Hixkaryana
- Language Family
- Carib
- Subgroup
- —
- Area
- —
Summary
Morpheme-final /s/ or /ʃ/ and morpheme-initial /h/ metathesize.
Some CV sequences become VC when followed by certain suffixes or particles.
Type(s) of metathesis
| Type | Status | Optionality | Position | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a. CC | Synchronic | Obligatory | Adjacent | Between root and suffix | |
| b. CV | Synchronic | Obligatory | Adjacent | Root-final |
Case types and qualities
-
- CC
-
- C1:
- Alveolar fricative
- C1:
- Alveo-palatal fricative
- C2:
- Glottal fricative
-
- CV
-
- C:
- Alveolar stop
- C:
- Alveolar nasal
- C:
- Glottal fricative
- V:
- High back
- V:
- High central
Examples
When morpheme-final /s/ or /ʃ/ (the only coronal fricatives in the language) would be followed by morpheme-initial /h/ as the result of morpheme-final vowel loss, metathesis applies. This is a regular process occurring whenever these conditions are met.
ahosɨ + hira
ahohsɨra
*ahoshɨra
‘not catching it’
w + ama+ʃe +haka
wamahʃaka
*wamaʃhaka
‘let me cut it down’
There is another metathesis process involving certain CV sequences that become VC when followed by certain suffixes or particles.
hu --> uh
ɨ-hucçhu-ka-no
uhucçuhkano
*uhucçhukano
‘I peeled it.’
hɨ --> ɨh
tɨ-ahothɨ-ke
tahotɨhke
*tahothɨke
‘having wings’
tɨ --> ɨt
ewtɨ-heno
ewɨtheno
*ewtɨheno
‘his brother, now dead’
Conditions
Deletion of a morpheme-final vowel conditions metathesis.
ahosɨ + hira
ahohsɨra
v
‘not catching it’
w + ama + ʃe + haka
wamahʃaka
*wamaʃhaka
‘let me cut it down’
Motivations
No motivations could be found
Symbols
ɨ = high central unrounded vowel
ʃ = voiceless alveo-palatal fricative
cç = voiceless palatal affricate
Comments
Bibliography
- Derbyshire, Desmond C. 1979. Hiskaryana. Lingua Descriptive Studies 1. Amsterdam: North-Holland
- Derbyshire, Desmond C. 1985. Hixkaryana and Linguistic Typology. SIL/UTA Publications in Linguistics No. 76 Dallas: SIL