Grammatical Tone #
@cite{rolle-2018} @cite{hyman-etal-2021}
Grammatical tone (GT) is a tonological operation "restricted to a specific morpheme or construction... and not attributable to the general tonal phonology" (@cite{lionnet-etal-2022}:386). More precisely, GT is a tonological operation which is not general across the phonological grammar, and is restricted to the context of a specific morpheme or construction, or a natural class of morphemes or constructions (@cite{rolle-2018} Def 5).
GT components (@cite{rolle-2018} §2.1.4, Defs 10–15) #
@cite{rolle-2018} proposes a formal framework with five components for cross-linguistic classification:
- Grammatical tune (Def 10): the unique tone sequence (or set of tone sequences) which covaries with the GT construction
- Trigger (Def 13): the morpheme or construction licensing the tonological operation
- Target (Def 14): the morpheme(s) undergoing the tonal operation
- Host (Def 12): the morpheme(s) on which the tune is phonetically realized
- Valuation window (Def 15): the portion of the target-host evaluated for whether TBUs are valued or unvalued
The sponsor (Def 11) is the morpheme (or natural class of morphemes) which covaries with the grammatical tune. In most cases, the trigger is coextensive with the sponsor and the target with the host.
GT dominance effects (@cite{rolle-2018} Ch 3, §3.1) #
Interactions between the trigger-sponsor and the target-host based on their morphosyntactic identity and tonal value are GT dominance effects (à la @cite{kiparsky-halle-1977}, @cite{kiparsky-1982}, @cite{inkelas-1998}). These split into:
- Dominant GT: the trigger imposes its pattern regardless of the
target's tonal content
- Replacive-dominant (Def 1): underlying tone of target-host is replaced by the grammatical tune
- Subtractive-dominant (Def 2): underlying tone of target-host is deleted WITHOUT revaluation by a grammatical tune
- Non-dominant GT: the trigger's effect depends on whether the target
is tonally valued
- Recessive (Def 3): the grammatical tune applies only when the target-host is unvalued within its valuation window
- Neutral (Def 4): the trigger concatenates with the target-host without automatic replacement, deletion, or non-application
@cite{hyman-etal-2021} distinguish two broad categories of GT:
- Word-level: tone is the sole exponent of inflectional or derivational morphology (e.g., Kalabari imperative: H-L melody)
- Phrase-level: a phrasal construction triggers tonal modification of its complement (e.g., Kalabari associative: L-H melody on nouns)
This module provides the core types and operations. Language-specific
instantiations live in Fragments/; empirical applications in Phenomena/.
A tone-bearing unit carrying a tonal specification. Parameterized over
the segmental content type S (syllables, moras, etc.).
- seg : S
- tone : RegisterTier.TRN
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Whether a TBU is tonally valued (has a linked toneme T) or unvalued (a 'free TBU' — @cite{clements-goldsmith-1984}).
The distinction between valued and unvalued targets is critical for defining GT dominance effects: dominant triggers impose their pattern regardless of tonal value, while recessive triggers only apply to unvalued targets (@cite{rolle-2018} §3.1, Table 2).
- valued : TonalValue
- unvalued : TonalValue
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqTonalValue x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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The inventory of grammatically-conditioned tonological operations (@cite{rolle-2018} Table 3). Each variant represents a distinct type of input→output tonal mapping that can be triggered by a specific morpheme or construction.
- floatingToneDocking : GTOperation
Floating tone docks to an unvalued TBU without replacing any existing tone.
- deletion : GTOperation
Toneme of the target is deleted, leaving the TBU unvalued.
- replacement : GTOperation
Underlying tone of the target is replaced by a new tone (the grammatical tune).
- shifting : GTOperation
Tone shifts from one TBU to an adjacent one (e.g., rightward shift in Jita — @cite{downing-2014}).
- dissimilation : GTOperation
Target tone changes to avoid identity with an adjacent tone (e.g., L→H next to L).
- polarization : GTOperation
Target acquires the opposite value of an adjacent tone (e.g., L→H regardless of distance).
- absorption : GTOperation
A contour tone on the target loses one component (e.g., HL→H).
- horizontalAssimilation : GTOperation
Target assimilates to the pitch level of an adjacent tone on the same tier (horizontal spreading — @cite{hyman-2007}).
- verticalAssimilation : GTOperation
Target shifts to a nearby pitch level (e.g., L→M next to H).
- toneSpreading : GTOperation
A tone spreads from the sponsor to one or more TBUs of the target (e.g., H spreading in Bantu).
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqGTOperation x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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The four-way typology of GT dominance effects, based on the interaction between trigger-sponsor and target-host tonal values (@cite{rolle-2018} §3.1, Table 2).
This is the tonal instantiation of Features.Prosody.ProsodicDominance,
which captures the abstract dominant/recessive/neutral distinction
across both accentual and tonal morphology. The GT-specific split
of dominant into replacive vs subtractive reflects whether the
trigger provides a replacement melody or just deletes the base tone.
Dominance is a lexical idiosyncrasy of the trigger: it cannot be predicted from segmental or prosodic properties, the markedness of the grammatical tune, or the morphosyntactic position of the trigger relative to the target (@cite{inkelas-1998}:128).
- replaciveDominant : GTDominance
Replacive-dominant: automatic replacement of the underlying tone within the valuation window of the target-host, revalued with the grammatical tune (whether via floating tone, spreading from the sponsor, etc.).
Neutralizes the distinction between valued and unvalued targets: both receive the same output tone pattern. This neutralization is "intentional" in the sense of @cite{hyman-2018a}.
Examples: Hausa plural -óoCíí (@cite{inkelas-1998}), Kalabari demonstrative /mí/ (@cite{harry-hyman-2014}), Mwaghavul verbalisers (@cite{akinbo-fwangwar-2026}).
- subtractiveDominant : GTDominance
Subtractive-dominant: automatic deletion of the underlying tone within the valuation window, WITHOUT revaluation by a grammatical tune. The surface form receives a default pattern at a later stage.
Examples: Japanese -teki (@cite{kawahara-2015}), Baka 3sg/1pl/3pl inflection (@cite{waag-phodunze-2013}).
- recessive : GTDominance
Recessive-non-dominant: the grammatical tune applies only when the target-host is unvalued within its valuation window. If the target is valued, the tune does not dock.
Found primarily in privative-culminative systems where the tonal contrast is presence vs. absence (e.g., /H/ vs. Ø).
Examples: Japanese -si 'Mr.' (@cite{kawahara-2015}), Giphende floating tones (@cite{hyman-2017}).
- neutral : GTDominance
Neutral-non-dominant: the trigger-sponsor concatenates with the target-host without automatic replacement, deletion, or non-application of the grammatical tune. The output is determined by the general phonological grammar (e.g., OCP resolution, markedness constraints).
Most cases of "floating tones" in the literature are neutral.
Examples: Hausa referential -ⁿn (@cite{newman-2000}), Igbo associative construction (@cite{hyman-schuh-1974}).
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqGTDominance x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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Dominant GT neutralizes the lexical tonal contrast of the target: whether the target is valued or unvalued, the output is the same. This property is what @cite{rolle-2018} calls dominance as transparadigmatic uniformity.
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Non-dominant GT preserves the lexical tonal contrast: the output differs depending on whether the target is valued or unvalued.
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- d.IsNonDominant = ¬d.IsDominant
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Collapse the GT-specific 4-way dominance to the abstract 3-way.
Both replacive and subtractive dominant map to ProsodicDominance.dominant.
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.GTDominance.replaciveDominant.toProsodicDominance = Features.Prosody.ProsodicDominance.dominant
- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.GTDominance.subtractiveDominant.toProsodicDominance = Features.Prosody.ProsodicDominance.dominant
- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.GTDominance.recessive.toProsodicDominance = Features.Prosody.ProsodicDominance.recessive
- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.GTDominance.neutral.toProsodicDominance = Features.Prosody.ProsodicDominance.neutral
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The collapse preserves the dominant/non-dominant boundary.
The morphosyntactic level at which the GT construction operates. @cite{hyman-etal-2021} distinguish word-level from phrase-level GT.
- word : GTLevel
Tone is the sole exponent of word-level (inflectional or derivational) morphology.
- phrase : GTLevel
A phrasal construction triggers tonal modification of its complement.
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqGTLevel x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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How the GT construction relates to segmental exponence of grammatical meaning (@cite{rolle-2018} Defs 16–17).
- independent : ExponenceType
Independent prosodic exponence (Def 16): the grammatical category is exponed only by prosodic units of contrast (tonemes, accent, etc.) with no segmental material. Also called 'tonal morpheme', 'tonal affix', 'tonal overlay', etc.
- auxiliary : ExponenceType
Auxiliary prosodic exponence (Def 17): the grammatical category is exponed by segmental units AND co-occurring prosodic units separately.
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqExponenceType x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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A tonal melody: a sequence of tones to be associated with TBUs.
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Valuation window: the portion of the host that the grammatical tune targets. Determines which TBUs are overwritten.
@cite{rolle-2018} (Def 15): the portion of the target-host which is evaluated with respect to whether its TBUs are valued or unvalued; this can be coextensive with the target-host, or strictly a local subconstituent.
- whole : ValuationWindow
The entire host (every TBU). Coextensive valuation window.
- nonfinalFinal : ValuationWindow
All nonfinal TBUs get one tone, the final TBU gets another. Used for melodies like M-H where the last TBU is special.
- local : ValuationWindow
A local subconstituent of the host (e.g., only the final mora, only the TBU adjacent to the trigger). Used in subtractive-dominant GT with local scope, e.g., Japanese genitive -no (@cite{kawahara-2015}).
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqValuationWindow x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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A grammatical tone specification following @cite{rolle-2018}.
Captures the tonal exponent of a morpheme or construction: what tonal melody it imposes, and on which portion of the host.
- name : String
Label for the morpheme (e.g., "VBZ-M", "VBZ-MH")
- melody : TonalMelody
The tonal melody imposed. For
whole, the single tone spreads to all TBUs. FornonfinalFinal, the first tone targets nonfinal TBUs and the second targets the final TBU. - window : ValuationWindow
Which portion of the host is targeted.
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Full GT specification extending Spec with the dominance type,
morphosyntactic level, and exponence type from @cite{rolle-2018}'s
typological framework. This bundles all five GT components plus the
typological classification into a single record.
- name : String
- dominance : GTDominance
The dominance type of this GT trigger.
- level : GTLevel
Word-level or phrase-level GT (@cite{hyman-etal-2021}).
- exponence : ExponenceType
Whether the tonal exponent is the sole exponent (independent) or co-occurs with segmental material (auxiliary).
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Apply a grammatical tone to a host word, overwriting lexical tones in the valuation window. This implements replacive-dominant GT (@cite{rolle-2018} Def 1): the underlying tones of the target-host are automatically replaced by the grammatical tune.
whole+[t]: every TBU gets tonetnonfinalFinal+[t₁, t₂]: nonfinal TBUs gett₁, final getst₂
Returns the input unchanged if the melody is empty or the window
is local (local valuation requires language-specific logic).
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The dominant GT asymmetry: within a multi-morphemic constituent, dominant GT triggers are always dependents (affixes, modifiers, clitics), and the target is always the lexical head (root, stem, noun). Lexical heads do not impose dominant GT on their dependents.
@cite{rolle-2018} derives this from the CoP-scope hierarchy: VIs within specifiers scope over heads, and VIs within heads scope over complements. Since dependents are structurally outer relative to the head, dominant triggers are always dependents.
See CoPScope.dominant_gt_asymmetry_from_scope for a derivation
of this asymmetry from the CoP-scope ordering, which eliminates
the stipulation by showing it follows from Spec > Head > Complement.
We encode this as a predicate over GT specifications: if the trigger is dominant, then by the asymmetry, the trigger must be a dependent morpheme. Outward dominance — a lexical head imposing dominant GT on its dependents — would falsify the theory.
- triggerIsDependent : Bool
The trigger morpheme's structural role.
- targetIsHead : Bool
The target morpheme's structural role.
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The dominant GT asymmetry holds when all dominant triggers are dependents and all dominant targets are heads.
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- a.holds = (a.triggerIsDependent && a.targetIsHead)
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Types of GT indomitability: exceptional targets that fail to undergo a tonological operation despite being within the scope of the trigger (@cite{rolle-2018} §3.3.2).
- morphemic : IndomitabilityType
Morphemic: specific morphemes or morpheme classes resist the GT operation (e.g., Jita -lí NEG.DIST.FUT — @cite{downing-2014}).
- morphosyntactic : IndomitabilityType
Morphosyntactic: certain syntactic constituents are transparent or opaque to the GT operation (e.g., Tommo So alienable possessors — @cite{mcpherson-heath-2016}).
- tonological : IndomitabilityType
Tonological: targets with specific input tone melodies resist (e.g., Nzadi /LH/ targets — @cite{crane-etal-2011}).
- phonological : IndomitabilityType
Phonological: targets with specific phonological properties resist (e.g., monomoraic targets with Japanese -no genitive — @cite{kawahara-2015}).
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqIndomitabilityType x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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Repair strategies when a grammatical tune cannot dock to its intended target (@cite{rolle-2018} §3.3.3).
- tuneDeactivation : GTRepair
The grammatical tune is deleted (the most common repair).
- selfDocking : GTRepair
The tune docks to the trigger-sponsor itself.
- nonLocalDocking : GTRepair
The tune docks to a non-local host, skipping the intended target.
- tonalDefenestration : GTRepair
The underlying tone of the target is undocked from TBUs within the valuation window (but not deleted), and may redock outside the window or remain floating.
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- Phonology.Autosegmental.GrammaticalTone.instDecidableEqGTRepair x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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Whole-word overwrite with a single tone produces uniform output.
Overwrite of an empty host is empty.
Replacive-dominant GT is dominant (sanity check on the classification).
Subtractive-dominant GT is dominant.
Recessive GT is non-dominant.
Neutral GT is non-dominant.
The dominant GT asymmetry holds for a typical case: dependent trigger targeting a lexical head.
Outward dominance — a lexical head targeting its dependent — violates the asymmetry.