A templatic approach to gemination in the imperfective of Tashlhiyt Berber.pdf

Abstract

Tashlhiyt Berber uses, among other processes, gemination to form the imperfective. Most accounts of this phenomenon make reference to syllabic or prosodic structure. In this paper, I diverge from this trend, claiming that imperfective gemination is better analyzed as a templatic-based phenomenon resulting from morphological activity at the skeletal tier. I will argue for the use in the imperfective of a fixed-shape template over which consonant gemination is realized. Moreover, I will show that tri-, bi- and monoconsonantal verbs share the same template. The surface irregularity that bi- and monoconsonantal verbs display is viewed as the consequence of the identification of templatic positions.

Keywords

• Urhobo
• Edoid
• phonology
• vowel change