<OT> New Posting: ROA-807

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 807-0206

On the Status of Voiced Stops in Tswana: Against *ND

Elizabeth Zsiga <zsigae at georgetown.edu>
Maria Gouskova <maria.gouskova at nyu.edu>
One Tlale <tlaleo at mopipi.ub.bw>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=807


Abstract:
The phonetically grounded constraint against voiceless stops
after nasals (*NC) has diverse and well-attested effects,
but some counterexamples have been cited. Tswana reportedly
bans not voiceless but voiced stops after nasals ([bata]
'look for,' [mpata] 'look for me'). A closer look at the
phonology of Tswana and a phonetic study suggests that this
description is not accurate. For some speakers, no stops
are ever voiced, including post-nasal stops. For others,
the consonants in question turn out to be not stops but
voiced sonorants, which become stops after nasals. Phonologically
, the distribution of Tswana obstruents is governed by the
interaction of well-known and independently motivated constraints
on voicing in obstruents, positional faithfulness to word-initial
position, and a process of post-nasal fortition. The study
shows that Tswana provides no evidence against *NC.

Comments: In the proceedings of NELS 36, 2006
Keywords: grounded constraints, laboratory phonology, voicing, *NC, post-nasal, Tswana
Areas: Phonology, Phonetics
Type: Conference Proceedings Chapter

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=807