Topics in Kaytetye phonology and morpho-syntax

Kaytetye is an Arandic language with approximately 200 speakers spoken in Central Australia. The Arandic languages are notable for proposals that: (1) the basic syllable is VC; (2) complex verbal structures are words and associate motion to a predicate; (3) certain varieties have only two vowels /a/ vs /ə/. In this thesis, I evaluate previous analyses of these patterns, and propose new analyses using quantitative and qualitative methodology, as well as insights from typological data. The thesis focuses on five areas. 1. The Status of Round Vowels: Kaytetye has been analysed as having either a two-vowel (/ɐ/, /ə/) or a three-vowel system (/ɐ/ /ə/, /i/). I provide quantitative and qualitative evidence supporting the occurrence of a round vowel, producing a four-vowel system: /ɐ/ /ə/, /i/, /u/. 2. Associated Path: The current analysis of Associated Motion proposes that Associated Motion constructions are complex words, which are composed of a verb root and a motion morph: arenke ‘see’, arey-alpenke ‘see after going back’. In this analysis I propose that Associated Motion constructions are auxiliary verb constructions, in which an auxiliary verb expresses a path configuration in relation to its complement VP (hence ‘Associated Path’). The previous analysis raised serious challenges to understandings of the word and the semantic content a single word conveys. In the new analysis, I show that word structure in Kaytetye is comparatively simple. 3. The Minimal Root: Word minimality is standardly analysed as a constraint on word forms based on prosodic structure. I show evidence that Kaytetye has a second type of minimality effect, the ‘minimal root’, in which the forms of roots are constrained by lexical patterns. 4. Reduplication: I show that Kaytetye has two types of reduplication which are not analysable under a single approach to reduplication. ‘Total reduplication’ reduplicates a stem and forms a phrase, which results in a scalable interpretation of the base. ‘Partial reduplication’ only occurs in Associated Path constructions and has a path or distributive meaning depending on its position in the Associated Path construction. 5. Syllable Structure: The Arandic languages have been analysed with a basic VC syllable structure. I provide evidence that: (i) the VC analysis makes incorrect predictions in Kaytetye; (ii) the facts of syllabification favour a standard CV analysis; (iii) the data which appear in favour of VC syllabification are explained by the historical loss of initial consonants, and a VCV minimal root. In these areas, I show that Kaytetye shows congruency with standard analyses of phonological and morpho-syntactic structures, and also challenges existing theories.