 | This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject.(May 2022) |
Medumba phonology is the way in which the Medumba language is pronounced. Medumba is a Bamileke language of Cameroon; the people who speak it originate from the Nde division of the West Region of the country. It deals with phonetics, phonotactics and their variation across different dialects of Medumba.
Initial research on the Medumba segment inventory was conducted by Voorhoeve in the early 1960s, and published in Voorhoeve (1965). [1] He identified 15 vowels and 40 consonants. Not described by Voorhoeve (1965) are the plain and pre-nasalized bilabial trills /ʙ/, /ᵐʙ/, which occur most often before central vowels /ʉ, ə/, which brings the total number of consonants to 42. [2] The following two subsections survey the vowel and consonant inventory.
Medumba has a 12 simple vowels, and 5 complex vowels (diphthongs).
Medumba has 12 phonemic vowels given in the following inventory:
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed (High) | +Advanced Tongue Root | i | ʉ | u |
| -Advanced Tongue Root | ɪ | ʊ | ||
| Closed (Non-high) | Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low-mid | ɛ | ɔ | ||
| Low | a | ɑ | ||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:320, fn. 6; Voorhoeve 1977:65) | ||||
| Phoneme | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word | IPA | Gloss | ||
| /i/ | fídə | [fídə́] | 'to be arrogant' | |
| /ʉ/ | fʉdə | [fʉ́də́] | 'to fly' | |
| /u/ | fubə | [fúbə́] | 'bedding' | |
| /ɪ/ | fídə | [fɪ́də́] | 'to peel' | |
| /ʊ/ | fudə | [fʊ́də́] | 'hunting, net' | |
| /e/ | fènə | [fènə́] | 'to choke, suffocate' | |
| /ə/ | fət | [fə̀t] | 'wind' | |
| /o/ | fogə | [fógə́] | 'widowship' | |
| /a/ | fat | [fàt] | 'head-protector pillow for load-carrying' | |
| /ɑ/ | fɑ'ɑ | [fɑ́ʔɑ́] | 'kind of tree' | |
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:327;3.2.1) | ||||
Medumba has five phonemic diphthongs.
| V1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | ||
| i | ʉ | u | ||
| V2 | a | ia | ʉa | |
| ə | iə | |||
| ɑ | ʉɑ | uɑ | ||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:320, fn. 6) | ||||
| /ia/ | fyaŋə [fiaŋə] 'sort of tree' | /uɑ/ | cwɑdə [cuɑdə] 'to sow, plant' | |
| /ʉa/ | fʉɑgə [fʉɑgə] 'to blow' | /ʉɑ/ | fʉɑgə [fʉɑgə] 'to be wild' | |
| /iə/ | (a) | nzwəʔə /ᶮjʷiəʔə/➝[ⁿzʷəʔə] 'sort of dance' | ||
| (b) | və /gʷiə/➝[və] L 'architecture' | |||
| (c) | tsə'tsə /ciəʔ-tə/ ➝ [tsəʔtə] 'to collect' | cf. | cə' [cəʔ] H 'servant of chief' | |
| (d) | zə /jiə/ ➝ [zə] H 'relative pronoun' | cf. | yən [jen] H 'demonstrative pronoun' | |
| (e) | mfə /ᵐfiə/➝[ᵐfə] H 'oath' | cf. | mvə /ᵐfə/➝[ᵐvə] H 'on' | |
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:325;3.1.6-7 and 327;3.2.2) row 1 = orthography; row 2 = [IPA]; row 3 = 'gloss' | ||||
Diphthongs involve a combination of a closed (high) vowel (V1) /i,ʉ,u/ with a non-closed (non-high) vowel (V2) /a,ə,ɑ/, as follows:
The canonical morpheme in Medumba is a single syllable, either an open CV syllable or a closed CVC syllable (Voorhoeve 1965:319). [1] This morpheme structure constraint has consequences for the consonant inventory. Indeed, a notable property of Medumba is that the number of contrastive consonants differs according to whether one considers consonants in onset position (i.e., consonants that begin a CV or CVC syllable) or consonants in coda position (i.e. consonants that end a CVC syllable). Below, the consonant inventory is introduced, and the distributional differences between coda (C2) and onset (C1) consonants are described.
Medumba has 42 consonants, of which 18 are simplex consonants and 24 are complex consonants.
There are 18 simplex consonants in Medumba (Voorhoeve 1965).
Medumba has 18 simple consonants, with three of them (placed in parentheses in the table below) being extremely rare.
| labial | alveolar | palatal | velar | glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| stop | voiced | b | d | ɟ [lower-alpha 1] | ɡ | |||
| voiceless | t [lower-alpha 1] | c [lower-alpha 1] | k [lower-alpha 1] | ʔ [lower-alpha 2] | ||||
| trill | ʙ | |||||||
| fricative | voiced | (v) [lower-alpha 1] | (z) [lower-alpha 1] | |||||
| voiceless | f [lower-alpha 1] | s [lower-alpha 1] | (ʃ) [lower-alpha 1] | |||||
| approximant | w | j | ||||||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:320, and Nganmou 1991:62) | ||||||||
Note the absence of the following segments:
There are 24 complex consonants found in Medumba (Voorhoeve 1965:326, section 3.1.9). Complex consonants only occur in onset position.
| labial | alveolar | palatal | velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| labialized | nasal | ɲʷ | ŋʷ | |||
| stop | voiced | bʷ | ɟʷ | gʷ | ||
| voiceless | cʷ | kʷ | ||||
| fricative | sʷ | |||||
| pre-nasalized | trill | ᵐʙ | ||||
| plosive | voiced | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | ᵑg | |
| voiceless | ⁿt | ᶮc | ᵑk | |||
| fricative | ᵐf | ⁿs | ||||
| pre-nasalized labialized | plosive | voiced | ᵐbʷ | ᶮɟʷ | ᵑgʷ | |
| voiceless | ᶮcʷ | ᵑkʷ | ||||
| fricative | ⁿsʷ | |||||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:326) | ||||||
Note the following gaps in the inventory of complex consonants:
Of the 40 consonants found in Medumba, only 7 can be coda consonants: the 3 nasal stops /m,n,ŋ/, the 3 counterpart voiced oral stops /b,d,ɡ/, and the glottal stop /ʔ/.
| Place of Articulation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| labial | alveolar | velar | glottal | |||
| Manner of Articulation | nasal stop | m | n | ŋ | ||
| oral stop | voiced | b ~ p | d ~ l | ɡ ~ ʁ/k | ||
| voiceless | ʔ | |||||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:328, sn. 3.3.3) | ||||||
Final nasals include bilabial /m/, alveolar /n/, and velar /ŋ/.
| Phoneme | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Word | IPA | Gloss | |
| /m/ | cùm | [cʊm] L(H) | 'prune' |
| /n/ | tɑn L | [tɑn] L(H) | 'cricket' |
| /ŋ/ | fòŋmɑŋgəm LHL | [foŋ.mɑ.ᵑgəm] LHL(H) | 'sort of ant' |
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:328;3.3.3) | |||
Final stops includes bilabial /b/ (with allophone [p]), alveolar /d/ (with allophones [l,t]), velar /g/ (with allophone [ʁ,k]), and glottal /ʔ/.
| Phoneme | Allophone | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word | IPA | Gloss | |||
| /b/ | [b] | ||||
| [p] | cùupnyɑm | [cʊʊp.ɲɑm] | 'wild cat' | ||
| /d/ | [d] | ||||
| [l,t] | mfətni | [ᵐfət.ni] HH | 'reconciliation ceremony' | ||
| /g/ | [g] | ||||
| [ʁ,k] | ciaktə | [ciak.tə] HH | 'hairstyle,cap' | ||
| /ʔ/ | [ʔ] | ||||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:328;3.3.3) for examples of consonant allophones, see Danis, Barnes & O'Connor 2012 | |||||
The below table presents the inventory of onset consonants and their allophones. The only consonant excluded from onset position is the glottal stop /ʔ/. All other consonants occur in onset position, so there are 39 possible onset consonants. In onset position, nasals may be plain (C) or labialized (Cʷ). All other consonant types (voiced plosives, voiceless plosives, fricative) occur as plain (C), labialized (Cʷ), pre-nasalized (ⁿC), or pre-nasalized and labialized (ⁿCʷ). In addition, onset consonants display allophonic variation that is conditioned by the following vowel.
| Place of articulation | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| labial | alveolar | palatal | velar | |||||
| Manner of articulation | stop | nasal | C | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Cʷ | ɲʷ | ŋʷ | ||||||
| oral | voiced | C | b~p | d~l | ɟ~y/z/ʒ | ɡ~ʁ | ||
| Cʷ | bʷ~bⱽ [ clarification needed ][ what language is this? ] | ɟʷ~yʷ>/zʷ | gʷ~w/v | |||||
| ⁿC | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮɟ~ⁿz/ᶮʒ | ᵑg~ᵑgˠ | ||||
| ⁿCʷ | ᵐbʷ | ᶮɟʷ~ⁿzʷ | ᵑgʷ | |||||
| voiceless | C | t~tʰ | c~ʦ/cʃ | k~kʰ/kx | ||||
| Cʷ | cʷ~tsʷ/ʃ | kʷ | ||||||
| ⁿC | ⁿt~ⁿtʰ | ᶮc~ⁿts/ᶮcʃ | ᵑk~ᵑkʰ/ᵑkx | |||||
| ⁿCʷ | ᶮcʷ~ᶮʃ | ᵑkʷ | ||||||
| fricative | C | f | s | |||||
| Cʷ | sʷ | |||||||
| ⁿC | ᵐf~ᵐv | ⁿs~ⁿz | ||||||
| ⁿCʷ | ⁿsʷ | |||||||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:326) | ||||||||
Initial labials include:
| C | nasal | /m/ | [m] | mʉ' [mʉʔ] H 'lake'(V323;3.1.2) | ||
| stop | /b/ | [b] | bɑb L [bɑb] L 'wing' (V323;3.1.2) | [p] | pxxx [pxxx] /__[+Closed.V] 'zzz' | |
| fricative | /f/ | [f] | fàm [fàm] 'deserted homestead (V323;3.1.2)' | [ᵐv] | mvxxx [ᵐvxx] /__[-Closed.V] 'zzz' | |
| Cʷ | stop | /bʷ/ | [bʷ] | bwə'ə [bʷəʔə]~[bʷəʔɑ] HH 'owl' (V332;4.1) | [bᵛ][ clarification needed ] | bvə [bᵛə] H 'there' (V324;3.1.4) |
| ᴺC | stop | /ᵐb/ | [ᵐb] | mbà [ᵐbaʔ] L(H) 'nut' (V324;3.1.3) | ||
| fricative | /ᵐf/ | [ᵐf] | mfaŋ [ᵐfáŋ] 'wound' (V324;3.1.3) | |||
| ᴺCʷ | stop | /ᵐbʷ/ | [ᵐbʷ] | mbwə [ᵐbʷə] H 'goat' (V325;3.1.5) | ||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965) row 1 = orthography; row 2 = [IPA]; row 3 = 'gloss' | ||||||
Initial alveolars include:
| C | nasal | /n/ | [n] | nà [nɑ] L 'field' (V323;3.1.2) | ||
| stop, voiced | /d/ | [d] | dim [dɪm] H 'tongue' (V323;3.1.2) | [l] | lxxx [lxxx] /__[-Closed.V] 'zzz' | |
| stop, voiceless | /t/ | [t] | tu [tu] tone? 'head' | [tʰ] | tu [tʰʊ] tone? 'to pierce' (Voorhoeve 1966:323) | |
| fricative | /s/ | [s] | sògo [sògó] LH 'to wash' (V323;3.1.2) | |||
| Cʷ | fricative | /sʷ/ | [sʷ] | swá [sʷá] 'broom, tail' (V324;3.1.4) | ||
| ᴺC | stop, voiced | /ⁿd/ | [ⁿd] | ndəb L [ⁿdəb] L(H) 'cotton' (V324;3.1.3) | ||
| stop, voiceless | /ⁿt/ | [ⁿt] | ntɑnə [ⁿtɑnə] HH 'market, business' (V324;3.1.3) | [ⁿtʰ] | ntxx ['ⁿtʰyyy]/__[+Closed] 'zzz' | |
| fricative | /ⁿs/ | [ⁿs] | nsindɑ [ⁿsí-ⁿdɑ] H!H 'floor' (V324;3.1.3) | [ⁿz] | nzxxx [ⁿzyyyy] /__[-Closed] 'zzz' | |
| ᴺCʷ | fricative | /ⁿsʷ/ | [ⁿsʷ] | nswə [ⁿsʷə] H 'new' (V325;3.1.5) | ||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965) row 1 = orthography; row 2 = [IPA]; row 3 = 'gloss' | ||||||
Initial palatals include:
| Phoneme | Allophone | Example | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthography | IPA | Gloss | ||||
| /ɲ/ | [ɲ] | nyàang | [ɲaaŋ] LH | 'to dance' (V323;3.1.2) | ||
| /ɟ/ | [ɟ] | jənə | [ɟənə] HH | 'to see' (V323;3.1.2) | ||
| [j] | ||||||
| [ʒ] | ||||||
| [z] | zə | [zə] H __/i/ | 'relative pronoun' (V325; 3.1.6) | |||
| /c/ | [c] | tu | [cu][ tone? ] | 'head' (ref) | ||
| [ts] | tu | [tsʰʊ][ tone? ] | 'to pierce' (Voorhoeve 1966:323) | |||
| [cʃ] | ||||||
| /ʃ/ | [ʃ] | |||||
| /ɲʷ/ | [ɲʷ] | nywìi | ['ɲʷiiʔ] LH | 'to spoil' (V324;3.1.4) | ||
| /ɟʷ/ | [ɟʷ] | jwəde LH | [ɟᵂədə] LH | 'to wet' (V324; 3.1.4) | ||
| [ʒʷ] | ||||||
| [zʷ] | ||||||
| /cʷ/ | [cʷ] | cwi | [cʷii] LH | 'to give a name' (V327,3.3.1) | ||
| [ʃ] | shʉmə | /cʷʉmə/, [ʃʉmə] HH __ʉ,u | 'to swing' (V325;3.1.8) | |||
| [tsʷ] | ||||||
| /ᶮɟ/ | [ᶮɟ] | nyjiag | [ᶮjiag] H | 'mane' (V324;3.1.3) | ||
| [ᶮʒ] | ||||||
| [ⁿz] | ||||||
| /ᶮc/ | [ᶮc] | ntɑnə | [ⁿtɑnə] HH | 'market, business' (V324;3.1.3) | ||
| [ᶮcʃ] | ||||||
| [ⁿts] | ||||||
| /ⁿsʷ/ | [ⁿsʷ] | nyjwi | [ᶮɟᵂi][ tone? ] | 'woman' (V325;3.1.5) | ||
| [ⁿzʷ] | ||||||
| /ᶮcʷ/ | [ᶮcʷ] | |||||
| [ᶮʃ] | ||||||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965) | ||||||
Initial velars include:
| Phoneme | Allophone | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthography | IPA | Gloss | ||
| /ŋ/ | [ŋ] | ŋà'ŋà' | [ŋɑʔ-ŋɑʔ] LL | 'mosquito' (V323;3.1.2) |
| /g/ | [g] | gubtə | [gub-tə] HH | 'to linger on' (V323;3.1.2) |
| [ʁ] | ||||
| /t/ | [k] | |||
| [kʰ] | ||||
| [kx] | ||||
| /ŋʷ/ | [ŋʷ] | ŋwìnte LLH | [ŋʷin-tə] LLH | 'to grow thin' (V324;3.1.4) |
| /gʷ/ | [gʷ] | gwə | [gᵂə] H | 'who?' (V324; 3.1.4) |
| [w] | ||||
| [v] | ||||
| /kʷ/ | [kʷ] | |||
| /ᵑg/ | [ᵑg] | ŋgà | [ᵑgɑ] L(H) | 'root, vein' (V324;3.1.3) |
| [ᵑgˠ] | ||||
| /ᵑk/ | [ᵑk] | ŋkɑnə | [ᵑkɑnə] HH | 'market, business' (V324;3.1.3) |
| [ᵑkʰ] | ||||
| [ᵑkx] | ||||
| /ᵑgʷ/ | [ᵑgʷ] | ŋgwàn | [ᵑgʷan] L(H) | 'slave' (V325;3.1.5) |
| /kʷ/ | [ᵑkʷ] | |||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:323ff.) | ||||
Consonant-final words - which are generally CVC because of the size constraint that favours CV or CVC words - are often augmented by a final vowel. This process of vowel insertion happens in one of two contexts: (i) before a pause; (ii) at the end of a sentence. The quality of the inserted vowel is conditioned by the final consonant: if the final C is a glottal stop, then the inserted vowel is schwa; elsewhere, the inserted vowel is a copy of the stem vowel. Examples illustrating vowel insertion are given in (60).
(60) a. koo b. cintEE ko-o cin-te-e love-FV xx-yy-FV 'to want, to love' 'to urinate' (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:332)
Consonants in onset position surface with different variants. This consonant allophone, a form of consonant mutation, is conditioned by the following vowel. There are seven conditioning contexts, as follows:
| Context | Segment Set | Class | Effect | Alternation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | __ V[-Closed] | {b, d, ɟ, g} | voiced stop | "devoicing" | /b/→[p]; /d/→[l]; /ɟ/→[y]; /ɟᵂ/→[yᵂ]; /g/→[ʁ]; /gᵂ/→[w] |
| {ᵐf, ⁿs} | nasalized fricative | voicing | /ᵐf/→[ᵐv]; /ⁿs/→[ⁿz] (except before /o/) | ||
| 2. | __ V[+Closed] | {t, ⁿt, k, ᵑk} | voiceless stop | aspiration | /t/→[tʰ]; /ⁿt/→[ⁿtʰ]; /k/→[kʰ/kˣ]; /ᵑk/→[ᵑkʰ/ᵑkˣ] |
| {b} | bilabial | devoicing | /b/→[p] (optional) | ||
| 3. | __ /i/ | {ɟ, ɟᵂ, ᶮɟ, ᶮɟᵂ, c, cᵂ} | palatal | fronting + spirantization | /ɟ/→[z]; /ɟᵂ/→[zᵂ]; /ᶮɟ/→[ⁿz]; /ᶮɟᵂ/→[ⁿzᵂ]; /c/ →[ʦ]; /cᵂ/ → [ʦᵂ]; /ᶮcᵂ/ →[ ᶮʃ]? |
| 4. | __ /ʉ, u/ | {ɟ, ᶮɟ, c, cᵂ} | palatal | spirantization | /ɟ/ →[ʒ]; /ᶮɟ/ → [ᶮʒ]; /c/ → [cʃ]; /cᵂ/ → [ʃ] (3.1.8, V1965) |
| {gᵂ} | labialized voiced velar | /gᵂ/→[v] | |||
| 5. | __ /ʉ/ | {g, ᵑg} | simplex & nasalized voiced velar | spirantization | /g/ → [ɣ]; /ᵑg/ → [ᵑgˠ] |
| 6. | __ /u/ | {g} | simplex voiced velar | retraction + spirantization | /g/ → [ʁ] |
| 7. | __ /o, ə/ | {bᵂ} | labialized bilabial | spirantization | /bᵂ/ → [bᵛ] |
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1965:xxx-zzz) | |||||
Medumba is famous for the extent to which tone shapes grammar. Although having only a two-tone contrast, namely High (H) and Low (L), surface tone melodies are conditioned by a variety of lexical, morphological and syntactic factors:
Medumba is described as a two-level tone system with low (L) and high (H) tones; examples are given in Table 16. Observe that the L/H contrast is found with all Lexical (open) class categories; this includes verbs, nouns and prepositions. Likewise, Functional (closed-class) categories show an L/H contrasts; this includes verbal F-categories (C, T, and Aspect) and nominal F-categories (Dem, Det, Pl). [Describe examples; also give minimal pairs]
Verb stems come in two shapes, CV and CVC, with each one contrasting Low and High tone. See (1-5) for examples of High/Low tone contrast with CV stems, and (6-6) for examples of High/Low tone contrast with CVC stems.
| Low tone | High tone | Source | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | orthography | gloss | IPA | orthography | gloss | ||
| bɑ L | 'ecaillier' | bɑ | 'be crazy' | V1976:111 | |||
| lò | 'stand up' | lo | 'leave' | V1976:123 | |||
| nyì | 'defecate' | nyi | 'press' | V1976:125 | |||
| tà | 'be strong, hard' | ta | 1. trade 2. deny 3. defend oneself | V1976:127 | |||
| zwì | 'laugh' | zwi | 'kill' | V1976:131 | |||
| Low tone | High tone | Source | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | orthography | gloss | IPA | orthography | gloss | ||
| fʉ̀əgə LH | 'be light' | fʉəgə H | 'blow' | V1976:117 | |||
| kʉ̀a L | 'sharpen, limer' | kʉa H | 'reclame' | V1976:121 | |||
| làdə LH | 'assemble' | ladə | 'lick' | V1976:122 | |||
| lɑnə | 'cry, lament' | lɑnə | 'be clean, clear, healthy' | V1976:122 | |||
| tagə | 'miss' | tagə | 'gather with full hands' | V1976:127 | |||
| tamə LH | 'mix, assemble' | tamə | 1. 'pull with thread' 2. 'sew' 3. 'withe' | V1976:127 | |||
| tɔgə LH | 'spit' | tɔgə | 'pass' | V1976:128 | |||
| vɔgə LH | 'wake up with a start' | vɔgə | 'be short' | V1976:129 | |||
| [jɑʔɑ] LH | yɑʔ'ɑ LH | 'cross' | [jɑʔɑ] HH | yɑʔɑ | 'give credit' | V1976:130 | |
| yɔgə LH | 1. 'live' 2. 'devore' | yɔgə | 1. 'warm onsself up' 2. 'pass the day' | V1976:130 | |||
| ywədə LH | 'soak, wet' | ywədə | 1. 'be rested 2. 'be full (from eating' | V1976:130 | |||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1976) | |||||||
| Low tone | High tone | Source | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | orthography | gloss | IPA | orthography | gloss | ||||
| L(H) | [mbà] | m-bà | 'nut' (c2) | H(L) | [mbá] | m-ba | 'pot, marmite' | V1976:111 | |
| L(L) | [cɔ] | cɔ | 'news, story' (c1/4) | H(H) | [cɔ] | cɔ | 'theft' (c3) | V1976:114 | |
| L(L) | [ndɔ] | ndɔ | 'long solid unit' | H(L) | [ndɔ] | ndɔ | 1. horn "corne" 2. whistle | V1976:115 | |
| L(H) | fə | 1. 'feather' (c3/5) 2.' leaf' | H(L) | fə | 'dead body' | V19`76:116 | |||
| L(H) | sà | 'star' | H(L) | sa | 'game' | V1976:126 | |||
| L(H) | n-zà | 'miracle' (c2/4) | H(L) | n-za | 'hill' | V1976:131 | |||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1976) | |||||||||
| High/Low tone contrast with CVC noun stems: (23-29) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low tone | High tone | Source | |||||||
| IPA | orthography | gloss | IPA | orthography | gloss | ||||
| (23) | L(L) | [mbàn] | m-bàn | 'rain' (c2) | H(L) | [mbán] | m-ban | 'side, c?' | V1976:111 |
| (24) | L(H) | [bùʔ] | bù' | 'mushroom' (c3/5) | H(L) | [búʔ] | bu' | 'package' (c3/6) | V1976:113 |
| (25) | L(H) | [ɣəʔ] | ghə' | 'cheek' (c3/5) | H(H) | ghə' | 'avarice' (c3) | V1976:117 | |
| (26) | L(L) | n-tɑn | 'string' (c1) | H(H) | n-tɑn | 'trade, commerce' (c1) | V1976:127 | ||
| (27) | L(H) | ŋ-kùn | 'tail' (c2/4) | H(L) | ŋ-kun | 'rice, beans' | V1976:121 | ||
| (28) | L(L) | kɑb | 'fence' (c1/4) | H(L) | ŋ-kɑb | 'money' (c1) | V1976:119 | ||
| (29) | L(L) | kam | 'piece' (c3/5) | H(L) | ŋ-kam | 'noble' (c1/4) | V1976:119 | ||
| (30) | L(H) | cwed | 'the bush' | L(H) | ncwed | 'chiefancy | |||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1976) | |||||||||
In principle, given the possibility of a stem bearing associated with one of four tone melodies — namely L(L), L(H), H(L) and H(H) for nouns and L or H for verbs — one expects to find a four-way tone contrast for a given segmental base (either CV or CVC). No such examples are attested within a given word-class, but there is one instance elf a 4-way contrast across word-classes. In addition, there are a few three-way contrasts for a given noun base, and numerous many four-way tone contrasts with the same base, if one looks at tone melodies across word-classes.
Examples are given in (1-3).
| Low tone | High tone | Source | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | orthography | gloss | IPA | orthography | gloss | ||||
| (1) | L(L) | — | H(L) | tɔ | 'N: neck, throat' (c2) | V1976:128 | |||
| L(H) | tɔ | N: 'nombril' (c3) | H(H) | tɔ | 'N: hole' (c3/5) | ||||
| L | tɔ-ɔ LH | 1. V: 'govern' 2. V: take/pay a debt | H | — | |||||
| (2) | L(L) | m-vɛd | N: 'rope' (c1/4) | H(L) | m-vɛd | 'N: oil' (c5) | V1976:129 | ||
| L-L(L) | m-vɛd-m-vɛd | N: 'mosquito' (c4) | |||||||
| L(H) | — | H(H) | m-vɛd | 'N: brother' (c1/4) | |||||
| L | vɛd-ə LH | V: 'tremble' | H | — | |||||
| (3) | L(L) | lɛn | N: 'sign' (c2/4) | H(L) | lɛn | N: 'name' (c3/5) | V1976:123 | ||
| L(H) | lɛn | N: 'mark, quality, sort' (c2) | H(H) | — | |||||
| L | lɛn-ə LH | V: know, recognize | H | — | |||||
| (4) | L(L) | bàg | N: 'side' (c?) | H(L) | — | V1976:111 | |||
| L(H) | bàg | N: '1pl pronoun' | H(H) | — | |||||
| L | bàg-ə LH | V: 'split' | H | bag-ə HH | V: 'lean' | ||||
| (5) | L(L) | bàm | N: 'belly" (c3/5) | H(L) | — | V1976:111 | |||
| L(H) | H(H) | — | |||||||
| L | bàm-ə LH | V: 'wake up' | H | bam | V: 'accept, believer, answer' | ||||
| (6) | L(L) | H(L) | |||||||
| L(H) | bu' | N: 'mushroom' (c3/5) | H(H) | bu' | N: package (c3/5) | ||||
| L | H | bu' | V: 'play, sound out' | ||||||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1976) | |||||||||
| Low tone | High tone | Source | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | orthography | gloss | IPA | orthography | gloss | ||||
| (1) | L(L) | kà | 'sorcellery, magic (c3) | L(H) | ŋ-kà | 'rank' (c2) | V1976:119 | ||
| (2) | L(L) | [kəʔ] | kə' | 'tam-tam' (c3/5) | H(L) | ŋ-kə' | 'ball' | V1976:120 | |
| (3) | L(H) | kɔ | 'arrow" (c3/5) | L(H) | ŋ-kɔ | 'pilon' (c1/4) | V1976:121 | ||
| (4) | H | shun | 'friendship (c1/4) | H(H) | n-shun | 'friend' (c1/4) | V1976:126 | ||
| (5) | H(H) | tʉ | 1. 'tree' (c3/5) 2. 'up above' | H(L) | n-tʉ | 'heart' (c/24) | V1976:129 | ||
| (adapted from Voorhoeve 1976) | |||||||||
(3) Low-tone fù (4) High-tone tʃə́ŋ [fù] [tʃə́ŋ] 'medicine' 'food' (From Kouankem 2013:60; Mucha 2017: 8)
(5) Low-tone (a) mbàŋ [ᵐbàŋ] (b) nùm [nùm] (c) ɲàm [ɲàm] 'next to' 'on' 'behind' (6) High-tone mʙə́ [ᵐʙə́] 'in front of' (from Hawkes et al. 2015:122)
(7) Low-tone (a) ndà (8) High-tone mbʉ [ⁿdà] [ᵐbʉ́] 'C' 'C' (From)
(9) Low-tone (a) s-ə̂n (10) High-tone N yə́n [s-ə̂n] [N yə́n] AGR-this N Dem.Dist 'that N' (Kouankem 2013:60)
(11) Low-tone (a) bà N (12) High-tone ba N [bà] [bá] 'PL' 'PL' (Kouankem 2013:62)
In addition to level high and low tones, Medumba exhibits falling (HL) and rising (LH) contour tones. These contour tones are morphologically derived from floating H tones that occur as affixes preceding or following the stems they associate with. These floating tones make themselves known by docking to tone-bearing units (TBUs) associated with L-tone, thus forming a tone contour. [DESCRIBE EXAMPLES; add LH examples]
(13) L-tone verb (put in sentence) ghʉ̀ [ɣʉ̀] do 'do’ (14) Derived HL-tone verb (put in sentence) nghʉ̀ [N-ɣʉ̀] N-do 'do, consecutive’ (identify source)
 | This section needs expansionwith: examples. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024) |
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