Proto-Dravidian had a number of formative or primary derivational
suffixes, some of which are reconstructed as having tense value
according to Krishnamurti(1)- past nt, t, tt, ntt; nonpast mp, p, pp,
mpp and Nk, k, kk, Nkk (there may be a possible nc, c, cc, ncc unless
all are from morphophonological shift from the t set- K. maintains
there is no evidence for an independent set of such forms). Alveolar
and retroflex sets are supposed to be due also to sandhi effects.

p, mp; k, Nk were intransitive, pp, mpp; kk, Nkk transitive.

Krishnamurti writes (285) 'But why should there be so many series of
suffixes fulfilling the same function?' and (288) 'Within the
non-past, there must have been a morphological contrast between the
labial and velar series, but the contrast tended to be blurred later.'

For me, specializing in phonosemantic analysis of lexical and
expressive systems, Dravidian has been an especially hard nut to
crack, even with such resources as Burrow and Emeneau's 'A Dravidian
Etymological Dictionary (2nd ed.-DEDR)' on hand. I have put aside
attempts more times than I care to mention.

However, the first glimmer of hope follows hard on the heels of my
first pass analysis of Santali expressive and adverbial forms.

Looking through DEDR at what are said to be roots hardly any pattern
is apparent. Pattern starts to emerge, however, when also taking into
account the derivations containing the formatives.

Looking JUST at forms of the shape (C)VCV(n)(C)Cu ((C)VCV(n)(C)Ci-) (so no long
vowels, no short forms, etc.), and only in Tamil (the first entry for many
etymological sets) a systematic tendency is found as fast as one compiles heads
and definitions.

For the strong majority with velar formatives the sense is one of loss
of rank or independence of action, firmness, etc., ranging from
inanimate to animate interpretations. The sense is SO strong in fact
that the meaning of the root itself is often blurred by its presence.

I haven't as yet compiled all the labial formative derivatives but
already their sense is clear- that of throwing off whatever burden
would encompass or crush structure or will, and the dentals appear
largely to encode the notion of linearity (often hierarchical
establishment)- further work will piece the latter articulations and
their sense out more fully.

What is truly interesting here is that these SUFFIXAL formatives
(which apparently have not received all that much attention, being
considered mostly from the morphological side of things, and
neglecting lexical or expressive aspects of their meanings) share a
great deal semantically with the first consonant in Santali forms.

Santali initial labials very often involve the notion of exhuberance,
unwillingness to be confined, throwing off unwanted burdens, making a
free and open space for oneself, and such, while the velar initial
forms often contain the idea of actively seeking or passively
accepting a secondary or subservient position in a relationship, when
social senses are the focus.

If the analyses hold water, and the Dravidian and Munda elements draw
from the same semantic sources (even if realized differently
structurally), we may still have to explain why the different
positioning within forms. I don't know of any study that claims that
Dravidian was ever anything but verb-final in structure, but some
believe that Munda (or Austroasiatic?) originally was verb-medial or
perhaps even verb-initial. Perhaps metrical issues determined where
the derivation occurred long ago? Certainly one sees such things when
viewing alliteration versus rhyming from a typological perspective.

If folks are interested in seeing some of the forms I'm using here (or
even numbered references in DEDR) for further discussion, please let
me know.

Sources:

Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (1997 orig.publ.) The Origin and Evolution of
Primary Derivative Suffixes in Dravidian), pp.284-306 in
Krishnamurti, Bh. 2001 Comparative Dravidian Linguistics (Oxford U.
Press).

Burrow, T. and Emeneau, M.B. 1984 A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary,
Second Ed. (Clarendon Press).


Jess Tauber
phonosemantics@...