| Abstract: |
This paper re-examines what has traditionally been described as consonant elision in Igbo nouns. Drawing
on new empirical observations, this study shows that the apparent loss of the first consonant in VCVCV
structures is conditioned by consonant identity; vowel height relations; and glide permitting environments.
The phenomenon is optional, gradient, and dialect-sensitive; properties that challenge a categorical deletion
analysis. This paper argues that the first consonant does not delete rather undergoes a melody loss triggered
by a dependent specificity from C? due to feature redundancy. Data were generated from recordings and
existing literature, fifteen tokens of three-syllabic common nouns and eleven ideophones each for words
with identical consonant, unidentical consonants, identical vowels and others with unidentical vowels.
Native speaker judgment is employed in natural speech observation, fast vs slow speech comparison and
dialect comparison. Consonant elision was evidenced in fast speech but present in slow speech showing
optionality. The analysis extends redundancy based Underspecification theory and integrates it within a
Strict-CV framework to account for variable phonetic non-realization while preserving structural
representation. The Igbo data provide evidence that the apparent segmental deletion may reflect
representational economy rather than true phonological removal. |
EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
