The Syllable Structure And Syllable Based Morphophonemic Processes In Dorze: Representations Based On Moraic Phonology
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Date
2010-06
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AAU
Abstract
The objective of this study was to describe and di scuss the sy llable structure and sy llable
based morphophonemic processes in Dorze. The language under study, Dorze, is an
Omotic language spoken in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region.
The methodology used is an informant method where data were recorded and elicited
from informants.
It has been identified that Dorze has 26 consonant and 5 vowel phonemes. Vowels IiI and
I~I are variants of I ii and leI respectively. As discu ssed in chapter two, there are also cases
of consonant gemination and vowel lengthening in which both are contrastive. Regarding
the syllable types, there are 8 kinds of sy llable shapes identified for Dorze: V, ev, eve,
evve, evee, evvee, ve and evv. Furthermore, both heavy and light syllable
shapes are also found.
The theoretical framework employed to analyze the syllable structure was the Moraic
account of Autosegmental phonology. The Moraic theory claims that the only intervening
element between the syllable node and the segmental root node is the mora. The cuncept
of heavy and light syllable is also another assumption that is used to best explain
segmental length distinctions. It also claims that there is a case of compensatory
lengthening involving deletion of a segment and lengthening of another so as to
compensate for the deleted segment.
Syllable and sy llable related Issues were also treated. More specifically, basic
constituents of the syllable, types of the syllable, phonotactic constraints and
syllabificat ion processes in light of the Moraic theory were discussed. Following
Clements and Keyser (1983), Dorze is identified as type IV language where a vowel
alone can const itute a sy llable. Furthermore, the phonotactics of Dorze was also
discussed where onset is an optional element and is filled by only one segment while a
maximum of two consonants are allowed at syllable final position.
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Keywords
sy llable structure