construction. The morphologically complex nouns have a hierarchical structure. One element in the complex word is the head of the construction. DM is the theoretical model used in this chapter.
Chapter 8 contains a conclusion.
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This chapter surveys the segments of Fròʔò, shedding light on the natural phonological classes and motivating the distinctive features necessary for the classification of the phonemes and allophones of this language. In Section 2.2 the consonants and the vowels of Fròʔò are introduced. Section 2.3 is a survey of the distinctive features used to make the necessary distinctions, and Section 2.4 proposes a feature-geometric analysis of the segments and their distinctive features. Section 2.5 sheds light on the main allophonic relationships. Finally, Section 2.6 briefly introduces the lexical tones of Fròʔò.
Fig. 1 shows the speech organs and the places of articulation that constitute the speech apparatus. The organs responsible for sound production can be classified in active and passive articulators. There are six active articulators: lips (labia), tongue blade (corona), tongue body (dorsum), tongue root, soft palate, and larynx (with the vocal cords). These articulators are located in the oral cavity, the nasal cavity, the pharyngeal cavity, or the larynx. The active articulators move towards the so-called passive organs, which remain in the same position during sound production. The ‘passive articulators’ are the teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard palate, the soft palate (velum), the uvula, and the pharynx. All articulators, except for the pharynx, are used in Fròʔò.
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Fròʔò distinguishes 22 consonants with different places and manners of articulation; see Tab. 1. The obstruents are realized with an obstruction in the oral cavity. When they are stops, they are produced with a complete stricture in the oral tract. This is the case for 11 of the consonants. When they are fricatives, the stricture is only partial. This is the case for three consonants. Stops can be voiceless or voiced, but the fricatives are voiceless.
There are eight sonorants in Fròʔò, including four nasals [m];, [n], [ɲ], and [ŋ]; two glides [w] and [j]; one lateral [l]; and one rhotic [r].
The Fròʔò consonant system is close to that of some of the Gur languages, especially Koulango, Lohoron, Lomaka, and Nafanran, as described by Mensah and Tchagbale (1983), although some differences appear as well, as testified by the absence of voiced fricatives in Fròʔò. The laryngeals [h]; and [ʔ] are present ←32 | 33→in Fròʔò, but they are lacking in some of the Gur languages, like Fodonon and Dugubɛrɛ, among others (1983).
Fròʔò has seven vowels, which can be short or long. There are five [+ATR] vowels and two [-ATR] ones. Only the mid vowels can have both an advanced and a retracted tongue root; the high and the low ones are always [+ATR]. All vowels have additional nasal equivalents, except for [e]; and [o] as shown in (1). They can only be [-ATR].
The first subsection describes the consonants, their articulators, and their manner of articulation. It also proposes a feature system; see Kenstowicz (1994) and Gussenhoven and Jacobs (2013) for similar systems. Distinctive features were first introduced into phonology by Trubetzkoy (1890–1938) and Jacobson (1896–1982), and later developed by Chomsky and Halle (1968). Phonological segments are analysed with distinctive features that allow segments to form natural classes. Features are privative or binary (specified as + or -). They also may or may not appear in representation of the segment. The vowels will be the subject of investigation in Section 2.3.2.
Each speech sound is distinguished by several phonological features. First, the major class features classify segments into consonants, vowels, and glides: [±consonantal], [±vocalic], and [±sonorant] are the three major class features for this purpose.
Consonants are [+consonantal] and vowels are [-consonantal]. The feature [±consonantal] specifically addresses the question of whether there is any major constriction in the vocal tract. It groups together obstruents, nasals, liquids, and glides, which are [+consonantal], versus vowels, which are [-consonantal]. [+consonantal] indicates that sounds are produced with an obstruction or partial obstruction of air in the oral cavity. Note that vowels and glides have no obstruction in the vocal tract, or only a minimal one, compared to that formed by a fricative or a stop.
The feature [±vocalic] makes a further major distinction between consonants and vowels. Vowels and glides are [+vocalic]. The presence of this feature allows us to classify glides independently of both consonants and vowels.
A survey of the classification of the speech sounds by the three major class features appears in Tab. 2.
Tab. 2: Consonants vs. vowels vs. glides
| [consonantal] | [vocalic] | |
| Consonants | + | - |
| Vowels | - | + |
| Glides | + | + |
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The third major class feature, [±sonorant], is responsible for the distinction between obstruents and sonorants. It characterizes the air pressure in the oral cavity: obstruents are [-sonorant] and sonorants are [+sonorant].
