Question on Marathi phonology

[George Hart]

In Tamil, there are several verbs that make a transitive by doubling an
intervocalic stop -- ooTu, run, ooTTu, drive; aaTu, move, aaTTu, cause to
move; maaRu, change (int.), maaRRu change (tr) -- there are a few others.
This in effect changes the consonant from voiced (ooTu) to unvoiced (ooTTu)
-- the opposite of the case in Marathi.  I don't know Kannada or Telugu well
enough to say how this phenomenon is reflected in those languages, but I
would not be surprised if there was something similar.  There were certainly
many Kannada speakers who switched to Marathi, and probably some Telugu ones
also.  It's not inconceivable that they brought with them their notion of
how transitives are formed.  It's worth remarking on the isogloss (initial j
> dz, c > ts) found in both Marathi and Telugu, but not in other major I-A
or Dravidian languages.

George Hart


On 8/22/04 4:20 AM, "Madhav Deshpande" <mmdesh at UMICH.EDU> wrote:

> In Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language, we find pairs of verbs like:
>
> tuT = to break (intransitive)
> toD = to break (transitive)
> phuT = to break (intransitive)
> phoD = to break (transitive)
>
> Is there any explanation of the voicing in the transitive verbs vs lack of
> voicing in the intransitive verbs?  In the Sanskrit antecedents of these
> verbs, the vowel of the intransitive verbs remains unaccented, while the vowel
> of the transitive verbs is accented.  It is well understood that the accents
> are related to the u/o alternation, but what might lead to voicing?  The
> voiced/voiceless alternation is not seen in Sanskrit in the same environment.
> Any suggestions?
>
> Madhav Deshpande
>