Etude analytique de la phonétique et de la phonologie du fulfulde de Yola

Abstract

Fulfulde, an African language belonging to the Niger-Congo language family, spoken by Fulɓe (the Fulani) people across several countries in West and Central Africa. In Nigeria, the Yola Fulfulde, spoken in the Adamawa region, exhibits distinct phonetic and phonological characteristics that attracts in-depth analysis. What is the inventory of consonants and vowels in Yola Fulfulde? How do phonological processes manifest in this dialect? This article offers a detailed study of the sounds (phonetics) and sound systems (phonology) of Yola Fulfulde, highlighting its unique features compared to other varieties of Fulfulde. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of this linguistic variant and its role in African linguistic diversity. In this research, we have relied on articulatory phonetics to describe the sounds and on phonology to analyze the sound systems and their rules.