while the short vowel is similarly in origin an allophone of . Internal reconstruction and comparison with neighbouring languages suggests an underlying four vowel structure with contrasting vowel length, where underlying *i typically gives surface and , underlying *a typically gives surface a and œ, underlying *ò typically gives surface and , and underlying *u typically gives surface and (there are other realisations as well, depending on rules of assimilation etc.): The language undergoes low-level vowel shifts, caused by stress domination within words and phrases. Long vowels are shortened, and short vowels raise when the word is preceded by morphemes such as adjectives, demonstrative articles, prefixes and the like; the changes also occur within words when these are suffixed: laag 'place' — senabi lag 'that place' lagal 'places' — sethabi lœgal 'those places' (also sethabi lagal) mœrap 'bamboo' — mœrœpil 'bamboo plants/poles/sticks' (also mœrapil) guul 'sailing canoe' — senaubi gul 'that canoe' thonaral 'times' — sethabi thunaral 'those times' (also sethabi thonaral) zageth 'work' — zagithapa 'to/for work [dative]' (also zagethapa) (compound of za 'thing' + geth 'hand') The processes are low-level in that they are not 'automatic' — the changes do not have to occur and can be consciously 'blocked'. In normal speech, vowel shortening and the change of a to œ normally occur, while the changes of e to i and o to u are sporadic, and most common in unstressed syllables. Assimilation of vowels to other vowels in the vicinity and consonants is also widespread, particularly of the vowel œ: wœrab 'coconut' — wurab — urab yœlpai 'lead' [verbal noun] — yilpai — ilpai ngœnu 'whose' — ngunu kœu 'belonging to here' — kou ngœba 'you and I' — ngaba Kauřařaigau Ya phonology The following summary of the phonology of Old Kauraregau Ya is compiled from MacGillivray (1852), Brierly (in Moore 1978), Ray and Haddon (1897) and Ray (1907). In general, there does not to appear to have been any great phonological difference between OKY and the modern dialects of Kalau Lagau Ya (apart from the retention of ř). Stress Stress appears to have been similar to that of the modern dialects, with stress patterns being most similar to that of modern Bœigu and Ngœrupai speech, the most conservative dialects in this respect. In the following the standardised forms are in bold. Bisyllabic forms Stress is initial: baba, baba, bapa: baba 'dad' kawp: kaapu 'seed' buai, bua,