Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

1.2. Goals
This study aims to shed light on the controversies concerning both the
implementation of positional neutralization and the role of phonetics in phonology more
generally. It is devoted to specifically to positional neutralization patterns affecting
contrasts in vowel inventories, though in some areas where relevant consonants will be
treated as well. I have selected for investigation three commonly cited pairs of strong and
weak positions: stressed vs. unstressed syllables, initial vs. non-initial syllables, and final
vs. non-final syllables 3 . For each pair of positions, I conducted an typological survey of
the licensing asymmetries found in several hundred languages, the results of which I
report in each chapter, using some of the clearer cases to illustrate general patterns.
The question to be answered again is why the neutralization of certain contrasts
should be common in a given pair of positions while other patterns are rare or unattested,
or more generally, how can we best account for the existence and nature of typological
regularities in the patterning of sounds. In each case I show how phonetic characteristics
commonly associated with the position in question can explain why one pattern of
neutralizations should be attested regularly while others seem not to occur. In the case of
stressed syllables, where the phonetic factors involved in the development of licensing
3
The first two of these are uncontroversially included in most lists of strong/weak pairs, while the last is a
matter of some disagreement. Steriade (1994) singles final position out as strong, while Zhang (2001) and
Smith (2002) note that the status of final syllables is somewhat unclear. Final position is also traditionally
cited as a monolithically weak position (Hock 1999).
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