Universal 793:

Original: In a given language, the number of Secondary Nasal Consonants is never greater than the number of Primary Nasal Consonants.
Standardized: IF there are n Secondary Nasal Consonants, THEN there will not be more than n Primary Nasal Consonants.
Keywords: nasal, consonant
Domain: phonology
Type: implication
Status: achronic
Quality: statistical
Basis: languages mentioned in Ferguson 1963; 317 language sample from Nartey 1979
Source: Ferguson 1963: 58 (VII), cited in Uspensky 1965: 192, Nartey 1979: 34

Counterexamples: Amerind languages: Klamath (Klamath-Modoc), Mazahua, Otomi, Mazatec (all Oto-Manguean), Paez (Paezan); Papuan languages: Wantoat (Trans-New Guinea), Washkuk=Kuoma (Middle Sepik);Austro-Asiatic languages: Lakkia, Sui (both Daic);Nilo-Saharan languages: Kanuri (Western Saharan), Sara (Central Sudanic);Indo-European: Hindi-Urdu (Indo-Iranian), Irish (Celtic);Ngizim (West Chadic, Afro-Asiatic), Senadi=Senari (Gur, Niger-Congo), !Xu=Kung, Nama (both Khoisan), Nambakaengo (E. Papuan)(Nartey 1979: 35)

One Comment

FP

1. A Primary Nasal Consonant (PNC) is a phoneme of which the most characteristic allophone is a voiced nasal stop, that is, a sound produced by a complete oral stoppage (e.g., apical, labial), velic opening, and vibration of the vocal cords.2. A Secondary Nasal Consonant (SNC) is a nasal consonant phoneme the most characteristic phoneme of which is not a simple voiced nasal (Ferguson 1963: 56-7).

1. May 2020

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