158 reason, despite the fact that [-ATR] does not actually spread to the prefixes, I consider
Ikoma prefix harmony to be a functional equivalent to other types of [-ATR] dominance, such as that found in Bantu C and Komo. See §5.5 for more discussion of this point.
5.3 Acoustic analysis of prefixes
In this section I report on the acoustic analysis of the prefix alternations described in the previous sections of this chapter. Vowel formant measurements help to characterize the
quality of the prefix and augment vowels and how they compare to those same vowel qualities in stems. Note that the measurements provided here aim not only to support the
analysis presented in the chapter, but also to simply capture the phonetic quality of these vowels even when they are behaving “normally” and in expected ways.
In order to characterize the alternations between mid and high vowels, I examined prefixes from classes 78 and 11 and 14. For the front vowels [e] and [i], I took
measurements from the class 7 prefixes [eke-] and [eki-], as well as the class 8 prefixs [e e-] and [e i-]. For the back vowels [o] and [u], I measured class 11 prefixes [o o-]
and [o u-], as well as class 14 prefixes [o o-] and [o u-]. The table in 126 below displays the averages for these four prefix vowels, also showing the number of tokens
used for each average. Note that these measurements do not include augment vowels, which are dealt with separately below.
126 Vowel formant averages of alternating noun prefixes Speaker B
TTTT K 9
K 9 K 9
K 9 M
MM M
M MM
M A 7
A 7 A 7
A 7 8
8 8
8 3
+3 +
3 0 3
3 +0
+ 3
These four prefixes are 73 above see §3.5.2
the prefix vowel qualiti V1 averages are symbo
127 Prefix v
It is interesting to note they have a lower first
sometimes sound quite the difference between
speaker perception of p Augment vowe
only back-vowel augm are plotted in 127 below, along with noun V1
. Plotting the V1 averages here allows for eas lities. The prefix vowels are plotted with upperc
bolized with lowercase letters. x vowel formant averages plotted with noun V1
te that in all cases except for [u], the prefix vow rst formant than the V1 counterpart. Mid prefix
ite high. Native speakers, however, are remarka en the two prefixes. See §5.4.2 for a brief discu
f prefix vowels. wels do not alternate, so the only front-vowel au
ment is [o]. The lack of alternation is clearly se 159
1 averages taken from easier comparison with
ercase letters, and the
V1 averages Speaker B
owels are higher i.e. fix vowels do, in fact,
rkably quick to point out cussion of native
augment is [e], and the seen in the averages for
160 both augments, shown in 128 below. I have separated out the augment vowel averages
depending on the noun class prefix vowel in order to show the similarity of averages for both [ATR] sets. For both augment vowels I also include the average measurements for
the augment before all root vowels. 128
Augment vowel formant averages Speaker B TTTT
9 9
9 9
H H
H H
K 9 K 9
K 9 K 9
M MM
M M
MM M
A 7 A 7
A 7 A 7
8 8
8 8
3 3
+ 3
3 +
+0 3
3 3
3 3
The averages above show that for both augment vowels there is only a 10 Hz difference between the averages of augments preceding high prefix vowels and those preceding mid
prefix vowels. This is clear evidence that the augments are not affected by any sort of harmony or dissimilation process.
The total averages for [e] and [o] augment vowels are plotted in 129 below, together with the four prefix vowel averages from 126 above. Lowercase letters are
used for prefix vowels, and the uppercase letters E and O symbolize the augment vowels.
129 Alternat
The plot shows a remar similar spacing betwee
vowels have a slightly the periphery of the vo
Ikoma phonetics, this l the prefix alternations p
and high-vowel prefixe A brief look at
and [u] in nominal pref 102 tokens of inifinitiv
nating prefix and augment vowels plotted Spea
arkable amount of symmetry. Front and back v een the high and mid prefix vowels. Also, in bo
ly higher F1 than [e] and [o] in prefixes, and the vowel space. Aside from simply furthering our
s look at nominal prefixes and augments suppor s presented in this chapter. We see clear differe
ixes, whereas augment vowels clearly do not alt at infinitive verbal prefixes shows that they are
refixes. The average values are in 130 below, tive prefixes.
161 eaker B
k vowels both show both cases the augment
they are slightly more to ur understanding of
ports the description of erences between mid-
alternate. re very similar to [o]
w, taken from a total
130 Average
o u
These vowels are plotte measurements from the
averages are taken from represent prefix vowels
shows, [o] and [u] in pr which is similar to wha
131 Plot of i
Therefore, just as we w alternations.
age formant values for infinitive prefixes Speak
F1 F2
343 876
282 800
otted in 131, which also shows average verb ro the same speaker Speaker B for comparison. T
rom 70 above §3.5.2. Once again, the upperc els whereas the lowercase symbols represent ro
prefixes are both slightly higher than their aver hat we saw in the corresponding noun prefix pl
f infinitive prefixes and verb root vowel averag
e would expect, nominal and verbal prefixes hav 162
eaker B
root vowel n. The root vowel
ercase letters O and U root vowels. As the plot
verage in verb roots, plot in 127 above.
rages Speaker B
have identical
163 After looking at vowel formant measurements of alternating noun and verb
prefixes, we now turn to non-alternating prefixes. The next patten to account for is the class 5 nominal prefix [e i-], which was described in §5.1.2 above. I previously argued
that this prefix has a consistent phonetic realization before all seven root vowels, and this is confirmed by vowel formant analysis. In 132 below, I show vowel formant averages
of the [i] prefix vowel before four different sets of stem-initial vowels, paired according to vowel height and [ATR] value. In the final row I give the average of [i] before all
seven root vowels together. 132
Class 5 prefix vowel averages before all root vowels Speaker B K
K K
K TTTT
K 9 K 9
K 9 K 9
M MM
M M
MM M
A 7 A 7
A 7 A 7
8 8
8 8
+ +
3 3
3 3
As the figures show, there is little variation from one V1 set to another. Both F1 and F2 averages are quite consistent throughout. This is strong evidence that there is no [-ATR]
feature spreading from [ a] stems to the prefix, in case there are any questions about that possibility. If that were the case, we would expect F1 to be significantly higher in the
prefixes before [ a]. Though the highest average for F1 is before , it is only 8 Hz higher than F1 before e o. I therefore conclude that all class 5 prefix vowels sound and
measure like the high [+ATR] vowel [i] and are virtually unaffected by following stem vowels.
164 As we would expect, the class 5 augment [e] is similarly unaffected by the quality
of the root vowel. Average augment vowel values are in 133 below, once again showing individual averages for each of the four sets of stem-initial vowels, and then giving the
average for all class 5 augment vowels. 133
Class 5 augment vowel averages before all root vowels Speaker B K
K K
K H
H H
H K 9
K 9 K 9
K 9 M
MM M
M MM
M A 7
A 7 A 7
A 7 8
8 8
8
3 3+
+ +
+ +
+ 3
3 3
3 The averages for each V1 set are remarkably similar to one another, which is not
surprising given the fact that they all occur in the exact same environment, that is, word- initially, and followed by the class prefix [ i-]. Note also that the average values for the
Class 5 augment [e-] are very close to the values for the augment [e-] which occurs with the other front-vowel prefixes e.g. Classes 7 and 8. The average for the [e] augment
from Classes 7 and 8 was 346 Hz for F1 and 2138 Hz for F2. This section has served to show that the phonetic realities of Ikoma’s prefix
dissimilation are quite uncontroversial. We have clearly established that [ ] never occur in prefixes, and furthermore that only the vowels [e o a] occur as augments. Finally,
recall that the low-vowel prefixes, described in §5.1.2 above, do not alternate categorically. They are, however, gradiently raised when followed by high vowels in the
stem. See §6.7 for further discussion of low-vowel raising.
165
5.4 Explanation of height-changing alternations
