Downstep

In this article we will explore Downstep in depth, a topic that has captured the attention of many in recent times. As we delve into this exciting topic, we will try to shed light on its importance and relevance in today's world. From its origins to its impact on society, Downstep has been the subject of debate and analysis, and in this article we will try to address all its facets in an objective and detailed manner. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we will examine the historical, cultural and contemporary aspects of Downstep, with the goal of providing our readers with a broader and deeper understanding of this fascinating topic.

Downstep
ꜜ◌
ꜝ◌
IPA number517
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ꜜ
Unicode (hex)U+A71C
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between , / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Downstep is a phenomenon in tone languages in which if two syllables have the same tone (for example, both with a high tone or both with a low tone), the second syllable is lower in pitch than the first.

Two main kinds of downstep can be distinguished. The first, more usually called automatic downstep, downdrift[1] or catathesis,[2] occurs when high and low tones come in the sequence H L (L) H; the second high tone tends to be lower than the first because of the intervening low-toned syllable. It is common in African languages, such as Chichewa.[3] It has also been argued that the same phenomenon is heard in English sentences, if these sentences are pronounced with a falling intonation, for example I really believe Ebenezer was a dealer in magnesium, or I bought blueberries, bayberries, raspberries, mulberries, and brambleberries.[4][5]

Downstep proper, or non-automatic downstep,[6] is another phenomenon found in many African languages, such as Igbo (see [7] for an overview of downstep in African languages). When two high tones are in succeeding syllables (thus in the sequence H H), and the second is lower than the first, there is said to be a downstep.[8]

The symbol for the second kind of downstep in the International Phonetic Alphabet is a superscript down arrow, ⟨ꜜ⟩ (↓). It is common to see instead a superscript exclamation mark ⟨ꜝ⟩ (!) because of typographic constraints, though technically that would mean an incompletely or lightly articulated alveolar click release.

It has been shown that in most, if not all, cases of downstep proper, the lowering of the second high tone occurs when an intervening low-toned syllable has dropped out. What was H (L) H has become HꜜH.[9] The missing low-toned syllable creates what is known as a 'floating tone'. An example occurs in Bambara, a language spoken in Mali. In Bambara, the definite article is a floating low tone. With a noun in isolation, it docks to the preceding vowel and turns a high tone into a falling tone:

/bá/ river
/bâ/ the river

However, when it occurs between two high tones, it downsteps the following tone:

/bá tɛ́/ it's not a river
/bá ꜜ tɛ́/ it's not the river

See also

  • Upstep, which is less commonly phonemic.

References

  1. ^ Yip 2002, p. 148.
  2. ^ Beckman & Pierrehumbert 1986, p. 272.
  3. ^ Myers 1996.
  4. ^ Pierrehumbert 1980, pp. 139ff, 329ff.
  5. ^ Beckman & Pierrehumbert 1986, p. 273.
  6. ^ Connell 2001.
  7. ^ Downing & Rialland 2017.
  8. ^ Welmers 1974, pp. 82ff.
  9. ^ Welmers 1974, p. 87.

Bibliography

  • Beckman, Mary E. & Pierrehumbert, Janet B. (1986). "Intonational Structure in English and Japanese" (PDF). Phonology Yearbook. 3: 255–309. doi:10.1017/S095267570000066X. S2CID 62734066. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  • Connell, Bruce (2001), Downdrift, Downstep, and Declination (PDF), Bielefeld University, Germany: Typology of African Prosodic Systems Workshop, archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2007
  • Crystal, David (2003). A dictionary of linguistics & phonetics. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 130.
  • Downing, Laura J. & Rialland, Annie (2017). Intonation in African tone languages. Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110503524. OCLC 963605080.
  • Myers, Scott (1996). "Boundary tones and the phonetic implementation of tone in Chichewa" (PDF). Studies in African Linguistics. 25 (1): 29–60. doi:10.32473/sal.v25i1.107403. S2CID 126264216.
  • Pierrehumbert, Janet B. (1980). The Phonology and Phonetics of English Intonation (PDF) (PhD). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-13. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  • Welmers, William E. (1974). African Language Structures. University of California Press.
  • Yip, Moira (2002). Tone. Cambridge University Press.