The Final Glottal Stop of the Kuṛux Verb Bases

Kur ̣ux has many verb bases ending in ʔ. While y corresponds to ʔ in some cognate Malto verb bases, such as Kr ̣x. ciʔ- vs. Mlt. ciy- ‘give’ and Kr ̣x. nāxʔ- vs. Mlt. nēɢy- ‘breathe’, many Malto cognates do not end in y, as in Kr ̣x. kīdʔ- vs. Mlt. kīd- ‘lay down’. Through a dictionary survey, the function of Kur ̣ux non-radical, base-final ʔ is identified as a denominative suffix, a suffix adapting borrowed verbs, and a transitivizing suffix. The base-final y of Malto shares the first two functions of Kr ̣x. ʔ, but the third function is unique to Kur ̣ux. We argue that Kur ̣ux -ʔ and Mlt. -y descend from the proto-Dravidian denominative suffix *-i. The type Kr ̣x. kīdʔ- vs. Mlt. kīd- originated from an innovation in Kur ̣ux to doubly mark already transitive verbs. The zero past as in Kr ̣x. kīdʔ- / kīd- might have started from the geminating past stems of Kur ̣ux and Malto such as Kr ̣x. mōx- / mokkh- ‘eat’, and from a portmanteau suffix -d marking both past tense and transitivity. The zero past became productive in Malto, where the geminating past was reanalyzed as a zero past due to degemination. Spread of the ʔ / ∅ pattern in Kur ̣ux created the opacity that some verbs in ʔ have past stems in -c while others have zero past stems. All four types of Kur ̣ux verb bases with ʔ, ciʔ- / cicc- ‘give’, nāxʔ- / nāxc- ‘breathe’, barʔ- / barc- ‘come’ and kīdʔ- / kīd- ‘lay down’, are explained by regular sound changes and analogical extension of the ʔ / ∅ pattern.