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Finally, several documents dealing with Mono cultural issues have been produced
by Congolese students as bachelor theses. These include Yasikuzu (1987), Tabu (1989),
and Ingozo (1990).
1.7 Overview and methodology
1.7.1 Goal and overview
The purpose of this study is to document the present state of the phonology and
morphology of Mono. The study is descriptive in nature, and I have tried to make the
presentation as accessible as possible so that researchers from various theoretical
backgrounds may find the study understandable. That is not to say that the study is void
of theory. Indeed, any presentation of data requires that the researcher make certain
theoretical commitments. I rely heavily on the tools developed within the framework of
structuralist phonology for the basic analysis. In addition, I employ language typology in
determining how the Mono phonological system relates to other languages. At times, I
incorporate notions from generative phonology into the analysis, and I make this explicit
when I do.
The study is also synchronic in nature. My goal is to characterize accurately the
language as it is spoken in the latter part of the 20th century. At points in the study, I
offer diachronic and comparative information, but I do so simply with the goal of
informing the synchronic analysis. Having said this, I hope that the present study will
contribute to comparative work, especially concerning questions of the place of
Adamawa-Ubangi within Niger-Congo.
Chapter 2 deals with the phonemic structure of Mono. I provide evidence for both
the consonant and vowel phonemes of the language. Among the consonants, I give
special attention to the labial flap, a sound which occurs throughout Central Africa, but
which as of yet has not received adequate treatment in the literature. In addition, I
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