Download A typology of reduplication in Cushitic

A typology of reduplication in Cushitic (Maarten Mous)
Reduplication occurs lexically and as grammatical process. The former is presumably
often the result of the latter. Grammatical reduplication includes plural formation in
nouns, frequentative on verbs and habitual on verbs. The epenthetic vowel a is the
most commonly used epenthetic vowel in reduplication; outside reduplication, the
most common vowel for epenthesis in Cushitic is i and this latter vowel also occur in
reduplication, sometimes with a difference in meaning. The epenthetic vowel will
undergo the regular vowel assimilation processes of the language, e.g. Iraqw ħeħe’ees
from ħe’ees ‘to finish’ by assimilation through a gutteral consonant. Different
languages may use one particular type of reduplication for different functions, for
example, final reduplication is used for nominal pluratives in Somali and Alagwa but
for habitual verb forms in Iraqw. Tendencies for a particular type of reduplication to
be used for a specific function are discussed. The choice between reduplication types
is functionally and lexically determined rather than phonologically. Reduplication
may provide hints whether a segment is complex or not. The main reduplication types
found in Cushitic are: 1. C1V1(V1)-, 2. C1a-., 3. C1V1C1-, 4. C1V1C2-, 5. C1V1C2-a, 6.
-aCf . The frequentative, habitual, punctual are typically verbal derivations that
involve reduplication. The typology of these derivations in Cushitic are presented in
the paper.