Standard Yoruba phonemes and higher phonology

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Authors Foster, Rosalyn Marie, 1942-

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STANDARD YOROBA PHONEMESAND HIGHER PHONOLOGY

byRosalyn Marie Foster

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of theDEPARTMENT. OF ANTHROPOLOGY

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement For the Degree ofMASTER OF ARTS

In the Graduate CollegeTHE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

1 9 6 9

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of .the requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Libraryo

Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made0 Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or' the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed.use. of the material is in the interests ; of scholar ship In all other instances, however,permission must be obtained from the author *

SIGNED

APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on. the date shown below:

Associate Professor of Anthropology

PREFACE

This thesis is a result of an interest in the Yoruba language stemming from my first course in linguis ticSo Another linguistics course presented the opportunity to investigate the. higher phonology of the language6 While there are a number of articles in the literature on the phonemics of Yoruba there is nothing on the higher phonological patterns of speech This, along with the encouragement of my professor, led to the selection of this topic for my thesiso

A key to a good linguistic analysis is a good informante In this case, the informant was a 27, year old native Standard Yoruba speaker from Abeokuta, Nigeriao Although the dialect of the Abeokuta region, the Egba dialect, is not the Standard dialect, there is an enclave of Standard Yoruba speakers in Abeokuta, a result of migrations during the tribal wars of the last century0 It is from this enclave that the informant comes As a child Standard Yoruba was, and still is, spoken in the homec Outside the home he learned and spoke the Egba dialect with other children0 The informant has almost entirely forgotten this dialecto. He has had courses in Standard Yoruba in grammar and high schoolc

ill

With any investigation involving people there are a certain number of problems. In this case, the main problems stemmed from the fact that the informant was highly accul- turated to Western culture6. He was aware that many tradi- ,tional customs and beliefs did not conform to Western ways. He did not feel pride in his native heritage but rather spoke of some customs as funny8 or as only done by uneducated people in rural arease This feeling was also extended to Standard Yoruba to some degree. He was reluctant at times to give literal translations because they were not good English,8 He frequently prefaced his translations with a comment such as "well, in this context it could mean" and would then translate the utterance into good English,8 This led to problems in eliciting the slow forms of words used in the discourses and affected the quality of the translations. However, the translation itself does not affect the analysis of higher phonology although better translations are desirable,

I wish to express my gratitude to those who have assisted me in the writing of this thesis. First, to Peter Olu Ibigami, my informant, go many thanks for the time he freely gave because he wanted to help anyone interested in his country. To Dr,;Paul R, Turner, my thesis director,;goes appreciation for his guidance and for introducing me to linguistics. Lastly, to Dr, Keith Basso go

TABLE OF CONTENTS

le

II o

PageLIST O B BABLES o e o o e o * c > G O o o o o o o o o c e 6 e c i o o o < > V i 1 1LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS o o o o o o o o o o o o a * o o * * / o o o o o o ixABSTRACT " o o s o o RUONLNLOS o o o o e o . o o o o o & o o e ' O o o o o o o o o o o o o o & G & o G ' & e c e o Ioilo S^g^e^^al _ &

II I Con^ onao^s II I 2 Vo*w el e? o o o o 5I I 3 Res jlcIxxcl! .o

1*2 Suprasegmental Phonemes a***** 8X2X NasaXL ai 3on o 81*2*2* Ton e PBio n e r n e s o . o o o o 81*2*3* Res3= (3naX ' 8

1GH E R PNONOLOGY o XXIX * X * In cona u J, on o XXXX2 The SXXaX^Xe o o X2IX 3 The S ess Oxoxu.5 * X3II*4* Tjne Patxse Girou.p . ISxleS Tne B iceaLn Gx*oi3p o* 2011*6 The Phonological Paragraph a************** 22II * 7 The B x s0 0 1 3 .rse . o . 23

v%

viiTABLE OF CONTENTS Continued

e 27APPENDIX B: DISCOURSE 2 s YORUBA COURTSHIP

CLTw> r O l 4 S o o o o o o c u o o u o o o o o o o o o o o c G o o o e o o o o o o o o o o 4 0

COGOC't*OCG0&00000000 00

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page1. Number of Stress Groups..per Pause Group .O.oeeeo 172C Number of Pause Groups per Breath Group O

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page1 o C03fl'*3 O U a J n o o o o < 9 o e 6 e e o o e o o o 6 i e o e o o o o o o o o e o o ^

ABSTRACT

- Yoruba is the language of the Yoruba people of Southwestern Nigeria Standard Yoruba is derived from the Oyo dialect and is the language taught in the schoolsThis thesis consists of a phonemic analysis and an analysis ofithe higher phonology of Standard Yoruba There are twenty-six segmental phonemes, one phoneme of nasalization and three tone phonemes The phonemic _analysis is based on a list of seven hundred ninety-six utterances The analysis of higher phonology is based on two discourses, one a folk tale and the other a description of traditional Yoruba courtship customs There are six higher phonological units corresponding to six levels of analysis. These units are the syllable, the stress group, the pause group, the breath group, the paragraph and the discourse Each unit has phonological and/or paralinguistic characteristics The data for the phonemic analysis and the analysis of higher, phonology were supplied by one informant, a native speaker of Standard Yoruba

x

I. PHONEMICS

Standard Yoruba has 26 segmental phonemes, one phoneme of nasalization and three tone phonemes. This phonemic analysis is based on a list of 796 utterances,

I I.l. Segmental Phonemes

1.1.1. Consonantsp/b/ voiced bilabial stop e.l.a. [bd] to alight

(See Figure 1)./d/ voiced alveolar stop e.l.a.

[d] occurs before front vowels [d] occurs before back vowels [d] occurs elsewhere.

/g/ voiced velar stop e.l.a [cf] occurs before front vowels [?] occurs before back vowels [$go][g] occurs elsewhere. [g3]

Z^b/ voiced bilabial-velar stop e.l.a.'to take'/kp/ voiceless bilabial-velar stop e.l.a

C^-ae][d3][a&]

'a language'1 sound''to overturn'

'tree''bottle''to adjust1

[9bl]

[kPS] 'to kill'

1% [l] is low tone, [2] is mid tone and [3] ishigh tone.

2

(diI HH id Q)id 4J >+> id 1H p H r-lr$ CD id id id Hi-i 'P H a H id& 0 O 0 A 4Jfd H CD 0) id id 4DrH A > > r-l H 0H id H H m o

StopsSimple ,cp

b d g ^bAspirated th

FricativesSlitGrooved s s

Affricates jT

Laterals

Nasals rn n

Semivowels w

Flaps

Figure 1. Consonants

[th][th][th]

/th/ voiceless alveolar aspirated stop e.l.a. occurs before front vowels 1 aloof1occurs before back vowelsoccurs elsewhere. [t^s]

' to loosen1 1 to sell1

/ic*1/ voiceless velar aspirated stop e.l.a.[kh] occurs before front vowels

[kh] occurs before back vowels

[kh] occurs elsewhere

[!fhi]

i & h

[khI]

1 greet'1 axe11 to educate'* hoe1* count1

2 3[l*k^a] 1 fingers and

[fS]

[hd]

[sd]

[d]

ci][is]

toes1/f/ voiceless labiodental fricative e.l.a.1 to puli'/h/ voiceless glottal fricative e.l.a.1 reallyi1/s/ voiceless alveolar grooved fricative e.l.a.'to dry1// voiceless alveopalatal grooved fricative e.l 'to cut'/j/ voiced alveopalatal affricate e.l.a. fto fight1/!/ voiced alveolar lateral e.l.a.'to be rich'

/n/ voiced alveolar nasal e.l.a._ _ 2 3 n 2[gj occurs before bilabial-velars a.*0^b&J 'lizard1[i)] occurs syllable finally following

back nasalized vowels [s^Ol 1 to sleep*[n] occurs elsewhere. [n&] 1 straight1

/v?/ voiced bilabial semivowel e.l.a.[w&] 1 to dig*

/y/ voiced alveopalatal semivowel e.l.a.[yl] 'to give away *

/ r / voiced alveolar flap e.l.a.[f^] * to buy1 [f] freely varies with [r] and does notcontrast in unambiguous identical environments.

[^rl] - 1 friend*[2r2] - [I^a] thunder*2 2 2 2 [e*rn?] - [1 -irn ] 'meat*

Standard Yoruba has syllabic consonants, that is,consonants which may carry a different tone than adjacentsegments. Olmsted considers these consonants to be vowelsin certain circumstances, as he states M/m n rj/ are vowelsbefore a consonant, and consonants before a vowel" (Olmsted1951: 247). The data here analyzed provides the followingexamples $

1 2 2 [r}f< rn?] ' is-loving*2 3 *

[rjk fl] 'dying*3 2[ipbdj 'where*

1.1.2. Vowels/i/ voiced high close front unrounded vowel e.l.a.

[l] freely varies with [i] and does not contrast in unambiguous identical environments. (See Figure 2).

[^le] - [?*ll] 'land'[%^1*S3] - [t^?-sl] 'said'[fl-^isilk] - [fl*^h?sili*] ' listen'

'to beat or thump'/e/ voiced mid close front unrounded vowel e.l.a. 'on top' [.y&] 'place'// voiced mid open front unrounded vowel e.l.a.

P 2 2[th] 'to be tasteless' [iy] 'wing'// tends to be more tense and higher than the English / /

/a/ voiced low open central unrounded vowel e.l.a.This phoneme is articulated further foreward than theEnglish /a/, [ee ] freely fluctuates with [a] and does notcontrast in unambiguous identical environments.

[ j & ] - [j] 'to fight'[c& - [2^e] 'axe'[bS*yci ] - [bi*ya] 'if[9b] 'bang'/a / voiced mid open central unrounded vowel e.l.a.

[9b&] 'hear' [si ba] 'but'/o/ voiced mid open back rounded vowel e.l.a.

This phoneme is more tense and higher than the English /o/

High

Mid

Low

Close

Open

Close

Open

Close

Open

Front Central BackUnrounded Unrounded Rounded

i u

e o

Figure 2e Vowels

[t^] to educate* [l-vzo] 'skin*/o/ voiced mid close back rounded vowel e.l.a.

* never * [&no] * path *There is free variation between /o/ and /o/ in fast speech.

[*W3] - [8*wo] 1 child/u/ voiced high close back rounded vowel e.l.a.

2 [t**] * to loosen* [fti] ' flew*

1.1.3. ResidualOne phone [u] and its nasalized counterpart ] is

not handled in this analysis. The data are inadequate.The phonemic or non-phoncmic status of vowel length

is not handled in this analysis. In view of pattern pressure, long vowels are more parsimoniously treated as vowel clusters, [v v ] . In the data analyzed there is no evidence of unambiguous contrast between vowels of normal length and these clusters. Two complicating factors are involved, gliding tones, which occur with nearly all vowel clusters, and paralinguistic lengthening of primarily stressed vowels. The following pair of words demonstrates the problem: [.mr] *1* and [eemi] 'breath*. Olmsted (1951: 246) states that vowel length is phonemic, however, the present data neither rejects nor supports this conclusion.

1.2. Suprasegmental Phonemes

1.2.1. NasalizationStandard Yoruba has a phoneme of nasalization which

occurs with all vowels /y/. The following words containing nasalized vowels contrast with examples given in 1.1.2.

1.2.2. Tone PhonemesStandard Yoruba has level tones in three registers.

The registers are high [3], mid [2] and low [l], mid corresponding roughly to normal speaking voice. The high tone is quite high and at times comes close to falsetto while the low tone is quite low. The low and high tones are approximately equidistant from the mid tone. These three registers are relative, not absolute; a high tone in one utterance may, on a musical scale of pitch, be closer to a mid tone in another utterance. The following minimalpairs indicate that these level tones are phonemic:

j 2[r6] stir * [ro] 1 to hoe1 [r8] 1 sound* .

1.2.3. ResidualA gliding tone is defined as one which begins in one

1 many1

1 a type of bird

'it'

1 that'1 thigh'

'coconut'

tone register, may or may not cross the boundary of that tone with the adjacent tone and ends in the second tone register. Gliding tones occur on vowel clusters, however, not all vowel clusters have gliding tones. A vowel cluster may have the same tone for both vowels or have two different levels of pitch with little, if any, glide quality present.

Yoruba gliding tones have been analyzed in alternate ways. Olmsted states that there are three phonemic up- gliding and three phonemic down-gliding tones in the Ogbomosho dialect of the Oyo Province. The six glidingtonemes with his examples are as follows:

i/31. a low to high rising tone, /rb / 'stir it'2/32. a mid to high rising tone, /ro / 'hoe it'

3. a mid rising tone, /too / 'far away'3xi4. a high to low falling tone, /faa / 'spank12xL5. a mid to low falling tone, /le / 'able'2x2 2-6. a mid falling tone, /faa / 'shave it'

(Olmsted 1951$ 246-47).In contrast is Wolff's analysis, presented in a

text for learning to speak Yoruba. He refers simply torising and falling phonemic tones and analyzes many gliding tones in terms of Yoruba grammar. Since these tone alterations are predictable they are non-phonemic. He says, for instance, that:

10coThe object pronoun of the third person singular is a vowel identical with the stem vowel of the . verb...the stem vowel and the pronoun vowel are pronounced as one long vowel, not as two separate ones...after a high tone verb, the tone of the pronoun object is mid, resulting in a glide from high to mid, e.g. 3^ 3 2

/gee/ * cut it* /jbo/ 'burn it'(Wolff 1963s 60)....after a mid tone verb, the object pronoun vowel is high, resulting in a glide from mid to high, e.g. 2 3 0/3 . 3

/j / 'eat it1 /rdo/ 'hoe it' /Sue/'do it' (Wolff 1963: 61).

The data here analyzed tends to support Wolff'sanalysis, although not completely. Supporting evidenceincludes:

2^3 3\2[rdo ] ' hoe it' [mifq J 'bring it'i/2 '5 3 2[rob ] 1 stir i f [gee ] 1 cut i f

[*'0% ] 'wash if [fa"^ ' shave ifOn the other hand, the following utterances do not supportWolffs

[jft^] 'eat if [k-p&] 'kill if[^b^t] 'dry if

In view of this the status of gliding tones in unsolved and thus is a residual aspect of this analysis.

IIo HIGHER PHONOLOGY

The higher phonology of a language involves phonetic elements, both segmental and suprasegmental, and paralinguistic markers of the units of natural speech* The phonetic elements may include allophonic markers and intonation patterns for these speech units* Standard Yoruha lacks allophonic markers, however, there are predictable intonation patterns for the larger unitsc Paralinguistic markers include crescendo-decrescendo.of loudness, overload stress, pause, exhalation-ihhalation, lengthening of segments, hesitation forms, tempo and volume*

Standard Yoruba has six units of speech corresponding to six levels of analysis* They ares the syllable, the stress group, the pause group, the breath group, the paragraph and the discourse* These units may or may not correlate with grammatical units, aswill be indicated in the analysis*

1:1*1* Intonation In rapid speech the three register tones appear to

be generally compressed into three levels falling within the middle tone register* However, tones in the high and low registers do occur frequently in rapid speech* The compressed tones are referred to here as intonation and are

11

12like the three tonest roughly equidistant on a scale of musical pitch0 The three Intonation levels are A (lowest),B (mid) and C (highest)c

The apparent relationship between the tones in slow ' .speech and the intonation of rapid speech (a high tone generally becoming the highest intonation and a low tone thelowest), is not a one to one correlation ^ codas ,To be reads a syllable consists of an optional onset marker slot filled by plus an obligatory peak marker slot filled by plus obligatory tone filled by or intonation filled by plus optional stress filled by plus an optional coda marker slot filled by

13 < >

any consonant any vowel or the ii

CK 1 Aexcept [#, k=] following vowel m, k=] 2 B

clusters: [it. 3 Coo, eta, ai, io, u l , ue]

The CV patterns of phonetic syllables are six in number: CV, V, CVC, CVV, VC and VV, the preceding arrangement reflecting relative frequency of occurrence. When the peak carries primary stress it is frequently lengthened, however, this is an optional feature. The following are examples of the CV patterns.

CV V CVC CVV VC VV[f!] [8] [rfo] [thi ^ [!-k=] [s!1^[wl.] [I-] [w6k-] [kp ^ [8.0] [So

The final segment of the first discourse presents aproblem. This segment is [?.wajc] from the slow forms

? 2 1[ o 'it soak.' The [J] goes rapidly into voicelessness. In terms of perceptual cohesiveness of syllables there would seem to be a syllable division between [c(] and [j] which would result in a CC syllable.

II.3. The Stress Group The structure of the phonological stress group can

be demonstrated by the following formula:

14stress group = * onsets 4- peak: i coda:

^ secondary stress > crescendo- decrescendo: * boundary marker: .

To be read: a stress group consists of an optional onset marker slot filled by followed by an obligatory peak marker slot filled by followed by an optional coda marker slot filled by plus optional secondary stress filled by < > plus optional crescendo-decrescendo filled by plus an optional boundary marker slot filled by .

any syllable any primarily any form of ~ ?

stressed syl- crescendo- lable with decrescendo optional lengthening of syllable peak

The peak of crescendo and the onset of decrescendo falls on the primarily stressed syllable. As a result the crescendo-decrescendo patterns vary in form.

There are four types of stress groups; onset

15Stress groups are composed of from one to four

syllables. Of the 581 stress groups in both discourses,358 are two syllables, 142 are one syllable, 58 are three syllables and 1 is four syllables.

In rapid speech, loss of phones occurs. Most frequently the [v ] of a [cv] syllable is deleted when followed by a [vc] syllable. If the syllables [cv] and [VC] occur stress group finally and initially, the boundary is marked by an intervocalic glottal stop [v?v]. This marking of boundaries is supported by crescendo-decrescendo of loudness on the unit. An example of this is_ B _L*yitff?a**si*?cN*J. A glottal stop may precede vowel initial utterances.

Phonetic stress groups may or may not correspond to grammatical words. They may equal one word, for example 2 1[C v.le] (slow form [lle] 'land'). A stress group may correspond to two or more grammatical words, as in ^[f,bd\^b&] (slow forms [ b& ^b^ ] 'then took'). This is the

most common occurrence and may be related to the fact thatYoruba has a large number of monosyllabic grammatical words.A grammatical word may be split between two stress groups,however, this occurs much less frequently. An example is

< B 2 2 3[t^&**bi^l.*] (slow forms [t^a*bi 'or if).

II.4. The Pause Group A pause group is defined as an utterance bounded

by silence of varying degrees. It may contain from one to eleven stress groups. Table 1 shows the numerical relation ship between pause groups and stress groups, for example, the total data here analyzed included 21 pause groups which contained 4 stress groups.

The obligatory feature of a pause group, other than boundaries of silence, is minimally one overload stress [a a]. Optionally there is a syllable final drop in intonation or tone. Of the 160 pause groups in both discourses there are 44 exceptions to this drop in intonation or tone. These can be explained as follows? when the pause occurs in the middle of a grammatical sentence and/or when the final syllable of the final grammatical word has high tone, there may be higher intonation or the same intonation as the penultimate syllable. In addition, emphatic points in the discourse may carry higher or level intonation.

A second general characteristic is the tendency to lengthen pause group final vowels, exemplified by thefollowing:

[ / & & & / ] (slash lines within bracketsindicate pause not phonemes).

Thirdly, there is deletion of syllables, especiallyin pause groups containing three or more stress groups.There seems to be a correlation between number of stress

Humber of

Stress

Groups

per Pause

Grou

pTable le Number of Stress Groups per Pause Group

Total Number of Number of Pause Groups Number of Pause GroupsPause Groups in Discourse #1 in Discourse #2

1 12 6 62 45 .19 263 47 15 184 . 21 7 : ''145 18 6 , 126 17 5 127 5 1 48 3 2 19 2 ' 2 -10 2 211 2 2

N-pause groups = 161 N-pause groups = 63 N-pause groups = 97H-4

18groups and the amount of deletion; the more stress groups the greater the deletion. In some instances the syllables dropped are parts of grammatical words, for example, [9boJ from the slow form 8bo] 'bush.' In some instances monosyllabic grammatical words are deleted, such as,1 negative,1 [wl] 'them,' [&] 'he' and [-a] 'we.'

Two instances of deletion of words are of interestsince they may be evidence of the influence of English syntax. In the first discourse the slow forms given by the

1 1 3 ? ? p 3 i -jinformant are ba Ic o ni k^o rb m^] rain thenrefused (negative) to not (negative) then rain anymore.'In fast speech he deletes the second negatives

[ // 8 * o *kho *nu *b!*r // ].3 3 2 2 3 2In the second discourse the slow forms L5 b5 w sC*s& ftjrj

3 ? ? u? ? 3 2 2 ? 1bi 5eJd k $ t^debr *0 * 3 0 m^Ji] 'he will they work for aboutday one or day two,' in rapid speech are

< B >< B v6>< , B y&< C (?'< B A>[ / S *ba*S . fq.mVfM *j*k 6 *tha*bi *yo*m.*ji / ].The object [wg] 'they' is deleted thus making the utterance more similar to English syntax. The fact that the informant frequently was apologetic because Yoruba did not translate into 'good' English and consistently tried to give translations to fit the context rather than the actual meaning of the word offers some support to this suggestion.

A fourth common characteristic may be called

19phonetic alteration or substitution. Free variants are substituted in rapid speech, for example, [if a

20different word, sometimes with other hesitation forms in- between. For example, the informant translated the following segments

[ / 1& *hh9*nC e*? -r^nf^.mB.*ff / m&a^m^*r*^.*wf / ]as [n? ik^9 rnj I t^r ^b|rn| ml mj I*ra-V7 ] 1 is man and woman do will know themselves1 thus ignoring the [fi] and the repetition of [ma]

Pause groups correlate with both grammatical phrases and clauses and both may be included in one pause group.In the first discourse there are five instances where pause groups correspond to names of animals. There are several instances in the second discourse of pause groups corresponding to one or two grammatical words. This was a result of the informants uncertainty of the material. The informant transcribed both discourses in traditional orthography and inserted the punctuation marking grammatical units. These units were used as the basis of comparison of phonological and grammatical units.

II.5. The Breath Group A breath group is defined as a unit bounded by

silence during which inhalation occurs. A breath group contains from one to six pause groups. Table 2 shows the numerical relationship between pause units and breath units. For example, in the first discourse there are twelve breath groups containing one pause group each.

Table 2 e Number.of Pause Groups per Breath Group

Total Number of Number of Breath Groups Number of Breath Groups Breath Groups in Discourse # 1 . '' in Discourse #2.

1- 27 12 152 31 13 183 12 3 94 5 4 15' 2 26 ' 1 mm 1

N-breath groups = 78 N-breath groups = 32 N-breath groups .= 46

22The general characteristics of a breath group are

crescendo-decrescendo in terms of loudness and also, with long breath groups, increase-decrease in speede In 68 of the 78 breath groups in both texts the over loud stress falls on the penultimate or ultimate syllable* In four breath groups the first syllable is over-stressed, while it occurs medially in six groups c

The grammatical unit, as marked by the informant, most frequently corresponding to the breath group is the clause* Both discourses-are similar in this respect, however,. the second discourse has a large number of phrases corresponding to breath groups* This may be due to the informants relative uncertainty of the material in this discourse* Table 3 shows the grammatical unit to breath group relationship for both discourses*

Two breath groups end sentence medially at points not marked by punctuation* In addition there are three marked sentences which end breath group medially* In these instances, however, it is probable that inhalation occurred inaudibly and was not recorded*

IT*6*.The Phonological Paragraph A phonological paragraph is. a unit containing from

one to ten breath groups* Table 4 shows the relationship between breath groups and phonological paragraphs*

There are two loud-soft crescendo-decrescendo

Table 3. Grammatical Unit to Breath Group Relationship

Total Number of Breath Groups .

Number of Breath Groups in Discourse #1 Number of Breath Groups in Discourse #2

SentencesClausesPhrasesNamesUnmarked

20391612

1019111

102015

N-breath groups = 78 N-breath groups = 32 N-breath groups =? 46

tvw

Table 4 Number of Breath Groups per Paragraph

Total Number of Number, of Paragraphs Number of ParagraphsParagraphs ' in Discourse #1 in Discourse. #2 .

5 2 3i.

4 2 26 I 2 42 1 13 ' - . 3

1 - 1

1 1 ' -

N-paragraphs = 23 N-paragraphs = 9 N-paragraphs = 14

25patterns for the phonological paragraph. Both begin with medium loudness.. One pattern, of which there are 7 examples, increases steadily over two or more breath groups to a peak of loudness then decreases to a soft ending. The last paragraph of the first discourse and the three final paragraphs of the second discourse vary slightly from this pattern and will be discussed at the discourse level. The other 15 paragraphs have a pattern of rising to a peak of loudness in the first breath group or the first pause group then decreasing steadily to a very soft ending. One paragraph in the second discourse has two peaks of loudnesse

Another characteristic is syllable final low tone (15 examples) or low intonation (7 examples). One paragraph has mid intonation on the final syllable.

The informant did not consistently mark grammatical paragraphs in his transcriptions, especially in the second transcription. As a result, 14 of the total 23 phonological paragraph divisions occur at places unmarked for

grammatical paragraphs. However, 9 of 10 marked paragraph divisions concur with phonological paragraph divisions, the one exception being a grammatical paragraph division occurring phonological paragraph medially.

II.7. The Piscourse The-overall discourse is.characterized by increase

in speed or tempo from a relatively slow beginning.

26Towards the .end of the.discourse the tempo again slows hut does not become as slow as at the beginning. This is reflected by the fact that one pause group frequently corresponds to a breath group in the first part of both discourses but increasingly more pause groups are included in one breath group.

The first discourse has two parts, the first corresponds to the actual folk tale and the second consists of the last paragraphs The first part is characterized by a regular rise and fall in loudness correlated with the eight paragraphs it contains0 The last paragraph contains the moral or 6what the story teaches6 and has a generally overall sustained loudness and ends with'medium loudness* Each of these parts has one peak of loudness corresponding to the key point of the folk tale or moral*

The second discourse also has two parts, although they are not as distinctly different* The first 11 paragraphs exhibit the same rise and fall of loudness* The final three paragraphs have relatively flat contours, primarily of medium loudness* These paragraphs describe an alternate means of 1courtship-respects1 that of working for the family of the bride*

APPENDIX hi , DISCOURSE. Is "THE LAND AND GOD"

The first discourse is a traditional Yoruba folk tale. The narrative style tends to be somewhat conventionalized and the tale itself was slightly modified by the informant for recording. This tale is usually told in the setting of a family gathering and the whole family participates. One person narrates but certain portions are chanted by the.whole group and portions of the tale may be enacted by the children of the family. For the recording the chanting was replaced by narration. The tale has two parts, the first is the actual story and the second, the moral it teaches.

In both discourses certain symbols are used to mark paralinguistic qualities. For the overall crescendo- decrescendo of loudness for an utterance, a curve is plotted within three dotted lines above the line of text. These lines are marked L (Loud), M (Moderate) and S (Soft). Other symbols used include for inhalation, [a /\] for over loud stress, [v v] for oversoftness, [-< -- >-] for decreased tempo. Phonological paragraphs are marked by [

28Both diseourses are presented as follows, first,

the.rapid speech as recorded on tapee This is the first line of t y p e . Second, the slow forms Of the words in the utterance is contained in the second line of type. Finally,the third line of type is the English translation, assupplied by the informant. As in the preceding pages, asterisks mark syllable division and slash lines indicate pause. The relative duration of pause is indicated by the number of slash lines and instances of very short pauses are marked by a fractional number above the slash line [/]. In a few instances long pause groups have been split intotwo lines of type. These are marked by a hyphen.

in day one, Land and God they were making friend^

A A A.A" A A

w| * lo*s^ .*?. *kho* ? *d^ * // w| o . *d! *thl. *t;hL-thi /2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 16 si 6ko 6de 2 2 3 2 2$V7$ s6 5*gl ,3 .3t S. t ithey went to field hunter, they make hunting long

AA A Av:1! *khC Ad fetrB- *kpa. /

|wl lchI A I - t n l kplthey not do animal kill except rat (type of) one.

I * fCv ?A *khul. * kh| ///

.f i.khu-l.ml kh|

M,

C>< B>

30L,M,S

A A j, V " A - - A J.

nB B A 3*'1B . f ,, "% ,A^,B A^.B a, f . .5 * 1 o*ri)I)*3.6 *t;i)* 1 e*9b,. // l . *le*lo*^'j;yle-*9b^ //Lloryg ni n? L gbl L i e nl 2(h$ nl L gb|GIT God said he is elder, Land said he is elder.

v -A ~ A A *-A

f *lo*r^/;*lS-*un*ll'*9b| // L*le^lo. *^15*1 1 .*^^ //Llo^yQ n? 2Ci;| n? L9b? L i e n? 26y^ n L &.9b%God said he is elder, Land said he is elder?

A A " ~ AD R Q 7?^ Rv.le*ba *9b&*khue *ba. *^be*sa "*lo //

2 2 sd*lo?*le bl ^b! l*k*\i-6*moLand then carry rat (type of) away

A A V V -A &* *$V'Lb eb^ 6nCtb^ * 61 // ^ * * kho na. lVb r3rp..

31then rain anymoreL.......... .....M,S,

BA A

9b5.*9ho*?e*we*)cho / l^Tj*k^d /[fl] gbo bo e*v7ek^o n5 0 ^k^u 1?G

k^o s? f^y la*^r mgno is water for them to drink

32

"A (click)^ 3 f*" n B B 3 B k*9bo*9b6.A.?av7*er*^*kh6*wa*?a*9bi*m^ * jo //

[17] 9b&9bo I.w^ -rn^k^d wa ^bi.m^ j5Gff all they animals come deliberate together

A A* A A A A

- *wl* *wf*yb * 0 * ?? *b^o /

2 2 v/S kpi clw $ y2o S -bothey come say that they will do sacrifice?

2 2i./3

LM.S'

A *~A VV5 A b* B B B* B B B /?"wg *wa *tni *o* 9bo * 1 o * s5 * do * lo * rg. fj

s-i % 3 ,a $ ? < a a

/

3 i 2 1sl a.do o-loryQthey will get who will take away to place God

M n ^ S

A A V- -V< r>< , n A f&h "*?&"*JU*hI.*11*23 ////

&Jo bi lE roso-that rain do will rain.

Eil] ^ jvakhuml i 9b! |.9blGff v/ild-dog he took sacrifice.

2 22 26 9bGe 15he took-it away,

L,M,SA ~ A -V A A A A

I.^Jo^kbo.^r^ // t- ,.fkhgij / o be.*?a*9h^ /

&*jo kh gr] ^khiijrain not rain. tiger

2 2 2 26 9bG g.9b3he took sacrifice.

A A ^ A A

2 2 2 1 1 h2 1 6* 9b 15 6*jo k 6he took-it away rain not rain

A " A

M ^eJakpa tortoise

A "A /V*9be

A* A A - - A V- V- ^

9bi ibo &. 9bi 1 jo kho $he took sacrifice, he took-it away rain not rain.

34

MiS....A A Af r> R A/ o**9be*?a*9bo*13 /

[IT] I ' d 8 9bl. I.gbD lihawk, he took sacrifice away

35L.M." O- f*, ,f h,, , itf

A /\ -A -

[tt] ithl ?*cj^ th3 &l i f i I thS hi L b i ^ i gb! |.b2before vulture is come, before he is from place he took

M,S,

- < A A wAA A*?.*l*^ee*?C)*jo*ba.*ro /

li &.Jo bl rJsacrifice away come rain then rain,L,M,

A A A A AA~*vV\v^k 9? ^ .. ^h8 B ^ B A>*jo*KpSi.*?0.*^y,v^b. // Sni. * i;m,vba *v;a * 1 fie: /

1 1 2 2 2 ?Oe JO ^ p a $ 6 *

rain bit vulture return.

h2 2 2, 3 2 2 3t f f*cryig ba V7) i-leif vulture then enter house

L M*S..../V ~A

2 2 , 2 3G*yc khL nibird one

36L,MiS,

A **v\

th,bl. *nC)5hf^f l i C y ^ l c b l g *si-

t;hI bl kpl !(.h f ij |y laiy51 h? % 2!5 3ishi tiijig S$yif he then say that they give him space? that he sleeps,

v- -v

pv?f 1 wS.kpl Siye L i e ^hl khyythey will say space house is full.

/

y\~ -"A ~>

3 26 15 2 2 1 si 5.do 2 2, 3 Ja,cpahe went to place tortoise.

B B> kh6.*sr*yi.v,2 3 2>l!s 1k6 si aiyeno is space

*/

L,M,S,

A -v\

^ . lCs* jS *khyy /2 2 3 2 1 2 , 26 15 si 5.dohe went to place tiger

A Aafh!5>< 7-JB D: )

37LM,S "VWVv ~~V~'9~V~TT~S"

A vA A~ Aie*Jo^b?i.*kp5i^?e. *yf^bS *be^s*ro" //

^ Jo bl kpa eg^y 9b6% o iye ri bl bl*r s? rain then bit vulture all feathers his then started to soak.

S.A ~A A A

I.^^ba^rSe" / B*ba^fyj5Affy //2 2 2 * d'^baZl r] baforehead his became whitish,

M

A A

BO*?u?*L*thii'*y8-*khC ?I * k- ftkpi- /

Orr] ?*t^a y? 2 k^o wa wl*kG

38L.HxrS.

n Q n ^ a n ^ XXn z-i ^ c 'x~ jdf5i*yf *sl *? *gba *t^lo*2fuAba *?a * *ro //

fl 2&i?e s^-lc f i) Lgba^h'i &.j-A to! m| ragive space-allouance for the-time rain is to rain.

"rrxr-vrtnrvrvv-o-crV. o

A ~ A

O C p|

A y\*n w/\ A

khl *lf^khu 4khl *kh *lCwa /

l..llthat we build house our before,k*1! I k ^ f.le v/k s$le

L,M, S,

A A V- -VR R Cxn R (I A 3i^.ba* *66 *3o*^hlf *ro*k^o >vbS *li*rx*?uc *bu.*fi //

ni.%a^hi L j o kh6 Lthi rl k ^ I bl ll r? I-wI b 6 Hwhen rain not has rain, that we will get to leaf head*L,M,S,

A Al n*tho*r?*?o *yi*n?.

n b t ho d L y x n?because this of

A A

vulture

w tr*

A A A A

nl l.f! rl sl kp2sl ' ll.thoni 10is head his is bald from-today on

/

A A

^**?i*yE*dB.*8i*da*b^*nik=*kp^.^?0.^wa*^# // ]ni2 2 3 ?< 3 2 3 3 2. 3 2 2 1n *ye r& si dahi g.ni^pe 6 w&.^iis feather his is resemble as-if it soak

APPENDIX Bg DISCOURSE 2 g i!YORUBA COURTSHIP CUSTOMS'1

The second discourse is a description of traditional Yoruba courtship customs According to the informant these customs continue to be practiced in rural.areas but have di6d out in the citiesc He learned of these customs from his parents and has studied traditional Yoruba, customs in schoolo However, he has never observed or participated in these customs himself. As a result, he was relatively unsure of the material and had a set of notes which he occasionally referred to while the discourse was recorded. This accounts for some of the repetition and long pauses in the discourseo

40

41

A A>/3xC 2/ R 1?* n g A[a.*&a*?l**9bee*?a.*wo*nl*?i.*le*yu.&r/\*ba.

3 y2a sacustom

L,M,

I 2 2/3 2L .gbe-S wo marriage

n: 2 i 3 2 3 .I*le yu.rAbain land Yoruba.

4//

< _ X

[17] -l?h9 r4Gil before man

M,S,

A - A,B1?

A A

*

42

M.-t-

A A

th&t *b. * f C ? S . *b| r * nf> /

thI % bl f? S-blrnlif he is see woman

A A > - - A > - ^< P 3 3 B C C ^t ci *bc *?*b^r*n^*?^*da*da /

ml I if 1-yA ll vl Ldill l.w? l.mlb|rnlthey will send people to-go look family they girl

3 ?>3^2y^ daadathat thorouglily,

43

A /\ ~ AX A> 4fhP b b ,b bc> y 6 3 ^ b .b ,b ^ a .k"0**v7a*3..\*ma->vbuv.ya / a.r*nu*wq.*ni*di*le.*w^. /

h? 2 2 2 ^ 2 2 1 1 3 2 2, 2 3 2Jch z>w le bo yea a rn . wa n i .dils w?BO~that they will know if disease is in family their,

M

A** A AA.**"AA ^

/ ' S - . b S ' s C /

thl.bi rr*\ $ h . a h lor they are fighters,

A"A -> - > A~*'A ft^a *bS i * ?i ?*?r * na.vv; *k^S r*d /

thi.bi L 4 w| |th6 dlof family their is bad.

L,M,S,

A ~ A j>^ p p o '*' pt l * ravfmo*ba *da *ra /

[4%] t^l ?r^ bl dl faif family their is good,

they will let the people house that know that 'well'

A A A "A 3> -A **A^ 3 3> g g X 9 ]>fe.*f e* / d * m d .V7 d . .;.b %.r*n^*?o. /

. 3 2 2 2 3 ^2^3 2 2 2 2, 2 2kp o*m^ w$ o* fge*fe 6*m^ w^ 6.b$rn%that child their he wants-to~marry child their female.L . . . .M,S,

A A A A

tho Aba* ?1 Arn ]ch9 r* lo*k"hS *k^,.,r^ -

g"f] t *? em^lch^rn^ nl E k^J-k^1? i:ZGlT if it is the-boy is he first seeL.c....... ..................................M.TTTT: .......

, *b|r nf^f * ra * J l /

|.m^4rnic f b t l f|the-girl by himself,

/\ < X X ^X JX x >I * so* fv| *b? n* 1 *lcpe* ?

cn s: r

co & r

co tr*

co s tr*

46

| h6 ^ 9 ^ A B>rfe*lo *ri*?i *ya*wo - *re /2 2,2 1 3 3 2 v3 2 2 3 1oin khqrnj. ba lo rl *yawo r&boy to want go see wife his.

e # 9 9 9 o e o e e e e r. ^ c o e

A "A > At* A| h

co tr*

% vB>< G ^ 9 J^< & vuajo* so*ro*wa*jo*so*ro /

3 2 *1so rothey will together talk

U 1 sI.fDthey will together talk

.*9bA*m3*kh^ r*n^*yi*k^u*9bA.*dA~2 3 2 2 , 2 1 3 ^2 3 2g"Q &(i*9bA 5m^k^rn.j yl kh6 ^bX.dA

but boy this not must

MiS

k A V ~ -V +< 2k im i i?< B B * wa * nu * lee*7ci* *w^ *mo**b$r*ni*?% //2nu 2 ^3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3wa i*nu I ele a-v? 5 m^b^rn^. yl

come inside house their girl this,

A A AI v.lCfmS. . *lCr ,-thf /

?6 ^ ,a l3 rf.fl n? L Whe be may go they be may see them in outside.

cost-4

CO S r

CO s

co s tr*

48

A

5 fclox /2 2 2 2 3o*m^b^rn4 nagirl the

A A A *"A^ p G>< B g>*yB*ru *ba- //

n L thori l.lodts? a-Ka yS-rAbabecause it-is-against custom Yoruba.

49

*A - A - *kh$. *mf^fo* jC..khB * ju / / /2 2 2 2 2 .3 2 2 2 , 2 2&*wa k^ f6 juk^djuthey will want to them sce-face-to~face.

$ B* a *wg %/A

^ C IjL * til 3* *L.'

- A

&*?3 ,vhh9r*nf" //; 2awQ 2 ,2 2 D.kh9rn^the family boy,

* v

A " A A A

/ d.*y% / I"*9 0*yi*me.*Ji /2 2 ; 3 2 3 2 1 2 3 2 ^ 1ijiw a mij o*y^ i*go o*y^ me j 1they will take honey bottle honey two,

L..s..

A A A*' ~ A< >< _>< ^ V . , ^ ^ I'lj>< B>

corstT*

r1

cn r

WSf*

i n l L b i b? i.go/ithey will have kola-nuts about forty,

a A A A A /\ j>C B fP % B J ?v/q *ni*?6*fo*9bo / bf*?6**go*Ji //

2 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 25 ni 6 ro9bo bi 6goJithey will have bitter-kola about forty.

I..

A A ~ ~/v\ A ~ A j>

v?| ^*1 iVJo'i-bl r j,. nf"v, ?a llth ;tkhQ r*n| /2 2 2 2 g 2 v3 ?, 2 ? ^2 ?IT] i wd 6b$rn%

cosnr*

co s tr1

co 5: r

co s M

52

AA~ AA /\ /A% BC>< C . C >

co 5: r

co ir'

he v/ants-to-marry child their girl*

M,S,

/V*~/\ A * A A " " A

/ %.*gS*?8.*thi / m.*Ji /

[17] 1 fgij w| nl igo d't^i m6jiG T" they will give them the bottle drink two,

A A A A

g^* ? Z *ml ,. jfi / 6o*o*^S*?a#*t^o*b^T /2 1 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 , 3 2 1I'CfO 6*y^ ml*5i 6 ro^bo a t;- i 6bibottle honey two, bitter-kola and kola-nuts,

yvA -a a a AR .

to f

to t*

to tr*

to r

54

# * * # * * e o e e e o e e e *

6 >< b j?< AA g g g k c i?v-vj qi be* *si *so *ro*waa*de*sa*du .*ra*fyg*w^ * *Kpee /

%% I bi.fl s! S.fa VV7 I bi.re e l d l - d v lthey will start to talk, they will start to say prayers

A-w

v-vj W| khl s-icriy ji.khi i-4 jifor them, that God might them be

55L,M,S,

A ** A 'A A /A yA |tho*kho^%hi.*yaf / da * dC, kho * * kho * & i *wa. * lo * rS" //.2 , 2.2 1 2 1 .2 2 2 1 .2 2 2 3 2 1t6 k^othlya da da l

1 >i ? \maa*mu.r*a**wQ /

3 & 2 % 2ma mp a rawqwill know themselves.

cn 3? r

cntr*

cn r

from time this on man betrothed.

6 ^ < 8 B \ / < ! ? ^ V ^ >

if he to want do work one,

rrrrrrTTTv@ o L'v* z " # * *

/\ A A A A " A A A A ~ A 3>hB ^ 33 B>< hB ^ 33 ^ c hB;?*bi iA6 Akno.A. 1 d*f *u*trLa*,ft:bo*f *miv*ri*?o Vrknue /

2 2 J2 2 ?, 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 . 2 1bi 6kho 16 f 6 t ci*bi 6 mijL*re 6k^o fe

if farm will want weed or he wants harvest farm his

A Aknq, /f ^ C 1?< BB f I?< hB ^ %5^r6,.^L. . av.na*?oi?^5*m^1c"qr^ni

M..

2 3 2 3 3 2 1 I 2 h2 gS r/ i s si a no re 5k"qrn^he send message to in-law his male

A A A A A A ^>< B r B C }?,< B >< C 3 >< < cpe *k u*waar*na * 1 o*wo *li*ba *{- *^6 *f^ y*bx*?o *se*k q /

kpl.khi 6 w! rij.low^ 6 ll bi ^?.^e bi se kh|that he come help, he may do work for about week one

58LM,S

hl_Jor

A A *< c B hJ>,,fq.m*bi*je .*m*tna /3 3 2 2 * 3 h2bl S'J? ml.tha

for about day three.L,M,S,

AA-- A A A A< R z < r >< R ^ < r ? < c R f>< o 3^< > %t h6 *ba * da * j fe * kp e*b6 *y a * ? I * 1 e * nu * ?I * f E a * Jch6 /

h2 3 2 2 2 v 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 ,3[qj] % 1 6*ba dg j -^pe b6ya *le n w$ f k"oif it is that if house is they want build

It"

A ~ ~ A A - A

f *se Kpee a wu da.nothey may send for-him, he will render-courtesy

L,M,S,

A A/3> k

l3.*lS$*?%.*9b6o /3 2 22 ^ I 2 2nie~alai ^ba 6*wo

without receive money

59L .................................. ..................................M .....................................................................s . T 7 ..... ......... .... ....... .........

A A6 (?< B >

REFERENCES

OLMSTED, . DAVID L1951 The Phonemes of yoruba,, Word, Volc 7, No* 3,

Part 3, pp 245-49F New York*

WOLFF, HANS1963 Beginning Yoruha0 African Studies Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing*

60