THE UNDERSPECIFICATION OF CORONALS: EVIDENCE FROM LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND PERFORMANCE ERRORS

Publisher Summary Coronals often take part in phonological patterns that are different from those of other places of articulation. In many languages, coronals assimilate to other places of articulation even though velars and labials do not assimilate. Such behavior has been used to argue that coronals are not specified for place of articulation in underlying forms. This chapter discusses the underspecification of coronals, which is evident from language acquisition and performance errors. It explores error phenomena involving the interaction of coronals with other places of articulation. In English, [coronal] would be specified for obstruents and /n/ because place of articulation is contrastive. The only alveolars for which it would be underspecified are /l/ and /r/; as the only liquids in English are alveolars, their place of articulation is not contrastive.

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