TONES, DIALECTS AND MUTUAL INTELLIGIBILITY IN IGBO

Abstract

The paper is in five parts. Part 1briefly discusses tone as a language typology and its place in grammar, while part 2 is on the role of tone in the different Igbo dialects and the relationship between tone and intonation. Part 3 examines tone in Igbo poetics and musicology, in contrast to part 4 which is on tone in Igbo written texts. Finally, we conclude the paper by recalling the perennial question of what constitutes a language or a dialect, in the light of Armstrong’s findings.