Palatalization in Central Bùlì

Abstract

Palatalization is a process through which non-palatal consonants acquire palatality, either through a shift in place of articulation from a non-palatal region to the hard palate or through the superimposition of palatal qualities on a non-palatal consonant. In both cases, there is a front, non-low vowel or a palatal glide that triggers the process. In this paper, I examine the palatalization phenomena in Bùlì using Feature Geometry within the non-linear generative phonological framework. I argue that both full and secondary palatalization occur in Buli. The paper further explains that, the long high front vowel /i:/, triggers the formation of a palato-alveolar affricate which is realized in the Central dialect of Bùlì, where the Northern and Central dialects retain the derived palatal stop.