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Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies
ISSN 0577-9170; DOI 10.6503/THJCS

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Initial s-Actuated Register Shift in Yipoic Languages

Vol. 39 No. 2   6/2009    

Title

Initial s-Actuated Register Shift in Yipoic Languages

Author

Jakob Dempsey

Genre

Article  

Pages

165-179    

Download

PDF

Language

English

Key words

Loloish (Yipoic) languages, historical phonology, register shifts     

Abstract

    Matisoff hypothesized a system of voiced initials governing register shift in certain Yipoic (Loloish) syllables of the CVQ-type. Along the lines of my 2005 paper-where I argued such a hypothesized system is not needed to explain the reflexes seen in modern Yipoic languages-here, I argue that such a system is not necessary to account for register shift seen in some Yipoic words of the types VQ, either. This paper suggests that such register shifts are due to the initial s- itself, and that this effect is also seen in the *sRVQ-type syllable and even in some other syllable types.That all these shifts can be connected to the influence of initial s- (or a similar voiceless fricative) is an attractive simplification of the historical phonology of the Yipoic group.

 

 

Author: Jakob Dempsey
Genre: Article
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