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Songs in African Tonal Languages: Contrasting the Tonal System and the Melody

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Language, Music, and Computing (LMAC 2015)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 561))

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Abstract

Over the past fifty years there has been a dramatic increase in studies investigating the rules of tone-tune correspondence in vocal music performed in tonal languages. In this paper we argue that considering structural properties of tonal systems is important for studying the interaction between tone and melody. Using songs in Guinean Kpelle and Guro as test cases, we prove that contour tones are less preserved in melody than level tones, and surface tones are reflected in melody rather than underlying tones. We also show that syllable structure as well as style, genre and structure of songs affect tone-tune correspondence.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On the other side, a number of musicological predictions can also be made. Apart from song genre briefly discussed in Sect. 1, various parameters may prove relevant, i.e. scale type, the use of instrumental accompaniment vs. a capella singing, polyphonic vs. monophonic texture etc. Future musicological research might investigate whether these factors influence tone-melody correspondence.

  2. 2.

    Sometimes the terms lexical vs. postlexical are used to refer to underlying vs. surface representations in phonology. However, we prefer to speak about underlying vs. surface tones in this paper, because in African languages, including Guinean Kpelle and Guro, underlying tones are often assigned by grammar in which case they replace tones specified in lexicon.

  3. 3.

    Transitions across verses were not considered in this study.

  4. 4.

    Le Saout [26] describes Guro tonal system somewhat differently. But his description proved not to be applicable to contemporary Guro and it is rather a plausible historical reconstruction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sholokhov Moscow State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia

    Maria Konoshenko

  2. Institute for Linguistic Studies RAS, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

    Olga Kuznetsova

Authors
  1. Maria Konoshenko
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  2. Olga Kuznetsova
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Correspondence to Olga Kuznetsova .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Polina Eismont

  2. University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

    Natalia Konstantinova

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Konoshenko, M., Kuznetsova, O. (2015). Songs in African Tonal Languages: Contrasting the Tonal System and the Melody. In: Eismont, P., Konstantinova, N. (eds) Language, Music, and Computing. LMAC 2015. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 561. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27498-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27498-0_13

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