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

[John Mansfield]

Hi Adam!

Yes I believe there are many documented cases of old morphemes being
exapted into prosodic roles.

A nice example is in Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara (Aus), where verbs use
four different syllabic augments (-nga, -na, -ngku, -nku) to satisfy a
metrical constraint. These were once TAM suffixes, but some of them no
longer align with any particular TAM category and they are all controlled
by the metrical structure. (See Goddard 1985; Dench 1996; also  Sasha
Wilmoth and I are revising a paper on this.)

There are more examples in the references below.

Anderson 2013, Stem alternations in Swiss Rumantsch.
Blevins 2008, Consonant epenthesis: Natural and unnatural histories.
Dench 1996, Pilbara verbal morphology and the Western Desert: Some first
steps towards a comparative reconstruction
Goddard 1985, A grammar of Yankunytjatjara.
Lichtenberk 1978, Thematic consonants in Manam transitive verbs.
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