Database
Saanich
(Southeastern tip of Vancouver Island; Salishan, Straits)
Summary:
a. The ACTUAL (a kind of imperfective) is formed by metathesizing the second root consonant and a following vowel.
b. Metathesis occurs when the vowel of a CVC root is a non-schwa and penultimate stress placement would otherwise cause stress to fall on a following /E/-initial suffix.
Summary:
a. The ACTUAL (a kind of imperfective) is formed by metathesizing the second root consonant and a following vowel.
b. Metathesis occurs when the vowel of a CVC root is a non-schwa and penultimate stress placement would otherwise cause stress to fall on a following /E/-initial suffix.
Examples:
a. When the root is CC, and it is followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel, such as /Et/ 'control transitive' or /EN/ 'control middle', the ACTUAL is formed by metathesis.
root: sq' ---> sq'E't ---> 'tear it' ---> sE'q't ---> 'tearing it'
root: t's ---> t'sE't ---> 'break it' ---> t'E'st ---> 'breaking it'
b.When the underlying form of a root is CCVC, the ACTUAL form appears as CVCC as the result of metathesis.
TLE'K ---> 'pinch' ---> TE'LK ---> 'pinching'
c. Metathesis occurs when the vowel of a CVC root is a non-schwa and penultimate stress placement would otherwise cause stress to fall on a following /E/-initial suffix.
ma'CEt ---> 'aim it' ---> mECa'tEN ---> 'it was aimed'
Ke'sEt ---> 'scald it' ---> Kse'tEs ---> 'he scaled it'
a. When the root is CC, and it is followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel, such as /Et/ 'control transitive' or /EN/ 'control middle', the ACTUAL is formed by metathesis.
root: sq' ---> sq'E't ---> 'tear it' ---> sE'q't ---> 'tearing it'
root: t's ---> t'sE't ---> 'break it' ---> t'E'st ---> 'breaking it'
b.When the underlying form of a root is CCVC, the ACTUAL form appears as CVCC as the result of metathesis.
TLE'K ---> 'pinch' ---> TE'LK ---> 'pinching'
c. Metathesis occurs when the vowel of a CVC root is a non-schwa and penultimate stress placement would otherwise cause stress to fall on a following /E/-initial suffix.
ma'CEt ---> 'aim it' ---> mECa'tEN ---> 'it was aimed'
Ke'sEt ---> 'scald it' ---> Kse'tEs ---> 'he scaled it'
Conditions:
No information currently available.
No information currently available.
Motivation:
No information currently available.
No information currently available.
Related Information:
a. The ACTUAL is formed by reduplication of the first consonant of a CVC root when stress is on the root and the root either stands alone as a stem by itself or is followed by a suffix begining with a consonant. The copy of C1 appears after the stressed vowel and is followed by a schwa.
root: qwEl' ---> qwE'l' ---> 'say' ---> qwE'qwEl' ---> 'saying (something)'
root: LiK ---> Li'K sEn ---> 'trip (lit. snag-foot)' ---> Li'LEKsEn ---> 'tripping'
b. The ACTUAL is formed with a glottal stop affixed after the stressed vowel in all stems that do not provide the environment for reduplication or metathesis.
root: ?iLEn ---> ?i'LEn ---> 'eat' ---> ?i'?LEn' ---> 'eating'
root: weqEs ---> we'qEs ---> 'yawn' ---> we'?qEs ---> 'yawning'
a. The ACTUAL is formed by reduplication of the first consonant of a CVC root when stress is on the root and the root either stands alone as a stem by itself or is followed by a suffix begining with a consonant. The copy of C1 appears after the stressed vowel and is followed by a schwa.
root: qwEl' ---> qwE'l' ---> 'say' ---> qwE'qwEl' ---> 'saying (something)'
root: LiK ---> Li'K sEn ---> 'trip (lit. snag-foot)' ---> Li'LEKsEn ---> 'tripping'
b. The ACTUAL is formed with a glottal stop affixed after the stressed vowel in all stems that do not provide the environment for reduplication or metathesis.
root: ?iLEn ---> ?i'LEn ---> 'eat' ---> ?i'?LEn' ---> 'eating'
root: weqEs ---> we'qEs ---> 'yawn' ---> we'?qEs ---> 'yawning'
Symbols:
N = velar nasal
E = mid central vowel ('schwa')
V' = stressed vowel
T = glottalized dental affricate
L = voiceless alveolar lateral fricative
K = glottalized voiceless labio-velar stop
? = glottal stop
Last Updated: 6/18/2007
N = velar nasal
E = mid central vowel ('schwa')
V' = stressed vowel
T = glottalized dental affricate
L = voiceless alveolar lateral fricative
K = glottalized voiceless labio-velar stop
? = glottal stop
Last Updated: 6/18/2007
References:
- Montler, Timothy R. 1986. An outline of the morphology and phonology of Saanich, North Straits Salish. University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics, No. 4.
- Montler, Timothy R. 1989. Infixation, Reduplication, and Metathesis in the Saanich Actual Aspect. Southwest Journal of Linguistics. vol. 9 (1). University of North Texas Press.
- Stonham, John. 1990. Current Issues in Morphological Theory. PhD. dissertation. Stanford University.
- Thompson, L. C. & M. T. Thompson. 1969. Metathesis as a Grammatical Device. International Journal of American Linguistics, 35:213-219.
- Thompson, L. C. & M. T. Thompson. 1969. Clallam: A Preview. In Jesse Sawyer (ed.) Studies in American Indian Languages, University of California Papers in Linguistics 65: 251-294.
