jeff_l
(Jeff_L)
#1
100 3 Phonology
melody, rather than from the lexical representation of the stem. In this analysis,
therefore, the basic representation would be something like -vjjvs- 'enter' or
-usvl- 'run', where ν is an unspecified short vowel and υ is an unspecified full
V. 'Enter', for example, will actually appear in melodically specified stems
such as PerfP -ajjass- and Imprt ajjas.
The alternative is to represent e.g. 'enter' as -ajjas- with lexical schwas.
Then, instead of applying stem-wide melodies, we would take the Imprt (and
Shlmpf) as simply retaining the underlying vocalism, and have a more local
melodic fragment that converts the second schwa of -ajjas- to ae in the
perfective system.
There are too many difficulties in implementing the latter solution, not the
least of which is the fact that for some other types of verb it is not so easy to
derive the perfectives from the Imprt and other imperfectives. For example,
'run' has Imprt asal and PerfP -osael-. In nearly every case, the vocalism is
predictable from the skeletal stem shape, defined as a sequence whose
elements are (actual) consonants with interspersed ν and υ. Thus all -uCvC-
verbs have Imprt aCaC, PerfP -oCaeC-. and LoImpfP -t-iCaC- (A-grm dialect
-t-dCasC-), while all -vPPvC- verbs where PP is a geminate consonant have
Imprt aPPaC, PerfP -aPPaeC-. and LoImpfP -t-aPPasC-. (For some syllabic
shapes it is necessary to specify a cluster as geminated PP or as non-geminate
PQ.)
I will use formulae like -vjjvs- 'enter' and'-usvl- 'run' as basic
representations of verbs, with ν and υ marking the short and full vowel
positions. I will use schemata like -vPPvC- and -uCvC- to designate the
relevant stem-shape classes in a more general way. It should be emphasized
that "C" (and its substitutes P, Q, R) is not part of the basic representation of
any individual stem. Therefore "C" is used quite differently from ν and υ.
Capital "V" denotes any vowel (unless otherwise specified).
In some verb types (those with a medial full V, and augmented V-final
verbs), it seems necessary to specify lexical full-V features rather than relying
on vocalic melodies. This is because the melodies consist of L and Η elements,
which suffice to distinguish the low full V α from the high V's, but are not
precise enough to predict which of the two full Η vowels will appear, i or u. In
verbs, u is more common than i, but the choice is lexical. An example with u is
-durhvn- 'desire', which appears as PerfP -addurhaen- (dialectally
-aeddurhasn-), Imprt dürhan, LoImpfP -t-ldarhun- (dialectally -t-odasrhan-),
and VblN α-durhan. The apparent jumping of the u into the final sylalble in
-t-idarhun- is due to Medial V-Shortening and u-Spreading (§3.4.9). An
example with i is -kvrikvw- 'perform sorcery', with PerfP -sekrakasw-, Imprt
karikaw, LoImpfP -t-lkrikiw- and VblN α-krlkaw. There are some difficulties
in analysing the relevant paradigms, especially since stems with i and u are
often not exactly symmetrical. However, on the whole it does seem advisable
to specify at least some of the lexical υ positions as u or i.
The stem -kvrikvw- 'perform sorcery' just mentioned raises another issue.
Many of the longer stems have an extra initial short V in the perfectives and
