Southeast Babar language

Southeast Babar is an Austronesian language spoken on Babar Island in South Maluku, Indonesia.^[2]

Phonology

Consonants

• Sounds /ɡ s ŋ/ only occur in loanwords.
• /f/ is only attested in loanwords and also infrequently in roots.
• /b/ and /d/ are marginal and only occur in a few words.

Vowels

• /ɛ, ɔ/ are heard as more closed [e, o] when occurring before glides /w, j/.^[3]

Phonological history

Southeast Babar is notable for its drastic phonetic reshapings of inherited Austronesian vocabulary, with extensive consonant loss, unusual reflexes of surviving consonants, and syncope and apocope of vowels. Many of these changes are outlined and exemplified by Hein Steinhauer as follows:^[3]

Changes to consonants

Consonant loss

Elision of consonants in all historical positions is extensive throughout Southeast Babar. Ancestral Proto-Malayo-Polynesian sounds like *p, *k, *q, *R, *h *j and *z were simply lost in Southeast Babar with some exceptions. Examples of consonant deletions include:

• *q
  • Initially: *qapuR > uir "chalk", *qatəluR > kely "egg".
  • Medially: *ma-qitem > mexm "black", ma-qudip > -mory "(a)live"
  • Finally: *tanaq > kal "soil", *buaq "fruit" > wu, *bunuq > -wuly "to kill".
• *h
  • *hikan > eːl "fish", *hapuy > uy "fire".
• *z
  • *zalan > al "road"
• *k
  • Initially: *kutu > oxy "louse", *kita > ixy "we (inclusive)", *kayu > ay "wood", *kaRat > -ax "to bite"
  • Medially: *i-kau > yow "you (sg. polite), *hikan > *ial > eːl "fish"
  • Finally: *burak > wo-wor "white", *tasik > kat "sea", *utak "brain" > ox "head"
• *R
  • Initially: *Rumaq > em "house"
  • Medially: *kaRat > -ax "to bite", *maRi > -moy "to come", *daRaq > ra "blood".
  • Finally: *qatəluR > kely "egg".
  • Preserved as r: *qapuR > uir "chalk", *ma-bəʀ(əq)at > berk "heavy"
• *p
  • Initially: *pitu > wo-exy "7", *punti "banana" > uty
  • Medially: *hapuy > uy "fire", *nipən > *liəl > lil "tooth"
  • Finally: ma-qudip > -mory "(a)live", *malip > -moly "laugh".
  • Preserved as p: *panas > pant "warm"
• *j
  • *qaləjaw > le "day", *ŋajan > non "name"
  • Preserved as r: *ijuŋ > irl "nose"

Chain shift of *s, *t, and *k

The loss of *k led to a pull chain shift. Subsequently, *t shifted to k except if the *t was directly preceded by original *n; unshifted *t before *n is known from *punti > uty "banana". In turn, k produced from *t lenited to /x/ unless the *k was:

• Word- or root-initial and followed by a vowel:
  • *tanaq > kal "soil", *ma-takut > mkak "afraid" (root *takut "to be afraid"), *təlu > wo-kely "3"
• Word-final when protected by a consonant that now immediately precedes the k due to syncope:
  • *laŋit > lalk "sky, heavens", *ma-bəʀ(əq)at > berk "heavy"

Lenited reflexes of *t > k > x include *teliŋa > xlil "ear", *mata > mox "eye", *ma-qitəm > mexm "black", *matay > -moxy "to die", *batu > waxy "stone", and *(h)əpat > wo-ax "4".

Afterwards, *s subsequently underwent fortition to t, with examples including:

• *sulu > tuly "torch"
• *susu > -tuty "milk"
• *asu > uty "dog".
• *panas > pant "warm"

Merger of *n, *ŋ and *l

The inherited Malayo-Polynesian nasal consonants *n and *ŋ merge with each other as *n, followed by a merger of that merged phoneme with *l, generally surfacing as /l/.

• *ta-kaən > *ka-an > kaːl "you and I eat"
• *teliŋa > xlil "ear"
• *nipən > *lipəl > *liəl > lil "tooth"
• *laŋit > lalk "sky, heavens".

Post-merger /l/ subsequently underwent an inverse development to n when adjacent to t either originating from *s or borrowed from another language. This circular development leads to roots and inflectional affixes to synchronically contain alternations between l and n.

• English bottle > Indonesian botol > Southeast Babar potn
• *panas > *palt > pant "hot" (intermediate *l preserved in reduplicated intensive derivative pal-pant "very hot")

A few cases of n failing to merge with l are known, mainly in monosyllabic words where, due to medial consonant deletion and resulting vowel coalescence, there is simultaneously there is one n in the onset and a second n in the coda.

• *ŋajan > non "name"
• *na-kaən > *na-an > noːn "(s)he eats"

Due to *nipən "tooth" surfacing as lil and not **nin, Steinhauer suggests that the loss of *p occurred after the loss of *j and *k.

Changes to vowels

Reduction and loss of final vowels

All word-final *ə and *a, whether inherited as word-final or secondarily word-final due to the loss of a following consonant, are deleted in Southeast Babar.

• Originally word-final: *lima > lim "hand", *mata > mox "eye", *dua > wu-ru "2"
• Secondarily word-final: *tanaq > *kala > *kal "land", *dəŋəR > rel "to hear"

Word-final high vowels *-u and *-i generally reduce to the glide /j/. Like with *a, the loss of a following consonant will make the high vowel count as word-final for the purposes of this reduction.

• From *u: *batu > waxy "stone", *sulu > tuly "torch", *baqəRu > wa-way "new"
• From *i: *malip > -moly "to laugh", *balik > -waly "to turn", *waiR > wey "water"
• From *-ay: *matay > -moxy "to die"

Reflexes of *a

*a turns into u if it becomes the first phoneme of a word at any point in its evolution to Southeast Babar.

• Original word-initial *a: *asu > uty "dog", *ama > um "father"
• Secondarily word-initial *a: *hapuy > uy "fire", *qabu > uwy "ash"

*a surfaces as o after nasal consonants. However, this change is blocked in the first-person singular of verbs, where a /j/ is infixed in the verbal root. Contrast:

• *ku-malip > i-myaly "I laugh" (rounding blocked by infixed -y-)
• *na-malip > l-moly "(s)he laughs" (with rounding after nasal).

If an *a is not word-initial nor is not subject to apocope or syncope, it will remain as a.

References

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