Abstract:
This paper examines vowel raising in reduplication in Akan, a Niger Congo (Kwa) language, focusing on the Asante-Twi dialect. It has been
generally observed in Akan that in reduplicating CV stems, the stem
[+low] vowels are pre-specified with [+high] the reduplicant (RED).
However, it has been claimed that raising to the mid vowel in disyllabic
REDs is idiosyncratic to the Fante dialect. I show that the phenomenon
is attested in Asante and that stem CV1
V2
, where V2
is [+low], raises to a
corresponding [-high, -low] vowel in the RED, and not [+high]. I account
for this within the Optimality Theory framework.
