5.0 Alternations
5.1 Morphophonemic alternations
Since the listing in this dictionary is strictly by root, an outline of the important morphophonemic alternations is given here. In the entries nonpredictable morphophonemic alternations are indicated by writing the affixed forms out.
5.11 Shift of stress
The general rule is that an affixed form has the stress on the same syllable as the root alone. Where this general rule is broken, there is said to be SHIFT OF STRESS. When an affixed form has final stress where the root had penultimate stress, there is said to be SHIFT TO THE FINAL SYLLABLE, indicated by the symbol (→):
| káun | /kā́ʔun/ | ‘eat’ | + | nag-(→) | = | nagkaun | /nagkaʔún/ | ‘is eating’ |
| tugnaw | /túgnaw/ | ‘cold’ | + | -un(→) | = | tugnawun | /tugnawún/ | ‘be cold’ |
When an affixed form has penultimate stress where the root had final stress, there is said to be SHIFT TO THE PENULTIMATE SYLLABLE, indicated by the symbol (←):
| sakay | /sakáy/ | ‘ride’ | + | nag-(←) | = | nagsákay | /nagsā́kay/ | ‘ride together’ |
In many cases an unaffixed root has both final stress and penultimate stress (depending on the meaning). Whichever stress occurs with the prefix MU- (see the entry under MU-) is taken to be the stress of the root. Thus, the formation of the unaffixed root with a different stress pattern is said to be by the addition of an affix consisting of shift of stress alone:
| inúm[15] | /ʔinúm/ | ‘drink’ | + | (←) | = | ínum | /ʔī́num/ | ‘drink heavily’ |
| búnal | /búnal/ | ‘beat’ | + | (→) | = | bunal | /bunál/ | ‘club’ |