Acoustic Evidence for a Tonal Negative Marker in Ẹdo
Keywords:
Ẹdo language, Morphophonology, Negation, Acoustics, PhonosyntaxAbstract
This paper investigates an aspect of negation in Ẹdo language, using primary data obtained from native speakers. Three overt morphemes: í, má, and ghẹ have been identified as markers of negation in the language. This study focuses on negative utterances which lack the í-morphemes in overt realizations. The utterances were extracted and analysed with PRAAT 6.0.30. Data analyses reveal that negative constructions which lack an overt marker typically contain underlying í-marker which can be deleted. The high tone it bears is left to float regressively or progressively, depending on the morphophonological environment. In cases deletion is suspended, vowel height reduction applies, in which case, the segment of the negative morpheme changes from a tense to a lax vowel. Since tone is observed to be used to negate utterances in Ẹdo, the study concludes that it should be recognized as a strategy for negation in the language.
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