Zheng, Zhenhao James; (2024) Segmental tonal harmonicity in Zulu. Masters thesis (M.Phil), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This study proposes a new approach to the analysis of Zulu tones originated from musical conventions. Tonal data measurements based on over 500 word domains reveal that pitch of a tonal shift almost always occurs in a major harmonic increment, i.e., the end pitch of a tone is usually an octave, a perfect fifth, or a major third higher or lower than the initial pitch (12st, 7st and 4st, ‘st’ stands for ‘semitone’). Preliminary observation suggests the pattern of tonal pitch harmonic- ity is not unique to Zulu, but what makes Zulu special is the shared categorical harmonicity patterns shared by segments that are phono- logically tonal and those were previously described as ‘phonologi- cally toneless’ (such as stressed heavy syllables and depressed on- sets). This dissertation argues that tonal harmonic pitch increments have been extensively phonologised to express segmental features, phonological tonal information and domain positions of prominence. This dissertation thus suggests a new division of labour between pho- netic pitch qualities and phonological assignment of tones. Due to the fact that segmental weight and laryngeal properties play a sig- nificant role in altering tonal surface forms, this study implemented tonal inclination, a middle layer of tonal information in the repre- sentation between expressions of segments and tonal surface forms, which merges phonetic tonal effects and phonological tonal informa- tion at a level prior to the surface form. The annotation of tonal incli- nation defies the static traditional annotations of high, mid, and low in tonal analysis, as tonal pitch shifts following their inclinations are changeable and are usually relative to adjacent segments. The func- tion of phonology in tonal structure is finally shown in organising and ranking segments with tonal inclinations, and assigning incre- mental contrasts. When segments with tonal inclinations are associ- ated, tones of a word domain can be systematically represented with a hierarchical melodic structure that has a similar set of apparatus to prosodic structure of feet.

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