Subject: sum : v - initial languages

several weeks ago i posted a query in connection with the exceedingly frequent vowel-initial lexical items of basque , in which perhaps 50 % of native nouns and adjectives are v - initial ( i exclude verbs , since ancient verbs almost invariably show a prefix * / e - / in their non-finite forms . ) i asked whether other languages ( apart from the initial-dropping languages of australia ) show a comparable frequency of initial vowels and , if so , whether a historical explanation is known . i was particularly interested in hearing about possible cases of the lenition and loss of initial voiceless plosives , an explanation proposed for an ancient stage of basque by andre ' martinet . one respondent queried whether there was adequate statistical evidence to assert that the basque case is indeed unusual . i know of no such evidence , and indeed one of my purposes was to try to find out whether basque is really as unusual as is commonly believed by vasconists . the following languages were cited in the responses . polynesian : the proto - austronesian consonant system has undergone considerable attrition in the polynesian languages , which today exhibit between eight and twelve consonants apiece . in hawaiian , in which proto - polynesian * / h / and * / ? / have been categorically lost , v - initial words appear to be rather common . but i could not find any explicit discussion of this , and my impression of such hawaiian texts as i could find is that the proportion of v - initial words probably does not approach 40 % , though i am ready to be corrected on this . niger-congo : initial vowels are frequent in a number of west african languages which are not closely related ; the initial vowels generally appear to be of morphological origin . there is uncertainty as to whether the vowels are fossilized noun-class prefixes ( the most popular explanation ) or the residue of derivational processes , such as for making agentive nouns out of verbs . in the cross river languages of nigeria , most nouns are v - initial ; in some of these languages , virtually all nouns are . here it seems clear that the initial vs are fossilizations of ancient noun-class prefixes , in most cases derived from original cv - prefixes by loss of the c . in at least some of these languages , most verb forms are also v - initial , but only because the presence of fully functional agreement markers . benue - congo languages generally lack a distinct class of adjectives . in some benue - congo languages , and especially in some bantu languages , cv - prefixes have instead been augmented for morphological reasons to yield vcv - prefixes , again producing frequent initial vowels . ancient noun-class prefixes appear to be recoverable to varying extents in many niger - congo languages , especially in bantu . importantly , the original semantic values of the prefixes can often be determined , though this is not always the case . the kwa language ( bini ) edo is unusual in that every single noun must begin with a vowel , so that even c - initial loans from english have vowels prefixed , apparently purely for morpheme-structure reasons . yoruba is noteworthy in that it has around 45 % of v - initial words , even though four of its ten vowels cannot appear initially . catalan : a rough estimate suggests that catalan words are about 32 % v - initial , rather more than one might expect in a language with 7 vowels and 22 consonants , and more , i suspect , than are typically found in romance languages . i know of no particular reason for this . arawan ( amazonia ) : many of these languages have frequent v - initial words . it is suggested ( but not established ) that these derive from the loss of initial glottals . in at least some of these languages , v - initial words differ from c - initial words in that the first group may never bear stress on the first syllable . berber : masculine - gender nouns regularly take a prefix / a - / , while feminine nouns take / ta - / . muskogean : these have vc - prefixes on v - initial words but cv - prefixes on c - initial words . it is not clear to me what this means overall . siouxan : these seem to have undergone heavy reduction of initials , not entirely unlike the australian initial-dropping languages , but the results have been complex . siouxan languages particularly show the lenition of initial / p [ h ] / > / f / > / h / , and possibly also some cases of / t [ h ] / > / h / . germanic : the change / k [ h ] / > / x / > / h / is well attested here , but not , as a rule , exclusively in word-initial position ( though sometimes in syllable-initial position ) . lenition of voiceless plosives generally is widespread in germanic . on the basis of this admittedly unscientific sample , i would therefore suggest the following conclusions : ( 1 ) languages in which 40 % or more of nouns are v - initial are not exceedingly rare , but they do not appear to be at all common . the majority of the examples come from niger - congo . ( 2 ) in niger - congo , the initial vowels derive chiefly from morphological sources , probably entirely so apart from the reduction of cv - prefixes to v - in some languages . fossilized noun-class prefixes appear to be the most widely accepted origin in most cases , and such prefixes appear to be certain in some cases , in which the semantic value of the prefixes is still recoverable . but other morphological processes may be responsible in some other cases . ( 3 ) outside of niger - congo , there appears to be little evidence of morphological origins for initial vowels , and loss of initial consonants is more usually invoked . the consonants invoked are , unsurprisingly , more likely to be glottals than oral obstruents . ( 4 ) except perhaps in siouxan , there is little or no evidence for the systematic loss of initial voiceless plosives . so what happened in basque ? i still do n't know . the american long-ranger john bengtson has for years been defending the " fossilized noun-class prefix " view of the basque initial vowels , for reasons of his own , but there seems to be no trace of any semantic correlations with the initial vowels , and in fact the frequency of each of the five basque vowels appears to be about the same initially as elsewhere : a > e > i > o > u . my money is therefore still on the systematic loss of certain initial consonants , but i ' ll be very surprised if i ever have to pay out or get to collect . my thanks to maile rehbock , bruce connell , max wheeler , dan everett , john koontz , david stampe , mark liberman , herbert stahlke , and andrew carstairs - mccarthy for their helpful responses . larry trask cogs university of sussex brighton bn1 9qh england larryt @ cogs . susx . ac . uk
