Stress Change and Initial Consonant Loss in Umpithamu: Cause or Consequence?*

Abstract

AbstractThis study aims to reconstruct a change in the system of word stress in Umpithamu, a language of Cape York Peninsula, in northeastern Australia. The change involves a shift in parsing direction, from a left‐aligned system as found in most Pama‐Nyungan languages, to a system anchored at the right edge. The process of change is reconstructed using evidence from changes in root structure and root size, in combination with specifics of the synchronic system of word stress. The broader context for the analysis is a well‐known hypothesis about stress shift as a cause of initial consonant loss, a typologically rare phenomenon attested in areal patterns in Australia, including Umpithamu and its neighbours. The reconstruction of stress change in Umpithamu shows that the picture is more complex, with the major stress shift as a consequence rather than a cause of initial loss. Umpithamu shows partial rather than complete initial loss, and thus reveals the complexities of the actual processes rather than their end point. Comparison with languages at the end point of the processes shows how their stress systems can be derived from an Umpithamu‐type system simply by assuming further changes in root structure attested as following initial consonant loss.