Grammatical Tone Alternation

Ìyípadà Ohùn Gírámà

About this concept

Tone changes that encode grammatical information: subject vs. object pronouns (ó high = he/she subject; ò low = he/she object of negation), assimilation, downstep, and tone in relative clauses.

In Settemila Lingue, this concept generates a practice deck of ~40 cards at level C1.

Examples

Ó rí i. (He/She saw it.) vs. Ò rí i? (Did he/she see it?)Tone on pronoun changes meaning.

ilé (house) vs. ilẹ̀ (land/ground)Final tone distinguishes nouns.

kọ (build) vs. kọ̀ (refuse/learn)Verb tone changes meaning entirely.

Mo wá. (I came.) vs. Mo wà. (I existed/was.)Verb tone distinguishes tense/meaning.

Prerequisite

Tonal System (High, Mid, Low)A1

More C1 concepts

Complex Clause StructuresÌṣọ̀kan Gbólóhùn Ìjìnlẹ̀Proverbs and Idiomatic ExpressionsÀwọn Òwe àti Ọ̀rọ̀ Àpèẹrẹ Formal and Oratorical RegisterÌrísí Ọ̀rọ̀ Àgbà àti Àṣà Praise Poetry (Oríkì)Oríkì Cultural Vocabulary (Àṣà)Àṣà Èdè

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