Phonology and Morphophonology

Abstract

The orthography used in Panare examples in the work is a slightly modified form of the orthography adopted by the Venezuelan Ministry of Education, Department of Indigenous Affairs, for educational materials in Panare. This chapter illustrates several categories of phonological and morphophonological processes. Word-level primary stress is normally on the final syllable but in some cases is lexically marked elsewhere. Grammatical stress may override lexical stress. Additionally, secondary stress affects heavy syllables and may in an alternating pattern in sequences of light syllables. The process of syllable reduction, first noted by Mattei Muller (1981) is sensitive to stress and vowel quality. Various phonological processes are described, first those that affect consonants, then those that affect vowels. This analysis explains certain facts that would simply be classified as irregularities from a purely synchronic perspective. Finally, a few of the common “normal-speech” contractions are described. Keywords:grammatical stress; morphophonological processes; orthography; Panare; phonological processes; syllable reduction; vowel quality