Mushere , a Chadic Language of Five Level Tones '1"

By Herrmann Jungraithmayr and Philibus Diyakal

Summary : Chadic languages which form the most southwestern family of the Hamitosemitic /
Afroasiatic phylum are spread over northern Nigeria , Cameroon and the central Chad Republic .
Mushere , one of them , displays the typical binary verbal aspect system which , however , is here
no longer marked by ablaut ( apophony ) — as for example in Akkadian -prus versus -parras — but
by ' abton ' ( ' apotony ' ) , i . e . by an opposition of tone levels . Morphophonological needs may have
led Mushere to develop two more levels ( half - low and half - high ) in addition to the three basic
ones ( high , mid and low ) , which brings the total number to five ; a tonological situation which is
probably unique among the approximately 150 languages of the Chadic family .

1 . On the evolution of Chadic

It is to be assumed that the development of Chadic languages took off from

a segmental ablaut - oriented stage . The extremely conservative East Chadic

language Mubi still reflects this stage best . Compare the following forms of

the verb * flg " to change " ( Jungraithmayr 2013 ):

Singular Plural
Verbal noun (E - E ) (A - A )
fèlègé fàlàgé
Perfective (E - I )
fílík (I — I ) félík

Imperfective fíléek
(I - EE ) fíláak
(I - AA )

As tone in Mubi ( d high , à low ) is of no morphological relevance , lexicon and

grammar are generally operated by vowel oppositions . Any verbal paradigm

consists of a subject pronoun and a verbal stem . The subject pronouns are the

same for perfective and imperfective ; moreover , there are no TAM morphemes

which might be inserted between subject pronoun and verbal stem ; e . g .

difílík " she changed "

difíléek " she is changing ".

* The authors would like to thank Sonja Bräscher , M . A ., for her untiring assistance
in the technical editing of this article .
298 Herrmann Jungraithmayr and Philibus Diyakal

The perfective aspect is used for all accomplished events or actions ( past

tense ) , the imperfective for any non - accomplished events or actions ( present

and future tenses , present - continuous , etc .)

In the course of the past 4000 - 5000 years Chadic languages have under¬

gone in their central African environment profound transformational pro¬

cesses which led , step by step , to a total reorganisation of their structural

make - up . Internal inflection ( ablaut , apophony ) has gradually been shifted

to and changed into external operations mainly consisting of multifarious

suffixes and segmental and / or suprasegmental ( tonal ) TAM morphemes

usually inserted between subject pronoun and verbal stem , e . g . in Hausa nâ

kan sâyâs " I usually sell " . With the decrease of internal apophonic flexibil¬

ity the relevance of suprasegmental features , especially that of tone , has in¬

creased . The transformation of an essentially synthetic type of conjugation

to a more and more analytical one is accompanied by the advance of tonal

features in lexicon and grammar . So far , a final stage of this development has

been reached in languages where there are no longer any — or only few — seg¬

mental , neither internal nor external , features at work . Here nominal plurals

have stopped to occur , any verbal grammatical forms are achieved solely by

suprasegmental means . Such languages , facing the enormous burden of mul¬

tiple functions , had to increasingly develop a greater capacity of tonal facili¬

ties . This necessity led to an increase of tone levels , first from two to three ,

but ultimately to four , even to five . Some of the members of the so - called

Angas - Sura group of Western Chadic , spoken on the southern escarpment

of the Nigerian Plateau , have reached this extreme stage of linguistic evolu¬
tion . Mushere is one of them .

The situation prevailing in Mubi and Mushere which display opposite

means of making their binary aspect systems is best illustrated by the an¬

cient Afroasiatic isogloss common to both , i . e . * mwt " to die ":

Perfective Imperfective
Mubi mat muwdat

Mushere
múut ( high ) mkut ( low )

Cf . also the reflexes of the PC root * sw ( y ) " to drink " (= Hausa sháa ) where

the highly innovative Mushere language has — completely unexpectedly — pre¬

served a more conservative shape than the highly conservative Mubi language :

Perfective Imperfective
Mubi six sûwâa

Mushere shwâa shwàa

 Mushere , a Chadic Language of Five Level Tones 299

2 . Mushere , a highly tonal Chadic language

The tonal system of Mushere basically comprises three levels , i . e . high (H ,

d )y mid (M , a )y and low (L , a ) . These three levels are instrumental to es¬
tablishing the verb classes ( VC ) as well as to the functioning of the binary

aspect system .

2 . 1 The binary aspect system of Mushere

All verbal conjugations are based on the opposition of two tonally marked

aspect stems , i . e . perfective and imperfective . The first one serves to form

the past tense and the subjunctive mood , the latter to form the present , pro¬

gressive and future tenses . The " strong " verb classes are characterized by

the actual presence of a tonal opposition , the " weak " ones by its absence , i. e .

" weak " class verbs have homotone aspect stems .

2 . 2 Verb classes and aspect stems based on a three tone system

Based on the binary opposition of the verbal aspect stems , the following

seven verb classes are to be distinguished in Mushere .

Verb Tone Aspect stems

classes pattern Perfective Imperfective
1 H versus L shwâa shwàa to drink
2 HL L pît pit to quench
Strong
3 H MH sât sa 't to talk
4 M L ran ran to write
5 H H kóp kóp to plant
Weak 6 M M man man to know
7 L L shù shù to run

2 .3 A fourth tone level ( half - low , haL )

In addition to the three basic tone levels mentioned above ( low , mid , high )

which correspond to the three musical notes DO , MI , and SOL , a fourth

tone level , i . e . half - low , placed between mid and low is of phonological re¬

levance in the language ; as a musical note it would be RE . Orthographically ,

it will be marked by a low tone mark preceding an unmarked mid tone syl¬

lable , e . g . vtim " sheep ". A cause which may have triggered this tone level is
300 Herrmann Jungraithmayr and Philibus Diyakal

not identifiable where the lexeme appears in isolation . In context , however , it

is the result of down - stepping from a mid tone or of up - stepping from a low
tone . The following paragraphs present areas where this fourth tone level
has been observed .

2 .3 .1 Nominal stems in isolation

Nouns displaying the haL tone level include a disproportionally high num¬
ber of animal and plant names a selection of which is presented hereafter .
Animal names :

vce rep fish Knjikwét dung beetle

vtem guinea fowl ^ ngooro pied crow
"paap antelope Kningüm beetle
vkibin buffalo Ktijak grasshopper sp .
vrindöng cow vnindüüt skink lizard sp .
^cem rat sp . ^dang land monitor
Krishï warthog Kiki goat
Knilïp bird sp .

Plant names :

Ktar creeping wine ^parish in fonio sp .

Ktiir tree sp . vshumshaar shrub
Kpus jute fibre \ as bamboo tree sp .
Knguù cactus vshit grass
ngor tree sp . Ktil tree sp .
Knikökol grass sp . \ erem seed

Compare also other nouns which display haL tone :

Kseen length vkum mask

vseer root vtul home

There are several cases where minimal pairs are attested :

haL M or H
vseen length seen life
Kseer root seer to narrate
Kkum mask kúm corpse
Kcfang monitor cfdng 1)to beg ; 2) then
Ktul home tul bracelet
 Mushere , a Chadic Language of Five Level Tones 301

It is difficult to identify a cause for this fourth level tone in Mushere . One

possibility could be the loss of a prefix , probably a nasal , the low tone of

which — as a floating tone — would have had — after having disappeared — the

effect of lowering the mid tone of the actual nominal stem . Thus , e . g . vshit

" grass " would have originated from * hshit . It is noteworthy that in Ngam ,

the southernmost Bole - Tangale language , nouns denoting animals and ob¬

jects of nature display an initial nasal . Compare the following remark in a

recent study : " Es fällt auf , dass eine grosse Zahl primärer Nomina , die Tiere

und Dinge aus der Natur beschreiben , auf einen pränasalierten Konsonaten

anlauten . " 1 Also in Goemai " prenasalisation is found with many nouns de¬

noting insects , birds and fish " .2

2 . 3 . 2 Terms of relationship

Some terms of relationship display the half - low intermediate tone level

( haL ) in certain positions . " Father " and " mother " are the most prominent

examples for this :

vpaa my father vnaa my mother

"pak your ( m .) father nang your ( m .) mother
"pik your ( f .) father ning your ( f .) mother
pikin his father nikin his mother
Kpet her father Kneken her mother
pikinmú our father nikinmú our mother
pikinkú your father nikinkú your mother
vpikin mo 'p their father vnikin mo 'p their mother

2 . 3 . 3 Personal absolute pronouns

The absolute pronouns display the half - low tone level in the 1 st and 2 nd per¬

sons singular as can be seen from the following complete paradigm .

Sg - PL
lc van lc mun
2m Knga 2c ngun
2f Knji

3c ni 3c mo 'p

1 Andreas 2012 , p . 63 .
2 Hellwig 2011 , p . 31 . Compare also Frajzyngier / Koops 1989 , Miehe 1991 as well
as Wolff / Gerhardt 1977 .
 302 Herrmann Jungraithmayr and Philibus Diyakal

These pronouns are used in nominal phrases as well as in the progressive

tense ; e . g .
Knga a mishkakâm you are ( the ) chief van pod shwàa am I am drinking water
an a shaarkâ I am your friend

2 . 3 .4 Personal object pronouns

In principle , the difference between direct and indirect object pronouns is

marked by tone . This is illustrated by the following table :

Object pronouns
direct indirect
lc ân an
2m kâ nga
Sg -
2f yí njî
3c ni yini
lc mún mun
PL 2c kún ngun
3c móp mo 'p

Segmentally , it is obvious that the direct forms are basic and the indirect
ones derived ; e . g . yini is literally " to him " . The plural forms of the indirect
pronoun display a mid - high tonal pattern opposed to the high tone of the
direct pronouns . Their usage is illustrated by the following examples :
a ñas kún I have beaten you ( pl . ) api nga I have given you ( m .)

a nâa yí I have seen you ( f .) âpï nga I shall give you

If the object pronouns are preceded by a preposition , such as yl " to " , " for "
or kú " with " , the indirect set is applied . Thus , yl an is " for or to me " . If the
preposition carries a high tone , however , the low tone of the pronoun is
raised to half - low . Thus , we have the following forms :
kú ' an ( = an ) with me
kú ' nga ( = nga ) with you ( m .)
kú 'nji ( = Knji ) with you ( f .)
kú ni with him / her

The plural forms , however , display the direct object - high tone , viz . kú mún
with us " , kú ngún " with you " ( pl .) > kú móp " with them " .
"
 303
Mushere , a Chadic Language of Five Level Tones

It is also attested that the high tone of the direct object pronouns is

changed to mid - high when they are preceded by a verb form with a high -

low falling tone ; e . g .

mop tang an they searched me

ka ' you ( m .)

you ( f .)
yï ^
mun US

kun
you ( pi .)
mo 'p them

2 . 3 . 5 Possessive pronominal suffixes and postpositions

There are two sets of possessive pronominal morphemes , one indicating in¬

alienable , the other alienable property or possession ; the former being suf¬

fixed , the latter being put separately after . The two sets are as follows :

Possessive suffixes Possessive postpositions

lc - nâ vmaan
Ex : kâa - nâ my head Ex : lú ^maan my house

2m - kâ vmak

2f vmik
Sg - - yí

3m - nî mini

3f - tâ mini

lc - mú vmun

PL 2c - kú vmuk

3c
- móp mkmop

Note : Whereas the suffixes display a high tone , the postpositions of the first

and second persons singular and plural are marked by the half - low tone level .

As to the " logic " of ( in ) alienability it is understood that body parts are

considered to be inalienable " properties " . However , it is worth noting that

riin " shade / shadow " and sim " name " are also treated as inalienable ; e . g . sim -

nâ " my name ".

2 . 3 . 6 The personal pronouns : an overview

In order to give an impression of the role of tone in the morphology of

Mushere , a comparative table of personal pronouns is presented hereafter .3

3 The tone of the absolute pronouns in the 1 st and 2 nd Sg . persons varies according to
their morphosyntactic usage .
304 Herrmann Jungraithmayr and Philibus Diyakal

Personal pronouns

\ Absolute Subject Obj ect Possessive

\ Progr . Past Future direct indirect suffix postpos .
lc an 3 ^an a â an an - na ^maan

2m nga Knga ka kâ kâ ngà - kâ ^mak

Sg . 2f nji ^nji yi yi yi ' nji - yi ^mik

3m ni ni ni cCi ni yini - nî mini

3f ni ni ni di ni yini - tâ mini
lc mún mun mu mû mún mun - mû ^mun

PL 2c ngún ngun ku kú kún ngun - kú ^muk

3c móp mo 'p móp móp mo 'p mo 'p - móp mùmo 'p

2 . 3 . 7 Interrogative pronouns

The following interrogative pronouns are marked by the half - low level tone :

vwee or a vwee who ?

vmee or a vmee what ?
vnee or a vnee where ?
^nang or a vnang which ?
r or a vkong how much ?

2 . 3 . 8 Down - stepped mid - tone in genitival constructions

Mid - tone nouns are down - stepped to half - low in nomen regens position .

See the following examples :

yit eye :
vyit - lwaân shyness
vyit - mwaa tears
vyit - ^ ngurum in the public ( lit . " eyes of people " )
vyit - ^shak opposite each other
vyit - ^ngokol deep eye - hole

poo mouth :
vpoo - tukup heart , mind
vpoo -pût slip of tongue
"poo - lú entrance , door
vpoo - hit early morning
 Mu s hcrc , a Chadic Language of Five Level Tones 305

run shade :
xrim sekep shade of tree
shaar friend :
xshaar Nmwaan co - traveller

xshaar teel playmate

xshaar cfdk work colleague

2 . 4 How did the fourth tone level come into being ?

Apart from the cases where the half - low tone level can be shown to be the

result of conditioned down - or up - stepping ( cf . 2 . 3 . 8 ) , there are those cases

the origin of which cannot easily be explained , at least not on synchronic

grounds ( cf . 2 . 3 . 1 ) . However , it may be assumed that the nouns concerned

had a segmental low - tone prefix h - at the outset but which they lost in the

course of their evolution ; its ( low ) tone , however , survived and exerted its

lowering effect on the remaining proper word stem .

2 . 5 Hints at a phonemic fifth tone level in Mushere

As there is a phonemic tone level between low and mid ( cf . 2 . 3 ) , there is

another intermediate tone level between high and mid , i . e . half - high ( haH ).

Thus , the language makes use of the complete musical scale comprising all

five notes between DO and SOL . At this stage of research , only a few ex¬

amples are available which attest the grammatical function of this fifth tone

level as the main marker of a locative case with high tone nouns .

2 . 5 . 1 High tone lowering in the locative case

kda head xkda on the head

lú house Klú in the house
a lú it is a house a nú it is in the house
sdr hand ^sdr in the hand
a sdr it is a hand a ^sdr it is in the hand

The fact that tone lowering occurs as a locative case marking feature has al¬

ready been observed and described ( cf . Ju ngra it h m ay r 2005 ) in general ; it

seems to be wide - spread in Chadic Plateau languages including Ngas , where ,

however , the lowered high tone is not half - high but simply low .
306 Herrmann Jungraithmayr and Philibus Diyakal

3 . Conclusion

Musherc is a Chadic language , spoken in the southwcstcrnmost extension of

the Hamitosemitic / Afroasiatic phylum . Among the few features which still

allow us to identify Chadic as genetically related to e . g . Semitic or Berber

are certain pronominal morphemes , e . g . Sg . 2m ka , f ki , PL 2c ku in Mushere .

Moreover , the concept of a binary aspect system has also been preserved ,

though the means by which it is realized have changed : the original ( vowel )

ablaut opposition ( apophony ) has been replaced by tonally opposed aspect

stems ( apotony ) . In the final stages of Chadic linguistic evolution it is tonal¬

ity which dominates the lexicon and grammar of the languages concerned .

In order to be able to meet the increasing demands of such predominantly

suprasegmental systems , languages tend to enlarge their tonal capacities .

Thus , Mushere has reached the extreme peak by installing not only three

tone levels for its basic system , but by adding two more levels , i . e . one be¬

tween mid and low , the other between mid and high . So far , Mushere seems

to be the only Chadic language operating a five level tone system .

Abbreviations

C consonant Pi plural
c communis Progr . progressive
haL half - low tone Sg singular
H high tone sp species
L low tone TAM tense - aspect - mood
m masculine v vowel
M mid tone VC verb class
PC Proto - Chadic VS verbal system

Tone levels

a high \i , vCa half - high

a, ä mid â, aà high - low falling
à low a ' , aá m id -high rising
" a , vCa half - low ( = 'à , ' Cà ) à, à a low - high rising
 Mushere , a Chadic Language of Five Level Tones 307

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