Universal 1605: N# > N[+continuant] > N[-continuant] > N[+syllabic]

Universal 1605: N# > N[+continuant] > N[-continuant] > N[+syllabic]

Original

Hierarchy of regressive nasalization:
N# > N[+continuant] > N[-continuant] > N[+syllabic].

If vowels are nasalized before a nasal followed by any element of the hierarchy, then they are also nasalized before all elements listed in the hierarchy above that element.

Standardized

IF vowels are nasalized before nasals that are syllable-initial, THEN vowels are nasalized before a nasal followed by non-continuants.
IF vowels are nasalized before a nasal followed by non-continuants, THEN also before a nasal followed by continuants.
IF vowels are nasalized before a nasal followed by continuants, THEN vowels are nasalized when nasal is final.

Keywords

nasalization

Domain

phonology

Type

implicational hierarchy

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

languages mentioned in Schourup 1972

Source

Schourup 1972: 542- 545, cited in Ferguson 1974: 12

Counterexamples

? Judeo-Spanish of Bucharest (Schourup 1972)