Universal #1906

Legacy number: 1906

 Number  1901
 Original  If a language exhibits only prenasalized voiceless consonants, voicing is non-contrastive within the consonant system.
 Standardized  IF there are prenasalized voiceless consonants only, THEN voicing is non-contrastive within the consonant system.
OR:
IF voicing is contrastive in the consonant system, THEN some prenasalized voiced stops will be present.
 Keywords  voice, prenasalized stop
 Domain  phonology
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  languages mentioned in erbert 1986, with special emphasis on Bantu and Austronesian
 Source  Herbert 1986: 272, 277 (ftn. 3)

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Discussion
Notes
A PRENASALIZED CONSONANT is formally defined as a necessarily homorganic sequence of nasal and non-nasal consonantal segments which together exhibit the approximate surface duration of ‘simple’ consonants in those language systems within which they function (Herbert 1986: 10).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
A PRENASALIZED CONSONANT is formally defined as a necessarily homorganic sequence of nasal and non-nasal consonantal segments which together exhibit the approximate surface duration of 'simple' consonants in those language systems within which they function (Herbert 1986: 10).