{"title":"Morphophonological realisation on inflected verbal roots with initial vowel sounds in Sepedi","authors":"Napjadi Letsoalo","doi":"10.1080/02572117.2023.2248725","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"AbstractIn instances where verbs that start with vowel sounds and a vowel prefix is attached, the hiatus is repaired through resyllabification, i.e. the manifestation of an initial underlying sound called a glottal catch. This sound fills the onset position of vowel initial verbs in Sepedi, and is responsible for the drastic alternation when the verb comes into contact with a reflexive prefix or an object concord. This article examines the effect of morphophonological realisation on inflected verbal roots with initial vowel sounds in Sepedi. The data collected through documents and semi-structured interviews shows that the glottal catch makes verbs follow the CV syllable pattern. The vowel reflexive prefix which threatens to create a hiatus is repaired through epenthesis by adding a sound to the interior of a word (at the beginning of prosthesis). This repair strategy ensures that the CV syllable structure of Sepedi is maintained. This article provides new data that offers innovative understanding of Sepedi on the concepts such as epenthesis and hiatus, relating to alternations in morphophonological environments using the optimality theory.","PeriodicalId":42604,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of African Languages","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"South African Journal of African Languages","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2023.2248725","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
AbstractIn instances where verbs that start with vowel sounds and a vowel prefix is attached, the hiatus is repaired through resyllabification, i.e. the manifestation of an initial underlying sound called a glottal catch. This sound fills the onset position of vowel initial verbs in Sepedi, and is responsible for the drastic alternation when the verb comes into contact with a reflexive prefix or an object concord. This article examines the effect of morphophonological realisation on inflected verbal roots with initial vowel sounds in Sepedi. The data collected through documents and semi-structured interviews shows that the glottal catch makes verbs follow the CV syllable pattern. The vowel reflexive prefix which threatens to create a hiatus is repaired through epenthesis by adding a sound to the interior of a word (at the beginning of prosthesis). This repair strategy ensures that the CV syllable structure of Sepedi is maintained. This article provides new data that offers innovative understanding of Sepedi on the concepts such as epenthesis and hiatus, relating to alternations in morphophonological environments using the optimality theory.
期刊介绍:
The South African Journal of African Languages is a peer-reviewed research journal devoted to the advancement of African (Bantu) and Khoi-San languages and literatures. Papers, book reviews and polemic contributions of a scientific nature in any of the core areas of linguistics, both theoretical (e.g. syntax, phonology, semantics) and applied (e.g. sociolinguistic topics, language teaching, language policy), and literature, based on original research in the context of the African languages, are welcome. The journal is the official mouthpiece of the African Language Association of Southern Africa (ALASA), established in 1979.