This research paper focused on the phonological processes of assimilation in the Amharic language. The objective of the study is to analyze the role of feature specification, underspecification, and morphophonemic processes in the phonological structure of Amharic. The paper provides ample examples from the language to illustrate different types of assimilation processes, such as gemination, palatalization, and labialization. Gemination, a notable assimilation process in Amharic, was examined in both lexical and morphological contexts. Lexically, the presence or absence of gemination distinguishes the meanings of words, as seen in the examples of /gäna/ meaning 'still' and /gänna/ meaning 'Christmas'. Morphologically, gemination occurs in verb conjugation, as demonstrated by /säbbärä/ meaning 'broke' and /wässädä/ meaning 'took'. Palatalization is another assimilation process discussed in the paper, although specific examples are not provided in the abstract. It likely involved the palatalization of consonants in certain contexts, influenced by `neighboring sounds. Labialization, the assimilation process involving lip rounding, is also mentioned in Amharic, /änbässä/ becomes [ämbässa], the phoneme /n/ in the phonetic representation of [m], /n/ comes before the bilabial sound /b/- is the plosive bilabial sound. The study adopted a qualitative approach and employed descriptive and analytical methods to analyze the phonological structure of Amharic. By systematically examining the phonological units, the author contributes to the understanding of the phonological structure of Amharic and its assimilation processes. The research enhances our knowledge of the phonological patterns of the Amharic language, shedding light on the role of feature specification, underspecification, and morphophonemic processes. It highlights gemination, palatalization, labialization, and other assimilation processes as significant factors shaping the phonological structure of Amharic. The findings contribute to the broader study of phonology and deepen our understanding of the Amharic language.
| Published in | International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 11, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16 |
| Page(s) | 225-235 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Morphophonemic, Underspecification, Combinatorial, Assimilation
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| [9] | Kiparsky, P. (1982). “From cyclic phonology to lexical phonology”. In van der Hulst H. and Smith, N. (eds) The structure of Phonological Representations (Part I). Dordrech: Foris Publications. |
| [10] | Leslau, Wolf. 1995. A Reference Grammar of Amharic. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. |
| [11] | Mullen, D (1986) Issues in the Morphology and Phonology of Amharic: the lexical generation of Pronominal Clitics, PhD Theses, University of Ottawa, Ottawa. |
| [12] | McCarthy, John J. (1988). Feature geometry and Dependency: A Review, Phonetica 45: 84-108. |
| [13] | Parera, J. D. 1990. Morfologi. Jakarta: Gramedia. |
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APA Style
Mekt, G. (2023). Feature Specification, Underspecification, and Morphophonemic Process and Feature Geometry of Amharic Language. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 11(6), 225-235. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16
ACS Style
Mekt, G. Feature Specification, Underspecification, and Morphophonemic Process and Feature Geometry of Amharic Language. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2023, 11(6), 225-235. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16
AMA Style
Mekt G. Feature Specification, Underspecification, and Morphophonemic Process and Feature Geometry of Amharic Language. Int J Lang Linguist. 2023;11(6):225-235. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16,
author = {Gebreiyesus Mekt},
title = {Feature Specification, Underspecification, and Morphophonemic Process and Feature Geometry of Amharic Language},
journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
volume = {11},
number = {6},
pages = {225-235},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20231106.16},
abstract = {This research paper focused on the phonological processes of assimilation in the Amharic language. The objective of the study is to analyze the role of feature specification, underspecification, and morphophonemic processes in the phonological structure of Amharic. The paper provides ample examples from the language to illustrate different types of assimilation processes, such as gemination, palatalization, and labialization. Gemination, a notable assimilation process in Amharic, was examined in both lexical and morphological contexts. Lexically, the presence or absence of gemination distinguishes the meanings of words, as seen in the examples of /gäna/ meaning 'still' and /gänna/ meaning 'Christmas'. Morphologically, gemination occurs in verb conjugation, as demonstrated by /säbbärä/ meaning 'broke' and /wässädä/ meaning 'took'. Palatalization is another assimilation process discussed in the paper, although specific examples are not provided in the abstract. It likely involved the palatalization of consonants in certain contexts, influenced by `neighboring sounds. Labialization, the assimilation process involving lip rounding, is also mentioned in Amharic, /änbässä/ becomes [ämbässa], the phoneme /n/ in the phonetic representation of [m], /n/ comes before the bilabial sound /b/- is the plosive bilabial sound. The study adopted a qualitative approach and employed descriptive and analytical methods to analyze the phonological structure of Amharic. By systematically examining the phonological units, the author contributes to the understanding of the phonological structure of Amharic and its assimilation processes. The research enhances our knowledge of the phonological patterns of the Amharic language, shedding light on the role of feature specification, underspecification, and morphophonemic processes. It highlights gemination, palatalization, labialization, and other assimilation processes as significant factors shaping the phonological structure of Amharic. The findings contribute to the broader study of phonology and deepen our understanding of the Amharic language.
},
year = {2023}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Feature Specification, Underspecification, and Morphophonemic Process and Feature Geometry of Amharic Language AU - Gebreiyesus Mekt Y1 - 2023/12/28 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16 DO - 10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16 T2 - International Journal of Language and Linguistics JF - International Journal of Language and Linguistics JO - International Journal of Language and Linguistics SP - 225 EP - 235 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-0221 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20231106.16 AB - This research paper focused on the phonological processes of assimilation in the Amharic language. The objective of the study is to analyze the role of feature specification, underspecification, and morphophonemic processes in the phonological structure of Amharic. The paper provides ample examples from the language to illustrate different types of assimilation processes, such as gemination, palatalization, and labialization. Gemination, a notable assimilation process in Amharic, was examined in both lexical and morphological contexts. Lexically, the presence or absence of gemination distinguishes the meanings of words, as seen in the examples of /gäna/ meaning 'still' and /gänna/ meaning 'Christmas'. Morphologically, gemination occurs in verb conjugation, as demonstrated by /säbbärä/ meaning 'broke' and /wässädä/ meaning 'took'. Palatalization is another assimilation process discussed in the paper, although specific examples are not provided in the abstract. It likely involved the palatalization of consonants in certain contexts, influenced by `neighboring sounds. Labialization, the assimilation process involving lip rounding, is also mentioned in Amharic, /änbässä/ becomes [ämbässa], the phoneme /n/ in the phonetic representation of [m], /n/ comes before the bilabial sound /b/- is the plosive bilabial sound. The study adopted a qualitative approach and employed descriptive and analytical methods to analyze the phonological structure of Amharic. By systematically examining the phonological units, the author contributes to the understanding of the phonological structure of Amharic and its assimilation processes. The research enhances our knowledge of the phonological patterns of the Amharic language, shedding light on the role of feature specification, underspecification, and morphophonemic processes. It highlights gemination, palatalization, labialization, and other assimilation processes as significant factors shaping the phonological structure of Amharic. The findings contribute to the broader study of phonology and deepen our understanding of the Amharic language. VL - 11 IS - 6 ER -
Department of English Language and Literature, Jinka University, Jinka, Ethiopia
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