Vowel interaction in Basque: a nearly exhaustive catalogue

Abstract

The treatment of vowel sequences in Basque inflectional morphology has played a prominent role in discussions of rule interaction, literally becoming a textbook example of extrinsic rule ordering (cf. de Rijk 1970, Kenstowicz & Kisseberth 1979: 176-77, Kenstowicz 1994: 21-22, 126-127, Lakoff 1993, Kirchner 1997, Trask 1996: 92-93). However, perhaps because of the incomplete sources, the facts are often misrepresented. Thus Kenstowicz & Kisseberth (1979) mix facts from different dialects and Trask's (1996) 'conservative Bizkaian', which he uses to illustrate rule reordering, is purely fictional. In addition, the incompleteness of the data that are presented can be misleading. The reader may conclude that no other possibilities are found (or could be found). This is enough reason to justify the compilation of facts that we undertake in this paper. Another important reason, of course, is that as a consequence of the difusion of standard Basque much of the existing diversity in the treatment of vowel sequences in Basque can be expected to disappear in the near future. It is thus important to document these facts in an easily available source.