Proto-Akali-Emisian Syllable Structure and Vowel-Initial Stems
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How Proto-Akali-Emisian dealt with vowel-initial stems
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 1 Jan 2019, 07:02.
[comments] pke
?FYI...
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Proto-Akali-Emisian syllable structure can be (roughly) described as being C(L)V(H)(:)(C)(:). The onset consists of a consonant and an optional *l or *lˀ (though the inclusion of *L creates restrictions on the initial consonant), but what is particularly notable is that the consonant is mandatory. Further, it should be noted that there is no *ʔ, and so the syllable *ʔa would not be legal. When the L slot is filled by *l, onset C is limited to voiceless non-glottalized obstruents; when filled by *lˀ, onset C is limited to voiceless obstruents, which can be glottalized or not.The nucleus is represented V(H)(:). If H is unfilled, V can be any of the six vowels (*i *e *æ *a *o *u); if H is filled (with either *i or *u), V must be a non-high vowel (*e *æ *a *o), giving a diphthong. Both monophthongs and diphthongs have length contrasts.
The coda can be any consonant, and can be long or short.
Some stems (such as the Class 2 noun *-iŋʷu:ɟ 'dog') are vowel-initial; how this is dealt with is of particular interest, since onset consonants are mandatory.
Using *-iŋʷu:ɟ as a model, we can consider it in the context of its morphology. Nouns are inflected with the pattern case-number-stem, and so our first question is whether number morphology can provide a consonant that will make the first syllable of the noun legal.
In the plural, the prefix is *-xo- which does not seem to provide an appropriate consonant, but the particular allomorph would be *-ç-, giving the form *-çiŋʷu:ɟ 'dogs' before case is added; this gives us a legal syllable.
In the dual, the prefix is *-tan- which gives an appropriate consonant, and so we have the form *-taniŋʷu:ɟ before case is added.
The singular, however, is marked by a null prefix *-Ø- for Class 2 nouns (like *-iŋʷu:ɟ). Therefore, we must consider case marking, but all case prefixes end in a vowel. Therefore, the initial vowel of *-iŋʷu:ɟ is deleted; the absolutive, for example, would realize *hu-iŋʷu:ɟ as *huŋʷu:ɟ, which solves the syllabification issue.
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