Abstract
Modern eastern Basque dialects have several conservative features, including the maintenance of historical /h/, which is lost in other dialects. Zuberoan, the easternmost dialect of Basque still spoken today, shows both this /h/ as well as a phonetically nasalized segment [(h) over tilde] which is a reflex of intervocalic *n. In this paper I argue that these two segments contrast in Zuberoan. Evidence for the contrast comes from both a newly described process of assimilation of /h/ to /(h) over tilde/ in nasal environments which then serves as a basis of the analogical extension of the nasalized aspirate in a context where it cannot be phonologically derived, and from neighboring Mixean Low Navarrese where the nasalized [(h) over tilde] has no other obvious source. Since a contrast between oral and nasalized aspirates is rare crosslinguistically, the Zuberoan and Mixean sound patterns discussed here should be of interest to typologists and phonologists alike.
Item Type: | Journal article |
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Faculties: | Languages and Literatures > Department 2 |
Subjects: | 400 Language > 400 Language |
ISSN: | 0024-3949 |
Language: | English |
Item ID: | 66213 |
Date Deposited: | 19. Jul 2019, 12:19 |
Last Modified: | 04. Nov 2020, 13:47 |