A TONAL TAXONOMY OF CHUNGLI AO VERBS Daniel Bruhn ...

A Tonal Taxonomy of Chungli Ao Verbs
(16) mmmməəəə³³³³ssssəəəə¹¹¹¹-u³ku² (H.L, 1B3) ‘has combed’
Three anomalous 1B stems are also worth mentioning: The 1B1 verbs (with
L(.)L/L(.)M alternate stem tone patterns) /a H lu L / ‘come down’, /a H ɹu L / ‘come’,
and /a H tu L / ‘come up’ all appear in the imperative suffixed with [-ŋ²] instead of
[-aŋ²]:
(17) a¹lu-ŋ² ‘come down!’
(18) a¹ɹu-ŋ² ‘come!’
(19) a¹tu-ŋ² ‘come up!’
All other /u/-final stems form the imperative by suffixation with [-aŋ²] (e.g.
zə¹lu¹-aŋ² ‘write!’), so the loss of suffix-initial /a/ here cannot simply be
attributed to a constraint against /u-a/ vowel hiatus. The fact that these three
verbs exhibit identical behaviour is likely due to some synchronic or diachronic
relationship, given the unquestionable similarities among their glosses and forms.
However, a reasonable explanation for their omission of suffix-initial /a/ cannot
be posited based on the existing data.
Thus far, the treatment of Class 1 verbs here is long on description and short
on analysis. Given the tonal alternations exhibited by Class 1 verb stems (not to
mention the chimera verbs!) and the fact that collection of additional data
continues to yield more verbs with erratic tonal behaviour, a synchronic analysis
that goes beyond mere stipulation is not possible at this time, no matter the
theoretical framework. It may be the case that these tonal phenomena cannot be
truly understood without a diachronic investigation – a venture that must await
better historical analyses of the “Naga” languages.
4.3. Class 2 (M.M, M)
4.3.1. Stem
If Class 1 is the bizarre “Mr. Hyde” of the Chungli Ao verb system, then Class 2
is its Dr. Jekyll. Verb stems in this class bear disyllabic M.M or monosyllabic M
and are uniform in their tonal behaviour under trigger-suffixation, undergoing no
stem tone alternations whatsoever. (Class 2 therefore has no subclasses.) A-stem
and B-stem examples are shown in the following table:
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