Phonetic And Phonological Study Of The Tima Language

Abstract

The present study attempts to describe the phonetic/phonological system of Tima language, a Kordofanian language spoken in the Nuba Mountains of the Sudan. The main objective of this study is to provide on the one hand a basic description of the phonology of Tima. It gives a systematic description of the Tima segments (consonants and vowels), tone system, morphophonological alternations, with more focus upon vowel harmony system. On the other hand, it documents Tima as one of Sudan endangered languages. The study adopts a descriptive analytical approach. Primary data was collected during field work held in different places and time. In 2006, it was in Khartoum North (al-Dorooshaab) where the majority of the Tima speakers of Khartoum live. Between Feb. 22 and Feb. 30 2007, it was in the Tima area in the Nuba Mountains. Regular formal sessions are held in the researcher’s office at the Linguistic Department, University of Khartoum. The data was elicited from a database word list of about 2000 words which had been recorded and transferred into audio-files. Secondary data were elicited from several writings on phonetics and phonology. XIII This study came out with the following findings: 1. Tima has a number of 22 consonants and 12 vowels 2. The vowel inventory is divided equally in terms of the feature [ATR] 3. Tima has a two-tone system with a downstep. 4. Tima has a root-controlled harmony system based in the [ATR] feature in addition to [back] and [front] feature. 5. There are tone classes for nouns, verbs and adjectives