The interaction between tone rules

1
The interaction between tone rules
2
The interaction between tone rules

• We already saw that the TBU is the syllable in
  Dinka. What about words with more than one
  syllable?

3
The interaction between tone rules
de? /CVC/ ? de? /aCVC/ ?
H
H
HL
LH
HL
LH
L
L

• Graph F0 tracks showing the realisation of the
  four tonemes of Dinka on mono- (left) and
  disyllabic words (right) in yes/no questions. The
  start of the vowel is marked by a vertical dotted
  line.

4
The interaction between tone rules

• In polysyllabic morphemes lexical tone(s)
  associate with rightmost syllable.
• Non-final syllables start out toneless.
• Initial Association Rule Examples
• s ago?or a?a?ar
• (T) T L H H

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The interaction between tone rules

• A puzzle
• existential declaratives vs. existential
  questions
• a?-de le?e? de le?e?
• AGR-EXST drumSG AGR-EXST drumSG
• There is a drum. Is there a drum?
• a?-de a?a?ar de a?a?ar
• AGR-EXST buffaloSG AGR-EXST buffaloSG
• There is a buffalo. Is there a buffalo?

6
The interaction between tone rules
de /CVC/ . de /aCVC/ .
HL
H
L
HL
H
LH
LH
L

• Graph F0 tracks showing the realisation of the
  four tonemes of Dinka on mono- (left) and
  disyllabic words (right) in yes/no questions. The
  start of the vowel is marked by a vertical dotted
  line.

7
The interaction between tone rules
de? /CVC/ ? de? /aCVC/ ?
H
H
HL
LH
HL
LH
L
L

• Graph F0 tracks showing the realisation of the
  four tonemes of Dinka on mono- (left) and
  disyllabic words (right) in yes/no questions. The
  start of the vowel is marked by a vertical dotted
  line.

8
The interaction between tone rules

• Solution de? has the LH
• existential declaratives vs. existential
  questions
• a?-de? le?e? de? le?e?
• AGR-EXST drumSG AGR-EXST drumSG
• There is a drum. Is there a drum?
• a?- de? a?a?ar de? a?a?ar
• AGR-EXST buffaloSG AGR-EXST buffaloSG
• There is a buffalo. Is there a buffalo?

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The interaction between tone rules

• High shift
• Autosegmental formula s s s
• L H T
• High shift feeds Dissimilatory Lowering, but only
  in declaratives, not in questions.
• a?-de? a?a?ar de? a?a?ar
• AGR-EXST buffaloSG AGR-EXST buffaloSG
• There is a buffalo. Is there a buffalo?

/H/ gt H
/H/ gt L
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The interaction between tone rules

• a? - d e? a ? a? a r . d e? a ? a? a r ?
• L L H H L H H

Initial Association Rule
a? - d e? a ? a? a r . d e? a ? a? a r ? L
L H H L H H
High Shift


a? - d e? a ? a? a r . d e? a ? a? a r ? L
L H H L H H
DissimilatoryLowering
L
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The interaction between tone rules

• We now have accounted for the application of
  Dissimilatory Lowering between de? and the
  following disyllabic noun
• a?-de? a?a?ar
• AGR-EXIST buffaloSG
• There is a buffalo.
• Now we also need to invoke another rule to stop
  Dissimilatory Lowering from applying here
• a?-de? le?e?
• AGR-EXIST drumSG
• There is a drum.

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The interaction between tone rules

• Contour simplification
• Autosegmental formula s
• T T finite verb slot
• This rule deletes the second component of a
  contour tone that has not shifted, but only in a
  specific context.

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The interaction between tone rules

• High Shift expands the range of contexts in which
  Dissimilatory Lowering applies. Technically High
  Shift feeds Dissimilatory Lowering.
• /a?-de? a?a?ar/ gt a?-de? a??a?ar
• There is a buffalo.
• Contour Simiplification reduces the range of
  contexts in which Dissimilatory Lowering applies.
  Technically High Shift bleeds Dissimilatory
  Lowering.
• /a?-de? le?e?/ gt a?-de? le?e?
• There is a drum.

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The interaction between tone rules

• We came across two instances of morphosyntactic
  conditioning of tone rules
• Dissimilatory Lowering does not apply in
  existential yes/no questions.
• Contour Simplification only applies between the
  finite verb slot and the following noun.