jeff_l
(Jeff_L)
#1
406 7 Verbal morphology
A-grm usually reduces the lexical u to a short V, converting these stem-
shapes to -CVCCD- and -CvCCvCu- plus Augment, types covered in §7.3.1.6.
For middleweight 'be abundant' we therefore get A-grm PerfP abbaffae-t and
so on. For superheavy verbs, A-grm medial short V corresponding to u in other
dialects, cited in the PerfP, is seen in PerfP -kaekkaerae-t 'draw out',
-nsennaerae-t 'rub eyes', and -saessaefae-t 'tear off a strip' (A-grm also avoids
Stem-Initial V-Insertion in these stems).
As usual in perfectives beginning with a short V plus a syllable with a full
high V, dialects other than T-ka and A-grm have initial ae instead of a (PerfP
-sebbuffae-t).
I have recorded at least 20 verbs with paradigms of the middleweight 'be
abundant' subtype in (402), with both geminated and nongeminate medial
clusters. These include -dukru- 'get angry' (Imprt dukra-t), -buggu- 'admit an
error', and -kurdu- 'be dirty'.
In the superheavy subtype exemplified by -jujjvbu- 'bind' in (402), my
primary T-ka speaker tended to degeminate the medial geminate when the
initial C was geminated by C|-Gemination. Therefore, PerfP -allüllaemae-t was
sometimes heard as -allülaemae-t for this speaker, whereas Imprt lüllsma-t
never appeared as #lubm3-t, and the LoImpfP was always -t-ilalbmu-t. This
degemination seems to be a feature of allegro speech, and it may be an
idiosyncracy of this speaker (I usually got the geminate pronunciation when I
elicited the form a second time). I checked these forms carefully with R and
K-d speakers and observed no degemination.
The other verbs known to me of the superheavy subtype are these:
-fuffviO- 'scrub', -Yullvmu- 'wear' (K-d), -kukkvbu- 'be tied up tight',
-kukkvru- 'draw out', -lullvmu- 'trim', -mummvnu- 'pinch and twist',
-nunnvru- 'rub eyes', -sussvru- 'be rude', -sussvfu- 'tear off a strip', and
-zurrvbu- 'try, test' (cf. A-grm non-augment -zurvb-, PerfP -azzorab-). The
cluster seems to be a geminate in all cases.
All of the verbs in (402) are subject (in T-ka) to u-Spreading and Medial
V-Shortening (§3.4.9.3) in short imperfective forms where Augment -t- is
omitted and the stem-final V contracts with a V-initial subject suffix. This
happens in the lSg, 2Sg, 2MaPl, and 3MaPl subject forms, which are
expressed by -aeC suffixes. The same morphophonological processes apply
throughout the long imperfective paradigms.
Consider the sample short imperfectives in (403), where 3MaPl -aen
illustrates what happens when a V-initial subject suffix is present. In the
3MaPl, a putative representation (after Melodic Association) /abbuffi-aen/,
perhaps already contracted to /sbbuffi-n/, first spreads the quality features of
the /u/ to the stem-final i, and then shortens the /u/ to a before a cluster.
