Pre-nasalized Retroflexion in Somali Bantu Kizigua: A Typologically Rare Sound Change Facilitated by Historic Contact with Related Languages

摘要

This paper contributes to the theme of the conference by addressing what implications contact with genetically related languages may have for diachronic phonology. Data will be presented showing how this type of contact situation can lead to uniform synchronic patterns that appear to have arisen through internal motivation when in fact they have actually arisen through external motivation. A typologically unusual sound change involving the diachronic retraction of alveolar pre-nasalized stops to a retroflex place of articulation (nt > nʈ and nd > nɖ) in Somali Bantu Kizigua (SBK), an under-documented language from East Africa, will be used to illustrate this. [FOR FULL 2-PAGE ABSTRACT, SEE http://kaoconno.free.fr/RFP_2014_Lille/Programme___Schedule_files/Book%20of%20abstracts.pdf]