Demorphologization and remorphologization

Abstract The negation marker in Hewramî, mé- , originated as a marker of imperfective aspect. A series of regular sound changes setting Hewramî apart from its closely related sisters caused the demorphologization of the original prefix. The subsequent morphologization of stress accent caused the imperfective prefix, fully retained only in the context of negation, to be reinterpreted as a marker of negation. In this article, we explore these developments in comparison with closely related varieties that have preserved every stage in the process.