Aspects of the phonetic and phonological structure of the G/ui language
Date
2008-03-04T13:21:53Z
Authors
Nakagawa, Hiroshi
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
This study describes selected aspects of the phonetic and phonological structure of the
G|ui language, a poorly documented endangered Khoe (Central Khoisan) language
spoken in Botwana. It conducts instrumental phonetic investigations, namely analyses
of palatograms, linguograms, aerodynamic recordings, sound spectrograms, spectra,
waveforms, and pitch measurements, in order to provide an objective basis for the
detailed description of phonetic features of consonants, vowels, and tones. The
description includes phonetic and phonological topics, involving consonants, vowels,
and tones, and in addition, it deals with relevant morphological phenomena, such as the
compound verb, verbal reduplication and verbal suffixes.
This research also explores some theoretical issues, such as the unitary nature of clicks
and their accompaniments, the integration of the clicks and non-clicks within a single
set of features, the correct interpretation of tonal structure. Two types of historical
sound shifts are also dealt with: namely, palatalization which is involved in the nonclick
consonant system, and the click replacement which is involved in the click
consonant system. In addition to the phonetic and phonological topics, selected
aspects of the sociolinguistic profile of this endangered language are also documented.
Description
Keywords
Khoisan, Khoe, phonetics, phonology click