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Anthropological Linguistics

Morphophonemics of Nambiquara
Author(s): Barbara J. Kroeker
Source: Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1972), pp. 19-22
Published by: The Trustees of Indiana University on behalf of Anthropological Linguistics
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30029097
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 MORPHOPHONEMICS OF NAMBIQUARA

Barbara J. Kroeker
Summer Institute of Linguistics

0. Introduction
1. First order rules
2. Second order rules
3. Third order rules
4. Fourth order rules

0. This paper presents various morphophonemic phenomena in Nambiquaral

by means of a set of partially ordered rules. 2 In Nambiquara each syllable has
a tone indicated by a raised number which follows it; 1 is a falling contour, 2
is a rising contour, and 3 is a level tone. The position of the tone numbers
also indicates syllable division. The consonants are stops p, t, k, d, j [d'],
resonants r, n, nh [N], 1, fricatives s, h, and glides 7, w, y. The vowels are
i, e, a, o, u, ai, and au, all of which also have laryngealized (Y), nasalized
(V), and simultaneously laryngealized and nasalized (Y) counterparts. Other
symbols used in this paper are -o meaning becomes, / meaning in the environ-
ment of, - indicating morpheme boundaries, . indicating syllable boundaries,
, beneath the vowel indicating stress, X indicating any sequence of phonemes
or nothing at all, and V and C meaning vowel and consonant respectively.

1.1. The stress placement rule is of the first order; that is, it presup-
poses no other rules, but is presupposed by second order rules. This rule
places stress on roots and certain affixes; however, this rule is not worked
out enough to state completely at this time.
1. 2. 0. Rules that span Orders 1 to 2 presuppose no other rules, but are
presupposed by third order rules.
1.2. 1. A morphemeendingin /n/ or stop adds/t/ before/s/ or /y/ in
the following morpheme. In this epenthesis rule and others that add phonemes
at morpheme boundaries, the addition is arbitrarily made after the boundary,
even though the phonemes added are not a part of any morpheme. They are
added to the sequence of phonemes that results from putting morphemes to-
ge the r.
[stop
n - { is
tY
wa2litl-su2 - wa2lt1tsu2 rubber, a31i3-s1nl-ya3-sa3-wa2 -* a31i3sinltya3sa3wa2
let' s go. (Consonant cluster Rule 3. 2. 1 makes this word a31i3sinlja3sa3wa2.)
1. 2. 2. In a morpheme initial /nV/ preceded by a /t/, the nasality shifts

19

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20 Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 14, No. 1

to the vowel, voicing ceases by assimilation to the preceding consonant, and

the rest of the articulation remains the same.
nV - tV /Xt -
ka31ot3-na3ra2 - ka31ot3ta3ra2 it' s dripping.
1. 2. 3. When /1/ and /1/ occur across morpheme boundaries, they
coalesce to /t/.
1 - 1- t / V
sa3wil3-la.3 sa3wi3ta3 no parakeet. (The word is sa3win3ta3 applying Rule
3.1.)
1. 3. 0. Rules that span Orders 1 to 3 presuppose no other rules, but are
presupposed by fourth order rules.
1. 3. i1. A morpheme final /1/ disappears when it is followed by a morpheme
initial /n/ or stop. n
1 -+4/ X -[stop]
will-na3-ra2 -- wilna3ra2 pretty.
1. 3. 2. When a morpheme final /t/ precedes a /k/ morpheme initial, the
/t/ is deleted.
t-/ -k
ii3-het3-ki?3 -tul-wa2 -~ ~i3he3ki 3tulwa2 we will place.
1. 3. 3. When a morpheme final /1/ precedes a morpheme initial /s/, the
/s/ becomes /h/.
s - h /1-
sa3wil3-su2 -, sa3wil3hu2 parakeet. (Syllabification rule 4.1. 2. makes this
word sa3wi3lhu2. )
1. 3. 4. When a morpheme ends with /h/3 and precedes a morpheme
beginning with /?V/, a second /h/ is added. Phonetically the /h/ is long and
ambisyllabic.
S-~ h/ h - V
- not
tih3-thtih3-?a3-wa2 Zih3thTh3h a3wa2 burning.
1. 3. 5. When a morpheme final /C?/ precedes a morpheme initial /s/,
the /?/ metathesizes to follow the /s/.
C? - s -- Cs?
eh?3-su2 - eh3su2 axe.
I I

1. 3. 6. When a morpheme final /n?/ or /1?/ precedes a /V/ initial mor-

pheme, or when a morpheme final /1/ or /n/ occurs before a morpheme initial
/ V/, the /9/ metathesizes to become first in the consonant cluster.
n n/V V
3

1; 11(
manioc, a2-hil?3-a2 - liver,
wa31inv3-a2 -* wa31"3?na2 specific, a2hi391aZ
will_'a3-wa2 -- wi1?la3wa2 not
pretty, ain2_?a3-wa2- k~i2~na3wa2 not
bi.
(Syllable division is determined by Rule 4. i. 2. )

2.1. The second order rule that presupposes the stress rule 1. 1 and is
presupposed by third order rules involves cluster reduction. When two vowels
occur across morpheme boundaries, the first vowel is deleted provided stress
comes earlier in the word than the morpheme that contains the first vowel.
Vowel elision never takes place before stress.

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Morphophonemics of Nambiquara 21

VT / +stress X _ [-stress
V V
X must contain a morpheme boundary.
- wa31ainltulwa2 they will return, ai3-jahl-19i3-ul-ra2
wa3-17i2-ainl-tul-wa2
Sai3jahll?ulra2 you may go.
The only exception known is sa3-in1 you to me, which always retains the
first vowel and the tone of the second, becoming /sanl/ as in ?9ih3-hil-sa3-inl-
tail-tu3-wa2 -- 9ih3halsanltailtu3wa2 you gave to me.
2. 2. 0. Rules that span Orders 2 to 3 presuppose the first order stress
rule and are presupposed by fourth order rules.
2. 2.1. When two vowels occur across morpheme boundaries, and one of
the morphemes but not the other is stressed, a transitional consonant /y/,
/w/, or /n/ is added at the boundary.
F-C
-C +V
I-V
-* / astress - astress]
tress
f -lowas
front. Lpfront

- n / astress - (h) -astress

sV
SV
stress X +stress
-
where X does not contain a word boundary.
e3-te3-lal-wa2 I will talk becomes T3ye3te31alwa2 when the continuative pre-
fix /T3-/ is added giving the meaning I will continue talking. n~1-a7
-
ntlwa2
there, sa2-au2 - sa2n2uZ break, a2-nhi2-kanl-na3-ra2
a2-hi-kanl-na3-ra2-*
he can do it by himself.

3.1. Third order rules presuppose second order rules (1. 2, 2.1). The
first is presupposed by fourth order rules and states that the last stressed
vowel in a word always adds /n/ when it comes immediately before a syllable
initial /t/. S
nv t v
stress x#
where X does not contain a -+stress
stressed vowel.
sa3wi3-ta3 (from 1. 2. 3) -* sa3win3ta3 no parakeet, -.
I 9ygl-tahl-lhal
but, nal-kai2 -na-tu3-tal
12
- _h
then. In the
I t

9yinltahllhal nalkai2nan2tu3ta1 .

followingexample/n/ is notaddedsincethevowelprecedingthe/t/ initial

morpheme is unstressed: nalka3tu3tal afterward. naltulwa2i1 I will (quota-
tion) also does not add /n/ because the /t/ initial morpheme is stressed.
3. 2. 0. Rules that span Orders 3 to 4 presuppose second order rules, but
are presupposed by no others.
3. 2. 1. Whenever a /t/ is followed by a /y/, they coalesce to become /j/.
ty -- j
-tet2-yu2-he3-ra2, applying Rule 1. 2. 1, becomes -tet2tyu2hZ3ra . According
to this rule the form is -tet2ju2h,3ra2 customary action.
3. 2. 2. Whenever a /tts/ cluster occurs, the syllable division comes

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22 Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 14, No. I

after the first /t/.

tts -o t.ts
wa21itl-su2- wa2litltsu2 rubber (assuming Rule 1. 2.1. )
4. 1. 0. Fourth order rules presuppose third order rules, but are not them-
selves presupposed by any other rules. All have to do with syllabification.
4. 1. 1. In Nambiquara a syllabification rule attaches any single intervocalic
consonant as syllable onset to the following vowel.
VCV -* V.CV
will-ainl-na3-ra2 - willainlna3ra2 they are good, wa3kon3-al-wa2 -
wa3ko3nalwa2 I work, -taitl-i2-tu3-wa2 2 -tailti2tu3wa2 verb suffixes.
4. 1. 2. This rule also involves syllabification.
XCCV -* X.CCV if either C is /9/ or /h/.
?ih3-thiih3-?a3-wa2 -_)ih3thph3ha3wa2 not burning (assuming Rule 1. 3. 4. ),
sa3wil3'hu2 -- sa3wi31hu2 parakeet.
4. 1. 3. When two consonants occur intervocalically, apart from the condi-
tions of 4. 1. 2., the syllable break comes between the consonants.
VCCV -o VC.CV
wain3-na3-ra2
I straight, wa3kon3kix3tulwa2
I
we all will work.

NOTES

1. Nambiquara was classified by McQuown and Greenberg as in the Ge-

Pano-Carib Phylum (SoL Tax, Aboriginal Languages of Latin America, Current
Anthropology 1; 5-6. 431-36, September-November 1960). There are approxi-
mately 200 speakers of Nambiquara in northwestern Mato Grosso, Brazil. The
number of dialect groups remains uncertain at present. Most of the data and
information come from Menno H. Kroeker and are based on work done between
1961 and 1970 in accordance with a contract with the Museu Nacional do Rio de
Janeiro and with the cooperation of the Fundagao Nacional do Indio. A con-
cordance of 22, 000 morphemes and 4, 700 words from Nambiquara texts was
used in the analysis done for this paper. The concordance was prepared at the
University of Oklahoma Computer Laboratory under the Project for Computer
Support for Linguistic Field Research, which is partially supported by National
Science Foundation Grant GS-1605, The present paper was written as part of
a seminar held under the auspices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics in
1970 at Cuiabi, Mato Grosso, Brazil, under the direction of Joseph E. Grimes,
and partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant GS-3180.

2. The partial ordering of rules was established by adaptation of Joseph

E. Grimes, Positional Analysis, Lg 43. 437-44, 1967.

3. Only /1, n, t, h/, and /7/ can occur in the coda position at the end of
morphemes.

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