KWARA'AE (also called FIU)
(Central Malaita Island; Austronesian, Malaita)		 For more information about metathesis in this language, click on the following links:
Summary:
Sohn (1980): A consonant metathesizes with a following vowel.
Examples
Conditions
Motivation
Related processes
Comments
References
Examples:
(See Comments for key to special characters used.)
Sohn (1980)
 
/daluma/ da.luAm ‘bailer, to bail’ dAul.ma: ‘bail it’   (-a = 3rd pers. obj. suffix)
/abeani/  ?@:bE:n ‘to help’ ?@:.ba.nia ‘help it’  (-a = 3rd pers. obj. suffix)
/adola/ an.doal ‘public area’ aond.lAum ‘your pbulic area’  (-um = ‘your’)
/sata/  sa:t  ‘name’ sa.ta:nd  ‘their name’           (-ad = ‘their’)
/babalili/  ba:b.li:l ‘cheek’ ba:b.li.liuk ‘my cheek’            (-uk = ‘my’)

Pawley (1982)
a. When the underlying ‘v1cv2’ is aCi, aCu, aCo, uCi or eCo, and C is not a nasal, it is realized as [v1v2 cv^2] or [v1v2c(v2)], where v^ denotes a partially devoiced vowel, and (v) denotes a completely devoiced vowel (that is to say, the lips form or retain the shape of the preceding vowel but no sound can be heard).
 
/kado/ [kaodo^] [kaod(o)] 'thin'
/ago/ [aog(o)]
'to shelter'
/selo/  [seol(o)]
'sail'
/husi/  [huisi^] [huis(i)] 'cat'

b. When the underlying sequence ‘v1cv1’ contains identical vowels, it is realized as [v1:cv^1] or [v1:c(v 1)]. That is, the second vowel shows up as additional vowel length before C, as well as appearing after C as a devoiced vowel. Before glottal stop, there is no preconsonantal vowel lengthening.
 
/oso/ [o:so^]
'lie, tell untruth'
/sata/  [sa:ta^]  [sa:t(a)] 'lie, tell untruth'
/satada/  [sa:ta:da^]  [sa:ta:d(a)] 'their name'
/ma?a/ [ma?a?] [ma?(a)] 'father'

Conditions:
A consonant which is not preceded by a vowel is never metathesized with the following vowel (Sohn 1980).
 
/sa/  [sa] *[as] person marker
/sulia/ [sulia] *[uslia] 'because'
/bolebolea/  [bœ:lbolea] *[bœ:loblea]  ‘crazy’
Motivation:
Economy of speech effort (Sohn 1980): Metathesis occurs in Kwara'ae to minimize the number of syllables by converting open to closed syllables, with a minimum loss of phonological features as well as communication.

Gradual sound change (Pawley 1982): The appearance of metathesis having taken place in Kwara'ae is the cumulative effect of two phonological processes, anticipatory vowel copying and vowel reduction.
Related processes:
a. Vowel fusion
    /oe/ -> [œ:], /ae/ -> [@:], /ai/ -> [E:] 
    This occurs before a consonant.
b. /a/ raising
    /a/ gets raised to schwa in the environment of /u/ or after /i/ if followed by a consonant. It is raised to [E] before /i/. This does 
    not apply to word-final /a/ or to long /a:/.
c. [w] glide formation
   /o/, /u/ are realized as the glide [w] when preceded by a syllable or word boundary, or a velar consonant, provided that they are
   followed by a vowel other than /o/, /u/.
Comments:
Special Symbols:
@ = front low vowel ('ash')
A = central mid vowel ('schwa')
E = front mid vowel
?  = glottal stop
 

Last updated: 10/4/2000
References:
  • Deck, N. C. 1933-34. Grammar of the language spoken by the Kwara'ae people of Malta, British Solomon Islands. Journal of the Polynesian Society 42, 33-48, 133-144, 241-256; and 43, 1-16.
  • Sohn, Ho-min. 1980. Metathesis in Kwara’ae. Lingua 52. 305-323.
  • Pawley, Andrew. 1982. Kwara’ae ‘Metathesis’ as a Gradual Sound Change. Ling 83. 102. 
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