This paper argues that Siswati is a three tone language, although it has traditionally been analyzed as a
two tone language. Despite three audibly different tone levels, the presence of a L tone has been previously denied phonological status because ...
This paper argues that Siswati is a three tone language, although it has traditionally been analyzed as a
two tone language. Despite three audibly different tone levels, the presence of a L tone has been previously denied phonological status because it occurs primarily after depressor consonants. However, the existence of L tone lexically and grammatically as well as its actual behavior in consonant-tone interaction justify its phonological status, as argued here. In addition, Siswati provides an interesting example of the phenomenon of consonant-tone interaction. Depressor consonants in Siswati trigger a number of phonological effects involving tone spreading, tone shifting and the blocking of tone shift.