This paper presents original data from Taqjmit, a secret language in Tashelhiyt Berber which is used by women in Southern Morocco. The main principle underlying word formation in this secret language can be stated as follows: to disguise a word, say it twice in one word. It is proposed that only root consonants are kept in the disguised forms, that the repetition is strict insofar as any element in the disguised form is uttered only twice, and that the way the repetition is performed (gemination and reduplication) results from the use of a fixed-shape template, containing a derivational site of the form CV. As for vowel melody, which is invariant, it follows a uniform apophonic path, found in many languages (including Tashelhiyt Berber), and used here without any grammatical motivation.

This article examines the internal structure of triconsonantal roots in Tashlhiyt Berber. It is proposed that these roots have a binary-branching head-complement structure, built upon the sonorant and the segment immediately to its left. Evidence for this structure is provided by the imperfective formation. It is argued that only roots that display such a structure undergo gemination in the imperfective. This permits an account for a number of forms that are traditionally ascribed to lexical idiosyncrasy, including verbs that are made up entirely of obstruents and those whose only sonorant is in initial position.

An outstanding issue in Tashlhiyt Berber phonology is the status of the short central vowel (schwa) that appears in certain consonant clusters, and its relation to the remaining (peripheral) vowels in the language. We show that within Tagnawt, a secret language in Tashlhiyt Berber used by women, peripheral vowels are underlyingly long, in that they connect to two skeletal positions. They become unassociated when they have access to only one position. Then, depending on phonotactic conditions, this skeletal position remains empty or surfaces as schwa. In particular, it is demonstrated that Tagnawt formations are all built upon a fixed-shape template fundamentally designed to accommodate three rootconsonants. Accordingly, when the Tashlhiyt input is quadriconsonantal, one root-consonant is regularly discarded. In certain cases, however, all four consonants are maintained, except that a schwa systematically appears in one of the vocalic positions where the vowel a normally surfaces. This cannot be accounted for unless the proposal on the representation of peripheral vowels and schwa is assumed.

International audienceWe discuss the grammatical conditions that can be imposed between segmental content (features) and syllable structure (positions) and how a representational preference can influence diachronic development. The discussion centers on the co-distribution of two properties: occlusivity and bipositionality. The first is the phonological feature that induces occlusivity and reduces amplitude (|ʔ| that we will refer to as Edge(*)), the second is the autosegmental structural property of belonging to multiple positions (C.C). Edge(*) and bipositionality have a universal affinity but they are not reducible to each other. Instead, the inherent diachronic tendency to preserve Edge(*) in bipositional structures becomes grammaticalised through licensing conditions that dictate the alignment of the two properties. This can be expressed bidirectionally forming two major language types. Type A has the condition stated from the featural perspective (Edge(*) must be found in C.C). While, Type B comes from the other direction (C.C must contain Edge(*)). Crucially, the same structure is diachronically stable: (Edge(*)-C.C). What varies is the distribution of those properties elsewhere (given the direction of licensing condition). Type A excludes Edge(*) from {#__,V_V}, while Type B excludes C.Cs without Edge(*). Although there is variation on this point, there is a UG component, because there are no anti-Type A/B languages where Edge(*) repels bipositionality

Référence électroniqueMohamed Lahrouchi, « Manifestations gabaritiques dans la morphologie verbale du berbère (parler chleuh d'Agadir) », Recherches linguistiques de Vincennes [En ligne], 32 | 2003, mis en ligne le 06 juin 2005, consulté le 21 avril 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/rlv/455 ; DOI : 10.4000/rlv.455 © Presses universitaires de Vincennes Recherches linguistiques de Vincennes 32 -2003 -p. 61-82 Mohamed LAHROUCHI Laboratoire LLACAN -UMR 8135 -CNRS MANIFESTATIONS GABARITIQUES DANS LA MORPHOLOGIE VERBALE DU BERBÈRE (PARLER CHLEUH D'AGADIR) 1RÉSUMÉ En berbère tachelhit, les verbes causatifs et réciproques sont construits par la préfixation d'un affixe monoconsonantique à une base. En fonction des propriétés de la base, ces préfixes seront réalisés comme des consonnes simples ou géminées. Il est soutenu dans cet article qu'un site gabaritique initial est responsable des variations de taille des préfixes. De plus, des combinaisons complexes de préfixes (causatif + réciproque, réciproque + causatif) nourrissent des phénomènes phonologiques apparement paradoxaux. Il est montré qu'ils découlent directement de la présence du site initial.