Laura J. Downing

This book provides thorough descriptive and theory-neutral coverage of the full range of phonological phenomena of Chichewa, a Malawian Bantu language. Bantu languages have played and continue to play an important role as a source of data illustrating core phonological processes such as vowel harmony, nasal place assimilation, postnasal laryngeal alternations, tonal phenomena such as High tone spread and the OCP, prosodic morphology, and the phonology-syntax interface. Chichewa, in particular, has been a key language in the development of theoretical approaches to these phenomena. In this volume, Laura Downing and Al Mtenje examine not only these well-known features of Chichewa but also less well-studied phonological topics such as positional asymmetries in the distribution of segments, the phonetics of tone, and intonation. They survey important recent theoretical approaches to phonological problems such as focus prosody, reduplication, and vowel harmony, where Chichewa data is routinely referred to in the literature. The book will serve as a resource for all phonologists interested in these processes, regardless of their theoretical background, as well as Bantu scholars and linguists working on interface issues.

This book considers the interaction of morphological and phonological determinants of linguistic form and the degree to which one determines the other. It considers the operation of canonical forms, the invariant syllabic shapes of morphemes and the defining characteristic of prosodic morphology. Dr Downing presents an original theory which she tests on data from a wide variety of languages. Her book will be of central interest to scholars and advanced students of phonology and morphology, and of linguistic theory more generally.

Prosodic morphology concerns the interaction of morphological and phonological determinants of linguistic form and the degree to which one determines the other. This is the first book devoted to understanding the definition and operation of canonical forms - the invariant syllabic shapes of morphemes - which are the defining characteristic of prosodic morphology. Dr Downing discusses past research in the field and provides a critical evaluation of the current leading theory which, she shows, is empirically inadequate. She sets out an alternative approach and tests this in a cross-linguistic analysis of phonological and morphological forms over a wide range languages, including several not previously been studied from this perspective. Prosodic morphology has been the testing ground for theoeretical developments in phonology over the past twenty years, from autosegmental theory to optimality theory. This book will be of central interest to specialists in phonology and morphology, as well as to advanced students of these fields and of linguistic theory more generally.