Abesabesi exhibits a rather complex vowel harmony (VH) system. As comprehensive research on this topic exists for all dialects (Agoyi 2008, 2010, 2012), this section will cover VH in all four dialects after presenting the findings of this research on VH in Ekiromi.Cite

Vowel harmony is a special type of assimilation where vowels are classified into two or more sets based on specific features and words usually consist of only vowels of one of those sets (root-internal VH). Vowels in affixes then assimilate to the root vowels' group in order to fit into that set (affix VH).Cite

Root internal VH in Ekiromi does not allow a clear distinction of separate vowel sets. However, some restrictions exist on which vowels can be in a single word. Vowel distribution in basic Ekiromi lexemes¹ has three peculiarities (see Table 2.1): Firstly, the [+ATR] mid vowels /e/ and /o/ never appear in a basic lexeme with [-ATR] vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ (red shading). As Ekiromi features an ATR distinction only among the mid vowels, root-internal ATR-VH also seems to be restricted to the mid vowels. Secondly, the low vowel /a/ never appears directly after one of the [+ATR] mid vowels /e/ or /o/ (blue shading). It can, however, appear before them. Thirdly, no word has an initial /u/ (yellow shading). This last restriction was explained towards the end of Section 2.3. The combination /i/ as first and /e/ as second vowel is also not attested in basic V.CV roots. This might be a gap in the database, as there are plenty of examples of V.CV.C-roots with this combination (e.g., ijel 'year' , or idʒej 'pounded yam' ).Cite

Ekiromi also exhibits affix-VH. In contrast to root-internal VH, affix-VH allows a clear distinction between vowel sets (henceforth called Set I, Set II, and Set II). Two different VH-types can be distinguished, as VH in suffixes differs from VH in prefixes. Cite

Suffix VH is formalized in Table 2.6 and exemplified in Figure 2.2. The latter displays alternations of the suffixed 1SG.POSS/OBJ pronoun na/no . Depending on the quality of the stem's vowels, the morpheme is realized as na or no. Like the root-internal VH, the suffix-VH shows a clear distinction between [+ATR] and [-ATR] of mid vowels. While the [+ATR] vowels /e/ and /o/ in a root trigger the suffix vowel /o/, the [-ATR] vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ trigger the suffix vowel /a/. Cite

The high vowels /i/ and /u/ do not have an overt ATR distinction. Yet, they can trigger either suffix alternation, depending on the lexeme. This means, if they are the only vowels of a stem, the triggered vowel is not predictable. This is indicative of a former ATR distinction of the high vowels, which does not surface anymore. The result is high vowels with lexically specified ATR values. As it is not detectable on a phonetic level, it has to be stored on a lexical level. Cite

The vowel /a/ on the other hand behaves differently. It can occur in both sets. As discussed earlier, it co-occurs in stems with the [+ATR] vowels /e/ and /o/, but only if it precedes them. These words with /a/ as V1 and /e/ or /o/ as V2 are in fact the only instances where /a/ is in a word of Set I. In all other instances, /a/ triggers the vowel /a/ in morphemes. This is why it is attributed to Set II, assuming that the vowel closer to the suffix is more important for suffix VH.Cite

The difference between the neutral vowel /a/ and the high vowels /i/ and /u/ is their behavior in roots containing only one type of these three vowels, such as afa 'leaf' , ta 'to build' or iʃi 'housefly' . While roots containing only the vowel /a/ trigger [-ATR] suffixes of Set II, roots only containing high vowels take phonetically unpredictable suffixes - their ATR value is lexically specified. For example, afa 'leaf' only contains the vowel /a/. Therefore, it has the phonetically predictable ATR value [-ATR] and takes the 1SG.POSS suffix na : afa na. The ATR value of the noun iʃi 'housefly' on the other hand is not phonetically predictable, as it only contains high vowels. Its ATR value is lexically specified as [+ATR], which is why it takes the 1SG.POSS suffix no: iʃi no. Any of these three vowels (/a/, /i/, and /u/) can appear in a root together with the mid vowels /e/, /o/, /ɛ/, and /ɔ/, where the ATR value will be determined by the mid vowels. Cite

Suffix-VH applies to the following suffixes: the object/possessive pronouns na/no '1SG.POSS/OBJ', sa/so '2SG.POSS/OBJ', and ba/bo '3PL.POSS/OBJ', the gerund i- -aǹ and i- -oǹ, and the pluractionalis forms -adiàg, -odiòg, -àd, -òd, -àg, and -òg.Cite

Prefix-VH} is formalized in Table 2.7 and exemplified in Figure 2.3. The latter displays alternations of the prefixed PRF-morpheme. Depending on the first vowel of the verb root, the morpheme is realized as either ka, ke, or ko. This type of VH behaves almost like the suffix-VH. Only /u/ with an inherent [+ATR] value does not belong to Set I [+ATR], but forms a separate set. The triggered vowels are /e/ for [+ATR] vowels (Set I), /a/ for [-ATR] vowels (Set II), and /o/ for /u/ with an inherent [+ATR] value. Cite

The following prefixes adhere to prefix-VH: the 3 SG.S pronoun bà/bè/bò, the irrealis pronouns náà/néè/nóò ' 1 SG. ', sáà/séè/sóò ' 2 SG. ', anáà/anéè/anóò ' 1 PL. ', asáà/aséè/asóò ' 2 PL. ', and báà/béè/bóò ' 3 PL. ', and almost all morphemes (á/é/ó ' PROG ', bá/bé/bó ' FUT ', báa/bée/bóo ' DES ', ka/ke/ko ' PRF ', kinà/kinè/kinò ' PRF.NEG ', màá/mèé/mòó ' HAB ', bá wa/bé we/bó wo ' EPN ').Cite

Summing up, Ekiromi exhibits ATR harmony within word-roots and a constraint of /a/ after [+ATR] vowels. Moreover, suffixes adhere to an ATR harmony and prefixes to an ATR harmony with a third set consisting only of /u/.Cite

A few CVC verbs seemingly contradict these VH types. For example, the verb dɛ̀n 'to like' triggers the 3 PL pronoun bè instead of bà and the verb kèd - 'to arrest' triggers bà instead of bè (Examples 2.2 a, b). Looking at vowel deletion between verbs and vowels, this can be explained. If root vowels are deleted, vowel harmony aligns to the deleted vowel's quality instead of the remaining vowel's (see Example 2.2 c). These seemingly contradictory cases are thus likely to have originated as verb-noun compounds where the underlying verb is often not retraceable. Cite

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Agoyi (2008) investigated VH in all dialects. She claims that ATR restrictions within a root are only present in the Ekiromi dialect, where the mid vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ can not co-occur with their [+ATR] counterparts /e/ and /o/. The restriction of the vowel /a/, which cannot follow a [+ATR] vowel, however, applies to all dialects. She distinguishes six VH types based on the features ATR, lowness, and roundedness. Figure 2.5 and 2.6 display all six types. Type 3 (ATR+low) was added in Agoyi (2008), where she lists two different types for the Oshugu dialect. Her analysis includes four different domains: the prefixed morphemes, the prefixed subject prounoun ba/be/bɔ/bo ², the suffixed object/possessive pronouns nã/nɔ̃/nõ, sa/sɔ/so, and ba/bɔ/bo, and the nominalization circumfix i- -anĩ/i- -enĩ/i- ɔnĩ/i- -onĩ.Cite

These VH types are the base of her internal classification (see Table 2.6). Each dialect has one VH type for prefixation and one for suffixation. The only exception is the Ilueni dialect, which has the most reduced system with one single type for all remaining domains. A few points of Agoyi's analysis do not match with the findings of this thesis. Since my data is restricted to the Ekiromi dialect, additions and changes to her analysis are only verified for Ekiromi but an analogous application to the other dialects might be possible with more data. Her Types 2 (ATR(o)) and 6 (ATR+u) match the Ekiromi prefixation and suffixation VH-types described earlier. Yet, she attributes /i/ and /u/ only to one set in each type and does not explain the peculiar behavior of /a/.Cite