[Lingtyp] morpheme -> empty morph -> epenthetic formative?

[TALLMAN Adam]

Hey everyone,

I'm asking if anyone has described or found likely cases where some epenthetic segment(s) has/have been exapted from previously meaningful morphology.

So think of a morpheme that once meant something, becomes semantically bleached, but then acquires a function as an epenthetic element to meet minimality conditions or to avoid vowel hiatus or something else.

I understand (from wikipedia) that /t/ in French interrogatives comes from habet and could be an example of this and the insertion of /n/ in English after 'a' determiner #vowel  is also an example. I'm wondering about more sources on diachronic processes like these. Also any good sources on the French and English processes would also be helpful.

best,

Adam





Adam James Ross Tallman (PhD, UT Austin)
ELDP-SOAS -- Postdoctorant
CNRS -- Dynamique Du Langage (UMR 5596)
Bureau 207, 14 av. Berthelot, Lyon (07)
Numero celular en bolivia: +59163116867
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