Mambae suffix -a

[Davi Albuquerque]

Dear Prof. Blust,

 

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.

 

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. 

 

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.  

 

 

I wish that could help you! 

 

Anything, you can contact me on my e-mail albuquerque00 at hotmail.com and my blog of East Timor linguistics http://easttimorlinguistics.blogspot.com/ .

 

Prof. Davi B. Albuquerque.


 
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.
 
Thanks!
 
Bob Blust

 		 	   		  
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