Examples:
(See Comments for key to special characters
used.) |
 |
| hom |
'pull' |
i hoo~ |
's/he is pulling' |
| nam |
'grind' |
i no^o~ |
's/he is grinding' |
| kpem |
'go home' |
i kpo^o~ |
's/he is going home' |
Metathesis rule (Ourso, 1989): CVm-u ---> CVum
1 2 3 4 1 2
4 3 |
| Conditions: |
|
No information currently available. |
| Motivation: |
|
a. Ourso (1989)
In the progressive formation, k-deletion creates the right environment
for the deletion of the vowel /u/ in the CVm roots (i hom-ku --> i hom-u).
If the vowel /u/ deletes in the progressive form, the infinitive and the
progressive forms of the CVm verbs will be structurally the same at the
surface representation (ho^m 'to pull' & *i ho^m 'he is pulling').
Metathesis is motivated by the nondeletion of the progressive sufixal vowel
which cannot attach to the root final labial /m/ as evidenced by the behavior
of the infinitive suffix 'u'.
|
| Additional
information: |
|
a. /k/ deletion: The velar stop of the suffix deletes after a root final
unrounded vowel or a root final consonant.
| imperative simple |
|
imperative continuous |
|
| sa |
'cook' |
saa |
'keep cooking' |
| fal |
'winnow' |
falu |
'keep winnowing' |
cf. no /k/ deletion
| so' |
'lift' |
i so'ku' |
's/he is lifting' |
| to' |
'catch' |
i to'ku' |
's/he is catching' |
b. /u/ deletion: The infinitive suffix 'u' deletes in CVm verbs.
hom 'pull'
hom-u' --> ho^m
'to pull' cf.
pe'l 'cut'
pe'lu^ 'to cut'
c. Derivation of progressive forms
|
/hom-ku/ |
/nam-ku/ |
/kpem-ku/ |
| /k/ deletion |
hom-u |
nam-u |
kpem-u |
| metathesis |
houm |
naum |
kpeum |
| height assimilation |
hoom |
naom |
kpeom |
| round assimilation |
--- |
noom |
kpoom |
| nasal assimilation |
ho~o~m |
no~o~m |
kpo~o~m |
| nasal deletion |
ho~o~ |
no~o~ |
kpo~o~ |
|
| Comments: |
|
Special Symbols:
^ = falling tone marker
o~ = nasalized 'o'
' = high tone marker
Last updated: 11/5/2001 |
| References: |
|
Ourso, Meterwa. 1989. Lama Phonology and Morphology. Ph. D. dissertation.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
|
