172

Furthermore, for the two verbs here discussed the
verbal inflections for 1+3 Simple tense and for 1+3 Remote
Direct Knowledge (RDK) tense fall together, since root
vowel length is indistinguishable from the vowel length
mark of RDK, and geminate vowel length (vowel length
longer than two vowels) does not occur. That is, the
following forms do double duty for 1+3 in both the Simple
and RDK tenses.

ama:t"a ‘I wanted' p'a:t"a ‘I cooked'

Another kind of vowel length in a root is that
occurring with the verb sa.fia plus Simple tense in Jopo-
queri (see Figure 6-11). This length results from a rule
lengthening the root vowel to avoid an initial consonant
cluster. In Sitajara one allomorph of the 1+3 Simple
tense with sa.fia (the only irregular verb in Aymara) has
a long vowel, although initial consonant clusters in

Sa.fia are common in that dialect.

4-3.22.16 Three-vowel rule (Vowel deletion)
4-3.22.16.1 Nouns

By a syntactically conditioned rule, noun roots
having two vowels always keep the final vowel when serving
as modifiers in noun phrases. (Nouns ending in a sequence

of vowel-glide-vowel reduce it to long vowel; see 4-3.22.14.)