Full Description
This book presents the results of a field research on the verbal system of Soqotri, a little-studied language spoken on the island of Soqotra (Arabian Sea) and belonging to the Modern South Arabian branch of Semitic. The investigation focuses on the so-called T-stems (marked by the infix -t-), mostly employed as derivational means of detransitivisation. In this book you will find comprehensive descriptions of the synchronic morphology and semantics of the T-stems, as well as an inquiry into their diachronic background. Simultaneously, the study is a contribution to the general typology of detransitivising derivation in the languages of the world.
Contents
Preface
List of Tables
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
1.1 The Soqotri Language
1.2 The Verbal System of Soqotri
2 The Morphology of T-Stems
2.1 Strong Verbs of VIII and VI
2.2 Strong Verbs of VII
2.3 Phonologically Motivated Variations
2.4 Conjugational Subtypes Motivated by the Consonantal Set of the Root
2.5 Irregular Verbs
2.6 Biconsonantal Roots in the T-Stem
3 The Diachronic Dimension of the T-Stems
3.1 Strong Roots
3.2 The Diachronic Dimension of T-Stems of Geminated Verbs
3.3 The Diachronic Dimension of Hollow Verbs
3.4 The Diachronic Dimension of C1C2y verbs
3.5 The Diachronic Dimension of T-Stem Verbs with Root-Initial t and with Root-Initial "Weak" Consonant
3.6 Conclusions: The Reconstructed Bases for Strong and Weak T-Stem Verbs
4 The Semantics of the T-Stems
4.1 Semantics of VIII and VI
4.2 Equipollent Pairs with Stem II
4.3 Equipollent Pairs with Stem IV and Derivation from Stem IV
4.4 Semantic Opposition between VIII/VI and VII
4.5 Semantics of VI: The Evidence of the Corpus
4.6 Semantics of the T-Stems: The Diachronic Dimension
Appendix: The Lexical Data
1 Strong Verbs
2 The Type C1©C3 (Verbs with the Second "Idle Glottis" Consonant)
3 The Type ʔC2C3/tC2C3 (Verbs with Root-Initial ʔ and Verbs with Root-Initial T)
4 The Type C1C2C2 (Geminated Roots)
5 The Type C1VC3 (Hollow Roots)
6 The Type C1C2y
7 The Type C1C2ʔ
8 "Doubly Weak" Roots
9 Irregular Verbs
10 Biconsonantal Verbs
Bibliography
Index
