Phonology, Affixation, and Grammatical Structure

The Tao (Yami) language, belonging to the Batanic branch of Western Austronesian languages, is typologically a Philippine-type language. Its grammar is defined by a rigorous focus system expressed through verbal affixation, accompanied by marked morphophonemic changes. This section provides an overview of the phonological system, affixation patterns, and resulting grammatical structures.

I. Phonology and Sound System

The Tao language has 20 consonants and 4 vowels. Below is a summary of major phonological features.

A. Vowel and Consonant Inventory

• 1. Vowels: /i/, /e/ (central [ə]), /o/ (high back, realized as [u o]), /a/. The vowel o is the only rounded vowel.
• 2. Consonants: Stops (p, t, k, b, g), affricates (c, j), nasals (m, n, ŋ), liquids (l, r), trills (z), glides (w, y), and glottal sounds (h, ').
  • Glottal stop ': phonemic, prevents vowel sequences and distinguishes meaning.
• 3. Stress: Stress is phonemic. Default: final syllable. Many stative ma- verbs stress the penult.

B. Syllable Structure & Phonological Rules

• 1. Syllable Pattern: (C)V(C). No complex clusters except CG.
• 2. Vowel Interaction: If two vowels meet, a glide (y, w, h) may be inserted. Example: siam → syam (“nine”)
• 3. N-Morphophonemics: When a main verb follows auxiliary to or ji, the verb must change, such as
  • Initial /s, t, c/ → n
  • Initial /k/ or vowel → ng

II. Affixation (Morphology)

Tao is an agglutinative language. Many roots are pre-categorical and require affixes to function syntactically. Affixes often convey single, distinct grammatical meanings.

A. Focus Affixes

The Tao verb system uses affixes to mark the semantic role of the nominative NP.

B. Other Derivational Affixes

• Perfective: ni-
• Causative: pa- (“make/cause”)
• Circumfix: ka-…-an (nominalization, involuntary verbs, continuous event)
• Infix: <in> (completed action)

C. Reduplication

• Full reduplication: tao-tao (“people”)
• Partial reduplication: ciri-ciring (“language/words”)
• Ca-reduplication (human counting): la-lima (“five people”)

III. Grammatical Patterns and Syntax

A. Basic Word Order & Predication

• 1. Predicate–Subject Order: Predicate (new info) appears before Subject (marked by o / si).
• 2. Transitive Alignment: • Agent = Genitive (no / ni) • Focused participant (Patient, Location, Instrument) = Nominative (o / si)
• 3. Agent-Initial: When a nominative pronoun (ko “I”, ka “you”) begins the clause, the meaning often implies progressive or recent past.

B. Verb Classes

• Dynamic verbs: action verbs using m- series e.g., om-lavi (“to cry”)
• Stative verbs: adjective-like meanings, using ma- e.g., ma-tava (“fat”), ma-teneng (“smart”)

C. Auxiliary Verbs

• to — sequential / continuous; triggers N-morphophonemics
• ji — negation; triggers N-morphophonemics
• ya — near-time / progressive; does NOT trigger inflection

D. Complex Structures

• Serial Verb Construction: uses the linker a to connect dynamic verbs (“go a buy fish”).
• Complement Construction: verbs like cita (“see”) or amizing (“hear”) take clauses connected by a or by nominalized ka- clauses.

These systems—focus morphology, phonological alternations, reduplication, and nominalization—interact to form the core grammatical architecture of the Tao language.