The tone system of Ibibio

Eno-Abasi E. Urua

University of Uyo, Nigeria/Universität Bielefeld, Germany

Abstract

A fair amount of attention has been devoted to the study of Ibibio tone, the first serious one being that of Kaufman (1968). Other descriptions of the Ibibio tone system or aspects of it, include Boys (1979), Essien (1983, 1990), Essien (1992), Umoh (1985), Urua (1987, 1990, 1995, 2000), Akinlabi & Urua (2000), etc.

Ibibio is a Lower Cross language spoken in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria, specifically in Akwa Ibom State and some areas of Cross River State and has been described as having two contrastive level pitches, High and Low, contour pitches, High-Low and Low-High, in addition to a contrastive downstepped High pitch. Having said that, tonal alternation also occurs as a result of dialect variation in Ibibio. This alternation is generally between a level Low tone and a High-Low contour tone in the nouns and certain verb constructions.

Given the types of tones attested in Ibibio, it is a classical terrace system. Features of terrace tone system manifested in Ibibio include both automatic and non-automatic downstep (Stewart 1983). There is instrumental evidence to show that both High and Low tones downdrift in this language.

In this paper we present a comprehensive description of the Ibibio tone system with particular attention to contour tones, terracing, floating tones, tonological processes and assess the implication of some of these for tonological theory.

Floating tones are postulated for the language and there is both synchronic and diachronic support for this position (Winston 1960, Cook 1985, Urua 1995, 2000, etc.). Floating tones also perform various grammatical functions in the language and the presence of floating tones (in addition to other tonological processes), underscore the autonomy of tones from the units that anchor them.

Some of the tonal processes to be discussed in this paper include spreading, replacement, simplification and deletion with the Ibibio tone rules appearing to operate from left to right. Grammatically, the function of tone in Ibibio is varied and very complex and we hope to discuss some of the salient ones. To some extent, word classes may be distinguished tonally. Disyllabic verbs, for instance, have a predictable final High tone in the basic form while nouns and other word classes are more varied in size and have no such tonal restrictions.

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