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The foot domain in Bambara

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Christopher R. Green
Christopher R. Green*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland—Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL)
*
University of Maryland—CASL, 7005 52nd Avenue, College Park, MD 20742 [greencr@umd.edu]
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Extract

Recent research has shed new light on the role and characteristics of prosodic domains, including segmental and tonal feet, in an array of languages. This research extends to African languages, but much work remains to be done. Tonal African languages are particularly problematic, as correlates of stress or metrical prominence are often not well defined or are absent altogether. In addition, descriptive work may omit details of the structure and function of prosodic domains. An exception to this is Bambara, where research implicates a pivotal role for foot structure in segmental and tonal processes. These processes reference a foot domain; however, there are conflicting accounts of certain defining characteristics of its structure. This article aims to challenge two long-held claims about Bambara prosodic structure. The data presented support a claim that all Bambara feet are uniformly trochaic and parsed from left to right in all instances. I intend to illustrate that Bambara segmental and tonal feet are a single, structurally unified prosodic entity.

Keywords

prosodic structurefoot domainBambaraMande languagesheadedness

Information

Type
Phonological Analysis
Information
Language , Volume 91 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. e1 - e26
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 Linguistic Society of America

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Footnotes

*

I thank Amalia Gnanadesikan, Stuart Davis, and audiences at ACAL 42 and the 3rd Colloque Mandé for thoughtful discussion and feedback on aspects of this work. I am extremely grateful to Valentin Vydrine for his willingness to engage in friendly discussion and debate about our viewpoints on Mande prosodic structure. I also thank the coeditor and two referees for their comments and suggestions. Any remaining shortcomings are my responsibility.

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