Tone Operation in Sábèé and Òǹkò Dialects of Yorùbá

Dialects of Yoruba are found within and outside Nigeria. These dialects exhibit varying degrees of intelligibility with the Standard variety. This study examined Sábè̩ e̩ ́ , a dialect of Yoruba spoken in Benin Republic and Òǹkò, its closest counterpart in Nigeria. The most conspicuous variation was observed at the level of tone which is the nexus of this study. Autosegmental theory was adopted for the analysis of tonal phenomenon in the two dialects and similarities and differences were clearly identified. Data were gathered from the adult native speakers which were transcribed for analysis. The study discovered that Sábè̩ e̩ ́ and Òǹkò exhibit contour tone (falling) which realization is at variance in the two dialects. Contextual grammatical use of tone was also observed. The study concluded that though Sábè̩ e̩ ́ is spoken outside Nigeria, it shares a lot of affinities with its counterparts in Nigeria, namely Òǹkò.