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Universal 1759:
- Original
- Vowels are shorter before voiceless obstruents than before voiced obstruents or sonorants.
- Standardized
- Vowels are shorter before voiceless obstruents than before voiced obstruents or sonorants.
- Keywords
- vowel, voice, obstruent, sonorant, length
- Domain
- phonology
- Type
- implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- statistical
- Basis
- ?
- Source
- Chen 1970, cited in Keating 1985: 120
- Counterexamples
- Polish (W. Slavic, IE) (Keating 1979), Czech (W. Slavic, IE), Saudi Arabic (Semitic) (Flege 1979)
Chen claims this durational difference as an absolute universal, whereas Keating argues it as statistical.