Analysis of the flexive pattern of relational nouns in language mayangna

Abstract

This paper analyzes inflection in Mayangna relational nouns and argues that these nouns constitute a class of their own, whose inflection is due to the application of a constraint prohibiting the presence of consonantal clusters within the syllable. An inflectional pattern CV(μ).CVAfixedC is thus proposed. This pattern also accounts for the variation observed in the copying of affix vowels into the root: the presence of a second mora in the first syllable of the root prevents the affix vowel from being copied into the root nucleus.