Maricopa (Yuman)

Mismatch: morphosyntax: verbal number


Stems mark verbal number is marked by various morphological means (prefixation, suffixation and/or ablaut, depending on the root). In some cases, the same morphology marks dual for one root and plural for another, so that, arguably, these patterns represent a morphological reversal. The particular morphological configurations in question are:

a. uu‑
root
b. uu‑ root + ablaut
c. root + ablaut
d. t/sh‑ uu‑ root + ablaut
e. t/sh‑ root + ablaut ‑sh
(pp. 91-92)

For example, the prefix uu- forms the plural in 'call' but the dual in 'climb':

singular dual plural
qaas- qaassh- uu-qaas- 'call'
kuly- uu-kuly- ashuukly- 'climb'

while ablaut marks the plural in 'breathe' and the dual in 'die':

singular dual plural
uuyey- uuyesh- uyay- 'breathe'
puy- pooy- uupooy- 'die'

Note that in the case of 'die', both dual and plural are formed by morphological operations which are not unique to either number (dual = root ablaut, plural = u + root ablaut).


References

Gordon, Lynn. 1986. Maricopa morphology and syntax. University of California Publications in Linguistics 108. Berkeley: University of California Press.