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8422011

Bader, Yousef Farhan

KABYLE BERBER PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY: OUTSTANDING

ISSUES

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University
Microfilms
I n t e r n B I I O n S l 300 N Zfc9bRoad,AnnArbor,MI48106

PH.D. 1984

KABYLE BERBER PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY:

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

BY
YOUSEF FARHAN BADER
B.A., U n i v e r s i t y o f J o r d a n , 1976
A.M., U n i v e r s i t y of I l l i n o i s , 1982

THESIS
S u b m i t t e d in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t of t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s
f o r t h e degree o f Doctor of Philosophy i n L i n g u i s t i c s
in t h e Graduate C o l l e g e of t h e
U n i v e r s i t y of I l l i n o i s a t Urbana-Champaign, 1984

Urbana,

Illinois

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

THE GRADUATE COLLEGE

MARCH 1984

W E HEREBY RECOMMEND T H A T T H E THESIS BY

YOUSEF FARHAN BADER
F.NTTTT.ET)

KABYLE BERBER PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY:

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL F U L F I L L M E N T O F THE R E Q U I R E M E N T S FOR

T H E DEGREE O F

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Mad,

Director of Thesis Research

ilUi^A-^

A twAuo

Committee on Final Examination!

fyrtfcuoh
Chairman

t Required for doctor's degree but not for master's

Head of Department

Ill

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to thank Mike Kenstowicz, my adviser,

teacher, and chief inspiration; he has influenced my work at every point, from
the beginning of our research on Kabyle to the final compilation of this dissertation.

Thanks are also due to the other members of my committee, Chin-Chuan

Cheng and Charles Kisseberth, for very helpful comments.

Rachid Benkeddache, who over a period of almost two years untiringly supplied us with most of the data in this dissertation, is worthy of my high praise
and gratitude.

Thanks also to Djilali Mankour and Rabah Amir for helping to

clarify some of the data.

I would like also to express my thanks to the fellow students and friends,
Ghassan Haddad, Stephen Heltnreich, Demse Minnis, and Salah Nahdi, for either
intellectual contribution or moral support.
Thanks to Pam Lindell for typing the final version of this thesis.
My thanks go also to the University of Illinois Research Board for financially supporting part of the research.
Finally and not least, I would like to express my gratitude to Yarmouk
University for providing me with the full scholarship which made it possible for
me to continue my graduate studies and complete this work.
I dedicate this thesis, with love, to my parents and younger brother.

IV

Table of Contents

Chapter 1;

Introduction

1. Framework

2 . Why Kabyle?

3. Common Rules of Kabyle Phonology

4. Outline

5. Data and Transcriptions

Notes

10

Chapter 2: The Problem of the Schwa

12

0. I n t r o d u c t i o n

12

1. The Data and the Problem

13

2. "Abstract " (Insertion) Analysis

15

3. "Concrete" Analysis

4. S y l l a b l e Structure Analysis

23
33

4 . 1 . Syllable Structure Theory

34

4 . 2 . Syllable Structure and Schwa in Kabyle

38

4 . 3 . S y l l a b i f i c a t i o n at the Word or Phrase Level?

74

5. S y l l a b l e Structure and Schwa in Ayt Ndhir

80

6. Conclusions and Evaluation

84

Notes

85

Chapter 3: Free (Unbound) and Construct (Bound) State

87

0. Introduction

87

1. Free and Construct States

88

1.1. The Problem

88

1.2. Environments for Free and Construct States

88

1.3. Masculine Nouns in the CS

90

1 . 3 . 1 . I n i t i a l Vowel Reduction or Syncope

90

1 . 3 . 1 . 1 . Reduction Hypothesis

92

1 . 3 . 1 . 1 . Syncope Hypothesis

93

1 . 3 . 2 . Syllable S t r u c t u r e Analysis

103

1 . 3 . 3 . I n i t i a l Vowel Retention

109

1 . 3 . 3 . 1 . Summary of Former Approaches to the

Problem
1.3.3.2. P r e f i x versus Non-Prefix Hypothesis

113

1.4. Proper Names and Non-Nativized Nouns

120

1.5. Feminine Nouns

132

2 . The Genitive Construction

Chapter 4:

Ill

135

2 . 1 . Introduction

135

2.2. Proper Names and Non-Nativized Nouns

136

2 . 3 . Feminine Nouns

140

2.4. Masculine Nouns and the Emply Slot Hypothesis

147

3 . Conclus i o n

155

Notes

156

Sandhi Rules

159

0. Introduction

159

1. Vowel Sandhi

."

1.1. E l i s i o n and Vocalization

160
162

1 . 1 . 1 . Precedence-Based Elision

163

1 . 1 . 2 . Vowel Quality-Based E l i s i o n

173

1.2. G l i d e - I n s e r t i o n

177

1.3. Gemination

180

vi

2. Consonant Sandhi

183

2.1. Hardening Rules

184

2.1.1. Segmental Approach

187

2.1.2. Lexical Approach

192

2.2. Syncope and Assimilation

194

3. Conclusion
Notes

201
o

202

Chapter 5: The Morphology of the Verbal System

204

0. Introduction

204

1. Autosegmental Approach

208

1.1. Principles of the Autosegmental Theory

208

1.2. Classical Arabic Verbal System

211

1.3. Affinities between Arabic and Berber Verbal Systems

221

1.4. Kabyle Verbal System and the Autosegmental Theory..

229

1.4.1. Consonantism
1.4.2. Vocalism
1.5. Nominal Derivatives of Verbs

238
.

260
269

1.5.1. Agentives

271

1.5.2. Other Deverbal Nouns

277

2. Lexical Approach

284

2.1. Lexical Classes and Morpholexical Rules

286

2.2. Kabyle Morpholexical Classes

289

3. Conclusion

302

Notes

304

Appendix A

305

Bibliography

319

Vita

324

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

1.

Framework
This study is intended t o be a d e s c r i p t i v e l y adequate account of the most

important phonological and morphological processes operating in a Berber l a n guage, -Kabyle-, spoken in p a r t s of Algeria.

It w i l l be conducted within t h e

framework of modern generative phonology w i t h special emphasis on the recent

t h e o r i e s of s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e , autosegmental phonology, and lexical phonology
and morphology.

Some t h e o r e t i c a l discussion will be included, especially in

those cases where t h e Kabyle data have some bearing on the i s s u e s .

The study will make use of and, in some cases, attempt t o adapt to Kabyle
the model of s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e as f i r s t sketched i n work by Halle and Vergnaud
(1980) and further developed by Mohanan (1982) and Harris (1983) for the p u r poses of Malayalam and Spanish, r e s p e c t i v e l y .

It w i l l be argued, for example,

t h a t the puzzling problem of schwa in Kabyle and o t h e r Berber languages is b e s t

accounted for through the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g rules of these languages.

The s y l -

l a b i f i c a t i o n scheme w i l l a l s o be shown Co e x p l a i n t h e phonological a l t e r n a t i o n s

associated with Che bound s t a t e of the Kabyle noun as well a s with some vowel
sandhi phenomena.

The model of l e x i c al phonology and the d i s t i n c t i o n made b e -

tween l e x i c a l and p o s t - l e x i c a l r u l e s (Kiparsky, 1982; Mohanan, 1982) w i l l be

u t i l i z e d i n order t o account for some consonant sandhi phenomena involving
r u l e s of hardening and d i s s i m i l a t i o n .
attempts w i l l be made.

In t h e domain of verb morphology, two

F i r s t , I w i l l try t o explain the v e r b a l a l t e r n a t i o n s

in Kabyle by following the model devised by McCarthy (1979, 1982) for Semitic

and other languages.

I t should be recalled t h a t McCarthy makes use of autosegmen-

t a l phonology by allowing reference within phonological theory to l e v e l s of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n or t i e r s ocher than the surface segmental r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a s t r i n g .
Second, I w i ll attempt to explain the same a l t e r n a t i o n s within the framework of
Lieber (1980) who argues that the morphological a l t e r n a t i o n s (allomorphs) of a
verbal r o o t have t o be l i s t e d in the lexicon, with r e l a t i o n s h i p s among them expressed by means of devices c a l l e d morpholexical r u l e s .

Each a n a l y s i s w i l l be

shown to bear at l e a s t one extremely important consequence for the purposes of

understanding Kabyle verbal roots and t h e i r d e r i v a t i v e s .
2.

Why Kabyle?
While works on Berber were abundant in the French language before the advent

of generative phonology (Laoust,

1918, 1936, 1938; Destaing, 1920; Foucauld, 1920,

1951; Basset, 1929, 1945, 1959; Basset & P i c a r d , 1948; D a l l e t , 1953; De Vincennes
& D a l l e t,

1960; P r a s s e , 1960), Berber was a forgotten topic in the English-

speaking branch of l i n g u i s t i c s .

The t a c t i c followed in the French works did not

go beyond l i s t i n g the facts of Berber phonology and morphology; hardly any attempt
was made t o go beyond the v i s i b l e facts and look for a deeper account of the a l t e r n a t i o n s exhibited by Berber d a t a .

Since the introduction of generative phono-

logy in Chomsky and H a l l e ' s The Sound Patter n of English (1968), no more than a
handful of works have been dedicated to Berber.

These include:

Abdel-Massih's

Tamazight Verb S t r u c t u r e - A Generative Approach (1968), Penchoen's Tamazight

of the Ayt Ndhir (1973), and S a i b ' s A Phonological Study of Tamazight Berber;
Dialect of the Ayt Ndhir (1976).
a s spoken in Morocco.

Abdel-Massih discusses the morphology of Berber

Penchoen d e a l s with the morphology and syntax of the Ayt

Ndhir d i a l e c t , a l s o spoken in Morocco.

Saib handles the phonology of the same

3
dialect within the framework of generative phonology as articulated in Chomsky
and Halle (1968) and as subsequently modified in a number of later studies (up
to 1975).

No attempt, however, is made in this work to explain Berber data

within the framework of the recent theories of generative phonology (syllable

structure, cyclic and autosegmental approaches, etc.).

In two separate papers,

Guerssel (1977, 1978) discusses problems related to the schwa and geminates in
Berber and provides insightful explanations but stops short of giving an analysis
based on recent phonological theories.

These two papers are reproduced in

Guerssel (1979), Toward a Lexical Approach to Phonological Description, which

suggests that the phonetic alternants of a morpheme be listed in the lexicon

terms of a composite feature matrix which contains all the phonetic information
of all the shapes of a particular morpheme.

In a more recent paper, Guerssel

(1983) discusses the problem of the Construct State in Berber (cf. Chapter 3
of this dissertation).
A few remarks are in order concerning the previous scholarship on Berber
within the generative approach.
dialect.

First, none of the works deals with the Kabyle

Even if we assume that the latter dialect is related closely enough

to other varieties of Berber so as not to constitute a separate field of study

(which is not completely true), the lack of a comprehensive study on Kabyle
forms a gap in Berber studies.

Second, a thorough study of Berber in general

and Kabyle in specific within the framework of current theories of phonology

and morphology is still missing.

Apart from a few references to Berber made

here and there (cf. Vergnaud & Halle, 1978; Guerssel, 1979), there is no work
which discusses Berber in a comprehensive manner.
fill the gap in this regard.

The present study aspires to

3.

Common Rules of Kabyle Phonology

Numerous phonological rules of Kabyle w i l l be discussed throughout t h i s

dissertation.

In t h i s section , a limited c l a s s of r u l e s r e l a t e d to vowel a l t e r -

nations i s taken up because these rules will be ignored i n l a t e r

transcriptions

which, as far as these vowel changes are concerned, w i l l r e f l e c t the morphophonemic composition of the s t r i n g s .

These rules are l i s t e d h e r e , t h e r e f o r e , in

order to inform the reader that t h e changes involved do a c t u a l l y take place in

s p i t e of the fact t h a t , for p r a c t i c a l reasons (such as the need to avoid confusion about the a c t u a l morphophonemic i d e n t i t y of the s t r i n g s ) , they a r e not
r e f l e c t e d in l a t e r t r a n s c r i p t i o n s .

In what follows the r u l e s involved w i l l be

succinctly investigated.
F i r s t , i t appears t h a t a high front vowel undergoes lowering when i t occurs
before any of the following consonants:

g_, x_, h_, 9_> d, t , s , z, and z_.

^be-

comes the mid front e_ (here t r a n s c r i b e d as E_ t o avoid confusing i t with e_, which
stands f o r schwa) when i t is before any of the above consonants provided that
they are i n s y l l a b l e - f i n a l p o s i t i o n .
(1) a .

/ulig/-> ulEg

Examples are given in ( 1 ) :

' I climbed'

b.

/eSSix/->- esSEx

'chief

c.

/essrih/->- essrEh

d.

/ur ye6Bi9/->- ur ye9BE9

(cf. y u l i

'he climbed')

(.cf. eSSix Scteddare

'smell'

(cf. essriheG

'he did n o t follow'

'village

chief)

' s m e l l ' (imp. p i . ) )

(cf. ur eBBigeh

'they did not f o l l o w ' )

e.

/9ulid/-t- GulEd

'you climbed'

f.

/eitt/-)- 9Ett

g.

/ur ye9wiz*/->- ur ye9wEz*

( c f . 9uli

' s h e climbed*)

'eye'
'he did n o t d i s t o r t '
(cf. ur e9wizen
'they did not d i s t o r t ' )

No concrete examples involving a sequence of i_ and e i t h e r s or z could be

brought t o mind.

However, h y p o t h e t i c a l forms l i k e / r i s / and / r i z / were r e a l -

ized as rEs and rEz, r e s p e c t i v e l y , by native speakers.

Notice that the forms between parentheses c l e a r l y i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e underlying vowel in the f i r s t form of each pair i s i^ and not E_.

Moreover, E_ can not

be a phoneme of the language because i t s d i s t r i b u t i o n i s r e s t r i c t e d t o a s p e c i fic environment, namely, before the consonants mentioned above when t h e l a t t e r
occur in s y l l a b l e - f i n a l p o s i t i o n .
for the change to take place.

The l a t t e r r e s t r i c t i o n i s e s s e n t i a l in order

F o r , if any of the consonants occur i n i n t e r v o -

c a l i c p o s i t i o n , the preceding _i w i l l not become E_ because the consonant w i l l

syllabify with the following vowel (in Kabyle, as we w i l l see below, an i n t e r vocalic consonant s y l l a b i f i e s w i t h the following vowel).

Thus, / e s s r i h e S /

'smell' (imp. p i . ) is r e a l i z e d as essrihee and not *escrEhe6 (cf. ( l c ) above).

Given t h i s r e s t r i c t i o n , if we r e f e r to the above class of consonants, which are
a l l e i t h e r pharyngealized or back f r i c a t i v e sounds, by t h e symbol +Phl, our
rule can be formulated as follows:

[^Ph J J
+cons ."1 \

(2)

Second, the back c o u n t e r p a r t of _i, namely, u_, undergoes lowering but before
a more r e s t r i c t e d set o f consonants, i . e . , g., h., 9_, d, and t .

The examples in

(3) i l l u s t r a t e t h i s change:
(3) a.

/Beddug/-> Beddog

' I begin'

b.

/ r u n / * roh

'leave'

c.

/OBeddud/-*- SBeddod

d.

/Ga9ebbutt/->- 9a9ebbott

(cf.

(cf. ruble
'you begin'

iBeddu

'he b e g i n s ' )

' l e a v e ' (imp. p i . ) )

(cf. GBeddu

'small stomach'

'she b e g i n s ' )

6
Although a sequence of u_ and 9_ could not be thought of, a hypothetical example
such as /zu9/ was realized as zo9 by native speakers. It is to be stressed here
also that this change is restricted to syllable-final environments since a form
like /ruheG/ 'leave' (imp. pi.) is phonetically ruheG and not *roheO, whereas
/run/ 'leave' (imp. sg.) is realized as roh. Moreover, o_ can not be a phoneme
of the language because its distribution is limited to the environment stated
above, namely, before the five consonants mentioned earlier.

If we refer to

these sounds by the symbol (+Lj, the rule accounting for the change of u_ into
o_ can be formulated as follows:
(4)

> 0/

|"+cons
|_+L

J
a*

The third rule concerns the schwa, which will be shown in Chapter 2 to be
inserted b y rule. Before r_, g., h_, and 9_, it changes into a_. Illustrations are
given below:
(5) a.

/zer/-*- zar

'he saw'

(cf. ezrig

b.

/ejneg/-*- ejnag

'I slept'

c.

/emseh/-+- ems'ah

'lick'

d.

/e0Be9/-> e9Ba9

'follow'

'I saw')

(cf. ijen

(cf. meshe9
(cf. 9eB9e9

'he slept')
'lick' (imp pi.))
'follow' (imp. pi.))

Notice that the underlying vowel in the forms above is schwa and not a because if it were a it would not delete in the plural forms (cf. Ban 'appear'
and Bane9/*eBne9 'appear' (imp. pi.)) or the form for 'I saw" (cf. iBan 'he appeared' and Baneg/*eBneg 'I appeared').

Given these facts, if we refer to the

four consonants in front of which the change happens by the symbol Q+RJ, the
rule can b e formulated as follows:

[+R

+cons ."J

7
A fourth r u l e is r e l a t e d to the consonants with a l a b i o v e l a r q u a l i t y such
W
as j

W
and c .

A sequence like C e shows up p h o n e t i c a l l y as Cu, as the examples

i n (7) c l e a r l y show:
(7) a .

/ a j em/->- ajum

b.

'fetch water'

/ a l g em/-*- algum

'camel'

(cf. a j me0

(cf. i l e g men

'fetch water' (imp. p i . ) )

'camels';

A r u l e l i k e the one in (8) below can account for t h e change i l l u s t r a t e d

above:
CWe

(8)

Cu

Also, a consonant l o s e s i t s l a b i o v e l a r q u a l i t y when i t is preceded by u, a s

evidenced by the examples below:
/yucwi/-- y u j i

(9) a .
b.

'he was awake'

/ y u j em/->- yujem

(cf. ac i

' h e fetched water'

(cf.

'be awake')
a j em

'fetch water')

A r u l e l i k e the one in (10) below i s able to account for t h i s change:

(10)

CW

C/u

Notice t h a t t h i s rule must precede the r u l e in (8) because if r u l e (10) followed

r u l e (8) we would get, for a form like 'he fetched w a t e r ' , *yujum and not the
correct yujem.

I t seems then t h a t r u l e (10) bleeds r u l e (8).

F i n a l l y , a vowel in word-final p o s i t i o n i s r e a l i z e d as nasalized i f i t o c curs a l s o before a pause.

(11)
4.

> V/

A r u l e like t h e one in (11) accounts for t h i s f a c t :

(pause]

Outline
The remainder of t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n w i l l be divided as follows.

Chapter 2 discusses the puzzling problem of the schwa.

I t w i l l be shown

that the previous approaches to t h e problem are inadequate in many r e s p e c t s .

new approach based on s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e constraints w i l l be presented .

I t will

be demonstrated t h a t the r u l e ot schwa-insertion is merely a r e f l e x of Kabyle's

scheme for imposing a s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e on a s t r i n g of segments.

In the same

chapter, the problem of s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n a t the word and/or phrase l e v e l as well

as t h a t posed by geminate c l u s t e r s will be dealt with.

F i n a l l y , the problem of

the schwa in another Berber d i a l e c t , Ayt Ndhir, will be discussed and shown to
f i t e a s i l y within t h e s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g rules of that language.
In Chapter 3, t h e problem of the noun in t h e Free (unbound) and Construct
(bound) s t a t e s is d e a l t w i t h .

One important r u l e of v o c a l i z a t i o n w i l l be shown

to f i t within the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s of Kabyle.

gested in the f i r s t section of t h e chapter.

Two hypotheses are sug-

The f i r s t will consider the i n i t i a l

vowel of a noun which is subject t o deletio n in the Construct s t a t e a s a prefix

of some sort ( d e f i n i t e n e s s , number, or c a s e ) ; on the other hand, i t i s claimed
that the i n i t i a l vowel which does not d e l e t e i s to be considered p a r t of the
stem.

The second hypothesis proposes t h a t the two t r a d i t i o n a l " s t a t e s " of

Berber might be in fact r e a l cases (nominative and o b l i q u e ) .

The second major

section of t h i s chapter attempts t o account for an important set of phonological

a l t e r n a t i o n s associated with the possessive c o n s t r u c t i o n s .

I t will be shown

that an important r u l e of consonant d e l e t i o n applies only on the phonemic t i e r

leaving an unlinked C-slot on the CV t i e r .

This C-slot is then linked to another

consonant on the phonemic t i e r t r i g g e r i n g the gemination of t h e l a t t e r consonant a l segment.

Chapter 4 begins by accounting for cases of vowel sandhi.

An important r e -

s t r i c t i o n of Kabyle phonology, namely, t h e i m p o s s i b i l i ty of two vowels occurring

9
in a row, finds i t s explanation if reference is made to a simple constrain t on
possible s y l l a b l e shapes in the language.

An i n t e r e s t i n g case of consonant

gemination across word boundary is a l s o i n v e s t i g a t e d .

A segmental as w e l l as a

l e x i c a l s o l u t i o n is given for various a l t e r n a t i o n s exhibited by 9 and d sounds

in different combinations across word/morpheme boundary.
In Chapter 5, f i n a l l y , the verbal morphology of Kabyle is t r e a t e d in terms
of two d i f f e r e n t approaches.

In the f i r s t ,

i t is argued that t h e consonants,

vowels, and o t h e r morphemes which c o n s t i t u t e a verb in Kabyle a r e i s o l a b l e u n i t s

to be represented on separate t i e r s and l a t e r mapped on s p e c i f i c CV templates.
The model of Autosegmental Theory as f i r s t developed in McCarthy (1979, 1981) for
Semitic and l a t e r applied to other languages (Halle & Vergnaud,
1982) i s followed in t h i s r e s p e c t .

1980; McCarthy,

The second approach, called ' l e x i c a l ' , handles

t h a t aspect of Kabyle verbal morphology which is relaCed to i t s complexity and

the d i f f i c u l t y of predicting the shapes of the d i f f e r e n t allomorphs of a verb.
Following Lieber (1980), i t w i l l be suggested to l i s t the various allomorphs of
a verb i n the lexicon with r e l a t i o n s h i p s among them expressed by means of devices
called morpholexical r u l e s .
5.

Data and Transcriptions

The data m this d i s s e r t a t i o n are mainly from the speech of Rachid Benked-

dache, a native of Am e l Hammam (ex-Michelet), a town located about 50 km.

south-east of T i z i Ouzzou, Algeria.

Rabah Amir, who comes from a nearby Cown,

and D j i l a l i Mankour, who comes from Sidi-Aich (near Bejaia (ex-Bougie)), were
a l s o consulted on some of the data.

Rachid Benkeddache and Rabah Amir come from

"Grande Kabylie"; D j i l a l i Mankour i s from " P e t i t e Kabylie", immediately to the

north of "Grande Kabylie" and closer to the Mediterranean.

10
The Kabyles are a group of the Berber people who l i v e in the Algerian Jurjur a
range of mountains t o the s o u t h - e a s t and east of the c a p i t a l c i t y , A l g i e r s .
area where they live has come to be called "Kabylie" by the French.
themselves speak different d i a l e c t s .

The

The Kabyles

The d i a l e c t under consideration here i s

spoken by the Igawawen, b e t t e r known under t h e i r Arabic name, Zwawa.

I t i s con-

sidered the "purest" Berber d i a l e c t in "Kabylie" (cf. Hanoteau, 1976), in the

sense t h a t i t makes t h e l e a s t use of Arabic words.

The Zwawa live on the highest

e l e v a t i o n s of the Northern section of the J u r j u r a chain.

The Berber language is

usually considered a member of the Chamito-Semitic family of languages.

For a

f a i r l y comprehensive look a t the Berber people, t h e i r language, and t h e i r geographic d i s t r i b u t i o n among t h e North African s t a t e s , t h e reader is r e f e r r e d to
Saib (1976).
In t r a n s c r i p t i o n s , Che following symbols a r e used:

B is t h e voiced b i l a b i a l

f r i c a t i v e ; 9_, d_ are t h e voiceless and voiced d e n t a l f r i c a t i v e s ; S_, 5_ are t h e

p a l a t a l f r i c a t i v e s ; x_, g_ are velar f r i c a t i v e s ; g, j are prevelar f r i c a t i v e s ;
h , 9 a r e laryngeal f r i c a t i v e s , similar to the well-known Arabic correspondents;
S, j a r e p a l a t a l a f f r i c a t e s ;

t s , dz are p a l a t o - a l v e o l a r a f f r i c a t e s ;

l e s s uvular s t o p ; e_ r e p r e s e n t s schwa.

A dot under a consonant represents

emphasis (emphasis i s phonemic in B e r b e r ) .

used her e are standard.

q is a voice-

All other n o t a t i o n a l conventions

11

Notes
Notice that schwa can not occur in an open syllable in Berber. Syllable
shapes like Ce are not allowed whereas those like (C)eC are the only ones
permitted. As a result of this constraint, unlike rules (2) and (4),
rule (6) does not require the syllable boundary specification in its formulation.

12

Chapter 2
THE PROBLEM OF THE SCHWA

0.

Introduction
The problem of the behavior and r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of the schwa vowel has been

one of the most complex matters in Berber phonology.

controversy among B e r b e r i s t s .

I t has been a subject of

Most Berber scholars (Laoust, 1918; Basset, 1929,

1952; Abdel-Massih, 1968; Penchoen, 1973; Guerssel, 1977, 1978) maintained or

simply assumed that a l l schwas a r e i n s e r t e d by r u l e because, they argued, t h e i r
occurrence i s p r e d i c t a b l e .

For them, t h i n g s which can be predicted by rule

should not be included in the underlying forms s i n c e doing so would mean t h a t

n a t i v e speakers can not make g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s about t h e i r language.

Saib (1976)

contested t h i s view and maintained t h a t schwas are present i n the underlying

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of a l l forms.

His p o s i t i o n is based on a p r i n c i p l e which d e r i v e s

from the s t r i c t adherence to t h e "Strong Naturalness Condition", and which tends

to minimize the difference between the underlying and the phonecic r e p r e s e n t a tions.

Saib termed h i s analysis the "concrete" a n a l y s i s and referred t o the

t r a d i t i o n a l analysis as the " a b s t r a c t " a n a l y s i s .

both analyses are d e f i c i e n t in one way or another.

He acknowledges, however, t h a t
He s t a t e s the matter f a i r l y

c l e a r l y when he commented that "Based on i n t e r n a l formal c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , the

a b s t r a c t a n a l y s i s is ' c o s t l y ' s i c ] because of the complexity of i t s r u l e s and
i t s requirement of a d d i t i o n a l devices which, we have seen, a r e ad hoc . . . Simil a r l y , the concrete a n a l y s i s can be considered ' c o s t l y ' s i n c e i t includes redundant information in t h e lexicon" (1976:143).
In the f i r s t s e c t i o n of t h i s chapter, the problem of t h e schwa w i l l be

13

s t a t e d and some data presented.

In the next two s e c t i o n s , the a b s t r a c t and con-

c r e t e analyses w i l l be considered separately and shown to be inadequate i n many

r e s p e c t s for Kabyle and another Berber d i a l e c t (Ayt Ndhir), spoken in Morocco.
In the following s e c t i o n , an a l t e r n a t i v e a n a l y s i s based on s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e
c o n s t r a i n t s w i l l be proposed and shown to account in a simple, straightforward
manner for t h e problem of the schwa in Kabyle.
w i l l be suggested.

A s y l l a b l e template for Kabyle

I t w i l l be argued that a schwa epenthesis r u l e w i l l be in-

voked every time a sequence of segments does not conform to the suggested template.

This analysis w i l l assume that schwas are not present i n the underlying

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of Kabyle forms.

In the f i n a l s e c t i o n , the s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e

a n a l y s i s w i l l be shown t o account in a simple manner for the d a t a from the Ayt

Ndhir d i a l e c t , as reported in Saib (1976).
1.

The Data and The Problem

I t is commonly assumed that Berber languages have a simple underlying vowel

system consisting of t h e following three segments:

back u_, and t h e low back a_.
front e_

t h e high front i_, the high

On the surface in many d i a l e c t s , however, t h e mid

and back , and the schwa occur a l s o .

e_ and are g e n e r a l ly assumed

to be p o s i t i o n a l v a r i a n t s of i^ and u_, r e s p e c t i v e l y , and occur i n a r e s t r i c t e d

phonological environment, namely, before back or low consonants as well a s
pharyngealized segments.
quent.

As for the schwa, i t s occurrence is p a r t i c u l a r l y

fre-

Many words, e s p e c i a l l y verbs such a s those in (1) below, do not contain

any other vowels beside the schwa.

14

(1) a.

jen

'to sleep1

ettes

'to s l e e p '

zer

'to see'

ellef

'to r e p u d i a t e '

ger

'to read out'

ekkes

'to take'

zed

zed

'to pulverise'

ezzer

' t o drown o n e s e l f

'to weave'

effeg

' t o go o u t '

exdem

'to work'

Beddel

' t o change'

efeel

'to roll

hezzeB

' t o be c a r e f u l '

ferfer

'to f l y '

couscous'
efder

to lunch'

ejzem

'to cut'

ecSem

'to enter'

Following other B e r b e r i s t s , mainly Basset (1929, 1952), Abdel-Massih (1968)

considered t h e consonants the only underlying segments in these stems, adopting
t h e model of Semitic root stems.

The schwas a r e i n s e r t e d by s p e c i f i c rules in

order to break up consonant c l u s t e r s and, consequently, t o f a c i l i t a t e pronunciation.

In a s e c t i o n on the problem of the schwa, Saib (1976) n o t i c e s that the

occurrence of t h i s vowel i s "both r e s t r i c t e d and p r e d i c t a b l e " (1976:125).

He

a l s o remarks t h a t whereas a l l other vowels occur in both closed and open s y l l a b l e s , schwa occurs only in closed s y l l a b l e s i n Northern Berber d i a l e c t s ,

as

shown in the examples in ( 2 ) , reproduced from Saib (1976:125):

(2)

closed s y l l a b l e
a.

aS

' t o you'

irs
umlil

b.

eS

'to give'

'tongue'

ers

'to land'

'white'

emlul

'to be white'

15
(2)

continued
open s y l l a b l e
a.

Sa

'something'

b.

*e

ini

' t o say'

*eni, * i n e , *ene

eddu

' t o go'

*edde

While acknowledging the p r e d i c t a b i l i t y of the occurrence of the schwa and the

p o s s i b i l i t y of including in the lexicon morphemes composed only of consonants,
Saib r e j e c t s t h e t r a d i t i o n a l approach to the problem of the schwa, namely, t h a t
i t is i n s e r t e d by r u l e .

Instead, he opts for considering the schwa present i n

underlying r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s .
section 3 .

Saib's arguments w i l l be discussed and evaluated in

In section 2, the t r a d i t i o n a l analysis w i l l be presented.

Both

analyses w i l l be shown to be inadequate on empirical and/or p r i n c i p l e d grounds.

2.

"Abstract" ( I n s e r t i o n ) Analysis
This a n a l y s i s considers a l l schwas in Berber i n s e r t e d by r u l e and p o s i t s

underlying forms without schwas.

For the verbs i n ( 1 ) , t h i s approach p o s i t s

underlying r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s consisting of consonants only.

The underlying stems

a r e given in ( 3 ) .
(3) a.

jn
zr

zd

b.

tts

xdm

d.

llf

f01

hzzB

kks

fdr

frfr

zzr

jzm

ffg

c,s*m

Bddl

zd

In order t o derive the forms in (1) from those in ( 3 ) , a r u l e l i k e the one in

(4) is usuall y invoked:

16

(Condition:

d i r e c t i o n a l i t y of a p p l i c a t i o n is
3
r i g h t - t o - l e f t , counting segments)

The e x t r i n s i c ordering and the d i r e c t i o n a l i t y of application of the rules

conflated in (4) a r e crucial i n order to d e r i v e the correct forms.

A sample

d e r i v a t i o n of exdem is given i n (5) :

(5) a.

//

C#

NA

b.

C//

//xdem//

c.

//

CC

//exdem//

d.

CC

NA

There are s e v e r a l complications associate d with the r u l e in ( 4 ) .

First,

according to Saib (1976), t h i s r u l e is complicated by i t s need for e x t r i n s i c

ordering and d i r e c t i o n a l a p p l i c a t i o n .

A second complication is revealed by the

Zero-Form (used i n the d e r i v a t i on of imperative and future forms) derivation of

b i - r a d i c a l verb stems.

Some of these stems ( e . g . , zer ' t o s e e ' ) have a schwa

occurring between the two root consonants, while others ( e . g . , e j j

behind' and eds ' t o laugh 1 ) have a schwa occurring before them.

' t o leave

In a d d i t i o n ,

t h e r e are some b i - r a d i c a l stems which have two possible pronunciations, v i z . ,

eng or neg ' t o k i l l ' , the schwa occurring e i t h e r between o r before the two root
consonants.

Given these f a c t s , three types of bi-radica l verbs must be d i s t i n -

guished with respect to the schwa epenthesis rule in (4).

As stated in ( 4 ) , this

r u l e can not y i e l d the correct r e s u l t s for a l l the forms of the three t y p e s .

It

coulu give the c o r r e c t output for the verbs of the f i r s t type ( i . e . , z e r ) and for

17

one pronunciation of the third type (i.e., neg but not eng). Rule (4), however,
does not yield the correct surface forms for verbs such as ejj (and ens 'to wear'
with one possible pronunciation in the Ayt Ndhir dialect, according to Saib
(1976)).

Structures with geminates, e.g., ejj, can be handled by a general con-

straint whereby geminates can not be broken by an epenthesis rule.

straint applies, only ejj can be obtained, never *jej.

If this con-

As for verbs like eng and

eds (and ens in Ayt Ndhir), a number of alternatives can be suggested in order to
get the correct results.
One alternative would be to let (4i) apply yielding neg and des (and nes in
the case of Ayt Ndhir), and have a schwa movement (or metathesis) rule apply after
(4i) to move the vowel to the position before the two root consonants.

This rule,

which is not explicitly phrasedas far as I knowin any of the preceding works
on Berber, can be presumably formulated as follows:

(6)

C+cont .}
1

Qi-cont .3
2

- 2

1 3

Metathesis would be optional for some forms and its application obligatory in
other cases. As illustrations, the derivations for eng, eds, and ens are given
below:
(7)

/ng/

/da/

/ns/

(URs)

neg

des

nes

(4i)

eng

eds

ens

(Metathesis)

The problem with this analysis is that it requires that all verb stems (biconsonantals and their derivatives) which do not undergo the metathesis rule be

18
marked as such i n the lexicon.

Moreover, among those which do undergo the r u l e ,

some would be marked as o p t i o n a l l y undergoing i t and others o b l i g a t o r i l y .

Alter-

n a t i v e l y , verbs such as eng, e d s , and ens can be marked as not undergoing ( 4 i ) .

However, a s p e c i a l provision would have to be made in order to derive them via
(4ii).
With both of the above analyses using ad hoc and complicated devices in order
t o derive the c o r r e c t forms, a b e t t e r a l t e r n a t i v e had to be s o u g h t .

A third

a n a l y s i s , f i r s t considered by Laoust (1918), s t i p u l a t e d that the schwa i n s e r t i o n

r u l e s are s e n s i t i v e to the n a t u r e of the consonants and their c l u s t e r i n g s .

Thus,

i n a sequence involving two consonants, say /C C J , for i n s t a n c e , the following

r u l e s are observed:

if C i s fc-son} a nd C i s +son|), c l u s t e r i n g is prohibited

and a schwa i n s e r t e d between t h e two consonants ( e . g . , / z r / ' t o s e e ' is r e a l i z e d

a s zer, not *ezr) .

If, on the other hand, C. i s r+sonl and C i s not, c l u s t e r i n g

i s allowed and t h e schwa occurs before the two consonants ( e . g . , /nz/ ' t o be on
s a l e ' is pronounced enz, never * n e z ) .
f o r many forms.

This approach gives the c o r r e c t r e s u l t s

I t f a i l s , however, to explain why we have forms like eds and e j s ,

where C is not +son).

Again, i t fails to explain why there a r e two possible

pronunciations for the verb ' t o k i l l ' , namely, neg and eng.
There is yet another complication with the above analysis f i r s t considered by
Saib (1976), namely, the occurrence of the schwas in different positions in the
p a s t and i n t e n s i v e conjugations of these verbs.
t h e personal a f f i x e s added.

These positions are dependent on

The personal affixes in Ayt Ndhir a r e reproduced

from Saib (1976:131) as in ( 8 ) :

19
Singular

(8)
1.

Plural
X

1.

2m. 6

2f. e

m(

3m. i

3m.

3f.

3f.

n(

2.

The full conjugation of the verb /xdm/ 'to work' in the past is given i n (9).
(9)

Singular

Plural

1.

xedmex

1.

nexdem

2.

9exdemd

2m. eGxedmem
2f. e0xedmem9

3m.

ixdem

3m. xedmen

3f.

9exdem

3f. xedmenG

Rule (4) can d e r i v e the correct surface forms in (9) except the forms for the
2 p . s g . , the 2 p . f . p l . and the 3 p . f . p l .

In order to c o r r e c t l y derive t h e s e forms,

d i f f e r e n t boundary u n i t s ( i . e . , (+) o r (//)) have to be posited depending on the

p a r t i c u l a r suffix added.

The effect o f having (//) before a suffix is t o prevent

r u l e (4) from i n s e r t i n g a schwa before that s u f f i x .

Rule (4) gives us the i n c o r-

r e c t result for the second person s i n g u l a r if the boundary (+) is used before t h a t
suffix:
(10)

//>0+xdm+d#/

(UR)

6xdmed

(4i)

9xedmed

(4ii)

e9xeemed

(4ii)

*e9xedmed

20

In order to obtain the correct output, a stronger boundary (//) is needed before the suffix d_, and an even stronger boundary (##) after it:

(11)

///9+xdm//d#/

(UR)

9+xdem//d#

(4i)

9exdem//d#

(4ii)

Sexdemd
The same kind of boundary is required in order to derive the correct forms of
the 2p.f.pl. and 3p.f.pl.
The past forms corresponding to those in (9) differ a bit in Kabyle.

In the

case of this language, however, a strong boundary (#//) has to be posited before
the 2p. prefix (singular and plural) as well as a boundary (#) before the suffix
of the 2 and 3p.f.pl. and a stronger boundary (////) after it. The full paradigm
in Kabyle is given in (12) below.
(12)

Past Tense of 'work'

Singular

Plural

1.

xedmeg

1.

nexdem

2.

9xedmed

2m. 9xedmem
2f. Gxedmemt

3m. yexdem

3m. xedmen

3f. Bexdem

3f. xedment

Notice Chat in Kabyle the boundaries (//) and (##) are not needed before and
after the 2p.sg. suffix, unlike in Ayt Ndhir.

Notice also that the lp.sg. suffix

and the 3p.m.sg. prefix are g and y in Kabyle whereas they show up as x and i,
respectively, in Ayt Ndhir.

21

S t i l l one more complication i s revealed by c e r t a i n prefixes when they stand

in front of b i - r a d i c a l v e r b s .

As can b e seen from the paradigm in (13), t h e

same provisions made for the 2p. p r e f i x e s in the t r i - r a d i c a l verbs have t o be

made for the 3 p . f . s g . and l p . p l . p r e f i x e s in the b i - r a d i c a l s .
(13)

Past Tense of ' s l e e p '

Singular

Plural

1.

ejneg

1.

njen

2.

9ejned

2m. 9ejnem
2f. Gejnemt

3m. i j e n

3m. ej'nen

3f. Gjen

3f. efnent

Given the paradigms in (12) and ( 1 3 ) , a g e n e r a l i z a t i o n can be made concerning

the personal subject p r e f i x e s .

I t seems that a strong boundary (////) has t o be

posited before these prefixes in order t o prevent the r u l e of schwa epenthesis

from i n s e r t i ng a schwa before them.
occur before these p r e f i x e s .

I t can be easily observed that no schwa can

Furthermore, these p r e f i x e s have t o be separated

from the verbal stems by a (#) boundary symbol.

What i s more i n t e r e s t i n g i s the

fact t h a t the suffixes do not require such a provision, except the t_ of t h e 2 and
3 p . f . p l . which w i l l be seen t o have a s p e c i a l s t a t u s .

This would mean t h a t a form

l i k e Gxedmed has t o be represented as /##9#xdm+d/ ( i . e . with a stronger boundary

(////) a t the beginning and less strong one (//) at the end of the word) in order for
the correct form t o be derived via r u l e ( 4 ) .

Notice t h a t the environment of the

epenthesis rule as formulated in (4) does not include t h e strong boundary symbol
(//#).

This means t h a t whenever there i s such a symbol i n a c e r t a i n word or s t r i n g ,

22

t h e epenthesis rule w i l l be prevented from applying.

As f o r the boundary symbol

( + ) , i t s presence d o e s not prevent Epenthesis from applying because i t is weaker

t h a n (//).

These s t i p u l a t i o n s conform t o the p r i n c i p l e s of generative phonology

as s t a t e d i n SPE and l a t e r works, i . e . ,

a phonological r u l e may apply a c r o s s a

weaker but not a s t r o n g e r boundary symbol.

In t h e case of Berber, however, there

d o e s not seem to be a principled reason for imposing such d i f f e r e n t

and making a d i s t i n c t i o n between p r e f i x e s and s u f f i x e s .
most

boundaries

Such a solution l o o k s

artificial.
To sum up, we c a n say t h a t while t h e epenthesis a n a l y s i s seems to make t h e

c o r r e c t prediction about the native s p e a k e r s ' a b i l i t y to make g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s

a b o u t t h e i r language by p o s i t i ng underlying forms without schwa, i t is a b l e to
account for the data only through the u s e of ad hoc d e v i c e s .

These include the

a d d i t i o n of " c o r r e c t i v e " r u l e s ( e . g . , m e t a t h e s i s ) , the u s e of exception f e a t u r e s ,

and the postulation of different boundary units (without any grammatical motivation).

Saib (1976) a l s o r e j e c t s this solution because i t p o s i t s underlying rep-

r e s e n t a t i o n s which d o not occur on the surface, i . e . , " a b s t r a c t " r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s .

I b e l i e v e , however, t h a t t h i s can not b e considered a s e r i o u s argument a g a i n s t
the analysis.

D i f f e r e nt degrees of a b s t r a c t n e s s have been commonly accepted by

d i f f e r e n t phonologists because many t h o r n y problems in t h e phonology of s e v e r a l

languages could not b e explained without positing a b s t r a c t underlying forms which
n e v e r occurred on t h e surface.
Yawelmani ( K i s s e b e r t h,

To c i t e just one example, some phenomena of

1969) could not be accounted for without assuming u n d e r -

l y i n g vowels which n e v e r show up phonetically.

The problem of a b s t r a c t n e s s

in

phonology i s a complicated one and i t i s not the purpose of this study Co d i s c u s s

t h e i n t r i c a c i e s of t h i s problem.

What I wane t o stress i s that the off-hand r e -

j e c t i o n of any form of abstractness i n positing underlying forms does not seem a

23

viable solution.

For a thorough discussion of the problem of a b s t r a c t n e s s , the

reader i s referre d to Kenstowicz and Kisseberth (1979) who give a fair and b a l anced account of the controversy underlying t h i s i s s u e .
3.

"Concrete" Analysis
The a n a l y s i s discussed i n the previous s e c t i o n was motivated by an important

p r i n c i p l e in SPE, namely, t h e p r i n c i p l e of e l i m i n a t i n g , as much as is f e a s i b l e ,

redundancy from the l e x i c o n .

I t was shown, however, t h a t the a n a l y s i s runs i n t o

multiple d i f f i c u l t i e s and i s unable to account for a l l the data without the use
of ad hoc d e v i c e s .

An a l t e r n a t i v e analysis was proposed by Saib (1976) which he

c a l l s "concrete" because i t posits underlying representations w i t h schwas.

In

t h i s s e c t i o n , the main arguments advanced by Saib to j u s t i f y h i s choice of t h i s

kind of a n a l y s i s w i l l be p r e s e n t e d .

This a n a l y s i s w i l l be then shown t o f a i l t o

account for a large portion of the data in Ayt Ndhir and Kabyle without r e s o r t ing to ad hoc and a r t i f i c i a l devices.

I t w i l l also be argued t h a t i t ignores an

important p r i n c i p l e of generativ e phonology.

The concrete analysis i s motivated, according to the author, by general p r i n ciples.

One of these p r i n c i p l e s i s concerned with the basis f o r s e l e c t i n g the

forms posited in the underlying r e p r e s e n t a t i o n .

The selection of forms such as

those in (1) above, that i s the phonetic shape of the verb in t h e imperative
singula-"-, as underlying forms is motivated by a general tendency:

the l e a s t mor-

p h o l o g i c a l l y marked form, u s u a l l y a bare root or stem, is chosen as the basic

form in a g r r a t many languages.

Saib b e l i e v e s that the form of the verbs in the

imperative singular ( u s u a l l y referred to as t h e Zero-Form) e x h i b i t s no morphological material.

He claims that i t corresponds to the bare r o o t .

The second

p r i n c i p l e r e l a t e s to the question of the degree of abstractness of the underlying

24

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of Berber forms.

Relying on a p r i n c i p l e deriving from the

"Strong Naturalness Condition" developed i n works by Kiparsky (1968), Vennemann

(1971), and Hooper (1973), which c o n s i s t s in minimizing the gap between the
underlying and phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s , Saib claims that the minimization goal
"takes precedence over t h a t of reducing redundancy in the lexicon" (1976:137).
The third p r i n c i p l e invoked by t h e author in support of his a n a l y s i s is the p r i n c i p l e of "No-Extrinsic Rule Ordering" advocated by several phonologists in the
e a r l y s e v e n t i e s , such as Vennemann (1971), Hooper (1973), and Koutsoudas et a l .
(1974).
The concrete analysis would s t i p u l a t e , then, t h a t the underlying forms for
verbs l i k e those in (1) above would be as in (14)that i s , i d e n t i c a l to t h e i r
phonetic shape:
(14) a.

jen
zer

b.

ettes

c.

exdem

d.

Beddel

ellef

ef9el

hezzeB

ger

ekkes

efder

ferfer

zed

ezzer

ejzem

zed

effeg

ecSem

An important question to be asked here would be whether or not the verb shapes
in (14) are paralleled by other verbs having the same canonical root shape.

In

other words, if the UR for the verbs in (14), for instance, is CeC and schwa is a
phoneme on a par with a,

i_, and u_, then, other things being equal, one would ex-

pect to find verbs of the shapes CaC, CiC, and CuC, and similarly for the other
root shapes in (14), namely, eC.C.eC, eCCeC, CeC.C.eC, and CeCCeC.

As a matter of

fact, verbs of the shape CVC, where V = a_, _i, or u_, could be found, as is evidenced

25

by the data i n (15a).

No v e r b s of the shapes VC.C.VC (12b), CVCCVC and CVCCVC

(14d) were a v a i l a b l e .

A few verbs of the shape VCCVC (14c), where V = i,

be found.

could

However, these v e r b s , which p e r t a i n to the semantically r e s t r i c t e d

class of v e r b s of q u a l i t y ( 1 5 b ) , are so r a r e t h a t t h e i r number i s no match for

the great number of the. verbs belonging to t h e canonical shape eCCeC.

In sum,

if some of t h e verb shapes i n (14) are p a r a l l e l e d by other v e r b s having the same

canonical r o o t shape with vowels other than schwa, the same i s not t r u e about the
majority of t h e verb shapes i n (14).

Hence, i f these facts could be i n t e r p r e t e d

in some way, they, from the s t a r t , c a st a shadow of doubt on S a i b ' s h y p o t h e s i s .

(15) a.

b.

lal

be born'

Ban

appear'

siB

become grey'

Sfih

abandon'

run

leave'

9um

swim'

izwig

'become red'

iwrig

'become yellow'

For Saib, the affixes will also appear with their supporting schwas, except
for the suffix of the second person singular, which has a special status. The
affixes proposed for Ayt Ndhir (Saib, 1976:138) are listed in (16):
(16)

Personal

Subject A f f Lxes

Singular
1.
2.

0e+

Plural
tea

1.

+d

2m. 9e+

+em

2f.

+em+9

ne+

9e+

3m.

i+

3m.

+en

3f.

0e+

3f.

+en+9

26
Saib claims t h a t the forms of t h e affixes p o s i t e d in (16) are i n accordance
with the second general p r i n c i p le motivating the concrete a n a l y s i s .

To support

his a n a l y s i s , he maintains t h a t "A look a t the Berber data presented h e r e , as

well as other data, will i n d i c a t e t h a t , a t the s u r f a c e l e v e l , a f f i x e s - with the
exception of / - d / . . . - appear with vocalic support" (p. 138).

However, a mere

look a t the conjugations of the verbs /xdm/ 'to w o r k ' and / j n / ' t o sleep' in
Kabyle in (12) and (13) above will i n d i c a t e facts contrary to S a i b ' s assertion .
In both conjugations, we f i n d a f f i x e s which do not appear with v o c a l i c support.
Hence, the a u t h o r ' s a s s e r t i o n can n o t be considered true of a l l Berber d a t a .

To

continue with the concrete a n a l y s i s , the f u l l p r e t e r i t conjugation of the verb

' t o work' in Ayt Ndhir is given in (17) .
(17)

Underlying

Phonetic

/exdem/

exdem

/exdem+ex/

xedmex

/9e+exdem+d/

Gexdemd

3m.

/i+exdem/

ixdem

3f.

/9e+exdem/

Gexdem

pl.l.

/ne+exdem/

nexdem

2m.

/9e+exdem+em/

eBxedmem

2f.

/9e+exdem+em+9/

e8xedmem6

3m.

/exdem+en/

xedmen

3f.

/exdem+en+9

xedmenG

sg.l.
2.

Most of the forms above require a rule of schwa deletion like the one in (18),

27

which deletes a schwa next to any other vowel.

Notice that t h i s rule not only

d e l e t e s a schwa next to another schwa but also next to any o t h e r vowel, i . e . ,

a_, i_, and u_. There are in fact p a s t verbal forms which may begin or end i n any
of t h e l a s t three vowels.
is consistently l o s t .

In t h e s e cases, i t i s the schwa of the affixes which

Examples of such forms together with t h e i r presumable

underlying formsif we accept S a i b ' s hypothesisare given i n (19).

(18)

(19)

> 0/V

( p . 139)

Phonetic
Representation
a.

b.

Underlying

Gloss

Representation

amen

/amen/

'to believe

9umen

/0e+umen/

'she believed'

numen

/ne+umen/

'we believed'

Gumnem

/9e+umen+em/

'you m.pl. bel

ger

/ger/

' to read out'

egrig

/geri+eg

'I read out'

Gegram

/9e+gera+em/

'you m.pl. rea

egran

/gera+en/

'they m. read

Beside the rule in (18), some of the forms in (17) and (19) require the
application of the rules given in (20) and (21), reproduced from Saib (1976:
139):
(20)

0/

(21)

e/

CV
CCV

28

G i v e n t h e u n d e r l y i n g forms i n (17) and t h e t h r e e r u l e s o f d e l e t i o n and

s e r t i o n given a b o v e , the d e r i v a t i o n of t h e p h o n e t i c forms f o r t h e f i r s t
s i n g u l a r and the second person feminine p l u r a l of t h e verb

in-

person

' t o work' would be

t h a t g i v e n i n (22) below:
( 2 2 ) a.

///exdem+ex#/

///9e+exdem+em+9///

exd m ex

(by 2 0 )

0e exd m em 9

(by 20)

exedm ex

(by 2 1 )

9 exd m em 9

(by 18)

xedm ex

(by 2 0 )

0 exedm em 9

(by 21)

9 xedm em 9

(by 20)

e 9 xedm em 9

(by 21)

xedmex

e9xedmem9
S a i b remarks t h a t , f i r s t , u n l i k e t h e a b s t r a c t a n a l y s i s , t h e c o n c r e t e
does n o t r e q u i r e t h e use of d i f f e r e n t boundary u n i t s for some s u f f i x e s .

analysis
Second,

a c c o r d i n g t o him, " I t does not r e q u i r e e x t r i n s i c r u l e o r d e r i n g " ( p . 1 4 0 ) .

He

c l a i m s a l s o t h a t , u n l i k e the a b s t r a c t a n a l y s i s , h i s a p p r o a c h does not r u n

into

any d i f f i c u l t y w i t h the i m p e r a t i v e forms of t h e b i - r a d i c a l v e r b s which a r e

listed

i n t h e l e x i c o n w i t h the vowel i n t h e a p p r o p r i a t e p o s i t i o n .

some o f t h e s e v e r b s have schwa between t h e two r a d i c a l s , e . g . ,

while o t h e r s have t h i s same v o w e l in i n i t i a l p o s i t i o n , e . g . ,

Recall

zer 'to

just
that

see',

enz ' t o be on s a l e ' .

But t h e n , a c c o r d i n g t o S a i b ' s h y p o t h e s i s , i t would be j u s t an a c c i d e n t t h a t some

verbs would be of t h e shape CeC and o t h e r s of t h e shape eCC.
o b s e r v e d and i t w i l l be f u r t h e r

I t has a l r e a d y been

shown l a t e r , however, t h a t t h e l a t t e r s h a p e o c -

curs o n l y when a s p e c i a l c l a s s o f consonants a r e

involved.

S a i b f u r t h e r c l a i m s t h a t t h e above r u l e s s h o u l d be a l l o w e d t o apply whenever

29
t h e i r s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n is met and that the c o r r e c t r e s u l t s would then be
obtained.

His analysis i s mainly based on rules of deletion .

However, i n s e r t i o n

a l s o plays a c e r t a i n role since rule (21) i s required within t h e concrete a n a l y s i s .

But notice t h a t this rule duplicates much of what the epenthesis r u l e (4) i n the
a b s t r a c t analysi s does.
Whatever the advantages of the concrete a n a l y s i s over any previous approaches
t o the problem of the schwa in Berber, this a n a l y s i s is nevertheless plagued with
serious d i f f i c u l t i e s on principled and empirical grounds.
concerned with the p r e d i c t a b i l i t y of t h e schwas:

The f i r s t objection i s

since the phonetic occurrences

of schwa can be predicted by r u l e , p o s i t i n g schwas as underlying segments r e s u l t s

in the inclusion of redundant information i n the l e x i c a l representations of formatives.

This would mean a l s o that Berber native speakers can not make a l l the

possible g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s which the d a t a permit.

This goes d i r e c t l y against the

basic p r i n c i p l e s of the standard phonological theory, which s t i p u l a t e s t h a t things

which can be predicted should not be included in t h e underlying r e p r e s e n t a t i o n .
Q

This rather ' s e r i o u s '

objection Co t h e concrete analysis is r e a l i z e d by Saib

himself.
This i s n o t , however, the only d i f f i c u l t y with the concrete a n a l y s i s .

An-

other problem concerns i t s adherence t o the "No-Extrinsic Ordering" p r i n c i p l e ,

the subject of lengthy discussions among phonologists i n the s e v e n t i e s , which
I s h a l l eschew here.

I b e l i e v e , however, t h a t the adherence t o such a p r i n c i p l e

c o n s t i t u t e s a weakness in the concrete analysis.

For even though some phonolo-

g i s t s argued against e x t r i n s i c rule ordering in favor of the "No-Extrinsic

Ordering" Hypothesis (Vennemann, 1971; Hooper, 1973), the e x t r i n s i c ordering
p r i n c i p l e remained and was adhered to by most phonologists because i t is needed to
account for some phonological phenomena and problems which could not be explained

30

otherwise.

As for Saib's adoption of the hypothesis which claims that r u l e s are

applied whenever t h e i r s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n (SD) i s met (at the expense of the

d i r e c t i o n a l applicatio n of r u l e s ) , I b e l i e v e that t h i s c o n s t i t u t e s another weakness of t h e a n a l y s i s , related t o his adherence to the "No-Extrinsic Ordering"
Hypothesis.

The d i r e c t i o n a l applicatio n of rules i s e s s e n t i a l in order to a c -

count for many problems in phonology.

In order to explain some s t r e s s i n g r u l e s

in various languages, for i n s t a n c e , Hayes (1980), using the m e t r i c a l approach,

had to proceed in some cases from l e f t to r i g h t ( e . g . , in Maranungku, a P a c i f i c
language ( p . 51)) and in others from right to l e f t ( e . g . , in Warao (p. 51)) in
the e r e c t i o n of feet and word t r e e s .
In a d d i t i on to these o b j e c t i o n s , the concrete analysi s i s burdened by t h r e e
rules of d e l e t i o n and insertion which can apply and reapply randomly whenever
t h e i r environment i s met.

Even though the two rules of deletion are indepen-

dently motivated in Berber languages (two vowels do not occur s e r i a l l y in Berber

and a schwa can not occur in an open s y l l a b l e ) ,

the rule of i n s e r t i o n (21) is

motivated only by the need to make Che analysis work and produce the c o r r e c t
phonetic outputs.

This r u l e becomes necessary as a r e s u l t of the a p p l i c a t i o n of

the second rule of d e l e t i o n , namely, the r u l e which delete s a schwa in an open

syllable.

However, the need for chis second rule would not a r i s e if we did not

assume t h a t there were underlyingly more schwas than necessary.

In order t o

clarify t h e l a s t p o i n t , l e t us take as an i l l u s t r a t i o n the d e r i v a t i o n of xedmex

' I worked'.
///exdem+ex#/.

According to the concrete a n a l y s i s , the UR of t h i s form is

Rule (20) f i r s t a p p l i e s to y i e l d ///exdm+ex///.

At t h i s p o i n t , a

cluster of three consonants is created which requires the application of r u l e

(21) producing ///exedm+ex///.

As can be s e e n , the a p p l i c a t i o n of the i n s e r t i o n

rule i t s e l f contributes to the c r e a t i o n of an appropriate environment for r u l e

31

(20) whose a p p l i c a t i o n y i e l d s ///xedm+ex/, whence t h e correct output xedmex.

This

output i s , however, obtained only at a high p r i c e , namely, the a p p l i c a t i o n and r e a p p l i c a t i o n of s e v e r a l r u l e s .

The seriousness of t h i s problem i s b e t t e r perceived

in the d e r i v a t i o n of the second person feminine p l u r a l where t h e rules of deletion

and i n s e r t i o n have to apply and reapply five times in order t o obtain the correct
output.

Notice a l s o t h a t in the form f o r the f i r s t person s i n g u l a r two of the

three schwas posited as underlying do not appear on the s u r f a c e .

This observation

c o n t r a d i c t s one of the basic p r i n c i p l e s on which Saib b u i l t h i s a n a l y s i s , namely,

minimizing the gap between t h e underlying and phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s .

This

p r i n c i p l e is most c l e a r l y v i o l a t e d when none of t h e schwas p o s i t e d underlyingly

show up phonetically as in xedmaxxam ' f i x the house' from underlying /exdem
/
axxam/.

10

Before concluding t h i s s e c t i o n , l e t us examine how the concrete a n a l y s i s would

derive t h e past t e n s e forms of a b i - r a d i c a l (/jen/
verb (/exdem/ ' t o work') in Kabyle.

' t o s l e e p ' ) and a t r i - r a d i c a l

The posited underlying forms are given in

(23); t h e phonetic forms can be found i n (12) and (13) above.

Notice t h a t the

second person s i n g u l a r suffix in Kabyle has to be preceded by a schwa s i n c e t h i s

schwa appears p h o n e t i c a l l y .
(23) a.
sg.l

/exdem/

b.

/jen/

/exdem+eg/

/jen+eg/

/9e+exdem+ed/

/9e+jen+ed/

3m.

/y+exdem/

/y+jen/

3f.

/9e+exdem/

/e+jen/

32
(23)

continued

pl.l

/ne+exdem/

/ne+jen/

2m.

/9e+exdem+em/

/0e+jen+em/

2f.

/9e+exdem+em+0/

/Ge+jen+em+9/

3m.

/exdem+en/

/jen+en/

3f.

/exdem+en+9/

/jen+en+9/

The provisions made by the concrete analysis can derive most of the phonetic
forms of these two verbs from the underlying representations in (23). This analysis fails, however, to derive the correct phonetic forms for the second person
singular and plural of the verb 'to work' and the third person feminine and first
person plural of the verb 'to sleep'.

Various applications of the rules (18),

(20) and (21) would give us the following incorrect forms:

*e0xedmed 'you sg.

worked', *e9xedmero 'you m.pl. worked', *e9xedmem0 'you f.pl. worked', *e9jen 'she
slept', and *enjen 'we slept'.

If we want to obtain the correct forms according

to the concrete analysis, we will have to postulate special provisions for Kabyle,
such as restricting the application of the insertion rule in (21) to certain segments and excluding other segments from the domain of its application.

Another

alternative would be to posit different boundary units before or after certain

affixes so that the insertion rule is blocked from applying to them.

All these

devices, which we do not need to discuss in detail, are ad hoc and complicate the
concrete analysis to an undesirable degree. Needless to repeat, the use of such
ad hoc devices was one of the main reasons which led Saib to reject the abstract
analysis.

We see, however, that the concrete analysis itself can not account for

all the data without Che use of such devices. Hence, ic can be concluded Chat it

33

is no better than the a b s t r a c t analysis i n t h i s r e g a r d .

In sum, in a d d i t i o n to v i o l a t i n g c e r t a i n important phonological p r i n c i p l e s
such as the p r i n c i p l e of p r e d i c t a b i l i t y ,

the concrete analysis i s unable to a c -

count for a l l t h e data in Berber without positing d i f f e r e n t boundary units or

r e s t r i c t i n g the domain of a p p l i c a t i o n of r u l e s , which would add t o t h e i r complexity.

Hence, t h i s a n a l y s is should be considered ' d e f i c i e n t ' ,

as Saib himself

acknowledges, and a b e t t e r s o l u t i o n Co t h e problem of the schwa must be sought.

4.

Syllable Structure Analysis

To sum up t h e previous discussion, i t can be s a i d that the problem of major

concern has been that although i t seems preferable (and d e s i r a b l e ) to p o s t u l a t e

underlying forms without schwa and i n s e r t the l a t t e r by rules of vowel epenthes i s , the rules t h a t would be required t o account for a l l Berber data have turned
out t o be of such complexity and opacity as to r a i s e serious questions about
t h e i r v a l i d i t y (Vergnaud & H a l l e , 1978).

This s t a t e of affairs led Saib (1976)

to consider the epenthesis hypothesis ' c o s t l y ' because of the complexity of i t s

r u l e s and i t s requirement of additional ad hoc d e v i c e s .

Instead, he suggested

an a l t e r n a t i v e a n a l y s i s which assumed t h a t schwas a r e present i n underlying r e p r e s e n t a t i o ns and devised t h r e e rules of d e l e t i on and insertion i n order to derive
the correct phonetic forms.

This a n a l y s i s has also turned out t o be ' c o s t l y ' , as

i t s author himself acknowledges, because i t includes redundant information i n the

lexicon and, as was shown i n the case of Kabyle, because of i t s need for a d d i t i o n al ad hoc d e v i c e s .
In this s e c t i o n , a new approach to t h e problem of the schwa i n Kabyle in terms
of t h e recent theory of s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e w i l l be suggested and shown to account
for t h i s problem in a simple, straightforward way.

I will rely p r i n c i p a l l y on

the approach to s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e sketched in work by Halle and Vergnaud (1980).

34

In t h i s view, phonological segments are represented in terms of three separate

tiers:

a t i e r of d i s t i n c t i v e feature s p e c i f i c a t i o n s c a l l e d the 'melody', a s k e l e -

t a l t i e r of C's and V ' s , and a t i e r of Onsets and Rimes.

The s k e l e t a l t i e r serves

as the terminal point for a number of d i f f e r e n t p a t t e r n s of phonological organization.

One of t h e most important of these i s organization i n t o Onsets and Rimes,

t h e immediate c o n s t i t u e n t s of the s y l l a b l e .

I t w i ll be shown that the problem of

t h e schwa in Kabyle and another Berber d i a l e c t (Ayt Ndhir) can be handled quite
e a s i l y in terms of s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l es of these languages.
This section w i l l be divided into s e v e r a l p a r t s .

F i r s t , a sketch of the r e -

c e n t theories of s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e w i l l be presented and the importance of the

n o t i o n of the s y l l a b l e in explaining some phonological phenomena underlined.
Then, I w i l l t r y to e l u c i d a t e the s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e s p o s s i b l e in Kabyle and propose a template for the s y l l a b l e s in t h i s d i a l e c t .

Afterwards, the problem of

how the schwa f i t s within the framework of s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e w i l l be explored.

In the f i n a l p a r t of t h i s s e c t i o n , the problem of the l e v e l (word or phrase level)
a t which s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n is assigned in Kabyle will be examined.

It w i l l be a r -

gued that great complexity i n the s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n r u l e s can be avoided i f t h i s

process i s allowed to operate only once on the phrasal l e v e l .
4.1.

Syllable S t r u c t u r e Theory
I t i s a common b e l i e f among l i n g u i s t i c s t h a t the s y l l a b l e as a u n i v e r s a l pho-

n o l o g i c a l concept has a well-defined s t a t u s in phonological theory.

Even though

t h e phonological theory developed in Chomsky and Halle (1968) failed t o take cognizance of che notion of the s y l l a b l e , recognizing instead morphological c o n s t i t u e n t s delimited by square brackets and boundary symbols, arguments that t h i s theory
i s inadequate have been abundant (Kahn, 1976, for English and o t h e r s ) .

The focus

35
of these arguments has been t h a t the phonological systems of many languages can
not be properly explained and described without reference t o syllable s and even
higher level u n i t s .

These arguments have a l s o demonstrated t h a t phonotactic con-

s t r a i n t s and d i s t r i b u t i o n a l statements about segment c l u s t e r s are best explained,

i n a multitude of c a s e s , in terms of s y l l a b l e s r a t h e r than morphemes or words
(Fudge, 1969; Hooper, 1972; Kahn, 1976, among o t h e r s ) .
The evidence that the s y l l a b l e as a s t r u c t u r a l unit i s of valuable s i g n i f i cance in phonological theory i s at l e a s t two-fold.

F i r s t , many phonological

r u l e s and g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s can be captured and s t a t e d in a simple, straightforward

manner i f reference i s made t o the s y l l a b l e break between segments r a t h e r than to
segmental environments or grammatical boundaries.

I t has been shown, for i n -

s t a n c e , that r u l e s such as n a s a l and l a t e r a l assimilation and s_-voicing i n Spanish

(Hooper, 1972), the a s p i r a t i o n , g l o t t a l i z a t i o n , and voicing of in American
English (Kahn, 1976), and degemination, e p e n t h e s i s , and vowel-shortening in Turki s h (Clements & Keyser, 1981) can be b e t t e r analyzed if t h e s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e of
t h e input s t r i n g s is taken i n t o account.

McCarthy (1979) has a l s o explained dif-

ferent rules of epenthesis, lengthening, and gemination i n Tiberian Hebrew in

terms of a theory of s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e in which segments a r e h i e r a r c h i c a l l y a r ranged into h i g h e r - o r d e r c o n s t i t u e n t s in a binary-branchin g t r e e .

More r e c e n t l y ,

Harris (1983) h a s demonstrated t h a t the r u l e s of a s p i r a t i o n , v e l a r i z a t i o n ,

"liquid

g l i d i n g " , and l a t e r a l and nasal d e p a l a t a l i z a t i o n i n Spanish can be most e a s i l y

expressed if formulated in terms of Onsets and Rimesthe immediate c o n s t i t u e n t s
of the s y l l a b l e .

This novel t a c t i c has led t o a radical s i m p l i f i c a t i o n of the

conditioning environments and t o the elimination of the need to have the various
well-known boundary u n i t s in t h e formulation of such r u l e s .
At another l e v e l , i t has been f a i r l y w e l l established t h a t suprasegmental or

36
prosodic u n i t s , e s p e c i a l l y s t r e s s , a f f e c t syllables r a t h e r than s i n g l e segments
or other constituents such as morphemes or words, and t h a t , t h e r e f o r e , the s y l lable must be the domain on which such u n i t s are defined (Goldsmith,
1980; H a r r i s , 1983, among o t h e r s ) .

1976; Hayes,

To c i t e j u s t one example, McCarthy (1979)

has argued that s t r e s s in Tiberian Hebrew and several Arabic d i a l e c t s can best
be described in terms of r e l a t i v e prominence among s y l l a b l e s .

In g e n e r a l terms,

i t can be said t h a t the s t r e s s rules of many languages draw a d i s t i n c t i o n between

l i g h t and heavy s y l l a b l e s and, consequently, assign s t r e s s to heavy s y l l a b l e s
that meet certain conditions such as d i s t a n c e from a word boundary.

I n Latin,

for i n s t a n c e , s t r e s s i s assigned to a penultimate s y l l a b l e if i t is heavy (CVC or

CVV, where VV = long vowel) as well a s in bisyllabi c words; o t h e r w i s e , the a n t e penultimate s y l l a b l e bears the s t r e s s (see examples i n
(24) a.

(24)).

amaavisti

b.

amaatus

c.

amor

d.

amaaverit

e.

amaaveritis

S t u d i e s on the i n t e r n a l s t r u c t u r e of the syllable

( i . e . , what c o n s t i t u t e s a

s y l l a b l e ) have been many, especially i n the l a s t few y e a r s (McCarthy,

& Vergnaud, 1980; Mohanan, 1982; H a r r i s , 1983, to c i t e just a few).

1979; Halle
I t has been

a s s e r t e d that s y l l a b l e s have i n t e r n a l immediate constituents of t h e i r own similar

to s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e s , that can be represented in t e r m s of binary-branching
t r e e diagrams.

S p e c i f i c a l l y , the common view held t h a t each s y l l a b l e consists of

one o b l i g a t o r y and two optional c o n s t i t u e n t s .

The o b l i g a t o r y c o n s t i t u e n t i s usu-

a l l y r e f e r r e d to as the Rime and must dominate at l e a s t one V-slot i n the s k e l e t a l

37

tier.

The Rime i t s e l f i s subdivided i n t o a Nucleus (dominating the V - s l o t ) , which

i s the true o b l i g a t o r y c o n s t i t u e n t , and a Coda, an optional c o n s t i t u e n t c o n s i s t i n g

of a l l the consonants which follow the vowel of the nucleus.

The consonant or

consonants which precede the vowel of the nucleus c o n s t i t u t e what i s commonly

c a l l e d the Onset, the second o p t i o n a l c o n s t i t u e n t of the s y l l a b l e .

According t o

t h i s view, s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e can be represented as follows:

(25)

oda)

Halle and Vergnaud's (1980) approach to s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e maintains that phon o l o g i c a l segments are best r e p r e s e n t ed in terms of three separat e t i e r s :

a tier

of d i s t i n c t i v e feature s p e c i f i c a t i o n s called t h e 'melody', a s k e l e t a l t i e r of C's

and V's, and a t i e r of Onsets and Rimes.

In t h i s same work, they introduce the

n o t i o n of the Appendix to a s y l l a b l e , which c o n s i s t s of any subsequence of C s l o t s

following the Rime.

In this view, s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e can be represented as in

(26) below, where 0, R, and A stand for Onset, Rime, and Appendix, r e s p e c t i v e l y .
(26)

One further c l a r i f i c a t i o n about t h e notion of the Appendix in terms of Halle

and Vergnaud's approach is appropriat e here.

The authors provide evidence from

38

Arabic, English, and Malayalam that the Appendix should be treated as a separate
extrametrical constituent of the syllable rather than as an integral part of the
Rime.

Their basic argument in this regard stems from the fact that in these three

languages Appendices do not appear freely in all positions of the word but are
limited to word-final syllables. This remark will receive further confirmation
from Kabyle as we shall see in the next section.
4.2.

Syllable Structure and Schwa in Kabyle

On the basis of most data in Kabyle, I will assume that the basic syllable
structure in this language consists of Onsets and Rimes and, consequently, adopt
the syllable template in (27) for the purposes of this Berber language.

(27)

Oc)

The data in (28), which are fairly representative of the Kabyle's most common word structures, seem to confirm the validity of the template in (27). Furthermore, they illustrate the possible syllable structures of this language.

It

is worth noticing that the Rime dominating one V-slot is the only obligatory
constituent in Kabyle (compare this with Arabic, for example, where the Onset,
which must dominate at least one C-slot, is also an obligatory constituent of the
syllable).

This means that there is one type of syllable in Kabyle that may con-

sist of just a single constituent, namely, the Rime dominating one V-slot.

This

explains another fact of Kabyle and other Berber languages: words in these Ian-

39

guages, unlike Arabic, can b e g in with a vowel.

On the analogy of many other l a n -

guages (such a s Arabic and L a t i n ) and on the b a s i s of native s p e a k e r s ' i n t u i t i o n s ,

I assume that an intervocalic consonant in Kabyle s y l l a b i f i e s with the following
vowel.

As for two consecutive consonants word-internall y ( e i t h e r l i k e , i . e . ,

geminate, or u n l i k e ) , the f i r s t
second with a following vowel.

(28) a.

is s y l l a b i f i e d with a preceding vowel and the

12

agur, i s a f f e n , adan,

. A ,

b.

argaz, af, amsis, lrgazen, exdem

VC

/\

A.,,.,, A

t\.

h. (h . IK th (K

c.

CVC

argaz, a m s i s , izwig, r u h , jen

d.

CV

BaBa, s e k s u , a s t i l u

If we exclude for the time being the s y l l a b l e s involving schwa, we can assume,
on the basis of the d a t a and t h e s t i p u l a t i o n s given above, the following s y l l a b l e building rules for Kabyle:
a)

assign a vowel to a Rime;

b)

assign a prevocalic consonant to an Onset;

c)

assign a s t r i n g of one o r more unassigned consonants t o a l t e r n a t i n g

Rime and Onset p o s i t i o n s s t a r t i n g from the r i g h t end of the s t r i n g ;

d)

join under one Rime node two consecutive Rime nodes;

e)

final s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n i s obtained by grouping together Rime and

Onset nodes i n t o a s y l l a b l e .

The above r u l e s can be formalized as follows:

a)

b)

C/
0

C C C C

c)

..

e)

(0) R

d)

. .

IU V

(0)

With t h e help o f these s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s , c o r r e c t d e r i v a t i o n s

for

l i k e agur, argaz, and ruh can be g i v e n as f o l l o w s :

(29)

r,

a r g a z,

r ruuhh

I [ I t IU
t

>

F>

f1 F g

,1 ,1,
*

( r u l e a)

f gu

kkORR

( r u l e c)

( r u l e e)

6 R

( r u l e b)

g r r

7
10RR

: f

f C

OR
( r u l e d)

u h

C V

OR

41

At this point, we are ready to tackle the problem posed by the syllables
involving schwas.

It has to be stressed from the start that the analysis which

assumes underlying representations without schwa is to be adopted because it

eliminates redundancy from the lexicon and conforms to native speakers' ability
to make generalizations about their language.

But instead of formulating rules

for the insertion of the schwa at the segmental level, it will be shown that a
simple rule for its insertion fits easily well within the syllable-building rules
of the language.

If indeed a syllable structure arises which lacks a Rime domi-

nating a V-slot, i.e., a syllable structure which does not conform to the template
in (27) above, a provision has to be made in order to ensure that an unacceptable
syllable structure will not be obtained. More specifically, the appearance of the
schwa in different forms is simply a reflex of the general Kabyle scheme for imposing a syllable structure on a string of consonants.

If we have, for instance,

a string of four consonants, rule (c) will assign them to alternating Rime and
Onset positions starting from the right end.

However, when we come to final syl-

labification, we are left with unacceptable syllable shapes, namely, syllables

without vowels.
(30)

This is represented below:

mniii
o^

( r u l e c)

inappl.

3L>

(rule e)

(rule d)
Given the ill-forme d d e r i v a t i o n in (30) above, a s p e c i a l provision has to be made
in order to avoid i t s g e n e r a t i o n .
s e r t i o n i s formulated.

This can be e a s i l y done if a r u l e of schwa i n -

Such a r u l e can be phrased in two steps as follows:

42

a)

i f a Rime node f a i l s t o dominate a vowel s l o t , adjoin a V - s l o t

as a left daughter t o the Rime;

b)

s p e l l out a V-slot t h a t is unlinked t o a segment in the phonemic

core as schwa.

This r u l e can be formalized as follows:

a)

\ C

or

V/

b)

This r u l e must be ordered after r u l e (d) of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s given

above.

Given this new rule, which i s e s s e n t i a l to Kabyle phonology, the s y l l a b l e -

building r u l e s s p e c i f i c to t h i s language are l i s t e d below in the r e l e v a n t order

with the schwa rule renamed r u l e (e) and (f) whereas the final

syllabification

r u l e has b e e n r e t i t l e d rule ( g ) :
a) a s s i g n a vowel to a Rime; b) assign a prevocalic consonant t o an
Onset; c ) assign a s t r i n g of one or more unassigned consonants to
a l t e r n a t i n g Rime and Onset positions s t a r t i n g from the r i g h t end of
the s t r i n g ; d) j o i n under one Rime node two consecutive Rime p o s i t i o n s ; e ) if a Rime node f a i l s to dominate a vowel s l o t , a d j o i n a Vslot a s a left daughter t o the Rime; f) s p e l l out a V-slot t h a t is
unlinked to a segment i n the phonemic core as schwa; g) f i n a l

syllabi-

f i c a t i o n is obtained by grouping together Rime and Onset nodes into

a syllabie.
The r u l e s above are able t o derive the c o r r e c t forms for words involving
schwas.

I l l u s t r a t i o n s are g i v e n below for j e n ' s l e e p ' , exdem 'work' and aguren

'moons' from underlying / j n / , xdm/, and / a g u r n / , r e s p e c t i v e l y :

43

(31)

(URs)

II III
inappl.

(rule a)

(rules b and c)
inappl.

inappl.

(rule d)

xs ?xs

V
(rule e)

jen
CV(
(rule f)

(rule g)

The syllable-building rules regulate the distribution of the schwa in forms

such as jen 'sleep' and ejneg 'I slept' (from underlying /jn/ and /jng/, respectively):

13

44

irtirtr

(32)

inappl.
( r u l e s a and b)

OR

J
R0

( r u l e c)

f' ? F f *" ? ?' * ? F

c i cc
;yc yc :vc
iinappl
nappl.

OR

R0R

( r u l e e)

( r u l e d)

i i*

(rule f)
( r u l e g)
The only cases which seem not to conform t o the template in (27) a r e (almost
exclusively) those words which include the following segments:

a) the feminine

suffix 9_ (which shows up p h o n e t i c a l ly as _t in c e r t a i n environments, namely, a f t e r

nasals and _1_); b) the personal subject prefixes 0 and n_; c) geminate c l u s t e r s
in word-final position or w o r d - i n t e r n a l ly but followed by a consonant.

The ex-

amples in (33) i l l u s t r a t e the d i f f i c u l t i e s r a i s e d by words containing such segments .

(33) a .

feminine s u f f i x :

9a

cat

fem.

Saqzunt

'bitch'

9agyul

'donkey' fem.

ifKl

' t h e y f. found' (versus

ufant

9i9Bir

ufan 'they m. found')

>^
n ../> >
dove

fem.

45

b.

personal subject prefixes:

the difficulty raised by these prefixes

i s best illustrated by the following past conjugation of the verb lul 'to be
born':
Singular

1.

Plural

\ / \
luleg

!. Gluled

1.

Qluiem

m.

Slulerat

f.

llul

m.

lulen

m.

lul

f.

tAi

f.

Here, I assume that the t (derived from 9) of the 2 and 3 feminine plural is
a feminine marker and not a subject suffix.

c.

:
geminate clusters:

eggall
eggall

'to swear'

ezzall

to pray

xeadmeg

'I work'

ineqq

'he kills'

46

The data relative to the feminine suffix can be easily accounted for by adopting Halle and Vergnaud's notion of the Appendix to the syllable.

Thus, we can

modify the syllable template in (27) so as to include an Appendix node. Notice,

however, that the Appendix may dominate only C's at the skeletal tier which are
realized as the 9 (or t)

of the feminine suffix at Che melody tier.

This restric-

tion itself is indicative of the special status of the Appendix and is a further
confirmation of Halle and Vergnaud's position that the Appendix is to be considered
a separate extrametrical constituent of the syllable rather than an integral part
of the Rime.

Notice also that the occurrence of the suffix 9 is limited to word-

final syllables. Given this stipulation, the syllable template for Kabyle can be
modified as in (34) below.
(34)

Kabyle syllable template (modified version):

Given the template in (34), words like 9ams'iS9 and ufant can be syllabified as
in (35).

(35)

9amsis

l&t

Notice that the Appendix node may only dominate a 9_ sound which represents the
feminine suffix.

If a word ends in the same sound but is not the feminine suffix,

this sound is subject to the template in (27), i.e., it must be dominated by a

Rime node.

Compare the data in (33) with those in (36), where the final 0 is

47

either part of the root or the suffix of the second person plural of the imperative.

In the latter cases, 9 is always preceded by schwa, which indicates that

it can not be assigned to an Appendix node.

(36)

we0

'hit' (Zero-Form or imperative singular)

ew9e9

'(you pi.) hit'

exdem

'work'

xedme

'(you pi.) work'

jen

'sleep'

ejne

'(you pi.) sleep'

The rule assigning the feminine suffix 9_ to an Appendix node can be formalized as follows:
(37)

(where 9_ => feminine suffix)

There is another class of suffixes which behave like the feminine suffix in
the sense that it seems they should be assigned to an Appendix node.

These are

the direct object clitics, consisting of bare consonants and usually suffixed to
the verbal form.

Illustrations are given below:

48

(38) a.

9ufid

'you found'

'I found him'

9ufitt

'you found h i m '

ufigts

'I found her'

Qufidts

'you found h e r '

ufigk

'I found you'

ufig

'I found'

ufigO

b.

I suggest these s u f f i x e s be assigned to an Appendix node on a par w i t h the

feminine suffix 9.
(39)

Consequently, r u l e (37) has to be modified as follows:

Qfem./dir.obj. suffix]

[fem./dir.obj.

suffix}

(where d i r e c t object suffixes = G, t s , and k)

Rule (39) has to be ordered before r u l e (c) of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s ,

i . e . , the rule which assign s a s t r i n g of uuassigned consonants to a l t e r n a t i n g
Rime and Onset p o s i t i o n s s t a r t i n g from the r i g h t end of t h e s t r i n g .
t r a t i o n s , the d e r i v a t i o n s for GamsiSG 'f.

c a t ' and ufigk ' I found you' a r e given

below:
(40)

HS

(rules a and b)

As i l l u s -

( r u l e 39)

m2

(rule d)

49

(40)

continued

;ti!iirtii
inappl.
(rules e and f)
(rule g)
The data in (33b) present a more serious problem to the syllable template
represented in (27). Here, we notice that some forms (those which include the
personal subject prefixes 9 anu n) can begin with a cluster of two consonants.
However, two facts are indicative of the special status of such forms and suggest
that they should be treated by a specifically idiosyncratic provision. First,
the only words which begin with a consonant cluster in Kabyle are those which include the personal subject prefixes mentioned above. Se^oi.'., if these forms occur
phrase-internally, the syllable boundaries are affected in a radical way.
In fact, if forms like these are preceded by other words in the phrase, the
syllable break is usually after the prefixes.

More specifically, when these forms

are preceded by words ending in a vowel, the subject prefixes will syllabify with
the preceding vowel; if they are preceded by words ending in a consonant, a new
syllable is created in which the subject prefixes form part of the Rime and the
final consonant of the preceding word forms the Onset of the new syllable.

The

way in which this syllable is created will be discussed later in this section.
The point to be stressed here is that an Onset consisting of a consonant cluster
can not occur phrase-internally.

The examples in (41) illustrate the cases where

forms beginning with personal subject prefixes occur phrase-internally and are
preceded by either vowel-final or consonant-final words.

50

(41) a.

b.

c.

Gxeddmed

'you work'

ara
ira Gxed
Gxeddmed

'you work every day'

nxeddem

'we work'

ara nxeddem

'we work every day'

Gjen

'she slept1

.MX

yasmin eGjen

'Yasmin (f. name) slept'

Because of these restrictions on the occurrence of word-initial two-consonant

clusters, I shall suggest that the first members (i.e., the personal prefixes) of
these clusters be considered not as parts of the Onset of the syllable but rather
as separate extrametrical constituents of the syllable on a par with the feminine
suffix and the direct object suffixes.

However, whereas the feminine suffix and

the object clitics were considered 'Appendices' to the syllable, I shall refer to
the subject prefixes as 'Prependices' to the syllable.

It can be claimed that if

an Appendix constituent of the syllable is allowed after the Rime, one might expect to find, all other things being equal, a 'Prependix' constituent of the syllable consisting of any subsequence of consonants preceding the Onset.

Given

that the subject prefixes are assigned to a Prependix only phrase-initially (the
examples in (41) above clearly indicate that they can not be considered prependices phrase-internally), the rule which assigns them to a Prependix should contain the restriction that this assignment occurs only after a pause.

This rule,

which should be ordered after rule (b) of the syllable-building rules, will look

51

like t h e following:
(42)

[Personal Subject Prefix"^

> (Personal Subject Prefix^ /

fpausel

Given the l a t t e r s t i p u l a t i o n , t h e syllable template of Kabyle w i l l have to be

modified as follows:
(43)

Kabyle S y l l a b l e Template ( f i n a l version)

A few remarks are i n order concerning the template in (43).

F i r s t , i t i s to

be noticed t h a t the C - s l o t s dominated by the Appendix and Prependix c o n s t i t u e n ts

are r e a l i z e d on the melody t i e r by a segmentally and grammatically r e s t r i c t e d
class of consonants.

These are the d e n t a l s G_ (which i s phonetically r e a l i z e d as

a stop a f t e r nasals and 1_, as mentioned e a r l i e r ) , t s , and n_, in a d d i t i o n to k.

Moreover, they involve only the feminine suffix G_, the object pronoun suffixes G_,
t s , and k, and the personal subject p r e f i x e s 6 and n_.

These facts a r e i n d i c a t i v e ,

in my o p i n i o n , of an important generalization which can be made about Kabyle s y l lable s t r u c t u r e .

It can be maintained, given the l i m i t e d class of t h e s e segments

and the r e s t r i c t i o n s on t h e i r occurrence (.only w o r d - i n i t i a l l y or f i n a l l y with

further r e s t r i c t i o n s d i s c u s s e d above),

15

that the ' b a s i c ' syllable template for

Kabyle i s the one in (27) and that t h e syllable template i n (43) is i n fact a
' d e r i v e d ' one which a r i s e s only when an affixational

(morphological) process

52

takes p l a c e .
Geminate c l u s t e r s i n word-final p o s i t i o n or immediately followed by a consonantal segment are not covered by the template in ( 4 3 ) .

The s t a t u s and represen-

t a t i o n of geminates when they occur in these p o s i t i o ns w i l l be discussed in d e t a i l

l a t e r in t h i s s e c t i o n .

At l e a s t two s o l u t i o n s w i l l be considered:

t h e f i r s t will

t r e a t geminates in t h e s e positions as forming part of the Rime of t h e s y l l a b l e .

The second analysis w i l l consider the second member of a geminate c l u s t e r in such
p o s i t i o n s as an Appendix to the s y l l a b l e .

As for geminates in i n t e r v o c a l i c posi-

t i o n , n a t i v e speakers' i n t u i t i o n s i n d i c a t e that the f i r s t member of t h e geminate

s y l l a b i f i e s with the preceding vowel whereas the second half of the same geminate
is s y l l a b i f i e d with t h e following vowel to form an Onset to the following s y l l a ble.

Thus, in a word l i k e ixeddem 'he w o r k s ' , the s y l l a b l e breaks a r e as follows:

i.xed.dem.
Consider now the d a t a in (44) which seem to pose a problem for t h e analysis
given so far in the sense that no schwa appears before the l a s t segments of some
of t h e forms, contrary to what our s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s p r e d i c t .
(44)

enz/nez

' t o be on s a l e '

ens/nes

' t o spend the n i g h t '

erz/rez

'to break'

erg/reg

'to burn oneself

eng/neg

'to kill'

eds

'to laugh'

ecs

'to shepherd'

16

53

In the f i r s t s i x forms, with two possible phonetic r e a l i z a t i o n s each, we not i c e that the f i r s t consonant i s a sonorant whereas the second i s a f r i c a t i v e
(obstruent).

In the l a s t two v e r b s , which admit one phonetic shape only, namely,

with the schwa before the f i r s t consonant, both consonants are f r i c a t i v e s .

To

g e n e r a l i z e , we can say that in these few verbs which seem t o pose a problem for
our a n a l y s i s , the second consonant is always Q-sonorantJ whereas the f i r s t

car-

r i e s the feature [+ or - s o n o r a n t ] .
Before t r y i n g t o account for the apparently anomalous behavior of t h e forms
in ( 4 4 ) , l e t us consider the d a t a in (45J below which i l l u s t r a t e the shapes of a
few samples of the verbs in (44) when used in a phrase:
(45) a.

neg raSid/*eng raid

k i l l Rashid

b.

rez 0 i f e r f e r 9 / * e r z

break kite

c.

laugh at him

GiferferG

*
'break the kite'

des f e l l a s / * e d s

d.

' k i l l Rashid'

fellas

'laugh at him'

ces 0afunas0/*ecs QafunasG

shepherd cow

'shepherd the cow'

One way of accounting for the irregular behavior of t h e verbs in (.44) above
would be to assign the final consonants to Appendix nodes.

However, one impor-

tant point, i l l u s t r a t e d by the examples in ( 4 5 ) , has to be taken into account.

I t concerns the fact that the f i n a l consonants of the verbs involved can not be
assigned to Appendix nodes when these forms a r e used in a phrase and u t t e r e d t o gether with a following word without a pause ( i n normal r a t e speech).

Hence, if

any r u l e s whose purpose would be to assign t h e final consonants to Appendices

54

are to be postulated at a l l , they should include t h e r e s t r i c t i o n that this a s s i g n ment is limited to environments involving a pause.

For the l a s t two forms i n (44),

we can assume a r u l e which assigns a J+continuant] consonant to an Appendix node

when i t is preceded by another ^-continuantj consonant.

This r u l e can be forma-

l i z e d as follows:
(46)

[+contJ

{pause]

* fc-cont} / [+contJ

As for the verbs in (44) which admit two possible phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s , a

s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t rule can be suggested for the s u r f a c e forms i n which the schwa
shows up w o r d - i n i t i a l l y .

This r u l e , which s p e c i f i e s the consonant preceding the

one assigned to an Appendix node, as n_ or r_, should be marked a s optional.

I t can

be formulated as follows:

(47)

Ii

+sonor "|
-lateral
+coronal]

C+cont]

(pause]

(optional)

Both r u l e s should be ordered before rule (c) of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i ng r u l e s

phrased above.
(48)

As i l l u s t r a t i o n s , the derivations f o r enz and e c s are given below:

ir
inappl.

( r u l e s a and b)

A
(47) (46)

(c)

(e and f)
(g)

55

Notice t h a t the b i - r a d i c a l verbs in (44) are not the only forms which are subject t o rules (46) and (47).

Their d e r i v a t i v e s , such as ezzenz 'to s e l l ' , essens

'to make spend the n i g h t ' , esserg 'to b u r n ' , and emmeng ' t o k i l l each o t h e r ' , and
other nouns such as the word for ' t r e a s u r e ' kenz, have similar s t r u c t u r e s and,
hence, the derivation o f the l a t t e r forms would n e c e s s a r i ly involve t h e rule in
(47).

Moreover, the s t i p u l a t i o n made in the formulation of the rule so that i t

applies only when the consonant t o be assigned to an Appendix node i s pre-pausal

is made necessary by another fact of the language, namely, t h a t such a consonant
can not be assigned to an Appendix node when in word-medial p o s i t i o n .

If we take

a verb like enze9 'to d i g u p ' , for instance, one would expect to find, when a suffix c o n s i s t i n g of one consonant i s added t o i t , forms of the shape enz9eC, where
would be assigned to an Appendix and the remaining consonantal segments to a l t e r nating Rime and Onset p o s i t i o n s s t a r t i n g from the r i g h t end of the s t r i n g .

How-

ever, a form l i k e *enz9eC never occurs; i n s t e a d , we find forms like nez9eC, where
the z_ i s c l e a r l y assigned to a Rime p o s i t i o n .

The forms for the imperative p l u r a l

and t h e f i r s t person s i n g u l a r of t h e past of the verb 'to dig up' i l l u s t r a t e t h i s

point:
(49)

nez9e0/*enz9eG

' d i g up' ( i m p e r . p l . )

nez9eg/*enz9eg

' I dug up'

As a r e s u l t of incorporating the notions of Appendix and Prependix into the

constituents of the s y l l a b l e , r u l e (g) of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g rules has to be
modified in order to r e f l e c t t h i s new s i t u a t i o n .

The rule cart be r e s t a t e d as

follows:
(50)

f i n a l s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n i s obtained by grouping together Onset and

Rime (plus a following Appendix or preceding Prependix, if present)
into a s y l l a b l e .

56

The same r u l e can be reformalized as in (51) below:

(51)

(P) (0) R (A)

(P)
PJ (0) R (A)

To sum up the discussion related to the sounds s_, z_, and & in word-final position (and other restrictions mentioned above (see (47))), the feminine suffix 9_,
the object clitics G, ts, and k, and the personal subject prefixes 0 and ti, the
following rule can be added to the syllable-building rules stated earlier:
(52)

assign a C-slot dominating the sounds s_, z_, and g_ in word-final

position, the feminine suffix 0_, and the object clitics G, ts_,
and jk to an Appendix node; assign the personal subject prefixes
G_ and to a Prependix node (after a pause only).

Rule (52) has to be ordered before rule (c) of the syllable-building rules
phrased above, i.e., before the rule which assigns a string of unassigned consonants to alternating Rime and Onset positions. Given this new rule and the other
syllable-building rules given above, the derivations for words like Gasif0 'small
river', njen 'we slept', and ufigG 'I found him' will proceed as follows:
(53)

nm

9 a s l f
i:

,r

i) i.

inappl.

u f

(rules a and b)

(rule 52)

57

(53)

continued

(rule c)

in
(rule d)

inappl.

(later rules)

Notice t h a t the f a i l u r e of the schwa to appear before the feminine suffix in

9 a s i f 9 , the subject prefix in njen and the object pronoun i n ufig9 receives a formal explanation through the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s s t a t e d above.

These rules

s t i p u l a t e , in f a c t , that a V-slot can be adjoined as a l e f t daughter to a Rime

only, if t h i s Rime f a i l s t o dominate a vowel s l o t ; Chis V-slot i s l a t e r spelled
out a s schwa on the phonemic t i e r .

But a V-slot may not be adjoined as a left

daughter to an Appendix or a Prependix.

Hence, a schwa can never appear before a

consonant s l o t dominated by an Appendix or a Prependix node.

This holds also for

the forms ending in two J+cont] sounds, discussed e a r l i e r .

I proceed now to account for the problem posed by the geminate c l u s t e r s .
Vergnaud and Halle (1978) propose t h a t Berber geminates be invariably analyzed as
forming part of the Rime of the s y l l a b l e .
by an epenthesis r u l e .

In such a case, they may not be broken

Thus, a schwa can never occur beCween the geminated conso-

58

nants in xeddmeg 'I work' and eggall 'to swear' because the geminates will be
assigned to a Rime node, as illustrated in (54).
(54)

(rule e)
(rules f and g)
Here, I follow Halle and Vergnaud in assuming that

is phonetically

realized as dd, as opposed to d which is phonetically d.

However, Vergnaud and Halle's assumption that geminates be invariably analyzed as forming part of the Rime does not seem to conform to native speakers'
intuitions in the case of intervocalic geminates. According to the latter, the
syllable break in a word like eggall is eg.gall and not *egg.all. This means
that for intervocalic geminates, the first member of the cluster forms part of
the Rime of the preceding syllable whereas the second forms an Onset to the following syllable.

It seems then that, as mentioned earlier, a geminate cluster

in intervocalic position behaves exactly like a cluster of two unlike consonants

in the same position, namely, the first consonant syllabifies with the preceding
vowel whereas the second forms an Onset to the following syllable, as in am.Sis'

59

'cat'.

Hence, I will t e n t a t i v e l y assume that the derivation of eggall proceeds

as follows:

( a , b , c)

(d)

(e)

(f,

g)

Another advantage of opting for t h e derivatio n in (55) r a t h e r than f o r the

one in (54) i s that the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n in (55) prevents rule (d) of the s y l l a b l e building r u l e s from reapplying and merging into one Rime node the two remaining
Rime nodes of the word e g g a l l .

In f a c t , unless a special c o n s t r a i n t is imposed

on t h i s r u l e t o prevent i t from reapplying, the derivation of eggall according to

the theory which analyzes geminates a s forming p a r t of the Rime of the s y l l a b l e
would proceed as follows,

( a , b , c)

(d)

(d again)

giving us the above unusualto say t h e l e a s t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n .

Notice t h a t whereas Vergnaud and H a l l e ' s s t i p u l a t i o n does not seem t o explain
t h e behavior of geminates in i n t e r v o c a l i c p o s i t i o n , i t does account in a formal
manner for the failure of the schwa t o separate a geminate c l u s t e r in word-final
position or when i t stands before a consonant as can be seen in (54) and (55) for
t h e words xeddmeg and e g g a l l .

Notice that i f these geminates are t r e a t e d like

i n t e r v o c a l i c geminates, we would get incorrect phonetic forms such as *exdedmeg

60

and *eggalel.

In order to ensure that these forms will not be derived, we have

to assume that the schwa occupies the phonemic tier (cf. Kenstowicz et al., 1982).
If this is done, we have a formal explanation for the strong tendency not to
separate geminate consonants.

In order for geminates to be separated, we would

have to assume the existence of an intermediate rule splitting apart the segmental
phoneme to, in effect, provide a space for the schwa, as suggested below.

v - n - II

(57)

CVC

CVC

But such a r u l e would add to the complexity of the grammar.

Hence, languages

tend to do without such a r u l e , accounting for the tendency of the geminates to

resist separation.
The apparent immunity of geminate c l u s t e rs t o r u l e s of epenthesis is almost
universal i n the languages of the world.

In Arabic, for i n s t a n c e , there i s a

rule of i^-epenthesis operating in t h e environment C

Cf,.j .

This rule f a i l s ,

however, t o break a geminate c l u s t e r , as i s evidenced by the examples in ( 5 8 ) ,

taken from Abu-Salim (1982:219):
(58) a .

?imm / *?imim

'mother'

?imm-na / *?imim-na
b.

sitt / *sitit

'our mother'

'grandmother'

sitt-kum / *sitit-kum

'your grandmother'

This immunity of geminate consonants to epenthesis rules has been the subject
of various s t u d i e s , so t h a t quite a few analyses, each with d i f f e r e n t claims,
have been proposed to account for the failure of epenthesis t o dissolve the geminates.

Guerssel (1977:284) proposes a constraint which he c a l l s "The Adjacency-

61

Identity Constraint" stipulating that a phonological rule can alter the adjacency
of the two members of a geminate cluster if and only if it alters the identity
of one of them.
(59)

This constraint is reproduced in (59):

Adjacency-Identity Constraint
Given two segments A. A where A. = A , a phonological rule
can alter the adjacency of A.A if and only if it alters the
identity of A. or A,,

In order to account for data like those in (58), Kenstowicz and Kisseberth (1979)
argue that there exists in Arabic a "general rule that degeminates consonants at
the end of a word" (p. 231). Even though Abu-Salim (1982) seems to argue against
Kenstowicz and Kisseberth's assertion, Kabyle native speakers' intuitions are
that geminate clusters degeminate not only in word-final position but also when
they stand before another consonant.
I believe that all the theories discussed above can account in a satisfactory
manner for the failure of schwa insertion to separate geminates.

In terms of

the theory of syllable structure proposed earlier, however, I believe that Vergnaud and Halle's stipulation that geminates be analyzed as forming part of the
Rime of the syllable does not conform to the templates proposed in (27) and (43).
For the purpose of simplicity and in order not to have to modify once more the
templates sketched earlier, I will suggest assigning to an Appendix node the
second member of a geminate cluster as was done with the feminine suffix and the
personal subject prefixes.

This will ensure that geminates will never be sepa-

rated by the schwa insertion rule since this rule states that a V-slot is adjoined
as a left daughter to a Rime only and not to an Appendix.

All we have to do at

this point is to modify the relevant portion of the rule in (52) as in (60):

62

(60)

assign to an Appendix a C-slot dominating the sounds s_, z_>

and in word-final p o s i t i o n , the feminine s u f f i x 6, the
object suffixes 0 , t3_, and k_ as w e l l as the r i g h t member
of two C-slots mapped onto a geminate c l u s t e r ; assign to a
Prependix the subject prefixes 0_ and n ( a f t e r a pause only).

Rule (60) w i l l s t i l l be ordered before r u l e (c) which assigns a s t r i n g of

unassigned consonants to a l t e r n a t i n g Rime and Onset p o s i t i o n s .

With the help of

rule (60) and the other s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s phrased e a r l i e r , the d e r i v a t i o n s

for words l i k e Gxeddmed 'you work' and e g g a l l 'to swear' w i l l proceed as follows:
(61)

III
it

i11

( r u l e s a and b)

(rule 60)

2
IRA

(rule c)

inappl.
(rule d)

63

(61)

continued

(rule e )

(later rules)

Notice t h a t the ordering of rule (60) a f t e r rule (b) of t h e s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i ng

r u l e s permits the second h a l f of the geminate g in eggall to be assigned to an
Onset, which i s compatible with the s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n of the word into e g . g a l l , the
second member of gg being i n fact an Onset t o the second s y l l a b l e .
Consider now the d e r i v a t i o n s in (62) for e l l e f ' t o r e p u d i a t e ' and hezzeB ' t o
be c a r e f u l '
(62;

(only the applicabl e r u l e s are shown):

1 f, h

( r u l e 60)

( r u l e e)

? }?1

tm WW
( r u l e f)
(rule g)

64

In (62), final syllabification suggests that the syllable breaks for these two
words are as follows:

ell.ef and hezz.eB, where the second members of the gemi-

nates constitute Appendices to the preceding Rime nodes. However, native speakers' intuitions indicate that the breaks occur between the two members of the
geminate clusters as follows:

el.lef and hez.zeB.

The latter syllabification

conforms indeed to the kind of syllabification which occurs when the geminate
cluster is adjacent to real vowels as in 9ad.dar9 and eg.gall, where the second
members of the geminates constitute Onsets to the second syllables.

What we

need in order to get the correct syllable breaks in forms like ellef and hezzeB
is a mechanism or a rule which would change an Appendix node (and alsoas will
become obviousa Prependix node) into an Onset node in case it immediately
precedes a Rime node dominating a schwa. This rule, which should be ordered
just before final syllabification, can be formalized as follows:

(63)

rr
C

+ C/

(A)
(P)

Given the above rule, final syllabification for the forms in (62) can be represented as in (64) below:
(64)

Notice again here t h a t these f a c t s seem t o be incompatible with Vergnaud

and H a l l e ' s s t i p u l a t i o n that geminates be invariably analyzed as forming part
of the Rime of a s y l l a b l e .

65

The above rule predicts that an Appendix will become an Onset (in the proper
environment) not only when it dominates the second member of a geminate segment
but also when it dominates the various other consonants which can be assigned to
an Appendix node, such as the feminine suffix 6, the object clitics G, ts_, and k
as well as the sounds s_, z_, and in word-final position.
stipulation for a Prependix node.

It makes the same

In fact, this prediction proves to be correct

since for phrases like GamsiSG ettmettuG 'woman's fem. cat' (see following chapter for the way possessive constructions are obtained and the phonological alternations associated with them) and Gezzenz ettmettuG 'the woman sold' the syllable
breaks are Gam.Sis'.Gett.met.tuG and Gez.zen.zett.met.tu0, respectively, and not
*9am.s*is*6.ett.met.tu6 and *0.ezz.enz.ett.met.tu9.

This means that the second 6

of Qamsis'G, as well as the 6 and the second and last z_ of Gezzenz, which are initially assigned to Appendix or Prependix nodes, will have to be reassigned to
Onset nodes.

This is exactly what is predicted by the rule in (63). If we ac-

cept the hypothesis which will be discussed in 4.3. below that syllabification
is assigned at the phrase level, the derivations for the above phrases will proceed as follows:

nun IIU

(65)

(rules a and b)

( r u l e 60)

66

(65)

continued

(rule c)

(rule d)

(rules e and f)

(rule 63)
(rule g)
Notice that the _ of Gezzenz has, p r a c t i c a l l y speaking, t o end up as the Onset
t o the f i r s t s y l l a b l e in t h i s word because i t is t h e only consonantal segment immediately preceding the Rime.

But, since i t has i n i t i a l l y been assigned to a

Prependix, a r u l e changing a Prependix i n t o an Onset must be deyised.

However,

r u l e (63) already predicts this kin d of change as w e l l as the change of an Append i x into an Onset node.
the Prependix nodes.

Hence, no special s t i p u l a t i o n has to be made concerning

Rule (63), a s formulated above, suffices to account for

both changes since they occur in t h e same environment.

67

Before concluding this s e c t i o n , i t might be useful to point out once again the
advantages of the analysis which assigns the r i g h t halves of t h e geminate c l u s t e r s
to Appendix nodes.
be avoided.

In fact, i f such an a n a l y s i s is adopted, s e v e r a l problems can

F i r s t , unlike H a l l e and Vergnaud's suggestion, t h i s analysis does

not generate incorrect r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s such a s

*g a 1

(cf. (56) above).

Second,

whereas our analysis predicts the correct s y l l a b l e breaks for words l i k e 0addar0
and e g g a l l , namely, 0ad.dar0 and e g . g a l l , r e s p e c t i v e l y , Halle and Vergnaud's
suggestion p r e d i c t s that the breaks for the same forms would be the following:
Gadd.arG and e g g . a l l .

However, as pointed o u t above, the l a t t e r breaks do not

conform to n a t i v e speakers' i n t u i t i o n s .

T h i r d , if Hall e and Vergnaud's proposal

i s adopted, we w i l l have to complicate the s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e template of Kabyle

to look l i k e the following*

where the rightmost C-slot dominated by the Rime is intended t o provide a space
for the second half of the geminate.

In the analysis being followed h e r e , how-

ever, no need for such a complicated template a r i s e s .

S t i l l , one might object t o an analysis which assigns the second h a l f of a
geminate c l u s t e r to an Appendix.

I t can be argued t h a t only segments which occur

at the end of a domain (end of a word or a phrase) can be assigned to an Appendix

node due t o the extrametrica l nature of the l a t t e r .

Moreover, there i s nothing

in the n a t u r e of the geminates to indicate t h e i r e x t r a m e t r i c a l i t y .

Consequently,

68

instead of a hypothesis which assigns geminates to Appendix nodes, we need one

which assigns them to either one of the most common constituents of the syllable,
namely, the Onset or the Rime.

It might be suggested, for instance, that the

right half of a geminate be assigned to a Rime node.

This can be done by means

of a rule like the one below, ordered immediately after rule (b) of the syllablebuilding rules.
(b')

We will call it rule (b'):

The test for such a hypothesis will be whether or not it can handle the different cases involving geminates without further substantial complications. Let
us now examine in light of the present hypothesis the various forms involving
geminates discussed earlier.

If we take examples like Gxeddmed (where the gemi-

nate is followed by two C-slots) and eggall (where the geminate is followed by a
V-slot), the derivations would proceed as follows:
(67)

(rules a and b)

(rule c)

(rule b')

(rule 60)

(rule d (iterative))
(rules e, f, g)

69

Notice that t h i s analysi s presents an improvement over Halle and Vergnaud's handling of the same problem i n the s e n s e that r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s l i k e

*g a ]. (cf.

(56)

;C7C

above) never a r i s e .

Moreover, i t generates the c o r r e c t s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n for forms

such as the ones above, namely, Oxedd.med and e g . g a l l .

Therefore, we can conclude

t h a t t h i s kind of analysis gives us the correct d e r i v a t i o n s for the cases involving geminates i n word-final p o s i t i o n or followed by a vowel (eggall) as well as
when followed by two C-slots (Gxeddmed).

Observe f i n a l l y t h a t the orderin g of

r u l e ( b ' ) after r u l e (b) permits t h e second half of the f i r s t geminate in eggall

to be assigned t o an Onset node ( p r e v o c a l i c consonant), providing us with the
correct derivation.
Now we turn t o the cases involving geminates followed by one C-slot such as
e l l e f (UR: / l l f / ) and hezzeB ( / h z z B / ) .

According t o our new hypothesis, the d e r i -

v a t i o n s for such forms would proceed as follows:

(68)

i f ! LI
inappl.
(rules a and b)

(rule b ' )

(rule c )

(rule d)

At t h i s stage, we notice that the l a s t t h r e e C-slots in both forms are assigned to

one Rime node, a s a r e s u l t of the a p p l i c a t i o n of r u l e ( d ) .

Already i t i s c l e a r

t h a t a schwa may not be inserted before the last consonant, contrary t o the actual
phonetic forms.

This d i f f i c u l t y can be avoided, however, i f we impose a r e s t r i c -

t i o n on rule (d) r e q u i r i n g that i t apply from l e f t - t o - r i g h t .

Another r e s t r i c t i o n

w i l l be needed a l s o , namely, that a Rime node may dominate a maximum of two C-slots
in addition to t h e V - s l o t .

Notice that i t is not p o s s i b l e simply to c h a r a c t e r i z e

70

rule (d) as a n o n - i t e r a t i v e rule because i t s i t e r a t i v e q u a l i t y is needed in the

derivation of forms l i k e eggall (cf. (67) above).

If the two r e s t r i c t i o n s

s t a t e d above a r e observed, the d e r i v a t i o n s for t h e forms in (68) may proceed as

follows after t h e application of rule ( c ) :
(69)

(rule d w i t h the

(rules e and f)

restrictions
( r u l e g)

stated above)

Notice, however, that f i n a l s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n suggests that the s y l l a b l e breaks for

these forms are e l l . e f and hezz.eB and not e l . l e f and hez.zeB, though the l a t t e r
are the correct ones according t o native speakers' i n t u i t i o n s .

What i s needed in

order to derive the c o r r e c t s y l l a b l e breaks is some mechanism which w i l l change

the assignment o f the second h a l v e s of t h e geminates from a Rime node to an Onset
node.

This can be achieved by means of a rule l i k e Che one in (70) below which

reassigns the righC half of a geminaCe t o an Onset when i t is followed by a V-slot

dominating a schwa.

Notice t h a t i t is necessary t o s t i p u l a t e that t h e V-slot

following the geminate be in f a c t a srhwa because if i t was a r e a l vowel, the preceding half of t h e geminate would be already assigned to an Onset by v i r t u e of
rule (b) of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s , and no need for the rule in (.70) would
a r i s e (cf. d e r i v a t i o n f o r e g g a l l ) .
(70)

71

If the rule above is applied just before final syllabification (rule g ) , the correct representations can be obtained, as illustrated below:

(rule 70)
(rules e and f)

j/ V,

V,

(rule g)

From this discussion, it can be concluded that the analysis which assigns the
right half of a geminate cluster to a Rime accounts for the nature of geminates
in the sense that it does not consider them extrametrical units.

However, the

correct derivations can only be obtained at a high price, namely, the imposition
of restrictions on certain rules (e.g., rule d) and the addition of a resyllabification rule (cf. (70) above).

On the other baud, the analysis which assigns

the second half of a geminate cluster to an Appenaix derives the correct forms
without complicating the grammar with further rules and restrictions on rules.
But the analysis itself is weakened by the fact that it considers the geminates
extrametrical segments on a par with the 9 of the feminine suffix and the object
clitics 9_, ts, and k_. Given this situation, I will not choose between them here
and will consider both of them possible approaches to the problem of geminates
in Kabyle even though each has its own shortcomings.
Supplement:

A possibly simpler solution for the problem of the geminates, which

seems to avoid the difficulties raised by the various analyses given above, was
suggested recently by Michael Kenstowicz (personal communication). It relies on
the fact that, as is obvious from the examples involving geminate clusters given
earlier, the first half of a geminate sound always ends up assigned to a Rime.
Hence, a rule which assigns the left member of a geminate to a Rime is quite

72

plausible.

This r u l e , which should be ordered before rule (b) and immediately

after r u l e (a) of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s , will be called r u l e ( a ' ) and

looks l i k e the following:
(a')

A"

This solution a l s o takes i n t o consideration t h e fact that a consonant immediately

preceding a geminate c l u s t e r is always assigned to an Onset.

Since r u l e (b) a l -

ready assigns a prevocalic consonant to an Onset and since r u l e ( a ' ) precedes

rule ( b ) , we can modify the l a t t e r rule in such a way that i t assigns to an Onset
not only a prevocalic consonant but also any consonantal segment followed by a n other segment (consonant or vowel) already assigned t o a Rime.

This r u l e w i l l be

renamed rule ( b ' ' ) and w i l l look l i k e the following:

(b")

Cf

Notice t h a t r u l e (a) already assigns a vowel t o a Rime.

Hence, given the formu-

lation of rule ( b ' ' ) , a p r e v o c a l ic consonant w i l l always be assigned t o an Onset.

Given rules ( a ' ) and ( b ' ' ) , the correct d e r i v a t i o n s can be obtained for a l l
the forms involving geminates.

As i l l u s t r a t i o n s , the d e r i v a t i o n s for e g g a l l ,

Gxeddmed, and e l l e f are given below:

73

(72)

yi' nut y ~ 'lliltil

R

inappl.

inappl.

(rule a )

(rule a ' )

iiurM-ufjiuru
inappl. P (5 R
(rule b " )

inappl.

(rule 60)

inappl.
(rule c)

(rule d (iterative))

A h

'ft

(rules e and f)
(rule g)
Unlike the analysis which assigns the right half of a geminate cluster to an
Appendix, this solution does not consider the geminates extrametrical units.
Hence, it accounts in a better way for the nature of these sounds. Also, unlike
the analysis which assigns the right half of a geminate to a Rime, this solution
does not require the addition of new corrective rules or the imposition of restrictions on certain rules. Therefore, it can be considered simpler.

In subse-

74

quent d e r i v a t i o n s , however, I am going to follow the analysis which assigns a

geminate c l u s t er t o an Appendix.

But t h i s should not be taken t o mean t h a t I

consider that a n a l y s i s b e t t e r or t h a t the other s o l u t i o n s to t h e problem are

ruled out.
4.3.

S y l l a b i f i c a t i o n a t the Word or Phrase Level?

At this p o i n t , i t seems important to t r y to examine the process of s y l l a b i -

f i c a t i o n across word boundaries in Kabyle.

As evidenced by t h e examples in (73),

s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n across word boundaries seems to lead t o a wholesale reorganizat i o n of the s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e of the preceding word.
(73)

exdem ' f i x '

/exdem axxam/

xedmeg ' I f i x e d '

xedmaxxam ' f i x the house'

/xedmeg axxam/

exdemgaxxam ' I fixed the house'

These data would suggest t h a t e i t h e r s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e i s assigned a t the

l e v e l of the p h r a s e , or that i t is assigned at the word level but completely r e made a t the l e v e l of the phrase.
a t the level of the phrase.

I suggest that s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e be assigned

If we allow s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n to be assigned a t the

l e v e l of the word and then to be completely remade a t the p h r a s a l l e v e l , our

grammar will be complicated by a d d i t i o n a l rules of schwa d e l e t i o n which would
be required in order to eliminate the already e x i s t i n g schwas.
t h i s point, l e t us take as an example the phrase xedmaxxam.

To i l l u s t r a t e

If syllable struc-

t u r e i s assigned a t the word l e v e l , the i n i t i a l r e s u l t would be /exdem axxam/.

To obtain correct s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n across word boundaries, we would need rules to
d e l e t e both schwas in /exdem/.

Then, the r u l e of schwa i n s e r t i o n would be in-

voked again to apply a t the phrasal l e v e l in order to derive xedmaxxam.

Obvious-

l y , such a process i s highly complicated since i t requires the use of a d d i t i o n a l

r u l e s and the r e a p p l i c a t i o n of other r u l e s .

On the other hand, if s y l l a b l e s t r u c -

75

ture i s assigned once and for a l l a t the phrase l e v e l , t h e r e will be no need t o

devise additiona l rules or reapply alread y e x i s t i n g r u l e s , a s shown by the deriv a t i o n of xedmaxxam below.
(74)

(rules a and b)

(rule c)

(rule d)

( r u l e e)
(rules f and g)
Notice also t h a t if s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n is assigned at the word level and then
remade at the l e v e l of the phrase, a complete reshuffling of the Onset and Rime
p o s i t i o n s in the verbal form must be imposed.

In other words, if a consonant i s

assigned to a Rime node at t h e word l e v e l , i t w i l l have t o be assigned to an

Onset a t the phras e l e v e l , and v i c e - v e r s a (if t h e consonant i s assigned to an
Onset a t the l e v e l of the word).

This point can be i l l u s t r a t e d by comparing t h e

d e r i v a t i o n of exdem 'work, f i x ' in (75) with t h a t in (74) f o r the whole phrase

xedmaxxam 'fix t h e house':
(75)

(rule c)

(rule e)

(rule f)
(rule g)

jjrajpra*,-.a.

76

In sum, this reshuffling, together with the rule needed for schwa deletion,
contribute to the complication of the grammar and are incompatible with the principle of phonological simplicity.

The grammar of Kabyle would be much simpler if

syllabification were assigned once and for all at the phrase level.
Another piece of evidence which argues in favor of syllabification at the
phrase level can be adduced from the examples in (76):
(76) a.

yexdem 'he fixed' (from /y-xdm/)

ixedmaxxam (from /y-xdm axxam/) 'he fixed the house'

b.

ijen 'he slept' (from /y-jn/)

yejnurumi (from /y-jn w-rumy/)

'The Frenchman slept'

There is a rule in Kabyle phonologywhich will be fully investigated in the

following chapterthat vocalizes a glide assigned to a Rime node.

It must be

ordered before the syllable-building rule which gathers under one Rime node two
consecutive Rime positions.

In (76a), this rule does not apply in yexdem because

the underlying glide is assigned to an Onset and, hence, surfaces at the phonetic
level.

In ixedmaxxam, however, the rule seems to have applied.

Therefore, v_

must be assigned to a Rime, either by the reshuffling of Rime and Onset positions
lif we assume that syllabification is made at the word level and then remade at
the phrase level) or by direct assignment to a Rime if we assume that syllabification is assigned at the phrase level. Now, in (76b), the inverse operation
seems to have occurred.

In ijen, vocalization applies changing y_ into i_. Thus,

if we adopt the position that syllabification is assigned at the word level and
then remade at the phrase level, in order to derive yejnurumi, we would need a
rule of devocalization which would change the i. of ijen into y_.

However, if

syllabification is allowed to be made once and for all at the phrase level, no

77

need for such a rule will arise since underlying y_ will be directly assigned to
an Onset and, thus, fail to undergo vocalization.

This is illustrated below:

u
(77)

mum

II

n w r

1 1 '

r :

(rules a and b)

(rule e)

(rule
0 Rc)0 R 0

(vocalization)

(rule f)

Thus, we can say that the grammar of Kabyle will be much simpler if syllabification is assigned at the phrase level.

Not only can we dispense with a reshuffling

of Rime and Onset positions and a rule of schwa deletion, but in addition, a rule
of devocalization, which will be made necessary if we assume that syllabification
is first assigned at the word level, will not be needed.

Therefore, we conclude

that the hypothesis which claims that syllabification is assigned at the phrase
level is to be preferred.

This position will receive additional support in sub-

sequent chapters.
Some might claim, however, that an analysis which requires that syllabification be assigned once and for all at the phrase level is too strong a position.
Moreover, it can be argued that such a procedure is not common in other languages
of the world.

For these reasons, one might consider an intermediate position

which would allow certain rules to apply on both word and phrase levels while the
remainder of the syllable-building rules would apply at the phrase level. In

78

fact, if such a solution yields the correct results and does not require a reshuffling of Onset and Rime positions or additional rules of schwa deletion and
devocalization, it can be considered a viable solution.

It does indeed seem

that if rules (a) and (bj of the syllable-building rules are allowed to apply
first at the word level and then to reapply at the phrase level together with
the remainder of the rules, no reshuffling of Onset and Rime nodes is necessary
and no additional rules of schwa deletion and devocalization are required.

As

illustrations, the derivations of xedmaxxam 'fix the house' (compare with exdem
'fix') and ixedmaxxam 'he fixed the house' (compare with yexdem 'he fixed') are
given below:

(78) a.

xdmaxam

b.

yxdmaxam

word level

(a)

(b)

nnin
inappl.

iiiniii
inappl.

phrase level

(a)

(b)

^Tffnw,"--ft- -*

KI*TII

79

(78)

continued

(c)

I!
inappl.

(vocalization)

(d)

(.subsequent rules)
We thus see t h a t this a n a l y s i s gives us the c o r r e c t output without r e s o r t i n g
to a d d i t i o n a l r u l e s not independently motivated in t h e grammar of the language.
Hence, i t can be considered as good as the analysis which assigns

syllabification

once and for a l l a t the phrase l e v e l .

The only objec-

I w i l l not opt for e i t h e r .

tion which could be made a g a i n s t the l a t t e r analysis i s t h a t i t lengthens the

d e r i v a t i o n by two steps whereas the former analysis reaches the same r e s u l t s without t h e s e two e x t r a steps.

SPHsra*.--*. '

80

5.

Syllable Structure and Schwa in Ayt Ndhir

In thi s s e c t i o n , i t w i l l be shown that the s o l u t i o n for the problem of the

schwa based on a s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e analysis of Kabyle can account for t h e same

problem in the Ayt Ndhir d i a l e c t of Berber.

The data under consideration are

taken from Saib (1976).

I t appears that Ayt Ndhir has the same b a s i c s y l l a b l e types as Kabyle.

This

i s i l l u s t r a t e d by the d a t a in (79).

(79) a.

amazig

b.

VC

arg'az,

exdem,

c.

CVC

Biadei,

arg'az,

d.

CV

e&deg

exdJm

Qamazig9, amkizig

The template proposed i n (27) for Kabyle seems t o account a l s o for the b a s i c syll a b l e types in Ayt Ndhir.

This template is reproduced in (80) for ease of refer-

ence.
(80)

The only s y l l a b l e t y p e s which do not conform t o the template in (80) are

those which contain the feminine s u f f i x 9 (see examples in ( 8 1 a ) ) , geminate clust e r s in word-final p o s i t i o n (81b), and certain monosyllabic words containing a

81

sonorant o b s t r u e n t c l u s t e r ( 8 1 c ) . These segments seem t o behave exactly as in

Kabyle, i . e . ,

they can be considered Appendices to t h e s y l l a b l e .

On the o t h e r

hand, as shown by the paradigm i n ( 8 2 ) , t h e personal s u b j e c t prefixes do not

seem to p r e s e n t a problem for t h e template in (80).

Thus, they can be t r e a t e d

e x a c t l y l i k e a l l other segments which conform to the template in (80).

However,

t h e second p e r s o n s i n g u l a r s u f f i x d_ appears to behave i r r e g u l a r l y since t h e r e i s

no schwa p r e s e n t immediately b e f o r e i t .

I suggest t o t r e a t i t , on a par w i t h

t h e feminine suffix 0 , the z_ and s_ sounds, and the second member of a geminate
c l u s t e r , as an Appendix to the s y l l a b l e Rime.

0addilvG,

(81) a.

b.

GamazigG

ekk

, klUkl
(82)
1.

Singular

Plural

xedmex

nexdem

:. exdernd

eOxedmem

eGxed:

3m.

ixdem

3f. eexdem

xedmen

xedmene

f.

82

I t seems, t h e r e f o r e, t h a t , unlike Kabyle, Ayt Ndhir does not allow a Prependix

to the s y l l a b l e .

Hence, t h i s language requires a derived template i n which only

an Appendix t o the s y l l a b l e i s permitted.

This template can be represented as in

(83) below.
(83)

It should be stressed again that the Appendix node in (83) may dominate only a
C-slot mapped onto a consonant which is either the feminine suffix 0, the sounds
and s in word-final position, the second member of a geminate cluster in word-final
position, or the subject suffix d_. Notice that all the sounds involved belong to a
restricted category, i.e., they are all dental fricatives (geminates excepted).
Hence, the rule which will be needed to account for these segments will look much
simpler than the one devised for the Kabyle data in (60) above. Such a rule can be
phrased as in (84).
(84) assign to an Appendix node a dental fricative in word-final
position as well as any C-slot which is the right member of
a pair of C-slots mapped onto a geminate cluster
With Che help of rule (84) and the other syllable-building rules proposed in
the previous section for Kabyle, the derivations of GaddarG, ekk, enz and 9exdemd
will proceed as in (85).

83

(85)

minii inn
inappl.

inappl.

uuun
im
i
I

(rules a and b)

(rule 84)

(rule c)

a a a
inappl.

inappl.
(rule d)

inappi.

Yv9 YP f

9Y? W
(rule e )

fft ?? f
1 1

fff ff
M l .

(subsequent rules)

84

6.

Conclusions and Evaluation

I t has b e e n shown that t h e complex problem of the schwa in Berber can be ac-

counted for i n a simple, sCraightforward manner in terms of the recent theory of

s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e (Halle & Vergnaud (1980) and Mohanan (1982), among o t h e r s )
which assumes that t h e s y l l a b l e consists of two immediate c o n s t i t u e n t s :

Onset

and Rime. For a r e s t r i c t e d c l a s s of segments, an Appendix and/or a Prependix

node i s r e q u i r e d .

The predictable appearance of the schwa in different forms has

been demonstrated to be simply a r e f l e x of the general Berber scheme for imposing

a syllabl e s t r u c t u r e on a s t r i n g of consonantal segments.
The s y l l a b l e structure a n a l y s i s has several advantages over the a b s t r a c t and
concrete analyses discussed i n sections 2 and 3 .

F i r s t , unlike both a n a l y s e s , i t

is a b l e to dispense w i t h the use of ad hoc devices, such as corrective r u l e s and

different boundary u n i t s .

Second, unlike e a r l i e r a n a l y s e s , i t avoids the contro-

versy underlying the contradictory p r i n c i p l e s of " E x t r i n s i c " and "No-Extrinsic

Rule Ordering" .

Third, the s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e a n a l y s i s , unlike the concrete

a n a l y s i s , eliminates redundancy from the lexicon and accounts for native speakers'
a b i l i t y to make generalizations about t h e i r language.

Also, unlike the concrete

a n a l y s i s , i t does not require rules of schwa deletion e i t h e r in an open s y l l a b l e

or next to another schwa sinc e these environments do not occur in the s y l l a b l e
structure analysis.

Hence, I conclude t h a t the l a t t e r analysis c o n s t i t u t e s a

s i m p l i f i c a t i o n and an improvement over the previous approaches to the problem of

the schwa in Berber and should be considered superior.

85

Notes

here stands for the mid front vowel.

schwa.

Elsewhere, t h i s symbol represents

According to Prasse (1960), schwa can occur in open syllables in some forms
of Twareg, such as in awlelu ' b r a c e l e t ' , tehunt 'big rock' and egen ' t o
squat'.
This r u l e is reproduced from Saib (1976:127). The discussion which follows
in t h i s section r e f l e c t s p r i m a r i ly the position of t h a t B e r b e r i s t .
The immunity of geminates t o epenthesis rules w i l l be discussed in section
4 of t h i s chapter.
I t seems, however, that the sonoracy hierarchy of segments is to be taken
i n t o consideration when t r y i n g to account for forms l i k e eng. An a l t e r n a t i v e solution for the problem posed by verbs like eds and ecs w i l l be given
in section 4 i n terms of t h e notion of Appendix to the s y l l a b l e .
In Kabyle 6 hardens into t h e corresponding stop when i t occurs a f t e r nasals
and 1_, as evidenced by the following examples which i l l u s t r a t e the derivat i o n of some feminine forms from their masculine correspondents (a feminine
noun is derived by prefixing 0 and, in many i n s t a n c e s , suffixing another 0_
t o the masculine form):
Masculine

Feminine

Gloss

i0Bir
amSiS
amazig
aqzun
azrem
agyul

0i9Bir9

'dove'
'cat'
'Berber person
'dog'
' snake'
'donkey'

earns" is*9
9amaz ig9
GaqSunt
9azremt
9agyult

The rule responsible for t h e v o c a l i z a t i o n of the g l i d e in t h i s form w i l l be

d e a l t with in the following chapter.
This term is a quotation from Saib himself.
I t w i ll be shown in section 4 of this chapter that the l a t t e r r u l e w i l l not
be needed in t h e framework of the analysis based on s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e .

86

10

I w i l l r e t u r n to the problem posed by xedmaxxam i n the following section

when the problem of s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n at the phrasal level w i l l be addressed.
This template seems to be in agreement with Kaye and LowensCamm's (1979)
argument that in the unmarked case the maximum number of segments in the
Rimes of a c e r t a i n language i s a t least one g r e a t e r than the maximum number of segments i n the Onsets of that language.
These remarks are also based on native speakers' i n t u i t i o n s as well as on
the model of other languages, such as Arabic and L a t i n .

13

Compare the derivation of ejneg from underlying / j u g / according t o the s y l lable s t r u c t u r e analysis with the derivation of t h e same form i n terms of
the concrete analysis in section 3 above. The l a t t e r analysis would p o s i t
underlying / j e n - e g / ; t h e n, by a r u l e of d e l e t i o n , i . e . , ( 2 0 ) , and another of
i n s e r t i o n , i . e . , (21), t h e correct form i s obtained. The analysis based
on s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e would derive the correct phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of
t h i s form in terms of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g rules of the language without
having t o devise new r u l e s .

14

Gufitt i s derived from /ufidG/ by Che following p r o c e s s e s , which apply

in the order given:

hardening of the f i n a l 9 i n t o t a f t e r d (progressive

manner-of-articulation a s s i m i l a t i o n ) , change of A into C before t ( r e g r e s sive voicing a s s i m i l a t i o n ) , and spreading of emphasis Co the f i n a l t_.
15 Nocice t h a t when a word conCaining Che feminine s u f f i x 9 i s followed by
another word in a phrase, t h i s sounc' s y l l a b i f i e s with the f i r s t segment of
the following word in normal r a t e speech, as evidenced by the example b e low:

JUYJ&

9amazig9 e Bjen

' t h e Berber woman s l e p t '

16 The b i - r a d i c a l verb efk ' t o g i v e ' seems t o behave like the last two forms
in (44). However, i t d i f f e r s from the l a t t e r two in the fact t h a t i t cons i s t s of a f r i c a t i v e sound followed by a stop. I t may be accounted for i n
terms of the Sonoracy Hierarchy P r i n c i p l e (where f^ is more sonorant than k)
or in terms of t h e notion of Appendix to the s y l l a b l e .
17

I assume that urumi is underlyingly /w-rumy/ because w is a bound s t a t e

marker (see following chapter) and the f i r a l y_ shows up a s the p a l a t a l
glide in the p l u r a l form (cf. irumyen).

87

Chapter 3
FREE (UNBOUND) AND CONSTRUCT (BOUND) STATES

0.

Introduction
In t h i s chapter we look at another equally puzzling problem of Berber phono-

logy and morphology.

It concerns the d i s t i n c t i o n for any given noun between what

has been t r a d i t i o n a l l y called the 'bound' or ' c o n s t r u c t ' s t a t e (French ' e t a t consCruiC 1 ) and Che 'unbound' or ' f r e e ' s t a t e (French ' e t a t l i b r e ' ) .

Like other

Berber languages, Kabyle nouns surface in two shapes depending on the s y n t a c t ic

environment.

The factors regulating the d i s t r i b u t i o n of the two shapes as well

as the phonological and morphological a l t e r n a t i o n s associated with the noun when

i t occurs in the bound s t a t e w i l l be discussed in the f i r s t section of t h i s chapter.

Reference w i l l also be made to some of t h e various t h e o r i e s which have been

suggested in order t o account for these a l t e r n a t i o n s .

It w i l l be shown t h a t an

analysis based on the s y l l a b l e structure theory presented in the preceding chapter is able to account for a very widespread r u l e of v o c a l i z a t i o n in Kabyle.
Moreover, i t w i l l be suggested that Kabyle, and Berber in general, might have
two c a s e s , corresponding to what is today known as free and construct s t a t e
(henceforth, CS).
In t h e second section of t h i s chapter, a r e l a t e d problem, namely, the r e l a tionship of possession between two nouns, is i n v e s t i g a t e d .
(Basset,

As i s commonly held

1952; Penchoen, 1973; Saib, 1976; Guerssel, 1978), t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p

is expressed through the preposition , u s u a l l y prefixed t o the second noun

( e . g . , amSiS nsamir 'Samir's c a t ' ) .
the head noun,

The f i r s t noun i s commonly referred t o as

'possessed' item or 'governing s u b s t a n t i v e ' ; the second noun is

88

called the 'possessor' or 'governed substantive'.

The shape of the second noun

in the genitive construction is clearly the CS (cf. asif 'river'; aman ebbWasif
'river's water').

As can already be seen from the preceding example, the genitive

construction exhibits a great deal of phonological variation, since the preposition 11 does not show up on the surface in a large number of cases.

I will consi-

der several analyses for the various alternations based on the concepts of deletion, assimilation, or empty slot filling.

The last analysis will be shown to be

superior.
1. Free and Construct States
1.1.

The Problem

In all Berber dialects nouns vary in their surface form depending on the construction of which they are a part. This alternation, which affects the first
syllable of the noun, appears to be similar to a case marking.

But because it

does not seem synchronically to correspond with an identifiable case relationship

it has been called in the literature a mark of "state"

(see Penchoen, 1973).

1.2. Environments for Free and Construct States

The normal state (or free, unbound state) is identical to the citation form
of a noun.
A.

This form is found in the following syntactic environments:

Accusative NP:
(1) yezzenz
he sold

B.

ataksi
car

'he sold a car'

Topicalized NP:
(2) argaz
man

yezzenz
sold

ataksi
car

'the man sold a car'

89

C.

Object of c e r t a i n " n e u t r a l " p r e p o s i t i o n s , t h e most common of which i s

s_ 'towards, t o ' .

These prepositions are termed " n e u t r a l " because they

3

do not affect the nouns which they precede.

(3) sasif 'towards the river' ; asif 'river'
A noun is in the CS when it occurs in the following syntactic environments:
A.

Subject NP, postposed to the verb:

(4)

B.

. 4
yezzenz wergaz a t a k s i

(compare with (1) above)

sold

' t h e man sold the c a r '

man

car

Object of most p r e p o s i t i o n s , such as d_ ' a n d ' , n ' o f ,

(5)

|_ ' o n ' , and _i ' t o ' .

am^is ' c a t ' ; aqSun 'dog'

amSiS eel weqzun 'a cat and a dog'
amsis* netmetCu (ams*iS+n+0amettu0) 'woman's c a t '
f exxam (f+w+axxamj

'on the house'

iwergaz (i+w+argaz) ' t o the man'

C.

After
(6) a. numerals:
yiwen wergaz

b.

one man

sin yergazen

two men' (irgazen 'men')

e01a9a yergazen

three men'

yiwe9 GeqJSis'G

one g i r l ' (GaqSiSG ' g i r l ' )

sne9 SeqSiSin

two g i r l s ' (Giqs'iSin

eGlada GeqSiSin

three g i r l s '

'girls')

90
D.

'Nouns in a p p o s i t i o n ' ( D a l l e t , 1957) such as in the sentences which

follow:
(7) a .

d-9askari wergaz

(cf. argaz d-9askari)

i s ( ? ) - s o l d i e r man
b.

c.

'the man is a soldier*

ulaS-i9

wegyul

(cf. agyul ulaS-i0)

no l o n g e r - i t

donkey

etsmeqqleg

fell-as

utuqQan-aggi

I am looking

for-him

f a t one-that

' t h e donkey i s no longer t h e r e '

' I am looking for him, t h a t fat one'

1.3.

Masculine Nouns in the CS

Now that we have stated the environments where the CS occurs, we are ready

to proceed with the analysi s of t h e morphological and/or phonological changes

incurred by the nouns in the CS.

The analysis of the g e n i t i v e construction

w i l l be discussed i n a separate s e c t i o n .
given in 1.2.

This section w i l l cover the examples

For ease of reference, these examples w i l l be repeated as they

are examined below.

1.3.1.

I n i t i a l Vowel Reduction or Syncope

Some nouns lose t h e i r i n i t i a l vowel (or reduce i t t o a schwa, according to

Saib, 1976) when they are i n the CS.

The examples in (8) i l l u s t r a t e t h i s pheno-

menon as well as other changes which w i l l be discussed l a t e r .

(8) a.

b.

iruh
left

yemmeG wemSiS ; ams*is" ' c a t '

died

c.

wergaz ; argaz 'man'

man
'the man l e f t '

ijen
slept

cat

'the c a t d i e d '

wefrux ; afrux ' b i r d '

bird

'the b i r d s l e p t '

91

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

yarrez

westilu ; astilu 'pen'

broke

pen

'the pen broke'

ruhen

yergazen ; irgazen 'men'

left

men

'the men left'

emmGen

yemSas ; ims*as 'cats'

died

cats

'the cats died'

ejnen

yefrax ; ifrax 'birds'

slept

birds

ejnen

yeqz*an ; iqzan 'dogs'

slept

dogs

'the birds slept'

'the dogs slept'

What is clear from the examples in (8) is that a glide (w or y_) is prefixed
to the masculine nouns

in the CS.

w is prefixed to nouns beginning with

(singulars in (8)), and y_ to nouns beginning with i^ (plurals). Even though in

(8) w is prefixed to singulars and y_ to plural nouns, we can not say that this
is a general rule of the language because there are in Kabyle nouns which begin
with ji in the singular and which take y_ in the CS.

Similarly, there are plural

nouns which begin with and take w in the CS. The examples in (9) confirm the
analysis which would stipulate that w is prefixed to all words (whether singular
or plural) beginning with and y_ to all nouns (singular and plural) which begin
with i_.

This would indicate that the prefixation of w or y_ is not number-related

but depends on the quality of the initial vowel.

(9) a.

iruh

yesli ; isli 'fiance'

left

fiance*

'the fiance left'

*iruh wesli
b.

ruhen

yeslan ; islan 'fiance's'

left

fiance's

'the fiance's left'

92

c.

yarrez

yiSSar

; iSSar

broke

fingernail

'fingernail'

' t h e f i n g e r n a i l broke'

*yarrez wiSSar
d.

arrzen

waSSaren

; aSSaren

broke

fingernails

'fingernails'

'the f i n g e r n a i l s broke'

*arrzen yaS's'aren
e.

ejnen

warras ; arraS 'boys'

slept

boys

'the boys s l e p t '

*ejnen yarras"
What happens to the vowel following t h e prefix of the CS seems t o be more
puzzling and i n t r i c a t e .

In a l l t h e nouns given above (except the ones for

' f i n g e r n a i l ( s ) ' and ' b o y s ' in ( 9 c , d , e ) ) we notice t h a t a schwa appears in

the CS instead of the i n i t i a l vowel, which was e i t h e r a or i_.
1.3.1.1.

Reduction Hypothesis

Given that a schwa appears in the CS instead of the i n i t i a l vowels, one might
speculate that a process reducing i n i t i a l vowels t o schwa occurs in the CS ( S a i b ,
1976) a f t e r the prefixes w and y_.

It should be noted, however, t h a t a reduction

process i s usually phonologically-conditioned and g e n e r a l ly occurs without exception.

But from t h e examples in ( 9 c - e ; and (10) i t i s c l e a r that t h i s i s not the

case.

Furthermore, there are in t h e language sequences of /wa/ and / y i / (.in which

the g l i d e s are not the prefixes of the CS) which do not undergo the reduction
process (cf.
(10) a .

(10c-e)).
muqqer

yimi

is b i g

mouth

*muqqer yemi

; imi 'mouth'
'the mouth i s b i g '

93

b.

muqqren

yiinawen ; imawen 'mouths'

are big

mouths

'the mouths are big'

*muqqren yemawen
c. walan 'they saw' ; iwala 'he saw'
*welan
d.

*iwela

yiwen 'one'
*yewen

e.

iqareh ' i t h u r t s ' ; iqarhiyi ' i t hurts me'

*iqarhiye

Thus we see that the reduction hypothesis can not be maintained on phonological grounds.
similation.

It is worth noticing that the change of /yi/ into /ye/ is a dis-

One would more naturally expect i_ rather than after v_. Of course,

one might still hold that the reduction process occurs only in a certain category
of nouns, namely, those whose initial vowel alternates between the singular and
the plural. However, Chere are instances where the initial vowel does alternate
but no reduction takes place (e.g., asif 'river', isaffen 'rivers'; but ifad
wasif/*wesif 'the river overflowed').

It might be useful to observe, finally,

that Saib's hypothesis follows from his assumption that schwa is a phoneme.

This

assumption itself has been shown to be inadequate in the preceding chapter.

1.3.1.2.

Syncope Hypothesis

Since the reduction hypothesis can not be maintained on empirical and principled grounds, a better hypothesis must be sought. Before formulating such a
hypothesis, let us look at more examples of masculine nouns in the CS.
(11) a.

arumi

'Frenchman, European'

.,. .
.8
ijen urumi/ijnurumi
slept Frenchman

'the Frenchman slept'

94

b.

irumyen 'Frenchmen, Europeans'

ejnen irumyen/jennirumyen
slept Frenchmen

c.

'the Frenchmen slept'

afus 'hand'
yarrez ufus-iw/yarrzufusiw
broke hand-my 'my hand broke'

d.

ifassen 'hands'
arrzen ifassen/arreznifassen
broke hands

e.

'the hands broke'

adad 'finger'
yarrez udad/yarrzudad
broke finger

f.

'the finger broke'

idudan 'fingers'
arrzen idudan/arreznidudan

broke fingers 'the fingers broke'

g.

adar 'foot, leg'

yarrez udariw/yarrzudariw


broke leg-my 'my leg b r o k e '

h.

idaren

'legs'

arrzen

idaren/arreznidaren

broke legs
i.

akursi

' t h e legs b i o k e '

'chair'

yarrez ukarsi/yarrzukursi
broke chair

'the chair broke'

95

j.

ataksi

'car'

yenza u t a k s i / y e n z u t a k s i
was-sold c a r

' t h e c a r was sold'

If we look at the examples involving s i n g u l a r nouns i n (11) we n o t i c e that

neither t h e CS prefix /w/ nor the i n i t i a l vowel of the stem show up on the surface.

I n s t e a d , we have the high back vowel ti.

For a word like urumi 'French-

man', the underlying s t r u c t u r e i s assumed to b e , following our e a r l i e r a n a l y s i s ,

/w-arumi/.

A way of d e r i v i n g the surface r e p r e s e n t a t i on from the underlying

form must be found.

A possible a n a l y s i s would s t i p u l a t e t h a t the i n i t i a l vowel

is deleted in the CS; the glide then undergoes v o c a l i z a t i o n and appears as on

the s u r f a c e .

What i s worth mentioning here i s the fact t h a t the i n i t i a l vowel

of most nouns in Berber is commonly considered a "prefix" indicating number:

i s u s u a l l y prefixed t o singular nouns and i^ to plural nouns (cf. Basset , 1945,
1952; Penchoen, 1973, for similar assumptions).
lar a l t e r n a t e s with i^ i n the p l u r a l .

This means that in the singu-

This r u l e is not, however, completely

general and there are exceptions t o i t .

There a r e , for example, s i n g u l a r nouns

beginning with _i and p l u r a l s which begin with as can be seen from some examples
in (9) and (10) above and in (12) below.

There are also s i n g u l a r and p l u r a l

nouns beginning with u_ as well as nouns a l t e r n a t i n g between a and u.

(12) a .

izimer ' l a m b ' ; izamarren 'lambs'

b.

icen/acniw 'twin' ; acniwen ' t w i n s '

c.

uSSen ' j a c k a l '

d.

ass 'day'

e.

udi ' b u t t e r '

; uSSanen ' j a c k a l s '

; ussan ' d a y s '

(no p l u r a l )

96

It can be said, however, that in most cases singular nouns begin with whereas
plural nouns begin with . This assumption led many Berberists co consider a
singular marker and i_ a plural marker.
this point:

One more hypothesis can be suggested at

the initial vowels could be considered not as number markers only but

also as free state markers. This implies that the initial vowels would disappear
if the noun occurred in the CS.

We might also hypothesize further and claim that

all Berber nouns (except proper names and non-nativized nouns) carry a state
marker.

This matter will be investigated further below.

For the moment, we will

simply say that the initial vowel of many nouns syncopates in the CS.

If we adopt

this analysis (which involves also the vocalization of the glide of the CS in certain environments), the derivation of a word like urumi would proceed as in (13).
(13)

/w-arumi/

(UR)

w-rumi

( i n i t i a l vowel syncope)

u-rumi

(vocalization)

urumi

(PR)

The v o c a l i z a t i o n r u l e can be t e n t a t i v e l y s t a t e d as in ( 1 4 ) :
(14)

u/#

CV

Further evidence i s needed t h a t /w/ changes into in the above environment.

This evidence would be supplied i f i t can be demonstrated t h a t no words in the
language begin with sequences such as /wCV/ but only with s e r i e s like /uCV/.
t h i s c a s e , our r u l e w i l l be well-motivated.
quences like //>wCV/ i n Kabyle.
t r a t e d i n (15) below.

In

The fact i s t h a t there a r e no s e -

The only ones found are /#uCV/.

This i s i l l u s -

97

(15) a.

uzareg 'I gained weight' ; uzaren 'they gained weight'

*wzareg

b.

*wzaren

uzum 'fast' (imp.) ; uzameg 'I fasted'

*wzum

c.

*wzameg

urar/*wrar 'play' ; urareg/*wrareg 'I played'

As for examples like ejnen irumyen 'the Frenchmen slept', the same analysis
followed for the singular counterpart of this sentence in (13) can be shown to
give the correct form.

If we assume that the UR for irumyen is /y-irumyen/,

initial vowel syncope first applies to give us /y-rumyen/; then, the vocalization
rule applies to derive the correct output irumyen.

The rule which changes /y/

into i_ can be stated on the analogy of (14) as in (16):

(16)

> i/0

CV

Evidence for such a rule can also be obtained by showing that there are no
sequences like ///yCV/ in the language.

In fact, the only sequences found are

//fiCV/. Additional evidence in support of this rule comes from words involving
the use of the third person singular subject prefix.

This prefix shows up as y_

before a verbal stem beginning with a consonant cluster (with a schwa, inserted
by rule, separating the glide from the cluster) and as i before verbal stems beginning with one consonant only.

The examples in (17a) and (17b) illustrate this

fact.
(17) a.

yexdem (from /xdm/)

'he worked'

yefOel (from /f01/)

'he rolled couscous'

yettes (from /tts/)

'he slept'

98

b.

iruh

(from /ruh/)

'he left'

ijen

(from /jn/)

'he slept'

ihudd (from /hudd/)

'he/it collapsed'

The examples in (17) suggest that the underlying form for the third person
singular subject prefix is /y-/.

The glide retains its original form when it pre-

cedes a cluster of two unlike consonants or a geminate cluster.

The cluster

resulting from the glide and the following sounds is then broken by the application of the well-known rule of schwa-insertion (see Chapter 2 ) . The glide
changes, however, into i_ if it is followed by a CV sequence (cf. rule (16)).

It

can not be said that the 3rd person subject prefix is underlyingly the high front
vowel i_ because if it were i_ there would be no need to change it into y_ and then
allow the rule of schwa-insertion to apply.

In addition, changing a vowel into

a glide before a consonant cluster seems to be unnatural and phonologically unmotivated.

Furthermore, there are words in Berber which begin with a sequence

like /iCC/, where i_ does not become y_, as in the examples in (18).
(18)

izwig/*yezwig

'to become tall'

iwrig/*yewrig

'to become yellow'

iwsir/*yewsir

'to become old'

Hence, we have to assume that the 3rd personal prefix is in underlying form
a glide which undergoes vocalization if the environment is appropriate.
Notice that the environments in rules (14) and (16) are alike. Therefore,
we can collapse them in rule (19):

(19) |2 o S ]

frvocj/ir'

CV

Vocalization

99

Given the above a n a l y s i s , the derivation of irumyen as in ejnen irumyen 'the

Frenchmen s l e p t ' would proceed as in (20).
(20)

/y-irumyen/

(Intermediate Representation)

y-rumyen

(initial vowel syncope)

i-rumyen

(vocalization)

irumyen

(PR)

The derivations for ufusiw 'my hand' and ifassen 'hands' in (lie) and (lid),
respectively, would proceed as those for urumi and irumyen in (13) and (20).
Illustrations are given in (21).
(21) a.

/w-afusiw/

b.

/y-ifassen/

(Intermediate Representation)

w-fusiw

y-fassen

(initial vowel syncope)

u-fusiw

i-fassen

(vocalization)

ufusiw

ifassen

(PRs)

The derivations given so far have dealt solely with nouns having one single
consonant after the initial vowel.

We are now ready to handle the cases of nouns

beginning with a consonant cluster such as those in (8) above.

If we adopt the

same analysis the derivations will proceed in a straightforward mananer.

We just

need the rule of schwa epenthesis as developed in the preceding chapter to enter
into play in order to account for the presence of the schwa after the CS prefixes
y_ and w.

I assume by now that the reader is familiar with the way this rule ope-

rates. Hence, the syllabification process as demonstrated at length in the preceding chapter will not be redeveloped.

Recall that the rule of schwa insertion

requires that a V-slot be adjoined as a left daughter to a Rime if the Rime fails

100

to dominate a vowel slot.

the phonemic tier.

The adjoined slot is later spelled out as schwa on

Thus, the derivations for words like wergaz and yergazen as

in (8a) and (8e) from underlying /w-argaz/ and /y-irgaz-n/ would proceed as
follows:
(22) a.

/w-argaz/
w- rgaz

b.

/y-irgaz-n/
y- rgaz-n

(URs)
(initial vowel syncope)
(vocalization)

w-ergaz

y-ergaz-en

(schwa insertion)

wergaz

yergazen

(PRs)

The derivations for all other forms in (8) above proceed in the same manner.
As for the singular nouns beginning with i_ and plurals beginning with ,
the derivations would proceed in the same way without difficulty.

Examples of

such nouns and samples of their derivations are given in (23) and (24) below:
(23) a.

iBekki 'ape' ; iBekkan 'apes'

yemmeG iBekki

'the ape died'

emmGen iBekkan 'the apes died'

b.

isli 'fiance' ; islan 'fiances'

iruh yesli 'the fiance1 left'
ruhen yeslan 'the fiance's left'

c.

icerri 'lamb' ; acraren 'lambs'

yemmeG icerri 'the lamb died'
emmGen wecraren 'the lambs died'

101

(24) a.

/y-iBkki/

b.

c.

/y-isla-n/

/w-acrar-n/

(URs)

y - Bkki

y- sla-n

w- c r a r - n

(IVS)

y-Bekki

y-esla-n

w-ecrar-en

(schwa i n s e r t . )

i-Bekki

(voc.)

iBekki

yeslan

wecraren

(PRs)

N o t i c e t h a t i f we o r d e r v o c a l i z a t i o n b e f o r e schwa i n s e r t i o n we g e t t h e i n c o r r e c t outpu t *yBekki s i n c e t h e environment for v o c a l i z a t i o n remains u n s a t i s f i e d as long as schwa i n s e r t i o n has n o t a p p l i e d .

We w i l l s e e l a t e r ,

however,

t h a t t h i s s t i p u l a t i o n becomes u n n e c e s s a r y i f we follow an a n a l y s i s b a s e d on s y l lable structure (cf.

1.3.2. below).

For t h e purposes of t h e p r e s e n t a n a l y s i s ,

however, I s h a l l o r d e r schwa i n s e r t i o n b e f o r e

vocalization.

One word was found which b e g i n s w i t h a g e m i n a t e c l u s t e r and l o s e s i t s

vowel in t h e CS.

I t i s the word for

'house'.

This word, given i n (25) below

w i t h i t s p l u r a l form, behaves e x a c t l y l i k e t h e nouns which b e g i n with a

of two u n l i k e c o n s o n a n t s .

axxam ' h o u s e '

; ixxammen ' h o u s e s '

ihudd wexxam/*uxxam

' t h e house

hudden yexxammen/*ixxammen
(26)

a.

/w-axxam/

b.

collapsed'

' t h e houses

collapsed'

/y-ixxamm-n/

(URs)

w - xxam

y - xxamra-n

(IVS)

w-exxam

y-exxamm-en

(schwa i n s e r t i o n )
(vocalization)

wexxam

cluster

The d e r i v a t i o n s f o r the CS s i n g u l a r and p l u r a l shapes

a r e given in ( 2 6 ) :
(25)

initial

yexxammen

(PRs)

102

The conclusion to be drawn from the examples and their derivations in (25)
and (26) above is that a geminate cluster behaves like a cluster of two unlike
consonants with regard to the rules of vocalization and schwa insertion as formulated earlier.

If the geminates were considered as one single (C+tense], as

Abdel-Massih (1968) suggested, for example) consonant, xx would be assigned to

an Onset and, hence, schwa insertion would not apply to give us schwas before
the geminate.

Moreover, if xx were considered one single C+strongJ or C + t e n s e 3

consonant, vocalization would apply changing the preceding glide into the corresponding vowel, unless a special provision is made to block its application
before such consonants. Thus, if geminates were not considered sequences of
two identical consonants, we would get the following incorrect results:
(27) a.

/y-ixxamm-n/

(URs)

y- xxamm-n

(IVS)

y- xxamm-en

(schwa insertion)

u- xxam

i- xxamm-en

(vocalization)

*uxxam

* ixxammen

(PRs)

/w-axxam/

b.

w- xxam

Observe that the same phenomenon occurs in some verbal forms such as yettes
'he slept' and yebbi 'he pinched', where y is the 3rd person subject marker and
/tts/ and /bbi/, respectively, the verbal roots. The geminates tt and bb must
be considered sequences of two identical consonants; otherwise, we obtain the
incorrect output as illustrated below:
(28) a.

/y-tts/

b.

'y-bbi/

y-ttes

(URs)
(schwa insertion)

i-ttes

i-bbi

(vocalization)

*ittes

*ibbi

(PRs)

103

On the other hand, if geminates are treated like clusters of two (identical) consonants, the correct results can be obtained as illustrated below:
(29) a.

/y-tts/

b.

y-ettes

/y-bbi/
y-ebbi

(URs)
(schwa insertion)
(vocalization)

yettes
*

yebbi

(PRs)

The illustrations for yexdem 'he worked' and yefGel 'he rolled couscous' in
(30) are intended to show that the behavior of geminates is similar to that of
clusters of unlike consonants:
(30) a.

/y-xdm/

b.

y-exdem

/y-f01/
y-efGel

(URs)
(schwa insertion)
(vocalization)

yexdem

yefGel

(PRs)

In contrast, the verbs which begin with one consonant undergo vocalization as
illustrated below for iruh 'he left':
(31)

/y-ruh/

(UR)

(schwa insertion)

1.3.2.

i-ruh

(vocalization)

iruh

(PR)

Syllable Structure Analysis

The syllable structure analysis developed in the preceding chapter is able, I

believe, to account for the vocalization of glides if we include the vocalization

104
rule within the syllable-buildin g rules of Kabyle.

The new r u l e w i l l s t i p u l a t e

that any glide assigned to a Rime node be changed into the corresponding high
vowel.

This rule, which must be ordered after the syllable-building rule which

assigns a s t r i n g of unassigned consonants to a l t e r n a t i n g Rime and Onset p o s i tions s t a r t i n g from the r i g h t end of the word, w i l l be shown to yield the correct outputs for a l l the forms given above.
are assigned to C - s l o t s .

This analysis assumes that g l i d e s

The syllable-building rules phrased in Chapter 2 are

reproduced below together with the vocalization r u l e , for ease of reference :

(32) a.

assign a vowel to a Rime;

b.

assign a prevocalic consonant to an Onset;

c.

assign t o an Appendix the feminine suffix 9, the object suffixes

G, t, and k, the sounds s_ and i n word-final position as w e l l as
an unassigned second member of a geminate c l u s t e r ; the subject
prefixes 9_ and are to be assigned to a Prependix;

d.

assign a s t r i n g of one or more unassigned consonants t o a l t e r n a t ing Rime and Onset positions s t a r t i n g from the right end of t h e
string;

e.

glides dominated by Rime nodes vocalize into t h e corresponding high

vowels;

f.

join under one Rime node two adjacent Rime p o s i t i o n s ;

g.

if a Rime f a i l s to dominate a vowel s l o t , adjoin a V-slot as a left

daughter to the Rime;

h.

spell out a V-slot t h a t is unlinked to a segment in the phonemic

t i e r as schwa;

105

i.

final syllabification is achieved by joining together adjacent Rime

and (if any) Onset nodes (and, if present, any Appendix or Prependix
nodes).

The vocalization rule can be formalized as follows:

(33)

/y
w/y

u/i
u/i

IV

w/
or

V/

1
R

The latter rule can be said to have the effect of changing a C-slot into a V-slot
immediately triggering the change of y/w into i/u.
Given the above rules, the derivations for forms like urumi and irumyen from
underlying /w-rumy/ and /y-rumy-n/ would proceed as in (34) below.

I assume chat

the final vowel in urumi is underlyingly a glide because it surfaces as such in

the plural form.

(34) a.

w r u my

b.

(rules a , b , c , d )

(rule e)

urn
inappl.

R0

R 6 R

(rule f)

(34)

continued

nm

rc

inappl.

( r u l e s g and h)

u r u
C V

IV

( r u l e i)

The derivation s for forms like wergaz and yergazen, which i l l u s t r a t e the
f nouns beginning with consonant c l u s t e r s , are given below:
(35) a.

b.

rttr
(rules a,b,c,d)

nni
inappl.
F

IIIIII
inappl.

( r u l e e)

im
inappl.

( r u l e f)

( r u l e s g and h)
( r u l e i)

107

The derivations for iBekki and iBekkan from underlying /y-Bkky/ and /y-Bkka-n/
in (36) demonstrate that vocalization takes place even though its environment at
the segmental level (//

CV) is not yet satisfied.

It suffices for a glide

to be assigned to a Rime node in order to undergo vocalization.

(36) a.

(rules a,b,c,d)

( r u l e e)

Ukl
( r u l e f)

inappl.

( r u l e s g and h)
Notice that for proper final s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n we need to invoke the r u l e developed
in the preceding chapter which changes an Appendix node into an Onset node when
immediately followed by a Rime node.

The application of such a rule i n iBekki

w i l l give us t h e final representations in ( 3 7 ) :

(37) a.

(rule i)

108

The behavior of the conjunction /w/ 'and', apparently borrowed from Arabic,
seems to confirm our analysis that a glide vocalizes into the corresponding
vowel when assigned to a Rime node,

/w/ does indeed show up phonetically as w

in some environments and as in others (cf. examples in (38)).

Interestingly

enough, as illustrated by the derivations given in (39,) below, it seems that /w/
shows up as w when assigned to an Onset whereas it surfaces as u when assigned to
a Rime node.

The conjunction is usually prefixed to the following word, probably

forming one lexical unit with it.

(38) a.

ejneg 'I slept' ; wejneg 'and I slept'

b.

ruheg 'I left' ; uruheg 'and I left'

c.

yexdem 'he worked' ; uyexdem 'and he worked'

d.

iruh 'he left' ; wiruh 'and he left'

(39) a.

b.

(rules a,b,c,d)

III
inappl.
( r u l e e)

im
inappl.

inn
inappl.

( r u l e f)

109

(39)

continued

(rules g and h)
(rule i)

Notice that each of the underlying forms corresponding to uyexdem and wiruh
contains a glide sequence /wy/.

In the first form, the first glide undergoes

vocalization whereas in the second, it is the second glide which changes into the
corresponding high vowel.

The analysis based on syllable structure theory pre-

dicts this state of affairs, since the glides in the first form are assigned to
Onset and Rime nodes which are the opposite of those to which Che glides in Che
other form are assigned.

More specifically, in the first form /w/ is assigned to

a Rime and /y/ to an Onset; hence, /w/ is vocalized.

In the second form, however,

the opposite process takes place, namely, /w/ is assigned to an Onset and /y/ to
a Rime node, and, hence, we get the vocalization of the latter glide.
1.3.3.

Initial Vowel Retention

The analysis given so far has assumed that the initial vowel of masculine
nouns drops out when the CS prefix is added.

There are, however, some nouns in

whichthe initial vowel does not delete. Examples are given in (40):
(40) a.

agur 'moon' ; aguren 'moons'

iluled wagur 'the moon was born/rose'
*ugur

lulend waguren 'the moons were b o r n / r o s e '

*uguren

110

(40)

continued

b.

a s if ' r i v e r '

; isaffen

'rivers'

i f a d wasif ' t h e r i v e r overflowed'

*usif
faden isaffen

'the r i v e r s overflowed'

*yisaffen
c.

imi 'mouth'
rauqqer yimi ' t h e mouth i s b i g '
*imi

d.

a j j a l 'widower' ; a j j a l e n 'widowers'
i j e n wajjal

' t h e widower s l e p t '

*ujjal
ejnen wajjalen ' t h e widowers s l e p t '
*ujjalen
e.

uzzu 'bush'
yerga wuzzu * the bush burned'

f.

iSsar 'fingernail' ; aSSaren 'fingernails'

yarrez yi'S's'ar 'the fingernail broke'
*iSSar
arrzen waSsaren 'the fingernails broke'
*us*5aren

Other nouns not undergoing initial vowel syncope include:

Ill

(41)

ass 'day' ; ussan 'days'

is Sew 'horn' ; aSs'iwen 'horns'
ixef 'head of cattle' ; axfiwen "heads of cattle'

The data in (40) clearly suggest that the initial vowel of the nouns does not
drop out when the CS prefix is added.

The data include nouns whose initial vowel

is followed by either one single consonant or a geminate cluster. No examples of

nouns beginning with two unlike consonants after the initial vowel could be uncovered.

The question to be asked at this point is the following: what causes

the initial vowel of some nouns to syncopate in the CS and to remain in the case
of other nouns?

Several hypotheses will be considered, including two approaches

in the literature.
1.3.3.1.

Summary of Former Approaches to the Problem

Although a number of Berberists considered the problem of nouns in CS, only

two analyses have approached this problem in a serious way:

that of Basset (1945)

and that given by Saib (1976).

According to Basset, whether a noun is affected or not (i.e., loses its initial
vowel) depends on whether its initial vowel alternates in the plural (~i. i^i.)Thus, only those nouns with an alternating initial vowel undergo the change (for
more details see Basset, 1945).
This analysis was shown by Saib (1976) to be deficient and inadequate on empirical and principled grounds.
Berber:

First, it does not account for all the data in

there are in fact nouns without a plural which undergo the change (cf.

Qabaga 'tobacco') and others with an alternating vowel which do not (cf. as if
'river'; isaffen 'rivers'; ass 'day'; ussan 'days').

Second, in order to be able

to account for some data which do not follow the rule (those whose initial vowel

112

is i in both the singular and the plural and which undergo the change), Basset had
to posit two distinct "series" of /i's/:

alternating and non-alternating.

This

distinction can be made, however, only through the use of arbitrary marking and
ad hoc devices.
Saib (1976) dismisses Basset's analysis and proposes instead an analysis based
on syllable structure and "motivated by a search for phonological conditioning"
(p.169).

He states that the initial vowel of the noun undergoes changes in the

CS (syncope or vowel reduction) if:

a.

it occurs in an open syllable (i.e., it deletes);

b.

it occurs in a syllable closed by a cluster of unlike consonants

(i.e., it reduces to schwa);

Even though Saib's analysis seems to account for most of the data at hand, it
does not account for some nouns, and Saib himself recognizes that his analysis is
not "totally free of problems" (p.180).

The author acknowledges the existence of

exceptional cases especially among disyllabic nouns (cf. axxam 'house' in Kabyle).
In sum, Saib's analysis can not explain the behavior of some nouns in the CS without resorting to the use of arbitrary marking and ad hoc devices.

But it is

mainly for chis reason Chat Saib rejects Basset's approach.

In a recent paper, published after the original version of this chapter was
completed, Guerssel (1983) offers a new analysis based on the distinction between
a prefixal vowel and one which is part of the stem.

He maintains that if Che

inicial vowel is subject to deletion in the CS it must be considered a prefix

whereas if it fails to delete it will be considered part of the stem.
tinction can be represented as follows:
(42)

V+X

versus VX

where V+X = vowel+stem and VX = stem with initial vowel

This dis-

113

Several arguments are presented by the auChor in order to support his a n a l y s i s .

For more d e t a i l s the reader i s referred to Guerssel (1983:315-318).
does not specify, however, the nature of the prefix involved.

The author

We w i ll see that

Guerssel r s analysis resembles in more than one respect the hypothesis made in
1.3.3.2. below.
1.3.3.2.

Prefix versus Non-Prefix Hypothesis

If we compare the data in (40) and (41) with those in (8), (11) , and (23),
we notice t h a t no significant phonological difference e x i s t s between the features
of t h e consonants which follow the i n i t i a l vowels in t h e two groups.

The table

in (43)which is by no means completeillustrates a random sample of the v a r i ous consonants or consonant c l u s t e r s which follow the i n i t i a l vowel divided
according to whether that vowel is subject to deletion or not.
(43)

Vowel syncopates

Vowel does not syncopate

-rg

-rr

-ms"

-zz

-qS
-st

"jj
-

-fr

-ss

-si

-x

-cr

-s

-XX

-g
-m

-B
-f
-d
a

-r
-k
-t
-s
-q

114

The table in (43) does not allow us to determine whether the syncope or nonsyncope of the initial vowel in the CS is based on the nature of the consonant(s)
which follow(s).

Since it seems impossible to formulate a rule which would ac-

count for the syncope of the initial vowel by making a distinction based on
phonological features or syllable structure (e.g., Saib's hypothesis concerning
open and closed syllables), one might suggest a hypothesis involving the nature
and origin of the vowels which syncopate and those which do not.

Recall that

the initial vowel of nouns is considered by many Berberists (cf. Basset & Picard,
1948; Hanoteau, 1976) as a kind of prefix marking number.

In a paper devoted to

the historical origin of the CS forms and the genitive particle /n/, Pennacchietti
(1979) indicates that this prefix was historically the definite article and was
later cliticized to the noun now forming an indivisible unit with it. The author
specifies that these articles were for masculine singular, ta (0a in Kabyle and
other spirantizing dialects)

ti (9i) for feminine plural.

for feminine singular, i_ for masculine plural, and

Given these observations and the fact that t_ (0) is

a feminine marker; given also that some initial vowels in the CS do syncopate
while others do not, we can say that the vowels which delete are in fact prefixes
of some sort which are not part of the stem, while those which are retained constitute part of the noun stem.

Ic seems quite natural to classify nouns in any

language into those which begin with a vowel and those which begin with a consonant.

Accordingly, we can claim that a noun which began with a consonant has

retained the vowel which was the number or definiteness marker and has formed
with it one single unit. As for those nouns which originally began with a vowel,
they did not retain the prefix because of an independently motivated constraint
of Berber phonology, namely, that two vowels can not occur next to each other in
the language. There are no surface instances of two consecutive vowels in Berber.

115

If two underlying vowels occur together across a word or morpheme boundary, in

phonetic representation one of the two vowels is deleted or y_ is inserted between
them, as the examples in (44) show:
(44) a.

/BaBa yruh/ * BaBiruh

'my father left'

b.

/BaBa uryruhara/ + BaBuriruhara 'my father did not leave'

c.

/yebbi aqsisV -* yebbaqsis 'he pinched the boy'

d.

/yenza ycerri/ + yenzicerri 'the lamb was sold'

e.

/yenza wtaksi/ - yenzutaksi 'the car was sold'

f.

ennig 'I said'; ennigas 'I said to him'; ennigac 'I said to you'

g.

yenna 'he said'; yennayas 'he said to him'; yennayac, 'he said to you'

The data above clearly suggest that two vowels can not occur consecutively in
Kabyle.

A rule of elision like the one in (45) is commonly invoked in order to

account for the cases involving deletion of one of two vowels which occur in a
sequence.

Another rule of y_-insertion is needed in order to account for forms like

those in (44g), but it does not concern us here.

(45)

(J/V

Determining which vowel undergoes d e l e t i o n is of no relevance for the present

d i s c u s s i o n , but i t seems t h a t usually the f i r s t vowel is d e l e t e d except in c e r t a i n
s y n t a c t i c environments where d e l e t i o n seems t o be based on vowel q u a l i t y .

This

problem w i l l be f u l l y investigated i n the following c h a p t e r .

The r u l e in (45) permits us to draw an important c o n c l u s i o n.

If two vowels

can not occur in a sequence i n Kabyle, then we can hypothesize that t h e d e f i n i t e

a r t i c l e or number prefix was not r e t a i n e d before nouns o r i g i n a l l y beginning with

116

vowels but was retained in those which began with a consonant. What seems to be
happening in the CS, then, is that the vowel which is a true prefix (definiteness
or number marker) syncopates whereas the vowel which is not a true prefix (but is
rather part of the stem) does not syncopate.

Thus, we can say that the initial

vowels in the examples in (40) and (41) do not syncopate because they are part of
the stem.
The problem now arises as to how to tell whether the initial vowel is a true
prefix or part of the stem.

One waywhich might sound circular (because what we

are looking for is a way of predicting the syncopating nouns from the non-syncopating ones)would be to say that if the vowel syncopates it is a prefix, and if
it does not it is part of the stem.

An alternative way would be to reconstruct

the history and etymology of the words or their derivatives in order to determine
whether the initial vowel forms part of the root or not.
some words in a straightforward manner.

This can be done for

If we take words like arumi, ataksi,

akursi, axxam, and astilu, it is easy to show that they are borrowings from Latin,
French, and Arabic, and have undergone a process of nativization.

These words are

most probably taken from Latin /roman-us/, French (or English) /taxi/, Arabic
/kursi/ 'chair' and /xaym-ah/ 'tent', and French /stylo/ 'pen'. We notice that
the initial vowel in the Berber forms is an idiosyncrasy of the language.
these words then, we might conclude that it is a prefix of some sort.

For

More re-

search is needed in order Co determine whether the initial vowel of other words
is really a prefix or part of the stem.

Further study of Berber vocabulary and

derivations and, perhaps, historical reconstruction of proto-forms is necessary

in order Co determine which nouns contain initial vowels in their stems and which
nouns do not. A third way of deciding the nature and origin of the initial vowel
is to compare verb stems with the nouns derived from them (deverbal nouns), and

117

some nouns with the verbs derived from them (denominal verbs).

An example of a

noun derived from a verb is the noun axeddam 'worker', from the verbal root /xdm/
'to work'.

Here, we observe that among other processes entering in the derivation

of the noun, the low vowel is prefixed to the verbal stem.

What we have to do

at this point is to check whether the initial vowel of this noun syncopates in the
CS or not; if it does this means that our hypothesis, which stipulates that initial vowels which are true prefixes syncopate in the CS, will be correct; if it
does not our hypothesis will be incorrect.

But as (46a) clearly shows, the ini-

tial vowel in axeddam drops out in the CS, indicating that our hypothesis makes
the correct prediction.

Another example with an initial vowel that is clearly a

prefix is amengi 'battle', derived from /mmng/ 'to kill each other'. This noun
again undergoes vowel syncope in the CS (46b).
(46) a.

iruh uxeddam 'the worker left'

*waxeddam
ruhen ixeddamen 'the workers left'
*yixeddamen

b.

muqqer umengi 'the battle was big'

*wamengi

It is more difficult to find examples of verbs derived from nouns.

If we

take nouns like agur 'moon' and asif 'river' in which a is considered part of the
stem and, hence, does not syncopate, it hardly makes sense if we try to derive
verbs from them, i.e., such verbs (if any) would not have a semantic interpretation.

Therefore, there is no way to synchronically test whether the initial

vowels in these words are true prefixes or part of the stems.

There are at least two cases which do not follow the rule of initial vowel

118

syncope stated above.

These are the plurals of two nouns beginning with a vowel

followed by one consonant.

Even though they retain the initial vowel in the

singular forms, they seem co lose it in the plural realizations, as shown in (47).
(47) a.

asif 'river' ; isaffen 'rivers'

ifad wasif 'the river overflowed'
*usif
faden isaffen 'the rivers overflowed'
*yisaffen

b.

igill 'arm, measurement' ; igallen 'arms'

yarrez yigill 'the arm broke'
*igill
arrzen igallen 'the arms broke'
*yigallen

The singular forms in (47) suggest that the initial vowels are part of the
stem since they do not syncopate in the CS. On the other hand, the plural equivalents seem to indicate that the initial vowels are in fact prefixes because
these drop out in the CS. The derivations in (48) illustrate this fact.
(48) a.

/w-asif/

b.

wasif

/y-isaffen/

(URs)

y-saffen

(IVS)

i-saffen

(voc)

isaffen

(PRs)

If the initial vowel of isaffen was treated as the one in wasif, we would get
the following incorrect result:

119

(49)

/y-isaffen/

(UR)
(IVS)
(voc.)

*yisaffen

(PR)

The derivations for yigill and igallen would proceed in the same way.
Notice that this happens only with plural nouns beginning with i_. The word
for 'moons', for instance, behaves as expected in the CS (cf. (40a) above).

What

might have happened in the words for 'rivers' and 'arms' is that they were regularized on the model of words beginning with /iCV/ whose initial vowels undergo
syncope because they are not part of the stem.

Examples of the latter are ifassen

'hands', idaren 'feet' and idudan 'fingers' (cf. (11) above).

One final remark about the masculine nouns must be made.

beginning with .

It concerns those

We notice from the examples in (50) and those scattered among

the data given above that w is prefixed to such nouns.

This means that a and u

take w whereas i_ takes y_. In other words, a glide homorganic with the initial
vowel is prefixed to the nouns in the CS.
(50) a.

uSSen 'jackal' ; uSSanen 'jackals'

yemme9 wuSSen 'the jackal died'
emm9en wuSsanen 'the jackals died'

b.

ass 'day' ; ussan 'days'

g ezzif
w

wass 'the day is long'

i

g ezzifen wussan 'the days are long'

Within an autosegmental analysis, it might then be claimed that an unspecified

120

(for frontness and backness) glide is the CS marker. This unspecified glide surfaces as w in front of a and , and y_ when preceding the front vowel i\, with the
feature + or - back spreading from the vowel to the unspecified glide.
1.4.

Proper Names and Non-Nativized Nouns

Proper names and nouns borrowed from Arabic with the definite article /l-/
(i.e., those which did not undergo nativization) do not take the CS prefixes as
the examples in (51) indicate.
(51) a.

b.

yettes samir

slept
Samir
ijen

'Samir slept'

rasid

slept Rashid
c.

d.

e.

iruh

ahmed

left

Ahmad

iruh

Budwaw

left

Buthwaw

ijen

wa91i

'Rashid slept'

Ahmad left'

'Buthwaw left'

slept Wa'li
f.

g.

Neither do they lose their initial vowel (if any),

'Wa'li slept'

Oettes

fatima

slept

Fatima

yasmm

Ojen

12
'Fatima slept'

12

'Yasmin slept'
slept Yasmm
h.

yettes

slept

elhakem

judge

'the judge slept'

121

(51)

continued

i.

j.

yarrez

elmus

broke

knife

zur
is

13

. ...
elmilh

big

salt

'the knife broke'

'(the grains of) salt are big'

The fact that all masculine nouns take the CS prefixes except proper names and
non-nativized words borrowed from Arabic is interesting for at least one important
reason.

Given this fact, one might wonder if this is not indicative of some, less

obvious, rule in Berber grammar which would stipulate that every noun, other than
proper names and non-nativized items, must carry a case (or state) marker. If
this is true, we can say that there are two cases in Berber:

the "nominative"

(corresponding to the free state) and the "oblique" (corresponding to the CS).
The nominative case markers would be for the singular and i^ for the plural.

If

the noun stem begins with a consonant this marker is cliticized to the stem forming one single unit with it.

If it begins with a vowel, the marker simply drops

as a result of the elision rule in (45). On the other hand, the oblique case
markers would be w and y_ for the singular and the plural, respectively.

In the

nouns whose stems begin with a vowel, both the glide and the initial vowel appear
on the surface (e.g., wagur, wasif).
glide is cliticized to the stem.

If the stem begins with a consonant, the CS

If the glide is followed by two unlike conso-

nants or a geminate cluster, the rule of schwa epenthesis applies to break the
consonant cluster (cf. wergazen, yergazen).

If the glide is followed by one con-

sonant it vocalizes into the corresponding vowel (cf. ufua, ifassen).

Recall

that the vocalization and schwa insertion rules fit easily within the syllablebuilding rules of Kabyle.

122

Thus, we can say, for example, that the word for 'man' is lexically /rgaz/,
i.e., consonant-initial.

I would be spelled out as /a+rgaz/; |^?f I would

be rendered as /w+rgaz/. On the other hand, the word for 'moon' is lexically
/agur/, i.e., vowel-initial.
/w+agur/.

I is spelled out as /a+agur/, and |^uf | as

Later on, vowel-elision as formulated in (45) above applies to delete

one of the two consecutive vowels in /a+agur/, yielding the correct agur.
The advantage of this analysis is that it seems to give a satisfactory answer
to the following question: why does the initial vowel of some nouns syncopate in
the CS while that of others does not?

Instead of saying that if an initial vowel

is a prefix (denoting deriniteness or number) it deletes in the CSwhich is not

totally convincing, we may now say that if the vowel in question is a nominative
case marker there is no place for it when the noun is in a syntactic environment
which requires the oblique case.

Another reason for suggesting this kind of anal-

ysis is that it explains why the initial vowel of some nouns deletes in the CS
whereas it stays in the free state.

If it is really a prefix denoting number or

definiteness, it sounds simplistic to assume that it is retained in one state and

deleted in another state. But if we consider the initial vowel of some nouns in
Berber a nominative case marker it will not only be natural but also mandatory
for ic to disappear in the oblique case.
The problem is now to see it there is a principled syntactic account of the
environments which require the nominative case and those which require the" oblique case.

We have already seen that the free state (nominative case) is used in

citation forms, topicalized subject and direct object positions.

The CS (oblique

case) is mainly used when the noun is in subject position and after most prepositions.

One might wonder what properties the subject of a sentence and the object

123

of a preposition have in common that they require the same case.

In most lan-

guages, the subject takes the nominative case whereas the object of a preposition
carries a different case (accusative or ablative in Latin and genitive in Arabic).
What seems to be happening in Berber, though, is that the choice of the oblique
case is determined by the verb and the preposition.

This means that the verb

and the preposition affect (case-wise) the noun immediately following and which
they govern.

In other words, the subject is assigned the oblique case only if

it is governed and immediately preceded by the verb.

This predicts that if the

subject precedes the verb (cases of topicalization) it will not have the oblique
case.

This prediction proves to be correct, as (2) above shows.

The tree struc-

tures in (52) illustrate the positions of the subject and the object in relation
to the verb in a normal Berber sentence. All three structures are plausible
(there is no syntactic evidence to favor one over the two other) and in all of
them the verb immediately precedes (and governs) the subject.
or

(52) a.

b.

JJP
(verb)

(verb)

(subject)

or

(verb) (subj.) (obj.)

(object)

(subject)

124

The same thing can be said about t h e p r e p o s i t i o n a l phrase.

precedes and governs i t s object (complement).

The p r e p o s i t i o n

In a d d i t i o n , they form a s i n g l e

s y n t a c t i c uni t and a r e , thus, attached to the same n o d e , as i n (53):

(53)

PP
prep

NP
(complement)

As a consequence o f the above a n a l y s i s , i t can be hypothesized t h a t verbs and

prepositions require t h a t the nouns which immediately follow them t a k e the o b l i que case (CS) provided that these nouns are a l s o governed by the v e r b s or prepositions.

In other words, a noun i s in t h e CS when i t i s immediately preceded and

governed by the head o f i t s phrase.

The same thing a p p l i e s t o the complement of a

q u a n t i f i e r , which is a l s o in the CS, e . g . , yiwen wergaz/*argaz 'one man'.

I f the

noun which follows the verb i s not i t s subject but i t s object, it t a k e s Che free
s t a t e , as shown in (54) below:
(54)

9ebbi aqSis7*weqSis
she-pinched boy

' s h e pinched the b o y '

The f a i l u r e of the word for 'boy ' to b e in t h e CS though i t immediately follows

the verb can be explained by t h e presence of an 'empty category' between the verb
and i t s o b j e c t, represented as follows:
(55)

9ebbi

e 3 aqsis 1

In terms of a tree s t r u c t u r e , t h i s can be represented by an empty node as follows:

125

(56)

(verb)
The empty category or node would stand for a Q>rcQ in case of the absence of an
independent subject such as in the sentence in (55) or for a Qtracel in case the
subject is preposed to the verb, e.g., in the following example:
(57)

GaqgiSG

Gebbi

girl

pinched

ej aqSis*
boy

'the girl pinched the boy'

If the noun (subject of a verb or object of a preposition) is modified by an

adjective (the adjective obligatorily follows the noun in Berber), the adjective
does not take the oblique case, as illustrated in (58) below.

This means that

the adjective does not agree in case with the noun or that the governing element
(verb, preposition, or quantifier) assigns case to the immediately following noun
only.
(58) a.

b.

iruh
left

weqEun
dog

efkig
gave-I

c.

acsum
meat

ameqqran/*umeqqran
big
'the big dog left'
i-weqKun
to-dog

ameqqran/*umeqqran
'I gave meat to the big dog'

yiwen

weqSun

ameqqran/*umeqqran

one

dog

big

'one big dog'

However, if the adjective is used as a noun in any of the three environments

listed above, it takes the oblique case, as shown below:

126

(59) a.

iruh umeqqran/*ameqqran

'the big one left'

b.

efkig acsum i-wmeqqran/*i-araeqqran

c.

yiwn umeqqran/*ameqqran

'I gave meat to the big one'

'one big one'

The failure of the glide in iwmeqqran to undergo vocalization even though w

would be assigned to a Rime node can be accounted for by imposing a restriction
on the rule, namely, that it apply only when the underlying glide is initial in
the Rime, i.e., not when it is part of a diphthong (.e.g., ay, aw, iw, etc.).

In

this case, the rule will have to be ordered after the syllable-building rule which
joins under one Rime two adjacent Rime positions, and can be formulated as in (60),
where the lefthand bracket expresses the above mentioned restriction on the rule
(cf. Kenstowicz et al., 1982):
(60)

y/w

i/u

In other words, the vocalization rule affects only non-branching Rime nodes.
Given the rule in (60), the derivation for iwmeqqran can proceed as follows:

(rules a,b,c,d)

(rules g,h,i)

(rule f)

(.vocalization)

127

Now, what about the cases involving a 'noun in apposition' (cf. Dallet, 1957)
where the noun is clearly in the CS?

It is our belief that Dallet's assertion

that such nouns are really in apposition is far from being unquestionable.
what follows, two hypotheses will be suggested and tested.

In

The first considers

these nouns as real subjects and the second as complements of a certain 'missing
preposition'.

Before tackling this problem, let us look at the examples in (62)

which repeat material given earlier and introduce new examples in order to make
the analysis more comprehensive.
(62) a.

b.

d-9askari wergaz
is-soldier man
'the man is a soldier'
wa-9-ilan

wexxam

who-it-belongs house
c.

a-G-an

wexxam

there-it-is house
d.

ulas*-iG

'whose is the house?'

'there is the house'

wegyul

no l o n g e r - i t donkey
e.

ansi-G

' t h e donkey i s no longer t h e r e '

wergaz-aggi

from where-he man-that

f.

ma-s*wi-0

umexluq-aggi

Q-better-he person-that
g.

ma-Berka-0

'where is that man from?'

'is that person better?'

wemfcun

Q-has enough-he good-for-nothing

'did he have enough, the

good-for-nothing'

h.

ma-zal-i0

di-lhara

Q-still-he in-yard

wergaz
man

'is the man still in the yard?'

128

(62)

continued

i.

j.

d-el9ali-ts

e0funas0

is-good-it

cow

kifkif-i0en

'the cow is good'

warraw-is

all the same-they children-his

k.

etsmeqqleg

fell-as

'his children are all the same'

utuqGan (cf. ataqGan)

I am looking for-him

fat one

'I am looking for him, the fat one'

Given the examples in (62) above, we can proceed with the two analyses referred to earlier.

First, one might consider the forms preceding the noun in the

CS in (62a-j), e.g., d-9askari, wa-0-ilan, etc., as having a verbal function and,

hence, the following noun would be treated as the subject of the preceding 'verbal
form'.

One might claim that these forms have been reanalyzed in the minds of na-

tive speakers as verbs and that, like other verbs, have come to require that the
noun which follows them take the CS.

This interpretation seems to work well in

the case of a sentence like (62a) whose structure greatly resembles that of an
Arabic equational sentence with the subject postposed to the pxedicate.

In such

a sentence, the subject retains the nominative case exactly as if the usual order
(subject-predicate) were followed.
(63) a.

b.

This is shown in the examples below,

miskiin-un ?al-walad-u

(cf. ?alwaladu miskiinun)

poor-nom.

'the boy is poor'

tabiib-un

the-boy-nom.

?ar-rajul-u

physician-nom. the-man-nom.

(cf. ?arrajulu tabiibun)

'the man is a physician'

where the inversion indicates emphasis as illustrated by the underlining of the

appropriate portions.

However, in a sentence like the one in (62k), it is hard

to see how such an analysis would work.

In this sentence, the noun in the CS is

129

preceded by a preposition (fell-) and the indirect object clitic -as; it is unconceivable to consider this combination a verb.

Moreover, the meaning of the

sentence itself indicates that the noun which is in the CS is in apposition to

the object clitic -as. This argues against the hypothesis that forms like the
ones preceding the nouns in CS in the examples in (62a-j) should be treated as
verbs.

There is another piece of evidence which apparently contradicts such a

hypothesis.

If indeed these forms were verbs, one would expect them to occur

in a relative clause on a par with other verbs as illustrated in the following

example:
(64)

argaz

iruh

'the man left'

argaz

iggruhen

'the man that left'

Thus, all other things being equal, one would expect a form like kifkif-iQen
'all the same-they'if it were a verbto occur in a relative clause as follows:
(65)

arraw-is

kifkif-iGen

'his children are all the same'

*arraw-is iykifkif-iGen
'his children who are all the same'

However, constructions like arrawis iykifkifiGen are not acceptable.

Hence, the

previous hypothesis can not be maintained.

The alternative hypothesis would posit some kind of a 'missing preposition'
before the nouns in the CS in the examples in (62). In this way, they would
comply with the analysis given earlier for the complements of prepositions.

Thus,

a sentence like the one in (62a) would be analyzed as follows:

(66)

d-9askari (Xj wergaz

(where X stands for the missing preposition)

X would assign case (CS) to the following noun.

There does not seem to be any major difficulty with this analysis since the
presence of such a 'missing preposition' before all the nouns in the CS in the

130

examples above can be assumed without difficulty.

Moreover, this analysis permits

us to maintain the conclusion reached earlier, namely, that a noun is in the CS

when it is governed by the head of its phrase.

Given this analysis, no extra

stipulation needs to be made concerning the examples in (62).

It is worth mention-

ing, finally, that the deep structure assumed for the examples in (62) is similar
Co a common structure in Lebanese Arabic.

This dialect of Levantine Arabic exhi-

bits a phenomenon usually referred to as 'clitic doubling', whereby an object

suffix coreferential with the direct object is cliticized to the verb even though
the direct object itself is present.
(67)

darab-t-u

la-samiir

hit-I-him

for- Samir

This is illustrated in the sentence below:

' I h i t Samir'

For the Kabyle forms, we can assume a p r e p o s i t i o n , similar t o l a , which assigns

case to the following noun.

However, unlike Lebanese Arabic, t h i s p r e p o s i t i o n does

not appear on the surface in Kabyle.

But we can s t i l l note i t s e f f e c t ,

given the

fact Chat the noun in question i s in t h e CS (oblique case).

A f i n a l note concerns the few p r e p o s i t i o n s which take the nominative case
s t a t e ) (cf.

(3) above and note ( 3 ) ) .

The fact t h a t seme p r e p o s i t i o n s require

CS while o t h e r s take the free s t a t e i s not unique to Kabyle.

In L a t i n , for

(free
the

in-

s t a n c e , some preposition s t a k e the a b l a t i v e c a s e whereas o t h e r s require the a c c u s a t i v e c a s e , as the following examples c l e a r l y show:
(68) a.

ex

urb-e

from city-abl. marker

b.

'out of the city'

adeunt

ad

urb-em

they-went

to

city-acc.marker

'they went to the city'

The above analysis seems, however, to be marked by two major difficulties.

First, if we assume that is the nominative case marker for the singular and i_

131

for the plural, we can not explain how some nouns can begin with i_ in the singular
and lose this vowel in the oblique case (CS). An example would be isli 'fiance",
which becomes yesli in the oblique case.

Recall that our analysis assumed that

if an initial vowel is replaced by w or y_ in the oblique case this means that the
vowel is the marker of the nominative case.

In the case of isli, the initial

vowel is lost; therefore, it must be considered a case marker.

that the word for 'fiance' is /sli/ and i is a case marker.

This would mean

But the question is:

why does /sli/ take i as a case marker and not a? A way of explaining this anomaly would be to say that the word for 'fiance*' is indeed /isli/; a is prefixed to
it as a nominative case marker, and is then deleted by the common elision rule in
Berber.

The result is still isli with the initial vowel "reanalyzed" or "rein-

terpreted" as a nominative case marker, subject to loss when the noun is in a

position which requires the oblique case.
Another difficulty related to the preceding one consists in determining which
glide serves as case marker for the singular and which one marks case for the
plural.

If we say that w is prefixed to singulars and y_ to plurals, we have

counterexamples in words like wecraren 'lambs' and yesli 'fiance*'. On the other
hand, if we say that w is prefixed to nouns beginning with or and y_ to nouns
beginning with i_ it will be impossible to predict which glide is to be prefixed
to nouns beginning with consonants in the stem, such as /a-rumi/ and /i-rumyen/.
One way of solving this problem would be to assume that w is the marker of the
oblique case for the nouns beginning with or and the singular, whereas v_ is
the marker of the oblique case for words beginning with _i and the plural.
table in (69) sums up these conditions:

The

132

Norn, marker

Obi, marker

1.

nouns beginning with or

2.

s i n g u l ar nouns

3.

nouns beginning with i^

4.

p l u r a l nouns

Condition:

(3) t a k e s precedence over (2) and ( l ) t a k e s precedence

over (4)

The second major d i f f i c u l t y our analysis appears t o face concerns the feminine
nouns.

As w i l l be shown in t h e next section, the feminine nouns do not take the

markers y_ and w in the oblique case (CS).

following:

The question to be asked would be the

if the glides are true case markers, why do they not show up in the

feminine forms?

This question w i l l be dealt with when we consider the problem of

the feminine forms in the following s e c t i o n .

Further study i s s t i l l needed, how-

ever, before we can decide whether the i n i t i a l vowels and the glides are r e a l case
markers or not.
1.5.

Feminine Nouns
Feminine nouns behave l i k e their masculine counterparts with respect to the

l o s s or non-loss of the i n i t i a l vowel.

others do not.

Some los e t h i s vowel i n the CS while

If a feminine noun is derived from a masculine substantive via

prefixation and/or suffixation of 6, i t behaves exactly like t h e masculine noun

with regard to the problem of syncope or non-syncope of the i n i t i a l vowel.
t r a t i o n s are given in (70):

Illus-

133

(70) a.

GaqSiSG ' g i r l ' ; 0iqsiSin ' g i r l s '

0ruh 0eqBiBG/*Gaq8is*G

'the g i r l

ruhent Geqs*isin/*GiqSisin
b.

c.

0am5iS0 ' f . c a t '

'the girls

; 0im8as* ' f . c a t s '

(cf. amSis* ' c a t ' j

e t t s e n t 0ems'as7*9imsas'

'the f . c a t s s l e p t '

amettu 'woman' ; Gulawin 'women'

'the woman slept'

e t t s e n t e01awin/*0ulawin

'the women s l e p t '

0afunas0 'cow' ; Oifunasin 'cows'

a r a Geggan e6funas0/*0afunas0
a r a gganent eGfunasin/Gifunasin
Gas ifG 'small r i v e r ' ; Gisaffin
Gfad GasifG/*e0sif0

' t h e cow i s s l e e p i n g '

'Che cows a r e sleeping'
'small r i v e r s '

' t h e small river overflowed'

fadent isaffin/*e0saffin
(cf. a s i f ' r i v e r ' p i .
f.

left'

'the f . c a t s l e p t '

Gettes e0mettu0/*0amettu0

e.

left'

9 e t t e s 0ems'is'0/*0ams'is,0

d.

(cf. aqsis* 'boy')

' t h e small r i v e r s overflowed'

isaffen)

O a j j a l t 'widow' ; O i j j a l i n 'widows'
0emme0 0 a j j a l t / * 0 e j j a l t
emmOent G i j j a l i n / * G e j j a l i n

'the widow d i e d '

' t h e widows died'

As i l l u s t r a t e d in the examples above, however, the feminine nouns d i f f e r

the masculine substantives in one important r e s p e c t .

from

There i s no trace in the

feminine nouns of the CS or oblique case markers, namely, the glides y_ and w.
syncope of the i n i t i a l vowel i n some of the forms above can be explained on the

The

134

analogy of the masculine nouns, namely, assume that this vowel is a free state or
nominative case marker and, hence, is no more needed when the noun occurs in a
syntactic environment which requires the other case or state.
glides is more puzzling.
the glides in the CS.

The absence of the

Still, one might say that the feminine nouns do not take

In such a case, it could be claimed that the oblique case

or CS marker for the feminine nouns beginning with 9 is just 0.

This assumption

could be extended to proper names and non-nativized nouns borrowed from Arabic.
An alternative abstract analysis would assume that the glides are present in the
URs but are deleted after the feminine prefix 6 as a means of cluster simplification.

A rule like the one in (71) would be needed in order to account for the

loss of the glides:

(71)

w/y

0/ 9

obl. case Jtem. pref.T

markers]
Evidence for either of the above hypotheses would be adduced if it could be
shown that the feminine nouns which do not begin with 0_ take the glides in the
CS or oblique case.

In fact, there is a set of (parenthood) nouns which do not

begin with the voiceless dental fricative and, quite interestingly, the glides
w/y_ are prefixed to them in the CS or oblique case. The data in (72) illustrate
this point:
(72) a.

ultma 'sister' ; isseGma 'sisters'

ara Geggan weltma/*ultma

'my sister is sleeping'

ara gganent yesse0ma/*isseOma

'my sisters are sleeping'

135

(72)

continued

b.

illi 'daughter' ; issi 'daughters'

ara Oeggan yelli/*illi
ara gganent yessi/*issi

c.

'my daughter is sleeping'

'my daughters are sleeping'

imma 'mother'

ara eggan yimma/*imma

'my mother i s sleeping'

Notice t h a t in the word for 'mother' the i n i t i a l vowel i s present in the oblique
case (CS) a l s o .
2.

This would i n d i c a t e t h a t i t is p a r t of the stem.

The Genitive Construction

2.1.

Introduction
According to most Berberist s (Basset, 1952; S a i b , 1976; Guerssel, 1978), the

genitive c o n s t r u c t i o n , i n d i c a t i n g a r e l a t i o n s h i p of possession or annexation between two nouns, i s expressed by the use of the p a r t i c l e or prepositio n n .

This

p a r t i c l e i s usually prefixed or c l i t i c i z e d t o the second term of the possessive

construction and i s subject t o phonological a l t e r n a t i o n s to be specified
The order of a genitiv e phrase is as follows:
second term (the p o s s e s s o r ) .

later.

f i r s t term (the possessed)++the

The f i r s t and second terms were referred t o by

Pennacchietti (1979) as the "governing" and "governed" s u b s t a n t i v e s , r e s p e c t i v e l y .

The Berber genitive construction usually corresponds to one of the following three
English c o n s t r u c t i o n s :
a.

"of" constructions:
the dog of Samir'

b.

aqun nsamir

a construction involving the possessive 's (or s'):

'Samir's dog'

aqzun nsamir

136

c.

a construction in which the two English nouns are d i r e c t l y

juxtaposed, the f i r s t modifying the second:
'the v i l l a g e dog'

(N.B.

aqzun entaddarG (or ettaddar9)

The underlined words correspond t o each o t h e r . )

As mentioned e a r l i e r , the noun following the p a r t i c l e takes the CS (oblique

case).

The case of the genitive construction in Kabyle is e s p e c i a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g

because of the complexity of the surface forms r e s u l t i n g from the p r e f i x a t i o n of

to the following noun.

Foreshadowing subsequent d i s c u s s i o n , we can say t h a t in

some instances the surface forms are quite similar t o the posited underlying forms.
In most cases, however, the dichotomy between the two forms is so marked t h a t i t
requires a comprehensive phonological explanation.
I s h a l l begin the analysi s with a discussion of proper names and non-nativized
nouns borrowed from Arabic because for these nominals Che surface forms are the
most similar t o the underlying forms.
the masculine nouns.

Then, I analyze feminine nouns and,

finally,

Throughout the discussion, the noun i n question w i l l be the

second term of the possessive construcCion because i t is t h i s noun and the prefixed
which undergo the changes whereas the f i r s t term remains unaffected.
2.2.

Proper Names and Non-Nativized Nouns

Looking a t the examples i n (78) we notice that most proper names are not af-

fected in the genitive construction.

The few exceptions are /Budwaw/ which appears

as budwaw a f t e r the , and /yusef/ which surfaces as ggusef or, a l t e r n a t i v e l y , as

nyusef.

The a l t e r n a t i o n in the f i r s t term suggests a rule which changes t h e b i l a -

b i a l f r i c a t i v e /B/ i n t o the corresponding stop after the n a s a l .

s t a t e d as in (73):

This rule can be

137

(73)

T+cont '
Ubilab.
[+voice _

i-

.1 / l+nasal "1
C-contJ/
[ +alveolar J

Another rule such as the one in (74) is needed to account for the surface form
mbudwaw where n becomes m before a bilabial (assimilation):

(74)

talveolar] " ^

C^Habial]/

frbilabLl]

The second exception is the word for 'Joseph' which appears alternatively as
ggusef or nyusef.
some difficulty.

The second form is perfectly regular; the first one presents

Before proceeding to account for ggusef we need to refer to a

rule in Berber phonology whereby a sequence of y_y_ becomes g.

The examples in (75)

illustrate the operation of this rule which is formulated in (76).

(75) a.

axxam 'house' ; iy- (introduces a relative or interrogative clause);

yezzenz 'he sold' ; argaz 'man'
axxam iggezzenz (-iy+yezzenz) wergaz
house that sold

man

'the house that the man sold'

b.

agrum 'bread' ; yefiSa 'he ate'

agrum iggeESa (+ly+yec'c'a) wergaz
bread that ate

man

'the bread that the man ate'

but
c.

agrum lyGeJJHid (<-iy+0e'ic'id)

' t h e b r e a d t h a t you a t e '

(76)

y+y

gg

138

Given the rule in (76), one can assume that ggusef is in fact derived from
/yyusef/.
glide.

This implies that the particle n assimilates to a following palatal

From /yyusef/, rule (76) would derive the correct form ggusef.

Notice

that the assimilation of n to y_ is optional because nyusef is also acceptable.

It should be noted that the feminine names (cf. yasmin in (78)) have only one
form, namely, the form where n does not undergo assimilation.

This would suggest

that n-assimilation applies only with masculine names. We will see in 2.4. below
that it also applies with masculine nouns.
As for the itself, it undergoes changes before consonants other than b_.
Some of these changes appear to be cases of complete assimilation to following
segments, such as m (78f), r_ (78e), and 1_ (78d and e ) .
similates to a following sonorant.

It seems then that n as-

A rule like the one in (77) can account for

this fact:

f+nasal
"T
|+alveolarJ

(77)

fxnasal
"j
I g p t . of a r t J '

'-obstr.
Mnasal
Jpt. of art.

In nnora (781) the rule applies vacuously; so, we can still say that it apw
plies to all sonorants. The case of bb a91i (78d) will be fully discussed when
the problem posed by the masculine nouns is handled in section 2.4.
(78) a.

aqzun nahmed 'Ahmad's dog' ; ahmed 'Ahmad'

b.

aqzun ensamir 'Samir's dog' ; samir 'Samir'

c.

azekka mbudwaw 'Buthwaw's grave' ; Budwaw 'Buthwaw'

d.

azekka bb a91i 'Wali's grave' ; wa91i 'Wali'

e.

aqSun errasid 'Rashid's dog' ; ras"id 'Rashid'

139

(78)

continued

f.

aqzun emmuhand 'Muhand's dog' ; muhand 'Muhand'

g.

azekka n9amir 'Amir's grave' ; 9atnir 'Amir'

h.

aqz*un enxera 'Khera's dog' ; xera 'Khera'

i.

aqzun enyusef/eggusef

j.

aqzun enfatima 'Fatima's dog' ; fatima 'Fatima' (fem. name)

k.

azekka nyasmm 'Yasmin's grave' ; yasmin 'Yasmin' (fem. name)

1.

azekka nnora 'Nora's grave' ; nora 'Nora' {.fem. name)

'Joseph's dog' ; yusef 'Joseph'

As for Arabic loan-words borrowed with the definite a r t i c l e / l - / , they do not

seem t o undergo any other change besides the a s s i m i l a t i o n of n to a following 1_
i f the two sounds are not separated by a schwa.

This i n d i c a t e s then t h a t n-

a s s i m i l a t i o n must be ordered a f t e r schwa-msertion.

t r a t e this point:
(79) a .

b.

afus

nelhakem

hand

of-judge

aftus

nelmus

; elhakem ' j u d g e '

' t h e judge's hand'
; elmus ' k n i f e '

handle of-knife
c.

X nelmilh

; elmilh

X of s a l t
d.

e.

'the k n i f e ' s handle'

'salt'

'X of s a l t '

elhu0

elleBhar

fish

of-sea

axxam

ellamin

house

of-chief

; leBhar ' s e a '

'sea fish'
; lamin ' c h i e f
'the c h i e f ' s house'

The examples i n (79) i l l u s -

140

2.3.

Feminine Nouns
Before discussing what happens in the possessive c o n s t r u c t i on involving femi-

nine nouns as second terms, l e t us study the examples below:

(80) a .

9amettu0 'woman' ; 0ulawin 'women'

aqzun netmettu

' t h e woman's dog'

a a

ettmettuG
aq*2un netlawin

'the women's dog'

ettlawin
b.

Oarga ' c a n a l ' ; aman 'water'

aman enterga

' c a n a l ' s water'

etterga
c.

Gaqzunt ' f . d o g '

azekka nteqzunt

; Giqzan ' f . d o g s '

' t h e dog's grave'

tteqzunt
azekka nteqz*an

'the dogs' grave'

tteqSan
d.

GamazigG 'Berber woman'

ams'is' netmazig

'Berber woman's c a t '

ettmazig
e.

9afus9 'small hand' ; 9 i f a s s i n 'smal l hands'

adad netfusG

' f i n g e r of t h e small hand'

ettfusG
idudan n e t f a s s i n

' f i n g e r s of the small hands'

ettfassin
f.

Gaxxamt 'room'
ettaqq entexxamt
ettexxamt

'the room's window'

141

The second terms of the possessive constructions in (80) seem to undergo the
changes discussed above for the feminine nouns in the oblique case (CS). These
include the deletion of the initial vowel (which is not "absolute initial" because
of the presence of the feminine marker 6 but only "relative initial")

and the

insertion of a schwa in the appropriate position according to the rule of schwainsertion discussed earlier. Furthermore, the initial 9, which is a feminine
gender marker, is changed into jt. This is probably due to the rule mentioned earlier which changes 0 into after n.
change happens also after m and 1_.

This rule is in fact more general and the

After the application of this rule, an op-

tional rule, this time of assimilation, seems to enter into action, whereby
assimilates to a following to give us forms like ettlawin from /entlawin/.

This

rule can be stated as in (81):

(81)

t/

(optional)

To illustrate the operation of these rules, we give the derivation of ettlawin:

(82)

/n-Gulawin/

(UR)

n-Glawin

( initial vowel syncope)

n-tlawm

(hardening (0

t-tlawin

(assimilation)

et-tlawin

(epenthesis)

ettlawin

(PR)

t/n

))

There is in Kabyle an independently motivated rule which changes a sequence of

two 's into t, as the examples in (83) show:

142

(83)

ara xeddmeg

'I am working, fixing'

ara 9xeddmeg

'I am fixing it'

ara Gxeddmed

'you are fixing'

ara ttxeddmed
ara Gxeddem

'she is fixing'

ara ttxeddem
ara tsafeg

'she is fixing it'

(-(-ara 0+Gxeddem)

'I am finding'

ara tsafeg
ara Getsaf

'you are fixing it' (,4-ara G+Gxeddmed)

'I am finding it'

'she is finding'

ara ttetsaf

'she is finding it'

(-ara 0+0etsaf)

Such a rule can be stated as in (84):

(84)

6+0

tt

(hardening)

l6

Given this hardening rule, one might wonder if does not assimilate to a
following 0 producing a sequence of two G's, thus feeding the rule in (84). One
might also propose another hypothesis based on an assumption of -deletion before
9 or t_ (which is chosen depends on whether n-deletion is ordered before or after
the change of 6 into t_).

The deletion of n creates an empty slot which is then

filled by the following segment. This will give us either two G's which are
changed into t by virtue of the hardening rule (84) or two t's if the hardening
of 9_ into after is ordered before -deletion.

The derivation of a word like

ettlawin according to this analysis would proceed as follows:

143

(85)

/n-Qulawin/

nr

(UR)

(IVS)

til

( deletes, creating an empty slot)

(the empty slot is filled by the following segment

ettlawin

(hardening and schwa-insertion yield the correct PR)

-Glawin

-ylawin

which, hence, is now a geminate)

A few remarks must be made concerning the above derivation.

that the hardening rule applies after -deletion.

First, we assumed

It would make no difference if

the change of 0 into after a nasal and 1_ is ordered before -deletion; the same
result will still be obtained.

In the latter case, however, the empty slot will be

filled by the and Che hardening rule (GG

tt) will not apply or will apply

vacuously to give us the same result as in (85) above.

Second, we notice that

ettlawin has an alternative phonetic form, namely, netlawin.

In order to explain

why we have a schwa between and t_ and yet the rule which changes 9 into t_ after
a nasal still applies, we have to assume that the hardening rule applies before
schwa insertion.

Otherwise, if we order schwa insertion before hardening we get

the incorrect form: *ne91awin.

Finally, the analysis based on empty slot filling

will be further developed and formalized by making reference to C-V skeleta when
we discuss the masculine nouns in 2.4. below.
The greatest advantage of this analysis is that it permits us to account for
the cases of assimilation noted in the discussion of proper names (2.2. above).
These cases may be accounted for in the same manner as the generation of tc_ in the

144

feminine forms. More specifically, for a form like mmuhand, for instance, one can
assume that is deleted before m thus creating an empty slot which is then filled
by the following segment, i.e., m.

The same process can apply to cases involving

w
rr, 11, yy (gg phonetically), and bb . The latter geminate, which occurs in
bb a91i (cf. (78d) above), will be derived from /n+w/; is deleted creating an

empty slot which is filled by w.

ww shows up phonetically as bb . Evidence in

support of this claim can be drawn from some verbal roots which reduplicate cheir
second consonant in the habitual/intensive stem.
is w, it surfaces as bb
in (86) below:
(86)
Zero-Form

If the consonant to be geminated

in the habitual/intensive stem.

Hab./Int. Stem

Illustrations are given

Gloss

xdm

xddm

'to work'

fQl

fttl

'to roll couscous'

9wz

9bbWi*

'to distort'

Given the above a n a l y s i s , t h e d e r i v a t i o n s for r r a S i d and bb a 9 l i w i l l proceed

as f o l l o w s :
(87) a .

/n-raSid/
-raSid

b.

/n-wa91i/
-wa91i

(UR)
(n-deletion
c r e a t i n g an empty s l o t )

r-raSid

rraSid
Derivations for

w-wa91i

(empty s l o t

bbwa91i

(ww

bbwa91i

(PRs)

filling)

bb w )

mmuhand and llebhar will be similar.

145

Given t h i s a n a l y s i s , the grammar of Kabyle must include a r u l e which d e l e t e s

before a following sonorant and 9 or t_.

IC can be p o s i t i v e l y argued that n, a

sonorant, is deleted before another sonorant.

would be hard to t e l l .

But why d e l e t e s before 9_ o r ,

I t would perhaps be preferable to l i m i t the a n a l y s i s in-

volving empty s l o t s to the case of sonorants only and adopt the rules of ^-hardening a f t e r and - a s s i m i l a t i o n to a following for the cases involving feminine
words beginning with the d e n t a l f r i c a t i v e .
As we have seen in the CS forms, not a l l feminine nouns undergo i n i c i a l vowel
syncope.

The examples in (88) show Chat some nouns r e t a i n t h e i r i n i t i a l vowel

after the p r e f i x a t i o n of .
forms in (88).

The same a n a l y s i s adopted above can account f o r the

9 changes into jc after n, then the n a s a l a s s i m i l a t e s to a follow-

ing giving us the geminate .

The reason the i n i t i a l vowels of these forms do

not syncopate has already been accounted for above.

(88) a.

9 a s i f 9 'small r i v e r 1 ; 0 i s a f f i n 'small r i v e r s '

aman entasif9

' r i v e r ' s water'

ettasifG
*netsif9
b.

Gasa ' l i v e r ' ; idammen 'blood'

idammen entasa

' l i v e r ' s blood'

ettasa
*neCsa
c.

GaddarG ' v i l l a g e ' ; Guddar

lamin entaddarG

'villages'

'chief of the v i l l a g e '

ettadarG
*enteddar
lamin entuddar
ettudar
*enteddar

'chief of t h e v i l l a g e s '

146

(88)

continued

d.

ajjalt 'widow' ; ujjal 'widows'

azekka ntajjalt

'widow's grave'

ttajjal
*ttejjal
azekka ttujal

'widows' grave'

ntujjal
*ttejjal
The empty slot filling analysis is also able to account for the feminine nouns
which do not begin with 9.

Examples are given in (89), and sample derivations in

(90).
(89) a.

ultma 'sister' ; isseSma 'sisters'

amsiS ebb eltma

'sister's cat'

*enweltma
amsiS eggesseGma

'sisters' cat'

*enyessema
b.

illi 'daughter' ; issi 'daughters'

amsis* eggelli

'daughter's cat'

*enyelli
ams'is' eggessi

'daughters' cat'

*enyessi
(90) a.

/n-yissi/

(UR)

n-wltma

n-yssi

(IVS)

-wltma

-yssi

/n-wultma/

b.

(n-deletion
creating an empty slot)

w-wltma

y-yssi

(empty slot filled)

147

(90)

continued

bb ltma

(ww

bb )

g-gssi

(yy

> gg)

w
17
ebb eltma

eg-gessi

(schwa epenthesis)

w
ebb eltma

eggessi

(PRs)

2.4. Masculine Nouns and the Empty Slot Hypothesis

Masculine nouns can again be classified into those undergoing initial vowel
syncope and those which do not. The examples in (91) illustrate the former class
of nouns:
(91) a.

argaz 'man' ; irgazen 'men'

aqSun ebb ergaz

'man's dog'

*enwergaz
aqzun eggergazen

'men's dog'

*enyergazen
b.

azgar 'bull'
acsum ebb ezgar

'beef meat'

*enwezgar
c.

arumi 'Frenchman' ; irumyen 'Frenchmen'

ams*is* urumi

'the cat of the Frenchman'

*n-wrumi
amsis* irumyen

'the cat of the Frenchmen'

*n-yrumyen
d.

afus 'hand' ; ifassen 'hands'

adad ufus

'hand's finger'

*n-wfus
idudan ifassen

'hands' fingers'

*n-yfassen

148

(91)

continued

e.

axxam 'house' ; ixxammen 'houses'

ettaqq ebb exxam
a

'house window'

*enwexxam
Gibburin eggexxammen

'houses doors'

*enyexxammen
For the nouns with a consonant c l u s t e r ( e i t h e r two unlike consonants or a geminate c l u s t e r ) after the i n i t i a l vowel a, the same analysis devised for bb W a91i
above can be applied to derive the correct s i n g u l a r forms in ( 8 1 a , b , e ) .

The CS or

oblique case of a word l i k e argaz, for instance, i s wergaz (or /wrgaz/ before
schwa i n s e r t i o n ) .

The form in the possessive construction t h e n , is /n-wrgaz/.

At

t h i s p o i n t , e i t h e r we say that assimilates to w producing /w-wrgaz/, whence

w
.
w
bb ergaz by the change of ww into bb and schwa i n s e r t i o n , o r , a l t e r n a t i v e l y , we
follow the empty slot f i l l i n g a n a l y s i s as i l l u s t r a t e d below:

(92)

/n-wrgaz/
-wrgaz

(UR)
(n-deletion
creating an empty slot)

w-wrgaz

(
. empty slot filled by following segment)

w
bb rgaz

(ww

(e)bb ergaz

( schwa insertion)

w
bb )

The optional schwa in (e)bbwergaz reflects the fact that its presence at the
beginning of the word is dependent on the quality of the final segment of the preceding word.

If it ends in a vowel the schwa does not show up, but if the preced-

ing word is consonant-final then the presence of the schwa at the beginning of

149

(e)bb ergaz is mandatory, and s i m i l a r l y for the other forms.

n-deletion i s i n t e r p r e t e d as having the effect of leaving an unlinked C-slot;
Chis C-slot is then linked to the segment attached to the closest C - s l o t , which,
in t h i s case, happens to be w, automatically doubling t h i s segment.

This i s i l -

l u s t r a t e d in ( 9 3 ) :
(93)

mm

(UR)

mill

(n-deletion)

Al

(unlinked C-slot attached to closest

consonantal segment)

At this stage, we get /wwrgaz/; ww

bb

immediately gives us /bb rgaz/, whence

w
.

(e)bb ergaz by schwa insertion.

The derivation of forms like eggergazen and eggexxammen proceeds in a similar
manner provided we allow the rule to apply which changes two palatal glides into
gg.

This is represented as follows:

(94)

/n-yrgaz-n/

mm
tiimi

mmi

(UR)

(by n - d e l e t i o n )

(unlinked C-slot is reattached to c l o s e s t

consonantal segment)

150

Recall here Halle and Vergnaud's (1980) convention that a consonantal segment
attached to two C nodes is phonetically realized as two identical consonants.
Hence, we get /yyrgazn/.

The change of y_y_ into g^ and schwa epenthesis then apply

to give the correct form eggergazen.

It seems more difficult to account for the surface forms of the second terms
in genitive constructions in the case of nouns beginning with one single consonant
(91c,d).

Given the assimilation and empty slot filling hypotheses

the derivation

of a woid like urumi from underlying /nwrumi/ would proceed as in (95) and (96):
(95)

(UR)

/n-wrumi/
w-wrumi

(n-assimilation to following sonorant)

w
bb rumi

(ww

w
*bb rumi

(PR)

> bb )

(96)
(URs for relevant segments only)

til""
1
A\"

(n-deletion leaves an unlinked C-slot)

(unlinked C-slot is reattached to following

consonantal segment)
w

Under either analysis, we get /wwrumi/, whence bb rumi by ww

'

bb , which is

an incorrect form.
Forms like urumi are not, however, impossible to derive.

What must be ex-

cluded, though, is the analysis based on -assimilation to a following sonorant

because this analysis will produce two glides one of which must be deleted by some
means in order to derive the correct urumi through vocalization.

Getting rid of

151

one of the g l i d e s can be done, however, only by invoking an a r b i t r a r y rule without

any independent motivation.

In the derivation of a form l i k e irumyen from under-

lying /n-yrumy-n/, the a n a l y s i s based on the a s s i m i l a t i o n hypothesis would give us

(e)ggrumyen v i a a p p l i c a t i o n of schwa i n s e r t i o n and the change of v_v_ into gg;
(e)ggrumyen i s an incorrect form.
The a n a l y s i s based on ri-deletion and the mapping of the r e s u l t i n g unlinked
C-slot onto the following consonant can be shown to give the c o r r e c t r e s u l t s i f a
simple ordering i s imposed on the rules involved.

A l l we must do in thi s case is

to allow the v o c a l i z a t i o n r u l e to apply before the reattachment of the unlinked

C-slot to the following g l i d e .

If this i s done, then the r e s u l t i n g segment w i l l

be a vowel and a C-slot may not be linked to a vowel; by convention, i t g e t s d e l e t e d without t r a c e .

Recall that the v o c a l i z a t i o n r u l e changes a glide into the

corresponding vowel if i t i s dominated by a Rime node.

In forms l i k e /n-wrumy/

and /n-yrumy-n/, the glides following w i l l always be assigned t o a Rime since

the following segment is prevocalic and, hence, assigned to an Onset (rule (b) of
the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u b r i c s ) .

I t makes no difference whether rr-deletion i s

ordered before or after v o c a l i z a t i o n .

In both cases we get the same output.

these s t i p u l a t i o n s , the d e r i v a t i o n s for urumi and irumyen proceed as follows:

(97) a.

b.

II
(URs)

T
1 y r u m y n

: 7 c c c

) R 0R

(vocalization)

Given

152

(97)

continued

jm
O R

(n-deletion)

At this stage, the door is open for the unlinked C-slot to be reattached to a
following consonantal segment. But such a segment is not available; hence, the
unlinked C-slot together with the Onset node which dominates it get deleted without
trace.

Application of the schwa epenthesis rule will give us the correct forms

urumi and irumyen.

Observe, however, that if we allow the vocalization rule to apply before
n-deletion, the formulation of the latter rule will necessarily include the specification that it may apply not only before Q-consonantalJ sonorants but also
before (high) vowels.

On the other hand, if vocalization follows n-deletion there

is no need for this specification.

What is clear at this point is that fails to

delete before a low vowel (cf. (78a) above).

Hence, this particle may delete be-

fore a non-low segment only. The formulation of the rule in (99) below reflects
this characteristic.
w
In the derivation of forms like (e)bb ergaz and (e)ggergazen from underlying
/n-wrgaz/ and /n-yrgaz-n/, respectively, the vocalization rule will not apply because the glides are assigned to Onset nodes, and vocalization takes place only if
a glide is dominated by a Rime node.

Therefore, the unlinked C-slot resulting from

n-deletion will be reattached to the following segment, in this case the glide,
yielding the correct output.
As the examples discussed above illustrate, -deletion occurs not only before
the glides but also before all sonorants. The analysis devised for the glides can

153

equally well be extended to account for the cases involving these segments. As
already noted, from underlying /n-raSid/, /n-muhand/, /n-lamin/, and /n-nora/, we
then get the forms rraSid, mmuhand, 1lamin, and nnora.

Here also, we can assume

that deletes leaving an unlinked C-slot; this slot is then reattached to the
following consonant, which happens to be one of the sonorants in question, automatically triggering their gemination; whence, the surface forms as given above.
Illustrations for rraifid and mmuhand are given below:

nr

(98) a.

id

o r a S i d

?ir

S i d

-m

b.

n m u n a n d

(URs)

. m u h a n d

r a s i d

(n-deletion)

m u h a n d

CCV

C CV

(reattachment of
unlinked C)

At this point, we are ready to give a formal representation of the analysis

based on the concept of n-deletion and the reassociation of the empty C-slot with
a following consonant.

<>

The rule is given in (99) below:

-r[-]

At t h i s s t a g e , the unlinked C-slot i s reattached t o the following segment if i t

is

a consonant; i f i t is a vowel, the C-slot may not link t o i t and, hence, the s l o t
i s deleted without t r a c e .

This i s represented as follows:

154

(100) a.

|
C

frseg]

I+seg]

b.

(+ s fs3

\
l

( f t

0/

The masculine nouns with an initial vowel that is part of the stem and, hence,
is not lost in the oblique case or the CS, behave in exactly the same way.

Before

providing derivations, let us examine the forms in (101):

(101) a.

agur 'moon' ; aguren 'moons'

w
G i z i r i bb agur

'moon l i g h t '

9 i z i r i bb aguren
b.

i s S a r ' f i n g e r n a i l ' ; as's'aren

edwa ggi'Ss'ar

'fingernail

edwa bb aSSaren
c.

'moons l i g h t '

aqz*un ebb a j j a l
aqzun ebb a j j a l e n

polish'

'fingernails

a j j a l 'widower' ; a j j a l e n

'fingernails'

polish'

'widowers'

'widower's dog'
'widowers' dog'

The URs for t h e forms in (101) involve the p r e p o s i t i on /n/ and a glide (w or v_
depending on whether the following vowel i s or i ) .

The URs for ggisSar and

w
bb aSSaren, for i n s t a n c e , are /n-y-is*s*ar/ and /n-w-aSSar-n/, r e s p e c t i v e l y ,

n-

d e l e t i o n leaves an unlinked C-slot which i s l a t e r a s s o c i a t e d with the following

glide.

Notice Chat in a l l of the examples in (101) the glide i s prevocalic and

thus i s assigned t o an Onset, which means t h a t i t can not undergo v o c a l i z a t i o n .

Thus, t h e unlinked C-slot may be reattached to i t without d i f f i c u l t y .
for g g i s s a r and bb a'gs'aren are given below:

Derivations

155

(102) a.

n y i S a r

b.

(URs)
s'ar

n v a s ' a r n

(vocalization inappl.)

tit

s'ar

,was*arn

til

's*ar

(n-deletion)

was*arn
CC V

(relinkage to
following C)

At this point, the rule changing y_y_ into gjg_ applies to give us gg is s'ar.
insertion as well as ww

bb

Schwa

apply to change /wwaSSarn/ into the correct sur-

face form bbwas*Saren.

3.

Conclusion
A new approach to the problems of Free and Construct States in Kabyle Berber

has been suggested in this chapter.

It was proposed that these states could be

considered actual cases, corresponding to the nominative and oblique cases, respectively.

It has also been shown that an analysis based on syllable structure

representations can account in a straightforward manner for the phonological alternations exhibited by some nouns when they are in the oblique case.

The second

part of the study was concerned with the phonological behavior of the genitive
construction, in particular the particle and the noun which follows it. A novel
analysis based on the principle of empty slot filling was suggested and was shown
to derive the correct forms.

156

Notes
This special appellation is found in Pennacchietti (1979): "sostantivo reggente" and "sostantivo retto" correspond to English "governing substantive"
and "governed substantive", respectively. These terms reflect the grammatical function of the two nouns.
Berber is a verb-initial language. The usual order is Verb-Subject-Object.
For this reason argaz is considered a topicalized NP.
Other prepositions followed by the Free State include: bla 'without' (cf.
Arabic bilaa 'without'), e.g., blargaz (from /bla argaz/ by vowel-elision)
'without the man'; neg 'or', e.g., Gamettu neg argaz 'woman or man'.
The morphological and phonological changes of the noun in the CS will be
discussed later in this chapter.
Other prepositions taking the CS include: 'with, by', e.g., suzenwi 'with
the knife' (aSenwi 'knife'); seddaw 'under', e.g., seddaw utaksi 'under the
car (ataksi 'car'); ezzaQ/ezda 'in front o f , e.g., ezzaG wexxam 'in front
of the house' (axxam 'house'); deffir 'behind', e.g., deffir wexxam 'behind
the house'; sufella 'above', e.g., sufella bb exxam 'above the house' (literally 'on top of the house'); daxil 'inside', e.g., daxil bb exxam 'inside
the house' (literally 'inside of the house'); ar 'to', e.g., ar wexxam 'to
the house'; g_ 'in', e.g., gwexxam 'in the house7"; amm 'like', e.g. amm wergaz
'like the man'; jar 'between', e.g., jar wemSas* 'between the cats (lmSas*
'cats').
Masculine nouns generally begin with one of the following vowels: , j^, u.
The feminine nouns are derived from their masculine correspondents through
G_-prefixation followed (in the majority of cases) by _-suffixation, e.g.,
amsiS 'm. cat', amsis 'f. cat'; aqsiS 'boy', 9aqSi5Q 'girl'.
This word seems to have been first used to refer to the Romans. Then, its
use was extended to include everybody coming from Europe, particularly the
French, who governed Algeria for 132 years (1830-1962). In Arabic, the word
ruumi means 'Roman of the Byzantine Empire'; today, it is mainly used to
refer to a faithful of the Greek Orthodox Church.
The second pronunciation in the examples in (11) reflects the one used in
normal-rate speech. The first alternative reflects the presence of a short
pause between the verb and the subject.
Spirantizing dialects are those in which single stops have become the corressponding spirants (fricatives). This process is quite pervasive in some dialects while not quite as widespread in others.

157

10 Actually in t h i s p a r t i c u l a r example and other s i m i l a r ones y_ undergoes

vocalization before - e l i s i o n .
11

a j j a l 'widower' does not lose i t s i n i t i a l vowel in the CS as can be seen

from ( 4 1 ) . There is a l s o a verb in Kabyle which means " t o become a
widower'; i t i s / j j 1 / (as can be seen from the paradigm below). The stem
seemingly does not contain an i n i t i a l a_, contrary to what our hypothesis
predicts.
Imperative:

e j j e l , e j j l e 9 ( s g . and p i . )

Perfect
ejjleg

Isg.

ejjled

yejjel

3m

ejjel

3f

nejjel

Ipl.

Gejjlem

ejjlen

This example c l e a r l y presents a problem to our hypothesis which s t i p u l a t e s

that an i n i t i a l vowel must syncopate i f i t i s a prefix and be retained i f
i t is part of the stem. In a j j a l , however, the i n i t i a l vowel i s c l e a r l y
not p a r t of the stem sinc e the verbal root is / j j 1 / . Therefore, i t is a
p r e f i x . But t h i s d i f f i c u l t y might be overlooked if we assume t h a t in t h i s
case t h e i n i t i a l is not a number, d e f i n i t e n e s s , or case marker but r a t h e r
a p r e f i x necessary for the formation of some v e r b a l nouns. This hypothesis
draws support from the fact t h a t the p l u r a l of a j j a l i s not i j j a l e n but
a j j a l e n , c l e a r l y indicating t h a t the i n i t i a l a is not a number, d e f i n i t e ness, or case marker. However, a thorough study of how nouns a r e derived
from verbs and v i c e - v e r s a is needed before deciding on t h i s i s s u e . On t h e
other hand, Penchoen (1973) mentions a verb / a j j / ' t o l e a v e ' in Tamazight
of the Ayt Ndhir d i a l e c t which might be related to a j j a l in the sense t h a t
a widower i s a man who i s l e f t behind by his spouse. In Tamazight then,
the i n i t i a l a_ i s part of the r o o t .
12

Fatima and Yasmin are female names. They are included with the male names
because they behave in the same manner with respect to the CS.

13

g w zzif (50) and zur (51) belong to a r e s t r i c t e d category of q u a l i t a t i v e

verbs which have a s p e c i a l set of suffixes in t h e P e r f e c t . According t o
Penchoen (1973:40), they take t h e following s u f f i x e s :

158

Singular
1.

2.

Plural

iG (for all persons)

3m.
3f.
14
15
16

17

cf. Basset (1945:84).

See note 6 Chapter 2.
Actually, this rule applies only in a morphologically-restricted environment.
It will be fully investigated in the following chapter.
It is not at first glance clear why a schwa is not inserted between 1_ and
in ebb eltma as the environment of schwa-insertion would require. But if we
look at the constitution and derivation of the word ultma 'sister' itself,
we might come to an understanding of what is happening. It might be conjectured that ult- is derived from the masculine ul_ which is used in many Berber
names (cf. Ul-Dada) in the meaning of 'son o f . Hence, the of ult- would
be derived from the feminine suffix G by the rule which changes the latter
sound into the corresponding stop after 1_ and nasals. As a consequence, t_
would be assigned to an Appendix node whereas 1_ would be assigned to a Rime,
triggering the schwa to go before the lateral sound (cf. stipulations made
in the preceding chapter). Given this explanation, the word for 'sister'
would actually be derived from ult 'daughter o f and ma which is probably a
contraction of imma 'mother'.

159

Chapter 4
SANDHI RULES

0.

Introduction
In the preceding chapter, the phonological and morphological alternations as-

sociated with the noun in the bound state have been investigated.

It has been

indicated that a noun takes the bound form (or oblique case) mainly when it functions as subject in the normal Berber sentence-order (Verb-Subject-Object) or as
object of most prepositions.

The rules which have been devised in order to ac-

count for the various phonological changes involved can be considered grosso modo
part of the sandhi rules

of the language.

This chapter handles specific cases of external sandhi rules, i.e., rules
which link words within phrases and morphemes within words.

The first section is

concerned with vowel sandhi rules which are invoked when a vowel-final word or
morpheme and another vowel-initial word or morpheme occur consecutively.

It will

be argued that a satisfactory explanation for a large portion of the (mainly elision) rules can be found within the syllable templates and syllable-building rules
devised for Kabyle in the preceding chapters.

In the next section, a rather puz-

zling problem related to the intensive and future verbal forms will be examined.
It will be seen that interesting phonological alternations are associated with
each possible sequence of the dental fricative consonants G_ and d_. Foreshadowing
later discussion, it will be found, for example, that /G+6/ surfaces in certain
environments as t and in others as C_, whereas /d+/ has at least two possible
phonetic realizations:

t or _. The problem becomes even more puzzling when, due

to derivational processes to be specified later, three dental fricative sounds oc-

160

cur consecutively.
dict.

In t h i s c a s e , the phonetic forms a r e not always easy to pre-

I t w i l l be shown t h a t morphologically conditioned rules a r e required in

order to account for the d a t a .

An a l t e r n a t i v e analysis for a portio n of the data

w i t h i n the l i n e s of Lexical Phonology (Kiparsky, 1982, and Mohanan, 1982) w i l l be

a l s o suggested.
1.

Vowel Sandhi*
One important aspect of sandhi r u l e s in Kabyle and other Berber languages is

r e l a t e d to t h e occurrence of vowels across word or morpheme boundaries.

As the

d a t a in (1) and (2) i l l u s t r a t e , the problem c o n s i s t s i n i t s simplest formin t h e

2
f a c t that Kabyle does not t o l e r a t e a sequence of two vowels in a row.
Whenever
such a sequence a r i s e s due t o the j u x t a p o s i t i o n of two words or morphemes, the
f i r s t vowel-final and the second v o w e l - i n i t i a l , Kabyle seems to put i n t o operation
a double mechanism designed t o break t h e h i a t u s r e s u l t i n g from t h e j u x t a p o s i t i o n
of such i t e m s .

Through t h i s mechanism, such a sequence is eliminated e i t h e r by

d e l e t i n g one of the two vowels (examples in ( 1 ) ) or by i n s e r t i n g a g l i d e between

them ( 2 ) .
(1) a.

/yufa ussen/ + yufuSSen

found jackal

b.

'he found a j a c k a l 1

/yuged BaBa i c e r r i / + yugedBaBicerri

bought father lamb

c.

/uzzu adyerg/ + uzzadyerg

bush w i l l burn

d.

'my father bought a lamb'

'the bush w i l l b u r n '

/bla urumi/ + blurumi

without Frenchman

'without the Frenchman'

161

e.

/icerri urumi/ + igerrurumi

lamb Frenchman

f.

'Frenchman's lamb'

/adyezlu ahmed icerri/ + adyezluhmedicerri

will slaughter Ahmad lamb

(2) a.

/uzzu aggi/ - uzzuyaggi

bush this

b.

'this grave'

/yenna as/ + yennayas

told him

d.

'this bush'

/azekka aggi/ -+ azekkayaggi

grave this

c.

'Ahmad will slaughter the lamb'

'he told him'

/yenna ac/ * yennayaij

told you

'he told you'

Previously, Berberists (Basset & Picard, 1948; Abdel Massih, 1968; Penchoen,
1973; and Saib, 1976 among others) merely alluded to the problem and then only
when an example brought up for some unrelated topic illustrated the operation of
vowel sandhi. To account for the data, they formulated or simply assumed rules
like the ones in (3) and (4):
(3)

0/V

(4)

y/v

Elision Rule
v

Glide-Insertion Rule

Rule (3) states that a vowel is deleted when it occurs next to another vowel
without specifying which vowel (first or second) undergoes the deletion or which
environments precipitate the deletion of one rather than the other. Rule (4)
does no more than state that a palatal glide is inserted between two vowels occurring in a sequence. No reference is made to the environments motivating the

162

g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n over the d e l e t i o n of one of the two vowels.

In sum, no indication

is given as to which vowel undergoes e l i s i o n (3) or which environments favor

g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n (4) over d e l e t i o n .
The solutions given above for vowel sandhi in Kabyle and o t h e r Berber d i a l e c t s
oversimplify the problem a g r e a t d e a l , I b e l i e v e .

They do no more than account in

a clumsy way for j u s t a p o r t i on of the data at hand.

As w i l l be shown throughout

this s e c t i o n , the problem i s indeed much more complex than the data in (1) and (2)
would suggest and involves processes other than vowel-elision and g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n .
Rules such as v o c a l i z a t i o n w i l l be seen to form an important aspect of t h e proposed
solution.
The purpose of t h i s s e c t i o n is to describe the facts of Kabyle, namely, the
d i s t r i b u t i o n of t h e rules and the changes r e s u l t i n g from the j u x t a p o s i t i o n of two
vowels across word or morpheme boundaries.

In a d d i t i o n to s t a t i n g the d i f f e r e n t

( s y n t a c t i c ) environments for the e l i s i o n and g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n r u l e s , i t w i l l be

suggested that a good portion of the r u l e s involved follow from general p r i n c i p l e s
of the language, namely, the s y l l a b l e templates and s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s devised in the preceding c h a p t e r s .

If the templates and rules a r e taken i n t o con-

s i d e r a t i o n , the fact that no two vowels can occur i n a sequence in Kabyle receives
a formal e x p l a n a t i o n.
sidered f i r s t .
1.1.

The c a s e s involving e l i s i o n and v o c a l i z a t i o n w i l l be con-

The rule of g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n w i l l be discussed l a t e r .

E l i s i o n and Vocalization
Most of the d a t a at hand suggest t h a t , as a general r u l e , i t is the f i r s t

vowel in a sequence of two which undergoes e l i s i o n .

This is always the case when

each p a i r of the categories l i s t e d in (5) occur in that order i n a phrase or a

sentence:

163

(5) a.

Subject-Verb

b.

Subject-Object

c.

Verb-Object

d.

Noun-Noun (genitive constructions)

e.

Noun-Adjective

f.

Preposition-Noun (object of a preposition)

In a sequence involving a vowel-final verb and a vowel-initial subject, however, the generalization stated above does not consistently hold.

Instead, it

seems that elision depends on considerations related to the height and backness
of the vowels involved, whereby a low vowel is lost at the expense of a high one
and a high front vowel is deleted when next to its back counterpart (full illustrations will be given in 1.1.2. below).
based elision will be discussed.

First, the cases involving precedence-

The cases related to elision apparently depend-

ing on vowel quality will be examined next.

Apparent anomalies to each rule will

be handled as they arise.

1.1.1.

Precedence-Based Elision

As mentioned earlier, in most environments involving a sequence of two words

the first of which is vowel-final and the second vowel-initial, it is the vowel
of the first word which is deleted.

When the vowels of both words are identical,

it is hardif not impossibleto tell which one is lost. However, on the analogy
of the other cases, I will also assume that it is the first one which is deleted.
Examples illustrating the various groupings in (5) are given in (7-12) below.
The examples include every possible (and available) combination of the three phonemic vowels of Kabyle (see Chapter 2).

A combination of any of the phonemic

vowels and schwa across word or morpheme boundary never arises if we adopt the

164

conclusion reached in Chapter 2, namely, that syllable structure is assigned at

the phrase level.

In this case, the derivation for a phrase like azekkattmettuG

3
(from /azkka ttmttuG/)
'woman's grave' would proceed as in (6a) below where the

first consonantal segment of the second word (here a geminate cluster) syllabifies
with the preceding vowel.

On the other hand, the derivation for a phrase like

amsiSettmettu (from /amsiS ttmttuO/) 'woman's cat' proceeds as in (6b) where a

*
V-slot is adjoined as a left daughter to the Rime dominating the first C-slot of
the second word.

This V-slot is later spelled out as schwa (see Chapter 2).

In

the first phrase (6a), however, there is no need to insert a schwa on the word
boundary since the final vowel of the preceding word forms the Nucleus of the syllable .

165

Again, a combination of schwa and any of the other vowels is never encountered
since there are no schwa-final words in Kabyle and other Berber languages (see
Chapter 2 ) .
(7)

Subject-Verb
a.

aj [ i -* l : /BaBa i r u h /
father l e f t

b.

* BaBiruh
'my father

a] (u * u : /BaBa u r i r u h a r a / + BaBuriruhara
father did not leave

c.

' t h e bush will b u r n '

u] (u -> u : /uzzu u r i r e q q a r a / + uzzurireqqara

bush did not burn

f.

ij

' t h e bush did not burn'

(a * a : / i s l i a d i r u h / > i s l a d i r u h
fiance" w i l l leave

g.

'ray father w i l l leave'

uj (a * a : /uzzu adyerg/ + uzzadyerg

bush w i l l burn

e.

' t h e fiance" w i l l leave'

ij (u + u : / i s l i u r i r u h a r a / - i s l u r i r u h a r a
fiance' d i d not leave

h.

Subject-Object
a.

'the fiance" l e f t '

a] l -v i : /yuged BaBa i c e r r i / * yugedBaBicerri

bought father lamb

b.

' t h e fiance did not l e a v e '

i} (i -> i : / i s l i i r u h / + i s l i r u h
fianc/ left

(8)

'my father did not l e a v e '

a] {a * a : /BaBa adiruh/ + BaBadiruh

father w i l l leave

d.

left'

'my father bought a lamb'

a"] (u * u : /yufa BaBa ussen/ -> yufaBaBuSsen

found f a t h e r j a c k a l

'my father found a jackal

continued
i ] (a -> a ; /yuged emmi axxam/ + yugdemmaxxam
bought son house

'my son bought a house'

yuged emmi us*s*en/ + yugdemmuSSen

bought son jackal

'my son bought a j a c k a l '

Verb-Object
a] [i -* i : /yufa i c e r r i / + y u f i c e r r i
found lamb

'he found a lamb'

a] (u - u : /yufa uSsen/ + yufuBsen

found j a c k a l

'he found a j a c k a l '

u] (a -* a : /adyezlu aqSis*/ > adyezlaqSiS

w i l l k i l l boy

'he w i l l k i l l the boy'

u] L -* i : /adyezlu i c e r r i / * a d y e z l i c e r r i
w i l l k i l l lamb

'he w i l l slaughter the lamb'

i ] fa + a : /yebbi aqSiS/ + yebbaqSiS

pinched boy

'he pinched the boy'

i3 (u -* u : /yebbi uSSen/ + yebbuSSen

pinched jackal

'he pinched the j a c k a l '

Noun-Noun
a] [i + i : /azekka irumyen/
*

grave Frenchmen
al (*u + u : /azekka urumi/
grave Frenchman

-> azekkirumyen
a

'Frenchmen's grave'
- azekkurumi
'Franchman's grave'

167

(10)

continued

c.

u) ("i + i : /ulmu irumyen/ + ulmirumyen

plant Frenchmen

d.

i] (u + u : /icerri urumi/ + icerrurumi

lamb Frenchman

(11)

'Frenchman's lamb*

Noun-Adjective

a.

uj (a + a : /ulmu ameqqran/ > ulmameqqran

plant big

b.

'big plant'

i] fa -* a : /icerri ameqqran/ * icerrameqqran

lamb big

(12)

'Frenchmen's plant'

'big lamb1

Preposition-Noun

a.

aj (u * u : /bla u*sSen/ > bluSSen

without jackal

b.

'without the jackal'

a} f"i + i : /bla irumyen/ + blirumyen

without Frenchmen

'without the Frenchmen'

Given the data in (7-12), one might say that a rule like the one in (13) can
account for the consistent elision of the first vowel in a sequence of two:
(13)

0/

Ease of pronunciation and/or restrictions on sound occurrences in Kabyle might

be invoked in order to justify the existence of such a rule.

I believe, however,

that the elision phenomenon receives a formal explanation within the theory of
syllable templates and the syllable-building rules of Kabyle developed in the preceding chapters.

For ease of reference, the templates and syllable-building rules

168

are reproduced in (14) and (15) below:

(14) a.

(15)

Basic Syllable Template

Derived Syllable Template

Syllable-Building Rules:
a)

assign a vowel to a Rime;

b)

assign a prevocalic consonant to an Onset;

c)

assign to an Appendix a C-slot dominating the feminine suffix

, the object clitics 6, k_, and t, the sounds , z_, and g_ in
word-final position, as well as a C-slot which is the right
member of two C-slots linked to a geminate consonant; assign
to a Prependix the subject prefixes G_ and ;

d)

assign a string of one or more unassigned consonants to alternating Rime and Onset positions starting from the right end of
the string;

e)

glides dominated by Rime nodes vocalize into the corresponding

vowels;

f)

join under one Rime node two consecutive Rime positions;

g)

if a Rime fails to dominate a vowel slot, adjoin a V-slot as a

left daughter to the Rime;

h)

spell out a V-slot that is unlinked to a segment in the phonemic tier as schwa;

169

(15)

continued

i)

final syllabification is obtained by grouping together the

Onset and Rime (plus a following Appendix or preceding Prependix, if present) into a syllable.

With the help of these rules, the derivations for phrases like BaBiruh (7a)
and ulmameqqran (11a) would proceed as in (16a) and (16b), respectively (assuming
that syllabification is assigned aC the phrase level (see Chapter 2 section 5)):
(16) a.

(vocalization)

(rule 15f)

mniMii

b.

(vocalization inappl.)

(rule 15f)
At this point in the derivations, however, we notice a violation of the syllable
templates in (14), namely, a Rime node dominating two V-slots. As a result, a

170

mechanism must be devised in order to avoid the generation of such unacceptable

structures.

For this purpose, a rule deleting the left-hand branch of a Rime node

dominating two V-slots can be suggested.

This rule is represented as in (17) be-

low:
(17)

Y~V

(Rime Erasure)

This rule deletes the left-hand V-slot.

Subsequently, leftover melody elements

which do not get linked do not surface (cf. Mohanan (1982:126) for a similar
phenomenon in Malayalam).
Rule (17) has to be ordered after rule (f) of the syllable-building rules in
(15) since its environment is not met until after rule (f) applies. Given rule
(17) and the syllable-building rules in (15), the correct derivations for the
strings in (16) are given below:
(18) a.

(rules 15a-d)

(vocalization)

(rule 15)

(rule 17)
(later rules)

171

(18)

continued

iitmuti

b.

(vocalization inappl.)
(rules 15a-d)

(rule 15f)

(rule 17)

(later rules)
Thus, it can be seen that the elision of the first vowel in a sequence of two
follows from the syllable-building rules in (15) above and from a constraint on
syllable shapes in the language, namely, that a Rime may not dominate two V-slots.
Two of the forms in (6) have alternative phonetic representations which apparently constitute counterexamples to Che analysis developed so far, in the sense
that the vocalization rule in (15e) fails to apply.

These forms are reproduced in

"column A in (19) below and their alternative phonetic realizations in column B.

( 19)

Column A

Column B

BaBiruh

BaBayruh

(cf. 6a)

is1iruh

isliyruh

(cf. 6h)

We can account for the forms in column B above by an analysis which stipulates

172

that r u l e s (15e) and (15f) of the s y l l a b l e - b u i l d i n g r u l e s , i . e . , the v o c a l i z a t i o n

rule and the r u l e which groups under one Rime node two consecutive Rime p o s i t i o n s ,
admit two possible orderings with respect to each o t h e r .

The usual ordering ,

given in (15) above, d e r i v e s the forms in column A above as well as a l l the forms
in (6-11) without any d i f f i c u l t y .

A second o r d e r i n g , able to derive t h e forms in

column B in ( 1 9 ) , would r e q u i r e t h a t the v o c a l i z a t i o n rule ( 15e) apply after r u l e

(15f).

In t h i s case, b o t h the g l i d e and the vowel preceding i t wil l be dominated

by one Rime node, thus bleeding the environment for the application of the v o c a l i zation r u l e , reformulated as follows:
(20)

y/w

* i / u

(where R does not branch)

Given this new ordering, rule (17) is inapplicable since its environment,
which requires that the Rime dominate two V-slots, is not met.

In such a case,

the derivation of a form like BaBayruh would proceed as follows:

(21)

6R
(rules 15a-d)

(rule 15f)

(rule 17 inappl.)
(later rules of 15)

(rule 15e inappl.)

173

1.1.2.

Vowel Quality-Based Elision

As mentioned above, in the cases involving a sequence of Verb+Subject,

where the first item is vowel-final and the second vowel-initial, the elision of
the first vowel is not systematic.

This means that the relationship of prece-

dence is no longer relevant in determining which vowel is deleted.

In fact, as

evidenced by the data in (22), the first vowel is lost only when it is , or in
case it is _i, followed by .

Otherwise, it is the second vowel which is deleted.

More specifically, u is never lost and _i is deleted only when it is next to u.

In all other cases, a is truncated.
(22) a.

a] fU * u : /yenza wtaksi/ + yensutaksi

was sold car

b.

a"] fjL -v i : /yenza ycerri/ + yenzicerri

lamb

c.

'the car was sold'

'the lamb was sold'

a"j fja + a : /yenza ahmed/ + yenzahmed

'Ahmad was sold'

d.

uj fa -* u : /akyezlu ahmed/ > akyezluhmed

will you kill Ahmad

e.

'Ahmad will kill you'

uj (j. -* u : /akyezlu ycerri/ * akyezlucerri

'the lamb will kill you'

f.

u"] (u + u : /akyezlu wrumi/ -* akyezlurumi

'the Frenchman will kill you'

g.

i3 Qa -* i : /adyili ahmed/ + adyilihmed

will exist Ahmad

h.

'Ahmad will exist'

ij (u + u : /adyili wrumi/ + adyilurumi

'the Frenchman will exist'

174

(22)

continued

i.

i j fj. + i : / a d y i l i y c e r r i / > a d y i l i c e r r i
' t h e lamb w i l l e x i s t '

The data in (22) c l e a r l y suggest that if a generalization i s t o be captured,

the r e l a t i o n s h i p of precedence can not be invoked in order to determine which
vowel is to undergo e l i s i o n .

I b e l i e v e , however, Chat a generalization can s t i l l

be captured i f we take i n t o consideration the fact that a low vowel is always deleted when i t is next to a high vowel whereas a high front vowel i s lost next to
i t s back counterpart.

Two rules l i k e those i n (23) and (24) can be devised in

order to account for the data above.

(23)

fV

L-highJ

0/
Vf

0/

[-back]

[v

L+highJ

[iback]

In terms of the a n a l y s i s based on s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e , I assume that in Verb+

Subject forms the e l i s i o n rule (see (17) above) does not i n v a r i a b l y delete the
left-hand V - s l o t .

I n s t e a d , this r u l e should be allowed to look upward to the

vowel melodies involved and then d e l e t e the appropriate V-slot as well as the
vowel which i t dominates on the b a s i s of the provisions made by r u l e s (23) and
(24).

Thus, the e l i s i o n processes taking place in the case of Verb+Subject forms

are accounted for by the mirror image rules (23) and (24) which abbreviate the
following four r u l e s :

175

( 2 5 ) a.

i/u

i/u

b.

i/u

i/u

As i l l u s t r a t i o n s , the d e r i v a t i o n s for yensutaksi and adyilurumi are given in (26);

(26)

( r u l e s 15a-d)

it

7 7

(voc. or 15e)
V

C7
R6

6 R

(rule

15f)

7 C J 7 C r j; v { 7
k 6 R 6R

( r u l e s 25a and c)

( l a t e r r u l e s of 15)

176

Many of the forms in (22), however, have alternative phonetic realizations in

which the glide fails to vocalize and, consequently, elision does not take place.
These forms can be accounted for by following the analysis developed in 1.1.1.
above for forms like BaBayruh (see (19) above) which switches the ordering of the
syllable-building rules (15e and f). The data which have alternative pronunciations are listed below in column A, where vocalization precedes Rime Erasure, and
in column B (where Rime Erasure precedes vocalization).
Column A

Column B

yensutaksi

yensawtaksi

(22a)

yensicerri

yenzaycerri

(22b)

adyilurumi

adyiliwrumi

(22h)

adyilicerri

adyiliyjerri

(22i)

akyezlucerri

akyezluy^erri

(22e)

The fact that forms such as underlying /ynza ycrri/ surface under two shapes
yenzicerri and yenzaycerri for the example at handleads us to posit the following
hypothesis:

the existence of the second form itself, i.e., the one with the glide

appearing on the surface, follows from the fact that the first segment of the second
word is underlyingly a glide.

In addition, one would predict that if the first

segment of the second word is underlyingly a vowel, only one phonetic form, namely,
the one in which elision takes place, is possible.
prove to be correct.

This prediction does in fact

If we contrast an example like 'the lamb was sold', where the

word for lamb is underlyingly /ygrri/ (bound state in Berber requires the elision
of the initial vowel and glide-prefixation) with another like 'he found a lamb',
where the word for lamb is underlyingly /icrri/, we find that the first sentence
has two possible phonetic shapes, namely, those given above, whereas the second has

177

only one phonetic realization as illustrated below:

(28)

/yufa

icrri/ + yuficerri/*yufaycerri

he-found lamb

'he found a lamb'

Another example would be the following:

(29)

/yrza imi/ + yerzimi/*yerzaymi

he-broke mouth 'he broke the mouth'

An important consequence follows from the examples in (28) and (29). It is

that there is no devocalization rule in the languageat least as far as the forms
discussed here are concernedbecause if there was such a rule (preceding rule
(15f) of the syllable-building rules) the forms marked with the asterisk in (28)
and (29) would be possible forms of the language.
1.2.

Glide-Insertion

In cases where a vowel-final verbal form is followed by the indirect object

pronominal suffixes (which are always vowel-initial, as the paradigms in (30)
clearly illustrate) or where a vowel-final noun is defined by the demonstrative
adjective aggi 'this' (usual order in Kabyle is noun-demonstrative), neither of
the resulting adjacent vowels is lost.

Instead, as evidenced in (30) and (31),

the palatal glide is inserted between the two vowels in order to break the hiatus.
A simple rule of glide-insertion like the one in (4) above can be formulated in
order to account for this phenomenon.
producing a palatal glide.

This rule would apply on the melody core

It should be allowed to apply early within the

syllable-building rules in (15), namely, immediately after rule (a) so that the
newly-generated y_ could be subject to the general rules assigning consonants to
Rime or Onset nodes.

In the case of the inserted glide, it will always be domi-

nated by an Onset node since it is prevocalic (rule b) and, therefore, it will

178

never undergo the vocalization rule which follows a bit later.

It is to be

stressed, however, that the domain of the glide-insertion rule is exclusively the
word (since a verbal form+indirect object pronominal suffix or a noun+demonstrative constitute a single constituent, i.e., a word, as opposed to the categories
listed in (5), where the corresponding items belong to different and separate
words).

This stipulation is of great importance and necessary in order to pre-

vent the glide-insertion rule from applying to the data given in 1.1. above, where
a rule of vowel-elision rather than glide-insertion is in force.
(30)

efkig

' I gave'

yenna

'he t o l d '

?efkigi

' I gave me '

yennayi

'he told me'

efkigac

' I gave you*

yennayac

'he told y o u '

efkigas

' I gave him/her'

yennayas

'he told him/her'

?efkigag

' I gave u s '

yennayag

'he told us '

efkigawen

' I gave y o u '

yennayawen

'he told y o u '

efkiga^ent

' I gave you

yennayacent

'he told you (fem.)'

(fern.)'
efkigassen

' I gave them'

yennayassen

'he told them'

efkigassent

' I gave them

yennayassent

'he told them ( f e m . ) '

(fem.)'
(31) a.

/azekfra+aggi/ * azekkayaggi
a

grave t h i s
b.

'chis g-ave'

/uzzu+aggi/ * uzzuyaggi
bush t h i s

c.

'this bush'

/icerri+aggi/ + icerriyaggi
lamb t h i s

' t h i s lamb'

179

Sample derivations for yennayas and uzzuyaggi are given in (32) below:
(32)

(rule 15a)
y n aya

jy -

(glide-insertion)

(rules 15b,c,d)
(vocalization)
(vowel-elision)

(later rules)
Alternatively, within the approach to syllable structure followed so far, the
glide-insertion rule could be interpreted as inserting an Onset between two Rimes
dominating V-slots.

The C-slot dominated by the newly created Onset node will be

later spelled out on the phonemic tier as y_. This rule, whose domain is strictly
the word, will have to be ordered before the syllable-building rubric which joins
under one Rime node two adjacent Rime positions.
follows:

It can be formally expressed as

180

(33)

0 -

II

(domain:

the word)

With the help of this rule and the other syllable-building rules, the derivations
for yennayas and uzzuyaggi can proceed as follows:
(34)

(rules a,b,c, and d)

inappl.

(vocalization)

(rule 33)

(rule f)

(later rules)
1.3.

Gemination

Before concluding chis section on vowel sandhi, it might be useful to look at

an interesting phenomenon associated with sequences of VC//V, where // indicates a
word boundary.

In fact, the consonant involved in such sequences undergoes gemi-

nation in a variety of syntactic combinations of which the following are representative:

181

(35) a.

Verb-Subject
/yeqqim urumi/ + yeqqimmurumi
sat Frenchman

b.

'the Frenchman sat'

Verb-Object
/yessgim arumi/ + yessgimmarumi
made-sit Frenchman

c.

'he made the Frenchman sit'

Subject-Verb

/imSaS ufan/ * imSasSufan

cats found
d.

'the c a t s found'

Noun-Adjective
/aqSun ameqqran/ + aqzunnameqqran
dog big

e.

'big dog'

Noun-Demonstrative
/aqs*is* aggi/ -+- aqSiSsaggi
boy this

f.

'this boy'

Noun-Noun
/axxam urumi/ + axxammurumi
house Frenchman

'Frenchman's house'

In a linear approach, the rule needed in order to account for the gemination
of the final consonant of the first word in each combination can be expressed as
in (36) below.

This rule states that a consonant in intervocalic position across

word boundary undergoes gemination.

(36)

Ci

CiCi/V

tfV

In terms of an analysis based on syllable structure, a different kind of rule

can be suggested.

Let us first look at the derivations for forms like yeqqimmurumi

182

(35a) and aqsis's'aggi (35e) (from underlying /yqqim wrumy/ and /aqSis* aggi/, respectively) according to the syllable-building rules phrased in (15) above:
(37)

mm
(rules a and b)

(rules c and d)

mity
inappl.

R0R

(rule e)

ymni
(rule f)

inappl.

lit
inappl.

(rules g and h)

At this point in the derivations, we reach the stage of final syllabification.

However, the gemination of the final consonants in the first words of each combination has not yet been obtained.

Before trying to formulate a rule which

would account for the gemination of these consonants, at least one remark must be
made.

We notice that the final consonants are invariably assigned to Onsets be-

cause they are prevocalic (cf. rule b ) .

Recall the conclusion reached in Chapter

2 that syllabification is made once and for all at the phrasal level in Kabyle.
We notice also that if the final consonants are reduplicated, the newly generated

183

copies have to form part of the Rime of the preceding syllable since an Onset may
not dominate two C-slots in Kabyle.

Given these remarks, I suggest a rule which

changes a non-branching Rime into a branching one when followed by an Onset at the
edge of the word.
(38)

This rule will look like the following:

rvn

The newly generated C-slot w i l l have to be linked t o the consonant dominated by

the Onset, t r i g g e r i n g i t s gemination.
This rule can be ordered immediately before f i n a l s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n .

As i l l u s -

t r a t i o n , we pick up the derivations in (37) after t h e application of r u l e s (g and

h) and show below the operation of the l a t t e r r u l e :
(39)

( r u l e 38)
(final

syllabification)

Notice, f i n a l l y , the s i m i l a r i t i e s between the r u l e in (38) and t h e schwainsertion rule.

While schwa-insertion adjoins a V - s l o t as a left-daughter to a

Rime dominating a C-slot, rule (38) adjoins a C-slot as a right-daughte r to a Rime

dominating a V-slot (in the one s p e c i f i c environment mentioned above).
2.

Consonant Sandhi
This section i s concerned with t h e phonological a l t e r n a t i o n s associated with

a limited set of f r i c a t i v e sounds, namely, the n o n - s i b i l a nt dentals _ and d_, when

they occur across a morpheme or word boundary.

As mentioned in the Introduction

above, various combinations of thes e two sounds (/+, 6+9+9, d+9, d++6/) a r i s e

184

as a result of some morphological processes to be specified later.

Interesting

phonological changes, sometimes difficult to predict, are associated with these

combinations.

The first part of this section investigates two types of hardening

rules related to intensive verbal forms in which the first two kinds of combinations occur.

In order to account for the data, two analyses will be suggested.

The first is based on the concept of morphologically conditioned rules and the use
of boundary units in the formulation of phonological rules; it will be referred to
as the Segmental Approach.

The second analysis will be based on the model of Lexi-

cal Phonology and the distinction between lexical and post-lexical rules (Kiparsky,
1982, and Mohanan, 1982).
The second part of this section handles cases involving rules of consonant assimilation and syncope related to the future verbal forms of Kabyle.

A great deal

of phonological change is associated with these forms when they come in contact
with some subject and object pronominal affixes or clitics. Here again, morphologically conditioned rules will be needed in order to account for the data.
2.1.

Hardening Rules

As evidenced by the paradigm in (40), two G_ sounds will harden into the corresponding stops if they happen to be adjacent.
(40)

Intensive Form

Intensive Form+Object Clitic

Isg.

ara xeddmeg

ara Gxeddmeg

ara Gxeddmed

ara ttxeddmed

ara yxeddem

ara Gixeddem

3f.

ara Gxeddem

ara ttxeddem

185

(40)

continued

Intensive Form

Intensive Form+Object Clitic

lpl.

ara nxeddem

ara Genxeddem

ara Gxeddmem

ara ttxeddmem

2f.

ara Gxeddmemt

ara ttxeddmemt

ara xeddmen

ara Gxeddmen

The first column in (40) shows the intensive forms of the verb /xdm/ 'to work/
fix', whereas the second column illustrates the same forms with the direct object
clitic 6 'him/it'. The G_ segments in the first column are considered personal
subject prefixes (see Chapter 2).
intensive meaning.

The particle ara gives to the verbal form its

We notice that the object clitic is inserted between this par-

ticle and the verbal form.

At this point, it is not clear if the clitic is to be

attached to ara or to Che verbal form.

I chose to attach it to the verbal form

for one reason, namely, not to leave it stranded.

We will see below that it might

be more plausible to cliticize it to the particle ara. We notice that when the
personal subject prefix G_ and the object clitic which is also G_ in this instance
are adjacent, both sounds become the corresponding stops.

Ignoring certain com-

plications for the time being, this phenomenon can be accounted for by the rule
in (41):
(41)

> tt

Hardening Rule

The problem is not, however, as simple as it looks at first glance.

Notice

what happens when the verbal form itself begins with a voiceless dental fricative
sound:

186

I am pinching'

ara Qebbig
ara Gtebbid

you are pinching'

ara yGebbi

he is pinching'

ara Gtebbi

she is pinching'

ara nGebbi

we are pinching'

ara tebbim

you m.pl. are pinching'

ara tebbimt

you f.pl. are pinching'

ara Gebbin

' they are pinching'

In the above paradigm, we notice that the two _'s, which happen to occur consecutively due to the prefixation of the personal subject form, do not turn into
the corresponding stops, in violation of rule (41). Instead, it is the second
(of the verbal stem) which becomes whereas the first dental fricative remains
unaffected.

Although each underlying pair of dental fricative sounds in (40) and

(42) above is phonemically the same, the lexical and morphological categories to
which each pair belongs are different.

The dichotomy between each pair of se-

quences can be represented as in (43) and (44), where (43) refers to the combination in (40) and (44) to that in (42):
(43)

direct object clitic-personal subject marker

(44)

personal subject marker-verbal stem

There is no doubt that the rule in (41) can not yield the correct phonetic
outputs for the forms in (42). These do, in fact, require another type of rule

187

like the one in (45) below.

This r u l e will be referred to as the D i s s i m i l a t i on

Rule in order t o d i s t i n g u i s h i t from the hardening r u l e in (41):

(45)

t/9

Dissimilation Rule

The s p e c i f i c domain, however, of each r u l e is not c l e a r l y defined by t h e i r

formulation in (45) and ( 4 1 ).
and c o n t r a d i c t o r y .

Moreover, the two rule s seem to be i r r e c o n c i l i a b l e

Hardening claims that a sequence of two v o i c e l e s s dental

f r i c a t i v e sounds changes into the corresponding stops whereas Dissimilation s t i p ulates t h a t for t h e same sequence only the second 9 becomes a s t o p .

In sum, t h e r e

is nothing in r u l e (45) which prevents i t from applying to the underlying r e p r e sentations of t h e forms in (40).
the URs of the forms in ( 4 2 ) .

The same thing can be said about r u l e (41) and

Hence, the two rules as formulated above can n o t

be maintained and a b e t t e r solution must be sought.

In what follows, two solutions w i l l be suggested.

The f i r s t revolves around

the concept of morphologically conditioned r u l e s or t h e use of boundary units

the formulation of phonological r u l e s (Segmental Approach).

in

The second a n a l y s i s

is based on the model of Lexical Phonology and the d i s t i n c t i o n made within t h i s

approach between l e x i c a l and p o s t - l e x i c a l r u l e s .
2.1.1.

Segmental Approach

One might hypothesize d i f f e r e n t boundary units between the morphemes involved

in (40) and ( 4 2 ) .

A weak boundary (, + ) would be, for i n s t a n c e , posited between

the object c l i t i c and the subject marker whereas a s t r o n g boundary (//) would be
claimed to e x i s t between the subject marker and the i n t e n s i v e stem.

Given

these r e s t r i c t i o n s , the r u l e s in (41 ) and (45) can be reformulated as in (46) and

(47), r e s p e c t i v e l y :

188

(46)

e+e

t+t

(47)

9//

e#t

The URs for forms such as ara ttxeddem and ara tebbi would be represented
with different boundary units as /ara Q+6#xeddem/ and /ara 9//9ebbi/, in that
order.

The derivations for these forms are given in (48):

(48)

/ara G+#xeddem/

/ara //ebbi/

t+t

(46)
6//t

ara ttxeddem

(47)

ara Gtebbi

(phonetic outputs)

Rule (46) should precede rule (47) because if (47) applied first we would get
the wrong results (cf. (53) below).

Recall here the SPE principle that rules may

apply across weaker but not stronger boundaries.

A slightly different alternative to the analysis above would suggest, instead
of using boundary units, restricting the application of the hardening and dissimilation rules to morphologically selected environments.

The hardening rule would

apply only if the first 9_ stands for the object clitic and the second for the subject marker whereas the dissimilation rule would change the second G_ into when
it is part of the stem and preceded by the subject marker.
formulated as in (49) and (50):
(49)

(object clitic] (subject marker}

tt

The two rules would be

189

(50)

0t

(subject marker] (Verbal stemj

Rules (49) and (50) would yield the correct outputs for the URs of the forms
in (40) and (42) and the derivations would proceed exactly as in (48) if rules
(46) and (47) are replaced by (49) and (50), respectively.
Even though the rules in (49) and (50) are burdened by additional details,
morphologically conditioned rules are not uncommon in the literature.

In Jordan-

ian Arabic, for instance, there is a rule syncopating the vowel a_ in open syllables only when followed by the feminine suffix -at, as evidenced by the examples
in (51):
(51) a.

b.

bagar-ah

12

a cow

bagr-at-u

his cow'

bagr-at-i

my cow'

daras

he studied'

daras-it

I/you studied'

dars-at

she studied'

(from /bagar-at-u/)
(from /bagar-at-i/)

(from /daras-at/)

Before proposing an alternative analysis, let us consider the data in (52)

which illustrate the forms in (42) with the direct object clitic 9_:
(52)

Phonetic forms

Underlying forms

ara tebbig

ara 00ebbig

ara ttGebbid

ara GG3ebbid

ara SiSebbi

ara yebbi

ara ttdebbi

ara debbi

190

(52)

continued

Phonetic forms

Underlying forms

ara enGebbi

ara enGebbi

ara ttGebbim

ara GGGebbim

ara ttGebbimt

ara GGGebbimt

ara tebbin

ara GGebbin

In order for the rules as stated earlier in this section to yield the correct
phonetic outputs in the first column in (52), two more restrictions must be imposed
on them.

The first concerns the nature of the boundary unit between the object

clitic and the intensive stem (see the form for 'I am pinching it/him').

Since a

strong boundary (//) has been assumed to exist between the subject marker and the
verbal stem, by the same token a boundary at least as strong as (//) can be posited
between the object clitic and the intensive form.

In such a case the form for 'I

ara pinching it/him' can be easily obtained via rule (47). Second, it seems that
the hardening rule must precede the dissimilation rule in order for the remainder
of the forms in (52) to be correctly derived.

In fact, if Dissimilation precedes

Hardening, we get the following incorrect outputs:

(53)

/ara 0+//ebbi/

/ara +0//6ebbim/

t
t t
*ara tttebbi

t
t t
*ara tttebbim

(Dissimilation)
(Hardening)
(PRs)

Whereas if Hardening is ordered before D i s s i m i l a t i o n , the correct r e s u l t s can be

obtained:

191

(54)

/ a r a 6+0#0ebbi/

/ a r a 6+6//6ebbim/

t t

t t

(Hardening)
(Dissimilation)

ara ttGebbi

a r a ttGebbim

(PRs)

In case the a n a l y s i s which posits morphologically conditioned r u l e s i s adopted,

rule (50) has to be s l i g h t l y modified to include in i t s environment the object c l i tic.

I t can be r e s t a t e d as in (55) below:

(55)

9
(subject marker/object c l i t i c ]

(verbal stem]

Gt

Given the modification s t a t ed in r u l e (55), the c o r r e c t output for the forms in

(52) can be obtained i n a straightforward manner according to the a n a l y s i s which
adopts morphologically conditioned r u l e s .
To sum up the discussion so far, we observe that even though t h e analyses developed above seem t o yield the correct r e s u l t s , the do so only at a high p r i c e .
They suffer, in f a c t , from serious weaknesses which include the use of different
(perhaps a r b i t r a r y ) boundary u n i t s or morphological information in determining
rule a p p l i c a t i o n .

Such mechanisms, needless to say, add to the complexity of the

grammar and run counter to the p r i n c i p l e of s i m p l i c i t y .

Moreover, t h e analysis

based on morphological conditioning seems to be incompatible with an important

c r i t e r i o n required i n phonological a n a l y s i s , namely, the c r i t e r i o n of phonological
p r e d i c t a b i l i t y , phrased as in (56) in Kenstowicz and Kisseberth (1979:142):
(56)

"All other things being equal, a phonological solution i s

preferred over a solution t h a t divides the lexicon into
a r b i t r a r y classes (a l e x i c a l solution) or over a solution

192

(56)

continued

t h a t l i s t s the morphological/syntactic contexts in which

a rule applies (a grammatical s o l u t i o n ) . "
Given the drawbacks of the segmental approach, an a l t e r n a t i v e solution must
be sought.

In the remainder of t h i s s e c t i o n , an approach within the model of

Lexical Phonology (Kiparsky, 1982, and Mohanan, 1982) which assumes that a subset
of phonological rules a p p l i e s in the lexicon as part of t h e word formation process
w i l l be shown to be r e l e v a n t and, perhaps, yield the c o r r e c t r e s u l t s in a simpler
manner.
2.1.2.

Lexical Approach

In t h i s s e c t i o n , an attempt w i l l be made to account f o r the a l t e r n a t i o n s exhibited by the 6+6 combinations in terms of the d i s t i n c t i o n between l e x i c a l and
p o s t - l e x i c a l r u l es (Kiparsky, 1982, and Mohanan, 1982).

According to t h i s model

of Lexical Phonology, a subset of phonological r u l e s a p p l i e s in the lexicon as

part of the word formation component.

Phonological rules apply a f t e r every oper-

a t i o n , to the output of which morphological operations may apply once a g a i n .

The

lexicon c o n s i s t s of ordered l e x i c a l s t r a t a (or levels) which function as the domains of a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e se phonological and morphological r u l e s .

This model,

according t o i t s authors , eliminates the need for the use of d i s t i n c t boundary

symbols by allowing phonological rules to have d i r e c t acces s to morphological i n formation.

This model of Lexical Phonology y i e l ds three l e v e l s of phonological

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , namely, the underlying, t h e l e x i c a l , and t h e phonetic.

The l e x i -

cal level of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n is the output of the lexical r u l e a p p l i c a t i o n s , which

is also the input to l e x i c a l i n s e r t i o n .

193

The specific details and intricacies of this approach do not concern us here.
What is of relevance to our analysis is the distinction made between lexical and
post-lexical rules.

It is claimed that some rules apply in the lexicon as part

of the word formation process whereas other rules apply at the post-lexical level.
Those which apply at the post-lexical level have access to information across
word boundaries whereas lexical rules apply only within lexical items.
In the case of Kabyle, two assumptions must be made if a solution is to be
found for the problem of the sounds as exhibited by the data above in terms of
the Lexical Approach.

First, I will assume that the object clitics and the sub-

ject markers are in fact cliticized to the particle ara in the intensive forms.
As a result, ara+object clitic+subject marker (if present) will constitute a separate word or lexeme, while the intensive stem by itself will constitute another
lexeme or word.

Prima facie evidence

13

for this assumption comes from the fact

that a strong boundary (#) had to be posited between the object clitic and the
subject prefix, on one hand, and the verbal stem, on the other, whereas only a
weak boundary (+) had to be placed between the object clitic and the subject marker in order for the correct forms in (40), (42), and (52) above to be derived.
Second, I assume that the hardening rule as stated in (41) above is a lexical rule
whose domain is the particle ara+object clitic+subject marker (or only one of the
latter two) whereas the dissimilation rule is a post-lexical rule whose domain is
both lexemes which constitute the intensive form, i.e., ara+object clitic+subject
marker and the veroal stem.

More evidence in support of the hypothesis that the

hardening rule applies only within a word will be given in 2.2. below.

This means

that Hardening applies as part of the rules related to the word formation component whereas Dissimilation applies after the word formation process is completed,
i.e., after lexical insertion. Recall that it has been claimed that in the inten-

194

sive forms the object clitic and subject markers are cliticized to the particle
ara rather than to the verb stem.

Given these assumptions, the derivations for

arattxeddem 'she is fixing it', aratebbig 'I am pinching him', ara6tebbi 'she
is pinching', and arattQebbi 'she is pinching him' according to the lexical approach are given in (57) and (58) below:
ara99

araG

tt
arattxeddem

<lexical level)
(hardening)

araGGebbig

(post-lexical level)
( dissimilation)

arattxeddem

araGtebbig

(PRs)

ara6

araGG

(lexical level)

tt
araGGebbi

arattGebbi

t
araGtebbi

(hardening)
(post-lexical level)
(dissimilation)

arattGebbi

(PRs)

Notice that the lexical analysis assumes that ara+object clitic or/and subject
marker, on the one hand, and the verbal form, on the other, constitute two separate words or lexical items. When they are juxtaposed after lexical insertion,
both of them contribute to the formation of the intensive form of the verb.
2.2.

Syncope and Assimilation

The last part of this chapter attempts to account for the phonological alternations associated with the generation of the future forms. It will be shown

195

that an a n a l y s i s along the lines of the (Segmental) s o l u t i o n s provided for the intensive forms i s able to explain the v a r i o u s changes incurred by some dental

frica-

tive sounds when they co-occur across morpheme or word boundary.

The future forms are obtained by a combination of t h e p a r t i c l e ad_ and the ZeroForm of the verb together with the common subject markers already described in
Chapter 2.

The paradigm i n (59) shows t h e future forms of the verb /xdm/ ' t o work/

fix':
(59)
1
2.

Singular

Plural

ad xedmeg

a nexdem

at t-xedmed

at t-xedmem
at t-xedmemt ( f . )

3m.

ad y-exdem

ad xedmen

3f.

at t-exdem

ad xedment

I t i s e a s i l y n o t i c e a b le that d_ of the p a r t i c l e ad does not surface in the

f i r s t person p l u r a l .

This phenomenon can be accounted f o r by a rule d e l e t i n g this

p a r t i c u l a r sound when i t occurs before n .

The r u l e can be formulated as in (60)

below:
(60)

0/

Also, when d_ occurs before the subject marker of t h e second person singular
and p l u r a l and of the t h i r d person feminine singular (which is underlyingly /G/
(see (40) above)), we n o t i c e that both sounds surface a s t .

I t can be claimed

here t h a t d_ f i r s t a s s i m i l a t e s in voice t o the following voiceless d e n t a l

frica-

t i v e ; then, both sounds harden i n t o the corresponding s t o p s by v i r t u e of the

hardening r u l e discussed a t length in the preceding s e c t i o n .

The a s s i m i l a t i o n

196

rule can be formulated as follows:

(61)

(progressive assimilation)

Evidence for the assimilation and hardening rules can be drawn from the prefixation of the particle d_, which can be rendered in English by "it is', to any
noun.

When this noun begins with 9. both sounds surface as tt.

Illustrations are

given in (62), where the appearance of schwa before the feminine nouns is predicted by the schwa-insertion rule formulated in Chapter 2.
(62) a.

argaz 'man'
dargaz

b.

'it is a man'

amsis* 'cat'
damsis

c.

'it is a cat'

9amSis 'fem.cat'
ettams*is9

d.

'it is a fem.cat'

9amettu9 'woman'

ettamettu9

' i t i s a woman'

a a

Notice that t h e fact that d_ of the p a r t i c l e ad_ and the following subject marker undergo the hardening rule lends support t o the claim made e a r l i e r t h a t the
o b j e c t c l i t i c and subject markers do c l i t i c i z e to the p a r t i c l e a r a .

The hardening

r u l e seems to apply, in f a c t , t o c l o s e ly r e l a t e d morphemes or c o n s t i t u e n t s , as the

data in (62) show, where d_ and t h e following noun c o n s t i t u t e c l o s e l y r e l a t e d cons t i t u e n t s , since d_ can not occur by i t s e l f .
Further support for the claim that the hardening rule a p p l i e s to segments
a c r o s s closely r e l a t e d c o n s t i t u e n t s and t h a t , t h e r e f o r e , the object c l i t i c and

197

subject markers are t o be assumed a s forming one l e x i c a l u n i t with the p a r t i c l e s

ara marking the intensive form of the verb and ad marking the future forms, can
be drawn from the way h a b i t u al stems of some verbs are derived from the imperat i v e (or zero) stems.

For mostif not a l l t r i - r a d i c a l v e r b s , t h i s process oc-

curs through doubling the middle consonant, as t h e examples in (63a) i l l u s t r a t e .

However, when the middle consonant i s a dental f r i c a t i v e , i t surfaces as a geminate stop (63b).

(Actually, other continuant sounds surface as stops when gemi-

nated ( 6 3 c ) , but these are not r e l e v a nt t o our a n a l y s i s . )

(63)

Impere' i v e
a.

b.

c.

Habitual

Gloss

/fhhm/

'understand'

/hkm/

/hkkm/

'govern'

/cmz/

/cmmz/

'scratch'

/fl/

/fttl/

' r o l l cousco

/xdm/

/xddm/

'work/fix'

/zdg/

/zddg/

'dwell'

/sBg/

/sbbg/

'paint'

/mjr/

/raggr/

'harvest'

/fhra/

14

The d a t a in (63) c l e a r l y suggest that the hardening r u l e i s not limited to the

voiceless dental f r i c a t i v e 9 but t h a t i t s domain of a p p l i c a t i o n is more g e n e r a l .
They a l s o show that t h e domain of t h i s r u l e involves c l o s e l y r e l a t e d segments.
Hence, i t can be claimed that the object c l i t i c and the subject markers form a
closely r e l a t e d constituen t with b o t h ad and ara since the hardening r u l e applies
only to combinations of ara+object c l i t i c + s u b j e c t marker or ad+subject marker.

198

To return t o the future forms, the a l t e r n a t i o n s become more puzzling when the
d i r e c t object c l i t i c _ is allowed to occur with t h e forms in ( 5 9 ) .

In such a case,

the phonetic forms in (64) are obtained:

(64)

Singular

Plural

1.

a-9-xedmeg

a-9-n-exdem

2.

a-t-t-xedmed

a-t-t-xedmem
a-t-t-xedmemt (f.)

3m.

a-0-y-exdem

a-0-xedmen

3f.

a-t-t-exdem

a-9-xedment

The form of the third person masculine singular indicates without any doubt
that the order of occurrence of the morphemes is as in (65) below:
(65)

ad-object clitic-(subject marker)-verbal stem-(subject marker)

The evidence from the third masculine singular also lends support to the claim
made earlier that the order in the intensive forms is similar to that in (65),
i.e., ara-object clitic-(subject marker)-verbal stem-(subject marker).
Given the underlying forms posited earlier for the object clitic and the subject markers, the underlying representations for the forms in (64) would be as in
(66):
(66)

Singular

Plural

1.

ad-9-xedmeg

ad-0-n-exdem

2.

ad-0-9-xedmed

ad-9-e-xedmem
ad--0-xedmem9 (f.)

199

(66)

continued

Singular

Plural

3m.

ad-9-y-exdem

ad--xedmen

3f.

ad-9-e-exdem

ad--xedmen

The derivation of the phonetic forms from the basic representations in (66)
requires at least one additional rule to those already in the grammar. We notice
that d of the particle ad is systematically lost in the forms including the direct
object clitic.

This phenomenon can be accounted for, I suggest, by positing a

morphologically conditioned rule deleting the voiced dental fricative when followed by the direct object clitic.
(67)

0/

Such a rule can be formulated as in (67):

(object c l i t i c ]
Actually, d_-deletion is not r e s t r i c t e d t o the environment s t a t e d in (67) but
seemingly applies before a l l o t h e r object c l i t i c s , as shown by the p a r t i a l p a r a digm in ( 6 8 ) :
(68)

ad-ewGen

'they will h i t '

a-yi-w9en

' t h e y w i l l h i t me'

a-k-ew9en

' t h e y w i l l h i t you'

a--ew9en

' t h e y w i l l h i t him'

a-ts-ew9en

'they will hit her'

Rule (67) must precede the a s s i m i l a t i o n r u l e in (61) in order for the c o r r e c t

forms to be derived, as i l l u s t r a t e d in (69) for a-9-xedmeg ' I w i l l f i x
a-9-n-exdem 'we w i l l fix i t ' , and a-t-t-exdem 'she w i l l fix

it':

it',

200

(69)

/ad-9-xedmeg/
a -

/ad-9-n-exdem/
a -

/ad-9-9-exdem/
a -

(67)
(61)

t t
a--xedmeg

a-9-n-exdem

a-t-t-exdem

(hardening)
(PRs)

If assimilation precedes d_-deletion, we will obtain the following incorrect outputs:

(70)

/ad-6-xedmeg/

/ad-0-n-exdem/

/ad-0-0-exdem/

(61)
(67)

t-t
*at-t-xedmeg

t-t
*at-t-nexdem

t-t
*at-t-6-exdem

(hardening)
(PRs)

As for the rule deleting d_ before n (60), it does not seem that it must be
ordered with respect to d_-deletion in (67). As shown in (71) and (72), either
ordering will yield the correct outputs:
(71)

/ad-n-exdem/

/ad--n-exdem/

a -

a-n-exdem
(72)

/ad-n-exdem/

(60)
a -

(67)

a-6-n-exdem

(PRs)

/ad--n-exdem/
a -

(60)

a
a-n-exdem

(67)

a-G-n-exdem

(PRs)

201

3.

Conclusion
I t has been claimed i n t h i s chapter that the d e l e t i o n of one vowel in a s e -

quence of two across a word boundary r e s u l t s from a general c o n s t r a i n t on s y l l a b i f i c a t i o n in Kabyle phonology, namely, that a Rime node may not dominate two
V-slots.

I t has also been shown that a g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n rule i s needed in order

to block the occurrence of two consecutive vowels within a word boundary.

I t has

been suggested that what j u s t i f i e s the existence of these two r u l e s , one of voweldeletion and another of g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n , that apply at the same segmental sequence,
i s the fact t h a t the domain of vowel-elision i s the phrase whereas the word i t s e l f
c o n s t i t u t e s the domain of application of the g l i d e - i n s e r t i o n .

In the realm of

consonant sandhi, several morphologically conditioned rules of hardening, a s s i m i l a t i o n , d i s s i m i l a t i o n , and dj-deletion have been c a l l e d upon in order to explain
some rather puzzling phenomena.

An attempt to solve a dilemma r e l a t e d to t h e

ordering of the rules of hardening and d i s s i m i l a t i o n with respect to each o t h e r

was made within a l e x i c a l approach to rule a p p l i c a t i o n .

I t has been shown t h a t

i f Hardening i s considered a l e x i c a l r u l e and Dissimilation a p o s t - l e x i c a l r u l e ,

the dilemma w i l l be solved.

Notes

A version of most of the material in this section has already been published
in Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 13.1 under the title: "Vowel Sandhi and
Syllable Structure in Kabyle Berber".

Linguists usually distinguish between two types of sandhi rules, or rules

for concatenating linguistic formatives. The first type is called internal
sandhi, or processes by which inflectional and derivational endings are attached to roots or stems. The second type is referred to as external sandhi,
or rules linking words within phrases and linking the morphemes of compounds.
Such rules have been recognized in linguistic descriptions since the time of
the Indian grammarians, from whom we get the term (cf. Clayton, 1981).
An important and, perhaps, relevant observation here concerns the fact that
Kabyle does not exhibit a contrast in vowel length. In spite of some Berberists' attempts to establish vowel length contrasts in various Berber dialects, Basset (1952:9-10) asserts that the morphology and phonology of these
languages does not seem to be affected by vowel length. He adds that the
native speaker himself is not aware of such contrasts.
See the preceding chapter for the way possessive constructions are formed
and the phonological alternations associated with them.
Recall from the preceding chapter that l-ruh is in fact derived from /y-ruh/
by vocalization.
I will ignore from now on the cases illustrating sequences of identical
vowels because they are not illuminating as to which vowel is lost.
The absence of schwa between g and d is predicted by the schwa-insertion

rules developed in Chapter 2.~*

Recall that irumyen and urumi are derived from /n-y-rumy-n/ and /n-w-rumy/,
respectively (see Chapter 3 section 2 for more details).
As stated in the preceding chapter, a noun in subject position and following
the verb takes the bound shape.
The glide-insertion and elision rules discussed in Chis section may be looked
at in a different way within a lexical approach. Glide-insertion may be considered a lexical rule applying at the level of the word, whereas Elision
must be a post-lexical rule applying at the level of the phrase after lexical
insertion. (Steve Helmreich was the first to point this out to me.)

203

Actually, the appearing here is prefixed to the verbal root (here /bbi/)
to derive the habitual/intensive stem. This as well as other processes
related to the derivation of various verbal allomorphs will be illustrated
in the following chapter.
Positing such boundary units between the different morpheme combinations
seems arbitrary at this point. It will be shown later, however,when it
will be suggested that the subject markers and object clitics are in fact
cliticized to the particles ara (intensive) and ad (future)that this
might actually constitute a plausible hypothesis (see section 2.1.2. of
this chapter).
The feminine suffix -ah surfaces as -at when followed by another suffix.
More evidence in favor of this assumption will be given in 2.2. below.
These forms abstract away from the schwa vowels which appear in their phonetic representations. The schwas in these forms, whose locations can be
predicted by the schwa-insertion rule devised in Chapter 2, are not relevant to our analysis here.
It seems then that ad and ara function like modals in other languages, in
the sense that when they precede the main verb they 'borrow' its inflection due, probably, to the fact that they do not have inflections of their
own. In other words, what seems to be happening in Kabyle is that the inflection of the verb is 'reanalyzed' as being the inflection of the particles ad and ara when these precede the verb in order to derive the future
and habitual forms, respectively.
In fact, the schwa sounds in this and other subsequent forms posited as
underlying should not be included in the URs (see Chapter 2 ) . I assume by
now, however, that the reader is quite familiar with the way the schwainsertion rule operates.

204

Chapter 5
THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERBAL SYSTEM

0.

Introduction
In the preceding chapters of this dissertation, the emphasis was put on nominal

and verbal phonology at both the word and the phrase levels.

It has been shown

that a great number of the phonological rules needed in order to account for the
alternations exhibited by the data can be accommodated by an approach which takes
into consideration the syllable-building rules of the language.

In this chapter,

the focus will be on the morphology of the verbal system in Kabyle. Two noncontradictory approaches, each capturing an important characteristic of the Kabyle
verbal system, will be presented.

The first argues in favor of treating the verbs

of this language within the autosegmental theory of phonology, following in the

steps of McCarthy (1979, 1981) for Classical Arabic. This approach will make
use of the fact that the consonants and the vowels of the verbs in Kabyle are isolable units which can be represented on different autosegmental tiers.

The second

approach stresses that aspect of the Kabyle verbal system which is related to its
complexity and the difficulty of predicting the shapes of the different allomorphs
of a verbal root. For this reason, I will suggest listing the various allomorphs
of any given verb in the lexicon with relationships among them expressed by means
of devices called morpholexical rules (Lieber, 1980).

Before proceeding any fur-

ther, I will give a short review of the previous literature concerning the verbal
morphology of Berber.
The morphology of the verb in Berber exhibits such a degree of complexity and
irregularity that some Berberists' efforts to classify the verbs into conjugation

205

groups have either partially failed or resulted in a lengthy listing of several

dozen conjugation patterns.' Foucauld, according to Basset (1952), devised no
less than one hundred conjugations to accommodate the different verbs of Twareg.
Basset and Picard (1948) classify the non-derived verbs of Kabyle (Irjen dialect)
into four groups.

Their classification is based on several factors such as the

number of radical consonants, their quantity and gemination, and the number of
vowels, their position, quality and alternations.

The verbs of the first group

fall into six different conjugation patterns, those of the second group into nine,
the verbs of the third group into two patterns, and those belonging to the fourth
group fall into seventeen different conjugations.

In addition, the derived verbs

(causative, reciprocal, and passive) follow somewhat different conjugation patterns.

Finally, Basset and Picard reserve a special treatment for the verbs of

quality, such as 'to be old', 'to be sick', 'to be tall', etc.. These also are
classified into several 'types'.
Abdel-Massih (1968) devised a novel analysis of Berber (Tamazight) verb stems
and groups the 'unaugmented' (i.e., non-derived) verbs into two types, four
classes, and nine sub-classes. He assumes that the underlying verb stem in Tamazight is /ABCD/, each character representing a radical.

This means that a verb

stem can have up to four radicals. Abdel-Massih's classification is primarily

based on an ablaut that occurs in the past tense of particular classes and secondarily on the derivational processes of the derived verb stems (causative, reciprocal, and passive verb stems and the corresponding habitual stems).
of verb stems the author refers to are:

ablauted and non-ablauted.

type is characterized by having as third radical

whereas the unablauted type does not have a
have the structure:

C = 0

The two types

The ablauted

in underlying structure

as third radical. The non-ablauted

/AB(C)(D)/; the ablauted are of the shape:

/(A)B(:)0(D)/,

206

where (:) after a radical indicates gemination.

Verbs like /sal/ 'to ask', for

example, have no ablaut because they do not change in the perfect:

/sal-g/ 'I

asked', whereas verbs like /Is/ (/ls0/ being the real underlying form, according
to Abdel-Massih) 'to get dressed' are ablauted because in the perfect we have:
/lsi-g/ 'I got dressed'.

Several types of ablaut are distinguished such as:

/0:i/a/, /0:0/, /0:i/, and /a:u/ (for more details and specific examples illustrating each ablaut the reader is referred to Abdel-Massih, 1968:47-60).

The

classes of the unablauted type are: a) those which do not have B as V; b) those
which do have B as V.

This classification is illustrated in (1), reproduced

from Abdel-Massih (1968:53):

(1)

/?/A<BjTc7a//}
I-A

I-B 7/AVCD//

< //AVC//

//ABVD//

The important point to be made here is that Abdel-Massih's classification,

though ingenious, does not make the verbal morphology of Berber much easier to
grasp.

Too many phenomena remain to be explained.

laut or lack of ablaut are not accounted for.

Several kinds of vowel ab-

In the habitual forms, which are

treated separately, hardly any serious explanation is given for the fact that
some biliteral verbs derive this form by duplicating the first radical (e.g.,
/jn:ggan/ 'to sleep') and others by geminating the second radical (e.g., /ng:nqq/
'to kill').

In sum, problems related to the difficulty of predicting the differ-

ent allomorphs of a verbal root remain unsolved.

207

Penchoen (1973) merely describes the facts of Tamazight Berber without attempting any serious classification of the verbs.
Most of the preceding studies agree, however, on at least one point, namely,
that the consonants constitute the "truss" or the supporting structure of the
stem and the only stable elements in the verbal stem. As Basset (1952:11) put
it:

"Un groupement exclusif de consonnes constitue le radical et, partant,

1'armature semantique du mot." As for the vowels, they are subject to alternations depending on aspect, mood, and form.

This observation itself is sufficient

to make one wonder about the possibility of explaining the arrangement of consonants and vowels within the framework of autosegmental phonology, a procedure
successfully followed by McCarthy (1979) to explain the complex verbal system of
Arabic, with which the Berber system shares a great affinity.

Halle and Vergnaud

(1980) made use of the framework developed by McCarthy primarily in order to explain some problems related to the plural formation in Hausa.

Later on, McCarthy

(1982) demonstrated that a slight modification of the same framework is able to

account for some outstanding problems in Gta? and Temiar morphology.
In this chapter, we will first look at the autosegmental theory of phonology
and the analysis developed by McCarthy within this theory to account for Semitic
verb morphology.

Then, it will be shown that an analysis of the Kabyle verbal

system roughly within this framework can be found if prosodic templates and association conventions particular to this language are developed.

Before that, a

section illustrating the similarities and dissimilarities of Arabic and Kabyle

Berber verbal systems will be presented.

In the second part of this chapter, an

approach to Kabyle verbs within the framework of lexical morphology developed by

Lieber (1980) will be advanced.

As mentioned earlier, this analysis will stress

that aspect of Kabyle verbal system which is related to the difficulty of predict-

208

ing the various allomorphs of a verbal root.

1.

Autosegmental Approach

1.1.

Principles of the Autosegmental Theory

Within the SPE standard theory, two levels of representation were recognized,
namely, the level of systematic phonemics and the level of systematic phonetics.
At either one of these levels a representation is a linear sequence of units, and
representations at the systematic phonemics level are mapped onto representations
at the systematic phonetics level through the application of phonological rules
(Halle & Vergnaud, 1980).

It was often indicated in the early seventies, however,

that this model of phonological theory was unable to explain numerous tonal phenomena in some African languages. Elaborating on Zellig Harris' (1951) notion of
long components, Goldsmith (1976) proposed to account for these tonal problems by
introducing what turned out to be called the "Autosegmental Theory of Phonology".
Goldsmith suggested analyzing each representation as a pair of autonomous subrepresentations with fairly uncomplicated principles determining the way the subrepresentations are to be joined together.

The two sub-representations came to

be called the "tonal tier" and the "segmental tier".

McCarthy (1979) had the

ingenious idea of extending even further the concepts of autosegmental phonology.

He showed that the terminology and the basic insights of this theory could contribute to solving some persistently long-standing problems in Semitic phonology
and morphology.

McCarthy proposed that new autonomous tiers be introduced, in

addition to the tonal tier.

More specifically, he demonstrated that by splitting

the segmental tier as established by Goldsmith's theory into three separate and
autonomous tiers, the vowel tier, the consonant tier, and the "syllabic skeleton",
the basic structure of the paradigm of Semitic verbal stems could be accounted for

209

in a simple and natural manner.

Furthermore, he suggested that each of these

tiers could be split in its turn, as necessary, into subtiers, corresponding to the
different morphological units.
Of relevance here is McCarthy's conception of the notion of morpheme which he
formally defines as "an ordered string of lXn feature matrices associated autosegmentally with a root node" (p.122).

This is schematized in (2):

(2)

+F<
"F2
a a

' <

-h

* m

It is specified that the root node identifies this string as a particular morpheme.

It also bears all nonphonological information associated with the morpheme,

such as rule diacritics and its identity as a morpheme.

This stipulation is in-

tended to replace all delimitation of morphemes by boundary symbols like "+" (see
McCarthy, 1979:123-127 for arguments and examples from real languages in support
of this position).

In sum, McCarthy's theory allows morphemes (entities having

some semantic representation and dominated by a node labelled it) to constitute

separate autosegmental tiers and to be associated with what he calls a "prosodic
template", defined as "the level on which gross distribution of consonants and
vowels is stated" (p. 128).
As stated in Goldsmith (1976), the autosegmental theory posits two basic constraints on the distribution of lines of association between two autosegmental
levels or tiers:

210

(3)

Well-Formedness Condition
a.

Every unit on one level must be associated with at least

one unit on every other level.

b.

Association lines may not cross.

The first condition has been somewhat weakened by Goldsmith (1979).

It might

be supposed, for instance, that if some elements remained unassociated in the

course of a derivation they do not receive a phonetic realization; that is, they
are erased as a result of being unassociated.
As for the association of units on each level, McCarthy observes that a manyto-many association between autosegmental levels presents a problem in the treatment of non-prosodic autosegmental systems.

He suggests that association of non-

prosodic features with the positions of the prosodic template is one-to-many but
not many-to-one.

Schematically, then, for the hypothetical prosodic template

CVCVC, the associations with the C-slots in (4a) and (4b) are permitted but that
in (4c) is excluded by this principle:
(4) a .

C V C V C

III

b.

CVCV C

IV

c.

*C V C V C

IN

Even though such a s s o c i a t i o ns are commonly excluded, not a l l of them a r e .

Some exceptions e x i s t , such as the autosegmental treatment of p r e a s p i r a t e s or
affricates

as consonants with m u l t i p l e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s

for laryngeal features or

continuance.
As for one-to-many a s s o c i a t i o n s , they are freely allowed and the usual mechanism for generating them i s the p r i n c i p l e of spreading.

Since t h i s kind of associa-

tion i s permitted, autosegments w i l l in general extend a s s o c i a t i o n lines to a l l

a v a i l a b l e s l o t s of the prosodic template .

This spreading i s , however, subject to

211

some conditions including the stipulation that unassociated elements will spread
in preference to elements with previous associations. So, a representation like
the one in (5a) will yield the result in (5b) and not the one in (5c):
(5) a.

V V V
x y

b.

V V V

c.

x y

At a second level, spreading may not violate the condition in (3b), namely,
that association lines may not cross.
Finally, McCarthy suggests that the theory contains a revised version of
Leben's (1973) Obligatory Contour Principle.

Leben's principle stipulates that

no tonal melody can contain adjacent identical elements. Thus, a tone HHL is
automatically simplified to HL, while HLH remains as it is.

The revised version

of this principle that McCarthy suggests is stated in (6):

(6) Obligatory Contour Principle (revised)
In a given autosegmental tier, adjacent identical autosegments are prohibited, (p.131)
1.2.

Classical Arabic Verbal System

It is well-known that the Arabic verb form consists of a stem to which may be
adjoined a number of affixes. The stem or category was referred to by McCarthy
with the traditional Hebrew term binyan (pi. binyanim), whereas Arab grammarians
called these stems conjugations.

In Table 1, we find reproduced from McCarthy's

dissertation the 15 tri-consonantal and 4 quadri-consonantal binyanim recognized

in the Classical Arabic grammatical tradition.

It can be observed that each bin-

yan is inflected in almost the same way as all the other binyanim.

Where they

differ is in the sequential arrangement of root consonants and vowels referred to

212

as the syllabic skeleta or canonical patterns.

More specifically, we notice that

they all share the stem consonants - k t b - (in the tri-consonantals), and
- d h r j - (in the quadri-consonantals). In the perfective of the triliteral

binyanim, we can distinguish the eight canonical patterns in (7):

(7) a.

CVCVC

(I)

b.

CVCCVC

(II)

c.

CVVCVC

(III)

f.

CCVCVC

(VII)

d.

CVCVCCVC

(V)

g.

CCVCCVC

(X)

e.

CVCVVCVC

(VI)

h.

CCVVCVC

(XI)

To express the regularities which appear in (7), the two templates in (8) are
suggested.

These 'prosodic' templates regulate the canonical distribution of con-

sonants and vowels in the binyanim in general.

(8) a.

b.

CV((CV)(+seg'J)CVC

CCV( C+segJ )CVC

(a-e)

(f-h)

213

Perfective

Perfective

Imperfective

Active

Passive

Active

Imperfective
Passive

Active

Passive

Participle

Participle

Triliterals

katab

kutib

aktub

uktab

kaatib

maktuub

II

kattab

kuttib

ukattib

ukattab

mukattib

mukattab

III kaatab

kuutib

ukaatib

ukaatab

mukaatib

mukaatab

IV

?aktab

?uktib

u?aktib

u?aktab

mu?aktib

mu?aktab

takattab

tukuttib

atakattab

utakattab

mutakattib

mutakattab

VI

takaatab

tukuutib

atakaatab

utakaatab

mutakaatib

mutakaatab

VII nkatab

nkutib

ankatib

unkatab

munkatib

munkatab

VIII ktatab

ktutib

aktatib

uktatab

muktatib

muktatab

IX

ktabab

staktab

XI

ktaabab

aktaabib

muktaabib

XII ktawtab

aktawtib

muktawtib

XIII ktawwab

aktawwib

muktawwib

XIV

ktanbab

aktanbib

muktanbib

XV

ktanbay

aktanbiy

muktanbiy

aktabib
stuktib

astaktib

muktabib
ustaktab

mustaktib

mustaktab

Quadriliterals
QI

dahraj

duhrij

udahrij

udahraj

mudahrij

QII

tadahraj

tuduhrij

atadahraj

utadahraj

mutadahrij mutadahraj

dhunrij

adhanrij

udhanraj

mudhanrij

Q U I dhanraj
QIV

dharjaj

dhurjij

adharjij

Table 1

udharjaj

mudharjij

mudahraj

mudhanraj
a

mudharjaj

214

The number of consonantal slots in the templates varies from three to five.
When the number of consonantal slots equals the number of consonants in the stem,
straightforward one-to-one association from left-to-right is obtained.

Thus, we

find:
b.

(9) a.
(katab)

(kataab)

(dahraj)

JI

Qroot]
For the forms which display additional morphological material such as the
IV, V, and VI binyanim, where either ]_ or t_ is prefixed to them, it suffices to
associate the affixal material with the initial consonant in the template, yielding the outputs in (10):
(10)

VI

IV

a.

CVCCVC

OVCVCCVC

CVCVVCVC

[causative]

41

frefl]

tt
rreflj

Then the remaining C-slots can be associated with the root consonants on a
straightforward one-to-one b a s i s .
The Well-Formedness Condition stated in (3) immediately accounts for t h e
form of many of the binyanim where the number of consonantal s l o t s in the p r o sodic template exceeds the number of segments in the melody, such a s :

215

(11) a.

ktabab

b.

dharjaj

Gemination of t h e medial r a d i c a l in the second and f i f t h binyanim can be

derived in a s i m i l a r way.

First,

left-to-right

a s s o c i a t i o n of root consonantism

yields a s t r u c t u r e l i k e the one i n (12):

(12)

(root]
Then a rule like the one in (13) erases the association of the final root consonant with the medial C.

This now empty C picks up an association with the auto-

segment associated with the nearest consonant, in this case, the medial radical
t_. This is illustrated in (14) below.
(IJ)

Erasure Rule

V
(14)

GVCCVj
VCCVC

-+

CVCCVJ

216

Infixes such as / n / in XIV and QII are handled by allowing them to be r e p r e sented on a separate autosegmental t i e r from t h a t of the stem, as i l l u s t r a t e d in
(15):
(15)

Similar or only s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t w e l l - j u s t i f i e d provisions are made i n

order to account for t h e infix /w/ in some of the patterns in t h e table above.
They are n o t , however, e s p e c i a l l y relevant t o our analysis of Kabyle.

For more

d e t a i l s , t h e reader i s referred to McCartny's t h e s i s .

In a d d i t i o n to t r i l i t e r a l and q u a d r i l i t e r a l r o o t s , Arabic possesses a l s o
b i l i t e r a l r o o t s , e . g . /sm/ ' t o p o i s o n ' .

When such a root is mapped from l e f t - t o -

right onto the prosodic template of the f i r s t binyan, we get, as expected, a u t o matic gemination of the second r a d i c a l and the d e r i v a t i o n of t h e correct form:
(16)

7 ,

?VCVC

Isamam)

C ro t]
In Hebrew, similar forms such as galal 'he rolled' and bazaz 'he plundered'
are obtained when the roots /gl/ and /bz/ are mapped onto the template of the
first binyan.

However, when these roots are mapped onto a quadri-consonantal

skeleton, e.g., CVCCVC, we do not get the expected:

217

*gillel

*bizzez

but rather
gilgel

bizbez

The latter forms are generated by allowing the entire root to be reduplicated, as
illustrated in ( 17):

fjroot] {root}

This means that reduplication is accomplished here by mapping one root morpheme
onto two root morpheme positions in a separate tier. The units contained in these
derivative morphemes are then mapped onto the prosodic template (p.152).
In sum, the basic apparatus that is specific to Arabic grammar and generates
the binyanim includes, according to McCarthy's theory:
(18) a.

The prosodic templates in (8a) and (8b)

b.

The affixes ]_, , , and s_t

c.

Left-to-right consonant association

d.

Two rules, one of which is the Erasure Rule in (13),

whose purpose is to modify the association of certain
consonants

218

In addition, a list of triliteral and quadriliteral roots and a specification for

each binyan to choose from the vocabulary of the prosodic templates and affixes
are needed.
McCarthy considers this apparatus to be quite simple compared to the complexity of the verbal system in Arabic.

As he states:

"Considering the complexity of

the phenomena, it is remarkable that such a small amount of stipulated mechanism

is needed to capture a great number of generalizations" (p.142).
As far as the vocalism is concerned, in Semitic words, certain categories
like aspect and voice are marked (on the various binyanim) not by additional morphological material but rather by altering the quality of the vowel(s) involved
in a systematic way.

Thus, the vowels in Semitic play a role that is analogous

to affixes in other languages.

The almost systematic variation in vowel quality results in the following
set of vowel patterns associated with verbal categories, where the subscripts and
superscripts indicate the minimum and maximum number of occurrences of the vocalic
mora:
(19)

Perfective Active

4
a

Perfective Passive

3 .
u. 1

Imperfective Passive

u a_

Active Participle

3
u a i

. .
Passive Participle

4
u a_

The only binyan which does not conform to these verbal vowel patterns is
binyan I, which will be discussed a bit later because of its relevance to the

219

analysis of Kabyle verbal system.

What is observed here is that for each pattern

there is "one vowel that spreads to fill up all the spaces in the stem except
those that are occupied by other vowels fixed at either end of the stem" (p.157).
Two generalizations result from the patterns in (19): a. the categories in
(19) do not alter the canonical shape of the stem; b. the categories in (19) do
alter vowel quality.
Apart from a prefixation process which occurs in the imperfective and the
participles, it is apparent that the difference in the categories in (19) is only
a difference in the quality of the vowels.

Notice that in the melodies of the

perfect passive and active participle an jL-melody never spreads and is restricted
to the rightmost vowel of the stem.
to spread if it precedes an -melody.

Othet categories show that an u-melody fails

With these restrictions in mind, a few sam-

ple derivations of the vocalism are given in (20):

(20) a.

cvcvcyycyc
Tycvcyycvc

b ..
b

ccvcyc
ccvcyc

c.

Special r u l e s , i r r e l e v a n t to our a n a l y s i s , a r e necessary i n order to account

for the vowel p a t t e r n s i n the imperfective a c t i v e , the vowel melodies of which
were not included in ( 1 9 ) .

For more d e t a i l s , the reader is r e f e r r e d to McCarthy's

thesis.
The case of the f i r s t binyan i s e s p e c i a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g s i n c e , unlike t h e other
binyanim, i t

i s not p o s s i b l e to i s o l a t e a singl e p e r f e c t i v e and a s i n g l e imperfec-

t i v e melody for i t .

The vowel of the f i r s t s y l l a b l e i s i n v a r i a b l y .

However,

a l t e r n a t i o n s which form a complex s e t of ablaut c l a s s e s are n o t i c e d in the second

syllable:

220

(21)

Perfective
a.

Imperfective

Examples
darab, yadrib
a

'beat'

b.

katab, yaktub

'write'

c.

9alim, ya91am

'know'

d.

hasun, yahsun

'be b e a u t i f u l '

In the o r d i n a r y cases, the f i r s t binyan form of a p a r t i c u l a r root is r e s t r i c t e d to j u s t one of these ablaut c l a s s e s , but there are some exceptions such
as 9 a t a s , ya9tus/ya9tis ' s n e e z e ' , h a s i b , yahsib/yahsab ' t h i n k ' , and other cases
a

showing extremely anomalous a l t e r n a t i o n s .

McCarthy concludes that i t is not p o s s i b l e to assign any given rooC uniquely
Co any ablaut c l a s s and that "there is no unambiguous Ablaut function from perfect i v e to imperfective or vice versa" ( p . 163).

This means that the quality of one

vowel in one a s p e c t can not determine i t s quality in the o t h e r .

We will see be-

low t h a t the a b l a u t classes i n Kabyle, which are a l l similar to those of the

binyan, show a g r e a t deal of r e g u l a r i t y and p r e d i c t a b i l i t y .

first

Concerning Arabic,

however, the a u t h o r notices t h a t , if (21d) is excluded, a singl e ablaut rule from

imperfective t o perfective can be found.
lows:
(22)

Ablaut
[of h i gh]
[

f_ tx h i ghl
1 rtbackl

[imperfect.]

[perfect.]

Such a rule can be formulated as f o l -

221

1.3. Affinities between Arabic and Berber Verbal Systems

Resemblances between Semitic and Berber verbal systems have been recognized
by many Berberists (Basset, 1952; Basset & Picard, 1948; Abdel-Massih, 1968;
Penchoen, 1973, among others).

It has been generally agreed on that the conso-

nants constitute the basic structure of the stem and the only stable elements in
the verbal forms. For that reason, the consonants have been assumed to carry the
semantic load of the verb stem.

As Basset and Picard (1948:104-105) put it:

"Dans une racine les consonnes sont, sauf accident, immuables en nombre et en
position reciproque...C'est le radical qui est l'element semantique, c'est-a-dire
1'element auquel est attache le sens du mot independamment de toute contingence
d'aspect, de genre, de nombre, de personne, etc." As for the vowels, they seem
to exhibit a great deal of alternation between the different verbal categories.
As is evidenced by the data in tables (2-5) below, it is often the case that the
only difference between the allomorphs of a verb (Zero-Form vs. Perfect, or ZeroForm vs. Habitual stem) resides in a vowel ablaut.

In fact, Basset and Picard

(1948) already recognize two levels or 'elements' in a verbal form, not counting
the affixes marking person, gender and number (referred to by the name 'desinences').

They distinguish between what they call the "radical element" and the

"morphological element".

The radical element consists of a number of consonants,

with the exclusion of all vowels ("a I'exclusion de toute voyelle" (p. 104)).

The

morphological element of the verbal form, or the "theme" as Basset and Picard
call it, consists of the vocalism, in addition to the reduplication of a radical
consonant or some other prefixes.

The two latter mechanisms are also found in

Arabic, even though reduplication has sometimes a different semantic and derivational function in Classical Arabic (causative and repetitive action).
Before proceeding any further, it is worth indicating that the verbal stem

222

in Berber appears in the forms listed in (23):

(23) a.

Zero or Unmarked Form, used to express the imperative and,

when the particle ad is prefixed to it, the future, the
conditional, or the subjunctive, depending on the grammatical environment.

b.

Affirmative Perfect stem.

c.

Negative Perfect stem.

d.

Habitual stem, also used t o express the Intensive form

when the p a r t i c l e ara i s preposed t o

it.

In a d d i t i o n , a verbal root i s often u s e d , with d i f f e r e n t a f f i x e s , to derive action nouns (deverbal nouns) and agentive nouns, i . e . , nouns r e f e r r i n g to the person
performing the a c t i o n .
The Affirmative Perfect and the Habitual can be said to correspond t o Arabic
Perfective Active and Imperfective Active since t h e former u s u a l l y i n d i c a t e s a
completed action and the l a t t e r an uncompleted a c t i o n .

The agentive nouns convey

a meaning simila r to chat of Arabic PresenC P a r t i c i p l e s , but i n most cases the

Berber form can not function as an a d j e c t i v e , u n l i k e the Arabic form.

The Perfec-

t i v e Negative is commonly expressed i n Arabic by a special form called the ' j u s sive'.

As a r e s u l t , i t can be claimed that Arabic and Berber agree on a t l e a s t

one f a c t , namely, the use of d i f f e r e n t

tive P e r f e c t .

forms to express the Affirmative and Nega-

The Imperative forms of Arabic are n o t , however, considered the

least marked, unlike Berber, where the Imperative form is a l s o the c i t a t i o n form
of the v e r b .

In Arabic the third person masculine singular form of the Perfect

(Affirmative) represents the c i t a t i o n form.

Hence, Arabic and Berber can be con-

sidered d i f f e r e n t in t h i s p a r t i c u l a r i s s u e ; but t h i s divergence i s not of great

223

significance to our analysis.

What is of interest to our case is the behavior of

consonants and vowels with respect to each other and the fact that they represent
isolable units, as already mentioned.
For the derived forms of the verb, Berbei makes use of the prefixes ss-, mm-,
and ttw- (tsw- in Kabyle) to express, respectively, the causative, reciprocal,
and the passive. As is shown in Table 1 above, Arabic makes use of similar mechanisms but with different affixes.

This language also resorts, in some cases, to

consonant infixation ( or w) to express some semantic categories, a phenomenon unknown to Berber (as far as the available data permit us to assert).
To sum up the discussion so far, Arabic and Berber share a great number of
similarities in their respective verbal systems. These include agreement on the
distinction between completed and uncompleted actions, the use of a special form
for the Negative Perfect, the use of a certain number of affixes to derive various
verbal forms, and, most importantly, the fact that the consonants and vowels represent isolable units. The latter observation is equally true for Berber since
the consonants alone carry the semantic load and are the only stable elements in
the verbal stem whereas the vowels indicate morphological material. This fact is
also especially significant since it makes one wonder whether it might not be
much easier to handle the Berber verbal system on a nonlinear basis with consonants
and vowels represented on different autosegmental tiers, as McCarthy did for Classical Arabic.

We will return to this point a little bit later in the discussion.

For now, the problem related to the similarities and dissimilarities of Arabic and
Berber verbal systems will be further explored.
In addition to the similarities noted above Arabic and Berber display a number
of differences. First, in Arabic each aspectual form (except the first binyan) is
characterized by an almost fixed vowel melody (see (19) above).

In Berber, on the

224

other hand, no specific melody can be associated with the various aspects. Instead, it seems that both basic and derived verbal patterns behave like the first
binyan in Arabic with aspect marked by vowel alternations, the nature of which is
largely determined by the vowel of the Zero-Form.

The set of vowel ablaut classes

occurring in Berber (Kabyle) will be investigated later and an attempt made to

devise a set of polarity rules in order to account for the alternations.

It is

worth noting that in some cases the alternations are only 0 " 0 or 0 ~ vowel.
Moreover, the Habitual stem is often marked by either 0/ts prefixation, consonant
reduplication, vowel insertion, or any combination of either of the first two processes and the last.

Consonant prefixation is also common in Arabic Participial

forms. As for consonant gemination, it is not used in Arabic to indicate aspect

but to mark a derived form of the verb which expresses a specific semantic category (causative or repetitive).

According to Chaker (1973), however, consonant

reduplication is further used in Berber to derive new verbal forms denoting a

variety of semantic categories, some of which indicate a repetitive or precipitative action.

Examples of such forms will be given later.

At any rate, the fact

that both languages make use of the same mechanism, namely, consonant reduplication, argues in favor of the existence of structural similarities between them.
At a different level, the fact that Habitual formation makes use of consonant prefixation or doubling and not mainly of vowel ablaut has led Basset to consider the
possibility that this form might be a derived form on a par with the reciprocal,
causative, and passive, and not an aspectual form of the verb.

He maintains that

this viewpoint is correct from a historical perspective (see Basset, 1952:14). He

finally acknowledges, however, that in the actual system of the verb, the Habitual
is to be considered an aspect of the verb on a par with the Perfect and the ZeroForm.

225

Second, Berber does not seem to have the richness and productivity of the
Arabic system with respect to the derived forms. Whereas in Arabic there are
14 derived forms for the triliterals and 3 possible forms for the quadriliterals
denoting various semantic categories, Berber basically possesses three derived
forms marked by specific prefixes: mm- for the reciprocal or passive, ss- for
the causative, and ttw- (tsw-) indicating the passive.

In some cases, mm- and ss-

combine in that order to yield a new derived form (reciprocal causative).

Basset

(1952) asserts, however, that other derived forms exist in Berber and that other
kinds of prefixes are involved in their derivation.

According to him, remnants of

such forms, which were presumably quite productive in the past, still exist in
such forms as Semiel 'to be shaded with white and black', derived from imlal 'to
be white' (Ahaggar dialect) by z"-prefixation.

Beside 2, the prefix j[ is also

seemingly involved in the derivation of other verbs (p.12).

Chaker (1973) dis-

cusses the problem of derived verbs in Berber and distinguishes between two types
of derivations:

'derivations of orientation' and 'derivations of manner'.

The

first type, by which he means the reciprocals, causatives, and passives, is very
productive and the veibs derived in this manner are easily attestable on synchronic
grounds.

The second type is a very much less productive process and verbs can be

recognized as derived only through diachronic analysis. Quite a large number of

processes are apparently involved in the derivation of this category of verbs. The
processes which follow and the examples illustrating them are attested in the dialect under consideration:
a.

reduplication of a root and appearance of the vowel

- /jlujl/ 'to be muddy or of unstable shape', from /jl/ 'to stagnate'
(according to Chaker).
- /qluql/ 'to shake', from /ql/ 'to move'

226

b.

reduplication of the second radical and introduction of a vowel:

- /flali/ 'to appear', from /fly/ (?)
- /jrirB/ 'to tumble down', from /jrB/ (?)
- /fruri/ 'to break into small pieces', from Arabic /fry/ 'to cut
open'

c.

consonant(s) prefixation:
-ddr: /ddrgl/ 'to be blind', from /gl/ 'to look'
-f_: /funzr/ 'to bleed by the nose', from /*nzr/ (cf. anzaren 'nose')
-h: /hrfs/ 'to walk heavily', from Arabic /rfs/ 'to tread'
-h: /hrurd/ 'to move heavily', from /*rd/ (>/rurd/)
/hulfu/ 'resent', from Arabic /lfu/ 'to befall'
-hnu: /hnussd/ 'to ski', from /SSd/ 'to slide'
/hnunnd/ 'to drag oneself/lift oneself with difficulty', from
/nnd/ (?)
-slu: /sluffz/ 'to ruminate', from /ffz/ 'to chew'
-S_: /21qf/ 'to catch in mid air', from Arabic /lqf/ 'to catch'
/Srurd/ 'to take small steps', from /*rd/ by first radical reduplication and u-insertion.
/Suf/ 'to be swollen/angry', from /uf/ (same meaning)
-k: /s*kuntd/ 'to cling to', from /ntd/ 'to stick to'
-2_: /z"91ulq/ 'to swing', from Arabic /91q/ 'to hang'
/z*gugl/ 'to swing', from /agl/ 'to hang' (Moroccan dialects)

d.

consonant suffixation:
-: /SukkG/ 'to suspect', from Arabic /Skk/ 'suspicion/to suspect'
/kkuffG/ 'to skim', from /*kf/ (cf. akafaj 'milk')

227

d.

continued

-Jf_: /qqums/ 'to squat', from /qqim/ 'to sit/stay'

/atituS/ 'hole', from /Git/ 'eye'

Chaker c i t e s more processes involving reduplicacion of d i f f e r e n t radicals and

other a f f i x a t i o n a l consonants.

For more d e t a i l s , the reader is referred to t h e

above mentioned work.

Whatever the number and v a r i e t y of processes involved in deriving the v e r b s
of Berber, the derived verbal system of t h i s language does not match the product i v i t y and richness of Arabic.

But the r e l a t i v e poverty of Berber derived forms

might be explained by the fact t h a t Berber languages were and are s t i l l spoken
dialects.

If i t i s t r u e that C l a s s i c a l Arabic has 17 d i f f e r e n t patterns for d e -

rived v e r b s , the same is not t r u e of spoken Arabic d i a l e c t s .

These have indeed

lost many of the derived p a t t e r n s throughout their evolutio n from Classical A r a b i c .

We might assume t h a t the same s i t u a t i o n happened with Berber.

J t might be claimed

that Proto-Berber possessed a r i c h e r s e t of derived p a t t e r n s and t h a t , due t o the

tendency of natural languages towards s i m p l i f i c a t i o n , many of these patterns were
lost or became unproductive as the modern Berber d i a l e c t s developed from the p r o tolanguage.
The t h i r d major difference between Classical Arabic and Berber concerns t h e
numerical d i s t r i b u t i o n of b i - r a d i c a l , t r i - r a d i c a l , and q u a d r i - r a d i c a l r o o t s .

In

Arabic and other Semitic languages, the majority of verbs are tri-consonanta l and
the bi-consonantals are a t t e s t e d in small numbers only.
point, however, to a rather d i f f e r e n t s i t u a t i o n :

The a c t u a l data of Berber

even though i t i s true t h a t the

t r i - r a d i c a l roots c o n s t i t u t e t h e majority of the v e r b s , the number of b i - r a d i c a l s

is by no means n e g l i g i b l e .

Moreover, a f a i r l y non-negligible number of mono-

228

radical r o o t s e x i s t s , a phenomenon unknown t o Semitic.

Chaker (N.D.) explains

this fact by a s s e r t i n g that i n t e r d i a l e c t a l comparison and diachronic researches

have demonstrated t h a t a large p o r t i o n of t h e b i - and mono-radical roots a r e derived from original t r i - r a d i c a l s which have l o s t one o r two of t h e i r consonants
due to a phenomenon of "phonetic erosion" ( l o s s of pharyngeal, l a r y n g e a l , and
weak r a d i c a l s ) , seemingly common i n Berber.

Chaker c l a i ms that a l l laryngeals

and pharyngeals as w e l l as some v e l a r s were l o s t in Berber in t h e course of the

h i s t o r i c a l development of the language.

According to him, a i l o t h e r similar

sounds a t t e s t e d in t o d a y ' s d i a l e c t s of Berber are due t o an extensive process of

borrowing from Arabic, except i n Twareg where the sound h seems t o have been r e tained ( c f . Chaker, N.D., p. 192-193).
In sum, whatever the d i s s i m i l a r i t i e s of Arabic and Berber v e r b a l systems and
the explanations o f f e r e d to account for them, i t remains, true t h a t the a f f i n i t i e s
between t h e two systems are s t r i k i n g and s t r o n g enough t o j u s t i f y an attempt to
t r e a t the Berber v e r b a l system w i t h i n the autosegmental framework on the model
followed by McCarthy for Semitic.

From what has already been s a i d i t is c l e a r

that the evidence f o r representing the consonants and vowels on differen t

autoseg-

mental t i e r s is s t r o n g and overwhelming.

In t h e next s e c t i o n , daca from Kabyle, r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of a l l o r at l e a s t
mostof t h e verbal patterns o c c u r r i n g in t h i s language, will be provided.

Then,

prosodic templates and methods of a s s o c i a t i o n between t h e consonantal t i e r and the

vocalic t i e r , on the one hand, and the s k e l e t a l templates c o n s i s t i n g of CV-slots,
on the o t h e r , will b e devised.

A l l through the d i s c u s s i o n, the consequences of

such a treatment of t h e Kabyle v e r b a l system will be made e x p l i c i t .

229

1.4.

Kabyle Verbal System and the Autosegmental Theory

I shall begin this section by providing tables with data illustrating most

if not allof the verbal patterns in Kabyle, for future reference.

The purpose

of these tables (2-5) is to acquaint the unfamiliar reader with one or more samples
of each verbal structure or pattern in this language. The data do not show the
schwa, the occurrence of which is predictable by rule (see Chapter 2).

Moreover,

it seems that the schwas do not play any significant role in vowel alternations and
that their occurrence is dictated by merely phonetic factors. Therefore, it can be
concluded that including schwas in the canonical patterns of the verbs serves no
real purpose and would only contribute to the complication of the patterns.

The

reader is referred to Appendix A for more examples illustrating each verbal pattern.
Table 2 contains examples of monoliterals and Tables 3, 4, and 5 illustate
allomorphs of biliteral, triliteral, and quadriliteral roots, respectively.

In

column one of each table, we find the Zero-Form of the verb, which is taken as
basic (corresponding to the Perfective Active in Arabic), because, as mentioned
earlier, it is the least marked form.

The second and third columns illustrate the

Affirmative and Negative Perfect forms, respectively.

tical.

In most cases they are iden-

For some roots consisting of consonants only, the Negative Perfect is de-

rived by inserting an _ibefore the last radical.

Basset and Picard (1948) observe,

however, that i-insertion is much more common than the data in tables (2-5) would
suggest (for more details, see Basset and Picard, 1948:122-123).

The fourth column

represents the Habitual form of the verb. The last column illustrates some deverbal
nouns derived from the verbal form.
'nomina actionis'

These nouns are not always action nominals

since some of them are used to refer to other activities (in-

strument, agent, e t c . ) .

Whenever the noun in question is not an action noun, its

meaning will be specified.

230

The passive forms derived by tsw-prefixation have been ignored in the tables
below because they are rarely used and the active form of the verb is commonly
preferred over the passive one, according to native speakers.

Recall that a pas-

sive meaning is also obtained by mm-prefixation (such as /mmccY 'be eaten' from
/ce*/ 'to eat'), commonly used to derive the reciprocal form.

The reciprocals are

not, however, a productive category and are present only in a small number of
cases.

As for the causatives, they seem to constitute a fairly productive cate-

gory since the majority of verbs seem to have a derived causative form obtained by
ss-prefixation.

Finally, whenever vacant slots are found in the tables below,

this means that the relevant forms could not be obtained or were unavailable for
that particular verbal root.
The palatal and velar glides present a problem because they often surface as
the high vowels i_ and , respectively.

Following Basset and Picard (1948:104), I

will adopt a probably well-justified criterion like the one in (24) when trying to
determine whether a high vowel is underlyingly a vowel or a glide:
(24) A high vowel i_ or is to be considered underlyingly the corresponding glide and, hence, part of the consonantal root if
it fails to alternate between the various allomorphs of a verb;
otherwise, it is a true vowel and part of the vocalic melody.
This principle will be shown throughout the subsequent discussion to contribute a
great deal to the simplification of the rules accounting for the vocalic alternations from one allomorph to another.

231

Monoliterals
Zero-

Perfect

Perfect

Form

Affirm.

Negative

af

ufi/a

ufi/a

tsaf

'find'

ag

"S

ug

tsag

'buy'

Jj
cc1

jji/a
fiKi/a

jji/a

tsajja

'leave behind'

liSi/a

Gts

III ddu

ddi/a

ddi/a

ili

lli/a

Hi/a

II

IV

Habitual

Deverbal

Gloss

Noun

u8c*i

eat'

Gddu

Guddi

walk'

tsili

Gili

exist'

'shadow'

ini

nni/a

nni/a

tsini

say'

aru

uri/a

uri/a

tsaru

write'

sscC

ssCc*

ssfcc*

ssMay

VI

ssddu

ssddi/a

ssddi/a

send'

mm25

mmSc*

be eaten'

VII mmCc"

asscc*i

feed'

Table 2

Biliterals

II

Zero-

Perfect

Perfect

Form

Affirm.

Negative

jn

jn

jn

ggan

Sing
nz

gri/a

gri/a

qqar

ngi/a

ngi/a

nqq

'kill'

nzi/a

nzi/a

tsnuzu

'be on sale'

sw

swi/a

swi/a

6ss

OissiG

'drink*

lis

lis

His

eiis

Gullsa

'shear'

kkr

kkr

kkir

6kkr

Gukkra

'stand u p '

Habitual

Deverbal

Gloss

Noun

Table 3

'sleep'
lqqraya

'read o u t '

232

Zero-

Perfect

Perfect

Form

Affirm.

Negative

III

Bdd

Bdd

IV

frfr

frfr

frfr

Habitual

Deverbal

Gloss

Noun

tsfrfir

iBddi

'stand up'

Gifrfr

'beat wings'

'kite'
V

Bdu

Bdi/a

Bdi/a

Bddu

lBdi

'begin'

VI

ali

uli

uli

tsali

alluy

'climb'

'slope'
amn

umn

umn

tsamn

lamana

'believe'

'secret'
awi

,,w. 3
ubb i

,,w,
ubb i

awd

,,w, 3
ubb d

ubb d

tsawd

agg ad

lal

lul

lul

tslali

Galali

fad

fad

fad

55 ih

z*ah

z*ah

tsfad
*
dzah

VIII ggall

ggull

ggull

tsjalla

Gaggalli

zzall

zzull

zzull

dzalla

azzalli

tsawi

w
agg ay

' carry'

'load'

VII

'be born'
'overflow'
'abandon'

'pray'

a a

IX

azzl

uzzl

uzzl

tsazzal

Gazzla

argu

urga

urga

tsargu

argi

'dream'

gaji

guja

guja

tsgaji

agaji

flee'

XI

inij

unaj

unaj

tsinij

iniji

'immigrate'

XII

rbbi

rbba

rbba

tsrbbi

arbbi

'raise up'

XIII issin

ssn

ssn

tsissin

Oamussni

'know'

XIV

ssjn

ssjn

ssjn

ssjanay

'make sleep'

ssgr

ssgr

ssgr

ssgaray

'teach'

zznz

zznz

zznz

zznuzuy

'sell'

Timing

mmng

mmng

XV

'kill each other'

Table 3

continued

233

Triliterals

Zero-

Perfect

Perfect

Form

Affirm.

Negative

xdm

xdm

xdim

Habitual

Deverbal

(Sloss

Noun
xddm

axddam

'work'

'worker'

II

fl

fl

fil

fttl

If Gil

'roll couscous'

mgi

mgi

mgi

mqqi

imgi

'bud'

rwi

rwi

rwi

w.
rgg i

w
argg ay

'mix'

kmml

kmml

kmml

tskmmil

sggd

sggd

sggd

tsggid

'complete'
asggad
a

'hunt'

'hunter'

III

hasB

husB

husB

tshasaB

lmhasBa

9 awn

9 awn

9awn

ts9awan

lmSawna

IV

ruh

ruh

ruh

csruhu

uzur

uzar

uzar

Csuzur

'report to s.b.'
help'
leave'

azuran

gain weight'

'thick'

VI

ddari

dduri

dduri

Csdari

adari

take shelter'

VII

jrirB

jrarB

jrarB

CsjririB

ajrirB

roll over'

VIII

iwrig

uwrag

uwrag

tsiwrig

awrag

become yellow'

'yellow'

IX

qqim

qqim

qqim

tsgimi

subb

subb

subb

w
tsubb ay

subb

subb

subb

tsubbu

XI

igimi

sit'
cook'

asubbu

go down'

ssxdm

ssxdm

ssxdm

ssxdam

make work'

ssruh

ssruh

ssruh

ssruhuy

lose'

ssmgi

ssmgi

ssmgi

ssmgay

grow'

Table 4

234

Quadril:Lterals
Zero-

Perfect

Perfect

Habitual

Form

Affirm.

Negative

qrd

qrds*

qrdS

tsqrdis*

BrqS

BrqS

Brqs

tsBrqis*

'be many-colored'

fgms

fgms

fgms

tsfgmis

'nibble'

Deverbal

Gloss

Noun
aqrdaS

'card'

Table 5

A few preliminary remarks are in order concerning the data in the tables
above.

First, all the categories or patterns are to be considered basic except

those beginning with ss- or mm- (which correspond, as mentioned earlier, to the
causative and reciprocal forms, respectively) and some forms such as pattern IV
in the biliterals and VII in the triliterals, which were considered 'derivatives
of manner' (see section 1.3. above) since they involve reduplication of a root or
a radical. Second, no semantic category could be found to be associated with any
specific pattern.

Third, not all derived forms have been listed; only a few pat-

terns have been selected.

Nevertheless, almost every basic pattern (as well as

many of the 'derivatives of manner') will have a corresponding derived causative

form, normally obtained via s-prefixation.

With respect to the causatives, we

also notice that when ss- is prefixed to some basic forms the resulting causative
form becomes in some way 'regularized' with regard to the Perfect stem, in the
sense that the vowel alternation between the Zero-Form and Perfect, attested in
the basic form, disappears in the derived form.

This is commonly the case when

the alternation is 0 * a (cf. /cc" v cc*a/ and /gr<v gra/ vs. /ssc'JS'v ssScV and
/ssgr<v ssgr/).
The number of roots that exist within each pattern varies a great deal.
Some patterns have an extremely limited number of verbs (especially monoliterals

235

and q u a d r i l i t e r a l s ) whereas o t h e r s (mainly vowelles3 b i r a d i c a l s and t r i r a d i c a l s )

include a much higher number of members.

For an approximate estimate of the r e l a -

tive numbers of verbs belonging t o each p a t t e r n the r e a d e r is r e f e r r e d to Appendix

A.

This Appendix, however, i s f a r from being complete or exhaustive.

I t should

be mentioned, f i n a l l y , that t h e r e was no special reason for choosing the s p e c i f i c

forms i n the t a b l e s above to r e p r e s e n t each p a t t e r n .

The choice was made a t r a n -

dom.
As far as the sound changes are concerned, one important note concerning the
geminate c l u s t e r s i s in order.

When a f r i c a t i v e consonant undergoes gemination

as a r e s u l t of a change in a s p e c t (Zero-Form v s . H a b i t u a l , for i n s t a n c e ) , i t h a r dens i n t o the corresponding s t o p , except s_, , |_, and \ , which apparently undergo
affrication.
(25)

This i s i l l u s t r a t e d by the data in ( 2 5 ) :

Single Consonant

Geminate Consonant

Examples

bb4

i2Br:zbbr

cut'

tt

fBlrfttl

roll couscous'

dd

xdm:xddm

work, fix'

tt

rdl:rttl

lend'

ts

hsB:htsB

count'

dz

cznntjdzm

cut'

2
S

c5m:cc*m

enter'

nz*9:nj9

spur'

j
kk

izcwan

graves' vs. az

gg

jn:ggan

sleep'

qq

ng:nqq

kill'

bb

9wz*:9bbWz*

distort'

w
gg

rwl:rggwl

flee'

kk

w:kka

hit'

gg

9yu:9ggu

be tired'

'gr

236

Historically, however, it is generally agreed on (Laoust, 1918, 1939; Basset,

1952; Saib, 1976) that the spirants derived from stops.

It is maintained that sin-

gle stops became the corresponding spirants (stridents and non-stridents) whereas
geminate stops remained unchanged.

This process seems to be in agreement with the

historical 'weakening' common in many languages, e.g., germanic.

In other words,

it is assumed that the spirants in the first column of (25) above were originally
stops which have undergone spirantization through the historical evolution of the
language.

While it is beyond the scope of this study to discuss the intricacies

of this problem (for more details and a thorough discussion of this issue see Saib,
1976:86-122), it is not out of place to indicate that on synchronic grounds nothing
permits us to assert that the spirantization process is more plausible than the
hardening one. Moreover, there are numerous cases where the single stops did not
undergo weakening as the data in (26) illustrate.

The forms are given with their

supporting schwas in order to show that the medial consonants in the first column
are not geminate clusters.
Zero-Form

Habitual Stem

Gloss

endem

neddem

'regret'

entel

nettel

'bury'

ergem

reggem

'insult'

e9qel

9eqqel

'guess'

ehkem

hekkem

'rule'

The failure of the single stops to undergo spirantization in forms like those
in (26) above is traditionally explained by claiming that the spirantization process is not totally pervasive and that in some dialects it is more pervasive than
in others.

However, no real explanation is given for the reason particular forms

237

like those in (26) do not undergo the process while others do.

Also it seems that

some Arabic loans (e.g., ecreh 'hate' (<Ar. /krh/)) have undergone spirantization
while others (e.g., ehkem 'rule' (<Ar. /hkm/)) have not.
The last four examples in (25) illustrate the geminate reflexes of the glides.
The alternation y_ ** gjg_ is a further confirmation of the stipulation made in Chapter
3, namely, that gj_ is the geminate reflex of the palatal glide.
The reason that w, when geminated, surfaces under three different shapes might
be attributed, I believe, to diachronic changes. We have already seen in Chapter 3
that bb

is the geminate reflex of w.

possible geminate reflexes of w.

In (25) we notice that gg

and kk are also

It might be possible to assume that the radical

which actually surfaces as the velar glide in the data above derives from three
w

different sounds, namely, b , g , and k . Recall what was said earlier (Chaker,
N.D.) that Berber was subject to a phenomenon of phonetic erosion (loss of laryngeal, pharyngeal, some velar, and weak radicals).

It might, therefore, be claimed

that b_, g_, and k_ were lost when non-geminated and retained when geminated, whereas
w
w
w
>
the labiovelar quality of b , g , and k_ surfaced as the velar glide we still find
in some forms.

Such diachronic changes are not uncommon in many languages. They

are attested quite extensively in the derivation of many Indo-European languages

7
w .
.
from their ancestor, Proto-Indo-European.

Proto-Indo-European *k_oina_ punish-

ment', for instance, gave kaena in Avestan and poina in Greek (and poena in Latin).
Whereas in Avestan the labiality was lost, k was lost in Greek and Latin, and by
an intermediate derivation, woina, poina and poena were obtained. Another example
is Proto-Indo-European *k is 'who', which gave kah in Sanskrit and pis in Greek.
Finally, Proto-Indo-European *g em 'come' gave gam-anti in Sanskrit and venio (from
wenio) in Latin.

In sum, in Eastern Indo-European languages, the velars k_ and g_

were retained and the labial color of the sounds lost whereas the inverse process

238

occurred in Western Indo-European languages. To return to Berber, it might be

maintained that a process similar to that which took place in Western Indo-European languages occurred in this language, namely, that g_ and Jk were lost and the
labiality retained.

In the case of Berber also, the b_ of b__ was lost. The reason

.
.
w
that the labial quality of kk was not retained in kka does not seem to be clear.
Basset (1952) claims that kkaG is derived from gga by a process of devoicing,

t h e r e b y s u g g e s t i n g t h a t t h e w of w
justification

to h i t

w
i s d e r i v e d from g .

However, no r e a l

i s given f o r t h e r u l e of d e v o i c i n g which he a s s u m e s .

Before p r o c e e d i n g t o t h e a n a l y s i s of Kabyle v e r b a l system w i t h i n t h e a u t o s e g m e n t a l a p p r o a c h , i t should b e made c l e a r t h a t t h e v a r i o u s k i n d s of sound changes

o b s e r v e d in t h e t a b l e s above w i l l be examined in t h e d i s c u s s i o n which f o l l o w s .
1.4.1.
Consonantism
I n t h i s s e c t i o n , t h e c a n o n i c a l p a t t e r n s of e a ch group of v e r b s w i l l be i n v e s t i g a t e d and a template r e g u l a t i n g t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of c o n s o n a n t s and v o w e l s
any) i n the p a t t e r n s p e r t a i n i n g t o each g r o u p, w i l l be s u g g e s t e d .

By g r o u p ,

(if

mean h e r e the d i s t r i b u t i o n o f v e r b a l r o o t s a c c o r d i n g t o the number of c o n s o n a n t s

in t h e m , i . e . , whether t h e y a r e mono-, b i - , t r i - , o r q u a d r i - r a d i c a l s .
l o w i n g d i s c u s s i o n , the words

In t h e

fol-

'form ' and ' p a t t e r n ' w i l l be used i n t e r c h a n g e a b l y

t h e s e n s e of McCarthy's ' b i n y a n '

in

( p i . binyanim).

The i n v e n t o r y of c a n o n i c a l p a t t e r n s i n the Zero-Form of t h e m o n o l i t e r a l s

(27) a.

VC

b.

CC

e.

CCCC

c.

CCV

f.

CCCCV

d.

VCV

C e r t a i n c l e a r r e g u l a r i t i e s appear i n (27) which must be accounted f o r .

is:

First,

239

there are no patterns of the shape CV.

Second, there are no patterns of the shape

VCC, where CC stands for a geminate consonant.

On the basis of these facts, it

can be said that (a) and (b), on the one hand, and (c) and (d), on the other, are
similar except for the first segment in the patterns of each pair.
and (f), they are the derived froms of (b) and (c), respectively.

As for (e)
It is quite

possible to express these regularities by the following template:

(28)

(CC)C+seg]C(V)

The above template allows all and only the patterns in columns (1), (2), and
The C+seg*J element can be interpreted as either a consonant or a

(3) in Table 2.

vowel depending on the pattern.

For the patterns (27a) and (27d), the problem of association is trivial.
Since we have one C-slot in the template and a monoliteral root, we end up with a
one-to-one association mapping the consonant of the root onto the C-slot in the
template.

This is illustrated in (29):

(29) a.

VC

b.

(af)

VCV

(ili)

By v i r t u e of the revised version of the Obligatory Contour P r i n c i p l e s t a t e d

in (6) above which s t i p u l a t e s , i t should be r e c a l l e d , t h a t adjacent

identical

autosegments are p r o h i b i t e d , geminate consonants w i l l be represented as s i n g l e consonants on the r o o t t i e r .

However, we end up with two C-slots in the template and

one radica l in t h e root (cf. p a t t e r ns in (27b) and (27c)).

I assume t h a t the r a d i -

cal i s geminated by automatic spreading, a n o t i o n inherent in the p r i n c i p l e of oneto-many a s s o c i a t i o n .

f i r s t C-slot.

L e f t - t o - r i g h t a s s o c i a t i o n w i l l f i r s t map the r a d i c a l onto the

Then, there remains an unlinked C-slot in the template.

By the

Well-Formedness Condition, t h i s s l o t i s a s s o c i a t e d with some element in the conso-

240

nantal tier which, in this case, happens to be the same radical already mapped
onto the first C-slot.
CC
J

This is illustrated in (30):

b.

(jj)

CCV
d

(ddu)

As for the derived forms ( p a t t e r n s V, VI, and V I I ) , these have prefixes which
are c e r t a i n l y not part of the r o o t .

In these c a s e s , the prefixed m a t e r i a l , which

surfaces as a geminate c l u s t e r , is associated with the f i r s t two C-slots in the

template by the p r i n c i p l e of one-to-many a s s o c i a t i o n s :
(31) a.

CCCCV
CCCCV

b.

J ..

CCCC
CC

[causative*]

QreciprocalJ

At t h i s s t a g e , the remaining C-slots are associated with the root consonant by

allowing spreading to link the f i n a l C-slot to the consonant already mapped onto
the preceding C - s l o t :
(32) a.

CCCCV

Jfcaus"^ \
(jrootj

b.

(reciprj
(TrobtJ

Notice that t h i s kind of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n and a s s o c i a t i o n implies that p r e f i x e s

and r o o t s occupy two d i f f e r e n t autosegmental t i e r s .

This is compatible with

McCarthy's theory, namely, t h a t more than two levels or t i e r s be allowed.

Also,

the t i e r s i n d i c a t i n g a root versus an a f f i x class w i l l be allowed to be marked as

such.

F i n a l l y , I assume t h a t an affix c l a s s (at l e a s t when i t denotes a p r e f i x )

241

will be mapped onto the relevant slots in the template before the root.
The inventory of the canonical patterns in the biliterals seems to be richer
and much more complex.

The following basic forms can be distinguished:

CC

h.

CCVCC

b.

ccc

i.

VCCV

c.

cccc

j-

CCCV

d.

CCV

k.

CVCV

e.

vcc

1.

vccvc

f.

CVC

m.

vcvc

vccc

(33) a.

As for the derived forms, a combination of CC plus any of the patterns in (33)
is required in order to obtain the patterns necessary to account for them.
In spite of the great number of possible patterns exhibited by the biliterals,
I believe that the prosodic template in (34) is able to abbreviate all the patterns
in (33) as well as the patterns of the derived forms:
(34)

((CC)(C+seg*J)(C))C(V)C(V)

The problem of association for most patterns in (33) is trivial, in particular for those which contain two C-slots.

In this case, one-to-one association

from left-to-right yields the correct outputs, as is shown by the representations

in (35):

b.

(35) a.

4A (jn)
VCVC

fd

e.
(inij)

\1

c.
(fad)

VCCV
ri

(argu)

i*c\
:vcv
j

(gaji)

242

In the cases where there are three C-slots to be linked to two root consonants, left-Co-right association and the principle of spreading of linking lines
to the closest available consonant slot will automatically result in the gemination of the second radical, as illustrated below:

(Bdd)

rb

However, in the cases where the duplication of the first radical is to be obtained,
a problem arises. Left-to-right association and the linking of the unattached
C-slot in the template to the nearest consonant slot in the root tier will give us
the incorrect representations in (37):
(37) a.

CCC
kf

b.
(*krr)

VCCC
zl
ll

c.
(*azll)

VCCVC
ssi?
fi

(*isnin)

McCarthy claims that since "mapping is from left-to-right unless otherwise stipulated, it is impossible to reduplicate the initial syllable rather than the final
syllable" (p.154).

Thus, verbs like samam 'poison', where the second radical is

reduplicated, are possible, whereas verbs like *sasam, where the first consonant
is doubled, are not. Moreover, he asserts that he knows of no systematic formation of this sort in Semitic, "though there are very sporadic nouns" (ibid.).
However, in order to account for forms like kattab 'cause to write', McCarthy, as
mentioned earlier, allows a rule of erasure which severs the association of the
final root consonant with the medial C. This now empty C picks up an association
with the autosegment associated with the nearest consonant, in this case, the medial radical (for more details on the way the erasure rule operates, see (12-14)
above).

Since McCarthy allows the erasure rule to operate in the case of tri-

radical roots, I do not see any reason why it can not operate in the case of bi-

243

radicals. For Kabyle, I suggest an erasure rule like the one in (38) which severs
the association of the final root consonant with the medial C. The resulting
empty C is now subject to the Well-Formedness Condition and gets associated with
the autosegment linked to the nearest consonant, in this case, the first radical.
The erasure rule should be restricted to patterns II, IX, and XIII in Table 3.
(38)

(V)CC(V)C
)CC(V)C

+ (V)CC(V)C

(V)CC(V)C

(Erasure Rule)

Given rule (38), the derivations of the forms in (37) will proceed in a straightforward manner as follows:
(39) a.

CCC

b.

c. MCCVC

41

if

kr

VCCC

(kkr)

zl

Sfi

(azzl)

In

(root tier)

(issin)

(rule 38)

An a l t e r n a t i v e analysis would allow association to proceed from r i g h t - t o - l e f t

for patterns I I , IX, and XIII.

Recall t h a t the autosegmental theory does not p r o -

h i b i t such an a s s o c i a t i o n and that the d i r e c t i o n of a s s o c i a t i o n is an idiosyncrasy

of the data at hand.

If such an a l t e r n a t i v e is adopted, t h e derivations of the

forms in (39) w i l l proceed in a straightforward manner as evidenced below,

(40) a.

ccc

b.

(kkr)

vccc

Hi (azzl)

c.

v;

vggvi

In

(issin)

where spreading automatically produces the gemination of the left-most radical.

Pattern VIII shows another kind of reduplication where both radicals seem to
be reduplicated.

Initially, left-to-right association and the principle of associ-

ation of unattached C-slots to the nearest consonants will yield the following

244

incorrect forms:

:cvcc
!l

b. ccvcc
(*zlall)

if

(*glall)

Here, I suggest a rule similar to that in 38 which would cease the association of
the second root consonant with the second C-slot in the template.

By the Well-

Formedness Condition, the now empty slot gets associated with the autosegment connected to the nearest consonant, in this case, the first radical. Thus, the derivations for the forms in (41) will proceed as follows:

w-w * w-w

W'

We notice, however, that the patterns permitting the erasure rule should be
marked as such.

In other words, the erasure rule is lexically-conditioned.

Since

this is the case, instead of a complicated ad hoc rule of erasure, we can assume
for these patterns as well as for pattern VIII a rule whose effect would be to associate the initial root consonant with the first two C-slots in the template.
This rule, which should apply prior to any other association operations, can be
formalized as follows:
(43)

(V)C9(V)C(C)

xy

(Pre-assignment I)

(patterns II, VIII, IX, and XIII only)

After the application of this rule, left-to-right association links the second
radical of the root to the remaining C-slot(s) in the template.

If one C-slot is

left, the second radical is mapped onto it on a one-to-one basis (cf./kkr/, /azzl/,
and /issin/).

If two C-slots are still unassociated, the second radical gets

linked to both of them by virtue of the principle of spreading of association lines

245

(or one-to-many association ) (cf. / z z a l l / and / g g a l l / ) .

These operations a r e

represented as follows:
(44) a .

CCC
}/
kr

b.

VCCC
]!
zl

c.

VCCVC
l
>
In

d.

CCVCC
\1
zl

e.

9pVCC
u

|l
(rule 43)

CCC

VCCC

kr (kkr)

zl (azzl)

VCCVC

CCVCC

Jr/ (issin)

If
*

WPP
(zzall)

a a

(ggall)
(by left-to-right association)
The operation involving rule (43) looks simpler than that involving the erasure rule.

Moreover, both rules are lexically-conditioned.

Therefore, given the

relative simplicity of the last solution, it is to be preferred to a solution involving the erasure rule.
There is another slightly different way to account for forms like those in
(44).

A lexically-conditioned rule which would associate the first radical with

the second C-slot in the template might be devised.

This rule again should pre-

cede any other association operation and would look like the following:
(45)

(V)CC(V)C(C)
xy

(Pre-assignment II)
(patterns II, VIII, IX, and XIII only)

After the application of this rule, the second radical will be mapped onto the remaining C-slot(s).
sociated.

At this stage, the first C-slot in the template remains unas-

Since it can not be linked to the second radical (association lines may

not cross), it will be eventually mapped onto the initial radical, triggering its
gemination.

This operation, which gives us the correct results and does not vio-

246

late the basic principles of the Autosegmental Theory, can be represented as follows :
(46) a.

CCC

b.

VCCC

c.

VCCVC

d.

CCVCC

'

kr

zl

sn

gl

CCC

VCCC

VCCVC

CCV

zl

sir

gl

kr

(rule 45)

(left-to-right
association)

CCC
kr (kkr)

VCCC

VCCVC

II (azzl)

/ (issin)

CCJ^C
gl

(ggall)

(initial C-slot ultimately associated

with first radical)
The derivation of the forms in pattern IV would be exactly like those developed by McCarthy for Semitic forms such as Arabic zalzal 'quake' and Hebrew
gilgel 'roll' (cf. (17) above).

In such cases, a biconsonantal root is expanded

to fit a template consisting of four C-slots.

But instead of assuming that the

expansion occurs by reduplication of the single radicals, it is hypothesized that

it occurs by reduplication of the entire root.

This assumption follows from the

notion of morphological tier which allows mapping between morpheme positions. As

McCarthy puts it "The biliteral root is reduplicated by one-to-many morpheme to
morpheme association, and then these morphemes are mapped onto the prosodic template" (p. 152).

Thus, the derivation for frfr 'fly' is represented in (47):

247

(47)

(rooO

Before proceeding any further, a few derivational and phonological remarks

are in order concerning the biliteral forms. First, we notice that the Habitual
stem is derived by one of the following processes: a) gemination of a radical;
b) prefixation of ts_ or ; c) vowel affixation plus either (a) or (b). In a few
cases, degemination of the first radical occurs when t is prefixed to a root beginning with a geminate cluster (e.g., ggall:tsjalla 'swear').

Moreover, in the

derived forms, we notice that vowel-infixation and y_-suffixation are quite common.
Second, forms like dzah and dzalla may be assumed to derive from /ts-Sah/
and /ts-zzalla/, respectively.

An assimilation rule would apply regressively

yielding the intermediate structures /d2-zah/ and /dz-zzalla/.

a

Finally, the de-

gemination rule referred to in the preceding paragraph would give the phonetic
outputs dz'ah and dzalla.

Notice that in the latter form degemination must apply

twice in order for the correct surface form to be obtained.

It is worth mention-

ing that a process similar to that happening in Kabyle occurs in Catalan (Mascaro,
1976:45), where a sequence of two sibilants occurring across morpheme boundary
due to affixation merges into one sibilant sound (cf., for instance, /pes//s*ik/ *
pes*ik 'small fish').

In some cases, merger is preceded by an assimilation rule

whereby the first sibilant assumes the features of the second one (/mes+Sik/, for
instance, surfaces as mes'ik 'smaller').

248

Finally, a number of affixes help to generate the deverbal nouns. A generalization regulating the distribution of these affixes in the various forms seems
difficult to capture.

It would seem more plausible to say that the choice of

affix is an idiosyncrasy of the word itself (we will return to this point in 1.5.
below).
Some of the tri-radical verbs, representative samples of which are listed in
Table 4, seem to offer evidence in favor of the claim that the consonants bear
the semantic load of the verb.

As is well-known, many of these verbs are borrowed

from Arabic and it is widely observed that these verbs are borrowed without the
corresponding Arabic vowels.
regarded.

Only the consonants are taken; the vowels are dis-

For the phonetic forms of these verbs, Kabyle, however, makes use of

the general scheme of schwa insertion already discussed in Chapter 2.

Samples of

the verbs borrowed from Arabic and their Arabic forms are given in (48) below:
Berber

Arabic

Gloss

xdm

xadam

'work, serve'

hsB

hasab

'count'

hkm

hakam

'rule, govern'

fhm

fahim

'understand'

19B

la9ib

'play'

rBh

rabih

'win, gain'

kmml

kammal

'complete'

The triliteral forms of Kabyle fall into one of the following canonical patterns :

249

(49) a.

CCC

d.

CCVCC

b.

CCCC

e.

CCVC

c.

CVCC

f.

VCCVC

Again h e r e , the p a t t e r n s of the derived forms would consist of any of the

forms in (49) p l u s two C-slots to account for the causative, r e c i p r o c a l , or p a s s i v e prefix.
There a r e a t least two clear r e g u l a r i t i e s in the canonical patterns in ( 4 9 ) .
F i r s t , there i s no pattern ending in a vowel.

Second, no p a t t e r n begins with a

s t r u c t u r e l i k e VCV, i . e . , an open s y l l a b l e consisting of one vowel.

To account

for these r e g u l a r i t i e s and the shapes of the p a t t e r n s in (49), the templates in

(50) are suggested:
(50) a.
b.

(CC)(C)C+seg3CC
(CO(V)CCVC

(50a) regulates the d i s t r i b u t i o n of consonants and vowels in p a t t e r ns (49a-c)

and their d e r i v a t i v e s ; (50b) regulates the d i s t r i b u t i o n of similar segments in
p a t t e r n s (49d-f) as well as their derived forms.

Any attempt to collapse the two

templates in (50) into one single template w i l l r e s u l t in a very complicated p r o sodic schemata including more than one element specified as f"+segj.

In order to

avoid such complication, I chose to p o s i t two separate templates for the t r i l i t e r a l forms.
The a s s o c i a t i o n of the root consonants with the C-slots in the templates
w i l l proceed i n a straightforward manner for a l l p a t t e r n s in Table 4 if the p r i n c i p l e s and provisions of the Autosegmental Theory as s t a t e d above are taken i n t o
consideration.

In other words, if we have three root consonants to be mapped on-

to three C-slots in the template, the problem of associatio n i s t r i v i a l and w i l l

250

proceed as shown in several representations above, namely, by one-to-one association from left-to-right.

In the cases where we have four C-slots to be linked to

three root consonants, left-to-right association and spreading of the association

of the third radical to the fourth C-slot would result in representations like
the following:
(51) a.

CCCC
\rb

b.
(subb)

ffl
Rml
(*kmll)
Rml (*kmll)

10

qyfl (*qimm)

10

We get the correct output in (51a) but the wrong results in (51b) and (51c).

How-

ever, the correct forms for verbs like those in (51b) and (51c) are not difficult
to derive. The correct output for the form in (51b) can be obtained if we allow
the erasure rule in (38) to sever the association of the third consonant with the
third C-slot, then reassociate the now empty slot with the autosegment linked to
the nearest consonant, in this case, the middle radical. This is illustrated in
(52) below:
(52)

or ur IT
\\V

\\V

11//

(kmml)

As for verbs like the one in (51c) in which the gemination of the first radical is to be obtained, it might be claimed that the procedure involves more than
one operation of erasure and association.

After (51c) is obtained, the erasure

rule severs the linking of the third consonant to the third C-slot.

The resulting

empty slot is then reassociated with the second radical by virtue of the principle
already operating in (52) and some earlier representations. At this point, a
special provision should be made in order to allow the erasure rule to reapply and
sever the association of the second radical with the second C-slot.

The now un-

associated C-slot is bound to be finally linked to the first radical, this being

251

the autosegment associated with the n e a r e s t C-slot.

This o p e r a t i o n is i l l u s t r a t e d

in ( 5 3 ) :

qym

qym

qym

qym

qym

(qqim)

I t i s not d i f f i c u l t to see t h a t the derivation in (53) i s a r t i f i c i a l and complex, to say the l e a s t .

An a l t e r n a t i v e analysis would be to d e v i s e for t h e t r i l i -

t e r a l p a t t e r n s which involve i n i t i a l gemination, namely, p a t t e r n s VI and IX, a

pre-assignment r u l e , s i m i l a r to t h a t devised for some forms in t h e b i l i t e r a l s (see
(43) above).

This r u l e would assign the i n i t i a l r a d i c a l of t h e root to t h e f i r s t

two C - s l o t s in the template p r i o r to any other a s s o c i a t i o n o p e r a t i o n s .

I t might

be formalized as follows:
(54)

CC(V)CC

(Pre-assignment I I I )

xyz

( p a t t e r n s VI and IX of the t r i l i t e r a l s only)

Given t h i s r u l e , the d e r i v a t i o n for qqim can be represented as follows:

(55)

CCCC

\i

vu

qym

qym

(rule 54)

(qqim)

(left-to-right association)

Similarly, for the patterns involving medial gemination, another pre-assignment rule can be devised which would associate the medial radical with the two
middle C-slots in the template.

Such a rule, which I will not attempt to formu-

late, should be restricted to patterns II and VII of the triliterals. Given this
rule, the derivation for kmml can proceed as follows:

252

(56)

CC9C

kml

kml

(pre-assignment)

(kmml)

(left-to-right association maps the first radical

onto the initial C-slot and the third radical onto the final C-slot)

For the derived forms, all that is needed is the provision already made
above, namely, representing the prefixes on a separate tier, associating them
with the first two C-slots in the template, and then associating the remaining
C-slots with the root consonants.
The Habitual stems are derived from the Zero-Forms in the same way as the
biliterals are, namely, through gemination of a radical, ts-prefixation, and/or
vowel affixation.

In addition, there are some cases where the first radical is

degeminated if is prefixed to it (e.g., ddari:tsdari 'take shelter').

In the

cases involving consonant suffixation (e.g., ssruh:ssruhuy 'lose'), I believe

that the affixational material is to be represented on a separate tier and linked
to the final C-slot in the devised template before the root consonants are mapped
onto the appropriate C-slots.

This is illustrated for ssruhuy as follows, where

the derived form prefix ss- is also represented on an independent tier:

(57)

CCt^QCyQ^^

/
fcaus Q

W
[root]

(ssruhuy)

[hab. suff.J

The prefix ts- is to be associated, as mentioned earlier, with the first two
C-slots in the template.

The evidence for considering ts as a sequence of two

sounds and not one single sound is widespread.

First, there is the evidence dis-

253

cussed in (25) above, where it was demonstrated that the Habitual stem is sometimes
obtained by the gemination of a radical.

When the radicals to be duplicated are

, , , and 2_, their geminate variants surface as t, d, , and j_, respectively.

Since a geminate cluster has in this discussion and in McCarthy's analysis been
considered a sequence of two consonants, it is fair to assume that ts, dz, , and j_
are also sequences of two consonantal segments.

An even stronger piece of evidence

in favor of considering s a sequence of two sounds is adduced from the third person masculine singular forms of the verbs. As shown in Chapter 3, the th:rd person
masculine singular prefix surfaces as y_ when the verbal form begins with two consonants or a geminate cluster (58a) and as i^ when the verbal form begins with one consonant followed by a vowel (58b).

Now, when the Habitual form begins with ts, the

prefix in question surfaces as v_ and not as i (58c).

This means that t behaves

like a sequence of two consonants or a geminate cluscer.

Notice that in all Che

examples in (58), the schwa following y_ is epenthetic (see Chapters 2 and 3 for the
environments of schwa-insertion and y_-vocalization).
(58) a.

b.

c.

yeBda

'he began'

yegra

'he read out'

yemme

'he died'

yeggall

'he swore'

iruh/*yruh

'he went'

ifad/*yfad

'it overflowed'

yetsargu/*itsargu

'he dreams' (habitual action)

yetsuzur/*itsuzur

'he gains weight'

Given that t is to be considered a sequence of two consonants and, hence,

linked to two C-slots, the derivation for tskmmil can be presented as in (59):

254

(59)
(tskmmil)

f^hab.3 (root}

thab.] [root]

fhab.*] [root)

(erasure rule)
Alternatively, instead of the erasure rule, we can invoke the pre-assignment rule
devised earlier to associate the medial radical of the root with the appropriate
C-slots in the template prior to the mapping of the remaining radicals. Recall
that the analysis involving the pre-assignment rule was considered simpler.
The quadri-radical forms are the least complicated but also extremely rare.
Given the data on hand, one basic pattern could be found:
(60)

CCCC

The prosodic template in (61) is able to regulate the distribution of the

consonants in the pattern above as well as in any possible derived form (causative, for instance):
(61)

(CC)CCCC

The problem of association is absolutely trivial and does not require any
further elaboration.

Straightforward left-to-right association will yield the

correct results, as illustrated below for grds*, where a four radical root is
mapped onto a four C-slot template:
(62)
qrdS

(qrds)

As for the ' d e r i v a t i v e s of manner' discussed in s e c t i o n 1.3. above, no spec i a l provisions have to be made to derive them.

The verbs involving reduplication

255

of a toot can be handled on the model devised for frfr in (47) above, i.e., by
allowing mapping between morpheme positions and reduplication of the entire root.
Thus, the derivation for qluql 'to shake' can be represented as follows:
(63)
(qluql)

{joptj

0*9 tQ

The cases such as jrirB 'to tumble down' involving reduplication of a middle
radical can be treated like some tri-radical verbs, e.g., kmml (see (56) above)
A pre-assignment rule associates the middle radical of the root with the second
and third C-slots in the template, triggering the gemination of this radical.
Later on, the first and last consonants of the root are mapped onto the initial
and final C-slots of the template on a left-to-right and one-to-one basis.
For the verbs containing affixes, the affixal material will be represented on
a separate tier and mapped onto the corresponding C-slot(s) in the prosodic template before the consonants of the root are.

Representations for funzr 'bleed by

the nose', sukk 'suspect', and hnussd 'ski', where f, 6, and hn are considered
affixes, are given in (64) below.

Notice that in the derivation for hnussd we have

to allow the pre-assignment rule devised earlier for forms like kkr (cf. (44)
above) to associate the first consonant of the root with two C-slots in the template prior to the association of the second radical with the last C-slot.

256

(64) a .

CVCCC

f[

b.

CV'

(funzr)

0 (SukkG)

Croot] C aff, 3

Caff.] [ r o o t ]

(hnus'Sd)

faff.]

u.
rootJ

&ffd

Cr00t3

There i s aC l e a s e one word i n Che d i a l e c t unde r d i s c u s s i o n of the s h a p e

VC.C2C VC, i . e . , where t h e f i r s t

consonant i s r e d u p l i c a t e d b u t the s e c o n d member

of t h e geminate occurs a f t e r t h e second r a d i c a l .

t o a ' p e r s o n having f r e c k l e s '

(cf.

Chaker (1973) brbS ' t o be f r e c k l e d ' ) ,

d e r i v e d from Arabic /brs*/ ( b a r a s , p h o n e t i c a l l y )

problem.

I t i s t h e word aBrBas* r e f e r r i n g

'freckles'.

This word p r e s e n t s a

I f we assume t h a t aBrBa's* i s o b t a i n e d by r e d u p l i c a t i n g the r o o t

the universal p r i n c i p l e s l e f t - t o - r i g h t
t h e c o r r e c t form in Kabyle ( c f .

probably

/brs*/,

a s s o c i a t i o n in p a r t i c u l a r w i l l not yield

(65a) b e l o w ) .

A g a i n , i f we t r y to map t h e

tri-

c o n s o n a n t a l r o o t onto t h e four C - s l o t t e m p l a t e , t h e r e i s no way of g e t t i n g the

c o r r e c t form without v i o l a t i n g an i m p o r t a nt p r i n c i p l e of a u t o s e g m e n t al
namely, t h a t a s s o c i a t i o n l i n e s may n o t c r o s s .
(65) a .

b.
(*aBr*saB)

Croot]

[root*]

CroJfJ
BrS

phonology,

This i s i l l u s t r a t e d in ( 6 5 b ) below:
*VCCpV(

257

I n a more recent p a p e r , McCarthy (1982) adopts a new approach in order to

account for forms like t h o s e in (66) from Levantine Arabic and other s in Temiar
morphology.
(66)

Root

Derived Form

frh

farfah

'rejoiced'

bhs

bahbaS

'sought*

mrt

marmat

'cut unevenly'

(intensive)

The derived forms i n (66) have an i n t e n s i v e / p e j o r a t i v e meaning and are formed

on t h e CVCCVC template.

McCarthy suggests t h a t they have root r e d u p l i c a t i o n by

v i r t u e of the morphemic template C <*

tract*)
ample z a l z a l .

<** ] > l i k e the C l a s s i c a l Arabic exC

3
root

But unlike z a l z a l , where the mapping of four root consonants onto

four C-slots i n the template proceeds in a s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d manner on a l e f t - t o r i g h t b a s i s , forms like farfah present a r e a l problem s i n c e d u p l i c a t i o n of the
root produces s i x root consonants t o be mapped onto four C - s l o t s .
from a schema l i k e C C.C.C.C.C. we get the surfac e schema C.C-C.C,.

Notice t h a t
McCarthy

p o s t u l a t e s a language p a r t i c u l a r a s s o c i a t i on r u l e for Levantine Arabic which a s s o c i a t e s Che i n i t i a l element of the second copy of the root with the t h i r d C-slot
of t h e prosodic template.

This r u l e i s reproduced from McCarthy (1982:213) in

(67):
(67)

I n t e n s i v e / P e j o r a t i v e Association

Ccvccvc]

coo iktf
Then he invokes a convention r e l a t i v e to what he c a l l s ' c o n s i d e r a t i o n s of morphol o g i c a l o p a c i t y ' , r e q u i r i n g that a l l root elements be mapped onto template p o s i -

258

tions.

The remaining consonants of the root t i e r which do not g e t linked do not

surface, as universal p r i n c i p l e s s t i p u l a t e .

This operation is i l l u s t r a t e d as fol-

lows:

44

(root) Cr9*3

(farfah)

Croot7

( I n t . / P e j . assoc.)

(left-to-right

association

and morphological opacity)

The provisions made for the derivation of Levantine Arabic forms like farfah
may be u t i l i z e d to derive Kabyle forms like aBrBas, which, judging from the example a t hand, seem a l s o to have an intensive meaning.

A reduplicated root w i l l

be mapped onto a template l i k e VCCCVC, with a s p e c i a l r u l e linking the f i r s t e l e ment of the second copy of the root to the t h i r d C-slot in the t e m p l a t e.

Then,

with the help of the convention that a l l root elements be mapped onto template
p o s i t i o n s we get the correct form.
(69)

VCCCVC

This is i l l u s t r a t e d below:

-*

Br*s Brs*

"(root] rooC]

[root)

4
Jrs*

( I n t . assoc.)

CroD0 t o o t ]

(aBrBas)

[root")
Br!
( l e f t - t o - r i g h t association/morph. opacity)

259

Notice, finally, that the vowel u in funzr 'bleed by the nose' and hnussd
'ski' in (64) above has been considered underlyingly a vowel and not a glide even
though it does not alternate between the various verbal allomorphs (funzr:funzr:
tsfunzur, hnu*3s*d:hnus3d:tshnuSsud)
is underlyingly a vowel and not w.

There are, however, other indications that u

Evidence in favor of such an assumption can

be adduced from the nominal forms anzaren 'nose' and GahnasSitt 'skiing', which
clearly show that u_ does alternate with .
In sum, the basic formal apparatus needed for Kabyle grammar is not much different from that needed for Arabic and, except for the prosodic templates, this
apparatus looks even simpler than that of Arabic.

The complexity of the templates

specific to Kabyle results, I believe, from two facts. First, Kabyle allows vowelinitial and vowel-final verbs while Arabic does not. Second, Kabyle possesses
monoliteral roots and a fairly large number of biliterals whereas monoliteral
verbal roots are not found in Arabic and biliterals are very rare.
The apparatus specific to Kabyle includes the following:
a.

The prosodic templates (28), (34), (50a), (50b), and (61).

b.

The affixes ts, G_, s_, mm, tsw, y_.

c.

L e f t - t o - r i g h t consonant a s s o c i a t i o n .

d.

A set of pre-assignment r u l e s s p e c i f i c t o forms involving

initial

or medial gemination.
e.

The s p e c i a l rule devised for forms like aBrBas' and the requirement
that a l l r o o t elements be mapped onto template p o s i t i o n s .

The formal s i m i l a r i t i e s between the d i f f e r e n t

canonical p a t t e r n s in each group

(mono-, b i - , t r i - , and q u a d r i - r a d i c a l s ) can be captured in more than one way.

F i r s t , the d e r i v a t i o n of the Perfect stem in a l l forms involves one of the follow-

260

ing processes:
tion.

0<v V a l t e r n a t i o n , V** V a l t e r n a t i o n , or the lack of any a l t e r n a -

Second, the d e r i v a t i o n of t h e Habitual stem is achieved by making use of

one or more of the following mechanisms:

t s / 0 p r e f i x a t i o n , y_-suffixation, vowel

a f f i x a t i o n , radical gemination, or degemination.

Third, derived forms (causative

and r e c i p r o c a l mainly) are b u i l t on the same p a t t e r n , with the a d d i t i o n of s s - and

mm- p r e f i x a t i o n .

F i n a l l y , as will be shown a l i t t l e b i t l a t e r , s i g n i f i c a n t simi -

l a r i t i e s between these groups can be captured i f the vowel ablaut c l a s s e s , common

to most p a t t e r n s , are taken into c o n s i d e r a t i o n .

The fact that such s i m i l a r i t i e s

can be captured by the analysis developed so far argues in favor of the l a t t e r .

An important consequence of t h e autosegmental approach followed here can a l ready be observed from the data in t a b l e s ( 2 - 5 ) , where i t is c l e a r t h a t the only
commonly shared way t o r e l a t e any verbal form to i t s source is through the consonants.

The root consonants c o n s t i t u t e the only s t a b l e elements among the various

aspectual and d e r i v a t i o n a l allomorphs of the v e r b .

This implies that there should

be a mechanism which would be able t o i s o l a t e the root radical s from the vowels,
the a f f i x a t i o n a l m a t e r i a l , and the canonical d i s t r i b u t i o n of consonants and vowels
represented by the prosodic templates.

Under the autosegmental approach t h i s p r o b -

lem has an easy and e f f e c t i v e s o l u t i o n .

I t allows the root consonants to be i s o -

lated from the remainder of the elements involved by representing them on a s e p a r a te

autosegmental t i e r .

Any l i n e a r a n a l y s i s of the Kabyle verbal system would be un-

able to achieve t h i s goal .

1.4.2.

Vocalism

As mentioned e a r l i e r , aspect i n Kabyle is marked on the various paCCerns not

by Che common disarrangement of consonants but r a t h e r primarily by a set of vowel
a l t e r n a t i o n s some of which are p r e d i c t a b le and o t h e r s are not.

Interestingly

enough, Kabyle ablaut classes observed in the p a t t e r n s discussed above, which

261

b a s i c a l l y account for non-derived verbs, seem to behave l i k e the vowel a l t e r n a tions occurring in the b a s i c t r i l i t e r a l binyan of Arabic, namely, the f i r s t binyan.
Recall that i n Arabic the vowel of the second s y l l a b l e in thi s binyan i s subject
to a l t e r n a t i o n s in a complex set of ablaut classes the most common of which are
reproduced i n (70) for ease of r e f e r e n c e :
Perfect:lve

(70)

Impe rfective

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

i/u

f.

i/a

In Kabyle, the ablaut classes seem to be more complex at f i r s t glance and are
not r e s t r i c t e d to the vowel of the second s y l l a b l e since the vowel of the f i r s t
s y l l a b l e (in case the verb is d i s y l l a b i c ) can also be affected.

If the verb i s

monosyllabic, the single vowel i s also subject to the a l t e r n a t i o n .

If we continue

t o abstract away from schwas, che alCernations in vowel q u a l i t y between the ZeroForm and the Perfect stem can be grouped into the following ablaut c l a s s e s :
(71)

Zero-Form

Perfect

Examples

a.

jn:jn

'sleep'

b.

gr:gra

'read out'

c.

ddu:dda

'walk'

d.

lalrlul

'be born'

e.

zih:z*ah

'abandon'

f.

9awn:9awn

'help'

262

(71)

continued
Zero-Form

Perfect

Examples

g-

funzr: funzr

bleed by the nose'

h.

a u

u a

argu:urga

dream'

i.

a i

u a

gaji:guja

flee'

j-

a i

a a

wali:wala

see'

k.

i i

0a

ili:lla

exist'

1.

i i

u a

inij:unaj

immigrate'

m.

i i

00

issin:ssn

know'

Even though the a l t e r n a t i o n s in (71) seem t o be quite complex at f i r s t g l a n c e ,

they a r e not so in f a c t and some g e n e r a l i z a t i o ns can be captured once an explanation for some of the i r r e g u l a r a l t e r n a t i o n s has been advanced.

But before account-

ing for the i r r e g u l a r i t i e s , we s h a l l eliminate the cases which do not involve a

real a b l a u t .

F i r s t , (71a) does not present any problem since i t c o n s t i t u t e s in fact

a lack of any a l t e r n a t i o n .
vowels.

I t i s a t t e s t e d in most verbs which do not contain r e a l

(71b) can be considered a case of /owel i n s e r t i o n .

When association o c -

curs, the vowel in question w i l l be represented on a separate t i e r and then mapped

onto the appropriate V-slot in the template.
the d e r i v a t i o n w i l l proceed as in (72):
(72)

[perf]

{root]

For a form like g r a , for i n s t a n c e ,

263

This kind of alternation occurs in the case of a limited class of verbs, namely,
those mono- and bi-radical verbs which are not subject to 0'*" 0 alternation in
(71a).
The most common types of ablaut are those in (71c), (7 Id), and (7 1e).
and (71g) are extremely rare.

(7 If)

It would be best, then, to seek an explanation for

the failure of and a to alternate with and u, respectively, in violation of

the more general rules in (71c) and (7 Id).

Phonotactic reasons might be behind

the failure of to change into in the Perfect.

It can be observed that the ex-

pected alternation is blocked in those verbs in which is adjacent to such low

sounds as 9_ and h_ and the velar glide w (e.g., 9awn 'help', sah 'be stingy').

In

several languages, low back consonants and, in some cases, the glide w favor the
occurrence of a low vowel next to them.

In Arabic, for instance, a alternates

with between Perfective and Imperfective, but fails to do so when the root contains a low or pharyngeal radical or, in a few cases, w.

Illustrations are given

in (73):
(73)

Perfective

Imperfective

Gloss

daras

drus

study'

katab

ktub

write'

fa9al

f9al/*f9ul

do*

fatah

ftah/*ftuh

open'

nawam

nwam/*nwum

sleep'

Another piece of evidence in support of the claim made above comes from Kera,
a Chadic language, in which a rule changing into a schwa (here transcribed as e)
in the environment (

Ca) is in operation (74a).

However, this rule fails

to apply when a low consonant (h or _?_) precedes the low vowel which ordinarily undergoes the change (74b).

The data in (74a) and (74b) are reported in Kenstowicz

264

and Kisseberth (1979:384).

(74) a.

ba ' n o t ' ; pa ' a g a i n ' ; be-pa "no more'

koron ' l e f t '

; da ' t o h e r e ' ; fadi

"quickly'

koron-de-fadi 'came here quickly'

b.

hama-n/*hema-n ' e a t me'

?asa-n/*?esan-n

'know me'

It can be seen, thus, that there is evidence from other languages to explain the
failure of to alternate with in some environments, in violation of the more
common rule.
As for the reason why does not alternate with as would be expected, it
has already been accounted for above, where it was said that a A / alternation
is observed between verbal and nominal forms (cf. funzr 'bleed by the nose' vs.
anzaren 'nose' and hnus's'd 'ski' vs. Gahnass*itt 'skiing').
The alternations in (71h) and (71i) as well as those taking place in the
second vowels in (71j), (71k), and (711) follow directly from those in (c), (d),
and (e). The failure of in (j) to alternate with u has already been accounted
for.

The only remaining difficulty is with the vowel i^ in (k), (1), and (m),

where it alternates with 0, , and j&, respectively, instead of the expected a.

These alternations are, however, extremely rare and occur in only a handful of
cases.

In fact, the only cases known to me which exhibit such an irregular al-

ternation are the following:

ili:lla 'exist', ini:nna 'say', inij:unaj 'immigrate',

and issin:ssn 'know'.

Even though it seems that there is no unambiguous ablaut function from the
Zero-Form to the Perfect or vice-versa, it is nevertheless possible to write a
single rule if we exclude the exceptional cases in (f), (g), (k), (1), and (m), as

265

well as the 0<v 0 and 0<v a alternations.

This rule would invoke a polarity shift

between aspects and would look like the following:

(75)

Ablaut

Chug ---, [-JJIfl

(back]
Qzero-formJ

{^perfect}

Interestingly enough, this rule is identical to that devised by McCarthy to

account for the second vowel alternation from imperfective to perfective in Arabic
first binyan.

In Kabyle, this rule has an extremely important consequence for some

facts of plural formation.

In fact, a very productive method of plural formation

in Kabyle involves a vowel alternation between the singular and the plural forms.
As is shown by the data in (76), a vowel ablaut which is excatly opposite to that
taking place between the Zero-Form and the Perfect is observed between the singular
and the plural:
(76)

Singular

Plural

Gloss

aserdun

iserdan

'mule'

aqzun

iqSan

'dog'

azru

izra

'rock'

ajazlu

ijuzla

'yoke'

ajazu

ijuza

'bunch of grapes'

afus

ifassen

'hand'

Apart from some irregular alternations occurring in a few words, the common
plural alternations are identical to those observed in (76); that is, alternates
with i_ (initial vowel) and u (elsewhere) and with .

Now, if we look at these

266

alternations from the opposite direction, i.e., from plural to singular, we notice
that they are identical to those in (71c), (71d), and (7le) between the Zero-Form
and Perfect.

Hence, a polarity shift rule like the one in (77) will be able to

account for the alternations between the plural and the singular in Kabyle:
(77)

Plural-Singular Ablaut

44.

41

[plural]

{^singular)

Notice that the alternations between the Zero-Form and the Perfect Negative
are similar to those already occurring between the Zero-Form and the Perfect Affirmative except in those cases where the vowel i_ is infixed before the last radical.
In such cases, i_ will be marked as a Perfect Negative morpheme, represented on a
separate tier, and associated with the appropriate V-slot in the prosodic template.
As for the alternations between the Zero-Form and the Habitual stem, they are
much more limited in number and complexity than those between the Zero-Form and the
Perfect.

This is probably due to the fact that the Habitual stem is marked for

aspect by mechanisms other than vowel ablaut.

These include, as mentioned earlier,

consonantal affixation, gemination, or degemination of a root radical.

The vocalic

alternations fall into one of the following set of ablaut classes:

(78)
a.

b.

Zero-Form

Habitual

Examples

a a

jj:tsajja

'leave behind'

ssjn:ssjanay

'cause to sleep'

jn:ggan 'sleep' ; gr:qqar 'read out'

ss^fi:ssi!5ay

'feed'

267

(78)

continued

c.

d.

Zero-Form

Habitual

u u

Examples
nz:tsnuzu

'be on sale'

ns:tsnusu

'spend the night'

kmml:tskmmil

'complete'

frfr:tsfrfir

'beat wings'

e.

a a

ggall:tsjalla

'swear'

f.

u u

funzr:tsfunzur

'bleed by the nose'

g.

i i

jrirB:tsjririB

'roll over'

The alternation in (78c) is extremely unproductive and the only known cases
undergoing this kind of ablaut are some bi-radical roots consisting of [+sonorant]
and sjz_ sounds, in that order,

(a) and (b) are also relatively rare and occur in

some mono- and bi-radicals which do not contain any real vowels.

If then we ex-

clude the ablaut classes in (a) through (c), we are left with the quite productive
alternations in (d) through (g). The rules needed in order to specify which of
these alternations occurs in which environment will be rather easy to determine.
Specifically, the 0*v i alternation (d) occurs when the template consists of four
C-slots without any V-slots.

It is interesting to note that the position occupied

by the vowel i_ is always the one preceding the last radical.

In this case, we can

formulate a rule which changes the template of the Zero-Form from CCCC to CCCVC.
As far as the problem of association is concerned, the newly generated V-slot will
be mapped onto the vowel i^which will be specified as an Habitual morpheme. A
sample derivation for tsqrdis 'card', where t also represents a Habitual prefix,
is given below:

268

(79)

[habitual]

C,hab.]

Qroot]

The lasC three types of ablaut, namely, ( e ) , ( f ) , and ( g ) , c o n s t i t u t e one of

the s t r o n g e s t pieces of evidence in support of an autosegmental analysis of the
Kabyle v e r b a l system.

If i n fact a vowel i s represented on a separat e t i e r ,

it

w i l l be p o s s i b l e , by the p r i n c i p l e of one-to-many a s s o c i a t i o n , t o a s s o c i a t e i t with

any number of available V - s l o t s in the template.

Thus, in the templates r e g u l a t-

ing the d i s t r i b u t i o n of consonants and vowels in the Zero-Form, we have one V-slot
and one vowel on the vocalic t i e r ; by the Well-Formedness Condition, t h i s vowel
w i l l be automatically associated with the s i n g l e V-slot as shown in (80) for the
verb g g a l l

'swear':

(80)

.
CCvCC
1

,
+

ff

CCVCC
gl

.
(by allowing the pre-assignment rule
devised above to apply f i r s t )
(ggall)

However, the template under consideration for the Habitual forms w i l l have two Vslots.

In a l i n e a r a n a l y s i s , we would need t o posit a rule which would have the

effect of copying the already existing vowel ( i n the Zero-Form) and assigning i t
a new v o c a l i c position in t h e Habitual stem.
other hand, does not require such a r u l e .

The autosegmental approach, on the

By the principle s a l r e a d y at hand,

namely, t h e p r i n c i p l es of one-to-many a s s o c i a t i o n and spreading, the vowel, r e p r e -

269

sented on a separate tier, will be associated with any number of V-slots in the
template.

Hence, it can be concluded that the autosegmental approach accounts in

a much simpler manner for the facts of Kabyle. A sample derivation for a form
like tsfunzur is given in (81a) and another derivation for the Zero-Form funzr is
given in (81b):
(81) a.

b.

I
71

nzr

Qhab.) faff.*] {root]

aff

root

Finally, the alternations in (78e-g) occur in those verbs which contain a

vowel in the Zero-Form.

In the Habitual stem, a new V-slot must be created and

later mapped onto the already existing vowel, represented on a separate tier, as
illustrated in (81a).
1.5.

Nominal Derivatives of Verbs

Kabyle nouns derived from verbal root/stems convey a variety of meanings.

Some refer to the person who performs the action (agent), others to the action
itself ('nomina actionis'), and still others have resultative, instrumental, locational, or qualitative meanings.

The purpose of this section is not to inves-

tigate the entire, seemingly complex gamut of patterns on which these deverbal
nouns are built, a task well beyond the scope of this study.

Instead, I will sim-

ply try to focus on the most productive patterns as well as derivational processes
involved and show how they constitute a strong argument in favor of an autosegmental treatment of Kabyle verbal morphology.

It will be demonstrated, for instance,

that the derivation of nouns from verbs specifically ignores the vocalism and is

270

solely based on the root/stem consonants; the resulting forms then become subject
to various affixational processes specific to deverbal nouns.

In fact, Serra

(1979) already observes in his analysis of the action nouns in the Zwera dialect
of Berber (Tripolitania) that the derivation of nouns from verbs involves vocalic
mutations, the alternations affecting the consonants being rare and usually confined to degemination/gemination and assimilation/dissimilation processes. Moreover, we shall see that interesting processes involving the mapping of root/stem
consonants onto the slots of the templates* oan be explained by the principles of
spreading and one-to-many association discussed earlier.
From the strictly morphological point of view, verbal derivatives are not
much different from other nouns.

In fact, as we shall see below, deverbal nouns

(except those borrowed from Arabic with the definite article -1_), like other
nouns, commonly begin with a vowel or the feminine prefix 6 followed by a vowel.
Moreover, some of them are masculine while others are feminine. As for distinction in number, it appears that deverbal nouns (except those referring to the
agent) fail to have a plural. They also behave like other nouns with respect to
the free and construct states. They do indeed lose their initial vowels and prefix a glide when they occur in a position which requires the construct state (oblique case).
(82) a.

Illustrations are given below:

amecsaw

iruh

shepherd left

b.

iruh

umecsaw

left

shepherd

'the shepherd left'

'the shepherd left'

ahnusSed

yelha

skiing

is good

yelha

'skiing is good'

wehnus's'ed

is good skiing

'skiing is good'

271

The examples above contrast a sentence in which the subject i s i n i t i a l co another

in which the verb i s in i n i t i a l p o s i t i o n .

Recall t h a t Berber i s b a s i c a l l y a v e r b -

i n i t i a l language; the sentences with subjects in i n i t i a l p o s i t i on r e f l e c t cases of

topicalization.
Section 1.5.1. deals with agentive nominals and with formally as well as s e mantically r e l a t e d items, whereas section 1.5.2. handles i n t e r e s t i n g aspects of
other categorie s of deverbal nouns.

In what follows, a l l deverbal nouns w i l l be

t r a n s c r i b e d in t h e i r phonetic forms, i . e . , with the. schwas in the appropriate positions.

The purpose is simply to acquaint the reader with the a c t u a l phonetic

r e a l i z a t i o n s of these forms.
1.5.1.

Agentives

The bulk of these nouns refer to the person who performs the verbal action
either habitually or as a professional.

The most productive pattern seems to be

the one on which the following examples are built:

(83)

Agentive

Gloss

Zero-Form and B[abitual Stem

axeddam

'worker'

xdm, xddm

'work'

aSettah

'dancer'

sdh, Stth

'dance'

a a

a a

'stitch'

axerraz

'cobler'

xrz, xrrz

aseggad

'hunter'

sggd, tsggid
a

'hunt'

agennay

'singer'

gnni, tsgnni

'sing'

aheSsaS

'person who

huSs, tshuSSu

'cut grass'

cuts grass'

d.

aBennay

'builder'

Bnu, Bnnu

'build*

ahekkay

'scraping pad'

hukk, tshukku

'scrape'

272

(83)

continued

Agentive

Gloss

Zero-Form and Habitual Stem

'shepherd'

cs, (jss

'shepherd'

ameShah

'stingy'

*suhh, tsuhhu

'be stingy'

amerwal

'person who

rwi, rggwl

'flee*

'dweller'

zdg, zddg

'dwell'

'red'

izwig, tsizwig

'be red'

amellal

'white'

imlil, tsimlil

'be white'

amezyan

'small*

mzzi, tsmzzi

'be small'

awezIan

'short'

wzzil, tswzzil

'be short'

ag ezfan

'long'

w .
w
g zzif, tsg ZZlf

'be long'

amessas

'tasteless'

mssus, tsmssus

'be tasteless'

asemmad

'cold'

smmd, tsmmid

'be cold'

afessas

'light'

fssus, tsfssus

'be light'

e. amecsaw

flees'
amezdag
f. azegg ag

First, notice that in the data above the derivation ignores the vocalism (if
any) of the verbs (e.g., compare ahes's'as' with huss* and amellal with imlil).

This

fact provides one more argument in favor of the autosegmental treatment of Kabyle
verbal morphology followed here.

If we allow the consonants and the vowels to be

represented on separate autosegmental tiers, we can formulate a rule like the one
in (84) below which stipulates that an agentive noun is formed on the consonantal
material of the verb:
(84)

consonantal tier
Cverb]

> consonantal tier

(agentive]

273

Obviously, for each category of nouns in (83) above, it must be specified whether
the agentive nominals are formed on the root (Zero-Form) or Perfect/Habitual stem.
For the forms in (83a), for example, it is clear that they are derived from the
Habitual stem, most probably because they refer to professionals who perform the
action repeatedly.
The second observation to be made about the forms above is related to the
pattern on which they are built.

If we continue to disregard the schwas (whose

occurrences are predictable by rule), we can say that the agentives are formed on
the VCCCVC template.

However, if we accept the fairly plausible hypothesis that

the initial vowel in Berber nouns is a prefix of some sort (definiteness, state,
or case marker), it is possible to claim that these nouns are built on the CCCVC
template.
(83b).

Notice that the rule in (84) gives us CCCC for the forms in (83a) and

In order to derive the correct agencive forms we need a rule ordered af-

ter (84) which inserts a vowel slot before the last C-slot.

Such a rule will

look like the following:

(85)

CCCC

> CCCVC

(Agentive Formation)

("agentive]
Given the template above, interesting association processes occur when the
verbal root/stem does not contain four consonants to be mapped onto the four Cslots of the template.

For a word like ahes's'a's', for instance, the verbal root

consists of two consonants only; when these two consonants are to be mapped onto
the four C-slot template, left-to-right and one-to-many association (and other
conventions discussed earlier) require that the second radical be associated with
the last three C-slots, giving us the correct form, as illustrated below:

274

(86)
h

(aheSs*as*)

N o t i c e t h a t t h e d e r i v a t i o n of t h e c o r r e c t form f o l l o w s from t h e p r i n c i p l e s of a u t o s e g m e n t a l phonology a l r e a d y i n t h e grammar.

Within t h e autosegmental a p p r o a c h , no

s p e c i a l s t i p u l a t i o n i s needed i n o r d e r t o d e r i v e t h r e e c o p i e s of the s e c o n d r a d i c a l
(or a ' t r i p l i c a t e ' ) .

In a l i n e a r a p p r o a c h , however, we would need a s p e c i a l rule

i n o r d e r t o g e n e r a t e the ' t r i p l i c a t i o n '

of j[ in t h e a g e n t i v e form as o p p o s e d to

i t s d u p l i c a t i o n i n the v e r b a l form ( c f .

huss").

I n the forms i n ( 8 3 d ) , t h e second r a d i c a l i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the s e c o n d and

t h i r d C - s l o t s b u t , for some r e a s o n , i t i s not mapped onto t h e l a s t C - s l o t .
s t e a d , we n o t i c e t h a t t h e g l i d e y i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h i s s l o t .
t h i s g l i d e i s not c l e a r ; I assume, however, t h a t i t
t e r i n g i n t o t h e d e r i v a t i o n of t h e a g e n t i v e forms.
independent t i e r .

The o r i g i n of

i s a s u f f i x of some s o r t enI n t h i s c a s e , i t o c c u p i e s an

I assume t h a t i t i s mapped o n t o t h e f o u r t h C-slot of t h e tem-

p l a t e by a r u l e l i k e the one i n (87) p r i o r to t h e a s s o c i a t i o n of the r o o t

w i t h t h e c o n s o n a n t s of the same t e m p l a t e .

t h e c o r r e c t o u t p u t as i l l u s t r a t e d i n ( 8 8 ) below:
CCCVC

(agentive

(88)

CCCVQ

suffix]

->-

CC V(

9 <

Bn
[agent.]

(root)

y
(agent.

radicals

L e f t - t o - r i h t a s s o c i a t i o n of t h e two

r a d i c a l s of t h e r o o t w i t h t h e remaining t h r e e C - s l o t s of t h e template w i l l

(87)

In-

(aBennay)
suff.J.

yield

275

Notice that there is a clear difference between the affixational v_ in the forms in
(83d) and the y_ of agennay (83b).
from the root itself.

The latter glide is not a suffix but originates

It is assumed that the i_ in gnni comes from an underlying y_

since it does not alternate between the different verbal allomorphs. This v_ apparently fails to undergo vocalization in the agentive form because it is preceded
by a vowel (see vocalization rule in Chapters 3 and 4 ) .
The forms in (83e) exhibit a different characteristic.
m to the root/stem consonants.

They seemingly prefix

Here again, I assume a special rule associating

this m with the first C-slot of the template:

(89)

CCCVC
ti

[agentive prefix)
Afterwards, the consonants of the root/stem are mapped onto the remaining C-slots
in the template.

In the case of a tri-consonantal root, one-to-one mapping yields

the correct output (e.g., amerwal).

If the root is bi-radical, the principle of

spreading allows the second consonant to be associated with the last two C-slots
in the template, again giving the correct result (e.g., ameShah).

ametjsaw, how-

ever, has a special status since the second radical does not get associated with
the fourth C-slot as expected.

Instead, we notice that a w is linked to it.

assume that this glide is also a suffix of some sort whose diachronic origin is
not clear.

Thus, amecsaw has both a prefix (m) and a suffix (w) which have to be

mapped onto the appropriate C-slots prior to the association of the root consonants with the slots of the template.
lows:

This operation can be represented as fol-

276

(90)

CCCVC
it

-v

CCCVi

^**w

m cs

[agent, pref.) [agent, suff.]

(amecsaw)

[root]

It is worth mentioning chat there is an alternative form for amecjsaw, having the
same meaning; it is araecsa, with no final w.

This would suggest that the glide

has been suffixed to the original form in order to fit the CCCVC template, on
which many agentive nominals are built.
It appears that the pattern CCCVC (or VCCCVC) is so productive that it is not
limited to agentive nouns. As can be seen from the data in (83f), many quality
adjectives (color, weight, length, etc.) are formed on this pattern even though
they do not carry an agentive meaning.

There are some rather interesting associa-

tion processes connected with some of the forms in (83f) above.

In the case of

adjectives derived from tri-radical verbs and not involving affixes (e.g.,
w

azegg ag and asemmad), gemination of the second radical is obtained by allowing

the pre-assignment rule discussed earlier to associate che second root consonant
with the second and third C-slots in the template prior to any other association

w
operation. Notice that the geminate reflex of w is gg , a process already seen
in examples like rwi:rgg 1 'to flee'. As for adjectives derived from bi-radicals
and not involving any affixes (e.g., amessas and afessas), left-to-right and oneto-many association produces three copies of the second radical yielding the correct forms (cf. ahes*Sa above).
w
.

The case of forms like amezyan, awezIan and

.
.
.
.
.

ag ezfan is e s p e c i a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g for two reasons.

First , t h e i r derivation in-

volves s u f f i x a t i o n a l m a t e r i a l , namely , which should be mapped onto the fourth

C-slot prior to t h e a s s o c i a t i o n of the r o o t consonants with the a p p r o p r i a t e
in the template.

slots

Second, as far as gemination of the second r a d i c a l i s concerned,

t h e r e i s a c l e a r c o n t r a s t between the a d j e c t i v a l forms and the v e r b a l forms (mzzi,

277

wzzil and g zzif).

available.

In the verbs, it seems that there is a four C-slot template

But since there are only three consonants in the root, one of these

consonantsin this case the second oneis allowed to be mapped onto two C-slots,
automatically triggering its gemination.

There are also four C-slots in the tem-

plate on which the adjectival forms are built.

But since the fourth C-slot has

already been linked to the affix , we expect that the three consonants of the
root will be associated with the remaining slots in the template on a one-to-one
basis.

This is exactly what happens since the gemination of the middle consonant,

which takes place in the verbal forms, is blocked in the adjectival forms.

In a

linear approach, we would regard the verbal form as basic and, hence, in the derivation of the adjectival form we would need a special rule degeminating the middle
consonant.

Within the approach followed here, however, no need for such a rule

arises since the principles of association and the template available predict that
no gemination would occur.
1.5.2.

Other Deverbal Nouns

In this section, verbal derivatives other than agentives and quality adjectives are considered.

I will not try to investigate the various patterns on which

these nouns are built because the choice of a specific pattern is largely dependent upon the number and quantity of the consonants in the verbal root/stem, and
also upon other considerations (.e.g., affixational processes).

Instead, I will

briefly sketch out the main affixational processes involved.in the derivation of
these nouns without attempting an explanation for the reason this (these) group(s)
of noun select(s) this rather than that affixational material.

The choice of the

various affixes by various nouns seems to be arbitrary in most cases (see Serra
(1979) for a similar view on affixational processes in the Zwera dialect of Berber).

At the same time, any particular problems related to the autosegmental

278

approach followed here w i l l be treated as seems a p p r o p r i a t e .

A non-negligible number of nouns, with various semantic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , seem
to have been d i r e c t l y borrowed from Arabic, i . e . , they do not conform to the common Kabyle scheme of noun formation, characterized by vowel-prefixation.

Instead,

we f i n d that the Arabic d e f i n i t e a r t i c l e -1_- appears w o r d - i n i t i a l l y (91a).

Where

1 i s followed by a tf-coronal] consonant, i t completely a s s i m i l a t e s to i t , a w e l l known phenomenon of Arabic phonology (91b):

(91) a.

leqraya

'reading
'reading''

(cf.

gr:qqar)

lefGil

rolling'

(cf. feirfttl)

lehsaB

a count'

(cf. hsB:htsB)

elmuG

death'

(cf. emme9)

lexyada

sewing'

(cf. xid:tsxidi)
a

b.

elkerh

hatred'

(cf. grhicrrh)

elfadur

lunch'

(cf. fdr:fttr)

errwah

' lleaving'
eaving'

(cf.

ruh:tsruhu )

erriha

smell'

(cf.

rih:tsrihi)

essBiga

' paint'

(cf.

sBg:sbbg)

(cf.

s*iB:ts"iBi)

eSSiB

grey h a i r '

A few remarks are in o r d e r concerning these forms.

F i r s t , even though both

Che nouns and t h e verbs a r e borrowed from Arabic, each category seems to have
been borrowed s e p a r a t e l y .

By this I mean that Kabyle did not borrow the verb

only from Arabic, then a noun was formed from i t u s i n g Kabyle's processes of
nominal derivation (as did i n fact happen for many forms to be discussed below);
r a t h e r , i t seems t h a t both Arabic v e r b a l and nominal forms were borrowed i n t o
Kabyle.

Second, whereas some nouns seem to have undergone complete n a t i v i z a t i o n

279

as far as c e r t a i n sound changes, e s p e c i a l l y fricativizaCion, a r e concerned,

o t h e r s , such as e l k e r h (compare with the corresponding verb c r h ) , do n o t .

This

makes us inclined t o believe that such forms represent recent borrowings.

Third,

in some nouns the schwa precedes 1_ whereas i t follows in the o t h e r forms.

This

i s due to the general Kabyle scheme of schwa i n s e r t i o n , which i s dependent upon

the number of consonants immediately following the 1_ (see Chapter 2 for more det a i l s on the r u l e of schwa i n s e r t i o n based on s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s ) .
A 3econd f a i r l y large group of nouns are derived from the Zero-Form (or the
Perfect stem, in case they are i d e n t i c a l ; but are characterized by the i n i t i a l
vowel .

The formation of these nouns, which u s u a l l y refer t o the a c t i o n i t s e l f

Cnomina a c t i o n i s ' ) , can be accounted for with the following r u l e :

(92)

Zero-Form/Perfect Stem

action noun

The above rule should be followed by vowel-prefixation , an idiosyncrasy of Berber.

Representative examples of t h i s class of nouns are given below:
Noun

Gloss

Verb

ahenhen

'neighing'

hnhn

ajrireB

'tumbling down'

jrirB

afesser

explaining'

fssr

asaBi

comparing'

"SaBi

awali

seeing'

wali

ahnuSSed

skiing'

hnusSd

assuden

kissing'

ssudn

as s iwe1

calling out'

ssiwl

A t h i rd group of deverbal nouns is c h a r a c t e r i z e d by vowel-affixation

either

before the l a s t r a d i c a l or word-finally, beside the more common process of vowel

280

prefixation:
(94)

Noun

Gloss

Verb

acmaz

'scratching'

cmz

as fad

'wiping'

sfd

azdam

'cutting wood'

zdm

ucci

'eating'

c8

igimi

'sitting'

qqinwtsgimi

imgi

'budding'

mgi

iBeddi

'standing up'

Bddl

Many t r i - c o n s o n a n t a l v o w e l l e s s v e r b s of t h e shape CCC form t h e i r a c t i o n noun on

t h e model of the f i r s t

t h r e e forms in (94)

above.

Some d e v e r b a l nouns a r e c h a r a c t e r i z e d by y_-suff i x a t i o n i n a d d i t i o n t o

vowel-affixation
(95)

process:

afruy

'resolving'

fru

acnay

'kneeling'

<jnu

Observe t h a t the s u f f i x y_ of t h e forms i n ( 9 5 ) above i s d i f f e r e n t

t h e f i n a l y_ of the forms i n ( 9 6 ) below.

in o r i g i n

I n (96), the g l i d e i s considered

of t h e r o o t c o n s o n a n t i sm which h a s undergone v o c a l i z a t i o n i n t h e v e r b a l
It

f a i l e d t o v o c a l i z e i n the n o m i n a l forms because i t

Noun

Gloss

Verb

alluy

'slope'

ali

w
agg ay

'carrying'

awi

azway

'shaking out'

zwi

afsay

'melting'

fsi

from

part

forms.

i s precede d by a vowel

C h a p t e r s 3 and 4 for t h e c o r r e c t environments t r i g g e r i n g v o c a l i z a t i o n ) .

(96)

the

(see

281

A major class of deverbal nouns, usually having a resultative meaning, is

characterized by G_-prefixation which may or may not be accompanied by G_-suffixation.

It is to be stressed again that these nouns refer to the result of the

action while those in (93) and (94) above indicate the action itself.
(97)

Noun
GazzalliG

(Gloss
Sloss

Verb

'prayer'

zzall:dzalla
a a

a a

6usuG

cough'

usu

GamezluG

massacre'

zlu ('to slaughter')

Gaddar

shelter/village'

ddari ('to take shelter')

Gamusni

knowledge'

issin

Gili

shadow'

ili ('to exist')

amejra

harvest'

mjr

Gigersi

tear'

qrs ('to tear')

'break'

rz ('to break')

Girzi

A fairly large number of nouns are formed from verbs belonging to the patterns C C C and CC by 9-prefixation and various vowel-affixation processes
(usually and for the first pattern).

Representative examples of this class

of nouns are given below:

(98)

Noun

Gloss

Ver

Gukksa

taking away'

kks

Gullfa

repudiating'

llf

0ubbya

pinching'

bbi

uzzra

drowning'

zzr

uqqsa

stinging'

qqs

0aguzi

digging'

Sz

arusi

landing'

rs

282

It seems that the first five forms are built on a pattern like CVCCCV.
First, G_, which is a prefix and is, hence, represented on a separate tier, is
mapped onto the first C-slot in the template.

Then, the root consonants are as-

sociated with the remaining C-slots. The association process should, however,
be subject to the provision made earlier for this category of verbs, namely, that
the pre-assignment rule be allowed to associate the first radical with the second
and third C-slots in the template prior to any other association operation. Finally, the vowel melody, which in this case is u , is mapped onto the appropriate
V-slots.

This operation can be represented as follows:

(99)

QVCCCV

CVCCCV

>

ks
Cpref.)

(pref J

Qroot]

(pre-assignmenC rule)

CVCCCV

f70^7

"*"

( ma pp ing o
second radical)

(mapping of vowels)
(Gukksa)

AssociaCion of consonantal affixes, root/stem radicals, and vowel melodies

with the appropriate slots in the template will proceed in a straightforward manner for most of the forms above if the principles already in the grammar are taken
into consideration.

A note is in order, however, concerning some forms like those

in (100) below which involve gemination or degemination of a root consonant.

assume that this gemination/degemination is triggered by the shape of the template

on which these nouns are formed.

Notice that this gemination/degemination process

is restricted to the nouns and does not occur in the corresponding verbal allomorphs.

We will see in section 2 below (Lexical Approach) that some gemination/

283

degemination processes occurring in the verbal allomorphs are reflected in the

nominal forms.
(100)

Noun

Gloss

Verbal Allomorphs

alluy

'slope'

ali, uli, tsali

damusni

'knowledge'

issin, ssn, tsissin

tsdila

'hair-cut'

sttl, sttl, tsttil

alluy is apparently built on the pattern VCCVC, with three consonantal slots.
But since there are only two consonants in the vei-b, the principles of autosegmental phonology predict that one of themin this case the first onewill be
associated with two C-slots in the template, thus producing its gemination. As
we see, this is exactly what happens.

The case of tsdila is even more interesta

ing.

This word is apparently formed on the pattern CCCVCV.

Initially, the first

C-slot is linked to the prefix t_ (which, I assume, is derived from underlying

by dissimilation due to its contact with the following s).

At this stage, we are

left with three C-slots in the template and three root consonants.

Left-to-right

association produces the correct result, as illustrated below:

(101)
(.tsdila)
[pref.] [root]
In the verbal forms, however, it seems that the gemination of the second radical
is obtained by allowing the root consonants to be mapped onto a four C-slot template like CCCC.

Recall that tt is the geminate reflex of d.

Given that the

noun and the verb behave differently with respect to the gemination of the second
root radical without any phonetic reason to justify this different behavior, we
can assume that the gemination versus non-gemination of the second radical is die-

284

tated by the number of the C-slots in the template.

In other terms, the shape of

the template itself determines the occurrence of such processes as gemination.

In a linear analysis, such processes may remain unexplained or may have to be accounted for by ad hoc rules. Within an autosegmental approach, these processes
are accounted for in a straightforward manner since they follow from the shape of
the posited template.
In conclusion, the autosegmental approach accounts for an important characteristic of the Kabyle verbal system, namely, the need for a mechanism that allows
consonants, vowels, and other morphemes to/be represented on different levels. A
number of reasons were given for the need to consider the consonants and vowels as
isolable units.

There is, however, another aspect of the Kabyle verbal system re-

lated to its complexity and the difficulty of predicting the shapes of different
allomorphs of a verb.

For this reason, I will suggest in the next section listing

the various allomorphs of a verb in the lexicon, with relationships among them expressed by means of devices called morpholexical rules (Lieber, 1930).

The discus-

sion will include an outline of Lieber's theory as well as an attempt to develop a

classification and a set of morpholexical rules for Kabyle verbs.
2.

Lexical Approach
Lieber (1980) proposes a theory of the organization of the lexicon. Accord-

ing to her, the lexicon consists of a list of all unanalyzable terminal elements
and their lexical entries.

Inflectional stem variants are listed, with the rela-

tionships among them expressed by means of devices called morpholexical rules.

She states that the goal of the study was to propose a unified theory of word formation in generative grammar, "unified in that inflectional and derivational wordformation, affixational and non-affixational word-formation are accomplished with-

285

in a single lexical component of the grammar in a principled and highly constrained way" (p.l).

Her aim was also to confirm the establishment of morphology

within generative grammar as a subfield in its own right, with a specific framework separate from syntax and phonology.

In this regard, she follows and develops

certain theories of Aronoff (1976), and before him, Siegel (1974) and Halle (1973).
She initially divides the morphological component into two subcomponents, a permanent lexicon containing lexical entries organized into category classes and
lexical classes, and a lexical structure component.

Each of these subcomponents

is characterized by specific rule types. The permanent lexicon contains morpholexical rules and redundancy relations, the lexical structure component lexical
structure rewrite rules and a number of feature percolation conventions.

Lieber

realizes, however, that these devices are not in themselves sufficient to characterize the full range of word-formation processes in natural language, since there
exists a class of morphological processes which are productive such as reduplication, infixing, vowel ablaut and umlaut.

For this reason, she suggests a third

subcomponent within the morphological component of the grammar.

It consists of a

block of string dependent morphological rules, some of which must have transformational power.
The section of Lieber's thesis relevant to our discussion is that which deals
with the permanent lexicon subcomponent.

Specifically, the problem is to deter-

mine what items of Kabyle verb morphology are to have entries in the lexicon, and
how lexical items are to be related to one anotherfor example, whether all verb
stems (Zero-Form, Perfect, Habitual), basic and derived alike, are to be listed
in the lexicon, with relationships among different verb allomorphs expressed as
redundancy rules.
Before proceeding any further, the notions of lexical classes and morpholex-

286

i c a l rules as discussed in Lieber (1980) must be explained.

As an i l l u s t r a t i o n ,

the morphology of the Latin verbal system, as handled by the author h e r s e l f , w i l l

be b r i e f l y sketched.
2.1.

Lexical Classes and Morpholexical Rules

The basic assumption made by Lieber is that "Each major category (noun, verb)

in the lexicon i s divided i n t o l e x i c a l classes which consist of roots of that c a t e gory type and r e l a t e d stems" (p. 10).

Two items A and B are said to be r e l a t e d if

there exists a r u l e like ( 1 0 2 ) ,

(102)

X v X'

where X and X' represent segmental s t r i n g s d i f f e r e n t from one another in some fashion, and where A stands for X and B for X'.

Usually, X i s less marked than X'

and hence, i t w i l l be r e f e r r e d to as the ' r o o t ' and X' as t h e 'stem v a r i a n t ' .

(102) is called a morpholexical r u l e .

Rule

A lexical c l a s s c o n s i s t s of one or more

r u l e s of type ( 1 0 2 ) , plus t h e roots and stems r e l a t e d by thes e rules .

One impor-

tant c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of t h i s analysis i s that the membership of a c e r t a i n root in a

p a r t i c u l a r l e x i c a l class i s not predictable from any properties of the r o o t .

root that is p e r f e c t l y r e g u l a r , i . e . , does not belong to any allomorphy c l a s s e s ,

would form an e n t r y by i t s e l f .

The c l a s s membership as well as the root and stems

r e l a t e d by the morpholexical rules w i l l be l i s t e d in the l e x i c a l entry of each

noun or verb.
A discussion of the L a t i n verbal system w i l l i l l u s t r a t e the theory sketched
above.

Lieber r e j e c t s the t r a d i t i o n a l c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of L a t i n verbs i n t o five

conjugations.

She notices t h a t the choice of the vowel in t h e formation of the

non-perfect i n d i c a t i v e verbs and the form of the past stems are largely independent

287

from the verb root.

She claims, for example, that it is not possible to predict

on any phonological or semantic grounds the perfect stem from the vowel of the
root.

Again, it is purely arbitrary, according to her, for the verb root am 'to

love' to form its present stem with the theme vowel 5, or that aud 'to hear' takes
the theme vowel I.

Given that the non-perfect stems (or theme vowel stems, as

Lieber calls them) are idiosyncratic to particular verb roots, she suggests listing
them in the lexicon along with the corresponding verb roots.

(103) contains the

morpholexical rules relating the root to the non-perfect stem specific to each
class as well as examples of ordered pairs belonging to each class (p.87):
(103) a.

X"" Xa
f(am, ama), (crep, crepa), (iuv, iuva),...j

b.

X -* Xe
f(mon,

c.

(del, deli), (aug, auge),...j

X v Xy
f(al,

d.

morie),

aly), (die, dicy), (ped, pedy),...?

X ~ Xi
f(cup, cupi), (spec, speci), (fug, fugi),...j

e. X-vXl
/(aud, audi), (amic, amici), (sane, sanci),..."*
As for the perfect stems, in many cases, the perfect tenses are built on a
different stem from the non-perfect tenses (e.g., dico, dixi 'say').

Lieber as-

serts that the form of such a stemand that a separate stem exists at allis

288

information which should be memorized by every learner of Latin.

So iuvo, lego,

and venio form their perfect tenses or stems by lengthening the vowel of the verb
root (iuv, leg, ven), whereas augeo, dico, and sanctio have perfect stems consisting of the root plus an extension (aux, dix, sanx).

pendeo and pedo, among

others, have reduplicative perfect stems (pepend, peped).

Since this information

is not predictable on phonological or semantic grounds and is idiosyncratic to

particular verbs, Lieber suggests listing the perfect stems in the lexicon together with morpholexical rules relating the perfect stems to the roots.
illustrates the perfect stem classes for Latin (p.88):
(104) a.

XvXs
f(dic, dies), (aug, augs), (spec, specs),...J

* c o v c o - C0 [ + lg] c o
f(iuv, iuv), (sed, sed), (leg, l e g ) , . . . j

=. V c 0 ,c 0 [-Jo]

f(ag, eg), (cap, cep), (fac,

fec),...j

d. CQCVC2
3
,
r3
1 234 -v 1 2 r - l o l 2 K o | 4

i (pend, pepend), (ped, peped;, (spond, spopond),...4

e.

X-w X

f ( r u , r u ) , (bib, b i b ) , . . . ?

(104)

289

Obviously, the rules in (104) do not exhaust a l l the p o s s i b l e perfect stem

c l a s s e s in L a t i n .

According to Lieber, however, they capture a large part of the

stem allomorphy in t h i s language.

For more d e t a i l s about an additiona l c l a s s i n -

volving - i n f i x a t i o n and how the stem v a r i a n t s l i s t e d in the lexicon can be used

i n further word-formation processes, the reader i s referred t o Lieber ( p p . 8 8 - 9 0 ) .
2.2.

Kabyle Morpholexical Classes

The r a t i o n a l e behind the way in which Lieber handled the L a t i n verbal system

and her suggestion to group the verb r o o t s and t h e i r stem v a r i a n t s into l e x i c a l

c l a s s e s was t h e d i f f i c u l t y or impossibilit y of p r e d i c t i n g the shapes of the v a r i ous allomorphs of each v e r b .

Even though t r a d i t i o n a l grammar c l a s s i f i e s L a t i n

verbs into f i v e conjugations, many verbs within each conjugation show a g r e a t deal
of i r r e g u l a r i t y in the d e r i v a t i o n of t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e allomorphs.

Hence, i t was

not possible t o predict the stem v a r i a n t s of a verb on the b a s i s of i t s membership

i n a certai n conjugation.
As far as Kabyleand Berber languages in generalare concerned, the problem
might even be more complicated than in L a t i n .

In f a c t , various attempts by c e r -

t a i n Berberist s to c l a s s i f y Berber verbs i n t o defined conjugations or p a t t e r n s

have e i t h e r f a i l e d or r e s u l t e d in a lengthy l i s t i n g of several dozen conjugation
types.

As mentioned in the Introduction to t h i s c h a p t e r , Basset and Picard (1948)

had to d i s t r i b u t e Kabyle (underived) verbs among no l e s s than 35 conjugations.

Foucauld, according to Basset (1952), devised around one hundred conjugation p a t t e r n s in order to accommodate Twareg verbs and account for t h e i r irregular b e havior.
As a matter of f a c t , in many c a s e s , the shape a perfect stem assumes i n
Kabyle can not be predicted on phonological or semantic grounds.

Not even t h e

290

membership of a verb in a c e r t a i n prosodic template ( e . g . , CC v s . VCC or CCV) can

determine the shape of i t s p e r f e c t stem.

F i r s t , some b i - r a d i c a l verbs which b e -

long t o the p a t t e r n CC maintain the same s t r u c t u r e in the perfect ( e . g . , j n : j n

' s l e e p ' , gz:gz ' d i g ' , zd:zd ' p u l v e r i s e ' ) , whereas others exhibit a ]8 >v V a l t e r n a tion a f t e r the second radical ( e . g . , g r : g r a 'read o u t ' , ng:nga ' k i l l ' , zd:zda
'weave').

Second, some m o n o l i t e r a l s which belong to the VC p a t t e r n form t h e i r

P e r f e c t stem by affixing the vowel to the root in a d d i t i o n to the more common

<v u_ a l t e r n a t i o n ( e . g . , af : u f a ' f i n d ' ) , w h i l e other verbs belonging to the same
p a t t e r n dispense with - a f f i x a t i o n without a plausible explanation for t h i s s p e c i f i c behavior ( c f . ag:ug/*uga ' b u y ' ) .

T h i r d , some high vowels in the Zero-Form

a l t e r n a t e with a i n the P e r f e c t , such as in ddu:dda ' w a l k ' , rnu:rna ' a d d ' , xid:xad
' s e w ' , and siB:s*aB 'becomes g r e y h a i r ' .

However, other high vowels f a i l to under-

go such an a l t e r n a t i o n , as in ruh:ruh/*rah ' l e a v e ' , rih:rih/*rah_ ' s m e l l ' and

ali:uli/*ula 'climb'.

Recall from the preceding sectio n that i t has been assumed

that those high vowels which do not a l t e r n a t e between the Zero-Form and the P e r fect come from underlying g l i d e s .

However, apart from some s c a t t e r e d data which

seem t o point in t h e direction of this assumption ( e . g . , a l l u y , ' s l o p e ' , is d e rived from a l i ' c l i m b ' by d u p l i c a t i n g the f i r s t r a d i c a l and infixing the back high
vowel u ) , i t is n o t possible t o determine on synchronic grounds t h a t t h i s is a l ways t h e case.

A great deal of diachronic research is s t i l l needed before t h i s

issue can be decided .

In sum, t h e cases discussed above highlight the fact t h a t

the way the Perfec t stem is obtained from t h e Zero-Form is c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a

great deal of u n p r e d i c t a b i l i t y .

This means t h a t the Perfect stems c o n s t i t u t e i n -

formation which must be memorized by the l e a r n e r of Kabyle.

The most r e g u l a r cases seem to be the t r i - r a d i c a l verbs which conform to the

291

patterns CCC and CCCC; the middle C-slots in CCCC represent geminate consonants.
The verbs belonging to these patterns do in fact have Perfect stems identical to
their Zero-Forms.

The quadri-radicals also exhibit some regularity, but these

are extremely rare and do not constitute a significant class.

Notwithstanding these regularities, the number of irregular cases related to
Perfect stem formation is by no means minimal.
case of mono- and bi-radicals.

This is especially true in the

Even though Chaker (N.D.) asserts that the mono-

and bi-radical roots have been subject to a phenomenon of phonetic erosion probably
resulting in numerous cases of irregularity, it remains true nevertheless that on
synchronic grounds there is no way of accounting for such anomalies.

Until a com-

prehensive study of internal and historical reconstruction has been achieved, it

will not be possible to determine why so many mono- and biliterals exhibit such an
anomalous behavior in stem allomorphy.
On the basis of such observations, I propose to divide the Kabyle verb system
into a number of classes, each of which will include a list of ordered pairs of
stem allomorphs (Zero-Form and Perfect) as well as morpholexical rules whose function will be to express the relationships between each pair of allomorphs. The
classification is not based on the number of radicals or CV slots in a root but
rather on whether the verbs of the class in question follow the same procedure in
the derivation of the Perfect stem from the Zero-Form (which I will refer to by
the term 'root' since it is the least marked form of the verb).

In what follows

each class will be discussed ana morpholexical rules devised in order to relate
roots and Perfect stems.
The first class (class I) includes a number of monoliterals and biliterals
which affix a vowel in the Perfect stem.

(105) illustrates this class:

292

(105)

Xv XV

(where V = _i for first and second person singular

and for the remaining persons)

(jj> JJa), (gr, gra), (nz, nza),...j

The verbs which have membership in c l a s s I I are those which e x h i b i t one of
the following a l t e r n a t i o n s between Zero-Form and P e r f e c t :

** a, ^<v , or / .

The verbs having membership in t h i s c l a s s include a large number of mono-, b i - ,

and t r i l i t e r a l s .

The morpholexical r u l e r e l a t i n g the root and the stem would look

like t h e following:
(106)

CQ

[hi| C 0 -vC 0

V
-hi
*bk

C0

(where final (if present in this

position) becomes i_ in 1 and 2 sing.)

f(ag, ug), (ddu, dda), (Scar, c*c*ur), (ggall, ggull), (2ih, Sah),
(SiE,

SaB), (Bnu, Bna), (hasB, husB),...J

It is worth mentioning that a few monoliteral verbs, such as af:ufa 'find',

seem to belong to both class I and class II since they undergo both the vowelinfixation of (105) and vowel ablaut of (106).
for the behavior of such verbs.

Two possible solutions can account

The first would stipulate that these verbs be

listed in both classes I and II with the extra stipulation that the vowel resulting from infixation in class I does not undergo the vowel ablaut in class II.
Thus, for a verb like af:ufa, its membership in class I will give us the allomorphs
af and afa, and its additional membership in class II will cause the first to
undergo the usual rule of vowel ablaut giving us the correct shapes, a_f and ufa.
A second solution would instead devise a separate class for such verbs and relate
the root and the Perfect stem by a rule like the one in (107):

293

(107)

v
r|chi|
i

C *v | - h i | C a

ochiJ C A/ -tbk|

(af,

(where final a^ becomes i in 1 and 2

s ing.)

ufa), (as, usa),...?

Class III consists of the verbs exhibiting the following set of ablaut
classes:
a.

iivua

b.

au'vua

c.

a i *v u a

(108) illustrates the morpholexical rule relating the root to the Perfect stem
specific to this class as well as examples of ordered pairs belonging to the same
class:

(108)

c 0 hij c, [+hij c 0 - c 0 j+jj^ C, [-hij CQ

f ( i n i j , unaj), (argu, urga), (aru, ura), (nadi, n u d a ) , . . . j

In class IV, the verbs exhibiting the alternation l i ^ 0_ are grouped.

This

kind of alternation, which occurs in monoliteral roots belonging to the pattern

VCV, is commonly accompanied by the doubling of the radical.

The morpholexical

rule in ( 109) is able to express the relationship between the root and the Perfect
stem:
(109)

iC.i*v C.C.a
J
JJ

(where final a of the Perfect becomes i

in 1 and 2 sing.)

^(ili, 11a), (ini, nna),...j

The morpholexical classes illustrated above capture the greater part of the
stem allomorphy of the Kabyle verbal system.

However, there might be some cases

294

which do not fit in any of the classes discussed in this work.

At least one verb,

illustrating the alternation: _i ,ii'v0 0, does not conform to any of the classes
in (105) through (109):

the verb issin 'know' whose Perfect stem surfaces as ssn.

But no other verb seems to behave in a way similar to that of issin and, for that
reason, no independent class has been suggested for this verb.
As far as the Habitual stems are concerned, we shall see that only a relatively small number of classes are needed in order to account for the allomorphs
at hand.

We have already seen that the Habitual forms are obtained by ts/6-

prefixation, gemination of a radical, vowel-affixation, or the latter process plus

either ts-prefixation or gemination.

Moreover, in some cases where the root be-

gins with a geminate cluster and t is prefixed to it, a degemination process

takes place. None of the other processes involved in Habitual stem derivation cooccurs with G_-prefixation.

However, ts-prefixation co-occurs with vowel-affixation

and/or degemination but not with gemination.

Finally, gemination can co-occur

with vowel-affixation but not with any of the other processes.

These processes

are summarized in (110) with examples illustrating each operation:

(110) a.

G_-prefixation:

kkr, Gkkr 'stand up' ; bbi, Gbbi 'pinch' ;

kk, 6kk 'go by way o f .

b.

t-prefixation:

i n i , tsini 'say' ; gaji, tsgaji 'flee' ;

argu, tsargu 'dream'.

c.

ts-prefixation+vowel-affixation:

frfr, tsfrfir

'beat wings' ;

sggd, tsggid 'hunt' ; j j , tsajja 'leave behind'.

a

d.

ts-prefixation+degemination:

ddari, tsdari

'take s h e l t e r ' .

295

e.

ts-prefixation+vowel-affixation+degemination :
'stay'
tsjalla

f.

gemination:

qqim, tsgimi

; ddukl, tsdukul ' b e f r i e n d'

; ggall,

'swear'.

ng, nqq ' k i l l '

; si, sli

' h e a r ' ; xdm, xddm

'work' ; Bnu, Bnnu ' b u i l d ' .

g.

gemination+vowel-affixation:

j n , ggan ' s l e e p ' ; ml, mmal

'show' ; zd, zzad

'pulverise'.

It is undeniable that some regularities in the Habitual stem derivation do

exist.

For example, all tri-radical verbs which conform to the CCC pattern form

their Habitual stem by reduplicating the middle radical (cf. xdm:xddm 'work').
Also, all bi-radicals which belong to the CCC pattern, where the first two C-slots
stand for a geminate consonant, derive the Habitual stem by prefixing 6 (e.g.,
kkr:6kkr 'stand up').

However, a great deal of unpredictability exists. Among

the biliterals pertaining to the CC pattern, some form the Habitual stem by geminating the second radical while others do so by geminating the first radical and
inserting the vowel between the two radicals.

Still, other verbs derive the

Habitual stem by prefixing t and inserting or before and after the second
radical.

The examples in (Ilia), (111b), and (lllc) illustrate these three cases,

respectively:
(111)

Zero-Form

Habitual Stem

Gloss

nS

nqq

'kill'

rg

rqq

'burn'

si

sli

'hear'

CS

ess

'shepherd'

zd

ztt

'weave'

a a

a a a

296

(.111)

continued

Zero-Form
b.

Habitual Stem

Gloss

jn

ggan

'sleep'

gz

qqaz

'dig'

ml

mmal

'show'

S*

qqar

'read out'

zd

zzad

'pulverise'

c.

nz

tsnuzu

'be on sale'

rz

tsruzu

'break'

ns

tsnusu

'spend the night'

rs

tsrusu

'land'

ds

tsdasa

'laugh'

a a

Except possibly fcor the forms in (lllc) which all end in or , there is no
way to predict on eithter phonological or semantic grounds whether a verb undergoes
the process illustrated in (Ilia) or that in (111b).
'pulverise' present strong evidence for our claim.

The verbs for 'weave' and

Even though both verbs consist

of the same sounds (except for the lack of emphasis in the second radical of the
form for 'pulverise', the first forms its Habitual stem by doubling the second
radical and the second by undergoing the process illustrated in ( 1 M b ).

The rea-

son why these two verbs behave differently remains unexplained, as far as I know.
In the monoliterals belonging to the CC pattern, where the two C-slots are
mapped onto a geminate radical, some unpredictability is also observed.

Some of

these verbs prefix t and insert before and after the geminate radical (112a),
while others derive the Habitual stem by prefixing G_ (112b):

297

(112)

Zero-Form
a.

b.

Habitual Stem

Gloss

jj

tsajja

'leave behind'

rr

tsarra

'vomit'

cc"

Gts

kk

Gkk

'eat'
'go by way o f

No phonological or semantic criterion can be invoked in order to explain why

each group of verbs in (112a) and (112b) behave differently.
Because of these and other cases of irregularity and unpredictability, I propose listing both the root and the Habitual stem in the lexicon, as suggested earlier for the root and Perfect stem, and relate the two allomorphs by morpholexical
rules.

Several classes must be devised.

The first class (class I) includes the verbs which prefix C. The verbs belonging to this class exhibit almost all template patterns and may consist of anywhere from one to three radicals.

(113) illustrates the morpholexical rule relat-

ing the root to the Habitual stem as well as examples of ordered pairs belonging
to this class:
(113)

Xv tsX
(af, tsaf), (ini, tsini), (argu, tsargu), (wali, tswali),
(rbbi, tsrbbi), (issin, tsissin), (lal, tslal), (amn, tsamn),
(ugal, tsugal), (rangi, tsrangi),...J

Class II groups all verbs which form the Habitual stem by prefixing t and
copying the vowel of the root after the following radical (whether single or geminate).

This class includes verbs consisting of two to four radicals.

(114) il-

lustrates the morpholexical rule needed for this class as well as examples of

298

ordered pairs belonging to the same c l a s s :

(114)

:0 [cf] c.(c.)c 0 ^ tsc 0 [fJ c(c.) [Z\ c0

( a z z l , t s a z z a l ) , ( r u h , t s r u h u ) , (9awn, ts9awan), (qqim,
( t s g i m i ) , ( g g a l l , t s j a l l a ) , (ddukl, t s d u k u l ) , ( j r i r B ,
( t s j r i r i B ) , (funzr, t s f u n z u r ) , . . ."2

A s p e c i a l provision for this c l a s s would s t i p u l a t e t h a t if the f i r s t r a d i c a l is a

geminate c l u s t e r , i t w i l l be degeminated in the Habitual stem.
In class I I I are grouped a l l mono- and b i - r a d i c a l verbs whose Habitual stem
i s derived by t s - p r e f i x a t i o n and i n s e r t i n g two low vowels , once before the r a d i c a l ( s ) and another time after i t (them).

I t should be noticed, however, that a l l

monoliterals which follow this p a t t e r n consist of a geminate consonant.

Hence,

the morpholexical r u l e needed for t h i s class w i l l simply s t a t e t h a t if we have a

verb which can be mapped onto two C - s l o t s , i . e . , a verb consisting of e i t h e r two
u n l i k e consonants or a geminate c l u s t e r , the Habitual stem of that verb is formed
by prefixing t and inserting two a ' s , one before and another a f t e r the two C - s l o t s ,
This i s i l l u s t r a t e d in (115):
(115)

CC <v tsaCCa
f(jj>

t s a j j a ) , ( r r , t s a r r a ) , (ds, t s a d s a ) , . . . 2

Class IV is concerned with a group of b i - r a d i c a l verbs where the l a s t consonant i s e i t h e r or z.

Their H a b i t u a l stem is formed by prefixing t and i n s e r t -

ing two sounds, one before and another after the second r a d i c a l .

(116) i l l u s -

t r a t e s the morpholexical rule needed for t h i s c l a s s as well as examples of ordered

p a i r s specific to the same c l a s s :

299

(116)

CC -v tsCuCu

(where the second C = s/z)

V(ns, tsnusu), (rs, tsrusu), (nz, tsnuzu),...2

Class V includes a group of vowelless verbs consisting of four C-slots.

Their

Habitual stems are obtained by ts-prefixation and ^-infixation before the last radical.

The morpholexical rule relating the root to the Habitual stem and examples

of ordered pairs belonging to this class are given in (117):

(117)

CCCC -%/ tsCCCiC

(frfr, tsfrfir), (hzzB, tshzziB), (qrdS, Csqrdis") ,.. ."?

In class VI, I group a fairly large number of bi- and tri-radical verbs whose
Habitual stems are derived by doubling the second radical. The bi-radicals belong
to the patterns CC and CCV whereas the tri-radicals have the CCC pattern. (118)
illustrates the morpholexical rule relating the root to the Habitual stem and examples of pairs of allomorphs specific to this class:
(118)

CC.(C+seg]) * CCCC C+seg))

C(ng, nqq), ( s i , s l i ) , (Bnu, Bnnu), ( l h u , lhhu),
(xdm, xddm), (hsB, htsB) , . . . j

Class VII c o n s i s t s of some b i - r a d i c a l verbs which form t h e Habitual stems by

r e d u p l i c a t i n g the f i r s t r a d i c a l and i n s e r t i n g a_ before the l a s t r a d i c a l .

The mor-

pholexical r u l e in (119) accounts for the r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e root and t h e

Habitual stem:
(119)

C.C-v C.C.aC
( j n , ggan), ( g r , q q a r ) , (zd,

zzad),...l

300

In class VIII, finally, we find verbs which prefix to the roots in order to
derive the Habitual stems.

This class includes a fairly large number of verbs, es-

pecially mono- and bi-radicals.

(120) illustrates the morpholexical rule needed

for this class as well as examples of ordered pairs belonging to the same class:
(120)

X-vGX
f(ddu, 0ddu), (kkr, 6kkr), (cc, 0ts), (kk, kk), (bbi, 0bbi),...?

The morpholexical rules in (113) through (120) capture the largest part of the
stem allomorphy relative to the Habitual forms in Kabyle verb paradigm. However,
a few verbs exhibit a behavior which can not be fitted into any of the classes
above.

Two of these are: wO:kka 'hit' and fk:tsak 'give'. A phonological ex-

planation based on diachronic analysis, such as the one given above for kka, may
be offered in order to account for the surface forms of such verbs. When such an
explanation is found, it may be shown that such verbs will fit into the various
classes devised above.

If we accept, for instance, the analysis given above for

w6:kka6, which would derive from *k 0:*kk a, with the historical loss of k in the
first and of labiovelarization in the second, then this verb will fit under class
VII in (119).

Synchronically, however, this claim may not stand because the change

is not phonological but historical.

One of the basic tenets of Lieber's theory is its prediction that any stem
variant which is listed in the permanent lexicon should be available for further
word formation processes.

In Kabyle, this seems to be largely true:

301

(121) a.

b.

Derivation on Root

Root, Perfect, Habitual

a+gaji

'fleeing'

gaji, guja, tsgaji

a+frfr

'flying'

frfr, frfr, tsfrfir

a+mjr

'scythe'

mjr, mjr, mggr

i+mgi

'a bud'

mgi, mgi, mqqi

inij+i

'immigration

inij, unaj, t s in ij

im+inij+i

'immigrant'

inij, unaj, tsinij

1+xdm+a

'work/job'

xdm, xdm, xddm

Q+a+lal+i+0

'birth'

lal, lul, tslal

0+a+zzall+i+0

0+ili

'prayer'

zzall, zzall, dzalla

ili,

lli/a,

+i+frfr+

'kite'

frfr,

frfr,

9+a+mjr+a

'harvest'

mjr, mjr, mggr

shadow'

tsili
tsfrfir

Derivation on Pt;rfect Stem

Root, Perfect, Habitual

a+^na+y

kneeling'

^nu, <jni/a, ^nnu

a+kmml

completion'

kmml, kmml, tskmmil

i+zri

vision'

zr, z n / a , zrr

+a+dsa

laughing'

ds, dsi/a, tsadsa

Derivation on Eaibitual Stem

Root, Perfect, Habitual

a+dari

taking shelter'

ddari, dduri, tsdari

a+jlujul

changing shape'

jlujl, jlujl, tsjlujul

a+rgg +ay

mixture

rwi, rwi, rgg i

a+Suhhu

stinginess

suhh, Suhh, tSuhhu

a+Bnn+ay

builder'

Bnu, Bni/a, Bnnu

a+ztt+a

weaving'

zd, zdi/a, ztt

+i+ss+i+0

drinking'

sw, swi/a, ss

0+a+dukl+i

companionship'

ddukl, ddukl, tsdukul

The derived forms in (121) illustrate processes of prefixation and/or suffixation involved in word formation operations.

Other derived nouns or adjectives also

illustrate a process of vowel infixation, especially before the last radical of a

302

verbal stem, as well as gemination or degemination of a radical. The derivations

in (122) and (123) illustrate these two processes, respectively.
(122)

Derivations Involving Vowel Infixation

Root, Perfect, Habitual

a+xddam

'worker'

xdm, xdm, xddm

a+cSam

'entrance'

c^m, cSm, cts*m

a+rwah

'departure'

ruh, ruh, tsruhu

'hunter'

sggd, sggd, tsggid

a+rttal

'lending'

rdl, rdl, rttl

a+Bgas

'belt'

l+f0il

'rolling couscous'

fl, fl, fttl

l+ciB+a

'writing'

cB, cB, gttB

6+a+c6aB+

'book'

cB, c0B, cttB

0+a+guz+i

'digging'

gz, gz, qqaz

a+sggad
a

(123)

Derivations Involving Gemination

,Bgs, Bgs, Bggs

Root, Perfect, Habitual

or Degemination
am+ggaj i

all+uy

'slope'

ali, uli, tsali

Gan+cr+a

'getting up'

kkr, kkr, 6kkr

nomad'

gaji, guja, tsgaji

Conclusion
In this chapter, Kabyle verbal morphology has been investigated in terms of
non-contradictory approaches within two recent theories of morphology.

The first

approach argues in favor of treating the verbs of this language and their nominal
derivatives within the autosegmental theory of phonology (McCarthy 1979, 1981,
1982).

This approach has been shown to account for an important characteristic of

the Kabyle verbal system, namely, the fact that the consonants, vowels, and other
morphemes which constitute a verb are isolable units to be represented on separate
tiers and later mapped onto specific CV templates.

Ample evidence has been found

303

in support of t h i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c .

In the same s e c t i o n , a comparison of t h e Arabic

and Kabyle verbal systems has been included; t h e two systems have been found to be
similar i n more than one r e s p e c t .

The second approach, c a l l e d ' l e x i c a l ' , handles

another aspec t of Kabyle morphology related t o i t s r e l a t i v e complexity and the

d i f f i c u l t y of p r e d i c t i n g the shapes of the d i f f e r e n t allomorphs of a given v e r b .
Following Lieber (1980), i t has been suggested t h a t the v a r i o u s allomorphs of a
verb be l i s t e d in the lexicon with r e l a t i o n s h i p s among them expressed by means of
specific morpholexical r u l e s .

304

Notes

In this verb and subsequent ones the specification i/a should be interpreted
as meaning that i_ is used for the first and second person singular and
elsewhere.
2
No real explanation could be found for the fact that // shows up as /Gts/
in the Habitual.
The reason why w is reduplicated (i.e., shows up as bb ) in the Perfect stems
of 'carry' and Tarrive' remains unclear at this stage.
The geminate reflex of f is ff probably because there is no in the language
(cf. /dfrsdffr/). As for x, no examples could be found to illustrate its
geminate reflex.
The geminate reflex of d shows up as tt probably because there is no stop
sound corresponding to d.
Actually and j_ stand for tS_ and di, respectively. The first symbols have
been used in this dissertation for typographical reasons only.
The data here are from classnotes taken during a course in Indo-European
Linguistics by Ladislav Zgusta (Fall 1981 - University of Illinois - Urbana).
Q

This pattern represents some verbs obtained by root reduplication, e.g.,

/frfr/ 'beat wings'.
9
This rule is called Pre-assignment I in order to distinguish it from Preassignment II and Pre-assignment III which follow later.
The apparent vowels of subb and qqim are assumed to be underlyingly the corresponding glides because they do not alternate between the various allomorphs
of the two verbs (cf. /subb, subb, tsubbu/ and /qqim, qqim, tsgimi/).
The final in ura shows up as i_ in the first and second person singular (cf.
note 1 above), whereas the final vowels of other verbs do not alternate with
i.

305

Appendix A

N.B.

In what follows, verbs are grouped in patterns according to the shape of their

Zero-Forms:

e.g., verbs like af, xdm, and Bddl are listed under VC, CCC, C C C C ,

the first being a monoliteral and the second and third patterns triliterals (a geminate counts as one single consonant but occupies two C-slots).

The Zero-Forms can

be found in the first column, and the Perfect and Habitual stems in the second and
third columns, respectively; the verbal nouns (if any) are listed under column four.
Unless otherwise specified, the noun given indicates the action noun.
Monoliterals

VC
af

ufi/a

tsaf

'find'

ag
as

ug

tsag

'buy'

usi/a

tsas

'arrive'

ci*

Mi/a

ts

jj
kk

jji/a
kki/a

tsajja

'leave behind'

kk

'go by way o f

rr

rri/a

tsarra

CC
uJ*2i

irirn

'eat'

'vomit/answer'

'vomited
matter'

CCV
ddu

ddi/a

ddu

qqu

qqi/a

Gqqu

'have sexual intercourse'

zzu

zzi/a

Gzzu

'plant'

aru

uri/a

tsaru

'write'

ili

lli/a

tsili

Guddi

'walk'

VCV
Gili

'exist'

'shadow'

ini

nni/a

tsini

'say'

Biliterals

csi/a

c,ss

amcsaw

'shepherd'

'a shepherd'
dsi/a

tsadsa

adsa

fki/a

tsak

gri/a

qqar

lqqraya

'read out 1

gz
if

qqaz

Gaguzi

'dig'

jn

ggan

mli/a

mmal

Gamuli

'show'

ngi/a

nqq

ammngi

'kill'

'laugh'
'give'

'surpass'
'sleep'

'battle'
nsi/a

tsnusu

spend the night'

nzi/a

tsnuzu

be on sale'

rgi/a

rqq

GimrgiwG

burn'

rs

tsrusu

Garusi

land'

rsi/a

tsrusu

get dressed'

rw

tsrw

cry'

rzi/a

tsruzu

irzi

break'

'a break'
sli/a

sli

swi/a

ss

0issi0

' drink'

kka

0iyiGa

'hit'

zd

zzad

Guzda

' pulverise'

zdi/a

zri/a

ztt

aztta

'weave'

zrr

izri

' see'

bbi

Gbbi

6ubbya

'pinch'

ddm

Gddm

ddz

6ddz

hear'

a a a

'take/pick up'
6uddza/adduz

'pound/crush'

'pounding' /'pestle'

CCC
1

continued

ffg

ffg

ffg

'go o u t '

ffr

ffr

ffr

'hide'

ffz

ffz

' chew'

kkr

kkr

ffz

kkr

ukkra/9ancra

'stand u p '

kks

kks

kks

ukksa

'take

llf

llf

llf

ullfa

'repudiate'

Hi

Hi

Hi

'open'

11m

11m

311m

'weave'

lis

lis

lis

ullsa

'shear'

mm

mm

tsmtsa

lmu6

'die'

away/off'

death'
qqd

qqd

6qqd

uqqda

'brand/burn'

qqn

qqn

6qqn

uqqna

'attach'

qqs

qqs

qqs

uqqsa

'puncture'

ssd

ssd

S5d

usda

'slide'

ttd

CCd

ttd

'suckle'

ttf

ttf

ttf

'catch/seize'

tts

tts

ids

tsu

tsu

0tsu

zzr

zzr

0zzr

zzl

zzl

a a

a a

zzl
*

'sleep'

'forget'
uzzra

'drown o n e s e l f
'stretch'

CCC.
1

'stand u p / s t o p '

Bdd

Bdd

B5

BsS

tsBSis

'urinate'

mss

mss

tsmasa

'touch'

gzz

gzz

iBddi

'bite'

CCV
Bdu

Bdi/a

Bddu

Bdu

Bdi/a

Bttu

Bgu

Bgi/a

Bqqu

lBdi

'begin'
'divide'

lBsi

'want/wish'

308

CCV
Bnu

continued
Bni/a

Bnnu

lBni/aBnnay

'build'

'building'/'builder'

cnu

cni/a

cnnu

acnay

'kneel'

dru

dri/a

drru

fru

fri/a

frru

gBu

gBi/a

gbbu

'hide/conceal'

hku

hki/a

hkku

'tell'

lhu

lhi/a

lhhu

'walk'

lhu

lhi/a

rnu

rni/a

rnnu

add'

s9u

s9i/a

s99u

'have'

sfu

Sfi/a

sffu

'remember'

zgu

zgi/a

9yu

9yi/a

9ggu

'be tired'

Ban

Ban

tsBan

'appear'

BiB

BuB

tsBiBi

fad

fad

tsfad

'happen'
afruy

'separate'

'be beautiful/good'

'be located'

CVC

iBiBi

'carry on the shoulders'

'overflow'

fak

fuk

tsfaka

lal

lul

tslal

'finish'
Oalali

'be born'

'birth*

qas

qus

SiB

SaB

'guard'

tsqasa
55 ib

'become grey'

'grey hair'
xas

'lack*

xus

xid

xad

2ih

zah

tsxidi
a

dzah

lxyada

'sew'

SSih/araSah

'abandon'

'abandonment'/'person who abandons'

9 is

9aS

ts9isi

'live'

u^r
w.

tsacr
w.
tsac, i

'steal'

VCC
aqr
w.
ac l

UC 1

'wake up'

309

VCC

continued

afj

ufj

tsaf j

*fly/take off

ajw

ujw

tsajw
t s a jw.i

'buy'
' b r i n g water from w e l l '

.w.

aj i

.w.
UJ.w 1

.w
aj m

uj m

tsaj m

ali

uli

tsali

'refuse'
alluy

'climb'

'slope'
amn

umn

tsamn

laman/lamana

'believe'

'trust'/'something entrusted'
anf
awd
a

awi

unf
ubbWd
,.w.
ubb I

'let'

tsanf
tsawd
tsawi

agg ad
w
agg ay

'reach/arrive'
'carry'

'load'
VCCV
argu

urga

tsargu

argiG

'dream'

' a dream'
arju

urja

tsarju

unaj

tsmij

'wait upon'

VCVC
inij

iniji/iminij

'immigrate'

' immigration' / ' immigrant'

CVCV
gaji

guja

tsgaji

agaji/imggiji

flee'

' f l e e i n g ' / 'nomad'

'search'

nadi

nuda

tsnadi

saBi

suBa

tSaBi

aSaBi

'compare'

wali

wala

tswali

awali

'see'

ggull
zzull

tsjalla

aggalli

dzalla

azzalli9/amzzallu

CCVCC
i i .1 J
ggall
zzall

'pray'

'prayer'/'person who prays'

310

C.C.VC
1 1

Scar

ccur

tsKar

llaz

lluz

tslaz

'be full'
laz

'be hungry'

'hunger'
nnag

nnug

tsnag

amnnug

'fight'

qqar

qqur

tsgar

9agar9

'be dry'

gnni

gnna

tsgnni

ag nnay

'sing'

hggi

hgga

tshggi

rbbi

rbba

tsrbbi

whhi

whha

tswhhi

point out'

9ddi

9dda

ts9ddi

pass by'

uzzl

tsazzal

9azzla

ssn

tsissin

Garausni

CC.C.V
l l

'prepare'
arbbi

bring up/raise'

V C C. C
I l
azzl
VC C V C
i l

issin

'know'

'knowledge'

C CCC.
1

J
BhBh

J.

frfr

BhBh

tsBhBih

aBhBh

'be hoarse'

frfr

tsfrfir

afrfr/9ifrfr

'beat wings'

'beating wings'/'kite'
f9f9

f9f9

tsf9fi9

af9f9

'wake up'

hnhn

hnhn

tshnhin

ahnhn

'neigh'

kikd

tskikid

jlujl

tsjlujul

C.VC.C
l

kikd

'tickle'

CCVCC.
1

J * -1
jlujl

ajlujul

'change shape'

311

C.C.VCV
1

ggami

gguma

'not be able'

VC.C.VC
l i

agg ad

tsagg ad

ugg ad

aragg ad

'be afraid'

'timid'
Derived Causative Verbs with no Apparent Basic Correspondents
ssird

ssirid

ssird

assirid

'wash'

ssisn

ssasn

ssisin

ssiwl

ssiwl

ssawal

'dip'
assiwl/awal

call'

calling'/ 'word'
sslil

sslal

sslalay

'rinse'

ssmir

ssmar

ssmaray

'spill'

ssudn

ssudn

ssudun

ssurj

ssurj

ssuruj

'pour'

ssusf

ssusf

ssusuf

'spit'

ssusm

ssusm

ssusum

'become silent'

ssuQr

ssuGr

ssuQur

amssu9r

'beg'

zzuzzr

zzuzzr

zzuzzur

azzuzzr

'sprinkle'

assudn

'kiss'

Triliterals
CCC
Bgs

Bgs

Bggs

aBgas

gird'

Brn

Brn

Brrn

aBrni

twist'

'tap'
Brx

Brx

Brrx

s i t down ( c a m e l ) '

Bzg

Bzg

Bdzg

moisten

crz

<jrz

crrz

acjrza

plough'

crh

crh

c,rrh

lkrh

hate'

c5m

cSm

ccSm

ancSum

enter'

'entrance'
c@B

c9B

ijttB

dfr

dfr

dffr

lkdiBa

write'
follow'

312

CCC

continued

**i

drj

drrj

'shit'

d9f

d9f

d99f

'lose weight'

fdr
*

fdr

fttr

fhhm

lfadur

"lunch'

fhm

fhm

frg
frq

frg
frq

frrg

'twist'

frrq

fsd

fsd

ftsd

lfsad

'damage'

fsi

fsi

ftsi

afsay

'melt'

fei

f91

fttl

If Gil

'roll couscous'

gli
gmz

gli
gmz

gili

aglluy

fall'

grq
hdr

grq
hdr

hlc

lfhama

'understand'
separate/divide'

gmmz

wink'

grrq

'sink'

hddr

'talk'

hl<j

hllc

'be sick'

hBs

hBs

hbbs

'stop'

hkm

hkm

hkkm

Ihakem

'rule'

'ruler'

hsB

hsB

htsB

'count'

J91
jzm

J91

J991

'think'

jzm

jdzm

cut'

19B

19B

199B

'play'

mgi

mgi

raqqi

'bud'

imgi
'a bud'

mjr

mjr

mggr

amjra/amjr

'harvest'

'harvesting'/''scythe'

mri

mri

mrri

amray

'rub'

msd

mSd

mtsd

irastt

'comb'

a a

'a comb'

msh

msh

mtsh

ndm

ndm

nddm

'regret'

'lick'

nhr

nhr

nhhr

nsf

nsf

ntsf

blow'

ntd

nCd

nttd

'to stick to'

guide'

313

CCC

continued

ntl

ntl

nttl

'bury'

antlt

'burial'

nz9

nz9

ndz9

'dig up'

n*z9

nz9

ndz9

'spur'

n91

n91

n991

'swear/curse'

qrs

qrs

qrrs

'to be torn'

igrsi
'a tear'

rBh

rBh

rbbh

arBah

rdl

rdl

rttl

arttal

'loan'

rfd

rfd

rffd

rgm

rgm

rggm

insult'

rhn

rhn

rhhn

mortgage'

rhl

rhl

rhhl

a a

'win'
'lend'

'lift'

move (from one place

rrhil

to another)'

rkB

rkB

rwi

rwi

rwi

rwi

sBg

sBg

rkkB
w.
rgg i
sbbg

ride'
w

argg ay

mix'

arwla

flee'

ssBiga

paint'

'a paint'

sni

sni

snni

sdh

sdh

stth
a

mount'
s*sdih/as*ttah
a

dance'

'dance'/'dancer'

3B9

6B9

bb9

follow'

whl

whl

whhl

be stuck'

wr

wr

wrr

inherit'

w9d

w9d

w99d

set up an appointment

xdm

xdm

xddm

lxdma/axddam

'work/fix'

'work'/'worker'

xrz

xrz

xrrz

axrraz

' stitch'

'cobler'

xzn

xzn

xdzn

zdg

zdg

zddg

hide'
amzdag
'dweller'

'dwell'

314

CCC

continued

zdm

zdm

azdam/9az dmt

zddm

'gather wood'

'gathering wood'/'faggot'

zmr

zmr

zmmr

zr9
zwi

zr9

zrr9

zzri9

'sow*

zwi

azway

'shake out'

zBd

zBd

zgg i
zbbd

2m9

zm9

zram9

an2mu9

zrh

Srh

zrrh

'wound/hurt'

9ds

9ds

9tts

'sneeze'

911q

'hang'

9ql

91q
9ql

9qql

'guess'

9sq

9Sq

9tSq

'love*

9zm

9zm

9dzm

91q

9wz
CCC

9w2

'be able to'

'pull'
'gather/assemble'

'decide'
w

'distort 1

9gg z/9bb z*

(where middle C == a glide which has undergone vocalization)

gum

gum

tsgumu

'hide/cover'

lum

lum

tslumu

'blame'

rih

rih

tsrihi

rriha

'smell'

'smell'

ruh

ruh

tsruhu

sud

sud

tsudu

rrwah

'leave'
'blow'

Suf

Suf

tSufu

'be angry'

zux

zux

dzuxu

'boast'

zur
*

zur

dzuru

zzyara

'visit'

a9wwam

'swim'

9um

9um

ts9umu

'swimmer'

CCC C

1 I

(where second C = a glide which has undergone v o c a l i z a t i o n)

durara

dumm

tsdummu

hukk

hukk

tshukku

'sweep'
ahkkay

'scrape'

'scraping pad*
huss

huss*

tshussu

ahssas*

'cut grass*

'person w h o cuts grass'

315

ccc i c i
subbw

subb

subb ay

assubb i

'cook'

Suhh

Suhh

tSuhhu

asuhhu/am&hah

'be stingy'

'stinginess'/'stingy'
subb

subb

tsubbu

asubbu

'go down'

Bddl

Bddl

tsBddil

aBddl

* change'

Brrh

Brrh

tsBrrih

aBrrh

'call out'

Brrz

Brrz

tsBrriz

<*ggr
dggr

dggr

tsdggir

adggr

'push'

<*ggr

tsdggir

adggr

'throw'

fssr

fssr

tsfssir

afssr

'explain'

grr9

grr9

tsgrri9

hddd

hddd

tshddid

hmml

hmml

tshmmil

like/love'

hsss

hsss

tshssis

'listen'

cc i c i c

'fight'

belch'
'iron clothes'

(P.R. = hesses)
hzzB

hzzB

tshzziB

ahzzB

'be careful'

kmml

kmml

tskmmil

akmml

'complete'

mqqr

mqqr

ameqqran

'be big'

'big'
qrrB

qrrB

tsqrriB

smmd

smmd

tsmmid

'approach'
asmmad

'be cold'

'cold'
snnd

snnd

tsnnid

sffr

sffr

sggd

tsffir

sggd

tsggid

a *"' w a

asnnd

'lean'
'whistle'

ssyada/as;ggad
a a

'hunt'

'hunting'/ 'hunter'
i

sttl
a a a

sttl
9 9 9

tsttil
a a a

asttl/tsd ila
a a a

'shave'

a a

'shaving'/ 'haircut

. i

Sgg9

Sgg9

tsggi9

'send'

shhd

Shhd

tShhid

'swear'

xmmn

xmmn

tsxmmin

'think'

316

CCCC

continued

1 1

911m

911m

ts911im

' s tamp'

9Hq

911q

ts9Hiq

'hang'

9mmr

9mmr

ts9mmir

'fill up'

gawl

gawl

tsgawal

'hurry'

hasB

husB

tshasaB

CVCC

lmhasBa

'report to s.o.
about s.t.'

rauql

muql

tsmuqul

nudm

nudm

tsnudum

'look'
nadam

'be sleepy'

'sleep'
qaBl

qaBl

tsqaBal

'face'

samh

sumh

tsamah

'forgive'

sawm

sawm

tsawam

gawr

awr

tsawar

'consult'

wans

wans

tswanas

'keep company to'

9awd

9awd

ts9awad

'do it over again'

9 awn

9awn

ts9awan

CCVC

asiwm

a9iwn/lm9awna

'evaluate the price'

'help'

(where initial C = a glide which has undergone vocalization)

ugal

ugal

tsugal

ugal

'return'

urar

urar

tsurar

urar

'play'

'party'
uzur

uzar

tsuzur

azuran

'gain weight'

thick'
uzum
CCCC
i

qqim

uzam

'fast'

tsuzum

(where middle C = a g l i d e which has undergone v o c a l i z a t i o n )

qqim

tsgimi

runja

tsranji

igimi

'stay'

CVCCV

ranji

'fix'

(French borrowing)

317

CCVCC
1 1

ddari

dduri

ddukl

ddukl

tsdari
tsdukul

adari
'take s h e l t e r '
9aduc,li/amddakul 'befriend'
'befriending'/'companion'

CCVCC
l

flali

flali

fruri

fruri

frurx

frurx

tsflali
tsfruruy
tsfrurux

'appear'
'break into small pieces'
afrux

(pi.

'hatch'

ifraxn) 'bird'
hrurd

hrurd

jlilz

jlalz

jrirB

jrarB

rjaji

rjaji

tshrurud
tsjliliz
tsjririB
tsrjaji

'move with difficulty'

ajlilz

'roll in the soil'

ajrirB

'tumble down'

Verbs of Quality
tsfssus

afssas

be light'

g zzif

tsg zzif

ag zfan

'be tall'

hlc,

hlc,

hllc,

imlil

mllul

ts imlil

amllal

'be white'

iwrig

uwrag

tsiwrig

'be yellow1

izwig

uzwag

tsizwig

awrag
w
azgg ag

mqqr

mqqr

tsmqqir

amqqran/amjar

'be big'

fssus
w .
g ZZlf

fssus
w

'be sick'

be red'

'big'/'old man'
mssus

mssus

tsmssus

amssas

'be tasteless'

mzzi

mzzi

tsmzzi

amzyan

'be young'

smmd

smmd

tsramid

asmmad

'be cold'

uzur

uzar

tsuzur

azuran

'be thick/gain weight'

wssir

wssir

tswssir

awssur

'be old'

wzzil

wzzil

tswzzil

awzlan

'be short'

N.B.

All the forms in the fourth column whose meaning is not specified refer to

the adjectival forms (e.g., afssas means 'light', etc.).

318

Quadri - .iterals
CCCC
Brqg

Brqs*

tsBrqis*

'be many-colored'

fgms

fgms

tsfgmis

'nibble*

hrfs

hrfs

tshrfis

'walk heavily'

qrds

qrds*

tsqrdiS

Slqf

Slqf

tslqif

aqrdaS

'card'
'catch in mid-air'

Other Verbs Involving Affixes (see Chapter 5 section 1.3 .)

ddrgl

ddrgl

hnus*Sd

hnussd

be blind'
tshnuSSud
a

ahnusSd/Gahnass]Ltt

'ski'

'skiing'/ the sport of skiing'

hulfu

hulfu

tshulfu

'resent'

kkuffG

kkuffG

tskkuffu

'skim (milk)'

qqums

qqums*

tsqqumuS

'squat'

sluffz

sluffz

tsluffuz

'ruminate'

sGufu

sGufa

Skuntd

skuntd

t*Skuntud

'hang on' (cf. ntd)

Srurd

srurd

tSrurud

'take small steps'

SukkG

SukkG

tSukkuG

'suspect'

zgugl

z*gugl

dSgugul

'swing'

z91ulq

291ulq

dz91uluq

'swing' (cf. 91q)

'have time'

319

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324

Vita
Yousef Farhan Bader was born in 1952 in Khirbet El-Wahadneh, Jordan.

In

1976, he received a Bacheloi of Arts degree in English Language and Literature

from the University of Jordan, Amman.

From 1976 to 1980, he taught English at

Amman Polytechnic School while working as a correspondent for the French News
Agency (Agence France-Presse) in Jordan.

In 1980, he won a scholarship from

Yarmouk University (Jordan) to study for a Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he obtained his A.M. in 1982.
Yousef Bader is the author of "Syllable Structure and Vowel Sandhi in
Kabyle Berber" in Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 13.1, 1-17, and co-author
(with Michael Kenstowicz and Rachid Benkeddache) of "The Phonology of State
in Kabyle Berber", to appear in D. Goyvearts, ed., Studies in African Linguistics.
The author held a teaching assistant position in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, from August 1982
until May 1984.

He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Upon his

return to Jordan, he will be appointed assistant professor in the Department

of English and Literature at Yarmouk University.