An example of segmental phenomena which are reminiscent of autosegmental tonal properties is floating segmental features as morphemes. One such case is seen in Vata, where the past-tense marker can be argued to be simply the specification [+high], which is suffixed to the stem and is realized phonetically on the last vowel.

A second example comes from Fula, where a particular agreement pattern (“pattern B” below) is marked by a prefix composed of the segmental specification [– continuant] which causes an initial continuant to become a stop.

Aramaic CP. Azerbaijani Aramaic provides evidence for treating the feature [constricted pharynx] ([CP]) autosegmentally. This dialect has a contrast between pharyngealized or emphatic vowels (A E I U O) specified as [+CP], and plain vowels (a e i u o). In most words, either all of the vowels are emphatic, or none of them is.

Some words may have nonemphatic vowels followed by emphatic vowels. In such a case, the first emphatic vowel is always a low vowel.

These distributional properties will play an important role in arguing for an autosegmental treatment of [CP].

In line with the fact that all vowels in a word generally agree in the feature [CP], (76) shows that suffixes harmonize in [CP] with the preceding vowel.

[CP] will spread through a whole sequence of suffixes.

We will assume that the only value underlyingly marked for this feature is [+CP], and that [+CP] spreads to the right by the following rule:

This rule thus explains why [+CP] vowels are always followed by [+CP] vowels. However, we also need to explain why roots with a [+CP] specification (generally) have [+CP] beginning with the first vowel. We can assume that, in the general case, the specification [+CP] is not associated with any particular vowel, but is just floating, and an unassociated [+CP] specification is associated with the first vowel of the word by the following rule:

The derivation of mIʃItUn-Un ‘make a king (pl)!’ shows these rules.

There are some suffixes whose vowels are invariably emphatic; that vowel is always the vowel [A]. No suffixes are invariably plain.

These suffixes will be assumed to have underlying [CP] specifications, in contrast to most other suffixes which are unspecified for [CP]. Since the suffix vowel is lexically associated with [+CP], it does not associate with the first vowel of the word, and since it does not associate with the first vowel of the word, [+CP] does not spread to any vowels before that of the suffix.

We also find spreading of [+CP] between members of a compound. In the examples of (82), [+CP] spreads from the first compound to the second.

This is the expected pattern: [+CP] spreads rightward from the first member of the compound to the second.

If the second member of the compound has [+CP] vowels, [+CP] spreads through the second member of the compound.

This apparent exceptional leftward spreading of [+CP] is nothing of the sort. Rather, the second member of the compound has a floating [+CP] specification; in a compound, that feature links to the first vowel of the word by rule (79), and then spreads to the right.

Another case of [+CP] appearing to the left of the morpheme where it originates is seen in (85), where a prefix is added to a root with a floating [+CP] specification.

Given the assumption that a root specification of [+CP] is not generally associated in the underlying form (except in roots such as (75) where [+CP] is unpredictably associated with a noninitial low vowel), our analysis predicts that the [+CP] specification will link to the first vowel of the word, which will be the prefix vowel in this case, and spreads to the right thereafter.

The locational suffix -istan has the interesting property that it causes all vowels in the word to which it is attached to become [+CP],

This makes sense if the suffix -istan also has a floating specification [+CP], which automatically associates with the first vowel of the stem and then spreads rightward.

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