The primary aim of this work is to review the syllable structure of Nzema as outlined in Annan (1980). What the reviewer seeks to come out include among others answers to the following questions. Is a semi-vowel (glide, j) and a vowel a V or CV type of syllable? Do all syllables in Nzema have meaning and is syllabic nasal (N), always in word initial and medial and not final?
1
INTRODUCTION
Although it is easy to recognise a syllable, it is difficult to give a strict definition of the term
(Owu-Ewie, 2011). In view of this, several scholars including Crystal, 2007; Radford, Atkinson,
Britain, Clalison & Spencer 2009, have tried to give careful definitions. They suggest that one
way of determining a syllable is to try and sing it, each syllable is sung on a separate tone.
Annan (1980) explains the inventory of the syllable as " A group of air that comes from the lungs
and which makes a single sound"
Simply defined, a syllable is a unit of sound composed of a central peak of sonority (usually a
vowel) and the consonants that cluster around this central peak (Owu-Ewie, 2011). By this
definition, the role of vowel is clearly highlighted.
Nzema Syllable Structure
Annan (1980:84) posits that Nzema has a two-constituent syllable structure, comprising onset
(O) which can be a single consonant or double, and a rhyme (R) which is always a vowel (V). He
further classifies the syllable types as vowel (V), consonant and vowel (CV) and syllabic nasal
(N). The issue of final syllabic nasal however, was not mentioned.
Katamba (1989) contends that many languages (including English) have syllables that contain
only vowel (V). This is also true in the case of Nzema (Annan, 1980).
Annan (1980) categorizes V syllable type into four: one vowel syllable, semi-vowel and true
vowel, a long vowel and vowel sequence.
One vowel syllable type
Examples of this syllable type he gives include the below.
/avile/ [. vi. le] (bead), /hl/[ . h. l] (crab), /etu/[ e. tu] (gun), etc.
Semi-vowel & vowel syllable
This syllable type has a semi-vowel onset and a vowel (nucleus).
Examples, /yela/ [i. l] (bless), /awa/ [. w] (calabash), /yela/ [. la] (burn), /wola/
[w. la] (pour)
2
Long vowel syllable
This type is mainly interjections in the Nzema language.
Examples. Oo, Aa.
ooV:
aaV:
Vowel sequence
This V type constitutes a string of vowels with either two or three qualities. They occur in either
a word medial or final.
Examples a. /dua/[du. ] (plant-verb), /bie/ [bi. e] (some/ urinate), /sua/ [su. ] (house).
/doloa/ [d. . l. a] (soak continuously).
The underlined in example (a) above are in word final.
The underlined in the example b below is in the word medial.
b. /aleabo/ [a. l. . a. b] (universe).
CV syllable
Annan (1980) categorizes CV syllable into three: CV (short), CV: (long) and CV (where C is a
digraph).
CV (short).
This syllable type has an onset and a short vowel. Examples: [p] (cut)
[d] (hold), [ka] (bite).
CV:
The constituents of this syllable type include an onset (consonant) and a long vowel. Examples:
saa (if), dii (quite), tuu (dark), m (very soft).
Thus, /saa/ [sa:], /dii/ [di:], /tuu/ [tu:], /m/ [ m:]
CV (where C is a digraph).
This syllable type constitutes a digraph onset and a vowel. The vowel(s) can be short or long.
Examples: a. kpa (select), ky (share), dwe (keep cold), etc.
Fin de l'extrait de 5 pages
- haut de page
- Citation du texte
- John Nyame (Auteur), 2017, The Syllable Structure of Nzema, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/387368