On the Origin of Tonal Classes in Kinande Noun Stems
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Kinande tone.pdf
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Author(s)
Kenstowicz, Michael
Date Issued
January 2008
Journal
Studies in African Linguistics
Publisher
Dept. of Linguistics and the African Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles
Citation
Kenstowicz, Michael. "On the Origin of Tonal Classes in Kinande Noun Stems." Studies in African Linguistics 37 2 (2008): 115-51.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
This paper investigates the Proto-Bantu origins of the principal tonal classes in Kinande
nonderived mono- and disyllabic nominal stems. The ternary H vs. L. vs. 0 distinction in the final
syllable of the current language is traced back to a binary H vs. L contrast in Proto Bantu on the
basis of two strata of reconstruction: first, a shallow one based on c. 200 PB cognates shared
with the closely related Lacustrine languages Runyankore, Haya, and Jita and second, a deeper
one based on c. 100 PB cognates shared with the more distantly related Congolese languages
Tembo, Luba, and Lingala. A chronology of tone changes is postulated in which different
sequencing of the same changes as well as alternative phonologizations of ambiguous phonetic
structures play a key role.
Subjects
Kinande
Proto Bantu
tonal reconstruction
ternary contrast
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
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