# -an nominal derivatives



## Qcumber

I am currently studying the stress patterns of long -an nominal derivatives in Tagalog.

My models are:
haláman "plant" > hálamanán "garden"
palamíg "cooling" > pálamígan "refrigerator"

Are my derivatives correct?

1) pugítà "octopus" > púgitaán "rocks were octopuses abound"

2) tampalásan "rascal" > tampalasanán "a neighbourhood plagued by rascals"

3) singkamás "(a tuber)" > singkamásan " a singkamas field"

4) dumpilás "anchovy" > dumpilásan "an area with a shoal of anchovies" 

5) halimhím "brooding" > hálimhíman "hatchery"

6) káluluwá "soul" > káluluwáhan "a place where the souls are gathered waiting for Judgment Day"


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## Pinyot

In some cases, the suffix _-an _becomes _-han _if the root word ends with a vowel. If the word ends with O it is replaced with U.

_Bato _- rock
_Batuhan_(stress on 2nd a) - rocky place
_Bato _- _Batu _+ _an _- _han _= _Batuhan_

_Bakahan _- cattle ranch
i- cow

There are cases when the _-han _rule is not applied.

_Palo _- hit/spank
_Paluan _- place where things are hit
_Paluan ng damit _- place where clothes are hit (when washing clothes)


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## Qcumber

Pinyot said:


> In some cases, the suffix _-an _becomes _-han _if the root word ends with a vowel.


My question is not about that. 
I should like to know where the secondary stress falls in the words I mentioned.


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## danilo1975

This is a difficult area of Tagalog grammar and all descriptions differ in the details. The basic rule for nominal derivatives with -an and -in is that you lengthen the short vowels and shorten the long vowels of the root. Keeping in mind of course that a long vowel can't occur in a closed syllable. So according to this rule, you would get 
pugitaan with no long vowels and default final stress and pálámígan with three long vowels, etc. but there are quite a few exceptions and many younger speakers, especially in Manila, do not always distinguish long and short vowels other than in the penultimate position. Your two examples 'garden' and 'refrigerator' should have long penultimate vowels as well. And the final stress on garden should be omitted as it's automatic, i.e. it doesn't represent vowel length but rather default final stress.


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## Qcumber

danilo1975 said:


> And the final stress on garden should be omitted as it's automatic, i.e. it doesn't represent vowel length but rather default final stress.


I agree with you on this point, but I dont think all 3rd, 4th, 5th syllables starting from the last should be lenghthened in -an nominal derivatives.
Aren't specific rules determined by grammarians?
Thanks a lot for your answer.


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## danilo1975

Ah, but in conservative dialects they really are, although this point has evaded most grammarians and dictionary makers, hence the great inconsistency. many speakers also simplify words with multiple long vowels. this makes sense, as there is usually no distinction which is lost by such a simplification. 
For instance, take the root /inom/ 'drink'. This root has no long vowels, and when pronounced in isolation it receives default final stress, (mistakenly represented in the official orthography as a lexically specified final accent). When you turn this into a nominal either with -in to mean 'a drink' or -an, to mean 'a drinking session', BOTH of the root vowels are lengthened (in conservative dialects). But the words are often just represented as inUmin and inUman with penultimate length. In fact the first vowel is lengthened as well and this patterns holds throughout. In the western literature, I think this was first noticed by Jill Carrier in her MIT dissertation. I am not sure who the first Tagalog grammarian was to describe this process explicitly.


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## Qcumber

danilo1975 said:


> When you turn this into a nominal either with -in to mean 'a drink' or -an, to mean 'a drinking session', BOTH of the root vowels are lengthened (in conservative dialects). But the words are often just represented as inUmin and inUman with penultimate length.


In Father English's dictionary, *ínúman* "drinking vessel" is written this way [with an accent on the <i> and an accent on the <u>]. 
In current literature, accents are not used, so I cannot refer to these publications as a source of information.


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