Universal 1761:
- Original
- Hierarchy of major-class and manner features in the context of consonantal weakening:
Ø < glides < liquids < nasals < +v fricatives < -v fricatives/-v stops < -v stops. The consonants more to the left on the hierarchy are classified as weaker, leading to eventual deletion, diachronically speaking.
- Standardized
- Hierarchy of major-class and manner features in the context of consonantal weakening:
Ø < glides < liquids < nasals < +v fricatives < -v fricatives/-v stops < -v stops. The consonants more to the left on the hierarchy are classified as weaker, leading to eventual deletion, diachronically speaking.
- Keywords
- consonant, weakening, hierarchy
- Domain
- phonology
- Type
- implicational hierarchy
- Status
- unclear whether diachronic and/or achronic
- Quality
- statistical
- Basis
- Romance and Germanic languages
- Source
- Escure 1977: 60
- Counterexamples
1. This hierarchy also expresses the directionality of change of a given consonant by representing the actual stages of the weakening process from right to left, leading to deletion (Escure 1977: 60).2. For a similar universal about nasal deletion, cf. #1798.3. Cf. #1806.4. An error: +voiced stops < -v stops?