Universal 775:

Original: Every language must have at least one Primary Nasal Consonant in its inventory.
Standardized: Every language must have at least one Primary Nasal Consonant in its inventory.
Keywords: nasal, consonant
Domain: phonology
Type: unconditional
Status: achronic
Quality: statistical
Basis: languages mentioned in Ferguson 1963; 317 language sample from Nartey 1979
Source: Ferguson 1963: 56 (I), cited in Uspensky 1965: 191, Nartey 1979: 29

Counterexamples: Quileute (Chimakuan), Duwamish, Snoqualmie (both Salish), where the PNCs assumed for an earlier period are said to have become voiced stops (Hockett 1955: 119, cited in Greenberg, Osgood, & Jenkins 1963: xx, Nartey 1979: 30); Bribrí, Bocotá (both Chibchan) (Yasugi 1995: 69);Achumawi (Hokan), Apinaye (Ge-Pano), Barasano (Tucanoan), Mura (Paezan), Quileute (Chimakuan), Puget Sound (Salish), Hakka (Chinese, Sino-Tibetan)(Nartey 1979: 29); Rotokas (E. Papuan) (Nartey 1979: 29, Herbert 1986: 56);Makah, Nitinat (both Wakashan), Quileute (Chimakuan), Clallam, Duwamish, Snoqualmie, Lkungen, Twana (all Salish), Pawnee (Caddoan) (Thompson & Thompson 1972: 442ff.); also mentioned in Campbell 1980: 21.

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One Comment

FP

1. The lack of nasals seems to occur in the Salishan and Chemakuan language families and in the Nootka branch of the Wakashan family (Thompson & Thompson 1972: 442).2. Definition: A Primary Nasal Consonant (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 chords (Ferguson 1963: 56).

1. May 2020

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