Hierarchies and phonological weakening

Abstract Consonantal weakening has long been recognized as a significant, natural type of phonological change. Weakening can be defined as a systematic reduction process, often resulting in deletion, which affects certain consonants, depending on their position within the word or the phonological phrase. For example, weakening may include some or all of the following successive stages: voicing, spirantization, gliding, deletion, such as t>d>o>O (cf. Latin vita; Mod. French vie [vi]; Mod. Spanish vida [vioa] ‘life’). My intent in this paper is to point out some interesting aspects of the mechanism of weakening, and more specifically to address myself to the issue of its representation in phonological theory. Within a transformational-generative framework, the ‘grammar change’ analysis (Halle 1962; Kiparsky 1968, 1971; King 1972) can superficially describe the formal progression of t>d>o>O in terms of a series of rule additions. However, such an analysis has no explanatory value whatsoever if the overall continuity of the weakening process is overlooked. In order to remedy the main inadequacies of the ‘grammar change’ analysis, I propose to incorporate a set of hierarchies into phonological theory. These hierarchies will represent the crucial phonological relationships which account for the systematic stages, the directionality and the scope of consonantal weakening. It will be argued that three types of information must be included, namely, reference to environmental factors, to manner of articulation and voicing properties, and to place of articulation features.