The vowel system of Jibbali

Abstract

Jibbali (also known as Śhehri) has an interesting and unusual vowel system. It is described by Johnstone (1981a) as having a system of eight vowels: /i/, /e/, /ε/,/a/,/o/,/o/,/o/,/u/, and /ə/. All of the vowels except ə have both long and nasalized equivalents. This compares with the vowel system of Mehri, for example, which is analysed by Watson (2012) and Rubin (2010) as having five long vowels /ī/, /ē/, /ā/, /ō/, /ū/ (with a marginal sixth vowel ε̄/) and, depending on the dialect, either two or three short vowels: /i/~/ə/, /a/, (/u/). Here we analyse Jibbali with a similar vowel system to Mehri, consisting of four full vowels /i/, /ε/, /ə/, and /o/, along with two reduced vowels /e/ and /ə/. We will describe the phonological processes affecting these vowels, including those that result in long or nasalized vowels, and propose ordered rules for the processes. We will also place this vowel system in the context of the vowel systems in other South Semitic languages.