Eitig~a 14 (1966) l-13,

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THE

ASSIMILATED

LOW

TONE

IN

YORUBA

AYC) BAMGBC@E

In the phonological analysis of vowel-initial disyllabic nouns in

Yoruba, it is usual to have a two-tone contrast in the first syllable
and a three-tone contrast in the second, i.e. a contrast between a
-mid tone and a low tone in the first syllable; eg.
$$ vehicle
#&3 spear l)
and a contrast between a high, a mid and a low tone in the second
syllable, e.g.
pkfi hoe
pkp husband
pkQ vehicle
@d _enemy
fita

$2

champion
place name.

In a disyllabic noun having an initial I-:

tone, some scholars2)

ij Tones are indicated as follows: high /I, lc;w 1.1, mid, (unmarked), and
the assimilated low tone {see later) is indicated by a dot. The letter N after
a vowel letter indicates that the vowel is nasalised. The letters Q, 9, Q stand
for /3/, /E/, 1/j respectively.
R. C. Abraham has an irLtia1 high tone in the worg @a equality. See
Dectionary of Modern Yoruba, 1950, pp. xi; 507. In fact this word is pgba.
This would have been considered a typing error wcx-e it not for a compound
formation from this word cited as Z&b#&ba equally (which should have
been Z&bppgba). No vowel-initial disyllabic noun has a high tone in the first
syllable. It is also often said that no vowel-initial noun has an initial high
tone. Cf. Tda Ward, An l&o&u&on
to the Yoruba Language, 1952, p. 26.
Qa the cm&my,
there is a tonal assimilation which results in an initial
high tone in some nouns e.g. e&g& -9 tMg&rr?nasquerade,
o&o --f d&o
boil, Btta + #ta three.
2) Ward ibid, p. 35, Abraham ibid, p. xi, and E. W. Stevick, Yovuba Basic
ihum,
1963 pp. xvii-xviii.

AYO BA&tGBO$E

set up a low-rising tone in the second syllable instead of the high

tone. For example, they have $tdf instead of Gtd. In fact, the recognition of this additional tone is unnecessary, because there is no
phonological contrast between this tone and a high tone: the
low-rising tone only occurs immediately preceded by an initial
BOW tone and the high tone only occurs immediately
preceded by
an initial mid tone. The difference in pitch between the two tones
car be, and usually is, considered a phonetic difference. The
exponent of a high tone which immediately follows a mid tone
is a high level pitch and the exponent of a high tone which immediately follows a low tone is a low-rising pitch. For example,
igbd calabash
kgbagarden egg.
Differences in the pitch exponents of the tones are not, however,
limited to the high tone. Carnochan has pointed out that a mid
tone immediately preceded by a low tone is regularly lower in
pitch than a mid tone immediately preceded by another mid
tone?) What is left to be pointed out is that it is not only the high
tone and the mid tone that have different pitch exponents, but the
low tone too has two different pitch exponents. For each tone, the
pitch is conditioned by the immediately preceding tone. The following minimal pairs of nouns exemplify these differences:
1. (a) igbd calabash
(b) &gbd garden egg
2. (a) agbo circle
(b) dgbo infusion
3. (a) pgbd fence
(b) &bd equal.
An investigation of the pitch differences in these pairs of nouns
was done on a spectrograph.*) The narrow band spectrograms of all
the informants confirm that in the second syllable, 1 (a) has a level
high pitch, and 1 (b) has a low-rising pitch; both 2 (a) and 2 (b)
have a level pitch which is just a little lower than the pitch of
3) J. Carnochan, Pitch, Tone and Intonation in Yoruba See In HONOW
Daniel Jones (Edited Abercrombie and othkrs) 1964 pp. 402-403.
41) The examples used in this investigation were spoken by Mr. AjimQkQ,
Mr. Wfns&l&, Mr. AdGkun, all of the University of Ibadan, and myself.
The s_pectrograms were made by Mr. John Kelly.

of

THE ASSIMILATED

LOW TONE

IN YORUBA

1 (a). Contrary to expectation,

there does not seem to be any
noticeable difference in pitch between 2 (a) and 2 (b). On the
other hand, Carnochans investigation on a pitch metre shows that
2 (b) is lower in pitch than 2 (a). The spectrograms of contracted
forms, to which reference will be made later, also show that in
a contraction,
2 (b) is strikingly lower than 2 (a). In the second
syllable of 3 (a), all the spectrograms show a falling pitch starting
at a low point; but in 3 (b), the pitch is low and level. In the first
syllable, the low tone appears as a level low pitch or a falling pitch
starting at a low point; but the mid tone appears as a level pitch
jsimilax to 2 (a)) in all the spectrograms.
In a grammatical
structure
where a vowel-initial
disyllabic
noun is preceded by a verb having a high tone, there is usually,
except in deliberately
slow speech, a contraction
resulting in the
replacement of the initial mid tone of the noun by the high tone
nc
v1 +h
cr*e verub ) e.g.

dfeigbd
+ df&bahe wants a calabash
d ft agbo -+ d fdgbo he wants a circle
d f&pgbd
-+ 0)&bd he wants a fence?)
The tonal behaviour of the above contraction
is agreed on by
all scholars and confirmed by instrumental
investigatlon.6)
When
the noun has an initial low tone, however, there is a difference
of opinion among scholars as to whether there is a contraction,
or jest an assimilation of one or the other of the two vowels in
contact.
Abraham,
alone of all major scholars of Yoruba, recognises
only an assimilation : When a high-to ed verb is followed by a
noun-object,
the latter having initial low-toned vowel, then verb
and noun are linked together by means of a high-low falling tone
which glides unbrokenly from high to low?)
d feigbd --+ d f&gbd he wants a garden egg
d f# dgbo -+ d fadgbo he wants an infusion
d fJ dgbb + d fddgbd he wants a ram
6) For the rules governing the elision of vowels in these s~ruztures, See
A. Bamgboge Assimilation and Contraction in Yoruba Jourrinl of West
African Langtiages Vol. 2, no. 1, 1965, pp. 23-27.
*) Scs Camochan ibid, p, 403 and the spectrographic investigation already
referred to and further discussed below,
7) Abraham ibid. p. xv.

AYQ BAMGBOSE

In the spectrograms made for the above examples, only one out
of four shows a high-falling pitch for the vowels in contact?)
All the others show a high level pitch (indicating a contraction).
Auditory impression of the pitch also indicates that it is pronounced level high by most informants. Practically all other
scholars of Yoruba analyse the structure as a contraction resulting
in the replacement of the low tone of the noun by the high tone
of the verb. Even Abraham inadvertently recognises this contraction in some cases. For example, I& instead of *Z&U from,
jdkii instead of *jdM %it k&ii instead of *ldb,$ squat?) In the
numeral series: m&j) two, m&z three,, . . . rrabw& ten etc.,lo)
all scholars, including Abraham, are agreed that the first syllable
has a high tone. But these words are contractions of the nouns
& two, &a three . . . +wti ten etc. plus a preceding item
hating
___ -1 a high fone (probably the verb m4 take). According to
Abra%rns rules, the series should have been *~&jh, *m#&, . .
%n#td
etc.11)
The implication of the contraction of the verb-nominal structure
in the case of a low-tone initial noun is that a different phonological
analysis must be made for this contraction in order to reflect the
contrast between it and a contraction involving a mid-tone initial
noun. In the pair 1 (a) and 1 (b) i.e. the nouns igbd calabash
and igbli garden egg, we saw earlier on that the pitch difference
in the second.syllable is phonetic and not tonemic i.e. the phonetic
exponent of a high tone immediately preceded by a mid tone is a
high level pitch whereas the exponent of the high tone immediately
preceded by a low tone is a rising pitch. Since in the verb-nominal
contraction involving both nouns, the initial tone of the noun is
replaced by the high tone of the verb, the pitch difference in the
second syllable of the nouns becomes the only contrastive feature
of the contraction. This means that the rising pitch which is
phonetic in the phonological structure of the noun now becomes
l

8) Further investigation is needed to show whether this is a dialectal

variation.
*) See Abraham ibid. pp. 403, CL, CAL 110 respectively.
10) See Abraham ibid. p. xxxii.
11) A starred example is one that does not occur in Standard Yoruba.
The starred numeral series are, however, found in some dialects of the
language. For example, in the Ikale dialect.

THE

ASSIMILATED

LOW

TONE

IN

YORUBA

the exponent of the low-rising tone in the contraction e.g.

b /6gM he wants a calabash
d j+gM he wants a garden egg.
The only scholars who do not have to introduce this new tone are
those that already have it in their analysis of the nouns (i.e. igba
calabash and 4gb&garden egg).
The above solution is so obvious that it has been adopted by
all scholars who have hitherto written on the language. The only
difference of opinion is between those who have a low-rising tone
on this syllable, and those who have a sequence of two syllables:
a low followed by a high (i.e. 6 f&M as opposed to d ftgbh&),.
In the phonological analysis of these contractions, most scholars
have been concerned only with the contractions involving 1 (a)
.
.
and 1 (b) nouns. Rut the mn+ra=+c
in th CCdXM%XE
---.-.
zLvwQ asa
iilVOhiE~
the other pairs of nouns are no less important. Ward was the first
scholar to point out that the contractions involving 2 (a) and 2 (b)
are contrastive, although she does not give a contrastive phonological analysis for the pair.*) Two scholar@) have since suggested
that the phonetic contrast of the second syllable of 2 (a) and 2 (b)
should be made phonological in order to account for the lexical
contrast between the two nouns. This means that the mid tone in
the second syllable of the contraction will contrast with a new
tone, the lowered mid tone. For example,
b /dgbo he wants a circle
d tdgbd he wants an infusion 14)
This analysis accounts for the contrast in this pair. But there
is still the third pair. So far, no scholar has yet suggested a phonological analysis which will reflect the formal contrast in the pair.
But any native speaker of Yoruba makes a distinction between
a contraction involving 3 (a) such as in he wants a fence and a
contraction involving 3 (b) such as in he wants an equal. To be
consistent, therefore, our phonological arAysis should make the
phonetic difference in the second syllable of 3 (a) and #3(b) phonological. This then means the introductioyl of a new tone - a low,
ibid, pp. 33-34.
13) Stevick ibid. p. xvii; Carnochan ibid. pp. 403-404.

12)Ward

14) In this &ample, the lowered mid tone is indicated in the same way as
Stevick does in his book (ibid. p. xvii).

AYQ BAMGBOSE

falling tone in the second syllable of the contraction of 3 (a) contrasting with a low tone in 3 (b) or, to bring the analysis in line with
that of the other two pairs, the low tone on 3 (a) and a new tone on
3 (b) e.g.
d f&$d he wants a fence
6 fdgbd he wants an equaS.i~)
We can now summarise the system of tones set up for the second
syllable in these structures.
In the nouns, there arc thl-ee tones:
high, mid, low. In the verb-nominal
contraction.
there are six
high,
mid,
low,
low-rising,
lowered
mid,
and
new low. In
tone: :
the verb-nominal contraction, therefore, three tew tones axe
introduced. The pitch exponents of these three tones are similar
to the pitch exponents of the high, mid and low tones respectively
when they are preceded by a low tone.16) The inference that we
can draw from this is that in spite of the replacement of the low
tone of the noun by the high tone of the verb in a verb-nominal
contraction,
the tonal behaviour of the second syllable continues
to be as if it was still preceded by the low tone. Ward was aware
of this when, in talking about the lowered mid tone of the contraction, she wrote, The explanation of this would seem that the
suppressed low tone of Me has pulled down the mid tone syllable
of the second syllable . . . The second mid tone, therefore, is not
an independent
tone but is conditioned,
;;ts shown above, by the
elision 01 a preceding low-tone syllable. Although Wards observation 011 this feature iq limited to the lowered mid tone, the same
observaton
is, of course, also true of the other two tones of the
contraction:
they are also conditioned by the elision of a preceding
low tone. Looking at the phonological structure of the contraction
from this point of view, we can set up a completely new structure
for the contraction
involving a noun having an init5.l low tone
syllable. A prosodyl7) to be called an assimiiated lo-~ tone would
15) The symbol used here is an arbitrary one to indicate the new tone
required in the phonological analysis,
16) B. Siertsema in Stress and Tone in Vxuba Vord Composition
Lingua 8, 1959 mentions the three pitch oxponents of the second syllable
of the contraction, but she does not consider two of them phonological.
See p. 398, note 16.
17) See J. T. Bendor-Samuel, The VwbaZ Piece in J&two (Word, Monograph No. 4) 1961, p. 16: Prosodic features are phonological elements

THE

ASSIMILATED

LOW

TONE

IN

YORUBA

be set up for this contraction. This prosody will operate at the

point where a low tone syllable has been elided; and the syllable
immediately following it will have the same pitch exponents as a
syllable immediately following a low tone syllable.I*) For example,
using a dot to indicate the assimilated low tone, the three pairs of
nouns given earlier will be contrasted in contractions a follows:
((5# igb8) 0/&bd he wants a &abash
(b feJgbb) d f&gbd he wants a garden egg
(6 f4 agbo) d frigbo he wants a circle
(Qft! dgbo) d fkgbo he wants an infusion
(d f; pgba)d ffigbd he wants a fence
(b fe $gbd) 6 f#.gbb he wants an equal?)
The advantages of this phonological analyzes are obvious.
Instead of three additional tones, there is only one prosodic feature;
and the differences in the pitch exponents of the three tones are
phonetic both in the nouns and in the contractions?)
It has already been pointed out that in a verb-nominal conti,c.tion, the low tone is replaced by a high tone. This feature is also
true, for the following:
having phonetic exponents which either extend over more than one place in
the syllable or have implications over more than one place in the sjrllable.
The prosodic approach to phonology was introduced by J. R. Firth. See
Sounds and Prosodies in his Plapevs
in Linguistics,
1957, pp. 121-l 38.
18) The idea of this kind of phonological analysis was first mentioned by
the writer at the Second West African Languages Longress held in Daltar
in A?I+!, 1962. See Actes du Second Colloque Intelvrtational de Linguistique
Nkgvo-A,iric&e
1963, p* 123.
19) When whistled, the pitch of the high tone in the first syllable of a
contraction having an assimilated low tone appears higher than that of the
corresponding high tone in the other contraction. One set of spectrograms
of the whistling by one of the informants shows this consistently; but there
is no such consistency in the others. The low tone in the second syllable of
both contractions is shown qn th@ spectrograms as a falling pitch (cf. Stevick
ibid. p. 128), but the fall is much sharper in the case of a mid-tone initial
noun.
20) Fro- the spelling point of view, an additional advantage is that the
awkward sequence of three vowel letters in some words would be reduced
to two e.g. kdddv~ (< kz2 ddrb) good morning wil! be written as kd.dY6;
gbi5bhn (< gbb &.5&n lit. hear smell) smell will be written as gbb.dYh
For those scholars who in fact set up four syllables for these words, the
reduction to three syllables is also a more economical phonological analysis.

numeral series: wtd$

four, d.~h
five, etc. and
many ? (which were probably
cations).
e.g. i&fmd.f3
ajd mb.r&
(i) The

two, ?n#.ba three, @@is

the question item ~!.k5 how
originally verb-nominal cellotwo houses
five dogs

(ii) The items +z@,gk, gkbd, h4,

following noun.

&d, ii, dbd, and MaI) plus a

(< $4 dgbd wh) is there any garden egg?

ibi tt./& bd wd (< ibi tf if4 ba wd) where there is love

e.g. $&.gbawd

(iii) The nominalisation involving the infix Rl, where the second
syllable of the noun has a high or a mid tone.
e.g. (4wkbook)
(&ji this one)
(dgbo finfusionJJ)
(dwo *plate)

Jw&k.wk any book

*iU.yi
any one
dg(iokd.gbo any infusion
dwokdwo any plate

(iv) The preverbs: y& will and m&2 dont (which must
always be followed by a free verb in a verbal group structure, and
which when contracted have the assimilated low tone).
e.g. yd. wCt (< ydb wd) he will come
mL wa (< m&i wd) dont come
In some structures, the high tone which replaces the low tone of the
noun is itself replaced by a mid tone when this high tone is immediately preceded by a low tone. 22).This feature is to be found in
(i) The nominalisation involving the prefix a
e.g. &$ twins (< iblEt?@birth of two)
ida.w# naming ceremony (< idrf it@ cutting nf the TMM
9
cord)
[ii) The nominalisation invo?.ving the infix ki, where the second
syllable of iL3 GOUX!
Iz2.sz low t0ne.
81) These items behave like verbs in a contraction in which the second of
the tW0WOTA
_,s in c;ontact is a noun. 5s the writers article Assimilation and
~Gntraction Journal 01 West Afkicm Lmpages Vol. 2, 1965. p. 23.
*2) In SurmeSale&s of Yoruba (e.g. the @ba dialect), such a replacement
is automatic whenever the high tone o;tthe contraction is preceded by a low

THE

ASSIMILATED

LOW

TONE

IN

YORUBA

e.g. (dgbd ram)

(M

hgbiiktz.gbdany ram
plan) Wke. tb
any I* plan

(iii) The ordinal numeral series (cf. (i) immediately above)

e.g. Lke.ji/ike. qi

the second (< %kd t!$ taking of two)

#kg.tu/ikp.ta the third (< +3kd &a taking of three)
$k~.wd/tke.wt
the tenth (< *bkd $wd taking of ten) 23)
.

There are a number of consonant-initial qualifying items in the

nominal group structure in Yoruba which are derived from vowelinitial nouns having an initial low tone syuable. For example,
yent that
(< JYP that one)
WO
,,which? (< 2100 which one ?)
KL.@second (< BRe.jt the second j .
The phonological problem raised by these items is identical with
that of the verb-nominal contraction. Here again, there are differences of opinion about what sEmdd be the appropriate phonological analysis.
In the case of the genitival pronouns rni my (C bml I),
and YPyour (4 ire you), most EP~I\!z~&~ agree that in the
genitival structure, there is in fact no elision of the initial lcw
tone syllable; this syllable is assimilated to the final syllable of
the noun
e.g. ~~~~rni *my money
hgactrni my chair
&!f!Y~ your house.
Siertsema agress that there. is an assimilation, but she thinks that

tone. But in Standard Yoruba, the replacement is found in some cases and
not in others. There are even a few cases where both the high tone and the
mid tan@cwur in free variation e.g. kb g&j.& lp/ kb gbp.d# 60 he must not go.
aa) One of the diffkrences between Standard Yoruba and some dialects
of Yoruba (for example, the Ijebu dialect) is that in these contractions
where there is a mid tone, the corresponding dialectal form has a high tone
e.g. #t?./$ twins &cfk#.d any sin, BRd.ji/ $kttji the second.
84) See for example, Ward ibid. p, 64, Abraham ibid.* p. xxviii, Stevick
ibid. p. 54.

10

AYO BAYGBOSE

there are two kinds of assimilation: the lengthening of the second

vowel on a low tone in slow speech (i.e. exactly as in th# ~~*rn@+~
immediately above) and the transfer of the low tone of UACinitial
syllable to the consonant (For instance, in ~rno#F ;l;%k&rid,
& first word en& in a mid tone, the ;dcond word has a low tone
on the r and a mid tone on the g (in quick speech))?) Siertsema
explains that the latter type of assimilation can only take place
when the consonant to which the low tone is to be transferred is
a voiced continuant (y, w, I, Y, m, et, g)Y)
This tyiw of assimilation has so far not been observed by me or any other scholar.
It is clear from similar examples involving the elision of an initial
low tone syllable that the consonant which follows the low tone
syllable has nothing to do with the phonological feature in thee
Sf~ll~+ll~~c
example, ltzoryone (< hkpijhip~
Uw)
in a
_ _V.USLL. For
.
i%3zx::2; 1 grw 2 structure

SIJ& a_s pm9 kp% %nP

*a --+ly
II p)?itd
1 4-U h*UO
UR&%WC1
l

the same pitch exponent a~ (pnittmyr in urns mS my child; and

k is a voiceless plosive. One of the examples cited for Y (kri.dy$ <
kd dd~d good morning) shows even more clearly that what we
are dealing with here is a case of the assimilated low tone for
-which the type of consonant is irrelevant (cf. similar verb-nominal
contractions such as Z&M&~ < la d&&k !ick the cornflour cake).
The distinction made by Siertsema between the two kinds oi
assimilation is really a distinction between an assimilation and a
contraction i.e. between qn@mi and Q~Q ma. Rowlands is right
in making this distinction and in pointing out that both forms
occur in Yoruba.27)
In the structures involving the other items (e.g. RQS one
yevt that), there is general agreement that, in this case, there is a
contraction i.e. we have ~mp kprt one child and not *Qm!$qn,
Qrnp ~~4nthat child and not *gmg@ypn.28)
Because of the elision of the low tone syllable in these contractions,
we are faced with the problem of indicating the contrast in the
26) See Siertsema

Some

Notes on Yoruba

Phonetics
and Spelling
Bulletin de 1IFAN TXX s&ie B, 1958 pp. 586-587.
26) See Siertsema, Bulletin de 1IFAN TXX s&ie B, 1958 p. 595.
2?j See E. C. Rowlands, Types of Word Junction in Yoruba Bderi~
bf
the Scitlool of Oriental ad A fricaut
Studies 1954, p. 380.
28) Stevick is an exception
in having an assimilation
for the ortiinal
numeralseries e.g. t)b$Mn# the first knife ibid. p. 88.

THE

ASSIMILATED

S~~l~
tckUAe
immediately

LOW

TONE

following the elided

IN

YORUBA

syllable.

Thic

!?,

b@c.omes

necessary, whenever this syllable comes to be immediately preceded

5~r R high. or 3 mid tom syllable.a*) This problem is pre&ely the
~me in that of the second syllable of a verb-nominal contraction,
and *ha ~-&tion &v~ by the few scholars who admit the existence
of a pro&m hcrew) is
the same as that given for the verblow-rising tone tak:es the place of the
n sminal contraction,
inal high tone a1~3 a fdrwered mid tone tak,es the @ace of +F::
ori&al mid tone, e.
(@yi this on~lr;;
j jri
this
(tjkptc one)
kdn otlc.
of ecanomv of this analysis has already been pointed out.
FWat we need in this contraction is the prosody of the assimilated
low tone. We can then keep the original high or mid tone. Ih~t
ted law tone will be the only contrastive phono~ogiczl
n structures such as the following:
work is SOUIi.e. work is hard
ise kpn
work sour
a piece of work
@e.kpB
work one
father tripped and fell
!!UJba
yi 6
father roll fail
bhb4 .yi sz& this elderly man tripped and fell
elderly &an this fall.
The

hck

Con:;onant-initial items in nominal group structure which are

subjec: to the assimilated low tone are:
(i) The first and the second Renitival singular pronouns i.e.
ma my , .rf or .e your
e.g. ilk .mi my house
ilk .e your house
gfi)If alow tone syllable immediately precedes this syllable, then the
situation is just the s%me as if the elided syllable were not in fact elided e.g.
H# yi Wis land, 4~4 &JR one word.
80) Mcst scholars ignore the mid tone and the low tone immediately
preceded by the elided low tone syllable. Stevick ibid. p. xvii, Rowlands
ibid. p. 3.30, and Abraham (though inconsistently) ibid. pp. 513, 168 provide a
phonological analysis for the mid tune, but the low tone is not even considered by any scholar, although it occurs after the elided low tone syllable
in an emmple such as i@ .u$nyi these houses.

(ii) The deictic itezz: .y# this l

&4
these .yp
.~@zyglnthose .WOkhich?
e.g. ick .j4 this house
4Ug.@J,fB
that cloth
(iii) ?he numeral .k~@one and the item .+&$tt or
other
e.g. p&&z.kpti one year
%w&.mas another book

that

(iv) The ordinal series: .khk first,

.kc.j% second, .kc.ta
third, .kp%n fourth, .ka.rth fifth, .ke.fh sixth, .kc. je
seventh, .kg.jo eighth .kg.s&z ninth, .kq.wd tenth etc.
UG this series, all except the first item have two assimilate
low tones.)
e.g. igi .ka.rkrt the fifth tree
&I .kg.ta the third house
In setting up the prosodic element of the assimilated low tone,
we are emphasising the fact that phonoiogy is a aMraction.V
The pitch contrasts for which the element is set up are expressed
in the syllable preceded by the elided low tone syllable; but in the
phonology, the contrast is expressed as a feature of the whole
contraction. All this is made possible by a view of phonolow in
which the emphasis is on features that cover, or have implications
over, more than just the individual se,pment. In a phonology of
the phonemic type, the sort of analyG
proposed in this paper
would be impossibk,
!xxnnse
it would imply setting
up a tone
wFkh does not occur Dn any syllable.
SUMMARY OFTONE

P.ATTERNS

(W M, L stand for High, Mid and Low Tones respectively)

1. Nouns
(a) iviki-l0e 1nitia.l.
MH
MM
ML
_I___---

31) Cf. Carnochans reference to the silent and unpronounceable abstractions of phonology. See Vowd Hartxony in l&C AJriccfn Laagwg~
Srudics Vol. I, 1960, p. 1%.

ILATED

-+
-+
-3

H =+ LL

(Ii) Pr

LOW

TONE

:[N YORUBA

13

pIwfy#
H[M~
HL$q

ic Analysis
Verb +- NCFW Contractiorz
I-3 + LH
H + IA4
H +- LL

-+
-+
3

HI.11
H.M
H.L

3. Q,ir# sbruc;8w@s
(a)

Cantraction

as for verb-nominal.

fb)

H of first sylkbla of contraction

2(b)(G) above replaced 3y hi; or
final M of noun replaces elided initial L sylIable of qualifying iterr..
Hence,
MH
M.M
X.L