Revisitation de la phonologie et de la morphophonologie du mundaŋ

Abstract

In this study, the term Mundaŋ refers both to the glossonym (the name of the language) and to the ethnonym (the name of the people). This research dissertation presents an analysis of the phonological system of Mundaŋ, an Adamawa language spoken in Cameroon (Mayo-Kani and Mayo-Danay) and in Chad (Mayo-Kebbi Ouest). It aims to revise and update the phonemic inventory of the language, describe the organization of distinctive features, the syllabic and morphological structure of the word, as well as the phonological and morphophonological processes governing the combination of distinctive units. The study is based on oral data and documentary sources drawn from various domains of Mundaŋ socio-cultural life. The analysis adopts a dual theoretical framework: a structuralist approach, used to determine the phonemic status of sounds, and a generative approach, employed to represent phonemes in terms of distinctive features and to provide a formal explanation of phonological processes. The results establish an inventory of 41 consonant phonemes, 20 vowel phonemes, and three level tonemes (high, mid, low). They reveal phonotactic constraints affecting the distribution of consonants and vowels within words and syllables, while tones show a largely free distribution. The study also identifies several phonological processes (assimilation, dissimilation, elision, nasalization, palatalization, etc.) as well as morphophonological processes related to alternations between pausal and contextual forms of morphemes.