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The Functional Load of Tone & Prosody
The Functional Load of Tone & Prosody
Any prosodic feature that is used contrastively in the language will need to be studied. While the following sections focus on tone, the same principles can be used for studying contrastive stress. If the language being researched is an African language, it is best to assume that the language is tonal until it can be proven otherwise.*
For the purposes of orthography and language development, it is sufficient to cover just the basics of tone analysis. After the tonal system and its functions have been established, it can be decided whether tone should be written, and if so, how. The ultimate goal is to make sure that people do not have to guess while reading.
*The facilitator should already have a hypothesis on what type of tonal system may be discovered, based on research done in the "Preparing Stage."
Photographer Credit: Zeke du Plessis
Sort Data by Syllables
Sort Data by Syllables
Before researching tone, re-sort words by the syllable structure of the word root (i.e. VCV, CVC, CVCV, etc.).
If the language has long vowels within monomorphemic roots, keep words with long vowels separate from those with short vowels, since long vowels may consist of 2 tone-bearing units.
Continue to keep nouns and verbs separate, since the 2 word classes may have different tonal melodies. In many Bantu languages, for example, noun roots can carry 1 of 4 different tonal melodies while verbs can carry 1 of only 2 melodies.
For languages with closed syllables, it may be helpful to group words based on the phonetic quality of the final consonant to reduce the influence of syllable rhyme when performing the SAME-DIFFERENT Test. The result of the sorting process would be one pile for plosive-final words, another for nasal-final words, and so on.
"Participants gained an appreciation for and excitement about the use of tone marks to represent suprasegmental contrasts. It was a game-changer for the participants when they finally understood the tonal contrasts and found a way to write them so they could easily and clearly comprehend the meaning of what they wrote."
-Shane Devereux & Jenita Van den Belt, Facilitators (Southeast Asia)
Identifying the Tonal System
Identifying the Tonal System
In order to answer the question of whether or not to mark tone in the orthography, the functional load of tone needs to be determined in terms of both lexical and grammatical distinctions. This unit focuses on identifying the basic tonal system and the functional load of lexical tone. It is essential to have the basic tonal system established before studying how tone functions in the grammar. Otherwise, difficulties will arise in sorting out the lexical and grammatical functions of tones carried by verbs. Grammatical tone will be explored later on in units 2 and 3.
Listen for Tonal Melodies
Listen for Tonal Melodies
Choose a pile of noun cards and use the SAME-DIFFERENT Test to sort words by their tonal melodies. Because tone frames may result in changes to the underlying form - to both the inserted item and the frame itself - it is recommended to work with words in isolation.* Participants' ears are already attuned to the tonal contrasts in their mother-tongue and they are able to identify different tones, even when hearing them in isolation.**
One effective way of sorting words by tone is by whistling the melodies. Have one speaker read a word off a card, then have a second speaker whistle the melody.*** In this way, the pitch is separated from the consonants and vowels, making the tones easier to determine.
Focus on the surface melodies of word roots, systematically working through all piles of noun cards. The process is the same for all piles, regardless of whether the words contain one syllable or many. At this stage, the goal is simply to group words by melody -- not to identify the underlying tone heights nor the number of tones in the language. Check and re-check every pile to ensure that each pile represents only one unique tone melody.
After all the nouns have been sorted, repeat the same process for verbs.
*While it is recommended to listen to words in isolation first, frames can be used if shown to be necessary. For example, in one workshop, isolated nouns were all pronounced with the same low tone, resulting in the need to use a noun frame for a more complete analysis.
**In fact, children often imitate the tones of their language even before they can properly pronounce certain vowels and consonants.
***In many cultures, it is not acceptable for women to whistle. As a general rule, it is best not to put pressure on women to do the whistling part of this exercise but to let the native speakers take the lead in deciding what is or is not acceptable in the context of language research.
Note Minimal Pairs
Note Minimal Pairs
While performing the SAME-DIFFERENT Test, make note of tonal minimal pairs (or triplets) that come up during the research process. These may be discovered on previously written cards or when someone is reminded of another word during the sorting process. When new words come up, take the opportunity to create cards for them.
Documenting tonal minimal pairs will help the group determine how frequently the language uses tone to distinguish between word meanings. If it is decided that lexical tone will need to be represented in the writing system, minimal pairs make the best examples for orthography guides and practical exercises.
Determine the Underlying Tones
Determine the Underlying Tones
After the sorting process is complete, count the number of tone melodies in the language. Often, the number of tone patterns will make it possible to determine whether the language has 2, 3, 4, or even 5 tones.* As best as possible, determine the number of underlying tone levels and begin assigning them values, such as high (H), low (L), and mid (M).
It is important to interpret melodies into a tonal system that has as few contrastive tones as possible. Having more than 3 contrastive tones is very rare, typically only occurring in languages that have mostly monosyllabic roots.
When evaluating the tone melodies, observe whether vowels can only carry a level tone or whether tone combinations can also occur, resulting in rising and falling tones. Where there are instances of rising and falling tones, determine whether these can occur in short syllables or only in long ones.
Note the number of different melodies that exist for nouns versus verbs. For example in a workshop on the Ngiti language, 5 possible tone patterns emerged for VCV nouns (LL, MM, MH, HL, LLM) but only 3 for verbs (ML, MM, MH).
At this stage, the interpretation of surface tones and tonal melodies should be considered a hypothesis. This initial analysis will gradually be confirmed (and refined) as research on the language progresses.
*In some cases, high-tone spreading, downstep, or other tonal processes can make it difficult to determine the number of underlying tones until more research is done.
Discuss Orthography Options
Discuss Orthography Options
If the language frequently uses tone to distinguish between word meanings, discuss options for indicating 1 or more tones in the writing system, depending on the tonal system. Toneme symbols may include diacritics, punctuation marks, numbers, or even unused consonants. The final decision should be as intuitive as possible to native speakers and community-owned.
Update Cards
Update Cards
Update word cards with the newly selected tone symbols, as needed.
"In the past, even though we wrote by ourselves, when we re-read it, we couldn’t understand it well. 'What’s this supposed to say?' we’d ask ourselves. When we didn’t mark tone, we didn’t know the meaning of what we were reading. But now we’ve really come to know well and we’re able to write very well."
- Anonymous, Naca Language Workshop Participant (Southeast Asia)
Tone Sandhi & Grammatical Tone
Tone Sandhi & Grammatical Tone
The grammatical functions of tone will gradually be discovered as research on the language progresses. In the following workshop units on Noun Phrases (Unit 2) and Syntax (Unit 3), pay attention to any tonal changes or grammatical tone distinctions that come up during the research process.
Tone functions in the nominal system may include singular-plural distinctions, indefinite-definite distinctions, and pronoun distinctions. Grammatical tone distinctions may also occur in the TAM system or as a way of distinguishing between main clauses and relative clauses. At the first sign of grammatical tone, it is recommended to take notes of examples, so that the phenomena can be studied in more detail later. By integrating tone research with other topics, it becomes a more manageable - and less intimidating - topic to take on.
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