Universal #845

Legacy number: 845

 Number  842
 Original  There are no initial or final clusters in which all obstruent combinations are heterogeneous in regard to voicing.
 Standardized  There are no initial or final clusters in which all obstruent combinations are heterogeneous in regard to voicing.
 Keywords  consonant cluster, obstruent, heterogeneous, voice
 Domain  phonology
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  sample of 104 languages in Greenberg 1964
 Source  Greenberg 1964 [<r>Greenberg 1965: 13, Greenberg 1978e: 252, #5]

← Back to Universals Archive

Discussion
Counterexamples
Modern Hebrew has no restrictions on this. Compare the feminine adjectives: ‘ktuma’ (orange(-coloured)), ‘kduma’ (ancient), ‘gduma’ (amputated), or ‘tguwa’ (reaction) vs. ‘tkufa’ (period), where the initial clusters are all distinct (Hetzron 1980: 263).
Notes
Good examples: English (Germanic), Polish (Slavic), where all obstruent combinations are homogeneous in regard to voice.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Good examples: English (Germanic), Polish (Slavic), where all obstruent combinations are homogeneous in regard to voice.