Universal #787

Legacy number: 787

 Number  784
 Original  The preferred number of primary oral stops in a given language is between four and eight.
 Standardized  The preferred number of primary oral stops in a given language is between four and eight.
 Keywords  consonant, oral, stop
 Domain  phonology
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  317 language sample from Nartey 1979
 Source  Nartey 1979: 23

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Notes
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).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
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).