Phonological and Morphological Influences on Vowel Hiatus Resolution in Rutooro

  • Lee Bickmore University at Albany & University of the Free State
Keywords: Rutooro, phonology, vowel hiatus, allomorphy, epenthesis, gliding

Abstract

When the morphology of a language creates instances of successive vowels, these cases of vowel hiatus are often resolved or repaired. This paper presents a wide variety of instances where vowel hiatus is created within verbs in Rutooro, a Ugandan Bantu language. It is shown that five different strategies are employed to resolve vowel hiatus: deletion, gliding, diphthongisation, epenthesis, and lexical allomorphy. While some of these processes are largely phonological, there are a number of morphological factors which also play a role in determining which of the various strategies are employed. All of these are explored and discussed.
Published
2021-08-22
How to Cite
Bickmore, L. (2021). Phonological and Morphological Influences on Vowel Hiatus Resolution in Rutooro. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 62(1), 39-55. https://doi.org/10.5842/62-0-900