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Universal 1091:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1091:

Original
If there are X stop and affricate positions, then the number of nasal positions will not exceed X.
Standardized
IF there are n stop and affricate positions, THEN there will not be more than n nasal positions.
Keywords
nasal, oral, stop, affricate
Domain
phonology
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
sample of 106 languages in Crothers 1975
Source
Crothers 1975: 157
Counterexamples
/m/ but no labial stop: Aleut (Eskimo-Aleut), Fijian (Remote Oceanic, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian), Chasta-Costa, Hupa (Athabaskan) (Trubetskoy 1969);nasal palatal but no palatal stop or affricate: French (Indo-European), Diegueño (Hokan), Hopi (Uto-Aztecan), Javanese (Sundic, Western Malayo-Polynesian), Chamorro (Chamorro, Western Malayo-Polynesian); possibly Maori (Remote Oceanic, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian) which has some discrepancy in position between /n/ and /t/.

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP
    1. May 2020

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