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Dear Prof. Blust,<BR>
<BR>
maybe this could not be a suffix, but only sound changes in one of Mambae dialects. In all of my Mambae datas (Ermera, Ainaro, and Aileu) I have only a few.<BR>
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Mambae, as can be easily attested, have this kind of sound change *asu > aus ~ ausa; *manuk > maun ~ mauna, but compare Tetun-Dili: TD 'louse' utu Mb uta; 'rat' TD laho Mb laha. <BR>
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Nowadays, I am working with the hypothesis that happened only that kind of sound change above mentioned (similar to metathesis) in Mambae nouns. Later, others Austrenesians influences, and Portuguese-Tetun contact could made this final -a appears only due to syllabic patterns of some Mambae dialects, but not all Mambae varieties have this final -a that is similar to a final -e, or a final schwa, that appears in some of my Mambae data sometimes, also in another East Timor languages. <BR>
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I wish that could help you! <BR>
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Anything, you can contact me on my e-mail <A href="mailto:albuquerque00@hotmail.com">albuquerque00@hotmail.com</A> and my blog of East Timor linguistics <A href="http://easttimorlinguistics.blogspot.com/">http://easttimorlinguistics.blogspot.com/</A> .<BR>
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Prof. Davi B. Albuquerque.<BR>
<BR> <BR>I'm wondering whether any of you might know the historical source of the final vowel in Mambai words such as /ausa/ (< *asu) 'dog', or /mauna/ (< manu < *manuk) 'bird'. It occurs only on nouns, which suggests a morphological source, but no current description of the language that I have been able to consult mentions a nominal suffix -a.<BR> <BR>Thanks!<BR> <BR>Bob Blust<BR><BR> <br /><hr />O Pedro tem 25 Gb grátis de armazenamento na web. Quer também? <a href='http://www.eutenhomaisnowindowslive.com.br/?utm_source=MSN_Hotmail&utm_medium=Tagline&utm_campaign=InfuseSocial' target='_new'>Clique aqui.</a></body>
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