Role of Place and Manner in Tonogenesis: A Case Study with Kurtöp

Abstract

The tonogenetic model (Haudricourt 1954; Matisoff 1970; Mazaudon 1977; Thurgood 2002) is well attested in the tonogenetic literature. The model predicts the pathways through which tone enters a language. As part of this mode, in onset position, voiceless consonants condition a high pitch and voiced consonants condition a low pitch. The voicing distinction is then lost, and the tone phonologizes as the primary contrast. Although the pathways are well documented, the details of these changes can only be studied in cases of ongoing tonogenesis. Zhâke Kurtöp, a Tibeto-Burman language, offers a rare opportunity to examine the ongoing processes of tonogenesis. Hyslop (2009) investigated tonogenesis in the Tibeto-Burman language Kurtöp in detail, by examining voice onset time (VOT) of stops and fundamental frequency on the following vowels. She also describes how Kurtöp tone was first phonologized following the sonorant consonant onsets, which then spread to the palatal fricative. Hyslop (2009) shows that the process continues in the obstruents, which are currently merging the voicing distinction in favor of a tonal contrast. This thesis builds on Hyslop (2009), showing that place and manner of articulation play important roles in Kurtöp tonogenesis. Through acoustic analysis of VOT in stops, voicing in fricatives, and the fundamental frequency on proceeding vowels, it is shown that the more sonorous onsets (fricatives) are further along in the process of phonologizing tone. The results also suggested that place of articulation plays a role in the rate of tonogenesis in Kurtöp, evidenced by the increased mergers in retroflexes, followed by back places of articulation (palatals and velar) compared to the front places of articulation (labials and dental).