278 vowels, on the other hand, there is clear gradient raising, but the [ATR] contrast in the
back mid vowels is not at all neutralized. I also discuss gradient raising of the low vowel in various contexts.
Finally, Chapter 7 summarizes the thesis and connects it to previous typlogical and theoretical predictions. I evaluated Ikoma in light of theories of [ATR] markedness
and suggested that it could be possible that [-ATR] could be the systematically dominant value in the language, whereas instances of superficial [+ATR] dominance might be
explained by dominance reversal. I also propose a possible historical path for Ikoma, which could explain why it could have developed patterns which are suggestive of both
types of markedness.
8.2 Areas for future research
There are many more areas of research to be explored before we can more fully understand Ikoma’s vowel system. In particular, there are descriptive, historical and
theoretical gaps yet to be adequately investigated. One descriptive area not covered in this thesis is longer noun and verb stems. More work is needed to uncover the co-
occurrence patterns of longer stems and to determine if [+ATR] categorically spreads to spans of more than one syllable. It would also be helpful to study vowel harmony in more
combinations of multiple verbal suffixes. There is also room for additional phonetic studies, both acoustic, articulatory and
perceptual. Additional data of verb root alternations would be particularly helpful to confirm or else revise my conclusions concerning front-vowel neutralization before the
high-vowel suffixes. More thorough perceptual tests could also be carried out with larger
279 groups of Ikoma speakers in order to determine whether or not there is complete
neutralization in the raised environement. There is great need for more theoretical work as well. The prefix dissimilation
patterns are an interesting puzzle in themselves. How can we explain the prefix vowel alternations from mid to high before [-ATR] vowels? What phonological theory best
captures these facts? Is it possible to give a straightforward analysis of this pattern in terms of height features alone not [ATR], which would result in a rule of height
dissimilation? Beyond just prefixes, what would a detailed and comprehensive theoretical
treatment of Ikoma vowel harmony look like, taking into account prefix, stem and suffix harmony, and even the frontback and longshort asymmetries? Could a comprehensive
account support an analysis of systematic [-ATR] dominance, in which all apparent indicators of [+ATR] dominance could be explained by other factors? Or is systematic
[+ATR] dominance a viable option for Ikoma? And how do these conclusions affect our understanding of the typological variation of vowel harmony systems?
Finally, some big-picture research questions concern the linguistic history of the Mara Region. Do the JE40 languages truly constitute a single genetic sub-grouping? And
if so, what additional evidence is there for further subgrouping these languages? Does other comparative work support the hypothesis that all of these languages evolved from
the Kinande-type 7V system with [ ] as the second degree vowels and [+ATR] dominance? A more detailed comparative study of the vowel systems in the region will
likely provide more helpful evidence in understanding many of Ikoma’s unique vowel patterns.
280
Appendix A: Noun Class Chart
TTTT ST
2 A ST
2 A ST
2 A ST
2 A =
8 Q
= 8
Q -
-
9 ++++
8 8
8 , -
. 8
8 ́
. 8
.8 , -
. ́
. 0000
1 .
0000 6 -
. 3333
1 .
2 3333
6 - .
6 2
́ ;
: 8
8 = -
: 8 ́
9 ́
- .
281 8
8 =
4 8
8 ́8
6 2 .
2 0000
, - .
8 ́ 3333
6 2
8 ́
282
Appendix B: Wordlist
The following is a list of approximately 1100 items from the 1700-item SIL
Comparative African word list Snider and Roberts 2004. Each entry includes
the word list number, citation form, part of speech, and gloss. For nouns I also
include the noun class pairing in parentheses, which indicates the
existence and form of the plural. The citation form for nouns includes the
augment and noun class prefix, and the infinitive form is used for verbs.
Morpheme breaks between stems and prefixes are indicated with a hyphen.
Tone is marked only on nouns, since verbs do not have contrastive lexical
tone. Acute accents indicate lexical high tones, and low tones are unmarked. See
§2.4 for an introduction to lexical tone. Recall that asterisks indicate nouns for
which tone is unknown or questionable.
0001 omo- e e n. body 34 0002 e i- áak n. skin of man 56
0003 omu-tú n. head 34 0005 o o- ó n. face 146
0006 e -íiso n. eye 56 0007 o u-
h n. eyebrow 1110 0008 e i-táti n. eyelid 78
0010 a-moni n. pupil 910 0011 e i-
n. nose 56 0012 om-óo go n. bridge of nose 34
