Effects of consonant reduction on adjacent vowels in Meru dialects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/TheLinguisticProceedings/2025/16/01/004/000664Keywords:
Bantu languages, dialects, sound change, deletion, compensatory lengtheningAbstract
This paper investigates the influence of fricative reduction on adjacent vowels in three Meru dialects. The voiced fricative /β/ is retained in Chuka but deleted in Imenti, resulting in vowel sequences (hiatus). Since Bantu languages generally avoid hiatus, three repair strategies have been identified in Imenti: (1) merger of two vowels with the same quality, (2) shortening of the prefix vowel, and (3) lengthening of the stem vowel to compensate for fricative deletion. Audio data were collected from 75 speakers across three dialects: Imenti, Chuka, and Tiania, an understudied dialect. The results showed consistent /β/ deletion in both Imenti and Tiania, together with evidence of compensatory lengthening in the merged vowels of both dialects compared to Chuka.
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