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Features, Gestures, and IGBO Vowels: An Approach to the Phonology-Phonetics Interface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

Elizabeth C. Zsiga
Elizabeth C. Zsiga*
Affiliation:
Georgetown University
*
Dept. of Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 20057 [zsigae@guvax.georgetown.edu]
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Abstract

This article examines two processes that affect vowels in Igbo: harmony and assimilation. Through these two processes, the relationship between autosegmental features and articulatory gestures is explored. Vowel harmony is argued to be featurally represented, but acoustic evidence shows that vowel assimilation is gradient and best represented in terms of articulatory gestures. Neither representation is adequate in itself to describe the full range of phonological and phonetic data; rather, I advocate a mapping procedure that takes advantage of the resemblances between autosegmental and gestural representations without collapsing the two. A complete account of Igbo vowel harmony and assimilation is provided, demonstrating the need for two kinds of representation, and illustrating the suggested feature-to-gesture mapping.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , June 1997, pp. 227 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 Linguistic Society of America

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