Universal #785

Legacy number: 785

 Number  782
 Original  The presence of a voiced primary oral stop in a language is highly likely to imply the presence of its voiceless equivalent.
 Standardized  IF there is a voiced primary oral stop, THEN its the voiceless equivalent is highly likely to be present too.
 Formula  voiced primary oral stop ⇒ unvoiced primary oral stop
 Keywords  consonant, oral, stop, voice
 Domain  phonology
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  317 language sample from Nartey 1979
 Source  Nartey 1979: 22

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Indo-European: Breton (Celtic), Norwegian (Germanic), Persian (Indo-Iranian); Altaic: Mongolian (Mongolian-Tungus), Turkish (Turkic);Berta (E. Central Sudanic, Nilo-Saharan), Alawa (Maran, Australian),Selepet (Trans-New Guinea), Lak (East Caucasian), Klamath (Klamath-Modoc), Tunica (isolate remotely related to Algonquian) (Nartey 1979: 22);Borucá (Talamanca, Chibchan), Guaymí, Bocotá (both Guaymí, Chibchan)(Yasugi 1995: 66)
Notes
1. Primary oral stops are those speech sounds made with a pulmonic air stream and a complete closure of two articulators (as in the single articulations /p,t/) or four articulators (as in the double articulations /kp, gb/). The release of such sounds may be sudden (as in the stops /p,t/) or delayed (as in the affricates /pf, ts/) (Nartey 1979: 17).2. 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
1. Primary oral stops are those speech sounds made with a pulmonic air stream and a complete closure of two articulators (as in the single articulations /p,t/) or four articulators (as in the double articulations /kp, gb/). The release of such sounds may be sudden (as in the stops /p,t/) or delayed (as in the affricates /pf, ts/) (Nartey 1979: 17).

2. 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.