[ATR] reversal in Jumjum
Torben Andersen | Aalborg University
Jumjum, a Western Nilotic language, has an eight-vowel system divided into two sets by the feature [ATR] (Advanced Tongue Root), which is the basis of vowel harmony. A comparison with other Western Nilotic languages shows that (i) this vowel system goes back to a ten-vowel system in Proto-Western Nilotic (PWN), (ii) PWN high [−ATR] vowels have become high [+ATR] vowels in Jumjum, and (iii) conversely, PWN high [+ATR] vowels have become high [−ATR] vowels in Jumjum. The sequence of changes that resulted in this [ATR] reversal in Jumjum relative to PWN provides a historical explanation of synchronically odd, grammatically conditioned vowel-quality alternations in this language.
Keywords: Jumjum, Mayak, Mabaan, sound change, ATR, vowel system, vowel harmony, vowel alternation, Western Nilotic, Burun
Published online: 29 June 2006
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.23.1.03and
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.23.1.03and
Cited by
Cited by 4 other publications
Andersen, Torben
2014.
In Number – Constructions and Semantics [Studies in Language Companion Series, 151],
► pp. 221 ff. 
Andersen, Torben
2017. Vowel quality alternation in Dinka verb derivation: The Agar variety.
Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 38:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Andersen, Torben
2018. The encoding of subjects and objects in Jumjum, a Nilotic OV language.
Lingua 204 ► pp. 78 ff.
H. Ekkehard Wolff
2019.
In The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics,
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 september 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.