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Article published In: Linguistics in the Netherlands 2025
Edited by Kristel Doreleijers, Remco Knooihuizen and Eva van Lier
[Nota Bene 2:2] 2025
► pp. 236–251

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Vowel devoicing as prosodic augmentation in Mẽbêngôkre

ORCiD logo with link | Ghent University
Published online: 31 October 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/nb.00031.bar
Abstract
This paper explores an instance of prosodic augmentation (Lovick, Olga. 2023. A Grammar of Upper Tanana, Volume 2: Semantics, Syntax, Discourse. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 382) via devoicing in Mẽbêngôkre, a Jê language spoken in Brazilian Amazonia. While segment lengthening is usually associated with prosodic augmentation, in Mẽbêngôkre high vowels can be devoiced, besides also lengthened, to express intensity. While all vowel segments in Mẽbêngôkre can be lengthened for expressive means, only high vowels /i ɨ u/ can be both lengthened and devoiced. This talk contributes to studies on expressiveness and iconicity in language by showing that vowel devoicing can also be targeted by prosodic augmentation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Prosodic augmentation
  • 3.High vowel devoicing in Mẽbêngôkre
  • 4.Reduction as augmentation
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (23)
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