Diachronic split and phoneme borrowing in Resígaro (Arawakan)

Abstract

This paper examines a previously identified but so far imprecisely defined split in the historical phonology of Resígaro (Arawakan). I argue that this development was a simple case of allophonic redistribution or primary split, in which word-final allophones of *a merged with ɯ. However, comparative data offers no evidence for the existence of ɯ before the operation of the split in question. This apparent paradox can be resolved by the plausible hypothesis that ɯ entered the language via the massive influx of morphemes from Bora, an unrelated language of the Bora-Muinane family. Only after that were some contextual allophones of *a merged with ɯ. This is the first solidly justified case of loan phonology in Resígaro and it provides further support to the hypothesis that Bora influence on Resígaro is not a result of the language's obsolescent status.

On the diachronic origins of the accentual contrast in Terena (Arawakan)

“…For Res ıgaro, the source of its tone features may lie in the heavy impact of contact with Bora, a tone language (Payne 1985). Note that Bora influence on Res ıgaro phonology has been conclusively demonstrated in Carvalho (2018a). Based on available descriptions of Nomatsigenga, it seems clear that high tones in this language result from the recent loss of glottal fricatives (Lawrence 2013: 20-2).…”