Universal #1610
Legacy number: 1610
| Number | 1606 |
| Original | Hierarchy of nasalization spread: vowels, h, glottal stop > oral glides > liquids. |
| Standardized | IF nasalization spreads from a contextually nasalized vowel to a liquid, THEN it also spreads to oral glides. IF nasalization spreads from a contextually nasalized vowel to an oral glide, THEN it also spreads to glottal stop, h and adjacent vowels. |
| Keywords | nasalization |
| Domain | phonology |
| Type | implicational hierarchy |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | statistical |
| Basis | languages mentioned in Schourup 1972. (he discussed thirteen cases of long-distance spreading in order to propose that hierachy) |
| Source | Schourup 1972: 530-532 |
Discussion
Counterexamples
In Eskimo (Eskimo-Aleut), r, a fricative, permits penetration by nasalization, while , contrary to expectation, the oral glide w does not. However, r is a uvular fricative and allows penetration by nasalization only when it is immediately followed by a nasal. This fact suggests that r is produced in this position with the velum lowered to facilitate dorsal contact. So this apparent exception is attributable to attenuating circumstatnces (Schourup 1972: 532).“Cases of spreading through glides, but not laryngeal consonants, have been attested” in a 37 languages sample observed by Cohn (1987) (cited in Cohn 1993a: 336). This suggests a slight modification, see #1612, to the hierarchy proposed by Schourup 1972.
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