Angami (Tenyidie) is a language with only level tones in its tonal inventory. The paper investigates the contextual effects of tones in Angami disyllables by exploring how the tones in the second syllables affect the tones in the first syllable, and vice versa. The study reveals that Angami has bi-directional tonal coarticulation which is both assimilatory and dissimilatory in nature, with higher tones (T1, T2, and T3) dissimilating while lower tones (T4 and T5) assimilating. The paper also highlights F0 height dependency in Angami tonal coarticulation, with high tone T1 inducing the highest effect on contextual tones. Statistical tests were conducted to substantiate the observations, providing unique insights into tonal coarticulatory phenomena in a level tone-only language. The study contributes to the understanding of Tibeto-Burman languages and tonal coarticulation in world languages in general.
Cite as: Terhiija, V., Gwirie, Z.I., Sarmah, P. (2023) Tonal coarticulation in Angami level tones. Proc. The Second International Conference on Tone and Intonation, 44-48, doi: 10.21437/TAI.2023-10
@inproceedings{terhiija23_tai,
author={Viyazonuo Terhiija and Zhonei I Gwirie and Priyankoo Sarmah},
title={{Tonal coarticulation in Angami level tones}},
year=2023,
booktitle={Proc. The Second International Conference on Tone and Intonation},
pages={44--48},
doi={10.21437/TAI.2023-10}
}