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North-East Antarctican: Difference between revisions
→Compounding
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Compounds are head final. Stress, phonation and gemination are lost on all but the last member of the compound e.g. /ˈkə̰tə/ - "short", and /ˈkʷə̰sa/ - "throwing spear" combine to make /kətəˈkʷə̰sa/ - "dart" (literally "short spear"). | Compounds are head final. Stress, phonation and gemination are lost on all but the last member of the compound e.g. /ˈkə̰tə/ - "short", and /ˈkʷə̰sa/ - "throwing spear" combine to make /kətəˈkʷə̰sa/ - "dart" (literally "short spear"). | ||
The restriction against more than one strong consonant in a word applies to compound words e.g. when /bɨˈhə̤kɨ/ - "bake" is combined with /ˈkʷɨ̤sːɨ/ - "fish", the result is /bɨʔəkɨˈkʷɨ̤sːɨ/ - "baked fish". Because the /kʷ/ in the word for "fish" is strong, it causes the /h/ in the word for "bake" to shift to a glottal stop. | The restriction against more than one strong consonant in a word applies to compound words e.g. when /bɨˈhə̤kɨ/ - "bake" is combined with /ˈkʷɨ̤sːɨ/ - "ocean fish", the result is /bɨʔəkɨˈkʷɨ̤sːɨ/ - "baked (ocean) fish". Because the /kʷ/ in the word for "fish" is strong, it causes the /h/ in the word for "bake" to shift to a glottal stop. | ||
There is a strong preference to compound words that have identical voicing on the stressed syllable. For example, the word /ˈxa̰ɾʲɨ/ - "freshwater fish", could, in theory, be compounded with /bɨˈhə̤kɨ/ - "bake", to form /bɨʔəkɨˈxa̰ɾʲɨ/ - "baked freshwater fish". However, since /bɨˈhə̤kɨ/ has breathy voice, and /ˈxa̰ɾʲɨ/ has tense voice, the resulting compound would strike native speakers as inelegant and clumsy. | |||
In cases like the above, native speakers would search for a synonym with tense voice e.g. /qəˈŋɨ̰ɫa/, which also means "to bake". A much more commonly used word meaning "baked (freshwater) fish" would therefore be /kəŋɨɫaˈxa̰ɾʲɨ/. | |||