Progressive Assimilation in Fulfulde Phonology: An Optimality- Theoretic Approach
Abstract
The study titled “Progressive Assimilation in Fulfulde Phonology: AN Optimality-Theoretic Approach” aims to identify the patterns of assimilation exhibited by speakers of the Girei variety when speaking the Daware variety, to analyze the types of assimilation that occur in the speech of Girei variety speakers when speaking the Daware variety and to explore how Fulfulde can fit into current linguistic analyses as demonstrated by Optimality Theory. The research is anchored in the theoretical framework of Optimality Theory (OT) propounded by Prince and Smolensky. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and recorded speech from native speakers and analyzed descriptively. The findings reveal that Girei speakers exhibit both progressive contact and non-contact assimilation. The study confirms that OT and its computational tool, OTSoft, effectively model Fulfulde phonology. It recommends expanded fieldwork, comparative and sociolinguistic investigations, the integration of OT-based tools in language teaching, technological and corpus development for data preservation, and interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance the understanding and documentation of Fulfulde phonological patterns.
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