Abstract
This paper analyzes the musical surrogate encoding of Seenku (Mande, Burkina Faso) syllable structure on the balafon, a resonator xylophone used by the Sambla ethnicity. The elements of syllable structure that are encoded include vowel length, sesquisyllabicity, diphthongs, and nasal codas. Certain elements, like vowel length and sesquisyllabicity, involve categorical encoding through conscious rules of surrogate speech, while others, like diphthongs and nasal codas, vary between being treated as simple or complex. Beyond these categorical encodings, subtler aspects of rhythmic structure find their way into the speech surrogate through durational differences; these include duration differences from phonemic distinctions like vowel length in addition to subphonemic differences due to phrasal position. I argue that these subconscious durational differences arise from a “phonetic filter”, which mediates between the musician’s inner voice and their non-verbal behavior. Specifically, syllables encoded on the balafon may be timed according to the perceptual center (p-center) of natural spoken rhythm, pointing to a degree of phonetic detail in a musician’s inner speech.
Highlights
For linguists studying musical surrogate languages, the main question of interest is which linguistic features get encoded into musical form and how? Many older studies of surrogate languages, written largely by anthropologists or ethnomusicologists, contain general statements on the connection between spoken and musical language (e.g. “drums encode tone and speech rhythm”) with no further explanation
This paper explores these questions by looking at segmental encoding strategies on the Sambla balafon, a West African resonator xylophone used among the Seenku-speaking population of southwestern Burkina Faso
I will briefly lay out the pertinent background information on Sambla balafon music and Seenku phonology, which will set the stage for an analysis of segmental encoding
Summary
For linguists studying musical surrogate languages, the main question of interest is which linguistic features get encoded into musical form and how? Many older studies of surrogate languages, written largely by anthropologists or ethnomusicologists, contain general statements on the connection between spoken and musical language (e.g. “drums encode tone and speech rhythm”) with no further explanation. Namely CVN (nasal codas) and CVV (diphthongs) are variably treated as complex In addition to these conscious encoding strategies, syllable structure and speech rhythm more broadly influence the Sambla balafon surrogate in subtler subconscious durational differences that closely mirror spoken language. This range of encoding behavior—categorical, variable, gradient—can shed light on the phonetic and phonological structure of the spoken language, and what speakers know about that structure. Discussion discusses the results in light of the phonetic filter and p-centers, and Conclusion concludes
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