Prefix Reform

Prefix Reform is a proposal by uakci to change how prefixes interact with the stems of words.

Note: the two parts of the proposal, Spelling changes and Pronunciation changes, could be considered independently of each other.

Reasons

1. Prefixes currently act weird.
   1. They are unable to interact with . This proposal would allow prefixes to go on words with .
   2. It is unclear how exactly they affect vocalic length. Plus, those interactions are often quite subtle and easily missed – consider bộtao vs. bô'otao. This makes prefixes hard to teach and possibly discouraging to a new learner trying to produce them in speech.
2. The current spelling of prefixes is not computer-friendly. They are difficult (if not impossible) to type for many and some characters, like ı̣ often do not display correctly in many fonts. This proposal would allow for easier input and guarantee compatibility with most good fonts.
   • There's a gotcha where e- (any prefix) + ano (any vowel-initial stem) is not ẹano [ˈʔĕʔĕano] but ẹ'ano [ˈʔɛ̆ʔɛ̆ʔaːno]. This subtlety is not explained or taught to people, and it's likewise unintuitive. Worse yet, the glottal interposition (which turns /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ into [ɛ̆ʔɛ̆]) effectively splinters vowel length into three instead of two!

Spelling changes

Instead of putting the tone mark on the first syllable, put it on the first syllable of the stem. In the case of a word with , use as the diacritic.

Examples

Official	Proposal
mụfoaq	mufòaq
lạ́maı	lamáı
tọ̈ꝡa (invalid word)	toꝡä
bộtao	botâo

Pronunciation changes

Stress the first syllable of the stem rather than the prefix, separating the stem from the prefixes. Stressed syllables should be louder and/or longer and/or more extreme in terms of the tone contour. Prefixes should be pronounced unstressed, with its tone “anticipating” the stem’s contour. For example, if the stem starts high, the prefixes should be high. If the stem starts lower, the prefixes should be there as well. Unstressed syllables should strive to be quiet, short(ened), and minimal in terms of tone contour or just pronounced as level tone.

Illustrative examples:

Official	Proposal
puchụmtao [ˈpuː˥˨t͡ɕŭʔŭm˨˩tʰaw˩]	puchumtào [pu˥t͡ɕum˥˦ˈtaːw˦˩]
jı̣achıa [ˈd͡ʑĭʔĭa˥˨t͡ɕia˨˩]	jıachìa [d͡ʑia˥˦ˈt͡ɕiːa˦˩]
lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı [ˈlăʔă˨˦maj˦˥ ˈbɛ̆ʔɛ̆j˨˩rɔj˩]	lamáı beıróı [la˧ˈmaj˧˥ bɛj˧˨ˈrɔj˨˩]
N/A	toꝡä [tʰo˧˨ˈjaʔa˨˩]
jụ̂aqjuaı [ˈd͡ʑŭʔŭaŋ˧˥˨d͡ʑu˨˩aj˩]	juaqjûaı [d͡ʑuaŋ˧˦ˈd͡ʑuː˦˥˨aj˨˩]

The value of this proposal, apart from more flexibility and less ambiguity, is that stems no longer alternate between stressed and unstressed depending on whether they have prefixes attached to them (think juıtaq vs. bụjuı). As another pleasant side effect, polyrakuic words in are now possible (like äımu, which before was ambiguous with the mid-falling allotonal forms of ạımu and ạ́ımu).

Thinking clitically – a fifth tone

Let us think about clitics – little segments of words that attach to other words rather than forming full units. For instance, in English, the possessive marker ’s can attach to words like California’s reputation or entire phrases like my most beloved partner’s necklace or that one guy we saw in the street’s student card. But then there’s nothing stopping us from spelling it as a separate word: California ’s reputation, for instance.

Similarly in Toaq, but let’s for a moment assume that the clitical “prefix toneme” is spelled like (as a macron). Its pronunciation is outlined above, but we could summarize it as a mid-flat tone that also nullifies vowel length: jıa /dʑiːa˥˩/ but jīa /dʑia˧/. Putting this together into a new table:

Official	“Halfway”	Main proposal	This idea
puchụmtao	puchụmtao	puchumtào	pū chūm tao
jı̣achıa	jı̣achıa	jıachìa	jīa chıa
lạ́maı bẹ́ıroı	lạmáı bẹıróı	lamáı beıróı	lā máı bēı róı
N/A	tọꝡä	toꝡä	tō ꝡä
jụ̂aqjuaı	jụaqjûaı	juaqjûaı	jūaq jûaı

With this in mind, we may look at the neat symmetry in which focus markers behave when alternated between their inherent and this new :

luı	do	jí	súq	kú	tú	maoja
‘I have given you all the apples.’
luı	do	jí	súq	kū	tú	maoja
‘I have given you all the apples.’

See also

• uakci’s original message