[ŋ �] before + velars [N�-ɡɛ(] [ŋ( �ɡɛ(] ‘cuttinɡ’
The continuous aspect morpheme is not found before vowel-initial verbs which might show us clearly the real morpheme. The nasal phonemes /m/, /n/ or another nasal could equally be the continuous aspect morpheme. Since we don’t know which it is, we list it as /N� /.
Morpho-phonology Review
What is the difference between a phonological process and a morphological process?
PHONOLOGICAL PROCESS: common sound change in a particular environment in roots
MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESS: common sound change in a particular environment where words or morphemes come together.
Voicing and weakening assimilationLUMUN Sudan/k/ [ɣ] in-between vowels [k] elsewhere
/kakɛk/ [kaɣɛk] ‘tree type’
Complete assimilationCAIRO ARABIC/l/ /d/ before + d /n/ before + n
/s/ before + s /il-dars/ /iddars/ ‘the lesson’/il-nimra/ /innimra/ ‘the grade’/il-satr/ /issatr/ ‘the line’
How does phonology help literacy development?
2. Sometimes sounds change when words or parts of words are joined in various ways. Phonology helps us find the best spelling rules for these difficult situations. (Steps 18-19)
Steps for finding spelling rules when words or morphemes come together (2 of 2)
18. Identify Morphophonological Changes19. Identify Word Boundary Changes
PHONEME: the smallest contrastive sound in a language
LUMUN [kaβɪk] ‘rain’
MORPHEME: the smallest part of a word with meaning
MUNDARI /pɪɟa/ ‘Don’t askǃ’
WORD: the smallest unit of language that can be pronounced by itself and have meaning for speakers
ENGLISH day, days
A Word
• can be pronounced in isolation.• is always pronounced the same (in the same
dialect) (in isolation or slow speech).• has meaning.• has 1 or more morphemes.
Morphological Processes Across Word Boundaries
WeakeningVoicingAssimilation to the place of articulationDeletion (Elision)[+ATR] spreading (rare)
These processes also occur across morpheme boundaries.
LUMUN Sudan
Weakening & Voicing /c/ [j] in-between vowels
Original Sound In roots /pɪcɔk/ [pɪjɔk] ‘tree type’
Across morpheme /ɪ-carak/ [ɪjarak] ‘in-stomach’ boundary Across word boundary /ana/ /caɽɪ/ /cɛn/ [anajaɽɪjɛn] ‘and
that day’
Sound can change across word boundaries. So, SOUND CHANGE IS NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON FOR CONNECTING MORPHEMES. Morphemes with sound changes could be separate words.
EJAGHAM
Vowel Deletion (Elision) ( = nothinɡ)V before + V
Original SoundAcross morpheme /apini-a/ [apina] ‘he.tumbles-
always’ boundary /akɔɛ-a/ [akɔa] ‘he.coughs-
always’
Across word boundary /ka/ /eti/ [keti] ‘in tree’/ka/ /oso/ [keso] ‘in sky’
Sound can change across word boundaries. So, SOUND CHANGE IS NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON FOR CONNECTING MORPHEMES. Morphemes with sound changes could be separate words.
These rules are only a starting point for deciding word breaks in the orthography. After discussion and testing, speakers should have the final say about word breaks.
Semantic (strong evidence for separate words)Rule 1: If the morpheme said by itself has meaning for
speakers, it can be written as a separate word .
hairbrushhairbrush
dayMonday Not *MonTuesday Not *Tues
Semantic (strong evidence for connected words)Rule 2: Two morphemes should be written as one
word when their combination has a different meaning than when they are separate.
blackboard black boardwildcat wild catgreenhouse green househairbrush hair brush (no meaning)
Grammatical (medium strength evidence for separate words)
Rule 3: If another morpheme can sometimes come between 2 morphemes, they should be written separately
LUMUN SudanSince the word cik ‘up’ can be separated from the
verb pathuttet ‘vomited’ in (a), the word cik should not be written attached to the verb in (b)
(a) pathuttet oIunan cik ‘vomited Jonah up’(b) pathuttet cik ‘vomited up’
[paðʊttɛccik]
Grammatical (medium strength evidence for connnected words)
Rule 4: Morphemes that can have changes in sound when next to more than one part of speech can be connected with each of the words.
GAAHMG SudanRelative clause marker =ɛ (becomes =i when attached to [+ATR]
words)Nouns na agaaɾɛ3 ‘who is a hunter’
na mə(idi ‘who is an elder’Adjectives na agaaɾ bandalɛ3 ‘who is a weak hunter’
na agaaɾ ə3ni3 ‘who is a bad hunter’Verbs na ŋaɲɛ# ‘who files’
na cudi ‘who climbs’Adverbs na cud cabɛ# ‘who climbs up’
na ŋaɲ ə(ndə3gi ‘who files with force’
Grammatical (medium strength evidence for separate words)
Rule 5: If the morpheme can be moved to a different place within the sentence, it should be written as a separate word.
He will go. He did go.Will he go? Did he go?
Grammatical (medium strength evidence for separate words)
Rule 6: If a morpheme is clearly a separate word in one construction, it is best to write it as a separate word in other constructions.
The preposition to is definitely a separate word in (a); therefore, it is considered a separate word elsewhere.
(a) Where did you go to?(b) I went to town.
Psychological (weak evidence for connnected words)Rule 7: If speakers are not comfortable about
pronouncing a morpheme by itself, it should probably be written connected to another morpheme.
English speakers are not comfortable pronouncing the following by themselves; they are not words:
re-, un-, -able, -ness
English speakers are comfortable pronouncing the following by themselves; they are words (even though there is little meaning by themselves)
to, at, not
Psychological (weak evidence for connnected words)Rule 8: Follow the natural word length in the
language as much as possible
If the language tends to have short words, such as in Gbaya (Kresh) of Sudan, there may be no need to join morphemes. If the language tends to have long words, such as in Swahili, joining may be more acceptable to the people.
‘BELI Sudan Should the prepositions and pronouns be separate words or connnected?
Indepenedent pronouns Factors to considerːma ‘I,me’ 1. The prepositions and pronouns can be pronounced by ji ‘you SG’ themselves and have meaning for
speakers.nɛ ‘he/she, him/her’ 2. The same pronouns occur before or after
verbsjɛ ‘you PL’ 3. Short words are very common in ‘Beli.Prepositional pronounsAma nɪ ga ŋɛrɛ ‘They go to the chief’ (ga ‘to’)/Ama nɪ ga-ma/ [Ama nɪ gama] ‘They go to me’/Ama nɪ ga-ji/ [Ama nɪ geji] ‘They go to you SG’/Ama nɪ ga-nɛ/ [Ama nɪ gɛnɛ] ‘They go to him/her’/Ama nɪ ga-jɛ/ [Ama nɪ gɛjɛ] ‘They go to you PL’Prepositional pronounsAma nɪ nɪ ŋɛrɛ ‘They go with the chief’ (nɪ ‘with’)/Ama nɪ nɪ-ma/ [Ama nɪ nɪma] ‘They go with me’/Ama nɪ nɪ-ji/ [Ama nɪ niji] ‘They go with you SG’/Ama nɪ nɪ-nɛ/ [Ama nɪ nɪnɛ] ‘They go with him/her’/Ama nɪ nɪ-jɛ/ [Ama nɪ nɪjɛ] ‘They go with you PL’
‘BELI Sudan Should the prepositions and pronouns be separate words or connnected?
Factor 1. The prepositions and pronouns can be pronounced by themselves and have meaning for speakers.
(Semantic) Rule 1: If the morpheme said by itself has meaning for speakers, it can be written as a separate word
According to rule 1 (semantic rules are strong evidence), the prepositions and pronouns are all separate words.
ga ‘to’ nɪ ‘with’ ma ‘I, me’ ji ‘you SG’ nɛ ‘he, him’ jɛ ‘you PL’
Factor 2. The same pronouns occur before or after verbs.
(Grammatical) Rule 5: If the morpheme can be moved to a different place within the sentence, it should be written as a separate word.
According to rule 5 (grammatical rules are medium strength evidence), the pronouns are separate words since they have the same form when before or after verbs.
Factor 3. Short words are very common in ‘Beli.
(Psychological) Rule 8: Follow the natural word length in the language as much as possibleAccording to rule 8 (psycological rules are weak evidence), the prepositions and pronouns are
separate words.
LUMUN Sudan Should the object pronouns be separate words or connnected?
Independent pronouns 1. No words come between verbs and object pronouns.
/ɔ-ʊŋ/ [ɔʊŋ] ‘you SG’ 2. Object pronouns cannot occur in other positions/ɔ-ɔk/ [ɔɔk] ‘he/she’ of the sentence. Only independent pronouns /ɔ-nɔn/ [ɔnɔn] ‘you PL’ have the ɔ- prefix./ɔ-kɪn/ [ɔɣɪn] ‘they’ 3. Long verbs are common in Lumun.Object pronounskʷɔkkɔðɛ caman ‘He made fruit’/kʷɔkkɔtɛ-ʊŋ/[kʷɔkkɔðʊŋ] ‘He made you SG.’/kʷɔkkɔtɛ-ɔk/ [kʷɔkkɔðɔk] ‘He made him.’/kʷɔkkɔtɛ-nɔn/ [kʷɔkkɔðɛnɔn] ‘He made you PL.’/kʷɔkkɔtɛ-kɪn/ [kʷɔkkɔðɛɣɪn] ‘He made them.’Object pronounskʷɪmmat caman ‘He saw fruit’/kʷɪmmat-ʊŋ/ [kʷɪmmaɾʊŋ] ‘He saw you SG’/kʷɪmmat-ɔk/ [kʷɪmmaɾɔk] ‘He saw him’/kʷɪmmat-nɔn/ [kʷɪmmannɔn] ‘He saw you PL’/kʷɪmmat-kɪn/ [kʷɪmmakkɪn] ‘He saw them’
LUMUN Sudan Should the object pronouns be separate words or connnected?
Factor 1. No words come between verbs and object pronouns.(Grammnatical) Rule 3: If another morpheme can sometimes come between 2
morphemes, they should be written separately Since no words come between verbs such as /kʷɔkkɔtɛ/ ‘he made’ and
object pronouns such as /ʊŋ/ ‘you SG’, there is no evidence from rule 3 for the object pronouns to be written separately. /kʷɔkkɔtɛ-ʊŋ/ ‘he.made-youSG’
Factor 2. Object pronouns cannot occur in other positions of the sentence. Only independent pronouns have the prefix -ɔ.
(Grammatical) Rule 5: If the morpheme can be moved to a different place within the sentence, it should be written as a separate word.
Since the object pronouns cannot be moved to another place in the sentence without changing forms, there is no evidence from rule 5 for the object pronouns to be written separately.
Factor 3. Long words are common in Lumun.(Psychological) Rule 8: Follow the natural word length in the language as much as
possibleAccording to rule 8 (psycological rules are weak evidence), the object pronouns can be
written connected to verbs.
Class Assignmentː1. Write 3 morphological rules for the sound
changes when Lumun object pronouns are connected to verbs (deletion, voicing and weakening, complete assimilation). Give examples for each.
Reading AssignmentYou can have your cake and eat it, too . . . pg 1-7
