Difference between revisions of "Phonological Alternations"
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==Postverbal Affixes== |
==Postverbal Affixes== |
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+ | A number of postverbal affixes exhibit a morphophonological alternation between a -VC and -C form. The -VC form appears after a consonant, and the -C form after a vowel. |
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− | - |
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+ | |||
+ | 1st sg. subject: |
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+ | -(u)m |
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+ | |||
+ | 2nd sg. object: |
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+ | -(o)ng |
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+ | |||
+ | 3rd sg. object: |
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+ | -(i)n |
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+ | |||
+ | Causative: |
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+ | -(i)n |
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+ | |||
+ | Reciprocal: |
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+ | -(i)r |
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+ | |||
+ | Itive: |
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+ | -(i)k |
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+ | |||
+ | Instrumental applicative: |
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+ | -(i)t |
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+ | |||
+ | Reversive: |
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+ | -(i)t |
Revision as of 19:32, 24 October 2012
Phonological Alternations
Morphophonology
Sereer has salient alternations in the initial consonants of noun and verb stems. These alternations appear to be morphologically conditioned in a lexically specified manner, since they occur in several different segmental contexts whose only common element is being within a morphologically derived environment (e.g. plurality in both nouns and verbs; addition of apparent nominalizing suffixes to verbs).
Nouns
(discussion on sg./pl. alternations here)
Deverbal nouns: A noun can be formed from (any?) verb by affixing a prefix a- to the verb root, and altering the initial consonant of the root.
verb | meaning | noun | meaning |
---|---|---|---|
ret | go | atet | a trip, "going" |
ɗing | fence (in) | aƭing | fence |
tos | gather manure | atos | pile of manure |
piis | draw a line | apiis | line |
weʄ | swim | abeʄ | a swim, swimming |
Further alternations remain to be seen, but it appears that the same sorts of alternations seen elsewhere in the language are present here (r,d > t ; voiced implosive > voiceless implosives, etc.)
There are some less straightforward alternations involving not only the initial consonant:
rain (v): deɓ
rain (n): ateƥ
slap (v): faɗ
slap (n): ombaƭ
Verbs
The initial consonant of verb roots can vary based on whether the subject is singular or plural. Non-implosives alternate with prenasalized stops, and implosives alternate with their voiceless counterparts. So far, these alternations appear to be completely predictable.
sg.~pl.
f~mb
b~mb
w~mb
ɉ~ɲɉ
χ~ɴɢ
ɗ~ƭ
ɓ~ƥ
ʄ~ƈ
r~nd
d~nd
g~ng
Invariant:
j~j
l~l
m~m
n~n
ŋ~ŋ
ɲ~ɲ
p~p
t~t
k~k
c~c
s~s
We still need to get the sg vs. pl. forms of verbs starting with:
q
ʔ, or vowel initial
It seems that verb roots (as seen with singular subjects) cannot start with voiceless implosives or prenasalized stops.
Postverbal Affixes
A number of postverbal affixes exhibit a morphophonological alternation between a -VC and -C form. The -VC form appears after a consonant, and the -C form after a vowel.
1st sg. subject: -(u)m
2nd sg. object: -(o)ng
3rd sg. object: -(i)n
Causative: -(i)n
Reciprocal: -(i)r
Itive: -(i)k
Instrumental applicative: -(i)t
Reversive: -(i)t