Kasem
- Language Family
- Niger-Congo
- Subgroup
- Gur
- Area
- —
Summary
CV metathesis is involved in the derivation of singular and plural forms of some nouns. Kasem has also been claimed to have VV metathesis, but this is disputed.
Type(s) of metathesis
| Type | Status | Optionality | Position | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a. CV | Synchronic | Obligatory | Adjacent | Root-final |
Case types and qualities
-
- CV
-
- C:
- Any
- V:
- Any
Examples
Chomksy and Halle (1968) make use of a rule of VV metathesis to derive forms like the following:
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UR | pia + a | pia + i 'sheep' | babia + a | babia + i 'brave' |
| Velar Elision | ||||
| Metathesis | pai + i | babai + i | ||
| Truncation | pi + a | pa +i | babi + a | baba + i |
| Contraction | pe | babe | ||
| Glide Formation | ||||
| Surface form | [pia] | [pe] | [babia] | [babe] |
Similar cases include:
/lilai/ [lilio] (singular) ~ [lile:du] (plural) 'saliva'
/boa:l + u/ [bolo] 'valley, sg.'
Conditions
No conditions could be found
Motivations
No motivations could be found
Symbols
Comments
Bibliography
- Callow, John. 1965. Collected Field Reports on the Phonology of Kasem. The Institute of African Studies. University of Ghana.
- Chomsky, Noam & Morris Halle. 1969. The Sound Pattern of English. New York: Harper Row.
- Haas, Wim G. de. 1988. Phonological implications of skeleton and feature underspecification in Kasem. Phonology 5: 237-254.
- Phelps, Elaine. 1975. Simplicity criteria in generative phonology: Kasem nominals. Linguistic Analysis 1: 297-332.
- Phelps, Elaine. 1979. Abstractness and Rule Ordering in Kasem: A Refutation of Halle's Maximizing Principle. Linguistic Analysis 5 (1): 29-68.