ivokaaliin

Ivokaaliin is a term used in the context of a constructed language called Ivokaali to describe a vowel-related morphophonological process. It denotes a cross-morpheme vowel harmony that links the vowels of a stem with the vowels of an inflectional suffix, yielding a unified vowel quality across a word. In descriptive grammars of Ivokaali, ivokaaliin is treated as a regular, rule-governed phenomenon rather than an irregular exception.

Etymology and terminology: The name ivokaaliin combines ivokaali, the Ivokaali word for “vowel,” with the suffix -iin, which marks a grammatical relation in the language’s morphology. The term is used to refer specifically to this harmonizing effect that occurs when a suffix is added to a stem, particularly in inflectional forms such as the illative.

Phonology and morphophonology: Ivokaaliin operates as a vowel-harmony process that is triggered by the presence of a suffix vowel. The final vowel of the stem can influence the choice or quality of the suffix vowel, producing a harmonized surface form. The effect tends to respect predefined categories of vowel height and backness in Ivokaali phonology and may extend across more than one syllable in a word. Analyses differ on whether ivokaaliin is best described as a phonological rule, a morphophonemic byproduct of historical change, or a productive property of the current inflectional system.

Usage and status: In the Ivokaali literature, ivokaaliin is discussed as a standard feature of the language’s inflectional paradigm. It is not claimed to occur in natural languages, and the concept remains specific to the conlang’s descriptive grammars and associated texts.

See also: Vowel harmony, morphophonology, constructed language (conlang), Ivokaali.