From tones to accents

Abstract

This paper is part of a larger research project on the hypothetical evolution of the prosodic system of Shingazidja, a Bantu language [G44a] of the Comoros, from a tonal system to an accentual system. The first part of the paper describes the tonal properties of the language (e.g. long-distance tone shift) and its accentual properties (e.g. the insertion of a tone on the stressed syllable of an underlying toneless phrase), and briefly discusses tone reduction at the post-lexical level. In the second part of the paper, the acoustic correlates of tone in the variety of Washili are explored. It is shown in particular that the interplay of tone, stress and vowel aperture can lead to a shift of the metrical prominence that blurs the distinction between tone and accent in the language. Consequences of this process on the prosodic system of Shingazidja, and on our knowledge of tone loss in general, are addressed in a brief discussion.