228 argue that it is phonologically [+ATR], because if that were the case, then we would
expect the and o formant averages to be much closer in this raised environment. This creates an interesting situation in which the underlying vowel is phonologically still
[-ATR] but is phonetically much like [+ATR] [o]. This is an interesting compromise, in which the language allows for a phonologically disharmonic sequence of mid vowels,
which seem to both be phonetically [+ATR]. The data in 187 and 188 above provides good evidence that the causative
suffix not only affects the vowel quality of the preceding applicative suffix, but also that the leftward spreading continues to the root vowel as well. Perhaps we could generalize
that spreading goes all the way to the left edge of the verb stem. However, because prefix alternations are dissimilatory, harmony patterns seem to reset themselves at the left edge
of the verb stem, at which point the prefix directly adjacent to the verb root alternates as described in Chapter 5 above.
6.6 Inversive-Causative
The second combination of mid-vowel and high-vowel suffixes is the inversive- causative. When the inversive suffix -o is combined with the causative -i, we find that
the causative has an effect on some of the inversive alternations, just as we saw with the applicative-causative combination as well. Like the applicative, the inversive is also a
mid-vowel suffix, but the inversive alternations are more complex. As described in §6.3 above, the inversive suffix has three different alternations, depending on the preceding
stem vowel. The pattern is given in 189 below repeated from 160 above.
229 189
Inversive vowel harmony -o -ok
following i, e, , o root vowel: e ?
-u -uk following u, a
- - k following
To summarize the inversive and inversive-causative harmony patterns, examples of both patterns are shown in 190 below. Recall from §6.3 that [ o-te -o -a] is the only
potential example of the inversive suffix with the root vowel . With the lack of clearer examples, inversive patterns involving this root vowel are unclear.
190 Inversive and Inversive-Causative Verbs
N N
N N K
K K
K J
J J
J ST
2 ST
2 ST
2 ST
2 J
J J
J ST
2 ST
2 ST
2 ST
2 8
1 9
- 8 - 8
8 F 8 F
8 8
8 8
8 8
As shown above, all root vowels, with the exception of a, have the same inversive alternation with and without the causative. With a, however, the inversive vowel is high
when the FV is [-a], but it is mid when the FV is high. Additional examples with each root vowel are below.
In 191 below I show several pairs of verbs with a in the root. In the basic inversive form, the extension has the high vowel [u], but in the inversive-causative form
the extension has the mid vowel [o].
230 191
Inversive and inversive-causative with a root vowels 7
8 8
. -7
8 8
.7 A b 2
U .
Note that this pattern occurs not only with the causative but with the passive and perfective as well as. In c, [ u-tand-o -u] ‘torn’ has a passive [-u] suffix, but it causes
the same behavior as the high-vowel causative suffix. Similarly, the perfective [m-ba- a - ok-i i] ‘they have returned’ has the inversive [-ok], not [-uk], when it is followed by the
perfective suffix [-i i]. Note, however, the inversive suffix remains high when the root vowel is [u], as
shown in 192 below. 192
Inversive and inversive-causative with u root vowels 7
8 F .
8 F .
. -7
8 2
8 .
2 We see, then, that the quality of the root vowel determines whether or not the [-u ] suffix
is lowered to [-o ] before a high vowel. These patterns could be the result of some sort of lexicalized height dissimilation. More historical work in Ikoma and related languages
might explain these alternations. As shown above, for all other root vowels, the vowel of the basic inversive is the
same as that found in the inversive causative. Examples of inversive-causative verbs with
231 [i e o] in the root are in 193 below, with [i] roots in a, [e] roots in b, and [o] roots in
c. 193
Inversive-causative with i e o roots 7
9 .7 7 9
- 89
8 8
-7 .
.7 7 8
. 2
.7 7 8
2 .7
89 8
We see that in all cases, the vowel of the inversive remains [o], both with the FV [-a] and the causative [-i].
For verbs with an root, I have a single pair of examples showing the inversive with and without the causative suffix, shown in 194 below.
194 Inversive-causative with root
8 -
8 These words are clearly related in both form and meaning, with the causative extension
as the only difference. It is possible that they were both formed with more than one occurrence of the inversive, but for our purposes I focus only on the final [- k] suffix. It
is striking that, with the exception of the causative suffix itself, the pronunciation of these words is virtually identical. The high vowel has virtually no effect on the preceding
[-ATR] vowels. Any phonetic raising of is only slightly detectable both auditorily and in formant measurements.
Therefore, the inversive-causative combination is in some ways similar to the applicative-causative combination, but in some ways it is different. These two suffix
232 combinations are similar since the causative suffix affects the surface realization of the
preceding extension in at least some cases. However, the two combinations are different since the causative’s effects are much less with the inversive, where it only changes the
suffix following a roots. Another difference is that there is greater raising of the root vowel preceding the applicative-causative combination, whereas there is virtually no
raising of in the root or the suffix preceding the inversive-causative suffix combination.
6.7 Assimilatory effects on low vowels
