On the Verb Forms Derived from Four H‐Initial Roots in the Mehri Language of Oman
Résumé
In the Mehri language of Oman (Modern South Arabian), h in an initial h-C sequence is totally assimilated by C, if C is a voiceless non- ejective consonant and h- a preformant (Bendjaballah and Segeral 2014). In this article, we extend this generalization and show that the assimilation of h in initial hC sequences takes place not only if h is a preformant, but also if it is the first root consonant. Our analysis makes it possible to establish the identity of four problematic roots, in which the presence of h as the first root consonant remained partly unnoticed up to now: forumlalistenforumla’ drinkforumla’ give in marriageforumla and forumlaput aside (food) as distatefulforumla. The analysis is based on new, first-hand data elicited from native speakers in fieldwork.