CV as the only syllable type Jean Lowenstamm

young branch", illustrate similar behavior.
(16) Feminine palatalization of a-final Imperatives
Root masc. fem.
a. √qTA qITa qICä
b. √xdA xIda xIjä
c. √b w kA b w Ika b w Ik y ä
d. √gfA gIfa g y Ifä
e. √kbA kIba k y Ibä
f. √smA sIma simä *šImä
g. √dfA dIfa difä *jIfä
h. √brtA bärta bärcä
i. √qrbA qämba q y ämbä
The careful reader will have noticed that a corollary always accompanies
palatalization, viz. centralization into ä of the final a. Thus, Masculines are
always a-final, whereas Feminines are always ä-final. This change of a to ä,
subsequent to Palatalization, is the central point of this section. However, before
it can be addressed, one last piece of information has to be adduced regarding the
representation of palatalization. I argue in Lowenstamm (in preparation) that
Chaha palatalization does not exclusively affect a segment of the root tier, a
scenario represented in (17a). Rather, the palatalizing agent, I, claims a
consonantal position of its own to the right of the palatalized segment. That is, a
palatalized consonant is, for all intent and purposes, a cluster, as shown in (17b).
(17)
a. b.
... C V C ... ... C V C ...
| | |
{dI Fem } {d I Fem }
[...j...]
[...j...]
Consider now the fairly straightforward case of the derivation of a
Masculine/Feminine alternation such as [qITa] (18a) vs. [qICä], the ingredients
of which appear in (18b).
(18)