Stem-Internal and Affixal Morphology in Shilluk

This case study on Shilluk reveals a rich morphological system with a small segmental footprint. Whereas nouns and particularly verbs are characterized by extensive paradigms, many inflections are marked exclusively through stem-internal markers of vowel length, tone, ATR, and changes in the root-final coda. The chapter considers both stem-internal and affixal morphology. The conclusion summarizes the general characteristics of this system, and considers how it has developed diachronically. One important factor in the diachronic development is compensatory lengthening, which can still be observed synchronically. The extensive use of the same affixes for a wide range of morphosyntactic functions may also have played a role.