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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2000

Vowel shifting and cloning in Motlav: historical explanation vs. formal description

Résumé

In his first account of Mwotlap grammar, Codrington (1885), followed by Kasarhérou (1962), described the phonological rule of 'vowel shifting' : a number of prefixes change their vowel into that of the next lexeme, e.g. na- + v6y > ne-v6y ('volcano'). We first show that this rule only accounts for half of the lexicon, namely CV- roots, whereas for CCVroots no change occurs, leaving an unvarying vowel instead. We then discuss a diachronic hypothesis in order to account for these two distinct sets of lexemes: stress rules in former stages of the language first brought about a morphological alternation between two kinds of roots (CV- vs. CCV-). Eventually, this alternation was reinterpreted as reflecting a phonological constraint just emerging from inherited forms; as a consequence, the whole system is currently undergoing some standardization. Finally, we provide a synchronic reanalysis of these recently emerged rules, thanks to newly defined theoretical tools. For instance, Our choice of a multi-linear approach allows us to take into consideration the notion of 'floating phoneme', in order to account for the behavior of these prefixes; and the same notion appears to be efficient in analyzing 'vowel transfer' (e.g. na- + hinag > ni-hnag), another phonological rule of the same language.

Domaines

Linguistique
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Dates et versions

halshs-00135836 , version 1 (09-03-2007)

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  • HAL Id : halshs-00135836 , version 1

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Alexandre François. Vowel shifting and cloning in Motlav: historical explanation vs. formal description. 2000, pp.49-68. ⟨halshs-00135836⟩
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