Vowel deletion in two Aymara varieties

Aymara vowels delete under predictable phonotactic, syntactic, and morphophonemic conditions. We provide a detailed description of each of these processes, with special attention to morphophonemic vowel deletion. In this process, specific suffixes trigger the deletion of the preceding vowel, with no obvious phonological or semantic conditioning. This is both the most common type of vowel deletion in Aymara, and the most unusual one in cross-linguistic terms. We compare vowel deletion in Contemporary Aymara (Coler 2014) and Historical Aymara as attested in the 17th century (e.g. Bertonio 1612a) and reveal that both varieties delete vowels as a result of processes arising from phonotactic and morphophonemic motivation, though some processes of syntactic vowel deletion were not widespread in the historical variety. Notably, while morphophonemic vowel deletion was attested in both Contemporary and Historical Aymara, the suffixes which are lexically pre-specified to delete the preceding vowel are often different in the two varieties. Further, Historical Aymara lacks accusative inflection marking with subtractive disfixation, which is an important and typologically unusual aspect of Contemporary Aymara nominal morphology. In light of the typological rarity of morphophonemic vowel deletion (and disfixation in particular), we expect this description to be of interest to typologists

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics

Bridging constructions

Many descriptive grammars report the use of a linguistic pattern at the interface between discourse and syntax which is known generally as tail-head linkage. This volume takes an unprecedented look at this type of linkage across languages and shows that there exist three distinct variants, all subsumed under the hypernym bridging constructions. The chapters highlight the defining features of these constructions in the grammar and their functional properties in discourse. The volume reveals that: Bridging constructions consist of two clauses: a reference clause and a bridging clause. Across languages, bridging clauses can be subordinated clauses, reduced main clauses, or main clauses with continuation prosody. Bridging constructions have three variants: recapitulative linkage, summary linkage and mixed linkage. They differ in the formal makeup of the bridging clause. In discourse, the functions that bridging constructions fulfil depend on the text genres in which they appear and their position in the text. If a language uses more than one type of bridging construction, then each type has a distinct discourse function. Bridging constructions can be optional and purely stylistic or mandatory and serve a grammatical purpose. Although the difference between bridging constructions and clause repetition can be subtle, they maintain their own distinctive characteristics