Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:14:40.673Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Tone and the Nilotic case system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Extract

In a number of Nilotic languages spoken in East Africa it has been shown that there exists formal marking of case based exclusively on tonal differentiation. This has been fully described in Maasai (Tucker and Mpaayei, 1955) and all investigated Kalenjin dialects (Tucker and Bryan, 1962. 1964–5). It also is clearly present in my own data on Teso, though interestingly enough it seems to be lacking in the Luo group generally.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrzejewski, B. W. 1957. ‘Some preliminary observations on the Borana dialect of Galla’, BSOAS, XIX, 2, 354–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrzejewski, B. W. 1964. The declensions of Somali nouns. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.Google Scholar
Armstrong, L. E. 1940. The phonetic and tonal structure of Kikuyu. London: Oxford University Press for the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures.Google Scholar
Bennett, P. R. 1970. ‘SeSotho-Lozi: a clue to the evolution of multi-level tonal systemsJournal of African Languages, ix, 3, 153–64.Google Scholar
Ehret, C. 1971. Southern Nilotic history. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. J. 1968. ‘The case for case’, in Bach, E., AND Harms, R. T. (ed.), Universals in linguistic theory. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 188.Google Scholar
Fromkin, V. A. 1972. ‘Tone features and tone rules’, Studies in African Linguistics, III, 1, 4776.Google Scholar
Kunene, D. P. 1972. ‘A preliminary study of downstepping in Southern Sotho’, African Studies, XXXI, 1, 124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddieson, I., Shopen, T., AND Okello, J. Unpublished. ‘Lango tonology, suprasegmentality and paradigms’. [Paper presented at the fourth Annual African Linguistics Conference, Queen's College, CUNY, 04 1973.]Google Scholar
Meeussen, A. E. 1966. ‘Syntactic tones of nouns in Ganda: a preliminary synthesis’, in Lebrun, Y. (ed.), Linguistic research in Belgium. Wetteren: Universa, 7786.Google Scholar
Meinhof, C. 1912. Die Sprachen der Hamiten. (Abhandlungen des Hainburgischen Kolonialinstituts, Bd. IX, Reihe B, Bd. vi.) Hamburg: L. Friederichsen.Google Scholar
Moreno, M. M. 1939. Grammatica teorico-practica della lingua galla con esercizi. (Gramniatiche e Lessici delle Lingue dell'Africa Italiana.) [Milano]: Casa Editrice A. Mondadori.Google Scholar
Raglan, [i.e. Somerset, F. R., 4th Baron Raglan]. 1922. ‘The Lotuko language’, BSOS, II, 2, 267–96.Google Scholar
Tucker, A. N., AND Bryan, M. A. 1956. The non-Bantu languages of north-eastern Africa. (Handbook of African Languages, III.) London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.Google Scholar
Tucker, A. N., AND Bryan, M. A. 1962. ‘Noun classification in Kalenjin: Päkot', African Language Studies, III, 137–81.Google Scholar
Tucker, A. N., AND Bryan, M. A. 19641965. ‘Noun classification in Kalenjin: Nandi-Kipsigis’, African Language Studies, V, 192247; VI, 117–87.Google Scholar
Tucker, A. N., AND Bryan, M. A. 1966. Linguistic analyses: the non-Bantu languages of northeastern Africa. (Handbook of African Languages.) London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.Google Scholar
Tucker, A. N., AND Mpaayei, J. T. O. 1955. A Maasai grammar, with vocabulary. (Publications of the African Institute, Leyden, 2.) London: Longmans, Green and Co.Google Scholar
Whiteley, W. H. 1958. A short description of item categories in Iraqw. (East African Linguistic Studies, 3.) Kampala: East African Institute of Social Research.Google Scholar