ABSTRACT
The diminutive suffix appears on the surface in its basic form after vowels other than a, as shown in (27) and (28). Non-diminutive forms with the locative suffix /-k/ are given for comparison.
(27) a. p6htaya-k bottle-LOC 'bottle (loc.)'
b. p6htaya-hs-is bottle-DIM-DIM 'bottle (dim.)'
( 28) a. papskate-k stove-LOC 'stove (loc.)'
b. papskate-hs-is stove-DIM-DIM 'stove (dim.)'
In productively formed nominal diminutives like those in (27) and (28), both the general diminutive suffix /-hs-/, which also occurs in verb forms, and the nominal diminutive suffix /-is/ are added to the stem. When the same morphemic material is added to a stem which ends in a consonant, epenthetic a is inserted before the suffix /-hs-/. This fa/ appears on the surface just in case it is in a position where it must be stressable. Thus we find a between stem and suffix in (29b), with ss in the suffix for underlying /hsj. Where epenthetic fa/ remains unstressable, it is subject to syncope, /h/ is lost be teen consonants, and /hs / surfaces as s, as shown in ( 30b).
