Phonotactics and the prestopped velar lateral of Hiw: resolving the ambiguity of a complex segment  

Oleh:

Francois, Alexandre

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Phonology (Full Text) vol. 27 no. 03 (Dec. 2010), page 393-434.
Fulltext: Franois_Alexandre, p. 393-434.pdf (747.87KB)

Isi artikel

Complex segments consisting of two phases are potentially ambivalent as to which phase determines their phonemic status – e.g. whether /Z/ is a stop or a nasal. This theoretical problem is addressed here with respect to a typologically unusual phoneme in Hiw, an endangered Oceanic language of Vanuatu. This complex segment, /+/, combines a velar voiced stop and a velar lateral approximant. Similar phonemes, in the few languages which have them, have been variously described as (laterally released) stops, affricates or (prestopped) laterals. The nature of Hiw /+/ can be established from its patterning in tautosyllabic consonant clusters. The licensing of word-initial CC clusters in Hiw complies with the Sonority Sequencing Principle, albeit with some adjustments. Consequently, the well-formedness of words like /m+ejiN@/ ‘berserk’ relies on /+/ being analysed as a prestopped velar lateral approximant – the only liquid in the system.

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