Phonetic-phonological aspects of the modern Angolar

Abstract

This work addresses Angolar, a native language of São Tomé and Príncipe. It aims to (i) investigate its phonetic-phonological aspects, and (ii) compare the research results with Maurer (1995) and Lorenzino (1998), two of the first descriptions. The corpus is constituted by 3,000 items collected in two field trips (in 2014 and 2018) to the community of São João dos Angolares in São Tomé. Regarding the consonants, we argue that Angolar has sixteen phonemes: /p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, θ, ð, l, m, n, ɲ, j, w/. This study differs from the analyses of Maurer (1995) and Lorenzino (1998) because it considers [t͡ʃ], [d͡ʒ] and [r] as allophones. On the other hand, all three studies agree as for the phonological status of interdental fricatives. Regarding the vowel inventory, Angolar has fourteen oral vowels: /i, e, ɛ, a, ɔ, o, u, ii, ee, ɛɛ, aa, ɔɔ, oo, uu/. Nasal realizations are possible. Finally, regarding syllable structure, there is a larger number of syllable templates, including a possibility of realization of complex onsets. With this study, it is possible to know more about Angolar phonology, to shed new light on a still little studied language, and to contribute to the area of Contact Linguistics.