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Universal 785: secondary oral stops ⇒ primary oral stops

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 785: secondary oral stops ⇒ primary oral stops

Original
A language is highly unlikely to have secondary oral stops unless it also has primary oral stops.
Standardized
IF there are secondary oral stops, THEN there are most likely primary ones as well.
Keywords
consonant, oral, stop
Domain
phonology
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
317 language sample from Nartey 1979
Source
Nartey 1979: 24, cited also in Lass 1984: 154
Counterexamples
Maidu (Maiduan) (Nartey 1979: 24)

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    1. 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).2. A secondary oral stop is a stop made with extra contributions from articulators other than those involved in the production of a primary oral stop (e.g. lip rounding to produce labialized stops). Also included are those stops that are either preceded or followed by a short period of nasal closure (as in the nasalized sounds), or voiceless vowels (as in the aspirated sounds) (Nartey 1979: 24).

    1. May 2020

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