A Grammar of Unua by Pearce Elizabeth

Author:Pearce, Elizabeth [Pearce, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2015-02-11T16:00:00+00:00

(151) Single syllable verb roots with initial consonant clusters

In both sets, transitive verbs can bear the -i transitivity suffix. Verb roots with consonant cluster onsets are especially subject to the epenthesis of a non-high vowel when preceded by a consonant-final prefix (on the choice of the epenthetic vowel, see section 5.2.2). The verb tga ‘collect’ is attested also in the form … V-taga-i.

Many seemingly non-compound verb roots of length greater than one syllable are also found e.g.: bbrare ‘spoil’, bragot ‘cross (through)’, jajar ‘wish’, jajavex ‘tell the truth’, jaror ‘go down inside’, jijirox ‘bow down’, jirvar ‘tell story’, jjavur ‘wash hands’, kaktex ‘train yams’, krabbur ‘break (off), majing ‘work’, majrev ‘wrong’, marong ‘want’, matur ‘lie down’, mavor ‘break’, maxot ‘split’, mrager ‘mature’, mrara ‘light (weight)’, mrebe ‘how’, pangor ‘look for shells’, papej ‘stay at home’, perparix ‘play’, ponbarang ‘rock’, rarer ‘ache’, rarjej ‘pity’, rivsa ‘know’, rrirang ‘not able’, tarbo ‘fix house’, tatenem ‘groan’, tetenux ‘nod,’ trabbux ‘cook’, verrem ‘do’, vnaxe ‘steal’, xenmang ‘yawn’. The following verbs with a root-final consonant cluster take the -i transitivity suffix: rrorrm-‘swallow’, soxv- ‘block/catch’, suxj- ‘cut hole’.

In summary, there appear to be no phonological constraints particular to the forms of verb roots in Unua. We have, however, observed that root-final i is possibly attested only on one verb, mi ‘move’, and that vowel-initial roots are highly unusual. In the latter case, the concatenation of a vowel-final prefix gives rise to a disyllabic double-vowel sequence.

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