Abstract
<jats:p>This paper gives a description of the tonal marking on verbal forms in the Wagi dialect of Beria. Beria is a Saharan language of the Nilo-Saharan phylum spoken in northwestern Darfur in Sudan and in northeastern Chad. Previous studies have reported the significant role played by tone in Beria. However, an in-depth analysis of tone is still pending. In this paper, we concentrate on verb forms and provide an up-to-date analysis of their tonal marking. The research is based on an extensive data collection of (non-)finite forms of more than 220 verbs. The verbal system of Beria is characterized by the existence of different lexical tone classes and grammatical tones. Grammatical tones distinguish categories such as number, TAM, and polarity. We describe lexical and grammatical tones and their interaction. The main objective of the paper is to present an analysis of the processes of tonal changes that derive surface realizations of finite verb forms. In this study, we provide evidence for three underlying level tones (L, M, and H) which typically form tonal contours on the surface. The three tones are not equally distributed. While L and M occur in all positions, the H tone is restricted, and we analyze it as having only a grammatical function. Moreover, L-tone-only forms are not attested on the surface, which, as we argue, is due to the Obligatory Contour Principle.</jats:p>