O princípio de contorno obrigatório em Changana

Abstract

The present study describes the Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP) in Changana, a principle of Autosegmental Phonology that prohibits the adjacency of identical elements (LEBEN 1973, 2006; GOLDSMITH 1976, 1979; ODDEN 1986, 1995). This work tests the effectiveness of the OCP and discusses its universality based on data on the resolution of hiatus resulting from the affixation of diminutive and locative morphemes to nouns. The present work follows the observation of disparity in the compliance with the OCP in some varieties of Changana (Xihlanganu, Bila and Hlengwe) in a previous study (COSSA, 2015). Compliance with the OCP was expected to be obligatory, as its name suggests. However, what we find is that in words with a sequence of elements with identical features as in xinguvuana (xi-nguvu-ana) ' small cloth’ (M ozambican printed cloth traditionally used by women to outline the body), there is a full compliance with the OCP in Bila, resulting in xingubzana, but its compliance is partial in Hlengwe where the same word is realized as xinguwana. In Xihlanganu, the OCP is regular in some contexts, which calls into question the effectiveness of the principle. In the present study, we applied an interview and a linguistic questionnaire to three speakers of three varieties Changana (Hlengwe, Bila, Khambani) randomly selected by the non-probabilistic sampling technique for accessibility and convenience in Mandlakazi District of Mozambican province of Gaza. Indeed, the analysis of these data showed us that in fact, all varieties observe the OCP. However, in certain contexts, its compliance is partial, which leads us to suggest the existence of micro-parametric and macro-parametric variations of this principle.