Saanich
- Language Family
- Salishan
- Subgroup
- Straits Salish
- Area
- —
Summary
The actual form (a kind of imperfective) is formed by metathesizing the second root consonant and a following vowel.
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 /ə/-initial suffix.
Type(s) of metathesis
| Type | Status | Optionality | Position | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a. CV | Synchronic | Obligatory | Adjacent | Root-internal | |
| b. CV | Synchronic | Obligatory | Adjacent | Root-internal |
Case types and qualities
-
- CV
-
- C:
- Any
- V:
- Any
-
- CV
-
- C:
- Any
- V:
- Any
Examples
a. When the root is CC, and it is followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel, such as /ət/ 'control
transitive' or /əŋ/ 'control middle', the ACTUAL is formed by metathesis.
root: sq' --->
sq'ə́t ---> 'tear it' ---> sə́q't ---> 'tearing it'
root: t's ---> t'sə́t ---> 'break
it' ---> t'ə́st ---> 'breaking it'
b.When the underlying form of a root is CCVC, the
ACTUAL form appears as CVCC as the result of metathesis.
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 /ə/-initial suffix.
mátʃət ---> 'aim
it' ---> mətʃátəŋ ---> 'it was aimed'
k͡p̥'ésət ---> 'scald it' --->
k͡p̥'sétəs ---> 'he scaled it'
Conditions
When the root is CC, and it is followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel, such as /t'/ 'control
transitive or /ŋ'/ 'control middle', the ACTUAL is formed by metathesis.
q'p' ---
xʷ-q'p'ət 'patch it' --- xʷ-q'ə́p't 'patching it'
sq' --- sq'ə́t 'tear it' ---
s'ə́q't 'tearing it'
When the underlying form of a root is CCVC, the
ACTUAL form appears as CVCC as the result of metathesis.
tɬ'pə́χ
'scatter' --- tɬ'ə́pχ
'scattering'
When the penultimate syllable is a non-schwa, the metathesis does not occur.
Motivations
The actual aspectual morpheme consists of the addition of a single mora to the root's syllable structure. Metathesis occurs to satisfy this syllable weight requirements.
Symbols
C' = glottalized consonant
ts' = glottalized dental affricate
ɬ = voiceless alveolar lateral
fricative
tɬ = voiceless alveolar lateral affricate
̥k͡p̥' = glottalized voiceless labio-velar
stop
Comments
Bibliography
- 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. Clallam: A Preview. In Jesse Sawyer (ed.) Studies in American Indian Languages, University of California Papers in Linguistics 65: 251-294.
- Thompson, L. C. & M. T. Thompson. 1969. Metathesis as a Grammatical Device. International Journal of American Linguistics, 35:213-219.