Title: The development of liquids from Latin to Campidanian Sardinian: The role of contrast and structural similarity
Abstract: The analysis of the Sardinian neutralization of Latin L and R in consonant clusters (both tauto- and heterosyllabic) is framed in the broader picture of how contrast between obstruents and sonorants is organized in the two languages. Sardinian is argued to have developed as a true S(onorant) V(oicing) system (sensu Avery 1996), where voiced obstruents and sonorants bear a relationship to one another. The constraints on consonant sequences active in this language indicate that the lateral participates in the voiced obstruent class, rather than in the sonorant class. This option is readily disclosed by a SV-type configuration. Specific to the Campidanian dialect phonology is a sharpened Coda Condition that constraints the distribution of the rhotic in this syllabic position. This paper proposes an algorithm that estimates the likelihood of licensing the rhotic coda through the following heterosyllabic onset. The higher the similarity in terms of place and voicing specification, the higher the chance for the onset to license the preceding coda /r/.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 7
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