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Document Details : Title: Melodic Verb Tone Patterns in Jita Author(s): DOWNING, Laura Journal: Africana Linguistica Volume: 20 Date: 2014 Pages: 101-119 DOI: 10.2143/AL.20.0.3062064 Abstract : This article illustrates the non‑melodic and melodic verb tone patterns in Jita. One finds several melodic patterns: a penult High pattern, a final High pattern, an initial High/final High pattern and a ‘chaotic’ pattern which combines the other patterns within a single inflection depending on the length and lexical tone of the verb stem. The verb tone patterns found in Jita are nearly identical to those in closely related Ruri. However, as Goldsmith (1987) argues, the Jita/Ruri melodic tone patterns are distinct in several ways from those found in other Lacustrine Bantu languages. This makes them of particular interest to comparative Bantuists studying verb tone in the languages of this area. |
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