Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

pretonic syllables, however, only one vowel is realized: /u/ 37 . In unstressed syllables /u/
has the allophonic realizations [u], [], and [], according to Li (1977). Li analyzes the
pretonic /u/ as in fact epenthetic. Unstressed vowels reduced to /u/ in this position are
frequently deleted, their realization largely predictable from sonority restrictions on
consonant clusters. Li therefore analyzes forms liked ‘mupubulebin’, ‘will pull’, as
having underlying clusters before the tonic syllable: /mpblebin/. Be this as it may, the
reduced vowels of the posttonic syllable cannot be analyzed as such. In these, the
following neutralizations take place.
(13) Posttonic vowel realizations in Seediq
/i/ -> [i]
/a/ -> [a]/[]
/e, o, u/ -> [u]
Alternations caused by these neutralizations can be observed under affixation, where
stress shifts onto the former posttonic final syllable, as shown in (14), where for clarity’s
sake Holmer’s intermediate stages are included as a derivation.
37
Stress in Seediq is fixed penultimate.
38
/a/ and /i/ are said by to retain their stressed qualities “to a certain extent” (Holmer 1996: 26). I assume
this means that they are somewhat centralized.
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