Wanga noun tone

Abstract

Wanga is a Bantu language spoken in western Kenya (iso:lwg, Guthrie/Maho: JE32a). The goal of this thesis is to provide an updated description of Wanga noun tone, building on unpublished research developed by Michael Marlo, Christopher Green, and several undergraduate researchers from 2014 to present. We draw on new data collected in a series of audio-recorded questionnaires in 2023-2024 studying 837 Wanga nouns in isolation and select phrasal contexts (N +Adjective and N + Possessive). The objective of these q uestionnaires is primarily to identify the lexical tone patterns of Wanga and secondarily to begin a more detailed investigation of their phrasal tone alternations. We detail the 0-H tone, 1-H tone, and 2-H tone patterns found in Wanga, as well as the regular phrasal-level rules of H Tone Anticipation (HTA) and H Tone Insertion (HTI).