Initial Vowel Length in Lulamogi: Cyclicity or Globality?

Abstract

UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report (2015) Initial Vowel Length in Lulamogi: Cyclicity or Globality? Larry M. Hyman University of California, Berkeley Introduction Over the past several decades there has been recurrent skeptism concerning cyclic derivations in phonology. Some of the proposed cyclic analyses have been argued not to require cyclicity, or to represent lexical relations that are not totally productive. For “surviving” cases, a major strategy within optimality theory has been to capture cyclic relations by surface output-output (O/O) constraints. To take a standard example, in an O/O approach, generative and derivative have different stress patterns not because they are derived from generate and derive, but because the stress of each derivative must agree with the output stress of its respective corresponding base. A particularly explicit (and hence falsifiable) component of O/O correspondence is stated as follows by Steriade (2013): “a cyclic Base must be a freely occurring expression, a phrase or a free-standing word (Benua 1997, Kager 1999; Kenstowicz 1996; cf. Bermudez-Otero 2010, Kiparsky 1998, Trommer 2013 for critical discussion and proposed counterevidence).” In this paper I address some global effects concerning vowel length alternations in Lulamogi [olumooǰi], a small understudied Bantu language closely related to Luganda, which is often grouped with Lusoga, but is instead dialectal with Lugwere (Nabirye 2013, Hyman & Merrill 2014). In what follows I will contrast a cyclic analysis of the facts to be presented with one that requires global reference to the history of the derivation, in particularly whether the relevant vowel length is within the prefix vs. stem domain. I first present the basic facts in §2 and §3 and then turn to the different analyses in §4 and §5. After considering some residual cases in §6, I conclude with a brief summary conclusion in §7. 1 Initial V- prefixes As in Luganda (and many other Bantu languages in the area), Lulamogi has the five-vowel system /i, e, u, o, a/ which contrast in vowel length: 2 a. o-ku-siβ-a o-ku-sen-a o-ku-hol-a o-ku-tum-a o-ku-many-a ‘to ‘to ‘to ‘to ‘to tie’ draw (water)’ lend (money)’ send’ know’ b. o-ku-siiβ-a o-ku-seen-a o-ku-hool-a o-ku-tuum-a o-ku-maany-a ‘to ‘to ‘to ‘to ‘to fast’ become thin’ differentiate between’ jump’ pluck’ Work on Lulamogi is based on an undergraduate field methods course given in the Fall of 2013 and follow-up research based on the speech of Mr. Andrew Mukacha from Busulumba village in Kaliro district. Versions of this paper were presented at the University of California, Berkeley, Sept. 29, 2014 and Harvard University, Nov. 10, 2014. I am grateful to Mr. Mukacha, the undergraduates, and the different audiences for their comments and sympathy. High tone is marked by an acute (´) accent, while L tone is unmarked. For discussion of the tone system, see Hyman (2014).