Le statut mono ou bi-phonématique des prénasales en Ulund

Abstract

Monophonematic or Biphonematic Status of Prenasals in Ulund

The manɟaku group is a linguistic group that so far includes 15 dialects: ucuur, uɟool, utufan, ubok, ubuj, ujang, uciban-ukan, usiis, uteer, useerar, ulëkës, ubo- mat, uñoob-utam, uyu and ulund. The ulund language of the manɟaku group is taken as a sample in this inquiry. Its speakers call each other the Balund. The latter are thought to be originated in Guinea Bissau, and their main area of concentration is in pəlund, from which the name of the language's speakers is derived. The Balund began migrating from Guinea Bissau to Senegal in colonial times, due to the abuse they suffered in Portuguese lands. They settled in the southern part of Senegal, notably in the Ziguinchor and Kolda regions. It should be noted that despite their distinguisehd Islamization, the Balund remain very attached to their language and are close to their ancient cults and traditions.Our knowledge of Ulund speech is fragmentary, focusing on specific aspects of the language such as the study of nominal classes, the study of the pronominal system, the study of the verb, etc. We note that there are no in- depth studies of the phonetic system, hence the motivation for the study of ulund complex consonants in this article. Consonants are articulations produced with a total or partial obstruction at any point in the vocal tract. Consonants are a highly heterogeneous set of sounds, both articulatory and acoustic. The type of constriction in the vocal tract distinguishes an occlusive consonant from a constrictive consonant. Occlusives are characterized by a silence resulting from the complete closure of the vocal tract (occlusion) at a well-defined point. The fricatives, among the constrictives, are characterized by aerodynamic frictional noises created by turbulent airflow at a point in the vocal tract, presenting a strong constriction at the place of articulation. The mi-nasals are combinations of oral consonants (occlusive or constrictive) + nasal consonants (consonant produced with the lowering of the soft palate).The question of the interpretation of prenasals in many languages, particularly African languages, has already been the subject of a multitude of analyses. This study, which is intended as a modest contribution, in no way claims to list all the specific features of the West Atlantic languages already studied. Our aim is rather to give an overview of what is already known in this field, focusing on the phonetic aspect, so that our young students, when describing a new language of the Niger Congo sub-group, are not obliged to invest a great deal of effort and time on questions which have already been dealt with and answered.