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Difference between revisions of "Typological Features Template for Akan"

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|Vowels in Akan are described here under five headings: oral, nasalised, and long vowels, diphthongs, and vowel harmony (or vowel combinations across syllables).
 
|Vowels in Akan are described here under five headings: oral, nasalised, and long vowels, diphthongs, and vowel harmony (or vowel combinations across syllables).
 +
The table below shows an overview of the vowels in the language.
 +
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
 +
|-valign="top"
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|width="20%"|'''Orthography'''
 +
|width="20%"|'''Phonetic Symbols'''
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|width="20%"|'''+ATR'''
 +
|width="20%"|'''-ATR'''
 +
|-valign="top"
 +
 
 +
|i
 +
|i
 +
|i
 +
|
 +
|-valign="top"
 +
 +
|e
 +
|ɪ/e
 +
|e
 +
|ɪ
 +
|-valign="top"
 +
 +
|ɛ
 +
|ɛ
 +
|
 +
|ɛ
 +
|-valign="top"
 +
               
 +
 +
|a
 +
|æ/a
 +
|æ
 +
|a
 +
|-valign="top"
 +
 +
 +
     
 +
|ɔ
 +
|ɔ   
 +
|
 +
|ɔ
 +
|-valign="top"
 +
 +
|o
 +
|o/ʊ
 +
|o
 +
|ʊ
 +
|-valign="top"
 +
 +
|u
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|u
 +
|u
 +
|
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|-valign="top"
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|-
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|}
  
  
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'''B. Nasalised Vowels'''
 
'''B. Nasalised Vowels'''
  
−
Nasalisation  in Akan can be contrastive: as a result of assimilation nasality can spread to following vowels. There are five nasalised vowels in Akan;t and they are: ἶ, ĩ, ã, ῦ, and ũ   
+
Nasalisation  in Akan can be contrastive: as a result of assimilation nasality can spread to following vowels. There are five nasalised vowels in Akan; and they are: ἶ, ĩ, ã, ῦ, and ũ   
  
 
  Example 4:
 
  Example 4:
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                                                 (Dolphyne 1988:4)         
 
                                                 (Dolphyne 1988:4)         
  
−
In tha Akan word below; the nasal [ŋ] spreads to the sounds following it.
+
In tha Akan word below; the nasal [ŋ] spreads to the sounds following it including the vowel [a].
  
 
             nkwa:  /ŋ̃kʷã/ - 'life'
 
             nkwa:  /ŋ̃kʷã/ - 'life'
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'''C. Long Vowels'''
 
'''C. Long Vowels'''
−
Vowel lengths can determine meaning . Akan othography represents long vowels by doubling the letter that represents the vowel.
+
Long vowels can determine meaning. Akan orthography represents long vowels by doubling the letter that represents the vowel.  
 +
 
 
   Examples 5:
 
   Examples 5:
  
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|}     
 
|}     
  
−
It can also be mentioned here that all the oral vowels can be lenghtened. And all nasalised vowels except the unadvanced high front vowel [ɪ], can be lengthened. This is indicated by the examples below. The asterisks are on vowels that can be nasalised.
+
The following table represents which Akan vowel can be lengthtend and which ones can be nasalised.
  
 
   Example 6:
 
   Example 6:
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|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
 +
 
'''D. Diphthongs'''
 
'''D. Diphthongs'''
 
As can be seen in example 7, the verb 'dae' has the vowels [a] and and [ɪ] articulated by the tongue gliding from the central part of the mouth to the middle front part.  
 
As can be seen in example 7, the verb 'dae' has the vowels [a] and and [ɪ] articulated by the tongue gliding from the central part of the mouth to the middle front part.  
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Example 7:
 
Example 7:
 
           <Phrase>8704</Phrase>
 
           <Phrase>8704</Phrase>
−
 
−
 
  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|Vowel harmony
 
|Vowel harmony
 
|  
 
|  
−
The harmony of vowels is defined as the restriction on the occurence of certain vowels in the same word. In the production of Akan vowels, the position of the tongue determines whether a vowel has the feature "advanced tongue root" or "retracted tongue root", +ATR and -ATR respectively. The + Advanced Tongue root vowels are produced by pushing the root of the tongue forward. For the production of the unadvanced tongue root vowels. The root of the tongue is retracted or pushed backward.
+
Akan has +ATR and -ATR vowels:
−
 
+
         
 
             Set A(+ATR) [i, e, æ, o, u]
 
             Set A(+ATR) [i, e, æ, o, u]
  
 
             Set B(-ATR) [ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ, ʊ]
 
             Set B(-ATR) [ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ, ʊ]
  
−
This feature places restrictions on the occurrence of vowels from set A and set B. Most Akan words have vowels from either set A or B.
+
The +ATR and -ATR vowels can not co-occur. There should be harmony in the occurence of the vowels in the same word, meaning that vowels of one set (either +ATR or -ATR) can co-occur. The +ATR vowels are produced by pushing the root of the tongue forward and the -ATR vowels on the other hand, are produced by pushing the root of the tongue backwards. Example 8 shows some Akan words where there is harmony of vowel as a result of the advanced tongue root restriction.  
  
 
  Example 8:
 
  Example 8:
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|}
 
|}
  
−
So the vowels can be paired as below; those on the left +ATR and on the right -ATR. The front vowels are produced with the front, the central, the center of the tongue and the back, the back part of the tongue.
 
−
         
 
−
            '''Front    Central  Back'''
 
−
            i/ɪ      æ/a    o/ɔ
 
−
            e/ɛ              ʊ/u
 
  
 
Harmony Exceptions:
 
Harmony Exceptions:
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|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
−
We can see from the above examples that vowels /a/ occurred with the advanced vowels /i, u, o/ and /ɛ/ which is also -ATR, occurred with +ATR vowel /i/.
 
  
  
−
The table below shows an overview of the vowels in the language.
 
−
 
−
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
|width="20%"|'''Orthography'''
 
−
|width="20%"|'''Phonetic Symbols'''
 
−
|width="20%"|'''+ATR'''
 
−
|width="20%"|'''-ATR'''
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
 
 
−
|i
 
−
|i
 
−
|i
 
−
|
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
 
−
|e
 
−
|ɪ/e
 
−
|e
 
−
|ɪ
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
 
−
|ɛ
 
−
|ɛ
 
−
|
 
−
|ɛ
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
               
 
−
 
−
|a
 
−
|æ/a
 
−
|æ
 
−
|a
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
 
−
 
−
     
 
−
|ɔ
 
−
|ɔ   
 
−
|
 
−
|ɔ
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
 
−
|o
 
−
|o/ʊ
 
−
|o
 
−
|ʊ
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
 
−
|u
 
−
|u
 
−
|u
 
−
|
 
−
|-valign="top"
 
−
 
−
|-
 
−
|}
 
  
 
In summary, these are the vowels and their names in Akan:
 
In summary, these are the vowels and their names in Akan:

Revision as of 07:59, 6 April 2010

By Lilian Haugereid

Feature Description
Phonological Features In the following I will describe the phonological inventory of Akan and the features that its dialects share. Some of these dialects are Asante, Fante and Akuapem as well as Bono. Dialects of Akan are mainly characterized by phonological differences, but other difference can also be described. The account we are providing here is directed towards a description of the grammatical features that all dialects of Akan share.
Vowel Inventory Vowels in Akan are described here under five headings: oral, nasalised, and long vowels, diphthongs, and vowel harmony (or vowel combinations across syllables).

The table below shows an overview of the vowels in the language.

Orthography Phonetic Symbols +ATR -ATR
i i i
e ɪ/e e ɪ
ɛ ɛ ɛ
a æ/a æ a
ɔ ɔ ɔ
o o/ʊ o ʊ
u u u


Oral Vowels

Akan has 9 or 10 oral vowels, depending on the dialect: [e,ɔ,a,o,ɛ i,u,ɪ,æ,ʊ ]. Vowel [æ] is only used in the Asante and the Akuapem dialects. So you can see from the example below that, where Akuapem and Asante use [æ] Fante uses [e]

Asante/Akuapem Ph.Trans Asante/Akuapem Fante PH.Trans Fante English
ani /æni/ enyiwa /enyiwa/ 'eyes'


In the orthography, the letters e and o represent two contrastive vowels each: e represents both [e] and [ɪ], and o represents both [o] and [ʊ].

For example 1:

Akan Ph.Trans English Akan Ph.Trans English
te(w) /tɪ(w)/ 'to tear' kɛsi /kɛsɪ/ 'big'
fie /fie/ 'home' esiw/esie /(esiw)(esie)/ 'ant hill'
to(w) /tʊw/ 'to throw' horo /hʊhʊ/ 'to wash'
obi /obi/ 'someone' ako /ako/ 'parrot'

NB"Ph.Trans" refers to phonetic transcription.

As can be seen from example 1 above, the vowel e in orthography represents vowels /ɪ/ and /e/, and the vowel o represents /o/, and/ʊ/.

Example 2a
Bosome aso
“The month has ended”
Bosome
bosome
monthSBJ
N
aso
aso
beUp
V


Example 2b
Me tu kwan bronya yi
“I will travel this christmas”
Me
me
meSBJ
PN
tu
tu
takeFUT
Vtr
kwan
kwan
travel
N
bronya
bronya
christmasOBJ
N
yi
yi
thisDEF
DEM


The two sentences above examplify the two contrastive vowels [e]=/e,ɪ/ and [o]= /o,ʊ/. They can be transcribed respectively as follows: 

      2a. /bʊsʊmɪ asʊ/
      
      2b. /me tu kwan bronya yi/

So in any written Akan text, you will find some of these 7 vowel letters: i e ɛ a ɔ o u, used in the Akan sentence below.

Example 3:
Esi bɛkɔ owura no hɔ
“Esi will go to the gentleman”
Ési´
Esi
esiSBJ
N
bɛ́kɔ́
bɛ́kɔ́
FUTgo
V
oˋwuˋraˋ
owura
gentlemanOBJ
N
noˋ
no
DEF
DET
hɔ´
hɔ
thereDXSDIST
PN


In example 3, we have the occurrence of all 7 vowel letters in Akan. It can also be mentioned here that the vowels carry tone(s). This will be discussed later under "Tone", However, the two different sets of Akan vowels based on ATR is discussed under "Vowel Harmony" below.

B. Nasalised Vowels

Nasalisation in Akan can be contrastive: as a result of assimilation nasality can spread to following vowels. There are five nasalised vowels in Akan; and they are: ἶ, ĩ, ã, ῦ, and ũ 

Example 4:
Fante Asante Akuapem English
hũ - hu hũ - hu hũw - huw see - blow (air) 
                                                (Dolphyne 1988:4)

In tha Akan word below; the nasal [ŋ] spreads to the sounds following it including the vowel [a]. 

            nkwa:  /ŋ̃kʷã/ - 'life'

NB: Vowels [e, ɛ, ɔ, o] are not normally nasalised in Akan, however [ɛ], and [ɔ] can be nasalised in the Fante dialects when they occur as neighbours with nasal consonants, [m] and [n] in a word or a phrase.


C. Long Vowels Long vowels can determine meaning. Akan orthography represents long vowels by doubling the letter that represents the vowel. 

 Examples 5:
Akan English Akan English
da sleep daa everyday
sa dance saa exactly
kɔ go kɔɔ red

The following table represents which Akan vowel can be lengthtend and which ones can be nasalised. 

 Example 6:
Vowels Oral vowel English Long vowel English Nasal English Long Nasal English
* i ti head/chase tii chased tἷ scratch tἷἷ scratched
* ɪ fɪ go out fɪɪ cameout fĩ ribs
e hwe to suck hwee zero
ɛ sɛ resempble sɛɛ resembled
* u pu spit puu spat pũ reject/smoke pũũ rejected/smoked
* ʊ tʊ throw tʊʊ threw tῦ bake/roast tῦῦ roasted/baked
* a ka bite kaa bit kã drive/say kãã drove/said
æ æni eyes dææbi no
o som worship apoo cheating
ɔ kɔ go kɔɔ went

D. Diphthongs As can be seen in example 7, the verb 'dae' has the vowels [a] and and [ɪ] articulated by the tongue gliding from the central part of the mouth to the middle front part.

Example 7:

Yaa dae
“Yaa slept”
Yaa
yaa
YaaSBJ
Np
dae
dae
sleepPAST
Vitr


Vowel harmony

Akan has +ATR and -ATR vowels: 

           Set A(+ATR) [i, e, æ, o, u]

           Set B(-ATR) [ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ, ʊ]

The +ATR and -ATR vowels can not co-occur. There should be harmony in the occurence of the vowels in the same word, meaning that vowels of one set (either +ATR or -ATR) can co-occur. The +ATR vowels are produced by pushing the root of the tongue forward and the -ATR vowels on the other hand, are produced by pushing the root of the tongue backwards. Example 8 shows some Akan words where there is harmony of vowel as a result of the advanced tongue root restriction. 

Example 8:
+ATR English -ATR English
/koko/ 'chest' /kɔkɔ(w)/ 'red'
/Kun(u)/ 'husband' /kʊn/ 'neck'
/efie/ 'home' /afɪ/ 'year'
/adi/ 'has eaten' /ædɪ/ 'thing'


Harmony Exceptions: There are few words in Akan that deviates from the harmony rule. The unadvanced vowel /a/ is known to usually occur in such words. However /ɛ/ too does deviate sometime. The following are examples of such deviations.

Akan English
sika 'money'
kura 'to hold'
dua 'to plant'
nyinsɛn 'to be pregnant'
pinkyɛn 'come close'
ohia 's/he needs'


In summary, these are the vowels and their names in Akan: 

           i       Advanced High Front 
           ɪ       Unadvanced High Front
           e       Advanced Mid Front 
           ɛ       Unadvanced Mid Front 
           æ       Advanced Low Central 
           a       Undvanced Low Central
           o       Adavnced Mid Back 
           ɔ       Unadvanced Mid Back 
           u       Advanced High Back 
           ʊ       Unadvanced High Back
Consonant inventory

Akan has 16 consonants: [j, w, p, b, f, d, t, s, m, n, k, kʷ, h, hʷ, g, gʷ]. The table below gives the articulation of these consonants:

Bilabial Labiodentals Alveolar Pre-palatal Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop p,b t,d k/kʷ,g/gʷ ʔ
Fricative f s ç(hy) h
Labialized

Fricatives (-Voice)

çʷ(hw)
Affricate ʥ(gy)/ʨ(ky)
Labialized affricate ʨʷ,ʥʷ
Lateral(voiced) l
Nasal(voiced) m n ɲ(ny) ŋ(n)
Labialized

Nasal (voiced)

ɲʷ(nw) ŋʷ(nw)
Glide (voiced) r y w

Examples: 9 Bilabial consonants 

 Example n:
           Akan   English   Akan    English    Akan    English
           /papa/  'father'  /ɔbaa/  'girl'     /maame/  'mother'

 [f] is the only Labio-dental consonant in Akan.
 Example: 10
           Akan   English  
           /fɛrɪ/   'shy'

Alveolar consonants: 

 Example: 11
           Akan   English   Akan    English    Akan    English
          /atadeɛ/ 'clothe' /sɪrɪ/  'laughs' /ɛnora/  'yesterday'
 
 [hy, hw, ky, gy]


Tone In this field you indicate if [your language] is a tone language and which tones are used; does [your language] have lexical tone?
Syllable Structure In this field you indicate the basic syllable structures of [your language].

Typological Features Template for Akan - morpho-syntax

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