Downstep in Päri : The Tone System of a Western Nilotic Language

Pari, a Western Nilotic language, has a terraced-level tone system with total downstep. Although Pari could be analyzed as having three basic tone levels & automatic downstep, there is morphological evidence that it has two basic tone levels & nonautomatic downstep. Furthermore, downstep is believed to be the manifestation of a floating high tone. Floating tones thus behave differently from tones of deleted vowels. In spite of many surface differences between Pari & Luo, a related language, a single tone change accounts for their underlying differences. 3 Tables, 16 References. HA