PHONOLOGY OF MERNYANG
LANGUAGE
OLAGBENRO RASHIDAT BOLA
07/15CB075
A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND
NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN,
ILORIN, NIGERIA.
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD
OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS B. A. (HONS.)
IN LINGUISTICS
MAY, 2011.
1
CERTIFICATION
This project has been read and approved as meeting the requirements of
Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Ilorin,
Kwara State, Nigeria.
_____________________________
DR. M. A. O. OYEBOLA
____________________
DATE
_____________________________
PROF. A. S. ABDUSSALAM
____________________
DATE
_____________________________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
____________________
DATE
Project Supervisor
Head of Department
2
DEDICATION
I dedicate this research work to the Almighty God, who has been my
anchor and strength and also to my parents Mr. & Mrs. I.O. Olagbenro.
3
ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS
My profound gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr. M. A. O. Oyebola,
you have been great help to me. I also appreciate the knowledge impacted
in me by my lecturers.
Words are not enough to show gratitude to my parents, Mr. and Mr.
Olagbenro. Their care and support from the day I was born to this moment
is overwhelming. I do wish to line up to your expectations.
I appreciate the understanding and love shown to me by my siblings
– Oyeyemi, Folakemi and Olamide. God’s face will continue to shower upon
you.
My appreciation also goes to Mayowa, Ridwan, Tosin and Fisayo for
their support throughout the journey to plateau state, God bless you all.
I also thank my friends and colleagues: Funke, Olakitike, Olatokunbo,
Bukola Yetunde, Tolu, Habibat, Kenny, Comrade, Sa’aad Rahman, Yusuf
and my typist Agboola Olasunkanmi.
Thank you all.
4
LIST OF SYMBOLS USED

Arrow notation ‘becomes’
/
Environment
____ Place of occurrence
[]
Surface/Phonetic Representation
~
Tilde [nasalization symbol]

Empty/Null Element
+
Morpheme boundary
[/]
High tone
[-]
Mid tone
[\]
Low tone
V
Rising tone

Falling tone
5
LISTS OF CHARTS, TABLES AND DIAGRAMS
Genetic Classification Tree
Oral Vowel Chart
Nasal Vowel Chart
Vowel Distinctive Features Matrix
Phonetic Consonant Chart
Consonant Distinctive Features Matrix
6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgments
iv
List of Symbols
v
List of Charts, Tables and Diagrams
vi
Table of Contents
vii
CHAPTER ONE:
1.0
Introduction
1
1.1
General Background
1
1.2
Historical Background
2
1.3
Socio-Cultural Profile
4
1.3.1 Marriage System
4
1.3.2 Mode of Kinship
5
1.3.3 Religion
6
1.3.4 Occupation
6
7
1.3.5 Food
7
1.3.6 Housing
7
1.3.7 Dressing
7
1.3.8 Geographical Location
8
1.3.9 Festivals
8
1.4
Scope and Organization of the Study
9
1.5
Data Collection
10
1.6
Genetic Classification
11
1.7
Data Analysis
13
1.8
Review of Theoretical Framework
13
1.9
Structure of Generative Phonology
14
1.9.1 Phonological Representation
15
1.9.2 Phonetic Representation
16
1.9.3 Phonological Rules
16
CHAPTER TWO:
2.0
Introduction
19
2.1
Basic Phonological Concepts
19
8
2.1.1 Principle of Minimal Pair
20
2.1.2 Phonemes and Allophones
21
2.1.3 Complementary Distribution
22
2.2
Sound Inventory
24
2.3
Tonal Inventory
25
2.4
Syllable Inventory
26
2.4.1 Syllable Structure in Mernyang
27
Sound Distribution
29
2.5.1 Consonant Sounds
29
2.5.2 Consonant Segments in Mernyang
31
2.5.3 Vowels in Mernyang
43
2.5.4 Distribution of Vowels
44
2.5.5 Vowel Nasals
48
2.5
2.5.6 Distinctive Feature Matrix for Mernyang
Language Consonants
50
2.5.7 Justification of the Features Used
53
2.5.8 Segment Redundancy for Consonants
55
9
2.5.9 Distinctive Features Matrix for Vowels
57
2.5.10 Justification of Features Used
57
2.5.11 Segment Redundancy for Mernyang Vowel
58
CHAPTER THREE; PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES
3.0
Introduction
60
3.1
Phonological Processes
60
3.1.1 Assimilation
61
3.1.2 Labialization
63
3.1.3 Palatalization
64
3.1.4 Nasalization
65
3.1.5 Insertion
66
3.1.6 Deletion
67
3.1.7 Vowel Elision
68
CHAPTER FOUR: TONE AND SYLLABLE PROCESSES IN MERNYANG
LANGUAGE
4.0
Introduction
73
4.1
What is a Tone Language?
73
10
4.2
Tone Typologies
74
4.3
Tonal Patterns in Mernyang Language
74
4.3.1 Co-Occurrence of Tones in Mernyang Language
77
4.3.2 Functions of Tones
79
Tonal Processes
80
4.4.1 Tone Hierarchy
80
Syllable Structure
82
4.5.1 Types of Syllable
84
4.5.2 Syllable Structure Rule in Mernyang Language
85
Syllable Processes
88
4.6.1 Types of Syllable Processes
88
4.4
4.5
4.6
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0
Introduction
89
5.1
Findings/Observation
91
5.2
Recommendations
91
5.3
Conclusion
92
References
93
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CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL BACKGROUND
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces the language of study, the people speaking
the language and where they can be found. It also introduces us to the
background of the speakers of the language which includes their way of life
(culture) and their beliefs, it also gives a brief explanation of the scope of
study. Methods of data collection, genetic classification and the theoretical
framework used in carrying out the research on the language are included.
1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND
Mernyang language is a language spoken in Qua’an-pan local
government of Plateau state. The speakers majorly reside in Kwa while
others reside in other districts like, Kwang, Dokankaswa, Doemak, Namu,
Kwalla and Pwall in this same local government. The estimated population
of the Mernyang speakers is about 5,000 according to 2007 census.
12
Mernyang speakers are referred to as the Pan people, while among
themselves they are known as Mernyang speakers. These people are said
to have migrated from the North East in Dala, Kano State.
1.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Going by oral history and written record, the Mernyang people are
said to have originated from a group of people known as Kofyar who are
residing on the top of hills in Plateau state in Qua’an-Pan local government.
Dafyar, from whom the Mernyang own their descent is said to have
procreated with his sister Nada, as they were the only survivors of a
cataclysm. This fatal incident made Dafyar and his sister Nade leave Dala
in Kano and sailed on the river to a place where they hid themselves in a
cave called Chor in Kopfubum near the present day Kofyar. Since then,
Dafyar and his offsprings have been residing on the Kofyar hill.
The offsprings of Dafyar had fanned out into many other sub groups
and intermarried thereby producing a much wider cultural mix. The
offspring of Dafyar comprised his sons and grandsons or even great grand
sons and so on.
13
Oral tradition has for long maintained the fourteen (14) who have
been popular due to the settlements that grew in the wake of their earlier
location. Among these sons of Dafyar was Darep, Soekoetko who founded
the ‘Kwa’ settlement which is approximately three kilometers (3km) away
from Kofyar. Darep was the first person to settle in the place known as
‘Kwa’ village today in Qua’an-Pan local government area of Plateau State.
Since then he had been giving birth to children who were and are also
producing sons and daughters such that the current estimated total
population of the speakers of Mernyang is 5,000. The movement of the
Mernyang people form Kofyar to ‘Kwa’ was mainly for agricultural purpose.
The major occupation of the Mernyang people is farming, so they found a
suitable farming land in ‘Kwa’. This made majority of the people in Kofyar
descend and later settle down there. Today, majority of the Mernyang
speakers are found in Kwa.
1.3 SOCIO-CULTURAL PROFILE
14
The Mernyang people like many other tribes have their own unique
cultural lifestyle. The Mernyang people have some unique lifestyle which
are discussed below:
1.3.1 Marriage System
The system of getting married among Mernyang people is interesting,
simple and perhaps less demanding, though systematic. As usual after the
man and the woman who are in love with each other have agreed to marry
each other, the first stage comes in. This first stage, the groom and his
friends will go to the bride’s house in order to reveal his intention of
marrying their daughter to them. The groom would take along two jaws of
local wine which the people call ‘Doeskoelo’ to the bride’s parents.
At this occasion, the bride’s parents would ask their daughter if she is
interested in the marriage. If she does they would ask her to collect the
Jars of ‘Doeskoeloe’ from the groom, signifying she agrees. The second
stage involves the groom’s parents visiting the bride’s parents where the
latter would be asked to supply some items for acceptance that the groom
is free to take their daughter. The items include; goat, chicken, salt, rice,
15
palm oil and benny seed. These items are the major ones required only if
the brides parents want more or less. The third stage has to do with the
bringing of those items by the groom’s family to the bride’s family. Once
accepted, the groom can take his wife home. The fourth and final stage
entails the groom and the bride conducting marriage ceremony either in
the church or mosque depending on the religion of the couple.
1.3.2 Mode of Kinship
The traditional system of ruling among the Mernyang people is
monarchical. That is, another chief (king), known as ‘long’ in Mernyang
language, can assume the throne only if ruling chief dies. However, the
choice of who will be the next chief in the royal family is not the one by
appointment but by election. There would be two or three sons in the royal
family who will compete for the vacant seat. The voting by the royal family
members would determine the next chief. After this, the king makers have
to test the competence of the elected candidate, and if found worthy, then
becomes the chief.
1.3.3 Religion
16
According to oral history, it is believed that the traditional religion of
the Mernyang people was idol worshipping. The advent of foreign
missionaries however brought Christianity and Islam, such that today, idol
worshipping has been eradicated among the people. At present, the
predominant religion among the Mernyang people is Islam. Though there
are few Christians and the existence of festival celebrations.
1.3.4 Occupation
In Kwa, the geographical location of the Mernyang speakers, the
major occupation is farming. Hardly can one look around without seeing
millet and guinea corn plants which are their main plants in the land.
Besides this, others still engage in fishing and hunting in order to make
ends meet. Among food derived from millet or guinea corn is ‘nigum’
grounded with groundnuts, meloni fish and palm oil or even pieces of
meat. This is made into a thick folded corn leaves.
1.3.5 Food
The favourite food items of the Mernyang people are millet and
guinea corn, little wonder that they are mainly millet and guinea corn for
17
consumption,
including
their
favourites
drink
generally
known
as
‘burukutu’. The traditional food of the Mernyang people is beans called
‘bálá’. The food is served to important people.
1.3.6 Housing
A typical Mernyang house is made with mud or clay with grassroofing on top. This type of house is dominant every where in the land.
However, civilization has forced some educated ones among them to build
modern houses, yet lying to be inhabited.
1.3.7 Dressing
The mode of dressing of the Mernyang people is similar to that of the
Hausas. Typically, they are often seen dressed in their native ‘agbada’ with
the popular ‘aburo’ cap. While their women are dressed in ‘buba’ and two
wrappers tied round their waist.
1.3.8 Geographical Location
Speakers of Mernyang language are geographically located at the
northern part of Nigeria, Plateau state. Additionally, the people are found
concentrated at the southern region of Plateau state where they are
18
surrounded by hills and beautiful vegetations. The local government area
where the people can be found is Qua’an-Pan, the nearest large towns to
them are Jos in Plateau state and Lafia in Nasarawa state.
1.3.9 Festivals
Among the Mernyang people, there are two major festivals that are
being observed. The first one comes up annually and it involves all the
speakers of Mernyang at home and abroad, far and near. This is done once
in a year usually in the first quarter of the year. During this occasion, a lot
of activities are usually lined up to inform, educate and entertain the entire
Mernyang people as well as their supporters and neighbours. This annual
festival is traditionally called ‘Pan’. It is often regarded as an event mark
the happiest or most joyous day in a year among the people. More
interestingly during this event, a lot of social dances and musical
presentations are exhibited, among which are; giyajhang feer, cheer,
koem, snal be’et, gyajeplang, gyamoefan, Doerung, gaagala etc Other folk
activities are; Nadoeng, Doet, Pagal, Shee, Koes, Fnaskop, Seegoefin,
Nawak, war etc.
19
The second festival is celebrated district by district. Each district has
its peculiar way of observing this festival. Also, a lot of activities are usually
show-cased for the education and entertainment of the audience that
grace the occasion.
1.4 SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This long essay aims at studying aspects of Mernyang phonology. It
will cover the general introduction to the study, the sound inventory of the
language, the phonological process and tonal features attested in the
language.
This research work is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is the general
background of the people, the status of the language and the historical
background of the people. Also, in chapter one, the socio-cultural profile of
the people and the genetic classification of the language are examined.
The chapter also gives a brief discussion of the theoretical framework to be
used in the work and explains the mode of data collection and analysis.
Chapter two discusses the sound system of the language as well as
the tonal syllable structures.
20
In chapter three, attention is focused on the phonological process
attested in the language. Chapter four addresses the tonal processes with
their distributional patterns. Chapter five summarizes the work, gives some
recommendations and concludes the study.
1.5 DATA COLLECTION
The data for the research work was collected through the help of a
language helper with the use of the Ibadan 400 basic items (word list).
Also, with the use of frame techniques. This is a template that shows
different structural positions which a word can occur. This goes beyond
looking at words in isolation. It was used to get the relevant information
that cannot be got by means of lexical items only.
The information concerning the informants in this research is given
below:
NAME:
MICHAEL DAMAN NA’ANKAM
ADDRESS:
KWA, QUA’AN-PAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
LANGUAGES SPOKEN: MERNYANG, HAUSA, ENGLISH
RELIGION:
CHRISTIANITY
YEARS LIVED IN KWA: 20 YEARS
OCCUPATION:
CIVIL SERVANT
1.6 GENETIC CLASSIFICATION
21
Greenberg (1974: 8) explains that African languages belong to
various families, and there are four main groups namely: NigerKordofanian, Nilo-Sahara, Afro-Asiatic and Khoisan. Based on this fact,
Mernyang language is classified under Afro-Asiatic family of African
languages, specifically under the Chadic sub-phylum which extends
downward to Mernyang.
22
Afro Asiatic
Ancient Egyptian
Semitic
Berber
Chadic
North Chadic
East Chadic
West Chadic
South Chadic
Angas
Cushitic
Angas (Angas Gerka)
Angas Proper
(1)Cakfem-Mushara Jorto Kofyar Muship Mwogharul Wgas (2)Goemu Koenoem Montol Pyapun Tal
Cakfem-Mushere
Jorto
Kofyar
Bwal
Goram
Jepal Kofyar
Docmak
23
Miship
Mwaghavul
Kwalla
Mernyang
Ngas
Source: www.ethnologue.com (Accessed November, 2010).
1.7 DATA ANALYSIS
To ensure an accurate data analysis, about 125 words were
collected, 30 nouns, 15 verbs, 7 verb-noun combinations. But the last
consonant of the verb is deleted in fast speech. The other items collected
were used to identify and determine the phonological processes in the
language.
1.8 REVIEW OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The theoretical framework to be used for this research is generative
phonology as in Chomsky and Halle (1968).
Generative phonology constitutes part of the linguistic theory which is
called “Transformational Generative Grammar (T.G.G) formulated by
Chomsky (1957) to cater for the inadequacy observed in classical
(Taxonomic) theory of phonological description. It gives the role of how
the mind perceives sound and how the sounds are produced with the
interpretation of utterances. The goal of generative phonology is to express
the link between sound and meaning. Generative phonology accounts for
24
some language phenomenon like: Linguistic intuition, foreign accent,
speech error etc.
1.9 STRUCTURE OF GENERATIVE PHONOLOGY
“The phonological structure is an abstract phonemic representation,
which postulates the rules that are derived from various surface forms”. It
postulates the underlying form at the systematic phonemic level from
which surface alternates have systematic relationship termed linguistically
significant generalization. Hyman (1975: 80).
The structure has three basic levels which are, underlying
representation (UR), phonological rules and phonetic representation (PR)
that is;
PHONOLOGICAL REPRESENTATION (Underlying Form)

PHONOLOGICAL RULES

PHONETIC REPRESENTATION (Surface Form)
25
According to Oyebade (1998: 13) underlying representation is the nonpredictable, non rule derived part of words. It is a form with abstract
representation existing in the linguistic competence of a native speaker.
It is the basis of all utterance and it exist in the mental dictionary
representation. For instance, the different forms of negation prefix in
English like im-(possible), il-(legal), ir-(regular) having the same meaning
are phonologically accountable.
1.9.1 Phonological Representation
Generative phonology assumes 3 very crucial components. The
underlying representation, the phonetic representation and the rules which
link the two together, called the phonological rules.
These components are reviewed below;
underlying representation: Oyebade (2008: 12) assumes underlying
representation to be an abstract representation existing in the competence
of the native speaker. The underlying representation is the most basic form
of a word before any phonological rules have been applied to it. The
26
abstract representation is also known as the phonological representation
and this competence can be scientifically investigated.
1.9.2 Phonetic Representation
It is the form of a word that is spoken and heard. It is also known as
the surface level. Phonological structure reflects the linguistic competence
of the native speaker to compute a phonetic representation for the
potentially infinite number of sentences generated by the syntactic
component of the grammar.
Generative phonology seems to consider this level as being trivial and
not worth too much attention except perhaps as a source for the
verification and justification of the proposed underlying representation.
1.9.3 Phonological Rules
It maps underlying representation into phonological representations.
They delete, insert or change segments. They are said to show the
derivational sequence in its journey from the underlying level to the
phonetic level. They must be able to capture the phonological phenomenon
27
in the simplest form. There are two types of rules in phonological rules;
features changing rules and fill in rules.
Features changing rules change the features of the input to that of
the output. The other rule as name implies are rules which fill in empty
slots.
Phonological rules have to be precise in a scientific account of
linguistic phenomena. For instance, a rule can say insert a high front vowel
between cluster of consonants, and another rule says insert a high front
vowel after a word-final consonant. The rules can be formalized thus:
(a)
Ø

i/c – c
(b)
Ø

i/c - #
We observed that the two rules are identical in both input and output.
These two rules can be collapsed to become one rule which can be
represented thus;
(c)
Ø

i/c - - -
c
#
28
i.e. a high front vowel is inserted either between two consonants or after a
consonant at word final position. We also make use of notational devices in
phonological rules, which are
angled bracket notation
(< >)
alpha notation
()
brace notation
({ })
multiple variable notation
(, , v etc).
29
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
2.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the basic phonological concepts and
introduces the sound inventory in Mernyang language, that is, consonant
and vowels. Also showing the distribution of sounds in the language using
words in form of examples. The distinctive feature matrix of the vowel
segments are also discussed along with the justification of the feature
used. Finally, this chapter discusses the redundancies of the sound
segments – consonants and vowels in Mernyang language.
2.1 BASIC PHONOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
What is Phonology?
Phonology is a branch of linguistics which studies speech sound i.e. it
studies how sound forms systems and patterns in language (Yusuf 1992:
35). The study of phonology is based on two stages
i.
Study of sounds in a language (identification, description of
sounds in a language).
30
ii.
Part of the theory of grammar (grammar encompasses other
aspects of languages) which are syntax, semantics etc.
Based on this theoretical status, Yule, (1985) submits that phonology
is concerned with abstract or mental aspects of the sounds in language
rather than with the actual physical articulation of speech sounds.
Phonology is concerned with how these sounds are put together and
organized in a language to form meaningful words.
1.
Principle of Minimal Pair
2.
Principle of Complementary Distribution
3.
Phoneme and Allophone
2.1.1 Principle of Minimal Pair
These are pairs of words that differ in only one segment in a
language. The differing segments must be in the same position in the two
words, be different in only their values for the phonetic distinction in
question. Finally, the two must mean different things that is, they must not
simply be alternative pronunciations of the same word. Examples of
minimal pair in English language
31
bat
[bæt]
bad [bæd]
pat
[pæt]
bat
[bæt]
hat
[hæt]
hot
[ht]
2.1.2 Phonemes and Allophones
Phonemes are significant sounds that constitute change in meaning
(Hyman 1975: 4). The study of a particular language entails the knowledge
of these significant sounds. While allophones are the different realization of
a phoneme. We can test for phoneme using four principles:
A phoneme being one of the basic phonological units of which all
words in the language are composed. We represent a phoneme with a
symbol placed in slant brackets, as opposed to square brackets. The
various sounds that make up a phoneme are known as its allophones.
32
The grouping of sounds into phonemes is different in different
languages, or even in different variables within one language. Examples of
phonemes and allophones in English language.
Phonemes
Allophones
/a/
[æ : a ]
/n/
[n ŋ m]
2.1.3 Complementary Distribution
When we compare the distributions of two sounds in a language, we
may find that they are partially similar, that is, the two sounds share some
environments. For example [ph] may appear in much the same
environments as [th] in English. However, if we compare the environments
of two sounds that are allophones of the same phoneme in the language in
question we will often find they can never appear in the same
environments their distributions are completely different from one another.
This is called complementary distribution. Examples of complementary
distribution in English language;
angry
[æŋgri]
33
ambit
[æmbit]
animal
[ænIml]
king
[kiŋ]
anguish
[æŋguI]
In the above examples, we can see that the nasals occur in
complimentary distribution due to their environment of occurrence. The
change in the nasals is due to the sounds following each of the nasals. If
we are to choose one segment to be the basic of the nasals. Then /n/ will
be chosen, because /n/ can occur in any environment.
[m] before labials
/n/
[ŋ]
before velars
[n]
else where
2.2 SOUND INVENTORY
Every natural language has its own sound inventory. It has to do with
the nature of sounds in terms of segments status with phonemic segment.
34
Oyebade (1998) defined vocal sounds used in human speech and
pattern, which produce intelligent meaningful utterance sounds in a given
language can be classified into consonants and vowel. Above the segment,
we have the suprasegmental, which contains prosodic features like tones,
intonation, stress, length etc. All these suprasegmental features are above
the segments and that is why they are called the supra segments.
For instance, in a stress language, we have stress which could make
a lot of differences in words containing the same segment. For example,
the difference between the English nouns and verbs below:
Noun
Verb
‘Present
Pre’sent
‘Convert
Con’vert
‘Progress
Pro’gress
The differences between the verb-noun distinction here is the
placement of stress on the first syllable for noun, and placement of stress
on the second syllable for verbs.
35
Unlike English language, African languages operate with tone rather
than stress.
2.3. TONAL INVENTORY
Pike (1948: 93) defined a tone language as a language having
significant but contrastive pitch on each syllable.
Mernyang language attest 3 levels of tone which are high tone [/],
mid tone [-], and low tone [\]. Tone is a common features to African
languages tone brings difference in the meaning of a words just as stress
brings a change in meaning to words in English language.
2.4 SYLLABLE INVENTORY
Syllable is a smallest part of a word that can be pronounced alone. It
is a unit at a higher level than a phoneme. Syllable represents a level of
organization of the speech sounds of a particular language. We say a
particular language because languages vary in their syllable structure.
However, the most common type of syllable is CV(C) i.e. consonant 
vowel  (consonant).
SYLL
36
ONSET
CORE
OR
NUCLEUS
OR
CENTER
CODA
The first consonant (c) is the onset which is the beginning of the word,
vowel (v) is the core/nucleus which is the peak of the word, and the
second consonant (c) is called the coda. This is the end of a word. Vowels
usually forms the center of a syllable which is also called the nucleus. While
the onset and coda are formed by the consonant (c).
However, we should note that it is not only vowel that can serve as
the nucleus of a syllable. For example, in English and Yoruba language, we
have some syllabic consonants i.e. consonants that can constitute the
syllable peak. E.g. [m, n, l].
Also, a syllable can either be opened or observed that is we can have
an open syllable or close syllable. An open syllable ends with a vowel while
the close syllable ends with a consonant.
37
2.4.1 Syllable Structure in Mernyang
Mernyang language attest to both open and close syllable structures.
Examples of opened syllable;
[s’]
‘food’
[tì]
‘thigh’
[súãkwà]
‘maize’
[d’ba]
‘tobacco’
[iali]
‘needle’
Examples of closed syllable;
[àgàl]
‘money’
[εp]
‘axe’
[ῖŋ]
‘mortar’
[mar]
‘millet’
Here are the possible syllable structures in Mernyang language
CV
VC
CVC
38
39
2.5 SOUND DISTRIBUTION
2.5.1 Consonant Sounds
Consonant sounds are produced by obstructing the air flow totally or
partially at some point in the vocal tract. Consonant can be described using
three parameters namely.
1.
Place of articulation
2.
Manner of articulation
3.
State of the glottis (Oyebade 1998: 16).
Place of Articulation
This is the point at which articulators meet to obstruct airflow in the
course of sound production. This obstruction may occur in between two
lips, the teeth or the tongue. That is the obstruction may take place on the
lower lip and upper teeth, the tip of the tongue and the alveolar ridge, the
body of the tongue and the palate, then back of the tongue and the velum.
This include, the bilabial, alveolar, velar, palatal etc.
40
Manner of Articulation
This answers the question “HOW”. It shows how the sounds are
produced and the degree of obstruction in sound production. They include
stops, fricatives, affricates, nasals lateral roll, approximants.
State of the Glottis
This helps to indicate if the sound in question is voiced or voiceless.
Voiced sounds are sounds produced with vibration in the vocal tracts, while
voiceless sounds are sounds produced less or no vibration in the vocal
tracts. Voiced sounds are indicated as + voiced while voiceless sounds are
regarded as – voice.
41
Implosives
b
Fricatives
t d
g
Glottal
k
Labio velar
kj gj
Labialized
velar
Palatal
Palato
alveolar
Alveolar
Palatalized
alveolar
dj
Velar
P b
Palatalized
velar
Stop
Labio dental
Bilabial
Palatalized
labio-dental
2.5.2 Consonant Segments in Mernyang
Kw gw
?
d
fj
f v

s z
Affricate
h
t dз
Nasal
m
n
Lateral
l
Trill
r
ŋ

Roll
j
w
Approximant
Consonants are sounds produced with partial or total obstruction of
air in the airstream.
Mernyang language attest 31 phonemic consonants and they are
shown below:
Consonants distribution in consonants sounds are sound produced with
total or partial obstruction of air in the air stream consonant can occur at
word initial medial or final in the language. The distribution of consonants
in Mernyang language are as follows:
42
[p]: Voiceless bilabial stop
Word Initial Occurrence
[páŋ] ‘stone’
[pã]
‘rain’
[pà?àt] ‘five’
Word Medial Occurrence
[gpãŋ] ‘house’
[kwakapãŋ] ‘bark’
[dàpìt] ‘monkey’
Word Final Occurrence
[dìp] ‘hair’
[pìεp] ‘beard’
[dp] ‘penis’
[b]: Voiced bilabial stop
Word Initial
[barb] ‘arm’
[biat] ‘cloth’
[bsãŋ] ‘horse’
Word Medial
[bìubã] ‘rubbish heap’
[dakabal] ‘crab’
43
[labl] ‘bird’
Word Final
[barb] ‘arm’
[m]: Bilabial nasal
Word Initial
[mùs] ‘wine’
[mòòr] ‘oil’
[m`gór] ‘fat’
Word Medial
[nàmús] ‘cat’
[nmúat] ‘toad’
[nàmat] ‘woman’
[mat] ‘female’
Word Final
[swum] ‘name’
gzm] ‘rat’
[sgm] ‘horn’
[t]: Voiceless alveolar stop
Word Initial
[tk] ‘neck’
[tm] ‘sheep’
[tagam] ‘blood’
44
Word Medial
[amt] ‘thirst’
[kàhtεp] ‘plait’
[matgdik] ‘wife’
Word Final
[miεt] ‘enter’
[lúgút] ‘fear’
[tá?át] ‘shoot’
[d]: Voiced alveolar stop
Word Initial
[dp] ‘penis’
[dgl] ‘room’
[dgũŋ] ‘he goat’
[dagr] ‘star’
Word Medial
[dad] ‘bat’
[dεdã] ‘old person’
[matgεdik] ‘wife’
[n]: Alveolar nasal
Word Initial
[ndiejεt] ‘smoke’
[niali] ‘needle’
[ngmàm] ‘sea’
45
Word Medial
[gn`k] ‘back’
[s]: Voiceless alveolar fricative
Word Initial
[sár] ‘hand’
[s’] ‘food’
[súãkwá] ‘maize’
Word Medial
[bsãŋ] ‘horse’
[bsῖŋ] ‘house’
[mìskágám] ‘chief’
Word Final
[àgàs] ‘teeth’
‘lìís] ‘tongue’
[wus] ‘fire’
[z]: Voiced alveolar fricative
Word Initial
[zεl] ‘saliva’
[zugúm] ‘cold’
[zgp] ‘pound’
Word Medial
[mzp] ‘guest’
[dijgazŋ] ‘urinate’
46
[l]: Alveolar lateral
Word Initial
[lgũ] ‘dry season’
[lúwa] ‘meat’
[lεmú] ‘orange’
Word Medial
[dílãŋ] ‘swallow’
[flak] ‘heart’
[nlk] ‘thorn’
Word Final
[dbεl] ‘lizard’
[dàkabál] ‘crab’
[pgvól] ‘seven’
[r]: Voiced alveolar trill
Word Medial
[mrbãŋ] oil palm’
[tarpas] ‘kite’
[jagurum] ‘twenty’
Word Final
[nεr] ‘vagina’
[nar] ‘skin’
[mar] ‘millet’
47
[]:Voiceless palato alveolar fricative
Word Initial
[àgàl] ‘money’
[ar] ‘friend’
[àp] ‘divide’
Word Medial
[iik] ‘body’
[ndkgak] ‘gather’
[t]: Voiceless palato alveolar affricate
Word Initial
[tugn] ‘nail’
[tì] ‘thigh’
[tàgàm] ‘guinea fork’
Word Medial
[ntugur] ‘duck’
[nàkùptís] ‘snail’
[j]: Voiced palatal approximant
Word Initial
[jugur] ‘breast’
[jagurum] ‘twenty’
[jŋpεh] ‘call’
Word Medial
[ndiejεl] ‘smoke’
48
[gjíl] ‘earth’
[díéjél] ‘war’
[kj]: Voiceless palatalized velar stop
Word Initial
[kjãŋ] ‘hoe’
[gj]: Voiced palatalized velar stop
Word Initial
[gjara] ‘hawk’
[gjaiá] ‘dance’
[k]: Voiceless velar stop
Word Initial
[ka?ah] ‘head’
[kúm] ‘navel’
[kugur] ‘charcoal’
Word Medial
[nàkùptís] ‘snail’
[tεkah] ‘fetish’
[jàkgs] ‘run’
Word Final
[kwak] ‘leg’
[ìsik] ‘body’
[t?k] ‘soup’
49
[g]: Voiced velar stop
Word Initial
[gŋ] ‘nose’
[gk] ‘back’
[gòrh] ‘kolanut’
Word Medial
[jakgso] ‘run’
[vúgúm] ‘hat’
[àgàl] ‘money’
Word Final
[kmt’g] ‘leaf’
[buúgàtg] ‘tie rope’
[ŋ]: Velar nasal
Word Initial
[ŋkia] ‘vulture’
Word Medial
[jŋpεh] ‘call’
[nãŋmbi] ‘ask’
[tàŋkp] ‘like’
Word Final
[gãŋ] ‘mat’
[tεŋ] ‘rope’
[dзáŋ] ‘calabash’
50
[fj]: Voiceless palatalized labio dental fricative
Word Initial
[fju] ‘cotton’
[dj]: Voiced palatalized alveolar stop
Word Initial
[djip] ‘feather’
[djidr] ‘remember’
Word Medial
[ndjik] ‘build’
[peidje] ‘dawn’
[f]: Voiceless labio dental fricative
Word Initial
[fù?uh] ‘mouth’
[flak] ‘heart’
[fu?usbã] ‘sunshine’
Word Medial
[gfur] ‘town’
[lfú] ‘word’
[ùf] ‘new’
[v]: Voiced labio dental fricative
Word Initial
[vúgúm] ‘hat’
[vl] ‘two’
51
[vàŋ] ‘wash’
Word Medial
[pgvl] ‘seven’
[b]: Voiced bilabial implosive
Word Initial
[bat] ‘belly’
[blãŋ] ‘work’
[ba?ãŋ] ‘red’
Word Medial
[dgbt] ‘stomach’
[dbεl] ‘lizard’
[d]: Voiced alveolar implosives
Word Initial
[dŋ] ‘well’
[dз]: Alveolar affricate
Word Initial
[dзagam] ‘jaw’
[dзm] ‘matchet’
[dзεp] ‘children’
[]: Voiced palato alveolar roll
Word Medial
[w’’] ‘arrive’
52
Word Final
[á] ‘road’
[sa] ‘ten’
[mg] ‘fat’
[kw]: Voiceless labialized velar stop
Word Initial
[Kwak]
[kwakaptŋ] ‘bark’
Word Medial
[suãkwa] ‘maize’
[gw]: Voiced labialized velar stop
Word Initial
[gwui]’donkey’
[w]: Voiced labio velar approximant
Word Initial
[wàk] ‘seed’
[war] ‘road’
[wãŋ] ‘village’
Word Medial
[bãgwus] ‘hot’
[áwúbã] ‘bad’
[tugulwã] ‘mould’
53
[?]:Voiceless glottal stop
Word Initial
[pa?at] ‘five’
[ka?ah] ‘head’
[sε?εh] ‘song’
[h]: Voiceless glottal fricative
Word Initial
[kahtεp] ‘plait’
Word Medial
[rógòh] ‘cassava’
[górh] ‘kolanut’
[te?eh] ‘story’
2.5.3 Vowels in Mernyang Language
Vowels are sounds produced with partial or no obstruction of air in
the air stream. There are 10 vowels attested in Mernyang language. We
have 8 short vowels and 2 long vowels in the language. The short vowels
are; /i, ε, e, ,o,a, , u/ while the long vowels are /ε:, u:/. These sounds
can be properly shown in the vowel chart below.
Front
Central
Back
u:
Mid high i
54
u
Mid low
e:
Low
e

ε
o

a
2.5.4 Distribution of Vowels
Vowels can occur at word initial, word medial or word final position in
Mernyang language. The distributions are as follows:
[i]: High front unrounded vowel
Word Medial
[ῖŋ] ‘mortar’
[kàmbìl] ‘basket’
[dil] ‘ground’
Word Final
[tím] ‘day’
[fìí] ‘dry’
[wágjì] ‘come’
55
[e]: Front mid-high unrounded
Word Medial
[fiew] ‘spin’
[ep] ‘firewood’
[piep] ‘wind’
Word Final
[ndèmãndé] ‘suprass’
[peslje] ‘dawn’
[e:]: Front mid high unrounded long vowel
Word Medial
[pe:dje] ‘dawn’
[ε]: Front low unrounded vowel
Word Initial
[εs] ‘bone’
[εs] ‘feaces’
Word Medial
[dзεm] ‘matchet’
[gdεt] ‘soon’
[dbεl] ‘lizard’
Word Final
[íε] ‘learn’
[àgàspε] ‘abase’
56
[]:Central Mid-low unrounded vowel
Word Initial
[k] ‘goat’
Word Medial
[lahkn] ‘say’
[kmtg] ‘leaf’
[nlk] ‘thorn’
Word Final
[war’] ‘arrive’
[jàkg’s] ‘run’
[lahkn] ‘say’
[u:]: Back high rounded vowel
Word Initial
[ùfó] ‘new’
Word Medial
[kúm] ‘navel’
[mùs] ‘wine’
[lúwa] ‘meat’
Word Final
[lì?ú] ‘snow’
[lau] ‘bag’
[lòfù] ‘word’
57
[o]: Back mid-low rounded vowel
Word Initial
[Tógòh] ‘cassava’
[górh] ‘kolanut’
[dàgó] ‘man’
Word Medial
[mùgó] ‘person’
[ùfó] ‘new’
[]:Back low rounded vowel
Word Initial
[rũŋ] ‘dust’
Word Medial
[km] ‘ear’
[gnk] ‘back’
[mrbãŋ] ‘oil palm’
[a]: Back low unrounded vowel
Word Initial
[ajit] ‘eye’
[àgàs] ‘teeth’
[àás] ‘egg’
Word Medial
[nàr] ‘skin’
[wál] ‘weep’
58
[katεp] ‘plant’
Word Final
[là] ‘son’
[súá] ‘drink’
ta?á] ‘blow’
2.5.5 Vowel Nasals
Mernyang language attests nasal vowels. These nasal vowels can
occur at word medial or word final position. But the long vowels in
Mernyang language does not have nasal counterpart. The nasal vowels
are;
[ῖ]:- [pãfῖ]
[ῖŋ]
‘grinding stone’
‘mortal’
[ề]:- [jagalgtềŋ]
‘fly’
[]:- [tŋ]
‘grass’
[bsŋ]
‘horse’
[ồ]:- [jabutồŋ]
‘lie(down)’
[]:- [gŋ]
‘nose’
[wuj]
‘senior’
59
[ã]:- [suãkwa]
‘maize’
[kjãŋ]
‘hoe’
[fu?usbã]
‘hoe’
[ε]:- [tεŋ]
[tεkah]
‘rope’
‘fetish’
These are nasalized vowels in Mernyang language. They include [ã, ề, ε, ῖ,
ồ, , ũ, ].
60
Front
Central
Back
Mid high ῖ
Mid low
ũ

ề
ồ

ε
Low
2.5.6
ã
Distinctive
Feature
Matrix
for
Mernyang
Language
Consonants
Distinctive features are all… set of articulation and acoustic feature
sufficient to distinguish one from other, the great majority of the speech
sounds used in the languages of the world (Halle and Clements 1983: 6)
These features are smallest element in phonological analysis and they are
universal. The feature must have functional relevance in the language.
Such features are significant and explicit in the pattern of speech. It is
assumed that a feature is either present or absent in a speech sound by
the principle (+ or -). The relevance of these features is shown when it is
61
applied to redundancy principle. The table below shows the distinctive
feature matrix for Mernyang language.
62
p
b
b
m
fj
f
v
dj
t
d
d
s
z
n
l
r

t
dз

j
kj
gj
k
g
ŋ
kw
gw
w
?
h
+ CONS
+ + + +
+ + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + +
+ + +
+
+ + + + +
+
+
+ +
+ SON
-
-
-
+
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ + + -
-
-
+ + -
-
-
-
+ + -
-
+
-
-
+ SYLL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ COR
-
-
-
-
+ + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + +
+ + -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ ANT
+ + + +
-
+ + -
+ + + + + + + + -
-
-
+ -
-
-
-
-
-
-
+
+
+
-
-
+ LAB
+ + + +
-
+ + -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+
-
-
+ CONT
-
-
-
-
+ + + -
-
-
-
+ + -
-
-
+ -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ -
-
-
-
-
+
+ NAS
-
-
-
+
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ -
-
-
-
-
+ STRD
-
-
-
-
-
+ + -
-
-
-
+ + -
-
+ + +
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ -
-
-
-
+
+ VOICED
-
+ + +
-
-
+ +
-
+ + -
+ + + + -
-
+ + -
+
-
+ + + -
+
+
-
-
+ DELREL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ +
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
63
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2.5.7 Justification of the Features Used
Distinctive features are used in classifying segments into their natural
classes. There is no occurrence of the sound have exactly the same feature
through matrix and phonological rules (Halle 1983: 6). The features are
described below;
i.
[+cons]: Consonants are sounds produced with partial or total
obstruction of air along the vocal tract. Non-consonant are
produced without any obstruction of air in the air stream.
ii.
[+ Son]: These are sounds produced when in addition to the
blockage of air in the month the air continues to resonate and
then move through the nose). Because the air passes through the
nose, it does not mean the velum is lowered. The air pressure
inside and outside the mouth is approximately the same. Sounds
produced with this feature are, glides, nasals, liquids and vowels.
iii.
[+ Syll]: These are sounds which constitutes the syllable peak.
Example of such words are vowels and syllabic consonant.
iv.
[+ Cor]: They are sounds produced with the blade of the tongue
rising towards or touching the hard palate or the teeth. Examples
of such sounds are alveolars, palato-alveolars, palatals, dentals.
v.
[+ Ant]: They are produced at the front or anterior region of the
mouth. Examples of such sounds are, labials, alveolars, dentals.
vi.
[+ Labial]: These are sounds produced with protrution of the lips
that is sounds produced with the involvement of the lips.
Examples of these sounds are labial consonant and rounded
vowel.
vii.
[+ Nasal]: These are sounds produced with the lowering of the
velum in which the air passes through the nasal cavity. Examples
are nasalized vowels and nasals.
viii.
[+ Cont]: They are sounds that causes friction. In their
production, the air is not completely stopped in it passage through
the oral cavity. Fricatives are classified under this feature.
ix.
[+ Strident]: These are sounds produced with an obstruction
that makes the air stream strike two surface by producing high
lxv
intensive fricative noise. [+ trident] are fricatives, affricates, labio
dentals.
x.
[+ Voiced]: They are sounds produced with the vocal coral
vibrating. Voiced consonants and vowels are categorized as [+
voiced].
xi.
[+ Delrel]: Are produced with sharp stop but fricative release.
We have affricates in the category of these feature.
2.5.8 Segment Redundancy for Consonants
Redundancy is the principle that helps in predicting some feature
from the presence of other feature, feature that predicts the feature of the
other is said to be redundant. (Hyman 1975: 42).
In Mernyang language, a number of feature that are completely
predictable at all stages of derivation is attested. The output of
phonological components must specify all feature in such a way that it
indicates necessary feature used in derivation. All features that are
redundant are expressed as fill-in-rule or [if, then].
i)
if
[+nas]
lxvi
then
ii)
if
-Cont
-Strid
+Voice
+Son
[+ syll]
then
iii)
if
+Son
- Cons
[+ ant]
then
iv)
if
then
[+ cons]
[+ Cons]
+Voiced
-Strid
lxvii
v)
if
[-Cons]
then
+ Son
- ant
- lab
- nas
+ cont
+ voiced
+ strid
2.5.9 Distinctive Features Matrix for Vowels
I
e:
e
ε

u:
u
o

a
+ Syll
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ High
+
-
-
-
-
+
+
-
-
-
+ Low
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+
+ Back
-
-
-
-
-
+
+
+
+
+
+ Round
-
-
-
-
-
+
+
+
+
-
+ ATR
+
-
+
-
-
-
+
+
-
-
2.5.10 Justification of Features Used
1.
[+ Syll]: They are sounds produced without any form of
obstruction and they constitute peak of syllables. This includes all
vowels.
lxviii
2.
[+ High]: These are sounds produced by raising the body of the
tongue towards the hard palate. For example [i, u:, u].
3.
[+ Low]: They are sounds produced by drawing the root of the
tongue downward from the mouth. E.g.[a]
4.
[+ Round]: They are vowels produced with the rounding of the
lips. For example [u:, u, o, ].
5.
[+ Back]: Are vowels produced with body of the tongue relatively
retracted e.g. [u:, u, o, , a].
6.
[+ ATR]: It involves drawing the root of the tongue forward,
enlarging the pharyngeal cavity and often raising the body of the
tongue as well. E.g. [i, e, u, o].
2.5.11 Segment Redundancy for Mernyang Vowel
1.
if
then
[+ high]
[- low]
lxix
2.
if
[+ low]
then
+back
-high
-round
3.
4.
if
[-back]
then
[- round]
if
[+ round]
then
+ back
- low
lxx
CHAPTER THREE
PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES
3.0 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the phonological processes discovered in Mernyang
language are discussed below, they are; assimilation, palatalization,
labialization, nasalization, deletion, insertion.
3.1 PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES
Phonological processes are sound modifications motivated by the
need to maintain euphony in a language or to rectify violations of wellformedness constraints in the production of an utterance (Oyebade, 2008:
61) quite often when morphemes are joined together (syntactic
collocations), these constraints are violated. These violations are repaired
so to speak by some mechanisms know as phonological processes.
Oyebade 2004: 61.
Phonological processes came about as the need to maintain the
musical quality of the utterance and to make its production easy or
economical to release the circulatory contact for contiguous sounds. This
lxxi
effect is reduced if both contiguous sounds require the same articulatory
mechanism production.
The phonological processes attested in Mernyang language shall be
examined in this chapter.
3.1.1 Assimilation
Oyebade [1998 61] refers to assimilation as a process
contiguous segments influence each other by becoming
Assimilation takes place when two contiguous
whereby
more alike.
segments influence each
other by becoming more alike or identical in all or some of the features of
their production.
Vowel – Vowel Assimilation
Assimilation in mernyang language can occur between vowels.
Che’etse + ayaba
Cooking
banana
tʃe’etsaajaba
cooked banana
Wupíá + e’es
wupíe’es
white
white bone
bone
lxxii
awúba + orim
awúboorim
bad
bad beans
beans
toe
+ ass
taass
kill
+ dog
kill dog
From the example shown above, the vowel – vowel
assimilation
process is found in mernyang language when a verb and a noun or an
adjective and a noun collocate.
There is assimilation across morpheme boundary, the final vowel of
the adjective or verb is lost and assimilates the initial vowel of the noun or
the initial of the noun is lost and assimilates
adjective or verb.
The vowel assimilation rule is given below;
lxxiii
the final vowel of the
V1
V2/V1 # V2
+syl.
+syl.
+syl.
-cons.
-cons.
-cons.
1
#
+syl.
2
-cons.
3.1.2 Labialisation
According to Oyebade (2008: 66), labialization is the super-imposition
of liprounding on a segment in such a way that the feature of a vowel now
attaches to the consonant articulated. Examples of these sounds in
Mernyang language are;
Kwák
[kʷák]
‘leg’
Súákwá
[súákʷá]
‘maize’
Kwút
[kʷút]
‘leopard’
Kwàt
[kʷàt]
‘pay [for something]
The rule to account for labialization in Mernyang language is given below;
-son.
+lab.
+syll.
-cont.
+rnd.
A stop becomes labialized when it occurs before a rounded vowel.
lxxiv
3.1.3 Palatalisation
This is the super-imposition of tongue raising on a segment
(Oyebade, 2009: 65). In the articulation of some consonants, it is observed
that we experience the articipatory fronting of the tongue while tongue is
raised towards the roof of the mouth, taking a position in articulating the
high front unrounded vowel [i]. Here are examples in Mernyang language:
Peedye
[pe;dje]
‘dawn’
Dyíp
[djíp]
‘feather’
Ndyík
[ndjík]
build[house]’
Dyidoer
[djídər]
‘remember’
The rule to account for palatalization in Mernyang language is given thus;
lxxv
+cons.
+high
+syll.
-syll.
+high.
-rnd.
A consonant becomes palatalized when it occurs before a front vowel.
3.1.4 Nasalisation
Crystal (1991) describes nasalization as a process whereby an oral
segment
acquires
nasality
from
the
neighboring
nasal
segment.
Nasalization is the superimposition of nasal features on a neighboring
segment. It is a situation whereby a vowel assimilate consonant feature
(vowel consonant assimilation) (Oyebade, 2008: 66). Examples of
Mernyang language are:
pangfin
+
grinding stone
ufó

new
paŋfĩnũfó
‘new grinding stone’
pan +
íló
rain
heavy
‘heavy rain’
noegoen
+
ùre’ét 
ngnũr?t
good
‘good mother’
mother

pãnĩl
+ syll
+cons
lxxvi
- cons

[nas]
+ nas
_____
- nas
3.1.5 Insertion
Insertion is a process which occurs when an extraneous element not
present originally is introduced into the utterance usually to break
unwanted sequence (Oyebade 1998: 74) Mernyang attests to morphemic
insertion.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
sàr
gom 
sar
ka
ten
one
ten
plus one
sàr
val
sar
ka
ten
one
ten
plus two
‘twelve’
sàr
kũn 
sar
ka
sarakũn
ten
three
ten
plus three
sàr
fr
sar
ka
ten
four
ten
plus four


gom 
vl
‘eleven’

kũn 
fr
sarkagom
sarakvl
‘thirteen’

sarkafr
‘fourteen’
The morpheme [ká] is inserted between two words at morpheme
boundary.
lxxvii
3.1.6 Deletion
Deletion is another common process in languages. It involves the loss
of a segment under some language – specifically imposed conditions.
Deletion could involve vowels or consonants. (Oyebade 2008: 69).
Mernyang language attests to consonant deletion process. Examples are;
at
+
wòe 
awòe
bite
snake
‘snake bite’
dàkùl +
làlà
live
child
‘left the child’
shay +
long 
shalong
friend
king
‘friend of a king’
wus +
yàbà 
wuyàbà
hot
banana
‘hot banana’

dakulàlà
In the examples above, the first of the two consonants at morpheme
boundary is deleted. This is because, the language does not permit
consonant cluster at morpheme boundary.
lxxviii
C

+ cons
Ø/____ + C

ø/ ____ + + cons
- syll
- syll
3.1.7 Vowel Elision
According to Oyebade (2008: 69), vowels are usually deleted when
two or more vowels occur across morpheme boundary. When such an
occurrence is introduced by morphological processes, the language may
choose to drop the first or the second of the contiguous vowels.
But Mernyang language does not attest to this phonological process.
In the language, vowels do not delete at morpheme boundary. We have
example of vowels not deleted:
luwa
+
meat
dàgó
eat

goat
+
man
s
k
áwúbàn
‘goat meat’

bad
+
εss
bone
luwak
dagoawaban
‘bad man’

sεss
‘eat the bone’
lxxix
ajaba
+
plantain
aw
urε?ε?εt

good
+
moon
ùfó
‘good plantain’

new
ua
+
drink
urɔk
+
tobacco
ε?εs
grind
[awùfó/
‘new moon’

tasty
dba
/ajabaurε?εt/
/uaurɔk/
‘tasty drink’

/dbaε?εs/
‘grinded tobacco’
The only instance where we have vowel deletion in the language is
when we have two vowels at morpheme boundary, i.e. V1 and V2 due to
the tone one of the vowels is carrying one of the vowel will be deleted. For
instance if we have
lxxx
H
pem
+
six
L

H
k

pemk
goat
‘six goats’
L
H

H
bàù +
úrε?εt

báúrε?εt
bow
good
aw +
ba
moon
full
M
L

L
ùfó

laùfo
lau
+
‘good bow’

awba
‘full moon’
bag
new
‘new bag’
L
M

L
dbà +
awban

dbàwban
tobacco
bad
ajabà +
awbán
plantain
bad
‘bad tobacco’

ajabàwban
‘bad plantain’
lxxxi
M
H

H
luwa +
áwúbàn

luwáwban
meat
bad
H
M

H
dàgó +
odɔk

dagódɔk
man
short
suá
+
awban
‘bad meat’
‘short man’

guinea corn bad
suáwban
‘bad guineacorn’
In the above data, when a low tone (\) and mid tone (-) follow each
other at morpheme boundary the mid tone is deleted.
When the high tone (/) and mid tone (-) follow each other at
morpheme boundary the mid tone is deleted.
When the low tone (\) and high tone (/) follow each other at
morpheme boundary, the low tone is deleted irrespective of which of tone
comes first. These lead to the issue of tone hierarchy i.e. the tones are
arranged hierarchically.
lxxxii
H

L

M



High
Low
Mid
Rule 1:
+ syll
- cons
+ syll


- cons
-HT
Rule 2:
+ HT
+ syll
- cons
-HT
+ syll


- cons
+ HT
lxxxiii
CHAPTER FOUR
TONE AND SYLLABLE PROCESSES IN MERNYANG LANGUAGE
4.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the features of tones in Mernyang language,
tone typologies, the co-occurrence of tones in Mernyang language. The
chapter also examines the functions of tones in Mernyang language. Finally
it discusses the syllable structure and syllable process of the language.
4.1 WHAT IS A TONE LANGUAGE?
Tone languages are languages that have “…lexically significant,
contrastive but relative pitch on each syllable” (Pike 1948: 3). Tone as a
prosodic feature has been defined and justified by linguists to be
undergoing
modifications
before
reaching
its
actual
phonetic
manifestations.
The underlying process in mechanisms responsible for this in tonal
language is referred to as tonal processes (Hyman 1975: 22).
lxxxiv
4.2 TONE TYPOLOGIES
Basically, we have two types of tone typologies and these are:
registered and contour tones. Registered tones are tones that are uniform
and discrete while the contour tones are the tones that are not stable but
rather undulating inform of waves [] (Goldsmith 1976). Registered
tone consist of levels of tones, high tone marked with an acute sign [/] mid
tone marked by a macron [-] or unmarked and low tone marked by a grave
sign [\]. The contour tones glide from one land to another level and they
are;
i.
Rising Tone: it is marked with the combination of low tone and
high tone [v] on a segment
ii.
Falling Tone: It is the combination of high tone followed
immediately by low tone on a segment. It is marked thus: [^].
4.3 TONAL PATTERNS IN MERNYANG LANGUAGE
Mernyang language attests to registered tone. This include a high
tone marked with acute accent [/], a low tone marked with a grave accent
[\] and mid tone which is represented as [-] or unmarked.
lxxxv
The tone chart of Mernyang language tones:
High tone
[/]
Low tone
[\]
Mid tone
[-]
Below are the distributions of the three tones attested in Mernyang.
High tone [/]
[wál]
‘weep’
[kút]
‘cool’
[túŋ]
‘fry’
[bát]
‘belly’ (external)
[kúm]
‘navel’
[sáY]
‘hand’
[sá]
‘food’
Low tone [\]
[pàs]
‘rainy season’
[wà]
‘snake’
lxxxvi
[là]
‘son’
[nàr]
‘skin’ (flay)
[nàs]
‘beat’ (person)
Mid tone [-]
[muar]
‘swell’
[piãn]
‘break’
[ap]
‘split’
[gãn]
‘chin’
[jugur]
‘breast’ (female)
[im]
‘yam’
[wus]
‘fire’
[kam]
‘stick’
lxxxvii
4.3.1 Co-Occurrence of Tones in Mernyang Language
This is a situation whereby tones can occur together in a word. For
example Mernyang language high tone can co-occur with high one.
[báú]
‘bow’
[sámtás]
‘cloth’
[vúgúm]
‘hat’
[básáŋ]
‘horse’
[básíŋ]
‘house’
We also have high tone co-occurring with low tones e.g.
[rógòh]
‘cassava’
[góròh]
‘kolanut’
High tone can co-occur with mid tone
[dílaŋ]
‘swallow’
[láni]
‘small’
Mid tone can co-occur with mid tone
lxxxviii
[jŋpεh]
‘call’ (Summon)
[zgp]
‘pound’
[tapãn]
‘burn’
[vaŋik]
‘was’
[nasbaŋ]
‘beat’ (drum)
Mid tone can also co-occur with high tone
[pemá]
‘six’
[ka?áh]
‘head’
Low tone can co-occur with high tone
[màgár]
‘fat’
[ìtáh]
‘pepper’
[lεmú]
‘orange’
Low tone can co-occur with low tone
[jàbà]
‘banana’
[wààk]
‘seed’
lxxxix
[kàmbìl]
‘basket’
Low tone can co-occur with mid tone
[wùjn]
‘senior/older’
[làrεp]
‘daughter’
[nàmat]
‘woman’
[màmat]
‘female’
[màmis]
‘male’
4.3.2 Functions of Tones
Tones perform different functions in a language, there functions are
lexical, phonemic also syntactic functions. In Mernyang language, tone
perform phonemic function i.e. tones are used to differentiate words which
have the same segment or that are similar, for examples;
1.
2.
[km]
‘groundnut’
[km]
‘ear’
[εss]
‘sand’
[εss]
‘bone’
xc
3.
[mùãn]
‘walk’
[múãn]
‘go’
4.4 TONAL PROCESSES
Tone processes are different modifications that tones had undergone
before reaching its actual phonetic manifestation. This underlying process
or build-in mechanism responsible in tone languages is referred to as tone
processes (Hyman 1975: 22). Also tone processes has to do with the
influence of tone on each other or the modification of tone brought about
by their interaction and relationship with segment. Schane (1973: 215).
Mernyang language attest to one tonal process.
4.4.1 Tone Hierarchy
This is a system in which the tones are arranged according to their
importance. In Mernyang language, tones are arranged hierarchically.
When there are two same vowels following each other at morpheme
boundary, one is deleted for the other based on the tone it carries.
1.
/àjàbà/
plantain
+
/awbãn/

bad
/àjàbàwbãn/
‘bad plantain’
xci
2.
/pem/
+
six
3.
4.
5.
/k/

goat
/báú/ +
/ùr?t/
bow
good
/lau/ +
/ùfó/
bag
new
/ŋkiá/
+
vulture
/pemk/
‘six goats’

/báúr?t/
‘good bow’

/laùfó/
‘new bag’
/àás/

egg
/ŋkiáás/
‘vulture egg’
In the above examples, when a low tone (\) and mid tone (-) follows
each other at morpheme boundary the mid tone is deleted as indicated in
example (i) above.
When the high tone (/) and mid tone (-) follows each other at
morpheme boundary the mid tone is deleted, as indicated in example (ii)
above.
When the low tone (\) and high tone (/) follows each other at
morpheme boundary, the low tone is deleted as shown in example (v)
above.
xcii
4.5 SYLLABLE STRUCTURE
Hyman (1975: 189) maintains that a syllable consists of the peak of
prominence in a word which is associated with occurrence of one vowel or
a syllabic consonant that represented the most primitive in all languages.
A syllable consists of phonological units and it consists of three
phonetic parts which are:
i.
The onset
ii.
Peak or nucleus
iii.
Coda
Onset is usually at the beginning of a syllable, the peak is the nucleous
while coda is the closing segment. In auto segmental phonology of J.
Goldsmith (1976), a syllable is divided into two:
i.
Onset: syllable initial segment
ii.
Rhyme: broken down into a compulsory nucleus and on optional
coda. This can be represented thus;
Syllable
xciii
Onset
Rhyme
Peak
Coda
e.g. in Mernyang language
[mar]
‘millet’
we have
xciv
Onset
Nucleus
Coda



C
V
C



m
a
r
4.5.1 Types of Syllable
Syllable types is language specific. A language may exhibit either
open or closed syllable and also some languages make use of the two
(open and closed syllable).
Open Syllable
An open syllable is a syllable typology in which words ends in vowels.
In such languages, there is no form of consonant ending. It is one of the
features peculiar to African languages Whelmers (1974). Mernyang
language attests to open syllable structure. Examples are:
[sá]
‘food’
[dába]
‘tobacco’
[niali]
‘needle’
xcv
Closed Syllable
This is a syllable type which ends with a consonant. Mernyang
language also attests to the closed syllable structure. Examples are:
[àgàl]
‘money’
[sεp]
‘axe’
[im]
‘yam’
Mernyang language makes use of the two syllable typology.
4.5.2 Syllable Structure Rule in Mernyang Language
This is the rule that states the possible sequence of sounds or
segments in a syllable. Four major syllable structure. They are N, CV, VCC,
CCV and CVC.
N:
This is a syllabic nasal that usually occurs at initial position. For
examples:
[Ndùŋ]
‘that’
[ndiejεl]
‘smoke’
[ntugur]
‘duck’
[ŋkía]
‘vulture’
xcvi
CV: This is the sequence of consonant and vowel. Examples are:
[wá]
‘snake’
[là]
‘son’
[sá]
‘food’
VC:
This is the sequence of vowel and consonant. Examples are:
[k] ‘goat’
[εs] ‘sand’
[am] ‘water’
[as] ‘dog’
CVC: This is a syllable that begins with consonants followed by a vowel
then by consonant. Examples are;
[nar] ‘skin’
[sáh] ‘eat’
[wat] ‘thief’
There are also different types of syllable sequence in Mernyang
language. They are monosyllabic, di-syllabic, tri-syllabic.
xcvii
Monosyllabic:
These are words pronounced on a breath. Examples are;
[tcp] ‘tear’
[k] ‘goat’
[εs] ‘sand’
[wút] ‘untie’
Di-Syllabic
Di-syllabic words are words that are pronounced in two breaths. For
example:
[jagám]
‘jaw’
[tákát]
‘pull’
[búgàt]
‘tie rope’
[yugur]
‘breast’
Tri-Syllabic
These are words that are pronounced in three breaths.
[nákùpdús]
‘snail’
[baldgl]
‘hard’
xcviii
[matdзàdik]
‘wife’
4.6 SYLLABLE PROCESSES
Refers to the process which takes place in realization of some
syllables in a language.
4.6.1 Types of Syllable Processes
Reduplication
It is a morphological process by which all or part of a form is copied
to form another word. Reduplication is of two types, partial or total.
Partial reduplication is the most common in Mernyang language. in
the examples below a verb is reduplicated to form an adverb.
ízí
‘now’
miang
‘cloud’
ufo
‘new’
diang
‘quick’
ízí
now
miang
cloud
ufo
new
diang
quick
+
+
+
+
xcix
ízí
now
miang
cloud
ufo
new
diang
quick
izizi
‘immediately’

miangiang
‘cloudy’

ufofo
‘newly’

diangiang
‘quickly’

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 INTRODUCTION
This long essay has made efforts to describe the phonology of
Mernyang language. It is observed that at it is for other languages, so it is
for Mernyang language. Words are not just string together randomly, or
arbitrary, they are well patterned and followed the principles of well
formedness.
The data used for his research work was collected through the use of
Ibadan four hundred wordlist. Meanwhile, the informant method was used
in elicitation of the data. This is because, words are not to be dealt with in
isolation.
Chapter one introduced the historical background and the people of
Mernyang. It also discussed the geographical location of the people The
major occupation of the Mernyang people is farming. They also engage in
trading activities. Majority of the Mernyang people are Christians as a result
of missionary activities which gained ground in the area. Also in this
c
chapter we discovered that Mernyang language belong to the NigerKordofanian language family.
Chapter two examined the basic phonological concepts such as
minimal pair, allophones and phonemes. Also, sound distribution and
distinctive features of Mernyang language were discussed. Mernyang
language attests to 32 consonants, 8 short vowels, 2 long vowels.
Chapter three discusses the phonological processes attested in
Mernyang language. Processes like assimilation palatalization, labialization,
nasalization insertion and deletion in Mernyang language are explained.
The fourth chapter discusses the tonal and syllable processes in
Mernyang language. The language make use of the registered tone levels;
high, mid and low tone. These tones also co-occur with each other. Syllable
structures like, N, CV, CVC, are shown in this chapter.
Chapter five which is the final chapter, summarizes the research work
and gives recommendation and the conclusion as well.
ci
5.1 FINDINGS/OBSERVATION
Mernyang language unlike majority of African languages do not attest
to vowel harmony. There is no harmony among the vowels in Mernyang
language.
It is also observed that Mernyang language make use of both the
open and closed syllable which is not a common features to majority of
African languages. The language also to attests to tone hierarchy as a
tonal process.
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
Through this research, useful insight has been drawn from the
structure of Mernyang phonology. As a matter of fact, the language has
not been exposed to thorough linguistic scrutiny. There is need for linguists
to focus more attention on the language. This research work has only
studied an integral part of the various fields of linguistics. Only some
aspect of phonology has been explored in this research. We hereby
recommend that linguist should focus more on other aspects of the
language.
cii
5.3 CONCLUSION
So far, this project has been able, within the scope of the work
examine the structure of the Mernyang phonology. W cannot assume that
this research work is exhaustive enough.
However, it is believed that it can serve as a reference or a source of
data for further research in Mernyang language. The various discussions
will be very useful for all students of linguistics and learners of the
language.
ciii
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