num_pages: 104
description: This study addresses one of the oldest topics in language analysis. While considering a thorough analysis of the sound system to be a prerequisite for developing an orthography is the current linguistic approach, the tradition at the time Dinka was first written appears to have been somewhat different. This difference is reflected in some aspects left unresolved in the analysis of Dinka vowel system. These aspects include a lack of a precise definition of breathiness and the role it and others like vowel length, tone, and centralized vowels play in the language. This thesis is, thus, a response to the unresolved questions. The first part of the thesis advances an outline of the phonology of Dinka. The second part handles the definition of breathiness and its role in the language. The third part investigates the roles of vowel length, tone, and centralized vowels. The investigations show a. Breathiness in Dinka is distinctive as opposed to phonetic.b. There are 78 distinctive vowel sounds in Dinka. PrefaceAppendixBibliography Illustrations Maps Tables
language: English
title: Dinka Vowel System
titlecomplete: Dinka Vowel System (SIL International and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, vol. 82)
publisher: Summer Institute of Linguistics