2 - PHONOLOGY

Summary

Yidiɲ has a number of phonological rules of wide application, that operate on the forms of inflected words – inserting and deleting vowel length, and deleting a final syllable or final consonant – to ensure that the surface forms of words meet the stress targets of the language. These are discussed in detail in the present chapter; they are a necessary prerequisite to understanding the morphology, in chapter 3.

But consideration of the phonological processes must refer to aspects of the morphology – the alternate forms of affixes (and the conditions under which each occurs) indicate the nature and application of the phonological rules. Critical decisions in the phonology depend upon the form of certain morphological combinations, and so on.

The ideal way to understand Yidiɲ is to learn something of the phonology, then a little morphology, then some more phonology, and so on – gradually building up a picture of both levels of description (and ensuring both the phonological prerequisites for understanding each aspect of the morphology, and the morphological prerequisites for justifying and exemplifying each phonological rule and constraint). The writer follows this scheme in classroom presentation of Yidiɲ; but it would plainly be an inappropriate arrangement for a reference grammar.

Where sections of this chapter involve heavy use of morphological results, cross-references are given to chapter 3.