Studies on Sino-Tibetan Languages, 269-296 2004-8-004-001-000004-2 Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong* Jackson T.-S. Sun Academia Sinica The richest verbal system among the rGyalrongic cluster of languages in Tibeto-Burman is found in the Showu dialect of rGyalrong. Drawing on first-hand field data, this paper provides an account of the elaborate morphological patterns in Showu verb-stem formation. Unlike many other rGyalrongic members, Showu possesses non-alternating verbs with invariant stems throughout the paradigm. On the other hand, a good number of basic verbs distinguish a second (or past) stem while many transitive verbs show an additional third (or nonpast singular transitive) stem. Both vocalic, consonantal, and suprasegmental modifications play a role in the formation of the second and third stems. After treating Showu stem variations and their functional distribution, a comparison is made with the more innovative stem-alternating patterns in the Caodeng and Dazang dialects of rGyalrong. Key words: Tibeto-Burman, rGyalrongic, verbal morphology, stem formation 1. Introduction In opening my contribution to this volume in honor of Professor Gong Hwang- cherng’s eminent accomplishments in Sino-Tibetan linguistics, I would like to gratefully acknowledge my intellectual debt to Professor Gong’s influence on my research on Tibeto-Burman languages over the years. Particularly inspiring for me has been his important discovery of a system of vocalic alternations in Tangut which functions to form derived verb stems utilized to index a singular speech-act participant * This research was funded by the National Science Council (ROC) grants 89-2411-H-001-005 and 89-2411-H-001-088. The Showu data cited were recorded at Ma’erkhang in field trips taken in 1996 through 2004. My main consultant is Jingasong (t∆—îm fkë®»o≥), a native from Zh—ongr\e (t®o≥r»e) Village of R\îb\u Township, Ma’erkang County. I am indebted to Jingasong for his devoted teaching and warm friendship. Thanks are also due to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Sichuan Provincial Government for their invaluable assistance. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 36th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (Melbourne, Australia, November 28-30, 2003). The constructive comments and suggestions kindly supplied by professors Jim Matisoff, Francois Jacquesson, David Bradley, and especially Weera Ostapirat are greatly appreciated. Jackson T.-S. Sun (first-person or second-person) subject in the clause (Gong 2001). The rGyalrongic cluster of languages,1 closely related to Tangut, are also noted for their abundant alternation phenomena in the formation of verb stems. The highest level of elaboration in this area of verbal morphology is attested in Showu rGyalrong (hereafter Showu), the target language of this article. Showu, one of the two principal subdialects of the Sidaba (Stodpa) dialect of rGyalrong,2 is spread across C«aod—eng,3 R\îb\u,4 and K—angsh—an5 townships in M«afl«erk—ang County, K—esh—a and R|ongfl—an townships in Aba County, Sh|îl«î and W|uy—î townships in R«angt|ang County (all in Aba Prefecture), as well as G—el\etu|o Township of S\ed|a County (in G—anz—î Prefecture). There is unfortunately no uniform self-denomination among speakers from the various localities. In my previous work the tentative label Ribu is used, after the name of the major township (locally pronounced zb—u) where a large percentage of its speakers currently reside. To avoid possible confusion with the speech forms confined within that township, I now prefer the less ambiguous term Showu (∆oÙu), an existing Caodeng exonym referring to this particular Sidaba rGyalrong subdialect.6 Despite the potential value of Showu in rGyalrongic linguistics, little systematic research has been carried out on it until recently, and the scanty published data remain uneven in quality. Sporadic Showu forms appear in Lin 1983,7 and a phonemic summary and a short wordlist can be found in Lin 1993.8 Since 1996 I have 1 A Tibeto-Burman subgroup spoken in northwestern Sichuan Province composed of at least three distinct languages: rGyalrong, Lavrung, and Horpa, each with considerable internal diversification. The special genetic relationship among these languages was assumed without demonstration in Qu 1990 and Lin 1993, with Lavrung and Horpa relegated to the status of a ‘western rGyalrong dialect’. Upholding the unity of Qu and Lin’s ‘rGyalrong’ on evidence of shared inflectional morphology, but recognizing the language-like characters of Lavrung and Horpa, I proposed to treat the latter as sister languages of rGyalrong under a unified rGyalrongic subgroup (J. Sun 2000a). Further morphological evidence of Horpa’s membership in rGyalrongic is presented in J. Sun 2000b. This revised view has since been espoused by Sun Hongkai (per. com. in 2002; this volume, p289) and Huang Bufan (Huang 2003:60). 2 The other Sidaba subdialect is Caodeng (Tsho.bdun), spoken by ca. 3,000 rGyalrong Tibetans residing in Caodeng Township (cf. J. Sun 2003). Showu and Caodeng show pronounced differences at all linguistic levels and are hardly intelligible at first contact. 3 At Sh—azu«o Village and First Hamlet in B«aoy|an Village. 4 All but the Amdo-speaking Ru\og«u Village. 5 All but M\ufl«erji«a Hamlet in Y«afl«erz|u Village, in which a variety of Lavrung is spoken. 6 Another term the Caodeng Tibetans use to designate the Showu subdialect is ëlipuskët ‘language of the upriver people’. 7 Misidentified as ‘Caodeng’ forms. 8 The Showu consultant from whom Lin Xiangrong elicited his data happens to be the same person as my current Showu teacher Mr. Jingasong. Owing to the limited time Prof. Lin spent 270 Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong investigated several varieties of Showu and made use of Showu morphological data in several recent papers on rGyalrongic languages (J. Sun 2000a, 2000b, 2000c) and Tibetan (J. Sun, forthcoming-a). A full documentation of this conservative rGyalrong dialect is in preparation. A central issue in Showu verbal morphology is how the varied stem forms are constructed and put to use. It will be the goal of this paper to explore the formation and functions of verb stems in the Zhongre variety of Showu. The phonological summary of Showu (Section 1.1) and overview of Showu stem alternations (Section 1.2) in the remainder of the introductory section set the stage for the ensuing main presentation. Section 2 provides a description and analysis of the strategies for the derivation of verb stems. The morphosyntactic distribution of the separate stems are discussed and exemplified in Section 3. The following section adds a comparative perspective with relevant data from the Caodeng and Chabao dialects of rGyalrong. The major findings of this paper are summed up in the concluding section. 1.1 A phonological summary of Showu rGyalrong Showu syllable onsets contain fifty-nine simplex consonants (enclosed in parentheses are rare or non-native phonemes): (1) p t ts t® t∆ c k q pæ tæ tsæ t®æ t∆æ cæ kæ qæ npæ ntæ ntsæ nt®æ nt∆æ ncæ nkæ nqæ b d (dÂ) dÔ Ç g nb nd ndz nd ndÔ nÇ ng nG m n ¯ ≥ (f) s (®) ∆ x ≈ (h) v z Ô j © Ù r (¬) l w As in other rGyalrongic dialects, various combinations of single consonants are permitted to form a vast number of complex onsets, including many three-member and even four-member consonant clusters. recording this phonetically tricky dialect, his phonemic transcriptions leave much to be desired, especially in the areas of tones and vowels. 271 Jackson T.-S. Sun Remarkably, the Showu vocalic system distinguishes plain versus velarized vowels.9 As shown below, all plain vowels have a velarized counterpart. The back unrounded vowel /a/ (phonetically [å]) is the velarized counterpart of /ë/: (2) Plain Vowels Velarized Vowels i u i© u© ˙ ˙© e Ø o e© Ø© o© ë a The attested syllable codas are /-v/; /-t/; /-m/; /-n/; /-≈/; /-©/; /-≥/; /-r/; /-l/; /-s/. The codas /-r/, /-l/, /-v/, and /-©/ are frequently devoiced, while /-s/ is usually voiced. As in most rGyalrongic dialects, Showu tonality involves both tonal and accentual phenomena. Two tones contrast in word-final accented syllables, level (—v) versus falling (»v). Phonologically contrastive accent, characterized by pre-accent high-pitched plateau and a post-accent pitch drop, plays a role both lexically and in the morphosyntax. Stem- final is the default (hence unmarked) accent position; non-final accent is marked with the acute accent (|v). 1.2 Showu verb-stem alternations: an overview While verbs in Showu are often non-alternating with a single invariant stem throughout the paradigm,10 a good number of basic verbs are stem-alternating, showing 9 Syllables containing velarized vowels are pronounced with the dorsum of the tongue arched toward the soft palate. I first discovered velarized vowels in the Horpa dialects of Rangtang County (J. Sun 2000b); subsequent field research turned up velarized vowels in Zhongre, Dawei (K—angsh—an Township), and Mulang (R\îb\u Township)varieties of Showu rGyalrong and, most recently, in the Luoxi variety of Lavrung (J. Sun forthcoming-b). A preliminary comparison shows that while distinctive vowel velarization is not reported in any other Tibeto-Burman language, such vowels may be a feature of Proto-rGyalrongic. When Professor Huang Bufan joined me in my Luoxi Lavrung sessions in Fall 2002, she commented that the Luoxi velarized vowels sounded like what she had previously described as ‘tense vowels’ in Muya (see Huang 1991a:101). 10 Compare the multi-stem Caodeng verb forms and non-alternating Showu verb forms below for ‘to plant (trees)’: Showu Caodeng kØ-vl—˙ k|ë-vli [CITATION] në-vl—˙ ne-vli÷ [PFV] nØ-vl—˙-s n|ë-vl‰ [IMP] 272 Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong up to three stems distinguished along tense-aspect-modality and transitivity lines.11 These different stems will be labeled simply as STEM 1, STEM 2, and STEM 3, pending detailed discussions of their specific morphosyntactic environments in Section 3.