K'tlê – A Constructed Language

gqe/ Morpheme Modifications

This chapter covers the changes that occur to stems and affixes when they're combined, whether through inflection or derivation. Some of the stem changes may even qualify as ablaut. Please note that I use the term "morpheme" here only because it happens to work well with regard to K'tlê .
  1. Changes Due to Adjacency
    1. Interaction Between Adjacent Consonants
    2. Interaction Between Adjacent Vowels
    3. Consonant and Vowel Interactions
  2. Vowel Deletion
    1. Vowel Deletion in General
    2. Vowel Deletion in Modified Stems
  3. Stem Grades
    1. C-Grade
    2. W-Grade
    3. Y-Grade
    4. V-Grade
    5. L-Grade
    6. G-Grade
  4. Prefixing
  5. Reduplication

Changes Due to Adjacency

Interaction Between Adjacent Consonants

Morphological processes may cause two consonants to become adjacent, either because one is at the end of a morpheme and the other is at the start of the next, or because the intervening vowel has been deleted. When two consonants become adjacent, one or both may change. Here are some rules:

Phonetic changes that are reflected in the orthography include:

Interaction Between Adjacent Vowels

Except for certain suffixes, every morpheme begins with a consonant (a glottal stop if nothing else), so that prior to glottal stop deletion, two vowels can become adjacent only when the latter begins one of those suffixes. In this case, the changes that can occur are:

Consonant and Vowel Interactions

Vowel Deletion

Vowel Deletion in General

Vowel Deletion in Modified Stems

If the vowel immediately preceding the final consonant of one of the stems is |i|, |e|, or |o|, it will be deleted, providing that no impermissible consonant cluster appears. However, with some suffixes, the suffix vowel may be deleted (where possible) instead and the stem vowel kept.

Stem Grades

Each verb-stem that can take suffixes can have up to 6 grades (the 6th one being used only in derivations): C-grade, W-grade, Y-grade, V-grade, L-grade, and G-grade.

Both stems and affixes may have multiple forms.

There are a number of different stem-classes.

Note that stem-final |i|, |e|, or |o| may not always be apparent, due to vowel deletion.

C-Grade

This is the grade used when the stem is either word-final or followed by a suffix beginning with a consonant (other than |l| or |'|) and is often the same as the citation form, barring the usual assimilatory changes. The main difference is that an |i|, |o|, or |e| following the initial consonant is deleted under the appropriate conditions for most stems.

W-Grade

This is the grade used when the stem is followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel preceded by w (originally *w).

For stems ending in other consonants:

For stems ending in vowels:

Y-Grade

This is the grade used when the stem is followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel preceded by y (originally *y).

For stems ending in other consonants:

For stems ending in vowels:

V-Grade

This is the grade used when the stem is followed by a suffix originally beginning with a vowel.

For stems ending in consonants:

For stems ending in vowels:

L-Grade

This is the grade used when the stem is followed by a suffix originally beginning with |l|.

G-Grade

This is the grade used when the stem is followed by a suffix originally beginning with |'|; it appears only in derivations.

Prefixing

This section covers the modifications to both stems and prefixes when combined.

Reduplication

This section covers stems which are derived by modifying the start of a root or base-stem specifically through reduplication.

The basic idea is that a duplicate of the initial CV of a root or base-stem is prefixed to that root or base-stem. If the duplicated vowel is |i|, |e|, or |o|, the original vowel or the copy (but not both) may be deleted in some forms. There are some complications:


page started: 2009.Feb.25 Wed
last modified: 2009.Oct.20 Tue
content and form originated by qiihoskeh

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