Primary split revisited

Robert A. Blust | University of Hawai’i at Manoa

Textbook treatments generally state that primary split, or split-merger leads to positional neutralization, but has no effect on phoneme inventory. However, if the phonemes affected by a primary split have a defective distribution at the time of the change the result may be loss of contrast, or inventory reduction. This potential is illustrated with artificial data, but involves no assumptions that are contrary to common types of sound change.

Keywords: sound change, split-merger, neutralization, phoneme inventory, phonemic redistribution, defective distribution, reductive primary split

Published online: 08 June 2012
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.29.2.01blu

Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

de Carvalho, Fernando O.

2015. The historical phonology of Mawé glides. Folia Linguistica 36:1

de Carvalho, Fernando O.

2017. Fricative Debuccalization and Primary Split in Terena (Arawak) Historical Phonology. International Journal of American Linguistics 83:3 ► pp. 509 ff.

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