Universal #792

Legacy number: 792

 Number  789
 Original  If in a given language there are only two Primary Nasal Consonants, the other one is /m/, that is its most characteristic allophone is labial.
 Standardized  IF there are only two Primary Nasal Consonants, THEN the first one is apical (/n/), and the other is /m/, that is its most characteristic allophone is labial.
 Keywords  nasal, consonant, labial, apical, allophone
 Domain  phonology
 Type  no genuine implication; rather: provided that
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  languages mentioned in Ferguson 1963; 317 language sample from Nartey 1979
 Source  Ferguson 1963: 57 (III), also Ferguson 1974: 6, cited in Uspensky 1965: 191, Nartey 1979: 30

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Wapishana (Arawakan)(Nartey 1979: 31);Palauan (W. Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian) has /m/ and /©/ but not /n/. For details see Josephs 1975.
Notes
A Primary Nasal Consonant (PNC) is a phoneme of which the most characteristic allophone is a voiced nasal stop, that is, a sound produced by a complete oral stoppage (e.g., apical, labial), velic opening, and vibration of the vocal cords. (Ferguson 1963: 56).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
A Primary Nasal Consonant (PNC) is a phoneme of which the most characteristic allophone is a voiced nasal stop, that is, a sound produced by a complete oral stoppage (e.g., apical, labial), velic opening, and vibration of the vocal cords. (Ferguson 1963: 56).