Tamazight Autosegmental Vowel Nasalization
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Category
Social Sciences/Humanities
Abstract/Artist Statement
After noticing a discrepancy in the nasalization of vowels in a published grammar about the Central Atlas (or Tamazight) dialect of Berber, the language of the indigenous people of Northern Africa, this study was conducted to understand the bounds and environments of the phonological process. This grammar claimed that vowels would be affected by nasal consonants within the same syllable but lacked substantial evidence. After compiling data from other grammars and phonological papers, this paper concludes that not only are vowels nasalized when occurring in the same syllable, but that the phonological change is across syllable boundaries, making linear explanations of the phenomenon insufficient.
By compiling phonetic and phonological data, it became easier to understand the phonological pattern. For most of the data presented, the typical linear environmental rules could be created – stating that should a nasalized consonant occur directly before or after the vowel in question, the vowel would assimilate the nasalized quality of its neighboring phoneme. But there were several cases where linear rules could not explain the nasal assimilation, but autosegmental analysis could. Autosegmental, or nonlinear analysis, had yet to be applied to vowel nasalization in Tamazight. In it, the root of the assimilating vowels borrow from the nasal quality of the root of the nasal consonants. Additionally, when making this conclusion, it was observed that the schwa does not assimilate the nasal quality of nearby consonants, unlike other vowels in the language.
This study not only provided further evidence to substantiate the claim of nasalized vowels in the initial grammar, but it was able to use an advanced phonological theory to further examine assimilation relationships in Berber, a language that has been widely studied in the phonological landscape. With this research, the process of assimilation in Central Atlas Berber (Tamazight) can be better understood.
Mentor Name
Leora Bar-El
Tamazight Autosegmental Vowel Nasalization
UC 326
After noticing a discrepancy in the nasalization of vowels in a published grammar about the Central Atlas (or Tamazight) dialect of Berber, the language of the indigenous people of Northern Africa, this study was conducted to understand the bounds and environments of the phonological process. This grammar claimed that vowels would be affected by nasal consonants within the same syllable but lacked substantial evidence. After compiling data from other grammars and phonological papers, this paper concludes that not only are vowels nasalized when occurring in the same syllable, but that the phonological change is across syllable boundaries, making linear explanations of the phenomenon insufficient.
By compiling phonetic and phonological data, it became easier to understand the phonological pattern. For most of the data presented, the typical linear environmental rules could be created – stating that should a nasalized consonant occur directly before or after the vowel in question, the vowel would assimilate the nasalized quality of its neighboring phoneme. But there were several cases where linear rules could not explain the nasal assimilation, but autosegmental analysis could. Autosegmental, or nonlinear analysis, had yet to be applied to vowel nasalization in Tamazight. In it, the root of the assimilating vowels borrow from the nasal quality of the root of the nasal consonants. Additionally, when making this conclusion, it was observed that the schwa does not assimilate the nasal quality of nearby consonants, unlike other vowels in the language.
This study not only provided further evidence to substantiate the claim of nasalized vowels in the initial grammar, but it was able to use an advanced phonological theory to further examine assimilation relationships in Berber, a language that has been widely studied in the phonological landscape. With this research, the process of assimilation in Central Atlas Berber (Tamazight) can be better understood.