The Association of Tones in Tashlhiyt Berber

In this study we investigate the nature and distribution of an Intonation Phrase medial H tone in Tashlhiyt Berber. We analyse it as a right edge tone of an Accentual Phrase with a secondary association to a syllable with a sonorant nucleus. In the absence of such a syllable in the target word, H may align with a transitional vocoid, although its location is highly variable. Since these vocoids have no phonological status, the distribution of H lies at the phonetics-phonology interface: when H has no secondary association, there could be phonetic pressure to make it audible.