Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

unstressed syllables in a given language implies that at some level of statistical
generalization the durational value for unstressed vowels is such that they are forced by
constraint ranking either to violate Minimum Distance constraints or to submit to
neutralizations. Again, this means that in spite of the phonologization of the pattern of
neutralization, the connection of the process to phonetic reality is alive and functional.
With this in mind, consider a scenario in which the language to underwent some change
to its prosodic system such that the durational asymmetry between stressed and
unstressed syllables were to even out (e.g., if the language were to switch from strongly-
duration-cued to non-duration-cued or less-duration-cued stress) 139 . We would now
predict that once the mean realization of the durations of unstressed vowels came to
exceed whatever threshold would allow Minimum Distance constraints to be satisfied
properly again, the contrasts between unstressed vowels which were previously
neutralized should emerge again unscathed, as if nothing ever happened. In other words,
were Russian suddenly to adopt the durational targets for unstressed syllables of Polish,
akanje should disappear without a trace, unstressed /o/ restored to its fully contrastive
realization. I know of no such attested development.
139
As in fact I argue to have taken place in Timugon Murut in chapter three, where in TM pretonic syllables
/a/ is not realized as schwa, while in related neighboring languages it is (and apparently was in TM at an
earlier period as well).
363