LANGUAGE IN INDIA

VOWEL REDUCTION AND ELISION IN IGBO DATA

C.U.C. Ugorji, Ph.D.

VOWEL REDUCTION

Vowel reduction is shown to be a function of "Target undershoot" in articulatory processes (Clark and Yallop1990:119). That is, the inertia of articulators vis-à-vis rapid adjustments from one articulatory position to anticipated or targeted position in which the speaker's effort to reach limits or canonical articulatory positions is half-way realised. It is thus the centralization of peripheral vowels by undershoot that is commonly known as vowel reduction. Such vowels are weakly articulated and the articulation may be so weak that such have no more auditory significance or may be lost outrightly in the stream of running speech.

ON IGOBO PHONOLOGY

This phenomenon occurs widely in the phonology of Igbo; and there are sporadic reports on the occurrence of some reduced vowels, perhaps roughly represented by the schwa, in Igbo data (Nwachukwu, 1983; Ohiri-Aniche, 1985; Ikekeonwu, 1986 Mba & Mba, 2000, etc). However, no systematic accounts have yet been attempted for this phenomenon in the language beyond these rather scanty reports from a hand-full of dialects. The main concern of this paper is therefore to provide systematic explications and to suggest that vowel reduction and elision may not constitute independent phonological processes, rather a relationship of dependence and implication might exist. Our data is drawn from synchronic samples across roughly non-contiguous regional dialects.

MOST POPULOUS ETHNOLINGUISTIC GROUP IN NIGERIA

Igbo is one the three most populous ethnolinguistic groups in Nigeria. The language belongs to the New Benue-Congo phylum (Williamson and Blench 2000) and it is spoken as a major national language in Nigeria. It is best appreciated in terms of its numerous regional dialects the standard variant which lacks specifiable regional base.

Its sound systems reveal the existence of a reduced vowel in some dialects. Nwachukwu, 1983, notes its occurrence in Nsukka dialect and suggests its inclusion in the phonemic vowel system of Igbo having judged it to be distinctive. The concern of the study is with the elements that would enrich standard Igbo, and is neither a survey of the sound system of Nsukka nor of its reduced vowel; but the study considers the inclusion of the schwa in the formalized sound inventory of Igbo, suggested in the official orthography.

PURPOSE OF THIS PAPER

To advance studies on this phenomenon beyond mere recognition which earlier accounts suggest, we propose a systematic account geared towards providing a theoretical frame for a pan-dialectal explication of the occurrence of vowel reduction.

The present research thus, represents both a systematic investigation into the occurrence of the schwa in synchronic samples and a theoretical explication of the phenomenon; the latter, directly and the former indirectly; and more importantly suggests that vowel reduction and elision may be intrinsically related.

Generally, the schwa may simply stand for a reduced vowel or whatever is left after vowel reduction has taken place. Following Clark and Yallop's (1990:119) explanations, vowel reduction is a function of "Target undershoot" in articulatory processes. That is, the inertia of articulators vis-à-vis rapid adjustments from one articulatory position to anticipated or targeted position in which the speaker's effort to reach limits or canonical articulatory positions is half-way realised.

It is thus the centralization of peripheral vowels by undershoot that is commonly known as vowel reduction. Such vowels are weakly articulated and the articulation may be so weak that such have no more auditory significance or may be lost outrightly in the stream of running speech. In general, such reductions occur more extensively in final positions in words (Ferguson1963; Schane1973; Tranel1995). To proceed, we shall consider the occurrence of the reduced vowel, the schwa, in some dialect samples.

SOMECONCLUSIONS

The concern of the paper has been to provide explanations for the schwa, which is already fairly reported in Igbo linguistic literature, provide systematic analyses and demonstrate a relationship involving vowel reduction and elision in a somewhat derivational continuum. We have approached the concern by recognising and categorising varieties in synchronic data in which both phonological and phonetic variants are evident. These do not seem to occur by any coincidence but by explicable logical patterning, which hinge on vowel reduction.

Along this development, it seems obvious that the process of reduction occurs in degrees, which may be graded; this continuum commences from reduction and culminates in elision with observable intermediate stages. Some motivations are suggested along the lines of both acoustic evidence and physiological convenience.

Altogether, this report lends credence to Williamson's (1983) summations for proto-lgboid, namely, that the schwa might have been part of the phonological system of proto-igboid.

It is important therefore that proper recognition is henceforth accorded the phonemic schwa both in the phonemic inventory of the language and in the northern variants in particular in the on-going development of the language.

Precisely, that language planning should incorporate a symbol for the schwa in the orthography of Igbo and thereby empower the relevant dialect groups towards more participatory literacy and cultural self-recognition as well as enhance richer literature for Igbo in general.

More directly, it also enhances bidialectalism as elsewhere suggested (Mmadike, 2000 among others). This call is not altogether new as must have been implied right from the introduction of this work. Ours is its explication and amplification; and more importantly, the demonstration of the natural relationship holding between vowel reduction and elision. This relationship has implications for diachronic linguistics, language change as well as syllabification, etc.; and we presume these are issues for future studies.

This is only a brief summary.

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