Chapter published in:
Sonic Signatures: Studies dedicated to John Harris
Edited by Geoff Lindsey and Andrew Nevins
[Language Faculty and Beyond 14] 2017
► pp. 201–214

On the diachronic origin of Nivkh height restrictions

| Sapporo Gakuin University
| Leiden University Centre for Linguistics
Nivkh, a genetic isolate spoken in the Russian Far East, displays a pattern of stress-dependent height restrictions in a linguistic area where tongue-root harmony is prevalent. We argue that the Nivkh pattern derives from an earlier tongue-root system. This system developed into a height-based system following the loss of tongue-root contrasts in high vowels, in much the same way as has been proposed for dialects of Manchu.
Keywords: Nivkh, Manchu-Tungus, vowel harmony, vowel reduction, Element Theory, language contact, areal linguistics, diachronic linguistics, fieldwork
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Height harmony and TR harmony in Manchu
  • 3.From TR harmony to height harmony: The case of Sanjiazi Manchu
  • 4.Vowel co-occurrence restrictions in Nivkh
  • 5.From TR harmony to height restrictions: The case of Nivkh
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 30 November 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/lfab.14.c12
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