<OT> New Posting: ROA-686

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 686-0904

The evolution of sibilants in Polish and Russian

Jaye Padgett <padgett at ucsc.edu>
Marzena Zygis <marzena at zas.gwz-berlin.de>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=686


Abstract:
In this paper we provide an account of the historical development
of Polish and Russian sibilants. The arguments provided
here are of theoretical interest because they show that
(i) certain allophonic rules are driven by the need to keep
contrasts perceptually distinct, (ii) (unconditioned) sound
changes result from needs of perceptual distinctiveness,
and (iii) perceptual distinctiveness can be extended to
a class of consonants, i.e. the sibilants. The analysis
is cast within Dispersion Theory, and we provide phonetic
and typological data supporting the perceptual distinctivenss
claims we make.

Comments: Published in ZAS papers in Linguistics 32, T.S. Hall and S. Hamann, eds., pp. 155-174.
Keywords: dispersion theory, contrast, sibilant, perceptual distinctiveness, sound change, allophonic rule
Areas: Phonology,Phonetics
Type: Book Chapter

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=686