Home The diachrony of velar coronalization in Mojeño (Arawakan)
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The diachrony of velar coronalization in Mojeño (Arawakan)

  • Fernando O. de Carvalho EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 12, 2019
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

The goals of the present paper are: to improve the reconstruction of Proto-Mojeño (PM) by reconstructing a synchronic morphophonological alternation; to provide a clearer picture of the relations between PM and some of its closest relatives and to better understand the historical development of the Trinitario dialect, arguably the least conservative of the attested varieties of Mojeño. I show here that an antecedent stage of PM, Pre-PM, was subject to a contextual merger (primary split or split-merger) of *k and *s, yielding a morphophonological alternation *k ~ *s in PM. Apparent exceptions to the Pre-PM change *k>s provide evidence for the reconstruction of a non-palatalizing contextual vowel, possibly , that was merged with *i in PM and with e in Terena, possibly PM’s closest relative. A preliminary comparison of certain verb stem formatives and deverbal nominalizers in PM and Terena is also presented. Finally, I show that a context-dependent development involving k in the Trinitario dialect, this time a secondary split yielding the fricative ç, resulted in alternations k ~ ç, thus creating a second, diachronically separable layer of palatalization/coronalization in the phonology of Trinitario.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Françoise Rose and to two anonymous reviewers for the comments and observations on the form and content of the submitted paper. Although this feedback has certainly contributed to the final form of the paper by making it clearer and stronger in argumentation, all remaining shortcomings are of my own responsibility.

References

Bateman, Nicoleta. 2007. A crosslinguistic investigation of palatalization. Doctoral Dissertation. San Diego: University of California.Search in Google Scholar

Bateman, Nicoleta. 2011. On the typology of palatalization. Language and Linguistics Compass 5/8. 588–602.10.1111/j.1749-818X.2011.00294.xSearch in Google Scholar

Becerra Casanovas, Rogers. 1980. De Ayer y de Hoy: Diccionario del Idioma Mojeño a través del Tiempo. Estudio Comparativo Sobre su Evolución. La Paz: PROINSA.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2015. On the realization of nominal possession in mehinaku: A diachronic account. International Journal of American Linguistics 81(1). 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1086%2F679044.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2016. Internal and Comparative Reconstruction in Yawalapiti: Palatalization and Rule Telescoping. International Journal of American Linguistics 82(3). 285–316. https://doi.org/10.1086/687384.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2017a. On Terena (Arawakan) -pâho ‘mouth’: Etymology and implications for internal classification. Journal of Language Relationship 15(1–2). 69–86.10.31826/jlr-2017-151-211Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2017b. Fricative debuccalization and primary split in Terena (Arawak) historical phonology. International Journal of American Linguistics 83(3). 509–537. https://doi.org/10.1086%2F691587.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2017c. Philological evidence for phonemic affricates and diachronic debuccalization in early Terena (Arawak). Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi 12(1). 157–171. https://doi.org/10.1590/1981.81222017000100009.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2017d. Tupi-Guarani loanwords in Southern Arawak: Taking contact etymologies seriously. Revista Linguística 13(3). 41–74. https://doi.org/10.31513%2Flinguistica.2017.v13n3a16383.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2018a. Arawakan-Guaicuruan language contact in the South American Chaco. International Journal of American Linguistics 84(2). 243–263. https://doi.org/10.1086%2F696198.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de. 2018b. The historical phonology of Paunaka (Arawakan). Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi 13(2). 405–428. https://doi.org/10.1590/1981.81222018000200008.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Fernando O. de & Françoise Rose. 2018. Comparative reconstruction of Proto-Mojeño and the phonological diversification of Mojeño Dialects. LIAMES 18(1). 7–48. https://doi.org/10.20396/liames.v1i1.8648804.Search in Google Scholar

Curnow, Timothy & Anthony Liddicoat. 1998. The Barbacoan languages of colombia and ecuador. Anthropological Linguistics 40(3). 384–408.Search in Google Scholar

Danielsen, Swintha. 2007. Baure: An Arawak language of bolivia. Indigenous Languages of Latin America (ILLA) 6 Leiden: CNWS.Search in Google Scholar

Danielsen, Swintha & Lena Terhart. 2014. Paunaka. In Pieter Muysken & Milly Crevels (eds.), Las Lenguas de Bolivia, vol.3, 221–258. La Paz: Plural Editores.Search in Google Scholar

Eastlack, Charles. 1968. Terena (Arawakan) Pronouns. International Journal of American Linguistics 34(1). 1–8.10.1086/464990Search in Google Scholar

Ekdahl, Muriel & Nancy Butler. 1979. Aprenda Terêna. Brasília: Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL).Search in Google Scholar

Ekdahl, Muriel & Joseph Grimes. 1964. Terena verb inflection. International Journal of American Linguistics 30(3). 261–268.10.1086/464783Search in Google Scholar

Gill, Wayne. 1957. Trinitario grammar. San Lorenzo de Mojos: Misión Nuevas Tribus.Search in Google Scholar

Gill, Wayne. 1993. Diccionario Trinitario-Castellano. San Lorenzo de Mojos: Misión Nuevas Tribus.Search in Google Scholar

Janhunen, Juha. 2003. Proto-Mongolic. In Juha Janhunen (ed.), The Mongolic languages, 1–29. London and New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Langacker, Ronald. 1970. The vowels of Proto-Uto-Aztecan. International Journal of American Linguistics 36(3). 169–180.10.1086/465108Search in Google Scholar

Lass, Roger. 1978. Mapping constraints in phonological reconstruction. In Jacek Fisiak (ed.), Recent developments in historical phonology, 245–286. The Hague: Mouton.10.1515/9783110810929.245Search in Google Scholar

Marbán, Pedro. 1701. Arte de la Lengua Moxa, com su vocabulário, y cathecismo. Lima: Imprenta Real de Joseph de Contreras.Search in Google Scholar

Ott, Willis & Rebecca B. de Ott. 1983. Diccionario Ignaciano y Castellano con Apuntes Gramaticales. Cochabamba: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano (ILV).Search in Google Scholar

Payne, David. 1991. A Classification of maipuran (Arawakan) languages based on shared lexical retentions. In Desmond Derbyshire & G. K. Pullum (eds.), Handbook of Amazonian language, vol. 3, 355–499. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Search in Google Scholar

Rose, Françoise. 2011. Dialectes en danger: Les Derniers Locuteurs du Mojeño Javeriano en Bolivie. Faits de Langues 35–36: 255–264.10.1163/19589514-035-036-01-900000014Search in Google Scholar

Rose, Françoise. 2014a. When vowel deletion blurs reduplication. In Mojeño Trinitario, Gale Goodwin-Gómez & Hein van der Voort (eds.), Reduplication in South American languages, 375–399. Leiden: Brill.10.1163/9789004272415_015Search in Google Scholar

Rose, Françoise. 2014b. Negation and Irrealis in Mojeño Trinitario. In Lev Michael & Tania Granadillo (eds.), Negation in Arawak languages, 216–240. Leiden, Boston: Brill.10.1163/9789004257023_011Search in Google Scholar

Rose, Françoise. 2015. Mojeño Trinitario. In Mily Crevels & Pieter Muysken (eds.), Lenguas de Bolivia, Vol. 3. Oriente. La Paz: Plural Editores.Search in Google Scholar

Rose, Françoise. accepted. Rhythmic syncope and opacity in Mojeño Trinitario. Phonological Data and Analysis 1. 1–25.10.3765/pda.v1art2.2Search in Google Scholar

Zubiri, Olza, Conchita Jesus, Nuni de Chapi & Juan Tube. 2002. Gramática Moja Ignaciana (Morfosintaxis). Caracas: Universidad Catolica Andrés Bello.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2018-06-08
Revised: 2019-02-27
Revised: 2019-04-01
Accepted: 2019-04-12
Published Online: 2019-11-12
Published in Print: 2019-11-26

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 25.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/flih-2019-0013/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button