Universal #943

Legacy number: 943

 Number  940
 Original  Nasal vowels, apart from borrowing and analogical formations, always result from the loss of a Primary Nasal Consonant.
 Standardized  Nasal vowels, apart from borrowing and analogical formations, always result from the loss of a Primary Nasal Consonant.
 Keywords  consonant, nasal, vowel
 Domain  phonology
 Type  target < source
 Status  diachronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  languages in Ferguson 1963
 Source  Ferguson 1963: 59 (XIV)

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Discussion
Notes
1. A Primary nasal consonat (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. A nasal vowel (NV) is a phoneme the most characteristic allophone of which has oral and velic opening and vibration of the vocal cords. (Ferguson 1963: 56, 58). 2. For a similar generalization about the formation of nasal vowels, cf. ##944, 945.Ferguson further specifies the “conventional” origin of a nasal vowel as the loss of a following nasal stop (1974: 11).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. A Primary nasal consonat (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. A nasal vowel (NV) is a phoneme the most characteristic allophone of which has oral and velic opening and vibration of the vocal cords. (Ferguson 1963: 56, 58).

2. For a similar generalization about the formation of nasal vowels, cf. <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=944"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=945"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">. Ferguson further specifies the 'conventional' origin of a nasal vowel as the loss of a following nasal stop (Ferguson 1974: 11).