Summary of the Tolowa synchronic situation
The facts of the main Tolowa verb–morphology slots, can be now summarized as follows, beginning with the innermost position (closest to the stem). A. Internal (‘conjunct’) prefixal range
• L-‘classifier’: This innermost (closest to the stem) morpheme has lost its older causative function (Kibrik 1993); functionally opaque and thus largely co-lexicalized; phonologically bleached to a single consonant.
• D-‘classifier’: This next-to-innermost prefix retains some remnants of its older passive use, but the passive function is largely supplanted by the more external tr’/’sr; the D prefix still retains other de-transitivizing functions (reflexive, reciprocal), but only in combination with more external morphemes.
• subject pronouns: 1/2 person subject pronouns phonetically bleached to either a single consonant (sh), a nasalizing ‘ghost’ consonant (n) or a vowel plus glottal stop (i’, u’).
• plural1/2: adjacent to the relevant pronouns, a CV prefix with the underlying form ghu=; the vowel most commonly elided.
• perfectives: The three perfective prefixes are synchronically functional; all are CV morphemes with the bleached neutral vowel /u=/.
• U-desiderative (‘optative’, ‘conative’): often opaque synchronic function; restricted function as desiderative; otherwise to all intent and purpose co lexicalized; single vowel /u-/.
• thematic prefixes: totally opaque synchronic function, though in many cases ex-perfectives; all CV morphemes with the bleached neutral vowel /u=/.
• TR position: The yu=- obviate prefix, survivor of the direct/inverse alternation (Thompson 1989), has largely re-grammaticalized as transitivity marker.
The reflexive, reciprocal, and impersonal passive (‘unspecified subject’) prefixes occupy the tr slot and are synchronically productive. All three are CV morphemes with the bleached neutral vowel (u=); the erstwhile antipassive prefix ch’u= (‘unspecified object’), also with the neutral vowel, is now functionally opaque except in old nominalizations. B. External (‘disjunct’) prefixal range
• reversive (RE): Synchronic function of this prefix is largely opaque, thus co lexicalized; older connection with de-transitivization can be seen in the obligatory use of the D ‘classifier’. Phonetically mostly a non-segmental ‘ghost’ [n], nazalising the preceding vowel;
• plural 3: variable positions (at least 3); variable forms (xee, ghaa/yaa and xwii), the last one a recent grammaticalization from the quantifier ‘all’.
• adverbial-locative: at least two positions; most commonly a CV morpheme with unbleached vowels and clear if not always fully regular lexical semantic (derivational) function.
• object pronouns: slot (14) still alternates with the older slot (8); the displaced (first and second singular) pronouns retain their bleached form from slot (8), either a single consonants or CV with the neutral vowel.
