jeff_l
(Jeff_L)
#1
3.4 Ablaut 127
Syncope: i-mlswliw-aen. Likewise, Prefix Reduction (either of Sg a- to "ae- or
V, or of PI i- to V) likewise has no effect: daer Vmlswtaw 'in the shining'.
Stem-Initial Syncope does not apply to the VblN a-PaeQaC associated
with (light) -vPQvC- verbs. Thus a-haelak 'destroying' (§8.6.1.2). The rule
also does not apply to nouns.
The issue of whether Stem-Initial Syncope applies to any short V, or
specifically to a (and not to ae), was raised above (§3.4.6), because the
formulation of this syncope rule must be coordinated with the analysis of
vocalic melodies and the process of Melodic Association. In the VblN of
heavy verbs, e.g. a-mlswlaw 'shining', the stem-wide melody is , so if
Melodic Association precedes Stem-Initial Syncope the syncopated V is hi. In
(100), Stem-Initial Syncope (seemingly) applies both in connection with stem-
wide melody (Shlmpf) and stem-wide melody (PerfP), and therefore
applies equally to hi and /ae/. However, in other morphological contexts,
Syncope applies to hi but not to /ae/ (§3.2.7.1), and the perfective melody
seen in (100) is arguably derived from an underlying melody. One can
therefore make a case that the syncopated V in the perfectives in (100) is really
hi, so that e.g. -aemlaewlaew- 'shine' has the shape /-amalaewlaew-/ at the
point where Stem-Initial Syncope applies. After Syncope, the resulting
/-amlaewlaew-/ becomes -aemlaewlaew- by Leftward L-Spreading (§3.2.7.2).
This analysis, involving an asymmetrical version of Stem-Initial Syncope
combined with Leftward L-Spreading, might be questioned. Though it should
not be accepted uncritically by readers, I tend to favor it, since it accounts for
the otherwise inexplicable correlation between surface melody and Stem-
Initial Syncope among perfectives of superheavy verbs. If this analysis is
accepted, the Stem-Initial Syncope rule, confined to inflected perfective and
Shlmpf stems and VblN's of superheavy verb stems, is (101).
(101) Stem-Initial Syncope
a) In a superheavy verb stem (§3.4.1.4, above), an initial sequence
(after Stem-Initial V-Insertion) of the type -vPaCV... ("V" =
any vowel, "P" = any conmsonant) is syncopated to -vPCV...
b) In a VblN of a superheavy verb, stem-initial Prf-PvCV... (Prf =
vocalic prefix) is syncopated to Prf-PCV...
When a superheavy verb has undergone Stem-Initial V-Insertion but does
not have a syllabic structure conducive to Stem-Initial Syncope (with an open
short-voweled Cv syllable in the right location), the stem geminates the first
stem C. This process is unique to inflected verbs. Consider the data in (102).
