tends to be more prominent. In very precise speech of the sort a speaker uses when dictat- ing for transcription or when correcting a linguist, word stress tends to predominate. In
this latter situation, word stress can give the effect of lexical contrast.
4 a. Da-ka-bo. [dakábo]
I-bathe-CONT ‘I am bathing.’
b. D-aka-bo. [dákabo]
I-speak-CONT ‘I am speaking.’
Notice, however, that this contrast is the result of adding a prefix which ends in a vowel to a vowel-initial or consonant-initial stem. That is, when prefixes are added to stems beginning with
a vowel, word stress falls on the first syllable of the resulting word. When a prefix is added to a stem starting with a consonant, word stress falls on the second syllable of the resulting word. All
lexical contrasts noted by investigators such as Taylor 1969 seem to be explainable in these same terms, or as the result of the interaction between word- and pause-group stresses.
2.1.4 Orthographic and Other Conventions
The Arawak examples in the remainder of this study are written in a simplified orthography which is currently in use by Arawaks writing in their own language. In this orthography, y =
´, j = ¸, th = t
h
, kh = k
h
, lh = º, r = », and f = ˆ. In its underlying form, any combination of a vowel and o is divided by a w, and any combination of a vowel and i is di-
vided by a ¸; however, these are not written in the simplified orthography.
5
Throughout this study, morpheme boundaries relevant to the particular discussion at hand are in- dicated by hyphens, and word juncture is indicated by space. In most cases, the morphemes are
matched on a one-to-one basis by a literal English gloss.
6
When more than one English word is re- quired to translate a single morpheme, those words are joined by a period. When the meaning of a
morpheme is unknown, that fact is indicated by two question marks ??.
2.2 Lexical Classes and Morphology
Given appropriate affixes, it sometimes seems possible to use almost any root in Arawak as any part of speech. However, uninflected roots generally seem to represent only one
part of speech; to be used as another part of speech, such a form must receive appropriate derivational morphology. For example, an intransitive verb stem can be derived from many
nouns with the derivational suffix -da.
7
5 a. da-bode my-fishhook
‘my fishhook’ 10
Phonology and Morphology
5
Although these combinations are pronounced as single syllables, they count as two syllables in the application of stress rules. See Pet 1979 for further discussion.
6
See list of abbreviations used in the glosses and elsewhere.
7
See sections on derived nouns 2.3.4 and verbs 2.4.1.4, 2.4.2.2 for further examples and discussion of derived forms.
