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Examples: |
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Metathesis is a regular process
in Kui. It can be observed in the second conjugation of verbs where
the present participle and infinitive is typically formed by the addition
of the suffixes /-pi/ and /-pa/, respectively. However, when the stem ends
in a velar stop, the suffix-initial labial stop occurs to the left of the
stem-final consonant. A similar situation holds in the fourth
conjugation, although in this instance the stem-final consonant involved
in metathesis is [g], while the prefixal consonant surfaces as [b].
Examples from the second conjugation are shown.
| Verb Stem |
Future |
Past |
Present
Participle |
Infinitive |
Gloss |
| bluk- |
bluki |
blukte |
blupki |
blupka |
'to break down' |
| kok- |
koki |
kokte |
kopki |
kopka |
'to sit down' |
| mlik- |
mliki |
mlikte |
mlipki |
mlipka |
'to turn over' |
| lek- |
leki |
lekte |
lepki |
lepka |
'to break' |
| cf. |
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| gas- |
gasi |
gaste |
gaspi |
gaspa |
'to hang oneself' |
| mil- |
mili |
milte |
milpi |
milpa |
'to turn over' |
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Conditions: |
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Metathesis occurs only across a
morpheme boundary. |
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Motivation: |
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Perceptual Optimization:Hume
(1998, 2001) argues that consonant/consonant metathesis like that observed
in Kui occurs in contexts of low salience and serves to enhance the syntagmatic
and paradigmatic contrast of the sounds in that context. The low salience
of the sequence stems from the observation that the labial and velar stop
are acoustically and auditorily similar. The metathesized sequence of sounds
is superior to the expected unmetathesized form in terms of the overall perceptual
salience of the segments involved. In Kui, this is achieved by reordering
segments in order to improve the salience of a neighbouring sound or sounds;
that is, placing the velar consonant in prevocalic position and the labial
in postvocalic position. Evidence suggesting that the perceptibility
of the segments in this order is greater than in the reverse order comes from
an experimental study by Winters (1999). In that study, the salience of consonant
place in the context VCCV suggests that positioning a dorsal stop consonant
in prevocalic position, even when unstressed as is the case in Kui, provides
a greater boost in perceptibility than it does for a labial stop consonant
(see Hume 2001 for additional discussion). |
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Additional info: |
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Stress falls on the monosyllabic
root and is manifested as increased prominence in the form of greater syllable
length. |
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Comments: |
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Last modified: 2/20/2001 (EVH) |
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References: |
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Hume, Elizabeth. 1998. The Role
of Perceptibility in Consonant/Consonant Metathesis. In Blake, Susan, Eun-Sook
Kim, and Kimary Shahin (eds.), WCCFL XVII Proceedings. Stanford: CSLI. 293-307.
Hume, Elizabeth. 2001. Metathesis:
Formal and Functional Considerations. In E. Hume, N. Smith & J.
van de Weijer, Surface Syllable Structure and Segment Ordering. Leiden, NL:
HIL.
Winfield, W. W. 1928.
A Grammar of the Kui Language. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Winters, Stephen. 2000. Putting
place in its place: Evaluating place perception in VCCV sequences. In
E. Hume, N. Smith & J. van de Weijer, Surface Syllable Structure and Segment
Ordering. Leiden, NL: HIL.
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