Double bell, double gong, àkánkáng

Double bell system used by the Efik people of the Calabar municipality in Nigeria, described in D. C. Simmons (1955). The instrument itself (àkánkáng)is a “double gong consisting of two gongs joined together by an arched handle” measuring at least 20 cm in overall length (742). One gong is larger and lower than the other. The language (and closely related variety Ibibio) is analyzed as having H, L, and downstepped H tones, with additional HL and LH contours (Urua 2004, Glewwe 2019). In the surrogate, the gong’s L and H pitches correspond to H and L tones.HL and LH contours are variably encoded either as a sequence of LH or HL strikes respectively, or as a single strike corresponding to the terminal register of the contour. Downstepped H (apparently analyzed by Simmons as M and high-mid tones) are encoded as H tones when using the gong (744).Word-initial nasals, which bear tone in Efik, are encoded the same as vowel-bearing tones (745).Enphrasing is employed: “Gong signals consist of short aphoristic phrases, proverbs, and nicknames which possess special meaning” (744). Content includes long-distance communication, wartime announcements, and funeral and religious practices. It is additionally used “by boys during their èkóng itok play”, a strictly musical function (743).

Simmons (1955),Urua, E.-A. E. (2004). Ibibio. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34(1), 105–109.,Glewwe, E. (2019). Efik nominal tonal alternations as phrasal morphology. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.3520571