Lateral Obstruents in the Taita Hills: An areal-historical perspective

The Taita Hills of South Eastern Kenya is home to two neighboring Bantu languages, Saghala and Davida, and the hypothetical Taita Cushitic languages proposed by Ehret &; Nurse (1981). This paper aims to investigate the origin of lateral obstruents (LO) found in those languages from a historical linguistic and language contact perspective. Through a comparative analysis of Davida lexical items with lateral obstruents against Cushitic and other Bantu languages, the study identifies that the lateral obstruents in Davida can be traced back to the Bantu spirantization process (cf. Slavikova, 1975), a common phenomenon in East African Bantu languages. The findings provide evidence that the emergence of ɮ j and ɮ in Davida is rooted in internal sound change processes within the Bantu language family. The study also indicates that most evidence for lateral obstruents is found in Davida and Bantu-inherited items. However, the voiceless lateral obstruent ɬ in Saghala is only found in Cushitic loans. The results contribute to the debate on the origin and development of lateral obstruents in Bantu and their relationship with the Cushitic languages in East Africa and beyond (see Beer et al., Forthcoming, for a perspective on lateral obstruents in East Africa and Gunnink & Vlugt, 2022, for a perspective on lateral obstruents in Southern Bantu). The study offers insights into the (socio)linguistic history of the Taita Hills and the broader dynamics of language change and contact in the region.

Note: This talk has not gone through a process of peer review, and findings should therefore be treated as preliminary and subject to change. Acknowledgement and citation: Sosal, Ahmed. 2023. Lateral Obstruents in the Taita Hills: An areal-historical perspective. Talk given at the Rift Valley Network Webinar Series. 17/05/2023.