The contrastive hierarchy in phonology 2009 Dresher.pdf - CUNY ...

In the contrastive specifications that result from the hierarchy in (3.16), /a/ is
specified only as [+low], and so shares no other feature(s) exclusively with /´/.
Therefore, there is no bilateral opposition between /a/ and /´/.
Though Trubetzkoy considers the above to be the usual analysis for vowel
systems like (3.14), he also allows for other analyses. Because the indeterminate
/´/ vowel is ‘outside the system of timbre,’ it can enter into a relation with the
maximally sonorous vowel in a triangular system, which is also outside the
timbre system (1969: 114). An example of such a system is Bulgarian (3.17).
(3.17) Bulgarian (Trubetzkoy 1969)
a. Stressed syllables b. Unstressed syllables
i u
´ i u
e o ´
a
An opposition is proportional if the relation between its members is
identical to the relation between the members of another opposition. Otherwise,
it is isolated. With respect to Bulgarian, Trubetzkoy writes (1969: 114), ‘It would
hardly be possible to assume a pure opposition of timbre between Bulgarian ´
and o, or between ´ and e. But the proportions o˘A = u˘´, e˘A = i˘´, and the
proportion u˘o = i˘e = ´˘A deduced therefrom may well be established.’ We can
interpret these remarks in terms of contrastive divisions by ordering [round] and
[front] before any height contrasts. In this way we divide the vowel space into
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