Abstract
This paper aims to provide an overview of our current understanding of depressors by offering a comparative perspective of the types of depressors from Bantu, Khoisan and Chinese Wu. Depressor effects in Bantu/Khoisan, on the one hand, and Chinese, on the other, are hardly dealt with together leaving a more holistic approach untapped. This paper begins to bridge that gap by bringing together current findings to establish the full scope of depressor effects, from which future analyses can then build on. It is systematically observed that depressors in these languages are not restricted to voicing only. Rather, they range from voiced and breathy sounds – the most unmarked – to voiceless unaspirated sounds and even voiceless aspirated sounds as the most marked depressor type. The expansion of depressors to voiceless aspirated sounds is particularly interesting, since these sounds are traditionally assumed to correlate with a high pitch which is characteristic of high tone. Thus, the laryngeal configurations for voiceless depressors are examined and compared between Bantu, Khoisan and Chinese Wu. Proposed feature analyses for depressors are also discussed and compared.
Highlights
Depression refers to the phenomenon where some consonants exert a tone lowering effect on following vowels
This paper aims to provide a cross-linguistic overview of depression in terms of depressor types, laryngeal configurations, and feature specifications for depressors, based on data already reported in the literature
Being a Khoisan language, Tsua is distinctive from Bantu in having a large inventory of click sounds as depressors
Summary
Depression refers to the phenomenon where some consonants exert a tone lowering effect on following vowels. Such consonants are referred to as depressor consonants. The “low class” in isiXhosa involves voiced aspirants and voiced stops, which could lower tones on their following vowels. This phenomenon was later found in isiZulu (Doke 1926). Of particular interest is the laryngeal status of the marked depressors, which are normally associated with a high rather than a low tone.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.