The relationship between typological asymmetries and acquisition of phonological patterns has been a controversial topic in the field of phonology. This dissertation approaches the issue by focusing on the source of typological asymmetries involving tone patterns, and the role that typological commonness plays in the learning of patterns that are…

In this dissertation, I investigated how cognitive resources as well as formal, and informal language experience impact language learning in two studies. In the first study (Chapter 2), I examined the learning of Spanish grammatical gender by Chinese international students who were studying abroad in the US. The goal of that study was to uncover…

Linguists tend to believe that total complexity of human languages is invariable. In order to test this hypothesis empirically, we need to calculate the complexity in different domains of language structure: phonology, morphology, syntax, etc. In this paper I provide some guidelines for documenting tonal systems and evaluating their complexity. I…

This dissertation provides an account of Zulu reduplication within the derivational framework of Distributed Morphology (DM). New Zulu data challenge the idea of reified domains like the D(erivational)-Stem and Macrostem as relevant constituents for reduplication (Downing 1997, Hyman, Inkelas, and Sibanda 2009). Instead, a crucial distinction is…

This article presents data from three production experiments investigating the prosodic means of encoding information structure in Akan, a tone language that belongs to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family, spoken in Ghana. Information structure was elicited via context questions that put target words either in wide, informational, or…

This dissertation is a grammar of Rena (ISO bez), a Bantu language spoken in southwestern Tanzania by approximately 600,000 people. Bena is largely undocumented, and though aspects of Bena grammar have been described, there is no usable, detailed treatment of the Bena language. Therefore the goal of this dissertation is provide the first detailed…

The article discusses the tonal system of Lamnsok, a language spoken in the North-West province of the United Republic of Cameroun with specific reference to verbs. The tone pattern for a given clause is dependent on various factors handled at length. Charts and extensive examples accompany the text. (CLK)

An analysis of the Dinka (Sudan) vowel system consists of: (1) an overview of Dinka phonological structure, including the phonological sentence, the phonological word, the syllable, and the consonantal and vocalic features of the sound system; (2) an examination of breathy versus nonbreathy vowels, including a review of previous research using a…

An autosegmental analysis of Kagate tone is presented. The focus is on tonal instability, which occurs as the result of a compensatory lengthening process. To account for facts of tonal stability, previously hypothesized, and tonal instability, it is proposed that the location of tone within the overall geometry is subject to parametric variation,…

This paper reviews the evidence that Proto-Niger-Congo was a tone language with only two level tones and seeks to find the evidence that will explain how some of the descendant languages have more than two tones. In particular it shows how synchronic tone rules in Cama and consonant correspondences between Cama and Yoruba suggest a new factor in…

This volume, a collection of selected papers from the Conference on African Languages and Linguistics organized by the Department of Linguistics of the University of Illinois and held at Urbana-Champaign on April 24-25, 1970, contains: W. E. Welmers, "The Typology of the Proto-Niger-Kordofanian Noun Class System"; D. Dalby, "A…

This short dictionary is designed to accompany the work of Melzian (1937) for the benefit of scholars concerned with the place and function of the Nigerian Bini language in the structure of West African languages. The conventional orthography has been used, except in three cases. The body of the general word list contains the English meaning, the…

Six working papers on phonology, primarily concerning less commonly taught languages, are presented are in this volume. Titles include: "Non-Uniqueness Condition and the Segmentation of the Chinese Syllable" (Benjamin Ao); "Theoretical Consequences of Metathesis in Maltese" (Elizabeth Hume); "Cs and Vs or Moras: The Case…

Papers in various aspects of phonological research and theory include: "One-Step Raising in Gbanu" (Mary Bradshaw); "ATR Harmony in Konni" (Mike Cahill); "Prosodic Structure in SiSwati" (Rebecca Herman); "The Deletion of /w/ in Seoul Korean and Its Implications" (Hyeon-Seok Kang); "Tense, Aspect, and…

A detailed grammar of Buem, one of the Togo-Remnant Languages spoken in Ghana's Volta region, describes the major structures and many minor structures occurring in informal and semi-formal speech. The phonetics and much of the phonology are described in taxonomic terms, and the vowel harmony system, syntax, and morphology are described in a…