Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

d. Brazilian Portuguese (Romance) (Major 1981, 1985, Noble and Ingemann
1987, Simões 1991, Wetzels 1992)
Maximal (oral vowel) inventory: /i, e, , a, , o, u/
Reduction processes: Pretonic syllables - /e, / -> [e], /o, / -> [o]
Posttonic syllables - /i, e/ -> [i] /u, o/ -> [u]
Resistance: For some speakers the second degree of reduction (posttonic high-mid
neutralization) does not take place in prepausal word-final vowels (Major 1985: 266-
267).
Conditions: The pretonic mid-vowel neutralization is categorical (non-rate dependent,
not reversible in careful speech. The posttonic reduction is gradient (rate dependent,
reversible in careful speech). Major 1985 suggests that for those speakers whose
lengthened prepausal final vowels reduce nonetheless, posttonic reduction too has
become “lexical”. In casual speech, pretonic high and mid vowels are optionally
subject to the same (gradient) reduction as posttonic vowels (Major 1985: 266)
e. Eastern Mari (Finno-Ugric) (Sebeok and Ingemann 1961, Flemming 1993,
Kangasmaa-Minn 1998, Majors 1998)
Inventory: Full: /i, y, e, ø, a, o, u/ Reduced: //
Reduction: Stress falls on the rightmost (underived) full vowel of the word. Words
containing only reduced vowels take the default initial stress. Only the reduced vowel
occurs in non-final posttonic syllables.
Harmony: Posttonic vowels harmonize with the stressed vowel in backness and
roundness. Final (non-low) vowels do so in a categorical, neutralizing fashion. Nonfinal
reduced vowels have variants with allophonic fronting and rounding in
agreement with the stressed vowel.
Final strength effects: . No short (reduced) vowels surface word-finally (Flemming
1993). Results in alternations, whereby root-final or suffix mid vowels surface as
reduced when appearing non-finally. I class this with resistance to reduction effects in
that all posttonic vowels save those in word-final open syllables are realized as
schwa. The disallowing of short word-final vowels, on the other hand, results in the
neutralization of potential full vs. reduced contrasts 62 .
62
No contrasts, however, are preferentially preserved in this position, as final unreduced mid-vowels
harmonize with the earlier stressed vowel. In light of this, Eastern Mari does not seem to exhibit strong
licensing of any kind word-finally, pace Steriade 1994.
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