20 May 2008

Bert Remijsen

Between-dialect comparisons on vowel length and tone in Dinka

Dinka is a Nilo-Saharan language with an unusually rich suprasegmental system (three levels of vowel length, lexical tone, two voice qualities). Previous studies (Remijsen & Gilley 2008, Remijsen & Ladd to appear) examined the phonology and phonetics of length and tone, respectively, in the Luanyjang dialect. In this talk I will present new data on length and tone distinctions in another dialect, Ageer. Comparisons between Ageer and Luanyjang reveal some constants but also divergence. Ageer Dinka has three levels of vowel length, just like Luanyjang. The two dialect diverge in an interesting way with respect to tone sandhi.

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