Documentation

Linglib.Phenomena.Tone.Studies.AkinboFwangwar2026

Akinbo & Fwangwar (2026): Grammatical tones targeting ideophones #

@cite{akinbo-fwangwar-2026}

Akinbo, S. K. & Fwangwar, T. R. (2026). Iconicity and expressiveness of grammatical tones targeting ideophones in Mwaghavul. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 44:21.

Empirical claims #

  1. Grammatical tone targets ideophones. Mwaghavul derives verbs from ideophones via two segmentally null verbalisers with M and M-H tonal melodies as their sole exponents.

  2. Anchor + INTEGRITY OT analysis (paper §4.3, eq. 22). The tonal alternations are accounted for by morpheme-specific correspondence constraints (@cite{finley-2009}): LEFT-ANCHOR-Tᵥ, RIGHT-ANCHOR-Tᵥ, INTEGRITY-Tᵥ, and MAX-Tone.

  3. Iconic Phonological Disharmony. In pluractional verbs, the M-H verbaliser realises M on every TBU of the reduplicant and H on every TBU of the base. This disharmony iconically marks "distinguishable identity" (@cite{dingemanse-thompson-2020}).

  4. Expressiveness survives integration. Derived ideophonic verbs retain expressive properties (affective meaning, nondisplaceability, ineffability) despite full morphosyntactic integration (@cite{potts-2005}-style secondary meanings), challenging the inverse correlation predicted by @cite{dingemanse-akita-2017}.

Substrate #

The OT analysis is built on Phonology.Autosegmental.FloatingForm Syl (Goldsmith-style autosegmental representation; built originally for @cite{mcpherson-lamont-2026}). Each ulTones entry is one autosegment; surfaceLinks records associations between tier and TBUs. This represents spreading (one autosegment, multi-linked) and copying (multiple autosegments) as distinct objects — load-bearing for the INTEGRITY-Mᵥ constraint that rules out the copying variant of Tableau 24's optimum (paper p. 26 eq. 22c).

Constraint primitives come from Theories/Phonology/Tone/Constraints.lean, with Mwaghavul-specific anchor combinators defined in §2 below.

Section structure #

@[reducible, inline]

The Mwaghavul-instantiated autosegmental form.

Equations
Instances For

    Morpheme ID for the ideophone root (wùlàʃ in Tableau 24, háŋláyáp in Tableau 25). Both single-root tableaux share this ID.

    Equations
    Instances For

      Morpheme ID for the verbaliser. The M-tone verbaliser (Tableau 24) and the M-H verbaliser (Tableaux 25/26) share this ID — they're suppletive allomorphs of the same verbaliser morpheme per paper p. 20 eq. (17).

      Equations
      Instances For

        Morpheme ID for the reduplicant root in pluractional Tableau 26.

        Equations
        Instances For

          Morpheme ID for the base root in pluractional Tableau 26.

          Equations
          Instances For

            Wrap a Mwaghavul syllable as a TBU of the (single) ideophone root.

            Equations
            Instances For

              Wrap a syllable as a TBU of the reduplicant (Tableau 26).

              Equations
              Instances For

                Wrap a syllable as a TBU of the base (Tableau 26).

                Equations
                Instances For

                  Anchor + INTEGRITY + MAX-Tone constraints. Anchor constraints come in two flavours: - Single-root (lAnchToneC/rAnchToneC): scope over all TBUs. Correct for Tableaux 24/25 with one root morpheme. - Per-root, summed across roots (lAnchToneCAcross / rAnchToneCAcross): scope to each root morpheme separately, sum violations; if no root hosts the gram tone, every TBU of every targeted root counts (paper p. 28). Required for Tableau 26's two-root pluractional.

                  Does TBU i bear a tone of value t from morpheme m?

                  Equations
                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                  Instances For

                    L-ANCHOR-t-from-m: number of TBUs (in tier order) before the leftmost gram-t-from-m TBU. If no such TBU exists, every TBU counts (full TBU count).

                    Equations
                    Instances For

                      R-ANCHOR-t-from-m: counted from the right edge.

                      Equations
                      Instances For

                        MAX-Tone (per autosegment): count of deleted ulTones entries. Matches paper p. 26 per-autosegment counting.

                        Equations
                        Instances For

                          L-ANCHOR-Mᵥ as a DirectionalConstraint.

                          Equations
                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                          Instances For

                            R-ANCHOR-Mᵥ as a DirectionalConstraint.

                            Equations
                            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                            Instances For

                              MAX-Tone as a DirectionalConstraint.

                              Equations
                              • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                              Instances For

                                L-ANCHOR scoped to root rm. 0 if t-from-m not realised on rm (per paper p. 28: "no violation to the other root morpheme"); else count TBUs of rm before the leftmost gram-t TBU of rm.

                                Equations
                                • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                Instances For

                                  R-ANCHOR scoped to root rm.

                                  Equations
                                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                  Instances For

                                    L-ANCHOR summed across a list of root morphemes. If the gram tone is not realised on ANY of the roots, paper p. 28 assigns one violation per TBU of every targeted root (not 0).

                                    Equations
                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                    Instances For

                                      R-ANCHOR summed across a list of root morphemes.

                                      Equations
                                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                      Instances For

                                        L-ANCHOR-t-from-m-across-roots as a DirectionalConstraint.

                                        Equations
                                        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                        Instances For

                                          R-ANCHOR across roots as a DirectionalConstraint.

                                          Equations
                                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                          Instances For

                                            Paper Tableau 24 (p. 26): (wùlàʃ)₁ + Mᵥ. Six candidates including the copying variant (24f) that the paper rules out via INTEGRITY-Mᵥ.

                                            Encoding: ONE lex L autosegment multi-linked to both TBUs of the
                                            bisyllabic root (Goldsmith 1976 convention; paper notation
                                            `(wùlàʃ)₁` confirms a single morpheme-internal melody). 
                                            

                                            Faithful input: ulTones = [L_root (multi-linked), M_vbz (floating)].

                                            Equations
                                            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                            Instances For

                                              (24a) (wùlàʃ)₁ M₂: M still floating; L unchanged.

                                              Equations
                                              Instances For

                                                (24e) ☞ (wūlāʃ)₂ SPREADING: M multi-linked to both TBUs; L deleted. ONE M autosegment, two surface links.

                                                Equations
                                                Instances For

                                                  (24f) (wū)₂(lāʃ)₂ COPYING: TWO separate M autosegments, each linked to one TBU. L deleted. Differs from (24a-e) in ulTones — the autosegmental representation has an extra M autosegment. INTEGRITY-Mᵥ fatally penalises this copying.

                                                  Equations
                                                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                  Instances For
                                                    Equations
                                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                    Instances For
                                                      Equations
                                                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                      Instances For

                                                        (24a) profile [INTEG-Mᵥ, L-ANCH-Mᵥ, R-ANCH-Mᵥ, MAX-T] = [0, 2, 2, 0]: M floating, both anchors fail (no gram-M TBU), no deletions.

                                                        (24b) profile [0, 2, 2, 1]: M deleted, anchors fail, MAX-T fires.

                                                        (24c) profile [0, 1, 0, 0]: M on σ1; L-ANCH = 1 (M not at left).

                                                        (24d) profile [0, 0, 1, 0]: M on σ0; R-ANCH = 1 (M not at right).

                                                        (24e) ☞ profile [0, 0, 0, 1]: M multi-linked, anchors satisfied; INTEG = 0 (1 alive vbz M); MAX-T = 1 (L deleted). The unique optimum.

                                                        (24f) profile [1, 0, 0, 1]: TWO M autosegments → INTEG = 1 (fatal under the ranking, even though anchors and MAX-T tie with (24e)).

                                                        Headline: (24e) is the unique optimum under INTEG-Mᵥ ≫ L-ANCH-Mᵥ ≫ R-ANCH-Mᵥ ≫ MAX-Tone. The copying variant (24f) is ruled out by INTEGRITY; (24a-d) lose on anchors.

                                                        Paper Tableau 25 (p. 27): (háŋláyáp)₁ + M₂H₃ᵥ. Seven candidates; no INTEGRITY column (no copying variant arises). Encoding: ONE lex H autosegment multi-linked to all 3 TBUs (Goldsmith convention).

                                                        Faithful input: ulTones = [H_root (multi-linked), M_vbz, H_vbz].

                                                        Equations
                                                        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                        Instances For

                                                          (25b) (hāŋlā)₂(yáp)₁: M on σ0-σ1; lex H on σ2; vbz H deleted.

                                                          Equations
                                                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                          Instances For

                                                            (25c) (háŋláyáp)₃: vbz H multi-linked to all TBUs; vbz M and lex H deleted.

                                                            Equations
                                                            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                            Instances For

                                                              (25d) (hāŋlāyāp)₂: vbz M multi-linked to all TBUs; vbz H and lex H deleted.

                                                              Equations
                                                              • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                              Instances For

                                                                (25e) ☞ (hāŋlā)₂(yáp)₃: vbz M on σ0-σ1; vbz H on σ2; lex H deleted. The winner.

                                                                Equations
                                                                Instances For

                                                                  (25g) (hāŋ)₂(lá)₁(yáp)₃: vbz M on σ0; lex H on σ1; vbz H on σ2. Lex H NOT deleted.

                                                                  Equations
                                                                  Instances For
                                                                    Equations
                                                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                    Instances For
                                                                      Equations
                                                                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                      Instances For

                                                                        (25a) profile [3, 3, 3, 3, 2]: no verbaliser realised.

                                                                        (25b) profile [0, 3, 1, 3, 1]: vbz M docked left; vbz H deleted.

                                                                        (25c) profile [3, 0, 3, 0, 2]: vbz H spreading; vbz M deleted.

                                                                        (25d) profile [0, 3, 0, 3, 2]: vbz M spreading; vbz H deleted.

                                                                        (25e) ☞ profile [0, 0, 1, 2, 1]: M on σ0-σ1; H on σ2; lex H deleted. Winner.

                                                                        (25f) profile [0, 0, 2, 1, 1].

                                                                        (25g) profile [0, 0, 2, 2, 0]: lex H NOT deleted (still on σ1).

                                                                        Headline: (25e) is the unique optimum. (25a-d) lose on the top-tier anchors; (25f-g) tie with (25e) on top constraints but lose on R-ANCH-Mᵥ.

                                                                        Paper Tableau 26 (p. 28): (jàlpàt)₁ + (jàlpàt)₂ + M₃H₄ᵥ. Two root morphemes (reduplicant + base), each with /LL/ lexical melody (one L autosegment multi-linked to its 2 TBUs). The M-H verbaliser realises M on RED's TBUs and H on BASE's TBUs.

                                                                        Per-root anchoring (paper p. 28): if vbz M is realised on one root,
                                                                        the other root contributes no violation. If unrealised on both,
                                                                        every TBU of every targeted root counts. The
                                                                        `lAnchToneCAcross`/`rAnchToneCAcross` constraints in §2 implement
                                                                        this. 
                                                                        

                                                                        Faithful input: ulTones = [L_RED (multi-linked), L_BASE (multi-linked), M_vbz, H_vbz]. Each lex L is multi-linked to its own root's 2 TBUs.

                                                                        Equations
                                                                        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                        Instances For

                                                                          Per-root anchor instantiations for the two-root pluractional.

                                                                          Equations
                                                                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                          Instances For
                                                                            Equations
                                                                            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                            Instances For
                                                                              Equations
                                                                              • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                              Instances For
                                                                                Equations
                                                                                • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                Instances For

                                                                                  (26b): vbz M on σ1 (rightmost of RED); vbz H on σ3 (rightmost of BASE); lex Ls survive on σ0 and σ2 respectively.

                                                                                  Equations
                                                                                  Instances For

                                                                                    (26c): vbz M on σ0 (leftmost of RED); vbz H on σ2 (leftmost of BASE); lex Ls survive on σ1 and σ3.

                                                                                    Equations
                                                                                    Instances For

                                                                                      (26d) ☞: M spreading on RED (both σ0, σ1); H spreading on BASE (both σ2, σ3); both lex Ls deleted. The winner — iconic M-on-RED

                                                                                      • H-on-BASE pattern.
                                                                                      Equations
                                                                                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                      Instances For

                                                                                        (26e): vbz M on σ0; vbz H on σ1 (both within RED); lex L of BASE survives multi-linked. Lex L of RED deleted.

                                                                                        Equations
                                                                                        Instances For

                                                                                          (26f): vbz M spreading on RED + σ2 (first BASE TBU); vbz H on σ3.

                                                                                          Equations
                                                                                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                          Instances For

                                                                                            (26g): vbz M on σ0 (RED) + σ2 (BASE); lex L of RED on σ1; vbz H on σ3.

                                                                                            Equations
                                                                                            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                            Instances For
                                                                                              Equations
                                                                                              • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                              Instances For

                                                                                                Ranking, same shape as Tableau 25 but with per-root anchors: L-ANCH-Mᵥ ≫ R-ANCH-Hᵥ ≫ R-ANCH-Mᵥ ≫ L-ANCH-Hᵥ ≫ MAX-Tone.

                                                                                                Equations
                                                                                                • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                                Instances For
                                                                                                  Equations
                                                                                                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                                  Instances For

                                                                                                    (26d) profile [0, 0, 0, 0, 2]: perfect realisation — vbz M on every TBU of RED, vbz H on every TBU of BASE. Both lex Ls deleted (MAX-T = 2).

                                                                                                    Headline: (26d) is the unique optimum — the iconic M-on-RED + H-on-BASE disharmony pattern.

                                                                                                    The Mwaghavul verbalisers are classified under @cite{rolle-2018}'s grammatical-tone framework as replacive-dominant GT (Def 1): automatic replacement of the underlying tone within the valuation window of the target-host. Verbalisers are word-level + independent prosodic exponence (segmentally null — tone is the sole exponent).

                                                                                                    M-tone verbaliser (VBZ₁) classified under Rolle 2018: replacive-dominant, word-level, independent.

                                                                                                    Equations
                                                                                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                                    Instances For

                                                                                                      M-H verbaliser (VBZ₂).

                                                                                                      Equations
                                                                                                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                                      Instances For

                                                                                                        Both verbalisers are dominant: they neutralise the target's lexical tonal contrast.

                                                                                                        The verbaliser-to-root relationship satisfies the dominant GT asymmetry, derived from CoP-scope: verbaliser is in Spec (dependent), root is in Head. Spec scopes over Head, so the asymmetry holds.

                                                                                                        VBZ₁'s GTSpec.toSpec recovers the Spec used by deriveVerb.

                                                                                                        VBZ₂'s GTSpec.toSpec recovers the Spec used by deriveVerb.

                                                                                                        Cross-verb generalisations about the Mwaghavul ideophone-to-verb derivation (paper §3, summarised in eq. (13)). These are properties of the data, decidable from the Ideophone records in Fragments/Mwaghavul/Basic.lean.

                                                                                                        Mwaghavul satisfies @cite{hyman-2006}'s tonal-language definition (3): "an indication of pitch enters into the lexical realisation of at least some morphemes."

                                                                                                        The segmentally null verbalisers that trigger the tonal alternations are instances of the verbal categoriser v in Distributed Morphology (@cite{marantz-1997}, @cite{harley-2014}). The ideophonic base (noun, adjective, or adverb) is recategorised as a verb through merger with v, whose sole phonological exponent is a tonal melody.

                                                                                                        @cite{akinbo-fwangwar-2026} §4.2 argues that derived ideophonic verbs retain @cite{potts-2005}-style expressive properties despite morphosyntactic integration: affective meaning, nondisplaceability, descriptive ineffability, context-dependence. This challenges @cite{dingemanse-akita-2017}'s prediction of inverse correlation between integration and expressiveness.

                                                                                                        Derived ideophonic verbs exhibit all canonical expressive properties: independent, nondisplaceable, perspective-dependent, descriptively ineffable, immediate, repeatable, no perspective shift, no discourse antecedent required.

                                                                                                        Equations
                                                                                                        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                                                        Instances For