The Analysis of Lamba Height Assimilation in Government Phonology

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to explore phonological phenomenon in Lamba, one of Bantu languages, in terms of Government Theory (Kaye, Lowenstamm & Vergnaud 1985, 1990, henceforth KLV). Lamba height assimilation, of which the process turns a high suffixal vowel into a mid one when preceded by a mid vowel, is widespread among Bantu languages. This paper investigates the phenomenon of Lamba height assimilation in Government approach, in which it is proposed that syllables are bound together based on government relations. The first part of the paper describes the outline of theoretical assumptions on Government Theory, explicating some basic principles and representations. In order to have an explicit representational system for segments, this paper adopts the Government Theory based on segmental complexity proposed by Harris (1990). The second part focuses on the process of Lamba height assimilation with relevant examples and centers on analyzing the phenomenon in Lamba within this framework. Noting some problems which arise in Government Theory, I propose to analyze the phenomenon of Lamba height assimilation in Extended Government Phonology (Park, 1996; Park, H. & D. Michaels, 1997), which extends lexical representations in the Government framework along the lines of the Markedness Theory in the Syllable Structure approach.