Multiple verbal stem reduplication, tone and stem truncation in Malawian CiTonga (N.15)

Abstract

The paper presents a novel description of multiple reduplication in Malawian CiTonga, a southern Bantu language spoken in Malawi. It also describes in detail the many different acceptable tonal and segmental variants of reduplicated stems (caused by stem truncations). An input stem right edge tone can be assigned to any of the daughter stems in an R-Stem, to all of them, or to none of them. Any daughter stem in an R-Stem can be truncated (or reduced) to any number of syllables or to a minimum of two moras. Sometimes, these truncations seriously affect the realization of tone. It is suggested that reduplication facts in this language can be better accounted for on the basis of stem compounding as well as morphological doubling theory which do not make a surface base versus RED(uplicant) distinction.