

Singular marked /onjey/ /kpwat/ /nzanzi/ /gnga/ /ntm/ 4.2.5

Plural marked /anjey/ /ankpwat/ /nzanzi/ /ngnga/ /antm/

Gloss farm palm monkey guava grass with scented root barrel drum horn

Tonological Processes Tonological processes are the different modifications that tones undergo before

reaching actual phonetic manifestation. This underlying process is referred to as tonological processes. (Hyman 1975:22). In addition, tono9logical processes has to do with the influence of tone on each other or the modification of tone brought about by their interaction and relationship with segments (Schane 1973:215). These processes are tone spreading and tone stability. Tone Spreading This is a situation whereby we have more segment than tone. The tone will then spread to the segment as it is a must that the segment bears tone (Hyman, 1975). There is no evidence of tone spreading in Yeskwa language.

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Tone Stability Oyebade(1998;142) refers to tone stability as a situation in tone language whereby a vowel desyllabified or is deleted by some phonological rules; the tone: it is bearing does not disappear rather it shifts its location and shows up on some vowel. There is no evidence of tone stability in Yeskwa language. 4.3 Syllable Structure. Hyman (1975:189) maintains that a syllable consists of the peak of prominence in a word which is associated with the occurrence of one vowel or a syllabic consonant that represents the most primitive in all languages. According to Williamson (1984:70) a syllable is the smallest part of a language which can be easily pronounced alone. Schane (1973:53) states that syllable structure processes affect the relative distribution of the vowels within a word. A syllable consists of phonological unit and it consists of three phonetic parts which are; The onset Peak or nucleus Coda.

The Onset In phonetic and phonology a syllable onset is the part of syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus, the onset on the phonotatic of a language, the onset may consist of a single consonant, a consonant cluster or it could be null. Null onset must begin with a

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vowel or another syllabic sonorant. Most languages allow these possibilities. Examples of onset with consonant cluster in Yeskwa language are; /ndwmbara/ /mwa/ /bwup/ /nkufa/ /nzoma/ Onset with single consonant. /ba/ /de/ /gan/ /nuk/ /j/ Null onset /zt/ /imte/ /ow/ /win/ The Nucleus The nucleus which is sometimes called the peak is the central part of the syllable. It is the only mandatory part of a syllable. /sn/ plait phoneme lxv /i/ is the nucleus tail cat child bee come ask enter spin go skin sharpen tie new name

/jn/ /gap/ /dan/ The Coda

take divide pound

phoneme phoneme phoneme

// is the nucleus // is the nucleus // is the nucleus.

In phonology, a syllable coda comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus. It is optional or even restricted in some language. Examples are as follows /nk/ /Dan/ /gn/ /gap/ /len/ weare pound enter divided lick

phonemes /k/ // and component /p/ are the coda. The three component part discussed above can be diagrammatically represented thus. Syllable

Onset

(rhyme)

Examples in Yeskwa language are as follows: Onset Nucleus or Peak Nucleus Coda Coda

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C N

U Weave Nucleus V

Onset C

Coda C

a Pound

The segmental structure of a syllable begins with an onset followed by a rhyme. The nucleus and the coda are the two parts of the rhyme. A word that consists of a single syllable is called mono-syllable, a word with two syllables is called di-syllable, three syllable words is called tri-syllable while a word with more than three syllable is called poly-syllable. 4.3.1 Types of Syllable. A syllable structure may be defined as the complex interrelated units. The forms of the structure are determined by the nature of units and the relationship between them

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[Brosnahan, 1976]. A language may exhibit either closed or open syllable and we have some languages that make use of the two. An open syllable is a syllable typology in which words end in vowels. In such languages, there is no form of consonant ending. A closed syllable is the one that allows consonant ending. Yeskwa language makes use of both the closed and open syllable. Examples of open syllable in Yeskwa language are as follows /t/ /z/ /b/ /npa/ /ch/ /tkbi/ bow rope grass leaf montar spear

Example of closed syllable in Yeskwa Language are /nk/ /wfp/ /zt/ /wlessm/ /otin/ /ffang/ 4.3.2 cow toad guinea fowl big sweet climbs

Syllable Structure Rule in Yeskwa

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This is the Rule that states the possible sequence of sound or segment in a syllable. The most wide spread syllable structure are CV (Consonants and Vowels). The number of phonemes and present in a syllable structure vary from language to language. Yeskwa has the following syllable structure. CV, CCV, CVC, and VCV Example of this can be seen below. CV / go / / kpo / /de / / s / / b / feel make ask reply come

Examples of CCV are: / fwa / /fyem / /gwenyi / drink Hatch fear

/ Vwm / Thirst Examples of VCV are: / mi / / wa / / eb / / ap / hunger war animal die

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/ z / Examples of CVC are: / gan/ / gap / / wak / / vm / / zoy /

pestle

enter divide wash weep swim

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CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 Introduction This chapter is set out to give a summary of the research efforts of Yeskwa language and concluded with some recommendations for further researches. This long essay has made efforts to describe the phonology of Yeskwa language. It is observed that as it is for majority of human languages, so is it for Yeskwa language. Words are not just strung together arbitrarily, they are well patterned and they follow the principle of well formedness. The data used for this research was collected through the use of Ibadan word list of four hundred basic items. The informant method was used in the data elicitation this is as a result of the fact that words are not to be dealt with in isolation. Chapter one introduced the people of Yeskwa and their history. It discussed the geographical location of the people. The major occupation of the Yeskwa people is Farming and the majority of the people are Christian. We also discovered in this chapter that Yeskwa language belong to the Benue Congo Language Family. Chapter two examined the basic phonological concepts such as; Phonemes and Allophones. Also, sound distribution and distinctive features of Yeskwa language was discussed. The third chapter discussed the phonological processes that are attested in Yeskwa language. It explains processes like; Labilization, Palatalization, Nasalization, Insertion and Deletion. Chapter Four discusses tonal processes in Yeskwa language. As a tone language Yeskwa makes use of registered tone levels which are; High, Mid, Low and a Contour

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level tone which is the rising tone. The chapter also discussed the syllable structure of Yeskwa language. The structures are CV, CCV, CVC and VCV. Chapter Five which is the final chapter summarized this research work and gives recommendation and the conclusion as well. 5.2 Findings / Observations Some words in Yeskwa lexicon are borrowed from Hausa Language. This is because majority of Yeskwa language speakers can speak Hausa and as a result are bilinguals. Yeskwa language has twenty-six consonant sounds and operates seven (7) vowel systems. Yeskwa language deviated from the tradition of majority of African languages that makes use of open syllable. Yeskwa make use of open and close syllable structure. 5.3 Recommendation Through this research, useful insight has been drawn from the structure of Yeskwa phonology. The language has not been exposed to linguistics scrutiny. There is need for linguists to focus their attention more on the language because this project has only focused attention on a part of various fields of linguistics. It is only the aspects of phonology that has been explored in the research. We hereby recommend that linguists will do well by focusing attention on the other aspects of the language. This research is therefore going to be a foundation for further researchers who would like to further research in to the study of Yeskwa language.

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5.4

Conclusion So far, this project has been able to examine the structure of Yeskwa phonology

within the scope of work, therefore we cannot assume that this research work is exhaustive enough on Yeskwa language.

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REFERENCES Chomsky, N & Halle, M (1968): Sound pattern of English, New York: Harper and Rows. Greenberg, J. (1964), The Language of Africa. Boonton: Indiana University Press. Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. New York: Holt and Winston GoldSmith, J. (1997). Autosegmental Phonology MIT disseriation IVLC, New York: Graudlmid Press. Gordon, R.G. (Ed.) (2005). Ellongic: Languages of the world, 15th edition, Dailois tex: Sil International. Hyman, L.M. (1975). Phonology: Theory & Analysis: New York Cambridge Mass MIT Press. Oyebade, F. (1998), A course in Phonology, Ijebu ode: Shebiotimo Publications. Lyons, J. (1968). Introduction to Theoretical linguistics: Cambridge. Pike, K (1948). Tone Language. Ann Arbo: University of Michigan. Sommerstein, A.H. (1977). Modern Phonology. London: Edward. Schane, S.A. (1993). Gp Englehood Cliff New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Welmers, W.M.E. (1975). Structure of African Languages. University of California Press Trubetzkoy, N. (1939). Principles of Phonology. Los Angles: University of California.

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