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Big and thin; two Diola-Fogny meta-linguistic terms1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

J. David Sapir
J. David Sapir
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Abstract

The Diola-Fogny of Sénégal, West Africa, socially intuit with the meta-linguistic terms ‘big’ and ‘thin’ the tense/lax vowel contrast that is basic to their phonology. The two terms are primarily used to identify speech variation among individuals and groups. Examination revealed that speakers who made relatively greater use of vowel harmony were characterized as ‘big’ in contrast to others who were thought of as ‘thin’ speakers. The ‘big’/‘thin’ distinction provides the Fogny with one means by which they place the speech of an individual. In addition, this meta-linguistic device either is used to express indirectly the social place of an alter vis-à-vis an ego in terms of simple sameness or difference, or, when more than two people are involved, in terms of some form of segmentary opposition. (Sénégal, meta-linguistics, social interaction, phonology.)

Type
Articles: Conversational devices and structures
Information
Language in Society , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , April 1975 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

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