Universal 778:

Original: If a language has only three primary oral stops, their primary allophones are most likely to be /p t k/.
Standardized: IF there are only three primary oral stops, THEN their primary allophones are most likely to be /p t k/.
Keywords: consonant, oral, stop, allophone
Domain: phonology
Type: no genuine implication; rather: provided that
Status: achronic
Quality: statistical
Basis: 317 language sample from Nartey 1979
Source: Nartey 1979: 17, cited also in Lass 1984: 153

Counterexamples: Problematic cases: /p/ is absent in some Oto-Manguean and Chibchan languages (Yasugi 1995: 66).

One Comment

FP

Primary oral stops are those speech sounds made with a pulmonic air stream and a complete closure of two articulators (as in the single articulations /p,t/) or four articulators (as in the double articulations /kp, gb/). The release of such sounds may be sudden (as in the stops /p,t/) or delayed (as in the affricates /pf, ts/) (Nartey 1979: 17).

1. May 2020

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