Dissertation Research: Consonantal Effects on Tone in Musey

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ABSTRACT In Musey, a Chadic language of northern Cameroon and southwestern Chad, the initial consonant of a word constrains the possible tone patterns which a word may exhibit. The nature of this relationship appears to be different from cases of tonal dependence on consonants attested in other parts of the world. Furthermore, the connection between the initial consonant and the tone pattern of a word is especially unclear in Musey because the phonetic nature of many of the contrasting consonants is itself obscure. This dissertation project will analyze the tone system and investigate the relationships between consonant type fundamental frequency, and tone in Musey. Fieldwork will be conducted in Northern Cameroon. The student will examine tone in Musey and then construct and record the materials for a series of acoustic, aerodynamic, and perceptual experiments. The data collected will be analyzed in the field using portable phonetic instrumentation; supplementary analyses will be conducted at the UCLA Phonetic Laboratory as well. This study will provide a comprehensive analysis of the Musey tone system, with particular attention given to consonantal effects on tone. The phonetic experiments will determine the phonetic characteristics of an obscure consonantal contrast and examine the phonetic effects of these consonants on fundamental frequency. The phonetic analyses will provide new data leading to reconsideration of the interdependence between phonetic and phonological effects of consonants on fundamental frequency and tone and the implications for a theory of the synchronic and diachronic relationships between consonants and tone.