A Grammar of Madurese

42 Chapter 2 Phonology

(44) məllɛ + aki  [məllɛjaki] ‘buy for’ (actor voice)

a + aɔ + aki  aaɔwaki] ‘convince’ (actor voice)

In the form [məllɛjaki] ‘buy for’, [j] is inserted between the stem-final [ɛ] of
[məllɛ] ‘buy’ and the initial [a] of the benefactive suffix [aki]. However in

[aaɔwaki] ‘convince’ [w] is inserted between the stem and [aki] because the

stem-final vowel is back and round [ɔ]. Other examples include:

(45) libɤli + an  [libɤlijɤn] ‘several times’
ɤi + a  [ɤijɤ] ‘will become’

ɔllɛ + a  [ɔllɛja] ‘will get’
ka + raɔ + an  [karaɔwan] ‘palace/kingdom’

ɛka + aɔ + ɛ  ɛkaaɔwɛ ‘is known’

abɤnɔ + a  [abɤnɔwa] ‘will help’

The occurrence of root-internal glides is also completely predictable and can be
derived through glide epenthesis. Examples include:

(46) nɛa  [nɛja] ‘intend’

sɛər  [sɛjər] ‘fall asleep’
ɲɛɔr  [ɲɛjɔr] ‘coconut’
bɤriɤ  [bɤrijɤ ‘feel unwell’
ḍiəm  [ḍijəm] ‘calm’
ṭiuk  [ṭijuk] ‘commotion’

ɔa  [ɔwa] ‘old’

sɔər  [sɔwər] ‘notch’
d.uɤ  [d.uwɤ ‘two’
bui  [buwi] ‘fetter’

It is telling that for those roots with an Indonesian cognate, the Indonesian word
lacks the glide but in all other respects is virtually identical to the Madurese:
niat ‘intend’, diam ‘calm’, bui ‘fetter’, dua ‘two’, tua ‘old’.

5.2. Gemination

There are a number of gemination processes in Madurese, but by far the most
productive and frequent of these is gemination that ensures that the syllable
structure constraint on [ə] is satisfied. Recall that [ə] can only occur in closed
syllables. When a vowel-initial suffix is added to a consonant-final root, resyl-
labification takes place so that the final consonant becomes the onset of the fol-