Vowel Raising in Akan Reduplication

Abstract

This paper examines vowel raising in reduplication in Akan, a Niger- Congo (Kwa) language, focusing on the Asante-Twi dialect. It has been generally observed in Akan that in reduplicating CV stems, the stem [+low] vowels are pre-specified with [+high] the reduplicant (RED). However, it has been claimed that raising to the mid vowel in disyllabic REDs is idiosyncratic to the Fante dialect. I show that the phenomenon is attested in Asante and that stem CV1V2, where V2 is [+low], raises to a corresponding [-high, -low] vowel in the RED, and not [+high]. I account for this within the Optimality Theory framework.