O.O. Oyelaran[1]
Among internal
(non-cross-dialectal) sources of syllabic consonants, Allan Bell (1970) lists
the following.
1. CVC,
where C and C are identical or at least
1 2 1 2
homorganic.
2. The other source of syllabic consonants
may be roughly described as the assimilation of consonantality by a vowel. For
obvious articulatory reason, this probably occurs only with high vowels.
These, exemplified in the 60
languages of his survey, led Bell to his generalization (5), (6) and (7), of
which only (5) and (6), our own (3) and (4) below, interest us:
3. The source of syllabicity in syllabic
consonants is always a vowel, either directly, when a vowel changes into a
consonant (consonantalization), or else indirectly, when a vowel is lost and
its syllabicity is transferred to a consonant (syllabic syncope).
4. Only high vowels undergo
consonantalization. Bell ’s
(1970) data reinforce his premise that
5. the syllabicity of consonants never
arises spontaneously from a marginal consonant, as far as I can ascertain. The
source of the syllabicity is always a vowel. But for the commonest process of
origin is syllabic syncope that is, loss of a vowel and shift of syllabicity to
one of its margins.
(Emphasis mine: O.O.O.)
His
investigation leads him further to his generalization of (8) which bears
directly on syllabic nasal. We present it here as (6):
6. In all languages, if in a given context
nasal-vowel (NV) sequences occur, and U represents the high back rounded vowel
appearing in these sequences, then:
A. NV > Nà MU à
N or j U > N and
B NV > N à NV à
N
Low non low
and similarly for contexts
containing vowel-nasal sequences.
In his 1972
study, “the Development of syllabic nasals in the Bantu noun class prefixes mu – mi
– and ma-“, Allan Bell finds (6)
dramatically confirmed, namely that “whenever syllabic nasals are formed from
loss of a non-high vowel they are also formed or have been formed from high vowels,
and whenever they are formed from loss of non-round high vowels they are also
formed or have been formed from high round vowels”.
It is
unfortunate, it appears, that the two studies of Yorùbá, namely, Bamgboṣe
(1966), and Siertsema (1957-8), on which Bell draws, pay but scant attention to
the phenomenon of syllabic consonant in general, and of syllabic nasal in
particular. Small wonder that Bell
finds the Yorùbá has J as the only syllabic nasal, like languages such Dan, Minnan
Chinese (Amony), Tswana, and Wu Chinese (Wenchon). Moreover, this only syllabic
nasal is post-consonantal:
K j < Ku in YORÙBÁ
(Siertsma 1957-58)
(sic).
In what follows,
we present data which suggest the following:
7. (i) that
J is not the only syllabic consonant in Yorùbá .
(ii) that (1), (2), and (5)
are confirmed but in a way unexpected by Allan Bell in particular
(a) When C1 VC2,
with C1 = C2, gives rise to N (syllabic nasal), C1
à
O, and V is high front.
(b)
the high vowel is front, most often
non-nasal
(c) “the source of the
syllabicity is always a vowel”, but not in the sense that a syncopated vowel
passes its feature SYLLABIC on to its syllabic margin, a consonant.
(iii)
that consonant M followed by high back vowel U is
hardly ever a source of syllabic nasal in Yorùbá, and it does not appear to be
so in the sense which confirms Allan Bell’s implicational generalization.
SOURCES OF SYLLABIC NASAL IN YORÙBÁ
The following text
is in conventional orthography. The syllabic nasal is underlined and is understood
to be homorganic with the segment which follows. Where post-consonantal, it is
homorganic with the preceding consonant.
A N <
i
8. (i) (a) Ó
ní ń yẹ ní yẹ
ẹyẹlẹ́
he say fitting
it fit pidgeon
ń rọ̀ ní
rọ àdàbà lọ́rùn
being easy it (be)
easy dove
in neck
(S.O. Oyedepo, Gẹ̀lẹ́dẹ́ Songs, Long Essay
(b) ń yẹ
< yíyẹ
ń rọ̀ < rírọ̀
(ii)(a) ajógẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́, mo fẹ́ ń ṣàdúrà kan
gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́-dancer, I wish
doing prayer
one
‘Gẹ̀lẹ̀dé-dancer’, I wish to say one
prayer for you’.
(b) fẹ́ ń ṣàdúrà < fẹ́ í ṣàdúrà < fẹ́
ṣíṣàdúrà
(S.O. Oyedepo, 1979).
(iii) (a) Igbà n mo yẹ̀gọ̀ nígbàlẹ̀
Time which
I fit make in grove
‘When I carry the mask
with grace in the sacred grove’.
(Karin Barber, Ph.D.
Thesis, Ifẹ, 1977, P. 298, 11- 23).
(b) Ìgbà
n mo < ìgbà tí mo
(iv) (a) bí
òǹpa ò pa
kí ni òǹkọ ó kọ?
bí ònko ò kọ
kí ni òǹgbìn ó gbìn?
bí ni òǹgbìn ò gbìn
kí ni òǹyọ ó
yọ?
bí òǹyọ ò
yọ
kí
ni òǹyẹ̀ ó yẹ̀
bí òǹyẹ̀ ó yẹ̀
kí
ni òǹgbọn ó gbọ̀n?
bí
òǹgbọn ó gbọ̀n
kí
ni òǹrọn ó rọn?
The
foregoing is part of the salute to a lineage known with respect to clothing.
This takes cloth making from the farmer to weaver. The pattern is as follows:
bí
òǹpa ò pa
if
the plower NEG plow
kí
ni òǹkọ ó kọ?
What
(Focus) harrower will harrow?
thus through gbìn ‘plant’, yọ ‘pick’yẹ̀ ‘to remove cotton seed’. gbọ̀n ‘to gin’, ron ‘to spin’, and so on.
(iv)(a)
òǹpa < òpìpa ‘plower’
òǹkọ <
òkìkọ ‘harrower’
òǹgbìn < ògbìgbìn ‘planter’
òǹyọ <
òyìyọ ‘cotton-picker’
òǹyẹ̀
< òyìyẹ̀ ‘seeder’
òǹgbọ̀n < ògbìgbọ̀n ‘ginner’
(v)
(a) òǹtẹ < òtìtẹ̀ < ‘stamp’,
seal
of authority’
(b) àjíǹde <
àjídìde < ‘resurrection’
The
process of consonant deletion which eliminates the first consonant in all of
(8) is given in Abimbọla and Oyelaran (1975). Notice that where the high vowel
stranded in the otherwise optimal syllable (CV), after C deletion, is preceded
by a vowel, there is a possibility of regressive assimilation, instead of the
observed change i > N as in (9)
9. Ògbìgbe. > òǹgbẹ̀ / òògbẹ.
10. Ifẹ̀ Yorùbá: Ilé sí kọ́?
Common
Yorùbá; Ilé ń kọ́?
‘How
is home’?’
B. N < /U
11(i) (a) Oyérìndé > Oyéǹdé
‘personal
name’
Ayìndé
> Àǹdé
(b) Ọ̀rùntọ́
> Ọ̀ńtọ́
‘a
chieftaincy
title
Ọlọ́run > Ọlọ́un [õióu]
‘God’
but
(c) Adéòsì
> Adéwùsì ‘personal name)
Ọláòmí > Ọláwùmí
(d) From
“Oríkì Ọ́lófà” line 39.
Ọmọ
Aróunsọ́lé ọ̀pá-ò-d’n- agogo
Offspring
Arounsọle stick-NEG-pain-(the) gong.
‘The
gong is indifferent to the stroke of the drumstick’
See also Abimbọla and Oyelaran
(1975) for r – and w – deletion.
(ii) (a) Òmìnìra
> òǹnira ‘freedom’
(b) Ominú > onnú ‘fear
arising
from
anxiety’
but
(c)(1) Omùgọ̀ > * oǹgọ̀
a
stupid person’
(2) ọ̀mùtí
> *
oǹtí
‘an
alcoholic’
(3) ọ̀mùnú
> * oǹnú
‘young shoot
of plant”
Influenced
by conventional accounts of the syllabic nasal such as Allan Bell’s, most
students of the Yorùbá language subscribe to the view that in the following and
similar cases where the high front vowel follows a nasal consonant, it is the
loss of the vowel that gives rise to the syllabic nasal.
12.
(i) Mo ń lọ < Mo mi lọ
I
(PROG) go
‘I
am going.
(ii) n ò lo. < mi ò lọ
I
NEG go
‘I
did not go’
(iii) The following excerpts are
taken from “oríkì Ọlọ́fà” in Oríkì Orílẹ̀. (Adeboye Babalọla The figures to
the right indicate line number in the original. Nasal syllabics are underlined.
(a) ọmọ Ọlálọmí
offspring (of) Ọlálọmí
oǹmọ̀ká
ẹni Àyèéjìn
Ruler,
person (of Àyèéjìn
Ìmọ̀ká nì ọ́, Ìmọ̀ká
l’èmi 345
Ìmọ̀ká
be you, Ìmọ̀ká be me
(b) Ọ̀fà rèé! Onímọ̀ká 388
Ọfa be this! Ruler of Ìmọ̀ká
‘Behold
Ọ̀fà! Lord at Ìmọ̀ká’.
(c) Derivation
ońmọ̀ká < onímọ̀ká
(iv) (a) Mo
b’éléégún yọ̀ l’ọ́yọ̀ọ́
Mo
bá Akìrun ṣe Ìrẹ̀lẹ̀ .
Mo
h’ẹlà ìlẹ̀kẹ̀
Ní’jọ́
Olóyè mbọ̀ Ògún.
Owo
mìni n’mo he
Ní
‘jọ́ Ọlálọmí ń sin Ọya
I
with egúngún devoted rejoice at Ọ̀yọ́
I
with (the) Ruler of Ìkìrun celebrate Ìrẹ̀lẹ̀
I
collected pieces of valuable beads
The
day the Ruler celebrate Ògún
Cowries
in heaps I picked
The
day Ọlálọmí worshipped the goddess Ọya.
(b) Derivation
(1) mbọ̀
< mí bọ̀
(2) n’mo
he < ni mo he
(3) ńs’n Ọya < mí sin Ọya.
(v) Mo wà ńlé mo wà nílé
I be in
house
Where
nílé < ní ilé
through
the process of contraction.
This view that N
results from the loss of the vowel led Bamgboṣe (1965) to the claim that the
so-called ‘verbal particle’ ń is
primary and gives rise to or underlies í
as in
13.
(i)
a kì
í ṣe bẹ́ẹ̀
We
NEG ‘particale
do so
‘It is not done’
which
is often heard
(ii)
a kì ń ṣe bẹ́ẹ̀
As against this
view, consider the weight of the evidence in (A) and (B) above. If one takes
into consideration the case made for the loss of the initial consonant Yorùbá
function words in Abimbọla and Oyelaran (1975), one comes to the inevitable
conclusion that in all the instances exemplified in (12) above, it is the loss
of the consonant which gives rise to the syllabic nasals in each case.
It remains to
mention that as far as this writer is aware, syllabic nasal arising in Yorùbá
from the sequence of an underlying nasal consonant and high back rounded vowel
is rare, and none of our knowledge.
We are well
aware that in some dialects of Yorùbá, in Ìjẹ̀bú, for example, it is the high
vowel that is presumed lost in utterances such as (12 (i)), yielding.
14. mo m lọ < mo mí lọ.
In deed, the following appears to
be the case in the Yorùbá dialect spoken in Ìmẹ̀kọ (Informant, Mr. Sọji Fayọmi,
1982 Graduate of Ifẹ)
15. Deictic Personal Nouns Pronouns
standard (sy) Ìmèkọ(N)
SyIM
1sg. èmi [èm] mo [mò]
1sg. èmi [èm] mo [mò]
2sg. iwọ [ìwò] o [ò]
3sg. òun [òò] ó [ó]
1pl. àwa [àwà] a [à]
2pl. ẹ̀yin [Èj~] E [È]
3pl. áwọn [à
U][àj] wọn [Ú]
(b) Standard Ìmẹ̀kọ Gloss
mò
ń lọ) [ǹ ń lò] I’m going
mì
ń lọ) [UUlo]
èmi
ni [è ǹ n ì] It is me
jẹ
kí n mí [+ ò ó m mi i] lt: let me
[-
ò ó u mi i] breath
(c) wọn ń pè mí [ù U kpè
m]/ ‘someone is
[j
Ú kpè m] calling me
[
u u bú m] ‘sm. Is
abusing me
The interesting
point is that in all cases of (m)/(m), complete labial closure was observed;
but this is limited to the first person pronoun or the corresponding deitic
noun when in the final absolute. In our own judgment, therefore, such segments
remain consonantal regardless of the perception of tone, i.e, whether or not it
is a tone bearing unit. We suspect then that such is the case with the m of the Ìjẹ̀bú dialect as in (14). But
we await instrumental verification of this view.
Whatever
the result of this verification, however, the weight of evidence from the
foregoing establishes the observation that syllabic nasal in Yorùbá arises from
underlying vowels, and this vowel is, in most cases, the high front vowel;
never from the sequence mu
THE STATUS OF THE SYLLABIC VOWEL
Little
else remains to be said about the status of the syllabic nasal in Yorùbá, if
the foregoing is valid: It is a non-consonantal syllabic segment. In common
parlance, it is both phonetically and phonologically a vowel.
If
recent attempts at a theory of the syllable succeed, as we believe they will,
there is motivation for suggesting further that on theoretical grounds, the
syllabic nasal in Yorùbá is optimally vocalic. A three tier theory of the
syllabic, such as is proposed by Clements and Keyser (mss. 1981), would assign
the following core syllable types to Yorùbá.
16. (i) CV
(ii) V
If,
therefore, on the segmental tier in an utterance, the segment dominated by V of
the CV-tier is deleted, the language particular constraints must re-associate
the V to the onset. Thus, in principle, the (m) of Ìjẹ̀bú and Ìmẹ̀kọ could be
syllabic and remain consonantal. But the fact of derivation as outlined above
established it that the syllabic nasal in Yorùbá is underlyingly vocalic in the
main.
On
the basis of the discussion, so far, in this study, we shall distinguish
between “nasal syllabic”, on the one hand, and “syllabic nasal”, on the other.
The
term “Nasal Syllabic” shall apply to segments whose most pertinent features are
primarily SYLLABIC and NASAL. That is to say, as phonetic major subcategories
go, nothing more needs distinguish this class of segments from any other
segment than these two features. This is why nasal syllabics are necessarily
homorganic when articulated in the neighbourhood of any other segment with a
perceptible place of articulation. Features, such as pitch, serves, then, to contrast
one nasal syllabic from another. Nasal syllabics are fundamentally vocalic.
“Syllabic
nasal” segment on the other hand are primarily nasal and only secondarily
syllabic. They are seldom homorganic with segments with which they combine.
They are more often than not underlyingly non-vocalic. They fall therefore into
the category of syllabic liquids.
In
the Yorùbá language, nasal syllabics are prevalent. Their derivation shows a
remarkable interplay of phonological, morphological and syntactic
considerations. Thus we observe that nasal syllabics hardly ever derive from a
formative which belongs to a major category. That is to say that a formative
underlying a nasal syllabic may not be a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an
adverb, where the last two are distinct. As a corollary to this, we shall say
that nasal syllabics in Yorùbá may derive from deictic items, function words
which have as sole import the expression of syntactic relations, and
derivational morphemes. The Yorùbá language does not allow us to include
inflectional morphemes as sources of nasal syllabics since none has been
systematically identified for the language.
It
is noteworthy that nasal syllabics accordingly derive from formatives such as oní, often glossed erroneously as ‘owner
of’, and from so-called pronouns such as mi
for first person singular. The reason is that the latter, a deitic item, has
indeed become cliticized in the language and enjoys no more than the status of
a derivational morpheme in most dialects (See Oyelaran, forthcoming, on “Vowel
Harmony in Yorùbá”. The former, on the other hand, has undergone the process of
morphologization such that the meaning of the whole is no longer the sum of the
meanings of its putative constituent parts o,
derivational prefix, and ní, ‘to
have’.
Abimbọla
and Oyelaran (1975) have shown that non-lexical formatives readily delete their
consonant initial, particularly when, preceded in the utterance by another item
with a major syntactic function, the consonant finds itself in an intervocalic
position. It appears that that process generalized to include, most non-lexical
items in any context. Howsoever that may be, nasal syllabics arise in Yorùbá
whenever high nasal vowels lose their consonant through deletion and find
themselves constituting the syllable by themselves. Examples are such as are
given in (11) above.
[1] Paper
Presented at the Department of African Languages and Literatures , University
of Ife. Seminar Series on Monday May 16, 1983.
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