<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Bob,<BR>
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Catawba /-hu:-/ is a mutating verb where the initial consonant changes to indicate subject :<BR>
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-hu :- 'come'<BR>
c'u:re: 'I come'<BR>
y'u:re: 'you (sg.) come'<BR>
h'u:re: 'he, she, it comes'<BR>
h'u:re: 'we come'<BR>
w'u:re: 'you (pl.) come'<BR>
ir'u:re: 'they come'<BR>
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Of the other mutating verbs, the conjugation of /-hu:-/ is most like the conjugation of the verb /-ri:-/ 'be located' (Saraw dialect) (/-re:-/ in the Esaw dialect) :<BR>
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-ri:- 'be located'<BR>
c'i:re: 'I am located'<BR>
y'i:ire: 'you (sg.) are located'<BR>
d'i:re: 'he, she, it is located'<BR>
h'i:re: 'we are located'<BR>
w'i:re: 'you (pl.) are located'<BR>
ir'i:re: 'they are located'<BR>
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It has generally been assumed that the third person singular forms of mutating verbs take a zero allomorph of the third person. For example, /-ri:-/ 'be located' + /-re:/ 'independent mode' becomes /d'i:re:/ with the regular, automatic shift of /r/ to /d/ in initial position before an oral vowel. Based on this assumption, the bare stem of the verb 'come' would be /-hu:-/. It is, however, possible that the initial /h/ here is an atypical manifestation of the third person singular subject prefix /h(i)-/ on a mutating verb. If so, then the original form of the verb would have been *-u:-. There is, however, no direct evidence for such a proto-form; at the same time, there are no (other) mutating verbs that begin with a vowel. There are also no other mutating verbs that have root-initial /h/ and an initial /h/ in the third person form. So, an analogical explanation is a possibility for the initial /h/ of Catawba /-hu:-/ 'come'.<BR>
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Blair<BR>
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