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Article published In: Diachrony of Tone
Edited by Sandra Auderset, Rikker Dockum and Ryan Gehrmann
[Diachronica 42:3/4] 2025
► pp. 406–427

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Accent and tone

The double origin of the Paicî prosodic system

ORCiD logo with link | Princeton University
Published online: 28 July 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.24039.lio
Abstract
What happens when an accentual language develops a tonal contrast from laryngeal features: is the accent system kept alongside the new tone contrast? Is it lost? Do both prosodic systems merge? In this paper, I present the tone system of Paicî, which illustrates the latter outcome. Paicî seems to possess two integrated prosodic subsystems: a purely tonal H vs. L contrast, and a typologically unusual downstep with accentual properties. Building on . 1978. Accents, tons et inversion tonale en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris 73(1). 415–43.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, I show that a comparison with neighboring Xârâcùù, where accent is marked by a similar downstep, explains this apparently mixed system: the H/L tonal contrast emerged through tonogenesis in an already accentual language, where accent was marked by a downstep just like in Xârâcùù. This caused the former downstep to be reinterpreted as tonal. The Paicî case is interesting for the study of the interactions between accent and tone, both in synchrony and in diachrony.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Paicî prosodic system: Tone (and accent?)
    • 2.1Inventory and phonotactics
    • 2.2Phonological downstep
    • 2.3Underlying downstep in tonal enclitics
    • 2.4Accentual properties of the Paicî downstep
  • 3.The Xârâcùù accent system
    • 3.1Metrical conditioning of the Xârâcùù accent
    • 3.2Xârâcùù accent as downstep: “coupling” and prosodic integration
  • 4.A history of the Paicî prosodic system
    • 4.1Tonogenesis: The origin of the H vs. L contrast
    • 4.2From accent to tone: Tonogenesis in an accent system
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (33)
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Lionnet, Florian
2025. Tonal languages without tone: downstep in Drubea and Numèè (Oceanic, New Caledonia). Phonology 42 DOI logo

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