VOWEL HEIGHT, CONSONANT TYPE AND THE REALIZATION OF THE H TONE IN IGBO

Abstract

Two distinctive tones are often recognized in Igbo – the high tone and the low tone; in addition, there is a third tone, a downstepped high (whose occurrence is restricted). These tones are expressed on the pitch values of vowels. The thrust of this paper, however, lies on the high tone. Tone in Igbo, as in other tone languages, results from pitch variations, and pitch is actually the auditive correlate of acoustic ‘fundamental frequency’. Fundamental frequency (Fo) of a given tone in Igbo varies according to vowel height. Furthermore, consonant types perturb pitch in Igbo. This paper examines the acoustic phonetic nature of the high tone in Igbo with an ultimate goal of contributing to an understanding of degrees of tone height in the language. Four adult native Igbo speakers read CV words for the study. With a reference point at the onset of a vowel, Fo values were measured at the onset and 20msec after this onset. In an attempt to establish the varying heights of the Igbo high tone, this  paper examines the correlation between vowel height and fundamental frequency (Fo) as well as the effects of consonant types on Fo. Results reveal varying degrees of the high tone thus: extremely high, very high and normal high. This study contributes to the Igbo phonetic tone inventory size.