Akan vowel harmony the word structure conditions and the floating vowels

Abstract

Clements, in an account of Akan vowel harmony [1981b], has a separate autosegmental tier for the harmonic feature category [Advanced Tongue Root]. He claims to demonstrate the superiority of his autosegmental framework over the segmental framework adopted in an earlier account of Akan vowel harmony by ScLachter and Fromkin [1968], namely that of Stanley [1967] and CLomsky and Halle [1968]. However, although the segmental framework in question is indeed unsatisfactory in certain respects as it stands, it can be readily modified to meet Clement's objections without recourse to the autosegmentalization of the harmonic feature category.

Keywords

• Akan
• vowel harmony
• [ATR]
• autosegmental phonology