A PHGNEM-IC ANALYSIS OF ECiBEMBA:
A FRESEN‘EATEON 0F BEMBA SYLLQBLE SYRUCTURE:
PHONEMEC GONTP‘MTS AND THEER DISTREBUTION

Thesie for the Degree of M. A.
MiCl-IEGAN STATE UNi‘a’ERSiTY
MUBANGA E KASHOK!
1967

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

00591 5289

L [BR A R V
Michigan Stem.

University

1

 

A PHONEMIC ANALYSIS OF ICIBEMBA:
A PRESENTATION OF BEMBA SYLLABLE STRUCTURE;
PHONEMIC CONTRASTS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION
By

Mubanga E. Kashoki

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Linguistics and Oriental
and African Languages

1967

 

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ACLBE

PREFACE

As initially conceived by this investigator, it was his aim
to investigate more closely vowel fusion patterns in iciBemba. To
this end, the originally proposed study was entitled "Some Phono—
logical and Grammatical Considerations Governing the Fusion and
Non-fusion of Vowels in iciBemba" the purpose of which was to pro-
vide a practical framework for both the student and the teacher of
iciBemba in coping more effectively with fusion problems.

In the course of the investigation, however, it became evident
that the study COle not be undertaken without first of all estab-
lishing an adequate phonemic analysis of the language. It would
appear that this type of analysis has not been attempted by Bantu
linguists who have applied more traditional methods to determine
the structure of the language.

This present study is therefore a pilot phonemic analysis
which will attempt primarily to establish an inventory of phonemic
contrasts in iciBemba. The setting up of segmental and supraseg-
mental phonemes will accordingly constitute the main content of
the thesis. Further considerations will be a discussion of the
distribution of the phonemes and Bemba syllable structure. This
Study does not purport to be either definitive or exhaustive but
rather tentative and suggestive since the analysis is based on a
limited corpus. Although, wherever relevant, morphological and

syntactical levels will be taken into account, the study is

ii

 

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primarily concerned with phonological evidence.

Since almost all existing debates aimed at producing a viable
orthography inidciBemba are quite clearly concerned with a quest
for a better grasp of the phonology, morphology and syntax of the
language, it is hoped that this study will be a modest contribution
towards that goal. It is further hoped that the undertaking, apart
from its potential significance as a contribution to Bemba phonolo-
gical theory, will later help the investigator to resume
research on the fusion or non-fusion of vowels.

This study would not have been possible without the advice,
guidance, suggestions and criticisms of the Chairman, Dr. Ruth M.
Brend, and the members of my Thesis Committee; Dr. irvine Richardson
and Mr. A. Oladele Awobuluyi. I am especially grateful to them. I
wish to remember also those teachers at Michigan State University
whose tutoring in linguistic principles has afforded me the know-
ledge I am able to bring'to bear on the present problem. I am also
indebted to the African Studies Center, Michigan State University,
for providing me with a graduate assistantship without which my
experience in linguistics would not have been possible. To the
Director, Dr. Charles C. Hughes, Ph.D., goes my sincere apprecia-
tion for the use of the office equipment which very much facili-
tated the production of this thesis.

Special thanks go to Raphael Chileshe Mulenga who sacrificed
a great deal of his valuable time to record on tape most of the

data utilized in this study.

iii

Finally, I
corrections in t

to Miss N. Jamin

Finally, I am grateful to my wife who has patiently made many
corrections in the manuscript and typed most of the work, and also

to Miss N. Jamini Vincent for being helpful in so many ways.

iv

INTRODUCT]

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SECTION I
SEC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .................................................
0.1 The Bemba Language ...... . .......................
0.2 Nature of the Study .......... . ..................
0.3 The Corpus Used .................................
' 0.4 Analytical Procedures Used ................. .....
SECTION I - BEMBA PHONEMIC CONTRASTS .........................
1.0 Introduction ................. . ........ ..........
1.1 Key to Symbols. ....................... .......
1.2 Phonemic Chart for Consonants ........ .. . .......
1.3 Description, Occurrence and Example of Each
Consonant ........... . ..... . .......... . .......
l.h Vowels ..........................................
l.h.l A110phones of Vowels ............. . ..............
1.5 Tonemes .........................................
1.5.1 Bemba Pitch Contrasts ........................ -..
1.5.2 Allotones ........ . ..............................
1.5.3 Phonemic Status of Tone Glides ............ . .....
1.5.h Tonal Typology of iciBemba ......................
SECTION II - PHONEMIC SYLLABLE STRUCTURE
2.0 Introduction ...................................
2.1 The Bemba Phonemic Syllable ................... .
2.2 Phonemic Status of Syllabic Nasals .............
2.3' Phonemic Status of Long Vocoids ........... , .....
2.h Phonemic Status of [w] and [y] .................
2.5 Phonemic Status of a Nonvocoid Plus a Semivowel
Off-glide ............................ . ......
2.6 Phonemic Status of Three-Segment Sequences .....
2.7 Phonemic Status of Affricates ..................

SECTION III - DISTRIBUTION OF PHONEMES

3.0 ’ Introduction ..................................
3.1 Consonant Phonemes ............................
3.1.1 Two-Consonant Phoneme C1usters................
3.1.2 Three-Consonant Phoneme Clusters ..............
3.2 Vowel Clusters ................... . ............

H

[\JNF—‘l-J

O\O\\J‘I

3.2.1 Vowel Clusters with /i/ as First’Member ..... . ....... 36
3.2.2 Vowel Clusters with /e/ as First Member ............. 36
3.2.3 Vowel Clusters with /a/ as First Member ............. 37
3.2.11 Vowel Clusters with /o/ as First Member ............. 38
3.2.5 Vowel Clusters with /u/ as First Member ...... . ...... 39
NOTES ............................................................ j+0
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................... 141+
APPENDICES. ........................ w .............................. 1+6

vi

To
Juanita, my wife;
but for her companionship,
forbearance, understanding and, above all,
her self-sacrifice, I would not have ventured

one step more into the dark, unexplored jungle ahead.

INTRODUCTION

0.1 The Bemba Language

 

IciBemba, the language on which the present study is based,
also referred to as Chibemba or RENEE: constitutes relatively
speaking the largest language unit in Zambia. It is spoken by
approximately half a million native speakers and by a considerable
but unestimated number of non-native Speakers. It is of the Bantu
family and is entirely surrounded by related languages. IciBemba
is becoming increasingly widespread in use in the principal urban
centers of Zambia. The chief areas where it is spoken, however,
are in the Northern, Luapula and Western Provinces of Zambia and
to a somewhat lesser extent in the Congo.

The term iciBemba is used to cover several regional variants
of the language. It is, however, difficult to establish definite
geographical boundaries of these varieties by linguistic criteria.
The variant examined in this study is known as "Central Bemba"

This is the variety most familiar to the investigator and is Spoken
in the Kasama District and contiguous areas of the Northern Province.

0.2 Nature of the Study

 

To reiterate, this study is an attempt at establishing an
inventory of phonemic contrasts in iciBemba, both segmental and

suprasegmental. A closely related treatment will be the discussion

of the distribution of the phonemes and Bemba syllable structure in
general.

0.3 The Corpus Used

 

The main body of the data used in this study was compiled with
the kind assistance of Raphael Chileshe Mulenga, an undergraduate
student in Political Science and History at Hampton Institute, Hampton,
Virginia, who acted as informant. Characteristically, the data con-
sisted of citation forms, i.e., words uttered in isolation, short,
simple phrases, e.g., noun plus adjective, and short, simple clauses,
e.g., imperative verb form plus direct object. All items were first
recorded on tape and then transcribed as carefully as possible in
phonetic notation. The phonetic notation adopted here (and also the
phonemic notation) is by and large after Kenneth L. Pikel. Since the
symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet are not easily accessible
on standard typewriters, Pike's phonetic notation seemed the most practical
to adopt under the circumstances.

The investigator was careful to choose an informant who spoke
"Central Bemba". Supplementary data came from the investigator himself
who is also a native Speaker of the same variety of the language. But
even in this case most of the items were recorded on tape in an effort
to minimize self-persuasion.

O.h Analytical Procedures Used

In attempting to prove and establish whether or not a particular

sound unit (i.e., phone) were phonemic, the analytical procedures

suggested and outlined by Kenneth L. Pike in his book‘Phonemics:E

-5-
served as the groundwork for most of the phonemic contrasts which
have been set up in this study. The procedures consist principally
in finding suspicious pairs of sounds in identical or analogous
environments (in which case they are phonemic), or in mutually
exclusive environments or in free fluctuation and never in contrast
(in which case they are subphonemic).

Regarding the question of Bemba tone, it became quite clear
in the course of the investigation that an attempt to determine
the number and kinds of tonemes (i.e., phonemic pitch) by simply
comparing groups of words uttered in isolation (e.g., minimal pairs)
might prove totally inadequate. In order to observe the various
levels of pitch, it seemed desirable to set up constant frames
Similar to those suggested by Kenneth L. Pike in his Tone Languages3
The Specific methodology used in setting up frames in this study
will become apparent in sub-section 1.5 where Bemba tone is discussed
at some length.

The question of intonation phenomena was excluded from this
study primarily because such a consideration would seem in iciBemba
to require a detailed examination of not only contexts of situation
(i.e., emotional intonation) resulting in the expression of excite-
ment, anger, impatience, etc. but also syntactical arrangements
(i.e., "syntactical" intonation) which, in turn, would necessitate
iconsideration of large phonological units such as phonological
phrases, clauses and/or sentences. These qwestions are clearly

beyond the scope of this preliminary study.

_h_

The majority of available works on iciBemba are primarily con-
cerned with the grammar of the language. B. H. Barnes' and C. M. Doke's
study entitled "The Pronunciation of the Bemba Language: being some
deductions resulting from phonetic research with the aid of the kymo-
graph and palatograph"u represents the best available phonological
work on the language. Even this study, however, is primarily concerned
with the phonetics of the language and in any case deals with a variety
which is not the concern of the present investigator. Furthermore,
what might seem at first glance to be phonemic statements are in many
cases orthographic suggestions which only occasionally reflect an

adequate phonemic notation.

SECTION I - BEMBA PHONEMIC CONTRASTS

1.0 Introduction

 

The present Section will deal with the presentation of the
phonemes of the language. This phonemic analysis is based, in
the main, upon contrasts arrived at in terms of citation forms
and short, simple phrases and clauses. Little or no attempt has
been made to arrive at phonemic contrasts in terms of longer or
nmuficomplex constructions. There is reason to believe that evidence
of this (latter) kind would not affect materially the ultimate
inventory of segmental phonemes established primarily in terms of
citation forms and simpler constructions.

In presenting the list of phonemes, all possible care has been
taken to provide, systematically, data that should Show clear con-
trasts between suspicious pairs of sounds.

1.1 Key to Symbols

 

Syllable division [ . ] e.g., [ka.la.ta]
Morphemic Signs ( ) e.g., (iN- )
Morpheme division ( - ) e.g., (im-pao)
Lengthened nonvocoid [Cz]

Backing [O]

Syllabic nonvocoid [C]

Voiceless vocoids [A, U]

Nasalized vocoids [5, fi]

Long vocoids [a:, u:]

High tone [ ' 1

High mid tone [ ' ]

Low tone [ ] (i.e, absence of tone mark)
Phonetic down glide [/\ ]

I

High toneme

Low toneme / / (unmarked)

1.2 Phonemic Chart for Consonants

 

BILABIAL .ALVEOLAR ALVEOPALATAL VELAR
Stops and p t c k
Affricates
b *j *g
Fricatives f s S
Nasals m n h 9
Lateral 1

Semivowels w y

-7-

As the chart above indicates, seventeen consonant phonemes have
been set up in this study. In iciBemba, all the consonants (and
vowels) are pronounced with egressive lung air.

The asterisks Shown above against /j g/ indicate a distributional
restriction since, in the phonological system of iciBemba, the voiced
counterparts of the velar stop /k/ and the alveopalatal affricate /c/
never occur as single consonants but always occur preceded by homorga-
nic nasals. This being so, there ardSeS a number of possible interpre-
tations of [hdz 0g].

(i) It is possible, for example, to analyze [nae gg] phonemically
as single etically-complex emic units consisting of two or three etic
constituents of nasal and stop, or nasal and affricate. The designa-
tion for this type of etically-complex phoneme could be "nasal-onset"
stop or affricate. The rationale underlying such an analysis would
be based on the fact that, in iciBemba, many nominal stems, e.g.,
(umu-ntfi) 'person' and verb roots, e.g., -taagt- 'cut up meat in strips'
possess what appears to be a "unitary phoneme." Thus, rather than
limit the feature of nasal-onsetness to only [fidi 9g], this could be
extended to other sound sequences such that [m] plus [p], [n] plus
[t], [9] plus [k], [n] plus [3], etc... could also be included in this
phonological category of nasal-onset phonemes rather than in that of
”consonant clusters. Such a hypothesis would ultimately provide nasal-

onset stops, nasal-onset affricates and nasal-onset fricatives, thus:

BILABIAL ALVEOLAR ALVEOPALATAL VELAR
Stops and
Affricates p mp t nt c he k gk
b mb nd nJ US
Fricatives f mf 5 ns S hS
Nasals m n h 0
Lateral l
Semivowels w y

However, even though such a solution would clearly demonstrate
a neat, symmetrical, phonological pattern in the language, it is here
rejected for two main reasons. First, it would considerably proli-
ferate the number of consonant phonemes in the language. Specifically,
if the hypothesis that would posit nasal-onset phonemes were tO'be up—
held, the inventory of consonant phonemes would swell from seventeen to
twenty-six. Secondly, the hypothesis would require a great deal of
qualification. It would be necessary, for example, to state that .I
nasaleonsetness is true only for certain positions in the nominal Stem
or verb root. Moreover, to account for the other contexts where nasal-
onsetness is not applicable, it would again be necessary to bring in
morphological evidence (which falls outside the scope of this paper
and, therefore, is relegated to an appendix (Cf. Appendix 1, p.4fl).

(ii) The alternate hypothesis of regarding [9g hdi] as the only
nasal-onset phonemes has also proved somewhat unworkable. For, if
such a point of view is maintained for purposes of proving;phonenNc£mdnmfig
then the phonetic sequences [gg hdi] consisting of two and three etic

constituents each respectively, could not easily be contrasted with

-9-
their somewhat suspiciously Similar counterparts [k tS] which, on
the other hand, consist of only one and two constituents each
respectively.

(iii) .A further possible hypothesis has been considered,
namely, that of analyzing [9g hdi] as clusters of nasal plus stop or
affricate. The solution of regarding [gg ndi] as clusters of nasal
plus another non-nasal consonant is the one preferred in this study.
It is the least complicated in its formulation and application (in
that it allows, for example, all clusters of nasal and non-nasal
consonant to be treated uniformly) and it keeps the number of con-
sonant phonemes in the language to a minimum of seventeen.

On this basis, similar suspicious phonetic phenomena such as
lengthened nasals should also be analyzed as a sequence of two nasal
consonants, e.g., [nzoka] /nnoko/ 'your (sg.) mother', [h:ina] /Hhina/
'his mother'.

Further evidence that the sequences [mp mb nt nd, etc.] each
consist of a sequence of phonemes is that the nasal occurs not only
with stops but also with fricatives and nasals thus making it less
likely that such a sequence forms a Single phonetically complex phoneme.

1.3 Description, Occurrence and Example of Each Consonant

 

Phoneme Allophone
/p/ [p] Voiceless bilabial stop:
/pano/ [pane] 'at this spot (i.e., near
speaker)‘

l/ukUpUUta/ [ukfipfizta] 'to blow With mouth‘

/ukusaampa/ [ukusazmpa] 'to scramble'

Phoneme

/b/

/t/

/:J/

/k/

Allophone
[b]

[b]

[t]

[té]

[d2]

[k]

-10-

Voiced bilabial stop. Occurs following a
bilabial nasal:

/mboola/ [mb3:la] ’hit me!’
/imbwa/ [mbwa] or [imbwa] 'dog'

/ukfisaamba/ [ukfisa:mbé] 'to wash'

Voiced bilabial fricative. Occurs elsewhere:

/ban6/ [bane] 'these (e.g.,people
near speaker)’

/ukfibfifita/ , [ukfibfizta] 'to become white'

Voiceless alveolar stop:
/talala/ [talala] 'be quiet’: '
/taaté/ [ta:té] 'my father'

/ukfitaata/ [ukfita:ta] 'to hum (as flies)‘

Voiceless alveopalatal affricate:

/ceembe/ [t§e:mbe] 'Sea-eagle'
/fimuca/ [fimutSa] 'toothache'
/ukficiificilé/ [ukfit§i:fitéi16] 'to be active'
Voiced alveopalatal affricate:

/fijita/ [ndzité] 'call me!‘

/cééfijela/ [tSézfidZela] 'be wary!’

Voiceless velar stop:
/kapaéso/ [kapa:so] 'chief's messenger'
/ukfisfika/ [ukfisfiké] 'to go bad (e.g., egg)‘

/ukfisfifigka/ [ukfisfizgka] 'to push'

-11-

Phoneme Allophone

/8/ [8] Voiced velar stop:

/Ugupé/ [ggupa] 'marry me!'(said by
' a woman)?

/ukfisfifigga/ [ukfisfi:ggé] 'to keep in custody'

/f/5 [f] Voicelesa slightly rounded31abiodental fricative.
Occurs preceding [ e o 9]:

/féneegke§é/ [fénézgkeéa] 'shut tight (door)!'
/fona/ [fona] 'roll up clothing!‘
/fimuf6610/ [fimuf6:lo] 'furrow'

..

[f] Voiceless,unrounded,labiodental fricative.
Occurs preceding [i y]:

/fino/ [find] 'these (e.g., doors, near
speaker)‘
/ifiibi/ [ifi:bi] 'doors'
/ifyfifini/ [ifyfizni] 'birds'
[f] Voiceless,highly rounded,labiodental fricative.
' Occurs preceding [u w]:
/fuufu/ [fuzfu] 'wood-boring beetle'
/ukfiffifita/ [ukfiffizta] 'to erase'
/8/ [s] Voiceless alveolar grooved fricative:
/saana/ [S3:né] 'very much‘
/umfisa/ [umfisa] 'draught of liquid'
(e.g., beer)

/fikusaama/ [fikusazma] 'to get suspended'

-12-

Phoneme Allophone

!/ [E] Voiceless alveopalatal grooved fricative:
/
/§aani/ [38:ni] 'how' 1
/umn§a/ [umfifié] ~'slave'

/uku§aeme/ [fiku§a:ma1 'to become unlucky'

[m/ [m] Voiced.bilabial nasal:
/mwaa/ .[mwfihli 'is that so'

/ukmeme/ A [ukfimézma] . 'to smoothen mush with
stirring‘paddle!

/n/ [n] ‘ _Voiced alveolar nasal:
/nwé/ [nwé] 'drink!’

/ukunaana/ [ukfinézna] 'to scramble for'

/fl/ [fl] Voiced alveopalatal nasal
/flé/ [fiE] .‘defecate!’

humans/ [ukesémé] r'to spoliate'

/0/ [n] Voiced velar nasal:

/gaaga/ [n.zna] -'a kind of green grass-
hopper (living on leaves)'

/ukfig£éga/ , [ukfigézga] 'to growl (as a dog)’

In addition, all nasals occur as syllabic nasals utterance-ini-
tially if they are the first member of a consonant cluster of a nasal
plus another consonant other than /w/ or /y/. This aspect of the
prdblem, however, is discussed in more detail in a subsequent section,

viz., Section II, 2.2 , p. 2h, to which reference should.be-made.

-15-

Phoneme Allophone

/l/ [l] Voiced alveolar lateral. Occurs preceding
[e a o] and never following [n]:
/leelo/ [18:16] 'today'
/ubulalo/ tubulalé] 'bridge'
[1] Voiced alveolar flapped lateral. Occurs preceding
[1] or [y] and never following [n]:
/lfno/ [ifh61. 'this one (e.g., egg,
near speaker)‘
/fcilyé/ [ftSiné] 'council'
[1] Voiced alveolar backed lateral. Occurs preceding

[u] or [w] and never following [n]:

/lfino/ [IUné] 'this one (e.g., hoe,
near Speaker)'
/filukasu/ [ulukasu] 'hoe'
/kolwé/ [k31Wé] 'monkey'
[d] Voiced alveolar stop. Occurs following an alveolar
nasal:
/nleka/ [Qdeké] 'let go (of me)!‘
/fnlimi/ [édimi] or [fndimi] 'tongues'
/ibéénlé/ [ibé:ndé] 'mortar'
/w/ [w] Voiced grooved bilabial fricative:
/wa/ [W5] 'fall down!‘
/fwé/ [fwé] 'second person sing.
disjunctive pronoun'
/ukfiwaama/ [ukfiwaimé] 'to become good'
/y/ [y] Voiced alveopalatal semivowel:
/ya/ [yé] 'go'
/yaama/ [yézma] 'my uncle'

/uyfi/ [uyfi] 'this one (e.g., person)‘

-1h-

The question of whether to analyze [w] and [y] in this language
either as consonants or as vowels is considered at some length in

a subsequent section. (Cf. Section II, 21; , p.26).

l.h Vowels
Front Unrounded Central Unrounded Back Rounded
High i u
Mid e o
~Low a

Vowels will be presented somewhat differently from the manner
in which consonant phonemes have been presented. The allophones of
vowels appear below in the form of summary statements and are not
listed under their respective vowel phonemes as was the case for the
allophones of consonants.

There are five vowels in iciBemba: /i/, high front, /e/, mid front,
/a/, low central, /o/, mid back and /u/, high back vowel. The front
and central vowels are unrounded and the back vowels are rounded.

The mid vowels /e/ and /0/ each appear to have two allophones,
viz., [e e] or [o a], which are in free fluctuation. ~With regard to
[o] and [13], however, there are certain phonological environments
where [.9] generally seems to occur more frequently than [0], namely,
following velar stops and wherever /o/ occurs as a sequence of two
identical vowels (i.e., as a long vocoid). Even so, no definite en-
vironments can be determined to Show that [o] and [O] are mutually

exclusive in their occurrence.

-15—

The occurrence of [e] and [e] is even less predictable. [e]
seems to occur wherever [8] occurs and vice versa. For this reason,
only one phonetic symbol, viz., [e], has been employed throughout
this study.

The following are examples of vowel contrasts:

Phoneme
/i/ /£be/ [iba] 'Steal!' /lila/ [iiié] 'cry!’
/=/ /-sa/ [ebé] ‘tell /lela/ [lela] 'nurse (baby)i'

(someone)!’l

/a/ /aba/ [aha] ’these (e g., /lala/ [lala] ‘break (it)i'

people)’
/0/ /oba/ [oba] 'paddle!‘ /lola/ [lola] ‘remain awake!’
/u/ /uba/ [uba] ’peel!’ /lulé/ [lulé] ’be bitteri'

l.h.l Allqphones of Vowelg

(i) Utterance-initially, vowels are generally rapidly slurred
over with the result that they are often somewhat devoiced.6 The only
exception to this rule is that utterance—initial sequences of vowels,

whether identical or dissimilar, are always voiced:

/ifikaansa/ [Ifika:nsa] 'argument'
/ukfiwéama/ [Ukfiwa:ma] 'to become good'
/Umuunsfifinlu/ [Umu:nsu:ndu] 'leech'

but
/eenla/ [eznda] 'come on (i.e., walk)! '
/éémbe/ [é:mbe] 'mango'
/aagka/ [a:gka] 'catchi'

/afiti/ [afiti] '(what did) you say?’

-16-

Similarly, vowels in utterance-final position are somewhat

devoiced, particularly following voiceless consonants:

/umfiSipi/ [umfiSipI] 'belt'
/pyeeta/ [pyeztA] 'scream'
/popsa/ [pazsA] 'throw (it)!'

(ii) Vowels tend to be devoiced7 following‘voiceless velar
stop, particularly if the vowel is immediately followed by another

voiceless consonant:

/ukUsapé/ [UkUsapA] 'to become dense'
/umfikfikfi/ [UmUkUkU] '(water) current'
/filukasu/ [filukAsU] 'hoe'

(iii) Furthermore, vowels are somewhat nasalized if they occur
between two nasals. Nasalized vocoids, therefore, are in complemen-

tary distribution with non-nasalized vocoids:

/ména/ [ména] 'see!‘
/ukfigaaga/ [ukugézga] 'to growl (as a dog)’
/umfinagfi/ [umfinSgd] 'black ant'

(iv) Long vocoids can best be analyzed in terms of the (Bemba)
phonemic syllable. Their analysis is therefore deferred until a later

section. (Cf. Section II, 2.3 p.25)

1.5 Tonemes

Departing somewhat from the standard practice of describing Bemba
tone primarily from a morphotonological standpoint,8 this study seeks
only to focus attention on the relationship between phonetic and phon-
emic levels of pitch. The present aim, accordingly, is simply to

establish the number and kinds of levels of phonemic pitch, i.e., tonemes.

-17-

Due to the limited nature of the data and consequently the
type of frames used in this study, the following statements relating
to the pitch contrasts in iciBemba are only tentative pending a more
detailed investigation of this aspect of the phonology of the language.
This is particularly true of those statements which refer to the number
of phonetic pitch levels in the language.

Notwithstanding, it is noteworthy that in iciBemba words uttered
in isolation can be assorted into phonological tone patterns or
classes. Some nouns, for example, will be found to exhibit a low-high-
high sequence pattern, e.g., /umde/ [umdSi] ‘village', others a low—
low-low sequence pattern, e.g., /baakafi/ [bazkafi] '(spitting) cobras'
and so on. Such tone classes in the case of nouns often cut across
the grammatical system of classification.

The immediate advantage of such a grouping is that, in itself,
it is already a kind of rudimentary setting for the comparison of
levels of pitch. In other words, it provides a Simple phonetic envi-
ronment for the initial identification of two different levels of rela-
tive pitch. In this way, an item such as /laamba/ [lazmba] 'go around
(i.e., avoid)1', evincing a high—high tonal pattern, can be contrasted
with /laamba/ [lajmba] 'spleen', «which displays a high-low tonal pattern.

Secondly, this kind of classification furnishes one with categories
Iamenable to testing in a rigidly controlled frame. In this connection,
the actual employment of a frame in this study consisted in selecting
an item of a particular tone class and retaining it as a control while
the words to be examined were substituted in turn in the appropriate

slot, thus:

la.

2a.

3a.

ha.

Frame Substitution

-18-

list Utterance

 

[ati] [use]

[uba]

[mfizba]

[mfifiba]
[kéfya]
[kafi]

[kfizpala]

[Iiipéla]

1.5.1 Bemba Pitch Contrasts

[atifibé] 'he said, "take shelter!"
[atiuba] 'he said, "peel!"
[atimfi:ba] ’he said, ”it is (a

pair of) bellows"'
[atimuzba] 'he said, "it is a coffin"'
[atikafya] 'he said, "make a noise!”'
a l a l e sai co ra
[ t.k f.] 'h ed, M b N]

[atikfizpala] 'he said "it is to
scratch (ground)"'

[atilfzpala] 'he said, "it is a
bald patch"'

IciBemba can be said to have a two-way tonal contrast of high,

/ ’/,and low;/ /, (unmarked). This contrast has a fairly high

functional load in the language since it constitutes very frequently the

(may difference between otherwise identical citation forms:

la.
lb.
2a..
2b.

3a.

ha.
hb.
5a.

/1aamba/
/1aamba/
/iruumbé/
/ibuumba/
/iffim6/
/ifumo/
/mfifiba/
/muuba/

/fiibi/

[1a:mba] 'go around (i.e. avoid)!‘
[lazmba] 'spleen'

[ibuzmbé] 'crowd'

[ibu:mba] 'clay (for pottery)’
[ifumo] 'abdomen'

[ifumo] 'spear'

[mfizba] 'it is (a pair of) bellows'
[mfizba] 'it is a coffin'

[fizbi] 'they are doors'

-19-

5b. /ffibi/ [ffzbi] 'they are bad things'
6a. /nffnsa1a/ [nfznsala] 'it is hunger'
6b. /nifnsala/ [niznsala] 'I have (already) chosen'

1.5.2 Allotones

The evidence set out in the frame in sub-section 1.5 provides
an example of the occurrence of phonetic relative pitches in a
controlled context. It is quite certain from this and other evi-
dence considered in this study that the two-way tonal contrast of
high and low tonemes noted in minimal pairs of citation forms is
maintained in utterances, (i.e., constructions other than words
uttered in isolation, e.g., a phrase or clause).

It seems at the same time, however, that the high toneme has
phonetic variants which are predictably conditioned by the following
(tentatively identified) tonal context, viz., the manner in which
one pitch phoneme affects the phonetic realization of another pitch;
phoneme. In certain contexts, as exemplified in No. ha, sub-section

3 low fame/me.
l.5, in the substitution listycauses a preceding high toneme to be
realized phonetically at a slightly lower pitch level. The lowered
tone is represented in this study as a high mid tone, [hm], and

analyzed as an allotone of the high pitch phoneme.

1.5.3 Phonemic Status of Tone Glides

 

On the phonetic level, it appears that iciBemba has both level
and contour or glide tones. Long vocoids and also contiguous but
dissimilar vocoids occur both with level pitch and with dissimilar
juxtaposed pitches e.g., [hl] or [1h]. Some of the [hl] occurrences

are regularly heard as a high to normal short down-glide while others

-20..

seem to be phonetically a slower sequence of high plus low pitches.

Phonetic short down-glides are indicated by means of circumflex accent
. Short.

over the symbols involved. Where there 18 no perceptibleAglide the

appropriate high and low tone marks are used. No cases have been noted

of a short glide of 1 to h. There appears to be no predictable pattern

for the occurrence of short perceptible down-glides as opposed to the

slower manifestation of juxtaposed high and low pitches:

[éb] 'it is he'

[iota] 'bawll'

[anti] '(what did) you say?'
[udsuma] 'a good one (e.g., village)‘

In iciBemba, level tones seem to act as the minimum structural
contrastive feature of the composition of syllables in that the nucleus
of a nonsuspect phonetic syllable is always a short vocoid bearing
only one level tOHE-

Despite the fact that it has not been possible to demonstrate in
this study that the two manifestations of [hl] sequences of pitches
when occurring on contiguous vocoids are either mutually exclusive or
in free variation in their occurrence, this investigator has found
that the most economical and simplest solution at this juncture
(since evidence of contrast cannot be established) is to analyze them,
together with [1h], as sequences of two juxtaposed tonemes, i.e., as

a high followed by a low or as a low followed by a high toneme:

421-

[661 /éo/ 'it is he'

[data] /oota/ 'bawl!‘

[anti] /auti/ '(what did) you say?'
[uusuma] /uusuma/ 'a good one (e.g., village)‘

Apart from being at this time the simplest and most economical
interpretation, this analysis has the advantage of being consistent
with statements made elsewhere in this study on the phonemic syllable
(cf. 2.1, p.22) and vowel cluster (cf. 5.2, p.2fin. Furthermore, it
can be accommodated within the system of the two-way tonal contrast
of high and low. It also receives considerable support from an ana-
lysis of the morphological structure of the language.

1.5.h Tonal Typology of iciBemba

 

Typologically, iciBemba may be quite conveniently classified as

9

a yregister-tone" or "discrete level"lo type of language since it

evinces on the phonemic level a two-way tonal contrast of high and
low tonemes.

Three relative phonetic levels of pitch, all ultimately analy-
zable into two tonemes, have been identified.in this study:
high [h], high mid [hm] and low [1], marked as [’], ['], and [ ],
i.e., unmarked, respectively. .[h] and [hm] are assignable to one
phoneme, namely high, /H/.

Intermediate levels appear to be the result of aucombination/of

"ll 12

phonological features variously labelled as "tone-slip , "downstep"

or'"downdrift"13.

’

SECTION II - PHONEMIC SYLLABLE STRUCTURE

2.0 Introduction

 

The purpose of this Section is to present and describe the phonemic
syllable structure of iciBemba. To do this adequately it has seemed
necessary to take into consideration two important aspects: (i) the
establishment of the basic structural unit to serve as the most convenient
point of departure for describing the phonemic syllable in the language;
(ii) the interpretation of suspicious sound segments or sequences of
sound segments either as single phonemes or as sequences of phonemes.

The interpretation of suspicious segments or suspicious sequences
of segments as.single phonemes or sequences of phonemes is based chiefly
on Pike's premise that "characteristic sequences of sounds exert struc-
tural pressure on the phonemic interpretation of suspicious segments or
suspicious sequences of segments."lh In other words, the predominant
pattern in the language should be the most compelling criterion for struc-
tural analogy, for which phonetic and distributional evidence is extremely
important.

2.1 The Bemba Phonemic Syllable

 

The most convenient basic structural unit serving as the starting
point fer the description of the phonemic syllable in iciBemba is a tone-
bearing unit, i.e., a unit of tone-placement, consisting of a single vowel
with or without (a) preceding consonant(s). Thus, every phonemic syllable

in this language must have One (level) toneme.

«22-

-23-

It should be pointed out immediately that the Bemba phonemic
syllable does not always coincide with the phonetic syllable since
the latter is sometimes manifested by a syllabic nasal which consti-
tutes a nucleus by virtue of its being a tone-bearing unit. The
nucleus, however, of a non-suspect phonetic syllable is always a
single vocoid, with or without (a) preceding nonvocoid(s).

Therefore, the shape of the phonemic syllables of the following
phonetic examples: [kalata] 'letter', [mailo] 'tomorrow' or 'yester-
day' and filutao] 'garden fence' would be /ka.lata/, /ma.i.1o/, /u.lu.ba.6/,
thereby manifesting the following forms CV.CV.CV, CV.V.CV and V.CV.CV.V.

The phonemic syllable in igiBgmba can, accordingly, be adequately
represented by the two formulas -+V'and tNtCiC+V (where V stands for
a single short vowel bearing either of the two tonemes, C for conso-
nant,+-for obligatory,i for optional and N for any nasal). Each pho-
nemic syllable is by this formula Shown to comprise a tone-bearing
nucleus with or without nonsyllabic, presyllabic consonants. In other
words, there are no marginal post-syllabic consonants in iciBemba
since all phonemic syllables are characteristically open.

2.2 Phonemic Status of Syllabic Nasals

With regard to the question of phonemic status of syllabic nasals,
it is useful to postulate two types of such nasals: (l) syllabic
nasals manifested by two alternate phonetic forms, i.e., free variant
pronunciations; (ii) syllabic nasals in complementary distribution
with nonsyllabic nasals.

(i) The first type of syllabic nasal may be illustrated by the

class prefix (iN- ), whose phonetic shape is either [C] or [VC]. This

-2h-

syllabic nasal also bears an isolatable toneme:
[ypéé] or [impaé] ‘provisions'

[pkalamo] or [fhkalamo] 'lion'

This type of syllabic nasal has been interpreted phonemically
as containing both a vowel and a consonant, viz., /im-, in-, ih-, ig/.
This interpretation is confirmed by morphophonemic evidence. Utterance-
medially, for example, the final vowel of a preceding morpheme fuses
with the /i/ of /im-, in-, etc./ according to any forthe vowel-fusion
patterns outlined in Appendix 2, p.48, thereby demonstrating the exis-
tence or presence of a phonemic vocalic nucleus: /lééta[f’bringf’4—
/impa6/'jprovi3ion5' --%>’ "*t‘t "'

[léztezmpao] /lééteempao] 'bring provisionsl'

In this type of syllabic nasal, the phonemic shape /im-, in-, etc./,
coinciding exactly with the morphemic break, by no means constitutes
a phonemic syllable break. Such a break, if posited, would be singu-
larly asymmetrical in iciBemba. For, all nonsuspect syllable patterns
are characteristically open in the language. It is best then to con-
sider the final nasal of the /VN/ sequence as always forming part of

. l.’
the next phonemic syllable 5.-

Thus [mpao] or [impao] 'provisions'

evinces a v.ccv.v pattern phonemically, i.e., /i.mpa.<5/ and not /im.pa.é/.
(ii) The second type of syllabic nasal represents the first person

singular pronoun, (N- ), whose phonetic shape is either [0] or [C].

The syllabic nasal [C] and the nonsyllabic nasal [C] are mutually exclu-

sive in their occurrence, with [C] occurring utterance-initially only

and [C] elsewhere. The two nasals are phonetically distinct in that

utterance-medial nonsyllabic nasal does not appear to bear any perceptible

-25-

tone while utterance-initial syllabic nasal fairly clearly does.
This syllabic nasal, in distinction to the one described in the
previous paragraph, does not carry its own distinctive tone and

does not have a variant [VC]:

[nteko] ‘may I join in the game?‘
[mpa] ‘give (it to) me!‘
but
[bané:nteko] ‘friends, may I join in the game?‘
[aka:mpa] ‘he will give (it to) me‘

Such phonetic nasals are therefore analyzed as allophones of
the same nonsyllabic phonemic nasal, viz., /m-, n-, h-, 9/. This
interpretation is supported by further phonological evidence, namely
that there is no example of phonemic contrast between syllabic nasals
and nonsyllabic nasals anywhere in the language.

It must be remembered here, also, that all phonemic nasals, i.e.,
/m-, n-, etc./ occur in the same syllables as the following phonemic
nucleus. [ntoba]'h1txme1‘, therefore, has two phonemic syllables:
/nto/ and /ba/.
2.3 Phonemic Status of Long Vocoids

Long vocoids, along with syllabic nasals, [w] and [y], present
problems of analysis iciBemba. Should a long vocoid, for example, be
analyzed as a long vowel or as a sequence of identical vowels?

Long vocoids are best analyzed in this language as a sequence of
two identical vowels, i.e., as two phonemic syllables, each bearing

a separate toneme:

-26-

/ukfiSiika/ [ukUSIzka] ‘to bury‘ /Siika/ [Sizka] ‘buryl‘
/ukfisééla/ [ukUSézla] ‘to dangle‘ /seela/ [sezla] ‘danglel'

/ukupaama/ [ukUpazma] ‘to hide /paama/ [pazma] ‘hidel‘
oneself‘

/ukfisooma/ [ukUsozma] ‘to leap‘ /sooma/ [sozma] ‘leapl‘

/ukusuu1a/ [ukUSuzla] ‘to dis- /Suula/ [suxla] ‘disinterl‘
inter'

The advantages of such an analysis can be enumerated as follows:

(1) it conforms to the basic premise of the phonemic syl-
lable; and thus helps maintain economy of statement;

(2) it is consistent with statements made elsewhere concern-
ing the phonemic status of down.glides, (cf. 1.5.3, p419);

(3) it accords well with the perceptual, phonetic duration
of other sequences of vocoids, i.e., dissimilar vocoids:

/d1ubao/ [fi1ubao] ‘garden fence'
/icioma/ [itSfoma] ‘enormous drum‘
/mailo/ [mailo] ‘tomorrow‘ or jyesterday'

(A) it receives considerable support from the morphological
structure of the language, e.g., /amaano/ [ama:no]
4- (ama- + -an<5) ‘intelligence‘ .

2.h Phonemic Status of [w] and [y]

 

There is considerable doubt whether to analyze [w] and [y] as
consonants or as vowels.
In this study, [w] and [y] have been analyzed as consonants by
analogy to predominant, nonsuspect sound sequences. Since [w] and [y]
occur in syllable slots manifested by consonants in all nonsuspect
sound sequences, structural pressure would indicate that it is best
to regard them as consonants rather than as vowels. Moreover, in terms
of tone-placement, [w y] are, in every instance, shown to be non-nuclear and,

T'therefore, COnsonantal by virtue of their status as non—tone-bearing.elements:

-27-

 

 

Nonsuspect Sound Sequences Suspicious Sequences

[on] ‘be (like that)!‘ [we] ‘fall (down)!‘

[ss] ‘leave (it)!‘ [ya] ‘go!’

[some] 'readl‘ [sowa] ‘hunt game with netsl‘
[sala] ‘choosel‘ [saya] ‘catCh fish with basketsl‘
[tina] ‘squeezel' [yaba] ‘exclamation of annoyance'
[ilini] ‘egg' [isiwi]'voice‘

[isabi] 'fish‘ [isaya]‘cheek‘

2.5 Phonemic Status of a Nonvocoid Plus a Semivowel Off-g1ide

It is possible to analyze a sequence of a nonvocoid plus a semivowel
off-glide, e.g., [pw py tw ty] in three different ways: (1) as an instance
of labialization or palatalization, i.e., as a single etically-complex
phoneme; (2) as a sequence of a consonant and a nonsyllabic vowel, e.g.,

/ pua pia/; (3) as a sequence of a consonant phoneme and a semivowel
consonant, i.e., /pw py etc./.

(1) A phonemic solution that would yield labialized or palatalized
stops, fricatives and nasals is here discarded chiefly on the grounds that
by introducing the feature of labialization or palatalization in iciBemba,
the number of phonemes would be considerably increased, altogether to
about a hundred. Such a solution, therefore, would have the disadvantage
of postulating additional phonemes, thereby unnecessarily encumbering the
phonemic inventory.

(2) The second solution of postulating nonsyllabic vowels would be
acceptable if it were not for the disadvantage of introducing a somewhat
asymmetrical category in the phonological System. Nonsyllabic vowel

marginals are not paralleled anywhere else in the language. The only

-28-

example of phonemic syllable marginals is that of consonants, that is, if
vocalic nuclei preceded by single consonants are taken to be the predomi-
nant, nonsuspect sound sequences.

(3) The third solution is therefore adopted in this study as being
well in keeping with the characteristics of Bemba phonemic syllable struc-
ture. The Bemba phonemic syllable characteristically consists of conso-
nantal marginals and toneme-bearing nuclei. Structural pressure, there-
fore, would tend to force phonetic sequences of a consonant and a semi-
vowel off—glide to be interpreted as sequences of a consonant phoneme
and a semivowel phoneme. Moreover, such a solution keeps the phonemic
status of semivowels both in single consonant slots and in consonant
sequence slots constant, thereby obviating the addition of new phonemes
to the inventory.

2.6 Phonemic Status of Three-Segment Sequences

 

Examples of sequences of three phonetic segments characteristically
consist of a nasal plus another consonant plus a semivowel off-glide, e.g.,
[mpw mpy ndw ndy]. Such sequences, therefore, are already covered by
the interpretation of sequences of nasals plus other consonants and
sequences of consonants plus semivowel off-glides. This means that
phonetic [mpw mpy ndw ndy] are to be interpreted as sequences of three
phonemes: /mpw mpy nlw nly/.

2.7 ‘Phonemic Status of Affricates

 

The voiceless and voiced affricates [ts dz] have each been analyzed
as a single phonetically complex phoneme rather than as a sequence of two
phonemes. They seem to occur in syllable Slots where the nonsuspicious,

predominant structural pattern consists of a single consonant followed by

-29-

a vocalic nucleus. That is, wherever these segments occur in a given
syllable, there seems to be only one segment in that slot for nonsus-

pect segments:

 

 

Nonsuspicious Sequence Suspicious Sequence
[pita] ‘passl' [tSita] ‘do (it)1'
[sozma] ‘leapl‘ [tSozna] 'cat'
[nseka] ‘ridicule mel‘ [ndzeba] ‘tell mel'
[iliha] ‘crack (in foot)‘ [itwaa] 'spirit‘

Further evidence for analyzing these sound segments as a single
phonetically complex phoneme is that this type of sequence is extremely
restricted in occurrence, being confined to only these EH2 examples in
the whole language. That is to say, apart from the widespread and sym-
metrical sequences of a nasal plus another consonant, and a consonant

plus a semivowel, there are nO' other consonant sequences.

SECTION III - DISTRIBUTION OF PHONEMES

3.0 Introduction

 

The aim of this Section is to present generally and specifically
the characteristic distribution of phonemes in iciBemba. Sub-sections,
3.1 and 3.2 below will deal with the distribution of consonant phonemes
and vowel phonemes respectively.

The statements which follow are based on evidence gleaned from
many charts which were used to map out the occurrence or non-occurrence
(i.e., restriction) of phonemes. (Cf. Appendix 3, pgn50473gfor sample
charts).

3.1 Consonant Phonemes

 

Each of the consonant phonemes may occur singly between vowels
except /j g/ which always occur as the second member of a cluster, viz.,

./hj gg/. Single consonants may be found in utterance-initial or medial

 

 

position}

Consonant Utterance-initially Utterance-medially
/p/ /pila/ ‘bail water!‘ /fi1upf/ ‘hand‘
/t/ /tina/ ‘squeezel' /fimuti/ ‘tree'
/c/ /cita/ ‘do (it)!‘ /fibuuci/ 'honey‘
/b/ /bila/ 'sewl‘ /umwaabf/ ‘albino‘
/S/ /§ita/ 'buyl‘ /umfi§f/ 'village'
etc.... etc.... etc....

-30-

-31-

The following are restrictions to the general rule as stated
above: /k/ and /y/ are never followed by /i/ utterance-initially.
In terms of specific vowels, /f/ is never followed by /a/; /s/

or /h/ by /i/; /g/ by /i e u/ nor /w/ by /u/ in all utterance posi-
l7

tions

3.1.1 Two-Consonant Phoneme Clusters

 

There are two main types of consonant clusters in iciBemba, viz.,
99 and 999, the first of which will now be considered in this sub-
section. Thc CC cluster-type itself can be subdivided into two sub-
ordinate types: (1) consonant plus semivowel and (2) homorganic nasal
plus consonant subtypes.

(1) Consonant plus semivowel

This subordinate cluster-type may be further subdivided into
(a) and (b) depending on whether the second member is /w/ or /y/.

(a) /w/ as second member

If, in a CC cluster, /w/ is the second member, all the consonants
except alveopalatal consonants, viz., /c S E y/, and /w/, may be the

first member.

 

 

Cluster Utterance—initially Utterance-medially

/pw/ /pwéélé/ ‘yellow-vented /kapwéékapwé/ ‘sorcerer‘

bulbul‘

/fw/ /fweena/ ‘scratch‘ /ffwé/ 'we‘ (dis-
junctive
pronoun)

/1w/ /lwéénlé/ ‘it is a journey‘ /fulwe/ ‘tortoise‘

/mw/ /mwééle/ 'it is a knife‘ /fmwé/ 'you (pl.)‘
(disjunctive
pronoun)

etc.... etc.... etc....

_52-

With regard to utterance position, sequences /kw bw mw/ are never

followed by /o/ utterance-initially; /Uw/ is never followed by /o/ in

any position in the utterance.

(b) /y/ as a second member

If, in a CC cluster, /y/ is the second member, only the following

consonants /p b t k f m 1/ may be the first member.

may be followed by any vowel except /i/.

utterance-medially:

Cluster

/py/
/fy/
/ly/
/my/

etc.

Utterance-initially

 

/pyeeté/
/fyééla/
/lyééSf/
/myééffi/

etc....

‘screami‘

‘they are iron items‘ /ukfifyéégga/
‘it is a flood‘

‘it is a beard‘

All such clusters

Of these /ty ky/ occur only

Utterance—medially

 

/akapyéélélé/

/icilyé/
/imyééfu/

etc....

(2) Homorganic nasal plus consonant

‘(reed)
whistle‘
'to accuse
falsely‘
‘council‘

‘beard (s)‘

Bilabial nasal /m/ is followed by /p b f m w/, alveolar nasal /n/

by /t s n l/, alveopalatal /h/ by /j S h/ and velar nasal /g/ by /k g 9/:

Cluster

/mp/
/mm/
/nt/
/nn/
~/nk/

/UD/

etc....

Utterance-initially

 

/mpoké/
/mmoomfya/
/ntoba/
/nnoko/
/gkoonka/s

/Ugoombela/

etc.

Utterance-medially

 

‘deprive me (of it)l‘ /fmpoomb6/

‘drench mel‘

'hit mel‘

/akaammona/

/intoont6ka/

‘your (sing.) mother‘ /fnnooggé/

‘follow mel‘

‘applaud mei‘

/umusoogko/
/iggoombé/

etc....

‘duiker‘

I

‘he will see me
‘whehlbarrow‘
'clay pot‘

‘levy‘

I I

COW

-53-

/*hy/ is the only such sequence which does not occurl8. With
reference to vowels, /hj/ is never followed by /0 u/ utterance-ini-
tially.

3.1.2 Three-Consonant Phoneme Clusters

 

The second main type of consonant cluster in iciBemba is the 999_
cluster-type, the first member always being a homorganic nasal conso-
nant, the seqqnd member a consonant (nasal or non-nasal), and the third
member a semivowel, /w/ or /y/. For purposes of presentation, this
type will be divided into two sub~types, (a) and (b), depending on
whether the third member is /w/ or /y/.

It should be pointed out that the second and third members of the
CCC cluster-type, sub-type (a), are identical with the first and
second members of the CC cluSterttype, sub-type (a) on p.31. Similarly,
the second and third members of the CCC cluster-type, sub-type (b),
are identical with the first and second members of the CC cluster-type,
sub-type (b) on p.32. This accounts for the similarities of occurrence

and'restriction outlined below.

(a) /w/ as third member:

 

 

 

Consonant Cluster Utterance-initially Utterance-medially
/mpw/ /mpweemilimo/ ‘should I finish /iciimpwééna/ ‘curio-
the work‘ sity'
/mbw/ /mbwééle/ ‘should I come /impéémbwé/ Itrench‘
" back‘
/mfw/ /mfweenako/ ‘scratch mel‘ '/icimfwéémfwé/ ‘back-
wards‘
/nlw/ /nlweeko/ ‘should I join '/kaluunlwe/ ‘cassava‘
. in the fight‘
/g gw/ /g gwe/ ‘should I fall * /amaiir_] gwé/ 'door-
down‘ posts‘

The rules of occurrence or restriction for the 999 cluster-type, sub-
type (a), correspond exactly with those stated for 99, sub-type (i)a,
(cf. p.33), except that /mmw/ is never followed by /0/ in any position in
the utterance. In addition, the voiced counterpart of /k/, i.e., /g/,
occurs as a second member.

It is of interest also to note that whereas /gkw/ is never followed
by /0/ utterance-initially, its counterpart /ggw/ is.

(b) /y/ as third member:

 

 

Cluster Utterance-initially Utterance-medially
/mpy/ /mpyaane/ ishould I succeed‘ /impyaani/ ‘successor(s)‘
/mby/ /mbyaale/ ‘should I sow‘ /ubwéémbya/ ‘whip‘

/mfy/ /mfyaantiké/ ‘Should I wedge /fikuciimfya/ ‘to vanquish‘
(it) between‘

/mmy/ /mmyaagge/ ‘Should I liCk‘ /iléémmyaagga/ ‘it is lick-
ing me‘

/nly/ /nlyaafiSi/ 'what do I eat‘ /inlyaabuluba/ ‘giraffe‘

-55.

The rules of occurrence or restriction for the 999 cluster-type,
sub-type (b), correspond exactly with those stated for the 99 cluster-
type, sub-type (i)b, (cf. p.33), except that /mmy/ occurs only when
followed by /a/.

3.2 Vowel Clusters

 

Although it is felt at this stage that the available data lend
themselves to little more than a tentative statement about vowel
clusters, it is at the same time the investigator‘s opinion that a
preliminary statement should be made about this phonological phenomenon
in the hope that further research will be stimulated in this area.

By definition, a vowel cluster in this study will constitute a
group of two (or more) contiguous or adjacent vowels, whether utterance-
initially, -medially or -finally, each of which is toneme-bearing unit,
i.e., each is a separate phonemic syllable.

Vowel clusters may be subdivided into two types: (a) toneme-

different and (b) toneme-same vowel clusters. The latter are mani-

 

fested by a sequence of vowels bearing similar tonemes, e.g., /snys/

‘he has (jUst) gone‘, while the former are manifested by a sequence

of vowels bearing dissimilar tonemes, e.g., /afiti/ ‘(what did) you say?‘
wael clusters are generally composed of two (identical or dissimi-

lar) vowels. Clusters of three or more vowels, however, are by no means

rare. An attempt to determine the exact number of vowels that may occur

in sequence at any givenxtime does not seem to be particularly germane

to the issue at this juncture. It suffices to state that, utterance-

finally, vowel clusters are relatively infrequent and, when they do

occur, are restricted to a sequence of only two vowels.

-36-

The following are examples of clusters of three or more vowels;

/eeéo/ 'yes, it is he'

/ééuila§ilé/ , 'he is the one who shot it
(e.g., animal)‘

/teeiiiiné/ ’this (e.g., animal) is the
one, is it not?‘

3.2.1 Vowel Clusters with [i/ as First Member
Any of the vowels except /a/ may be the second member of vowel
clusters in which /i/ is the first member. Examples are available for

all such clusters utterance-initially and -medially but not -finally:

 

 

Cluster Utterance—initially Utterance-medially

/ii/ /iiiggwé/ 'door-post’ /iciiigga/ 'postherd‘

/ie/ /iéla/ or /iyéla}9'dance-bell' /iciéégga/ or ’stone of the
/iciyééggé/ fruit of the

umuyéégné tree'
/io/ /iofe§i/ 'office' /icioma/ 'an enormous
drum‘
/iu/ /iuunlé/ 'pumpkin leaf' /iciuunla/ ‘echo' (of

loud noise)‘

3.2.2 Vowel Clusters withA/e/ as First Mgmpgr

Available data indicate the following sequence patterns for vowel
clusters in which /e/ is the first member:

(i) /e/ and /o/ only as second members utterance-initially;

(ii) /e/ and /u/ only as second members utterance-medially;

(iii) /i a/ as third members only utterance-initially or -medially:

-57-

 

 

Cluster Utterance-initially Utterance-medially

/eei/ /eeinéwiiné/ 'that's me /alééisa/ ‘he will come
(all right)‘ (today)'

/ee/ /éése/ 'should he /mwééle/ ’it is a knife'
come?‘

/ea/ /eeéisa/ 'yes, he has /tééaana/ ’it is not Anna'
(just) come‘

/eo/ /éo/ 'it is he” /alééoca/ ihe is burning

(something)'

/eu/ /eeuyu/ ’this is the /léuka/ 'dodge (missile)‘
one (e.g.,
man)‘

Three examples only have been noted regarding utterance-final position

for this cluster sub-type:

 

Cluster Utterance-finally
/ee/ /munée/ 'say, (my) friend!‘
/eeo/ /umwééo/ 'breath (life)'
/eeu/ /aképeeu/ 'very light, small

article'

3.2.3 Vowel Clusters with /a/ as First Member

 

In this sub-type of vowel cluster, any of the vowels may be second
members in all utterance positions except utterance—initially where /e/'

and /o/ occur only as third members:

 

Utterance-
Cluster initially -Medially -Finally
/ai/ /aiti/ 'he (e.g., /mailo/ 'tomorrowfl /icilai/ 'imprecation'

chief)said' or'yester-
day'

Utterance—
Cluster initially —Medially -Finally
/ae/ /aééénla/ or ‘he has /amaéémbé/ or /umusée/ ‘the umusée ‘
I
/aayéénla/ walked‘ /améyéémbé/ ‘mangoes‘ tree
/aa/ /aalikuno/ ‘he was /saani/ ‘how‘ /mwéa/ ‘interjection:
here(before is that so!‘
yesterday)‘
/ao/ /aaowa/ ‘he has /akaoma/ ‘small /impao/ ‘provisions‘
(just) drum‘
bathed‘
/au/ /auti/ , , , , . , ,
(what /ukuciléuka/ to /ic1pau/ powerful man
did) you leap about'
say?‘

5.2.h Vowel Clusters wicho/ as First Member

Only /i e o u/ may be the second member of vowel clusters in which /o/

is the first member.

available from the present data

such clusters are limited to utterance-medial position.

examples of occurrence for this

 

Cluster Utterance—medially
/oi/ /kanoiné/

/oe/ /kanoéése/

/oo/ /loobé/

/ou/ /ékouli/

One example only for utterance-initial position is

/oo/, e.g., /oota/ ‘bawll‘. Otherwise all

There are only two

type of cluster utterance-finally:

-Finally
‘except me‘ /kaboi/ ‘(professional)
servant‘

‘only if he comes‘

‘it is yours (e.g., /imboo/ ‘buffalo‘
hoe)‘

!it (e'g')
salt) is
there

.39-

5.2.5 Vowel Clusters with /u[as First Member

 

Vowel clusters in which /u/ is the first member are not clear—cut in
their patterning. Available data indicate that a cluster of /ui/ occurs
utterance—initially and -medially, a cluster of /uo/ utterance-medially

and —finally and a cluster of /uu/ in all positions:

 

Utterance—
Cluster medially fMedially -Finally
/ui/ /uiméné/ ‘should you /ulujmbwé/ ‘kind of
see it (e.g., shrub‘
bicycle)?‘
/ou/ /umuoogga/ ‘a kind /abéénéluo/ ‘people
of tree‘ belonging to
the Luo (frog)
totem‘
/uu/ /uusumé/ ‘a good one /luuunda/ ‘Luunda /insuu/ ‘ground peas‘

(e.g., village)‘ person‘

NOTES

 

 

‘ ;Pike, Kenneth'L., PHONEMICS: .A Technique for Reducing Eggguages
to writing; Ann Arbor, Michigan, UniverSity of Michigan ess, l9 3.
2 .
op. c1t.

5Pike, Kenneth L., TONE LANGUAGES: A Technique for Determining
the Number and Type of Pitch Contrasts in a Language, with Studies in
Tonemic Substitution and Fusion, Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of
Michigan Press, 196%.

 

Barnes, B. H., and Doke, C. M., "The Pronunciation of the Bemba
Language," BANTU STUDIESi Vol. 3, 1927, pp. h23-h56.

5The articulation of /f/ varies with degree of lip rounding that
accompanies it. The position of the lipy: is determined by the phoneme
athat follows /f/. In addition, the more rounded the lips the lower is
the point of contact made by the upper teeth on the inside of the lower
lip. Thus, /f/ followed by /i/ or /y/ is pronounced on the top edge
of the lower lip while /f/ followed by /u/ or /w/ is articulated low
within the bottom lip. Intermediate points of articulation are for

/e/ and /o/.

It should be noted, at the same time, that all utterance-initial
or -final voiceless vocoids are in free Variation with their voiced
counterparts.

7Like utterance-initial or -final voiceless vocoids, voiceless
vocoids after velar stops;are in free variation with their voiced
counterparts.

Representative of this viewpoint is J, C. Sharman‘s and
A? E. Meeussen‘s joint endeavor, "The Representation of Structural
Tones, with Special Reference to the Tonal Behaviour of the verb, in
Bemba, Northern Rhodesia," AFRICA: Journal of the International African
Institute, Vol. XXV, No. A, 1955, pp. 393-h0h. The ultimate goal of
such studies as this has been to facilitate the inference of the actual
:pitches heard in speech by the application of a set of "rules of tonal
'behaviour" to what has been described by various investigators as the

"basic," "essential," "inherent" or "morphological" tones.

-ho-

-hl-

9Kenneth L. Pike (Tone Languagg, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan
Press, l96h, p. 5) labels languages with "a small, restricted number of
pitch contrasts between level tonemes" as register-tone types.

 

loW.-E. Welmers ("Tonemics, Morphophonemics and Tonal Morphemes,"
GENERAL I‘NGUISTICS t, 1959, pp. 1-9) uses the term "dlS(I~+e level"
instead of "register—tone" although for all practical purposes the two
terms are mutually substituiable.

1

1PM. Guthrie (The Banti Languages of Western Equatorial Africa,
Oxford University Press, 1953, p. IO) defines "tone-slip" as a feature
referring "to the behaviour of adjacent ‘high-tones‘ in those cases in
which the Second of two high-tones is pronounced at a level distinctly
lower than the first, in accordance with fixed rules." As defined here,
tone-slip is certainly inadequate to atcount completely for the hehavior
of high tones in iciBemba. Tone—slip in iciBemba is not confined to

“—1 .. mu- nuns”;

 

 

just adjacent high tones. An adequate definition would require a combie
nation of Guthrie‘s "tone—slip" and Stewart's "downstep" (see definition
below).

ng. M. Stewart defines "downstep" as "the [automatic] difference
in pitch between two high tones separated by one or more low tones"
(see "The Typology of the Twi Tone System," Reprint from the BULLETIN
OF THE INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES 1, Institute of African Studies,
University of Ghana, no date, p. 5). Downstep includes also the non-
automatic "drop in pitch between adjacent high tones." (p. 6)

lBSchachter considers "downdrift" an intonational phenomenon.

(see "Some Comments on J. M..Stewart‘s ‘The Typology of the Twi Tone
System‘", Reprint from the BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES 1,
Institute of African Studies“ University of Ghana, no date, p. 29).

It should be added at once that "dwondrift" as adopted in the present
study is a syntactical rather than a "situational" (e.g., emotional,
interrogational, etc....) feature; "downdrift" shouldgbe'associated

here with sentence-ending or length of sentence.

lu
Pike, Kenneth L., PHONEMICS: A technique for Reducing Languages

to Writing, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1963, p. 60.

 

 

15For a relevant discussion of the assertion that morphemic and
syllabic boundaries do not always coincide, see Pike, PHONEMICS, Ann Arbor,
Michigan: University of Michigan Press, p. 146 and Robins, R. H.,
GENERAL LINGUISTICS: An Introductory Survey, Longmans‘ Linguistics
Library, 196A, p. 202.

 

-hg-

Single consonants or clusters of consonants cannot be found in
utterance—final position since all emic syllables are characteristically
open in iciBemba.

17The general statements that /f/ is never followed by /a/, /s/
by /i/, /g by /i e/, /w/ by /u/ nor /k/ or /y/ by /i /( utterance- initially
only) will also be true for consonant clusters in which these phonemes
are the final members and should therefore be borne in mind throughout
the discussion of this section.

8 .
1 What sounds like an alveopalatal nasal is of falrly frequent

occurrence in utterance-initial and -medial position in the language.

It is diIIilglit, howewer, in) know [new,i3e1y v.'h Itnfl" to uretxii»: this
sound as a sequence of two phog~m:;. 211., {57/ or as a single p on»me
/n/ since it would be extremely dlfIIgMJI, fiAPt'1m8n aliv, To tr; to

demonstrate contexts where a cluster of /nf plus ,v/ co: trasts with
/h/. Such a contrast is nowhere evident in the ldWFUd--o F'urthermore,
it seems futile to attempt to resolve this problem irom morphophonemic
evidence since the final /n/ of a preceding morpheme plus the initial
/y/ of a following morpheme is actualized either (i), as /hj/, e.g.,
/hjé/ ‘that I should go' or (ii) as an, e.g., /hhaagalé/ ‘that I should
play‘ thus: .

l) /hjé/ (N- ) ‘lst pers. sing. verbal pron.‘ +-(-yf) ‘verb root'

+.(-§) dependent suffix
tense

(ii) /hhaag gale/ (N~ ) lst pers. sing. verbal pron.‘ +-(-yaaggal-)
'verb root'.+'(—g) dependent tense suffix,

where in (ii) /y/ is a latent phoneme and is followed noncontiguously
by a cluster of nasal plus a consonant other than a semivowel or another
nasal.

Ultimately, therefore, some doubt will persist as to whether the
phonemic realization of the following. morphological example (niuyu) is
/fiyuuyu/ or /nuuyu/ where we know (from morphophophemic rules, cf.
Appendix 2) that the /i/ of the morpheme (ni- ) fuses with the initial
/u/ of the morpheme (uyu) to result in «yuu/ and that n— is then phono-
logically conditioned into /fi/. In the absence of contrast, however,
between /hy/ and /h/ anywhere in the language, the status of the sound
resulting from the fusion remains largely undetermined.

Similarly, the difference between /s/ and /sy/ cannot be conclu—
sively demonstrated in iciBemba from an example such as (nsiumfwa),
/hsufimfwa/ or /hsyuumfwa7 'I am intractable‘ (i.e., I never listen‘).

In all these cases, therefore, where doubt of this kind persists,
what seems to be a sequence of /h/ plus /y/, /s/ plus /y/ or /c/ plus
/y/ will consistently be regarded as a single consonant, (viz., h, s
or c), throughout the rest of this section for lack of evidence to the
contrary.

-hs-

19It must be pointed out hereuthat this and subsequent examples
showing a double phonemic entry should not be read as indicating
(file) variant forms but rather idiolectal forms, although sometimes
the two forms may be found in the speech of one speaker.

In this connection, clusters /io ea aa/ alSo manifest two idio-
*lectal forms for certain utterances, e.7, ,/ioéugolé/‘ a kind of
ééa

snake‘, /alééaapgala/ ‘he is playing‘, suka/ or /ayasuka/ ‘he has
(just) answered'.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"rt-v ‘
.L

Barnes, B. H. and Doke, C. M. 'he Pronunciation of the Bemba Language,‘
Bantu Studies, Vol. 3, 1927, pp. u23—u56.

 

Cowan, William. "A Note on the Phonemes of Mbré," Journal of African
Languages, Vol. A, Part 2, 1965, pp. llA-IIY.

 

Gleason, H. A. An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965.

 

 

 

Guthrie, Malcolm. The Bantu Languages of Western Equatorial Africa,
London: Oxford University Press, 1953.

 

Hoch, E. (W. F.), Bemba Grammar Notes for Beginners (in mimeograph form
only), 1959.

 

Lammond, William. Lessons in Bemba, The Publications Bureau, Northern
Rhodesia and Nyasaland, I953.

 

Nida, Eugene A. Morphology: The Descriptive Analysis of Words, Ann Arbor,
Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1963.

 

Pike, Kenneth L. Phonemics: A Technique for Reducing Languages to

Writing, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1963.

 

-------- , Tone Languages, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan
Press, 196A.

 

Sadler, Wesley, Untangled CiBemba, General Offset Co., Inc., New York,
196A.

 

Sambeek, J. van: A Bemba Grammar, Longmans, Green and Co., London,

19559

 

-hh-

-h5_

Schachter, Paul. "Phonetic Similarity in Tonemic Analysis: with Notes
“on' the System of Akwapim Twi,'_' Lan ua e, Vol. 37, No. 2, 1961,
pp. 231-238.

Schoeffer, Rev. Father, A Grammar of the Bemba Language, Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1907.

 

Sharman, J. C. and Meeussen, A. E. "The Representation of Structural
Tones, with Special Reference to the Tonal behaviour of the Verb
in Bemba, Northern Rhodesia," Africa: Journal of the International
African Institute, Vol. XXV, No. A, 1955.

Sims, G. W. An Elementary Grammar of CiBemba, Morija Printing works,
Morija, Basutoland, 1959.

 

-------- , Supplement to Lessons in Bemba (Lammond), The Publications
Bureau, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Lusaka, 1955.

 

Stevick, Earl W. "Pitch and Duration in two Yoruba Idiolects,"
Journal of African Languages, Vol. A, Part 2, 1965, pp. 85-101.

 

Stewart, J. M. "The Typology of the Twi Tone System," Reprint from
' the'Bulletin of the Institute of African Studies 1, Legon,Unav.o{ sh.

 

welmers, William E. "Tonemics, Morphophonemics and Tonal Morphemes,"
General Linguistics, A, 1959, pp. 1-9.

 

The White Fathers‘. Bemba-English Dictionary, (Northern Rhodesia
and Nyasaland Joint Publications Bureau) London: Longmans,
Green and Company, 195%.

 

APPENDICES

l. Morphological Evidence Militating against Analyzing a Nasal Plus
a Non-nasal Consonant as a Nasal—onset Phoneme in Certain Contexts.

 

 

It is necessary to state that there are certain contexts where it
can be hemonstrated on morphological evidence that /mp mb nt nc gk mf
ns hs/ should be analyzed as consonant clusters and not as nasal-onset
phonemes. These are the contexts in which the (final) nasal consonant
of a morpheme, e.g., the class prefix (iN- ) or the first person pro—
noun (N- ) is contiguous to the initial consonant of a noun or verb
stem respectively. The nasal consonant of the morpheme is always
phonologically conditioned by the following noun stem-initial or verb

stem-initial consonant, e.g.,

/insofu/ [nsofu] or [insofu] ‘elephant‘
[impoffi/ [mpofu] or [impofu] ‘blind person‘
/nsuma/ [hsuma] ‘bite mel‘
/mboola/ [mbozla] ‘hit mel‘

-h7_

2.

Morphophonemics

 

In those contexts in which vowels fuse as a result of contact

across morpheme boundaries, whether within the same word or across

word-boundaries, their phonemic realizations are according to the

patterns shown below:

Initial Vowel of Basic Form of a Following Morpheme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E
8 i e a o u
&* - _ ill
a) v
.3 5 1 ii yee l yaa yoo yuu
ms:
(GD-1
‘n B e ee ee I yaa yoo yoo
c’6z .
H E‘ a ee ee aa 00 oo
®°H
3rd
:2 8 o wee wee waa oo 00
H2:
g‘h u wii wee waa L 00 uu
w1%
a 0
Examples
Contiguous
Vowels Phonemic Morphemes
i t i /ifiibi/ ‘doors‘ <(ifi- ) cl. p,*+ (-ibi) ‘door‘
i e e /ifyééla/ ‘iron items‘ <(ifi- ) " " + (-éla) ‘iron‘
1 + a /ifyaa16/ ‘countrins‘ <(ifi- ) " " + (—a16) ‘country‘
i + o /ifyoos6/ ‘wild ducks‘ <(ifi- ) " " + (-osé) ‘wild duck‘
i + u /ifyfiuni/ ‘birds‘ _ <(ifi- ) " " + (-fini) ‘bird‘
u + i /ubwiipi/ ‘state of <(ubu- ) " " + (—ipi) ‘short‘
.1 . being short‘
u + e /ubwéénl6/ ‘hole‘ <(ubu- ) " " + (-énlo) ‘hole‘
u + a /ubwééli/ ‘mush‘ <(ubu- ) " " + (éli) ‘mush‘
u + o /ub66wa/ ‘mushroom‘ <(ubu- ) " " + (-owa) ‘mushroom‘
u + u /ubuugga/ ‘flour‘ <(ubu— ) " " + (-ugga) ‘flour‘
*cl. p. stands for Class Prefix

-48.

:h9r“

However, there are other contexts where even though fusion between
contiguous vowels might be expected, no fusion takes place. It would
appear that in these contexts non-fusion patterns are based on phono-
logical, morphological and syntactical rules. Phonologically, for
example, fusion is not possible between the final vowel of one word and
the initial vowel of the next if tentative or final pause intervenes.

A detailed discussion of the aspect of vowel fusion, however, is
beyond the scope of this study. Therefore, it has not been pursued
beyond supplying a few examples to illustrate the phonemic actualization

of fused vowels.

3.

Distribution of Phonemes (Sample Charts)

Chart I

(a) Single Consonants

10.
ll.
12.
15.
1h.

15.

pila
tina

cité

bilé

fiké

sita

m mina

niwé

lila

wiilé

Utterance-initially

B

e
pelé
téma
céma
kéése
béyé
féneegkesa
sela
seeté
méta
nééka
fieela

*
lela
wééla

yéké

C

a
pale
tasa
céémpoémpo
kalata
bané

*
sala
ea
masa

naya

nééna
lala

wa

yaagga

D

o
poka
toola
COOna
kolwé
boombé
fona
some
sooka
mona
noobé
fioégga
goOnté
lolé
wéobufi

yéobé

II

yuume

 

*indicates non-occurrence

-50-

-51-

CHART I
Meanings
(a) Single Consonants
A B C
l. bail (water)!‘ grind! scratch .accept! r 'ccsqueeze
(ground)! through!

2. squeeze f€11 (tree)! be grateful!1pick((it)“ppfi puncture (it)E

3. do (it)! herd (e-g-, cuckoo acat frog
cattle)!
A. * let him letter monkey here
come
5. sew! cut (hair)! (my) friends!1work! evoke (spirits)!
6. approach shut tight * tuck (clothes) tortoise
(arrive)! (door)! up!
7- * move! Choose! read! push!
8. buy! chew! leave (it)! go around! disinter!
9. swallow! smoothen plaster look (see)! beat him!
(mush)! (wall)!
10. it is you I alone make (mush)! you too uproot (it)I
ll. * thrash defecate! wring! stretch (it)!
(person)!
12. * * (hikind of) groan! *
gFasshopper
l3. cry! nurse break! keep awake! weave!
(baby)!
it. fall in (e.g., boo fall pretend to beat it (e-g-,
hole)! (person)! (down)! fall! dog)!
15- * draw in rejoice! it (e.g.,
stomach dog) is

yours

(b)

10.
ll.
l2.
13.
1h.

15.

Single Consonants

 

filupi
umuti
fibuuci
sakila
fibubi

fibufi

umusi
ululimi

ilini

ibéli
isiwi

iyi

Utterance-medially

-52-

 

B

e
icipé
icitéékwa
iceeswa
umuséké
ibéli
ukufénéégkésé
uluselé
busé
imimé
muné
baafieefie

*
kalé
icipoowé

iyé

C

a
ipala
kélata
icaalo
amaka
iluba

*
umusa
umfisa
maama
coona
akafia
iliga
ukulala
iciwé

béya

D

o
ukfipoka
icilééto
ico
ifiko
abo
umufoélo
ukusésa
ukusooma
umoona
pano
ukufiéogga
fimugé
ubfilélo

iciwoobucé

uyo

E

u
icipuna
umfituutu
ukucuula
umukuba
cibfilu
inséffi
akasuba
ukusuaka
umfilalé
ukfinfifigka
ukfiflfififia

I *

akélfibi

*

(b)

10.

11.

12.

13.
14.

15.

Single Consonants

A
hand

tree

honey
fish (with
net)!

badness

lie(s)

village
tongue

988

first-born

voice

this (e.g.,
animal)

B
luggage

(domestic)
animal

broom
(load)
basket
first-born
to jam

(e'g°)ifl
door)

insult
Question
marker
dew

(my)
friend!

cicadas

long ago
famine
interjec-

tion of
impatience

-53-

CHART I

Meanings

C
bald patch

letter
country
strength

flower

draught
(of liquid)

slave
(my) grand-
mother

cat

baby
crack (in
foot)

to break

ogre

I

cut.(hair)!

D
to receive
dream
that (near
YOU)
dirt
those (near
you)

furrow

to say

to sizzle
nose

(on) here
to wring
thief
bridge

what a small
ogre

that (e.g.,
person)

E

stool

rustic
to suffer
copper

deaf-mute

elephant

sun

to be lucky

crack

to smell

to strew

statue

*

this (e.g.,
person)

(a) CC Cluster:

10.

11.

13.
1h.

15.

pw
tw
cw
kw
bw
fw
sw
sw
mw

HW

gw
1w

A

i
pwiilé
twiité

*
kwiinli
bwiino
fwiisa
swiilooyu

*
mwiimbi
nwiintuké

*
gwiinta
lwiisé

-)(-

-Su-

CHART II

Consonant Phoneme Plusg/w/

 

Utterance-initially

B C

e a
pweele pwaapwa
twéébe twé

* *
kweempe kwaapila
bweelé bwaali
fweené fwééla
swéépula swa

* *
mwééle mwéa
nwééna nwé

* *

* gwaanagwaana
lwéénlé lwaala

* *

* *

D
o
pwookusoma

twéébuubé

*

-X-

fwéobufi

swoobuubé

*-

nwéobwaalwé

*-
*

lwoolubuli

*

-55-

CHART II
Meanings
(a) Consonant Phoneme Plus /w/
A B C
l. sip! (yellow-vented) lung
bulbul
2. call us! tell us! pound!
5. * * *
h. rat by a hairbreadth tuck (under
arm)!
5. well (adv) come back! is is mush
6. spit! scratch! dress!
7. pluck for ' lift (with ease)! pluck (e.g.
[this (one)! fruit)
8. * * *
9. (long) drum it is a knife is that so?
10. fly high! drown! drink!
11. * * *
l2. -grumble! * be baffled!
15. tackle (e.g., it is a journey get sick!
in game)!
1h. * * *
* * *

15.

D
finish reading!

pound the (fish-
poison) plant!

*

-)(-

*

*

pretend to be dead!*

pluck (leaves of

fish-poison) plant *

*
*

drink beer!
*

*

fight (a fight) 1

*-

*

(b)

10.
ll.
12.
13.
in.

15.

-56-

 

 

CC Cluster: Consonant Phoneme Plus /w/
Utterance—medially
A B C
i e a
pw ukupwiila ukupwénéfika ulupwa
tw ukutwi umutwé ukupatwa
cw * * *
kw ukukwiika bukwé icikwaakwé
bw ubwiiggé ilibwé akabwa
fw umufwi ifwé ukufwa
sw ukuswiimé iciswéébéébé iceeswé
§w * * *
mw umwiina 1mwé ukutémwa
nw ukunwiintuka umunwé akénwa
fiw * * *
gw mugwiigwi akagwééna ukugwéanégwaana
1w ubulwi fulwe ukfilwé
ww * * *
* .* *

D
o
ulupwéélu
umutwéoyfi
*
umukwééyfi
cibwééyu
ukufwéobufi
fibuswoobu
*
témwébyu

umfinwééyfi

(b)

10.

11.

13.

1h.

-57-

CHART II

Meaning§

Consonant Phoneme Plus /w/

A
to sip

ear

*

to fix (in
handle)

wedding

arrow

to be cowed

heap

to soar
*

mosquito

war

*

B
to be listless

head

*

brother- (or
sister) in-law

stone (rock)

we

desert

you (pl.)

finger

small crocodile

tortoise

*

family
to choke

*

sickle

small dog

to die

broom

*

to like

mouth

*

here

here

here

D
is the family

is the head

*

is the slab

of bark

here
salt

is the

(cibwahf

to pretend to be

dead

here
clay

love

here

to be perplexed

to fight

*

here

is the (edible)

*
this (one)!
is the finger
*
*

is the tortoise

*

-58-

(c) CC Cluster: Consonant Phoneme Plus/y/

 

Utterance-initially

 

B C D E
e a o u
l. py pyeeta pya pyookéana pyfi
2. ty * * * *
5. cy * * * *
1+ . ky -x- * -X- -x-
5. by bYQCDY颧a byaéla byoolé byuutula
6. fy fyéela fyééla fyéOnta fyfifika
7. sy * * * *
8. gy * * * *
9. my myééfu myéégga myéono myufiggu
lO. ny * * * *
11 . fiy * * -)(- -x-
12. By * * * *
l3. ly lyéés1 lyaéla lyoénsé lyufime
1h. wy * * * *
15 . W * * * -x-

-59-

CHART II

Meanings

(c) Consonant Phoneme Plus /y/

10.
11.
12.

13.

1A.

15.

scream!

flash (it)!

they are iron
items

*-

*

it is a beard

it is a flood

C

get burnt!

sow!

they are claws

lick!

-)(-

.x.

it is a (big)
claw!

D

zigzag!

belch!

suck!

*

-X-

they are
(fish)'weirs

*-

*

all (e.g.,
fish)

E

ideophone expressing
purity

dislocate (it)!

escape!

"X-
*-

they are (edible)
gourds

*
*

*

hit it (e.g., fish)

(d)

10.
ll.
12.
13.
1h.
15.

CC Cluster:

_6o-

Consonant Phoneme Plus[y/

 

py
ty
Cy
ky
by
fy
sy
Er
my

ny

Dy
1y
wy

yy

Utterance-medially

 

B C

e a
akapyéélélé umupya
akatyééte ciimfutvaanuma

* *

kaléélikyéése muleekyéabe

iciibyééco ukubyaélé
ukufyééfyéétuka umufyééla

* *

* *
imyééfu ukukumya

* *

* *

* *
icilyé- ukulya

* h

* *

igkopyo
pakutyoémfwe

*
muleekyiemwiiné
ukubyoélé

ulufyé

kolyoOkolyo

*

*-

E

u
icipyu
umutyufiyu

*
umuswéékyuuyu
kubyuuku
imfyufifyu

*

*
umfilimyufiyu

*

*

*
ubwaalyfifibu

*

*

(d)

10.
ll.
12.

13.

1h.

15.

B
reed (whistle)

wag-tail

should the clerk
come?

the door? yes,
(that‘s it)

to slip away

beard

council

-6l-

CHART II

Meanings

Consonant Phoneme Plus /y/

C

fire-cleared area

backwards

let him be

to sow

cousin

to touch

to eat

D

eyelashes

so that he
(she) hears

it

leave him
alone

to belch

kidney

touch this
(one)

*-

*-

blue-headed
lizard

*

*-

E

anger

here is the
medicine

*-

here is the
toothbrush

this (direction)
is bad

(femoral)
condyle

*

*

here is the
farmer

*

*

here is the
mush

*

-62-

CHART III

(a) CC Cluster: Nasal Consonant plus Another Consonant

 

Utterance-initially

 

A B C D
i e a o
1. mp mpimé mpeelé mpaanta mpoka
2. mb mbiike mbeya mbala mboéswa
3. mf mfiinla mfeneegkesa * mfonéko
A. mm mmina mmeeggé mmaniké mmoomfyé
5. mw mwiimbi mwééle mwééna *
6. nt ntiina nteeta ntasa ntobé
7. ns * nseka nsaamba nsosé
8. nn nniinla nneeggé nnaaggé nnoko
9. nl nliilako nleka nlaya nlolesa
10. he ficiinlika ficena ficaayé ficokomona
ll. fij fijita fijeba fijasuka *
l2. fi§ fisina fisééle nsa fisooka
l3. fin fifiina fifiéénle fifiaaggalé fifioogge
1h. * * * *
15. gk * gkéésé gkaya gkoogka
16. gg * ggeefi ggaansi ggocé
17. gg * * ggaafisa ggoombela

E

u
mpumé
mbuusa
mfuunla
mmuumbé

*
ntuké
nsuma
nnuumbé
nlufyé

ficuusa

gkumyé
Usumé

gguumfwe

(a)

10.
11.

12.

13.

1h.
15.

16.

17.

-63-

CHART III

Meanings

 

Nasal Consonant plus Another Consonant

A
measure me!
should I put
down?

ignore me:

swallow me!

(long) drum

fear me!

wait for me!

eat for me!

respect me!
call me!

pinch me!

his mother

B
give me!
cut my hair!
jam me (e.g.,

in door)!

cut me (with
grass blade)!

it is a knife

cut me (with
blade)!

laugh at me!
draw (a
picture of)

me!

let go of
me!

wound me!

tell me!

by and by

*

C D
kick me! get (it) from
me!
provoke me! guardian
spirit
* tuck (clothes)
up for me!
pinch me drench me!
(e.g., with
pincers)!
it is a child *
praise me! hit me!
wash me! talk to me!
show me! your (sing,9

mother

promise me!

beat me!

answer me!

should I slide leave me!
(along on my
bottom)?
should I thrash should I
(person)? play?

* *
I shall come I shall go

very much

resist me!

look at me!

get rid of me!

9(-

go round me!

should I wring?

*
follow me!
burn me!

applaud me!

E

hit me!

raise me up!

teach.me!

create me!

-X-

insult me!

bite me!

cheer me!

lose me!

torture me!

*

I do not hear

should I strew?

*
touch me!
beat me!

should I taste?

(b) CC Cluster: Nasal Consonant plus Another Consonant

Utterance-medially

 

A B C D E
i e a o u
1. mp ukupiimpila kwéémpé ciimpaampa impoombo ukupéémpula
2. mb ikfifimbi iséembé ibuumba umwaambo icufimbfi
3. mf imfiifi ékaamfénéégkesa * iciimfokoonsi. fimwaamfuli
A. mm akéamminé akamméméégga immaaggo akaammoné sikaammufimbé
5. mw umwiiné imwé ukutémwa témwoéyu *
6. nt icipoonti teenté itaanta intoontoka umuuntu
7. ns * inselé insalu umwéénsé umuunsuunlu
8 nn akaanniinla akaannéémbélé innama innooggo innumé
9. nl umunaanli ibéénlé ulutaanlé icipéénlé iuunlu
lO. fic ciificila kaaficeense ukucaaficéma akaaficokomoné akaaficfiusé
ll. fij innaanyi cééfijela ukuciifija ciifijéélupiya ififijuka
12. ns lfisila ciifiseelé saafisa iciifiEoko akaafisfikilé
13. fifi ififiiimbo ififiéénld innaambi akaafifioéggé akééfifiéélé
1A. * * * * *
15. gk tuugkila ukusoogkéla koogka umusoogko umukuugku
16. gg ubwiiggi intééggélé itaagga umusaéggo umusfiuggu
17. gg‘ * * iggaanla iggoémbé igguumbé

10.

11.

12.

13.

1h.

15.

16.
17.

be active!

rail(way)

path

songs

*-

eflp(flfl

great number

*

kind of (fish-
poison) plant

be wary!

loafer

trips

to pay tax for
(something)

hump (of cow)

*

-65-

CHART III
Meanings
(b) Nasal Consonant plus Another Consonant
A B C
to pester by a hairbreadth kind of tree
cloud axe crowd
darkness (stinging) insect *
he will he will cut me withies
swallow me
heap you (pl.) to like
calf kind of mushroom thigh
* insults cloth(e)s
he will wait he will write me animal
for me
(my) friend mortar star

to run away fast

to change

mix!

pouch(es)

*

follow!

stable

house(s)

D E
duiker to visit
worm potato
pothole umbrella
he will they (e.g.,
see me ants) will

swarm over me
love this *
(one)
wheelbarrow person
fear leech
(clay) pot back
felon jigger

he will chase

me away

change money!

detour

he will
twist me

*

tax

kind (sort)

cow(s)

he will

torture me

(playing)
cards

I shall be
a boon to
him

he will
thrash me

*

wooden
anvil

white man

barren
woman

(a)

10.
ll.
12.
13.
1h.
15.
16.
17.

-66-

 

 

CHART IV
CC Cluster: Homorganic Nasal plus Consonant plus /w/,
Utterance-initially

A B C D

i e a o
mpw mpwiise mpweemilimé mpwaantaile mpwoomulimo'
mbw mbwiinliké mbwééle mbwasaulé *
mfw mfwiika mfweenako mfwéaye mfwéobufi
mmw mmwiibilé mmweebé mmwaafwé *
ntw ntwiika ntweekd' ntwééle ntwéobuuba
nsw nswiilako nsweepula nswaéggaané nswéolupwé
nnw nnwiintulé nnweenéko nnwékétaata’ nnwoobwalwé
nlw nlwiisé nlweekd' nlwaale nlwoolubfili
ficw * * * *
fijw * * * *
fisw * * * *
fi"w * * * *
fiyw * * * *
‘fiyy * * * *
gkw gkwiike gkweetako gkwéépilg' *
ggw ggwiilé ggweela ggwaémye ggwoomufimbo
ggw ggwiinta * ggwaénagwaané *

(a) Homorganic Nasal plus Consonant plus /w/

10.

ll.

13.
1h.

15.
16.

17.

A
should I finish up?

should I dip (it
into water)?

dress me!

should I steal
(his things)?

put load on (my)
head!

pluck for me!

should I hurl high?

tackle me!

*

*-

should I fix (in
handle)?

should I plunge
in (water)?

grumble at me!

-67-
CHART IV

Meanings

B

should I finish work?

should I return?

scratch me!

should I tell him?

should I also
pound?

lift me!
drirx for me;

nuu_ I join in
the ‘lght?

*-

-)(-

*

*

scratch me!

boo me!

C

should I (talk)
drivel?

should I break

(it into pieces)

should I search?

should I help
hbn
should I carry

(t0)

should I hurry?

I drink kétéété

(what) if I
become sick?

9(-

*-

-X-

9(-

should I tuck
(under arm)?

should I put
in order?

should I be
perplexed?

D E
should I *
finish the
job?

* *

should I *
pretend to
be dead.

* *

should I *

pound.the
(fish-poison)
should I *
pluck the
egg-plant?

I drink beer*

I fight *

(fights)
-X- *
* p *
-)(- 9(-
* -)(-
~X- -x-
-)(- -)(-
* *

should I *
fall
deliberately?

* 9(-

-68-

 

 

(b) CCC Cluster: Homorganic Nasalgplus Cogsonantgplusg/w/
Utterance-medially
A B C D
i e a o

l. mpw tuumpwiiea iciimpwééna impwa impwéobwiiggi
2. mbw ciimbwi impéémbwé imbwa imbwoobwiiggi
3. mfw imfwi iciimfwéémfwé fikuumfwa ufimfwoomulaanld
h. mmw kaammwiité kaammwéébe kaammwaafwé *

5. ntw intwiilo kaéntweeko akééntwééké kaantwoolupwa
6. nsw akaanswiilaké kaanswéépulé kaanswaéggaané kéénswéélupwé
7. nnw niinnwiintula kaénnweeké niinnwa niinnwoobwaalwa
8. nlw kaanlwiise kaluunlwé impeenlwé impeenlwéobukulu
9. ncw * * * *
lO . .fi'jw * * * *
11. new * * * *
12. fi~w * * * *
13. fiyw * * * *
1h. fiyy * * * *
15. gkw * * * *
l6. ggw iciigkwiiggili amaiiggwé icimééggwa icimééggwéékutwa'
17. ggw alééggwiinté iggwééna kaaggwaanagwaané *

*

*

*

*

*

*

-69-

(b) Homorganic Nasal plus Consonant plus /w/

A

l. raise completely
(out of water)!‘

2. hyena

3. grey hair(s)

A. let me call him

5. pounded peanut
sauce

6. he will pluck
for me

7. I have (already)
hurled (it) high

8. let me tackle

9- *
'10. *
ll. *
12. *
13. *

, 1h. *
.15. *

16. (metal) bracelet

17. she is grumbling
at_me

CHART IV
Meanings
B C
curiosity egg-plants
ditch dog

backward (adv.) to hear

let me tell him
let me also
pound

let me lift

let me also
drink

cassava

door-posts

crocodile

let me help
him

once upon a
time

let me hurry

I have
(already)
drunk

number

grass blade

let me be
baffled

D

what a lot of
egg-plants

what a lot of
dogs

hear the case!

*-

let me pound
the egg-plant

let me pluck the
egg-plant

I have(already)
drunk beer

what a big
number

*

*-

-)(-

*

what a sharp
grass blade!

*

*

(c)

C\\J‘l

K]

10.
ll.
12.
13.
1h.
15.
16.
17.

CCC Cluster:

mmy
nty
nsy

nny

fiyy
Dky
nsy

BUY

-70-

Homorganic Nasal plus.Consonant plus/y/

Utterance-initially

 

B C D

e 1 a o
mpyééte mpyaéne mpyéékaané
mbyéébyeeeé mbyaale mbyéole
mfyeegga mfyaantiké mfyéénte

* mmyaégge *

* * *-

* I * *

* * *
nlyeensi~ ‘ nlyéénsi' nlyéobwaali

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

E

u
mpyuululé
mbyuutulé
mfyfiukulé

*

(c) Homorganic Nasal plus Consonant-plus /y/

10.

ll.

13.

1h.

15.
16.

l7._

A

*

*

should I scream?

'should I flash

(it)?

accuse me falsely!

*-

, *-

what should I
eat?

-7)-

CHART IV

Meanings

C

Should I become
su-tessor?

1’2.TU.ld I 30W? -

should I wedge
(it) in between?

should I lick?

*-
*

*

what do I eat?

D E

should I zigzag? should I
sharpen?

should I belch? should I

disloéate?
should I suck? should I
dislodge
(pot)?
* *
* *
* V *
* ' *
I eat mush I am in
(t)here)
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* x
*. *
* *

(d) CCC Cluster:

10.
ll.
l2.
13.
1h.
15...
16.

17.

mwy
nty
nsy

nny

BUY

-72-

Utterance:m§dially

 

Homorganic Nasal plus Consonant plus /y/

B C D E

e a o u
kaampyééte impyéani kaampyooyu kaampyuululé
kaambyéébyeeEé ubwéémbya kaambyookfi kaambyuutulé
akaamfyéémpa ukuciimfya imfyo imfyuufyu

* iléémmyaagga * *

* * * *
icipoontyééco kéantyaapa ciipoontyééma icipoontyfifimfi

* * * *

* * * *
kaanlye inlyaabuluba akaanlyooyu fimunaanlyuuyfi

* * * *

* * * *

* * * *

* * * *

* * * *
umukuunkyééo kaagkoonkyaabé -kaagkoogkyooyu umukuunkyuuyu
umutuuggyééo kaannéaggyaabd wmuléoggyééyu umutnggyuuyu

* * * *

-73-

CHART IV

Meanings

(d) Homorganic Nasal plus Consonant plus /y/

10.
11.
12.
13.
1h.

15.

l6.

17.

A

B

let me scream

let me flash (it)

he will whip me

*

*

the calf?
that‘s it.

yes)

*
*
let me eat
*
*
*
*

*-

the bark-vessel?
yes, that‘s it

the barrel? yes,_

that‘s it

-)(-

C

successor(s)

whip

to vanquish

it is licking

me

*

let me play
over here

*
*

giraffe
*

*

let me follow let me follow this

these (people)

let me show
these (people)

~X-

D

let me give (it)
to this (one)

let me be on this

side
kidneys

*

*-

it is a calf
he (always) ,
beats

*-

*

this one will be

the death of me
*

*-
*-
*-

*

(one)

here is the
umulooggé fish

*-

let me sharpen

let me dislocate

(it)
(femoral) condyle

*-

a calf, in
t(here)?
*
*
here is my friend
*
*
*
*

*-

here is the
bark-vessel

here is the
barrel

*

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