Applies two fundamental principles of optimalist theory to yield predictions about cluster reduction patterns. (Author/VWL)

Analysis of how word-final "m" in Spanish is pronounced in various distributional situations. The major tendency is for it to become an "n" except before "p" and "b" when it is pronounced as bilabial sonorant "m." (Text is in Spanish.) (TL)

Borrowing and its implications for Turkish phonology is examined, focusing on words with initial and final consonant clusters. A brief summary of the relevant portions of Turkish phonology is presented. A formulation of the rules of lateral conditioning and velar conditioning is shown to successfully account for almost all the relevant borrowing…

Revised version of paper presented at the Annual Conference of Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast, Vancouver, B.C., June 1973. (DD)

Revised version of a paper given at the 1972 International Conference on Speech Communication and Processing, Boston, Mass. (DD)

Discusses phonic shifting or sound shifts through an examination of Grimm's Law, or the Germanic Consonant Shift. The discussion includes comments on why the phonic shift developed and its pattern. (10 references) (GLR)

Reviews and comments on the major points made in Albert Gessman's paper, "Grimm's Law: Fact or Myth?" Through the evaluation of the paper's 13 points, several ideas are pointed out that are believed to be crucial to Gessman's arguments. (29 references) (GLR)

A more highly constrained and more explanatory theory of phonology is produced if abbreviatory and essential variables are restricted. (CK)

Two possible explanations based on elementary facts of physics are suggested for the universal preference for place of articulation of implosives and ejectives. Languages show a preference for ejectives in the order: velar, alveolar, and labial while implosives occur most often in the opposite order. A language will only have velar implosives if…

A study involving 20 listeners investigated the potential influence of alterations in the temporal structure of speech produced during simultaneous communication on the perception of final consonant voicing. Results found that accurate perception was not impaired by the durational changes accompanying the typically slower speech pattern of…

A study investigated the nature of clear and dark sounds (resonance) in English, focusing on the features associated with the lateral consonant /l/. Subjects were three male undergraduate students and one male university faculty member, all native speakers of different English varieties. Each subject read aloud 27 short phrases or sentences. Using…

According to Cowan, an underground rule is one that affects underlying but not surface structure of the item responsible for a phonological change. (DD)

Examines onset, atrophy, and possible interaction of a set of patterns in the speech of a child acquiring French and English. Examines how data bear on the question of whether the bilingual child has two distinct production phonologies from the earliest stage. Tests recent claims consonant harmony patterns. (Author/VWL)

Combinational characterization and statistical and computational techniques for generalizing rule analysis to the inference of rule order are applied to the problems of the reduction of the syllable-final consonants s, n, and r in Caribbean Spanish. Results show that aspiration and deletion can be seen as intrinsically ordered in both s and r…