Vowel harmony and the consonant I in Chumburung

Abstract

This paper presents a synchronic description of the realization of /l/ in Chumburung, a Kwa language of Ghana. In this description I attempt to demonstrate that the influence of the feature advanced tongue root is not restricted to the vowel harmony system, but also spreads to influence the realization of the consonant /l/. Following from this synchronic description is evidence suggesting that native speakers of Chumburung require more than phonetic information in order to choose the appropriate allophone of /l/.

Keywords

• Chumburung
• Kwa
• [ATR]
• vowel harmony
• phonetics