Mwita Leonard Chacha. Verbal Tone in Kuria

University of California, 2008. — 367 p.This dissertation examines verbal tone in Kuria, an Eastern Bantu language spoken in Kenya and Tanzania. It shows that Kuria has a predictable tone system, in that, verbs are assigned high tones on the first, second, third, fourth, or first and fourth vowels of the macrostem, beginning at the left edge. It employs a mora or vowel count approach. Tense (TAM) emerges as the prime determiner of where the high tone is assigned. Other factors like syllable type and the length of the macrostem dictate how high tones are distributed. Furthermore, primary high tones are rarely assigned without modification. This is manifested through processes such as doubling, spreading etc., leading to a diversity in surface tonal patterns.