An Autosegmental Analysis of Venda Tonology

An Autosegmental Analysis ofVenda Tonology Farida Cassimjee

GARLAND PUBLISHING, INC. New York • London 1992

CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Introduction

3

CHAPTER 2 The Tonology of the Simple Noun

15

CHAPTER 3 Verbal Tonology (I)

87

CHAPTER 4 Verbal Tonology (II)

163

CHAPTER 5 (Mostly) Verbal Tonology (III)

257

REFERENCES

353

v

CHAPTER 1

Introduction 1.0. Introduction. This thesis represents a beginning rather than an ending. Specifically, it is an attempt to explore the tonology of Venda (more correctly, Tshivend4), a Bantu language spoken In the Zoutpansberg district of the Northern Transvaal in South Africa as well as in parts of Zimbabwe. It is a beginning, first of all, in the sense that it is by no means an exhaustive account of the facts of Venda tone. There are doubtless large and important parts of the grammar of Venda that have not been included (due in some cases to the lack of data, due in other cases to the limitations imposed by the great complexity of Venda morphology). It is a beginning also in that it represents the first attempt to look at Venda from the perspective afforded by the autosegmental framework for phonological analysis. We believe that this framework makes possible an insightful account of the complicated and (superficially) at times baffling facts of Venda tonology. Indeed, we would claim that the success that the framework has in illuminating Venda tone lends strong support to the most fundamental features of this framework. This result is perhaps somewhat surprising given that in many respects Venda appears not to be the sort 3

4

Introduction

of tone language for which the autosegmental approach Is specifically geared. While the principal theoretical concepts employed in this thesis are those of autosegmental phonology, we have also considered at times whether certain other theoretical notions could be resorted to in an attempt to get a better understanding of Venda tone. In particular, we have considered whether the theory of underspeciflcation could be used to advantage to account for the well-known asymmetry in Bantu languages (including Venda) between High and Low tones. And we have considered whether the theory of lexical phonology can contribute to a better understanding of problems relating to the domain of application of certain tonological rules in Venda. We conclude, however, that neither of these theories appears to contribute very significantly to the understanding of Venda tone, though some aspects of Venda are relevant for the elaboration of these particular theories. The present chapter will provide a brief introduction to the Venda language and to previous linguistic research dealing with Venda (cf. section 1.1.). a discussion of the data on which our analysis Is based (cf. section 1.2). and a sketch of the most relevant aspects of the theoretical frameworks employed or discussed in the development of the thesis (cf. section 1.3). 1.1. Previous linguistic research. Venda (called Tshivenda in the language itself) is spoken by the Vhavenda, who inhabit the areas around Louis Trichardt and Thohoyandou in the Zoutpansberg region of the Northern Transvaal, as well as in adjoining areas in Zimbabwe. In his dictionary of Venda, Van Warmelo describes the language as "very homogeneous" and says that "such dialectal differences as exist are not Important" (van Warmelo, 1937, p. 9). Zlervogel, Wentzel, and Makuya in A Handbook of the Venda Language likewise describe Venda as "linguistically fairly uniform" and claim that "one can hardly speak of dialects within this group, rather of variations" (Zlervogel et al.. 1972. p. 1). We have not had the opportunity to undertake any systematic study of the dialectal variation in Venda and thus are unable to add significantly to the above comments.

Introduction

5

However, we will have occasion in the course of the thesis to discuss some areas of tonal variation In the data available to u s (see particularly Chapter Five). Venda belongs to the South-Eastern Zone of Bantu languages. The similarity between Venda and the Karanga dialect of Shona has been much noted (cf. van Warmelo, 1937, p. 9; Zlervogel et al., 1972, p. 1), and the reader need only compare the present description of Venda tone with David Odden's (1981) description of the Karanga tone system to see that this deep similarity holds tonally as well as otherwise. The most significant work on the role of tone in Venda is undoubtedly E.O.J. Westphal's Venda: Tonal Structure and Intonation [1962). In that study. Westphal traces the history of Venda tonal studies, beginning with C. Melnhof s (1901) work. Westphal observes that "Melnhof illustrated the Importance of tone..., but did not describe it beyond giving a few examples" (Westphal. 1962, p. 51). Melnhof failed to recognize that Venda (and Bantu in general) could be analyzed In terms of two tones. High and Low. In 1904. Theodor and Paul Schwellnus (fluent speakers of Venda who were students of Melnhof and who had served as the sources of Melnhof s data) published Die Verba des Tsi-venda "a little vocabulary of Venda verbs. ..in which they Indicated, on the first syllable of each word, whether it was high or low" (Westphal, 1962, p. 51). In a later grammar written In Venda, Paul Schwellnus Indicated "tone only In those words where the difference between two similar words is not rendered by the vowels and the consonants they contain" (Westphal. 1962. p. 51). In 1937, Dr. N. J. van Warmelo published his Tshivenda Dictionary. This work is notable from a tonal point of view in that, for the first time, the tonal pattern of each word is indicated In terms of three tones: High, Low, and Falling. (As we will see in the course of the thesis, the Falling tone is derived from an underlying system with Just High and Low tones.) It is only the verb stems that are not transcribed fully for each syllable; the first vowel of the verb stem is simply indicated as being either High or Low. (As we will see later, this is a valid procedure since verb stems In Venda can readily be shown to fit into two tonal types: High stems and Low stems.)

6

Introduction

While van Warmelo's dictionary represented a substantial stride forward with respect to accounting for the tonal shape of Venda (non-verb) words In Isolation, it is deficient in the areas that a dictionary Is of necessity deficient. It does not provide a systematic account of the changes that words undergo in the sentence, nor does It provide a systematic description of the tonal aspects of the morphologically complex verbal system. It was Westphal's study that grappled with these matters for the first time. Westphal's study is the first description of Venda that deals with the tonal alternations displayed by linguistic units (affixes, stems, words) In Venda. These alternations are particularly pervasive in Venda. For example, every word in the language is subject to systematic alternations in tonal shape depending on the phrasal context in which It appears. Furthermore, the morphological elements that make up a verbal word (prefixes, verb stems, suffixes) are subject to extensive tonal variations depending upon the morphological and lexical make-up of the verbal word. These alternations are described in rich detail in Westphal's study. Westphal's analysis is not cast In any particular theoretical framework (It is certainly pre-generative), but it Is Insightful in many ways and does certainly recognize the need to view the tonal changes as deviations from, in effect, a "basic" (underlying) form. Specifically, Westphal argues that "It Is unnecessary to consider more than two categories of tone in Venda despite the fact that there Is a very great variety of tonal levels and a most complex system of tonal Intervals in the language" (1962, p. 53). Westphal recognizes, for example, the role of downdrlft In the language (whereby one or more Hightoned syllables separated from a preceding High tone by one or more Low-toned syllables Is pronounced at a somewhat lower pitch level than the earlier High). He also recognizes the occurrence of downstep in the language ~ i.e. a downward shift of the pitch level between two adjacent High-toned syllables. Westphal writes: "While in many cases the tone steps occur mechanically when a tone of the opposite kind intervenes (i.e. there is downdrlft In the language: FC1 there

Introduction

7

are other cases which cannot be described in this way [I.e. there Is downstepplng In the language: FC). These other cases have not been sufficiently investigated and it still remains to be seen whether they are not In fact variations of the mechanical step" (1962. p. 56). We will attempt to establish that all cases of downstep can in fact be strongly argued to simply follow from downdrift in the language. Besides recognizing that there are Just two tones in Venda, High and Low, and that It Is the phenomenon of downdrlft/downstep that Is responsible for the many variations In pitch level, Westphal also sees that Falling- toned syllables are In some way derived from Low-toned syllables (e.g. he gives the tonal shape of kh6kh01a 'ankle-bone' as HLH). Westphal also sees that the surface tonal shape of a syllable does not necessarily reflect Its underlying tone (of course, he does not employ this terminology). For example, he writes: "Most tones are what they seem to be and their Influence is direct, but there are a few cases where a tone, although high, may still have the same Influence that any ordinary low has. Usually such high-toned syllables are primarily or Inherently low but have only borrowed a high tone because of their tonetic environment" (1962, p. 57). Finally, Westphal clearly identifies the factor that is crucial to the changes that a word undergoes in sentences: a word will change Its tonal shape if the preceding word ends In a High tone; if there is no preceding word or if the preceding word ends In a Low tone, no change will occur. Westphal's description of Venda tonal shapes is an Important piece of work in that it provides a rather extensive documentation of the tonal facts of the language (without which the present thesis could not have been written), providing information not only about the pronunciation of words in Isolation but also information about the pervasive tonal changes that words undergo In phrases. Westphal's study provides a systematic account of data that Is not otherwise available In the published literature. It not only provides a systematic presentation of the tonal shapes of words. It does so In terms of a highly satisfactory analysis that

Introduction

8

reduces the superficially complex pitch facts to two underlying tones. There are. however, limitations on Westphal's study. It is basically an atheoretlcal description of Venda tone. As such. Its main goal Is to provide a description of the tonal alternations exhibited by Venda linguistic units. It does not attempt to evolve a set of rules which will predict these alternations. It rather lists the various alternations that occur, without any attempt to establish that there Is a pattern to these alternations. The following example will establish this point. Westphal shows that the following alternations occur in Venda nomlnals: (1) isolation or post-Low

post-High

mu-thu mu-ri mu-tuka mu-rathu mu-sadzi mu-selwa

mu-thu mu-ri mu-tuka mu-rathu mu-sadzi mu-sehva

mu-kalaha mu-tukana mu-tannga mu-kegulu mu-duhulu tshi-vhavhala mu-lambonl

mu-kalaha mu-tukana mu-ta!nnga mu-kegulu mu-duhulu tshi-vhavhala mu-lamb!6ni

and then says: "The rules governing these mutations are apparently the following: 1. A preceding H demands the noun prefix to be H. 2. The second syllable is L with monosyllabic stems; is always F with disyUables, and is always H with polysyllables.

Introduction

9

3. The third syllable Is always L unless it has the first H (in the basic pattern) e.g. murathu. In trisyllabic stems with a prefix the third syllable, if It contains the first H, Is always found with a tone step e.g. muthannga which becomes mfithatnnga. 4. The fourth syllable Is always L unless the basic tone pattern has Its first H on the third (cf. above) or fourth syllable. In either case there Is a tone step, this step being caused either by an Intervening L or by the step on the 3rd syllable." (1962, p. 61). An examination of the above "rules" shows that these are not rules at all (as this term is usually understood), but rather a series of descriptive statements about the tonal shape that each syllable of a noun will display In the post-High environment. To be precise, there Is no attempt to state the nature of the tonologlcal processes that determine what tonal shape a given syllable In the noun will manifest In the postHigh environment. We conclude, therefore, that as Important as Westphal's study is, there is nevertheless a need for a study of Venda tone that examines Venda tone from a theoreticallyoriented perspective and which seeks to discover the principles that underlie the complex tonal alternations that Venda exhibits. 1.2. The data base for the present study. Westphal (1962) provides the basic data source for this thesis, especially with reference to the post-High pronunciations of words. Westphal says that "the material on which this book is based was written down during the years that Chief [Walter R ] Maslkhwa spent In Johannesburg while I was a lecturer at the University of the Wltwatersrand" (p. 50), but notes that "the material contained in this book has not been checked with him or with any other Venda speaker and I take responsibility for any errors or omissions in it" (p. 50). While Westphal's data is Internally consistent, and for the most part in agreement with the other data sources used in this thesis, there Is one

10

Introduction

substantial problem: there appear to be numerous typographical errors in the published text. Wherever we have emended Westphal's data due to our conviction that a typographical error is Involved, we have added an endnote to that effect. We have Indicated examples taken from Westphal by the symbol [W] placed after them. In Jury of 1983, additional systematic material concerning the verbal system was elicited from Mr. Thomas Senganl, a native speaker of Venda and a lecturer in the Venda section of the Department of African Languages at the University of South Africa. While the material elicited from Mr. Senganl largely tallies with Westphal's data on the tonal patterns associated with the various verbal tenses, there is one clear and important difference that is readily noted — certain syllables that are Invariably High-toned in Westphal's data sometimes have a Low tone realization In Mr. Senganl's speech. This matter Is explored as far as the data currently available to us allows in Chapter Five. The material elicited from Mr. Senganl Is also extremely Interesting In suggesting that a tonal contrast may In fact exist In constructions where Westphal claims that all the subject prefixes are pronounced with the same tone (there being other constructions where there Is a contrast between Low-toned subject prefixes and High-toned subject prefixes). However, this aspect of the tonal structure of the verb can not be adequately explored without detailed work with native speakers and we did not have the opportunity to carry out such work. We have Indicated examples drawn from material elicited from Mr. Senganl by the symbol IS] placed after them. We have also consulted the Venda language course published by the University of South Africa fWentzel and Mulolwa, 1975). The tonal transcriptions in the printed text are often not accurate and thus could not be used, but the spoken material on the accompanying tapes afforded pertinent data. We have Indicated examples drawn from the UNISA course by the symbol [U]. We have consulted the dictionary of van Warmelo for information concerning the pronunciation of (particularly nonverbal) Items in isolation. However, since most of the problems dealt with in this thesis — the phrasal alternations In tone, the

Introduction

11

tonology of the verb ~ Involve kinds of data that are not contained In a dictionary entry, our use of van Warmelo has been fairly Incidental. A certain amount of data on the verbal system was elicited In January of 1986 for us by Mr. James M.S. Khumalo In South Africa from two other speakers of Venda. This material, labelled (N], primarily concerns the behavior of monosyllabic verb stems and was elicited In order to better sort out variations and/or inconsistencies in the data drawn from Westphal and Mr. Senganl. 1.3. The theoretical framework of the thesis. In this thesis we will adopt the basic framework of autosegmental phonology. The present section presents a sketch of the essential aspects of this approach to phonology, contrasting It with the standard generative theory. (For discussion of the autosegmental approach to phonology, see Goldsmith (1976). Clements and Goldsmith, eds. (1984). Clements (1977. 1980, 1981. 1985), Clements and Keyser (1983), McCarthy (1979). to mention Just a few of the many works dealing with this framework.) Autosegmental phonology and standard generative phonology differ In terms of the assumptions that they make concerning the nature of phonological representations. In standard generative phonology (or what we will henceforth refer to as "linear phonology"), phonological representations are regarded as a (uni)linear sequence of phonological segments, where a segment is a distinctive feature matrix. A segment Is a set of phonological properties ("distinctive features") such that (a) there Is no internal structure to this set of properties and (b) a segment can be specified only once for any given property and (c) a property cannot simultaneously be part of more than one segment, etc. Crucially, in this view, a phonological feature F, cannot exist independently of the other phonological features F r Fk, etc., which make up a given segment. As a result, one cannot delete a feature F, without deleting all the other features that make up the segment Similarly, a segment changes by altering Its feature composition, and this alteration Is necessarily independent of the segment that "triggers" the alteration.

12

Introduction

Autosegmental phonology, on the other hand, claims that phonological representations consist of a number of independent sequences of phonological features. For example, the tonal structure of an Item may be represented as a sequence of tonal specifications independent of any other phonological features. Each of these Independent "lines" in a phonological representation is referred to as a tier. We will be concerned in this thesis Just with the tonal tier. The multilinear view of phonology hypothesizes that the various tiers are ultimately co-ordinated In terms of a sequence of abstract "timing units". This sequence of abstract timing units Is (In different versions of multilinear phonology) referred to as the "core" or the "skeleton" or the "CV tier". The units in the skeleton are themselves organized into syllables and possibly other hierarchical units. The theory of autosegmental phonology represents the co-ordination of the tiers in terms of association lines. Taking the tonal tier as an example, the various tonal specifications are linked (associated) to the "tone-bearing units" (TBU's) by means of association lines. What the tone-bearing units are is in part a language-specific property. In some languages the TBU's may be vowel "slots" in the skeleton; In other languages TBU's may be vowels and certain consonants; in other languages TBU's may be syllables. What Is crucial In autosegmental phonology Is that the associations between the tonal tier and the TBU's is not oneto-one, but one-many and many-one. Specifically, a single tonal specification may be associated with a sequence of TBU's, and a single TBU may be associated with a sequence of tonal specifications. The only constraint is that association lines may not cross. Although postulatlon of multiple tiers of phonological features claims that these features are "Independent" of one another, the extent of this independence varies along one dimension: namely, are the feature specifications on a given tier associated underlyingly to the skeleton or not? In other words, the tiers are Indeed totally Independent If there is no lexical linkage of the feature specifications to the skeleton.

Introduction.

13

Where the features are linked lexically to the skeleton, the Independence is less. Since Venda turns out to be a language where the tonal specifications are lexically linked to the TBLTs, It Is Important to emphasize In what sense the tonal specifications are "Independent" even If lexically linked. The Independence comes In terms of the kinds of phonological rules and representations that are available in an autosegmental framework. Phonological rules can do any of the following things: (a) add association lines (e.g. operate on a High tone that Is lexically linked to one TBU and make it also associated with another TBU as well); (b) delete association lines (e.g. operate on a tone that Is lexically linked to one TBU by delinking it from that TBU. but still leave the tone in the tonal tier); (c) add. delete or change a tonal specification without otherwise affecting the segmental makeup of the word; (d) add, delete, or change segmental material without affecting the tonal specifications. Throughout the course of this thesis, we will have ample opportunity to see how the autosegmental framework allows for an insightful analysis of Venda tonology. At times we will make reference to two other theoretical approaches — underspeclflcatlon and lexical phonology. The main idea of underspecification theory is simply that in underlying structure a slot in the skeleton may be specified (in a given environment) for only one value of a feature. If it is not specified for that value ([aFD, then it Is left unspecified. A special kind of rule ~ referred to as a "default" rule — will later specify the unspecified slot with the value |-aF]. There are, of course, different varieties of underspecification theory (cf. Klparsky (1985), Pulleyblank (1983), and Archangeli (1984) which differ in terms of the basis for choosing which feature value Is specified in underlying representations and which differ in terms of at what point in the grammar the default rules are to apply, etc. We are not concerned here with these different variants of underspecification theory. Rather, we are Interested In this approach only to the extent of ascertaining whether — given the fact that we will claim that Venda has Just High and Low tones underlyingly ~ any insights into the tonal patterning of Venda can be obtained by assuming an underspecification approach to phonological representations.

14

Introduction

The theory of lexical phonology Is one that. In Its broadest outlines, hypothesizes that certain phonological rules (the so-called "lexical rules") operate "hand-ln-hand" with word-formation processes. It distinguishes these lexical rules (which are sensitive to the morphological makeup of words) from post-lexical rules (which are Insensitive to morphological structure and furthermore operate at a level where words have been combined to form sentences). There are, of course, many varieties to the lexical phonology framework (cf. Klparsky (1982a), (1982b). (1985); Mohanan (1982, 1985); Mohanan and Mohanan (1984); Halle and Mohanan (1985); Rubach (1984. 1985), etc. The Issue that we will be most concerned with here is the following one: the claim that post-lexical phonological rules (those that must apply at the level where words have been combined to form sentences) are insensitive to the internal morphological structure of words. We will identify certain places in the grammar of Venda where crucial appeal to this hypothesis must be made. But we will also show that there Is another place where the hypothesis appears to be Inconsistent with the data. 1.4. Outline of the thesis. Four chapters make up the body of the thesis. In Chapter Two, we examine the tonal alternations exhibited by Venda nomlnals. Chapter Three presents an analysis of a number of the major affirmative verb tenses. Chapters Four and Five primarily focus on further aspects of the verbal system, but with forays into other, tonally-related matters (various "inflected" forms of the noun, adjectives).

CHAPTER 2

The Tonology of the Simple Noun 2.0. Introduction. We begin our examination of the Venda tonal system by examining the tonal shapes of Venda nomlnals in the two contexts listed below: (1)

(2)

beginning of phrase or NOUN word that ends in a Low tone when It Is pronounced In Isolation word that ends in a High tone when It Is NOUN pronounced In Isolation

end of phrase

end of phrase

We will refer to the environment in (1) as the post-Low environment (though this environment includes the case where nothing precedes the noun as well a s the case where a Low tone-final word precedes) and the environment In (2) as the post-High environment. Each Venda 15

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

16

noun assumes a different tonal shape in the post-High e n v i r o n m e n t a s c o m p a r e d with t h e post-Low environment. These alternations are extremely diverse in nature, but we will demonstrate that, when viewed from the autosegmental perspective, they are the consequence of a very few, extremely general rules. The structure of simple nouns in Venda does not differ from other Bantu languages: essentially, each noun consists of a noun class prefix followed by the noun stem. The only complication is that in one noun class the characteristic prefix has a null phonological shape. Noun class prefixes regularly appear Low-toned in the post-Low environment. 2.1. Prefixed nouns. We will begin developing our analysis by examining disyllabic noun stems preceded by a prefix. Such Items exhibit—In the post-Low environment—the four possible tone patterns illustrated below. (In the transcriptions In this thesis, the absence of a diacritic Indicates Low tone, the acute accent Indicates a High tone, and a circumflex accent Indicates a Falling tone.) (3)

mu-sadzi mu-tuka mu-selwa mu-rathu

'woman' *youth' 'bride' 'brother'

cf. after a word ending in a Low tone: ndi-kho-u-vhona ndi-kho-u-vhona ndi-kho-u-vhona ndi-kho-u-vhona.

mu-sadzi mu-tuka mu-sehva mu-rathu

Our first task is to determine the nature of the underlying tonal representations of these items. If we were to assume that Venda has two underlying tones. High and Low (a not unreasonable assumption given that In the data in (3) Just two tones appear, namely H and L), then perhaps the most straightforward analysis would be one

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

17

where the prefixes are Inherently L-toned and each stem vowel Is either High or Low. According to this analysis, "woman' would have a HH stem, "youth' a LL stem, 'bride' a HL stem, and 'brother' a LH stem (where H=Hlgh and L=Low). Of course. If we were to assume some version of the theory of underspeclflcatlon, then we would presumably have only the High-toned syllables specified In underlying structure and leave the Low-toned syllables without any tonal specification, supplying their Low tones by a default rule that would say that any vowel lacking a tone Is automatically assigned a Low tone. Some such approach Is extremely attractive since the data in (3) clearly suggest that Venda is indeed a true tone language where each vowel independently selects a tone from the underlying tonal Inventory. In a true tone language. If the tonal inventory contains two tones, and If a stem has two vowels, one expects four possible combinations of tones: HH, LL, HL. LH. And indeed this Is what one finds in Venda. In order to see whether the above analysis of the tonal structure of Venda disyllabic nominal stems can be maintained (either In part or in totality) it is necessary for u s to consider the shape that items like those in (3) assume in the post-High environment. (4)

ndi-vh6na ndl-vhona ndi-vhona ndl-vhona

mu-sadzi mu-tuka mu-selwa mu-rathu

The pattern of alternation found in (3) and (4) is summarized in (5) below (where F=Falllng tone): (5)

mu-sadzi mu-tuka mu-selwa mu-rathu

LHH LLL LHL LLH

mu-sadzi mu-tuka mu-selwa mu-rathu

HFL HFL HFL HFH

Notice that three distinct tonal patterns In the post-Low environment are all merged Into the same HFL pattern in the post-High situation. Only the items like mu-rathH retain a

18

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

unique surface form—HFH. but even here the shape of the first two syllables Is the same as In the other three cases. It seems rather obvious that the post-Low environment must be taken as revealing (essentially) the underlying tone of the nominal. If we were to take the post-High shape as underlying, we would have no way of predicting that underlying mu-sadzi would adopt the form mu-sadzl in post-Low position whereas mu-tuka would adopt the shape mu-tuka and mu-sClwa would adopt the shape mu-selwa. The post-Low context provides the environment that maximally differentiates the noun stems Into four types and thus must be taken as the starting point from which the post-High pronunciations can be derived. What, then. Is going on In the post-High environment? Careful examination will reveal, of course, that more than one thing Is going on In the data in (4). In order to factor out some of the complications, we will concentrate at the beginning on those nouns that have a Low tone on the first vowel of the stem In the post-Low environment. Observing that an all Low word such as mu-tuka becomes HFL when preceded by a High, and that a LLH word such as mu-rathu becomes a HFH word, it seems clear that we are dealing with a case where a High at the end of one word Is affecting the tones of the following word; more specifically, we seem to be dealing with a case of assimilation whereby the tones of the second word are being raised under the Influence of the High tone of the first word. Within the theory of autosegmental phonology, tonal assimilation Is characteristically regarded as a spreading phenomenon—I.e. as a case where an element on the tonal tier associated with one tone-bearing unit (TBU) comes to be linked as well with an Immediately neighboring TBU. If the present case of assimilation Is to be treated in the prototypical way. then, what will be required Is that the High tone at the end of the first word come to be associated as well with the first and also the second TBU of the following word. If we were to follow the analysis Initially suggested for nomlnals like mu-tuka and mu-rathu, then for the post-High context we would have either the underlying representations

The Tonoiogy of the Simple Noun

19

in (6)—given fully-specified underlying forms, or the underlying representations In (7)—given an under-speclflcatlon approach. (6)

H L L L L

V (7)

mu-mutuka

H

V

H

mu-tuka

V

L

L

H

mu-rathu

H

H

V

mu-rathu

The underspeclflcatlon approach runs Immediately Into rather obvious difficulties If we were to assume that the High Tone Spread rule (which we are presently attempting to formulate) operates prior to the default rule making unspecified TBLTs Low-toned. Examination of the data In (4) shows that the High tone at the end of the first word spreads onto the first two vowels of the noun (the prefix and the first stem vowel). It would be necessary to formulate the High Tone Spread rule so that It spreads a High onto two vowels to the right of the High at the end of the first word. This would, for example, take a representation like

V mu-tuka

and convert It Into the form:

V

ritu-tuka

But that would leave u s with the pronunciation •mu-tuka, which Is Incorrect. Furthermore, a rule spreading a High two vowels to the right raises a rather nagging question: why Just two? why not three? If we were to assume that the default rule supplies Low tones to the unspecified vowels in (7) prior to the application of High Tone Spread, then the result would be representations that are the same as assumed In a theory where underlying

The ToTwbogy of the Simple Noun

20

forms are fully specified—namely, those In (6). But the representations In (6) are not Immediately any more useful than those in (7) as far as generating the correct surface forms for (prefixed) disyllabic noun stems In the post-High environment. Given a representation such as H

L

L L

I ' Jv1 V mu-tuka a rule that would spread a High tone to the right would create the following structure: H

L

L L

V mu-tuka Notice that the High from the first word would not be able to spread any further than to the first vowel to the right of that word due to the pervasive principle In autosegmental phonology that says that association lines may not cross. The result of applying High Tone Spread, given representations like those In (7), to mu-tuka would be the Incorrect shape miituka. As a matter of fact, a rule we will motivate later would predict that a Falling tone on a pre-penult vowel would simplify to Just High. But the result of applying that rule to mutuka would be mutuka, which is also Incorrect. Since the main problem In the case of the post-High pronunciation of mu-tuka Is how to let the High of the preceding word spread past the preflxal vowel onto the first stem vowel, we might consider whether we could allow High Tone Spread to be an Iterative rule that not only spreads the High to the right but also disassociates the vowel being spread onto from any other tone it might be associated with. In other words, the rule would look something like the following:

The Tonology of the Simple Noun (8)

H

L

X

X

I I

H

L

X

X

21

ts*

—»

(apply i t e r a t i v e l y ,

left-to-right)

While such a formulation of High Tone Spread would solve the problem of how a High tone is able to spread past the prefix and onto the first stem vowel. It would not explain why the High tone does not continue to spread onto the subsequent stem vowels. In other words. Instead of predicting the correct derivation shown in (9) the rule In (8) predicts the incorrect derivation given as (10). (9)

H L L L

H L L L

i i I(

V mu-tuka

NM —¥

i

V mu-tuka

H

LLL

ivj i

—* V mu-ttaka

(10)H

L L L

H L L L

H

'

III

N* M

J^^OM

V

mu-tuka

V mu-tuka

- • V mti-Wka

-»

LLL

LH m"u-£t

The correct derivation shown as (9) requires that rule (8) applies Just twice rather than Iteratively, as in the incorrect derivation given In (10). But there is no way to get (8) to apply Just twice if It is an iterative rule. Of course, we could reformulate (8) as In (11): (11)

H L L

H

LL

(11) would be a non-iterative rule which, by brute force, spreads a High onto the immediately following vowel (delinking that vowel from Its original tone) and also onto the vowel after that (but not delinking that vowel from its original tone). While (11) ujorfcs, it suffers obvious drawbacks. Why should a High

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

22

tone spread Just two vowels to the right? and why should It delink the first vowel that It spreads onto from that vowel's original tone but not delink the second vowel that It spreads onto? There does not seem to be any plausible answer to these rather weird properties of (11); we conclude, therefore, that there Is good reason to seek a different solution to the problem at hand (I.e. why a High spreads both onto the noun prefix and onto the first stem vowel, but the prefix falls to reflect any trace of Its (presumed) Low whereas the first stem vowel retains Its Low). At this point, let us explore an alternative approach that Is based on a view of tonology that would allow vowels In Venda to underlylngly be associated either with a High or a Low or no tone at all. This approach Is Inconsistent with underspeclfication theory since that approach does not allow both High and Low In underlying structure, but Instead just High and toneless. The solution we have In mind here Is to say that the noun class prefix Is underlylngly toneless whereas Low-toned stem vowels are Inherently Low-toned. Let us see how this analysis would work. At the point where High Tone Spread would apply, we would have representations such as the following: H

L L

H

I JJ

L

H

A U

V mu-tuka V mu-rathu If we formulate High Tone Spread so that It spreads a High tone (Iteratively) to the right, subject only to the constraint that It may not cross an association line, then we will indeed generate the proper post-High pronunciations mu-tfika and mti-rathti. The derivations In (12) Illustrate this. (12)

H

L L

H

L H

V mu-tuka

V mu-rathu

H

H

L L

V mh-tuki

L H

V mu-rathu (1st appl.)

The Tonology of the Simple Noun H

L

V mu-tuka

L

23 H

L H

V mU-rathu

(2nd

appl.)

Clearly, the above approach is much superior to our previous attempts to account for the post-High pronunciations of mu-tuka and mu-rathu. Not only does it produce the forms desired, it does so without placing any arbitrary restrictions on High Tone Spread. Given a toneless prefix. High Tone Spread (=HTS) can be formulated in an entirely straight-forward fashion— spread a High tone to the right (subject only to the quite expected constraint that it may not cross a previously-existing association line). If we assume that the noun prefix is Indeed toneless in underlying structure, then it will be necessary to assign it a Low tone in the post-Low environment (which, recall, includes the case where the noun is in phrase-initial position). When the prefix is preceded by a word ending in a Low tone, it would be possible to claim that the prefix is 'picking up' its Low from the previous word. But when the prefix is not preceded by anything at all, it would not be possible to claim that the prefix is assimilating the tone of the preceding word. We are left, then, with the necessity of simply positing a rule that says that a toneless vowel is assigned a Low tone. This rule would, of course, be ordered after the High Tone Spread rule (otherwise prefixes in the post-High environment would incorrectly be assigned a Low tone that would block the spread of the previous word's High onto the first stem vowel). Such a rule would, of course. In essence be the same as a default rule that says that any unspecified vowel is automatically Low-toned. But it would be a default rule embedded in an approach that is inconsistent with the underspecification approach. We believe that the essential aspect of the solution sketched above is correct—namely, that the noun class prefix in mu-tuka and mu-rathu is toneless at the point where High Tone Spread operates. It Is because the prefix is toneless that the High of the preceding word can spread onto the first stem vowel. However, we will contend that the prefix is not underlyingly toneless in contrast with Low-toned stem

The TontAogy of the Simple Noun

24

vowels. Rather, we believe that the prefix and Low-toned stem vowels are in fact to be treated exactly alike In underlying structure (I.e. they are either Low-toned, given fully specified underlying representations, or they are toneless and assigned their Low tone by a default rule, given underspeclflcation theory). The prefix Low comes to be toneless, we suggest, by a rule that simply deletes a Low at the beginning of a word if that word is preceded by a High tone. Call this rule Low-Deletion (=LD). It can be formulated as in (13).

(13)

L-»07H##

As long as Low-Deletion is ordered before High Tone Spread, we will derive the correct post-High pronunciations for mu-tuka and mu-rathu. (14)

H L L L

H L L H

V mu-tuka

V mu-rathu

H

H

L L

L

H

V mu-tnka

v mu-rathu

H

H

L L

V nJu^Wika

L

LD

H

V mu^rlthu

HTS (twice)

Notice that this approach, which assumes that Low-Deletion is responsible for noun prefixes becoming toneless in the post-High environment, would be compatible with an underspeclflcation approach provided that all toneless vowels are assigned their Low tones prior to the application of Low-Deletion. In other words, the first line of the derivations In (14) would Itself be the output of the default rule applying to the representations given earlier as (7). Since Low-Deletion and High Tone Spread are obviously rules that operate at the phrasal level, it is perhaps only to be expected that the default rule making unspecified vowels Low-toned would apply earlier.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

25

If we accept the Low-Deletion analysis, as opposed to the analysis whereby prefixes are underlylngly toneless in contrast to Low-toned stem vowels, then there will be no need to posit any special rule making the noun prefixes Low-toned In the post-Low environment. The fact that they are Low-toned In this environment is Just a reflex of their underlying structure. At this point in the exposition, we cannot demonstrate that Low-Deletion is to be preferred over positing toneless prefixes underlylngly In contrast with Low-toned stem vowels. The crucial data showing Low-Deletion to be correct will arise In conjunction with the prefbdess nouns discussed in 2.2 below. We will simply assume the correctness of the Low-Deletion analysis in the meantime. There is one aspect to the post-High pronunciation mu-rathu that we have so far ignored. In Venda: Tonal Structure and Intonation (1962). E.O.J. Westphal recognized that it was "unnecessary to consider more than two categories of tone (specifically. High and Low: FC] In Venda despite the fact there Is a very great variety of tone levels and a most complex system of tone Intervals In the language" (pp. 52-53). The cause of this "great variety of tone levels" and this "complex system of tone intervals" Is the phenomenon that Westphal refers to as "tone-stepping"; he describes the tone-stepping as follows: "when a low tone Intervenes between two high tones the second high tone, i.e. the one Immediately following the low tone, has a tone step (down: FC)...The same type of stepping occurs after a falling tone" (p. 56). Westphal labels this sort of stepping as "mechanical". In the general literature on tone, such mechanical tone-stepping is usually referred to as downdnft Downdrlft Is a phenomenon found In many languages (especially of Africa) whereby one or more successive High-toned elements are pronounced at a somewhat lower level of pitch than a preceding High-toned element If one or more Low-toned elements Intervene. Schematically, given a sequence like the following. Hn a

Ln

Hn

L n H' be

26

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

where H"=one or more High tones and Ln=one or more Low tones, the High tone(s) labelled (b) will be pronounced at a somewhat lower pitch level than those labelled (a), and the High tone(s) labelled (c) will be pronounced at a somewhat lower pitch level than those labelled (b). In the case of the postHigh pronunciation mft-rathfi, the High tone on the last vowel of the noun stem Is realized at a somewhat lower pitch level than the High tone associated with the noun class prefix and the first stem vowel. This lowering of the pitch level of the final stem vowel is the consequence of the principle of Downdrift operating In Venda. The Low part of the HL sequence on the penult vowel is responsible for the downdrifting of the final stem High. Throughout this thesis we will not specifically Indicate the effects of downdrift in these "mechanical" cases, nor will we Include Downdrift and Its application when we give derivations. We have now completed our account of the post-High pronunciation of disyllabic noun stems that begin with a Low tone (mu-tuka and mu-rathu). Before proceeding to look in detail at the post-High pronunciation of disyllabic noun stems that begin with a High, It Is necessary to note that we have so far silently glossed over one important point with respect to High Tone Spread. It Is clear that a High tone located at the end of one word spreads onto vowels In the next word. But what about High tones Internal to a word? Can such High tones spread onto a following vowel In the same word? At first glance, an example such as mu-s61wa would seem to suggest that High Tone Spread should be restricted to phrasal contexts. Otherwise, we would expect mu-s61wa to appear as *mu-s61wft. When we examine trisyllabic noun stems later in this section, we will find good reason to assume that High Tone Spread does indeed spread word-lntemal High tones onto following (Low-toned) vowels. Thus we cannot explain the occurrence of mu-silwa Instead of *mu-s61wa In terms of a restriction to the effect that High Tone Spread is triggered only by word-final High tones. Two approaches to the problem posed by mu-s61wa suggest themselves. The first solution would be to restrict High

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

27

Tone Spread so that it cannot spread a High tone to a word-final vowel. The second solution would be to allow High Tone Spread to apply generally (i.e. to let it spread a High onto any vowel), but then posit a subsequent rule that would simplify the resulting HL contour tone. Later, when we examine nouns in non-phrase final position, we will find that High tones can spread onto word-final vowels. In other words, it is only phrase-final vowels that do not phonetically reflect the results of the spreading of a High tone. It seems reasonable, therefore, to assume that a High tone spreads unconditionally to the right, but that a special rule disassociates the High of a HL sequence linked to a phrase-final vowel. This rule, call it Final Simplification (=FS). can be formulated as in (15). (15)

H L

V x

H L %

—»

V x

%

(% = e n d o f

phrase)

Given Final Simplification, then, a word like mu-s61wa will undergo the following derivation: (16)

L

H

1

L

I, I

mu-selwa inapplicable L

H

L

mu-selwa L

H

LD

HTS

L

1 L I mu-selwa

FS

At this point we can also suggest the final form that High Tone Spread will take. It is a rule (applied iteratively from left-to-right) that spreads a High anchored to one tone- bearing unit onto the immediately following tone-bearing unit (provided

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

28

that It does not cross an association line). We assume that the rule does not specify whether the TBU receiving the spreading High is itself toneless or linked to a tone. When the High spreads onto a toneless TBU, the result is a High-toned TBU. When the High spreads onto a Low TBU, the result is a Falling-toned TBU. When the High spreads onto a High TBU, there is in fact no change in pronunciation—two Highs associated with a single TBU is phonetically indistinguishable from one High. Since spreading a High onto a TBU already specified as High has no phonetic consequence, in the examples we will not Indicate this vacuous application of High Tone Spread. One could, of course, prevent vacuous High Tone Spreading onto High-toned TBU's by specifying that a High spreads only onto toneless or Low-toned TBU's. But since this represents an unnecessary complication in the formulation of High Tone Spread, we will keep the more general formulation of High Tone Spread shown in (17).

(17)

H

1

x

H x

'\

—> x

x

(iterative,

right-to-left)

So far we have limited our attention Just to the post-High pronunciations of disyllabic noun stems whose first vowel is underlylngly Low-toned (mu-tuka, mu-ratliu). The pronunciation In post-High position of disyllabic noun stems whose first vowel Is underlylngly High-toned (mu-sadzi, mu-sglwa) still remains to be accounted for. The analysis we have developed so far predicts the following derivations: (18)

H L H H

H L H L

I I I I

I I I I

V mu-sadzi H H H

V mu-selwa H H L

I V mu-sadzi

I

I

I

V mu-selwa

LD

The Tonology of the Simple Noun H

H

H

V mu-sadzi

H

H

29 L

V mu-selwa

HTS

If we compare (18) with the correct pronunciation of'woman' and 'bride' in the post-High environment—mu-sSdzl and mu-seiwa, we see that the proposed analysis goes astray in that it falls to yield a Low tone on the final vowel of 'woman' and fails to yield a Falling tone on the penult vowel in both words. There is one fact about mu-sadzi and mu-selwa (whose post-High pronunciation is not yet correctly accounted for by our analysis) that serves to distinguish them from mu-tuka and mu-rathu (whose post-High pronunciation is correctly accounted for by our analysis)—namely, the first stem vowel is underlylngly High in the former case and Low in the latter case. But when we examine the post-High pronunciation of mu-sadzi and mu-s61wa we see that their first stem vowel has a Falling tone. So far we have seen that Falling tones are always the consequence of a High tone spreading onto a Low-toned TBU. In other words, in the post-High environment mu-sadzi and mu-sdlwa behave as though they have a Low tone on their first vowel rather than the High tone that they must be assumed to have underlylngly. This suggests, then, that there is a rule in Venda that changes a High tone to a Low tone. Since this change takes place only In the post-High position, it Is reasonable to assume that the conditioning factor governing the change of a High tone to a Low tone is a preceding High tone. (19) provides a formulation of the rule we are suggesting: (19)

H->L/H

Students of Bantu tonology will immediately recognize the rule given In (19)—it has come to be known In the literature as Meeussen's Rule (after the Belgian linguist whose contributions to Bantu tonal studies and Bantu linguistics in general was so enormous). Meeussen's Rule, whereby HH

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

30

sequences are replaced by HL sequences, has been shown to be operative in a number of Bantu languages (cf. Cheng and Kisseberth (1979, 1980); Goldsmith (1984a,b); Kisseberth (1984)). If we assume Meeussen's Rule (=MR) is operative in Venda, then the derivation of the post-High pronunciation of mu-s61wa is immediately accounted for. (20) shows the derivation: (20)

H L

H L

1 LII V mu-selwa H

H

L

V mu-selwa H

L

I

II

LD

L

V mu-selwa V mu-selwa

MR HTS

Notice that the derivation in (20) provides some evidence In favor of our earlier claim that the noun class prefix in the post-High environment is toneless (at the point where High Tone Spread applies). If Meeussen's Rule Is to be stated as a rule that converts a HH sequence to HL, then in order for Meeussen's Rule to apply in the derivation in (20), there must not be any Low tone in the tonal tier between the H of the preceding word and the High tone on the first stem vowel of mu-s61wa. Thus we must assume that the noun class prefix is toneless at the point where Meeussen's Rule applies—a proposition that is entirely in keeping with the claim that the noun class prefix is toneless at the point where High Tone Spread applies. If we were to assume that the noun class prefix's Low tone is still present in the tonal tier when Meeussen's Rule applies, it would be necessary to somehow reformulate Meeussen's Rule so that it can apply to a sequence

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

31

HLH. We will see later that HLH sequences are common in Venda and that they do not change to HLL--in other words, Meeussen's Rule can be shown to be a rule that operates on HH sequences and not on HLH sequences. We conclude that the ability of Meeussen's Rule to apply to the first stem vowel in mu-s61wa constitutes support for the claim that the noun class prefix is toneless (at the point where Meeussen's Rule and High Tone Spread apply). The ordering of the rules in (20) is in part crucial. Low-Deletion must precede Meeussen's Rule, since Low-Deletion brings the High of the noun stem into position after a High tone. We assume that Meeussen's Rule precedes High Tone Spread. This ordering would clearly be crucial If High Tone Spread had been formulated so as to spread a High only onto toneless and Low-toned TBU's. But since we formulated High Tone Spread more generally, allowing it to spread a High onto a High-toned TBU, It would be possible to have a derivation like that In (21): (21)

H

I

L

H

L

I I

V mu-selwa H

H

L

V mu-selwa

LD

V mU^>el

There are two somewhat problematic aspects to this derivation. First, it crucially assumes that High Tone Spread will spread a High vacuously onto a High-toned TBU. While we have adopted such a formulation of High Tone Spread, there is in fact no direct evidence that such vacuous spreading

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

32

should be posited. We have allowed vacuous spreadingjust in the Interest of letting High Tone Spread be formulated in a maximally general fashion. The second problematic aspect to (20) Is that it crucially requires that after High Tone Spread has derived a representation where two separate consecutive High tones are associated with the same vowel, this representation must be maintained until Meeussen's Rule has a chance to change the second High to Low. But it has sometimes been proposed that a representation where two consecutive identical tones are associated with the same vowel Is automatically converted into a representation where there is only one tone associated with that vowel. If High Tone Spread Is to precede Meeussen's Rule, such a convention must either be abandoned or reformulated so that It does not apply in cases like the above. (For example, the convention might be reformulated so as to reduce two consecutive identical tones linked to a single vowel to one tone Just In case neither tone is also linked to another vowel.) Since the derivation In (19) produces the correct results unproblematically, in the rest of the thesis we will simply assume that Meeussen's Rule does Indeed precede High Tone Spread. By positing Meeussen's Rule in Venda, we have succeeded in accounting for the post-High pronunciation of mu-s61wa. Let us turn now to a consideration of mu-sadzi. Recall that Initially we suggested that the underlying structure of this noun might be:

L

H

H

f

I, I mu-sadzi But notice that If this underlying structure Is assumed, we must somehow prevent Meeussen's Rule from applying to the second High In the noun stem. One might, for example, explain the Inapplicability of Meeussen's Rule to mu-sadzi in terms of the fact that the two High tones in this word are In what Is referred to as a non-derived environment (where a derived environment is one where the structural description of

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

33

a phonological rule Is satisfied as a result of the Juxtaposition of morphemes or as a result of the application of some other phonological rule). It has been suggested (Kiparsky 1973) that certain types of rules are restricted so that they may not apply in non-derived environments. If Meeussen's Rule Is such a rule, then there would be an explanation for why mu-sadzi escapes conversion to *mu-sadzi via the application of Meeussen's Rule. But while a representation such as L

H H

mu-sadzi

could perhaps be made to escape Meeussen's Rule through some appeal to the notion of derived environments, the fact remains that this representation does not In any straightforward way predict the post-High pronunciation of mu-sadzi. So far the following Incorrect derivation Is predicted: (22)

H

L

H

III'

H

V mu-sadzi

V mu-sadzi H

L

LD

H

V mu-sadzi

MR

inapplicable

FS

In the output of Low-Deletion in (22) we have a sequence of three High tones. If Meeussen's Rule were an iterative rule

34

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

working left-to-right (the way that High Tone Spread does), we clearly predict that the first High of the stem would lower but not the second. And if Meeussen's Rule were an iterative rule working from iight-to-left, we still predict that the first stem High would change to Low. Why? Because the second stem High would be immune from Meeussen's Rule for the same reason that it is immune In the isolation form mu-sadzi (e.g. because of being in a non-derived environment). Although the second stem High falls to undergo Meeussen's Rule, the first stem High will be susceptible since it stands after a High tone in a derived environment. Even If Meeussen's Rule is regarded as a non-iterative rule, the only vowel that meets the structural description of the rule is the first stem vowel. To salvage the situation, we would have to revise Meeussen's Rule as follows: (23)

H* -» L / H (where H* = maximal number of consecutive Highs)

(23) says that any number of consecutive High tones will all become Low after a High tone. If Meeussen's Rule is formulated in this fashion, then in the case under discussion, both of the stem vowels in mu-sadzi will lower in the post-High environment although the second High tone of mu-s&dzi will not Lower in the post-Low environment. This would be true because in the post-High environment both of the High tones in the stem would be part of a H* sequence preceded by another High (In a derived environment). Thus (23) would lower both. In the post-Low environment only the second stem High would be preceded by a High and these two High tones are in a non-derived environment. While the revised form of Meeussen's Rule given as (23) will enable us to derive the post-High pronunciation of mu-s&dzi, it is not without Its problematic aspects. First, (23) is a rule that operates on a group of (auto)segments and changes the value of each of these (auto)segments under the Influence of a preceding (auto)segment: the question naturally arises as to whether such an operation is well-motivated. The

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

35

phonological literature does not contain much In the way of evidence in favor of such rule types, whereas there is considerable evidence for rules that iterate from one end of a sequence of (auto)segments to the other end. If it turns out that rules like (23). which change sequences of autosegments as a group rather than iteratlvely, are not clearly motivated in the languages of the world, then it would be desirable to constrain the theory of phonology so that such rules cannot be formulated. If phonological theory is so constrained, we would need to seek another solution to the problem of accounting for the post-High form of mu-sadzi. A second problematic aspect to (23) Is whether in fact it will turn out to be consistent with a wider range of Venda data. (23) claims that in a sequence of three or more High tones (in a derived environment), all but the first High tone will be lowered. The only support for this so far would be the observation that both of the High tones in the stem of mu-sadzi lower when a High precedes. It would, however, be crucial to know what happens when a sequence of three (or more) High tones arise as a consequence of Juxtaposing three (or) more morphemes each of which contributes one of the High tones in the sequence. (23) claims that only the first High in the sequence would remain. If, however, an alternating pattern should arise (i.e. HHH -> HLH. HHHH -> HLHL, HHHHH -> HLHLH, etc.), then (23) would fall to account for the data and a left-to-right iterative application of the original form of Meeussen's Rule would be motivated. Data possibly bearing on this issue are dealt with later in the thesis, and they suggest that an "alternating" pattern may actually obtain (i.e. HHH is converted to HLH not HLL). It Is, perhaps of interest to note that in the Karanga dialect of Shona, which we have noted already is tonally clearly related to Venda, there is an analog of Meeussen's Rule which can be shown to operate in an alternating fashion as well. There are sufficient questions about the formulation of Meeussen's Rule given in (23) to Justify reconsidering the whole issue of the underlying representation of words like mu-sadzi. Recall that one of the basic propositions of autosegmental phonology is that one-to-many and

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

36

many-to-one mappings between the tonal tier and the CV-tier are as valid as one-to-one mappings. This being so, it is not by any means necessary that the representation of mu-sadzi be one where there is a High tone associated with each of the vowels of the noun stem. It is just as plausible that the representation be one where there is a single High tone associated with both of the vowels of the stem: L

H

mu-sadzi

If we were to assume such an underlying representation, then there would be no problem at all as to why the second vowel in mu-sadzi does not undergo Meeussen's Rule in the post-Low environment. Meeussen's Rule affects a sequence of two High tones in the tonal tier—but there would only be one High tone In the case of (post-Low) mu-sadzi. An underlying representation where there is just one High tone associated with the two stem vowels In mu-sadzi would also explain in a very simple fashion why both stem vowels lower in the post-High environment. The derivation in (24) shows how the correct surface shape will be produced. (24)

H

L

H

I I /\ V mu-sadzi H

I

H

/\

V mu-sadzi H

I

/\

V mu-sadzi H

LD

L MR

L

V mu-sadzi inapplicable

HTS FS

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

37

Both vowels of the noun stem In mu-sadzi will change to Low in the post-High environment since both of these vowels are associated with a single High tone that is subject to Meeussen's Rule in the case where a word precedes that ends in a High tone. We believe that the assumption that nouns like mu-sadzi have a single, multiply-linked High tone is the most straightforward way of explaining the tonal behavior of such words. In the remainder of this thesis we will assume such an analysis. It is perhaps of interest to note that a similar analysis of nouns In the Karanga dialect of Shona has been argued for in Odden (1981). We have already noted that Shona and Venda are tonally similar in many respects. A few additional comments about our analysis of nouns like mu-sadzi are in order. We assume that in all cases where there are successive (phonetic) High tones within the same morpheme, these phonetic tones are to be represented as a single High tone associated with successive vowels. In other words, we assume that a single morpheme may not have a sequence of two or more High tones in its tonal tier. The only cases where there may be two or more High tones associated with successive vowels is across morpheme or word boundaries. There will, then, be no underlying representations permitted in Venda of the form:

...n... Given the above analysis of mu-sadzi, it is natural to ask whether instances of successive Low-tones inside a noun stem are to be analyzed as a single Low tone associated with multiple vowels or whether each vowel has Its own Low tone. Later, when we discuss preflxless-nouns, we will demonstrate that Incorrect results would be produced if successive Low-toned vowels Inside a stem are represented as a multiply-linked, single Low tone. We will conclude, therefore, that each Low-toned vowel In a stem has its own Low tone. At first glance this assumption might seem counter-Intuitive. Why should successive High tones in a stem be represented as a

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

38

single, multiply-linked High whereas successive Low tones In a stem be analyzed as a series of singly- linked Low tones? Perhaps a certain plausibility to this difference is offered by underspeclfication theory. If only High tones are present In the underlying structure, whereas Low tones are simply assigned by a default rule to vowels that are not associated with High, then the asymmetry in the representation of High and Low tones correlates to their different sources (High tones are present In underlying structure, Low tones are generated by a default rule that specifies each unassociated vowel as Low-toned). We have now accounted for both the post-Low and post-High pronunciations of all the items in (3) — that is, disyllabic noun stems preceded by a (Low-toned) prefix. In addition to such disyllabic noun stems, Venda also has a few monosyUablc noun stems. There are Just two types of monosyllabic stems, which we illustrate In (25): (25)

mu-thu

'person'

mu-ri 'tree'

cf. in post-Low position: ndl-kho-u-vhona mu-thu ndi-amba mu-ri

'I see a person' 'I mean the tree'

Clearly, 'person' has a Low stem vowel and 'tree' has a High stem vowel. That there are j u s t two tonal types of monosyllabic noun stems is, of course. Just what we would expect if (a) Venda has two tones. High and Low, and (b) there is a constraint on (at least Venda nominal stems) that a vowel may be associated with at most one tone. When nouns like those in (25) are in the post-High context, we find the pronunciations shown In (26): (26)

mu-thu mu-ri cf.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun ndl-vhona mu-thu ndi-vhona mu-ri

39

'I see the person' 'I see the tree'

Notice that In the post-High environment, 'person' (a Low stem) and 'tree' (a High stem) merge tonologically on the surface: the stem In both cases Is pronounced Low, while the prefix is realized as High. We, of course, already have a potential explanation for this merger of High and Low monosyllabic stems—namely, Meeussen's Rule, which has the effect of changing a High to a Low and thus could conceivably account for the merger of two stems whose only difference is that one is Low and the other High. In fact, the analysis that we have developed so far accounts for the data in (26) without any difficulties whatsoever. The derivations In (27) illustrates. (27)

H

L

L

1 1 1

H L H 1 1 1 V mu- 1

V mu-thu H L 1 |

H 1

1 1 1

1

, 1

1 1 1

-ri H 1

1

V mu-thu H L I 1

V mu-• r i H 1

1

1

I

\

•ri

V mu-thu H L

V muH L

V mu-tliu

v mu-• r i

LD

MR

HTS

FS

These derivations In (27) are interesting In that not only do they show that the analysis we have developed generalizes effortlessly from disyllabic stems to monosyllabic stems, but in that they provide some independent support for postulating a rule of Final Simplification (or, alternatively, a limitation on

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

40

High Tone Spread that would bar it from spreading onto a phrase-final vowel). Recall that up to this point our only motivation for Final Simplification was the observation that the High tone in mu-selwa does not show up associated with the last vowel. But one interpretation of the failure of the high tone in mu-selwa to spread to the final vowel would be that a word-internal High tone does not spread (or that a High does not spread onto another vowel in the same morpheme). Later we will have evidence that such a limitation on High Tone Spread cannot be maintained. But the derivations in (27) also demonstrate that even if such a limitation on High Tone Spread could be invoked, we would still need Final Simplification (or alternatively a constraint that bars spreading onto a phrase-final vowel). For in (27) it is a High tone at the end of the preceding word that fails to show up on the final vowel of the noun (rather than a High tone that originates in the same word as the final vowel—cf. mu-selwa). Let us now turn to prefixed nouns whose stems have three tone-bearing units. The possible post-Low forms of such nouns are shown below: (28)

mu-kalaha mu-kegulu mu-duhulu mu-tukana mu-lamboni mu-tannga tshi-vhavhala madingwane

'old man' 'old woman' 'grandchild' 'boy' 'at the river' young man' "wild beast' (personal name)

The underlying representations for the items other than tshi-vhavh&la and madingwane are unproblematic (given the analysis we have developed so far). (29)

L

L L L

mu-kalaha

L

H

mu-kegulu

The Tonology of the Simple Noun L

H

L

mu-duhulu

L 1

1

41

L L H I I I

Ml

H L

mu-tukana L L H

• J J '•

mu-t_annga

L

L

I l/\

mu-lamboni

In the post-Low environment, no rules will be applicable in the case of mu-kalaha, mu-kegulu, mu-tukana, and mu-tannga. High Tone Spread and Final Simplification will be applicable to mu-duhulu and mu-lamb6ni, but since Final Simplification merely undoes the change specified by High Tone Spread in this case, the consequence is that the surface form is the same as the underlying form. The items tshi-vhavhala and madingwane exhibit a Falling tone on their penult vowel. The analysis of Venda nouns that we have been developing has been based on the assumption that there are two tones. High and Low, and that there may be at most one tone associated (underlyingly) with a given stem TBU. tshi-vhavhala and madingwane represent the first cases we have encountered where a Falling tone occurs in the post-Low pronunciation of a noun, but they obviously do not provide In any way a serious counterexample to the analysis we have developed. All that we need to assume is the underlying representations and derivations given In (30): (30)

L

H L H

I

III

tshi-vhavhala

LH

LL

I I

I|

madingwane

inapplicable inapplicable L

H L H

tshi-vhavhala inapplicable

LD MR LH

LL

madingwane

HTS FS

Notice that the preceding analysis of tshi-vhavhala and madingwane. which permits u s to retain the constraint that

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

42

noun stems have at most one tone associated with each TBU in underlying structure, depends on allowing all High tones to spread to the right, not Just High tones located at the end of a word. The analysis also requires us to permit a High tone to spread onto a vowel that originated in the same morpheme as the High tone. tshi-vhAvhfiM and madingwfine thus represent crucial evidence that High Tone Spread should be formulated as a general rule triggered by any High tone, regardless of the location of that High tone (of course, when the High tone is located on the final vowel of the phrase, there will be no vowel to the right for the High to spread onto). At this point we can turn to the matter of the post-High pronunciations of items such as those in (28): (31)

mu-kalaha mu-kegulu mu-duhulu mu-tukana mu-lamb!6ni mu-ta!nnga tshi-vhavhala madingwane

(The significance of the ! will be explained below.) Examination of the data in (31) quickly reveals that the preceding High tone has spread, as expected, onto the noun. Furthermore, the High spreads onto the first two vowels of the noun (the prefix and the first stem vowel)~agaln, as expected, given that the preflxal Low will have been lost as a consequence of being preceded by a word ending in a High tone. But It is at this point that we observe a difference between these trisyllabic stems and the disyllabic stems investigated earlier. In the case of the disyllabic stems, the High spreads onto the second vowel of the noun (the first stem vowel) and forms a Falling tone. But In the case of the trisyllabic nouns, we see that the second vowel of the noun (the first stem vowel) appears with a level High tone and not a Falling tone.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

43

Consider, for example, the case of mu-kalaha (post-High pronunciation: mti-kalaha). Our analysis predicts the following derivation: (32)

H L

L LL

I I I LI V mu-kalaha

.r.r

H

L L

I

II.

V mu-kalaha

LD

inapplicable

MR

H

L L L

V mu-kalaha

HTS

FS We see inapplicable that the analysis provides an essentially appropriate derivation except that It ends up with a Falling tone on the antepenult vowel rather than the necessary level High tone. Clearly, the correct result can be obtained if we posit an additional rule that takes the Falling tone generated by High Tone Spread and simplifies it to High. What would the context for this decontourlng operation be? An answer is immediately suggested by the observation that Falling tones in Venda are restricted to the penult vowel of the phrase. There are no pre-penult TBU's that bear a Falling tone (and—as a consequence of Final Simplification—there are no phrase-final Falling tones either). We can thus identify the TBU's that undergo decontourlng as TBU's that are followed by at least two other TBU's In the phrase. We will refer to this decontourlng operation as Contour Simplification. There are two general strategies that Contour Simplification might follow to derive a level High tone from a Falling tone. These two strategies are shown as (33a) and (33b).

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

44 (33)

a. simplification by deletion L -»0/ H x xx

(where x=TBU)

b. simplification by delinking HL

\/

X X X

HL >

1/

X X X

In (33a), the Low part of a High-Low sequence associated with a pre-penult TBU is deleted, leaving that pre-penult TBU associated uniquely with a High tone. In (33b), the Low part of a High-Low sequence associated with a pre-penult TBU is delinked from that TBU, leaving the TBU in question uniquely associated with a High tone but also leaving the Low tone in the tonal tier (In contrast with (33a) where the Low tone is eliminated). While both of these approaches are possible ones within the autosegmental framework (since that framework permits rules that add, delete, or change autosegments as well as rules that add or delete association lines), we shall demonstrate shortly that (33b), the delinking approach, provides a better explanation of Venda tonology. Assuming, then, a rule of Contour Simplification (=CS) ordered after High Tone Spread (since the latter rule creates the contour tones that the former rule simplifies), the derivation in (32) will be successfully completed to yield mti-kalaha. The rule of Contour Simplification does not have to be ordered with respect to Final Simplification since they apply In mutually exclusive environments—Contour Simplification affects pre-penult vowels, Final Simplification affects (phrase) final vowels. At this point It should be noted that the fact that Falling tones occur only on penult vowels is doubtless connected to the fact that in Venda, while there is no long/short vowel contrast, the penult vowel in a phrase is

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

45

regularly lengthened. Thus If the rule lengthening penult vowels Is ordered before the decontouring rules, we could reformulate Contour Simplification and Final Simplification to say that a contour tone is simplified If it Is associated with a short vowel. But since we still have to distinguish between the pre-penult case (where the vowel is delinked from the Low part of the HL contour) and the final case (where the vowel is delinked from the High of the HL contour), it turns out that reference to short vowels cannot eliminate entirely the need to make some reference to position in the phrase in the statement of the decontouring processes. If one did introduce vowel length before the decontouring principles, then some simplification of the formulation of one of the rules would be possible. For example, if one ordered Contour Simplification before Final Simplification, then one could simplify the formulation of the latter rule. (34)

Contour Simplification HL \/ X

X

X

(N.B. Although one could specify the contour tone as being on a short vowel, such a specification is redundant here given that reference to pre-penult position is required in any case.)

Final Simplification HL \/ x [-long] Final Simplification would affect all the contour tones on short vowels not subject to Contour Simplification—In other words.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

46

contour tones on final vowels. Alternatively, one could order Final Simplification before Contour Simplification and simplify the statement of Contour Simplification accordingly: (35)

Final Simplification

x %

(where %=end of phrase) (N.B. Again, the TBU could be specified as short, but such a specification would be redundant given that reference must in any case be made to phrase-final position.)

Contour Simplification HL \ / x [-long] In this approach. Final Simplification would simplify all phrase-final vowels bearing a contour tone, and then Contour Simplification would simplify all the remaining contour tones on short vowels (namely, those associated with pre-penult vowels). Bringing vowel length Into the picture provides, then, only a marginal simplification of the rules—and to achieve this marginal simplification it Is necessary to Introduce two ordering statements (one specifying that penult lengthening precedes whichever decontourlng rule is ordered first and a second specifying the ordering of the decontourlng rules). We see no particular reason, then, for altering our original formulations of Contour Simplification and Final Simplification (which required no ordering between these two rules).

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

47

We can now return to a consideration of the data in (31). Having accounted for the alternation between mu-kalaha and mu-kalaha, let u s turn now to the case mu-kegulu (post-Low) versus mu-kdgulu (post-High). The analysis we have developed will correctly derive the post-High pronunciation, as shown in (36). (36)

H L

H

I I/K V mu-kegulu H

H

V mu-kegulu H

LD

L

I

A\

V mu-kegulu H

MR

L

V mu^cegulu H

HTS

L

V mu^?egulu

CS

The case of mu-duhulu inapplicable FS (post-Low) versus mu-duhulu (post-High) is entirely parallel to the case of mu-k6gulu versus mu-kegulu, the only difference being that the last stem vowel is underlylngly associated with a High in the latter case but with a Low in the former case. (37)

H

L

H L

I I A I V mu-duhulu H

H L

I

AI

V mu-duhulu

LD

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

48 L

H

L

V mu-dvihulu H

L

MR

L

V mu-duhulu H

L

^

HTS

L

\ I

V mU-duhulu

CS

inapplicable

FS

The contrast between mu-tukana (post-Low) and mu-tukana (post-High) is readily accounted for by the proposed analysis, as (38) demonstrates. (38)

H

L

L L H

I I I II V mu-tukana H

L L H

V mu-tukana

LD MR

inapplicable H L L H V mu-tukana H

HTS

L L H

V mu-cukana

CS

inapplicable

FS

The reader should perhaps be reminded that an item such as mti-tlikana, where a Low (or series of Lows) intervenes between two (series of) Highs, the principle of Downdrift will be operative. The High tone on the last stem vowel of mti-ttikana Is not as high phonetically as the Highs on the prefix and first stem vowel.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

49

Continuing with our survey of the data in (31), we consider next the alternation exhibited by tshi-vhivhalA (post-Low) and tshi-vhavhala (post-High). This alternation, at first glance, looks quite mysterious. Why should the Falling tone on the penult vowel In the post-Low environment be replaced by a level Low tone In the post-High environment given that In both cases the preceding vowel Is High-toned? It is certainly no small virtue of the analysis we have developed that it explains this mysterious alternation effortlessly. The Falling tone on the penult vowel in the post-Low form has already been explained as arising simply from the application of High Tone Spread (the stem has an underlying HLH shape, and the first H spreads onto the penult vowel, which is associated underlyingly with the L). The derivation of the post-High form Is shown in (39). (39)

H

L

H LH

I

I

I |I

V tshi-vhavhala H H L H

I

I

I

I

V tshi-vhavhala H L L H

1

LD

['I

V tshi-vhavhala

MR

inapplicable

FS

The first stem vowel here has a H associated with it underlyingly, but this H is subject to Meeussen's Rule in the post-High context (once Low-Deletion has operated) and is thus converted to Low. Since the first stem vowel is associated with a Low, the preceding High will be able to spread onto the

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

50

prefix and onto the first stem vowel, but no further. Ultimately, the Contour Simplification rule will disassociate the first stem vowel from its Low, leaving that vowel with a level High tone. The account of the alternation between madingwane (post-Low) and ma-dingwane (post-High) is entirely parallel, except that this word has a Low associated with the final stem vowel rather than a High, like tshi-vhavh&la. (40)

H

L H

L L

I II I| V madingwane H H L L

J

!M

V madingwane H

I

L

LD

L L

!M

v madingwane

MR

inapplicable

FS

We have now explained all but two of the post-High pronunciations cited in (31). The alternations that remain to be accounted for are mu-lambdnl (post-Low) versus mu-lambl6nl (post-High) and mu-tannga (post-Low) versus mfi-talnnga (post-High). In fact, our analysis will account for these data without any additions whatsoever, but before we can see that this is so, we must comment on the notion downstep (Indicated In the preceding transcriptions by the symbol"!"). Although the principle of downdrift accounts in large part for the complex surface realization of the underlying two tones of Venda as a "great variety of tone levels" organized into a "complex system of tone intervals", Westphal In his study of

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

51

Venda tonology recognized that there are many cases of "tone-stepping" which are not clearly of the "mechanical" sort covered by the notion of downdrift. Concerning these instances of non-mechanical tone-stepping, Westphal writes: "these other cases have not yet been sufficiently investigated and it still remains to be seen whether they are not in fact variations of the mechanical step" (p. 56). In the general literature on tone, such cases of non-mechanical tone-stepping are usually labelled as downstep. Downstep refers, then, to a situation where one or more elements that can, on independent grounds, be identified as High-toned are pronounced at a somewhat lower pitch level than an immediately preceding High-toned element. In effect, it is as though a Low tone were present at the point where downstep occurs, but no such Low tone is actually pronounced. The post-High pronunciations mti-lamb!6nl and mti-ta!iinga exhibit downstep between their antepenult TBU and their penult TBU. The issue that Westphal raises but leaves unresolved is whether in Venda all cases of downstep can at some level be seen to be "variations" of downdrift. (Westphal does not make explicit what is meant by "variation", but presumably the issue being raised is whether downstep in Venda is in some sense essentially the same thing as downdrift.) In the course of this thesis we will examine a variety of instances of downstep in Venda, and in each case we will argue that the theory of autosegmental phonology permits us to arrive at an insightful, well-motivated analysis where downstep is indeed Just downdrift. Within an autosegmental theory of phonology, one possible treatment of downstep (at least in a language that also has downdrift) is to claim that there is indeed a Low tone present in the tonal tier at the point where the downstep occurs, but that this Low tone is not associated with any tone-bearing unit. We will argue that Venda provides strong support for such a treatment of downstep. Let u s look now at the derivations that our analysis predicts for m(i-lamb!6ni and mti-talnnga.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

52 (41)

H

L

L

H L

I 1,1 J V mu-lamboni H L

I

n

I .

H

L

L

H

i i iA

V mu-t_annga

I

\A

V mu-lamboni inapplicable

V mu-t_annga

H

WA

L

H L

V mu-lamboni

LD MR

HTS

V mu-t_annga H

L

H L

N

V mu-lambc

V mu-Cartnga

CS

inapplicable

FS

soni H

L

H

it

V mu-lamboni

Notice that In both of these examples, the first stem vowel Is associated underlyingly with a Low tone while the second stem vowel Is associated with a High. After the application of High Tone Spread, the first stem vowel Is associated both with a High and a Low. Contour Simplification leaves that first stem vowel associated j u s t with a High, the Low having been delinked from the first stem vowel. We have then a situation where both the first and second stem vowels are associated with (separate) High tones, with an unassociated Low tone in between. If we assume that in Venda the principle of Downdrift operates In terms of the tonal tier (without respect to whether these tones are associated to the CV-tier), and If we assume that the tonal representation at the end of (41) is the input to Downdrift, then that principle will automatically specify the second High in the representation (the one linked to the second stem vowel) as being somewhat lower In pitch than the first High (which extends as far as the first stem vowel) since there Is a Low tone in between these Highs. That Low tone is unassociated with any tone-bearing unit, and thus has no

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

53

direct phonetic manifestation, but it is responsible for the occurrence of downstep at the Juncture between the first two stem vowels. Recall that earlier we observed that there were two ways In which Contour Simplification could be formulated so as to eliminate Falling tones on pre-penult TBU's: the first way was to delete the Low part of a HL sequence associated with a pre-penult TBU, the second way was to delink the Low. We now see why the second approach, delinking, is preferred. If we deleted the Low, we would have no explanation for the downstep that follows the first stem vowel in mti-lamb!6ni and mti-ta!nnga. By delinking the Low, we permit the Low to remain In the tonal tier and thus play a role in the operation of Downdrift. It would perhaps be possible to salvage a formulation of Contour Simplification Involving deletion of a Low rather than delinking if we ordered Downdrift before Contour Simplification. Assuming such an ordering, then the Low tone associated with the first stem vowel in these examples would induce downdrift prior to being eliminated by Contour Simplification. We have two main reasons for rejecting such a solution. First, we will demonstrate in our analysis of verbal tonology that there are other cases of downstep which seem to involve the presence of an unassociated Low (but an unassociated Low not arising from Contour Simplification). Thus we will claim that on independent grounds Downdiift must operate on representations containing unassociated Low tones. Second, we accept the view that the Downdrift principle does not represent an ordinary phonological process like Meeussen's Rule or Contour Simplification, but rather is perhaps best viewed as part of what has been labelled the phonetic implementation component of the grammar (cf. Pulleyblank 1983). If we adopt this view of Downdrift, then we have to reject an approach that ordered Downdrift among the phonological processes. In what follows, then, we will assume that Contour Simplification involves delinking of a Low and that this Low manifests Itself in triggering downstep in mfi-lamb!6ni and mfi-ta!nnga. The ability of our proposed analysis to account

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

54

in a simple and elegant way for the occurrence of downstep in the above two examples (without invoking any new rules designed Just for these words) both lends support to that analysis and also lends support to the proposal that (in some cases at least) downstep is best represented in terms of an unassociated Low occurring in the tonal tier at the point where downstep occurs. The rule of Contour Simplification was motivated quite independently of the phenomenon of downstep (being required to explain why pre-penult vowels that would be expected to have a Falling tone have instead a level High tone), but can adequately explain these examples of downstep as well. We have now constructed an analysis of Venda tonology which will account for both the post-Low and post-High pronunciations of monosyllabic, disyllabic, and tri-syllabic noun stems when they are preceded by a prefix. We do not presently have data on longer (prefixed) noun stems. However, in addition to such prefixed noun stems, Venda has a large number of noun stems which can occur without an overt prefix in front of them. It is to these prefixless nouns that we turn now. 2.2. Prefixless nouns. We consider first stems with two TBU's. There are four possible tonal shapes for such stems in the post-Low context, as shown below: (42)

bofu tholi thuku ndemwa

'blind person' 'spy' 'scoundrel' 'neglected, naughty child'

On the basis of the above post-Low pronunciations, the most natural account of these items (given our analysis of disyllabic prefixed noun stems) would be to assign these words the following tonal shapes (whether underlyingly, or subsequent to a default rule filling in the Lows): (43)

L L

H

L H

H L

II

/\

II

II

bofu

tholi

thuku

ndemwa

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

55

The only one of these items that would undergo any tonological rule in the post-Low environment would be nd£mwa, which would be subject to High Tone Spread and then Contour Simplification (the combined effect of which is simply to restore the underlying form). The post-High environment produces pronunciations such as those in (44): (44)

bofu tholi thtiku ndemwa

The alternations exhibited by th61i and ndfimwa present no particular complication, but they do serve to confirm one aspect of the analysis that we have so far developed. Examine the derivations our analysis predicts for the post-High forms thOli and ndemwa: (45)

H

H

N

J /

H

H

L

I

II

V ndemwa V tholi inapplicable H

L

I

H

L

L

/\

I I [

V tholi H L

V ndemwa

V _t f r o l i

V ndeemwa

inapplicable inapplicable

LD

MR

HTS CS FS

In our earlier discussion of Meeussen's Rule we claimed that the structural description of the rule refers to successive High tones. But in fact, in all the examples involving the prefixed nouns, underlyingly there was a Low-toned TBU (the noun class prefix) located between the High on the first stem

56

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

vowel and the High of the preceding word. We claimed that this Low tone Is deleted by a rule of Low-Deletion (a more complete justification for this rule will emerge in this section). Suppose that we had claimed that Instead of actually deleting, the initial Low of the noun just delinks, remaining in the tonal tier. Such an analysis would have required a reformulation of Meeussen's Rule, since It could then no longer be stated in terms of successive High tones. A possible line of revision would be that a High becomes Low if preceded by a sequence of a High and a Low. This rule Is given as (46): (46)

Hypothetical Meeussen's Rule H -» L / H L

Such a formulation of Meeussen's Rule would be problematic for a number of reasons. First, there is a question of why a High should become Low just after a Low that is in turn preceded by a High. Second, HLH sequences do occur In Venda. We have seen this sequence in a post-Low environment in the case of tshl-vhavhala. Perhaps this could be explained by saying that Meeussen's Rule does not apply in a non-derived environment (therefore a HLH sequence is possible when It is present underlyingly within the same morpheme). Or, alternatively, we could claim that the Low in the structural description of (46) must be an unassociated Low (since we are assuming that in the post-High pronunciations of nouns like mu-sadzi, mu-selwa, mu-kegtilu, etc., the stem High, which undergoes Meeussen's Rule, is preceded by a prefix Low which gets delinked in the post-High context). By requiring the Low In the structural description of (46) to be unassociated, we would exclude tshi-vhavhala from undergoing the rule since the Low on the penult vowel of this word is associated. But even If we patch things up so that tshi-vhavh&la Is excluded from (46), there are still problematic aspects to such a reformulation of Meeussen's Rule. In the analysis of Venda verbal tonology we will encounter cases of HLH sequences across morpheme boundaries (where the Low may in some cases be associated at the point where Meeussen's

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

57

Rule applies, or where It may be unassoclated) and Meeussen's Rule fails to apply. (46) will in these cases make the wrong predictions. In any case, the post-High pronunciations of prefixless nouns like thdli and ndemwa show clearly that Meeussen's Rule does operate on HH sequences. These nouns begin with a High tone and when they follow a word that ends In a High tone, we have two successive Highs, the second of which is changed to Low. Meeussen's Rule must be formulated so as to affect a HH sequence. If we were to try to cling to the reformulation of Meeussen's Rule in (46), it would be necessary to make the Low in the structural description optional: (47)

H -> L / H (L)

By simply assuming that the Initial Low of a noun deletes rather than disassociates, we can keep Meeussen's Rule in the simple form that examples like thdlf and nd£mwa suggest It has—namely, HH -> HL. And If we do this, all the cases where HLH sequences are maintained (In tshl-vhavhfila, In the verbal system) are no longer relevant. Let us turn now to the other post-High pronunciations in (44)—namely, those for bofu and thuku. In the post-Low environment these words are pronounced with an Initial Low tone. The former word has a Low second vowel while the latter has a High second vowel. But in the post-High environment both words are realized with a High on their first vowel and a Low on their second. We claim that this apparently mysterious behavior Is entirely in accord with our analysis—I.e. no new rules are required at all. But these forms do serve to provide crucial evidence in favor of our decision to adopt a Low-Deletion rule to account for the behavior of the noun class prefixes in section 2.1 rather than an analysis where the prefixes are toneless. Suppose that we did not have a rule of Low-Deletion In Venda. Suppose furthermore t h a t the underlying representations for the noun stems bofu and thuku are as given in (43). We would then have the following (Incorrect) derivations for the post-High forms of bofu and thuku:

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

58 (48)

H

L L

H

L H

1 1 1 I VIthuku I

V bofu

inapplicable H

L L

V bofu

MR

H

L H HTS

V thuku

inapplicable inapplicable

CS FS

That is, we would Incorrectly generate *bofu and *thuku In the post-High context where b6fu and thuku are the desired output. In order to achieve the correct phonetic representations It Is necessary that the first vowel of bofu and thuku either be or become toneless In the post-High environment. Assuming the existence of a rule of Low-Deletion, we will successfully generate the correct forms: (49)

L L

H

L H

1 1 1

1

1

1 1

H

1 1 1

V bofu H L 1 | V bofu

V thuku H H

1 1

V thuku H

LD L

inapplicable

1 1

H

L

V thuku H L

V bofu

V thuku

inapplicable H

L

V bofu

MR

HTS CS

H

L

l\ 1 V thuku

FS

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

59

If we posit a rule of Low-Deletion that affects the Initial Low of a noun (actually, we shall see that the rule is not restricted to nouns, although there are some differences in its operation depending on the word class of the item undergoing it), the first Low will be deleted regardless of whether that Low originates as part of a noun class prefix (as in the case of items like those discussed in section 2.1) or as part of a noun stem (as in cases like bofu and thuku). Thus a prefixless noun that begins with a Low tone will behave just like all prefixed nouns that begin with a Low prefix. The first Low of the word will delete in the post-High context; if the second vowel of the word is associated with a High, that High will change to Low by virtue of Meeussen's Rule. The High of the preceding word will spread as far as the second vowel of the (prefixless) noun, where it will form a contour tone with the Low of that vowel. The resulting contour tone is, of course, subject to simplification in the appropriate environments. Clearly, the parallelism in behavior in the post-High context between prefixless nouns that begin with a Low tone (like bofu) and prefixed nouns that begin with a Low-toned prefix (like mu-thu) needs a systematic explanation. This is what our analysis, Involving the rule of Low-Deletion, provides. Let us at this point reconsider the analysis of prefixed nouns which sought to explain their behavior by representing the prefix as toneless underlyingly. This analysis requires that in underlying structure there be High, Low, and toneless TBU's, and that the prefixes (of the words discussed in section 2.1) are toneless whereas the stem vowels are either High or Low. The rule of High Tone Spread would make the prefix vowel High when the preceding word ends in a High. Another rule, ordered after High Tone Spread, would make an unspecified TBU Low. Thus the prefix would be assigned a Low tone when the noun is used in isolation or after a word ending In a Low tone. Now, can such an analysis be extended to the prefixless nouns like bofu and thuku? We would have to claim that in underlying structure these noun stems have a toneless first TBU, while the second TBU of bofu Is Low and the second TBU of thuku is High. Prefixless nouns like th61i and nd6mwa on

60

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

the other hand would have an underlying High on their first stem vowel (In the case of th61i this High would also be associated with the second TBU, while in the case of ndimwa there would be a Low associated with the second TBU). There would be no preflxless nouns that would have an underlying Low on their first TBU In this analysis. On the other hand, there would be no toneless TBU's anywhere else In noun stems —i.e. the only place toneless vowels would be possible In a noun stem would be as the first vowel of a preflxless stem. This is, indeed, a rather inexplicable distribution of underlying units, if toneless vowels are Indeed to be postulated underlyingly for noun stems. There is an even worse problem with an analysis that would assume that the first vowel of bofu and thuku is underlyingly toneless. Noun stems that occur preflxless have a singular meaning; a plural meaning Is gotten by prefixing the stem in question with the prefix ma-. When these stems appear with a prefix in front of them, their first vowel will no longer behave as though toneless. In other words, the first vowel of bofu and thuku will be toneless Just In case that vowel Is Initial In the word, not when it is preceded by a prefix. When prefixed, the first vowel will behave no differently than any other Low-toned stem vowel. But If these stems were assumed to be underlyingly toneless on the first syllable, there would be no non-ad hoc way to account for why they behave as though they have a Low tone when preceded by a prefix. We conclude, then, that Low-Deletion Is to be preferred to an analysis where prefixes and the initial TBU's of preflxless nouns are toneless. The rule of Low-Deletion, If accepted, has some Implications with respect to the tonal representation of successive Low-toned TBU's. Recall that we have claimed that when a stem has successive High-toned TBU's, there is just a single High in the tonal tier associated with each of the TBU's that is realized on a high pitch. We noted earlier that one might consider claiming that successive Low-toned TBU's In a stem are also associated with a single Low in the tonal tier. We can now see, however, that such a representation would produce incorrect results.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

61

Consider the case of bofu. If In underlying structure both of the vowels of this stem are associated with a single Low, then we would expect the following incorrect derivation in the post-High environment. (50) V bofu

bofu inapplicable

LD MR

H 7 M u

HTS

inapplicable inapplicable

CS FS

This derivation predicts a post-High pronunciation *b6fu instead of the correct b6fu. To achieve the correct form, we must keep the second stem vowel associated with a Low (so that when the preceding High spreads onto this vowel to form a Falling tone, the rule of Final Simplification will be able to disassociate this vowel from the H and leave it associated with a Low). But given the representation of bofu as having a single Low tone, the effect of Low-Deletion is to make both vowels of the stem toneless. To salvage the derivation in (50). it would be necessary to reformulate Low-Deletion so that it doesn't delete a wordinitial Low in the post-High context, but rather dis-associates the Low from the first vowel (leaving It still associated with any other vowel that It might be associated with). But this revision, while it works in the case of (50), runs into problems when the word-Initial Low tone Is In fact associated with Just one vowel. For then the rule would disassociate the Low from that vowel, but leave the Low in the tonal tier. But such an

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

62

unassoclated Low would (a) Incorrectly block Meeussen's Rule and (b) Incorrectly predict the occurrence of downstep. For Instance, given a noun like mu-sadzi. If Low-Deletion simply disassociates the Low of the prefix In the post-High context, we would produce the following incorrect derivation: (51)

H

L

H

V mu-sadzi H

L

A.

V mu-sadzi

Low-Disassociation

inapplicable

MR

H

L

H

V mu-sadzi

HTS

inapplicable inapplicable

CS FS

*mu-s!adzi would be generated rather than mu-sfidzi. We conclude then that Low-Deletion should not be reformulated as a dlsassoclatlon rule, but rather must be a deletion rule, and that therefore a word such as bofu Is best represented as having separate Low tones on each vowel rather than a single Low associated with each of the vowels. This conclusion leads to the general proposition that where successive Low tones occur underlyingly within a stem, each TBU has its own Low tone. So far we have examined j u s t disyllabic prefixless nouns. There are also trisyllabic prefixless nouns. The various tonal patterns possible In the post-Low environment are Illustrated in (52): (52)

thamaha danana phaphana dukana

'male beast with certain markings' 'fool' 'type of calabash* "monstrous boy'

The Tonology of the Simple Noun dakalo gong'ong'o khokhola Madzhie

'joy 'bumble-bee' 'ankle-bone' (name of a person)

These pronunciations representations: (53)

suggest the following

L L H

J ''

phaphana

dukana

danana

H

L H L

thamaha L

dakalo

g o n gH' o n g o

L

underlying

H

L L L

H

63

L H

khokhola

H

LL

Madzhie

The post-Low pronunciations shown in (52) are not problematic given the underlying representations in (53). In the case of danana and dakalo, the High associated with the penult vowel will spread onto the final vowel, but this association line will subsequently be eliminated by Final Simplification. In the case of kh6khdla and Madzhie, the High tone underlyingly associated with the first vowel will spread over onto the underlyingly Low-toned second vowel, creating a Falling tone. Since this Falling tone is on a penult TBU it is not subject to either of the simplification processes. In the remaining cases, no rules are applicable. But now consider the post-High pronunciation of such words: (54)

thamaha danana dakalo gong'ong'o phaphana khokhola dukana

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

64

(We have omitted the post-High pronunciation of Madzhle since this is a personal name and there seems to be a special phenomenon associated with personal names in the post-High environment.) We will examine first those nouns that have an Initial Low tone in the underlying representations given in (53)—i.e. thamaha, danana, phaphana, and dukana. In these cases, we predict that in post-High position the Initial Low will delete by virtue of Low-Deletion. Deletion of the Initial Low will set the stage for Meeussen's Rule to apply If the noun has a High associated with Its second vowel (danana and phaphana). In any case, deletion of the Low will also set the stage for High Tone Spread to extend the High of the preceding word onto the first and also second vowel of the noun. The derivations In (55) show that the above predictions correctly produce the post-High pronunciations for the four Low-initial nouns under discussion. (55)

H

L L L H L H L

I J IJ I J I ' V thamaha

V danana

H

H

L L

v thamaha

L L

V danana

inapplicable inapplicable L

H

__ H

1<M

V dukana

H

H

V phaphana

HTS CS FS

laphana V phaphi H

MR

v danana

V tnamaha

H

LD

V danana H

inapplic.

H L

L H

v dukana

LD

The Tonology

of the Simple

H

L

I

A

V phaphana H

65

Noun

inapplic.

L

H

MR

L H

v phaphana V dukana inapplicable inapplicable

HTS CS FS

Consider next the case of prefixless trisyllabic nouns whose first vowel is associated with a High tone in underlying representation (dakalo, g6ng'6ng'6, and khdkhOla). Since these nouns begin with a High, in the post-High environment they will not be subject to Low-Deletion, but they will be in the environment for Meeussen's Rule. As a consequence of Meeussen's Rule, their initial High will become Low. The High of the preceding word will spread onto the first vowel of the noun, but will be able to go no further since that first vowel is linked. The resulting Falling tone on the first vowel of the noun will subsequently simplify to High due to the operation of Contour Simplification. (56) shows the derivations for dakalo. g6ng'6ng'6, and kh6kh61a in post-High position. (56) H H L H H H H L H

I AI I / \ \

I I II

V dakalo

V gong'ong^o

V khokhola

inapplic.

inapplic.

inapplic.

H

L

L

H

V dakalo H

L

H L L H

V gong'ong'o L

V dakalo H

L

L L H

H

LD

L

V khokhola H

V gong'ong'o L

L

L

MR

H

V khokhola

HTS

H L L H

V dakalo

V gong'ong^o

V khokhola

CS

inapplic.

inapplic.

inapplic.

FS

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

66

The alternations that trisyllabic preflxless nouns exhibit—thamaha vs. thamaha, danana vs. danana, phaphana vs. phaphana, dukana vs. duk&na, dakalo vs. dakalo. g6ng'6ng'6 vs. gdng'ong'o, kh6khola vs. kh6khola—are varied and (at first glance) quite baffling. It is certainly a virtue of the analysis that we have developed that no additional rules or assumptions are required In order to be able to account for these complex alternations. We have some data on quadrisyllable preflxless nouns, examples of which are cited in (57). These examples do not represent all of the tone patterns possible (given two underlying tones and fourTBU's), but are sufficiently varied as to constitute a good test for the generality of our analysis. (57)

dabadaba bubusela bwerepwere bolongondo beletshedzo pfumelelo sudzungwlane bokoliiko dzingandevhe buvhikhomu

'fool' "woolen blanket' 'coward' 'heavy, thick pole' 'reparation' 'Intercession' 'sp. shrub' 'sp. bird' 'deaf person' 'sp. spider'

The analysis of these post-Low pronunciations is in part straightforward. Setting aside for the moment pfumilelo, stidzungw!ane\ andb6k61!iko, the underlying representations and derivations of the other Items in (57) are shown in (58). (58)

(a)

L L L L

I LI I dabadaba (no rules applicable) (b)

L L

H

bwerepwere (no rules applicable)

The Tonology of the Simple Noun (c)

H bolongondo

(d)

67

L

L

(no rules applicable)

L H

'Ml (e)

buvhikhomu L L H L

(no rules applicable) L L H L L L^ H L

bubusela —» bubus uselA HTS H

(f:

L

H

—»

bubusela FS L

H

L

b esletshedzo —> beletshedzo —> beletshedzo HTS FS (g)

L H L H

J. I J hl

d z i n g a n d e v h e —» HTS

L H L H

d

I

Ml

dzinganaevhe

The derivations of the post-Low pronunciations of the other three nouns in (57) require a little discussion. Take pfiim6Ielo first. At first blush it might seem that this noun should have the underlying representation: (59)

H

L L

pfumelelo

But this is incorrect. For if (59) were the underlying form, then High Tone Spread would assign an association line between the High and the penult vowel, a vowel that is already associated with a Low tone. The result would be a Falling tone on the penult vowel--a Falling tone that would not be subject to any simplification process. *pftun6161o is, however, the wrong pronunciation. (Cf. kh6kh61a from underlying /khokhola/ ordzing&nd£vh6from underlying /dzingandevhe/ — these examples show that High Tone Spread would be expected to extend a High from the antepenult TBU to the penult TBU of a word.)

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

68

2 We suggest that the correct underlying representation for pftimfilelo is one where there is a H associated with the first TBU and that the remaining TBU's are all Low-toned; given such a representation, we will have the derivation shown below (in the post-Low context): (60)

H L L L

H L L L

I 1I I pfumelelo

—> HTS

H L L L

Nil

KM

pfumelelo

—> p f u m e l e l o CS

By positing that pftim61elo is underlyingly a HLLL noun, we are making no very surprising claim. If Venda is a system where each stem vowel may be High or Low, then in a quadrisyllable noun stem one would expect instances of the pattern HLLL. However, the tonological rules of Venda will not permit such an underlying tone shape to manifest itself phonetically (in the post-Low context), since High Tone Spread necessarily extends the High associated with the first vowel onto the second vowel, producing a HFLL pattern. But, again, the tonological rules of Venda will not allow a HFLL pattern to be realized phonetically, since Contour Simplification will necessarily simplify the Fall to a level High. The result, then, is a surface tone pattern of HHLL—but where we know the second vowel is not basically High, since if it were it would spread onto the penult vowel. What we see in the case of pftim61elo is that due to the combined effects of High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification it is possible to find surface High tones that do not have the characteristics of underlying High tones. In deciding on the underlying form for any given word, then, it is not possible to take a surface High tone as being necessarily an underlying High tone. There are, of course, limits to when a surface High can be taken to be underlying Low—it must appear in a position in the phrase that precedes the penult syllable and it must be preceded by a High tone. Next let us look at the examples s(idztingwt&n6 and b6k61!iko. The striking fact about these nouns is that they exhibit downstep in their post-Low pronunciation (up until this

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

69

point we have encountered downstep Just in post-High forms —e.g. mu-ta!nnga from mu-tannga and mu-lamb!6ni from mu-lamb6ni). Given the explanation for downstep that emerged from section 2.1— namely, that it is the result of Downdrift being triggered by an unassoclated Low In the tonal tier, it is natural to ask whether these new cases of downstep are susceptible to a similar analysis. If downstep is to be seen as the consequence of an unassoclated Low, then in sudztingw!an6 and b6k61!iko it will be necessary to assume a (surface) representation like (61). (61)

HL

H

'H\

N

sudzungwane

H L H L

JJA 1

bokoliko

The question that arises is: what is the underlying source of these representations? In particular, is it necessary to assume underlying representations of noun stems containing "floating" (unassoclated) Low tones? Up until this point we have been able to describe the complex Venda nominal tone system utilizing an extremely constrained set of tonologlcal representations. If we assume an underspeclficatlon approach, then underlying representations of nouns contain only Highs and no Lows; the Highs may be associated with any number of successive TBU's, but two Highs on the tonal tier of a morpheme cannot be associated with successive TBU's. All unspecified vowels will be assigned Lows by a default rule. If we assume fully specified representations, then each TBU is associated with one and only one tone, and each tone is associated with at least one TBU (though in the case of High, the tone may be associated with any number of successive TBU's). Successive TBU's inside a stem may not be associated with separate Highs. If we were to assume underlying unassoclated Low tones for sudztingw!an6 and b6k61!iko, we would have to weaken this highly constrained theory of underlying tonal structure in Venda nominals. Low tones would be allowed to appear in the tonal tier even though not associated with any TBU; furthermore, successive vowels in a stem could be

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

70

associated with separate Highs as long as there is an unassoclated Low between the Highs (cf. the representations In (61)). Such a weakening of the constraints on underlying forms In Venda Is unmotivated. We shall see immediately below that another explanation for the unassoclated Lows in (61) Is available—it is not necessary to resort to underlying floating tones. Also a theory of Venda that would permit floating Low tones in the representation of noun stems would leave unexplained the fact that the location of these floating Lows would be highly constrained. There would never (to our knowledge) be a need to set up an underlying noun stem of the shape: (62)

H L

C....I, Such a representation would be motivated, for example, if there were a noun stem that ended in a High tone (in isolation) but when followed by a word beginning in a High tone caused that High to be downstepped (rather than causing Meeussen's Rule to apply, as would be expected If one word ends In a High and the next begins with a High). There would also never (to our knowledge) be a need to set up an underlying noun stem of the shape: (63)

LH

Such a representation would be motivated, for example. If there were a noun stem that began with a High tone when used in isolation but that High downstepped after a word ending in a High (rather than undergoing Meeussen's Rule as expected). Finally, there would never (to our knowledge) be a need to set up an underlying representation of a noun stem of the shape:

The Tonology of the Simple Noun (64)

71

HLH

1I [...xx]

Such a representation would be motivated, for example, if there were a noun stem like sudzungw!6n6 and bdk61!iko except that the downstep appeared in front of the final vowel. We would argue that there is a very good reason for why the location of downstep in Venda nominals is so constrained—namely, downstep is caused by an unassociated Low that arises from an associated Low tone that was preceded by a High tone. This High tone spreads onto the Low-toned TBU, creating a contour tone which then undergoes Contour Simplification, leaving the originally Low-toned TBU phonetically High but with an unassociated Low following it in the tonal tier. This means that a downstepped High always occupies the position of the second High in the following schema prior to the application of High Tone Spread: (65)

H L H

I

I

X

X X

If this Is the only source for downstep in nominals, then we make certain predictions (that are in fact borne out by the data). We predict, first, that a noun stem cannot end in a High tone in isolation but at the same time cause an initial High in a following word to be downstepped. Why? Because if a noun ends in a High in isolation, its final vowel must be underlyingly High (there are no rules that create phrase-final High tones). And if a downstepped High arises only in position after a HL sequence, then a noun that ends in a High cannot cause a downstep after it. Consequently, we predict that there are no data in Venda nominals that motivate floating Low tones after a noun stem ending In a High (cf. (62)). Second, we predict that there are no noun stems that begin with a High tone in Isolation but which mysteriously undergo downstep after a word ending in a High. If a word begins In a High in the Isolation form, it must be underlyingly High (there are no rules in Venda that create a High in phrase-initial position). If a

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

72

downstepped High can only arise from a High preceded by a HL sequence, then a noun stem that begins in a High can never be downstepped after a word that ends in a High. Consequently, we predict that there are no data in Venda that motivate floating Low tones in front of a noun stem (cf. (63). Third, we predict that there are no noun stems with a downstep between the penultimate and final TBU of the stem. In order for a final High to be downstepped, the preceding (i.e. the penult) TBU would have to undergo Contour Simplification. But penult vowels do not undergo Contour Simplification. Therefore there can be no noun stems of the form [...H!H] (cf. (64)). We have shown in the preceding discussion that positing underlying unassociated Low tones in noun stems fails to explain why the distribution of these unassociated Lows would be so limited. On the other hand, by claiming that all downsteps associated with nominal stems arise as a consequence of Contour Simplification we explain the severe limitations on the occurrence of downstep in Venda nominals. We conclude therefore that in examples like s
H L H

II

H

/\

L

II

H

H L H

A

II

/\

sudzungwane —> sudzungwane —> sudzungwane HTS CS H L H L HLHL H L H L H L H L

II lI

N N

KM

bokoliko —> bokoliko —> bokoliko HTS CS

N \\

bokoliko —> bokolikc FS

We have now shown that the post-Low pronunciations of the quadrisyllabic prefixless noun stems in (57) are all readily explainable in terms of the analysis that we have developed in this chapter. The post-High pronunciations of the nouns in (57) are given in (66) below:

The Tonology of the Simple Noun (66)

dabadaba pfumelelo bubus!ela sudzungwane bwerepwlere bokoliko bolongondo dzingandevhe beletshedzo buvhikhomu

Once again, it is a virtue of the present analysis that all of the pronunciations of post-High quadrisyllable stems follow automatically, without need for any additional rules or assumptions. Consider first the derivations for those nouns that have an initial Low tone (dabadaba, bubusela, bwerepwere, buvhikhomu, dzingandevhe). (67)

H

L L L L

H

1 1

1 M 1 11 11

1 1 1 1 11 11 11

L L H L

V

dabadaba

V bubusela

H

L L L

H L H L 1 III V bubusela

J I!' v

1

Ml

dabadaba inappl:icable

H

L L L

V

dabadaba

H

L L L

V

dabadaba

H

MR L H L

V bbbTisela

HT:

V bubusela

CS

H

L H L

inapplicable

V bubusela

H

H

L L

H

A

U '' v bwerepwere

LD

L

L

L H

1 1 1 I( V buvhikhomu

FS

74

The Tonology of the Simple Noun H

I

L

H

I A

V bwerepwere

H

L

L H

l

! I I

V buvhikhomu

inapplicable H

L

H

H

V bwerepwere H

i ^

L

H

A

V bwerepwere

MR L

L H

vhikhomu H

r*^

LD

L

HTS

L H

I]

V buvhikhomu inapplicable

CS FS

LD

MR

HTS

CS FS

These derivations are entirely unproblematlc and simply Illustrate the complete generality with which the rules we have postulated operate In Venda nominal tonology. 2.4. Conclusion. We have now concluded our account of the simple noun in Venda In both the post-Low and

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

75

post-High positions. We have shown that a very complex pattern of tonal alternation is elegantly explained by assuming a very constrained system of underlying representations and by assuming a small set of rules. We believe that this system of representation and that these rules are amply supported by the Venda data. In this section we examine briefly some theoretical aspects of this analysis. First, let us review the implications of this analysis for whether underlying representations are fully specified or underspecified as far as tone is concerned. The crucial point about the Venda data is that Low tones (which would be the tones assigned by a default rule in an underspecification approach) must be present at the point where the first rule, Low-Deletion, applies. The reason is obvious: Low-Deletion cannot delete the first Low of a word in the post-High environment if there are no Low tones available for deletion. Since the default rule assigning Low tones must precede the first tone rule in the small set of ordered tone rules we have so far unearthed for Venda, then the theory of underspecification does not appear to add much in terms of the rule system (in contrast to other cases—cf. Archangeli (1984)—where it has been argued that the proper ordering of default rules with respect to the phonological rules permits a simplification of the formulation of the rules and yields more insight into why phonological rules have the effects that they do in a particular language. The underspecification approach does, perhaps, suggest why there might be an asymmetry between High tones (which may be multiply linked to successive TBU's, but which may not occur themselves in succession linked to successive TBU's) and Low tones (which do not underlyingly occur multiply linked and which may occur in succession on successive TBU's). If the Low-tones are supplied by a default rule of the form, (73)

L

t I X -->

X

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

76

then It follows that each TBU will have Its own Low tone and no Low tone will (as a consequence of the default rule) be associated with more than one TBU. High tones, which are specified in underlying structure, are simply subject to a morpheme structure principle that disallows the following sequence: (74)

*

H H

I I

x x

but does not disallow multiple linking of a High to the segmental tier. (Alternatively, one could allow In underlying structure successive High tones on the tonal tier associated with successive TBU's, but then posit a tonological rule that collapses such successive High tones Into a single multiply-associated High.) The fact that the underspecification approach offers a basis for the asymmetry in the representation of High and Low tones in Venda is perhaps sufficient reason to continue to examine the Venda data with It In mind. It is also perhaps not surprising that the default rule for Low tones would have to precede the first tone rule we have in our grammar since all of the rules we have discussed so far are clearly phrase-level rules: Low- Deletion deletes a Low at the beginning of one word when the preceding word ends in a High (whether LowDeletion could conceivably apply within a word is an issue that we do not yet have data to explore; suffice It to say that it does not apply in position internal to the noun stem—i.e. a L is maintained after a H In such examples as khdkhOla, tshivh&vh&l&, Madingwfine), Meeussen's Rule lowers a High after a High, and it is clear that these Highs may be In separate words (it is not clear yet whether they must be In separate words); High Tone Spread extends a High from one TBU to the next TBU to the right—those TBU's may be in the same word or In different words; Contour Simplification operates on a HL sequence associated with a pre-penult vowel, but the H and the L of this sequence may either be in the same word or in separate words; Final Simplification operates on a HL

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

77

sequence associated with a final vowel, but again the H and the L may be in the same word or in separate words. Thus the fact that the default Low rule in Venda precedes all the tone rules discovered so far simply amounts to saying that the default rule applies before the phrase-level rules in question. The next theoretical point that we would like to review in conjunction with the Venda data is closely connected to the preceding point. In most of the cases where the autosegmental approach to tone has been strongly argued for, the tonal tier and the segmental tier have been underlyingly unassociated. That is, it has been claimed that generalizations about tonal structure in a number of languages are made possible by the assumption that the tones and the tone-bearing units are fundamentally independent and that the two tiers are unassociated prior to the operation of (a) universal principles of tone association and (b) languagespecific principles of tone association. The reader may have noted that while the autosegmental framework has made possible what we regard as an elegant account of a complex pattern of tonal alternation in Venda nominals, nowhere have we invoked (as our starting point) a representation where the tones are unassociated. In fact, the tones must be linked prior to the application of the first rule—namely, Low-Deletion. Why is this so? Suppose that the tones were underlyingly unlinked. It is clear that the basic mechanism for linking the tones to the segmental tier would be the universal principle of association that says that free tones and free TBU' are linked one-to-one left-to-right. But if Low-Deletion were to precede this principle of association, then that principle would incorrectly link what was originally the second tone of the noun (but is now first as a consequence of Low-Deletion) to the first TBU. Schematically (where T stands for any tone): (75) [...H]

[LTT...] -> [...H] [TT...] ->

[. .H] [TT. . . ]

I h ... X

XX . . .

. .X

LD

X X ...

. . X

XX . . .

association principle

78

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

But this is incorrect. It is necessary that Low-Deletion result in the first TBU of the noun being toneless. This will not be possible if Low-Deletion precedes the association principle that links tones one-to-one left-to-right. It is not just Low-Deletion that clearly must have an input where tones are linked. High Tone Spread, for example, extends a High tone to the right until the presence of an association line blocks any further spreading (due to the prohibition of the crossing of association lines). But that means thatTBU's must be linked at the point where High Tone Spread operates. Contour Simplification says that a H and L associated with a pre-penult vowel delinks from the L, but this clearly means that the tones and the TBU's must be associated at the point where Contour Simplification applies. Final Simplification affects a H and a L associated with a phrase-final TBU, delinking the H; again, the tiers must be linked at the point where Final Simplification applies. We have assumed, therefore, that the tones and the CV-tier are linked at the point where the first of our tone rules applies. But what about underlying structure? Are the tones linked there? If we adopt an underspeciflcation approach, the answer is obviously yes. Consider a noun such as bubusela. In an underspecification approach, there would Just be one specification for this word—a High tone (the Lows would be supplied by a default Low rule). But if this High tone were not linked to a particular TBU, we would have no way of predicting that it appears associated with the third TBU In this word (and not the first or the second or the last). For a word with a single High tone does not necessarily manifest that High on any particular vowel~cf. mu-rathfi where the H of the stem is on the last vowel, or mu-selwa where the H of the stem is on the first vowel, and so on). Similarly, If there are only Highs underlylngly, and if our argument is accepted that successive high-pitched vowels within a stem are all associated with a single High in the tonal tier, then the contrast between a word such as tholl and ndemwa could not be represented without underlying linkage of the tonal and the segmental tiers. th61i and ndemwa would both have just a single underlying High tone, so It would be necessary to encode in the underlying

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

79

tone, so it would be necessary to encode In the underlying form that the H of the first word is associated with both vowels while the H of the second word is associated Just with the first vowel. We have shown that underspecification theory requires that the tones and the segmental tier be underlyingly linked. What about fully specified representations—is linking required there? Consider a word like sudzungwlanfe. We claim that this form requires an underlying High on the first stem vowel, an underlying Low on the second stem vowel, and an underlying H associated with the last two stem vowels. In other words, there are three tones in the underlying representation: HLH, and fourTBU's. If the tones are unlinked, is there any way to predict that these three tones will hook up to the CV-tier in the way required? In this case, we could claim that the tones hook up one-to-one, left-to-right, yielding the following partial derivation: (76)

H L H

H L H

'H ' ' sudzungwane —» sudzungwane

All that would be required, then, would be a principle to hook up the free (final) vowel to the only tone possible (the H associated to the penult vowel). While this approach works for sudzuxigw!ane\ it predicts that one could not have a noun of the following shape in Venda: (77)

H

L H

^ 'I cvcvcvcv since there would be no way by the association principle for the first H in a HLH word to end up associated with the first two vowels. But in fact such words are entirely expected given the general observation that all combinations of High and Low are possible within a nominal stem. We cite some examples:

The TonoLogy of the Simple Noun

80 (78)

gokoshomba

'the creeper Rhoicissus capensis Planch' (v. Warmelo, 1937, p. 77)

dzhesixondo

'the sedge Cyperus immensus' (v. Warmelo, 1937, p. 57)

(Some of the quadrisyllable stems cited in the course of this chapter may, not surprisingly, be of compound origin. It is doubtful, however, whether such compounding should be regarded as a synchronic process in all cases.) There is, then, some problems of predicting the linking of tones and TBU's in a theory involving full specification underlyingly. But there is perhaps a more severe problem. Consider for instance a stem with two TBU's. If the tonal tier is unlinked to the segmental tier—if they are truly independent, why then is it the case in Venda that a stem with two TBU's will either have an underlying representation with a single H (since this associates with both vowels of the stem), or a H and a L, or a L and a H. Why will the stem never have a tonal melody of HLH or LHL or LLL or LLH or HLL, etc. That is, why are the underlying tonal melodies for a stem just those that end up after the tone association process with all the tones on the tonal tier linked to some TBU and all TBU's being linked to Just one tone? In a theory where tones and TBU's are unlinked, there is no natural way to state the constraints on the underlying tonal melodies possible for any given stem. We conclude, then, that whether we have underspecified underlyingly representations or fully specified underlying representations, the tones must be linked to the segmental tier in underlying structure. It is interesting to note, however, that this fact in no way affects the observation that it is the autosegmental framework (which regards tones and tone-bearing units to be represented on separate tiers) that allows for an insightful characterization of the tonal pattern of Venda. In what way does the autosegmental view of phonology make possible the insights of our analysis of Venda tone (given that we have not drawn at all upon what might be regarded as the essence of the theory—namely, that the choice of an underlying tonal structure of a morpheme is independent of

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81

the number of TBU's In the morpheme)? An examination of the rules that we have postulated and the representations upon which these rules operate reveals that Indeed many features of autosegmental phonology are crucially utilized. We list these features below, and make reference to the aspect of our analysis that makes appeal to these features: (a)

a single tone may be associated with more than one TBU (cf. our representation of words like mu-sadzi and b6I6ng6nd6, where successive High-toned vowels are linked to a single High on the tonal tier, and also cf. our treatment of High Tone Spread);

(b)

a single tone-bearing unit may be associated with more than one tone (cf. our analysis of a word like dzingand€vh6, where the Falling tone on the penult vowel is accounted for In terms of that vowel being linked underlyingly to a Low but also coming to be linked to a preceding High as a consequence of High Tone Spread;

(c)

a tone-bearing unit may (at some point in the derivation) be unassociated with any tone (cf. our postulation of the rule of Low-Deletion, which eliminates the initial Low of a noun In the post-High environment and thus leaves the first vowel of the noun toneless until the rule of High Tone Spread operates);

(d)

a tone may (at some point In the derivation) be unassociated with any TBU (cf. our treatment of downstep as arising from the disassociation of a Low tone from a HL sequence on a pre-penult vowel);

(e)

a tone rule may add association lines without otherwise altering the tonal tier or segmental tier (cf. High Tone Spread);

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

82 (f)

a tone rule may delete association lines without otherwise altering the tonal tier or the CV-tier (cf. Contour Simplification and Final Simplification);

(g)

a tone rule may change an element T on the tonal tier and thereby affect all the TBU's associated with T; cf. Meeussen's Rule, which changes a H to a L when a H precedes — the H that changes to a L may be associated with more than one vowel, in which case all the vowels become low-pitched;

(h)

a tone rule may delete an element T on the tonal tier (cf. Low-Deletion), leaving the segmental tier unaffected.

We have seen that our analysis of Venda does not require a principle of association to perform an initial linkage of the tonal tier and the segmental tier (since the tones are underlyingly linked). In Goldsmith's original version of the autosegmental theory (1976), he suggested not only is there an initial principle of association that links free tones and free vowels, but there is also a set of Luell-Jormedness conditions that phonological representations must satisfy. In addition to the condition that association lines may not cross. Goldsmith also proposed that every tone must be associated with at least one TBU and every TBU must be associated with at least one tone. Goldsmith suggested that if at any point in the derivation a representation arises that violates one or more of these well-formedness conditions, then this ill-formed representation must be converted into a representation obeying the well-formedness conditions. The principles by which an ill-formed representation would be rectified were in part straightforward (e.g. add association lines In accord with the Initial tone association principle; add a minimum number of lines) and in part open to debate (e.g. in cases where two equally simple emendations would make the representation

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

83

well-formed. Is there a universal principle that chooses which emendation to make?). At first glance one might think that something like Goldsmith's well-formedness conditions could be at work in Venda. For example, when a word-initial Low tone deletes in the post-High context, leaving the first TBU of a noun toneless, one could conceivably claim that toneless TBU becomes associated with the preceding High not by a language-particular rule of Venda but rather as a consequence of the well-formedness condition that requires that every TBU be associated with a tone. But even if one were to claim that the toneless initial vowel of the noun becomes High as a consequence of the well-formedness condition, there would still have to be a language-particular rule of Venda that spreads a High tone onto a following (Low-toned) TBU (cf. the Falling tone in examples like tshi-vhavhala, Madingwane, kh6khdla, Madzhie, mti-tfika (post-High form of mu-tuka), thamaha (post-High form of thamaha), etc.). There Is no way that a (universal) well-formedness condition would account for why a Low-toned TBU becomes Falling-toned after a High tone; this change must be due to the operation of a rule specific to Venda. However, if Venda must in any case have a rule that spreads a High tone to the right, the fact that a toneless TBU at the beginning of a noun (resulting from Low-Deletion) becomes High-toned after a word ending in a High tone can be accounted for by this same language-specific spread rule. The well-formedness condition requiring that unassociated TBU's must associate with some tone does not do any work that the independently motivated, language-specific spread rule doesn't already do. We have seen above that the well-formedness condition requiring that every unassociated TBU must associate to some tone is not required in order to account for the Venda data. Recent work in autosegmental phonology (cf. Pulleyblank 1983) has suggested that in fact the claim that an unassociated TBU must associate to the tone of a neighboring TBU is Incorrect. Pulleyblank suggests instead that unassociated TBU's may either become associated by virtue of a language-specific spread rule (that would spread the tone of a

84

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

neighboring TBU onto the free TBU) or receive a tonal specification as a result of a default rule. Unassociated TBU's would not. however, automatically be linked to the tone of a neighboring TBU as a result of a well-formedness condition. Our analysis of Venda does not so far provide any evidence to support Pulleyblank's position, but Venda is certainly consistent with the claim that all spreading is by language-particular rules rather than by virtue of the well-formedness condition. Venda does provide evidence to support another of Pulleyblank's suggestions—namely, there Is no well-formedness condition requiring every tone on the tonal tier to link to some TBU. Recall that our analysis of downstep in Venda depends on Low tones remaining in the tonal tier, unassociated with any TBU. This would not be possible if such a representation is affected by a well-formedness condition requiring every tone to associate. The analysis of Venda tonology that we have presented in this chapter, insofar as it is an insightful explanation of the complex pattern of tonal alternation exhibited by simple nouns, provides abundant evidence not only for the theory of autosegmental phonology but also for a theory that permits phonological rules to interact with one another (expressible In terms of sequencing the rules) and also permits a phonological rule to be postulated in the grammar even though surface structures in the language appear to violate the rule in question. The following rule Interactions are required by our analysis of Venda. Low Deletion must be applied before Meeussen's Rule. It is the application of Low Deletion to a noun that begins with the tonal sequence LH that creates the context for the H of the noun to undergo Meeussen's Rule (cf. H mtisfidzi, where the H of the stem /sadzi/ undergoes Meeussen's Rule after the L of the prefix / m u / is deleted). In other words. Low Deletion feeds Meeussen's Rule. High Tone Spread must follow Low Deletion. This is necessary so that High Tone Spread can extend a H past the toneless syllable onto a following syllable. If the Low had not yet deleted, then a H could not spread past that syllable. (Cf.

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

85

an example like H mutuka, where the H can spread onto the first syllable of / t u k a / only because the L of the prefix / m u / has been deleted.) Notice that Low Deletion does not create the context for High Tone Spread (since High Tone Spread will extend a H onto a Low-toned syllable as well as onto a toneless syllable), but rather simply allows that rule to extend one more syllable to the right. High Tone Spread must be applied prior to Contour and Final Simplification. This is necessary since It is the application of High Tone Spread that creates the Falling tones that undergo these simplification rule. These particular rule interactions are not especially opaque in the sense of Kiparsky (1973). A rule interaction is opaque If (a) the phonetic output of the rule interaction contains structures that in fact meet the structural description of one of the rules or (b) the phonetic output of the rule Interaction no longer contains the structural configuration that in fact triggered the application of one of the rules. There is, however, a certain amount of opacity. Consider, for example, pfumelelo. On the surface, this form meets the structural description for High Tone Spread, but the rule has not applied. In fact, however. High Tone Spread did apply In the course of the derivation, but the subsequent application of Contour Simplification has created a sequence where there is a H associated with one syllable and that H Is not also associated with the following syllable. There is, however, a more pervasive sort of opacity in the Venda system—an opacity that does not have its source in the rule interaction but in the representations. We have claimed that Meeussen's Rule operates In Venda to lower a High when another High precedes. But there are In fact many instances where there are successive High-pitched syllables. These successions of High-pitched syllables appear to be counterexamples to Meeussen's Rule. They are not, however. Rather we have claimed that the succession of High-pitched syllables are In fact instances of a single H multiply-linked. Meeussen's Rule affects only a H on the tonal tier that is preceded by another H. In other words, Meeussen's Rule operates In terms of the number of High tones on the tonal tier

86

The Tonology of the Simple Noun

and not in terms of the number of syllables that are realized phonetically on a High pitch. In the present chapter we have presented an analysis of the tonal structure of the Venda nominal system that accounts for the tonal complexities of this system in what we regard as a simple and insightful way. In the next chapter we turn to look at the verbal tonology of Venda. We will see that this system provides much additional support for the basic analysis we have developed here, but also raises some additional questions.

CHAPTER THREE

Verbal Tonology (I) 3.0. Introduction. In this chapter we will examine a significant fragment of the verbal tonology of Venda. The structure of the verb in Venda, as in most Bantu languages, is extremely complex and we do not claim to have provided an exhaustive account of all the verbal constructions in the language. We have, however, explored the tonal patterning of a sufficiently rich body of material to serve as an adequate test sample for the analysis of Venda tone developed in Chapter Two. Verb stems (a verb root plus, possibly, various derivational suffixes) in Venda fall into Just two tonal types. The infinitival form of these two types is illustrated in (1). (1)

Low verb stems u-d-a 'to come' [SI u-se-a 'to laugh' [SI u-gwadam-a to kneel' [SI u-vhanyuludz-a 'to force one's way through' [SI u-sinyutshelan-a 'to get angry at e.o.' [SI High verb stems u-l-a u-vhon-a

'to eat' [SI 'to see' [SI 87

88

Verbal Tonology (I) u-vhudzis-a 'to ask' [S] u-somb6161-a 'to unwind' [S] u-laisulul-a 'to unload' [SJ

The infinitive form of the verb consists of the prefix ufollowed by the verb stem (proper) followed by the final vowel -a. For convenience, we will refer to the verb stem proper plus the final vowel as the "verb stem". The first set of verb stems in (1) will be referred to as Low verb stems. They have no High tones associated with any of the vowels in the stem. The second set of verb stems in (1) will be referred to as High verb stems. When a High verb stem has one, two, or three vowels, all of the vowels are realized with a High tone. If the H stem has four or more vowels, then all of the vowels of the stem will be associated with a H tone except for the last vowel, which has a Low tone associated to it. Since there are only two tonal patterns for verbal stems, no matter how many vowels there may be in a stem, it seems clear that the vowels in a Venda verb stem do not independently select atone. Rather, the tonal configuration of the vowels in the stem depends on how the stem is specified. We will assume that verb stems In Venda are either specified with a H tone on the tonal tier, or no tone. If a verb stem is specified with no tone, then the Default Low rule will assign each vowel in the verb stem a Low tone. If a verb stem is specified with a H tone, then we assume that this High tone will associate with the first vowel of the verb stem by virtue of the principle that (within a given domain) free tones and free vowels are associated in a one-to-one, right-to-left fashion. Since in the case of High verb stems there Is Just one tone in the domain under consideration, that tone will associate with the leftmost vowel in the domain (the first stem vowel). The High tone associated with the first stem will then spread onto the following (toneless) vowels by virtue of the rule of High Tone Spread motivated In Chapter Two. The only problem with this analysis is created by the behavior of H verb stems that have four or more vowels. They have a Low tone associated with their last vowel. All the

Verbal Tonology (I)

89

preceding vowels In the verb stem are pronounced on a High tone. Verb stems that have three or less vowels do not exhibit this final Low tone. We will simply assume that there is a special rule that assigns a Low to the final vowel of verb stems that have four or more vowels. This rule must precede High Tone Spread. We will not consider this particular idlosyncracy of Venda verbal tones any further since it does not turn out to be relevant to any of the general issues of Venda tonology. The infinitive form of the verb Illustrated in (1) does not present any particular difficulty with respect to the tonal analysis. The Infinitive prefix u- is apparently Low-toned (i.e. in the underspeclfication approach, unspecified for tone). The underlying tonal character of the verb stem is manifested directly on the surface. The study of the tonology of the Venda verb becomes more complicated when we turn to the finite form of the verb. One particularly Interesting verb tense is examined In 3.1 below. fWe use the term "verb tense" in the traditional Bantu sense of a verbal form where a verbal stem appears with a particular array of morphological elements marking tense, aspect, mood, negation, etc.) 3.1. The Present Tense. In this section we will examine a verbal tense that we can refer to as the "present tense" form of the verb. We begin our exploration of the tonal structure of this verb form by citing examples of Low-toned verb stems with first person subject prefixes (either ndl- for a singular first person subject or rl- for a plural first person subject). (2a)

ndi-a-tuwa ndl-a-Iima ndl-a-sendela ndi-a-lindela ndi-a-adzulula ndi-a-fhihamelwa ri-a-sinyutshelana

'I am departing' [S] 'I am ploughing' (W, 156] 'I am approachlng'fS] 'I am waiting' [W, 157) 'I am rolling s.t. up' [S] 'I am getting short of breath'IS) "we are getting angry at one another' [SJ

Verbal Tonology (I)

90

Finite verb forms in Venda obligatorily contain a prefix marking the subject of the verb. The choice of the subject prefix is determined by the person, number, and/or noun class of the subject. The subject prefix, from a tonal point of view, contains a single tone-bearing unit. In the course of this thesis we will restrict our examples to just a few of the possible subject prefixes in the language. Tonally, the subject prefixes in the present tense (and in a number of other tenses as well) fall into two tonal types. We will be giving representative examples of both types. Subject prefixes are typically ordered initially in the finite verbal word and they are generally followed immediately by a tense/aspect prefix. In the present tense forms in (2a) the tense/aspect prefix is -a-. The tense/ aspect prefix in turn is followed by the verb stem (as we will see later, an object prefix may intervene between the tense/aspect prefix and the verb stem). All verbal forms end in a "final vowel"; in the present tense, this final vowel is -a. The fact that the items in (2a) are entirely Low-toned suggests strongly that all of the constituent elements are inherently Low-toned. We assume, then, in particular that the first person subject prefixes are underlyingly Low-toned as is the present tense prefix -a-. Consider next High-toned verb stems in the present tense with first person subject prefixes: (2b)

ndi-a-renga ndi-a-vhona ndi-a-swiela ndi-a-tshimbila ndi-a-shandvilula ndi-a-hanelela ri-a-laisulula ndi-a-fulufhedzisa

'I 'I 'I 'I 'I

am buying' [S] see' {W, 156] am sweeping' [S] am walking' [W, 156] am turning s.t. right side out* [S] 'I am narrating' [S] 'we are unloading' [S] 'I am promising' (SI

These data conflrm the claim that the first person subject prefixes and the present tense prefix -a- are basically Low-to-

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91

ned. In (2b) the prefixes manifest themselves as Low-toned, while the High verb stems exhibit the tonal pattern that we observed in section 3.0--HH. HHH, HHHL, HHHHL. At this point let us consider representative examples from (2a) and (2b) in the post-High context. (3) illustrates: (3)

H ndi-a-llma [W, 156] H ndi-a-lindela [W, 157] H ndi-a-vh!6na [W, 157] H ndi-a-tsh!imbila [W, 156]

It is immediately apparent that the rule of High Tone Spread that we postulated on the basis of alternations In nouns when they appear in the post-High environment Is equally valid for verbs In post-High position. In order to account for the pronunciations In (3) it is not sufficient to assume Just that High Tone Spread can affect verbs~we must also assume that Low-Deletion is also applicable to verbs. Why Is this so? Notice that the High of the preceding word spreads not only onto the first TBU of the verb (namely, the subject prefix ndi-) but also onto the second TBU of the verb (namely, the present tense prefix -a-). If the subject prefix ndi- is underlylngly Low-toned (and it certainly appears to be), and If Low-Deletion were not applicable to verbs, then we would predict that the Low tone associated with ndi- would block the spreading of a High onto the -a- prefix. In order to permit spreading to reach the -apreflx, we must assume that ndi- is toneless at the point where High Tone Spread applies. While we might attempt to claim that ndi- is underlyingly toneless and acquires Its Low tone in the post-Low context (cf. ndi-a-llma, ndi-a-vh6na, etc.) by rule, such an analysis Is rendered unnecessary if we simply assume that Low-Deletion Is a general rule of the language, not at all specific to nouns. In order to give a complete account of the data In (3) we need to make Just one further assumption: namely, that Contour Simplification is also a general rule that operates on verbs as well as nouns. For it is the Contour Simplification rule that will explain why, when the High of the preceding

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92

word spreads onto the Low-toned prefix -a-, the -a- surfaces associated just with a High and not with a Low (cf. H ndi-a-lima). It is also Contour Simplification which will explain the downstep that appears in front of High-toned verb stems (cf. H ndi-a-vh!6na)—the downstep being caused by the unassociated Low tone produced by Contour Simplification. The derivations of the items in (3) can be amply illustrated by choosing one Low verb (-lindela) and one High verb (-tshlmblla). (4)

L L

t H

L

L L

I I 1 I I ndi-a-lindela L

L

L L

I ndi-a-lindela

H

L L

H

V n d i - a --tshimbiTa H

L

H

I I V ndi-a-tshimbila

LD MR

HTS

v ndi-a-lindela inapplicable

V ndi-a-tshimbilc

CS FS

We have shown in (4) that the post-High pronunciations of first person High- and Low-toned verb stems in the present tense can be accounted for without any new rules if we simply assume that the rules postulated in Chapter 2 are in fact not special rules for nouns but are general rules of the language. The fact that our analysis of nouns immediately extends to the post-High pronunciations of verbs provides strong support for our analysis: at every point along the way (as we moved from shorter noun stems to longer ones, as we moved from prefixed nouns to prefixless nouns, now as we move from nouns to verbs) we find that an analysis based on

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93

one set of data extends either automatically or naturally to new sets of data. We feel Justified that the rules so far postulated form the proper basis for an understanding of the entire Venda tonal system. Not all of the subject prefixes behave parallel to the first person subject prefixes. The third person subject prefixes
u-a-vh!6na vha-a-r!enga u-a-tsh!imbila u-a-sw!iela u-a-h!anelela u-a-sh!andulula vha-a-l!aisulula u-a-f!ulufhedzisa

'he 'he 'he 'he 'he 'he

sees' [W, 156] is buying' [S] is walking' [W, 156] is sweeping' [S] is narrating' [S] is turning it right out'[S] 'they are unloading' [S] 'he is promising' [S]

side

These forms obviously provide further motivation for allowing High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification to operate in the verbal system as well as In the nominal system. We see that in these data the subject prefixes ti- and vha- are High-toned, even though they are not preceded by another High t o n e suggesting that they must be inherently High. We see also that the present tense prefix -a-, which is pronounced Low when not preceded by a High tone, is here pronounced High. But not only Is -a- realized with a High tone, it is followed by a downstep. This all supports the view that the High of the subject prefix has spread onto the -a- prefix, forming a HL sequence on a pre-penult vowel; the Low then detaches by Contour Simplification from the -a-, leaving a floating Low in the tonal tier. (6) shows the proposed derivation for u-a-tsh!imbila:

Verbal Tonology (I)

94 (6)

H L

H

u-a-tshimbila inapplicable

LD

inapplicable

MR

H L

fcU;shimbila H L

HTS

H

u-a-tshimbila

CS

inapplicable

FS

Confirmation that the High-toned subject prefix spreads onto a Low-toned -a-, forming a contour tone (which then simplifies In accordance with Contour Simplification), is provided by the case of monosyllabic verb stems. Monosyllabic verb stems are ones where the only (surface) vowel In the stem is the final vowel—e.g. u-bv-a 'to come out of, u-w-a 'to fall', upf-a 'to hear', u-f-a 'to die'. There are relatively few such verbs in the language, and since they have some special tonal patterns, we will postpone until later a general discussion of this type of verb. We will, however, occasionally cite a monosyllabic stem when such a stem will help to clarify a point under discussion. The third person present tense form of the High verb stem -pfa is ti-a-pfa [W, 156]. This form shows that the -a- is realized with a Falling tone after
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word-initial. We will examine below the possibility that Low Deletion is a more general rule, and at that time we will return to the issue of what prevents Low Deletion from working In a derivation such as that in (6). Let us now examine the post-High pronunciation of third person, present tense High-toned verb stems: (7)

u-a-vhona [W, 156] H u-a-tshimbila [W, 156]

At first glance, these data appear baffling. We have already seen that when a High-toned subject prefix precedes the prefix -a-, the High spreads onto -a- forming a HL sequence that then subsequently may undergo Contour Simplification (if in the right environment). But in (7) the -a- prefix is realized on a Low tone even though preceded by the third person subject prefix. (7) is not, of course, baffling at all if we continue with the assumption that the tonological rules motivated in Chapter 2 are in fact general rules of Venda. For (7) involves a case where in underlying structure we have a verb that begins with a High tone following a word that ends in a High tone—in other words, the environment for Meeussen's Rule is present. If we assume that Meeussen's Rule affects a H in a verb when it is preceded by a H, just as it affects a H in a noun when it is preceded by a High, then we will predict the following (correct) derivation for an item like H
H H L

H

1 1 1 h rv

V u-a-vhona inapplicable H L L

LD

H -vhona

H L L

H

M I

/\

V u-a-vhbna

MR

HTS

Verbal Tonology (I)

96 H L L

H

N I

A

V u-a-vhona inapplicable

CS FS

We have now provided evidence that Low-Deletion, Meeussen's Rule, High Tone Spread, and Contour Simplification are all general rules of Venda that apply equally to verbs as well as nouns. We shall also see that Final Simplification is as equally applicable to verbs as to nouns. It is not the case, however, that Venda verbal tonology can be reduced so transparently to the rules that we have so far discussed. This becomes clear when we consider the third person subject forms of Low verb stems in the present tense (we have limited our discussion up to this point to the High verb stems). Examples are given for the post-Low context in (9). (9)

u-a-lima u-a-tuwa u-a-iindela u-a-sendela u-a-adzulula u-a-fhihamelwa vha-a-sinyutshelana

'he is ploughing' [W, 1561 'he Is departing' [S] 'he is waiting'[W, 157) 'he is approaching' [S] 'he Is folding s.t. up' [S] 'he is getting short of breath'(S) 'they are getting angry at e.o.' [S]

The data In (9) are not predicted by the rules that we have motivated up to this point. For example, we would expect the form *
H L

L

L L

I I .1 ,1,1

u-a-lindela

inapplicable

LD

inapplicable

MR

Verbal Tonology (I) H L

L

97

L L

u-a-lindela H

L L

HTS

L L

Kill u-a-lindela

CS

inapplicable

FS

The Low-toned verb stems in (9) are surprising in that there appears to be a High tone on the first vowel of the verb stem, a High tone that Is able to spread onto the second vowel of the verb stem (but no farther). Not only Is there an unexpected High tone on the first vowel of the verb stem, there is also no trace whatsoever of the Low tone that Is underlyingly associated with the -a- prefix—in particular, there is no evidence for a floating Low tone between the -a- prefix and the verb stem (as might be expected given the derivation of High-toned verb stems illustrated In (6)). We are thus left with two mysteries about the data in (9): where did the Low of -adlsappear to and how did a Low verb stem acquire a High? A partial answer to these mysteries begins to emerge when one considers the pronunciation of items like those in (9) in the post-High environment: (11) H ! u-a-Uma |W, 156] H ! u-a-lindela [W, 157] Examination of these data immediately reveals a third mystery concerning the pronunciation of third person, present tense forms of Low verb stems: there is a downstep between a word ending in a High and these verbs. The rules we have so far postulated predict a pronunciation like *H u-a-llndela rather than the correct H !
H H L

L

L L

A11 J A 1

V u-a-lmdela inapplicable

LD

Verbal Tonology (I)

98 H L L

L

L L

V u-a-lindela H L L

L

L L

V u-a-lindela H L L

L

MR

HTS

L L

V u-a-lindela

CS

inapplicable

FS

(12) shows that when a third person present tense verb form Is preceded by a High, we would expect the subject prefix to undergo Meeussen's Rule and become Low. The preceding High will then spread onto the (now Low-toned) third person subject prefix, forming a Falling tone that will eventually simplify. But the Important point is that we would not expect a High tone to appear after the subject prefix on the -a- prefix, since the Low tone produced by Meeussen's Rule will be a barrier to High Tone Spread. How, then, are we going to explain the downstep in H !u-a-lind61a? Clearly, this downstep Is not the result of the ordinary situation where a High at the end of a word precedes a High prefix (cf. the derivation of H u-a-vh6na in (8), which shows the expected application of Meeussen's Rule). Nor can this downstep be In any way a grammatical phenomenon associated either with the present tense or with third person subject prefixes—it does not show up anywhere except with Low-toned verb stems in the third person. Its source seems to be phonological In nature. We suggest that If downstep in Venda is always the product of an unassoclated Low tone, then the downstep In H16-a-lind£la must be the result of an unassoclated Low tone located in front of the verb. The presence of this unassoclated Low tone would explain why Meeussen's Rule cannot affect the High-toned subject prefix in H !u-a-lindeia (it is not immediately preceded by a High). But the question then becomes: what Is the source of this unassoclated Low?

Verbal Tonology (I)

99

When we recall that one of the mysteries concerning the third person present tense form of a Low verbs is the fact that the Low tone of the prefix -a- is missing, we have an obvious answer to our problem: the floating Low in front of the verb in H !
HLL 1 2 3 ->

2 10 3 That is, the rule will take a Low tone located on the tonal tier between a High and a Low and will transpose that Low in front of the High. The segmental tier, of course, will remain unaffected by this transposal other than that the TBU originally linked to the transposed Low will cease to be linked (since if it remained linked it would violate the principle that association lines may not cross). Given a rule of Low Metathesis, an underlying representation such as H HL

L

LL

I

I! 1 I I

V

u-a-lindela

will be converted to H L H

II

L

L L

Ml

V u-a-lindela and we will correctly predict the downstep between the High of the first word and the subject prefix 4-. We will also account for why the Low tone of the prefix -a- in no way manifests itself

100

Verbal Tonology (I)

after the -a- prefix (since it instead manifests itself in front of the subject prefix). Before continuing with our exploration of the third person forms of Low verb stems in the present tense (we have not yet explained the mystery of why the Initial vowel of the Low verb stem appears as High-toned in this construction), we need to bring up an issue that will be a recurring one throughout the course of this thesis. We have seen in the immediately preceding discussion that there Is substantial reason for positing a rule of Low Metathesis based on the third person, present tense form of Low verb stems. Some discussion is required, however, with respect to the relationship between Low Metathesis and the rule of Low Deletion. Are there really two different rules in the grammar of Venda, Low Metathesis and Low Deletion? Or are they in fact the same rule? At the present point in the discussion this question might appear somewhat bizarre. But as we proceed further Into the tonology of Venda, we will see that there are more similarities between the two rules than appear at the moment. At the present time we can say that the two rules have the following essential similarity: Low Deletion deletes a Low tone that stands after a High tone; Low Metathesis also deletes a Low tone that stands after a High tone, but it "deletes" that tone by moving It In front of the High. What are the crucial differences in the two rules. In our discussion of nouns, we saw that a word-Initial Low deletes after a word ending In a High regardless of the nature of the tone that follows (as shown by H mii-ri, e.g., where the L of mu- deletes after a H, as evidenced by the fact that Meeussen's Rule can then apply to the root -ri, since the H tone of that root now stands after a H). The configuration for Low Deletion Is thus: H ## L X (where X means any tone, possibly none). In particular, there is no requirement that the Initial L of the word be followed by another L. We have also seen that Low Deletion affects the (word-Initial) Low-toned subject prefix (e.g. ndl-) of a verb when it is preceded by a H-flnal word. In the present tense, the L of ndl- is always followed by the Lowtoned tense/aspect prefix -a-). Thus in the one case in the verb

Verbal Tonology (I)

101

where we have invoked Low Deletion, the L being deleted is in fact followed by another L. In other words, the configuration where Low Deletion has operated in the verb is H ## LL. But what we have not yet seen is whether it is crucial that the word-initial L be followed by a L in order to be deleted. A prefixal Low in the verb, on the other hand, metathesizes (i.e. deletes by metathesizing) after a High j u s t in case it is itself followed by another Low. We get no metathesis in a form such as ti-a-vhJdn-a, where the L of -a- precedes a High verb stem. The configuration where Low Metathesis operates is thus HLL (the H and the following LL sequence are in the same word). We have, then, an apparent discrepancy between the fact that Low Deletion (operating on word-initial Low tones) affects a HL sequence regardless of the nature of the following tone whereas Low Metathesis affects a HL sequence Just in the event a L follows. We will see later, however, that this same discrepancy can be shown to exist with respect to how the rule of Low Deletion applies in different grammatical domains. Thus this apparent difference does not turn out to distinguish whether a given instance of the deletion of a Low should be treated as Low Deletion or as Low Metathesis. The cases that we have been referring to as Low Deletion were all cases where a L tone is in word-initial position and the preceding H is in a different word. The phenomenon that we have analyzed as Low Metathesis involve a HLL sequence inside the same word. We must now ask ourselves whether it would be possible to claim that they are in fact a single rule. Clearly, a rule that simply deletes a Low tone after a High tone cannot account for the forms H like !
Verbal Tonology (I)

102

Consider the fact that the Initial L of a noun deletes after a word that ends In a H: schematically, [

H]w[L....]y

If we are to account for this phenomenon by Low Metathesis, then what we are claiming is that the initial L of the noun Y metatheslzes in front of the last H of the word w. If we allow such a metathesis to happen, will we generate incorrect results? Recall that we have given some evidence In favor of the proposition that Venda does not allow successive High tones on the tonal tier (there are of course successive High-toned vowels, but these represent cases where two or more vowels are linked to the same H tone in the tonal tier). If this turns out to be a general feature of Venda tonology, then in the structure cited above the last H of a word will never be preceded by another H tone in that same word. Rather, if it is preceded by any tone, that tone will have to be L. Thus we will be dealing with structures of the form [...LH]W [L...]y. As a consequence. If the Initial L of a noun y_ metatheslzes in front of the last H of a word w, that unassociated Low tone can have no consequences for the actual pronunciation of word w. In particular. It could not contribute a downstep, since it will never be between two High tones. Suppose that, in the structure cited above, word w ends In a H and there is no tone whatsoever in front of It in the word. That is. suppose w is a word that has j u s t a H tone (linked to all the vowels of w). Schematically: [H]w [L...]y If we now metathesize the L of the noun Y In front of the final H of the word w, then there will be an unassoclated L in front of w. Now, that unassociated L could logically have a realization on the phonetic surface. If w were in turn preceded by another H-flnal word, then the unassociated L might well manifest itself as a downstep between that preceding wordfinal H and the H of w.

Verbal Tonology (I)

103

We do not have any systematic data Involving a three word sequence [...H]x [H]w [L...]y where a noun occupies the third position. There are some data, however, that are pertinent to the Issue being raised. Westphal (1962) lists (p. 68) the pronunciation of nouns when they are preceded by a word and followed by another word. Furthermore, he illustrates all possible situations with respect to the final tone of the preceding word and the initial tone of the following word. According to Westphal's chart, a H noun such as th61i is pronounced as thOli when it appears (a) after a word ending in a H and (b) before a word beginning with a L. This means that the H of thdli must undergo Meeussen's Rule due to a preceding H-flnal word. But if it undergoes Meeussen's Rule, then there must not be an unassociated Low between that preceding H and th61i. It seems then, from this sort of example, that a Low-initial word following th6Ii cannot lose its L by metathesizing that L in front of th61i. Of course, this example is relevant only on the assumption that the word following th61i would indeed be expected to undergo Low Deletion/Metathesis. We will show in the course of this thesis that all word classes are subject to the rule that will delete their initial Low (under the appropriate circumstances). Thus it is safe to assume that the initial L of the word following th61i would, indeed, delete. Thus the absence of a downstep in front of thbli can be taken as evidence that there is no unassociated L in the tonal tier arising from the loss of the initial L of the word following th61i. We have given a possible argument against saying that it is indeed Low Metathesis that operates on the initial L of a word, causing it to delete (by metathesizing it in front of the preceding H). It may, however, be a mistake to conclude decisively that Low Deletion and Low Metathesis are two completely different rules. We might still view them as being instances of essentially a single rule which utilizes two different means of eliminating a L after a H: when the H and L are in the same word, the L is metathesized in front of the H; atherwise, the L simply deletes. Let us at this point temporarily set aside the question )f whether Low Deletion and Low Metathesis are the same

104

Verbal Tonology (I)

rule. Regardless of how this issue is resolved, we still can ask the question: are there any Low tones (followed by another L tone, in the case of verbs) that do not delete after a H? We have already encountered some. For example, neither Low Deletion nor Low Metathesis applies within a noun stem. Words such as Madzhie (from underlying /Madzhie/) or pflunelelo (from underlying /pfumelelo/) do not undergo Low Metathesis (which would put the Low of the second stem vowel in front of the noun, permitting the High of the first vowel of the noun to spread past the second vowel onto the third vowel). Nor do these words undergo Low Deletion (which would remove the L from the second stem vowel and allow the H of the first stem vowel to spread across onto the third stem vowel). The fact that neither Low Metathesis nor Low Deletion affects noun stems may be an indication that these rules are applicable only in derived environments (i.e. environments created across morpheme/word boundaries or by other phonological rules). In Madzhie, the underlying HLL sequence is all within the same morpheme—a non-derived context. In a sequence consisting of one word ending in a H tone and a noun or verb beginning in a Low tone, we are dealing with an HL sequence that has arisen as the result of the Juxtaposition of words. In examples like H Hi-a-lindfila, the underlying HLL sequence arises as a result of the juxtaposition of High-toned fi- with the Low-toned -a- prefix and a Low-toned verb stem. In all of the derived environments where a HL sequence has arisen, the L has been subject to either deletion or metathesis (with the stipulation that in the case of the verbal HL sequence, Low Metathesis applies only in the event another L follows). If we assume therefore that Low Deletion/Low Metathesis are in fact rules that apply only in derived environments, then the statement of these rules can Just refer to a HL sequence. No additional restrictions need to be added in order to exclude stem-internal HL sequences from being affected.

Verbal Tonology (I)

105

But it perhaps should be noted that if we assume that Low Deletion (in particular) is limited to derived environments, such an assumption poses certain problems with respect to claims made by the theory of lexical phonology. It has been suggested by Kiparsky (in the works on lexical phonology cited in Chapter One) that the reason that certain rules apply only in derived environments is that they are cyclic rules, and cyclic rules are subject to the principle of strict cyclicity. The principle of strict cyclicity is what prevents a cyclic rule from applying in a non-derived environment. However, for Kiparsky, only lexical rules can be cyclic. Post-lexical rules are not cyclic. And thus post-lexical rules cannot be subject to strict cyclicity. Low Deletion is clearly a rule that operates across word boundaries. It must be a post-lexical rule in Kiparsky's framework. As a post-lexical rule, it is not subject to strict cyclicity. And yet when it applies post-lexically, we do not want it to be able to affect a word such as Madzhie. It would be possible to exclude Madzhie from the scope of Low Deletion by assuming that in order for a L to delete, that L must be word-Initial. But if we go in that direction, we are essentially going in a direction that treats Low Deletion and Low Metathesis as two separate operations (since Low Metathesis clearly does not require the L that metathesizes to be word-initial). Instead of accepting at this point that Low Deletion and Low Metathesis are unrelated phenomena, we prefer to continue to assume that (somehow) a correct theory will predict that Low Deletion/Low Metathesis are applicable only in derived environments. Before we move on to address the other mysterious aspect of the pronunciation of
Verbal Tonology (I)

106

Rule after a word ending In a High. (14) shows the crucial interaction between Low Metathesis (=LM) and Meeussen's Rule: (14)

H

H L

1

I I 1 I1

V

u-a-lindela

H LH

I [ V

L

L

L L

L L

Ml

u-a-lmdela

inapplicable

LM

MR

This particular interaction of Low Metathesis and Meeussen's Rule may conceivably be j u s t the result of the fact that Low Metathesis Is able to apply at the word level and that Meeussen's Rule does not apply until the phrase level. However, it should perhaps be noted that we have shown In Chapter Two that Low Deletion must precede Meeussen's Rule. Thus In the data so far examined, it would be consistent to claim that Low Metathesis and Low Deletion are essentially the same rule and that this rule is ordered before Meeussen's Rule. While the postulation of a rule of Low Metathesis takes us a good way towards solving the mysteries of the third person form of Low verbs in the present tense, we have not solved all the mysteries. We have explained (a) why there is a downstep in front of the High third person subject prefix and (b) why there is no trace of the -a- prefix's Low tone after the subject prefix. We have not explained why It is that a High tone appears on the first vowel of the Low verb stem (a High that spreads onto the second vowel as well). As things stand now, the derivation in (14) will proceed as follows to give the incorrect result *H !u-a-lindela: (15)

H LH L L L | I ( 1 1 V u-a-lindela

(output of LM and MR as shown in (14))

V e r b a l Tonology

(I)

H LH

V

L

L L

u-a-lindela

H LH V

107

L

HTS

L L

u-a-lindela

CS

inapplicable

FS

One possible solution to this mystery would go as follows. We could invoke a new rule—call it Low Raising—which would have the effect of changing the initial Low tone of a verb to High when that verb stem is preceded by a H on the tonal tier. A possible formulation of Low Raising is given in (16). (16)

H

[ L verb stem

->

H

[H verb stem

If we assume that Low-Raising Is ordered after Low Metathesis, we will obtain the correct derivation for H !lk-a-lind€la and H !ti-a-lima. The complete derivation for these two items, assuming Low Raising, is given in (17). (17)

H H L

L

LL

HHL

LL

I II

I | | I II II

V u-a-lindela

V u-a-lima

HLH

L

HLH

M

> I I 1I

L L

L L

I I

V u-a-lindela inapplicable

V u-a-lima

HLH

HLH

H

L L

i I J J J Xi

H L

,1 i

V u-a-lindela

V u-a-lima

HLH

H LH

H

L L

LM MR

LR LR

H L

I fv>J I | I INN inapplicable

CS

V u-a-lindela

HTS

V u-a-lima

Verbal Tonotogy (I)

108 H LH inapplicable

H L

V u-a-lima

FS

The derivation of H !u-a-lima depends on claiming that Final Simplification—like all the other rules motivated in Chapter Two--is a general rule that affects verbs as well as nouns. This assumption is entirely unremarkable. But both of the derivations in (17) also depend on the output of Low Raising not undergoing Meeussen's Rule. While some rule such as Low Raising is a possible basis for explaining the third mystery surrounding H !
Verbal Tonology (I)

109

will have become toneless as a result of Low Metathesis) onto the Low-toned first stem vowel. But the Low tone of the first stem vowel will prevent any further spread. A contour tone will have been formed on the first stem vowel; this contour tone will simplify to High, but the second stem vowel will incorrectly be unaffected. (15) above showed this incorrect derivation. In order to have High Tone Spread generate the correct output, it would be necessary for the first stem vowel to become toneless. If the first stem vowel were toneless, then the High of the subject prefix would be able to spread past the -aprefix (which became toneless as a consequence of Low Metathesis) and past the first stem vowel and onto the second stem vowel. The Low tone associated with the second stem vowel would block any further spread. The resulting contour tone on the second stem vowel would remain in the case of forms like u-a-lindfila but would simply by Final Simplification in the case of ti-a-lima. But if we must somehow get the first stem vowel to be toneless, do we have any rule in the grammar that would have such an effect? Of course we do: Low Deletion/Metathesis. Notice that we have already claimed that the present tense prefix vowel -a- loses its Low tone through this process (in particular, via the Low Metathesis subcase). If we are going to claim that the initial Low of the verb stem loses its Low through this same process, then the process must be applied twice—first to the L of the -a- prefix and then a second time to the first L of the verb stem. The derivation in (19) illustrates the derivation of H !fi-a-lind61a within an approach that would explain the third mystery in terms of Low Metathesis/Deletion plus High Tone Spread applying twice. (19)

H HL

L

LL

I 1u -Ia - l iIn d Ie l a I

x

H LH

L

| |

I j l

x

L L

u-a-lindela

LM/D (first application)

Verbal Tonology (I)

no HLLH

L L

II

II

x

u-a-lindela inapplicable

HLLH-^^ x

""D (second application) MR

L L

u-a^nndelk

HTS

inapplicable

CS

inapplicable

FS

(Notice that In this derivation we have shown Low Metathesis/ Deletion metatheslzlng first the L of the -a- and then the L of the first stem vowel. There Is no direct evidence that the L of the first stem vowel has metathesized rather than simply deleting. The downstep In front of the verb can be accounted for simply by the metathesis of the L of the -a- prefix.) Let us now address the question of how to get Low Metathesis/Low Deletion to apply twice in the above derivation. One simple solution exists. Suppose that we claim that Low Metathesis and Low Deletion are in fact two rules after all. Then we could simply order Low Metathesis before Low Deletion. This would then permit Low Metathesis to remove the L from -a- first and then the subsequent application of Low Deletion would eliminate the L of the first stem vowel. Now, if Low Metathesis and Low Deletion are indeed two different rules, the main difference between them surely would have to be that Low Deletion affects just wordInitial Low tones whereas Low Metathesis affects a prefixal sequence HL (where the L is therefore not a word-initial element). Thus in order to account for the data under discussion by assuming that Low Metathesis and Low Deletion are separate rules, we would have to assume that word-initial and stem-initial position can be treated as analogous in some way. While this is not perhaps an obviously correct move, we regard it as a plausible one. But can we obtain the derivation in (19) without admitting that Low Metathesis and Low Deletion are indeed separate rules? One solution might be to let them be the same

Verbal Tonology (I)

111

rule, but apply that rule iterative ly, starting at the left edge of the word. Given this mode of application, the L of the -awould first undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion because it stands after a H and precedes a L, and then the first stem vowel would undergo the same rule because (as a consequence of the first application of the rule) it also stands after a H and precedes a L. The problem is, however: why doesn't the second L of the stem also undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion since it will be in the correct environment as a result of the metathesis/deletion of the first stem vowel? Iterative application would appear to predict that the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion should work across the word, metathesizing each L that stands between a H and a L. The only way to salvage iterative application here would be to place a constraint on Low Metathesis/Deletion that would restrict this rule to a L tone that is associated with the first TBU of a morphological unit. This would then allow a L to metathesize/delete from a noun class prefix (as in Chapter Two), from the first vowel of a noun stem (as in Chapter Two), from the first vowel of a verb stem (as presently under discussion), and from a prefix such as -a-. If we then applied the rule iteratively from left-to-right (note, not cyclically from the root leftwards across the prefixes) we could obtain the desired results. (This requires, however, that the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion have access to the morphological structure at the point where it applies.) There is one further aspect of the derivation of H !u-a-lind£la and H !u-a-lima that requires note: the Low tone that Low Metathesis places in front of the High subject prefix does not undergo Low Deletion. It remains in the tonal tier, causing downstep between the verb and a preceding Hfinal word. Why does this L escape metathesis/deletion? One possibility is simply that Low Metathesis/Deletion is a phrase level rule that works iteratively left-to-right across the phrase. Under this assumption, once the rule applies to metathesize the L of the -a- prefix in front of the subject prefix H, the rule must continue scanning rightward for the next L after a H (it cannot go back to the left to see whether the L that

Verbal Tonology (I)

112

is now in front of the subject prefix is in the right environment for metathesis/deletion). A second possibility is that Low Metathesis/Deletion is both a lexical rule and a post-lexical rule. (It cannot be just a lexical rule since it applies across word boundaries.) If so, that would mean that Low Metathesis will have applied lexically to put the L of -a- in front of the H subject prefix. Thus when we get to the phrasal level, we will have to explain why the unassociated L at the beginning of the verb is unable to metathesize/delete by the post-lexical application of Low Metathesis/Deletion. Notice that this unassociated L will be followed by a H tone. Therefore, if we can say that Low Metathesis/Deletion in the verb is constrained so that a L is affected Just in the event it precedes another L, we will correctly predict that the unassociated L in H !u-a-lind€l-a will not metatheslze/ delete. But recall we have already seen from u-a-vh!6n-a that Low Metathesis/Deletion does not affect the L of -a- when it is after a H but also before a H. We have now explained the pronunciations of present tense verbs (both High stems and Low stems) in the first as well as the third person in both the post-Low and post-High contexts. We turn now to the medial post-Low and post-High pronunciations of present tense verbs. The following data illustrate the medial post-Low environment for Low and High verb stems in the first person present tense: (20)

ndi-limamu... [W, 156) ndi-lindelamu... [W. 157] ndi-vhonamu... [W, 156) ndi-tshimbilamu... [W. 156]

(The syllable mu... is meant to show how an initial Low-toned syllable in a following word would be realized after the verbal form in question; if the syllable appears with a High tone, mli..., this means that the preceding word ends in a High tone that triggers Low Deletion and spreads to the right. If the muis realized with a Low tone, this is evidence that the verb has a final Low tone and thus does not trigger Low Deletion. This

Verbal Tonology (I)

113

final Low tone may, of course, become disassociated from the final vowel of the verb if a preceding High spreads onto the final vowel, creating a contour tone. Since the final vowel of the verb is not phrase-final, the contour tone on the last vowel would be simplified to High when In a pre-penult position.) The data In (20) are interesting because of the absence of the -a- prefix. The distribution of this -a- prefix is simple: it a p p e a r s only when the present tense verb is phrase-final. When the verb is In medial position, the -a- is not allowed. The absence of the -a- in (20) Is not the consequence of a phonological operation; rather It is simply a feature of Venda morphological structure. Setting aside the absence of the -a-, the data in (20) present no surprises. The first person subject prefix is Low-toned as expected. The High verb stems -vhona and -tshimbila appear with High tones and they trigger Low Deletion and spread onto a following word. The Low verb stems -lima and -lindela appear with Low tones and they do not affect a following word. Consider next the medial post-Low pronunciation of third person present tense verbs: (22)

u-Iimamu... [W, 156]--footnote u-lindelamu... [W, 157] u-vh!6na mu... [W, 156] u-tsh!imbilamu... [W, 156]

The examples involving High verb stems are highly suggestive that there is more going on in the medial form of the present tense verb than we have so far realized. Consider ti-vh!6na mH... The obvious question here Is: why Is there a downstep between the High subject prefix and the High verb stem. If we continue to take all cases of downstep in Venda as involving an unassoclated Low tone in the tonal tier, then we have reason to believe that the surface representation of &-vh!6na mti... must be: (21)

HL H u-vhona m u . . .

Verbal Tonology (I)

114

But where does the unassociated Low tone come from? It cannot come from the subject prefix 6- since we have abundant evidence from elsewhere that this prefix is High-toned. It cannot come from the verb stem since we again have abundant evidence elsewhere that this is a High verb stem. Clearly, if the only morphological constituents making up ti-vh!6na... is a subject prefix and a verb stem, we have no hope of explaining the downstep between these constituents in terms of an unassociated Low tone. However, if we recall that the -a- prefix, which appears when the present tense verb is phrase-final, is Low-toned, then a rather reasonable account of the downstep in H-vh!6na... is available. We can simply assume that the present tense is marked by both a segmental shape, -a-, and a tonal shape (a Low tone). These two parts of the present tense system are independent. In particular, the segmental part is used only when the verb is phrase- final. The tonal part is used in all phrasal positions, medially as well as finally. Both parts appear immediately after the subject prefix. When the tonal and the segmental shapes both appear, the tone associates with the -a-. When the tonal shape is used but not the segmental shape, the Low tone remains on the tonal tier unassociated. It will, however, induce downstep of a following High-toned verb stem in cases like &-vh!6na... Consider next the Low verb stems in (22)--u-lima mu..„ u-lind61a mu... If we assume that In the medial form of the present tense there Is an unassociated Low between the subject prefix and the verb stem, then in order to explain the items Just mentioned we must allow this unassociated L to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion (just as an associated Low does). Lexical application of Low Metathesis/Deletion will produce the following partial derivation: (23)

HL

L

L L

u-a-lindel-a I l | l u-a-lindel-a

first application of LM/D

Verbal Tonology (I) LLH L L | | J u-a-lindel-a

115 second application of LM/D

When this representation appears after a word that ends in a L and before a word that begins with a L, nothing further will happen except the H of the subject prefix will spread as far as the second vowel of the verb stem. We will obtain the correct surface form. By allowing Low Metathesis to affect the unassociated Low that follows the subject prefix in the medial form of the present tense, we account for the fact that there is no trace of that unassociated Low after the subject prefix and for the fact that the first vowel of the verb stem has itself been able to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion, as a consequence of which the H of the subject prefix is able to spread as far as the second stem vowel. We also predict that there will be a downstep between the verb and a preceding H-final word. This prediction is correct, as we shall see shortly. (24) shows the medial post-High pronunciations of first person present tense forms: (24)

H H H H

ndi-lima mu... {inferred, [W, 1561 seems in error} ndi-lindela mu... [W, 157] ndi-vh!6namu... [W, 156] ndi-tsh!imbila mu... [W, 156]

It would appear that if Low Metathesis/Deletion is an iterative rule that can work progressively, in a left-to-right fashion, across the word metathesizing/deleting each L that stands between a H and a L, then we are going to get the wrong results in the case of examples such as H ndi-Iindel-a in (24). Such an iterative application of Low Metathesis/ Deletion would have the result that the L of ndl-, the L of the empty skeletal slot, and the first L of the verb stem would all be metathesized/ deleted. Consequently, the High of the preceding word would be able to spread all the way to the second vowel of the verb stem. But this is wrong. At this point, one possible response is simply to give up the idea that Low Metathesis and Low Deletion are the same

116

Verbal Tonology (I)

rule. If they are not the same rule, then we have no need for the Iterative application of a rule In examples such as ti-4lind€l-a. Such forms can be generated by having two rules. Low Metathesis and Low Deletion, and ordering Low Metathesis before Low Deletion. Then we can explain the data In (24) by simply saying that Low Deletion affects Just the initial Low of a word (or stem) and is not an iterative rule. It is perhaps worthwhile, however, to see whether there is any way to salvage an analysis where there is a single rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion. We have seen that the rule must, inside a word, apply Iteratlvely to a L tone at the beginning of a morphological unit. But now we see that we do not want a H in one word to cause the iterative application of the rule across the following word. A solution in terms of lexical phonology suggests Itself. One of the principles of lexical phonology is that in the post-lexical phonology, which includes all rule applications that take place at the phrasal level across (true) words, a phonological rule has no access to the Internal morphological structure of a word. Assume that this is a correct constraint on post-lexical rules. If it is, then Low Metathesis/Deletion (when it is applying as a post-lexical rule) will be able to see that the u;ord-initial L of the verb is initial in a morphological unit, but it will not be able to see that any of the subsequent Low tones in the word are Initial in a morphological unit (since as a post-lexical rule it has no access to the internal structure of the word). As a result, only the first L of the verbal word will be able to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion. Of course, when Low Metathesis/ Deletion applies as a lexical rule, It will have access to which Low tones are initial in a morphological unit, and thus can work iteratlvely across the word metatheslzing/ deleting them when they are in the right environment. (Incidentally, since Low Metathesis/Deletion would be a left-to-right iterative rule, it does not apply until all the prefixes have been appended. We are assuming that all internal structure in the word would still exist after the preflxation processes have applied.) The derivation in (25) shows the derivation that we predict if Low Metathesis/Deletion applies Just once, to the initial Low of the word. (This derivation does not, of course.

Verbal Tonoiogy (I)

117

depend on which of the above two explanation are given as to the reason why only the first L of the word is affected.) (25)

H

I

L

L

I'

L

L

L

HI

x ndi-0-lima mu... H L L L L x ndi-0-lima

H L L

I

I '

H L

A I

x ndi-0-vhona H L H

mu...

mu... x ndi-^-vhona mu...LM/D inapplicable MR

inapplicable inapplicable

CS FS

But *H ndi-lima is the incorrect form. In order to derive the correct surface form, we must prevent the High at the end of the preceding word from spreading all the way to the stem vowel. Given that the subject prefix ndi- is expected to become toneless as a result of Low Deletion, one would expect a preceding High to spread past the subject prefix onto the next vowel. Is there any explanation for why this fails to occur in the present case? The answer seems to rest In the floating Low tone located between the subject prefix and the verb stem. It would seem that it must be this floating Low that acts as a barrier to the spreading of a High onto the verb stem. In order to let the floating Low serve as a barrier to High Tone Spread, we suggest that the Low tone introduced as part of the present tense morphology should not be viewed as completely floating, but rather should be regarded as anchored (linked) to an empty "skeletal slot" (cf. Levin (1985)) located after the subject prefix. This skeletal position would, in the phrase-final form of the present tense verb, be associated with the phonological material a. But in phrase-medial position, there is no phonological material at all. Just an empty place-holder. If we

Verbal Tonology (I)

118

make this assumption, then the principle that association lines may not cross will prevent a preceding High from spreading past the floating Low onto the verb stem. (26) illustrates this point: (26)

H

1

L

L L

L

[Ml

1

.

I,, ,'\,

V ndi-0-lima mu...

-0-vhona V ndi-0-vhonc

H

L L L L

H

l\

I II I

V ndi-0-lima mu... inapplicable

l\

L H

L /^\

V ndi-^-vhona mu.. HTS CS/FS

The assumption that the floating Low tone associated with the medial form of the present tense is anchored to an empty skeletal position (located after the subject prefix) allows u s to account for the first person present tense verb in the medial post-High context. We turn now to third person forms in this same environment. (27) illustrates: (27) H ! u-limamu... [W, 156] H ! u-lindelamu... [W, 157] H u-vh!6na mu... [inferred] H u-tsh!imbilamu... [W. 156] These data are interesting In that they provide support for our suggestion above that the floating Low tone in the medial present tense verb Is susceptible to Low Metathesis—note the downstep that occurs between the preceding High and the subject prefix in H !u-lima mu... and H !u-lind61a mu... as compared with H u-vh!6na mu... and H u-tsh!imbila mu... This downstep occurs Just in the case where Low Metathesis would predict its occurrence. The derivations in (28) for both a Low verb (like -lindela) and a High verb (like -vh6na) show that our analysis will predict the surface forms in (27) correctly.

Verbal Tonology (I) (28)

H

119

H L

H

L

/ X

'

'1 H

x H

u-J)-vhon-a m u . . . H L H

I

l\

I

I,

x H 1

u-0-vhon-a mu... L L H

LM/D

x H

u-0-vnon-a mu... L L H

MR

l\l x H

II

J\ l\

1

u - 0 - v h o n - a mu. . . L L H

HTS

r^ i J ^

x u - 0 - v h o n - a mu. . . inapplicable H

H L

L

L

L

CS FS

L

I

I IJ

x

u - 0 - l i n d e l - a mu.

I I I (first,lexical applic.) LM/D (second,lexical applic.) LM/D MR

HTS

CS FS

Verbal Tonology (I)

120

We have now accounted for both Low and High verb stems in the present tense, with both Low and High subject prefixes, in all contexts: phrase-final (post-Low and post-High) as well as phrase-medial (again, post-Low and post-High). In order to explain all of the facts about these varied forms, we have been led to introduce a rule of Low Metathesis into the grammar of Venda. However, we have examined the possibility that this new rule and the rule of Low Deletion (motivated for the nouns in Chapter Two as well as for verbs in the present chapter) may In fact be essentially the same rule. In addition, we have assumed that the present tense is marked by a Low-toned -a- prefix in phrase-final position, but by a Low tone (linked to a featureless skeletal slot) in phrase-medial position. All of the rules motivated in Chapter Two have been demonstrated to be equally applicable to verbs. 3.3. The potential prefix. In this section we examine the behavior of the prefix -nga-, which Westphal refers to as the potential. This prefix clearly has a High tone associated with it, as we can see from the data in (29) below: (29)

ndi-nga-vhona ndi-nga-renga* 1 ndi-nga-tshimbila ndi-nga-thomolola* ndi-nga-laisulula ndi-nga-lima ndi-nga-bika* ndi-nga-lindela ri-nga-vhangisana*

'I may see'[W, 159) 'I may buy' IS] 'I may go'[W, 159] 'I may start again' [S] 'I may unload' [SJ 'I may plough' [W, 159] 'I may cook' [S] 'I may wait' rw,159] 'we may quarrel with one another'fS] ri-nga-pandamedzana* Ve may pursue one another'lS]

The first problem that arises in (29) has to do with the behavior of the H verb stems after the -nga- prefix. Notice that the preflxatlon of the H prefix -nga- next to a H verb stem produces no change in the tonal realization of either. In particular, the verb stem H is not affected by Meeussen's Rule.

Verbal Tonology (I)

121

If Meeussen's Rule had applied to the verb stem H, we would expect forms such as *ndi-nga-vhOn-a, *ndi-nga-tshimbil-a, etc. The issue, then, that we must address is simply: why does Meeussen's Rule fail to apply in the above word forms? This question might be answered in various ways. First, we might interpret the data in (29) as indicating that Meeussen's Rule does not apply inside a word to a succession of High tones. Under this view, the adjacent Highs of -nga- and a verb stem such as -vh6n-a are immune to Meeussen's Rule since there is no word boundary between the two High tones. There is a problem with such an approach, however. We will demonstrate later that there is indeed evidence that Meeussen's Rule applies within a word. If this is true, then we cannot appeal to the lack of a word boundary to explain the failure of Meeussen's Rule to apply to ndl-nga-vh6n-a and ndlnga-tshimbil-a. Second, we might claim that the prefix -nga- is exceptional in that it does not trigger Meeussen's Rule. This approach appears to be flawed, however, due to the fact that we will show below that prefixes that have a H tone generally fail to trigger the application of Meeussen's Rule to a following H verb stem. To consider -nga- and these other prefixes as exceptional misses the point: they indeed are the regular case. A third possible line of analysis is to suggest that in fact the data in (29) do not actually represent violations of Meeussen's Rule since they do not meet the structural description of that rule. But if -nga- underlyingly has a H associated with it, and if a verb stem such as -vh6n-a underlyingly has a H associated with it, how can the combination of these morphemes not constitute a representation that meets the conditions for Meeussen's Rule? At this point, let us reconsider a point made earlier. We suggested that inside a stem, a sequence of High tones is always represented as a single H associated with multiple tone-bearing units. In other words, we adopted the position that only representations such as (30a) are permitted in the underlying structure of stems, not representations such as (30b).

Verbal Tonology (I)

122 (30) (a.) H

(b.)

I 1

J\ X

H H

X

X X

What we have claimed is simply that the obligatory contour principle (for discussion of this principle, see McCarthy 1985, Odden 1984) holds for the underlying representations of stems (and presumably morphemes in general) in Venda. The obligatory contour principle, roughly phrased, says that one cannot have, on an autosegmental tier, successive occurrences of an identical autosegment. There Is considerable evidence in favor of some such principle. But there are many problematic aspects to it. One of the problematic aspects is the issue of the domain of the principle. We have given evidence from Venda, for example, that it clearly holds within the domain of the stem. But can it also hold across morpheme boundaries? If the obligatory contour principle governs the conjoining of morphemes, then we can assume that this principle requires the collapsing of successive identical autosegments into a single autosegment that Is associated with the same segments (slots) as the original sequence of autosegments. This is shown schematically in (31). (31)

F \ [ . . .x]y

F / [x...]z

F -->

/ \ [ . . . x ] y [x. . . ] z

(where y and z are the conjoined morphological units that are subject to the obligatory contour principle). Suppose that we claim in Venda that the morphological conjoining of a verb stem with a preceding prefix is subject to the OCP. This means that when -nga- is conjoined with -vh6n-a, the two H tones In the tonal tier will collapse to a single H, associated both with the prefix and the verb stem. The result is that we have a single H tone multiply-linked. The environment for Meeussen's Rule is not satisfied since there are not two High tones In succession.

Verbal Tonology (I)

123

We will assume that it is indeed the OCP that accounts for the failure of Meeussen's Rule to affect a H verb stem after the prefix -nga-. Let us now turn to the second problem posed by the data in (29), namely, the fact that a High tone appears on the first stem vowel of an underlylngly Low-toned verb stem (a H tone that is able to spread onto the second stem vowel as well). This is shown by examples such as ri-nga-vhangisan-a and ndi-nga-lindfil-a. The solution to this problem is obvious. We have seen that when the L tone of-a- metathesizes in front of a H subject prefix, the H subject prefix is able to induce the metathesis/deletion of the initial L of the verb stem. If we assume that the prefix -nga- likewise can induce the metathesis/deletion of the initial L of a verb stem, then the derivation of the Low-toned verb stems in (29) is straightforward. (32) provides a sample derivation: (32)

L

H

I

I I I I

L

L

L

ndi-nga-1inde1-a L L H

L

L

II

II

ndi-nga-lindel-a

LM/DEL

inapplicable

MR

L L H

L

L

ndi-nga-1inde1-a

HTS

inapplicable

CS and FS

Let us turn now to the post-High pronunciation of the first person potential verb since these forms do shed some light on the application of Low Deletion to verbs. (33) provides relevant examples: (33) H ndi-ng!a-vhona [W, 159] H ndi-ng!a-tshimbila (W,159] H ndi-ng!a-lima [W.1591 H ndi-ng!a-lindela [W.159]

Verbal Tonology (I)

124

The derivation of these Items Is straightforward i/"we assume that Low-Deletion does not delete the Low of the first person subject prefix ndi-. If ndl- were to lose its Low tone, then we would Incorrectly generate *H ndi-nga-vhona and *H ndi-ngatshimbil-a. (34) shows the incorrect derivation that is predicted If Low Deletion were to apply, and (35) shows the correct derivation resulting from the failure of Low Deletion to apply. (34)

H

L

H

H

I I I x H

l\

ndi-nga-vhon-a L

H

x ndi-nga-vhon-a H

OCP

H

x ndi-nga-vhon-a

LM/DEL MR

x

ndi-nga-vhon-a

H

L

l^\ x

HTS

V\

CS

ndi-nga-vhon-a FS

(35)

H

1

L

J-

lH

H

J\

x ndi-nga-vhon-a H L H

I I

/V\

x ndi-nga-vhon-a

OCP

Verbal Tonology (I)

125

inapplicable inapplicable H

1

L

H

J- /h^

x ndi-nga-vhon-a H

L

LM/D MR

HTS

H

x ndi-nga-vhon-a

CS

inapplicable

FS

It Is clear from comparing (34) and (35) that the Low tone of the prefix ndl- must be retained (i.e. not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion). There are three reasons It must be there. The Low must be present so as to prevent the previous word's High from lowering -nga- by Meeussen's Rule. The Low must be present so that the previous word's High can spread onto the ndl- but no further. Third, the Low must be there so that It can detach from ndl- (once ndl- has received a spread High) by Contour Simplification but still remain in the tonal tier to cause the downstepping of -nga-. The Issue then is simply: why does the Low of ndl- not metatheslze/delete in (35)? We propose that the explanation for this is that a word-Initial Low on a verb does not metatheslze/delete If it is immediately followed by a High. This constraint does not hold for nouns (recall that a noun such as mu-sdlwa will undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion in the post-High context, even though the Low prefix is followed immediately by a High). We will see in the course of this thesis, however, that it is just nouns that are exempt from the requirement that the Low to be metathesized/deleted must be followed by another Low. Let us assume, then, that the correct explanation for the failure of Low Metathesis/Deletion to apply In (35) is the condition that the L of ndl- Is followed by a H and the rule in question requires a L to follow. If this is so, we see clearly that we were correct in raising the issue of whether Low Metathesis and Low Deletion might not be the same rule. Low Deletion, as we originally conceived of it, deleted a word-initial L after a final H in the previous word. Low Metathesis, on the other

Verbal Tonology (I)

126

hand, metathesized a prefix L In front of a preflxal H. What we have now seen Is that (In verbs) Low Deletion (the operation that affects the L of ndi-in (35) above) is subject to the constraint that a L must follow. But we have also seen that Low Metathesis (the operation that affects the L of-a- in words like Iti-a-lindeia to place It In front of the verb) is subject to this same constraint—it operates only before a L verb stem, not a H verb stem. Thus, in verbs, both Low Deletion and Low Metathesis apply to a HLL sequence: the only difference is that when this sequence Is within a word, the post-H Low surfaces as an unassociated Low in front of the H; when the H is at the end of a word and the following L is at the beginning of the next word, we do not find the L surfacing at all. We have shown so far that the post-H forms like H nding!a-vh6n-a and H ndi-ng!a-tshimbil-a can be derived correctly by a derivation such as (35) where Low Metathesis/Deletion Is not permitted to affect the initial L of the subject prefix ndl-. The post-H forms of Low verbs—e.g., H ndi-ng!a-lind€l-a--can be derived fairly straightforwardly (see endnote 1, however). (36) illustrates. (36)

H

L

I

I I I I I

x

H

L

L

L

ndi-nga-lindel-a

inapplicable H I x

OCP

L H L L I | | | ndi-nga-lindel-a

inapplicable inapplicable H x

L

L

L

ndi-nga-lindel-a

H

L

| \ x

H^

lexical applic. of LM/D2 post-lexical applic. LM/D MR

H

L

^ |?

1 |

HTS

L

ndi-nga-lindel-a

CS

Verbal Tonology (I)

127

The potential form of the verb has an additional aspect to it that we will make note of here. Westphal states that "all subject prefixes are low in pitch" [W, 159; see also W.148] in the potential verbal form. In other words, the tonal shape of the subject prefixes is not independent of the morphological construction of the verb. Although there are many tenses where first and second person subject prefixes are Low while third person subject prefixes are High, in some tenses this situation is altered; the potential is one such case. The fact that the subject prefixes are uniformly Low-toned in the potential cannot be attributed to anything about the phonological environment. It is simply an aspect of the morphology. While the data that we collected is in agreement with Westphal in not showing on the prejix a tonal contrast for first/second person versus third person, our data does suggest that there may nevertheless be a tonal contrast at work. In the examples In (37), the third person forms of the verb are consistently pronounced on a somewhat higher pitch level throughout the word than are the first person forms. We have used the symbol T to mark this "upshifting" of third person forms. (37)

ndi-nga-bika* Ta-nga-bika* ri-nga-vhangisana*

'I may cook' [SI 'he may cook' [S] "we may quarrel with one another'[S] Tvha-nga-vhangisana* 'they may quarrel...'[S] ndl-nga-renga* "I may buy' [S] Ta-nga-renga* 'he may buy' [S] ndl-nga-laisulula* 'I may unload' [S] Ta-nga-laisulula* 'he may unload' [S]

Thus while ndl-nga-r6nga and Ta-nga-r6nga, for example, both have a subject prefix that is Low relative to the following Highs in the word, the Lows and Highs of the latter word are phonetically raised in comparison with the Lows and Highs of the former.

Verbal Tonology (I)

128

We have not had the opportunity to explore this upshlftlng of third person forms (In comparison with first and second person forms) In the potential. We will see later that there are other cases of a similar upshlftlng. At the present time we cannot see any way to account for this upshlftlng In terms of the underlying tonal shape of the third person potential verb versus the first and second person. Rather it seems that the device of upshifting is in response to the fact that the usual tonal contrast on the subject prefix is neutralized. We leave the problem of upshlftlng for future study. 3.4. The negative prefix -sd-. The negative marker -sarepresents another case of a prefix that has a High tone. (38) gives examples of the negative infinitive construction of High and Low verb stems. (38)

u-vhona u-sa-vhona u-tshimbila u-sa-tshimbila u-somb6161a u-sa-sombolola u-fulufhedzisa u-sa-fulufhedzisa u-amba u-sa-amba u-gldlma u-sa-gidima u-slnyutshela u-sa-sinyutshela u-slnyutshelana u-sa-sinyutshelana

'to see' 'not to see' [W.140] t o walk' 'not to walk' rw,140] 'to unwind' 'not to unwind' [W,1401 'to promise' 'not to promise' IS] 'to speak' 'not to speak' [W.140] 'to run' 'not to run' [W.140] 'to get angry at' 'not to get angry at' [W.140] 'to get angry at one another' 'not to get angry at one another'[SJ

Obviously, the behavior of the negative prefix -sA- In (38) Is precisely parallel to the behavior of the potential prefix -ngalllustrated In (29). The two cases can be given exactly analogous treatments. No further discussion is required.

Verbal Tonology (I)

129

We have no information available to us with respect to the post-H pronunciation of the forms In (38). What our analysis predicts about the pronunciation of these items depends on whether the negative infinitive form is treated In Venda as a nominal construction or as a verbal construction. If the infinitive Is nominal (as it is generally taken to be in other Bantu languages), then we expect the L of the Infinitive prefix to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion In the post-High environment (even though it is followed by the H-toned -ngA-; recall nouns do not require that a L be followed by a L in order to undergo metathesis/deletion). If the infinitive L metathesizes/deletes, then the H of the preceding word will be able to trigger Meeussen's Rule on the negative prefix -sa-. The ultimate result will be that we will have forms like H fi-savhon-a and H ti-sa-lindel-a. If, on the other hand, the infinitive is treated as a verbal word, the L of the prefix will not be able to metathesize/ delete after a word that ends in a H (since the L of the infinitive prefix is followed by a H). The result will be forms such as H 6-s!a-vh6n-a and H u-s!alindei-a. Further data is required in order to determine which of these predictions is correct. 3.5. The past tense. The past tense of the verb in Venda Is formed by means of a prefix -6-, which appears regularly linked to a High tone. All of the subject prefixes appear in a "contracted" form when used in conjunction with the -6- prefix. The examples in (39) [W.1481 illustrate this point. (39) Subject prefix + 6 nd-6- T w-6- 'you (sg.)' 6- 'he/she' r-6- "we' n-6- 'you (pi.)' vh-6- 'they' w-6- cl.3 y-6- cl.4 1-6- cl.5

SubJ. prefix in -a-tense ndiuurinivhauili-

Verbal Tonology (I)

130 6- cl.6 tsh-6- cl.7 zw-6- cl.8 etc.

atshi zwietc.

(39) shows that in other environments the subject prefixes referring to human beings have the shape COV-, but before the -6- the vowel of the prefix either glides or deletes. The result of the contraction of the subject prefix and the -6- Is always a syllable with o as the vocalic nucleus; the syllable is High-toned. Westphal takes the past tense to be one where the subject prefix for all persons Is High-toned. But clearly he is making reference to the contracted syllable rather than to the underlying structure of the subject prefixes. However, because Westphal takes the tonal structure of the past tense verb to be identical for all subject prefixes, he confines his examples largely to the first person. As we go systematically through the past tense data we will explore the issue of the underlying tonal structure of the past tense subject prefixes. In (40) we give examples of High verb stems In the past tense with first and third person subject prefixes, and in (41) we give examples of Low verb stems. (40)

nd-6-vhona nd-6-xela 6-xela nd-6-tshimbila nd-6-tevhula 6-tevhula nd-6-somb6161a 6-somb616Ia nd-6-laisulula 6-laisulula

'I saw' [W, 158) 'I got lost' (SI 'he got lost' (SI 'I walked' [W.1591 'I poured out' [S] 'he poured out' (S) 'I unwound' [SI 'he unwound' (S] 'I unloaded' [S] 'he unloaded' (S)

(41)

nd-6-lima nd-6-amba nd-6-bika 6-bika

'I ploughed'[W. 158) 'I spoke' IU.441 'I cooked' [SJ 'he cooked' (Si

Verbal Tonology (I) nd-6-lindela nd-6-vuledza 6-vuledza nd-6-sukumedza 6-sukumedza r-6-sinyutshelana vh-6-sinyutshelana

131 'I waited" [W, 158] 'I finished' [SJ 'he finished' [S] 'I pushed It forward' [SJ 'he pushed it forward' [SI "we got angry at one another' [S] 'they got angry at one another' [SJ

The data in (40) and (41) demonstrate clearly that the -6- prefix behaves in a fashion entirely analogous to the potential prefix -ngA- and the negative prefix -s4- in that (a) it does not induce the lowering of a following High verb stem by Meeussen's Rule and (b) it does raise an initial Low of a verb stem to High. We assume, then, that whatever account is to be given of these phenomena for the other prefixes, -6- will be given the same treatment. Recall our analysis goes as follows: a H prefix and an adjacent High verb stem are subject to the obligatory contour principle: their (separate) High tones are merged into a single, multiply-linked High tone. It is this principle that explains why a High verb stem is not subject to Meeussen's Rule after a High prefix. Furthermore, we claim that a High prefix triggers Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following L at the beginning of a verb stem. Since the initial L of the verb stem is metathesized/deleted, then there Is nothing to block the spread of the preflxal H across the first vowel of the verb stem onto the second vowel. The only questions that immediately come to mind about the forms in (40) and (41) are: what is the tonal shape of the subject prefix in the past tense and what happens to the tone of the subject prefix when that prefix contracts with -6-? There are three (likely) possibilities with respect to the underlying tonal shape. The usual contrast between Low-toned first and second person subject prefixes compared with High-toned third person subject prefixes could be at work in the past tense. Or the past tense could be like the potential in that all subject prefixes have the same tone. If the subject prefixes have the same tone, that tone could either be Low or

Verbal Tonology (I)

132

High. Whatever the underlying tonal shape of the subject prefix might be, when the vowel of the subject prefix contracts with the -6- prefix, only a single tone-bearing unit emerges from the contraction process. Since the vowel that results from contraction Is always -6-, it seems safe to say that the contraction process does not in any way affect the -6- prefix (i.e. its vowel and its linked High tone remain unaltered). What does change is the tone-bearing status of the vowel of the subject prefix: that vowel either deletes or It glides, but in either case the result of contraction is that the subject prefix no longer contains a tone-bearing unit. The question then is: what happens to the tone that originally was linked to the vowel of the subject prefix? Is that tone simply left stranded in the tonal tier, or does it delete, or what? Before we turn to a consideration of these possible hypotheses for the underlying tonal shape of the past tense subject prefixes and the fate of the subject prefix tone under contraction, let us introduce some additional data that will help u s choose among the differing possible analyses. The relevant data involve the post-High pronunciation of past tense forms. Examine the data in (42): (42)

H nd- !6-vhona [W, 158J H nd-!6-tshimbila [W.159] H nd-!6-lima[W,158) Hnd-!6-lindela [W.159]

The examples In (42) show that High tone of the -6prefix is downstepped after a word ending in a High. Suppose that we were to assume that there is no tone In front of the H of the -6-(l.e. that the subject prefix either has no tone underlylngly In this construction or that if it has a tone, that tone is simply lost when the vowel of the subject prefix ceases to be tone-bearing). Given such an assumption, we predict the following derivations. (43)

H

H H

J

I |\

x nd-o-vhona

H

H L L L

I

Mil

x nd-o-lindela

Verbal Tonology (I) H

133

H

x nd-o-vhona

inapplicable H

H

OCP

L

L

inapplicable

x nd-o-lindel-a

H

H

L

l\

L

L

L

x nd-o-vhona

x nd-o-lindel-a

H

H

L

x nd-o-vhona

x

H

H

L

x nd-o-vhona

x

L

HTS

L L

nd-o-lindela

inapplicable

MR

L L

nd-o-lindela L

lexical applic. LM/DJ

CS FS

(43) generates the incorrect form *H nd-6-llndel-a, as well as the incorrect form *H !nd-6-vhona. Clearly, in order to derive the correct forms—e.g. H nd-!6-vh6na and H nd-!o-lindela, we must somehow create a situation where there is an unassociated Low tone between the preceding word's final H and the H of the -6- prefix. This Low cannot in any way be linked to the nature of the verb stem (since it occurs when -6is followed by either a L or a H verb stem). The most obvious candidate for explaining this downstep in front of the verb in (42) is a Low tone that has its source in the (missing) subject prefix vowel. But before we examine such an approach to the data in (42), which involve first person past tense forms in the post-High environment, we need to consider the third person past tense forms in this same post-High environment. The data in (44) show that these forms as well have a downstep in front of the verb.

Verbal Tonology (I)

134

(44) mu-sadzi !6-vhona mu-thu 'the woman saw s.o.' [W, 144) mu-sadzi !6-sola mu-thu 'the woman slande s.o.' [W, 144] [N.B. These examples happen to be phrase-medial post-High, but this is Irrelevant to the point at hand; the phrase-final post-High forms would be: H !6-vhona H !6-sola

(underlying High verb stem) (underlying Low verb stem)]

There Is, then, complete parallelism between first person and third person past tense forms in the post-High environment j u s t as there is complete parallelism in the post-Low environment. This lack of contrast must be explained. Let us at this point return to the analysis of the past tense subject prefixes. Suppose that we were to claim that the subject prefixes In the past tense (as in the -ng4-tense) are uniformly Low (i.e. there is no contrast between first/second and third person forms). Given this assumption, we will successfully generate the post-High pronunciations In (42) and (44) by simply assuming that when the Low-toned subject prefix ceases to be tone-bearing as a consequence of the contraction with -6-, the L tone associated with the subject prefix is simply left floating in the tonal tier. Derivations for H nd-!6-vh6n-6 and H I6-s61-a are shown in (45). (45)

H L H

I

H

H L H L L

I I J \

I I I LI

x ndi-o-vhon-a

x

a-o-sol-a

H

H

L H

L

L

1i

1

i

L H

H

1

1 x nd-o-vhon-a

i

1

H

1 X

L

K'

Contraction

o-sol-a

X

H

nd-o-vhon-a

inapplicable H

1

inapplicable X

OCP

LH

'V

L

1 -a

O-SO1•

lexical applic. LM/D

Verbal Tonology (I)

135 postinapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

H inapplicable

x

LH

L

o-sol-a

inapplicable H inapplicable

x

HTS CS

LH

L

o-sol-a

FS

We have Just seen that by assuming that the subject prefixes are uniformly Low-toned In the past tense, we can account for the downstep that separates the past tense form of the verb from a preceding H-final word. Suppose that we were to assume that the usual tonal contrasts on subject prefixes were in operation in the past tense. The first and second person subject prefixes would then be Low but the third person subject prefixes would be High. If the first and second person subject prefixes are Low, then for them we will have the same (correct) derivations as in (45). But what about the third person forms? If the underlying representation of the verb in examples like H !6-vh6n-a and H !6-s61-a are as in (46), (46) ( a . ) H H

H

I I l \

(b. )

H H

L L

II 1,1

a-o-vhon-a a-o-sol-a then the issue that we must address is: what we would expect to happen tonally to such forms and will these expected tonal changes yield the correct results? In our discussion, we will concentrate on (46a). Our reason for doing so is that (46b) has an additional parameter to it (namely, the fact that Low Metathesis/Deletion is applicable). This additional parameter adds a complexity to the

Verbal Tonology (I)

136

discussion that can be avoided by focusing on (46a). Since we are going to argue that (46a) cannot be accounted for under the assumption that the third person past tense subject prefix is High-toned, the issue of whether (46b) can be derived from such a representation is essentially irrelevant. Consider, then, what we might expect to happen to a representation such as (46a). First, we expect the OCP to collapse the H of the past tense -6- with the H verb stem. This produces the representation in (47): (47)

H

H

a-o-vhon-a It is not at present clear whether we would expect the H of the subject prefix to also be subject to the OCP as a result of being next to the H past tense prefix (later we will argue that the OCP must not affect a prefix next to another prefix). Notice that if the OCP did affect the H of the subject prefix, in (46a) it would derive a word with a single H tone associated to all the vowels of the word. This would clearly produce undesirable results in the post-High environment (where that single H tone would change to L, thus causing the verb stem vowels to incorrectly surface associated to a Low tone). So let us assume that OCP will not affect the H of the subject prefix in (46). We might expect the H of the subject prefix in (47) to cause the following H to change to L by Meeussen's Rule. If that were allowed to happen, we would again incorrectly derive a form where the verb stem vowels are associated to a Low tone. So clearly we must somehow prevent Meeussen's Rule from applying. Later we will argue that Meeussen's Rule does apply within a word, so It is not possible to claim that Meeussen's Rule falls to apply in (47) due to the fact that Meeussen's Rule operates only across word boundaries. Thus unless we can find some non ad hoc means of blocking Meeussen's Rule from applying, we have evidence against claiming that the third person subject prefix is High-toned. There is one possible means of preventing Meeussen's Rule from having a chance to apply. Suppose that we said (plausibly enough) that the contraction phenomenon precedes

Verbal Tonology (I)

137

Meeussen's Rule. Furthermore, suppose that we said that when the subject prefix vowel ceases to be a tone-bearing unit, its tone associates to the -6-. Now, since -6- is associated with a H tone, when the third person subject prefix deletes in front of -6-, we will produce an output where there are two successive High tones associated with -6- (the H that originated with the subject prefix and the H originally associated with -6-). It has often been suggested that a sequence of two identical tones associated with the same tonebearing unit is universally reduced to a single tone. (Clearly, a special case of the OCP.) If so, we will then have the following (partial) derivation: (48)

H

1

H

/^

H

l

H

/J\

H

/N

a-o-vnon-a —> o-vhon-a —» o-vhon-a contraction special case of OCP

While we have now gotten an explanation for the failure of Meeussen's Rule to apply to representations such as (47), we are unfortunately in a position where we cannot explain the presence of a downstep in front of this verb in the post-High environment. Rather, the form resulting from the partial derivation in (48) should undergo Meeussen's Rule when it follows a word that ends in a High. But this would be incorrect -cf. H !6-vh6n-a. We have now shown that to maintain that the subject prefixes In the past tense display their usual tone contrast (first and second person subject prefixes Low, third person subject prefixes High) fails to produce an explanation for the downstep that precedes all past tense verb forms (regardless of what subject prefix is employed). Assuming that the subject prefixes are uniformly Low-toned, on the other hand, produces the correct results. (Assuming that the subject prefixes are uniformly High-toned or toneless obviously fails to predict the downstep In (42) and (44); this point will not be demonstrated here.) There is one further point that suggests that we are correct In assuming that the subject prefixes have a uniform

Verbal Tonology (I)

138

tonal shape In the past tense. Just as they did In the -ngAtense. Recall that whereas Westphal's description claims that there are no pitch contrasts associated with the choice of subject prefix in the -ngi- tense, the data that we elicited suggested that the pitch range of third person forms were raised in comparison with the pitch range of first and second person forms. Westphal's description likewise suggests that there are no pitch differences associated with the choice of subject prefix in the -6- tense. Once again, the data that we elicited manifests a raised pitch range for third person forms as opposed to first and second person forms. This phenomenon seems to occur In our data Just when there is otherwise no tonal difference associated with the subject prefix. If this is indeed the case, then the fact that we find this range difference in the -6- tense suggests that the subject prefixes in this tense all have the same basic tone. Unfortunately, we have not been able to do any systematic exploration of the differences in pitch range that our data manifests. Furthermore, we must also acknowledge that while the contrast in pitch range was very apparent In many cases, In other Instances we could not easily detect a difference. Consequently the entire matter requires further study before these observations can be taken as strong evidence In support of our view that the subject prefixes In the past tense are uniformly Low-toned. We have so far illustrated the post-Low and post-High form of the past tense verb when It is phrase-final. The phrase-medial pronunciation of past tense forms does not present any surprises. What we see is that High verbs continue to behave as though they end in a High tone, whereas Low verbs will simply be subject to Contour Simplification on their second stem vowel in all cases. Examples: (49)

Low verb stems: nd-6-swika mu-lovha 'I arrived yesterday' [U.481 nd-6-tuwa mu-lovha 'I departed yesterday' [U.48I

Verbal Tonology (I)

139

High verb stems: r-6-vhona dokotela cf. dokotela

"we saw the doctor' [U,48] 'doctor' [U,19]

vh-6-lisa m-budzl mu-lovha 'they fed the goat yesterday' [U.48] cf. m-budzi 'goat' [U.29] Notice that on the surface both Low and High bisyllabic verb stems in the past tense end in a High tone in phrase-medial position. What we claim, of course, is that the Low verb stems have (prior to Contour Simplification) a Low tone associated with their second stem vowel (which in the case of bisyllabic verb stems is the final vowel), while High verb stems (with three or fewer syllables) have a H tone associated with all their vowels. That the Low verb stems In (49) have a Low tone associated with their second stem vowel (prior to Contour Simplification) is apparent from the fact that the H tone of the -6- prefix is not able to spread past the verb onto the following noun mu-lovha and also from the fact that the H of the -6- is not able to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on that noun. (If the Low verbs really did end in a High tone, the noun mulovha would have appeared as mu-ldvha after nd-6-swik-a...) We show in (50) the derivation of nd-6-swika mu-lovha: (50)

L H

L

L

L

L

L

I I I I I I

I

ndi-o-swik-a mu-lovha L H L L L L L

I

I I I I

I

nd-o-swik-a mu-lovha L H L L L L

I

Contraction

I I I I

nd-o-swik-a mu-lovha inapplicable inapplicable

lexical LM/D post-lexical LM/D MR

Verbal Tonoiogy (I)

140

nd-o-swik-a mu-lovha L

H

L

L

L

HTS

L

nd-o-swik-a mu-lovha

CS

inapplicable

FS

That the High verb stems in (49) have a High tone associated with their final vowel is apparent from the fact that when a Low-initial noun such as dokotela follows, that noun loses its initial L tone (via Low Metathesis/Deletion) and the H of the verb is able to spread past the first vowel of the noun onto the second vowel. A second piece of evidence that the High verb stems in the past tense end in a H is the fact that these verbs trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following word. Both of these arguments that High past tense verb stems end in a H are exemplified by the derivations in (51) for r-6-vh6na ddk6tela and vh-6-lisa m-budzi mu-lovha. (51)

L H

H

I I

L L L L

l \I I I I

ri-o-vhon-a dokotela L H L L L L

i /V^

I I II

ri-o-vhon-a dokotela L

H

L L L L

r-o-vhon-a dokotela L

OCP

H

Contraction

L L L

r-o-vhon-a dokotela

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

L

Hv

L L L

r-o-vhon-a dokotela

HTS

Verbal Tonology (I) L

141 /H:^.

L L L

r-o-vhon-a dbkotela

CS

inapplicable

FS

LH

H

vha-o-lis-a L

H

L

m-budzi

H

H

i y \

L

L

L

mu-lovha L

L

L

L

i i i i i

vha-o-lis-a m-budzi mu-lovha L

H

H

/ l \

L

L

H

L

_ /W

L

mu-lovha

L

L

L

J ' 1J J

H^

L

L

L

L

MR

L

i I i I

/r^\J vh-o-lis-a

L

Contr LM/D

vh-o-lis-a m-budzi mu-lovha L

OCP

L

1 1 i J 1

v h - o - l i s - a m-budzi inapplicable L

L

m-budzi mu-lovha

H \

/IVx

L

L

L

L

HTS

L

I I I I

vh-o-lis-a m-Budzi mu-lovha

CS

We have now shown that the analysis of Venda that we have developed will predict the correct past tense forms (and the correct effects on adjoining words) for both Low and High verb stems in both phrase-medial and phrase-final position. 3.6. Low prefixes. So far we have looked in detail at just one Low-toned tense aspect prefix—namely, the present tense marker -a-. In this section we identify some additional Low-toned prefixes and attempt to examine whether they provide additional motivation for the rule of Low

Verbal Tonology (I)

142

Metathesis/Deletion or evidence relevant to its proper formulation (one rule or two, etc.). The future tense in Venda is marked by the prefix -doinserted between the subject prefix and the verb stem. This prefix is clearly analogous to -a- in its tonal behavior and should be regarded as basically Low-toned. Examples appear in (52): (52)

Low verb stems ndi-do-vhal-a 'I will read' [S] u-do-vhal-a 'he will read' [SI ndi-do-vuledz-a 'I will finish' [SJ u-do-vuledz-a 'he will finish' [S] ndi-do-phuphuledz-a 'I will feel all over' [S] u-do-phuphuledz-a 'he will feel all over' [S] ri-do-sinyutshelan-a "we will get angry at one another' [S) vha-do-sinyutshelana 'they will get angry at one another' [S] High uerb stems ndi-do-lal-a 'I will lie down' [SI u-do-l!al-a 'he will lie down' [SJ ndi-do-tevhul-a 'I will pour out' (S] u-do-t!evhul-a 'he will pour out' [SI ndi-do-thomolol-a 'I will start again' [SI u-d6-th!6m6161-a 'he will start again' [S[ ndi-do-laisulul-a 'I will unload' [SI u-do-l!aisulul-a 'he will unload' [SI

The first person forms of both Low and High verb stems in the future demonstrate clearly that -do- must be regarded as Low-toned (since it surfaces as Low when it follows a Low subject prefix). The third person forms of High verbs again demonstrate that the -do- is basically Low: the High of the subject spreads onto the -do-, forming a HL sequence on the vowel of the prefix. This HL sequence is subject to Contour

Verbal Tonology (I)

143

Simplification and the L delinks. It is this unassoclated Low that accounts for the downstep between -do- and the verb stem In an example like fi-d6-t!6vhftl-4. (Notice, Incidentally, that forms such as u-d6-t!evhul-a provide further confirmation that Low Metathesis/Deletion must not affect a L after a H in a verb if that L Is itself followed by a High.) The third person forms of the Low verb stems can also be made consistent with the claim that -do- is Low-toned, provided we accept the existence of a rule of Low Metathesis. Low Metathesis/Deletion will take the Low of -do- (when it follows a High prefix and precedes a Low verb stem) and metatheslze the L in front of the subject prefix. This will put the Low verb stem after a High prefix and allow the initial Low of the stem to also undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion. The derivation of an example like u-d6-vul€dza will be entirely analogous to the derivation of present tense forms like u-a-lind€la discussed earlier. By appealing to Low Metathesis/Deletion to explain third person Low verbs In the future tense, we predict that there will be a downstep in front of the subject prefix In these forms. That this is correct can be seen from the examples in (53): (53)

Low verb stems H H H H H H

ndi-do-limamu... [W.157] !u-d6-limamu... [W.157) ndi-do-sola mu-thu (W.1431 ! u-do-s61a mu-thu [W.144) ndi-do-lindela mu... [W.157)4 ! u-do-lindelamu... [W.157]5

High verb stems H H H H

ndi-do-vh!6namu... [W.157] u-do-vhona mu... [W.157] ndi-do-tsh!imbila mu... [W.157] u-do-tshimbila mu... [W.157]

Verbal Tonology (I)

144

The data in (53) show both first and third person future tense verbs in a post-High, phrase-medial position. The data involving the first person subject prefix show clearly that the Low of the subject prefix deletes in the post-High environment by virtue of Low-Deletion. Since we have argued above that an initial Low in a verb deletes just in the event it precedes another Low tone, the fact that the Low of ndi- deletes in (53) provides a further argument that -do- is indeed Lowtoned. Once ndi- loses its Low, the High of the preceding word can spread both onto ndi- and also onto -do-, which has of course retained its Low tone. This produces a HL sequence on the vowel of -do-. Contour Simplification will disassociate the Low from this sequence. A following Low verb will simply remain Low-toned. A following High verb will be downstepped - cf. H ndi-d6-lima but H ndi-d6-vh!6na. The third person forms are more interesting. In the case of the High verbs, the sequence of a High subject prefix followed by the Low future tense marker will not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion (since Low Metathesis/Deletion affects a HL sequence in front of a Low, not in front of a H). The High of the subject prefix will thus be in the environment for undergoing Meeussen's Rule when the preceding word ends in a High. But even though the subject prefix becomes Low by Meeussen's Rule, it naturally does not remain Low on the surface. The High of the preceding word spreads onto the (now) Low subject prefix, forming a HL sequence that ultimately undergoes Contour Simplification. As a result, the subject prefix is realized on a high pitch. The High of the preceding word did not spread as far as the prefix -do-, thus that syllable remains Low-toned: cf. H ti-do-vh6n&. Turning to Low-toned verb stems, we see that the prediction made above by the Low Metathesis/Deletion rule is in fact correct: there is a downstep between a preceding word ending in a High tone and the High-toned subject prefix. A sample derivation is shown in (54): (54)

H H L

LL

1

1 I II

x

u-do-lima

Verbal Tonology (I) H LH

II

145 L L

II

x u-do-lima H LH L x'

' d 1- ' u-do-lima

first lexical application of LM/D second lexical application of LM/D

inapplicable

post-lexical application of LM/D

inapplicable

MR

H L H^_

1

L

'YV'

HTS

x u-do-lima HL H ^ L

1

l^>

J

x

u-do-lima

FS

We have demonstrated that the future prefix -do- is basically Low-toned like the present marker -a- and that, also like -a-, the Low tone associated with this prefix undergoes Low Metathesis/Deletion when it follows a High subject prefix and precedes a Low verb stem. We turn now to examine another prefix that is basically Low-toned. Consider the following examples: (55)

Low verb stems: nd-6-no-lima 'I have already cultivated' [W.159] nd-6-no-shata 'I have already smeared' [SI nd-6-no-lindela 'I have already waited' [W.1591 nd-o-no-tomola 'I have already extracted' [S] nd-6-no-adzulula 'I have already rolled up' [S] r-o-no-pandamedzana \ve have already pursued one another' [S]

Verbal Tonology (I)

146 High verb stems:

nd-6-no-vh!6na 'I have already seen' [W,159] nd-6-no-n!anga 'I have already chosen' [S] nd-6-no-tsh!imbila'I have already gone'[W, 159] nd-6-no-t!evhula 'I have already poured out' [S] nd-6-no-tsh!etshekanya 'I have already cut into pieces' [S] nd-6-no-f.ulufhedzisa 'I've already promised' [S] [We cite just first person forms. Third person forms in the past tense have the same tonal shapes as first person forms—though, as noted earlier in our discussion of the past tense, in the data collected from Mr. Sengani the pitch range for third person forms was raised in comparison with first person forms. This is true not just of the simple past, but also of the -6no- tense illustrated here.] In the examples in (55), the prefix -no- occurs between the past tense marker -6- and the verb stem. We have already argued that the -6- prefix is basically High-toned. In the examples in (55), the -no- regularly appears in pronunciation associated with a High tone. But what is its underlying structure? The data involving High verb stems suggest clearly that -no- must be Low-toned. Notice that between the -noprefix and the verb stem there is a downstep in examples like nd-6-n6-vh!6na. This downstep is readily explained if we assume that -no- is basically Low-toned. The following derivation shows how our analysis will predict the observed downstep. (56)

L H d'

L

'

'

H h

A

ndi-o-no-vhona L H

L

H

nd-o-no-vhona

Contraction

Verbal Tonology (I)

147

inapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

L H

L

l\l

H

A

nd-o-no-vhona L

H

L

HTS

H

nd-o-no-vhona

CS

inapplicable

FS

We see from the preceding derivation that the Low tone associated with -no- underlyingly will disassociate as a consequence of Contour Simplification and produce the downstep between -no- and the verb stem. Given that the downstep in examples such as nd-6-n6-vh!6na motivates that -no- is Low-toned, how do we explain the behavior of Low-toned verbs, as in nd-6-n6lima? Well, it is clear that the initial Low of the verb stem undergoes Low Metathesis/Deletion in these forms (there is no other explanation available for why there is not still a Low tone associated with the first stem vowel in an example like nd-6no-lim-a). In order to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion, the Low of the verb stem must be preceded by a High. But that means that the Low associated with -no- in underlying structure must not be present at the point where Low Metathesis/Deletion applies to the verb stem. Where could this Low have disappeared to? The answer is, of course, that Low Metathesis/Deletion must have put the Low of-no- in front of the preceding High. (57) shows the derivation of nd-6-n6-lima, under the assumption that Low Metathesis/Deletion is responsible for the metathesis/ deletion of the Low tone associated with -no-. (57)

L H L

LL

I I I II ndi-o-no-lima

Verbal Tonology (I)

148 L H

L

L L

I I I I nd-o-no-lima LL H L L I | I nd-o-no-lima LLLH^ L |\~\^ I nd-o-no-lima

second application of LM/D

inapplicable

MR

LLLH**,.

Contraction first application of LM/D

L

nd-o-no-lima

HTS

inapplicable

CS

nd-o-no-lima

FS

Notice that in the construction currently under discussion, there is an unassociated Low tone at the beginning of the verb word Independently of Low Metathesis. Thus the fact that a downstep shows up between such words and a preceding word ending in High does not constitute evidence for the Low Metathesis/Deletion solution to the tonelessness of -no- in examples like nd-6-n6-lima (since the metathesized Low is not needed In order to predict the downstep that occurs at the beginning of these words). Nevertheless, given that the present and future tenses present independent evidence for Low Metathesis, the fact that Low Metathesis can also explain the behavior of the -no- prefix when It precedes a Low verb stem and follows the High prefix -6- counts as some additional support for Low Metathesis/Deletion as a rule of Venda grammar. J u s t as the Low prefix -no- may follow a High tense/aspect prefix like -6-, so may the prefix -do- discussed above. For example, -do- may follow the potential prefix -nga-. Examples are given in (58).

Verbal Tonology (I) (58)

149

Low verb stems: ndi-nga-do-lima 'I may yet plough' [W.159] ndi-nga-do-lindela 'I may yet wait' [W.159] ndi-nga-do-sinyutshela* 'I may yet get angry at' [S] ri-nga-do-pandarnedzana* Ve may yet pursue one another' [S] High verb stems: ndi-nga-do-vh!6na 'I may yet see' [W.159] ndi-nga-do-tsh!imbila 'I may yet go' [W.159] ndi-nga-do-vhofholola* 'I may yet loosen it' [S] ndi-nga-do-l!aisulula* 'I may yet unload it' [S]

No discussion of these data is needed, for a simple examination of the behavior of -do- in (58) reveals that it matches precisely the behavior of-no- when that prefix follows -6-. The data in (58) do establish clearly that a L after a H will metathesize in front of that H, provided the L in question is followed by a L. Notice that it is not necessary for the H that triggers metathesis to be a word-initial H. (In the present tense, the triggering H was word-initial, but in (58) the triggering H is itself preceded by the Low-toned subject prefix.) There are additional Low prefixes. For example, the prefix -TO- appears in such examples as: (59)

ndi-ro-vhona [W.152] ndi-ro-vhona mu-thu [W.142] H ndi-ro-vh!6na mu-thu [W, 144] nd-6-ro-vh!6na [W.151] ndi-ro-do-vhona [W.152] ndi-ro-fhura [W.146] ndi-ro-sola mu-thu [W.142] H ndi-ro-sola mu-thu [W, 144] u-ro-vh!6na [W.146] u-ro-vh!6na mu-thu [W.142] H u-ro-vhona mu-thu [W.144] u-ro-fhura [W.146] u-ro-sola mu-thu [W.142] H !u-ro-sola mu-thu [W.144]

150

Verbal Tonology (I)

We see that when -ro- is preceded by a Low prefix such as ndl-, -ro- Is realized on a low pitch (cf. ndi-ro-vh6na, ndi-ro-fhura). We take this to be evidence that it is basically Low-toned. When -ro- is preceded by an underlying High tone such as the past tense marker -6- or the third person subject prefix u-, then -ro- is pronounced on a high pitch. This comes about in two different ways. In thq case where -ro- precedes a High verb stem such as -vh6n4, the Low tone of -ro- is not metatheslzed In front of the preceding High. The preceding High spreads onto -ro- forming a HL sequence. As a result of Contour Simplification, -ro- is disassociated from the L part of the HL sequence. This leaves -ro- associated with a High tone, but followed by an unassociated Low tone. This Low tone accounts for the downstep after -ro- in such examples as nd-6-ro-vh!6n4, u-ro-vh!6na, and u-r6-m!u-vh6na. When-rofollows a High prefix and precedes a Low verb stem, then the Low associated with -ro- Is subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion and is placed In front of the High prefix. This leaves -rotoneless and puts the Low verb stem in the environment for Low Metathesis/ Deletion. High Tone Spread will associate the prefixal High with the (now) toneless -ro- as well as with the toneless first stem vowel and the Low-toned second stem vowel (cf. u-r6-fhura, u-ro-s61a mu-thu). Notice that the post-High pronunciation H !u-r6-s61a mu-thu provides crucial evidence that the Low of -ro- has indeed metathesized in front of the preceding High prefix. The data In (59) do not require further discussion other than to note that -ro- can combine with other Low prefixes (besides appearing in conjunction with the High-toned past tense marker -6-). ndi-ro-do-vh6nA shows -ro- followed by the Low-toned prefix -do- discussed earlier In this section. Such examples raise an interesting question. Suppose that a High-toned subject prefix precedes a sequence of two Low-toned prefixes—schematically, [H]sp [L]prel [LJpre2, what happens in front of a High verb stem? What happens in front of a Low verb stem? Our analysis predicts that In front of a H verb stem, the first prefixal Low will metatheslze/ delete but not the second; and in front of a Low verb stem, both prefixal Lows will metatheslze/delete (as will the first stem Low). We do

Verbal Tonology (I)

151

not have any relevant data concerning the sequence of -rofollowed by -do-, but later we will encounter pertinent data. 3.7. More Low prefixes. There are some verbal tenses where the subject prefix is always realized on a High tone (and where this High tone cannot, as in the -6- past tense, be seen as the result of the merger of the subject prefix and a High-toned tense/aspect prefix). Westphal refers to these tenses as "dependent" tenses. One of these dependent tenses involves the prefix -tshi-. The data in (60), containing examples of both Low- and High-toned verb stems, suggests that -tshi- is basically Low-toned. (60)

Low uerb stems: ndi-tshi-lima *I ploughing' [W.162] ndi-tshi-lindela 'I waiting'[W, 162) ndi-tshi-sinyutshela 'I getting angry at' [SI ri-tshi-sinyutshelana "we getting angry at one another' [S] High verb stems: ndi-tshi-vh!6na 'I seeing' [W.162] ndi-tshi-r!enga 'I buying' [SI ndi-tshi-tsh limbila 'I walking' [W, 1621 ndi-tshi-vh!6fh6161a 'I loosening' [SI ndi-tshi-l!aisulula 'I unloading' [S]

If we assume that -tshi- is Low-toned, we can explain a form such as ndi-tshi-tsh!imbila easily. The High tone of the subject prefix spreads onto the Low-toned -tshi-, creating a HL sequence on a pre-penult TBU. The L of the HL sequence will disassociate from the -tshi-, leaving that prefix High-toned on the surface. The floating Low will, however, explain the downstep between the -tshi- prefix and the High-toned verb stem.

Verbal Tonology (I)

152

The Low-toned verb stems are consistent with the claim that -tshi- is basically a Low-toned prefix preceded by High-toned subject prefixes. Here we simply need to assume that the Low associated with -tshi- undergoes Low Metathesis/ Deletion (as we would expect a Low prefix to do if it is located after a High prefix and before another Low). Once the Low of -tshi- metathesizes in front of the subject prefix, the Initial Low of the verb stem will be In the environment for Low Metathesis/Deletion and will thus metathesize/delete as well. The High on the subject prefix will, of course, spread onto the toneless vowel of -tshi- and the toneless first stem vowel as well as onto the Low-toned second stem vowel (with possible subsequent simplification, in the latter case). The post-High pronunciations of these forms support the above analysis of the data In (60). We predict that the Low-toned verb stems will be preceded by a floating Low, which will induce a downstep between the preceding High and the High of the subject prefix. We predict that the High subject prefix in the case of the High verb stems will undergo Meeussen's Rule (since it will not be separated from the preceding word-final High by an unassociated Low). These predictions are in fact correct. (61) Illustrates. (61)

H H H H

! ndi-tshi-lima [W.1621 ! ndi-tshi-lindela rw,162] ndi-tshi-vhona [W.162] ndi-tshi-tshimbila [W.162]

The derivation of H ndi-tshi-lindfila and H ndi-tshi-tshimbila is shown in (62) .6 (62)

H

II

H

L

L

L L

III

x ndi-tshi-lindela HL H L L L | | I | | x ndi-tshi-lindela

first lexical application LM/D

Verbal Tonology (I)

153

H L H

L L

1 1

M

x ndi-tshi-lindela inapplicable H L H^^^^

second lexical application LM/D MR

L L

x ndi-tshi-lindela

HTS

inapplicable inapplicable

CS FS

H

H

| i

L

i

H

/W

x ndi-tshi-tshimbila inapplicable H

L

L

Hv

i

i

i

/V

LM/D

MR

x ndi-tshi-tshimbila H L L H

|\i

1

/K

HTS

x ndi-tshi-tshimbila H L L R

i\

i

/V

x ndi-tshi-tshimbila inapplicable

CS FS

The data In (60) and (61), then, support the rules of Low Metathesis/Deletion. We see that a "fixed" High subject prefix in a dependent tense will (a) induce the metathesis of a following Low prefix when that Low prefix is in turn followed by another Low, and will (b) then trigger the metathesis of the initial Low of the verb stem. We should comment that although Westphal simply notes that the subject prefix is High for all subject prefixes in the dependent tenses, our own data from Mr. Senganl consistently shows a pitch range difference for third person forms (higher register) as opposed to first and second person

Verbal Tonology (I)

154

forms (lower register). The phenomenon is the same as in the -6- past tense and the -ngA- potential verbal structures, both of which we have analyzed as having Low-toned subject prefixes for all persons. Thus this pitch range difference seems to be characteristic of all the verbal constructions where there is no distinction in the tone of the subject prefix for first/second as opposed to third person. The prefix -do- can be inserted after the -tshi- and in front of the verb stem. Examine the data In (63). (63)

Low verb stems: ndi-tshi-do-lima [W.163] ndi-tshi-do-shela 'I am about to pour' [S] ndi-tshi-do-lindela [W.163] ndi-tshi-do-pandela 'I am about to chase it away' [S] ndi-tshi-do-rembuluwa 'I am about to turn around' IS] ri-tshi-do-pandamedzana "we are about to pursue one another' [S] High verb stems: ndi-tshi-do-vh!6na [W.163) ndi-tshi-do-sh!uma 'I about to work' [SI ndi-tshi-do-tsh!imbila [W.163] ndi-tshi-d6-f!arisa 'I am about to help' [S] ndi-tshi-do-h!ungulula 'I am about to untie it' [S] ndi-tshi-do-l!aisulula 'I am about to unload it' [S]

We have seen earlier that the prefix -do- is basically Low-toned. This claim is clearly supported by the examples with High verb stems in (63). We see that -do- is followed by a downstep In an example like ndi-tshf-d6-f!arisa. This downstep will be easily explained If we assume that a preceding High has been able to spread onto the Low-toned -do-, creating a contour tone that undergoes Contour Simplification, leaving a floating Low between the -do- and the

Verbal Tonology (I)

155

verb stem. The question then becomes: what about the Low tone associated underlyingly with -tshi-? If we assume that the Low of -tshi- is subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion by virtue of being preceded by a High prefix and followed by a Low (the prefix -do-), then -tshi- will become toneless as a result of its basic Low being relocated in front of the subject prefix. What about the Low of -do-? It is now after a High (as a result of the metathesis of the L on tshi-), but it is followed by a High verb stem. Consequently, the Low will remain on -do- (since a L in verbs cannot metathesize/delete when it stands before a H). The High of the subject prefix will now spread onto the -tshi- prefixal vowel and also onto the vowel of -do-. The complete derivation of ndi-tshi-d6-flarisa is shown in (64): (64)

H

L

I

M

L

H

/i\

ndi-tshi-do-farisa L H

L

H

ndi-tshi-do-farisa

LM/D

inapplicable H\ L

MR

H

L ndi-tshi-db-farisa L

H

L

HTS

H

ndi-tshi-do-farisa

CS

inapplicable

FS

The preceding analysis predicts that the High verb stems in (63) will be preceded by a downstep in the post-High environment. This is confirmed by an example like ...nn6 ! ndi-tshi-d6-vh!6na '...(when) /will see' [W.163]. The High verb stems in (63) thus support the proposition that Low Metathesis/Deletion affects a Low prefix

Verbal Tonology (I)

156

between a High prefix and another Low prefix (just as Low Metathesis/ Deletion affects a Low prefix between a High prefix and a Low verb stem). The High verb stems in (63) also support the proposition that Low Metathesis/Deletion does not affect a Low prefix when it is preceded by a High prefix but followed by another High tone (since -do- does not metathesize/delete its Low tone when a High verb stem follows, even though -do- has come to be post-H as a result of the application of Low Metathesis/Deletion to the preceding tshi-). The Low verb stems in (63) provide additional crucial evidence regarding our analysis. Notice that in the case of a Low verb stem, the initial Low of the verb stem must undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion (cf. ndi-tshi-do-lind€la). But in order for the High-toned subject prefix to trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion on the verb stem, there must not be any Low tones between the subject prefix and the verb stem. However, in underlying structure there are two Low tones intervening —namely, the Low tone associated with -tshi- and the Low tone associated with -do-. Why don't these Low tones remain in the tonal tier between the subject prefix and the verb stem? Clearly, the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion is relevant. It says that a Low in the environment H L metathesizes in front of the High. Given the underlying form, (65)

H

L

L

L

L L

I

I I I I I

ndi-tshi-do-lmdela the Low of -tshi- satisfies the conditions for Low Metathesis/ Deletion and we predict the output: (66)

L H

I

L

L

L L

MM

ndi-tshi-do-lindela But now the Low of the prefix -do- is also in the environment for Low Metathesis/Deletion (it stands after a High and in front of a Low). Thus if we allow Low Metathesis to apply iteratlvely

Verbal Tonology (I)

157

from left-to-right, it can now apply again and create the output: (67)

LLH

I

L

L L

Ml

ndi-tshi-d_o-lindela

We have now arrived at a configuration where Low Metathesis/ Deletion can apply to the verb stem, correctly yielding: (68)

LLLH

L L

I

II

ndi-tshi-do-lindela

High Tone Spread will then produce ndi-tshi-d6-lind€la. By applying Low Metathesis iteratively, we can then account for why the Lows from two prefixes can metathesize in the case of a Low verb stem. This analysis predicts, of course, that the Low verb stems In (63) will be preceded by a downstep in the post-High environment. This prediction is confirmed by an example such as ...nne !ndi-tshi-d6-lima '...(when) /will plough' [W.163]. The prefix -ng&- can be inserted between -tshi- and the verb stem. Examples are given in (69). (69)

Low verb stems: ndi-tshi-ng!a-lima [W.163] ndi-tshi-ng!a-sea '(if) I may laugh' [N] ndi-tshi-ng!a-gwadama '(if) I may kneel' (N] ndi-tshi-ng!a-sinyutshela '(if) I may get angry at' [NJ ri-tshi-ng!a-sinyutshelana '(if) we may get angry at one another' [NJ High verb stems: ndi-tshi-ng!a-vhona [W, 163] ndi-tshi-ng!a-lala '(if) I may lay down' [Nl ndi-tshi-ng!a-shuma '(if) I may work' [S] ndi-tshi-ng!a-tshimbila [W. 163]

Verbal Tonology (I)

158

ndi-tshi-ng!a-farisa '(if) I may help' [SI ndi-tshi-ng!a-hungulula '(if) I may untie' [N) ndi-tshi-ng!a-thetshelesa '(if) I may listen' [S] ndi-tshi-ng!a-laisulula '(If) I may unload' (S] If we recall that the prefix -ngA- has been found to be High-toned elsewhere, then the data in (69) Is straightforward. The High tone associated with the subject prefix will spread onto the Low-toned -tshi- (the Low tone of -tshi- will not have metathesized/deleted here since It Is followed by a High-toned morpheme and metathesis/deletion occurs in verbs only when a Low follows), creating a HL sequence on the vowel of -tshi-. Contour Simplification will disassociate the Low, leaving it in the tonal tier, where It causes the downstepping of the -ngi-. The -nga-, of course, metathesizes/ deletes the initial Low of a Low verb stem, but does not affect a High verb stem (due to the application of the obligatory contour principle). Both -ngfi- and -do- may be used at the same time with the -tshi- prefix. The -ng§- prefix precedes -do-. Note the examples in (70). (70)

Low verb stems: ndi-tshi-ng!a-do-lima

[W.163J

High verb stems: ndi-tshi-ng!a-do-vh!6na

[W, 163]

We predict the following derivations: (71)

H

L

H L

LL

I

I

I I II

ndi-tshi-nga-do-lima H L LH L L I | ( | | ndi-tshi-nga-do-lima

first applic. LM/D

Verbal Tonology (I)

159

H

L

LH

'

1 1

L

1

n d i - t s h i - n g a - d o - -lima inapplicable H

L

L H \

L

LH

L

LH^

L I

H I

L I

^ 1 -lima

l\l

L

H

l\l

L

|\

FS

LM/D MR

H

l\

ndi-tshi-nga-do-vhona H L H L H

1^-

CS

H

1 I I I •vhona ndi-tshi-nga-doinapplicable inapplicable H

HTS

L

ndi-tshi-nga-do-

H 1

MR

L

n d i - t s h i - n g a - d o - -lima H

applic

L

n d i - t s h i - n g a - d o - -lima H^

second LM/D

HTS

|\

ndi-tshi-nga-d_o-vhona

CS

inapplicable

FS

In the derivation ofndi-tshi-ng!a-d6-vh!6na, Low Metathesis/ Deletion cannot be applied at all since both of the Lows that follow a H are in turn followed by a H (and thus not in the appropriate context for metathesis/deletion). In the derivation of ndl-tshi-ng!a-dd-lima. on the other hand, the initial Lows of -do- and -lima are able to undergo (iteratlvely) the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion (though the L of -tshl- is again

160

Verbal Tonology (I)

prohibited from metathesizing/deletion due to the fact that it is followed by a H). 3.8. Conclusion. In this chapter we have shown that there are two types of verb stem in Venda—a H type and a L type. We have also identified two types of prefixes—those that have a H tone associated with them and those that have a L tone. We have shown that the tonal behavior of verbal words can be seen as a function of the interaction of sequences of H and L prefixes with H and L verb stems. The rules that govern the phonetic realization of these underlying tonal sequences have been shown to be essentially the same rules as we invoked in Chapter Two to explain the tonal alternations that nouns undergo in the post-High environment. The major revision that we have made is the recognition that (at least in some cases) Low Deletion may in fact take the form of a metathesis of a Low tone. The only significant addition to the analysis that we have made is invoking the Obligatory Contour Principle to explain the inability of High-tone prefixes to trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following High verb stem.

Verbal Tonology (I)

161

Notes 1. As we will discuss in detail in Chapter Five, in [S] certain vowels that are H in Westphal's data are pronounced on a Low tone. In the forms marked with an asterisk, we have transcribed data from [S] to match the pronunciation in [W]. 2. This derivation assumes that it is Low Deletion rather than Low Metathesis that affects the initial Low of the verb stem (i.e. that a stem-initial L is like a word-initial L in that it deletes rather than metathesizing). If we do not make this assumption, then the derivation would proceed somewhat differently, but the correct surface shape could still be derived (albeit with some technical questions arising in the process). 3. This derivation again assumes that the stem-initial L deletes rather than metathesizes. A different assumption might help give the correct form for the -Iindela example but not the -vhona example. 4. [W, 157] seems to contain a misprint, giving H ndf-ddlindela mu..., which is not at all in accord with the preceding data or analogous data involving the present tense. 5. [W, 157] seems to contain a misprint, giving H u-d6-lindela mu..., which is not at all consistent with the preceding data or analogous data involving the present tense. 6. Westphal (1962, p. 162) cites, in the case of High verb stems, an alternative pronunciation where the High subject prefix is separated from the preceding word-final High by a downstep: H !ndi-tshi-vh!6na. We have no well-motivated explanation for this alternative verb form. It requires that a disassociated Low appear at the beginning of all verbs in the -tshl- (dependent) tense.

CHAPTER FOUR

Verbal Tonology (II) 4.1.0. The negative in Venda. Westphal says of the negative verb In Venda: "Even a brief survey will turn up such a bewildering variety of negatives In Venda that It is not possible to do justice to this interesting word-group" (Westphal, 1962, p. 165). We do not pretend that the following discussion of certain aspects of the tonal structure of negative verbal forms in Venda is In any way exhaustive. We simply do not have sufficient material on this "bewildering variety" of negative tenses to enter into any totally comprehensive tonal analysis. On the other hand, a number of tonal features in the available material are pertinent to the principles of Venda tonology that we have examined In the past two chapters and thus deserve our attention, even if we cannot make a detailed study of the entire negative verbal system. In our discussion, we will concentrate primarily on the data that we have collected from [S]. Our reasons are several. In Westphal's study, many negative forms are Illustrated by a single example. Given this lack of systematic data. It is impossible to Judge the accuracy of the tonal marking of these examples or to arrive at a proper understanding of the significance of the tonal marking. Furthermore, in some cases where Westphal does give systematic examples, the data are internally inconsistent in that one form requires a certain tonal analytical Interpretation whereas a second form requires a 163

Verbal Tonology (II)

J 64

different tonal interpretation. Finally, In some cases where Westphal's data are systematic and internally consistent, his data varies from that in [S]. This raises the possibility that there may be dialectal variation. Given all of these problems with the Westphalian niaterial, we will generallyjust use it in those cases where it is in accord with the data from [SI. Where Westphal's data are different, we will ignore it. Where Westphal provides data that we did not elicit from [SI, we again will ignore it. We hope in the future to be able to pursue these matters in the detail that they merit. The reader who will take time to look at the data in Westphal will see that there is obviously much there that would be relevant to the concerns of this thesis. 4.1.1. The present negative. In (1) below we provide a sample paradigm for the negative present tense. (1)

a-thi-vhon-i a-u-vhon-1 ha-(a)-vhon-i a-ri-vhon-1 a-ni-vhon-i a-vha-vhon-1

'I don't see'[W, 164] you (sg.) don't see' rw,164] 'he doesn't see' [W, 164] Ve don't see' [W, 164] *you (pi.) don't see' [W.164] 'they don't see' [W.164]

The negative prefix in this construction is the vowel a- (ha- in the third person singular form). The subject prefix follows the negative prefix. The subject prefixes differ in form from the usual ones only in the case of the first person singular (where we find / t h i / rather than /ndl/). The final vowel of the verb stem is -1 rather than the usual -a. The negative prefix a- is consistently realized with a Low tone and we will regard it as being underlyingly Low (i.e. not associated with a H). All the subject prefixes in the negative present are realized on a High tone. We assume that the usual contrast between first/second and third person subject prefixes is inoperative in this negative construction and that all subject prefixes are simply associated with a High as part of the morphology of this construction.

Verbal Tonology (It)

165

Let us now turn to a consideration of the tonal shape of the verb stem in the negative present. Consider the examples in (2): (2)

High verb stems: a-thi-divh-i a-thi-lwal-i a-thi-sal-i a-thi-vhon-i a-thi-shum-i* a-thi-farisi* a-thi-tshimbill a-thi-tungufhadzi*

'I do not know' [U.24] 'I am not sick' [U.24] I do not remain behind' (U.24I 'I do not see' rw,l68J 'I do not work' [S] 'I do not help' IS] 'he does not walk* [W.168]] 'I do not grieve' [S]

Low verb stems: a-thi-koni a-thi-limi a-thi-livh!uhi a-thi-lind!eli a-thi-tom!61i* a-thi-tavh! anyl* a-thi-sinyutsh!eli* a-ri-sinyutsh!elani*

'I am not able' [U,24] 'I do not plough' [W.168] 'I do not thank' [U,24| 'I do not wait' [W.168] 'I do not extract' [SI 'I do not hurry' [S] 'I do not get angry at' [S] "we do not get angry at one another' [S]

The High stems In (2) are easily described. All we need to assume Is that (a) the H of the subject prefix and the H of the verb stem are subject to the obligatory contour principle and thus are collapsed Into a single, multiply-linked H, and that (b) there is a Low tone associated with the final vowel in the negative present form of a High verb stem. This final Low tone must be assigned to the verb as part of the negative morphology. As we shall see shortly, it is not an Invariant feature of all present negative forms, however. If we assume a Low tone associated with the final vowel, the stem High will spread onto that vowel, forming a HL sequence. In phrase-final position. Final Simplification will disassociate the High from

Verbal Tonology (II)

166

the final vowel. But If the negative verb should be in phrase-medial position, then Contour Simplification will disassociate the final vowel from the Low, leaving the final vowel realized on a High tone (though this High tone will be separated from the following word by a floating Low tone and thus will not behave like verb words that end in a "real" High tone). The examples In (3) from Westphal support this prediction. (3)

a-thi-vhoni mu... [W, 168J a-thi-tshimbidzimu... [W.168]

It perhaps should be noted that another solution to the problem of the Low at the end of the High verb stems in (2) would be to assume not that the negative morphology adds a L on the final vowel, but rather that it adds a H. All that would be necessary, then, would be to assume that the H added by the negative morphology and the lexical H of the verb stem are not subject to the OCP. Rather the H on the final vowel would undergo (a word-internal) application of Meeussen's Rule. At this point, such an approach might seem far-fetched, but it would be strengthened If it turns out that the negative morphology does add a H in other situations. Indeed, immediately below we argue that it does add a H in the case of Low verb stems. The Low verb stems In (2) are considerably more problematic than the High verb stems. First of all, it should be obvious that there is no possible way In which the tonal shape of the Low verb stems in (2) can follow simply from having an all Low verb stem following a H-toned subject prefix. If that were all that (2) involved, then we would have pronunciations such as *a-thi-lim-i, *a-thi-Iind€ll, *a-thi-sinyutshel-l, etc. But these forms are incorrect. There must be something more going on. Examination of the data in (2) shows that in order to account for the surface form of these verbs, we must assume the presence of a High tone Inside the verb stem that has somehow arisen as a consequence of the negative morphology rather than via a purely phonological process. (Recall that it

Verbal Tonology (II)

167

was possible to Interpret the final L of the negative High verbs as actually being an underlying H that has undergone Meeussen's Rule.) This High tone provided to Low verb stems by the negative morphology, unfortunately, is not anchored in a fixed position In the verb stem (as it would be in the case of High verb stems). It is associated with the final vowel when the stem is bisyllabic (cf. a-thi-lim-i), with the penult vowel when the stem is tri-syllabic (cf. a-thi-lind!el-l) or quadrisyllable (cf. a-thi-sinylitsh!el-i), and with both the penult and the antepenult when the stem has five syllables (cf. a-ri-sinytitsh!61an-l). What we are suggesting is that the High-toned vowels that we have underlined in (4) are associated with a High that arises morphologically: (4)

a-thi-lim-i a-thi-lindijel-i a-thi-sinyutsh!el-i a-thi-sinyutsh!elan-i

Let us not concern ourselves here with the (doubtless interesting) question as to how the H supplied by the negative morphology ends up on the final vowel for High verb stems but on the underlined vowels in (4). Rather, let us consider the remaining aspects of the pronunciations in (4). Notice that In every case there Is evidence that the first underlined vowel (which bears the morphological H tone supplied by the negative) Is preceded by a tone-bearing unit which must be (or have been) associated with a Low. In the case of the bisyllabic verb (a-thi-lim-i) the first stem vowel is actually realized associated to a Low tone. In the case of the other examples (e.g. a-thi-lind!61-i), the vowel that precedes the one bearing the morphological H is also realized on a High tone, but there is a downstep between it and the following High-toned vowel. We have evidence then that the Low verb stems must have at least one Low tone in front of the morphological H tone. We would like to propose that, in fact, all of the vowels before the vowel that bears the morphological

Verbal Tonology (II)

168

H are associated with a Low. That is, we suggest that the output of the morphology is the following: (5)

L

H L X 1 --

L

H L

I

I I I

I

I I | I

a-thi-lim-i L H L L H

I

H L

a-thi-lindel-i L L H L L

I I 1

I I

I

a-thi-sinyutshel-i

H

I I I

L

I I

a-thi-sinyutshelan-i

Since the subject prefixes are High-toned in the negative, it is possible that these subject prefixes might behave like other High prefixes when preceding a Low verb stem—i.e. it is possible that they trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion. If we assume that Low Metathesis/Deletion is triggered by -thi-,

then

examples

like

a-thi-sinyutsh!fel-l

and

a-ri-sinyutsh!elan-i will follow automatically. (6)

L

H L L

I

ill

HL

L H L L

H L

MM

Ii

A I

a-thi-sinyutsheli a-ri-sinyutshelani L H L H L L H L HL

I

'

I

I I

a-thi-sinyutsheli

I I

I

/ II

a-ri-sinyutshelani

LM/D MR

L

H

L

H

L

a-ri-sinyutshelani H

I

1"^

L

H

L

|\l

L

H

| |<^

L

H L

/\\l

a-thi-sinyutsheli a-ri-sinyutshelani L H ^ L H L L H ^ L H L

i j : ^

ii.

a-thi-sinyutsheli

i r^N.

HTS

CS

/\ i.

a-ri-sinyutshelani

FS

Verbal Tonology (II)

169

Notice in this derivation that Low Metathesis/Deletion can affect the first L of the verb stem since it is after a H and before a L. If we assume that Low Metathesis/Deletion Is responsible for the metathesis/deletion of the initial L of the verb stem in the derivations shown in (6), then it follows that in examples such as a-thi-lim-i and a-thi-lind!el-i the initial Low of the verb stem will not be able to metathesize/ delete. Why? Because it is followed by a High tone on the next vowel. This is significant since, as the derivations in (7) show, it is crucial that the first Low of the verb stem in these examples not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion. (7)

L

H

I

I I I

L

H

L

a-thi-lim-i

L

H L H

I

l\l

I

H

L

H

L

I I I I

a-thi-lindel-i inapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

L

1

a-thi-lim-i

I

1X1

IX

HTS

IXI

a-thi-lindel-i L

I inapplicable

l\l

a-thi-lindel-i L H L H L

I inapplicable

H L H L

CS

H L H L

IX I

a-thi-lindel-i

I FS

Let us return at this point to the question of the identity of Low Metathesis and Low Deletion. Recall that in the cases where there was clearly metathesis Involved and not just deletion (namely, in the case of a word-Initial HLL sequence, where the post-H Low does not Just disappear from its original position in the utterance but also appears in the form of a downstep in front of the word-initial High), the Low metathesized j u s t in the event it was followed by another Low. The phenomenon whereby an initial Low In the verb stem

Verbal Tonology (II)

170

gets raised to a High after a High prefix (cf. the discussion of such prefixes as -sA-, -ngfi-, -6-) is not obviously the same phenomenon. There is no evidence that this raising of the verb stem vowel to High should be accomplished by metathesizing its L in front of the preceding High tone (and then allowing that High tone to spread onto the verb stem). The correct surface forms can be achieved by simply deleting the initial L of the verb stem. Nevertheless, the derivations in (7) establish that if we do invoke a deletion analysis, then this deletion process must be stated so as to prevent a Low tone from being deleted when it stands in front of a High (in verbs but not nouns). Thus we have clear evidence that Low Metathesis and Low Deletion are the same rule in the sense that they are subject to the same constraint that bars a L tone from being affected when it stands in front of a High tone. We have now accounted for the pronunciation of the negative forms in (2) on the assumption that, as part of the negative morphology, a H tone is placed on the last vowel of a H stem (this H then undergoing Meeussen's Rule, so that it appears as a Low tone on the last vowel) and on the vowels of Low verb stems as indicated in (5). We will not seek to explore here the question of whether the location of this morphological High tone in the negative can be insightfully predicted. (Whatever generalization might be involved, if any, does not seem to be relevant to the general tonal pattern of Venda that we have been exploring.) Let us turn now to the matter of the tonal shapes the verbs in (2) manifest in medial position: (8)

High verb stems a-thi-vhon-imu... [W.168] a-thi-tshimbidz-imu... [W.168] Low verb stems a-thi-lim-!imu... [W.168]1 a-thi-lind!el-i mu... [W.168]

Verbal Tonology (II)

171

Consider the High verb stems first. Notice that a following Low-initial word is not affected by these verbal forms. This failure of the following word to receive a High tone from the verb is clear evidence that the verb must end in a Low tone. Of course, on the surface the final vowel of the verb will be High-toned in phrase-medial position. The reason for this is obvious. The H of the verb stem will spread onto this Low-toned vowel, creating a HL sequence on that vowel. When the verb is phrase-medial, as in (8), then that final vowel of the verb will be subject to Contour Simplification. Thus the High verb stems in (8) end with a phonetically High-toned syllable. Consider next the Low verb stems in (8). The phrase-medial pronunciation of a-thi-lim-i--namely, a-thi-lim-!i mu...--shows clearly that this negative form ends with a H tone associated to the ultimate vowel. This H tone triggers Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following word and then spreads onto that word (as indicated by mu). Notice that the HL sequence on the penult vowel of a-thi-lim-i (which results from the fact that the H subject prefix spreads onto the Low-toned first vowel of the verb stem) is subject to Contour Simplification when the verb is phrase-medial. The phrase-medial pronunciation of a-thi-lind!61-i as a-thi-lindel-i mu... shows that the verb ends in a Low tone on the last vowel (prior to High Tone Spread). For this reason, the verb does not affect a following word (indicated by the Low-toned realization of mu). Of course, the (morphologicallyinduced) High tone on the penult vowel of the verb stem is able to spread onto the final (Low-toned) vowel, creating a HL sequence. When the verb Is phrase-medial, this final vowel will undergo Contour Simplification. The post-High pronunciation of the negative present does not offer any new information. From examples such as H a-thtf-tshimbili [W.168] and H a-th!i-lind!eli [W.168], we see that the H of the preceding word spreads onto the Low-toned negative prefix a-. The resulting HL sequence simplifies to High, but the unassociated Low produced by Contour Simplification induces the downstepping of the subject prefix High. Of course, the reason that the Low of the

Verbal Tonology (II)

172

negative prefix is retained (i.e. does not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion) is clear: it is followed by a High (on the subject prefix). 4.1.2. The negative potential. Further light is shed on the negative tonal shapes examined above when we introduce the potential marker -nga- in between the High-toned subject prefix and the verb stem. Consider underlying High verb stems first. (9)

a-thi-nga-vh!6ni a-thi-nga-f!arisi a-thi-nga-h!ungululi a-thi-nga-l!aisulull

'I 'I 'I 'I

may may may may

not not not not

see' (SI help' [S) untie' [SI unload' [S)

Recall that -nga- is a High-toned prefix. We have here, then, a case where there is a succession of High-toned prefixes. These data suggest that -thi- is able to trigger Meeussen's Rule so that the H of -nga- is lowered. In other words, we have evidence that (a) the OCP does not affect High tones in adjoining prefixes (rather, the OCP affects Just a H prefix in front of a verb stem), and (b) that Meeussen's Rule is able to operate inside a word as well as across word boundaries. We assume that Meeussen's Rule, like Low Metathesis/Deletion, is both a lexical rule and a post-lexical rule. Once the H of the subject prefix has lowered -nga- by virtue of Meeussen's Rule, this H will then spread onto the potential marker, forming a HL sequence that undergoes Contour Simplification. Thus the potential is realized on a High tone in examples like a-thi-nga-f!arisl, but there is an unassociated Low between it and the verb stem (which accounts for the observed downstep at this Juncture). Notice that there is still a Low tone associated with the final vowel (of underlying High verb stems) in this negative construction. Thus the presence of-nga- between the subject prefix and the verb stem has not in any way affected the tonal feature that serves to mark the negative construction. The above account of the data In (9) is as straightforward as it appears, however. Recall that we have argued

Verbal Tonoiogy (II)

173

that a H prefix and a K verb stem, when adjacent, are subject to the OCP. If we allowed the -nga- and a H verb stem to undergo the OCP before the application of Meeussen's Rule to nga-, then we predict that all of the vowels of the verb stem should lower along with -nga-. But we do not in fact want to have surface forms like *a-thi-nga-faris-i or *a-thi-ngahungulul-i. Two solutions to the problem come to mind. Perhaps we could constrain the OCP so that it fails to affect -nga- when this prefix Is preceded by certain morphological elements like the High-toned subject prefix of the negative potential. (The issue would be whether the conditions under which -nga- fails to trigger the OCP have an explanation in either phonological or morphological terms.) A second solution would be to allow Meeussen's Rule to apply to -nga- before the OCP affects the sequence of prefix plus verb stem. Once -nga- has been lowered by Meeussen's Rule, then it will not be subject to the OCP. But if we adopt this solution to the problem, which involves allowing Meeussen's Rule to apply to prefixes before the OCP comes Into operation, we no longer have an account of why a verb stem H does not undergo Meeussen's Rule after a High prefix (since we will not yet have applied the OCP at the point where Meeussen's Rule Is applying). We would be forced to arbitrarily delimit Meeussen's Rule so that it does not affect a verb stem preceded by a High prefix. As we proceed with our review of the negative in Venda, we will see that there is evidence that the inapplicability of the OCP to -ng&- in (9) has nothing to do with the fact that -ngaundergoes Meeussen's Rule. Instead, there Is Independent evidence that the operation of the OCP is Inhibited in the negative construction (excluding the case in the negative present, where the High subject prefix Immediately precedes a High verb stem). But putting this matter aside temporarily, let us turn to consider Low verb stems In the negative potential. (10)

a-thi-nga-h!umi a-thi-nga-gidimi

'I may not turn back'[S] 'I may not run' [SJ

174

Verbal Tonology (II) a-thi-nga-sinyutsheli 'I may not get angry at' [S] a-ri-nga-sinyutshelanl "we may not get angry at one another'[S]

Putting aside the case of the disyllabic stem, we can see immediately from (10) that the Low verb stems exhibit the tonal pattern that we assumed to exist as a result of the attachment of the morphological H of the negative to Low verb stems. That is to say, we find a LHL pattern In the case of trisyllabic stems, a LLHL pattern in the case of quadrisyllable stems, and a LLHHL pattern in the case of a stem with five TBU's. Compare (5) above. These data from the negative potential thus strongly support our attempt to explain the negative present in terms of the above tone patterns and the application of Low Metathesis/Deletion, High Tone Spread, and Contour Simplification. Let us now see whether the analysis that we have developed will in fact successfully derive the data in (10) — still putting aside consideration of blsyllablc stems. The derivations that we predict are illustrated in (11). (11)

L

H

|

I

H L H L

|

I I I

a-thi-nga-gidim-i inapplicable L

H

|

I

L L H L

I

I I I

a-thi-nga-gidim-i L

H

H

I l\ l\

HTS

L L H L

M |

a-thi-nga-gidim-i L H L L H L

I

MR

L L H L

a-thi-nga-gidim-i L

LM/D

II I

a-thi-nga-gidim-i

CS FS

Verbal Tonology (II) L

|

H

l

H

175 L

|

L

I

H

I

L

I

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L H H L H L

1

'

I • I J '

a-thi-nga-smyutshel-i L H L L H L

I I I

I

I I

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L H L L H L

I l\[ H

MR

1 M

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L

LD

L

I i.\

L

H

HTS

L

. I J\(

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L H L L H L

I l\

CS

. IJ I

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L H L L H L I | \_ I I a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i

FS universal tone assoc. principle

These derivations yield the correct surface form for a-thi-ng&gidim-i and a-thi-nga-sinyutshfil-i. We perhaps should note that the derivation of a-thinga-sinyTitshfel-i In (11) might be taken as evidence in favor of the view that it is Low Deletion rather than Low Metathesis that affects the initial L of a verb stem. In (12) we show that if metathesis were assumed, we would get an incorrect result *athi-ng!a-sinyutsh!el-i. (12) L H H L L H L

IM

111

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L HL H L H L

I

I

I .

I

I I

a-thi-nga-smyutshel-i

LM/D

Verbal Tonology (II)

176 MR HL

H

L

H

L

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L

HL

H

L

H

L

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i L

HL

H

L

H

HTS

CS

L

a-thi-nga-sinyutshel-i

FS

While the derivation in (11) represents a possible explanation for the data in (10). and if correct would help to establish the range of cases where deletion occurs rather than metathesis, there is another explanation for the facts. We saw from the data in (9) that -nga- in the negative potential does not undergo the OCP with a following High verb stem. Suppose that we simply claimed that in that same situation -nga- does not serve as a trigger for Low Metathesis/Deletion. The derivation of a-thi-nga-sinyutsh61-l would then proceed the same as in (11) except that the initial Low of the verb stem would never be deleted at all. While it might at first glance seem to be odd that the same elements that do not undergo the OCP with a verb stem also do not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion, we will see as we progress that this appears to be systematic in the language. We have now accounted for all of the data in (10) except the bisyllabic Low verb stems: a-thi-nga-h!fim-l. Recall that in the negative present a Low verb stem shows the H tone supplied by the negative morphology on the final vowel — cf. athi-lim-i. In the negative potential, however, it seems that the H tone manifests itself on the first vowel of the verb stem. It may be that the contrast between a-thi-nga- h!um-i and a-thi-lim-i is an arbitrary matter about how the morphological H associated with the negative morphology docks onto Low verb stems. A little later we will explore another, more interesting possibility.

Verbal Tonology (II)

177

There Is another negative construction where we find that -nga- does not seem to undergo the OCP with a following verb stem. Consider the data in (13). (13)

a-si-nga-pfi a-si-nga-vhonl a-si-nga-tshimblli

'if he should not hear' [W, 170] 'If he should not see' [W.170I 'if he should not go' [W.170]

The a- in these examples Is the third person singular subject prefix, -si- is a negative marker, -nga- is of course the potential prefix. All of the verbs in (13) are underlyingly H verbs, but Westphal (1962, p. 170) indicates that Low verb stems Illustrate the same tone pattern. Examination of these forms shows that in each case the underlying High verb stem behaves as though its High has been changed to Low. The High of-nga- spreads onto the (now Low-toned) first stem vowel; when this vowel is word-final (cf. a-si-nga-pf-i) the resulting HL sequence simplifies to Low by Final Simplification; when the first stem vowel is penult (cf. a-si-nga-vhfin-i), the resulting HL sequence Is retained; when the first stem vowel is pre-penult (cf. a-si-nga-tshimbili), the HL sequence simplifies to H by Contour Simplification. Clearly, then, the stem shape of these verbs can be simply explained if we permit -nga- to trigger Meeussen's Rule. But in order for -nga- to trigger Meeussen's Rule, it is necessary to prevent the OCP from affecting -nga- and the following verb stem. (13) presents some evidence that this failure of-nga- to be affected by the OCP is connected to the morphological structures Involved. We have seen that in two different negative constructions, -nga- has failed to undergo the OCP. (13) suggests that its failure to undergo the OCP has nothing In particular to do with whether -nga- is itself subject to Meeussen's Rule (recall that one possible explanation of the failure of the OCP to operate in the negative potential of High verbs—cf. a-thf-nga-vh!6n-i—was that Meeussen's Rule affects -nga- before the OCP has a chance to operate). Assuming that Westphal Is correct that a Low verb stem would have the same pattern as High verbs—e.g. a-singa- lindela, then we must also assume that -nga- has not

178

Verbal Tonology (II)

triggered Low Metathesis/Deletion. If Low Metathesis/ Deletion were to apply here, we would have the shape a-si-nga-lindeia. Notice that In our discussion of the negative potential above, we suggested that one possible line of approach was to claim that—for some reason—both the OCP and Low Metathesis/Deletion are inoperative between the potential prefix and the verb stem In the negative. Now we see that this claim is confirmed by the tonal behavior of the negative tense illustrated in (13). Further evidence will accrue below for this connection between the blocking of the OCP and the blocking of Low Metathesis/Deletion. Some additional points should be made about the examples in (13). First, it seems that whereas the first two negative constructions discussed in this section involve a special tonal shape (i.e. the addition of a H tone), the negative construction in (13) involves no such special tonal morphology. The verb stems are either H or L, Just as in all the affirmative tenses discussed in Chapter Three. The H stems, of course, undergo Meeussen's Rule in (13) and are thus merged tonally with the L stems. Second, from (13) one cannot tell for certain what the underlying tonal shape of the prefix / s i / is. It could be Low-toned in underlying structure; or it could be High-toned. If it is High-toned, it would have to undergo Meeussen's Rule as a consequence of being preceded by a High subject prefix. If we do consider / s i / as H-toned, then it would be necessary to apply Meeussen's Rule in a left-to-right iterative fashion. By "left-to-right" iterative, we mean that the rule must scan an input structure starting from the left edge; as soon as the rule encounters an environment where the rule is applicable, the rule must be applied; the rule then continues to scan rightward until another case is found where the structural description of the rule is satisfied, at which time the rule is immediately applied; and so on. Such a left-to-right iterative application of Meeussen's Rule will guarantee that Meeussen's Rule applies to the negative / s i / , causing it to become Low, before Meeussen's Rule has a chance to cause the lowering of the potential prefix -ng4-.

Verbal Tonology (II)

179

Such a left-to-right iterative application has, in fact, already been motivated by examples such as those in (9) — cf. a-thi-nga-vh!6n-i, where (under the assumption that -ngadoes not undergo the OCP with the verb stem in this particular negative construction) we see that Meeussen's Rule must apply between the subject prefix and the potential prefix before it applies between the potential prefix and the verb stem. Application of Meeussen's Rule to -nga- has the effect of preventing -nga- from triggering Meeussen's Rule on the verb stem. As we proceed, we will find additional support for the proposition that Meeussen's Rule applies in a left-to-right iterative fashion. As to whether / s i / should be regarded as High-toned or not, we might note that there are other negative morphemes that seem to be (historically?) related and which are clearly High-toned: namely, / s a / (cf. Chapter Three) and / s o / (see below). Thus it is not an unreasonable initial hypothesis that / s i / is also H-toned. But whether / s i / is underlying High (and has undergone Meeussen's Rule in (13)) or underlylngly Low, it Is still the case that we must somehow assure that the High of the subject prefix not be associated with the negative prefix -si- as a result of High Tone Spread. We can allow the High to spread onto / s i / , but if we do it will be necessary to postulate a special rule delinking / s i / from the H part of a HL contour. We will encounter later in this chapter yet other situations where an expected HL sequence on a vowel maintains the association with the L rather than with the H. 4.1.3. The 'don't ever" tense. There are other tenses besides the one in (13) where the negative does not exhibit any special tonal morphology. Consider the data in (14): (14)

High verb stems a-thi-no-1-a a-thi-no-sh!um-a a-thi-no-f!aris-a a-thi-no-thetsheles-a

'I 'I 'I 'I

don't don't don't don't

ever ever ever ever

eat' |S] work' [S] help' IS] listen to' [S]

Verbal Tonology (II)

J 80 Low verb stems a-thi-no-w-a 'I a-thi-no-bik-a 'I a-thi-no-tomol-a 'I a-thi-no-vhanyuludz-a

don't ever fall' (S] don't ever cook' IS] don't ever extract' [S] 'I don't ever force my way' [S]

First, notice that a H verb stem such as -faris-a has a H on all three vowels (whereas if the special tonal morphology of the negative when In effect we would have the tonal shape -faris-a). Second, notice that Low verb stems are L throughout — there is no evidence of the morphological H associated with negative structures such as the negative present and the negative potential. The subject prefix in (14) is High-toned, Just as in the negative present and negative potential. The prefix -no- is located after the subject prefix. In Chapter Three we saw that -no- is a Low-toned prefix. The High verb stems in (14) present no difficulty. Since the Low-toned -no- Is located after a High prefix but before another High tone, we would not expect Low Metathesis/Deletion to operate, -no- will continue to be associated with a Low tone. The H of the subject prefix will then spread onto -no-, forming a HL contour on the vowel; this HL sequence will undergo Contour Simplification, leaving a representation where -no- is associated with a H but there is a floating L after it. This floating Low is manifested In the form of a downstep between -no- and a following H verb stem. The Low verb stems In (14), however, do present some relevant evidence. Given the sequence of a H subject prefix followed by the Low-toned -no- followed by a Low verb stem, we would expect the Low of -no- to undergo Low Metathesis/ Deletion (cf. the affirmative form nd-6-nd-tdmol-a 'I have already extracted it', where -no- does undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion after the High-toned past tense prefix -6when the Low-toned verb stem -tomol-a follows). But If -nowere to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion, we would incorrectly derive pronunciations like *a-thi-n6-t6m61-a rather than a-thi-nd-tomol-a.

Verbal Tonology (II)

181

We have evidence, then, that the High-toned subject prefix in the negative must not trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion on -no-. Recall that the data in (13) show that in the negative -nga- cannot trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low in a verb stem. Similarly, the data in (10) could be explained if-nga- does not trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion on a L-initial verb stem. We have then three cases where in negative constructions a High prefix does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion. There is in fact Just one case where we have seen Low Metathesis/Deletion in the negative verb— namely, the case where a High subject prefix is immediately next to a Low verb stem. (And this was an environment where the OCP was also operative!) Notice that instead of saying that -no- in (14) does not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion, we might (in the case of the Low verbs) allow -no- to lose its Low by that rule and then claim that, for some reason. High Tone Spread cannot spread a High past the -no- onto the verb stem. Forms such as a-thi-nd-w-a show that such an approach would be wrong. In order to derive a Falling tone on the -no- here, we must not allow -no- to become toneless through application of Low Metathesis/Deletion. We must instead retain a Low on -noand allow the High of the subject prefix to spread over onto -no-, creating a contour tone. 4.1.4. The /tsha/ negative tense. Further support for the proposition that Low prefixes (such as -no-) do not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion after the High-toned subject prefix of negative constructions is provided by the data in (15). (15)

High verb stems a-thi-tsha-1-a 'I no longer eat' [S] a-thi-tsha-sh!um-a 'I no longer work' [S] a-thi-tsha-f!aris-a 'I no longer help' [S] a-thi-tsha-hungulul-a 'I no longer untie' [S]

Verbal Tonoiogy (II)

182 Low verb stems a-thi-tsha-y-a 'I a-thi-tsha-lim-a 'I a-thi-tsha-lindel-a 'I a-thi-tsha-sinyutshel-a

no longer go' [S] no longer cultivate' [S] no longer wait' [S] 'I no longer get angry at' [S]

It seems clear that the prefix -tsha- must be underlyingly Low. In the case of a High verb stem, we would not expect the Low of -tsha- to be metathesized/deleted since it precedes a High tone. All that will happen is that the H of the subject prefix will spread onto -tsha-. When -tsha- is in penult position. It will surface with a Falling tone. But when -tsha- is pre-penult, -tsha- will disassociate from its underlying Low by virtue of Contour Simplification. This disassociated Low tone, of course, is responsible for the downstep in an example like a-thi-tsha-shium-a. The Low verb stems in (15) provide the crucial evidence that in fact -tsha- simply is not susceptible to Low Metathesis/Deletion when preceded by the High subject prefix of the negative (regardless of the tonal structure of the following verb). If -tsha- were to undergo Low Metathesis/ Deletion, we would predict that the first vowel of the verb stem would also be subject to the rule (since it would now stand after a High). But pronunciations such as *a-thi-tsha- lindfil-a are incorrect. In order to prevent the verb stem from being affected by the H tone on the subject prefix, we must retain a L on -tsha-. Of course, this L eventually gets dislodged as a result of High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification. One additional note is required about the examples in (15). Notice that the High verb stems reflect the special tonal morphology of the negative construction—that is, we find a H verb such as -shtim-a appearing as -sh
Verbal Tonology (II)

183

tonal shape) and that our consultant (in the elicitation context) just happened to employ the one pattern with the High verb stems and the other pattern with the Low verb stems. Or it may be that the High verb stems do dictate the special tonal shape whereas the Low verb stems dictate the lexical tonal shape. Further research is required on this matter. The negative construction in (15) may be expanded by inserting the prefix -do- in between the prefix -tsha- and the verb stem. (16) illustrates. (16)

High verb stems a-thi-tsha-do-1-a 'I will no longer eat' [S] a-thi-tsha-do-shum-a 'I will no longer work' [SJ a-thi-tsha-do-faris-a 'I will no longer help' [S] Low verb stems a-thi-tsha-do-y-a 'I will no longer go' [S] a-thi-tsha-do-llndel-a 'I will no longer plough' [SJ a-thi-tsha-do-sinyutshel-a 'I will no longer get angry at' [S]

It is perhaps interesting to note that both the High and Low verb stems here exhibit their lexical tone rather than the special tonal morphology of the negative construction. The data In (16)—where we find a High subject prefix in the negative followed by two successive Low prefixes—show clearly that the Low of -tsha- has not undergone Low Metathesis/ Deletion. The subject prefix High has spread onto the Low-toned -tsha-, forming a HL sequence on a single vowel. Contour Simplification will disassociate -tsha- from its underlying Low tone, leaving that tone In the tonal tier. Here the unassociated L Is followed by another Low tone and has no actual manifestation on the phonetic surface. 4.1.5. Some complex negative constructions. A rather interesting phenomenon occurs when -do- Is placed after -ngain the negative. Look at the examples In (17).

Verbal Tonology (II)

184 (17)

High verb stems a-thi-nga-d!6-l-a a-thi-nga-d!6-reng-a a-thi-nga-d|6-faris-a

'I am not likely to eat' [S] 'I am not likely to buy' [SJ 'I am not likely to help' (S]

Low verb stems a-thi-nga-d!6-bik-a 'I am not likely to cook' [S] a-thi-nga-d!6-lindel-a 'I am not likely to wait' [S] a-thi-nga-d!6-sukumedz-a 'I am not likely to push' IS) Examination of the data In (17) shows immediately that High and Low verb stems exhibit the same surface shape In this construction. By now we know what the explanation for such a convergence Is: the H verb has undergone Meeussen's Rule. We have already seen that, in the negative, there is a case where a High prefix triggers Meeussen's Rule on a verb s t e m (cf. (13) w h e r e we h a v e e x a m p l e s like a-sl-nga-vhfln-l). Thus we are on somewhat familiar ground here. But there is a problem. A High tone triggers Meeussen's Rule. Yet In (16) the verb stem H is preceded by the prefix -do-, a prefix that In other environments is definitely Low-toned. One might conceivably think: perhaps the L of-dohas metatheslzed/ deleted and thus the H of the verb stem stands after the High of -nga- and it is -nga- that is triggering Meeussen's Rule on the verb stem. Such an approach faces an obvious problem: we have already taken pains to argue that in the negative construction prefixes do not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion after another High prefix. Thus we do not really expect -do- to lose its Low after -nga- (In the negative). It is clear, however, that In (17), -do- has somehow acquired a High tone. Putting aside momentarily the issue of how It acquired a High, notice that (17) also shows that -ngamust have acquired a Low tone. This Is clear because there is a downstep between -nga- and (the now High-toned) -do-: surely this downstep must be the consequence of Contour Simplification affecting a HL sequence on -nga-, and

Verbal Tonology (II)

185

this HL sequence on -nga- must obviously be the consequence of the High of the subject prefix spreading onto a Low-toned form of -ngfi-. One possibility, of course, is that -nga- has acquired a Low tone via Meeussen's Rule. But if -nga- is to become Low-toned via Meeussen's Rule (standing as it does after the High-toned subject prefix) we are going to be hard-pressed indeed to find a means of explaining why -dobecomes High-toned. We would like to make the following suggestion. The data in (17) represent the first instance where we have had two successive High tones in prefixes followed by a Low-toned prefix. Suppose that we postulate a rule—call it HH-Avoidance — which will operate on a HHL prefixal sequence and interchange the second H with the following Low. This rule is stated in (18). (18)

HH-Avoidance HHL 1 23-* 13 2

What (18) does is to avoid having Meeussen's Rule apply to successive High-toned prefixes when there is a following Low-toned prefix. We will return to the details of this rule momentarily. Let us show first how it will serve to derive the forms in (17) involving a High verb stem. A sample derivation is given in (19). (19)

L

H

H

L

I

I

I I

H

/ \

a-thi-nga-do-reng-a L

H

L

H

H

a-thi-nga-do-reng-a inapplicable

HH-Avoidance LM/D

Verbal Tonology (II)

186 L

H

L

H

L

a-thi-nga-do-reng-a L

H

L

H

I »\l

MR

L

I /\

a-thi-nga-do-reng-a L H L H L

I , l.\

HTS

J\/\

pQ

a-thi-nga-do-reng-a inapplicable

CS FS

Notice that in (19), although HH-Avoidance removes the H of -nga- from the scope of Meeussen's Rule, that H has now landed on a prefix that is in front of a High verb stem. The verb stem thus must undergo Meeussen's Rule. The derivation in (20) shows what happens when a H moved by HH-Avoidance lands on a prefix that Is in front of a Low verb stem. (20)

L

H

H L

L L

I

I

I I I I

a-thi-nga-do-bik-a L H L H L L a-thi-nga-do-bik-a

HH-Avoidance

inapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

L

H

l I\I

L

H

L

L

M i

HTS

a-thi-nga-do-bik-a L H L H L L

N 1

CS

a-thi-nga-do-bik-a inapplicable

1 l\

FS

Verbal Tonology (If)

187

Notice that in (20) it is crucial that the H tone that has moved onto -do- not be able to trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion on the following Low verb stem. But we have by now established that this is a regular pattern in the negative (always setting aside the case where the High negative subject prefix immediately precedes a Low verb stem). At this point let us return to the matter of the formulation of the rule of HH-Avoidance. First of all, let us discuss briefly why we cannot (somehow) let the rule we have referred to as Low Metathesis/ Deletion accomplish the interchange of the H and the L that we are invoking HH-Avoidance to account for. One argument against considering Low Metathesis/Deletion to be at work in (17) is that we have taken pains to show that Low Metathesis/ Deletion does not apply to a Low-toned prefix in the negative when it is preceded by a High prefix. Thus it would be contradictory to say that in (17) the Low of -do- undergoes Low Metathesis/ Deletion when in (14) and (15) we find that -noand -tsha- do not metathesize/delete their Low when preceded by a H. A second reason for not explaining the facts in (17) by Low Metathesis/Deletion is that we have shown that this rule never affects (in verbs) a Low that is followed by a H. Yet in (17) we see that the Low of -do- must shift away even when -do- is followed by a H verb stem. We conclude, therefore. Low Metathesis/Deletion Is not responsible for the fact that -doacquires a High tone in (17). Given that HH-Avoidance is not to be subsumed under Low Metathesis/Deletion, let us consider the evidence as to its foimulatlon. We have seen from (17) that it must affect a HHL sequence In negative verbs where all three of these tones are associated with prefixes. How many of these factors are critical? It Is clearly critical that there be two High tones. If we have a HLL prefix sequence In negative verbs, we do not find the H and L interchanging — cf. a-thi-tsha-do-lindel-a (where we have a HLL prefix sequence; if the H of the subject prefix and the L of -tsha- had been Interchanged, the pronunciation would have been *a-thi-tsha-d6-lindel-a).

Verbal Tonology (II)

188

Is it critical that this HHL sequence be in a negative form? That is not at all obvious since we have not yet encountered any affirmative tenses where we have two High prefixes In a row. Thus it is entirely possible that the rule refers to any HHL sequence in prefixes. Is it crucial that all three tones be in prefixes? Could, for example, the Low be In a verb stem? The only crucial case that we have where there are two HH prefixes in front of a Low verb stem is the negative potential—cf. (10). Recall that in the negative potential we have pronunciations such as a-thi-nga-gldim-i, a-thi-nga- sinyutshfil-i, etc. If the L of the verb stem were to interchange with the H of -nga-, we would predict that the first vowel of these verb stems should be H. But this is incorrect. Thus it appears reasonable to assume that HH-Avoidance must be restricted to a HHL prefix sequence. There Is Just one nagging fact that might cast doubt upon restricting HH-Avoidance to prefixes. Recall that blsyllablc verb stems have the shape LH In the negative present (cf. a-thi-lim-i) but have the shape HL in the negative potential (cf. a-thi-nga-h'tini-1). This alternation seemed very perverse and we offered no explanation for it when we considered the data in (10) originally. But now a possible solution emerges. Suppose that we were to allow HH-Avoldance to apply when a HH prefix sequence occurs in front of the LH verb stem -humi. The result would be a derivation like that in (21): (21)

L

I

H

'

l

H

L

l

'

H

a-thi-nga-hum-i L

H

L

H H

I

I

I I I

a-thi-nga-hum-i L H L H L

I

I

HH-Avoidance

I I I

a-thi-nga-hum-i

MR

Verbal Tonology (II) L

H

I

l\l

L

189 H

L

M

a-thi-nga-hum-i L

H

L

HTS

H

• J\ J

X LI

a-thi-nga-hum-i L H L H L

I N

CS

| I

a-thi-nga-hum-i

FS

The derivation In (21) would supply an account for the reason why we should have the contrast between a-thl-lim-i and athi-nga-h!um-i; as such. It has considerable appeal. But If we accept this derivation, then we need an explanation for why HH-Avoldance seems not to apply In the derivation of longer verb stems: cf. a-thi-nga-llndeil-l. We do not discount the possibility that ultimately HH-Avoldance may be claimed to be responsible for the pronunciation a-thi-nga-h!um-i, but until a plausible account can be found for the absence of the rule's application in a-thi-nga-lindfel-i, we will assume that HHAvoldance Is restricted to a HHL prefix sequence. There Is evidence that the behavior of -do- in (17) is not simply an idiosyncratic phenomenon. Consider the data in (22) where the prefix -tsha- Is placed between -nga- and the verb stem In a negative construction. (22) High uerb stems a-thi-nga-tsh!a-shum-a

'I will not work again' [S]

a-thi-nga-tsh!a-faris-a

'I will not help again' [S]

Low uerb stems a-thi-nga-tsh!a-bik-a a-thi-nga-tsh!a-lindel-a

'I will not cook again' [S] 'I will not wait again' [S]

Verbal Tonology (II)

190

Examination of (22) shows Immediately that the behavior of -tsha- (a Low-toned prefix) is precisely parallel to the behavior of -do- in (17). Once again we see that a HHL sequence in prefixal position leads to the interchange of the L and the immediately preceding H. The H that now appears on -tsha- is able to induce the application of Meeussen's Rule to a following verb stem and to spread onto that verb stem. It is possible to combine both -tsha- and -do- In the same form, as (23) demonstrates: (23)

High verb stems a-thi-nga-tsh!a-do-vhuy-a a-thi-nga-tsh!a-do-faris-a

'I never will return again' 'I never will help again'

Low verb stems a-thi-nga-tsh!a-do-blk-a a-thi-nga-tsh!a-do-lindel-a

'I never will cook again' 'I never will wait again'

(all the above data from [S]) These data show that the first Low after a HH sequence interchanges with the immediately preceding H. The second L In a HHLL prefixal sequence is. of course, not affected: once the HHLL sequence undergoes HH-Avoidance and becomes HLHL, the second Low is not in the correct environment to undergo the rule. There Is one peculiar aspect about (23) that should be noted: the H that has been shifted onto -tsha- is not able to spread onto the Low-toned prefix -do-. This is odd since the previous examples have shown that the shifted H can spread onto a verb stem (cf.a-thi-nga-tsh!a-bik-a where the H on -tsha- has spread onto the Low-toned verb stem -blka). We have no explanation for this failure of High Tone Spread to apply. 4.1.6. The /ngo/ tenses. At this point let us turn our attention to another element that appears In several negative

Verbal Tonology (II)

191

constructions—namely, the element -ngo-. (24) Illustrates one construction where this element appears. (24)

Low verb stems: ndi-so-ngo-bika ndl-so-ngo-sumbedza ndi-so-ngo-sinyutshela ri-so-ngo-sinyutshelana

'I must not cook' [S.N] 'I must not show' [S.N] 'I must not get angry at' [S.N] "we must not get angry at one another' [S.N]

High verb stems: ndl-s6-ngo-r!enga 'I must not buy' [S] ndi-s6-ngo-sh!uma 'I must not work' [N] ndl-s6-ngo-f!arisa 'I must not help' [S] ndi-so-ngo-thetshelesa 'I must not listen to' [S] ndi-so-ngo-l!aisulula 'I must not unload' [S] We have Illustrated this tense with Just first person subject prefixes. In this tense there is no tonal contrast between first/second and third person subject prefixes. The morphological analysis of (24) Is somewhat problematic. It would appear that somehow -so- Is connected to the negative element -sA- (cf. the negative Infinitive construction discussed in Chapter Three). It would also appear that -ngo- Is related to the potential prefix -ngfi-. As we proceed through our survey of the negative tenses, we will find that the identification of -ngo- with -nga- has some problems. Let us examine the tonal data In (24). First of all. the subject prefix ndi- appears to be Low-toned. On the other hand, the negative element -s6- seems to have a High tone associated with it while -ngo- has a Low tone. In front of a High verb stem, this HL sequence on -s6- and -ngo- will not be affected by either HH-Avoidance (since there Is no sequence HHL in the prefixes) nor will It be affected by Low Metathesis/Deletion (since the post-H Low on -ngo- is in turn

192

Verbal Tonology (II)

followed by a H and not by the necessary Low tone). All that will happen Is that the High of -s6- will spread onto the Low-toned syllable -ngo-, creating a HL sequence on that syllable. Contour Simplification will convert this HL sequence to H. but leave the L stranded in the tonal tier. This unassoclated Low is responsible for the downstep In an example like ndi-s6ng6-r!enga. In the case of the Low-toned verbs In (24), we must assume that the L of -ngo- metatheslzes/deletes (by virtue of Low Metathesis/ Deletion) in front of the High-toned -s6-. This leaves the syllable ngo toneless. The initial Low of the verb stem will therefore be in the environment for Low Metathesis/ Deletion as well (since it will be preceded by the H linked to s6). High Tone Spread will subsequently spread the High of s6 onto the toneless ngo, onto the toneless first vowel of the verb stem and onto the Low-toned second stem vowel. We will thus successfully account for examples like ndl-sdngogidima. (Note that it is not critical In this case whether the Low of ngo metathesizes or deletes (If It were to metatheslze In front of s6, it would have no overt manifestation since s6 Is already preceded by a Low tone subject prefix.) The preceding discussion was based on the view that ngo- is Low-toned. Our reason for assuming that -ngo- is Lowtoned is that In (24) It (a) must be Low-toned so as to lead to a downstep in examples like ndl-s6-ngd-r!eng-a and (b) It must be Low-toned so that its Low can be metathesized/ deleted away and thus allow the H of -s6- to spread into the verb stem in examples like ndl-s6-ng6-sumb£dz-a. The analysis of -ngo- as being Low-toned deserves further attention, however. Notice that if -ngo- is to be Identified in some way with the potential prefix -nga-, it would be something of a contradiction for -ngo- to be Low-toned given that -nga- is High-toned. Let us briefly consider whether there is any way that ngo- could be analyzed as High-toned. The High verb stems in (24) do not pose much of a problem If we assume that the OCP does not affect the (hypothetically) High-toned -ngo- and a following High verb stem. This blocking of the OCP would, of course, be quite parallel to the cases we discussed above

Verbal Tonology (II)

193

where such a blocking is clearly motivated (cf. a-thi-nga•h!6n-l). If we could thus block the OCP, we would have a situation where there are three High tones in a row—the H of s6-, the (hypothetical) H of -ngo-, and the High of the verb stem. Assuming that Meeussen's Rule works left-to-right iteratively, the H of -ngo- would be changed to Low. Eventually, the H of -s6- would spread onto -ngo-, creating a HL contour that would simplify to H but with an unassociated L in the tonal tier (causing the downstep in ndi-s6-ng6-r(6ngClearly, then, the High verb stems are not too problematic for an analysis where -ngo- Is High-toned. But what of the Low verb stems? Given a sequence of a H -s6- and a (hypothetically) High -ngo- followed by a Low verb stem, we might reasonably expect (a) that the H -ngo- would fail to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion of the verb stem (recall that this was the behavior we found in examples such as a-thi-ngaslnyutshel-1) and (b) -s6- would trigger Meeussen's Rule on ngo-. The ultimate result would be the incorrect *ndi-s6-ngdsumbedz-a. Alternatively, if we attempted to invoke HHAvoidance (by saying that given the sequence of a H-toned -s6followed by a H-toned -ngo- followed by a Low on the verb stem, the H of -ngo- and the initial L of the verb stem interchange), we would incorrectly predict a form such as *ndlsd-ngd-s!umb£dza (i.e. we would expect the L that has shifted to -ngo- to manifest itself as a downstep). We conclude that there is no way to analyze -ngo- as being High-toned. Further support for this view comes from the data in (25): (25)

High verb stems a-thi-no-ngo-vhon-a 'I am unlikely to see even once' a-thi-no-ngo-tevhul-a 'I am unlikely to pour even once'

Verbal Tonology (II)

194 Low verb stems

a-thi-no-ngo-vhal-a 'I am unlikely to read even once' a-thi-no-ngo-fhlndul-a 'I am unlikely to answer even once' (All these data are from IS].) In (25), we have a Low-toned negative prefix a- followed by a High-toned subject prefix followed by the Low-toned prefix -nofollowed by the -ngo- element under discussion. We might have thought that the L-toned -no- would undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion after a High tone and in front of another Low tone. But, of course, we have already demonstrated that Low tones do not metathesize/delete in such negative formations (putting aside the case of a verb stem immediately after the H-toned subject prefix in examples such as a-thi-lind!61-l). Since -no- cannot lose its L tone, all that will happen is that the H of the subject prefix will spread onto -no- forming a HL contour. This HL contour wiU simplify, leaving the -no- associated with a High tone and followed by an unassoclated L. Notice that nothing will happen to the following prefix -ngo-. But since -ngo- surfaces with a Low tone, that Low tone must represent its underlying character (since there is no rule that could make it turn up L if it was really H). At this point let us turn to a rather fascinating construction that seems to employ this same -ngo- element. Examine the data in (26). (26)

High verb stems a-th-6-ng!6-reng-a a-th-6-ng!6-faris-a a-th-6-ng!6-thomolol-a

'I haven't bought' 'I haven't helped' 'I haven't started again'

Verbal Tonology (II)

195

Low verb stems a-th-6-ng!6-lim-a a-th-6-ng!6-lindel-a a-th-6-ng!6-sinyutshel-a

'I haven't cultivated' 'I haven't waited' 'I haven't gotten angry at'

In (26), the past tense prefix -6- appears to be placed between the subject prefix and -ngo- (there Is of course contraction between the subject prefix and -6-). The odd thing about (26) Is that there Is a downstep between the -6- and ngo-. Furthermore, -ngo- must be High-toned, as can be seen from the fact that It triggers Meeussen's Rule on the following verb stem. While It would be possible to account for these data by assuming that -ngo- is H-toned, It turns out that another explanation is available that Involves the operation of HHAvoidance. Recall, first, that the subject prefixes after the negative prefix a- are regularly H-toned. Let us assume that this is true in (26). Let us also assume that the past tense prefix -6- is Htoned. This is of course not a controversial assumption. If, then, -ngo- is Low-toned, (26) provides a situation where we have a HHL prefix sequence. If we assume that HH-Avoldance precedes contraction, we will get a derivation such as that In (27). (27)

L

1

HH

L

J' '

/HX

a-thi-o-ngo-reng-a L

H L

H

R

•J I 1

I

/\

HH-Avoidance

a-thi-o-ngo-reng-a L H L H L

MR

a-thi-o-ngo-reng-a L H L H L

HTS

J ' ' /\

I N

N/ \

a-thi-o-ngo-reng-a

Verbal Tonology (II)

196 L

H L

H

L

a-thi-o-ngo-reng-a

CS

inapplicable

FS

L 1

H L

,H\

H

l\/

L.

^

r ,

,

a - t h - o-ngo-reng-a Contraction The derivation in (27) shows that by incorporating HHAvoidance in the grammar of Venda, and by assuming that -ngo-is in fact Low-toned, we can account for the downstep between the past tense -6- and -ngo- and also account for why -ngo- appears to be High-toned In (26). All that is required is that we assume that both the subject prefix and -6- are Hightoned in underlying structure (even though the adjacent vowels of these prefixes will contract into a single vowel on the surface). Notice that in (26), even though -ngo- acquires a High tone via HH-Avoidance, that H tone cannot trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem. This is of course the general pattern that we have observed In the negative constructions when a H prefix (other than the subject prefix) precedes a Low verb stem. The Low-toned prefix -tsha- may be placed after -6ngo-. (28)

High verb stems a-th-6-ng!6-tsha-reng-a 'I did not buy again' a-th-6-ng!6-tsha-somb6161-a 'I did not unwind again' Low verb stems a-th-6-ng!6-tsha-tod-a 'I did not look for again' a-th-6-ng!6-tsha-gidim-a 'I did not run again' a-th-6-ng!6-fhihamelw-a 'I did not get short of breath again' a-r-6-ng!6-tsha-sinyutshelan-a "we did not get angry at e.o. again'

Verbal Tonology (II)

197

These data are somewhat different from those In (26) in that the verb stems In (26) retained their lexical tone In tact, whereas the verb stems in (28) clearly have acquired the High tone supplied by the special tonal morphology of the negative construction. (Recall that the distribution of this special tonal morphology across the negative tenses is a matter that requires more research; there are hints in our data that there may be some variation as to the use of lexical tone of the verb versus the special negative tonal morphology.) In (28), we have—underlyingly—a prefix sequence HHLL (where the first H is the subject prefix, the second H is the past tense prefix, the first L is that of -ngo-, and the second Low is that of -tsha-). HH-Avoidance will derive a HLHL prefix sequence. The critical point about (28) to note is that this H that has, via HH-Avoidance, moved onto -ngo-, does not appear to spread onto the prefix -tsha-. We doubt that the explanation for the Low tone on -tsha- is that the shifted H is simply unable to spread. We have seen elsewhere that the H shifted by HH-Avoidance can spread onto a verb stem (cf. a-th6-ng!6-lim-a, where the H on -ngo- is able to spread onto the Low-toned verb -lim-a and also a-thf-nga-d!6-bik-a, where the H that has shifted onto -do- is able to spread onto the Lowtoned verb -blk-a). It would appear more likely that the H of ngo- has spread onto the Low-toned -tsha-, forming a contour tone, but that In this context the vowel of -tsha- disassociates from the H rather than from the L. Recall the need for a similar process In the examples in (13)~cf. a-sl-nga-vhon-i. We do not, however, have an explanation for why in these cases the ordinary Contour Simplification process is supplanted by this special simplification in favor of the L rather than the H. We leave this as a matter for further research. First, the negative constructions examined here present the first range of cases where the OCP does not appear to affect a High prefix and an Immediately following High verb stem. Given that the OCP is inoperative, we do find that Meeussen's Rule has a chance to apply within a word. Furthermore, we have found that Meeussen's Rule appears to apply in a right-to-left iterative fashion. Another interesting result of the study of the negative is the observation that there

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seems to be a connection between cases where the OCP fails to apply and cases where Low Metathesis/ Deletion fails to apply. It is not clear why this connection should exist — but as we proceed further in the thesis we will find additional evidence for the correlation. Finally, the negative present tense provides crucial evidence that the metathesis/deletion of the first L of a verb stem In the post-High environment is subject to the constraint that the following vowel must not be Hightoned. This observation greatly strengthens the claim that the loss of the Initial L of the verb stem is connected to the loss of the initial L of a word and that both of these losses are related to the metathesis of a preflxal Low In examples like !u-a-lind€la. The negative verbal forms were particularly instructive in that they brought into focus the fact that in certain situations a High prefix in Venda may trigger Meeussen's Rule on a High verb stem. In the affirmative tenses examined in Chapter Three, none of the High prefixes affected a following High verb stem. We accounted for this fact by proposing that the OCP affects a H prefix and an immediately following H verb stem. One notable property of all these H prefixes that are subject to the OCP is that they also trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem. 4.2. The habitual prefix. In this section we will examine the behavior of a High prefix that occurs in affirmative tenses that does cause Meeussen's Rule on a following H verb stem and does not Induces Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem. In (29) below we show the habitual prefix -df- in position both before Low verb stems and High verb stems. We limit ourselves Initially to first person forms. (29)

Low verb stems: ndi-di-vhala* 'I usually read' (SI ndi-di-lindela* 'I usually waif (SI ndl-di-pandamedza* 'I usually pursue' [SJ

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199

ri-di-pandamedzana* 'We usually pursue one another' [S]

High verb stems: ndi-di-vhona 'I usually see' [W. 161] ndi-dl-edela 'I usually lie down' [W.161] ndi-di-thomolola* i usually start again' [S] ndi-di-laisulula* 'I usually unload' [S] In these data we see that basically high verb stems like -vh6na and -th6m6161a are pronounced exactly the same way as basically Low verb stems like -vhala and -pandamedza. If we assume that (a) -di- is basically High-toned, and (b) that -ditriggers the application of Meeussen's Rule on a following verb stem, and (c) that -di- does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion, we will correctly derive the above forms. (30) provides illustrative derivations for ndi-di-Iindela and ndi-di-edela. (30)

L H L L L

LH

I I I II

Il / | \

ndi-di-lmdela

H

ndi-di-edela

inapplicable L

H

L H L L L

II

ndi-di-edela L

ndi-di-lindela

1 1\

||

MR

ndi-di-edela L H L

ndi-di-lindela L H L L L

1 l\

L

1 1 /l\

inapplicable

1 N

LM/D

H

HTS

L

/\

ndi-di-edela i n a p p l :i c a b l e

CS FS

The derivations in (30) show clearly the necessity of assuming that -di- triggers Meeussen's Rule and does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion. If -di- did not trigger

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Meeussen's Rule, then In an example such as ndi-di-6del-a we would expect the entire verb stem to surface with High tones. On the other hand, if di- did trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion, then we would expect forms such as *ndi-di-lind£l-a rather than the correct ndl-di-Iindel-a. (31) we show third person forms In the habitual for both Low and High verb stems. (31)

Low verb stems: u-di-vhala u-di-lindela u-di-pandamedza vha-di-pandamedza

'he usually reads' IS] 'he usually waits' [S] 'he usually pursues' [S] 'they usually pursue e.o.' [S]

High verb stems: u-di-vh6na u-di-edela u-di-thomolola u-di-lalsulula

'he 'he 'he 'he

usually usually usually usually

sees' [W.161) lies down' [W.161] starts again' [S] unloads' IS]

In these data we see that the prefix -di- continues to Induce Meeussen's Rule on the following verb stem and It does not itself undergo Meeussen's Rule after the High subject prefix. This Is a third way in which -di- differs In behavior from the other High prefixes (e.g. -6-, -sa- , -nga-). We do not have a good explanation for why -di- behaves differently from other High prefixes in affirmative tenses. We assume that somehow it must be exempted from undergoing the OCP in conjunction with a following High verb stem. Why prefixes that do not undergo the OCP should also fail to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion is not at all clear. Given that -di- is exempted from the OCP. it follows that it will be able to trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following verb stem. In its failure to undergo the OCP and its failure to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem, -di- is similar In behavior to the High-toned prefixes in negative constructions (other than the High-toned subject

Verbal Tonology (II)

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prefix). The fact that a High-toned subject prefix does trigger Meeussen's Rule on -di- is not, however, parallel to the behavior of the High-toned prefixes In the negative constructions. Recall that we had various examples there where one High-toned prefix would cause Meeussen's Rule to apply to a following High-toned element. We have no Independent evidence suggesting that -diis in any way different from other High-toned prefixes, thus we are not In a position to offer any hypotheses about why -dishould behave so differently from other High-toned prefixes. We have so far shown -di- verbs in a post-Low environment. The post-High environment does not present any surprises. A few examples appear in (32). (32)

Hndi-d!i-vhona[W,161] Hndi-d!i-edela[W,161) H u-d!i-vhona 2 H u-d!i-edela3

We see from these examples that in the case of the first person forms, the Low associated with ndi- is not deleted in the post-High environment. Rather, the High of the preceding word spreads onto ndl-, creating a HL sequence on it. Contour Simplification then disassociates the Low; this Low is responsible for the downstep between the ndl- and the -di- in examples like H ndi-d!i-vhOna. We discussed earlier why the prefixal Low In examples like this does not undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion; namely, in verbs an initial Low deletes in the post-High environment only if another Low follows. In the case of the third person forms in (32), we see that the subject prefix High undergoes Meeussen's Rule and becomes Low. The High of the preceding word then spreads onto the subject prefix, creating a HL sequence. Contour Simplification again simplifies this to H, but leaves an unassoclated Low in the tonal tier that produces the downstep between the subject prefix and -di- In examples like H u-dli-vhOna.

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The -df- element may be preceded by a prefix having the shape -kha-. This -kha- prefix is apparently Low-toned. Examples are given in (33): (33)

Low verb stems: ndl-kha-di-bika* 'I am still cooking' IS] ndi-kha-di-gidlma* 'I am still running' [S] ndl-kha-di-adzulula* 'I am still rolling It up' (SJ ri-kha-di-sinyutshelana* 'we are still getting angry at one another' [S] High verb stems: ndi-kha-di-vhona 'I still see' [W, 161] ndi-kha-di-edela 'I still lie down' [W.161] ndl-kha-di-humbulela* 'I still suspect' [S] ndl-kha-di-fulufhedzisa* 'I still promise' [S]

The data in (33) are not at all problematic given that -kha- is Low-toned and that -di- triggers Meeussen's Rule and does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion. Consider next the third person forms cited by Westphal: (34)

u-kha-d!i-vhona u-kha-d!i-edela

'he still sees' [W.161] 'he still lies down' [W, 161]

These data are likewise straightforward. All we need to assume is that the High of the subject prefix fi- spreads onto the Low-toned -kha-. forming a HL sequence. The Low of this sequence will disassociate, causing a downstep in front of the -dl-. The data that we collected from Mr. Sengani diverges from (34) above. We give examples of both Low and High verb stems in the third person as pronounced by Mr. Sengani in (35) below:

Verbal Tonology (II) (35)

203

Low verb stems: u-kha-di-bika* 'he Is still cooking' [SI u-kha-di-gidima* 'he is still running' [S] u-kha-di-adzulula* 'he is still rolling it up' [S] vha-kha-di-sinyutshelana* "we are still getting angry at one another' [S] High uerb stems: u-kha-di-lata* 'he is still throwing away' [S] u-kha-di-elelwa* 'he still remembers' [S] u-kha-di-humbulela* 'he still suspects' [S) u-kha-di-fulufhedzisa* 'he still promises' [S]

If we assume that High Tone Spread is the perfectly general rule that we have so far seen it to be, then in order to generate these data It will be necessary to posit a rule that says that if -kha- is associated with both a H and a L In that order, then -kha- disassociates from the High. This rule must be ordered after High Tone Spread. The reader will no doubt realize that this special kha-Simpliflcatlon rule is in effect the same phenomenon that we encountered in 4.1. Why -kha- should, in Mr. Senganl's dialect, undergo this special simplification is not known. The post-High pronunciations of -kha-di- verbal forms (in the dialect described by Westphal) are shown in (36). (36)

Hndi-kha-d!i-vhona[W,161] H ndi-kha-d!i-edela [W.161] H u-kha-di-vhona (W,161| H u-kha-di-edela rw,161)

The derlvaUons of H ndi-kha-d!i-vh6na and H fi-kha-di-vhflna are shown In (37). (37)

H

I

L

L

I

H

H

I I

A

x ndi-kha-di-vhona

H

H

I I

L

H

H

I I

A

x u-kha-di-vhona

Verbal Tonology (II)

204 H

L

H

I

H

M A.

x ndi-kha-di-vhona H L H L x ndi

A

-kha-di-vhona

I^-J

H

i A

x ndi-kha-di-vhona L H L

1^

^ ,!\A

inapplicable H L

L

MM.

LM/D L

H

A

x u-kha-di-vhona MR H L L H L x u-kha-di-vhona H

L

l\ ,,l

L

H

HTS

L

J\/l

_ x u - k h a - d i - v h o n a CS x ndi-kha-di-vhona inapplicable FS

It is possible to place the Low-toned prefix -do- after the sequence -kha-di-, as shown in (38). (38)

High verb stems ri-kha-di-do-shum-a Ve will still work' (S) vha-kha-di-do-shum-a 'they will still work' [S] ri-kha-di-do-tshimbil-a "we will still walk' [SI vha-kha-di-do-tshimbil-a 'they will still walk' [S] ri-kha-di-do-kuvhangan-a Ve will still gather' [S) vha-kha-di-do-kuvhangan-a 'they will still gather' [S] Low verb stems ri-kha-di-do-lil-a "we will still cry' [SJ vha-kha-di-do-lil-a 'they will still cry' [S] ri-kha-di-do-lindel-a Ve wUl still wait* (SI vha-kha-di-do-lindel-a 'they will still wait' [S] ri-kha-di-do-kovhelan-a "we will still divide among ourselves' [SI

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205

vha-kha-di-do-kovhelan-a 'they will still divide among themselves' [S] These data confirm the observation made earlier that in the [S] dialect, an (expected) contour on -kha- will simplify to L rather than to H. The new point that arises out of (38) is the failure of the H associated with -di- to spread onto the Low-toned -do-. This aspect of the behavior of -di- is comparable to the fact that in the negative construction a-th6-ng!6-tsha-reng-a, the prefix -tsha- simplifies to L after the H located on -ngo- (this H. recall, has been shifted from -6onto -ngo-). There Is another construction where the Low-toned do- occurs in front of -di-. This Is illustrated In (39): (39)

High verb stems ndi-do-di-reng-a* u-do-d!i-reng-a ndi-do-di-vhon-a u-do-d!i-vhon-a ndi-do-di-swiel-a* u-do-d!i-swiel-a ndl-do-di-6molel-a u-do-d!i-6molel-a

'I will doubtless buy if [S] 'he will doubtless buy it' [S] Vill doubtless see* [W.151] 'he will doubtless see' [W.151] 'I will doubtless sweep' [S] 'he will doubtless sweep' [S] 'I will doubtless resist' [S] 'he will doubtless resist' [SJ

Low uerb stems 'I will doubtless arrive' [S) ndi-do-di-swik-a* 'he will doubtless arrive' [S] u-do-di-swik-a 'I will doubtless wait' [SJ ndi-do-di-lindel-a* "he will doubtless waif [S] u-do-d!i-lindel-a ndi-do-di-sinyutshel-a 'I will doubtless get angry at'[S] (Apparently -no- can function in the same position as -do-, but Westphal cites just one example: ndi-no-di-vh6na [W.151].)

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206

In (39) It Is clear that (a) -di- continues to be able to trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following High verb stem and continues to fall to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem. The High of -di- is able, of course, to spread its High tone onto a following verb stem (which will always have a Low tone on Its initial vowel, either because that vowel was Low in underlying structure or because it has become Low as a consequence of the application of Meeussen's Rule). Notice that the L tone associated with -do- is not metatheslzed/deleted after a High tone subject prefix. This is because the L of -do- stands In front of a High tone (namely, the H associated with -di-). Of course, even though -do- does not metathesize/delete Its Low tone. It does not surface with a Low tone on it. Rather, the H of the subject prefix spreads onto -do-forming a HL contour tone that is then subject to Contour Simplification, -do- surfaces with a H tone, but there is an unassociated Low following it. It is this Low that explains the downstep in examples such as fi-do-d!i-rtng-a in (39). It is also possible to combine -di- and -ng4-. as shown in (40). (40)

Low verb stems ndl-nga-di-lim-a* 'I may quite likely cultlvate'(S] ndi-nga-di-vuledz-a* 'I may quite likely finish'[S] ndi-nga-di-titilidz-a* 'I may quite likely exaggerate' [S) High verb stems ndi-nga-di-vhon-a 'I may quite likely see' [W.151J* ndi-nga-di-leng-a* 'I may quite likely be late' [S] ndl-nga-di-tshimbll-a* 'I may quite likely walk' [S] ndi-nga-di-hungulul-a* 'I may quite likely untie' [S]

These data are interesting in that we find that the H tone of nga- does not trigger Meeussen's Rule on the prefix -di-. This fact ties in with an observation made earlier (cf. (31) above) that a High-toned subject prefix does not trigger Meeussen's

Verbal Tonology (II)

207

Rule on -di-. Notice in (40) that -di- does itself trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following High verb stem, and also the H of -di- is able to spread onto a following syllable. Westphal cites the following examples where the Lowtoned prefix -do- intervenes between -ngi- and -di-: (41)

ndi-nga-do-d!i-vhon-a 'I may (no doubt) see'[W,l51] a-nga-do-d!i-vhon-a 'he may (no doubt) see' [W, 151]

These data show that Low Metathesis/Deletion does not affect -do- when it is located in front of (the High-toned) -di-. The H of -ngi- spreads onto -do-, forming a HL contour that undergoes Contour Simplification, leaving -do- associated with a H but followed by an unassociated Low. This unassociated Low accounts for the downstep between -do- and -di-. The H on -di- of course triggers Meeussen's Rule on the following verb stem. The prefix -di- may also be combined with the past tense prefix -6-, as (42) documents: (42)

nd-6-di-vhon-a 6-di-vhon-a

'I usually saw' [W.151] 'he usually saw' [W.151]

From these two examples we see that the H tone of the past tense prefix -6- does not trigger Meeussen's Rule on the element -di-. This is entirely parallel to the preceding observation that other High prefixes (the H subject prefix, the H -nga-) do not trigger Meeussen's Rule on -di-. The Low-toned prefix -no- may be placed between -6and -di-, as (43) attests: (43)

nd-6-no-d!i-vhon-a 'I have already (and remarkably) seen'[W, 151] 6-no-d!i-vhon-a

'he has already (and remarkably) seen'[W.151]

These data show that the Low tone associated with -no- is not subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion even though it stands after

Verbal Tonology (II)

208

a H (since it also stands before a L). The H of the past tense prefix -6- spreads onto -no-, forming a HL contour that undergoes Contour Simplification, leaving -no- associated with a H but followed by an unassoclated Low. This unassoclated Low Is responsible for the downstep between -no-and -di- in (43). 4.3. The present progressive tense. In the preceding section we examined a High-toned prefix -di- which (a) did not undergo the OCP with a following verb stem and consequently was able to trigger Meeussen's Rule on that verb and which (b) did not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following verb stem. In this section we will examine another construction that appears to have a prefix that parallels -di- In behavior. Consider the examples in (44), which appear to involve a bisyllablc tense/aspect element -khou-. (44)

Low verb stem ndi-kho 0 -sea* 'I am laughing' [SI ndi-khou-gwadama* 'I am kneeling' [S] ndi-khou-vhanyuludza* 'I am forcing my way through' [S] ri-khou-sinyutshelana* "we are getting angry at one another' [S) ndl-khou-tuwa* 'I am departing' (U.8] High verb stems: ndi-khou-vhona ndi-khou-sala* ndl-khou-edela ndi-khou-vhudzisa* ndi-khou-sombolola* ndl-khou-lalsulula*

'I 'I 'I 'I 'I 'I

see'[W, 161] am remaining behind' [U,8] am lying down' [W, 161] am asking' [S] am unwinding' [S] am unloading' ]S]

Examination of these data reveal that Low and High verb stems have the same tonal shape after -khou-. This tonal shape is entirely explicable if we assume that there is a Low

Verbal Tonology (II)

209

associated with all of the vowels of both types of stems prior to High Tone Spread. High Tone Spread will extend the High from the -khou- onto the first stem vowel, forming a HL sequence on that vowel. This HL sequence will remain If the first stem vowel Is in penult position, otherwise it will simplify. This merger of both High and Low verb stems is most readily explained if we assume that an underlying High on a verb stem Is changed to Low by Meeussen's Rule after the High of -khou-. All that remains to be explained Is why -khou- falls to undergo the OCP with a following High verb stem (and Instead triggers Meeussen's Rule) and why it fails to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem. The derivation of ndi-khou-s6a and ndi-khou-vhona is shown in (45). (These derivations begin at the point where there Is a High tone associated with the u vowel of -khou-; we discuss below a possible analysis where this High does not originate on the u.) (45)

L

LH

LL

I

M II

ndi-khou-sea

inapplicable LL

L

LH

H

....

ndi-khou-vhona inapplicable L

LH

L

I

M

A

LM/D

MR

ndi-khou-vhona

L

LH

L

LH

I.

IMl

l JI\/\

ndi-khou-sea

ndi-khou-vnona inapplicable inapplicable

L

HTS CS FS

At this point let us turn to a consideration of the third person form of the -khou- tense. (46) Illustrates:

Verbal Tonology (II)

210 (46)

Low verb stems: u-khou-sea* 'he is laughing' [U, 131 u-khou-gwadama* 'he is kneeling' [SJ u-khou-vhanyuludza* 'he Is forcing his way through' IS] vha-khou-sinyutshelana* 'they are getting angry at one another' [SJ u-khou-tuwa 'he is departing' (U,8] High verb stems: u-khou-vhona u-khou-vhudzisa* u-khou-sombolola* u-khou-lalsulula* vha-khou-dzula* u-khou-sala*

'he Is looking at' [W.161] 'he is asking* [S) 'he is unwinding' [S] 'he Is unloading' [S] 'they are sitting down' [U.13] 'he is remaining behind' [U,8)

These data are unexpected. High Tone Spread predicts that the High of the third person subject prefix would spread onto the first vowel of -kholi-, creating a HL sequence on that vowel. We would then expect Contour Simplification to disassociate the L of this sequence, creating a floating Low tone between the first and second vowel of -khou-. We thus expect forms like *u-kh6!u-s£a and *ti-kh6Hi-vh0na. But instead we find the first vowel of -kholi- associated with a Low. The reader will recall that in Mr. Sengani's dialect, but not the dialect described by Westphal, we found exactly the same thing with the -kha-dl- construction: fi-kha-di-lfita and fi-kha-di-blka rather than the expected *u-kha-d!l-lfita and *ti-kha-d!f-bika. This parallelism In the data between -khoti- and kha-dl- is in fact not surprising. There is some reason to believe that -kholi- should be regarded as -kha-ti-. For example, Westphal notes that -kholi- is pronounced by some speakers as -kha-ti-. Apparently, the a of -kha- has simply assimilated to the following -
Verbal Tonology (II)

211

Low-toned, whereas it appears to be High-toned In the construction -kho-&-. We return to this point below. For the moment, we will simply assume that -kho-ti- derives from a combination of -kha- plus -ix- (setting the question of underlying tone aside) and that -kha- is subject to a special simplification process whereby a High is disassociated if a HL sequence appears on -kha-. (See the discussion above concerning this special disassociation rule.) Turning to the post-High context, we have the following examples: (47)

H H H H

ndi-kho-!u-vhona mu... [W.161J ndi-kho-!u-ededzamu... [W.161] ndi-kho-!u-vhona [W.147] ndi-kho-!u-fhura [W.1471

H H H H

u-kho-u-vhona mu... [W.161] u-kho-u-ededzamu... [W.161] u-kho-u-vhona [W.161]4 u-kho-u-edela [W.161]5

These data raise some Issues concerning the proposed special rule of simplification for -kha-. Notice that the first person forms, when preceded by a word ending in a High, undergo Low-Deletion. That Is, the Low of ndl- Is deleted. The preceding High Is thus able to spread onto ndl- and also onto -kha-. The resulting HL sequence on -kha- then is subject to the normal Contour Simplification principle and the L disassociates. This floating Low causes the downstep observed in an example like H ndi-kh6-!ii-vh6na. But why should -khain this case undergo the ordinary Contour Simplification process but not in examples like ti-kho- fi-vhflna? At the present time, we do not have a plausible hypothesis about the conditions under which Contour Simplification applies as opposed to simplification In favor of the L tone rather than the H tone. This must be regarded as a matter for further research. We should note that the post-High pronunciations of third person forms in the post-H context are unproblematic.

Verbal Tonology (IP

212

The preceding High will lower the High subject prefix by virtue of Meeussen's Rule. Since the subject prefix Is now Low, it will not spread onto the -kha-. The preceding High will of course spread onto the (now) Low subject prefix, forming a HL sequence that will simplify to H by Contour Simplification. The result will be forms like H ft-kho-ti-ThOna. It is not Just the third person (High) subject prefixes that fail to spread onto -kha-. This can be seen from the negative form of the -khoti- tense. The following examples present the negative paradigm: (48)

Low uerb stem: a-thi-khou-sea* a-ni-khou-sea* ha-khou-sea* a-ri-khou-sea* a-vha-khoii-sea*

'I do not laugh' [U.8J you (sg./pl.) do not laugh' [U,8] 'he does not laugh' [U,8] "we do not laugh' [U.8] 'they do not laugh' (U,8]

High verb stem: a-thi-khou-sala* a-ni-khou-sala* ha-khou-sala* a-ri-khou-sala* a-vha-khou-sala*

'I do not remain behind' [U,8] you (sg./pl.) do not remain behind' [U.81 'he does not remain behind' [U.8J "we do not remain behind' IU.8] 'they do not remain behind' [U.8]

The data in (48) involve the negative prefix a-, followed by the same High-toned subject prefix forms we found in the negative present, followed by -kha-(k-, followed by the verb stem (which does not reflect In any way the special tonal negative morphology that we encountered in the negative present). (48) demonstrates that In the negative construction -khoti- continues to trigger Meeussen's Rule on the following verb stems (thus underlying Low-toned -sea and underlying High- toned -sala end up realized in an identical fashion). We also see from (48) that the High of the subject prefix does not appear on the surface associated with -kha-, Just as the

Verbal Tonology (II)

213

High-toned third person subject in the affirmative does not appear associated with -kha-. At this point it is necessary to set aside our consideration of -kha-u- briefly and to consider a range of constructions that are obviously related to -kha-u-. 4.4. Auxiliary verbal elements. There are a number of other verbal elements which, like -kha-u-, end in the vowel u. This vowel u can quite plausibly be regarded as having originated historically in the infinitive prefix u-. For example, the element -bvo-u- in the expression ndl-bvo-u-lim-a 'I have just plowed' could be viewed as deriving from /ndi-bv-a u-lima/, where -bv-a is the verb stem meaning 'come from'. However, if we wish to give such a morphological analysis to this construction, it is necessary to recognize that we are dealing with a word-formation process rather than a strictly syntactic formation. The evidence for this claim comes from the fact that there is a syntactic construction where the verb bv-a is followed by an infinitive complement: ndlbva ullma tslmu, which means 'I come from cultivating (my) garden*. In this syntactic construction, the verb ndlbva carries its literal meaning, and the final vowel of -bv-a does not assimilate to o. In contrast, the construction ndi-bvo-u-llm-a does not reflect the literal meaning of -bv-a, and the final vowel of -bv-a does assimilate to the infinitive prefix vowel. We will assume that items such as -bvo-u- are morphologically complex, consisting of a kind of "auxiliary" verbal element plus an infinitive complement. A number of examples of such auxiliary verbal elements are given in (49). -kho-u-bvo-u-to-u-todo-u-tolo-u-(e)dzo-u-soko-u-kono-u-no-u-

'be (occupied in)' 'have Just' 'really, most certainly' "want to, nearly, almost' 'keep on, incessantly' 'try to' 'merely, for no reason, e t c ' 'be in a position to' 'sometimes, occasionally'

Verbal Tonology (II)

214 -yo-u-do-u-ito-u-

'on the way to' 'come for the purpose of 'repeatedly, as a practice'

Many of the auxiliary verbal elements In (49) can quite plausibly be seen as connected to actual verbal roots In Venda. We have already suggested that -bvo-u- can be viewed as deriving from the verb stem -bv-a 'come from'. Other (possibly) related verbs are listed In (50): (50)

-edz-a -y-a -d-a -tod-a -kon-a -it-a

'test' (cf. -(e)dzo-u-) 'go to' (cf. -yo-u-) 'come' (cf. -do-u-) 'seek' (cf. -todo-u-) 'be able to' (cf. -kono-u-) 'do, make' (cf. -lto-u-)

Two of the auxiliary elements (In particular, -kho-u- and -nou-) appear to be related to certain prepositional elements, in particular, kha- 'on. In' and na- 'with' (but more on this later). Putting aside -kho-u- and -no-u-, the auxiliary elements (Including the Infinitive prefix) appear to be Lowtoned. When they are preceded by a Low prefix, they remain Low-toned. This point Is illustrated by (51). (51)

ndi-bvo-u-vhon-a mu-thu

'I have Just seen somebody' [W.142) ndl-bvo-u-sol-a mu-thu 'I have Just slandered somebody* [W, 142] ndi-todo-u-vhon-a mu-thu 'I nearly see s.o.' [W.158] ndl-todo-u-lim-a 'I nearly cultivate' [W.158] ndl-todo-u-sol-a mu-thu 'I nearly slander s.o.' [W, 142] ndi-tolo-u-vhon-a mu-thu 'I keep on seeing s.o.' [W, 142] ndi-tolo-u-sol-a mu-thu 'I keep on slandering s.o.'[W.142] In the post-H environment, we find the following changes occurring:

Verbal Tonology (II) (52)

H H H H H H

215

ndi-bv6-u-vhon-a[W,158] ndi-bvo-u-lim-a [W.158J ndi-todo-u-vhon-a [W.158J ndi-todo-u-lim-a [W.158] ndi-tolo-u-vhon-a [W, 144] ndi-tolo-u-sol-a [W.144]

We would certainly expect the initial Low of the verb word (located on the subject prefix ndl-) to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion due to the fact that the preceding word ends In a H and the subject prefix L is in turn followed by a Low-initial auxiliary element. Since the L of the subject prefix metatheslzes/deletes, the H of the preceding word now stands in front of the Initial L of the auxiliary element. But we do not want the auxiliary element Low to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion. If it did, then we would expect the High of the preceding word to be able to spread past the initial vowel of the auxiliary element onto the following vowel. But this is not what happens—cf. H ndi-t6do-u-vh6n-a, for example. We have argued that Low Metathesis/Deletion is an iterative rule that works left-to-right starting at the left edge of the word, metathesizlng/deleting the initial L of a morphological unit. Is there any way to explain why Low Metathesis/Deletion does not affect the initial Low of the auxiliary element after it affects the L of the subject prefix? We earlier suggested an explanation for such facts in terms of the principles of lexical phonology. Recall that we have proposed that Low Metathesis/ Deletion is both a lexical rule and a post-lexical rule. In examples such as those in (52), there is no environment for Low Metathesis/Deletion to apply lexically (a L in the verb does not come Into position after a H until we reach the phrasal level). Thus it is the post-lexical application of Low Metathesis/Deletion that we are considering in (52). But there is a principle of lexical phonology that says that post-lexical rules do not have access to the internal morphological structure of words. If this is so, then in the post-lexical phonology, the only L in the verb that Is "initial in a morphological unit" is the L of the subject prefix. The post-

Verbal Tonology 01)

216

lexical application of Low Metathesis/ Deletion cannot "see" that the L of the auxiliary element Is initial in a morphological unit. Consequently, only the first L In the verbal word will be affected by that rule. We show the derivation of H ndi-t6do-u-vh6n-& in (53). (53)

H x

L

L L L

H

ndi-todo-u-vhon-a

LM/D MR

HTS H x ncfi-^odo-u-vhon-a

CS

inapplicable

FS

Let us now turn to cases where the auxiliary elements In (49) are preceded by a High prefix. (54) provides some relevant data where an auxiliary follows a High subject prefix. (54)

u-bvo-u-vhon-a mu-thu 'he has just seen somebody' [W.143] u-bvo-u-sol-a mu-thu 'he has just slandered somebody' [W.1431 u-todo-u-vhon-a 'he nearly sees' [W.1581 u-todo-u-lim-a 'he nearly cultivates' [W.158] u-todo-u-sol-a 'he nearly slanders' [W.143] u-tolo-u-vhon-a 'he keeps on seeing' [W.143) u-tolo-u-sol-a 'he keeps on slandering' [W.143J u-tolo-u-lil-a 'he keeps on crying' [W.143]

Verbal Tonology (II)

217

Consider the examples Involving -todo-u- and -tolo-ufirst. Notice that we must assume that the Initial Low of these elements undergoes Low Metathesis/Deletion since (a) this Low is preceded by a High on the subject prefix and (b) this Low is followed by a Low on the second vowel of the particle element. Consequently, the first syllable of the particle will become toneless. We do not want the second vowel of the auxiliary to become toneless, however, by the Iterative application of Low Metathesis/Deletion, since if it did, the High of the subject prefix would be free to affect the tonal shape of the infinitive vowel -u-. The infinitive vowel must, however, be realized on a Low tone~cf. u-t616-u-vh6n-a. We do, however, have an explanation for why the second vowel of -todo- and -tolo- Is not subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion: it Is not "initial in a morphological unit". (Actually, it would be reasonable, as we have seen, to interpret the o vowel at the end of the auxiliary elements -todo- and -tolo- (as well as the other verbal auxiliaries) as being a manifestation of the final vowel -a that appears at the end of verbal forms. Even so, we do not consider -a to be "initial" in a morphological unit; we take the morphological structure of the verb stem to be [ [verb stem) a); thus -a does not occur In the position I .) The derivation of u-t6d6-u-lim-a is shown in (55). (55)

H

1

L L L

L

L

, U ' ,'• I

u-todo-u-1lm-a H

L L

L

L

I , J I ' '

LM/D MR

u-todo-u-lim-a inapplicable H 1

L L

L

HTS

L

t J ' J" I

u-todo-u-lim-a H^ L L L L u-todo-u-lim-a inapplicable

CS FS

Verbal Tonology (II)

218

Let us now turn to the auxiliary element -bvo-u-. We have an interesting tonologlcal contrast in u-bv6-u-vh6n-a versus u-bv6-u-lim-a. In the first case, the infinitive vowel -ills realized on a Low tone, while in the second case it is realized on a H tone. Since the difference between the two examples Is a H verb stem in the case of u-bvd-u-vb.6n-a and a Low verb stem in the case of u-bv6-u-lim-a, it would be natural to attribute the difference in the behavior of the -u- to the inapplicability of Low Metathesis/Deletion In the former example (due to the -u- preceding a H tone) and the applicability of Low Metathesis/Deletion in the latter example (due to the -u- preceding a L tone). If we just make the assumption that the Low of the infinitive prefix cannot metathesize/delete when it stands before a High verb stem, then we would predict the following derivation: (56)

H

L

LL 11

H

J\

u-bvou-vhona LH L H u-bvou-vhona

LM/D (first applic.)

inapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

LH.

L

H

u-bvou-vhona LH V

L

HTS

H

u-bvou-vhona

CS

inapplicable

FS

The result is the incorrect form *u-bv6u-vh!6na, rather than the correct u-bv6u-vh6na. As we will see immediately below, there is evidence that the L of the first vowel of -bvou- has indeed metathesized/deleted. The problem then is that when

Verbal Tonology (II)

219

the H of the subject prefix spreads onto the second vowel, forming a contour tone, we must somehow disassociate the H part of the contour rather than the L part of the contour. The reader will, however, surely have noted that we have already encountered four cases where a (pre-penult) vowel with an expected contour tone has, unexpectedly, disassociated from the H rather than the Low. Recall (a) the examples in (13) in this chapter—e.g., a-si-nga-vhOn-i, where the H of the subject prefix does not appear associated with the following Low-toned vowel; (b) the examples in (23) in this chapter, e.g. a-thi-ngatsh!a-do-bik-a, where the H that has shifted onto -tshathrough HH-Avoidance does not appear also associated with the following -do-; and (c) the examples in (35) of this chapter —e.g. fi-kha-di-bik-a, where we see that the H tone of the subject prefix is not also associated with the prefix -kha-; and (d) the examples in (46) of this chapter—e.g. fi-kho-fi-gwadama, where we see again that the H of the subject prefix is not also associated with the prefix -kho- (presumably a phonological variant of -kha-). We will assume that the same Special Disassociation rule is operative in all of these cases; we do not, however, have a solution as to why Special Disassociation applies in these cases whereas the general rule of Contour Simplification applies in other cases. (Special Disassociation, the application of which forestalls the application of Contour Simplification, must clearly be ordered before Contour Simplification.) We have been able to account for the forms like ii-bvou-vhdn-a by assuming that the -u- escapes Low Metathesis/ Deletion by virtue of being in front of a H verb stem and by assuming that Special Disassociation affects the expected contour on -u- that results from High Tone Spread. Let us now consider the examples like u-bv6-ti-lim-a. We would expect the following derivation: (57)

H

L L

L

L

I h L L 1[ ' u-bvo-u-lim-a LH

I

L

L

L

I I I

u-bvo-u-lim-a

LM/D ( f i r s t

applic.)

Verbal Tonology (II)

220 LLH

L

1

L

' I

u-bvo-u-lim-a LLH L

|

LM/D (second applic.)

I

u-bvo-u-lim-a

LM/D (third applic.)

inapplicable LLHs^

MR

L HTS CS FS

But the result. *fi-bv6-ti-lim-a is incorrect. In order to produce the correct surface form, we must constrain Low Metathesis/Deletion. If we assume that the L of an auxiliary such as -bvois not subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion, then we predict the derivation in (58). (58)

H

L L

L

L

u-bvo-u-lim-a 1

b

'

'

, ' •

'

inapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

H

L L

L

L

|\l I ! I U-bvo-u-lim-a H

IX

L L

L

HTS

L

I I I

u-bvo-u-lim-a

CS

inapplicable

FS

Verbal Torwlogy (II)

221

The pronunciation *ti-bv6-u-lim-a, however, is not correct. Clearly, then, the L of -bvo- must be subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion. That means that it must be the infinitive vowel -u- which fails to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion. If this is the case, we will achieve the right result, as the derivation in (59) illustrates. (59)

H

L L

L

L

I

I I I I

u-bvo-u-lim-a LH

I

L

L

L

I • I

u-bvo-u-lim-a

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

LH

L

L

L

u-bvo-u-lim-a LHv^

L

L

HTS

L

! l

„

u-bvo-u-lim-a

CS

inapplicable

FS

^

!-

It is not, however, clear why the -u- should resist Low Metathesis/Deletion. One explanation, of course, would be that it is no longer regarded as a separate morphological unit from the auxiliary—i.e. the morphology is actually such that bvou- is a unit. If the -u- is not initial in a morphological unit, then its Low tone would not be susceptible to Low Metathesis/ Deletion. But there may be other explanations that would allow the recurring -u- element at the end of auxiliaries to be regarded as the infinitive prefix. Since we have very sparse data on the monosyllabic auxiliaries such as -bvo-, we must postpone further consideration of the tonal behavior of such elements until a time when we have more material at our disposal. (As we show in Chapter Five, monosyllabic verb stems display some special tonal behavior; it would not be surprising if auxiliary elements derived from monosyllabic

Verbal. Tonology (II)

222

stems such as -bva should also display special behavioral patterns.) Our analysis of the data in (54) predicts that these forms will be preceded by a downstep when they occur after a H-final word. The examples In (60) confirm the validity of this prediction. (60)

H H H H

!u-bv6u-vhona [W.158] !u-bvou-lima* [W.158] !u-tod6u-vhona [W.158] !u-t6dou-llma [W.158]

We do not have much data where an auxiliary element follows a H tone that Is not associated with the subject prefix. The examples In (61) provide two cases where the auxiliary element follows the past tense prefix -6-. (61)

6-tou-shuma 'he really has worked' [W.152] tsh-6-todou-wa 'it nearly fell' [W, 152]

These examples confirm the observations made above concerning the third person subject forms. Their derivation is shown In (62) and (63): (62)

L H

1

L L

'J ' „

H

A

a-o-to-u-shuma L H L L H o-to-u-shuma LLH

L

Contraction

H

o-to-u-shuma

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

LLH

L

H

o - tro-u - shuma

HTS

Verbal Tonology 01)

223

LLH L H |\ J /| o-to-u-shuma

(63)

special disassoc.

inapplicable

CS

inapplicable

FS

L H

L L L

L

Mill

I

tshi-o-t_odo-u-w-a L H L L L

L

v, ' ' J '

'

tsh-o-^odo-u-w-a LLH L L L

I

Contraction

M l

tsh-o-todo-u-w-a

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

LLH

L L

L

tsh-o-tpdo-u-w-a

HTS

inapplicable

special disassoc.

LLH

v, ' ^

L L

L

I I

tsh-o-tpdo-u-w-a inapplicable

CS FS

We noted earlier that these auxiliary elements, which have the shape -(CV)Co-u-, are pronounced by some speakers with the vowel a rather than o immediately before the final u. The data collected from [N] reveals such pronunciations for the auxiliary element -todo-. (64) Illustrates: (64) nd-6-toda-u-bika 'I nearly cooked' [N] nd-6-toda-u-gidima 'I nearly ran' [N] nd-6-toda-u-xela 'I nearly got lost' [N] nd-6-toda-u-vhudzisa 'I nearly asked' [NJ

Verbal Tonology (II)

224

We believe that a deeper study of these auxiliary elements Is required, but the data examined In this section for the most part are compatible with the analysis of Venda tonology that we have been developing over the past two chapters. We have noted above that there are two auxiliary elements that are tonally different from the others: -kho-fiand -no-ii-. Unfortunately, we have no systematic data for -noii-. It is of some interest to note that both of these auxiliary elements appear to be related not to verbs, but to certain prepositional elements. The striking fact about -kho-u- and -no-ti- is that a High tone appears on the -u- vowel (which we have suggested has Its source, at least historically, In the Lowtoned Infinitive). Why should a H appear on the Infinitive vowel in these constructions. A possible answer to this question emerges when we look In detail at the prepositional elements like -kha- and -na- and related constructions. The remainder of this chapter will examine these constructions. Although they are non-verbal In nature, their relationship to -kho-u- and -no-u- makes It appropriate to discuss them at this point. 4.5. The associative construction. In this section we explore the tonal pattern of the so-called "associative" construction In Venda. The associative consists of a head noun (phrase) plus the associative particle -a (which Is inflected to agree with the head noun) plus a second noun (phrase). The associative can be approximately glossed as 'NP of NP'. In our discussion, we will refer to the first NP as the "head noun" and the unit consisting of the associative particle and a following noun as the "associative noun". In (65) we illustrate the construction with examples where the head of the construction is a member of Noun Class 1 that ends In a Low tone underlyingly. (66) illustrates the case where the head of the construction is a Noun Class 1 item that ends In a High tone underlyingly. (65)

mu-tuka w-a mu-rathu [W. 132) mu-tuka w-a mu-tuka [W.132J

Verbal Tonology (II)

225

mu-tuka w-a mu-selwa [W.132] mu-tuka w-a mu-sadzi [W.132] mu-selwa w-a mu-rathu [W.132] etc. (66)

mu-rathu w-a m!u-rathu [W, 132] mu-rathu w-a m!u-tuka [W, 132] mu-rathu w-a m!u-selwa [W.132] mu-rathu w-am!u-sadzi [W.132] mu-sadzi w-a m!u-rathu [W.132] etc.

Consider the post-Low environment of (65) first. Notice that the -a vowel of the associative construction Is realized on a Low tone in (65), but the following (Low-toned) prefix appears associated with a High tone. In fact, careful examination of these data reveals that the nouns in position after -a have exactly the shape that they have when they are preceded by a High tone. The problematic aspect of these data Is that In (65) -a Is not pronounced with a High tone, even though the noun after -a behaves as though -a is High-toned. Two general approaches to these data exist, though there would be variations possible In their precise implementation. One line of attack would be to say that -a behaves as though It is both Low (since It Is pronounced Low In (65)) and also High (since It induces the changes on a following noun that only High tones can induce) because It is both L and H. Specifically, It has a rising tone (LH) associated with It. This rising tone could plausibly be claimed to result from the syllabic merger of the agreement prefix with the -a vowel (i.e. the agreement prefix Is Low-toned but the -a is High-toned and both tones remain when these two syllables are merged into a single syllable). We might then claim that when a LH sequence is associated with a single TBU, the H delinks from that TBU. The H of the LH melody on -a will, of course, have already (a) triggered Low-Deletion, (b) triggered Meeussen's Rule, and (c) spread prior to the delinking operation.

Verbal Tonology (II)

226

This analysis requires that the merger of the agreement prefix and the associative vowel -a be treated differently from the merger of subject prefix vowels and the past tense marker -6-. Recall that -6- is preceded by a Low-toned subject prefix, and the contraction of that subject prefix with -6- always results In a High-toned -6-. The Low of the subject prefix Just floats In the tonal tier (causing downstep, of course). In the present case, on the contrary, the Low of the agreement prefix must attach to the associative vowel, triggering a simplification in favor of retention of the Low on the associative vowel. We do not consider this difference in behavior to be a telling consideration against the analysis of -a as having a LH sequence associated with it. Consider the derivation, then, of mu-tuka w-a mu-tuka in (67) and mu-tuka w-a mu-s&dzi in (68) under the above analysis. (67)

LH

L

L L

w-a mu-tuka LLH

L L

V

U

w-a

mu-tuka

output of syllabic merger

LM/D MR

inapplicable LLH^. w-a

L L mu-tuka

LLH,s.

L L

w-a mu-tuka inapplicable inapplicable

(68)

HTS

LH

L

\l

I /\

Rising Tone Simplific. CS FS

H

w-a mu-sadzi

output of syllabic merger

Verbal Tonology (II) LLH

H

M

/\

w-a rnu-sadzi LLH L

\l

MR

L

w-a m u - s a d z i LLH^

LM/D

/\

w-a m u - s a d z i LLH^

227

HTS

L

w-a mu-sadzi inapplicable inapplicable

Rising Tone Simplific. CS FS

A few comments are In order. First, we have not included the Low-toned noun (mu-tuka) which precedes wa mti-tfika and wa-mti-sfidzl since such a word (being L-final) cannot possibly affect the tone of the associative noun itself. Second, we have assumed in the above derivation that Rising Tone Simplification is distinct from Contour Simplification. Given just the facts currently under consideration, it would be possible to consider Rising Tone Simplification and Contour Simplification to be a single process that delinks the second of two tones associated with a single tone-bearing unit. Thus a HL sequence would disassociate the L while a LH sequence would disassociate the H. The third point is that in (67) and (68) we assumed that the High of the associative particle deletes the Low at the beginning of a following noun by metathesizing that L in front of the H of the associative particle. Given these data this Is not, of course, a necessary assumption. It could be a case of straight deletion of the initial Low of the noun. The fourth, and final, observation that we would like to make concerns the derivation in (67). We see from (67) that the H of the associative particle can trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on the prefix of the noun, but that it cannot apply iteratively to the

228

Verbal Tonology (II)

Initial Low of the noun stem. We assume that when Low Metathesis/Deletion applies to the unit consisting of the associative particle and a following noun, the internal structure of that noun is not accessible to Low Metathesis /Deletion. Since that rule can affect only Lows that are initial in a morphological unit, the L of the noun stem is not "initial" once the internal morphology of the noun Is invisible. We have now reviewed one approach to the analysis of the behavior of the associative particle (involving the claim that there is a LH sequence on that particle). A second line of attack is to say that there is no tone contributed by the agreement prefix but that -a does indeed supply a High tone to the tonal tier, and thus causes the changes that only a High tone can cause. However, for some reason the vowel of this morpheme cannot be associated with the High tone that It supplies. One particular Implementation of this line of attack involves the concept of extratonality. It has been suggested that certain units at the peripheries of constituents may be excluded from the domain of application of "prosodlc" rules (e.g. stress, tone). Under this approach, we would say that -a contributes a High tone to the tonal tier but is marked as extratonal—i.e. we cannot associate the H In the tonal tier to this vowel since this vowel is excluded from the domain of the tone-mapping rules. The High will, however, associate with the noun prefix subsequent to the application of Low-Deletion. The theory of extratonality claims that when the unit In question ceases to be peripheral (in the present case, when the associative noun is united in a phrase with the head noun). It loses its extratonal status. At this point, the unit would be in the domain of any relevant tonological rules. In the present case, once the tone of-a has linked to the following noun, the -a will never have an opportunity to become associated with this High even after the loss of extratonality. The -a will then be assigned a Low tone by a (default) rule that specifies all unassoclated TBU's as Low. We have presented two possible lines of analysis for the data In (65); at the present point we have no basis for choosing between them. Let us turn to the post-High environment illustrated in (66). We see that when the head of the

Verbal Tonology (II)

229

associative construction ends in a High tone, the -a link appears High on the surface, but there Is a downstep between it and the following noun prefix. These facts are explicable if we assume that the downstep is caused by the fact that (a) there is a Low tone associated with the -a prior to High Tone Spread; (b) the High of the head noun spreads onto the Low-toned -a creating a HL sequence; and (c) Contour Simplification disassociates the L of this sequence, leaving it floating in the tonal tier. The data in (66) are straightforward on the assumption that there is a Low associated with the -a (as a result of the application of the simplification of a LH sequence to L). The derivation of mu-rathti w-a m!ti-tfika is illustrated in (69). In order to simplify the presentation somewhat, we would like to suggest from the outset that the associative noun constitutes a kind of extended word and that the lexical rules of the phonology apply to this unit prior to the phrase-level phonology. (Also it is worth noting that most of the rules that we have been dealing with in this thesis can be considered to be both lexical and post-lexical rules.) (69)

LLH L L \ \ | | w-a mu-tuka L L H | | | mu-rathu

output of the lexical phonology (see (67))

LLH L L \ \ | | w-a m u - t u k a

L L H

LH^

L L

i iJ

' ^ U

mu-rathu

w-a mu-tuka

inapplicable L L H mu-rathu

1

L L H

U\

LH

LM/D MR

L L

w-a m u - t u k a L H

o u t p u t of syntax

HTS

L L

^'J

mu-rathu w-a mu-tuka inapplicable

CS FS

Verbal Tonology (II)

230

There is one point about (69) that requires mention. Because we have allowed the initial Low of mu-tuka to be metathesized in front of the H of the associative particle, we have created a sequence of two Low tones at the beginning of the associative noun. In (69) we have allowed the first L in this sequence to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion at the phrasal level; a second Low has remained, unaffected. This unaffected Low is in fact the Low that has metathesized away from the prefix of mu-tuka. We assume that this floating Low associates by universal principles to the associative -a once this -a becomes toneless as a result of standing after the H noun mu-rathu. If we had not placed a second Low tone at the beginning of the associative noun, we would be confronted with the following problem: why doesn't a structure such as (70)

L

1

L

U

H LH.

L L

\\vlj

mu-rathu w-a mutuka permit the L on the associative particle to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion (ultimately creating a situation where the H of mu-rathu can trigger Meeussen's Rule on the following H)? It would not be attractive to say that the L at the beginning of the associative noun in (70) falls to metathesize/delete since it stands before a H. We have seen that nouns are not subject to this constraint on Low Metathesis/Deletion, and it looks like wa mutuka should be regarded as nominal In structure. We thus have one piece of evidence that It is correct to assume that the H originating with the associative particle triggers the metathesis of a following Low. Such an assumption allows for the retention of a Low at the beginning of the associative noun in (69) even after the H at the end of mu-rathu has triggered the metathesis/deletion of an immediately following L. We have now shown how the data in (66) can be analyzed in terms of postulating a LH sequence on the associative particle. Let us consider how the extxatonal approach fares with these data. First, it Is clear that we would need the extxatonal associative particle to acquire a Low tone prior to the post-lexical application of our rules. If there were

Verbal Tonology (II)

231

not a Low assigned to the associative particle, i.e. if we had a representation like (71), (71)

L

1

L

H

H

|N

U

L L

>'J

m u - r a t h u w-a m u - t u k a

then Meeussen's Rule would incorrectly apply to the H of the associative noun. This obviously produces incorrect results. If we have succeeded in assigning a default Low to the associative particle prior to the phrase-level application of Meeussen's Rule, as in (72), (72)

L

L

I II

H

L

H

L L

I l\l J

m u - r a t h u w-a m u - t u k a

then we can explain why the H of mu-rathti does not lower the following High tone. The H of mu-rathti will of course spread onto the Low-toned associative particle, creating a Falling tone that will simplify to a H followed by an unassociated Low. This unassociated Low accounts for the downstep between the associative particle and the following noun in (66). Notice, however, that If we have assigned the Low to the associative particle in (72) prior to the phrase-level application of Low Metathesis/Deletion, we need to explain why that rule does not metathesize/delete the L of the associative particle. The extratonal approach does not provide an explanation for the retention of the Low at the beginning of the associative noun in the post-H environment. We consider this to be a point in favor of the analysis of the associative that postulates a LH sequence on that morpheme. In (65) and (66) we Illustrated the phrase-final form of an associative noun In both post-Low and post-High position. The phrase-medial forms present no surprises. The contour tones created on the first vowel of the noun stem following the associative -a will undergo Contour Simplification when the noun Is non-final In the phrase. The unassociated Low resulting from Contour Simplification will cause a downstepping of a following High (as in the case of ...wa

Verbal Tonology (II)

232

mu-rathu). These observations are supported by the data in (73): (73)

mu-rathu w-a m!u-sadzi w-anga 'my wife's elder sister' [W.133] (cf. mu-rathu w-a m!u-sadzi) mu-rathu w-a m!u-rath!u w-anga 'brother of my brother, sister of my sister' [W.133] (cf. mu-rathu w-a m!u-rathu)

At this point we can turn to a consideration of the tonal shape of preflxless nouns preceded by the associative link -a. (74) contains examples of the associative noun preceded by a Low-final head noun and (75) contains the same examples preceded by a High-final head noun. (74)

mu-tuka w-a thukhu (cf. thukhu] [W.133] mu-tuka w-a bofu [cf. bofu] [W.133] mu-tuka w-a thung'wa [cf. thung'wa] [W.133] mu-tuka w-a bengo [cf. bengo] [W. 133] mu-selwa w-a thukhu [W.133] etc.

(75)

mu-rathu w-a thlukhu [W.133] mu-rathu w-a b!6fu [W.133] mu-rathu w-a thung'wa [W.133] mu-rathu w-a bengo [W.133] mu-sadzi w-a thlukhu [W.133] etc.

When the preflxless noun is Low-initial (cf. bofu and thukhu). the results of placing the associative particle in front of the noun are quite parallel to what we have Just seen for the prefixed nouns. (76) Illustrates. (For convenience, we assume a representation where a LH sequence is associated with the -a particle as the result of the syllabic merger of the agreement prefix and the -a.)

Verbal Tonology (II) (76)

233

L H L L w-a bofu LL H

L H

L

H

w-a thukhu

L

LLH

H

\/bofu bfl w-a

\l

1

LM/D

w-a thukhu inapplic.

LLH

LL H

L

LL H thukhu ^ L w-a

w-a bofu

w-a thukhu

LL H

LL H ^

L

w-a bofu

L

H

L

w-a thukhu

w-a bofu

LL

\

HTS

L

inappl:icable LL

MR

Rising Tone Simplif. CS

H

L

\ 1

FS

w-a thukhu

In the post-High environment, the derivation will precede as above except that the High tone of the head noun will (a) metatheslze/delete the initial L of the associative noun (but another L will remain to dock onto the associative particle) and will (b) spread onto the Low-toned associative particle, creating a contour tone. This contour tone will undergo Contour Simplification, and the resulting unassociated Low is responsible for the downstep in mu-rathti w-a b!6fu and mu-rathti w-a thiukhu. Let us now turn to the preflxless nouns that have a High on their initial vowel. Assuming that the underlying structure is as in (77), (77)

L H

H

Mil

L

L H

H

\l J\

w-a thung'wa w-a bengo it Is clear that the associative particle cannot trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on the following noun (since that noun

Verbal Tonology (II)

234

does not have an initial Low tone). Consequently, an "extra" Low tone will not be relocated at the beginning of the associative noun. (This observation will play a critical role in the discussion to follow.) What we now expect to happen is that the H of the associative particle will trigger Meeussen's Rule, replacing the H at the beginning of thung'wa and b£ng6 with a L. The H of the -a will then spread onto the Low-toned initial syllable of the noun. We have now arrived at the following representations: (78)

L H

L

L

w-a thung'wa

L H

L

w-a bengo

In order to obtain the correct surface shapes, we cannot let the simple version of Rising Tone Simplification formulated earlier apply. Recall that we hypothesized earlier that when a LH occurs on a single vowel, the H disassociates. In order to derive the forms w-a thung'wa and w-a b£ngo, however, it is clear that we must disassociate the L part of the rising tone in (78). Examination of the data in (65) and (74) show that the rising tone simplifies to H when the next vowel is associated with a Low tone (assuming that Rising Tone Simplification applies before High Tone Spread) or, alternatively, with a HL sequence (assuming that Rising Tone Simplification follows High Tone Spread); If the rising tone Is followed by a vowel that is associated with a H (only), then the rising tone simplifies to L. We will assume that Rising Tone Simplification must, therefore, be modified so that the tone that is disassociated from a LH sequence on a single vowel is determined by the tonal shape of the following vowel. Notice If we assume that the associative particle has a LH sequence associated with it (after the syllabic merger of the agreement prefix and the -a vowel), then the fact that the associative -a sometimes appears L-toned and sometimes Htoned can be accounted for In terms of how this (disallowed) rising tone is simplified in different phonological contexts. If, on the other hand, we were to choose the extratonality solution to the behavior of -a, we would be forced to assume that -a is somehow not extratonal Just in case a High-Initial noun follows

Verbal Tonology (II)

235

it (since we want the -a to associate to the H that it contributes to the tonal tier when a noun such as thung'wa or b6ng6 follows). It seems ill-motivated to make the assignment of extratonality dependent on a phonological environment. Consequently, we will continue to assume the approach that recognizes a rising tone on the associative particle. We have so far limited our analysis of the associative nouns w-a thung'wa and w-a b£ngo to the case where they appear in a post-Low context. Consider now the post-High forms: mu-rathu w-a thung'wa and mu-rathu w-a bengo. These pronunciations suggest strongly that the High at the end of the head noun has succeeded in triggering Meeussen's Rule on the H associated with the associative particle (which itself has succeeded in triggering Meeussen's Rule on the noun). But this means that there must not be a rising tone on the associative particle when Meeussen's Rule applies between the head noun and the associative noun. If there were a rising tone, as in (79) below, the L on the associative particle would (incorrectly) block application of Meeussen's Rule. (79)

L

L

H LH

L

mu-rathu w-a bengo

(We are assuming In (79) that Meeussen's Rule has applied lexically between the associative particle and the following noun.) The problem then Is how to eliminate the Low tone at the beginning of the associative particle In (79). Of course, if we follow the extratonality solution, there would be no Low tone linked to the associative -a in these cases. Let u s briefly review the reason for this. The extratonality solution says that -a acquires a Low by default Just in situations where it is extratonal and cannot associate to the H tone that it contributes to the tonal tier. This approach would thus have to claim that -a is not extratonal in front of H-initial nouns such as thung'wa and bingd (since in this context -a does In fact associate to the H tone that it contributes to the tonal tier). Since -a Is not extratonal before thung'wa and b£ng6. it

236

Verbal Tonology (II)

will not acquire a Low by default and therefore there will be no Low that will have to be eliminated. The foregoing discussion can be Interpreted as providing support for the extratonal approach to -a. However, recall that this approach must assign extratonality to -a on the basis of the phonological structure of the following noun (-a would be extratonal when the noun begins with a L tone, but not when the noun begins with a H tone). We have seen that the analysis of the associative particle as having a rising tone allows the variation In the surface realization of the -a to be treated in terms of variation in the means of simplifying the disallowed LH sequence. It is worth asking whether the rising tone analysis can succeed in explaining the disappearance of the L tone at the beginning of the associative noun in examples like mu-rathfi wa bengo. We could, of course, handle the problem by saying that there is a special rule that deletes the L of the LH sequence associated with the -a link when the -a precedes a H. If we postulate this rule and order it before Rising Tone Simplification, then Rising Tone Simplification could be maintained in its general form (i.e. disassociate the H from a LH sequence linked to a single vowel). But this Is obviously a brute force solution. We have seen that the general pattern in Venda is that a contour tone simplifies by disassociation of one of the tones, not by the deletion of one of the tones. Fortunately, there is a totally different explanation for the deletion of the Low tone at the beginning of the associative noun in (79)—namely. Low Metathesis/Deletion. Notice in (79) that the initial Low of the associative noun will stand after a High tone. Thus we have the conditions for Low Metathesis/ Deletion to apply. Furthermore, assuming that the associative noun is a noun, we know that Low Metathesis/Deletion affects an initial Low on a noun regardless of the next tone. (Thus a LH noun such as mu-ri will undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion when preceded by a H-flnal word. A LH sequence in verbs, of course. Is not permitted to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion.) Thus our rules in fact predict that the L of the associative particle will delete.

Verbal Tonology (II)

237

Let us now go through the derivation of mu-rathu w-i bengo. (80)

w o r d level LH w-a

phonology H

bengo

inapplicable LH

LM/D

L

w-a bengo

MR

post-lexical L

L

phonology H

' U

LH

L /X

\' H

mu-rathu w-a bengo L

L

H

H

L

mu-rathu w-a bengo L

L

H

L

L

mu-rathu w-a bengo L

L

H

L

inapplicable L

H

L

MR

L

mu-rathu w-a bengo

L

LM/D

HTS Rising Simplif.

L

mu-rathu w-a bengo

CS

inapplicable

FS

(We have shown High Tone Spread and all the simplification rules as being post-lexical. Certainly Contour Simplification and Final Simplification must be post-lexical, since their

238

Verbal Tonology (II)

application depends on the position of the HL contour tone in the phrase. High Tone Spread certainly must apply postlexically, since it extends a H from one word to the next, but it could conceivably be applied lexically as well. The status of Rising Simplification is not readily determinable since its only motivation so far comes from the associative construction. In the derivation in (80) it would certainly have been possible to apply Rising Tone Simplification in the lexical component.) The derivation in (80) depends on the L of the associative particle undergoing Low Metathesis/Deletion. When it metatheslzes/deletes, the H of the associative particle will be subject to Meeussen's Rule. Notice, however, that it seems that the initial Low of the associative particle must delete/metatheslze and thus pave the way for Meeussen's Rule just in the event the associative noun is a H-initial noun. Thus metathesis/deletion followed by Meeussen's rule occurs in murathti w-& bengo, but not In an example such as mu-rathu w& mHi-thuka. Let us at this point emphasize how we have explained this apparent peculiarity. What we have suggested is that when the associative particle precedes a Low-Initial noun, that Low tone undergoes Low Metathesis/Deletion and is placed In front of the H of the associative particle. This creates a structure where there are two Low tones at the beginning of the associative noun. The first of these Low tones will metathesize/delete after a word ending in a High, but there will still be a Low at the beginning of the associative noun. The H-flnal head noun will not be able to induce Meeussen's Rule on the H of the associative particle. But when the associative noun begins with a H, there will be no Low Metathesis/Deletion in operation, thus the associative H will have Just the one Low tone in front of it. This Low tone will be susceptible to Low Metathesis/Deletion in the post-H context and thus the environment for Meeussen's Rule will be created. We have now provided an analysis of the associative noun (both where the noun is L-initial and where it Is H-initial) in both the post-L and the post-H environments. This analysis is of some importance because there are other constructions that are quite parallel to the associative.

Verbal Tonology (II)

239

Consider, for example, the particle ha- 'to the place of. (81) shows both the post-Low and post-High pronunciation of ha- plus various nouns. (81)

Post-Low

Post-High

ha-mu-thu ha-mu-rwa

ha-m!u-thu ha-m!u-rwa

cf. mu-thu [W.136) cf. mu-rwa 'Bushman'[W.136J ha-thukhu ha-th!ukhu cf. thukhu [W.136] ha-bengo ha-bengo cf. bengo 'lunaUc' [W, 136] ha-ndemwa ha-ndemwa cf. ndemwa [W.136] ha-bofu cf. bofu [W.136] ha-b!6fu ha-mu-tuka ha-m!u-tuka cf. mu-tuka [W.136] ha-mu-rathu ha-m!u-rathu cf. mu-rathu [W.136] ha-mu-sadzi ha-m!u-sadzl cf. mu-sadzi [W,136] ha-mu-selwa ha-m!u-selwa cf. mu-selwa [W.136] The data In (81) can be treated exactly like the associative by regarding the ha- as being associated to a LH sequence underlyingly (or perhaps regarding ha- to be the coalescence of a Low-toned prefix ha- followed by the High-toned associative -a. There is no need to provide sample derivations since the data in (81) is precisely parallel to the post-L and post-H pronunciations of associative nouns. Similar particles include nga- (by means of, with, etc.), sa- (like), and na- (and, together with, even, etc.). A few examples: (82)

nga-duvha 'on the day, every day' [W.136] nga-ma-duvha ibid. [W, 136] (cf. duvha 'day', ma-duvha 'days') nga-tombo 'by a stone' [W,136] cf. tombo nga-ma-pfene 'by baboons' [W.136] cf. ma-pfene nga-vhu-siku 'in the night' [W.136] (cf. vhu-siku 'night')

Verbal Tonoiogy (II)

240

sa-mu-thu 'like the person' [W.62] cf. mu-thu sa-mu-ri 'like the tree' [W.62] cf. mu-ri sa-mu-sadzi [W.62] cf. mu-sadzi sa-mu-rathu [W.62] cf. mu-rathu sa-mu-selwa [W.62] cf. mu-selwa sa-mu-tuka [W,62] cf. mu-tuka sa-mu-kalaha [W.62I cf. mu-kalaha sa-mu-tukana [W.62] cf. mu-tukana sa-mu-tha!nnga [W.62] cf. mu-thannga sa-mu-kegulu [W,62] cf. mu-kegulu sa-mu-duhulu fW.62] cf. mu-duhulu sa-Madingwane [W.62] cf. Madingwane sa-tshi-vhavhala [W.62) cf. tshi-vhavhala sa-tombo [W.137] na-mu-thu na-tombo na-duvha na-ma-duvha na-vhu-siku na-ma-pfene

'with the person' [W.62] 'and a stone' [W.137] 'even the day' [W,137] 'even the day' [W.137I 'even the night'[W, 137] 'and the baboons' (W, 137]

The reader will note that these data parallel perfectly the behavior of the associative particle as well as ha- and thus require no additional commentary. There is one particle that Is related In its behavior but different—namely, kha- (on, from. etc.). (83)

kha-bengo [W.137] kha-ndemwa [W.137] kha-th!ukhu [W.137] kha-b!6fu [W, 137]

cf. cf. cf. cf.

bengo ndemwa thukhu bofu

kha-m!u-thu 6 [W.62] cf. mu-thu kha-m!u-ri [W.62] cf. mu-ri kha-m!u-rathu [W.137] cf. mu-rathu kha-m!u-tuka [W.137] cf. mu-tuka kha-m!u-sadzi [W.137] cf. mu-sadzi kha-m!u-selwa [W.137] cf. mu-selwa

Verbal Tonology (II)

241

kha-m!u-kalaha [W,62] kha-m!u-tukana [W,62] kha-m!utha!nnga [W.62] kha-m!u-kegulu [W,62] kha-M!adingwane [W.621 kha-tsh!i-vhavhala [W.62]

cf. mu-kalaha cf. mu-tukana cf. mu-thannga cf. mu-kegulu. cf. Madingwane cf. tshi-vhavhala

Examination of kha- In (83) shows that it is always associated with a H tone. But It Is not sufficient to simply claim that khais linked to a High tone. If that were all that Is going on. then we could not explain why appending kha- to a noun such as mu-tuka results In kha-m!u-tuka. We would rather expect kha-mu-tuka since the H of kha- would trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on the initial Low of mu-tuka and then the H of kha- would spread past the (now toneless) prefix of mu-tuka onto the first stem vowel (which would also have a Low associated with it). The major problem with a form such as kha-m!u-tuka Is that kha- must (a) contribute the H that is associated with the prefix and first stem vowel of mu-tuka, and (b) Induce a Low in front of that H, so that this Low can be responsible for the downstep between kha- and the H on the noun, and (c) contribute the H that manifests itself on kha- itself. One means by which we could let kha- have all three of these effects Is to assume that there Is a HLH sequence associated (somehow) with kha-. If we make such an assumption, then we would derive kha-mlu-tuka as follows. (84)

HLH

L

L L

^ ' A1 kna-mu-tuka HLLH

L L

kha-mu-tuka

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

HLLH^ L L kna-mu-tuka lka

HTS

J

Verbal Tonology (II)

242 HLLH.

L L

\\ V \ l I lka kha-mu-ruka HLLH^

Rising Tone Simplif

L L

kha-mu-ruka

CS

inapplicable

FS

If we were to derive kha- by means of a contraction of some element kV- (the quality of the vowel may possibly be indeterminable) plus the associative -a, then we would presumably claim that the HL part of the melody derives from kV- while the final H derives from the associative particle -a. Although claiming that kha- contributes a HLH melody to the tonal tier is by no means an entirely satisfactory solution to the problem (in general we have been able to hypothesize Just one tone per vowel in Venda underlying structures, and to posit a HLH sequence for kha- would seem to require that at least the kV- part have a HL contour tone), it does account for most of the data In (83) In a straightforward fashion. The derivation in (84) exemplifies the case of khaplus a Low-lnitlal noun whose initial Low Is followed by another Low. The derivation In (85) exemplifies the case of kha- plus a Low-lnitlal noun whose Initial Low is followed by a High. (85)

HLH

L

H

^ I Lx kha-mu-sadzi HLLH

H

v\V ^ kna-mu-sadzi

w /\

HLLH

rM/n LM/D

L

kha-mu-sadzi Li

HbJ-iH^

kna-mu-sadzi

MR

Verbal Tonology (II)

243

HLLH \^ V ' X / N k h a --m m u - si 'aadd zz i

Rising Simpl

Tone

\ w\

HLLH

L

kha-mu-sadzi

CS

inapplicable

FS

There Is, however, a problem with claiming that khahas a HLH melody. Consider the case where kha- precedes a H-initial noun—e.g. kha-b€ngo and kha-ndemwa. In order to account for these data we would have to assume that kha-just has the shape LH (like ha- etc.). The H part of this shape would trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following H-initial noun such as ndimwa and would also spread onto the first (now Low-toned) vowel of such a noun; the L part would disassociate from kha- by the rule of Rising Tone Simplification. If Instead of a LH shape, kha- had the shape HLH, we would expect the incorrect pronunciations *khab!£ngo and *kha-nd!£mwa. But to claim that kha- has the shape HLH before L-lnitial nouns and LH before H-initial nouns is clearly unsatisfactory. One alternative to positing a HLH sequence for khawould be to assume that the Low tone that we have been supposing is located as part of the kha- in fact has its origin in the Initial Low of the following noun. In other words, we might claim that kha- has a HH tonal sequence (the first H presumably being contributed by a kV- element and the second H by the associative -a). Now, when the following noun begins with a Low, we might assume that this Low will undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion and be placed In front of the immediately preceding H. In other words, a representation such as (86) will be converted to (87). (86)

H H

L

L L

\ \ \ \ \ k h V - a - -mu-- t u k a

Verbal Tonology (II)

244 (87)

HLH

L L

\ \ \\ khV-a-mu-tuka The derivation from (87) to yield the surface form kha-m!utuka Is straightforward and does not require detailing. Perhaps we should note that another alternative exists. It is conceivable that our rule of HH-Avoldance, which Interchanges the last two tones of a HHL sequence, is applicable to (86) rather than Low Metathesis/Deletion. If so, (86) would be converted to (88) by that rule. (88)

H L

H

L L

\ \ \ \ \ khV-a-mu-tuka The remainder of the derivation is again straightforward and does not require discussion. The above analysis of kha- is a reasonably attractive one, since it explains the appearance of a Low between the two Highs contributed by this proclitic element as being due to the operation of an independently motivated rule (whether Low Metathesis/Deletion or HH-Avoidance). It also predicts that no such L will appear when kha- precedes a H-initial noun (since that noun does not start with a L that can undergo either Low Metathesis/Deletion or HH-Avoidance). This is a correct prediction. The only problem that remains is to explain how a representation such as (89) (89)

H H

H

\ \ / \ khV-a-bengo results In the surface form kha-b€ngo. It seems that b6ng6 must undergo Meeussen's Rule by virtue of standing after the H associative particle -a. But the H of the associative particle must not undergo Meeussen's Rule by virtue of standing after a H~lf It did, we would derive a pronunciation such as *kh4bengo. Rather, the H of khV- and the H of the associative appear to simply merge into a single H. However, If we assume

Verbal Tonology (II)

245

that the two H's of khV- and -a are Indeed merged into a single H (the OCP), we must guarantee that this does not occur until after the initial Low of the noun in cases like kha-mlu-tuka has had a chance to metatheslze. We suggest the following possible account. The associative -a and a following noun form one lexical unit. The H of the associative -a will trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion on a following L-initial noun and will trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following H-initlal noun. It will also be able to spread onto the noun, though High Tone Spreading could be applied later at the sentence level. The next layer of structure will Involve adding the High-toned kV-. This H tone will undergo the OCP with a following H tone. The result is kha-b€ngo. The above analysis strikes us as a reasonably Interesting alternative to assuming that the kha- has a HLH melody. Perhaps the post-H pronunciation of the items in (83) would shed further light on matters, but we have no data on such constructions. In this regard, Westphal states: 'The kha1s not susceptible to preceding H or L syllables" (p. 137). We interpret this to mean that kha- will be pronounced on a High tone no matter what type of word precedes. But it does not make it clear, for example, whether there might be a downstep separating kha- from a preceding H. Given our uncertainty about what the complete range of facts is, we will leave the analysis of kha- pending. There is another, quite important construction with tonal properties like the associative -a. This is the copular construction In the third person. In (90) we illustrate the third person copular particle ndl- In front of prefixed nouns, while (91) illustrates the same particle in front of prefixless nouns. (90)

ndi-mu-thu [W.1721 cf. mu-thu ndl-mu-ri [W.172] cf. mu-ri ndi-mu-landa [W.1721 cf. mu-landa ndi-mu-rathu [W.1721 cf. mu-rathu ndi-mu-selwa rw,172J cf. mu-selwa ndl-mu-kalaha [W.172J cf. mu-kalaha ndl-mu-tukana [W.1721 cf. mu-tukana ndi-mu-lamb!6ni [W.172) cf. mu-lamboni

Verbal Tonology (II)

246

ndi-mu-tha!nnga [W.172] cf. mu-thannga ndi-tshi-vhavhala [W.172] cf. tshi-vhavhala ndi-mu-duhulu [W.172] cf. duhulu ndi-mu-kegulu [W.172] cf. mu-kegulu (91)

ndi-bofu [W.172] cf. bofu ndl-thukhu [W.172] cf. thukhu ndi-ndemwa 7 [W.172] cf. ndemwa ndi-bengo [W.172] cf. bengo ndi-thamaha [W.172] cf. thamaha ndi-dukana [W.172] cf. dukana ndi-danana [W, 172] cf. danana ndi-phaphana [W.172] cf. phaphana ndi-khokhola [W.172] cf. khokhola ndi-dakalo [W.172] cf. dakalo ndi-gong'ong'o [W.172] cf. gong'ong'o

Examination of these data clearly reveal that the third person copular expression ndl- behaves tonologlcally in a fashion parallel to the associative particle and the elements like ha-. We assume, therefore, that it will also have a LH tonal sequence associated with it. The derivations of these forms will be entirely analogous to the derivations shown earlier for the associative. The post-High environment induces Just the expected changes: (92)

H ndi-m!u-thu [W.172] Hndi-m!u-ri [W.172] H ndi-m!u-landa [W.172] H ndi-m!u-rathu [W.172] H ndi-m!u-selwa [W.172] H ndi-m!u-sadzi [W.172] H ndi-m!u-kalaha [W.172] H ndi-m!u-tukana [W.172] H ndi-m!u-lamb!6ni [W.172] H ndi-m!u-tha!nnga [W.172] H ndi-tsh!i-"vhavhala [W.172]

Verbal Tonology (II)

247

H n d •m!u-duhulu [W.172] H n d m!u-kegulu [W.172] (93)

H nd -b!6fu [W.172] H nd -thlukhu [W.172] H nd -ndemwa [W.172] H nd -bengo [W.172] H nd -thlamaha [W.172] H n d -d.'ukana [W.172] H n d -dlanana [W.172] Hnd: -phlaphana [W.172] H nd: -khlokhola [W.172] H nd -dlakalo [W.172] H n d -glong'ong'o [W.172]

We will illustrate the derivation for a Low-initial noun in (94) and for a H-initial noun In (95). (94)

lexical

phonology LH

L L L

>! J U ndi-thamaha LLH L L

\/

1 1

ndi-thamaha inapplicable

post-lexical H

LM/D MR

phonology LLH

L L

x ndi-thamaha H

LH

L L

1 M

II

xinapplicable ndi-thamaha

LM/D MR

H, LH L L |NAf^. 11 x ndi-tnamaha

HTS

248

Verbal Tonology (II) H L H L L |\ J ^\| | x ndi-thamaha H

(95)

L H

Rising Tone Simplif.

L L

x ndi-thamaha

CS

inapplicable

FS

lexical

phonology LH

H

\i A ndi-bengo inapplicable LH

LM/D

L

V /\ ndi-bengo post-lexical H

MR

phonology LH

L

1

dX' b A x ndi-bengo H H L

I J /\ x ndi-bengo H L L

I

i A

x ndi-bengo H

L

fX!

MR

L

A

x ndi-bengo inapplicable x H inapplicable ndi-bengo L L

|\

LM/D

A

HTS Rising Tone Simplif. CS FS

Verbal Tonology (II)

249

Two points about the above derivations need to be made. In (94), we had to assume that after the post-lexical application of Low Metathesis/Deletion, there is still a Low associated with the copular particle ndi-. This is not an automatic consequence of our analysis, but it is not an Insurmountable problem. In order to achieve the correct output In (95), it is necessary to assume that the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion affects the Initial Low of the copulative noun even though that L is in turn followed by a H. In other words, the copulative noun behaves like a noun as far as the conditions for Low Metathesis/Deletion are concerned. It is only third person copular particles that have the behavior described above. First and second person copular particles are themselves Low-toned and do not affect a following word. For example, ndi-mu-thu 'I am an African', u-mu-thu 'you (sg.) are an African', ri-va-thu 'we are Africans', ni-va-thu 'you (pi.) are Africans'. Notice that in these cases the copulative element is Identical segmentally to the subject prefixes. The third person copulative element ndi-, on the other hand, is not segmentally the same as the third person singular subject prefix. We assume that it is a conjunction of a Low-toned copulative element and a High-toned third person subject prefix. In other words, the H part of the LH sequence on third person ndi- is simply the H of third person subject prefixes. The first and second person copulative elements may likewise consist of this same Low-toned copulative element plus a Low-toned subject prefix. Westphal lists a number of other copular constructions but does not give details concerning their tonal pattern. We list these In (96): (96)

e-m!u-thu '(If) he Is an African' (W, 171 ] vh-e-vh!a-thu '(If) they are Africans' [W, 171] i-m!u-thu '(supposing) he is an African' [W.171] i-vh!a-thu '(supposing) they are Africans' [W.171] a-r!e-mu-thu '(he) who is an African' [W.172] vha-r!e-vha-thu '(they) who are Africans' [W, 172] a-si-mu-thu 'he is not an African' [W.171] a-si-vha-thu 'they are not Africans' [W, 171]

250

Verbal Tonology (II) a-si-mu-thu '(If) he is not an African' [W.171] vha-si-vha-thu '(if) they are not Africans' [W, 171] i-si-mu-thu 8 '(supposing) he is not an African' IW.171] i-si-vha-thu '(supposing) they are not Africans' [W.171) a-s!i-mu-thu '(he) who Is not an African' [W.172] vha-s!i-vha-thu '(they) who are not Africans' [W.1721

We will not attempt to provide an exhaustive analysis of these examples since (a) we lack extensive tonal data for them, (b) some of these constructions Involve morphological structures— e.g. the relative and dependent tenses—that we have omitted from consideration In this thesis (due both to space limitations and to lack of systematic data), and (c) some of these examples involve negative formations which again we have not explored in their entirety (recall Westphal's reference to the "bewildering variety" of negative constructions). Nevertheless, we will provide a quick tour of these forms. Some of these constructions appear to involve patterns comparable to that displayed by kha-. Compare, for example. e-m!fi-thu/vh-6-m!u-thu and i-m!u-thu/i-vh!a-thu with kha-m!u-thu. In order to see whether this parallelism is complete, it would be necessary to obtain data for these copular elements In front of a H-initial noun. If these copular particles are parallel, then we would have forms like 6-ndfimwa '(if) he is a naughty child' rather than 6-nd!£mwa. Further collection of data will be required to determine whether the parallelism Is in fact complete. Assuming that the parallelism exists, we would analyze these copulative elements in a fashion analogous to kha-, e.g. by claiming that they underlylngly consist of a sequence of vowel elements, each of which has a H tone. The disyllabic copular elements such as appear in ar!6-mti-thu/vha-rl6-vha-thu and a-s!l-m
Verbal Tonology (II) (97)

H H

251 L

L

are-mu-thu HLH

L

are-mu-thu

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

HLH

L

are-mu-tM

HTS

inapplicable

Rising Tone Simplif.

inapplicable

CS

HLH

1

l\

L

J

are-mu-thu

FS

Such an analysis predicts of course forms like a-r6-nd£mwa (comparable to kha-ndfimwa). We do not have data to verify this prediction. The forms a-si-mu-thu/a-si-vha-tu seem to simply reflect a tonal shape where there is a Low on a- and a H on -si-, where the H-toned -si- is able to trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion on a following word. The forms a-si-mu-thu/vha-simu-thu and i-si-mu-thu/isi-vha-thu are more problematic. They suggest the possibility that there is a H associated with a- and perhaps a LH (rising tone) with -si-. It would be necessary to assume that -si- undergoes Rising Tone Simplification and also that the H that one might expect to spread from a- onto -si- undergoes the special disassoclation that we have encountered elsewhere. Much more study is obviously required. 4.6. Conclusion. In section 4.4 we saw that there are a number of "auxiliary" constructions in Venda which seem to consist of an auxiliary element followed by the infinitive form of the verb. The auxiliary element in most cases is verbal in nature. There are two cases, however, where the auxiliary

Verbal Tonology (II)

252

element seems to be related not to a verb stem but rather to the "prepositional" elements that are examined In 4.5. The two auxiliary constructions apparently related to prepositions are kho-u- and -no-u- (cf. kha- and na-). In section 4.3 we examined the tonal patterning of -kho-u- in detail. (We have no systematic data on -no-u-. but Westphal Indicates that it is parallel to -kho-u- tonally.) Recall, however, that -kho-u- and no-u- are odd In that there the infinitive prefix -u- appears High-toned in conjunction with -kho- and -no-, whereas in the other auxiliary constructions the -u- is basically Low-toned. Our study of the prepositional elements In 4.5 now allows us to explain this tonal structure. It also, In effect, allows us to explain why -kho-u- construction behaves differently from High-toned prefixes In Venda (recall: High prefixes like -6- and -nga- are subject to the OCP when a High verb stem follows and trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem, whereas -kho-u-triggers Meeussen's Rule on a following High verb stem and does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem. Suppose that we claim that -kho-u- and -no-u- have the underlying structures shown in (98): (98)

LH

L

kha # u

LH

L

na # u

We are leaving open the possibility that kha- and na- may represent the fusion of the elements khV- and nV- with the associative particle -a. We are also setting aside the question of why kha- in its nominal use has a HH shape rather than a LH shape (recall the analysis of forms like kha-m!u-tuka In 4.5). The symbol # between kha-/na- and the infinitive prefix is meant to indicate that while a form such as ndl-kho-uvhon-a is a single word, we are assuming that there Is an Internal word boundary between the auxiliary element and the lnflnitlve~l.e. that we are dealing with the following morphological structure: [ [ndi [kha] # [u [vhon] a]]. Given the representations in (98), we suggest the following derivation for ndi-kho-u-vhOn-a and ndl-khou-lim-a.

Verbal Tonology (II) (99)

L

LH L

253 H

ndi-kho#u-vhon-a L

LLH

H

/\ ndi-kho#u-vhon-a L LLH

L

I \|

/\

ndi-kho#u-vhon-a L LLH

L

LH L

I \l | I I

L LLH

ndi-kho#u-\mon-a

L

I \l

L

I II

n d i - k t i o # u - l i m --aa

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

L

L

I

nnddi i--kkKh6o##bu--Ili m - a

L LLH

L LLH

L

ndi-kho#u-lim-a

L LLH^

ndi-khoffU-vfron-a

L

L

L

ndi-kho#u-lim-a

inapplicable inapplicable

HTS

RTS CS FS

The only aspect of the derivations in (99) that requires comment is the application of Low Metathesis/Deletion. If we assume that the [u[vhon]a] and [u[lim]a] portion of ndi-kho-uvh6n-a and ndi-kho-ti-lim-a is labelled a noun, then the application of Low Metathesis/Deletion between the auxiliary element and the infinitive noun will be governed by the constraints that apply to nouns. Thus the Low of the infinitive prefix can metathesize/delete even when it is followed immediately by a High (as in the case of u-vh6n-a). Furthermore, if we assume that the internal morphological structure of the infinitive noun is not accessible to Low Metathesis/Deletion at the point where the rule is applying between the auxiliary and the infinitive noun, then we can explain why Low Metathesis/Deletion cannot apply iteratively to the initial Low of the verb stem in the case of u-lim-a. Recall that Low Metathesis/Deletion affects only the initial Low in a morphological unit. Thus if the internal structure of the infinitive noun is not accessible when the infinitive stands after the High-toned auxiliary element, then the Low of the

254

Verbal Tonology (II)

verb stem will not be initial in a morphological unit and thus will not be metathesized/deleted. Let us now review why -kho-fi- behaves differently from High prefixes such as -6- and -nga-. First of all, while the kha- bears a High tone (actually, a LH sequence) Just like -6and -nga-, this High tone never stands immediately next to a High verb stem and thus is never in the context for the OCP to apply. Second, the H of -kho-u- does trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion just like the H of -6- and -nga-. However, the H of kho-ti- is located on the kha portion and triggers Low Metathesis/Deletion of the L of the infinitive u. Since -6- and nga- are not followed by an infinitival L, but rather a verb stem L, it follows that they will trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion of a verb stem Low. The reason that the H of -kho-ti- does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on both the infinitive L and the initial verb stem L has to do with the principles of lexical phonology. If the internal morphological structure of the infinitive noun is lost when it is incorporated Into the auxiliary verbal structure, only the initial Low of the infinitive noun will meet the conditions for Low Metathesis/Deletion. We have now shown how a very reasonable account of the peculiarities of -kho-u- (in comparison to -6- and -nga-) is available if we recognize that the H that appears on the -u- is actually located to begin with on the -kha- portion of this construction. If we remove -kho-u- from consideration, then it is Just the habitual prefix -dl- that behaves differently from most other High prefixes in (a) not undergoing the OCP and in (b) failing to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem. We do not, at the moment, have a convincing explanation for this behavior of -dl-. Nor do we have an account for the fact that in the negative constructions High prefixes (other than the High subject prefix) do not undergo the OCP with a following verb stem and do not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion. Furthermore, it seems that ultimately there must be an explanation for why applicability of the OCP and applicability of Low Metathesis/Deletion should be linked. But at the moment we are not even sure in which direction to search for this explanation.

Verbal Tonology (II)

255

Notes 1. There is a typo in [W.168] where the symbol for a downstepped High is omitted from the last vowel of the verb; that this is a typo is shown by the fact the downstepped High is correctly shown in the post-High pronunciation of this same word: H a-thi-lim!i m
CHAPTER FIVE

(Mostly) Verbal Tonology (III) 5.0. Introduction. In this chapter we will examine a variety of somewhat disparate topics. In section 5.1 we examine the tonal patterning' of a small group of "monosyllabic" verb stems—i.e. verb stems that consist (on the surface at least) just of an entirely consonantal root plus a final vowel. In most Bantu languages roots of this type pose some special problems, and this is also true of Venda. In section 5.2 we examine a rule that has the effect of delinking a H tone from the vowel that it was originally anchored to. This rule is not operative in the Venda described by Westphal, but is attested in the [S] and [U] materials. In section 5.3 we look at the tonal properties of the object prefixes in Venda. They are interesting in that (a) they present the first examples we have encountered where, in affirmative tenses, there are two Hightoned prefixes in succession. These new data are of considerable interest, though somewhat perplexing In places. In section 5.4 we look at the tonal shape of adjectives when they modify a noun. Generally speaking, the tonal pattern of this construction follows neatly from the analysis of Venda tonology that we have developed. In particular, the operation of Low Metathesis/Deletion in adjectives matches closely the operation of this rule in verbs. Adjectives do, however, pose an interesting problem or two. Finally,- In section 5.5 we provide some brief concluding remarks. 257

Verbal Tonology (III)

258

5.1. Monosyllabic verb stems. In Venda, as In other Bantu languages, there Is a small class of roots which consist just of one or more consonants and no overt vowel (in some languages it may be possible to motivate an underlying vowel that either deletes or undergoes glide formation). These roots are referred to as "monosyllabic" verb stems, since, with the addition of the obligatory final vowel, they form a single syllable. Although these roots do not have an overt vowel, they nevertheless fall into two tonal types In Venda—a High type comparable to u-vh6nA and a Low type comparable to u-lima. Despite this tonal parallelism, the monosyllabic roots do display some idiosyncratic behavioral patterns which require discussion. In many cases the monosyllabic roots behave in a fashion that Is quite what we would expect on the basis of an examination of polysyllabic stems. We will survey these cases first, showing how the tonal shapes of words with monosyllabic stems follow directly from the analysis we have previously developed. The infinitive form of the verb shows quite clearly that there is both a High and a Low type of monosyllabic verb stem: High u-pfa u-fa u-la u-nwa u-fha

'to to 'to 'to 'to

hear/feel/taste' [U] die' [Ul eat' [U] drink' [U) give' [U]

to to to to

come from/out of [ come' [U] go' [U] fall' [UI]

Low u-bva u-da u-ya u-wa

We see from (1) that after the Low-toned infinitive prefix u-, a High verb stem such as -pf-4 remains High-toned and a

Verbal Tonology (III)

259

Low-toned verb stem such as -y-a remains Low-toned. We have seen throughout this study that a Low tone does not affect an Immediately following syllable in any way, thus it is clear from (1) that there are two types of monosyllabic verb stems and that they retain their underlying tones in a post-Low environment. This basic contrast between High and Low monosyllabic roots is neutralized in the -khoik- and -di- tenses where Meeussen's Rule serves to change a High in a verb stem to Low. Compare the data in (2): (2)

High monosyllabic verb stems ndi-kho-u-1-a [SI 'I am eating' ndi-kho-u-pf-a [W] 'I hear' ndl-kho-u-1-a Idabula* [SI 'I am eating a potato' (cf. dabula 'potato') ndi-kho-u-pf-a rau... [W] , 'Miear...' ndi-di-pf-a [S] 'I usually hear' ndl-di-pf-amu... [W] 'I usually hear...' Low monosyllabic verb stems ndi-kho-u-d-a [SI ndi-kho-u-y-a Ingomu* [S] (cf. ngomu ndi-di-y-a [S]

'I am coming' 'I am going inside' 'inside') 'I usually go'

In (2) we see that when a monosyllabic stem appears in phrase-final position after -kho6- and -di-, it is Low-toned regardless of whether the stem is underlylngly High or Low. In phrase-medial position, the monosyllabic stem appears phonetically with a High tone, but this High tone is clearly followed by an unassoclated Low tone (revealed by the downstep that occurs between the verb and a following High-Initial noun. cf. ndi-kho-fi-1-a Idabtila, and by the fact that there is no Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following

Verbal Tonology (III)

260

Low-Initial noun nor any spreading of a High onto that noun, cf. ndl-kho-ii-pf-ft mu...). These data have a very obvious interpretation: the monosyllabic stem has a Low associated with It, either underlyingly or as a consequence of Meeussen's Rule. The High of -kho-ik- and -di- spreads onto the final vowel, forming a HL sequence on that vowel. In phrase-final position the final vowel disassociates from the H (by virtue of Final Simplification), but in medial position it disassociates from the L (by virtue of Contour Slmpllflcatlon). This Low, of course, remains in the tonal tier and accounts for the downstep In ndl-kho-d-l-a !dabtila. The fact that this Low was associated with the final vowel of the verb explains why the verb does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following noun and why the High of the prefix is not able to spread past the final vowel onto the following noun. We have shown so far that those High prefixes that trigger Meeussen's Rule affect monosyllabic stems in a fashion identical to polysyllabic stems. The behavior of monosyllabic stems after the High prefixes that induce Low Metathesis/Deletion on verb stems and do not trigger Meeussen's Rule Is more complex. Let u s take the example of the past tense -6- first. (3)

High monosyllabic roots nd-6-pf-a [W] nd-6-l-a [S] nd-6-I-a [N] nd-6-nw-a [N]

'I 'I 'I 'I

heard' ate' ate' drank'

Low monosyllabic roots nd-6-bv-a [W] nd-6-w-a [SJ nd-6-w-a [N] nd-6-y-a [NJ

'I 'I 'I 'I

came out' fell' fell' came'

Before we begin our discussion of the data in (3), we need to discuss the existence of alternative forms such as nd-

Verbal Tonology (III)

261

6-w-a versus nd-6-w-a. The former alternative will be labelled the "High penult" variant, the latter alternative the "Falling penult" variant. In (3), only [N] displays the Falling penult variant. But it does not seem to be the case that the choice between the High penult variant and the Falling penult variant is a simple dialectal one. We will see that, in other data presented below, [W) and [S] also sometimes include examples of the Falling penult variant. It may be that the use of one or the other of these two variants is rule-governed, but from our elicited data it is not at all obvious whether there are such rules or not. We will therefore just list the data that we have collected, noting the cases where variation seems possible and those cases where it is apparently not possible. We see from (3) that High and Low monosyllabic stems appear with identical tone shapes In the past tense. If we take the High penult variant first, we have a ready explanation for this neutralization of the High/Low contrast In terms of the application of Low Metathesis/Deletion and High Tone Spread. (4) illustrates why High and Low monosyllabic stems will appear in the same tone shape in the past tense: (4)

L

H

H

L H

II

L

II

nd-o-pf-a

nd-o-bv-a L

inapplic.

H

nd-o-bv-a

inapplicable L inapplic.

LM/D MR

H

nd-o-bv-a

inapplicable

und.rep.

HTS CS/FS

We can explain, then, the merger of High and Low monosyllabic stems in position after -6- by virtue of the fact that Low Metathesis/Deletion will change a Low monosyllabic stem into a toneless stem which will then become High

Verbal Tonology (III)

262

through the application of High Tone Spread (and thus neutralize with an underlylngly High stem). The derivations in (4) explain the pronunciations exhibiting the High penult variant. The Falling penult variants --nd-o-l-a and nd-O-w-a—are not completely explained by the derivations proposed In (4). Notice, however, that even in the case of the Falling penult variant, the High and Low monosyllabic stems are neutralized, both types manifesting a High tone on the (only) stem vowel. It Is thus reasonable to attempt to explain the neutralization In the Falling penult variant fundamentally along the same lines as in the case of the High penult variant. What we need to do is to somehow explain the Falling tone that appears on the past tense vowel. In order to better determine the nature of the rule that will produce the Falling penult, let us examine the case where monosyllabic stems in the past tense are followed by another word (i.e. appear phrase-medially rather than phrase-final). (5)

nd-6-pf-a mu... [W] nd-6-l-a fhano [N] (cf. fhano 'here') nd-6-bv-a mu... [W] nd-6-y-a fhano [N]

'I heard...' 'I ate here' 'I came out...' 'I went here'

Notice that when another word follows, we find no indication that the penult vowel of the verb word ever had both a H and a L tone associated with it. If there had been a Falling tone associated with the penult vowel of the verb, this Falling tone would have undergone Contour Simplification and as a result the penult vowel would be associated with a H but there would be an unassociated Low between it and the ultimate vowel. But we do not find pronunciations such as nd-6-l-!a fhano or nd6-y-!a fhano. The fact that there is no evidence for a Falling tone on the penult of the verb In the phrase-medial environment suggests that whatever rule accounts for the Falling tone on the past tense vowel in nd-6-l-a and nd-O-w-a in [N] is inapplicable when the verb is not phrase-final. Since we have the shapes nd-6-l-a and nd-6-y-a In medial position in [N], it seems entirely reasonable to assume that these

Verbal Tonology (III)

263

shapes are produced by the same derivations as Illustrated In (4). The Falling tone that appears In the phrase-final forms Is thus best treated as being the result of a rule, operating at the phrase-level, on the output of the derivations In (4). The data In (5) also provide clear evidence in support of the view that monosyllabic Low verb stems have just a H associated with them in the past tense form and that there is no trace, on the tonal tier, of the underlying Low. (Recall, our analysis claims the underlying Low deletes after the High of the past tense prefix and this High then spreads onto the verb stem.) Notice that in nd-6-bv-A mti... and nd-6-y-A fhano the High associated with the (underlyingly Low-toned) verb stem is able to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following word and then spread onto the resulting Initial toneless syllable of that word (as well as onto the following syllable as well, where it is of course potentially subject to simplification). This behavior would not be possible if the underlying Low of the monosyllabic verb stem were still present in the tonal tier at the end of the verb. , • We should note one critical fact about monosyllabic verbs in the past tense: namely, elsewhere we found evidence for a floating Low tone before past tense verbal forms (perhaps reflecting an underlying Low on the deleted vowel of the subject prefix), but the post-High pronunciation of past tense forms of monosyllabic verb stems does not display this floating Low. (6)

H nd-6-pf-a [W] H nd-6-bv-a [W] cf. H !nd-6-vhon-a, H !nd-6-lim-a [W]

(Perhaps we should point out that the only evidence we have for this point comes from [W] and has not been Independently confirmed.) We apparently must invoke a rule that deletes the unassociated Low In front of a past tense form of a monosyllabic verb stem. This rule seems to be quite ad hoc. Notice, incidentally, that even though no downstep appears before the verb in (6), it is still the case that the H in

Verbal Tonology (in)

264

front of the verb does not trigger Meeussen's Rule on the H of the past tense marker. If it did, we would have pronunciations like *H nd-6-pfla and *H nd-6-bv!A (since Meeussen's Rule would change the H of -6- to Low, but then the preceding H would spread onto the -6- creating a HL sequence that would in turn undergo Contour Simplification, producing a floating Low tone between the -6- and the verb stem). Thus the rule that deletes the floating Low in front of past tense monosyllabic roots must not apply until after Meeussen's Rule. Assuming that the data in (6) are correct, we do not presently have any real understanding of what is going on or whether the phenomenon has a wider scope than the particular construction currently being considered. We have so far examined Just one example of a prefix bearing a High tone that (in the case of polysyllabic verb stems) triggers Low-Deletion and not Meeussen's Rule. Let u s now turn to a second example Involving such a prefix, namely, the potential prefix -nga-. Consider the data in (7). (7)

High monosyllabic

stems

ndi-nga-pf-a [W.S.N] ndi-nga-1-a [N] ndi-nga-nw-a [N] Low monosyllabic

'I may hear' 'I may eat' 'I may drink'

stems

ndi-nga-bv-a [W] 'I may come out of ndi-nga-d-a [S] 'I may come' ndi-nga-y-a [N] 'I may go' ndi-nga-bv-a, ndi-nga-bv-a[N] 'I may come out of ndi-nga-w-a [N] 'I may fall' These data show the same variation observed earlier between forms where the High prefix in front of a monosyllabic verb stem has a Falling tone (cf. ndi-nga-pf-a) and forms where the High Is retained (cf. ndi-nga-bv-a). However, in our data for the past tense there was a fairly simple arrangement of the data: [N] utilized the Falling-toned forms while [W] and [S] utilized

Verbal Tonology (III)

265

the High-toned forms. In (7) there is no such simple alignment of the forms. For example, our data from [W] shows the Falling-toned form In the case of ndt-ngfi-pfa but the High form in the case of ndi-nga-bva. The data In (7) suggest that in fact there Is probably variability in the phrase-final pronunciation of forms containing a High prefix followed by a monosyllabic root and that there may be no rule-governed or dialect-governed distribution of the Falling-toned variant versus the High-toned variant. The relative simplicity of the data given for the past tense may be an accident of the elicitation session. Further collecting of data may establish that here too there is not consistency within a given idiolect, just as there does not seem to be consistency for the -ng4- tense. A much more systematic exploration of these matters with many speakers Is necessary before anything authoritative can be said with respect to the distribution of the Falling-toned versus High-toned forms of the items in question. We will simply assume that some speakers some of the time apply a rule that results in a Falling tone on the High-toned syllable preceding a monosyllabic root in phrase-final position. Consideration of the case where another word follows a monosyllabic root In the potential tense shows that, j u s t as In the past tense, only the High-toned variant of the prefix occurs and not the Falling-toned variant: (8)

High monosyllabic roots ndi-nga-pfa mu... [W] ndl-nga-lazwino [NJ (cf. zwino 'now') ndi-nga-nwa zwino [N] ndi-nga-pfa zwino [N]

'I may hear' 'I m a y e a t

now'

'I may drink now' 'I may hear now'

Low monosyllabic roots ndi-nga-bva mu... [W] ndi-nga-bva zwino [N]

'I may come out of...' 'I may come out now'

Verbal Tonology (in)

266 ndi-nga-ya zwino [N) ndi-nga-wa fhano [N]

'I may go now' 'I may fall here'

These data clearly establish that when the monosyllabic root appears in the potential tense and is not phrase-final, no Falling tone appears on the -nga-. In other words, the rule creating the Falling tone must be restricted to phrase-final position. The data in (8) also support the view that the monosyllabic Low roots lose all trace of their underlying Low and instead have a High associated with them. This is shown by the fact that these formerly Low roots are able to trigger Low Deletion on a following word and are able to spread a High tone onto that word. These things would not be possible if the underlying Low of the verb root were still in the tonal tier at the end of the verb word. The examples of -nga- that we have so far presented all involved cases where there was no other prefix between the subject prefix and -nga-. Venda morphology permits the prefix -tshl- to occur in front of -nga-. This Is Illustrated in (9). (9)

High, monosyllabic roots ndi-tshi-ng!a-la [S.W]

'(if) I may eat*

ndi-tshi-ng!a-nwa [N]

'(if) I may drink'

Low monosyllabic roots di-tshi-ng!a-bva [W] '(if) I may come out of ndi-tshi-ng!a-ya [S] '(if) I may go' ndi-tshi-ng!a-ya [N] '(If) I may go' In this construction the subject prefix is High-toned, -tshl- is Low-toned (although it becomes High-toned phonetically through the application of High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification), -nga- is, of course. High-toned. Again, we find some variability in whether -nga- is realized on a High tone or a Falling tone (with (SI and [W] using the High form and [N] the Falling tone — but whether this alignment of the data is significant or not we cannot at present tell).

Verbal Tonology (III)

267

Once again, when the verb Is not phrase-final, no Falling tone appears—rather -nga- and the monosyllabic verb root are both pronounced on a High tone (with no intervening downstep): (10)

High monosyllabic roots ndi-tshi-ng!a-la mu... [Wl '(if) I may eat...' ndi-tshi-ng!a-nwa zwino [N] '(if) I may drink now' Low monosyllabic roots ndi-tshi-ng!a-bva mu... [W] '(if) I may come out of ndi-tshi-ng!a-ya zwino [Nf '(if) I may go now'

Let us now attempt to address the question of accounting for the Falling tone that appears on the past tense prefix -6- and on the potential prefix -nga- when they precede a phrase-final monosyllabic verb root (settlng>aside the matter of the variability with which this rule applies In the data available to us). The first point to note is that the Low part of the Falling tone has no morphological Justification—i.e. the underlying representation of -6- and -nga- is clearly High rather than Low or HL (as evidenced by the behavior of these morphemes before polysyllabic stems, where they trigger Low-Deletion and High Tone Spread). Furthermore, the L part of the HL sequence cannot have its origin in the underlying tone of what follows. These prefixes immediately precede the verb stem, and we know that verb stems are either High or Low. The infinitive form u-nwa establishes that -nwa is of the High type. Thus in an example such as nd-0-nwa, the H of the -6- prefix must itself be immediately followed by the H of the verb stem -nwa. There Is thus no morphological Justification for a Low tone between the H of -6- and the H of the verb stem. The second point to note is that there is no way that the Falling tone in nd-0-nwa or nd-0-wa can be derived by the same process as derives other Falling tones in the language— i.e. through the spreading of a preceding High onto a

268

Verbal Tonology (III)

Low-toned syllable. In order for the Fall on -6- and -nga- to have their origin in High Tone Spread, it would be necessary for -6- and -ng4- (a) to either be Low underlyingly or to become Low, presumably via Meeussen's Rule (this being the only rule in the grammar that changes Highs to Lows) and (b) to be preceded by a High that can spread onto them. But neither of these requirements are met in an example such as ndl-nga-la. Recall that we have argued that -6- and -nga- are underlyingly High. In ndi-nga-la the subject prefix is not High and thus could not trigger Meeussen's Rule on the prefix -nga-. Thus there is no way for -nga- to become Low. Furthermore, since the subject prefix is Low and not High it cannot spread a High onto the following syllable. We conclude therefore that the Fall on -nga- and -6must be the result of some new rule that inserts a Low into the tonal tier (since this Low does not have a morphological source and since there is no rule that can derive it from an underlying High). We must now ask what the environment is for the insertion of this Low tone. Take an example such as ndi-ngfi-1a. We have claimed that although -nga- and -1-4 each has a separate High tone underlyingly, the OCP merges these two separate Highs into a single H. In an example such as ndlngfi-jr-a, on the other hand, we have claimed that -ngA-has a H but -y-a has a Low in underlying structure. However, through the operation of Low Metathesis/Deletion and High Tone Spread, the H of -nga- comes also to be associated with y-a. Thus we have the same representation, ultimately, for both cases: (11)

L H L H \ / \ \ / \ ndi-nga-2,-a ndi-nga-y-a Given the representations in (11), it is clear that one cannot achieve the correct result by either inserting a Low before or after the H in these representations. In fact, to achieve the correct surface forms we need to insert a L between two High tones. In other words, to obtain the correct phonetic representation we must assume that at the point where our proposed rule of Low-Insertion applies, ndl-ngft-1-a and ndl-

Verbal Tonology (in)

269

nga-y-a do not have the representation shown in (11). Rather they must have representations like (12): (12)

L

H

H

L

H

H

' I !

I I I

ndi-nga-_l-a ndi-nga-y-a The question is: how do these representations come about? The only solution that has any appeal at all is one that involves the concept of deautosegmentalization. Deautosegmentalization refers to a process where autosegmental representations involving a one-many mapping between tiers are converted to representations without such mappings. In particular, the deautosegmentalization process we have in mind is one that would make the conversion shown In (13): (13)

H

H

/ \

X

X

H

X

.11X

(13) takes a series of syllables associated with a single H and produces an output where each of these syllables is associated with its own H. The evidence that autosegmental representations must, in the end, be deautosegmentalized (and at what point this occurs) is by no means overwhelming. But if we assume such a conversion does occur in Venda, then deautosegmentalization will replace representations like those in (11) with those in (12). Given the application of this deautosegmentali- zation principle, we can invoke a rule of Low-Insertion that would have a form such as (14): (14)

0 -> L / H

H % X

[

X %

(This rule might be formulated somewhat differently if the fact that the penult vowel of the phrase is lengthened is taken into

Verbal Tonology (in)

270

account. But such a revision does not materially alter the discussion above.) It Is crucial that Low-Insertion not apply to the examples In (l)--e.g. ndl-kho-fi-l-a and ndi-di-y-a. Following Final Simplification, there will be a High associated with the penult TBU and a Low associated with the final TBU In these examples. Deautosegmentallzation will not affect these representations since there is no multiply associated High. The conditions for (14) are not satisfied, and consequently no Low tone will be assigned to the penult vowel. We have restricted (14) so that it only applies before a monosyllabic root (this is indicated by the environment x [xj $). We do not want Low-Insertion to apply, for example, to words such as u-vh6n-a, which will (after deautosegmentali- zation) have Highs associated with the last two tone-bearing units). We have so far considered in detail just cases where monosyllabic roots are preceded by a High prefix (either one that causes Meeussen's Rule or one that triggers Low-Deletion and not Meeussen's Rule). We have established that for the most part the behavior of monosyllabic roots after these prefixes parallels the behavior of polysyllabic verb stems (the variable application of rule (14) being the only point of difference). Let us now look in detail at the case where a Low-toned prefix precedes a monosyllabic root. We have given just one case so far—namely, the Infinitive: u-pfa and u-bva. The infinitive shows that when a monosyllabic verb root is preceded by a single Low-toned prefix, the underlying tone of the verb root manifests itself without any complications. The data In (15) show that when two Low prefixes precede, a monosyllabic root is still unaffected: (15)

present tense, Jlrst person subject prefix ndi-a-pfa [W.S.N] ndi-a-nwa [S] ndi-a-bva [W] ndi-a-wa [S] ndi-a-ya 'N)

'I 'I 'I 'I 'I

hear' am drinking' am coming out' am falling' am going'

Verbal Tonology (III)

271

fixture tense, first person subject prefix ndl-do-pfa [W.N] ndi-do-nwa (S] ndi-do-ya [N] ndl-do-bva [W.S]

'I will hear" 'I will drink' 'I will go' 'I will come out'

Complications develop when a monosyllabic root Is preceded by a Low prefix which in turn Is preceded by a High prefix. Consider the following data from the third person form of the present tense and the third person form of the future tense: ( (16)

High monosyllabic roots u-a-pfa [W.S.N] vha-a-nwa [S]

'he hears' 'they are drinking'

u-do-pfa [N]

'he will hear'

u-do-nwa [S]

'he will drink'

Low monosyllabic roots u-a-ya [N] u-a-bva [W] u-a-bva [S] vha-a-wa [S] u-dd-bva IS] u-do-ya ]N]

'he is going' 'he is coming out of 'he is coming out of 'they are falling' 'he will come out of 'he will go'

The first thing to notice about the data In (16) is that when a monosyllabic root Is preceded by a Low prefix which is in turn preceded by a High prefix, the monosyllabic root appears with a High tone even when It Is underlylngly a Low verb root. The second thing to notice is that when the monosyllabic verb root is underlylngly High, the Immediately preceding prefix (which is basically Low-toned) appears regularly with a Falling tone. However, when the verb root is

Verbal Torwlogy (III)

272

underlyingly Low-toned, the Immediately preceding prefix alternates between a High tone and a Falling tone. The distribution of the High vs. Fall variant on the penultimate prefix does not reveal a clear pattern—rather it reminds us strongly of the similar variation In the pronunciation of a High prefix in front of a monosyllabic root, a variation that we explained in terms of the rule of Low-Insertion. The fact that the prefix before the root in (16) appears regularly with a Falling tone for High verb roots and variably for Low verb roots suggests that these Falling tones may have different origins. This possibility is strongly supported by the data that we have (admittedly rather skimpy) on phrase-medial position. Recall that Low-Insertion applies just In phrase-final position. No Low Is Inserted when the verb Is in medial position. Consider the data below: (17)

u-do-pf!amu... [W] u-do-bva mu... [W] u-do-ya zwino [NJ

*he will hear...' 'he will come out of...' 'he will go now*

The example u-d6-pf!a mti... suggests strongly that in the case of the High monosyllabic root, the Falling tone on the penult syllable in 1i-d6-pf& is not produced by Low-Insertion but rather represents a Falling tone derived by the spread of the High of the subject prefix onto the Low-toned prefix -do-. The HL sequence on -do- undergoes Contour Simpli- fication in phrase-medial position, leaving -do- High but with a floating Low following it. The example fi-d6-y-4 zwino, on the other hand, suggests that In the case of Low monosyllabic roots, the Falling tone on the penult vowel in u-dd-bvA must be produced by by Low-Insertion. fi-d6-y-4 zwino shows no evidence for a Low tone associated with the prefix -do-, in particular, there is no downstep between -do- and the H of the verb root. We propose, then, that the examples of High verb roots In (16) are derived by derivations such as (18a) whereas the Low verb roots In (16) are derived by derivations such as (18b), with (of course) the rule of Low-Insertion being a variably applied one.

Verbal Tonology (III) (18a)

273

H L

1 1 1'

H

.1 1

u-a-pf-a

inapplicable inapplicable H L

N

H

.1

u-a-pf-a inapplicable

(18b)

H L

LM/D MR

HTS CS/FS

L

1 1 1 11 1

i

u-a-y-a LH

L

u-a-y-a LH / u-a-y-a inapplicable

(first application) LM/D -«• (second application) LM/D MR

LH

/ \ \ u-a-y-a inapplicable LH H H // / u-a-y-a LH HL H

/// 1 u-a-y-a

HTS CS/FS

deautosegmentalizati

Low-Insertion

The preceding analysis Is. we believe, an attractive one. We must admit, however, that more exploration Is required If It Is to be fully supported. First, notice that the derivations In (18a,b) claim that all the forms in (16) end in a High tone, whether the verb root Is H or L underlylngly. Therefore, we

Verbal Tonology (III)

274

predict that these verbs will be able to trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion and High Tone Spread on a following L-initial word. Westphal (p. 144) cites the example u-d6-pf-!a muthu, which clearly suggests that an underlylngly High monosyllabic root is able to affect a following Low-toned noun muthu. But Westphal also cites the example u-d6-bv-a mulambdnl (p. 144). which suggests that an underlyingly Low monosyllabic root does not end in a H since it does not affect the L-Initial noun mulambdnl. However, data that we elicted from [N] includes the example u-d6-y-a zwlno, where an underlyingly Low monosyllabic root does behave as though it ends in a H (changing zwlno to zwlno). We will assume that the data from [N] verifies our prediction that the data in (16) all end in a H tone, but further study is required. The derivation in (18a) predicts that in position after a word that ends in a H, the initial H of u-a-pf-a should undergo Meeussen's Rule. We expect the following derivation: H H 1 1

L

H

1 1 11 1 x u- 1- p f - a

-ai n a p p ] Lie.a b l e H L L | 1 1

H

L

H

1

il--a-1-pf- -a1 H L

M I x u--aH L L

1

-pf- -a

l\ 1 x u--a-

•pf-

H

1

-a

The following data mu-sadzi u-a-pf-a [N] and mu-sadzi u-dopf-a [N,W] confirm this prediction. The derivation in (19), on the other hand, predicts that there will be a downstep between a form such as u-a-y-a/u-fty-a and a preceding word that ends in a High. Westphal's

Verbal Torwlogy (III)

275

examples~H u-d!6-bvamu... (p. 157) and musadzi u-d6-bv-!a mulambdnl (p. 145) are Inconsistent. We collected the following data from [N]: musadzi u-d!6-y-a and musadzi ud!6-y-a zwino. These data are similar to the first example quoted from Westphal. We are unable to reconcile these forms with our analysis. If correct, they suggest that there Is a separate High on the subject prefix u- from the H on -do- and the verb stem (since the H of the subject prefix appears to undergo Meeussen's Rule followed by High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification) and there is no trace of either the L of do- or the L of the verb stem. It may be that these data require a radical revision of our analysis, but the lines that it would take are not clear and we feel ,that a much more detailed elicitation of data on monosyllabic verb roots is called for before rejecting the broad outlines of our analysis. In (16) we cited examples of third person present and future tense forms. These provided a configuration where a HL prefix sequence precedes a monosyllabic verb root. (16) showed that this prefix sequence triggers-a neutralization of H and L mono-syllabic verb roots—they both appear H on the surface. We also examined the phrase-medial forms for third person future tense forms. We did not cite the phrase-medial forms for third person present tense forms. We give these data now in (20). (20)

High monosyllabic verb roots u-pf-amu... [W.156] u-pf-a mu-thu [N] Low monosyllabic verb roots u-bv-amu... [W.156] u-y-a zwino (N)

Notice that there is no downstep between the subject prefix and an underlylngly High verb root in u-pf-a mu-thu. This contrasts with polysyllabic verb roots: u-vh!6n-a mu-thu [N]. The downstep in the latter example Is attributable to the

Verbal Tonology (III)

276

floating L that marks the present tense in phrase-medial position (recall that this L is anchored between the subject prefix and the verb stem). We thus must assume some rule that deletes the floating L of the present tense in front of monosyllabic roots. (Recall that we also noted earlier that the pre-verbal downstep associated with past tense forms was missing in forms with monosyllabic roots. It is not clear whether there is any connection between these two cases of a disappearing unassociated Low.) The Lverb roots in (20) are pronounced on a High tone. We can a s s u m e that their L tone h a s been metathesized/deleted due to the preceding High subject prefix (whose H has then spread onto the verb root). Whether the unassociated L of the present tense has metathesized in front of the subject prefix as well, or whether it has been deleted by the rule mentioned in the preceding paragraph, cannot be determined with any certainty. The data in (20) show the same difference between [W] and [Nl that we noted in (17)--namely, the underlyingly L verb root that has acquired a High (by Low Metathesis/ Deletion and High Tone Spread in our analysis) behaves in [N] as though it has a H as its last tone, whereas in [W] it does not behave as though it is simply H (since it does not cause the expected changes on a following word). The post-H pronunciations in (21), (21)

High monosyllabic verb roots musadzi u-pf-amu... [W.156] musadzi u-pf-a muthu (Nl Low monosyllabic verb roots H u-bv-amu... [W.156] musadzi u-y-a zwino [N]

are interesting though problematic. Consider the High roots first. We would expect that the H of the subject prefix would be able to undergo Meeussen's Rule because it follows a word that ends in a H. Assume that Meeussen's Rule does apply. Then

Verbal Tonology (III)

277

6- will become L by Meeussen's Rule, only to have the H of the preceding word spread onto It, producing a HL contour. This contour tone will simplify to H, and a floating L will follow the subject prefix. But no such floating L appears. However, we have already noted that even the floating L of the present tense is deleted In position before a mono- syllabic root. So perhaps this absence of a predicted floating L after the subject prefix can be accounted for by the same rule. The only alternative Is to block Meeussen's Rule from affecting the subject prefix when it precedes a monosyllabic root. This seems like an unlikely restriction on Meeussen's Rule. Consider next the Low verb roots in (20). If we assume that the L of the verb root has metathesized In front of the subject prefix, then we would expect a downstep between the preceding word and a verb such as
High monosyllabic verb roots nd-6-no-l-a 'I have already eaten' (S,N) nd-6-no-pf-a 'I have already heard' [W,N] nd-6-no-nw-a 'I have already drunk' [N] nd-6-no-pf-!a mu... [W] nd-6-no-nw-!a mafhi 'I have already drunk milk' [Nl (cf. mafhi 'milk') Low monosyllabic verb roots nd-6-no-bv-a nd-6-no-w-a nd-6-no-y-a nd-6-no-d-a

'I 'I 'I 'I

have have have have

already already already already

come out' [W.S] fallen' (N) gone' [Nl come' [Nl

Verbal Torwlogy (in)

278

nd-6-no-bv-a mu... [W] nd-6-no-d-a tslini 'I have already come near' [N] (cf. tsinl 'near') nd-6-no-y-a fhala 'I have already gone yonder' IN] (cf. fhala "yonder') nd-6-no-w-a fhano 'I have already fallen here' [N] (cf. fhano 'here') The data in (22) confirm the fact that a L monosyllabic verb root will appear High after a HL prefix sequence such as -6-no-. They also illustrate the applicability of Low-Insertion in the case of underlying L verb roots as opposed to underlying H verb roots (accounting for the similarity of nd-6-n0-fh-4 and nd-6-nd-bv-a, where the Fall In the first example Is due to High Tone Spread while the Fall in the second example Is due to Low-Insertion, but the difference between nd-6-n6-pf-!a mil... versus nd-6-n6-bv-a niti...). The data In (22) are Interesting in another respect. Our analysis predicts that both underlying H and underlying L monosyllabic verb roots will behave as though they are associated with a H and thus will trigger the appropriate changes on a following word. We noted that In the data on the present and the future tenses, Westphal's examples did not reveal an underlying Low verb triggering the expected changes; the data from [N] did show the expected behavior, however. In (22). we see that the data from Westphal now matches the data from [N] In showing an underlying L verb root behaving as though it is not just phonetically High but also as though H is the only tone it has in its phonological representation. (23) illustrates another HL prefix sequence in front of monosyllabic roots: (23)

High monosyllabic uerb roots ndi-nga-do-1-a* ndi-nga-do-pf-a

'I may yet eat' [SI 'I may yet hear' [W]

Verbal Tonology (in)

279

Low monosyllabic verb roots ndl-nga-do-y-a* ?ndl-nga-do-bv-!a

'I may yet go' [S] 'I may yet come out' [W]

?ndl-nga-dp-bv-!a mu... [W] We have placed a question mark in front of Westphal's data for underlying Low monosyllabic verb roots since he shows a downstep where we do not expect one. We assume that these forms are erroneous and that no such downstep occurs. The data from [S] that we have confirms this view. We cite the data in (23) primarily because the last example illustrates another case where [W] shows an underlying L monosyllabic root acting as though it has Just a High tone in that It triggers Low Metathesis/Deletion and High Tone Spread on a following word. (24) provides yet another instance of a HL prefix sequence in front of a monosyllabic verb rott: (24)

High monosyllabic verb roots ndi-tshi-1-a

'I eating' [S, N]

ndi-tshi-pf-a

'I hearing' [W,N]

ndi-tshi-pf-!a mu... [W] Low monosyllabic verb roots ndi-tshi-d-a 'I coming" [S] ?ndi-tshi-bv-a 'I coming out' [W] ndi-tshi-y-a 'I going' [N] ndi-tshi-bv-a 'I coming out' [N] ndi-tshi-w-a 'I falling' IN] ?ndi-tshi-bva mu... [W]

Verbal Tonology (III)

280

The examples from [W] preceded by a question mark are doubtful in that one expects that the root -bv-a should have a surface High tone (as in [S] and [N]). This is particularly clear in that [W] shows the following word undergoing Low Metathesis/Deletion and High Tone Spread. Given this correction of the representation, we see from (24) that, again, both underlying H and underlying L verb roots behave as though they are simply H and trigger the appropriate changes on a following L-initial word. The last example of a HL prefix sequence that we will cite is given in (25): (25)

High monosyllabic verb roots ndi-so-ngo-1-a vha-so-ngo-pf-a ?ndi-s6-ngo-l-!a

'I must not eat' [S.N] 'they must not hear' [S] 'I must not eat' [Wl

ndi-so-ngo-l-!a mu... [W] ndi-s6-ngo-l-!a zwino [N] Low monosyllabic verb roots ndi-so-ngo-y-a vha-so-ngo-d-a ndi-so-ngo-y-a

'I must not go' (S.N) 'they must not come' [S] 'I must not go' [W]

ndi-so-ngo-y-a mu... [W] ndi-so-ngo-y-a zwino [N] Setting aside the questionable example from [W], the patterns here are familiar. The Falling tone on -ngo- in the case of a High verb root is due to the spreading of the H of -s6- onto the L-toned -ngo-. In the case of Low verb roots, -ngo- may variably undergo Low-Insertion (but just in the event the verb is phrase-final). In all cases, a Low verb root appears on the surface associated to a H tone. In (NJ, underlying Low-toned verb roots behave as though they phonologlcally end in a H and trigger the appropriate changes on a following word—cf.

Verbal Tonology (in)

281

ndi-s6-ng6-y-a zwino, while [W] does not indicate the expected changes in the following word. When a monosyllabic verb root is In the environment after two successive Low tones, both of which iteratively undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion, then our analysis predicts that a L monosyllabic root will appear High-toned. (26) provides an example of a relevant context (where the L-toned prefixes -tshi- and -do- follow a H subject prefix and precede a monosyllabic root): (26)

High monosyllabic verb roots ndi-tshi-d6-l-a ndi-tshi-do-pf-a ndi-tshi-d6-nw-a ?ndi-tshi-do-pf-!a

'I 'I 'I 'I

am am am am

about about about about

to to to to

eat' [S.NJ hear' [N] drink' (N) hear' [W]

to to to to to

go' [SI go' [N] fall' [N] come out* [N] come out' [W]

ndi-tshi-do-pf-!a mu... [W] Low monosyllabic verb roots ndi-tshi-do-y-a ndi-tshi-do-y-a ndi-tshi-do-w-a ndi-tshi-do-bv-a ndi-tshi-do-bv-a

'I 'I 'I 'I 'I

am am am am am

about about about about about

ndi-tshi-do-bv-a mu... [W] The data from [S] and [N] conflrm the predictions of our analysis since we see that in each case the underlylngly Low verb stem appears as High. (There is some variability as to whether -do- appears as H or with a Fall; the Fall is presumably the result of the variable application of LowInsertion.) The data from [W] inexplicably has the verb root Low in ndi-tshi-do-bv-a. We do not know whether this is an error or not. It Is Interesting to note that whenever there is a Low in front of a monosyllabic verb root that cannot metatheslze/

Verbal Tonology (III)

282

delete, then the monosyllabic Low verb root remains Low. This is documented in (27), for example. (27)

High monosyllabic verb roots ri-kha-di-do-1-a

\ve will still eaf (S)

Loiu monosyllabic verb roots ri-kha-di-do-d-a

"we will still come' [S]

We saw earlier that -di- in this construction neither triggers Low Metathesis/Deletion on the following prefix -do-nor does it spread its H onto -do-. Since -do- remains Low-toned, and separates the verb root from the H prefix -di-, the verb root can in no way be affected. Thus we see that a H root such as 1-4 remains High and a Low root such as -d-a remains Low. Although the data involving a HL prefix sequence in front of a monosyllabic verb root is unclear in a number of respects, the fact remains that consistently the verb root appears as High. We have sought to explain this in terms of the L of a monosyllabic verb being metathesized/deleted by a preceding H and then that H being spread onto the verb root. A similar analysis was provided for the cases where a monosyllabic verb root is preceded immediately by a High prefix. Of course, in cases where Meeussen's Rule applies and Low Metathesis/Deletion is inapplicable (e.g. after -kho-ti- and -di-), the pattern is different: here underlying H and L monosyllabic roots both assume the shape L due to the application of Meeussen's Rule. The contrast between H and L monosyllabic roots is thus only maintained when such roots are outside the scope of both Low Metathesis/Deletion and Meeussen's Rule. We will conclude our discussion of monosyllabic verb roots by examining negative constructions. The negative present is exemplified in (28).

Verbal Tonology (in) (28)

283

High monosyllabic uerb roots a-thi-1-i a-thi-pf-i a-thi-pf-i mu... [W]

'I don't eat' [S] 'I don't hear' [Wl

Low monosyllabic verb roots a-thi-y-i a-thi-d-i

'I don't go' (S) 'I don't come' [W]

a-thi-d-!imu... [W] Recall our analysis of the negative present. We assumed that there is a H tone associated with the final vowel in the negative present of High-toned verb roots. This H tone undergoes Meeussen's Rule when it stands after the H of the verb root. In the case of monosyllabic roots, there is no place for the H of the verb root to associate to (since the H of the negative present morphology is linked to the final vowel). We assume that it simply merges with the H of the subject prefix in accordance with the OCP. The H of the final vowel undergoes Meeussen's Rule by virtue of standing after a H and thus appears with a Low tone In an example such as a-thi-M- The unassociated H of the subject prefix can spread onto the final vowel, and in phrase-final position the final vowel will disassociate from that H while in phrase-medial position it will disassociate from its L. In the case of a Low verb root, we saw in Chapter 4 that the High tone assigned as part of the negative present morphology is associated according to a somewhat complex pattern. In (28), we see that the data from [S] and [W] differ considerably. In [SI. the Low monosyllabic verb -y-i simply remains Low; in [W], on the other hand, the Low verb -d-i is High and—in addition—there is a Falling tone on the prefix -thl-. This Falling tone on -thi-cannot be attributed to LowInsertion since the Low part of the Fall remains on the tonal tier (manifested as downstep) in the phrase-medial form a-thf-

Verbal Tonology (in)

284

d-!i mu...; recall that Low-Insertion does not apply in phrasemedial position. Neither can this Falling tone be attributed to the spread of a H onto a Low-toned vowel—we know that the subject prefix in the negative present is High and that it is preceded by a Low-toned a-, thus there is no way that the Fall on -thi- can come from High Tone Spread. There is thus some reason for thinking that in [W], the Low part of the Fall In athi-d-i may in fact reflect the verb stem Low (assuming that the H on -d-i is a reflex of the H of the negative present morphology). The negative potential form of monosyllabic roots is illustrated In (29): (29)

H monosyllabic verb roots a-thi-nga-1-i

'I may not eat' [S]

a-thi-nga-pf-i

'I may not hear' [W]

L monosyllabic uerb roots a-thi-nga-d-i a-thi-nga-bv-i

'I may not come' IS] 'I may not come out' (Inferred from [W]) Recall that we have analyzed the negative potential as follows: the verb stem has the same tonal properties as the negative present; the OCP does not apply between -nga- and a following High verb stem; the H of the subject prefix Induces Meeussen's Rule on -nga-; and -nga- cannot induce Low Metathesis/ Deletion on a following Low-lnltlal verb stem. Examples such as a-thi-ngfi-1-f are quite consistent with this general analysis. We see that the H of the subject prefix causes -nga- to become Low and then spreads its H onto -nga-, forming a HL contour. The H of the verb -1-i Is not affected by Meeussen's Rule. It is interesting to note, however, that a-thi-ngfi-1-i contrasts with a-thi-1-i in the shape of the verb -1-1. In the case of a-thi-ngft-1I, the H on the final vowel escapes Meeussen's Rule because nga- has changed its H to L. In a-thi-1-i. on the other hand, the final vowel changes its H to L since it Is preceded by a H.

Verbal Tonology (III)

285

Consider next the case of a Low root such as In a-thinga-d-i. J u s t as In the case of a-thl-d-i [W], we assume that the H on the final vowel reflects the H assigned as part of the negative morphology. The Fall on -nga- can be understand as due to the fact that -nga- undergoes Meeussen's Rule and changes to L, but then the H of the subject prefix spreads onto -nga- forming a HL contour. (Of course, the L of the verb stem could also be assumed to have associated with the TBU In front of the verb stem, just as we assumed for a-thi-d-f.) Recall that we had cases In the negative tenses where a HHL sequence undergoes HH-Avoldance and becomes HLH. The last H In this sequence is able to trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following verb stem (and It does not trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion). The data in (30) show what happens to monosyllabic roots In such cases. We cite all the contexts where we argued in Chapter Four that HH-Avoidance is at work. (30)

H monosyllabic uerb roots -

-»••

a-thi-nga-d!6-pf-a a-thi-nga-d!6-l-a

'I am not likely to hear' [S,W] 'I am not likely to eat' [S]

a-thi-nga-tsh!a-l-a

'I will not eat again' [S]

a-th-6-ng!6-l-a

'I haven't eaten' [S]

L monosyllabic verb roots a-thi-nga-d!6-d-a a-thi-nga-d!6-w-a

'I am not likely to come' [S] 'I am not likely to fall' [S]

a-thi-nga-tsh!a-w-a

'I will not fall again' [S]

a-th-6-ng!6-y-a

'I haven't gone' [S]

(30) reveals that when a monosyllabic root comes to stand after a High prefix (as a result of HH-Avoldance), an underlying H root undergoes Meeussen's Rule and an underlying L root

Verbal Tonology (in)

286

simply remains L (it does not undergo Low Metathesis/ Deletion). The H of the preceding prefix will spread onto the root vowel, creating a Falling tone. However, in phrase-final position this contour tone will simplify to L by virtue of Final Simplification. The result Is that the verb root will be realized in (30) with a Low tone, regardless of whether underlylngly it is H or L. Recall that when a H subject prefix in the negative precedes a Low prefix. It cannot trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion on that L prefix. Thus our analysis of monosyllabic verb roots predicts that In such a situation, the underlying contrast between a H and L monosyllabic root will remain. That this is correct is demonstrated by the examples below. We cite a variety of instances where a Low prefix standing before a monosyllabic root does not metathesize/delete its Low tone. (The Low prefix may of course surface with a H as a result of High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification.) In each case, the monosyllabic Low verb root remains Low (and the High verb root remains High). (31)

H monosyllabic verb roots a-thi-no-1-a a-thi-tsha-do-1-a a-thi-no-ngo-1-a

'I don't ever eat' [SI 'I will no longer eat' IS) 'I am unlikely to eat even once' [S] a-thi-nga-tsh!a-do-l-a 'I never will eat again' [S] L monosyllabic verb roots a-thi-no-w-a a-thi-tsha-y-a a-thi-tsha-do-y-a a-thi-no-ngo-w-a

'I don't ever fall' [S] 'I no longer go' [S] 'I will no longer go' [S] 'I am unlikely to fall even once' (S) a-thi-nga-tsh!a-do-y-a 'I never will go again' [S] These data thus confirm our hypothesis that the change of a L monosyllabic verb root to High Is in every case the effect of Low Metathesis/Deletion followed by High Tone Spread.

Verbal Tonology (III)

287

5.2. Delinked High tones. The data presented by Westphal differs from [S] and [U] In connection with his treatment of certain High-toned prefixes.For example, Westphal uniformly treats the -kho-ti- prefix as being realized with a High tone on the second vowel. In the other data sources the phonetic realization of -kho-
Low verb stems ndi-kho-u-pSa [S] ndi-kho-ii-y-a [U] ri-kho-u-bv-a [U]

'I am coming' - 'I am going' *we are coming from'

High verb stems ndi-kho-u-pf-a [UJ ndl-kho-u-1-a [S] ndl-kho-u-nw-a (U]

'I hear/feel' 'I am eating' 'I am drinking'

Notice that the monosyllabic stem Is phonetically Low-toned in all these examples. This Is due to the fact that, as a consequence of Meeussen's Rule, both underlying Low and underlying High verb stems will be Low-toned after -kho-ik-. Furthermore, although the High tone of -kho-u- is able to spread onto the Low monosyllabic stem, the resulting Falling tone will simplify to Low as a consequence of Final Simplification. When we consider disyllabic and longer verb stems, we find that the second vowel of -kho-fi- is realized on a Low tone. Compare the data In (33):

Verbal Tonology (in)

288 (33)

Low verb stems vha-kho-u-amb-a [U] 'they are saying' ri-kho-u-tuw-a (Ul 'we are departing' ndi-kho-u-se-a [SJ 'I am laughing' vha-kho-u-gwadam-a [S] 'they are kneeling' u-kho-u-vhanyuludz-a [S] 'he Is forcing his way through' ri-kho-u-sinyutshelan-a [S] *we are getting angry at one another' High verb stems nl-kho-u-dzul-a [U]

"you pi. are sitting down' ndi-kho-u-sal-a |S] 'I am remaining behind' ri-kho-u-vhudzis-a [S] "we are asking' vha-kho-u-sombolol-a [S] 'they are unwinding' ndi-kho-u-laisulul-a [SJ 'I am unloading' Notice that in each example in (33) the High associated (underlylngly) with -kho-ti- has spread onto the following vowel and has remained associated with that vowel (I.e. the vowel has not subsequently become disassociated from the H via Final Simplification). The vowel following -kho-u- Is always Low-toned prior to High Tone Spread (either because the stem is underlylngly Low or because an underlying High stem will have undergone Meeussen's Rule). In the case of a disyllabic stem (cf. ndi-khou-sCa), the High that spreads onto the stem Low creates a Falling tone that Is subject to no additional rules; in the case of trisyllabic and longer stems (cf. vha-khougwadama), this Falling tone simplifies to High as a consequence of Contour Simplification. In order to account for the data in (32) and (33) we require a rule that will have the effect of lowering the High on khou- in position before a disyllabic or longer verb stem but not before a monosyllabic stem. Let us consider now the form that this rule might take. Since the ultimate effect of this rule Is a change of a High-toned syllable to a Low-toned syllable, we

Verbal Tonology (in)

289

might think of a rule that would change H to L in some environment. But this is clearly not a viable approach to the problem, for given a representation such as L

LH

L

L

' J IJ '

ri-khou-t_uw-a

there is no way that the High associated with -kho-ii- can change to Low without also removing the High from the penult syllable (yielding the incorrect *ri-khou-tuw-a). So, clearly, we are not dealing with a rule of the form High changes to Low. The alternative to a direct change of H to L would be to (a) let the second syllable of -kho-iidisassociate from its High, while allowing that High to remain associated with the following stem vowel, and (b) associate the resulting toneless syllable with a Low. The first step, we suggest, could be formalized as follows: (34)

Delink H / \

X

'

*

X

(34) says that the when two successive tone-bearing units are associated to the same High, disassociate the first TBU. The motivation for saying that a TBU delinks from a High only if that High is also associated with the following TBU comes from the failure of delinking to occur in examples such as ndl-kholi-y-a, where the High of -kho-li- is not associated with the following TBU (as a consequence of the effects of Final Simplification) versus the occurrence of delinking when the High of -kho-u- is associated with a following syllable (as in a form like ndi-kho-u-tuw-a). The fact that Final Simplification blocks the application of delinking shows clearly that Final Simplification must precede Delink (34). We will thus get the following derivations:

290 (35)

Verbal Tonology (. L

LH L

L

L

LH L

L L

/ W i l l

J J' 1 '

ndi-kho-u-se-a

ndi-kho-u-y-a L LLH

L LLH 1 \ 1

L

1

ndi-kho-u-y-a

\l

L L 1 I

II

ndi-kno-u-se-a inapplicable L LLH

L

L

L

L LLH

ndi-kho-u-y^a

LLH

I \\

ndi-kho-u-se-a

CS

I inapplicable L

L L

I \ inapplicable

FS

HL L

VI

ndi-kho-u-se-a

L

LH L

H

L

LH L

H

i

\l I

I

i

V I

/\

ndi-kho-u-pf-a LLH

L LLH

H

I

l V

A

ndi-kho-u-pf-a LLH

ndi-kho-u-sal-a

L

L

I

I \/

IV

LLH

LM/D

L

A

ndi-kho-u-pf-a

ndi-kho-u-sal-a

J ^ A \ l

n d Li - k LLH h o - u - s aL l-a

n d Li - k hLLH o - u - p f - aL

Delink

ndi-kho-u-sal-a

H

' \/ L

Rising Simplif

L

ndi-kho-u-y-a

L

HTS

L L

inapplicable L

MR

L L

ndi-kho-u-^e-a

ndi-kho-u-y-a L LLH

LLH

LM/D

MR

J. . A A V A UHTS TC

Verbal

Tonology

(III)

291

L

LLH

L

I

\ \ \ J

ndi-kho-u-pf-a

L LLH

L

I \ ^ \ / \ ndi-kho-u-sal-a

inapplicable L

LLH

Rising Simplif. CS

L

I \ lI ndi-khou-pfa

inapplicable

inapplicable L

LL H

I

\

FS

L

\/\

ndi-khou-sala

Delink

There is decisive evidence that Final Simplification indeed is the process that blocks the application of Delink in an example such as ndi-kho-u-pf-a. This evidence comes from the fact that when such a word is in phrase-medial position, the monosyllabic stem will escape Final Simplification and instead will undergo Contour Simplification (whereby the monosyllabic stem will be associated with a*High and not a Low). When this happens. Delink does affect the second syllable of -kho-ti-. For example, in the sentence ndi-kho-u-pf& lpfi 'I hear a voice' we see that Delink has applied in front of the now High-toned monosyllabic stem. Next let us consider the question of how we can get the second syllable of -kho-li- to become Low-toned once it delinks. (As the derivations in (35) show, Delink simply makes the second syllable of -kho-ti- toneless—it does not make it Low.) We have suggested that in Venda Low is what in underspecification theory is referred to as the "default" tone— i.e. a vowel that is not High is predictably Low-toned. However, we have also argued that the default rule specifying a vowel as Low must precede Low Metathesis/ Deletion (since a Low tone cannot metathesized or deleted if it is not there) and must also precede Meeussen's Rule (since Lows must be present in order to block the application of Meeussen's Rule to HLH structures). The default Low rule must also precede High Tone Spread (since Lows must be present to block the spread of a High). If default rules apply in just one component of the grammar, then the default Low rule of Venda must clearly be a lexical rule since it precedes the lexical rules of Low

Verbal Tonology (in)

292

Metathesis/Deletion and Meeussen's Rule. But If it is a lexical rule, then it could not apply post-lexically to the output of a post-lexical rule like Delink. (Delink must be post-lexical since it follows the post-lexical rule of Final Simplification.) In order to get a Low tone assigned to the delinked vowel of -kho-u- by the default Low rule, we must assume that this rule can apply in more than one component—i.e. that it can apply as a lexical rule (ordered before Low-Metathesis, for instance) and it can apply as a post-lexical rule (ordered after Delink, which itself is ordered after Final Simplification, etc.). An alternative to invoking a post-lexical application of the default Low rule would be to view the delinking that occurs in (33) as being the consequence of the spreading of a Low; that is, we might have a rule like (36): (36)

Low-Spreading L

H

l\A X

X

X

The Low-Spreading analysis will work Just in case the vowel to be delinked is always preceded by a Low; as we will see. this is indeed the case. For the time being we will assume the approach Involving a post-lexical application of the default Low rule, but the Low-Spreading analysis will be examined in more detail later. The rule of Delink formulated in (34) is too general and we shall need to modify it somewhat as we go along. One obvious problem with Delink (34) is that it provides that the first vowel In words such as mu-sadzi or u-vh6na will be lowered. In fact. Delink must not affect the first syllable in a multiply-linked structure when that syllable is in a stem. Only a prefixal syllable Is subject to Delinking. We thus suggest that Delink be reformulated as in (34)':

Verbal Tonology (III) (34)'

293

Delink H x [x

The approach involving Low-Spreading will, of course, require an analagous modification: (36)'

Low-Spreading L

H

[\A X X [X

But this restriction on Delink (or Low-Spreading) raises an interesting problem for lexical phonology. We have already demonstrated that Delink must follow Final Simplification and therefore it must apply in the post-lexical pTionology (where phrases and not Just words are the domain of application). Lexical phonology claims, however, that post-lexical rules are necessarily insensitive to the internal structure of words. This hypothesis is encoded in the claim that all internal morphological structure is lost at the end of (each level in) the lexical phonology and thus is inaccessible to rules applying in the post-lexicon. Thus post-lexical rules cannot know where one morpheme ends and another begins, they cannot know which morphemes are prefixes and which are stems, etc. But Delink must be able to examine a configuration H

A x

x

and determine whether the first TBU is in a prefix or not. Thus Delink requires that a post-lexical rule still have access to internal word structure. (The alternative rule of Low-Spreading would similarly have to have access to the same information.

Verbal Tonology (in)

294

Thus the above discussion is equally pertinent to an analysis Involving Low-Spreading as to an analysis Involving Delink.) Perhaps an alternative to (34)' would be to retain the original version of Delink In (34) but claim that Delink applies only in derived environments—that is, only to H

A x

x

configurations produced by morphological or phonological processes, not to underlying configurations of this sort. This analysis would require us to say that the multiply-linked Highs In stems represent Instances of non-derived environments whereas the multiply-linked Highs Involving prefixes represent Instances of derived environments. It is clear that the examples in (33) Involving -kho-fi- do represent a case of a multiply-linked High derived by rule (namely, derived by the rule of High Tone Spread). It would also be quite plausible to say that the multiply-linked High in a noun stem like mu-sadzi is not derived by any rule, but rather represents the underlying tonal configuration. However, it is not at all clear that the multiply-linked Highs in verb stems can be regarded as non-derived. If we consider, for example, verbs such as u-shtim-a 'to work' and u-shfimel-a 'to work for' versus u-lim-a 'to cultivate' and u-limel-a 'to cultivate for', it Is clear that neither the so-called 'applied' suffix -el- or the final vowel -a have an Inherent High tone — rather they acquire a High tone by virtue of appearing in construction with a High verb root like- shfim-. So there is really little support for regarding the multiply-linked High of ushiimel-a as non-derived: it Involves both a morphologically derived structure (the suffixatlon of both the applied suffix and the final vowel) and a phonologically derived structure (the H from the root -shtim- linked to the toneless vowels of the two suffixes). In any event, even if we could claim that the multiplylinked Highs in verb stems were a non-derived environment, we would achieve little as far as making Delink compatible

Verbal Tonology (III)

295

with the major claims of lexical phonology since that theory claims that only lexical (and not post-lexical) rules are restricted to derived environments. Post-lexical rules are claimed to apply "across the board", without regard to whether their inputs are derived or non-derived. It should be noted that if a rule of Low-Spreading is invoked rather than Delink, then it is readily apparent that one could not explain the failure of Low-Spreading to apply in an example such as u-shlimA by means of an appeal to the distinction "derived" versus "non-derived" environment. The Low of the infinitive prefix u- and the following multiply-linked High in the verb stem clearly represent a derived environment: the L is in one morpheme and the H is in a different morpheme. There is some evidence already that phrase-level rules in Bantu are sensitive to the internal structure of words (at least with respect to the distinction between prefix and stem). For example, Klsseberth (198) shows that in Digo there is a rule that shifts a High from one word to the**first vowel of a following stem, skipping over an intervening prefix. We will therefore assume that Delink is to be stated as in (34)'—i.e. that It is restricted to a High, multiply-linked prefixal syllable. If the alternative of Low-Spreading is chosen, it likewise would have to make reference to the internal morphological structure of the word. Up until this point we have examined the application of Delink to Just one prefix, -kho-u-. Let us now demonstrate that the rule is indeed a more generally applicable rule. Consider the High-toned prefix -di-. (37)

Low verb stems ndl-di-y-a [S] ndi-di-vhal-a [S] ndi-di-lindel-a [S] ndi-dl-pandamedz-a

'I usually go' 'I usually read' 'I usually wait' [S] 'I usually pursue'

Verbal Torwlogy (III)

296 High verb stems ndl-di-pf-a [S] ndl-dl-hangw-a [S] ndi-di-tshimbil-a [S] ndl-dl-thomolol-a [S]

'I 'I 'I 'I

usually usually usually usually

hear' forget' walk' start again'

The prefix -di- is clearly High-toned, as can be seen from the fact that (a) It appears High in examples such as ndldi-y-a and (b) it triggers Meeussen's Rule on a following High verb stem (cf. ndl-di-tshimbil-a). Although -di- is basically High, in the data from [S] and [U) it is realized as Low whenever its underlying High is associated with the following syllable (cf. ndi-di-pandamedz-a and ndl-dl-hfingw-a). In other words, -di- behaves exactly like -kho-
Low verb stems u-di-y-a [S] u-di-vhal-a [S] u-di-lindel-a [S]

'he usually goes' 'he usually reads' 'he usually waits'

High verb stems u-di-pf-a [S] u-di-hangw-a [S] u-di-tshimbil-a IS)

'he usually hears' 'he usually forgets' 'he usually walks'

Recall that -di- is peculiar in that it falls to undergo Meeussen's Rule after a High subject prefix. Notice that the High associated with -dl- remains associated with this prefix both before a monosyllabic stem (cf. fi-di-y-a) and also before

Verbal Tonology (III)

297

disyllabic and longer stems (cf. u-di-vh&l-a, u-di-lindel-a); in other words. Delink falls to apply when -di- Is preceded by a High prefix. It seems, then, from the data In (36) and (37) that Delink operates only after a Low. We thus need to reformulate Delink as in (38): (38)

Delink L

H

f\

X X | X

Of course, the alternative analyses involving Low-Spreading (36)' would need no further revision on the basis of (37) since Low-Spreading already Includes the claim that delinking is triggered by a preceding Low-toned syllable. Support for the preceding revision of Delink Is provided by the case where -di- is preceded in the verb structure by the element -kha-. Consider the data In (39): (39)

ndi-kha-di-ha [S] u-kha-di-1-a [S]

'I still eat* 'he still eats'

ndl-kha-di-lat-a [SI

'I still throw away' (H verb stem) 'he still throws away*

u-kha-dl-lat-a [SI

Recall that -kha- does not allow a preceding subject prefix High to spread onto It (which helps to establish the probable morphological Identity of -kha- with the -kho- of -khou-). We see from (39) that when -kha- separates -di- from the Hightoned subject prefix, the -di- does undergo Delink (when its High is multiply linked). The applicability of Delink In a case like u-kha-di-lAt-a as opposed to its inapplicability in the case of u-di-hftngw-a Is clearly due to the presence of the Low-toned -kha-ln the former case versus its absence in the latter. The prefix -di- provides additional support for the claim that Delink appllesjust in the event a prefix High is multiplylinked. This evidence comes from the construction where the

Verbal Tonology (III)

298

future marker -do- Is used In conjunction with -kha-di-. (40) Illustrates this construction. (40)

ri-kha-di-do-d-a [SJ ii-kha-di-do-shum-a [S] vha-kha-di-do-lindel-a [S] vha-kha-di-do-kuvhangan-a

'we will still come' "we will still work' 'they will still waif [SJ 'they will still gather'

Recall that this construction is odd in that the High tone on -di- falls to show up associated with the following future prefix -do-. As a consequence, the H on -di- in (40) Is not linked to a following syllable. Thus we have another test case for our rule of Delink, and we see that -di- does In fact escape the effects of Delink as predicted by the requirement that only a multiply-linked H may delink from a prefixal vowel. Another construction involving -di- provides data relevant to the exact requirement with respect to the Low that must precede a prefixal syllable if that syllable is to undergo Delink. Consider the data in (41). (41)

ndi-do-di-la [S] u-do-!di-la IS]

'I will doubtless eat' 'he will doubtless eat'

ndi-do-di-renga IS) u-do-!di-renga IS]

'I will doubtless buy it' 'he will doubtless buy It'

ndi-do-di-sinyutshela [S] 'I will doubtless get angry' u-do-!di-sinyutshela [S] 'he will doubtless get angry' In this construction the Low-toned future prefix -d6- precedes the -di-. Notice that when -do- remains associated with a Lowtoned syllable, as In the first person examples In (41), -di- is able to undergo Delink when Its High is associated with the following syllable (thus ndi-do-di-rfinga but ndl-do-di-la). The crucial examples are the third person forms, where the High of the subject prefix spreads onto the Low-toned future prefix -do- creating a HL contour on that syllable. Contour Simplification disassociates the L, leaving -do- High-toned. When this happens, -di- is unable to undergo Delink (cf. 1i-d6-

Verbal Tonology (III)

299

Idi-rfinga, not *ti-d6-di-renga). What this shows is that In the formulation of Delink given in (38) It is crucial that the Low preceding the multiply-linked preflxal High be an associated Low. When this configuration is preceded by a floating Low, as in u-d6-!di-r6nga. Delink fails to apply. In order for this account to work, it requires that Delink follow Contour Simplification (since Contour Simplification Is the rule that frees -do- from a Low tone in an example like ti-d6-!di-renga). We have, of course, already shown that Delink follows Final Simplification as well. We have so far examined two High-toned prefixes (-khou- and -dl-) and have seen that both are subject to Delink in the [S] and [U] data. In positive tenses, the subject prefix always occurs in word-initial position. This means that, in terms of the underlying structure, the High of a subject prefix such as ti- and vha- is word-initial and not preceded by a Low tone in the same word. The High of these prefixes will spread onto a following Low-toned tense/aspect prefix, creating a multiply-linked High structure; cf. tKe present tense form of High verb stems: u-a-!vh6na [S] 'he sees', vha-a!swi£la [SI 'they are sweeping', vha-a-!laistilula [S] 'they are unloading',
Verbal Tonology (in)

300

Metathesis/ Deletion on the verb stem and subsequently spreads to the right until blocked from spreading further by the presence of an association line. Thus we get forms like !fia-tuwa [S] 'he is departing', !u-a-sendfila IS) 'he is approaching', and !u-a-adzulula [S] 'he is folding s.t. up'. Notice once again that the High of the subject prefix does not undergo Delink — i.e *!u-a-t
Low verb stems a-thi-y-i [S] a-thi-lim-i |S] a-thi-tom!61-i [SI

'I don't go' 'I don't cultivate' 'I don't pull out'

cf. data from Westphal: a-thi-d-i [W] a-thi-lim-i [W] a-thi-lind!el-i [W]

'I don't come' 'I don't cultivate' 'I don't wait'

Verbal Tonology (III)

301

High verb stems a-thi-1-i [S] a-thl-shum-i [S] a-thl-faris-i [S]

'I don't e a t 'I don't work' *I don't help'

cf. data from Westphal: a-thi-pf-1 [W] a-thi-vhon-i [W] a-thi-tshimbil-1 [W]

'I don't hear' 'I don't see' 'I don't walk'

The negative prefix In (42) Is consistently Low-toned. The first person subject prefix -thi- is uniformly associated with a H tone In Westphal's data, but in [S] and [U] this prefix alternates between being realized on a H and on a L tone. The conditions for this alternation show clearly that the rule of Delink is at work, since we find no delinking when the High subject prefix Is followed by a Low tone (cf.^-thi-1-i) but do find delinking when the next syllable is also High-toned (cf.athl-shtjun-l). We have seen that a subject prefix High is subject to Delink when it is preceded by a Low In the same word. Recall that Delink is formulated in (38) so that It affects only a postLow syllable that is associated with a multiply-linked High. At this point let us consider the question of whether the subject prefix in (42) Is indeed multiply-linked. Consider the case of underlying Low verb stems first. (Recall that Low stems show a special tonal shape in the negative construction. We are not here concerned with that aspect of the data In (42).) In examples like a-thi-lim-i [S] and a-thl-t6m 161-1 [SI. the High on the initial syllable of the verb stem can be analyzed as being the result of the spread of the High of the subject prefix onto the Low-toned Initial syllable of the verb stem. In an example like a-thl-y-l, we can also assume that the High of the subject prefix spreads onto the following syllable, but the resulting Falling tone on this syllable will simplify to Low by virtue of the application of Final Simplification. Thus it seems entirely reasonable to assume

Verbal Tonology (III)

302

that the H of the subject prefix In a-thl-lim-1 and a-thl-t6m!61i Is multiply-linked prior to the application of Delink. Now consider the High verb stems In (42). Notice that the High-toned subject prefix does not trigger Meeussen's Rule on the following High-toned verb stem. This is, of course, a general feature of all High prefixes other than -khou- and -di-: they do not trigger Meeussen's Rule and they do trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following verb stem. We raised the question earlier: how are we to explain the inapplicability of Meeussen's Rule to a sequence of a High prefix (other than -khou- and -di-) and a High verb stem? The answer that we have suggested Is that such sequences are subject to the OCP. If we accept an analysis involving the OCP, then the H of prefixes (other than -khou- and -di-) will be multiply-linked to a following High verb stem as a consequence of the OCP. Thus rule (38) will correctly delink the subject prefix in examples such as a-thi-shum-i and a-thi-faris-i. Let us now demonstrate that the other High prefixes which fall to trigger Meeussen's Rule (and do trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion) are subject to Delink. Consider, for example, the -nga-condltional tense. (43)

Low verb stems ndi-nga-da [S] 'I may come* ndl-nga-bika [SI 'I may cook' ri-nga-vhangisana [S] 'we may quarrel with one another' cf. Westphal's data: ndi-nga-lima [W] ndi-nga-lindela [W]

'I may plow' 'I may wait'

High verb stems ndi-nga-pfa IS] 'I may hear' ndl-nga-renga [SJ 'I may buy' ndl-nga-thomolola [S] 'I may start again'

Verbal Tonology (IW

303

cf. Westphal's data: ndl-nga-vhona [W] 'I may see' ndi-nga-tshimbila [W] 'I may walk* In Westphal's data -nga- Is uniformly High-toned. In the other data it continues to behave like a High prefix (e.g. in that it triggers Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following verb stem—cf. ndi-nga-vhangisana, where the High of -nga- is able to spread all the way to the second stem syllable due to the fact that the first stem syllable has had Its Low metatheslzed/deleted). Although -nga- must clearly be Hightoned underlyingly, it alternates between retaining Its underlying High (cf. ndi-ngfi-pfa) and disassociating from it (cf. ndi-nga-r6nga and ndi-nga-bika). The conditions for whether -nga- remains associated with its underlying H or disassociates are obviously the conditions expressed by the rule of Delink. When the H of-nga- Is also associated with the following syllable (whether through the application of the OCP, as in ndi-nga-r£nga, or through High Tone Spread, as in ndinga-bika), then -nga- delinks from that High. When the H of -nga- is not multiply linked, as in ndl-nga-pfa. no delinking occurs. (Recall from our analysis of monosyllabic stems that the Low tone on the penult vowel In ndl-nga-pfa appears to be the result of a Low-Insertion rule. It should be noted, however, that the example ndi-ngfipf-a creates a problem. We suggested In 5.1 above that a Low tone Is (variably) inserted after a High-toned prefix (and associated with that prefixal vowel) when such a prefix precedes a High-toned monosyllabic root (regardless of whether the root was H or L underlyingly). However, this formulation of Low-Insertion depended on deautosegmentallzation occurring before Low-Insertion. Our analysis of Delink (or Low-Spread), on the other hand, makes crucial reference to multiply-linked High tones. Thus Delink must precede d e a u t o s e g m e n t a l l z a t l o n . But if Delink precedes deautosegmentallzatlon, then at the point where Delink applies ndi-nga-pf-a has the following structure:

Verbal Tonology (III)

304 L

H

J- / >

ndi-nga-pf-a

and given such a structure, we would expect Delink to apply. The resulting form, ndi-nga-pf-a, would necessarily escape Low-Insertion, and we would have no way to generate ndl-ngfipf-a. This problem may conceivably be sufficient to force the eventual abandonment of the proposal that Low-Insertion operates on a deautosegmentalized representation. If so, it would seem that a possible direction in which one might go would be to hypothesize a very restricted deautosegmentalization process that applies to a High multiply linked to a prefix and a monosyllabic root in phrase-final position. If deautosegmentalization is in fact restricted to this context, then it is possible to order this restricted version of deautosegmentalization before Delink. We would then derive ndl-nga-pf-a as follows. The H of -nga- and the H of the verb stem would first of all become a single H through the OCP. The restricted rule of deautosegmentalization would, however, operate on a phrase-final representation such as L

H

ndi-nga-pf-a to yield: L

H

H

ndi-nga-pf-a Low-Insertion could perhaps be ordered to apply before Delink (though this would not be necessary) and would insert a Low tone on the penult vowel (after the H), thus creating a Falling tone. Delink would not be able to apply because there would be no multiply-linked High tones in the representation. It is not clear to us at present what the best interpretation is for ndi-nga-pf-a and we will thus just have to

Verbal Tonology (III)

305

It Is not clear to us at present what the best interpretation is for ndi-ngfi-pf-a and we will thus Just have to allow the matter to rest unresolved. Up until this point we have encountered delinking only in front of a verb stem. The -nga- prefix provides evidence that Delink can apply before another prefix. (44) illustrates a construction where -nga- is separated from a verb stem by the Low-toned future prefix -do-. (44)

High verb stems ndi-nga-do-la |S) ndI-nga-do-r!enga [S] ( ndl-nga-d6-f!arisa [S] ndl-nga-d6-vh!6fh6161a [s]

'I may yet eat' 'I may yet buy if 'I may yet help' 'I may yet loosen it'

cf. Westphal's data: ndi-nga-do-pfa [W] - 'I may yEt hear' ndi-nga-do-vh!6na [W] 'I may yet see' ndi-nga-do-tsh!imbila [W] 'I may yet walk' Notice that -nga- in (44) spreads its High onto the following Low-toned -do-, creating a HL contour on that syllable. This contour remains when -do- is in penultimate position. When -do- is in pre-penult position, the contour simplifies to High, so that -do- is realized on a High tone. There is, of course, a disassociated Low following it, causing the downstep that occurs in an example such as ndi-nga-d6-r!enga. Given that the High of-nga- spreads onto the following syllable, and given that -nga- is preceded by a Low-toned prefix in (44), we would expect that -nga- will delink. And this in fact is what happens. (44) illustratesjust High verb stems. (45) provides data for Low verb stems.

Verbal Tonology (III)

306

(45)

Low verb stems ndi-nga-do-ya [S] 'I may yet go' ndi-nga-do-lima [S] 'I may yet cultivate' ndl-nga-do-ponyoka [S] 'I may yet escape alive' cf. Westphal's data: ndl-nga-do-lima [W] 'I may yet plow' ndi-nga-do-lindela [W] 'I may yet wait'

In (45) we have a HL sequence In prefixes In front of a Low verb stem. This configuration Induces the application of Low Metathesis/Deletion, which relocates the L associated with -do- In front of the H associated with -nga-. Now -nga- can induce Low-Deletion on the verb stem, and then the H of -ngaspreads first onto the toneless syllable -do- and then onto the toneless first syllable of the verb stem and then onto the second syllable of the stem (if there is one), where it Is blocked from proceeding any further by the presence of a Low tone associated to the second stem syllable. Examination of the data from IS] In (45) reveals that Delink always affects -nga- since -nga- is preceded by a Low and its own High has spread onto the following syllable -do-. Thus we see that Delink applies to the prefix -nga- In front of another prefix. The data in (45) are also interesting in that they show that -do- likewise is subject to Delink — cf. ndl-nga-dolima. What this means Is that Delink must be an Iterative rule, operating from left to right, as shown In (46). (46)

L

H L

LL

'

1 I

I I

ndi-nga-do-lima L LH L L I | I | ndi-nga-do-lima

(first application) LM/D

L LH L | | ] ndi-nga-do-lima

(second application) LM/D

Verbal Tonology (III)

307

inapplicable L

LH—

MR L

ndi-nga-do-lima

HTS

inapplicable

CS

L

LH

L

' 'Y% 1FS ndi-nga-do-lima L L H L

J JY ' ndi-nga-do-lima

fir; applic. first Del i

L L H L | | I ndi-nga-do-lima

second applic. Delink

The derivation in (46) raises some questions concerning the precise formulation of Delink. Recall we have argued that Delink applies just in case the prefix is associated with a multiply-linked High and the prefix is in turn preceded by a syllable associated with a Low. Consider the first application of Delink in (46). Notice that -ngfi- is not in fact preceded directly by an associated Low. There is an unassociated Low intervening. This would force us to revise Delink as in (47) below: (47)

Delink H

Condition: a, is associated with a L (47) differs from (38) In not requiring that there be no other tone between the H associated with the prefix and the preceding syllable. Now consider the second application of Delink In (46). If we assume that Delink simply disassociates a prefix syllable

Verbal Tonology (in)

308

from a High tone, leaving that syllable toneless until the subsequent application of the default Low rule, we cannot in fact predict this second application of Delink. Delink (47) would fail to apply because the syllable -do- would be preceded by a toneless syllable, not a Low-toned syllable (the preceding syllable -ng4- having become toneless through the first application of Delink). To achieve the correct results, we would need a further revision of Delink, such as in (48): (48)

Delink H a, (a2) a 3 I a4 Condition: a, Is associated with a L a2 is unassociated

But this new condition on Delink obviously misses the point. The optional toneless syllable mentioned in the structural description of the rule does eventually become associated with a Low and thus comes to have the Low tone associated with it that is critical to the application of Delink. How, then, can we avoid this unnecessary complication of the rule? One solution would be to reconsider the status of default rules. If we postulated that default rules were not ordinary rules that applied in a particular component of the grammar, but rather were rules that applied automatically, whenever their structural description Is satisfied, then we could achieve the correct results in Venda. That is, if the default Low rule applies to the output of the first application of Delink, before the second application of that rule, then Delink as formulated In (47) will yield the correct results: the syllable -ngft- will become Low-toned subsequent to delinking from its High, and this will mean that the syllable -do- can also delink since it now will be preceded by a Low-toned syllable. The above solution can probably be argued against on theoretical grounds. But In any case Venda Itself provides an

Verbal Tonology (III)

309

argument against this approach to default rules. If default rules applied automatically whenever their structural description Is satisfied, how are we going to prevent the default Low rule from operating on the output of Low Metathesis/ Deletion to make the toneless syllable resulting from that rule Low-toned? Recall, we must let Meeussen's Rule and High Tone Spread apply to the forms produced by Low Metathesis/ Deletion. Inserting a Low on the toneless syllable produced by Low-Deletion would Incorrectly bar the application of Meeussen's Rule In some cases and would incorrectly impede the spread of a High tone. At this point we can reconsider the alternative to Delink —namely, Low-Spreading—discussed earlier. We repeat the formulation of Low-Spreading given in (35)'. (35)'

Low-Spreading L

H

IV,\ a a [a Of course, this rule would have to be modified—on the basis of the derivation In (46)—to allow an unassociated Low to optionally occur between the Low prefix and the multiplylinked High prefix. This modification is shown in (35)": (35)"

Low-Spreading L Lo H a

a Ia

But given this modification, then we can successfully predict examples like ndi-nga-do-lima. In (49) we pick up the derivation of this Item after the application of Final Simplification (cf. (46) above):

Verbal Tonology (III)

310 L L LH 1 1 1 ^ 1 -nga-dondi-lima L L LH^

(49)

r

>• 1

n d i - -nga-do- - l i m a L

LH

1""

(first applic.) Low-Spreading

L

1

ndi-nga-So-lima

(second applic.) Low-Spreading

On the basis, then, of the examples such as ndi-ngado-lima, we will assume that the rule of Low-Spreading is to be preferred over any version of Delink. One piece of data in (45) provides a further challenge to our analysis. Consider the example ndi-nga-d6-ya. Why hasn't the Low of -ndi- been able to spread onto (and delink) both of the prefixes -nga- and -do-? Why does it spread onto (and delink) just -nga-? One possibility would be to try to bar Low-Spreading from affecting a penultimate prefix—i.e. a prefix that immediately precedes a monosyllabic stem. That is, we might postulate a rule of Low-Spreading as in (35)'": (35)'"

Low-Spreading LLo H

IV. \ CT

o Ia a

where it is required that the prefix High be followed by two syllables. This revision of Low-Spreading would correctly allow -do- to undergo the rule in ndi-nga-do-lima while blocking it from undergoing the rule in ndi-nga-d6-ya. But unfortunately such a revision would also bar the rule from applying to the final vowel of -kho-u- in ndi-kho-u-pf-a ipfi discussed earlier in this section. At the present time we are not certain what the crucial difference between ndi-nga-d6-y-a and ndi-kho-u-pf-a ipfi is such that / d o / will not undergo Low-Spreading in the former case while / u / will. It could perhaps have to do with the fact that in ndi-nga-d6-y-a, the / d o / is in penult position

Verbal Tonology (in)

311

In the phrase and therefore lengthened. If so, we would predict that when another word follows, / d o / will delink from the High. We do not have relevant data to test this hypothesis, and thus must hold the matter in abeyance. When the H-toned prefix -nga- precedes the H-toned prefix -di-we find data such as those In (50): (50)

High verb stems ndi-nga-di-1-a 'I may quite likely eat' [S] ndl-nga-di-leng-a 'I may quite likely be late' [S] ndl-nga-di-tshimbil-a 'I may quite likely walk' [S] ndl-nga-dl-hungulul-a ',1 may quite likely untie (animals)' (SI Low verb stems ndi-nga-di-bv-a ndi-nga-di-lim-a ndi-nga-di-vuledz-a ndi-nga-dl-titllidz-a

'I may 'I may 'I may 'I may [S]

quite quite quite quite

likely likely lively likely

come out'(S] plow' [S] finish' [S] exaggerate'

Examination of (50) shows, first, that -di- triggers Meeussen's Rule on a following verb stem. This is possible only if -nga- has not triggered Meeussen's Rule on -dl-. We have seen earlier in this thesis that -di- does not undergo Meeussen's Rule when it is preceded by a High-toned subject prefix. Thus it is not at all surprising that -di- does not undergo Meeussen's Rule after -nga-. In effect what seems to happen is that the OCP unites the H of any preceding prefix and the H of -di- Into a single H. Thus, if It were not for Low-Spreading, we would expect pronunciations such as ndi-nga-di-tshimbila and ndi-nga-dilim-a. The next point to note about (50) is that In every case -nga- delinks from the H that it is associated with. The reason is clear: -nga- is preceded by a Low subject prefix and is the first of a sequence of syllables linked to the same H. The prefix -di- does not delink In the case of ndi-nga-di-I-a and ndi-ngadi-bv-a due to the fact that (after Final Simplification) -di- is

312

Verbal Tonology (in)

not followed by another TBU that Is linked to the same H as it Is. In the remaining cases, e.g. ndl-nga-di-tshimbila, -di- also is subject to Low-Spreading (and the resulting delinking) since it is followed by another TBU that is linked to the same H tone. The preceding data establish that Low-Spreading (and accompanying delinking) is a pervasive feature of the data in [S), for example. We will conclude this section by noting some additional problematic aspects to the phenomenon that require detailed study. First, there appear to be cases where an unassociated Low tone may spread and Induce delinking. In (51) we present the data that our analysis predicts for the construction where a High-toned subject prefix Is followed by the Low-tone prefix -tshi- which in turn is followed by the High-toned -nga-. (51)

High verb s terns ndi-tshi-ng!a-l-a '(If) I may eat' ndi-tshi-ng!a-shum-a '(If) I may work' ndi-tshi-ng!a-faris-a '(if) I may help' Low verb stems ndi-tshi-ng!a-y-a '(if) I may go' ndi-tshi-ng!a-bik-a "(If) I may cook' ndi-tshi-ng!a-fhindul-a '(if) I may answer'

We expect the H of the subject prefix to spread onto -tshi-. creating a HL contour on its vowel. Contour Simplification will disassociate the L part of that contour. This Low will appear in the form of a downstep between -tshi- and -nga-. In the data that we elicited from [SJ, the pronunciation cited in (51) was the only one used in the case of monosyllabic verb roots (ndi-tshi-ngla-1-a, ndi-tshi-ngta-y-a). The High polysyllabic verb stems on the other hand varied between the pronunciation cited in (51) and another pronunciation where -nga-appears with a Low tone. Furthermore, in the case of the Low polysllabic verb stems, In the data we elicited the -ngaregularly appeared with a Low tone. It seems clear that what

Verbal Tonology (III)

313

is going on is that Low-Spreading has applied (variably most likely) in those cases where -nga- is pronounced on a Low tone. Why does it never seem to be pronounced on a Low tone in the case of the monosyllabic roots? The answer is probably that the same principle bars Low-Spreading to a penult syllable In the case of ndi-tshi-ng!a-y-a as blocks it in the case of ndl-nga-do-y-a. This parallelism strongly supports the view that it is Low-Spreading that is at work in the variable data we collected from [S] for the construction cited in (51). Consider next the data in (52): (52)

High verb stems ndi-tshi-nga-do-1-a '(If) I may perhaps eat* (SJ ndi-tshi-nga-do-lal-a '(if) I may perhaps sleep' [S] ndi-tshi-nga-do-faris-a '(if) I may perhaps help' [S] Low verb stems ndi-tshi-nga-do-y-a '(if) I may perhaps go' [S] ndi-tshi-nga-do-vhal-a '(If) I may perhaps read' [S] ndi-tshi-nga-do-sumbedz-a '(if) I may perhaps show' [S]

This represents the same general construction as (51), but with the Low prefix -do- placed after -nga-. In every case, [SJ exhibits a Low tone on -nga-. In other words, the Low that was originally located on -tshl- but became disassociated as a result of Contour Simplification in every case spreads onto -nga- (with the accompanying delinking of -nga- from its H). The data in (52) are problematic, however, because the Low-Spreading triggered by the unassociated Low does not then seem to work iteratlvely across the word. In particular, we see that the prefix -do- remains associated with a H even though it is in turn followed by another TBU that is associated to the same H. Another example where an unassociated Low appears to induce Low-Spreading is found in the following data from (SJ:

Verbal Tonology (III)

314 (53)

High verb stems a-thi-nga-d!6-pf-a a-thi-nga-do-reng-a a-thi-nga-do-faris-a

'I am not likely to hear' 'I am not likely to buy' 'I am not likely to help'

Low verb stems a-thi-nga-d!6-d-a 'I am not likely to come' a-thi-nga-do-vhal-a 'I am not likely to read' a-thi-nga-do-vuledz-a 'I am not likely to finish' This construction Involves the Low-toned negative prefix a-, followed by a High-toned subject prefix, followed by the Hightoned -nga-, followed by the Low-toned prefix -do-. This represents the environment for HH-Avoldance. As a consequence, the HHL prefix sequence becomes HLH. The H on -do- is able to trigger Meeussen's Rule on the verb stem, which Is why underlying High verb stems appear In exactly the same tonal shape as underlying Low verb stems. Examination of (53) shows that the H of the subject prefix is able to spread onto the Low-toned form of -nga-, creating a HL contour. This contour simplifies, leaving -ngapronounced on a H but followed by an unassociated Low. This floating Low appears as downstep in the cases a-thi-nga-d!6pf-a and a-thi-nga-d!6-d-a. But in the remainder of the data, the unassociated L after -nga- is able to spread onto the prefix -do-, triggering its delinking from the H that It is associated with. The observant reader will perhaps have noted that the H associated with the subject prefix does not delink In (53). This failure of delinking leads us into the next point. The preceding examples dealt with cases where Low-Spreading is apparently triggered by an unassociated Low, even though we have motivated the claim that only associated Lows spread. The remaining problematic data involve cases where we would expect Low-Spreading, but do not seem to get It. Earlier in this section we noted that the High-toned subject prefix In the negative present Is subject to Low-

Verbal Tonology (III)

315

Spreading: e.g., we found the contrast in [SI between a-thi-1-i 'I don't eat' but a-thi-shum-i 'I don't work'. In fact, however, the subject prefix in the negative constructions is subject to Low-Spreading Just when It immediately precedes a verb stem (as above). If it precedes another prefix, it does not delink. This is shown by the data in (54): (54)

a-thi-nga-f!aris-i 'I may not help' [SI a-thi-no-sh!um-a 'I don't ever work' [S] a-thi-tsha-h!ungulul-a 'I no longer untie' [S]

We are by no means certain as to the reason for the failure of the L of a- to spread onto the subject prefix in these cases. It is perhaps of some interest to note that the subject prefix in the negative had another odd pattern of behavior: when it occurs immediately in front of a verb stem, it induces Low Metathesis/Deletion on that verb stem and it is subject to the OCP. But when the subject prefix in the negative precedes a prefix, it triggers Meeussen's Rule^and it cannot trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion. We do not know whether there is any connection between these facts and the fact that LowSpreading applies differently depending on whether the subject prefix is in front of the verb stem or in front of a prefix. The negative elements -sa- and -s6- are also problematic in that they do not appear to undergo delinking. (55) Illustrates the negative infinite: (55)

High verb stems u-sa-l-a u-sa-vhon-a u-sa-tshimbil-a

'not to eat' [SJ 'not to see' [S] 'not to walk' [S]

Low verb stems u-sa-bv-a u-sa-amb-a u-sa-gidlm-a u-sa-sinyutshel-a

'not 'not 'not 'not

to to to to

go out' [S] speak' [S] run' [S] get angry at' [S]

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In each case we see that the negative prefix -sft- remains associated to Its High tone, even though It Is preceded by an associated Low tone and followed by a TBU that Is linked to the same H as the negative prefix. In (56) we show that In the construction involving -sdngo-, the H remains associated with the negative element -s6even though It appears to meet the conditions for LowSpreading: (56)

High verb stems ndi-so-ngo-1-a ndl-so-ngo-r!eng-a ndl-s6-ngo-f!aris-a

'I must not eat' [S] 'I must not buy' [S] 'I must not help' (S)

Low verb stems ndi-so-ngo-bik-a 'I must not cook' [S] ndi-so-ngo-sumbedz-a 'I must not show' IS) ndi-so-ngo-sinyutshel-a 'I must not get angry at' (S) Again, we see that the H remains associated with -s6- even though that H has spread onto the following element -ngo-. Let us at this point summarize this section. We have shown that In some varieties of Venda. there is a pervasive pattern whereby a Low (generally speaking, an associated Low) spreads onto a TBU that is associated with a H and causes that TBU to delink from the H. This occurs Just In case the H in question is also linked to a following TBU. The application of this rule makes Venda surface forms rather opaque In that a High-toned vowel that may have had a major tonal impact on Its environment (e.g. Inducing Meeussen's Rule, or Low Metathesis/Deletion, or High Tone Spread) will in fact often be pronouned on a Low tone. This rule is especially Interesting in that it seems to be a rule that is very close to the surface, applying late In the post-lexical phonology, but It is also In part grammatically-conditioned. There is no question that Low-Spreading is a significant rule of Venda tonology, but there remain a number of areas

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that require extended study. Is there a principled way to explain when unassociated Lows can trigger Low-Spreading? is there a principled explanation for the failure of LowSpreading to occur in the negative forms cited above? 5.3. Object prefixes. There are a set of object prefixes In Venda which may appear in a verbal form Immediately In front of the verb stem. The segmental shape of the object prefix is determined by the person, number, and/or noun class membership of the object of the verb. In Venda (unlike many Bantu languages) the tonal shape of the object prefix Is the same for all the prefixes. The data In (57) suggest that the object prefix in Venda is High-toned. (57)

u-amb-a u-di-amb-a u-mu-amb-a

t o mean' 'to mean oneself [W. 140] 'to mean him' [W.140]

u-llmel-a u-di-limel-a u-mu-limel-a

'to plough for s.O!* 'to plough for oneself [W.140] 'to plough for him' [W.140]

u-sinyutshel-a u-di-sinyutshel-a u-mu-sinyutshel-a

'to get angry at s.o.' 'to be angry at oneself [W.140] 'to be angry at him' [W.140]

u-vhon-a u-di-vhon-a u-mu-vhon-a

'to see' 'to see oneself [W.140] 'to see him' [W.140]

u-vhudzis-a u-di-vhiidzis-a u-mu-vhudzis-a

'to ask' 'to ask oneself [W.140] 'to ask him' [W.140]

u-tshimbilel-a u-di-tshimbilel-a u-mu-tshimbilel-a

'to go, walk with/for' 'to go by oneself [W.140] 'to go for him' [W.140]

318

Verbal Tonology (in)

In each of these examples the object prefix Is realized with a High tone; since it Is preceded by the Low-toned Infinitive prefix in these examples, the object prefix cannot have gotten its High tone via High Tone Spread induced by a preceding High tone. Given that there Is no rule that would make the object prefix High, we assume that It must be underlyingly High. The data In (57) require close consideration. First, notice that the Low-toned verb stems change their tonal structure when an object prefix precedes them. In particular, the first vowel of the verb stem acquires a High, and this High also spreads onto the second stem vowel as well. Of course, we are already familiar with this behavior. This is exactly the same behavior as the Low verb stems display after High prefixes such as -6- and -ngfi-. In other words, it seems that the High object prefixes trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following verb stem, and then the High of the object prefix spreads into the verb stem. The data in (57) show also that the object prefix H does not trigger Meeussen's Rule on a following High verb stem. This again is exactly parallel to the case of High prefixes such as -6- and -nga- when they stand in front of a High verb stem (at least in the affirmative tenses—recall the complications concerning the negative tenses). Thus the prefixing of a High object marker in examples like u-mii-vhudzisa Induces no change in the tonal realization of the High verb stem. We have suggested (in the case of -6- and -nga- that this failure of a High prefix to trigger Meeussen's Rule is to be explained In terms of the application of the OCP to the structure that results from appending a High prefix to the verb stem. Given that the object prefix is parallel to the High prefixes -6- and -ngA- in the effect that It has on a following verb stem, it would be highly desirable to treat all these prefixes in exactly the same manner. We should note here that the High object prefix is also subject to the rule of Low-Spreading (just as -nga- Is) in those dialects where Low-Spreading operates. We cite the following data from [S] to support this claim.

Verbal Tonology (IW (58)

319

u-gekh-a u-nn-gekh-a u-u-gekh-a u-mu-gekh-a u-ii-gekh-a u-nl-gekh-a u-vha-gekh-a

'to 'to 'to 'to 'to 'to 'to

hit, strike, knock against' hit me' hit you (sg.)' hit him/her' hit us' hit you (pi.)' hit them'

u-llmel-a u-nn-dimel-a u-u-limel-a u-mu-limel-a etc. u-ri-limel-a u-ni-limel-a u-vha-limel-a

'to plow for' 'to plow for me' 'to plow for you (sg.)'

u-slnyutshel-a 'to get angry at' u-n-tsinyutshel-a 'to get angry at me' u-u-sinyutshel-a etc. <• ^ u-mu-sinyutshel-a u-ri-sinyutshel-a u-nl-sinyutshel-a u-vha-sinyiitshel-a u-pf-a u-'m-pf-a u -u-pf-a u-ri-pf-a u-ni-pf-a u-vha-pf-a

'to 'to 'to 'to 'to 'to

hear' hear me' hear him/her' hear us' hear you (pi.)' hear them'

u-vhon-a u-mm-bon-a u-u-vhon-a etc. u-mu-vhon-a u-ri-vhon-a u-ni-vhon-a u-vha-vhon-a

'to see' 'to see me'

Verbal Tonology (III)

320

u-faris-a u-m-pfaris-a u-u-faris-a etc u-mu-faris-a u-ri-faris-a u-ni-faris-a u-vha-faris-a

'to help' 'to help me'

The data In (58) show that in [S] the object prefixes induce the same effect on the verb stem as in [W], but the object prefixes themselves are realized on a Low tone for the most part. The reason for this, we claim, is the operation of Low-Spreading. The one case where Low-Spreading is prevented from applying in [S| is when the H of the object prefix and the H of a monosyllabic stem have undergone the OCP. Thus we find u-mfi-pf-4 'to hear him/her'. The reader will recall that we had other examples where a penultimate preflxal TBU (i.e. a prefix standing in front of a monosyllabic verb root) did not undergo Low-Spreading)—e.g. ndl-nga-d6-y4. The object prefixes In Venda display these same patterns of behavior whenever they follow a Low prefix. Consider, for example, the present tense forms In (59). We use the object prefixes -vhli- (Noun Class 14) or -mfi- ('him/her') to illustrate. (59)

Low uerb stems ndi-a-mu-tod-a u-a-m!u-tod-a ndi-a-mu-sumbedz-a u-a-m!u-sumbedz-a ndi-a-mu-tutuwedz-a u-a-m!u-tutuwedz-a

'I am looking for him' [S) 'he Is looking for him' [S] 'I am showing htm' [S] 'he is showing him' (SJ 'I am encouraging him' (S] 'he is encouraging him' [S]

High verb stems ndi-a-vhu-1-a u-a-vh!u-l-a

'I am eating it' [S] 'he is eating it' [S]

Verbal Tonology (III)

321

ndi-a-vhu-reng-a u-a-vh!u-reng-a

'I am buying If [S] 'he is buying It' [S]

ndi-a-mu-rengel-a u-a-m!u-rengel-a

'I am buying for him' [S] 'he is buying for him' [SI

In (59) we see that the object prefix located after the present tense marker -a- will induce the raising of the tone of a Low verb stem (thus ndl-a-sumbedz-a 'I am showing' versus ndl-amu-sumbedz-a 'I am showing him') and will have no effect on a following High verb stem (cf. ndl-a-r6ng-a 'I am buying' and ndi-a-vhu-r6ng-a). In [S], the H of the object prefix delinks from that vowel in the first person form, but not In the third person form (recall that Low-Spreading generally affects a prefix that Is preceded by a vowel that Is linked to a Low, and in an example such as fi-a-vh!1i-rtng-a the -a- vowel is linked to a H). Another case where the object prefix Is preceded by a Low-toned prefix Is given in (60>, where tfle Low-toned -nofollows the High-toned past tense prefix -6-. (60)

Low verb stems nd-6-n6-m!u-tod-a

'I have already looked for him' [S] nd-6-no-m!u-sumbedz-a 'I have already shown him' [S] nd-6-m!u-tutuwedz-a 'I have already encouraged him' [SI High verb stems nd-6-no-vh!u-l-a 'I have already eaten it' [S] nd-6-no-vh!u-reng-a 'I have already bought It' [SJ nd-6-no-m!u-rengel-a 'I have already bought for him' [S] Once again we see that (a) the object prefix raises a Low verb stem and (b) has no effect on a High verb stem. In [SI, the object prefixes do not undergo Delink since the preceding

Verbal Tonology (III)

322

vowel does not surface linked to a Low tone (due to the application of High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification). Notice, incidentally, that the L of -no- is not subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion in (60) even though it stands after a H tone. (We cannot let the Low of -no- be metathesized/ deleted, since we need it to remain on -no- so as to eventually surface as the downstep between -no- and the object prefix.) The reason that the Low of -no- resists Low Metathesis/ Deletion is straightforward—it is followed by a High tone located on the object prefix. The failure of-no- to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion constitutes yet another motivation for claiming that the object prefixes are linked to a High tone. One last example illustrating the behavior of the object prefixes after a Low prefix is provided by the future construction exemplified in (61). (61)

Low verb stems ndi-do-mu-tod-a u-do-m!u-tod-a

'I will look for him' [S] 'he will look for him' [S]

ndi-do-mu-sumbedz-a 'I will show him' [S] u-dp-m!u-sumbedz-a 'he will show him' [SI High verb stems ndi-do-vhu-1-a u-do-vh!u-l-a ndi-do-vhu-reng-a u-do-vh!u-reng-a

'I will eat it' [SJ 'he will eat it' [SI 'I will buy it' [S] 'he will buy if [S]

Once again we see that the object prefix raises a Low verb stem and has no effect on a following High verb stem. In [S], the H of the object prefix will delink if the preceding vowel remains associated to a L (e.g. In the first person forms), provided that the following stem Is disyllabic. At this point let us turn to the cases where the object prefixes follow another High prefix. The data in (62) illustrate

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323

the case where an object prefix follows the -6- past tense marker. (62)

Low verb stems nd-6-vha-fh!ura nd-6-mu-t!6da nd-6-mu-s!umbedz-a nd-6-mu-t!utuwedz-a

'I deceived them' [W.146] 'I looked for him' [S] 'I showed him' [S] "I encouraged him' [S]

High verb stems nd-6-vha-vh!6na nd-6-vhu-l-a nd-6-vhu-r!eng-a nd-6-mu-r!engel-a

'I 'I 'I 'I

saw them'rw, 146] ate it' [S] bought it' [S] bought for him' [S]

In (62) we have a sequence of High-toned -6- followed by a High-toned object prefix -vh4- followed b y ^ o t h a High verb stem (e.g. -vhona) or a Low verb stem (e.g. -fhura). The data in (62) are in fact rather puzzling in some significant ways. Let us take the case of the High verb stems first. If we examine a pronunciation such as nd-6-vha-vh!6n-a, it is immediately clear that the best account for an item such as this would be the following derivation: (63)

L H

H

H

nd-o-vha-vhon-a inapplicable inapplicable L H

L

OCP LM/D H

nd-o-vha-vhon-a L H

L

INJ

MR

H

/\

nd-o-vha-vhon-a

HTS

Verbal Tonology (in)

324 L H

L

H

nd-o-vha-vhon-a

CS

inapplicable

FS

This derivation produces the correct surface forms for the High verb stems In (62) without modifying any of our rules and without Invoking any new rules. The only problem with (63) is the following: why doesn't the OCP affect the sequence of a High object prefix and a High verb stem? We have seen that in other contexts (specifically, when a Low prefix precedes an object prefix) It is necessary to assume that the OCP does affect such sequences, since we do not want a H object prefix to induce Meeussen's Rule on the verb stem. The attentive reader will perhaps recall from Chapter Four that we had another case where the OCP needed to be suspended between a High prefix and a High verb stem. In the negative construction a-thl-nga-!r6ng-l we needed to prevent the H of -nga- and the H of the verb stem from undergoing the OCP. At the time we treated this phenomenon as a peculiarity of the negative construction (where we also found evidence that the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion had to be suspended —cf. a-thi-nga-gldlm-i). But perhaps the phenomenon is more general. In particular, perhaps It has to do with the situation where a High that would undergo the OCP is in turn preceded by a High. In a-thi-nga-r!6ng-l, the H of -nga- is preceded by a H subject prefix; in nd-6-vha-vh!6n-a, the H of -vha- is preceded by the High past tense prefix -6-. The most natural means of accounting for these behavior patterns would be to apply Meeussen's Rule between the two prefixes before applying the OCP to a prefix plus a stem (since application of Meeuussen's Rule to -nga- In a-thinga-r!6ng-l and to -vha- in nd-6-vha-vh!6n-a will change them to Low and thus prevent the application of the OCP). But as we mentioned In Chapter Four, If we apply Meeussen's Rule between two prefixes before application of the OCP, how are we to prevent Meeussen's Rule from applying between a H prefix and a H verb stem? We know of no theory of the interaction of morphology and phonology that would let a rule operate

Verbal Tonology (III)

325

between prefixes before letting it try to apply between a prefix and a stem. Consequently, we seem to be forced to stipulate that the OCP does not affect a H prefix and a H verb stem in case the prefix is itself preceded by a H tone. We will see later that even this stipulation has a complication to it. Let us now turn to the Low verb stems in (62). If we simply assume that the H object prefix triggers Low Metathesis/Deletion on a following Low verb stem, and that Low Metathesis/Deletion is ordered before Meeussen's Rule (as we have shown it to be), then we will have the following incorrect derivation. (64)

L H H L

I

L

L

I I I I'

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a L H H L L

H'

'

JH

'

LM/D

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a L H L L L

II

II

MR

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a L H

L

L

L

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a L H

l\

L

L

HTS

L

I I

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a inapplicable

CS FS

(Presumably the first stem vowel would acquire a Low tone, presumably by a universal principle.) This derivation predicts a form *nd-6-mu-sumbedz-a, which is wrong (the verb must in fact be "raised," albeit with a downstep between the object prefix and the first stem vowel). Note that In (64) we assumed that Low Metathesis/ Deletion is carried out in this example by deletion rather than metathesis. If we metatheslzed the initial Low of the verb stem, rather than

Verbal Tonology (III)

326

deleting it. then we would also olDtain an incorr form: (65)

L H LH I I

L

1 1

L I I

II

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a inapplicable L H LH

L

( o u t p u t LM) MR

L

n„ d - o' - m u' -^s u>m'b d e d z - a'

HTS

inapplicable

CS/FS

This derivation predicts a form *nd-6-m!ti-s{iunbedz-a, which is incorrect: the correct form has no downstep in front of the object prefix but instead has one after the object prefix. What the data In (62) shows is that the verb stem is "raised" even though the object prefix comes to be Low-toned on the surface. If the raising of the verb stem in (62) Is to be accomplished via Low Metathesis/Deletion and High Tone Spread, we have a problem. That analysis says that there is a single H tone In the tonal tier, associated underlylngly with the prefix that induces Low Metathesis/Deletion on the verb stem but on the surface also associated with the following verb stem (as a consequence of High Tone Spread). This means that when the H prefix itself changes to L (via Meeussen's Rule), there is no way that a High tone can still be associated with the verb stem—that H tone has been changed to a L tone. It is perhaps possible to Interpret the examples in (62) as being evidence that we are just wrong to assume that Low verb stems are "raised" as a consequenc of the independently motivated rules of Low Metathesis/Deletion and High Tone Spread (even though we have seen from the discussion of the negative present that the "raising" of a Low verb stem is subject to the same conditions as Low Metathesis/Deletion— namely, the Initial Low of a verb stem cannot be "raised" If It Is immediately followed by a High tone). We would prefer to search for an explanation for these data that would permit our

Verbal Tonology (III)

327

independently motivated rules to be retained as the explanation for verb "raising". One line of attack suggests itself. Recall from Chapter Four that we have found evidence for a rule of HH-Avoidance. This rule says that in a sequence HHL, the final two tones interchange. The rule was clearly in evidence when we had three prefixes in a row of the shape HHL (the examples involved negative constructions). At that time we raised the issue of whether a HH prefix sequence followed by a Low in a verb stem might be susceptible to the rule of HH-Avoidance. Examples such as a-thi-ngft-sinyutsh61-i suggested not. However, the peculiar form a-thi-ng4-h!um-i had an explanation if one did allow HH-Avoidance to apply to a Low in a verb stem. The data in (62) wbuld likewise fall out if we assumed such a general form of HH-Avoidance, as the following derivation illustrates: (66)

L H

H

L

L

L «

1 1 ! 1J

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a L H 1

L, H L L 1 1 1 1 A ' ' ' JA ' nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a inapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

LH d

I X |

L

H

L

L

'^d

'

HH-Avoidance

HTS

nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a L H L H L L d I X '\'d ' nd-o-mu-sumbedz-a

CS

inapplicable

FS

The postulatlon of HH-Avoidance in the derivation of the Low verb stems in (62) means that Low verb stems can get "raised" in two different ways. The usual way is for a High prefix to trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on the verb stem and then for

Verbal Tonology (III)

328

that High to spread rightwards; the less common way is for the second H of a HH sequence to metathesize with the initial L of the verb stem. By postulating HH-Avoidance, we can explain how a verb stem can "raise" even when the preceding (formerly High) prefix is not High. The same sorts of data as in (62) can be found when object prefixes follow the potential -ngA- (which we have earlier seen is tonologically similar to -6-). We Just cite two examples. (67)

ndl-nga-mu-vh!6na ndi-nga-mu-fh!ura

'I may see him' [W, 146] 'I may deceive him* [W.146]

No discussion of these data are required since they are perfectly parallel to the data discussed immediately above. Let us now consider the case where an object prefix follows -kho-ti-. (Recall that in (SI, the High tone that is associated to the infinitive prefix will be delinked from that prefix in most cases.) (68)

Low verb stems ndi-kho-u-mu-t!6d-a 'I am looking for him* [SI u-kho-u-mu-t!6d-a 'he is looking for him'[Sl ndi-kho-u-mu-s!umbedz-a 'I am showing him' (SJ u-kho-u-mu-s!umbedz-a 'he is showing him' [S] High verb stems ndi-kho-u-vhu-1-a 'I am eating It' [S] u-kho-u-vhu-1-a 'he Is eating It' [S] ndi-kho-u-vhu-r!eng-a 'I am buying it' u-kho-u-vhu-r!eng-a 'he is buying it*

These data demonstrate that In the -kho-ficonstructlon both Low and High verb stems behave exactly as they do in the cases where the object prefix is preceded by -6or -ng&-. What this means is that, if we are to maintain the analysis of the behavior of object prefixes presented above, then there must be a H tone associated with the -u- vowel of -

Verbal Torvology (III)

329

kho-fi- at the point where we determine the fate of the tonal sequence consisting of the object prefix and following verb stem. Take the case of High verb stems first. In these forms the object prefix must undergo Meeussen's Rule, thereby changing Its H to a L, and the OCP must not apply to the sequence of an object prefix and verb stem. (If it did, then both the object prefix and the verb stem would be associated to a Low following Meeussen's Rule, and there would be no way to account for why the verb stem in fact remains H.) We have suggested that the OCP is blocked from affecting a H prefix and a following H verb stem when the prefix is itself preceded by a H tone. Given our analysis of the -kho-ii- construction in Chapter Four, where we suggested that there is a LH sequence associated with the -kha- and a L associated with the infinitive prefix -u-, the H of the object prefix is not preceded by a High until after Low Metathesis/ Deletion removes the L from the infinitive prefix. Thus In order to maintain our account of when the OCP wotks, we would have to apply Low Metathesis/Deletion between the auxiliary element -kha- and a following infinitival prefix before applying the OCP to the sequence of object prefix plus verb stem. Let us now turn to the examples of Low verb stems in (68)—e.g. ndi-kho-u-mu-t!6d-a. This example is parallel to an example such as nd-6-mu-s!umbfedz-a. Recall how our analysis went: we suggested that when a Low verb stem is preceded by two High tones, the first L of the verb stem interchanges with the preceding H. This interchange is accomplished via HH-Avoidance. If we are to appeal to HHAvoidance in the derivation of ndl-kho-u-mu-t!6d-a, then we must have the H of the object prefix immediately preceded by a H. But this will not be the case until the Low of the Infinitive prefix has undergone Low Metathesis/Deletion by virtue of standing after -kha- (which, recall, we assume has a LH sequence associated to it underlyingly). We have now shown that, in order to account for the data in (68) in the same manner as we accounted for the data involving -6- and -nga-. Low Metathesis/Deletion must affect

Verbal Tonology (III)

330

the -u- vowel before anything else happens—in particular, before the OCP can do any work and before HH-Avoidance. We assume that the OCP must be ordered before Meeussen's Rule (since it is the OCP that explains why certain sequences of High tone do not undergo Meeussen's Rule). We know of no reason why it could not be ordered after Low Metathesis/ Deletion. Thus there is no problem in deriving ndl-kho-u-vhu-r!6ng-a. (69)

L

LH L

H

H

I MI

I

/\

ndi-kho#u-vhu-reng-a L LLH H H

I \|

I

/\

ndi-kho#u-vhu-reng-a L LLH L H

I \l

/\

I

ndi-kho#u-vhu-reng-a L LLH

L

L

I \ ^ \ l

/ \

LL H

I I \

L

Ri^ng Simplif.

/\

ndi-kho#u-vfiu-reng-a inapplicable L

HTS

H

ndi-kho#u-vhu-reng-a L LLH. L H

I \,^\

MR

H

ndi-kho#u-vhu-reng-a L LLH.

LM/D

CS FS

H

/\

ndi-kho#u-vhu-reng-a

Delink

But now let us consider the case of a Low verb stem. We would have an underlying representation such as the following:

Verbal Tonology (III) (70)

L

i

331 LH L

H

L

L

\ I M I I

ndi-kho#u-mu-t_od-a We want the L of the infinitive to metathesize/delete so that we can set up the environment for HH-Avoidance. But if Low Metathesis/Deletion can affect the infinitive u. why can't it also affect the initial L of the verb stem -tod-a? If it were to apply to the verb stem as well, we would not be able to generate the correct surface form ndi-kho-u-mfi-t!6d-a. Thus we are in the unfortunate situation of needing Low Metathesis/Deletion to remove the L of the u (to set up the environment for HH-Avoidance) but not to remove the L of the verb stem (so that we will in fact leave that L in a position to undergo HH-Avoidance). We have taken some pains to explain the problem posed by the data in (68), but we must admit that we are uncertain as to exactly what to make of the problem. Is our analysis of the object prefixes wrong? Perhaps^ but whatever our analysis of the object prefixes may be. the fact still remains that -kho-ti- patterns with -6- and -nga- and thus it seems that -kho-u- must end in a High tone at the point where the tonological behavior of the sequence consisting of an object prefix and a verb stem is determined. Is our analysis of -kho-u- wrong? Perhaps. Maybe the appearance of a H on the u vowel should Just be treated as an idiosyncratic feature of underlying structure and not accounted for in terms of postulating a LH sequence on -khaand a L on -u-. In other words, whatever the original (historical) reason might have been for a H appearing on the u in -kho-u-, it may be that speakers have simply reanalyzed this expression and thus treat the u as simply bearing a H tone. (Of course, this means that the H of u would have to be categorized like the H of -di-, in that it triggers Meeussen's Rule and does not trigger Low Metathesis/ Deletion, unlike the Highs on -nga-, -6-, and so on.) Or is the problem in the morphological analysis? Is there some fashion in which the infinitive prefix can be viewed as having morphologically coalesced with an "auxiliary" element (-kha-) in such a way that it would be natural for

332

Verbal Tonology (III)

rules to have access first to the complex consisting of kha-u and only later to the combination of this sequence with -vhutod-a? For the present, we must leave these issues unresolved. We turn now to a demonstration that the prefix -di-, which is like -kho-fi- in that it (a) triggers Meeussen's Rule on a verb stem and (b) does not trigger Low Metathesis/Deletion on a verb stem, affects object prefixes in a fashion entirely akin to 6-, -nga-. and -kho-fi-. (71)

Low verb stems ndi-di-mu-t!6d-a 'I usually look for him' [S] ndi-di-mu-s!umbedz-a 'I usually show him' [S] ndi-di-mu-t!utuwedz-a 'I usually encourage him' [S] High verb stems ndi-di-vhu-1-a ndi-di-vhu-r!eng-a ndi-di-mu-r!engel-a

'I usually eat it' [S) 'I usually buy it' [S] 'I usually buy for him [S]

(It is of some interest that the rule of Low-Spreading fails to apply to -di- here, even though we would expect it to be applicable. This obviously represents another aspect of LowSpreading that requires detailed study.) In the case of Low verb stems, the presence of two High-toned prefixes in front of the stem sets up the application of HH-Avoidance. As a result, the H of the object prefix and the initial L of the verb stem are interchanged. This interchange, together with High Tone Spread and the simplification rules, will account for the examples like ndi-di-m
Verbal Tonology (III)

333

undergoes Contour Simplification in a case such as ndi-divhu-r!6ng-6. Another instance where an object prefix is itself preceded by a prefix that Is High-toned is provided by the negative marker -s4-. (72)

High verb stems u-sa-vhu-la u-sa-mu-vh!6na u-sa-ni-vh!udzisa u-sa-ri-th!etshelesa u-sa-dzi-l!aisulula

'not 'not 'not 'not 'not

to to to to to

eat it (NC 14)' [N] see him' [N] ask you' [N] listen to us' [N] unload them (NC10)'[N]

'not 'not 'not 'not

to cook it (NC14)' [N] to wait for them' [N] to push it (flC5) forward'[N] to get angry at us' [N]

Low verb stems u-sa-vhu-b!ika u-sa-mu-l!indela u-sa-li-s!ukumedza u-sa-ri-s!inyutshela

These data are exactly parallel to those In (71) and thus require no further comment. In this section we have examined the behavior of the object prefixes both in position after a Low prefix and In position after a High prefix. We do not have complete data on the behavior of object prefixes, and thus have been forced to confine our attention to the main affirmative tenses. Examination of the role of the object prefixes In more complex tenses—e.g. the negative tenses—will doubtless yield much interesting material. But such a study Is a project for the future. 5.4.0. More on Low Metathesis/Deletion. In this section we return to one of the rules that has been most pervasive in our examination of Venda tonology — Low Metathesis/Deletion. We found motivation for the deletion of a word-initial Low tone in our examination of Venda nominal tonology in Chapter Two. In Chapter Three, we found evidence that a word-Initial Low

Verbal Tonology (III)

334

tone in verbs also deletes--but that this deletion Is blocked when the word-initial L precedes a H. No such blockage occurred In the case of a word-initial L in nouns. Also in Chapter Three, we found evidence for the metathesis/deletion of word-internal Low tones. Again, this metathesis/deletion occurs just in the event the L is not followed by a H. In this section we will establish that adjectives are similar to verbs in the conditions placed on Low Metathesis/Deletion. 5.4.1. Prefixed adjective stems. In this section we examine the tonal behavior of adjective stems when they bear a prefix (in agreement with the noun modified by the adjective). Let us begin with the stem -tshena (white). Consider the following examples: (73)

mu-tuka mu-tshena [W.128] mu-selwa mu-tshena [W.128] mu-rathu mu-tshena [W.128] mu-sadzi mu-tshena [W,128]

Recall that mu-tuka has a LL stem, mu-selwa a HL stem, mu-rathu a LH stem, and mu-sadzi a H (spread over two vowels) stem. Clearly, -tshena must be a LL stem and the agreement prefix mu- must be Low-toned. These assumptions are necessary if we are to explain the pronunciation mu-tuka mu-tshena and mu-selwa mu-tshena, where we see that the adjective is entirely Low-toned in the post-Low context. The derivation of mu-selwa mu-tshena is shown In (74): (74)

L

H

L

L

L L

I 1J ' tJ ' ^

mu-selwa mu-tshena inapplicable

LM/D

inapplicable

MR

L

H L

L

L L

I /\l I J I mu-selwa mu-tshena

HTS

Verbal Tonology (in) L

335 H

L L

L L

I / A I , J ' n. mu-selwa mu-tshena inapplicable

CS FS

The examples mu-rathu mu-tshena and mu-sadzi mu-tshena are Instances where the adjective appears In a post-High context and might thus be expected to undergo Low Metathesis/ Deletion. And in fact, the surface forms of the adjective in these cases gives every evidence that the adjective does undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion—notice that the High of the preceding noun has been able to spread past the agreement prefix of the adjective and onto the stem. The problem Is that if Low Metathesis/Deletion works exactly the same in adjectives as it does in nouns, we would expect the pronunciations *mu-rathu mu-tshCna and *mu-sadzi mu-tshena. That Is, the High of the noun should spread past the prefix of the adjective onto the first (Lcjw-toned) vowel of the stem. The Low of the first stem vowel would prevent any further spread. Since the resulting contour tone would be on the penultimate vowel of the word, no simplification should occur. In order to obtain the correct results for adjectives, we need to delete not just the preflxal Low but also the Low of the first stem vowel. In other words, Low-Deletion must affect all of the Lows but the last one In mu-tshena In the post-High context. If we so adjust the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion, then we can derive the examples under discussion. We give just the derivation for mu-rathu mu-tshena: (75)

L

L

H

L

L L

I I I I

II

mu-rathu mu-tshena L L H L L [ | | || mu-rathu mu-tshena

(first applic.) LM/D

L L H L | [ | | mu-rathu mu-tshena

(second LM/D

applic.)

Verbal Tonology (III)

336 MR

inapplicable L

L

H«^

L

m u - r a t h u mu-t shema

HTS

inapplicable

CS

L

L

1 1 rnu-rathu

H

L

/ \ ^^Fie 1 mu-t

ma

FS

It should be pointed out that the above analysis requires that Low Metathesis/Deletion apply iteratlvely first to the L of the prefix and then to the L of the adjective stem. We have seen such an iterative application of Low Metathesis/ Deletion Inside the verb word when a HLL sequence precedes another Low tone. But we did not find such an iterative application of Low Metathesis/ Deletion when an example such as ndi-a-llma "I am cultivating" appears in the post-High environment as ndi-a-llma (where only ndl- has lost its Low tone and not -a-, since the Low of-a- is responsible for halting the spread of the preceding High into the verb stem). We explained the inability of Low Metathesis/Deletion to apply iteratlvely to the second prefix in H ndi-a-llm-a by invoking a principle of lexical phonology. Recall that just the initial L of a morphological unit is subject to Low Metathesis/ Deletion. We claimed that when ndl-a-lim-a appears postlexically In position after a word ending in a H, the internal morphological structure of the verb has been erased and thus Low Metathesis/Deletion can seejust one morphological unit and thus can metathesize/delete just the first Low. But if this is in fact the correct explanation, we are faced with the question of why the rule of Low Metathesis/Deletion is able to apply iteratlvely to both the prefix L and the first stem L in mu-rathu mu-tshena. Isn't this too a combination of words that arises post-lexically and therefore shouldn't the internal structure of mu-tshena have been lost prior to the application of Low Metathesis/ Deletion induced by the preceding noun mu-rathu? Below we will show that there is in fact some

Verbal Tonology (III)

337

evidence that the construction of a noun plus adjective may not behave like other post-lexical word combinations. Consider next the adjective stem -thlhi (one). Examples with a preceding noun are shown in (76): (76)

mu-tuka mu-thihi [W, 128] mu-selwa mu-thihi [W.128] mu-rathu mu-thihi [W.128] mu-sadzi mu-thihi [W.128]

The pronunciation of mu-thihi after nouns ending in a Low (underlyingly) shows clearly that the stem is LH and the agreement prefix is Low-toned. The post-High pronunciation mu-thihi requires dlscusssion. Notice that the L of the prefix must be assumed to undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion, since the H of the preceding noun is able to spread past the prefix onto the first stem vowel. But we must also assume that Low Metathesis/ Deletion has not been able to affect the L of the first stem vowel, since we need that L tone fo explain (a) the Falling tone on the first stem vowel and (b) why the High on the last vowel of the stem has remained High rather than udergoing Meeussen's Rule. Deleting the first two Lows of mu-thihi in the post-High environment would incorrectly produce *mu-thihi rather than the correct mu-thihi. There is, of course, a perfectly straight-forward explanation for why Low Metathesis/Deletion cannot affect the Initial L of the adjective stem in mu-rathu mu-thihi: namely, it is followed by a H and not by a L. Thus if adjectives are like verbs in terms of the applicability of Low Metathesis/Deletion, we do not expect a L to metathesize/ delete in front of a High. The third adjective stem we will consider is -tuku (small). Examples of this stem in both the post-Low and post-High environments appear in (77): (77)

mu-tuka mu-tuku [W.128] mu-selwa mu-tuku [W.128] mu-rathu mu-t!uku [W.128] mu-sadzi mu-t!uku [W.128]

Verbal Tonology (III)

338

From the post-Low environment provided by nouns like mu-tuka and mu-selwa (which end in a Low tone underlyingly), it is clear that the underlying structure of the stem in mu-t&ku is HL. In the post-High environment provided by nouns like mu-rathti and mu-sadzi which end in a High tone, the prefix of the adjective is raised to High and the High of the stem is downstepped. There is a ready explanation for this as long as we block Low-Deletion from affecting the adjective. The resulting (correct) derivations are given in (78): (78)

L

L

H

L

I ' M

H L

L

H

L

H L

II

1 /\ 1 1 f

mu-sadzi mu--tuku mu-rathu mu-tuku inapp licable inapp licable L

1

L

L

H

L

,NJ

H

L

JV

mu-rathu mu-tuku L L H L H L

L

H

MR L

H L

1 />vj mu-sadzi mu--tuku L

H

L

L

L

H

L

H L

mu-rathu mu-tuku

' ^ -tuku mu-sadzi muL H L H L 1

HTS

H L

1

mu-rathu mu-_tuku

LM/D

^ •tuku mu-sadzi mu-

CS

FS

The Low tone that is disassociated from the agreement prefix on the adjective (as a result of Contour Simplification) is responsible for the downstep between the High on the agreement prefix (the result of High Tone Spread) and the High on the adjective stem. In order for this unassociated Low to exist In the tonal tier. It is necessary to assume that the Low of the agreement prefix did not undergo Low Metathesis/ Deletion. If it had undergone Low Metathesis/Deletion, then the High of the first stem vowel would have been in the environment for Meeussen's Rule. The application of Meeussen's Rule, in conjunction with High Tone Spread, would

Verbal Tonology (III)

339

yield the Incorrect forms *mu-rathu mu-tuku and *mu-sadzi mti-tOku. There Is, of course, a perfectly straightforward explanation for why Low Metathesis/Deletion does not affect the Low prefix of mu-tuku: namely, the preflxal L Is Immediately followed by a H. We have so far examined the behavior of adjective stems with a LL pattern, a LH pattern, and a HL pattern. The stem -lapfti (tall) is apparently a H stem (the H being associated with both vowels of the stem). Examples of this adjective are given In (79): (79)

mu-tuka mu-lapfu [W. 128J mu-selwa mu-lapfu [W.128] mu-rathu mu-l!apfu [W.128] mu-sadzi mu-l!apfu [W.128]

Clearly, these data confirm the proposition that a L does not metatheslze/delete in adjectives when the "following tone is High. Instead, the High of the first word spreads onto the Low-toned prefix, creating a HL sequence. The L of this sequence disassociates by virtue of Contour Simplification, producing a downstep between the High of the prefix and the High of the adjective stem. We have now examine disyllabic adjective stems of all four possible tonal shapes: LL, LH, HL, and H. There are also monosyllabic adjective stems with the two possible tonal shapes H and L. The data in (80) illustrate a High stem and (81) a Low stem. (80)

mu-thu mu-vhi [W.129] khomba m-mbi [W, 129] mu-tuka mu-vhi [W.129] mu-selwa mu-vhi [W.129) thung'wa m-mbi [W.129] mu-ri mu-vhi [W,129| thukhu m-mbi [W.129]

Verbal Tonology (III)

340 mu-rathu mu-vhi [W.129] mu-sadzi mu-vhi [W.129] thevhe m-mbi [W.129] (81)

mu-thu mu-ng'we mu-ri mu-nu

'another person' [W, 130] 'a green tree' [W, 130]

It should be immediately clear that these items follow directly from our analysis of the disyllabic stems without any modification whatsoever. Take the case of High stems first. In the post-Low environment provided by Low-final nouns (such as mu-thu, khomba, mu-tuka. mu-sdlwa, and thung'wa), mu-vhi and m-mbi will naturally be unchanged. In the post-High environment (after High-final nouns such as mu-ri. thukhu, mu-rathu. mu-sadzi. and th6vhd), the Low of the agreement prefix will not be subject to Low Metathesis/Deletion since it is not followed by a Low. The High of the preceding noun will spread onto the agreement prefix, forming a HL sequence on it. This Falling tone will not simplify since it is located on a penult TBU. We consequently derive mu-vhi and m-bi. The Low stems likewise are readily accounted for. Naturally, words like mu-ng'we and mu-nu will not be affected in the post-Low context. In the post-High environment, the Low of the prefix will delete by virtue of Low Metathesis/Deletion since it does stand in front of a Low. This will leave the prefix toneless at the point where High Tone Spread applies. The High at the end of the noun will spread onto the prefix and onto the (only) vowel of the stem. A HL sequence will thus arise on the final vowel of the adjective. The H of this sequence will disassociate by virtue of Final Simplification. The result will be post-High pronunciations like mu-nu. 5.4.2. Prejbdess adjective stems. In this section we examine the tonal behavior of adjective stems when they lack a prefix (due to modifying a noun that governs a 0 agreement prefix). First, consider a LL stem such as tshena.

Verbal Tonology (III) (82)

khomba tshena [W.130] thung'wa tshena [W.130] thukhu tshena [W.130] tholi tshena [W.130]

341 cf. khomba "maiden" cf. thung'wa "messenger" cf. thukhu "rogue"

These data follow directly from the preceding analysis. The adjective has two Low tones. In the post-Low environment (provided by Low-final nouns like khomba and thung'wa), the adjective will not be altered by any rule. In the post-High environment (provided by High-final words like thukhu and th61i), the first Low of the adjective will metatheslze/delete since It stands after a H and before a L. The second L of the stem, of course, cannot metatheslze/ delete since that rule affects only the initial L in a morphological unit. The H at the end of the noun will subsequently spread onto the first vowel of the adjective and also onto the second stem vowel. The second stem vowel, however, is also associated with a Low tone. The resulting HL sequence will undergo Final Simplification, yielding an output vvjiere the fttst stem vowel is High but the second is Low (cf. thukhu tshena). Next consider a LH stem such as tswuku (red). (83)

khomba tswuku [W.130] thung'wa tswuku [W.130] thukhu tswuku [W.130] tholi tswuku [W.130]

Again, our analysis accounts for these forms in a straightforward fashion. The post-Low environment naturally produces no changes in the adjective. In the post-High environment, the initial Low of the adjective cannot undergo Low Metathesis/Deletion since it is not followed by a Low. The High of the preceding word will spread onto the Low-toned first vowel of the adjective stem, forming a HL sequence on that vowel. Contour Simplification will not affect this HL sequence since It Is located on a penult vowel. The High tone on the last vowel of tswuku Is not subject to Meeussen's Rule in the post-High environment since it Is separated from the preceding High by the Low on the first stem vowel. (Recall that in

Verbal Tonology (III)

342

prefixless nouns, a LH like thukhu would be subject to Meeussen's Rule since the first Low would delete by virtue of Low Metathesis/Deletion (nouns do not require that a Low tone not be followed by a High tone in order to delete). The third stem we will consider is thuku, which has a HL tonal shape. (84)

khomba thuku [W, 130] thung'wa" Ithuku [W, 130] thukhu thuku [W.130] tholi thu'ku rw.130]

The post-Low forms are unproblematic. An all Low noun khomba naturally has no effect on the following HL stem. In the case where a HL noun like thung'wa precedes, the High on the first TBU of the noun will spread onto the second TBU (which is under-lyingly associated with a Low). This produces a HL sequence on the last vowel of the noun. Since the noun is in medial position due to being followed by an adjective, the HL sequence will undergo Contour Simplification. The L of the sequence will be disassociated, resulting in a floating Low tone at the end of the noun. This floating Low causes the downstep between the noun and the adjective in thung'wa Ithuku. The striking fact about (84) is that a prefixless adjective stem beginning with a High tone does not undergo Meeussen's Rule in the post-High environment. That is, we would expect the High on the first vowel of thuku to lower when preceded by either thukhu or th61i. Subsequent application of High Tone Spread would then yield *thuku. But this is incorrect. This failure of Meeussen's Rule to affect a prefixless adjective stem with an initial High is also observed in the case of a H stem such as pfufhi (short). Compare the data in (85). (85)

khomba pfufhi [W. 130] thung'wa Ipfufhi [W.130] thukhu pfufhi [W.130] thoU pfufhi [W.130]

Verbal Tonology (III)

343

In the post-Low environment, pfftfhi is naturally unaffected (it is downstepped In the case of thung'wa Ipfufhi due to the fact that the underlying Low of the last vowel of the noun has been disassociated as a result of the interaction of High Tone Spread and Contour Simplification). In the post-High environment, pftifhi Is again unaffected—surprisingly, since the context for Meeussen's Rule seems to exist. Recall that In verbal forms we saw that Meeussen's Rule does not affect a stem-initial High when a High prefix precedes (setting aside the case of -khou- and -di-). We attributed this pattern of behavior to the application of the OCP in that context. The failure of the adjective stem to undergo Meeussen's Rule can also be treated In parallel terms: i.e. we can invoke the OCP between a noun and a modifying adjective. But at the present time we do not have a good structural explanation for the applicability of the OCP In these two sets of cases as opposed to others. It will perhaps be useful to discuss a suggestion made in Westphal which (at first glance at least) looks like an appealing solution to the problem of the Inapplicability of Meeussen's Rule to a noun-adjective construction. Westphal writes: "In the disyllabic stems the prefixes disappear although their force [presumably: their Influence on the tonal shape of the stem:FC] remains...It seems probable...that these adjectives without prefixes show the same tones as the adjectives with prefixes but that the prefix and its tone are missing." [W, 130] He goes on to note: "When a prefixal low tone disappears between two H tones then the tone step caused by the L falls away and the two H tones follow each other normally." [W.131] Within an autosegmental framework, Westphal's suggestion could be expressed as follows. The prefixless adjectives do, after all, have a prefix which, minimally, consists of a Low tone (presumably, the fact that the initial consonant of the adjective stem changes in some cases and the fact that in the case of a monosyllabic stem, a syllabic nasal consonant emerges, would lead to an analysis where at a deeper level there may be segmental material as well). Since the prefix does not (either underlylngly or as a consequence of the operation

Verbal Tonology (III)

344

of phonological rules) have any TBU, this Low tone is left unassoclated in the tonal tier located infront of the stem. Now, if we assume that this Low tone can be deleted as part of the Low-Deletion process, it will disappear (correctly) when the stem begins with a Low. Thus representations such as (86)

H L x

LL ^-tshena

H L L H and

x

^-thuku

H

L H

x

p>-t_huku

would be converted to (87)

H x

L p-tshena

and

by (the iterative application of) Low Metathesis/Deletion, setting up the appropriate input for High Tone Spread to operate. In the case of adjective stems that have a High on their first TBU, the (unassoclated) preflxal Low would not be able to undergo Low-Deletion since in adjectives an initial Low is deleted only when not followed by a High. Since the preflxal Low remains, it blocks the application of Meeussen's Rule to the High of the adjective stem (since the High in the stem is separated from the High at the end of the noun) by an unassoclated Low tone. Subsequently, a special rule would be required to delete an unassoclated Low between a noun and an adjective (there is, of course, no general rule deleting unassoclated Low tones!). Thus we would explain the failure of Meeussen's Rule to apply to an example like thukhu pfufhi by saying that the unassoclated Low of the prefix blocks Meeussen's Rule but then deletes (rather than being manifested as downstep). This does not seem an unattractive solution. It is certainly the case that the so-called "prefixless" adjectives (and nouns) might well be analyzed as having a prefix underlyingly. And it is certainly reasonable to assume that this prefix would have a Low tone. And if the only special assumption one required in order to explain the data were a

Verbal Tonology (III)

345

rule deleting the Low of the unassociated prefix (subsequent to the application of Meeussen's Rule), then there would be some reason to think that the behavior of the "prefixless" High-initial adjective stems had been in some sense "understood". There is a problem, however. If we are going to say that prefixless adjectives in fact have an unassociated Low tone as a prefix (and perhaps, underlyingly, additional segmental material), it follows naturally that the same should be said for prefixless nouns. But such a proposal creates problems. Recall the facts about prefixless nouns. If the stem begins with a Low toned TBU, that Low tone deletes in the post-High context. If the stem begins with a High tone, then that High tone undergoes Meeussen's Rule. Suppose that we assume that prefixless nouns have an unassociated L prefix in front of them. If they did, we could explain why a H-initial prefixless noun undergoes Meeussen's Rule in the post-H context, but we could not explain why a Linitial prefixless noun does delete the L on its first vowel. In the case where the unassociated p r e f i x precedes a High noun stem, we would expect that (in the post-H environment) this unassociated L would metathesize/delete. Recall that nouns allow a L to metathesize/delete even if followed by a High. Once the unassociated L has metathesized/deleted, then the Initial H of the noun stem will be in the environment to undergo Meeussen's Rule. This is in fact what happens: th61i becomes thdll in the post-H environment. But now take the case where the unassociated L prefix precedes a Low-initial noun stem. In the post-H environment, we would expect the unassociated L to metathesize/delete, but we would not expect the initial L of the stem to metathesize/ delete as well. Recall that when a noun such mu-tuka is postH, only the prefix L is metathesized/deleted, not the first stem L as well. Thus mu-tuka appears as mu-tuka after a H, not as mu-tuka. But the facts are that a L-initial prefixless noun does delete its initial L in the post-H environment, bofu, for example, becomes b6fu in the post-H environment, not *b6fu. In order to obtain the right results for nouns, an unassociated Low prefix would have to be eliminated prior to

346

Verbal Tonology (III)

Low Metathesis/Deletion (at least In the case where the prefix Is In front of a Low-Initial stem) so that the latter rule can apply correctly to a Low on the first stem vowel. But if we have to delete the initial unassociated Low in front of Low-initial stems by a special rule ordered before Low Metathesis/ Deletion, and If we also have to have a special rule to delete the unassociated Low between a noun and an adjective (that begins with a High) ordered after Meeussen's Rule, and if, moreover, there is nothing about the behavior of this purported unassociated Low that matches the behavior of other unassociated Low tones in the language, it becomes quite dubious whether we have explained the failure of Meeussen's Rule to apply to prefixless adjectives by positing an u n a s s o c i a t e d Low tone in front of "prefixless" adjectives. Consequently, we will continue to assume that there is no tone in front of prefixless nouns or adjectives. We are left, then, without a phonological explanation for the failure of Meeussen's Rule to affect High-initial prefixless adjectives and must instead assume some essentially grammatically-based explanation. It is perhaps interesting to note in this connection the fact noted earlier that for some reason Low Metathesis/Deletion is able to operate iteratlvely between a noun and adjective, whereas it cannot so operate between a noun and a following verb for example. This suggests that there is something about the noun-adjective construction that binds these words together In a different way that, say, a noun-verb sequence. Perhaps these matters will be clarified when a more detailed examination can be carried out of the application of the tonal rules of Venda in different syntactic environments. 5.4.3. Adjective in medial position. A certain amount of data on the pronunciation of the adjective in medial position is provided by Westphal. In particular, he shows the pronunciation of adjectives in front of the H relative marker w6 ("who" with reference to nouns such as mu-tuka, mu-rathti, mu-s61wa, and mu-sadz!) where the adjective is itself preceded by a noun that in turn is preceded by a verb that ends either in a Low (ndl-kho-fi-vh6na) or a High (ndl-vh6na). Consider

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the examples In (88) where the phrase cited is preceded by ndi-kho-u-vh6na and the examples in (89) where the phrase cited is preceded by ndi-vhdna (all examples from [W, 129]): (88)

...mu-tuka mu-tshena we... .the white youth who. ...mu-selwa mu-tshena we... etc. ...mu-rathu mu-tshena !we... ...mu-sadzi mu-tsh£na !we... .mu-tuka mu-thlhi we... ..one youth who. .mu-selwa mu-thlhi we... etc. .mu-rathu mu-thih!i we... .mu-sadzi mu-thih!i we... .mu-tuka mu-lapfu we... .mu-selwa mu-lapfu we., .mu-rathu mu-l!apfu we. .mu-sadzi mu-l!apfu we..

..the tall youth who' etc.

.mu-tuka mu-tuku !we... ...the small youth who. .mu-selwa mu-tuku !we... etc. .mu-rathu mu-tluku !we... .mu-sadzi mu-t!uku !we... (89)

...mu-tuka mu-tshena we... ...mu-selwa mu-tshena we... ...mu-rath!u mu-tshena !we. ...mu-sadzi mu-tshena we... ...mu-tuka mu-thlhi we... ...mu-selwa mu-thlhi we... ...mu-rathu mu-thihli we... ...mu-sadzi mu-thlhi we... .mu-tuka mu-lapfu we... .mu-selwa mu-lapfu we... .mu-rath!u mu-l!apfu we. .mu-sadzi mu-lapfu we...

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...mu-tuka mu-tuku !we... ...mu-selwa mu-tuku !we... ...mu-rath!u mu-t!uku !we... ...mu-sadzi mu-tuku we... Examination of the adjectival shapes in (88) and (89) reveals no surprises. The analysis that we have proposed is confirmed. Consider, for example, the adjective mu-tshena. In a post-High, phrase-final position, this adjective assumes the shape mu-tshfina. We proposed to explain this pronunciation by saying that both the Low of the prefix and the Low of the first stem vowel are deleted by virtue of Low-Deletion. This allows the preceding High to spread all the way to the last vowel of the adjective. The HL sequence associated with the last vowel of the adjective simplifies, by Final Simplification, to Low when the adjective is In final position. The data In (88) and (89) show that in medial position, where the final vowel of the adjective is subject to Contour Simplification rather than Final Simplification, the last vowel of the adjective is manifested as High (as predicted) and that there Is an unassociated Low following that High (causing the downstep In an example like ...mu-rathu mu-tshena !w6...). The fact that we must assume that Contour Simplification affects the final vowel of the adjective in these examples supports both our claim that (at some intermediate level of structure) a HL sequence exists on the final vowel of the adjective mu-tshena when it is in a post-High environment and also our claim that Contour Simplification is determined by the phrasal position rather than the word position of a vowel. The adjective m u - t h i h i (post-High, final position: mu-thihi) has the medial pronunciations mu-thlhi (post-Low) and mu-thih!i (post-High). These data again merely confirm that whereas in final position, the HL sequence on the penult vowel in mu-thihi will escape Contour Simpli- fication, in the phrase — where it ceases to be penult — the penult vowel will disassociate from the L of the HL sequence. This unassociated Low is responsible for the downstep between the first and second vowels of the adjective stem In an example like ...mu-rathu mu-thih!i we...

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The adjective m u - t t i k u ( p o s t - H i g h , final position: mti-t!uku) has the medial pronunciations mu-tuku! (post-Low) and mti-t!tiktil (post-High). These medial forms show that the High of the first stem vowel will spread onto the Low-toned second stem vowel (last In the word). When the adjective is phrase-final, the HL sequence on the last vowel will change to Low as a consequence of Final Simplification. When the adjective is in medial position, the HL sequence will instead be subject to Contour Simplification (as a result of being in a phrasal pre-penult environment) and simplify to High, but with an unassociated Low following the adjective. This unassociated Low is responsible for the downstep after the adjective in an example like ...mu-tuka mu-tukti !we\.. The adjective mu-lapfu (post-High, final position: mti-l!apfu) does not undergo any changes in medial as opposed to final position. 5.5. Conclusion. We do not pretend iff Chapters Three, Four, and Five to have given a complete description of the complex verbal tonology of Venda. Such an undertaking will require a detailed collection of data from the "bewildering variety" of negative tenses as well as from a number of tenses that we have not explored at all (the Imperative/ subjunctive, a narrative tense, certain dependent tenses—particularly, relative constructions, etc.). We have, however, dealt (as promised) with a significant fragment of the Venda verbal system, and we have seen that this fragment can be insightfully studied from within the tonal framework that we developed originally to account for the tonal alternations exhibited by nouns In post-High position (cf. Chapter Two). We believe that the essential structure of the Venda tonal system has been brought to light in this thesis, and that the core rules have been massively motivated: Low Metathesis/ Deletion, Meeussen's Rule, High Tone Spread. Contour Simplification, Final Simplification, Low-Spreading. Other rules are perhaps more tentative (Rising Simplification, HHAvoidance, the invocation of the OCP). Of the rules that have been massively motivated, all are fairly straightforward except

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Low Metathesis/Deletion. And here the problem Is not whether the rule exists or not, but rather whether there Is one rule or two. If there are indeed separate rules, then there Is some question as to which Lows disappear by metathesis and which by deletion. We do not pretend that we have fully resolved these issues, and doubtless further data will cast additional light on the matter. We believe that this study has not only provided a substantial motivation for the core rules of Venda tonology mentioned above, but also for (a) the system of tonal representation that these rules assume and (b) the theory of phonology that they depend upon. The system of tonal representation that we have assumed is very simple. We have argued that any given vowel can be associated with a H tone on the tonal tier. Successive vowels within a single morpheme cannot be associated with separate High tones, but they can be associated with the same High tone. Any vowel that Is not associated with a High tone, is (possibly as a consequence of a default rule) associated with a Low tone. There are no underlying contour tones (a claim that would follow automatically if there are only High tones in underlying structure and all Low tones are assigned by default to vowels that are not associated to a H). In general, there are no "floating" tones in Venda—that is, it Is not necessary to assume that there are either H or L tones in underlying representation which exist unlinked to any vowel. Of course, if Low tones are claimed to arise only by default, it would follow that there are no floating "Low" tones. There Is one case where we have assumed a floating Low tone — namely. In the phrase-medial form of the present tense. Recall that in phrase-final position, the present tense is marked by a Low-toned prefix -a- (cf. u-a-vh!6n-a). But in phrase-medial position there Is no -a-, though there Is evidence of a Low tone (cf. ti-vh!6n-a). If we claim that there is no vowel In the underlying structure of the phrase-medial present tense form, we will have to allow a Low tone that has its origin other than by a default rule. Of course, since the phrase-final form does have a vowel In the representation, it would be possible to claim that this vowel is also present in

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the phrase-medial form at the point where the default rule applies. If there is a rule of default Low assignment in Venda, we have shown that it must apply prior to all of the rules of Venda tonology that we have invoked in this thesis. There is no evidence that any of these rules can operate on representations where Lows are not yet present. It is for this reason that the default rule approach cannot be strongly motivated in Venda. Given the above system of rules and representations, the theory of autosegmental phonology makes possible an insightful characterization of the immensely complex tonal pattern of Venda. We showed at the end of Chapter Two the various aspects of the autosegmental framework that our analysis employs and will not repeat that summary. But it seems clear to us that without the power of this particular framework, we could not have explored Venda tonology with the same depth and understanding as in the present thesis. We do not claim to have understoooTVenda tonology. But we do believe that we have gone a good distance in that direction. Much remains to be done, but the basis for that future research has been laid.

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Notes 1. We have corrected what is clearly a misprint in [W.129] where the downstep is not indicated for this form. See the examples in (89) below where the downstep is correctly indicated in [W.129].

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Clements, George N. 1985. "The geometry of phonological features." Phonology Yearbook 2, 225-252. Clements. George N. and John Goldsmith (eds.). 1984. Autosegmental Studies in Bantu Tone. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. Clements. George N. and Samuel J. Keyser (eds.). 1983. CV Phonology: a Generative Theory of the Syllable. Cambridge. Mass.: MIT Press. Goldsmith. John. 1976. Autosegmental Phonology. Doctoral dissertation. MIT. Distributed by Indiana University Linguistics Club. Also published in 1979 by Garland Press. New York. Goldsmith. John. 1984a. "Meeussen's Rule." in Mark Aronoff and Richard T. Oehrle (eds.). Language Sound Structure: Studies in Phonology presented to Morris Halle by his teacher and students. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Goldsmith. John. 1984b. "Accent in Tonga." in G.N. Clements and J. Goldsmith (eds.), Autosegmental Studies in Bantu Tone. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. Halle, Morris and K.P. Mohanan. 1985. "Segmental phonology of Modem English," Linguistic Inquiry 16. 57-116. Klparsky. Paul. 1973. "Abstractness, opacity, and global rules," In O. Fujimura (ed.). Three Dimensions in Linguistic Theory. Tokyo: TEC. Klparsky, Paul. 1982a. "From cyclic phonology to lexical phonology," in Harry van der Hulst and Norval Smith (eds.). The Structure of Phonological Representations (part I). Dordrecht: Foris Publications.

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Kiparsky, Paul. 1982b. "Lexical morphology and phonology," in I.-S. Yang (ed.), Linguistics in the Morning Calm. Seoul: Hanshin, 3-91. Kiparsky, Paul. 1985. "Some consequences of Lexical Phonology," Phonology Yearbook 2, 85-138. Kisseberth, Charles W. 1984. "Digo tonology," in G.N. Clements and J. Goldsmith (eds.), Autosegmental Studies in Bantu Tone. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. McCarthy, John. 1979. Formal Problems in Semitic Phonology and Morphology. Doctoral dissertation. MIT. McCarthy, John. 1986. "OCP effects: gemination antigemination," Linguistic Inquiry 17, 207-263.

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Meinhof, Carl. 1901. Das Tsi-venda. Leipzig. Mohanan, K.P. 1982. Lexical Phonology. Doctoral dissertation. MIT. Distributed by Indiana University Linguistics Club. Mohanan, K.P. 1985. "Syllable structure and lexical strata in English," Phonology Yearbook 2, 139-155. Mohanan, K.P. and Tara Mohanan. 1984. "Lexical Phonology of the consonant system in Malayalam," Linguistic Inquiry 15, 575-602. Odden, David. 1981. Problems in Tone Assignment in Shona. Doctoral dissertation. University of Illinois. Pulleyblank, Douglas G. 1983. Tone in Lexical Phonology. Doctoral dissertation. MIT. Rubach, Jerzy. 1984. Cyclic and Lexical Phonology: the Structure of Polish. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.

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Rubach, Jerzy. 1985. "Lexical Phonology: lexical and postlexical derivations," Phonology Yearbook 2, 157-172. Schwellnus, Theodor and Paul. 1904. Die Verba des Tsi-venda. Berlin. van Warmelo, N.J. 1937. Tshivenda-English Dictionary. Ethnological Publications, vol. vi. Department of Native Affairs. Union of South Africa. Pretoria: Government Printer. Wentzel, P.J. and T.W. Muloiwa. 1975. University of South Africa (UNISA) Venda Course (study guides and tapes). Westphal, E.O.J. 1962. 'Venda: tonal structure and intonation," African Studies 21.2, 49-69; 21.3-4, 125173. Ziervogel, D., P.J. Wentzel, and T.N. Makuya. 1972. A handbook of the Venda Language. Pretoria: University of South Africa.