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The table below contains nouns possessed by a singular possessor in Sierra Popoluca.
| IPA | English Gloss | IPA | English Gloss | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | añxix | 'my cow' | 9. | iñaañi | 'your tortilla' |
| 2. | iñxix | 'your cow' | 10. | ikɨʔ | 'his/her hand' |
| 3. | aŋkɨʔ | 'my hand' | 11. | ampetkuy | 'my broom' |
| 4. | iʔaañi | 'his/her tortilla' | 12. | ityɨk | 'his/her house' |
| 5. | ipetkuy | 'his/her broom' | 13. | iŋkɨʔ | 'your hand' |
| 6. | anaañi | 'my tortilla' | 14. | antɨk | 'my house' |
| 7. | iñtyɨk | 'your house' | 15. | ixix | 'his/her cow' |
| 8. | impetkuy | 'your broom' |
Step 4: Working with allomorphy
In Step 3 you divided the words into roots and affixes as follows:
Note: the symbol /x/ represents a voiceless palatoalveolar fricative, /y/ represents a voiced palatal glide, /ñ/ represents a voiced palatal nasal stop, and /j/ represents a voiceless glottal fricative.
| 'hand' | 'cow' | 'tortilla' | 'broom' | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| my 'X' | aŋ-kɨʔ | añ-xix | an-aañi | am-petkuy |
| your 'X' | iŋ-kɨʔ | iñ-xix | iñ-aañi | im-petkuy |
| his/her 'X' | i-kɨʔ | i-xix | iʔ-aañi | i-petkuy |
1) In the forms presented so far, do you find any allomorphy in the roots? (i.e. Do you find more than one phonetic form for any of the roots?)
Yes No
Correct. None of the roots have any allomorphy.
Try again.
2a) In the forms presented so far, do you find any allomorphy in the prefixes?
Yes No
Correct!
Try again.
2b) Which prefixes which show allmorphic variation? Check all those that do.
Correct! All three forms have more than one allomorph.
Try again.
3a) The form for ‘my’ has the following allomorphs:
aŋ añ an am
They differ in which phonetic dimensions? Check all that are relevant.
Correct! These morphemes differ in the place of articulation of the final nasal consonant.
Try again.
3b) Keeping in mind what you learned about common phonological processes, examine the forms again. Can you predict which allomorph will occur where?
Yes No
Correct! You can predict which allomorph will occur where.
Try again.
At this point of the analysis, you should be able to write general statements about the distribution of allomorphs which are supported by citing examples. For example:
Consider [an] to be the basic form for 'my', [iñ] for 'your', and [i] for 'his/her'.
[aŋ] and [iŋ ] occur before roots that begin with a velar sound. (Examples: [aŋ-kɨʔ] 'my hand' and [iŋ-kɨʔ] 'your hand')
[añ] occurs before roots that begin with a postalveolar sound. (Example: [añ-xix] 'my cow')
[am] and [im] occur before roots that begin with a bilabial sound. (Example: [am-petkuy] 'my broom' and [im-petkuy] 'your broom')
[iʔ] occurs before roots that begin with a vowel. (Example: [iʔ-aañi] 'my tortilla')