Foot structure in the Ibibio verb

This paper argues that monosyllabic verb root-suffix combinations in Ibibio form a foot, specifically, a (bi)syllabic trochee. Our argument is that without the assumption of a bisyllabic foot, phonological generalizations regarding root-suffix structures cannot be captured. The suffixed verbs take one of two shapes: a heavy-light trochee, or a light-light trochee. The templatic choice is strictly determined by morphological inflection. We explain processes affecting vowel quantity: vowel lengthening and shortening, as forced by the prosodic requirement of template satisfaction. The overall picture is that Ibibio is a language with every possible form of the trochee, which forms the domain of several phonological processes and the basis of segmental distribution.