53 32
Class 9a10a examples with a variety of root consonants
6 E
6 -
= = E
= = E ,
E , E
8 = 8
E = 8 4
E . .8
6 E 6
8 : ,8
E ,8 -
E -
FFFF F61
E F61 9
8888 86
E 86 E -
- 81
E 81 9
8 ́ E 8 ́
,1 E
,1 . -
, E
, --
The voiced obstruents nearly always occur with the an-, chan- prefixes, which results in the prenasalized stops [mb, nd, g]. But as seen in 32 above there are also a
limited number of examples with without the nasal. Otherwise, we can make the generalization that Ikoma allows for prenasalization of voiced obstruents more readily
than voiceless obstruents, as is common in Bantu languages.
2.3.2 Palatalized Consonants
Just as consonants can be prenasalized both within roots and across morpheme boundaries, they can also be palatalized and labialized. Root-internal palatalized and
labialized consonants are likely the result of a historical process, whereas palatalization and labialization at morpheme boundaries are easily analyzed as a synchronic process of
glide formation resulting from vowel hiatus. A full analysis of hiatus resolution is beyond
54 the scope of this thesis, however, the general principle for Ikoma is that both mid and
high vowels undergo glide formation directly preceding any non-identical vowel. When front vowels immediately precede a non-identical vowel, the front vowel becomes a
palatal glide, thus modifying the preceding consonant. Similarly, when a back vowel precedes a non-identical vowel, it becomes a labial-velar glide.
In this section and the following, I present instances of root-internal palatalized and labialized consonants, for which there is no apparent synchronic alternation, as well
as instances of glide formation at morpheme boundaries, which result from a clear synchronic process. Within root morphemes, only the consonants t are palatized,
and palatalized consonants only occur root-initially, shown in 33 below. 33
Root-initial palatalized consonants in nouns
;;;; ; ́
; ́ ;
; 9
; ; ;
; ;=F
E ;=F ;
; ;
; ;
E ;
;;;; ;
; ; ́
E ; ́
2 .:
;;;; ;
; 9
;= ;=
:2 There are also palatalized root-initial consonants in verbs, as shown in 34 below.
34 Root-initial palatalized consonants in verbs
;;;; 8
; ‘hunt’
8 ;
‘remove’ ;
; ; ;
; ‘sharpen’
;;;; 8
; 8 ‘revive’
8 ; 8
‘bury’
55
At the prefix-stem morpheme boundary, the consonants which can be palatalized depend on the consonants which occur in prefixes. When a front-vowel prefix occurs
before a vowel-initial stem, hiatus is resolved by glide formation, resulting in palatalization in the prefix. Examples are in 35 below, listed according to noun classes
with front-vowel prefixes. In the second column, I include the underlying form of the prefix, which occurs before consonant-initial roots.
35 Palatalization of prefixes before vowel-initial roots
RM RM
RM RM
ST 2
ST 2
ST 2
ST 2
D D
; = - ; =;
2 2 .
; D
D ; 8
8 ;
++++ D 8 D
8; 8;
D D
; ;
Also, note that palatalization and labialization do not occur with the causative - i and passive -u extensions, which happens in many Bantu languages. Instead, the final
vowel elides or is replaced in these hiatus environments, thus removing the environment for glide formation. See §2.2.3 for discussion and examples.
2.3.3 Labialized Consonants
