Re: Dropping from the root

On Wed, 18 Jul 2001, Marcus Smith wrote:

> Dirk Elzinga wrote:
>
> >On Wed, 18 Jul 2001, Marcus Smith wrote:
> >I found a Papago example as well:
> >
> >         es. 'is/was planting' (s. is s with an underdot)
> >         e-i 'planted'
> >
> >I don't know what the -i is, but is clearly attached to the
> >truncated root. Are there any -i's in Pima?
>
> -i shows up in imperatives.
>
> According to the Papago dictionary by Saxton, Saxton, and Enos, this verb
> is not completely regular. The irregularities in the paradigm are:
> [snip]
Hmmm. You mentioned earlier that there is no way to predict
whether a verb will truncate by dropping a final consonant or an
entire rime. There are also apparently verbs which don't
truncate. It already sounds like the system is irregular in
much the same way as the strong verbs of English.

Perhaps this gives a little more credence to the unnamed
morphologist's assertion that truncation isn't productive ...

Dirk

--
Dirk Elzinga                          dirk.elzinga@m.cc.utah.edu

"The strong craving for a simple formula
has been the undoing of linguists."               - Edward Sapir

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