50 Chapter 2 Phonology
high vowel ɤ rather than the base non-high vowel a. With vowel-final stems,
depending on the quality of the vowel, epenthesis of a glide or glottal stop is
triggered.
(67) məllɛ ‘buy’ [məllɛjaki] ‘buy for’
anɔ ‘certain’ [nanɔwaki] ‘decide’
abɤlɤ ‘say’ [abɤlɤɤki] ‘say about’
The other suffix that copies the final consonant of the stem is the definite
suffix -na. With vowel-final stems, there is no change in the suffix, as illu-
strated in (63).
(68) definite -na
buku ‘book’ [bukuna] ‘the book’
kɔpi ‘coffee’ [kɔpina] ‘the coffee’
mɛɤ ‘table’ [mɛɤna] ‘the table’
When the stem ends in a consonant, a copy of the consonant replaces the n of
the suffix, resulting in a geminate.
(69) mɔɔr ‘car’ [mɔɔrra] ‘the car’
labɤ ‘door’ [labɤa] ‘the door’
ɔkɔl ‘hammer’ [ɔkɔlla] ‘the hammer’
sɔra ‘letter’ [sɔraɤ] ‘the letter’
kɔṭak ‘box’ [kɔṭakkɤ] ‘the box’
makam ‘grave’ [makamma] ‘the grave’
attas ‘top’ [attassa] ‘the top’
Stem-final voiceless consonants are aspirated in these structures. However, in
dialects where the aspiration rule does not hold, the consonant is still gemi-
nated, but there is no change in the vowel of the suffix. For these speakers the
forms are [sɔraa] ‘the letter’ and [kɔṭakka] ‘the box’. No other affixes trigger
gemination.
Vowel reduction. There are two minor optional processes of vowel reduction. In
the first, [a] reduces to [ə] in the ka-, pa-, and sa- prefixes. According to Ste-
vens (1968), this is a process that targets the third syllable from end of the root.
It also triggers gemination of the initial vowel of the root to ensure consistency
with the syllable-structure constraint.