THE TONE SYSTEM OF KUSUNTU, A GURUNSI LANGUAGE OF TOGO

In 2013, Bago and Kusuntu language communities of Togo developed a shared orthography, but well-trained Kusuntu writers still struggle to mark tone consistently. This thesis constitutes the first Kusuntu tone description and seeks to inform the development of Kusuntu tone orthography. The mora is the tone bearing unit and can be H, L, or toneless. Speakers are additionally aware of a mid pitch, which is the surface realization of a downstepped H. The underlying tone patterns of verb roots are H, ∅, H∅ or ∅H, while noun roots are H, L, LH, or HL. Floating H and L tones mark verbal aspect. The Obligatory Contour Principle is in effect and violations are repaired in one of three ways, depending on the domain level where the violation occurs. The majority of nouns take a noun class suffix and end in a HL pattern.