146

rules, most of which pertain to suffixes. The rules for
suffixes are all morphologically determined in that they
apply to individual morphemes, but some are also phono-
logically and syntactically conditioned.

Vowel-deletion and -retention in noun roots,
stems, and themes are subject to syntactic considerations
(position and function as head or modifier of a noun
phrase, or function as subject or object of a verb)
and also to phonotactics (e. g. the number of vowels in

a modifier in a noun phrase). The particle root jani

no, not' loses its final vowel in certain syntactically-
conditioned circumstances. Vowel-deletion and -retention
in certain verb stems are also subject to phonotactic

considerations.

4-2 Morphologically Determined Vowel-Deleting and
-Retaining Rules (Morphophonemics of Suffixes)
In addition to its classification by phonemic
shape and grammatical function, each suffix in Aymara
may be defined in terms of the effect it has (1) on the
immediately preceding environment with respect to presence
or absence of vowel or consonant, and (2) on the disposi-
tion of its own final vowel. Some of the conditioning
is phonological and some syntactic, but it is primarily

morphological and must be stated for each suffix, as is