The range and beauty of internal reconstruction: Probing Hausa linguistic history

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Date

2014

Journal Title

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Volume Title

Publisher

Studies of the Department of African Languages and Cultures [Warsaw]

Abstract

Using examples from Hausa, this paper demonstrates the probative value of Internal Reconstruction (IR) as a method for unearthing linguistic history. Five developments in the history of Hausa discovered by means of IR are described. These are Klingenheben’s Law; two previously unrecognized diphthongs, *iu and *ui; the emergence of the phoneme /h/ from a phonetic feature of word onset; vowel lowering resulting in asymmetry in plural formation; and the preservation of an archaic third person singular masculine pronoun *ni in fixed compounds.

Description

Keywords

Hausa, Klingenheben’s Law, historical linguistics, internal reconstruction, diphthongs, compounds

Citation

Newman, Paul. 2014. The range and beauty of internal reconstruction: Probing Hausa linguistic history, Studies of the Department of African Languages and Cultures [Warsaw] 48: 13–32.

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Rights

Except where otherwise noted, this content is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license includes the following terms: You are free to share, copy, and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. Under the following terms: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Type

Article