Universal #935

Legacy number: 935

 Number  932
 Original  If a language possesses voiceless syllabic stops, then it possesses voiced syllabic stops.
 Standardized  IF there are voiceless syllabic stops, THEN there are voiced syllabic stops.
 Keywords  voice, stop, syllabic, consonant
 Domain  phonology
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  85 language sample in Bell 1978
 Source  Bell 1978: 186

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Notes
1. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in Working Papers on Language Universals 4, November 1970, which contained a language sample of 182.The present sample given above is a part of this larger one.2. This generalization may not hold for a language without nonsyllabic voiced stops.3. 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. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in Working Papers on Language Universals 4, November 1970, which contained a language sample of 182. The present sample given above is a part of this larger one.

2. This generalization may not hold for a language without nonsyllabic voiced stops.

3. 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.