A contrastive analysis of deletion, insertion and voicing as variants in Gudi and Yaya dialects of the Ngamo language

This paper discusses deletion, insertion and voicing as variants in Gudi and Yaya dialects of Ngamo language spoken in some areas of Bauchi, Gombe and Yobe States. The theoretical framework is based on generative dialectology which involves the application of concepts and findings from generative phonology to the description and comparison of different dialects. The paper aims at exploring some variations that are phonologically motivated in Ngamo dialects. Structured interview and personal observations are used as methods of data collection for the research. Two (2) respondents were interviewed in five (5) villages each of Gudi and Ɗozi districts to represent Gudi and Yaya dialects respectively, using quota sampling technique. The result of the analysis reveals that aphaeresis, syncope and apocope served as variants depending on the position of deletion occurrence in a word. Insertion of glottal plosive /ʔ/ in between the vowels and word final syllable in Yaya dialect served as another variant. Lastly, voicing of voiceless sounds /s, p, k/ become voiced sounds /z, b, g/ served as variants in Gudi and Yaya dialects of Ngamo language respectively. Issues on underline structures and phonological rules of the processes were also discussed as evidences of the variations between the two dialects. In conclusion, this study compares and analyses the Gudi and Yaya dialects of Ngamo with the aim of identifying their phonological variations