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Universal 1926:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1926:

Original
There is an apparently universal iconic tendency in diminutives and augmentatives: diminutives tend to contain high front vowels, whereas augmentatives tend to contain high back vowels.
Standardized
Diminutives tend to contain high front vowels, whereas augmentatives tend to contain high back vowels.
Keywords
diminutive, augmentative, vowel, high, front, back, iconicity
Domain
phonology, semantics
Type
unconditional
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute?
Basis
languages surveyed in T.Payne 1997
Source
T.Payne 1997: 110
Counterexamples
Korean, Bahnaric (see Raritätenkabinett)

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP
    1. May 2020

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