1 On the link between onset clusters and codas in Mbat (Jarawan Bantu) Christopher R. Green Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics, Syracuse University 330 HBC, Syracuse, NY 13244 USA cgreen10@syr.edu Abstract This paper explores morphologically-conditioned alternations in Mbat (Jarawan Bantu) verb stems. Some inflectional affixation in Mbat results in resyllabification. The singleton coda of a CGVC verb stem will become the onset of a new syllable following the addition of a vowel-initial suffix (e.g., Perfective -am). What is surprising is that this, in turn, triggers onset simplification in the stem itself (i.e., CV.C-am). Adding further complexity to Mbat is that these alternations are limited to verb stems containing mid vowels. Stems with low vowels retain their pre-vocalic glide upon suffixation (i.e., CGV.C-am). These outcomes have implications for at least two contemporary lines of inquiry in phonological theory: i) the prosodification and behavior of pre-vocalic glides, and ii) the formal connection between so-called M2 syllable margin positions (i.e., the second member of a complex onset and the sole member of a singleton coda). I illustrate that Mbat has something to contribute to current perspectives on both these fronts. In addition to the theoretical and typological contributions entailed herein, this paper is also significant in that it is the first formal linguistic study of a Jarawan Bantu language, a cluster of languages spoken primarily in eastern Nigeria. Keywords: syllable structure; split margin syllable; pre-vocalic glides; phonotactics; Jarawan Bantu 1. Introduction This paper takes as its starting point a series of morphologically-conditioned alternations in Mbat [m̄ .báʈ] (Jarawan Bantu) verbs stems. Following inflection by the vowel-initial Perfective (-am) or Habitual (-an) extension, some CGVC verb stems (e.g., [zwɔ̄ ɽ] ‘sew’) undergo resyllabification of their final consonant into the onset of a new syllable. What is unusual, however, is that this resyllabification, in turn, results in the simplification of the stem itself via the loss of its pre-vocalic glide (e.g., [zʊ̄ .ràm] ‘sewn’). 1 Under some views of syllable theory, this result is unexpected. Standard constituent-based models of syllable structure like those discussed by Blevins (1995) and Zec (2007) assume no formal connection between complex onsets and a singleton coda. Thus, under these viewpoints the loss of a coda consonant should not entail simplification of a complex onset. Another model of syllable structure, however, is grounded precisely in such relationships. The Split Margin Approach (SMA) to the syllable (Baertsch 2002) formalizes properties and cross-linguistically attested dependency relationships that hold between consonants found in positions immediately flanking a syllable nucleus. Of interest to this paper is the behavior of so-called M2 margin positions, i.e., the second member of a complex onset and the sole member of a singleton coda, and the bearing that one has on the other. The SMA is based upon an adaptation of Prince & Smolensky’s (1993/2004) Margin Hierarchy in (1). This hierarchy proposes a series of markedness constraints that together formalize a cross- linguistic tendency for languages to disprefer higher sonority elements in syllable margins (i.e., in both onsets and codas). (1) Margin Hierarchy (Prince and Smolensky, 1993/2004) *M/a >> *M/i >> *M/l >> *M/n >> *M/d >> *M/t 1 Loss of the onset glide also entails an alternation in the quality of the stem vowel, but its length does not alternate. I illustrate below that such alternations arise due to a ban against adjacent [+high] segments. Data suggest that Mbat’s mid vowels [ɛ] and [ɔ] are allophones of high vowel phonemes that appear only after an onset glide. This is a post peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article to be published in Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. The final authenticated version will be made available on the journal website.