Sponsor
The data for this paper were accumulated with the help of a Fulbright Research Grant and a Humanities Graduate Research Grant from the University of California, Berkeley.
Published In
Studies in African Linguistics
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1995
Subjects
Kissi language, Typology (Linguistics), Nasality (Phonetics), Atlantic languages
Abstract
The findings of language typologists can contribute to understanding synchronic variation where no diachronic facts are available. By establishing what happens universally, one can extrapolate as to the past and perhaps as to the future of a language on the basis of synchronic evidence. One approach within such a framework concentrates on a typologically unusual or marked feature on the assumption that its derivation may be established from less highly marked features. This paper discusses the typologically unusual prenasalized stops of Kisi, a Mel language belonging to the Southern Branch of (West) Atlantic. The approach adopted here is based on the process-oriented framework developed by Joseph Greenberg.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27680
Citation Details
Childs, George Tucker (1995). Language typology and reconstruction: the prenasalized stops of Kisi. Studies in African Linguistics 23, 1. 1992-1994. 65-79.
Description
Originally appeared in Studies in African Linguistics, volume 23, number 1, published by the Department of Linguistics, University of Florida.