Uyghur palatal harmony as bi-directional harmony

Abstract

This paper discusses a small set of motion verb constructions in Uyghur and presents evidence from historical documents and modern written corpora showing that the constructions have undergone grammaticalization and univerbation. The paper argues that the resulting forms consist of a root plus a prefix that participates in vowel harmony, matching the root vowel in backness. Based on this analysis, it can be said that in terms of the cross-linguistic typology of vowel harmony, Uyghur palatal harmony is root-controlled, i.e., bi-directional.