Universal #187

Legacy number: 187

 Number  187
 Original  No language adds to the pair /t/ - /d/ a voiced aspirate /dh/ without having its voiceless counterpart /th/.
 Standardized  IF there are /t/, /d/, and the voiced aspirate /dh/, THEN there must already be the voiceless aspirate /th/.
 Keywords  aspirate, voice
 Domain  phonology
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic but presumably diachronically motivated
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  unspecified
 Source  Jakobson 1958 [1971]: 528

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Kelabit (W. Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian) (Blust 1973)
Notes
Cf. Nartey’s less restrictive claim (#799): If there is a voiced obstruent, then most likely its voiceless cognate is present as well.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Cf. Nartey's less restrictive claim (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=799"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">): If there is a voiced obstruent, then most likely its voiceless cognate is present as well.