Phonology: case studies

Mallorquí

As noted in the last section, we are interested what happens when a word ending in a stop is followed by another consonant in word initial position, producing a C₁C₂ cluster across the word boundary. The examples in (2) show that when C₁ is a velar stop, it acquires the voicing and place features of another stop in C₂ position in Mallorquí, producing a fully assimilated geminate.

(2) Stop clusters with velar C 1 in Mallorquí

Mallorquí		English Gloss
puc banyar	[pub bəɲa]	'I can wet'
poc beneficiós	[pɔb bənəfisios]	'not very beneficious'
poc pan	[pɔp pa]	'little (not much) bread'
puc plorar	[pup ploɾa]	'I can cry'
poc tros	[pɔt tɾos]	'small piece, few pieces'
puc tenir	[put təni]	'I can have'
poc de mel	[pɔd də mɛl]	'a bit of honey'
puc dormir	[pud doɾmi]	'I can sleep'
puc cantar	[puk kənta]	'I can sing'
puc guanyar	[pug gwəɲa]	'I can win'

The forms in (3) show that an alveolar stop in C₁ also assimilates to the following consonant in Mallorquí.

(3) Stop clusters with alveolar C 1 in Mallorquí

Mallorquí		English Gloss
pot pensar	[pɔp pənsa]	's/he can think'
plat preparat	[plap pɾəpəɾat]	'prepared plate'
pot botar	[pɔb bota]	's/he can jump'
fet blat	[feb blat]	'made wheat'
pot dormir	[pɔd doɾmi]	's/he can sleep'
pot de pesols	[pɔd də pezols]	'can of green peas'
pot comprar	[pɔk kompɾa]	's/he can buy'
plat concret	[plak konkɾet]	'specific plate'
pot guanyar	[pɔg gwəɲa]	's/he can win'

Finally, in (4) we see the same effect with labial stops in C₁ position.

(4) Stop clusters with labial C 1 in Mallorquí

Mallorquí		English Gloss
cap bici	[kab bisi]	'no bike'
cap banda	[kab bandə]	'nowhere'
sap plorar	[sap ploɾa]	's/he knows (how to) cry'
cap tros	[kat tɾɔs]	'no piece'
sap tot	[sat tot]	's/he knows it all'
cap dur	[kad du]	'tough head (stubborn)'
xarop dolç	[ʃəɾɔd dols]	'sweet syrup'
cap gros	[kag gɾɔs]	'big head'
sap contar	[sak konta]	's/he knows (how to) count'
cap cantó	[kak kənto]	'no corner (no spot)'

Note that assimilation is always regressive: there are no cases such as *[kap pənto] in which the /k/ of canto assimilates to the /p/ of cap.

As a first approach to an analysis of this phenomenon, let us adopt the rule in (5), which treats both place and voice assimilation as elements of a single sound process.

(5)

Mallorquí stop assimilation

[-sonorant, -continuant]

→

[αvoice, βplace]

/

_____

#

[-sonorant, -continuant, αvoicing, βplace]

Next, we look at how the stop sequences seen in this section are realized in the Central variety of Catalan.

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