The two-level tonal system of Lataddi Narua

Roselle Dobbs , Lǎ Míngqīng 喇明清 (1)

1 Southwest Minzu University [Chengdu]

Lataddi Narua is the first reported variety of a Naish language having only two tonal levels; all other Naish languages described to date have three. The language uses a system in which level tones are primary, and tones are associated to lexical items rather than to individual syllables. Four tone categories are identified for nouns and adjectives, and six for verbs. Processes of tonal interaction across word boundaries are discussed, from tonal morphology to observations about syntactic and semantic factors influencing the placement of tone group boundaries within a sentence.

Mots clés: tone; level tone; tonal morphology; Narua; Mosuo; Yongning Na; Naish languages

Domaines: Linguistique

Roselle Dobbs, Lǎ Míngqīng 喇明清. The two-level tonal system of Lataddi Narua. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 2016, 39 (1), pp.67-104. ⟨10.1075/ltba.39.1.04dob⟩. ⟨halshs-02945164⟩