Universal #1010

Legacy number: 1010

 Number  1006
 Original  No matter which direction the process ( d⇔ð, t⇔† ) is going, the stop outcome is favoured by word-initial, post-nasal or post-liquid stressed positions. The spirant outcome is favoured by post-vocalic positions, including intervocalic, pre-consonantal and pre-junctural.

See IPA.
 Standardized  No matter which direction the process ( d⇔ð, t⇔† ) is going, the stop outcome is favoured by word-initial, post-nasal or post-liquid stressed positions. The spirant outcome is favoured by post-vocalic positions, including intervocalic, pre-consonantal and pre-junctural.
 Formula  <img src="../img/graphics/1010.gif" alt="">
 Keywords  spirantization
 Domain  phonology
 Type  unconditional
 Status  unclear whether diachronic and/or achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  Greek, Spanish, Danish, English (all Indo-European), Aramaic, Arabic (both Semitic, Afro-Asiatic)
 Source  Ferguson 1978b: 435

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Ma’lula Aramaic does exactly the opposite. In this dialect, all stops in initial position have become spirants except b-; modern initial stops other than b- are mostly Arabic loanwords. (Ferguson 1978b: 431, fn 12)
Notes
All of these hypothesized "universals" may be modified or overridden by conflicting processes, particularly those involving social factors, and some exceptions are unexplained. (Ferguson 1978b: 437)
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
All of these hypothesized "universals" may be modified or overridden by conflicting processes, particularly those involving social factors, and some exceptions are unexplained. (Ferguson 1978b: 437)