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Foot structure in the Ibibio verb

2003; De Gruyter Mouton; Volume: 24; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1515/jall.2003.006

1613-3811

Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Eno E. Urua,

Linguistics and language evolution

This paper argues that monosyllabic verb root-suffix combinations in Ibibio form a foot, specifically, a (bi)syllabic trochee. Our argument is that without the assumption of a bisyllabic foot, phonological generalizations regarding root-suffix structures cannot be captured. The suffixed verbs take one of two shapes: a heavy-light trochee, or a light-light trochee. The templatic choice is strictly determined by morphological inflection. We explain processes affecting vowel quantity: vowel lengthening and shortening, as forced by the prosodic requirement of template satisfaction. The overall picture is that Ibibio is a language with every possible form of the trochee, which forms the domain of several phonological processes and the basis of segmental distribution.